Publicis appoints media CEO in Hong Kong

Publicis Groupe appointed Lawrence Yang as CEO of Publicis Media Hong Kong, effective June 1.

Yang is currently CEO of the media line of business at Dentsu International Hong Kong, where he has spent seven years, first with iProspect and then in the CEO role starting in early 2020. Prior to Dentsu he worked with GroupM and Publicis Groupe in Sydney and New York, 24/7 Media in Sydney and Tourism Holdings New Zealand in Auckland.

The CEO role is a new one given the growing importance of Publicis Media in Hong Kong, the agency said. David Chan was the previous leader of Publicis Media in Hong Kong as MD. He left in 2019 and has not been replaced. 

Yang will report to Tom Kao, CEO of Publicis Groupe Hong Kong, and will oversee Zenith, Starcom, Spark Foundry, Digitas, Performics and Publicis PMX. His charge will be to build the strategic value propositions for the media brands and the broader portfolio strategy to accelerate business growth and transformation, according to a release.

“The key growth areas in our market are in data and tech-driven media, and we are taking great strides forward with our clients," Kao said. "I am confident with Lawrence taking the helm at Publicis Media, we are going to accelerate our transformation to enhance our quality of work and expand our total offerings to all our clients.”

Yang said agencies need to upgrade their offerings from providing services to providing business solutions. "Publicis Groupe has a remarkable set of media brands and brings them all to life in a more integrated way is what our clients want and need in this ever-changing environment," he said. 

The company also announced two appointments made in February: Chris Cheng joined as head of PMX and Sharon Lau was named general manager of Starcom Hong Kong.