Tag: Hong Kong

Hong Kong – Insurance company Manulife in Hong Kong has elevated HyounJoo Choe, former regional head of customer experience and design at Manulife Asia, to be its new chief customer officer for Hong Kong and Macau. 

As a member of the senior management team, Choe will now be leading all customer experience and strategic marketing functions including marketing, customer relationship management, advanced analytics, insights, and corporate communications. She will also play a pivotal role in driving Manulife Hong Kong’s branding and corporate social responsibility efforts.

In her previous role at Manulife Asia, Choe oversaw the CX transformation agenda, driving strong customer engagement and delivering strong results in the relationship and transactional CX scores. She also succeeded in leveraging human-centred design principles to drive CX excellence across various digital platforms.

Choe has more than 25 years of professional experience in the financial industry. Prior to joining Manulife, she was the head of digital at MetLife Korea, where she was instrumental in driving digital transformation and developing enterprise digital strategies. Before that, she also held various leadership roles at AIA Korea, including as head of strategy, head of direct marketing, and head of operations and technology. 

Pankaj Banerjee, the interim CEO for Manulife Hong Kong and Macau, commented that they are thrilled with the appointment of Choe as their chief customer officer, as she has played a leading role in driving forward their customer experience agenda in Asia since joining Manulife in 2021. 

“An outstanding and highly experienced leader in the industry, HyounJoo brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to our franchise expansion in Hong Kong and Macau. Her proven track record and leadership credentials will add tremendous value to our winning team as we continue our journey to help make customers’ lives better and decisions easier,” said Banerjee.

Manulife Hong Kong said that the appointment of Choe highlights its ongoing commitment to promoting talent who can leverage customer-centric and market-leading strategies to benefit the people of Hong Kong and Macau.

Just recently, Manulife Hong Kong launched a multichannel marketing campaign to highlight how to increase the chances of survival against critical illness. This aims to promote Manulife’s two new critical illness plans, namely ManuPrimo Care and ManuPrimo Care.

Hong Kong – The South China Morning Post (SCMP), the Hong Kong-founded and -headquartered global news company, has released its biggest brand initiative in five years. Called ‘More than a story’, the campaign aims to tell that ‘a story’ is not to be digested at face value as its purpose and essence transcends more than just it being a set of facts or a trove of words. It seeks to share the message that it is more than just reporting, words on a page, facts, and a story – it is greater than the sum of its parts. 

Adrian Lee, SVP of audience growth at SCMP, says the campaign serves as a ‘love letter’ to the city the Post calls home, that is Hong Kong. The brand initiative honours the vocation of journalism and how it is an enabler of keeping the principles of truth, responsibility, and community intact within society. 

“[It is] a reminder of the resilience and tenacity which we share with our home audience, made possible because of a vocation informed by purpose and mission,” added Lee. 

He continues, “This shared mission by our people is fuelled by a deep sense of belonging, serving as their beacon every step of the way as they report on the entire spectrum of social issues in our community.” 

The latest campaign builds on its previously-launched messaging ‘Journalism that Hong Kong Deserves’. Divided into three parts, the inaugural episode of ‘More than a story’ brings us behind the scenes to offer a candid and unvarnished close-up of the deep commitment Hong Kong desk reporters exhibit in. 

The campaign turns the focus inwards and allows readers to hear straight from the source – SCMP’s journalists and its people – of what motivates and inspires them, as they explain why they do what they do and are driven to effect positive change in their home city. 

Episode one debuts across SCMP’s website, news app, and social media channels and will also make an appearance on the iconic videowall at Times Square in Causeway Bay, a location which has served as the Post’s newsroom headquarters since 2018. The campaign’s citywide rollout will extend to a wide range of locations in the coming weeks — a tribute to its journalists, readers and fellow Hongkongers who have been with the Post “every step of the way.” 

Throughout the year, subsequent videos will be released featuring different aspects and individuals working in the Post’s newsroom. 

“As our global coverage continues to evolve and expand, the Post remains committed to honouring its roots and origins as Hong Kong’s home-grown international newspaper of record,” said the Post.

Hong Kong – Insurance company Manulife in Hong Kong has launched a multichannel marketing campaign to highlight how to increase the chances of survival against critical illness. This aims to promote Manulife’s two new critical illness plans, namely ManuPrimo Care and ManuPrimo Care.

