Telum caught up with Thomas Kwan who shared his viewpoint on the importance of creating a deeper connection with your target and the benefits of being an international company to stay on top of changing regulations. 

You’ve always worked agency side, what excites you the most about agency work?
It’s the fact that we can learn something new almost every day. We communicate with clients, journalists and partners constantly, and we pick up new information that sparks our curiosity and investigate how these could be applied to our work, be it the next great campaign for clients or ideas that could take our business to the next level.

How has the agency been since Hume Brophy acquired Madaket+Co in November 2017?
We have been growing steadily over the years and we must thank our clients and partners for their continued support. These long-term relationships have served us well, enabling us to remain on a stable footing amidst a pandemic and continue to deliver quality work for clients. Also, I must thank our colleagues for their commitment and rising to the challenges we have faced. The support from the Hume Brophy group was also essential in the continued growth of our Hong Kong office. Being part of an international organisation with a collaborative culture allows us to leverage the expertise of colleagues from other offices and inject fresh thinking into the work we do here.

Hume Brophy is involved in reputation management, have you seen a change in the past five years as to how companies approach reputation investment?
The challenge that many companies face is staying relevant to their target audience in a time of constant change and a flood of information in the market. Having a fantastic product may not be enough. Companies need to tell the story behind the brand and the product, and more importantly, show how it fits in with consumers’ beliefs or could help them achieve certain objectives. Overall, it is about building trust with consumers and that involves getting a better understanding about them and creating a deeper level of emotional connection. In fact, one of our colleagues has written an interesting piece on this topic.

Regulations are changing with trade tensions how do you advice your clients who are dealing with this?
Regulations are periodically updated to keep up with the times, be it due to new trade policies, emergence of new technology, or people’s increasing awareness on sustainability. As part of a collaborative international agency, we can leverage the insights of colleagues who are in the centres of where some of these regulations are made, such as Brussels and develop our own viewpoints that are relevant to our clients in Asia.  

How do you stay ahead with all the new trends and developments in the financial and business market?
As communications consultants, it is essential for us to stay on top of the news and draw out insights that can help our clients better navigate through their business environments. With teams located in all major financial centres around the world, Hume Brophy regularly publishes commentaries on market developments that impact financial companies globally. Some of the recent topics we have shared insights on include cryptocurrency, artificial intelligence and Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation - trends that will have a long-term impact on financial institutions.