Leo Burnett HK creative head Miranda Shing launches The Right Side

Shing, who has mainly worked at 4A agencies, including Leo Burnett Hong Kong for 12 years and a year-long stint with Ogilvy Asia Pacific, is one of the very few art-based senior creative talents in Hong Kong.

She told Campaign Asia-Pacific the new agency has four key partners, including herself as creative partner; Shih Wing-ching, founder of Centraline Property; KK Tsang, former GroupM Hong Kong chief executive; and KC Tsang, a design guru and professor at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, who will act as a consultant. She said the agency is still hiring, especially for creative talents.

Shing said the new agency has two key visions: profit sharing not only between the partners, but all employees, and as a socially conscious agency, they would do two to three pro bono projects for NGOs each year.

The agency has some clients on board already, but preferred to keep them confidential, she said.

While the Right Side is a creative-focused agency, its sister agency The Bread Digital, which is owned by KK Tsang, would provide both above-the-line and digital advertising solutions to clients.

Shing added that she and her business director Kennie Chung will add a more feminine dimension to the new agency. “It is an increasing trend that women, whether wives and girlfriends, are holding the final decision-making power, not just for normal household goods, but also for big spending items such as properties and cars,” Shing said.

Shing and Chung have extensive experience in handling woman’s products from mass to niche segments, including for clients such as Rejoice, Max Factor, Just Gold, SKII and Wyeth Milk Formula.

Meanwhile, Lilian Leong, MD of Leo Burnett Hong Kong confirmed that it has hired Li Chi Tak from independent agency Metta as their new head of art. 

For more on the rise of startups in the region, see 'independence movement', in which a number of ex-4A agency professionals who have founded their own independent agencies, talk about the pros and cons of being their own bosses.