Ong to quit Publicis China for own shop

Publicis China has been dealt another blow, with national ECD and China managing partner Larry Ong announcing he will leave at the end of this month.

by | 11/03/2006

Ong, who joined the network's China operation from Ogilvy & Mather in September 2004, will launch his own branding consultancy, i-DNA, specialising in three key areas of communications: brand consulting, creative media channels and trends and insights.

Ong said that while he has left the door open in terms of future consulting work with Publicis, his new venture was in the final stages of linking under an undisclosed group structure consisting of three other unnamed agencies, each focusing on conventional advertising, events and entertainment and media innovation respectively.Publicis China has been dealt another blow, with national ECD and China managing partner Larry Ong announcing he will leave at the end of this month.

"We don't see ourselves as competitors (to 4As networks), there is a gap to fill and we can fill it," he said. "We currently have five clients, but we don't intend to deal with many at all. One of the problems facing today's agencies is there are too many clients."

I-DNA is launching in Shanghai with an initial staff of 10 people. Ong's departure follows the exit of former China CEO and Shanghai MD Neil Hardwick from Publicis Groupe, after 22 years with the network. Asia-Pacific chairman Guillaume Levy-Lambert stressed the two departures were not linked: "It is simply a coincidence in timing," he said.

The resignations follow that of Publicis China managing partner in Beijing, chief executive SY Lau in January this year, after just 13 months in the mainland role.