CAREERS MEDIA: Ad verteran Lun quits, jumps into new cyber career

<p>After 20 years in the advertising business, Euro RSCG's Hong Kong </p><p>managing director and chief executive officer Kitty Lun has called it </p><p>quits and announced that she is moving to a dotcom. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Ms Lun, among the most senior ad executive to take the plunge into </p><p>cyberspace, has been hired by Korean-funded, women's lifestyle portal </p><p>myclub.com as chief executive officer for Greater China. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>She has been tasked with running the Hong Kong operations and opening up </p><p>China and Taiwan to the new venture. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Myclub.com, which has regional ambitions, currently only has two sites </p><p>in operation: Hong Kong and Korea. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Ms Lun said that the world of the Internet has sparked within her a </p><p>passion and enthusiasm she had not felt since she first started in the </p><p>advertising industry some two decades ago. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"don't get me wrong. I am still passionate about advertising, but when I </p><p>encountered the Internet, it gave me greater excitement and </p><p>inspiration," she told MEDIA. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>But Ms Lun, who since the beginning of the year has led Euro Hong Kong </p><p>to winning eight dotcom clients with billings of US$35 million </p><p>but not including myclub.com, is unfazed about uncertainties now </p><p>rattling cyberspace - that technology stocks are apparently losing </p><p>favour among investors globally along with news about cyber failures in </p><p>Europe and North America. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"It's going to be a game of survival. Only the fittest and the best will </p><p>survive and no doubt there will be a lot of failures, but myclub.com has </p><p>real potential and solid concepts and planning behind it. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"I know it's going to be a big rush to build the brand and the </p><p>business. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Everyone in the Internet business knows that. But I will be applying to </p><p>myclub.com everything I have learned in advertising," she said. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>With her leaving the advertising industry, Ms Lun will not be able to </p><p>stand for re-election for a seat on the Hong Kong 4As executive </p><p>committee later this year. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>However, she said that she would remain in the organisation as a </p><p>volunteer/ consultant to continue the work to rejuvenate advertising and </p><p>make it more attractive as a career choice for young people. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>But Ms Lun denied that her continued role in the 4As would be seen as </p><p>something of an irony now that she herself has decided to leave the </p><p>industry. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"In the new economy, there are more partners than enemies and there are </p><p>fewer barriers between industries. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>(If you think about it, strategic and creative concepts in building a </p><p>brand are universal; they don't have to just exist within advertising </p><p>agencies." </p><p><BR><BR> </p>