Web Guru downsizes as Moore sells shares

The digital marketing specialist also shut down its network of regional sales offices in Singapore, Shanghai and Tokyo in the last quarter of 2005, leaving remaining founder, Kuala Lumpur-based Jeffrey Zweig, running a significantly smaller operation focused on Southeast Asia, now headquartered in Malaysia. Sales and marketing director Napoleon Biggs, the third co-founder, left the agency after selling his shares to a third party last summer. Web Guru Asia's Bangkok office meanwhile, is believed to have split from the network but will continue to operate using the Web Guru Asia name under the stewardship of former staffer Alex Gardner, who also resigned his post at the end of last year. Zweig, who could not be contacted at presstime, is thought to be taking over part of the Hong Kong client list, while others will pass to the agency's partners, which include Covatta Communications, DoubleClick, Event Solutions and Financial Content, though details about the full portfolio, thought to include names such as SmartoneVodafone and South China Morning Post, is unclear. Moore, who helped launch Web Guru Asia in the late '90s, said the time had come for him to try something new. "It was a difficult decision but it was the right decision to walk away with relationships with everybody intact and get excited about the next year," he said. Moore, who was in the process of selling his shares to Zweig, added that he was still seeking an entrepreneurial role, but indicated that he may look at joining a larger firm. "There are a few things on the table," he said. Moore is planning to return to Hong Kong in February after a three-week sabbatical, during which he plans to scale the 7,000 metre Mt Aconcagua, the highest peak in the Americas. Moore founded Web Guru Asia together with Biggs and Zweig after a move from Kuala Lumpur to open a new office for his previous internet venture, Aeroscan, which he ran with Zweig. Prior to that, he ran a company exporting rubber wood furniture. Since leaving Web Guru Asia, Biggs joined Hong Kong-based digital entertainment firm Outblaze, running a 3-D animation and game content division called Dream Cortex.