As an international city, people from around the world come to Hong Kong to do business and work. Although the talent we have in Hong Kong is considered quite diverse, it is nothing compared to the huge and booming market in China.

Here are the 10 quirky jobs in China that most professionals probably haven’t heard of, as reported by mainland magazine qkzz.net.

1. Smeller

The job description is simple yet, smell and report what you got, but only those with ultra strong sense of smell will be able to win the job. Smellers need to go through vigorous training to distinguish the difference between fragrance from flowers, fruits and unluckily sweat.

Smellers are hired by manufacturers of nail polish and deodorant to improve the smell their products. Some of the items or body parts that they need to smell on a daily basis include armpits, feet and diapers.

2. Dog food taster

It is impossible to get dogs to report on what they think about the taste of their food, so human is being hired to advise how to enhance the flavour of dog food. They also need to have knowledge on the nutrient needs of dogs.

3. Identify the sex of chicks

The job is to look at the private parts of countless number of new born chicks and separate the male from the female.

4. Online shopping price slasher

The rule is that they get 20% of the amount they are able to slash as commission.

5. Breakup representative

They are hired by men or women who are too timid to say “it’s over”.

6. Hotel test-sleepers

People are hired to test-drive cars, based on the same concept, hotels hire people for a stay and write detailed reports about their experience.

7. Marriage saver

Candidates are required to have law and psychology background. Their job is to convince the mistress to give up and to save the client’s marriage.

8. Marriage registrar for pets

While not recognised by law, pets in China can actually get married to each other.

9. Hugger

Nobody would mind getting a little support in today’s stressful work environment.

10. Professional audience

They are actually professional actors. They laugh heartily, cry loudly and pretend to enjoy shows – regardless of how entertaining they are.

This article was originally published in Human Resources Online.

Image: Shutterstock

作为一个国际城市，来自世界各地的人来港经商和工作。虽然香港的人才多元化，但也比不上蓬勃发展的巨大中国市场。

以下是内地杂志qkzz.net介绍的中国十大奇工，相信大部分专业人士可能都没有听说过。

1. 闻臭师

职位描述很简单，只需要闻一下气味，然后写一份报告就可以了。闻臭师需要通过培训，能够识别鲜花、水果和汗臭之间的区别。

闻臭师主要受聘于指甲油和除臭剂的生产厂家，以帮助其改善产品的气味。闻臭师每天要闻的物品或身体部位包括腋下、脚和尿布。

2. 狗粮试食员

狗是不可能上报它们对食物味道的感受，所以要聘请人类来进行鉴别，以了解如何提升狗粮的味道。此外，他们还需要了解狗粮所需要的营养成份。

3. 小鸡性别鉴定员

这项工作是通过观察无数新出生的小鸡私处来分辨小鸡的性别。

4. 网购砍价人

帮买家砍价，收取差价20%作为佣金。

5. 分手代理师

帮人说分手。

6. 酒店试睡员

跟试驾员的概念相同，酒店雇人考察，然后写一份详细的体验报告。

7. 小三劝退师

要有法律和心理学历背景，负责帮客人赶走小三，挽回婚姻。

8. 动物婚姻登记员

为宠物证婚，但没有法律效力。

9. 拥抱师

没有人会介意在现今紧张的工作环境下得到一点点的支持和温暖。

10. 职业观众

他们实际上是专业演员。不管自身感受如何，他们开怀大笑、大声哭泣，假装欣赏节目。

本文原载于Human Resources Online.

图片来源：Shutterstock

Two years after launching, Vita Hong Kong style Milk Tea has built its brand around some of the city’s iconic symbols. But, there is still a huge opportunity for the brand go even further.

DDB Group Hong Kong has developed a campaign which celebrates the drink's reputation as a much-loved Hong Kong icon. Capturing Hong Kongers’ strong sense of belonging and intimacy derived from their hometown, the idea digs out the most iconic Hong Kong spots and describes them in a colloquial and quirky way.

