Superunion opens Shenzhen studio

WPP company Superunion is opening a new studio in Shenzhen, which is its fourth office in the Greater China region. The new office will be led by Monica Lee, Superunion Asia chair, and Maggie Chien, business director.

2021 marks the 20th anniversary of Superunion in China, and the new studio expands Superunion’s footprint in Greater Bay Area (GBA), with founding clients such as Tencent, Riot Games, Vivo and Vanke Nantou City. 

Monica Lee

Superunion is working with Tencent to communicate its next generation of products and entertainment platforms. And in the Greater Bay Area, Superunion is working with Vanke on the creative transformation of Nantou City, an ancient city located at the heart of Nanshan District in Shenzhen. Across Asia, Superunion also has clients such as HSBC, Lazada, Shangri-La, Vivo and McCafe.

“Our ethos revolves around being a revolutionary creative company, and the Greater Bay Area (GBA) is very much where many of China’s revolutionary creative businesses are born, providing incredible opportunities for us in areas like technology, AI and biotech,” Superunion Asia CEO Benedict Gordon said in a release.

In an interview with Campaign China, Lee outlined the three new categories of brands that Superunion is working with in the GBA and across southern China.

The first category is “new technology” companies including Tencent, Vivo and Riot Games. “In fact, games, networks, communications, internet of things, even artificial intelligence and the new finance, all belong to the new technology companies,” she said.

The second category is “new consumption”. “From beauty to food, like tea, or FMCG products, these products often become a hit on the Internet.”

The third category is “new culture and new lifestyle”.  “In this category,  real estate companies are now transforming from selling properties to managing commercial properties," Lee said. "In this process, real estate companies will provide services and communicate with the audience, such as Nantou City”.

Lee used a metaphor to explain the situation of many new brands in the market that turned out to be “meteors”. In fact, all new brands hope to be “stars shining many years in the sky”. 

Launching more and more new products is not a workable solution for new consumption brands. She believes that brands from the new consumption category must balance the present and future, by “launching marketing campaigns with consciousness, sharing brand stories, and creating a truly branded experience”.

Nantou City, Shenzhen