Brought together to lead Hong Kong operations following the Omnicom and IPG merger, CEO Andreas Krasser (former CEO of DDB Hong Kong) and CCO John Koay (former regional ECD of Edelman) were joined in vision from day one.
“We both believe in the power of Hong Kong and Asia and feel it is this region’s time to shine on the world stage,” Andreas states. “In recent years, the industry has leaned toward a more inward-looking perspective, benchmarking against local standards or familiar output rather than the global stage. The ambition needs to be to push beyond that and better reflect the creative energy that runs through this city’s veins. The energy is there, it is just not yet fully harnessed, which is precisely why the opportunity is wide open for everyone to grasp.”
The real upside, he says, is for agencies willing to benchmark themselves globally. “We need to create work that travels, that competes on the world stage… and that reminds everyone what this city is capable of when it stops playing small.”
Aligned with this, is Andreas’ previous mission statement for DDB Hong Kong: ‘Hong Kong Grit. Worldwide Hit.’ When he shared this with John, he was all in. “The thing that excites me about Hong Kong’s advertising landscape is that everything happens so quickly it gives us the chance to do something new and exciting more often,” John shares. “Not everything needs to be massive – even a visual print campaign can blow up online and go viral.”
But, to keep the momentum going, you must keep your brand relevant in culture, he says. “I think the real opportunities are not always obvious and it’s up to us to dig deeper and identify the real business challenges that might have been overlooked – creatively solving real problems is the best way to show clients you genuinely care about their business.”
Driving their goals is a focus on talent. “Talent beats everything,” Andreas says. “In modern agency land we love to pitch proprietary tools and processes, and while those have their place, they will never beat the raw power of great talent coming together with different backgrounds, frames of reference, and points of view, and hashing things out in the room.”
“We want to be able to give our clients an unfair advantage,” John adds, “So if you work with us, you know you are getting the best skills and knowledge. Secondly, our client portfolio will diversify even more across our agencies, giving us an opportunity to do more great work across more clients. We’re also in discussion with some ambitious regional clients, and those conversations are really encouraging.”
On bringing in talent, Andreas notes the importance of hiring for future capabilities, not just the job that’s needed right now. “Agencies have a tendency to be reactive: someone leaves, so let’s bring in someone who can do the same job.” Given how quickly markets shift, he says it is equally – probably even more important – to bring in people who can widen everyone else’s horizons. “They might not be the perfect fit for the job at hand, but they might be exactly the right fit for the job that needs to be done further down the line. Building that muscle now is what keeps an agency relevant later.”
While it’s only been a few months working together, the pair are clearly well matched (even down to their similar office attire) with John describing themselves as “two sides of the same coin.” Both have a genuine love of advertising, design, and the business of ideas. And as much as they believe in the power of a great concept, they feel it means nothing without proper craft.
Their differences are also a strength, helping the duo cover more ground faster. “John tends to come at things from a sharp creative-craft angle, while I gravitate toward the strategic and commercial side first,” Andreas says. “In practice, that means we rarely talk past each other and the work ends up stronger because both lenses are applied early rather than in sequence.”
But the quality they appreciate about each other the most is their shared sense of humour. “John is good at taking the work seriously without taking himself seriously. That is a quality I genuinely admire, not just in an ad person, but in anyone,” Andreas says. “The world is serious enough, and advertising, at the end of the day, is supposed to be fun. Remember fun?”
For John, meeting Andreas felt like he’d known him for years. “We instantly clicked (like a great first date!). From the get-go, I knew Andreas as a different and rare type of CEO. He’s younger, hungrier and kinder than a lot of CEOs out there. I found that refreshing and exactly who I wanted to partner with to take the existing foundations of a great agency even further. Every day we laugh, and we just have a bloody good time talking about anything from work to personal life. We often have to close our door because we are laughing so loud.”
He admits it can be tricky in situations when they’re supposed to have their “game face” on “but really, this is why I enjoy the work we do, because when work doesn’t feel like work, you make the best work – and you’ve hit the jackpot.”
