Maureen Tseng’s visit to Silicon Valley late last year — Mo was AP employee No. 1 joining the Agency in early 1997 — was cause for an impromptu reunion. Mo’s sister and brother-in-law, who also happen to be the parents of one of our account managers in Hoffman’s Silicon Valley office, Lauren [...]
This stretch of Tanjong Pagar Road “showcases” our first office in Singapore. It turns out the very same shot appears in Wikipedia. Talk about a startup. In 1996 Hoffman Asia Pacific was a classic — roots spreading from San Jose to Singapore in one fell swoop, without proven leadership (me), little-to-no [...]
We first connected with David Frost, founder of Australian PR agency PR Deadlines, back in 2001 for an assignment involving Juniper Networks. The fit worked. We’ve been teaming with PR Deadlines ever since. David’s son Luke is now a big part of PR Deadlines. Even at an early age, Luke proved calm [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
When Lou asked me to contribute some thoughts about the 20th anniversary of Hoffman AP, I told him I was truly honored because being involved at the beginning meant so much to me, not to mention providing an opportunity to hone my global communications chops. Moreover, it was such a stroke of [...]
The above photo depicts the front of a store in Shanghai called “Children’s Food.” I’m thinking such a store capitalizes on all parents’ quest to give their kids the best — the best education, the best nutrition, etc. Not quite. It turns out “Children’s Food” sells candy. Row after row after row of every type of candy you can imagine. I never thought of malt balls and gummy bears as children’s food. With that said, I admire the owner’s pluck in putting a positive spin on candy.
Global PR is more than just the dots on a map. The most important factor in the success or failure of an international PR campaign comes down to mentality. Two basic questions go a long way toward revealing the presence of a global mentality: Do the account team members collaborate in [...]
