By the summer of 2005, Chris Leong was considering dropping out of the advertising industry for a couple of years.
In charge of Grey’s struggling Singapore operation, a move that she terms as “suicidal”, Leong was contemplating a break from the agency treadmill, just 12 months into her tenure as Singapore chief.
In charge of Grey’s struggling Singapore operation, a move that she terms as “suicidal”, Leong was contemplating a break from the agency treadmill, just 12 months into her tenure as Singapore chief.
“I actually welcomed the move to Singapore,” she recalls, on the shift from the Grey Malaysia office that she had headed for two years.
“Malaysia took a lot out of me. It was almost a welcome suggestion.”
What happened next, of course, probably proved even more welcome. Leong was approached to head marketing for mobile giant Nokia in China.
Already a Nokia veteran of sorts, given her long tenure at roster agencies Bates and Grey, it seems unlikely that the decision was a difficult one to make.
While the geographical distance between Singapore and Beijing is relatively small, it is hard - in marketing terms at least - to imagine a bigger shift than switching from the head of a tiny agency in Singapore to controlling marketing for the world’s largest mobile company in the largest country in the world.
And yet, the former Singapore Airlines flight attendant has thrived in her new role, despite the considerable flux that has accompanied her first two years at Nokia.
Since she joined, Nokia has conducted a massive, high-profile review of its creative agency roster, and restructured its global organisation. The latter development led to Leong being promoted to global head of marketing services, one of the few China marketers to make the leap to a bona-fide global role.
And last month, she was crowned Marketer of the Year at Media’s Agency of the Year awards for 2007, 12 years after winning Suit of the Year at the same competition.
For Leong, the changes were necessary. When interviewed by current CEO Oli Pekka Kallasvuo, who at that point headed the company’s mobile phone business, she was asked for her opinion of Nokia’s marketing. It is not a subject that she shies away from.
“You look at all the IBM advertising and then you look at Apple. In our industry we don’t differentiate enough,” she says. “We have a comfort zone where we all play. But I think that’s an excuse. We can try harder.”
The agencies that have been assigned to “try harder”, of course, are JWT and, perhaps surprisingly, Wieden & Kennedy. Nokia chose the duo following a lengthy global pitch that culminated in the end of its 12-year relationship with Asian incumbent Bates, an agency where Leong has spent the bulk of her career.
Understandably, Leong is quick to dismiss the notion that her own split from Bates had any bearing on the outcome of the pitch. “If anything, I was double and triple professional about it,” she says.
Still, if there is one thing that Leong knows well, it is the inner workings of agencies. As one of her former colleagues points out: “She knows agencies better than they know themselves. This should terrify them.”
For JWT and MediaCom, the two agency relationships that Leong will oversee in her new role, this may be of some concern.
“I take that comment as a compliment,” admits Leong. “I always expect the team to exceed expectations. But I’m not really tough, just super-conscientious.”
Others may beg to differ. “You couldn’t find a better suit. I would hate to go up against her in a pitch because she never gives up,” says another former colleague.
“But she would be a tough client. She’d be right more often than she’s wrong, she knows agencies and she won’t take no for an answer. She’s very ambitious, talented and smart - for all those reasons, she can rub people up the wrong way.”
For Leong, agencies may be the least of her worries. She is keenly aware of the need to “stretch the creative product”, as she puts it, at a company that has often struggled to emotionally connect with its customers. And, as she warms to the subject, a fairly coherent philosophy emerges.
“One of the key reasons we hired Wieden & Kennedy is because it came across as a genuine partner that can build our business - not as a wank creative hotshop,” she points out. “Today, the brand is transparent. I don’t think anyone has ever found a way to respect that relationship with consumers and work with it.”
“Malaysia took a lot out of me. It was almost a welcome suggestion.”
What happened next, of course, probably proved even more welcome. Leong was approached to head marketing for mobile giant Nokia in China.
Already a Nokia veteran of sorts, given her long tenure at roster agencies Bates and Grey, it seems unlikely that the decision was a difficult one to make.
While the geographical distance between Singapore and Beijing is relatively small, it is hard - in marketing terms at least - to imagine a bigger shift than switching from the head of a tiny agency in Singapore to controlling marketing for the world’s largest mobile company in the largest country in the world.
And yet, the former Singapore Airlines flight attendant has thrived in her new role, despite the considerable flux that has accompanied her first two years at Nokia.
Since she joined, Nokia has conducted a massive, high-profile review of its creative agency roster, and restructured its global organisation. The latter development led to Leong being promoted to global head of marketing services, one of the few China marketers to make the leap to a bona-fide global role.
And last month, she was crowned Marketer of the Year at Media’s Agency of the Year awards for 2007, 12 years after winning Suit of the Year at the same competition.
For Leong, the changes were necessary. When interviewed by current CEO Oli Pekka Kallasvuo, who at that point headed the company’s mobile phone business, she was asked for her opinion of Nokia’s marketing. It is not a subject that she shies away from.
“You look at all the IBM advertising and then you look at Apple. In our industry we don’t differentiate enough,” she says. “We have a comfort zone where we all play. But I think that’s an excuse. We can try harder.”
The agencies that have been assigned to “try harder”, of course, are JWT and, perhaps surprisingly, Wieden & Kennedy. Nokia chose the duo following a lengthy global pitch that culminated in the end of its 12-year relationship with Asian incumbent Bates, an agency where Leong has spent the bulk of her career.
Understandably, Leong is quick to dismiss the notion that her own split from Bates had any bearing on the outcome of the pitch. “If anything, I was double and triple professional about it,” she says.
Still, if there is one thing that Leong knows well, it is the inner workings of agencies. As one of her former colleagues points out: “She knows agencies better than they know themselves. This should terrify them.”
For JWT and MediaCom, the two agency relationships that Leong will oversee in her new role, this may be of some concern.
“I take that comment as a compliment,” admits Leong. “I always expect the team to exceed expectations. But I’m not really tough, just super-conscientious.”
Others may beg to differ. “You couldn’t find a better suit. I would hate to go up against her in a pitch because she never gives up,” says another former colleague.
“But she would be a tough client. She’d be right more often than she’s wrong, she knows agencies and she won’t take no for an answer. She’s very ambitious, talented and smart - for all those reasons, she can rub people up the wrong way.”
For Leong, agencies may be the least of her worries. She is keenly aware of the need to “stretch the creative product”, as she puts it, at a company that has often struggled to emotionally connect with its customers. And, as she warms to the subject, a fairly coherent philosophy emerges.
“One of the key reasons we hired Wieden & Kennedy is because it came across as a genuine partner that can build our business - not as a wank creative hotshop,” she points out. “Today, the brand is transparent. I don’t think anyone has ever found a way to respect that relationship with consumers and work with it.”