To dramatise the idea, a 30-second TVC features a man running all over Hong Kong in search of authentic Hong Kong icons. He makes a trip to Happy Valley racecourse, to Lang Kwai Fong to party, hikes up Flag-hosting Mountain (Victoria Peak), goes shopping at The Ladies Market (Tung Choi Street) and visits Goose Neck Bridge (Bowrington Bridge). After searching around the city he comes to the realization that a Hong Kong icon is always just in the palm of your hand as long as you have Vita Milk Tea. The TVC closes with the tagline, “Hong Kong Style Range. You’ll know all this if you're from Hong Kong!”

https://youtu.be/Psotm1aN5UU

Benny Ko, Head of Client Services at DDB Group Hong Kong, said, “Not many things create quite the sense of intimacy and familiarity as the use of a nickname, so we deliberately dramatized the local names of those iconic spots. Nicknames like Goose-neck Bridge, Flag-hosting Mountain, The Ladies Market are all understood by locals and create a deeper resonation and relevancy on an emotional level.”

The campaign also comprises ads on social media, moving trucks and In-store point of sales to spread the message far and wide throughout Hong Kong.

The campaign follows on from Vita Milk Tea launch campaign in 2014, which illustrated that Vita Hong Kong style milk tea is a part of all Hong Kong people by focusing on colloquial Hong Kong conversations.

https://youtu.be/KKI7EV0cjWc

CREDITS:
Client: Vitasoy International
Executive Creative Director: Clifford Ng
Director of Client Services: Benny Ko
Group Creative Director: O Poon
Creative Director: Paul Yu
Associate Creative Director: Ben Ling
Senior Art Director: Tony Cheung
Art Director: Matthew Kwok
Account Director: Cafy Choi
Account Manager: Filly Zheng
Account Executive: Caro Siu, Ernest Tsang
Head of TV Production: Annie Tong
TV Producer: Denise Wong

Where others see gloom in the economic slowdown, Pixels CEO Kevin Huang sees opportunity.

Despite the overall slowdown, digital ad spending is set to rise, according to an industry study by the Hong Kong Advertisers Association. Earlier this year 72% of advertisers said they intend to increase their digital ad budgets in 2016 with mobile as the catalyst for that growth.

“We’re seeing a growth in digital advertising in Hong Kong and throughout Asia with clients becoming more aware of digital channels and spending more on the emerging trends of programmatic, online video and mobile advertising,” said Huang.

“Programmatic advertising has also been gaining ground in Asia, as clients seek more targeted ads and stronger ROI on their digital ad spend.”

READ: 15 reasons why programmatic is not mainstream

While Asia has been leading the world in mobile advertising trends, programmatic ad buying has long been a stronghold of the West. However Huang says a shift towards the programmatic buying approach in Asia as digital marketers put more focus on data-driven ad buys.

The promise of programmatic ad buying is to provide advertisers the ability to target audiences in order to provide a more relevant ad experience to the end user. However programmatic buying is not without its critics. The programmatic industry recently weathered a storm of criticism that centered on the lack of transparency in the buying process and the confusing amount of jargon that surrounds it.

READ MORE: How to succeed in China’s programmatic market

“We want to return control of the programmatic buying process to advertisers,” Huang said. “With our programmatic offerings, we want to bring the transparency and the ‘human touch’back to programmatic ad buys.

The current state of programmatic ad buying is too confusing to advertisers and too opaque. With our offering we want to empower clients to focus on their goals and leave the rest to us.”

Huang’s views are inline with the rest of the industry, which is currently moving towards greater transparency in the programmatic ad buying process. In the recent spat between brands and agencies, the lack of transparency in digital ad buys has been one of the key talking points.

“Programmatic ad buying provides great ROI for advertisers as they target relevant ads to the end-user. However it has been come too technical and too opaque for clients to stomach. Clients are asking for greater transparency in where their ad dollars are being spent and greater simplicity in making ad buys. Pixels has always championed transparency in digital ad buying and we’re pleased to see that the industry agrees with us.”

