AOTY HK series: Fast Growing Agency of the Year 2017

For the entirety of June, Marketing will be putting the spotlight on each of the category winners at the Agency of the Year Awards 2017 Hong Kong. A new category – including an overview of the winning agencies – will be featured every day, going from A-Z.Gold: mcgarrybowen Hong KongOwned by: Dentsu Aegis NetworkHeaded by: Simone Tam, Greater China CEOIt’s been just one year since mcgarrybowen Hong Kong opened its doors, but in that time the firm has been on a growth path – and has now won gold in the fast-growing agency category. Founded in 2016 by Dentsu Aegis Network, mcgarrybowen is positioned as a full-service agency wired for the digital age.The agency serves an impressive client list, including Manulife, Kimberly-Clark, Kotex, Huggies, Fonterra, Anmum, Anlene, Anchor, Maxim’s, Disneyland, Landmark and Darlie.One of its iconic works was for ManulifeMOVE, a new insurance concept that rewards customers for exercising more. The agency created an integrated platform that utilised wearable technology, and promoted an all-round ad push spanning television, online, social media, outdoor and print. This year, the creative agency helped Manulife refresh the activity-tracking programme. The campaign builds on the simple idea of “outdoors made greater”, which is designed to show Manulife’s iconic green cube, leading campaign ambassador Pakho Chau and other people to take on a healthy and active lifestyle.A green trail was created when one moves, symbolising the rewards that follow.Within a year, the agency has grown from the original two founders to 45 full-time staff. It has continued to grow at a fast pace and has hired one new person every five day on average.Silver: BBDO Hong KongOwned by: Omnicom GroupHeaded by: Tze Kiat Tan, CEO of Greater ChinaBBDO Hong Kong had a big year – the agency was able to boast a 100% client retention rate, and achieved a whopping 240% profit margin increase – the biggest growth in the office’s 42-year history.Key clients include Fedex, Wrigley, Mars, Mercedes-Benz and Visa – and since last year, quadruple wins on Mattel and Vitasoy.Mattel called an APAC-wide pitch for the brands Barbie, Hot Wheels, Mega Bloks and Turning Mecard, all of which BBDO won.Vitasoy’s entire tea portfolio also went to the agency, led by a team of talent from all over Greater China.Notable campaigns over the past year included the Snickers slip-ups, where celebrities “slip up” and make hilarious mistakes due to hunger; and the counter-intuitive “No sugarcoating” for Vita, where it challenged competitors’ claims and turned them on their respective heads.BBDO Hong Kong also partnered with the Hong Kong Society for Community Organisation (SoCO) to launch a campaign to raise awareness of the city’s housing problems. It replicated several 18 square feet cubicle apartments and placed these around the city.It even posted a room on Airbnb for anyone who wanted to stay. The road show stopped thousands of people in their stride, attracting local and international media, including CNN.Chee-hwa Tung, former chief executive of Hong Kong, also attended the opening day of the photo exhibition.Bronze: FiveStonesOwned by: Numiracle GroupHeaded by: Alex Yeung, managing directorTaking third spot as well as Local Hero in the Fast Growing Agency of the Year is FiveStones.FiveStones is a digital marketing consultancy native to Hong Kong, and has grown in leaps and bounds since its inception eight years ago.Founded in 2009, it earned its name by being a trusted service provider of DoubleClick by Google in the Asia Pacific region – the first such partner in Greater China.FiveStones’ expertise in this sector allows it to offer solutions ranging from an outsourced ad operation workforce, a creative or digital buying team, all the way to training and consulting on a variety of technologies and tools.As the digital marketing industry is fast-growing and ever-evolving, FiveStones has provided programmatic buying services since 2013, and its customers and sales volume growth have both skyrocketed over the past few years.Its expansion has covered four countries in just six months, with offices now located in Hong Kong, Sydney, Shanghai, Taipei and Singapore.Key clients include 3HK, Asia Miles, TripAdvisor, The Economist, BBC, CNN, Google, GroupM and Chow Sang Sang.The company’s name has its roots in the Bible story about how King David defeated his giant enemy Goliath with just a sling and five stones. FiveStones prides itself on its commitment to clients, understanding their business challenges and providing well-suited solutions with best-in-class services.Finalist: Innovative Digital MediaOwned by: IndependentHeaded by: Jackie Lung, founder and business directorInnovative Digital Media (IDM) is a digital marketing strategy company founded in 2011. The agency specialises in online marketing strategies and brand development through a variety of digital channels. The agency has shown a strong growth of 50% year-on-year for the past four years with six key wins in 2016, including BCT MPF, Zurich Insurance, Promise Finance, Dermes from Neo Derm Group and Prada Hong Kong, to name a few.In line with the new business growth, it appointed two new team members this year taking the staff to 16.Wing Chan joined as business development director and Hinam Sham joined as operations and product director.On the campaign front, the company worked with Neo Derm Beauty to optimise keywords for a series of beauty brands under the brand. The agency achieved 7,200 conversions, 50 million impressions and attained 240,000 clicks.Finalist: X Social GroupOwned by: IndependentHeaded by: Samuel Lam, co-founderEstablished in 2013, X Social Group is a crossborder digital agency which provides digital and social commerce solutions in Hong Kong.X Social describes itself as specialising in Chinese social media marketing, social intelligence, KOL marketing, social CRM, crossborder marketing, data management, and more.Last year, it added 25 new accounts to its portfolio, including Bank of Communications China, Priority Pass, Fresh Hong Kong, Kowloon Shangri-La, Octopus Cards, and UK-based fashion house Jack Russell Emporium.Last September, the company and Mega-info Media reached a global partnership agreement to develop the high-speed rail advertising network in China.On the employment front, the agency has grown its 69-person team to over 100, and has an exceptionally low staff turnover rate of 6%.Last year, former OMG Hong Kong CEO Jackson Kwok joined X Social Group’s subsidiary X Horizon as president.To attract talent, the company says it does not believe in poaching because it will lead to more poaching, which affects all agencies in the market.