MEDIA-I: Lemon shifts to offline marketing

<p>HONG KONG: Lemon has slashed staff numbers by more than 50 per cent </p><p>in an effort to stay afloat amid declining adspend and reduced marketing </p><p>budgets. The web design agency has also changed its business model to </p><p>offer corporate communications services, including brand consultancy and </p><p>traditional marketing. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Neil Runcieman, chief executive officer at Lemon, said the layoffs were </p><p>the result of economic conditions. "The situation is that our clients </p><p>don't have money to spend. It's not a case of they don't want to, but </p><p>business is slow and they have either cut their budgets or just aren't </p><p>spending at all. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"I held on as long as I could, but something needed to be done. It soon </p><p>became obvious that the situation wouldn't improve and we had to cut </p><p>back, which is what a lot of our customers are doing. I don't see a </p><p>turnaround in the short term. We still have work in the pipeline and we </p><p>will continue with this as normal." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The agency, set up in 1995, was forced to reduce its headcount from </p><p>about 54 to 25. Its portfolio of clients included CLP, Hong Kong Jockey </p><p>Club, KCRC, Nike Asia-Pacific, Fosters, and dotcoms such as the defunct </p><p>AdSociety. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The agency also serves British Airways, which it picked up when it </p><p>acquired Mercatela. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"We've been expanding our service offerings over the last six to nine </p><p>months. Lemon initially began with web design. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"We have people here with an offline background, including myself, and </p><p>that has helped us understand all the various options for our </p><p>clients. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Now, we are not going to them and saying we will build a website for </p><p>you, but we are giving them what their business really needs. It's a lot </p><p>easier to talk to people when you're going in there helping clients </p><p>achieve an increase in their state of business and helping them </p><p>communicate better with clients." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Runcieman stressed that the agency was not in competition "with the </p><p>likes of Ogilvy & Mather and Landor". </p><p><BR><BR> </p>