Liu, who leaves his role as the Asia-Pacific chief executive officer for Aegis Media Group and Carat at the end of this month, will report to former Aegis boss, Doug Flynn, who joined Rentokil earlier this year. "Rentokil has had quite a low profile for the last five to six years in Asia, eventhough the company has been operating in some markets in Asia as far back as 40 years ago," he said.
Tasked with setting up the regional headoffice in Hong Kong, Liu said his first task would be to appoint agency partners to raise the brand's Asia-Pacific profile.
"PR is definitely an area I will be looking at because during Sars, Rentokil didn't have the profile, even though it is one of the best names in the hygiene sector," said Liu.
Liu has been tapped to grow Rentokil's regional profile, with the company -- which saw profits fall by 20 per cent in the first half of this year -- merging its Asia and Pacific business. "I've done agency jobs for 26 years and this is an opportunity for me to do something else," said Liu.
UK-based Rentokil is currently the subject of a take-over bid by Raphoe Management, which was formed to acquire under-performing stocks.
Rentokil hunts for PR support
Pest control and hygiene support services group Rentokil will begin an immediate hunt for B2B marketing and PR agencies following agency veteran David Liu's appointment as its first Asia-Pacific head.