PRovoke Media 17 Jun 2020 // 8:27AM GMT
BEIJING — BCW has elevated Qu Hong to China CEO, two years after he was named to lead the firm's Beijing office.
Hong takes on overall leadership of China in addition to his remit as market leader of BCW Beijing, and will continue to report to BCW Asia-Pacific president Matt Stafford.
Burson-Marsteller China was previously overseen by Ruby Fu, prior to the merger with Cohn & Wolfe that created BCW. Since then the firm's China presence has been overseen by market leaders in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.
“It was a natural decision to elevate Qu Hong to BCW China CEO,” said Stafford. “Beijing, a market critical to the growth and overall success of the China market, has seen stellar performance and an influx of top industry talent since he took the helm in 2017. Under Qu Hong’s leadership, BCW Beijing’s business grew significantly in 2019 and into 2020 Q1 while the industry has faced, and continues to face, unprecedented challenges.”
Qu Hong returned to Burson-Marsteller in 2017, having first worked at the agency between 2005 and 2012 as director and chief consultant of government relations and public policy in Beijing. Prior to his return, he spent several years in senior roles at Edelman and Weber Shandwick.
The elevation comes one day after BCW announced a strategic partnership with virtual reality platform HTC VIVE in China. Through HTC’s VIVE XR Suite, the partnership will enable BCW to provide clients in China with the ability to integrate XR experiences into their communications activities. In return, BCW will provide HTC VIVE with communications industry insights to further enhance its industry solutions.
“Digital transformation is a mission-critical priority for modern businesses as they compete in an interconnected, highly mobile world, powered by emerging technologies,” said Joe Peng, MD and head of digital innovation for BCW Asia-Pacific.