With buyers in Asia becoming more sophisticated in their digital ad buys, Huang sees opportunity amidst the gloom. “During the past economic crises such as the SARS crisis in 2003 and the financial crisis in 2009, we saw a growth in digital ad sales,” said Huang.

With the bedrock of traditional display advertising being reinforced with the rise of data-driven programmatic advertising and strong video and mobile demand, Huang believes digital advertising in Hong Kong will not just weather the current economic slowdown but emerge even stronger.

The Hong Kong Tourism Board is seriously looking at the potential of social media to boost the city’s tourism industry, as it will spend $56 million to promote Hong Kong on digital media this financial year.

Social media is going to form a large part of HKTB's digital marketing strategies, earlier this year, a dedicated Hong Kong page has been set up on TripAdvisor that consolidates all Hong Kong-related content and hyperlinks to its website DiscoverHongKong.com.

The board said DiscoverHongKong.com garnered almost 90 million page views last year and 240,000 downloads on its mobile app My Hong Kong Guide, which includes introductions to local attractions, itineraries for tourists and e-coupons. Some three million page views on the Hong Kong Insider's Guide website and its tablet app.

Tina Chao, general manager of marketing said, travellers' beahaviour has changed, as they value experience above everything else and they trust other travellers. Therefore, the institution decided to engage travellers around the world on different social media platforms.

The board has teamed up with digital influencers for several campaigns that attracted a combined 14.3 million followers. They include American Youtuber Fung Bros, Family Vlogger Evan Tube HD,Taiwanese TV host Rima Zeidan, Instagrammer Beautiful Destinations and Paper Boyo.

READ MORE: HKTB taps influencers to discover hidden gems in Hong Kong

Chao said response from a user-generated content project that collected travellers' stories on Hong Kong on social media was good, which has garnered over some four million view on the website.

Sarah Matthews, head of destination marketing at TripAdvisor Asia Pacific said they need to update information about attractions and restaurants in Hong Kong to attract more travelers to the city.

Saatchi & Saatchi has appointed Fan Ng as chief creative officer for Greater China with immediate effect.

In his new role within the Greater China management team, Ng will lead all of the Greater China creative teams, from Beijing to Hong Kong and everywhere in between. He will also work with all clients, including P&G, Mondelez, Sands, General Mills, Mead Johnson, Porsche, Mazda and GSK.

Ng will continue to report directly to Michael Lee, CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi Greater China.

Ng has more than 21 years of creative and managerial experience. He started his career in Hong Kong, spending 12 years at Ogilvy in both Hong Kong and Shanghai before joining Saatchi & Saatchi’s Guangzhou office in 2008.

In 2011, Ng moved to Shanghai to began his role leading the creative on all of that office’s accounts. He was promoted to chief creative officer of Saatchi & Saatchi North China in 2015.

Ng said: “My philosophy for creating ads and working with creative talents is very simple - be happy. Everything else flows from there. I’m so honoured and excited to have a team that's behind great ideas all the way, persistently pursuing great creative based on the love of ads that they hold in their hearts.”

Michael Lee commented: “Fan has been a great partner as well as my good friend for more than 20 years. He is an exceptional creative leader with an admirable passion for pursuing innovation and creativity. I am absolutely confident that Saatchi & Saatchi will continue its creative excellence under his leadership.”

盛世长城宣布晋升吴凡为其大中华区首席创意官，此任命即时生效。

作为大中华区管理层团队成员之一，他将全面负责盛世长城大中华区所有办公室的创意工作，包括北京，上海，广州，香港等，并统领包括宝洁、亿滋、金沙、通用磨坊、美赞臣、保时捷、马自达、葛兰素史克等国内外客户的创意工作，直接向盛世长城大中华区首席执行官李家舜汇报。

