CReATION: Decipher: bringing strategic digital clarity to Hong Kong

Lowe & Partners/Live is making way for a newcomer in its Hong Kong offices. And attempting to make sense of the SAR's digital scrum is fellow Lowe Group member, Decipher. Bringing the cachet of such brand heavyweights as UK supermarket chain Tesco, which recently took its offering onto the Web and became the biggest online grocer in the world, HSBC, Unilever, Vauxhaull and Porsche to Asia - you could say Decipher knows its online onions. It should do - it's provided the digital strategy behind these and other large scale Web successes in the UK and stateside. Luckily, founder Nigel Walley is under no illusion that Asia's Web space will conveniently mimic Europe or the US. "Our view is that Asia is as different to Europe in the new media space as Europe is to the US - and in some aspects it's ahead with the mobile and hand-held revolution." Interestingly, he views innovation-driving trends as less apparent here. "The trend towards new media family conglomerates, where every group has got a Web design company, a portal, a systems integrator and some content companies reflects Asian business practices, but prevents some of the frenetic competition which drives innovation in other markets," he said. And while, to some, piggybacking off the Lowe Group's existing market advantage might seem the ideal plan for an Asian debut, Mr Walley is keen to stress that Decipher is the only entity within the group not to have 'Lowe' in its name. A "hands-off" approach that wasn't an accident. "We tend to help companies establish new digital businesses that only fall into the sphere of Lowe's interest once they are at that launch stage - so the Lowe clients that work with us tend to do so separately from their Lowe relationship," he said. Aside from HSBC, however, Decipher's Hong Kong client menagerie will undoubtably include the emerging digital TV sector. And importing the knowledge garnered from the UK's multinational TV giants was one area Mr Walley earmarked as potentially "ground-breaking" in a localised context. "We're not just focusing on Web pages, we do the whole technology spectrum, " he added. But while the streets may be littered with dotcoms crying out for a decent Web strategy, finding the right person to head-up Decipher's Asian offering has thrown up its own set of pitfalls. "It's a really great opportunity for someone who's come in and doesn't have to get into the boring stuff like building the infrastructure - it's already there," noted Decipher case leader Ian Partington. "All they (the winning candidate) have to do is get the right people, get the clients and get the business going." As the toss up between a consultancy staffer, a digital TV specialist, or a stragecially-minded agency staffer ensues, one burning question remains: anyone want a job?

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