Pret A Manger names new head of marketing in Hong Kong

Pret A Manger has appointed Eric Lam as head of marketing. According to his LinkedIn,  Lam joined the international sandwich shop franchise chain in July after spending five years at Outback Steakhouse, where he set up the new marketing department and formulated yearly marketing plans.

He claims that during his tenure, the brand attracted new opening opportunities in major malls in Hong Kong and China which resulted in a 30% year-on-year sales growth. He was also responsible for the execution and development of all marketing materials, including food photography, TVCs, digital, social and print ads, OOH advertising, local store marketing and menus. He is said to have initiated and led online projects such as website and mobile app development, revamped the brand's loyalty programme, as well as worked with marketing agencies for the execution of above-the-line and below-the-line communication activities.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to Pret A Manger for more details. 

Prior to that, he was assistant to chairman and business development and marketing manager at plastic and metal products manufacturer Karrie International. He assisted the group chairman for business development and provided corporate level strategic planning for the group, while he was also responsible for brand building, communications and the implementation of effective growth strategies and processes, and leading marketing teams to build, execute and monitor integrated marketing plans for the brand. 

Apart from his career in the marketing industry, Lam has also been a part-time lecturer at HKU SPACE since 2011. He was also a part-time lecturer at the City University of Hong Kong from 2011 to 2018. 

In the earlier stage of his career, Lam owned an F&B company, founded a marketing consultancy company to work as senior marketing consultant to provide professional marketing consultancy services to clients, and worked as marketing manager at an education company. 

Most recently Pret A Manger appointed VCCP as its first global integrated communications agency. VCCP will support Pret’s ongoing transformation into a fully omni-channel business, with the goal of “bringing Pret to more people”.

As Pret’s first full-service global partner agency, VCCP will deliver international campaigns across Pret’s markets in Europe, Asia and the US. In Asia, the focus will primarily be on the Hong Kong market.

The appointment marks a shift in Pret’s brand and communications strategy, with a growing focus on digital communications and omnichannel campaigning. Since May 2020, Pret has accelerated a strategy to help the brand reach a wider range of customers across all markets. Pret has fundamentally transformed its business model, establishing new trading channels which are providing new revenue streams.

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