吴凡1994年在香港加入广告行业，其曾在香港奥美麾下任职近12年，继而成为奥美上海的创意伙伴。

2008年他加入了盛世长城广州， 2011年调任上海负责盛世长城上海的创意管理工作，凭借其在创意方面的杰出表现，于2015年升任盛世长城北中国区首席创意官。

吴凡表示：「我一直认为创意人首先要工作的开心，因为其他的一切灵感皆源于此。在盛世长城，让我感动的是大家始终保持对创意的热情和追求，对广告这份事业发自内心的热爱，很幸运有那么多志同道合的伙伴继续与我并肩前行。」

李家舜表示：「吴凡和是我二十多年的好拍档和好朋友，更是不可多得的顶级创意领袖。他拥有非凡的创意力与洞察力，更难能可贵的是对创意始终充满热情。相信盛世长城大中华区的创意表现在他的带领下，未来一定可以迎来更好的发展。」

One of the most sought after local accounts, StarHub, has appointed Carat as its media agency following a pitch.  The incumbent on the account is Mindshare Singapore, which has been its media agency of record since March 2009.

StarHub confirmed the development to Marketing that Carat will undertake media buying and planning duties for StarHub.

"We are satisfied that Carat possesses both strategic and operational capabilities to succeed in today's media landscape. They have also demonstrated that they have the ability to deliver an aligned strategy with in-depth foresight needed for our business environment. We look forward to a great partnership with Carat,” Howie Lau, CMO of StarHub said.

“We would like to take this opportunity to thank Mindshare for their dedication in the past seven years," Lau said.

Melissa Tang, managing partner of Mindshare Singapore said:

"Collaborating with StarHub for the past seven years has been a fantastic journey. StarHub has been a true partner for Mindshare, embracing innovation, co-creating unique solutions, and inspiring our team to deliver their best, especially in developing innovative digital solutions. We would like to thank our friends at StarHub for the trust and respect they have given us and for allowing Mindshare to be their strategic partner for so many years. We wish StarHub continued growth as we exit this relationship and hope that the strong foundation we have helped StarHub build will enable future success.”

The agency worked with StarHub to create impactful radio campaigns now in the Singapore Book of Records, and are proud to be part of very meaningful branding campaigns such as #SG4SG, 4G4Good and more recently Home by Homes.

StarHub first launched a media review in January early this year, appointing marketing analytics agency Ebiquity to manage the review process. Last year StarHub hired Howie Lau as chief marketing officer and Rod Strother, former Lenovo marketer as VP, digital transformation. Subsequently, it was reported that StarHub moved social media duties in-house.

The telco recently announced its performance for the most recent quarter which ended 31 March 2016. It achieved customer growth for both pre and post-paid mobile and also grew revenue for broadband and enterprise fixed services.

Health Promotion Board (HPB) has split duties for its Health Hub Portal account, awarding all eight agencies which pitched for the account.

The agencies awarded are DDB Worldwide, Mirum Singapore (XM Asia), Possible Worldwide, Web Professional, FXMedia, Novus Media Solutions, King Content Singapore and Digital Boomerang.

Undertaking content management duties will be DDB Worldwide, Possible Worldwide and FXMedia. Health and wellness content development services will be helmed by Mirum Singapore, Novus Media Solutions, King Content Singapore and Digital Boomerang.

Marketing services will also be covered by DDB Worldwide and Possible Worldwide. Agencies working on user interface and programming professional services are Mirum Singapore, Web Professional House and Novus Media Solutions.  Project implementation of customer engagement journey will be handled by King Content Singapore and Digital Boomerang.

Marketing has reached out to HPB for more details on the scope of the project.

HPB recently concluded its creative and media pitch, appointing Publicis Singapore as creative partner and reappointing Group M’s MEC Singapore as its media agency. In August last year, HPB picked Possible Worldwide as its digital agency.

S4M (Success for Mobile), an ad tech company has strengthened its APAC and international presence with recent strategic hires including Jeffrey Ho as APAC publishing manager, Jack Lin as regional sales manager, and the appointment of Pierre Gauthier as global head of Publishing.

