Mr Conrad Chiu's arrival at e-MPI in September will see the digital
marketing solutions provider start staffing up from its current payroll
of 30 to 80 by October.
Launched six months ago by Hang Lung's Chan family under their
privately-held Morningside Technologies umbrella, e-MPI will offer
clients a new business model, one that melds digital capabilities with
communications and consultancy expertise, according to Mr Chiu, who
recently announced he had quit as MD for JWT Hong Kong and south China
and vice-president of international operations.
Several new hires have already been made in marketing and communications
as well as in the business strategies side, which he said would be
announced shortly.
Mr Chiu's arrival will also free managing director Winnie To from
day-to-day responsibilities. Ms To has since assumed the executive
director's position at Morningside.
The decision to switch sides was an easy one for Mr Chiu, who admitted
to being "obsessed with the digital world".
With the electronic world spawning more businesses, despite a forecast
shake-out for the industry, Mr Chiu believes the time has come to bridge
the chasm between digital companies and their traditional marketing and
communications counterparts.
"A lot of digital companies have focused on the technology part, while
ad agencies have strong marketing and communications expertise, but lack
the tech side," said Mr Chiu.
"It's a gap I would like to integrate at e-MPI, by bringing in strong
consumer insights and understanding to the tech capabilities already
available at the company."
His goal is to develop e-MPI into a Scient or Sapient-type business, US
companies which have successfully evolved new business models by
bridging the digital and communications/consultancy divide between old
and new economy firms.
Mr Chiu expects his knowledge and understanding of the new technology,
which he picked up during his days at JWT, will help him bridge the
digital divide.
"When I took over as managing director (at JWT), there were two
directions I had before me - either rebuild the agency to its former
glory or anticipate the future and evolve the company," said Mr
Chiu.
"My team - it was not just me - chose the latter option.
"We decided to focus very much on preparing to become an agency, which
met the market's future requirements, chiefly in Web technology and
service."
The decision was made about four years ago, well before the Internet
emerged as a key business driver in Hong Kong, he said, crediting the
team's foresight and effort in working on telecommunications and
technology accounts.
Painful though the evolution was, he said JWT's transformation put the
agency in better shape to withstand, even grow, during the financial
crisis that hit Asia.
