Hoffman SG's GM Maureen Tseng takes on added Indonesia remit

The Hoffman Agency has expanded Singapore general manager Maureen Tseng's remit to general manager of Singapore and Indonesia. In assuming leadership of Indonesia as well as the Southeast Asia hub based in Singapore, Tseng (pictured) will be directly responsible for one of the agency’s key growth markets.

Tseng has worked with the agency for over 25 years, first as a director of client services in 1997 before being promoted to general manager, Singapore in 2018. Prior to that, she was communications manager at Pacific Internet and senior communications officer at Thomson Consumer Electronics.  

Tseng told MARKETING-INTERACTIVE in an interview that other than planning trips to Jakarta now that borders have opened, her first order of business is to work with the team in building a scalable framework for powering growth in SEA. “We are seeing a tremendous appetite for Southeast Asia support from clients and prospects, and we need to deepen our reach while equipping our teams in-region with the training and resources to provide the world-class counsel that the agency is known for,” she said. 

The team in Indonesia will be on the lookout to work with SEA-founded companies with global ambitions, as well as global companies looking to penetrate the SEA region and make their presence known. Additionally, Hoffman also plans to work with clients that want to engage in purpose-driven communications, such as ESG, supporting the growth of diverse communities in their markets and helping to improve the lives of individuals in the region. 

Tseng’s appointment comes as the agency sharpens its focus on Southeast Asia and expands its integrated marketing communications (IMC) offering in the region, which was launched last June. To that end, Hoffman has also set up a SEA task force to manage regional remits, which Tseng will oversee. 

The dedicated SEA task force includes Akansha Rai (pictured below left) and Clarence Lim (pictured below right), who were promoted to senior account director and account director for Southeast Asia respectively. The team will work towards growing Hoffman’s IMC offering across SEA. The moves also come on the back of Caroline Hsu’s promotion to chief global officer earlier in March. 

Currently, Hoffman SEA has close to 40 employees. While Tseng did not specify if the agency is looking to expand its team in SEA, Tseng said that it will take "a measured approach to hiring", and will be done in tandem with its clients’ and prospects’ requirements. “One thing that we have always been proud about is that 99% of our leaders and staff are local, yet well versed in running global campaigns. This means that our clients will get the best of both worlds - local nous with international expertise,” she added.  

Hoffman is also in ongoing discussions with existing clients on how it can deploy an IMC approach on top of the PR play for their business goals. Currently, the agency is seeing increased requests for video, content, and brand consulting, and expects this trend to continue for the foreseeable future. "We expect that IMC will grow significantly and form a much larger proportion of our APAC revenues by the end of the year," Tseng said.

Hoffman opened its Jakarta office in 2017, and its Southeast Asia presence extends to every major market including Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines. Some key regional clients are Zoom, Trellix and Ripple. 

Meanwhile, Hoffman’s IMC offering was formalised across APAC last year. According to the agency, the IMC offering is supported by proprietary methodology Blueprint, which channels the business of PR through the lens of integrated communications. This will allow clients to “connect touchpoints beyond the scope of a traditional PR agency”. 
 
More of the interview here: 

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE: What are some similarities and differences you see between Singapore and Indonesia? 

Tseng: Singapore and Indonesia might have their cultural nuances and geographic differences, but we’re a lot more alike than one would think, such as the burgeoning internet economy and technologically savvy business owners and professionals.  

In terms of differences, Indonesia has historically been focused on domestic growth, being Southeast Asia’s largest economy. However, in recent years we have seen very exciting growth and innovation in the start-up scene - Indonesia has an overwhelming share of unicorns who have regional and even global ambitions. We have been working with a number of these to tell their stories internationally, and we are seeing a growing appetite for local conglomerates eager to make their mark beyond Indonesia. This plays to our sweet spot in navigating local nuances and helping drive multi-market campaigns. 

Singapore on the other hand continues to be an international hub for organisations, and we are seeing even more of a shift by companies to base their operations here with the geopolitical shifts in recent years. Currently, more than 80% of our clients are running campaigns in two or more countries and we see that continuing to grow in the near future. 

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE: Having worked in the Singapore operations for more than 25 years, what are some learning lessons you plan to bring over to Indonesia? 

Tseng: With Indonesia being that much bigger, the scale of campaigns, the vibrancy and innovation that I am seeing firsthand, I daresay we have more to learn from Indonesia than the other way around! That being said, we are excited to bring our multi-market expertise, knowledge, and experience to Indonesia and to help Indonesian companies tell their stories globally and vice versa. There continues to be a lot of interest in Indonesia from companies based across the globe and our expertise in navigating cross-cultural communications is valuable to companies wanting to be successful in their international forays. 

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE: What are some PR and communications trends you are excited about? Why? 

Tseng: How tech will drive new and innovative ways of communicating, such as TikTok and WeChat, as well as defining our role as communicators, as the different marketing, media and communications industries converge. Additionally, organisations are moving towards communications with a purpose - ESG, diversity and inclusion are now taking prominence and are not just after-thoughts or lip-service communications. This is great as we can make meaningful changes to better society through such campaigns. 

Finally, multi-market campaigns of course! Many global companies are of the view that Southeast Asia is a homogeneous region but that cannot be further from the truth - Southeast Asia is one of the most diverse regions globally. Home to 11 countries with impressive diversity in language, regulations, and economies, we’re thankful that the Internet economy has made communications and ways of working borderless and seamless.

The challenge, therefore, is in balancing globalisation with localisation, and the marketing communications approach in Southeast Asia definitely must not be a one-size-fits-all solution.    

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE: Does Hoffman plan to open a dedicated office in Malaysia? If so, when? 

Tseng: We have worked with dedicated resources and valued partners across Southeast Asia for over two decades. My task is to build a scalable framework for growth in the region and this will involve closely assessing how best to support our clients’ needs while catering to the business requirements of each and every country. 

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