Photo Credit: Genista via Compfight cc
By Thomas Glucksmann-Smith and Ella Wong
The Hoffman Agency, Hong Kong
No matter what news source you’ve been reading, chances are you’ve seen articles about Asia’s rising economies, corporate powerhouses, technological innovations and global cultural influence. There is no doubt that we are living in the “Asian Century.” So we need to get with the times faster than ever before and start working with brands from across the dynamic and diverse Asia Pacific to help them build a reputation and voice within the region and on a global scale.
On August 18, The Hoffman Agency was joined by regional industry publication Campaign Asia and commercial partner BBC Worldwide to co-host and organize a roundtable on communication strategies for Chinese companies going global.
Our “Brand China” event was attended by executives from some of China’s leading enterprises — those in the process of expanding beyond the borders of the middle kingdom.
The discussion touched upon a range of challenges and possible solutions to help Chinese companies enhance their brand awareness and communication strategies outside of China.
Our CEO, Lou Hoffman, was among the participants and shared his commentary. During the roundtable, he mentioned that as a Silicon Valley-based agency, we understand the cultural nuances in perceptions of Chinese, or even Asian companies, across regions in the United States. Asian companies cannot simply make a leap of faith to expect immediate success in the global market, and we are here to help create compelling brand stories tailored for localized audiences.
Brand China marked the official start of our Asia Going Global strategy, which targets Asian brands looking for integrated communications solutions that can be implemented on a global scale. In fact, we’ve already delivered on our Asia Going Global campaign by successfully launching Chinese smartphone brand, MEIZU, in the United States.
MEIZU’s first step to building its brand in the U.S. market started at CES 2014.
The campaign secured 56 pieces of original coverage, with a total audience reach of 318,228,026 — including syndications. Original coverage included pieces from USA Today, Barron’s, Fortune, Associated Press, The Next Web and ZDNet, among others. Fox News also broadcasted a live segment of the MEIZU MX3 nationally. The campaign was deemed worthy of a “gold” according to the Hermes Creative Awards team (and not too shabby, if we do say so ourselves).
Moving forward, we hope to showcase our capabilities to potential clients in Asia, highlighting our strengths in conducting multi-market campaigns, our pan-cultural understanding and our single P&L model that offers flexibility to brands looking for global, turnkey communications solutions.
When we say “Asian” clients, we are of course not only referring to those from Mainland China, but a range of countries, including Japan, Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam. While we’re established technology communication folks, we’re not afraid to venture beyond our comfort zone. After all, let’s face it … most companies can be called “tech” companies these days.
With our widespread capabilities, pan-Asian presence and global perspective, there is no reason why we shouldn’t become an integrated communications leader in the Asian Century.