Jeffrey Ho joins S4M as APAC Partner Manager, responsible for identifying and connecting with relevant publishing partners and negotiating Private Marketplace and direct deals across Asia. Ho brings to S4M more than a decade of experience in digital marketing and advertising with strong expertise in web programming and mobile value-added services. His previous career highlights include tenures at regional technology groups, Nextnation Network and Sam Media.

With almost 10 years of experience in media and advertising at SingTel Digital Media, The Edge Media Group, and CPXi, Jack Lin joins S4M as regional sales manager. His main focus will be expanding new partnerships with key agency partners across the South East Asia region.

S4M’s developments in the region are in line with the company’s broader international strategy to create a dedicated network of premium publishers in different regions. Another recent appointment is Pierre Gauthier as the global head of publisher management and development based at the HQ in Paris, France. With a seasoned career in the digital and publishing industry, Gauthier’s addition is crucial for S4M’s international expansion. He will establish strategic publisher partnerships in APAC and across the world.

“We are going through substantial growth in Asia and these recent hires will play a vital part in our expansion, as part of our continuing ambition to extend our reach across South East Asia,” said Gavin Buxton, VP of Sales APAC.

Carat China has announced to relaunch its EN+ brand, bringing together talent across branded content, social media and TV sponsorship specialisms.

The new-look team will be focused on insight-driven content and social media solutions, drawing on audience and social data to build a detailed picture of people’s content consumption behavior across platforms and screens, as well as connecting brand content to commerce.

The team will be headed by strategist Richard Frampton, previously from Carat’s convergence planning division who has spent over 10 years at Carat across UK, Singapore and China markets.

“Our clients are increasingly seeing the potential for content, across traditional, digital and social environments, to drive consumer engagement and contribute to sales,” said Frampton.

“EN+ will be focused on building platforms which deliver this potential through unrivalled understanding of consumer behavior.”

The EN+ team has over 20 members strong with specialist divisions in social media, branded content and TV sponsorship.

Integrated media group Media Prima has bagged four awards at the World Media Festival held in Hamburg, Germany.

This year, the international competition for communication and media practitioners attracted entries from over 280 TV stations, media companies and agencies in more than 40 countries around the world.

The two intermedia-globe gold awards were awarded for NTV7’s Feel Good documentaries and another for web events and live streaming of the Piala Malaysia finals. Meanwhile, the two intermedia-globe silver awards were for Kita Juaratrailer and also for Bella Awards promo trailers.

All four awards were received by Desmond Cheng, senior manager of consumer communications group together with Douglas Khoo, the creative director of creative service department.

As a winner of an intermedia-globe Gold award, Media Prima’s winning entry automatically qualifies as a nominee for an intermedia-globe Grand Award (best in each of the 14 main Festival categories).

“We are truly humbled, honoured, and at the same time very excited to be within the rank of such fine organisations to receive the coveted intermedia-globe Gold and Silver awards. The awards are certainly testament to the hard work and dedication of everyone at Media Prima who dared to continuously push the limits of their creativity,” Datuk Kamal Khalid, chief executive officer of Media Prima Television Networks, said.

Leo Burnett  has appointed Serene Koh as general manager for its Singapore office. Koh (pictured)replaces outgoing Leo Burnett Singapore GM, Rebecca Ang, who has left the agency.

Most recently, Chris Chiu CEO of Leo Burnett also exited the role following the restructure of the Publicis Groupe operations.

Koh has close to two decades of advertising experience driving world-class integrated campaigns from insight to implementation, with a strong focus on championing home-grown Singaporean brands at home and abroad.

She joins Leo Burnett from JWT, where she served as business director for the Singapore Tourism Board account. Koh’s portfolio of local accounts include Tangs, Metro, Great Eastern Life, Keppel and an unprecedented 13-year tenure leading the Singapore Airlines account, first at Batey Ads, and later at TBWA. Her leadership of the Singapore Airlines business has spanned countless memorable campaigns from brand and product launches, to some of its early forays into digital, as well as the flagship carrier’s first major strategic rebrand in 2012.