Following on from the success of the ManuBright Care 2’s ‘Increase odds of survival against critical illness’ campaign in 2020, the latest ManuPrimo Care campaign takes a more positive view of a serious topic by emphasising how people have a better chance of survival with early preparation.

Developed with Manulife’s creative partner dentsu, the campaign kicked off on 1 August 2022 with a product launch event and the premiere of an action-packed commercial featuring well-known Hong Kong actors Gordon Lam and Louise Wong as product ambassadors. The commercial features a couple – Lam and Wong – who are special agents discussing the importance of upgrading their critical illness plans over dinner. It creatively promotes the health benefits and financial support of the plans to a wide target audience in Hong Kong.

Manulife’s large-scale campaign is featured in prime locations at Hong Kong and Causeway Bay MTR stations and outdoors on the Island Beverly shopping mall in Causeway Bay. Buses across the city, as well as bus shelters, have also been emblazoned with advertisements about the campaign. The campaign also includes an upcoming digital aspect to trigger social conversations and awareness among people in Hong Kong on the topic of how to better prepare for critical illness.

Moreover, the digital marketing campaign features a 90-second social video on YouTube and a 30-second video on the ViuTV app running in conjunction with the commercial. There is also a 35-second TVC on ViuTV and OpenTV to explain how the plans support customers on their recovery journey from diagnosis to treatment.

Kenneth Luk, Manulife’s head of marketing for Hong Kong and Macau, noted that the comprehensive campaign educates people about how the plans have been designed to give customers well-rounded protection with continuous care benefits and flexible cancer payout options. 

“And by collaborating with local celebrities Gordon Lam and Louise Wong, the campaign will reach a wider audience motivating more people to obtain critical illness coverage earlier,” said Luk.

Meanwhile, Jeffry Gamble, dentsu International’s chief creative officer for Hong Kong, shared that the campaign takes a light-hearted and entertaining approach to talk about a serious and heavy topic. 

“We worked closely with Manulife, Lam and Wong to create a creative campaign that resonates with people in Hong Kong while at the same time delivering the key messages on critical illness. The end result is an insurance ad campaign that for the first time in Hong Kong adopts a cinematic approach,” said Gamble.

Hong Kong – foodpanda in Hong Kong has become the first brand advertiser in the market to programmatically utilise the newest Crystal Digital and the Spectacular Digital OOH screens, operated by JCDecaux Transport at the Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA). 

Developed in collaboration with Mindshare, GroupM’s global marketing and media network, and Xaxis, GroupM’s outcome media specialist, the campaign will be running over the course of three weeks from 15 July to 4 August 2022. It aims to drive awareness for pandamart, foodpanda’s 24/7 online grocery platform. The creatives were featured across three screens at the airport including one Crystal Digital screen and two Arrival Spectacular Digital screens, reaching passengers who are about to begin their on-arrival quarantine process. 

The Crystal Digital Spectacular Digitals deems to be one of the most eye-catching screens at the HKIA arrival hall as they overlook overseas passengers who must queue in line for COVID PCR test formalities before heading to the quarantine hotels. Passengers at the arrival hall have a direct line of sight to on-screen videos and with Xaxis’ programmatic expertise, foodpanda will be able to take flexible campaign planning to the next level and elevate its OOH advertisements, allowing it to dynamically define its screen mix, panel mix, and audience type, as well as set messages to be delivered at optimal times.

Michael Lai, business director at Mindshare, commented that they are thrilled to have partnered up with foodpanda, the largest one-stop-shop delivery platform in Hong Kong to launch their first pDOOH campaign in HKIA this year and deliver dynamic content to global passengers arriving into Hong Kong. 

“With Xaxis’ expertise, programmatic brings a whole new level of digital creativity for advertisers and consumers, providing a non-intrusive method for relevant customers and passengers to engage with. It also provides brands and marketers with the flexibility of targeted campaigns in real-time,” said Lai.

According to Xaxis, the collaboration was not HKIA’s first pDOOH campaign as JCDecaux upgraded its digital screens at the ‘luggage belt’ area and at the terminal exits to pDOOH screens in 2021. However, the further upgrade this year landed them the Crystal Digital and Spectacular Digital pDOOH screens in which foodpanda is the first advertiser in the market. 

Additionally, the pDOOH campaign catapulted foodpanda into a new era of OOH with programmatic and provided real-time flexibility for foodpanda’s pandamart to curate a captive viewing environment by identifying the audience, location and messages to create an effective, efficient, and brand-safe channel for its campaigns.

