I met Julian in 1993 when he was working in Silicon Valley for Cunningham (later sold to Citigate). Between his smarts, professorial air and British accent — still slays American audiences; just check out the ratings for Downton Abbey — I hoped to never encounter him in a new-business pitch. As [...]
When The China International Trust and Investment Corporation (CITIC) building in Beijing flung open its doors in 1985, its 29 floors qualified it as the tallest building in town. Even 15 years later when we entered China, the address still carried prestige though it had long ago lost its title as [...]
We took Lou Hoffman’s word for it 20 years ago when he decided there was opportunity in Asia Pacific for a relatively small, independent, San Jose, California-based public relations consulting firm. Few of us working in the agency at the time had ever been to the region, let alone knew anything [...]
Have you ever felt that some things in life were meant to happen exactly the way they had and that even if you had the power to change the past, you wouldn’t have done it any other way? I’ll bet that many would feel this way about a past love, a [...]
Kaori Saito launched our operation in Japan. As you’ll hear from her, she didn’t want the job. I remember a breakfast meeting at Hobee’s and her challenging me with “Why do you even think I can do this job?” But she was the right person for the job. She was a [...]
I met Young Sohn for the first time in 1994 during the “infamous” Hyundai Electronics press tour. It’s hard to explain in words, but I felt an instant connection with this man. How can this be? Even today, I’m not quite sure. Here’s what I do know. What started off as [...]
Ray Schuster started our Asia Pacific operation in Singapore. It wasn’t easy. We didn’t have an international expansion department. No, I take that back. Ray was our international expansion department. He navigated the government regulations. He found our office space and oversaw the buildout as well as played interior designer down to [...]
We talk about the launch of Asia Pacific as if it were one launch. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Every single office had to be started from scratch. Behind every single office stands an individual who believed in our mission and worked 24/7 to make it happen. For the [...]
Some celebrities achieve one-name status. Adele. Ronaldo. Kobe. As the Agency’s first staff member hired in Asia Pacific, Maureen Tseng has achieved one-syllable status … “Mo.” Out of all the decisions Ray Schuster, who launched our AP operation, made over his stint in Singapore, I think he’d agree the hiring of [...]
Congratulations to The Hoffman Agency (HA) for 20 years in Asia Pacific. Lou, Ray Schuster and Maureen Tseng had one heck of a vision. It is great to see that their vision has materialized. From the outside, it seems like the company is as strong as ever having reinvented itself as a [...]
