SCMP bolsters Advertising+ division with new senior hires

The South China Morning Post (SCMP) has bolstered its leadership within the Advertising+ division with senior appointments, on the back of its double-digit year-over-year advertising revenue growth. 

Based in Hong Kong, Lee Williamson (pictured right) joins SCMP as executive director of specialist publications and will set the direction for its lifestyle content division and spearhead growth for titles including Style, 100 Top Tables, and XXIV. Lee's role was previously held by Karrie Lam.

Prior to his new role, Williamson had worked at Tatler Asia for over six years. He was the founding editor and regional head of Tatler Gen.T, a community-focused content platform for impact-driven young leaders in Asia. Before Tatler Asia, Williamson was an editor at TimeOut Beijing.

On the other hand, Celine Asril (pictured left) rejoins SCMP as strategy director of Morning Studio. In this newly created role, Asril will be responsible for leading the ideation hub and work with the business team to showcase the studio’s marketing solutions.

Prior to SCMP, Asril worked with FINN Partners in Singapore and was previously a content strategist with Morning Studio and TBWA\. Asril will continue to be based in Singapore. In January 2020, Asril held the positions of senior content strategist and associate content director at SCMP for three years.

Both Williamson and Asril report to Kevin Huang, chief operating officer, SCMP.

Kevin Huang, chief operating officer at the SCMP, said, “With Williamson’s strong track record in journalism and community building and Asril’s deep expertise in content development and execution, I am confident they will bring fresh, innovative approaches to meet our affluent audience’s evolving needs and maximise ROI for our partners and brands.”

Lee Williamson, executive director of specialist publications at the SCMP, said: “I am thrilled to be joining the SCMP to lead its lifestyle content division. My first priority is to build community and deeper engagement with the Post’s global audience around our lifestyle content. I see a lot of opportunities to elevate our portfolio of offerings and curate content informed by our audience’s preferences and needs.”

Celine Asril, strategy director of Morning Studio at the SCMP, said: “I could not be more excited to return to the SCMP. I hope to leverage my broad experience working with multi-sector brands to help raise the bar for Morning Studio through data-driven, multi-platform strategies, building on the Post’s 120 years of brand equity.” 

Don't miss: SCMP revamps website homepage to elevate reader experience

Recently, SCMP revamped the homepage of its website, bringing its readers an array of new features and a more dynamic and reader-first experience.

The enhancement of its existing homepage, which has been in operation for four years, comes after its readers revealed that there’s an issue of information overload. “Today’s digital world is extremely busy and trusted news brands need to find a way to cut through the noise and ensure that news content is easily findable on a well-structured page,” said SCMP in a statement. 

Related articles:

SCMP celebrates 120 years of HK's international story with popup exhibition 
SCMP honours readers and HKers' spirit with new anniversary campaign 
SCMP nabs SmarTone's Lucy Chen as new head of strategy and data 
SCMP names new global strategic business director