Opinion

Cheil Greater China boss Aaron Lau on the wisdom of Steve Jobs, working for Koreans and why an ad agency is like a restaurant

Aaron LauAaron Lau worked at DDB for 16 years before starting his own agency, Bravo Asia. Last year, Bravo was acquired by Cheil Worldwide, and Lau now runs its Greater China operation.

In this interview, he talks to Mumbrella Asia editor Robin Hicks about his proudest moment, his biggest regret, why running a restaurant is like running an ad agency, and why Cheil needs to get more serious about fun.

What do you see as the biggest challenge in your role running Cheil Greater China?

There are not many agencies that are so successful primarily with just one client – and that is our biggest challenge. Samsung has given Cheil a tremendous array of experience and skillsets most agencies wish they had. But on the less positive side, while our people have a comfortable working relationship with Samsung, there is the possibility that they are less comfortable working with other clients.

A monogamous relationship is an opportunity and a barrier. As we evolve, we need to bring in new types of people with skillsets that are valuable to the wider client community.

Your founded Bravo Asia, which was acquired by Cheil last year. You then took over Cheil’s Greater China operation as CEO. How different is the challenge of running a start-up and a network? 

The major difference is the mindset. When running a startup, you can choose to do whatever you want. If you want to pump all your profit into the business, that’s the entrepreneur’s choice. As the head of a network, you are managing assets for shareholders. There is a lot of responsibility beyond the whims of an entrepreneur.

I started out as corporate man, then went out on my own, then went back to a network. So it wasn’t hard to adapt as I’d done it before. But actually, Cheil feels like a startup, because we work mainly with one client. I see Cheil as the world’s best-funded startup.

You ran DDB in Asia for 16 years, and left in 2006. How hard was it to leave DDB after so long?

Very. The day I left, my staff had a farewell party for me. I left the party reluctantly. My staff came out to hug me as I pressed the elevator for the last time. I cared a lot for the people who worked with me. It was one of four or five times that I have ever cried.

Why did you leave?

There was some disagreement about how DDB should be run. And my value to the company was not as great as it had been a few years earlier. Another reason was a speech Steve Jobs gave to a Stanford graduation class called ‘Connecting the dots’. One of things he said was that if you’re unhappy you should follow your heart and move on.

By the time I was 40 years old, I thought that if I didn’t try out as an entrepreneur, I never would. I sold most of my assets, and had enough money to last me two years. I promised my wife that if I used up all the funds in this time, I would give up and work for another multinational.

Before I knew it, eight years had passed before I was selling the business. My journey as an entrepreneur was extremely satisfying. I would encourage anyone to try it out before it’s too late.

You’re a Hong Konger. What’s it like working for a Korean company?

I had been warned about how hard it would be. I was told that Korean businesses can be unreasonably demanding, and as an outsider you’re not easily accepted. I’ve found these assumptions to be both true and untrue.

My Korean bosses are very demanding, and there’s a strong desire to succeed. But I was lucky to come into the company at the right time. Cheil’s management had realised that they must evolve beyond Korea, however successful they were in their home market. Just looking at what Samsung had done in expanding overseas was enough to see what Cheil needed to do.

There is only one thing I would complain about – we could be more fun oriented. We work way too hard. In the creative business, if you’re not having fun, you can’t be creative.

You are a successful restauranteur, part-owning the Cova restaurant chain in Hong Kong. If you had to give up your job at Cheil or your restaurant business, which would it be and why? 

Cova

Cova

That’s a tough call to make. And I should be clear that I don’t run the Cova franchise, although I do have a stake in it.

There are parallels to running a restaurant and an ad agency. In the restaurant business, you have got to have the freshest ingredients you can buy. The same applies to ad agencies – the most important ingredient in the creative work is freshness.

Also key to running a good restaurant is the service. You have to make people want to come back. The same is true of ad agencies and how they solve problems for their clients.

The third thing is understanding your customers, which is critical to getting them to come back. You need to find a minimum of five great customers who’ll sing your praises to others. The same thing applies to agencies and their clients.

If you can get those three things right, you should succeed. The rest is down to God and good luck.

Who is your role model for how to run an ad agency and why?

I know it’s very anti-Samsung of me to say so, but it’s [the late Apple founder and CEO] Steve Jobs. He was the world’s biggest dreamer, and my business is about dreaming too. You’ve got to be a dreamer, otherwise you won’t be successful. Jobs had the innate ability to identify and work with the best people from various trades. I wish I could be better at that. He would have made a great ad agency CEO.

What is the proudest moment of your career so far, and what is your biggest regret?

My proudest moment was winning McDonald’s back for DDB Hong Kong.

When we lost the business, it was 60 per cent of our revenue. As a result of losing the account, an entire layer of the management team was taken out. I was the last man standing, holding 40 per cent of the business when I was promoted to run the agency.

The first thing I did was gather the team to do some soul searching. We just had to pick up the pieces, knuckle down, focus on the creative work and rebuild. Two and a half years later, McDonald’s was back as a client. It was a great moment for everyone involved.

Dave Alberts

Dave Alberts

My biggest regret is losing good people. One was Dave Alberts [now chief creative officer of MoFilm], who I brought in from Australia. He left after we lost McDonald’s, because we couldn’t afford to keep him. He left along with his creative partner and production team. They came in as a team and we lost them all in one go.

How did you win McDonald’s back?

Through a pitch involving two other agencies. We presented our idea to the client, who told me that the work from all three agencies was equally good. Marvin Whaley, who was then president of McDonald’s China Development Corp, said to us, “We fired you two and half years ago, why do you want us back?” I took him downstairs to a McDonald’s restaurant where the entire agency was waiting for him. Everyone said hello to Marvin. I said to him, “When you work with us, the entire agency is behind you.” We won the business because of that.

What are your hopes for building Cheil in Greater China over the next five years?

I would like to see Cheil evolve to become truly integrated solutions provider in five key areas: creative, media, retail, events and digital. We need to be an agency that combines technology, innovation and art. And if we can do, we can build an agency of the future.

I’m not sure if that’ll take three or five years, I don’t set goals like that. I just want to make sure that I’m on the right track. How quickly you get to where you need to be depends on inside and outside factors, and some are beyond your control. Are your clients ready? Do you have the right talent? We are confident we’re moving in the right direction, and it’s going to be an interesting journey for everyone at Cheil.

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