Henry Tan honoured by the 4As

This year's Chairman's Award goes to Henry Tan (pictured), an industry veteran who has accumulated more than two decades of experience in marketing, advertising and media.Currently the chief operating officer of Astro, Tan spent his formative years at Ogilvy & Mather where he rose to become the youngest media director.He then moved to HVD Entertainment as general manager, before returning to the advertising industry as CEO of Mindshare Malaysia and subsequently as CEO of Group M, a leading media investment management operation, in Malaysia and Singapore.The Chairman's Award is decided by the president and vice-president of the Association of Accredited Advertising Agents Malaysia (4As) in consultation with the council members.In announcing Tan as the recipient of the coveted Chairman's Award, David Mitchell, organising chairman of the Kancil Awards 2012, noted that Tan's foresight, intuition and ambition held him in good stead in steering his successful career path decked with multiple awards and citations."Like most celebrated visionaries, Henry has a gift for transforming ideas into quantifiable business models," reckons Mitchell."In advertising and media, he demonstrated a knack for staying ahead with provocative ideas - and these attributes, coupled with drive and passion are also helping him expand Astro's reach with sound business plans, creative advertising, and compelling content."As a fervent believer in advertising and marketing, Tan feels it must serve the dual purpose of adding value and building brands and businesses."Creative is the best differentiator in a highly commoditised and competitive world," says Tan.Among the past recipients of the Chairman's Award include Dato' Amrin Hj Awaluddin, Jacob Matthews, Datin Linda Ngiam and Dato' Borhanuddin Osman.