Mr Francis Cleetus has quit as D'Arcy Hong Kong group creative
director to take up a CD's position at Doe-Anderson Advertising and
Public Relations, based in Louisville, Kentucky.
Mr Cleetus started his advertising career at FCB, New Delhi, in 1989
before an eight-year stint in Hong Kong with some of the biggest
agencies in town: O&M, JWT and finally D'Arcy.
He said the move would allow him to "rejuvenate his creative juices" and
complete a few of his own projects, including finishing his novel.
Mr Cleetus, the winner of numerous awards, described Doe-Anderson as
having the potential of being "another Fallon", because of the agency's
emphasis on the proper way of advertising, which was no longer apparent
in Hong Kong.
"There has been a shift to a more retail approach to advertising rather
than long-term brand-building," he said. "A lot of the time, clients
don't know the difference between concept and execution. All they are
looking at is getting the ad out as quickly as possible. Sometimes I
think, 'Good Lord, if I had just a day more, it would have been a more
effective ad'."