Lou Dela Pena, CEO, Publicis Communications Singapore, said, “Serene’s proven record of working with some of the most iconic local brands to capture the hearts and minds of Singaporeans is unparalleled. I am confident that, under her leadership, we will see the agency strengthen its position as Singapore’s most popular creative agency.”

Koh added, “I am proud to be starting at Leo Burnett, and to be part of a network with such a strong legacy. I am also incredibly excited to be back working with Lou, whose vision for the agencies in the Publicis Groupe I share. She is a symbol of change in our industry, and is a stellar example of a leader.”

Tom Dixon, British product design brand, has handed its PR duties to lifestyle public relations agency Prime after a three-way pitch.

Prime was awarded the PR retainer and will begin by introducing Tom Dixon’s latest collection that showcased at the Milan International Furniture Exhibition (Salone) last month.

Stocked in Lane Crawford in Hong Kong, the brand has employed leisure and lifestyle PR agency to help build brand awareness in Hong Kong for the renowned and celebrated home design brand.

Laura Derry Southwood, managing director at Prime says: “Tom Dixon represents the best of British design and we are extremely proud to be promoting the brand in Hong Kong. Always breaking new ground when it comes to home product design, we have a catalogue of fantastic furniture, lighting and home accessories to promote to the media.”

iris Singapore has appointed Felicia Tan as senior producer for its newly formed global content division – Content That POPS.

Content That POPS aims to create more effective value exchange between brands and people through content marketing that has ‘Purpose, Originality, Participation and Shareability’ at its core.

This also follows the appointment of Digby Lewis as head of platforms and distribution, who was the former director of brand strategy at Buzzfeed. The content team will sit at the heart of the agency, alongside and working closely with iris Concise, the micro-network’s global consulting, CRM, data & insight business.

In her new role, Tan will be responsible for driving the content marketing capabilities for the agency’s biggest accounts, including Philips whom the agency recently expanded its remit across Asia. She will report directly to creative director, Ed Cheong.

Tan has had over a decade’s worth of experience, working with clients such as Unilever, P&G, Starhub, McDonald’s and Tiger Beer.

“Tan is an obvious hire as she brings with her a wealth of experience and a can-do spirit that makes her more of a solution-ist, than an atypical producer. We are very pleased that she has decided to leave her life as a highly-regarded freelance producer to join us on the iris adventure,” Cheong said.

“I’m excited to begin my adventure with iris. As an agency, iris is set to be a game-changer in the industry with its talented team, bold and fearless attitude. It will be a great opportunity for me to challenge and push my own creative boundaries to produce work that has a meaningful and genuine purpose. Together with the team, I look forward to taking brands to new heights,” Tan said.

Chinese ride-hailing app Didi Chuxing (滴滴出行) and Hong Kong 7-Eleven have jointly announced their first promotional giveaway collaboration.

The crossover, involving Hong Kong’s leading call-for-taxi App and Hong Kong’s largest convenience store chain, is a move to boost the development of Hong Kong’s application economy, allowing people to experience the convenience brought about by technology.

Starting from 18 May 18 to June 7, new users of Kuaidi Dache can download Didi’s Kuaidi Dache (快的打車) app and register as a new user, to earn four $22 7-Fans e-cash coupons (with a total amount of $88) upon taking the first ride.

Existing users of “Kuaidi Dache” can also receive four $22 7-Fans e-cash coupons (with a total amount of $88) by recommending three friends to download and register as new users.

Rose Yeung, sales and marketing director of 7-Eleven Hong Kong & Macau, said, “We are delighted to collaborate with Didi to bring brand new experiences to our customers in Hong Kong. 7-Eleven strives to bring innovative products and services to the local market, and this collaboration echoes our innovative culture – to connect our mutual customers through two mobile applications and enable them to enjoy 7-Fans e-cash vouchers to shop at 7-Eleven. It is a combination of online and offline shopping experiences, which I believe would bring novel brand experience to our consumers.”

