McCann names new Hong Kong CEO

McCann Worldgroup Hong Kong has appointed Brandon Cheung as CEO.

Cheung was most recently the managing director of the agency's Cigna International Markets business, but before that was global managing partner for the Cathay Pacific account, which moved to Publicis and VCCP in 2018 after 25 years with McCann, following an extensive pitch process.

McCann has been without a CEO in Hong Kong since last summer when Spencer Wong departed the agency that had three years earlier renamed itself 'McCann and Spencer Hong Kong'. (Wong later joined M&C Saatchi, which also adopted his name, forming M&C Saatchi Spencer.)  At the time of Wong's exit, McCann formed a leadership team consisting of Cheung, Jaslin Goh (managing partner and chief strategy officer) and Florence Kong (then managing partner).

McCann termed today's move as a restructure that "ensures the provision of best-in-class marketing disciplines, seamlessly integrated and flexibly deployed to meet clients’ needs". The agency also highlighted a series of additional recent appointments:

• Florence Kong promoted to managing director of McCann Hong Kong
• Jonathan Liu, appointed as managing director of MRM//McCann Hong Kong
• Sam Wong appointed as general manager of McCann Health Hong Kong, with Connie Lo as president of Greater China McCann Health.

Cheung's role will be to drive collaboration and growth across McCann, MRM//McCann, McCann Health Hong Kong, as well as other McCann Worldgroup agency disciplines beyond Hong Kong’s borders, the company said.

“I have tremendous respect and admiration for our agencies and their market-leading expertise, having seen first-hand the impact we can deliver for our clients when our network swarms around a brand," Cheung said in a release. "Our clients are under pressure to allocate their marketing dollars against an incredibly complex marketing ecosystem, and they look to us to drive creativity and effectiveness across every aspect of the ecosystem.”     

The agency will be moving offices in May, leaving its Causeway Bay location and moving intoa new building in Taikoo Place with all of IPG’s Hong Kong agencies.

Cheung previously held senior roles at Tribal DDB and Isobar. His team won the most recent Grand Kam Fan in Hong Kong as well as a gold at the APAC Effie Awards.