Gold Awards
Asian Network of the Year
Winner
The Hoffman Agency, Asia-Pacific, Hong Kong
Silicon Valley-based hi-tech firm The Hoffman Agency this year
launched its fifth Asian office in Korea, having arrived in Asia
from the US in 1996. The agency’s CEO and founder, Lou Hoffman,
has always aimed to build a network in the region, so there is great
satisfaction for the whole firm as it raises the Asian Network of
the Year award.
But the ‘dots on the map’ strategy has never been enough
on its own to serve clients in the Asia-Pacific region. Hoffman
has demonstrated this with its commitment to winning clients locally
and servicing them regionally.
Last year alone, Hoffman picked up 38 client wins. With the exception
of only one of them, every win was from an opportunity that originated
in Asia, rather than from the US. This has led to revenue growth
of 230 percent over the year.
With offices in Tokyo, Seoul, Beijing, Korea and Hong Kong, and
only 27 account-handling staff in all of those offices, the agency
does not claim to compete on size. Instead, its strategy has been
to build local experience and a cooperative culture between the
offices. Just one of these strategies aimed at encouraging a ‘regionalism’
in the network has been its decision to run its P&L on a regional,
rather than a country level.
The strategy has paid off under the management of regional MD Michelle
Herman.
Its client handling abilities in Asia were exemplified when Charles
Cotton, CEO of Virata, took a five-day tour of Asia with Hoffman
preparing Q&As and assisting with media training while he was
on the road.
Other major wins this year have included telecommunications equipment
maker CommWorks, which gave a vote of confidence by selecting Hoffman
as its global agency of record.
The consultancy’s collaborative environment and culture of
sharing ideas and capabilities make it this year’s winner of
the Network award.
Honourable mentions
Burson-Marsteller Asia Ltd.,
Hong Kong,
So, What Makes a Network?
Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide,
Hong Kong,
Catching the Bullet Train
Back to top
|