The campaign will be promoted on various channels, including print advertisements in newspapers, and 7-Eleven’s digital portals on Facebook, LINE, as well as in-apps ad in 7-Fans and KuaiDi app.

Last week,  Apple made its $1 billion investment in Didi, a move that Apple chief executive Tim Cook said would help the company better understand the critical Chinese market.

Two legendary American brands Harley-Davidson and Gibson Brands Guitar are teaming up in Hong Kong for a musical collaboration program “Rockin Road” which will run in 2016 and aspire to encourage and nurture local bands in Hong Kong.

The launch will also unveil the never seen before in Hong Kong Harley-Davidson CVO Pro Street Breakout Motorcycle, one of a kind Gibson Guitar designed by Mark Lui and the Gibson Custom Guitar 2016 review.

The first event in the series will kick off on 27 May at the newly launched Harley-Davidson showroom in Chai Wan with a guest performance from Korean K-Pop rocker James Kim.

The event kicks off of activities for Harley-Davidson Hong Kong under newly appointed marketing and PR director Josephine Lee. Lee, the former general manager of marketing and public relations at Lamborghini Hong Kong and Guangzhou joined Harley shortly after new licensee holders took over the brand in Hong Kong.

Who is the public figure most talked about in Hong Kong these last few weeks? Obviously it’s local pop star Leon Lai. Even though he is not a PR professional (and I bet there was not a PR behind his recent actions), his PR performance when facing a crisis was excellent. It’s the perfect case study for PR professionals to learn from.

1. Take responsibility. I don’t know why CEOs, tycoons or politicians, and the PR teams behind them, find it so hard to take the blame, even when it is crystal clear that they are responsible. Perhaps they are still dreaming they are the “strongman”, a very old school personality type. Leon is the opposite. When he found at that his concert was cancelled a few hours before he was to take to the stage due to fire safety regulation issues, he apologized on his own Facebook page immediately – and sincerely. More than that, he explained the reason for the cancelation in honest detail. We can learn from this. The new generation, in particular, hate public figures who shift responsibility and try to place blame on others. So do not wait for the media to dig out more about your scandal until the point that you can no longer “deny everything”. An old Chinese say goes “Softness overcomes hardness”, the same philosophy should apply here.

2. Respond instantly. In this social media-led era, keeping track of conversations and responding quickly is key to tackling a crisis. Leon did just that. When he saw a comment on social media pointing the finger at the government, Leon responded quickly urged his fans not to place the blame on them. He posted: "It's not the fault of Food and Environmental Hygiene Department. I want to apologize to [all of you] again." In the PR world there are so many meetings, reviews and discussions, and in this case, if Leon hadn’t responded quickly, the conversation could have spiraled out of control and given the public the perception that Leon himself was blaming the government. His early clarification ensured this didn’t happen.

3. Transparency. No one is perfect. Often people over think the situation, trying to create good news to cover the bad news. In fact, the audience just wants to know what is going on. After the cancellation of the first night of the concert, Leon kept updating fans on the situation and what action he was taking, regardless of whether it was good news or bad. In the end, the government approved the concert could go ahead, to the delight of both his fans and the public. He had grabbed the attention and hearts of Hong Kongers because we all could see that he was working so hard to solve the problem. It created a sentimental attachment.

4. Integrated. We all know traditional media decreasing. In Hong Kong alone, more than five key publications have closed down since 2015, and I am quite sure there will be a few more this year. Integrated PR is therefore the trend – with PRs working across traditional media, social media and online media. But which brand are really making this new reality work for them? Leon made it. He shared personal messages on his Facebook page and kept the same tone of voice when talking to the news and entertainment media that had gathered at the site for updates. His message was consistent throughout, always from one person using one voice. Fans and the public were hearing a consistent message across both online and offline sources. Leon had a solid integrated approach.

5. Integrity. In the end, how is it that Leon can do so well out of a crisis? The key reason is he told the public the truth. In years gone by, people consumed news from a limited number of sources. Now, we can’t afford to have a hidden agenda. Coverups get found out quickly with so many people constantly following the story on social media platforms.

