London-based digital agency John Brown acquires HK counterpart Kleio

Kleio, a digital agency which was established 18 months ago, produces social media, online and print content for a range of clients including Canon, Time Warner, Swire Hotels, Moet Hennessy Diageo and Cartoon Network. All of Kleio’s staff will be incorporated into John Brown.

John Brown was established in 1987 in London, its chief executive officer Andrew Hirsch says it has 40-50 clients globally, and already produces creative content for brands in Britain including Royal Bank of Scotland, Land Rover, Austin Martin, and John Lewis. The agency has overseas offices in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Tokyo.

The company also opened its Shanghai office 18 months ago, with clients like B&Q and Ping An Insurance.

“We don’t want to be seen as a London agency trying to do business in China," Hirsch said. "Instead we want to be seen as a Hong Kong agency with business expanding into China.”

He noted that in the past John Brown had been struggling to find Chinese editorial talents. With the acquisition of Kleio, “we got a ready team that has good understanding of Chinese culture and language, who will further enable us to deliver our inspirational communications to many of our global clients”.