Reporting to Jon Wade, head of digital for Asia Pacific, Smith comes to the role after leading Weber Shandwick’s digital strategy and social media engagement for major brands across a wide range of industries in Australia.
“Jye’s position is essentially a second-in-charge to my position here," Wade told Campaign Asia-Pacific. "With more and more demand from our clients and prospects, we necessarily need to increase our resources to service this demand, hence the reason for expanding the team."
Weber Shandwick is seeing significant growth in its digital business across all markets in Asia, Wade added. "Our approach, which is well received by our clients, is integrating digital and traditional PR techniques together to create inline programmes," he continued. "It not only brings us more business in digital, but also helps us win traditional PR business we wouldn’t have won without an integrated approach.”
Smith has done an "awesome job" developing the agency's digital capabilities in Australia, particularly in terms of reputation management, Wade said.
As vice president, digital, Smith will work with clients and staff across the firm’s 18 offices in the region, tapping into the broader digital environment, including a focus on online issues and crisis management. He will also continue to work with the team and clients in Australia.
Weber Shandwick’s Centre of Digital Excellence in Hong Kong supports local offices by serving as a digital strategy and creative hub for the entire region. The hub includes the firm’s Digital Content Studio, which provides quick-turnaround, high-quality digital content, including video, infographics and web development production capabilities.
The firm has been establishing the regional Centre of Digital Excellence to supplement and support the digital resources in its 12 market operations across Asia Pacific since Wade’s hire in 2011. Wade said that the firm anticipates further additions to this regional team.
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