After this crisis, Leon became the most popular figure in town. His latest video commercial got over 3 million views on Facebook – that’s almost half of Hong Kong! I’m really happy that someone showed us how important PR skills are in turning a crisis into an opportunity. I’m sad, though, that it wasn’t a PR professional behind such a positive story.

Kevin Lam is associate director at Sinclair Communications and a board member of the Council of Public Relations Firms of Hong Kong.

It won’t come as a great revelation to say that Hong Kong has an identity crisis.

With Beijing’s shadow becoming increasingly present, widespread political and social unrest about the future of this great city has left many wondering what’s next.

Stuck in the unfortunate middle of this quagmire is the Hong Kong Tourism Board, a body which has been a strong advocate of Hong Kong's interest, but in recent years has largely failed to grasp the core of what brand Hong Kong should represent.

Following yesterday's extraordinary announcement that HKTB will spend a whooping $56 million on digital and influencer programs over the next financial year, we were again left wondering why such a large sum of money would be placed in the hands of others to define and represent the city on the global stage.

Social media will form a large part of HKTB’s digital marketing strategies, with TripAdvisor to consolidate all of Hong Kong’s related content and hyperlinks to its website DiscoverHongKong.com.

Readers of Hong Kong Free Press would have noticed a new video being shared like crazy across social media over the past 24 hours. Called Hong Kong Strong, it’s fair to say it might be one of the best and most honest snapshots of Hong Kong we have seen in years. HKTB could learn a lot from its creator Brandon Li, AKA RunGunShoot.

If you have a moment to watch this seven minute epic, it's well worth the time. We'd love to hear your thoughts about this important issue. Leave a comment below if you're moved.

https://vimeo.com/166929892

Singapore’s largest supermarket chain, NTUC FairPrice has launched its latest campaign to introduce its new brand tagline – ‘Here to make lives better’.

Working with TBWA\Singapore, the co-operative of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) aims to convey its social mission of improving the lives of its customers, employees, and the overall community.

The new campaign demonstrates how the supermarket chain is ‘here to make lives better’, using different colours to represent each of its four pillars of good:

• Making every day better
• Giving back for the better
• Better for our planet
• A better place to work

Christina Lim, director, brand and marketing, NTUC FairPrice, said: "FairPrice constantly looks to renew our social commitment to the community and we are confident that this brand refresh will further cement our unique identity to make lives better for all. The four message pillars aim to effectively communicate how we continue to strive to keep essentials affordable, give back to the community, be eco-friendly, and create a better workplace.”

“NTUC FairPrice delivers social good to the community through many different initiatives, including reducing food waste, rewarding customers who bring their own bags, food drives to the underprivileged, and actively hiring people over 60,” said Ara Hampartsoumian, managing director at TBWA\Singapore.

“It’s a privilege to work with a local brand that is truly passionate about the greater good, with a disruptive business model of building commercial success through improving the lives of the Singapore community."

Check out the campaign here:

(Gallery available on web)

NTUC FairPrice serves more than a million shoppers daily with a network of over 130 outlets, comprising FairPrice supermarkets, FairPrice Finest, FairPrice Xtra hypermarkets and Warehouse Club. It also has over 160 FairPrice Xpress and Cheers convenience stores and an online grocery portal, FairPrice Online.

‘Here to make lives better’ launched on 14 May, with Havas Media providing the media strategy to bring the campaign to life.

CREDITS:

• Campaign: Here to make lives better
• Client: NTUC FairPrice
• Media Agency: Havas Media
• Creative Agency: TBWA\Singapore
• Managing Director: Ara Hampartsoumian
• Group Account Director: Dawn Lee
• Creative Director: Jimmy Neo
• Digital Head of Copy: Eve Aw
• Senior Art Director: Aaron Tan
• Senior Copywriter: Kenneth Choong
• Senior Account Manager: Tammy Cheok
• Account Executive: Chua Kailin