Grey wins US$17m in HK, China dotcom accounts

Grey has revealed that it has won a slew of dotcom accounts in Hong Kong and China worth about HK$130 million (about US$17 million) over the past six months. The figure, it claimed, represented between 10 and 20 per cent of its total billings in the SAR and the mainland. The wins included CTI's CTInets and Hong Kong broadband, Sunevision's propertystreet.net, New World Cyberspacce's ehongkong.com, Hutchison's bigboxx.com and mingpao.com. However, Grey Hong Kong and China MD Andrew Lee denied that the agency was putting too much focus on the Internet. "We have maintained our traditional client base and we have added a few as well; Castrol Hong Kong and China, which we won from Saatchis, and Founder Computers, the second-largest computer brand in China. "But the fact is that the dotcom sector is the fastest-growing industry right now and we have to tap into it because even our traditional clients are moving into the Internet," he told MEDIA. Ms Viveca Chan, Grey's Hong Kong CEO and China chairman, agreed that a consolidation was looming in the dotcom sector; however, she pointed out that steps have been taken to ensure payment. "For dotcoms with traditional businesses behind them such as Sun Hung Kai and Hutchison, which are our traditional clients, we don't take any special measures, but for pure start-ups with no bricks and mortar support, we ask for bank guarantees or pre-payment." However, she stressed that a consolidation didn't mean that the Internet would go away, but it would become part of the traditional media mix of print and TV. "The development of the Internet has been rapid, and while there might be a consolidation, we can see what's coming up ahead - convergence," Ms Chan said. This is why, she added, Grey had established Grey Interactive and, more recently, Beyond Interactive, to keep its competitive edge sharp.

Sign In

Trouble signing in?

Reset Password: Click here

Contact Customer Support at

Customerservice@campaignasia.com