Alex Law, marketing director of foodpanda Hong Kong, shared that they are always keen to explore new and innovative ways of reaching their target audiences and are delighted to be the first market advertiser on the Crystal Digital and Spectacular Digital pDOOH screens in HKIA, leveraging the powerful impact of OOH and programmatic capabilities.

“We projected two 10-second videos on the screens by adopting dynamic creative displays to showcase and communicate our quick and convenient pandamart service. We understand the challenges passengers may face during quarantine, and would like to ease the process by providing easy access to basic necessities,” said Law.

Meanwhile, Arnaud Redon, general manager of airport at JCDecaux Transport, said that in addition to its unique geographical position to connect Greater China, Asia Pacific, and the World, Hong Kong International Airport advertising now offers to brands the possibility to target precisely and at scale their most relevant audiences through programmatic-ready large digital screens. 

“We’re very excited to enable foodpanda to deliver dynamic and contextually relevant content that resonates with passengers’ needs as they land in Hong Kong,” said Redon.

Hong Kong – Singapore-based shopping and rewards platform, ShopBack, has announced its upcoming market entry into Hong Kong. On its soft launch, which is set to take place on 8 August 2022, shoppers can expect heightened access to discount codes and coupons to earn cashback on online purchases.

With the market primed for more rewarding shopping experiences, ShopBack has already onboarded over 250 merchants in the country. These merchants range from local to global players, including Watsons, Disney+, Apple, KFC, Booking.com, Farfetch, Taobao, and Sasa, as well as ParkNShop, and iHerb, amongst others.

According to ShopBack, its entry into the market comes at an opportune time, where e-commerce in Hong Kong is poised to rise at a rapid rate of over 11%, potentially reaching revenues of HK$226 billion by 2024. In efforts to turbocharge this sector and boost its overall retail industry, Hong Kong is implementing the 2022 Compensation Voucher Scheme, where shoppers can experience greater financial access to their shopping experience.

Josephine Chow, head of expansion and co-founder at ShopBack, shared that entering Hong Kong is an exciting prospect for them at ShopBack, as the market’s massive potential for e-commerce and the government’s focus on growing the sector illustrates a clear market demand for financial flexibility and convenience in shopping activities.

“With ShopBack’s vast array of Cashback rewards and financial services, we are excited to see even more shoppers enjoy a seamless shopping experience following our official hard launch in Hong Kong later this year,” said Chow.

Just recently, ShopBack has also launched its first global brand refresh across all its 10 markets in APAC. Underscored by its new tagline – ‘For the Wins’, the brand refresh seeks to translate the small wins on ShopBack’s platform into an elevated shopping experience for its users.

Henry Chan, CEO and co-founder at ShopBack, noted that the platform believes in the power of small wins, applied consistently and continuously, and they work relentlessly to deliver smarter ways to shop and pay, and they hope that the rebrand brings out this message more strongly to their shoppers.

“As we continue to grow our network of partners and brands in Hong Kong, we will continue to engage shoppers across multiple touchpoints, and help partners gain visibility and sales while supporting them in achieving their own victories through small wins,” said Chan.

Hong Kong – Wunderman Thompson in Hong Kong has announced new appointments in its creative and strategic leadership teams namely Wilson Ang as executive creative director and Anant Deboor as head of strategy.

Ang was previously the group creative director at JWT while Deboor had spent more than a decade within the agency.

Ang joins the agency as one of the first creative leaders applying creativity and innovation into digital transformation for clients. In the past 20 years, Ang has worked on Hong Kong and regional accounts as varied as AIA, Disneyland, HSBC, IKEA, McDonald’s, Procter & Gamble and Samsung with over 10 of these years in digital and traditional leadership roles. 

Speaking on his appointment, Ang said, “2022 is destined to be a year of transformation. There are a few things at the core of this celebrated agency, and network at large, that strongly resonate with me. Whether it is an unabashed love for ideas or the wonderful management team one gets to learn from. WT is bubbling with opportunity, and I’m looking forward to working with WT’s creative force to explode its massive potential.”

Meanwhile, Deboor brings a wealth of varied experience, previously working client-side as a global head of strategic marketing, independent board-level marketing strategy consultant and advertising/branding agency-side business leader and planner across Asia-Pacific.

On his appointment, Deboor commented, “As someone who cut his teeth in the ‘thinking, planning’ Thompson world, it gives me immense pleasure to return to the family. New name, newer more advanced capabilities but the same awesome people, and still the same culture and feeling. Wunderman Thompson is home. And really looking forward to doing my bit to help WT Hong Kong return to being the biggest, baddest, most lusted after agency office in all of Asia-Pacific.”

