Hong Kong The South China Morning Post (SCMP) announced the hiring of two senior executives for its advertising division. This decision is based on significant, double-digit year-over-year growth in advertising income, allowing companies to engage with the publication’s 35 million global audience. 

Lee Williamson will be based in Hong Kong as the Post’s executive director of Specialist Publications (SP). In this role, he will direct the Post’s Lifestyle Content Division and oversee the expansion of publications such as Style, 100 Top Tables, and XXIV.

He has experience in media executive and content strategist, Lee Williamson recently joined the Post after leaving Tatler Asia. Williamson offers his expertise from his position as founding editor and regional head of Tatler Gen.T, a community-focused content platform for young leaders in Asia.

Celine Asril has been appointed as the strategy director of Morning Studio (MS) at the SCMP, which is another significant appointment. In order to showcase MS’ creative marketing solutions, she works with the business team and leads the ideation hub. 

Asril has returned to the Post after working at FINN Partners in Singapore. She formerly worked as a content strategist at Morning Studio and TBWA. Asril will keep her headquarters in Singapore.

Speaking about his appointment, Williamson said, “I am thrilled to be joining the SCMP to lead its Lifestyle Content Division. My first priority is to build community and deeper engagement with the Post’s global audience around our lifestyle content. I see a lot of opportunities to elevate our portfolio of offerings and curate content informed by our audience’s preferences and needs.” 

Meanwhile, Kevin Huang, chief operating officer at the SCMP, said, “With Lee’s strong track record in journalism and community building and Celine’s deep expertise in content development and execution, I am confident they will bring fresh, innovative approaches to meet our affluent audience’s evolving needs and maximise ROI for our partners and brands.”

Speaking on her return, Asril expressed, “I cannot be more excited to return to the SCMP. I hope to leverage my broad experience working with multi-sector brands to help raise the bar for Morning Studio through data-driven, multi-platform strategies, building on the Post’s 120 years of brand equity.” 

Hong Kong – The South China Morning Post (SCMP), the Hong Kong-headquartered news company, has unveiled its Readers of SCMP Campaign, which tells the international story of Hong Kong through the lens of six readers from different walks of life who exemplify the defining qualities of the Post’s audience base. 

The campaign spotlights the message that great journeys start with ‘anyone, anywhere, at any time’ by featuring the vignettes of six readers whose profiles epitomize the international story of Hong Kong in their ‘moments of creation’.

The six personalities featured in the Readers of SCMP Campaign are Allan Zeman, chairman of LKF Group; May Chow, chef and founder of Little Bao; Steven Lam, co-founder and CEO of GoGoX; Shalini Mahtani, founder of The Zubin Foundation, Gregory Van, co-founder and CEO of Endowus; and Anson Chan, a student at Island School.

According to the release, they represent the Post’s reader archetypes, as represented by makers, leaders, pioneers, innovators, and visionaries. The vignettes are a celebration of the social, cultural and economic influence these archetypes wield.

“The first brand initiative of our 120th anniversary, this Readers of SCMP campaign celebrates the entrepreneurial community of Hong Kong which has been with the Post every step of the way since day one,” said Kevin Huang, chief operating officer of SCMP

He added, “We connect partners to quality Asian affluent and influential business decision maker audiences. Our culturally relevant content and events drive connection and consideration, and our first party data platform and brand safety tools deliver impact through insights and context.”

Paul Phillips, strategy and insights director at SCMP said that the campaign was conceived as a result of findings by in-house market research conducted in January 2023, revealing SCMP’s leading and nuanced market share in quality, affluent and influential readership.

“With this campaign, we are celebrating our readers who are shaping our world. They are the makers, leaders, pioneers, innovators and visionaries of today and tomorrow,” he added.

Previously, SCMP has also released its campaign that showcases journalism as more than the sum of its parts, titled ‘More than a story’.

Hong Kong – Hong Kong-headquartered global news company The South China Morning Post (SCMP) has announced the appointment of Lou Wee as its new director of global strategic business

Based in Hong Kong, Wee’s role sits within the Post’s Advertising and Marketing Solutions (AMS) business with the mandate to build and nurture long-term partnerships with global strategic accounts. 

Wee rejoins SCMP after his move to VICE Media as vice president of sales and brand partnerships, APAC in 2022. In SCMP, he previously held the roles of head of advertising sales for Hong Kong and regional markets as well as regional director of advertising and partnerships for more than three years. 

With over 15 years of diverse media and advertising experience acquired from Hong Kong and Singapore, Wee counts VICE Media, FOX Networks Group, CNBC, and The Wall Street Journal amongst his prior career appointments where he was responsible for advertising sales and partnerships.

Commenting on his appointment, Wee said, “Hong Kong holds a very special place in my heart – not only has it been my home base for the past 8 years, I also owe much of the success that I enjoy in my personal and professional life to this city.”

He added, “My appointment and return to SCMP comes at an exciting point of the Post’s journey as it enters its 120th year of journalistic legacy, the reopening of Hong Kong to the rest of the world and a tech-forward next-phase which will continue to pave the way for SCMP’s leading role in the Asia media industry.”

Kevin Huang, chief operating officer of SCMP also said that Wee’s rich industry and regional background reflects the mission of SCMP’s global strategic business, which is to work with partners worldwide in targeting respective local markets across APAC and globally.

Huang added, “As our readers are a global community, the majority of which comprises the APAC market with a particularly strong presence in Hong Kong, Singapore and the rest of Southeast Asia, followed by the North America market, Wee’s homecoming highlights the Post’s robust regional position and strong confidence in Asia as a leading global hub for media and advertising.”

This follows Sophia Yu’s appointment as managing director of SCMP’s magazine division, SCMP Hearst.