If you’ve seen a few of our ‘FACE News’ blog posts over the past few months, you may have got the sense that things at FACE are on the up and up. And they are! In London we’ve been hiring a talented team to grow our global operations – headed by Erika Ammerman, our Global Head of Social Media who joined in May; and in July, James Cuthbertson, Global Sales Manager for Pulsar.
But FACE is not just a London business – we have young and growing offices in New York, Singapore and Hong Kong. And it’s news from Hong Kong we’re sharing today: New clients! New team! And a really exciting direction for growth.
Over to FACE Asia MD, Andrew Ho:
Face Asia has enjoyed a remarkable 9 months since officially being in operation. We’ve done some fantastic work, we are creating a high functioning and super fun culture, and we have built some extraordinary relationships in a short period of time. Our focus is unwavering – to build our brand of work and maintain a quality that will win the hearts and minds of clients & consumers.
Unilever, Reckitt Benckiser, The Economist, Nokia and Nestle have been our most cherished collaborators, the the power of co-creation in all its forms is proving incredibly influential in the region. By the end of the year, we hope to have a team of 5 people, with steady growth planned for next year. FACE’s social data intelligence platform Pulsar will be a key driver of our future business in addition to growing existing clients. We want a sound business producing inspirational results for our clients.
Co-creation remains to be a novel concept in the region, but garnering excitement. For our clients that have tried it, they now can’t get enough and we hope to be in their plans in the new year, tackling a variety of interesting challenges. But there is more work to be done as we hope to also to continue contributing to the industry as well. The region is bursting with opportunity, but talent and creativity have yet to fully flourish. Our mission here is to not just do good business, but give back to the community and raise the expectations of everyone to do more, be more and collaborate more.
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And in time-honoured FACE style, we’ve also done a quick profile interview with the Hong Kong office’s latest hire, Nicole Li.
Nicole brings with her 5 years of pure qual experience, having worked across China, HK and South East Asia during her time at Ipsos, Clear & Nielsen. We’re also very glad to have her fabulous language skills (fluent English, Mandarin & Cantonese), quick learning, and what I hear is her sweet yet occasionally wicked sense of humour!
1. Nicole, welcome! Tell us a little bit about yourself:
Hi everyone this is Nicole, and I am a Hongkie! I like to start the day with a good exercise as it gives me moments of tranquility before a hectic day.
2. Yes, life at FACE can be a little hectic sometimes! What’s your new role here in the Hong Kong office?
As a research manager, my daily responsibility includes research design, online community management/ moderation as well as workshop facilitation. However, I would expect myself to be more than a “research manager”, I hope to work with the Asia team to explore new research methodologies that can bring true value to the client. And as part of a young and energetic team, I also hope to play a part in shaping the culture of the team.
3. What made you choose to join FACE?
To start with, I like doing qualitative research because it’s about understanding and drawing out people’s thoughts. I believe that “insight” is not something that is created by an agency and end with PowerPoint slides, but it resides in every one of us (e.g. our clients and consumers). The ability to draw out those insights is a beautiful skill that I want to acquire through practice.
Therefore, the core strength of FACE, co-creation with clients and consumers, becomes a very strong appeal to me. I believe this is an excellent platform to stretch my thinking and understanding of people.
4. What are you most looking forward to learning and achieving in your new role?
There are three things I want to learn and achieve in my new role:
- Localize: I hope to work with the team to build a strong understanding and presence in China’s social media landscape
- Crystalize: I hope to explore the future direction of Face Asia together with the team
- Personalize: I hope to build a long-lasting relationship with our clients, and help bring out the best out of the people that I work with
Sounds like a great plan, Nicole!
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If you’d like to get in touch with our Asia offices, get in touch with MD Andrew Ho on LinkedIn (Andrew Ho), or by email: Andrew.Ho@Facegroup.com.
Or sign up for our Asia mailing list here to be kept up with developments in our co-creation methodologies and (sneak preview) how we’re bringing social media research into Asian languages and markets…