Speaking on the appointments, Maggie Wong, chief executive officer at Wunderman Thompson Hong Kong, said, “We are absolutely delighted to welcome Anant and Wilson back to bolster our strategy and creative teams. Wilson brings with him the passion and expertise in fusing creativity and technology to deliver innovative and meaningful solutions. Anant is an accomplished strategist with decades of experience. I’m confident that they’ll inspire fresh perspectives and collectively take Wunderman Thompson HK to new heights.”

Meanwhile, Sheung Yan Lo, regional chief creative officer at Wunderman Thompson, commented on Wilson Ang’s arrival, “Wilson used to work with us in JWT and it’s great to welcome him back to our new family, Wunderman Thompson. He is one of the very rare creative talents in Asia who embraces data, technology and creativity in work to solve clients’ market challenges.”

Hong Kong – Edelman has strengthened its leadership team in Hong Kong and Taiwan, having elevated leaders across its corporate, brand and technology offerings and expanded its creative team. The appointments come shortly after Delicia Tan’s arrival as CEO of Hong Kong and Greater Bay Area.

From her previous director role in the agency, Sofia Yip is appointed as head of brand across Hong Kong and Taiwan. Edelman said that with brands operating at the intersection of “culture, purpose, and society” to succeed, Sofia’s fluency in brand management, strong track record of leading integrated global and regional accounts and deep local cultural understanding will help its clients’ brands reset and reimagine amidst today’s rapid changes. 

Meanwhile, Oliver Davis has come onboard from Ogilvy as the firm’s new creative director across Hong Kong and Taiwan. Davis brings more than 9 years of experience in creative, having played a critical role in award-winning brand campaigns, activations, product launches and customer communications for brands including Pizza Hut, Huawei, and Coca-Cola. Davis will report to Executive Creative Director, John Koay, who joined the firm earlier this year. 

Alongside the new heads for creative and brand, Edelman has also elevated leaders to lead the team anew in the corporate and technology departments. 

Tasked with diversifying Edelman’s corporate communications offering, Angela Hui has been elevated to head of corporate for Hong Kong and Taiwan. Meanwhile, Simon Chan will serve as head of technology for the Greater Bay Area. Chan joined the team from Edelman London in November 2018. In his new role, he will partner with Edelman’s APAC Tech Sector Lead, John Kerr, overseeing the development of a regional Centre of Excellence based out of Hong Kong, providing regional clients with solutions in the areas of Web 3.0 and the Metaverse.

Delicia Tan, CEO of Edelman Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area, commented, “Clients today demand borderless digital-first integrated communications that drives impact. Working together as onE Edelman team across Hong Kong, Taipei and the Great Bay Area will enable us to create compelling new touchpoints for their stakeholders, while building engaged communities through digital storytelling and immersive experiences. This will enable them to stand out, build engagement and ultimately, drive real action.”

Hong Kong – Ogilvy has announced new senior hires in its Hong Kong and Indonesia offices, namely John Davenport as chief creative officer for Hong Kong and Woon Hoh as chief creative officer for Indonesia.

Both will be responsible for driving Ogilvy’s creative agenda, delivering innovative solutions at the intersection of Ogilvy’s core capabilities, as well as developing new talent.

Hoh has worked at top network agencies all over Asia – including Darcy, BBDO, McCann, JWT and HAKUHODO. Prior to taking up the role as chief creative officer of HAKUHODO ASEAN, as well as executive creative director of HAKUHODO Indonesia.

Meanwhile, Davenport joins from Havas South Africa, where he was responsible for all creative output at the agency, with a track record of facilitating meaningful connections between brands and people through creative, media and technology.

Katryna Mojica, CEO of Ogilvy Hong Kong, said, “John’s strong body of work speaks for itself, but he’s also been great at shaping people and teams, and is someone that you genuinely want to work with. It is great to have him join us in Hong Kong and am looking forward to partnering with him.”

Meanwhile, Reed Collins, chief creative officer for Ogilvy in APAC, commented, “As we emerge from the worst of the pandemic, we are seeing renewed energy from our clients across the region looking to accelerate their marketing ambitions. We are responding in kind with significant investments in our senior creative leadership whilst focusing on our commitment to borderless creativity and agile growth mindset.”

