Creative agency We Are Social names new CEO of Southeast Asia

Global socially-led creative agency We Are Social has promoted its CEO of Singapore, Christina Chong (pictured left), to the position of CEO, Southeast Asia, with a remit to develop the agency’s presence in the region and to build out new innovative offerings both locally and globally.

Chong, who joined We Are Social in 2016, will continue to oversee the agency’s Singapore office, which has a team of 90 people, and which works with brands such as Samsung, Bandai Namco Entertainment Asia, Netflix, and Amazon.

She will now also be tasked with leading growth efforts in the Southeast Asia market, which is maturing at a rapid pace, according to the agency. 

In her new role, Chong will report to Chris Adamson, We Are Social’s global chief operating officer, and will continue to be based in Singapore.

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With Singapore already being a key hub for innovation at We Are Social, Chong will also be looking to further enhance its virtual influencer creation and specialist production capabilities, extending its AI product offering, and developing XR (extended reality) products targeted specifically at brands in the media, fashion and luxury spaces. 

Chong will also continue to oversee Kobe Singapore - an influencer agency acquired by We Are Social in 2022. She will work with Kobe’s local leadership to deliver influencer marketing strategies leveraging Kobe’s patented AI technology. 

Before joining We Are Social, Chong was the managing director at Bates, CHI & Partners. She has held various senior positions at Bartle Bogle Hegarty Asia Pacific, as well as Ogilvy & Mather.

“Southeast Asia represents a real growth opportunity. It has a huge concentration of progressive and ambitious clients, a rapidly growing consumer base, and rising digital adoption," said Chong. "My role is to capitalise upon these elements with a two-fold strategy. We will continue to deliver creative and effective social media campaigns for clients, but also to develop innovative social offerings both for this increasingly digital savvy market, and for clients all over the world,” she continued. 

Adding on, Nathan McDonald, co-founder, and group chief executive and We Are Social noted that Chong has had "amazing success" since she joined We Are Social. "Southeast Asia is a vital market for us, as one of the fastest growing regions in the world, with forecasts for huge growth in consumerism and digital adoption - there’s a lot of untapped opportunity. We’re excited to see how Chong can take our presence in Southeast Asia and our innovation offering to the next level.”

Recently, We Are Social acquired Hong Kong’s above-the-line agency Metta Communications, to create an integrated creative offering for clients in Hong Kong.

Under its new ownership, Metta Communications has been rebranded to ’Metta/We Are Social’. The agency will work alongside We Are Social’s existing team in Hong Kong, with a team of 25 who collaborate to meet client demands for best-in-class creativity coupled with social media expertise. 

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