Tencent hands search business to Optimedia Beijing

Optimedia Beijing said that it was invited for an informal agency meeting, along with several local agencies, instead of competing in a formal pitch for the business. It had the opportunity to present some case studies to the client.

Search business is growing quickly in China, according to a recent report published by Chinese research company iResearch. It suggests that Sogou has overtaken SOSO to become the third largest search engine in China, by number of search queries, after Baidu and Google.

The same report also summarised that the total number of search queries conducted in China exceeded over 73 billion in the second quarter of 2011. This represented a 23.6 per cent increase year-on-year and a 12.1 per cent increase when compared to the first quarter.

Brenda Niou, the agency’s GM, says that although Tencent’s search engine SOSO.com has been in operation for three years, the major challenge was to help the brand to boost  awareness among Chinese netizens by differentiating marketing strategies.

Sandy Chen, planning director of Optimedia Beijing will also work closely on this new Tencent search engine media account. A new campaign is expected to be out in September.

TBWA and Grey are Tencent's creative agencies in China. Tencent is understood to have spent US$41 million on ads in 2010.

Reported in June, Tencent broke into China's lucrative online video market by launching its own video portal.

Optimedia is one of the two major sub-brands of ZenithOptimedia. Its client portforlio includes MengNiu, Lee Kum Kee China, Tencent and Carlsberg.