He added, “John and Woon are both highly talented and well-respected creative leaders known for their ability to come up with big ideas that drive business-changing impact for clients. I have admired Woon’s work for many years. His experience and intimate knowledge of Indonesia in particular adds to our growing arsenal of creative firepower in the region. John has shone at three of South Africa’s most renowned creative agencies including one under his own namesake. We are so fortunate to have this positive ball of energy now in Hong Kong.”

Hong Kong – Consumer bank DBS in Hong Kong has launched a new regional brand campaign called ‘Be a Different Kind of Bank’, which makes clear that the bank is more like a startup, as well as more techie and eco-warrior, and less like a traditional bank. 

The campaign signals DBS’ belief that a different kind of bank is needed in a post-pandemic world. It also highlights the bank’s commitment to intensifying efforts going forward to become even more like a forward-looking tech company offering financial services and less like a conventional bank. Moreover, it will continue to up the ante on addressing sustainability issues and devoting itself to being a purpose-driven bank.

Moreover, the campaign encapsulates several aspects of how DBS embodies being a different kind of bank, which include inculcating a startup culture, where a spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship will continue to flourish, and committing to continuous innovation, where the bank seeks to ensure that banking is simple, fast and effortless, increasingly personalised, and seamlessly woven into everyday life.

Another aspect is advancing the sustainability agenda, where the bank will be supporting social enterprises and prioritising action on climate change, powering philanthropic and relief efforts.

Karen Ngui, DBS’ group head of strategic marketing and communications and DBS Foundation’s board member, shared that with COVID-19 upending economies and societies, now more than ever, they must be able to anticipate and lead change so their customers and the community at large can ‘Live more, Live better, and Bank less’. 

“By behaving more like a startup, more like a techie, more like an eco-warrior, and less like a ‘traditional’ bank, we believe we can be a bank for the times – a different kind of bank for a post-Covid world,” said Ngui. 

Aside from Hong Kong, the regional brand campaign will also be rolled out in Singapore, Mainland China, India, Indonesia, and Taiwan over the next two months.

Hong Kong SAR – ESG and sustainability issues alike have been moving up the corporate agenda in recent years. According to Google Search Trend, the keyword ‘ESG’ search popularity in Hong Kong has been soaring and surpassed ‘Sustainability’ in May this year; however, public curiosity about the topic doesn’t seem to convert into actual practice, according to the territory-wide SME sustainability survey conducted by the Centre for Civil Society and Governance (CCSG) at The University of Hong Kong.

According to the findings, slightly over one-third (36.7%) of SMEs rated themselves as effective at advancing sustainability goals compared to only 4.4% of SMEs rated ineffective. Among the 24 practices across five dimensions, namely governance, workplace culture, customer-supplier relationships, resource management and innovation, the study reveals that the average number of sustainability practices adopted was 7.7 across all industries.

SMEs were quick to be honest that they are encountering several dilemmas in achieving sustainable practices. Amongst such challenges, economic and financial instability comes out on top (65.4%), followed by global health crisis (53.8%), and consumer expectations (22.9%), which suggest that SMEs are struggling to stay resilient and recover from the unstable economic environment. 

In contrast, long-term social-ecological risks such as climate change, human rights, and inequality only received 6.3%, 4.8%, and 3% of respondents identified them as a challenge. This might suggest that SMEs are less concerned about the potential risks induced by climate change, or not aware enough of social challenges such as inequalities in the workplace that could cause serious implications for their businesses in the long run.

Furthermore, the study found that the most needed support for integrating sustainability into the SMEs’ business operations, strategies and business models are namely financial support (47.7%), and marketing support (41.2%), whilst such support is ideally provided by the government (69%), followed by business associations, and banks and financial institutions, both receiving 30.8% of the response. This implies that the most effective way to encourage SMEs to integrate sustainability is to offer financial incentives.

Professor Wai-Fung Lam, director of CCSG, and professor of Politics and Public Administration at the University of Hong Kong, remarked, “The business sustainability agenda has been steadily gaining momentum. However, the spotlight remains on the role of multinational corporations and listed companies. As the engine of economic progress, SMEs have made diverse contributions to social and environmental well-being. Yet, their unique challenges and constraints have not been widely studied. This points to the need to understand the role and positioning of SMEs in creating the impulse to achieve widespread positive, social, environmental and economic change for a more sustainable future.” 

The Survey was based on the views of 1,400 SMEs in Hong Kong within the period of November 2021 to April 2022.