According to sources, Tencent is preparing for a debut in North America and other Western markets in the near future, with an announcement to come potentially before the end of the year.
Executive vice-president SY Lau did not comment on Tencent’s plans for expansion but said the company, which operates popular instant messaging service QQ and claims more than 288 million active accounts, is looking for a long-term creative agency to be its communications partner.
While no deadline for the pitch has been released, agency insiders say OgilvyOne and TBWA in China plan to participate, and Publicis, the agency that most recently held the Tencent account, also expects to re-bid for the contract. Lau said that while Publicis had helped Tencent to develop QQ’s Olympic campaign and had helped to make the QQ brand more consumer-friendly, the company is holding the pitch to search for the most forward-thinking agency to run its campaign in the future. “Tencent invests more than Rmb 100 million (US$14.6 million) every year on brand-building and marketing-related programmes. It really is is high time that we find a proper agency that manages our communication strategy,” Lau said.
“Publicis did a fantastic launch programme for us. We were just moving a little too quickly for its creative team.”
Analysts add that Tencent may also be holding the pitch to better attract advertising revenue, which has been lacklustre in comparison to revenue garnered by its portal add-on services and games.
“Tencent needs agencies that know how to advertise both offline and online, and it may not have been getting what it wanted. This is a big push to boost advertising to create steady revenue streams,” said Shaun Rein, managing director of CMR.
“It’s tough because the big agencies in China are not very strong creatively and Tencent needs an agency that will push the digital marketing side.”
The call for the creative pitch comes as Tencent prepares to revamp its image from a primarily youth-oriented site to evolve into a more mature, all-in-one online news location.
Executive vice-president SY Lau did not comment on Tencent’s plans for expansion but said the company, which operates popular instant messaging service QQ and claims more than 288 million active accounts, is looking for a long-term creative agency to be its communications partner.
While no deadline for the pitch has been released, agency insiders say OgilvyOne and TBWA in China plan to participate, and Publicis, the agency that most recently held the Tencent account, also expects to re-bid for the contract. Lau said that while Publicis had helped Tencent to develop QQ’s Olympic campaign and had helped to make the QQ brand more consumer-friendly, the company is holding the pitch to search for the most forward-thinking agency to run its campaign in the future. “Tencent invests more than Rmb 100 million (US$14.6 million) every year on brand-building and marketing-related programmes. It really is is high time that we find a proper agency that manages our communication strategy,” Lau said.
“Publicis did a fantastic launch programme for us. We were just moving a little too quickly for its creative team.”
Analysts add that Tencent may also be holding the pitch to better attract advertising revenue, which has been lacklustre in comparison to revenue garnered by its portal add-on services and games.
“Tencent needs agencies that know how to advertise both offline and online, and it may not have been getting what it wanted. This is a big push to boost advertising to create steady revenue streams,” said Shaun Rein, managing director of CMR.
“It’s tough because the big agencies in China are not very strong creatively and Tencent needs an agency that will push the digital marketing side.”
The call for the creative pitch comes as Tencent prepares to revamp its image from a primarily youth-oriented site to evolve into a more mature, all-in-one online news location.
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