The Gate attracts four senior 4As executives to creative and account teams

Creative director Ma was formerly in a parallel role at Grey Hong Kong. He worked on accounts such as Market Place by Jasons and Watsons Water Hong Kong. Prior to that, he was associate creative director at DDB Hong Kong and handled the accounts of McDonald’s, Lipton, Volkswagen, Vita, Park n' Shop and Neutrogena. His CV also includes a senior art director role at Leo Burnett Hong Kong, crafting ad campaigns for BenQ, Hang Seng Bank, Just Gold and the Cancer Fund.

Creative director Cheung and associate creative director Fung have both worked for Grey Hong Kong, and most recently worked as associate creative director and senior art director at DDB Hong Kong, respectively from December 2011 to January 2013. They have worked on accounts such as McDonald’s, Ribena and Hong Kong Tourism Board. 

Taking the role of management supervisor, Maggie Wong was most recently business director at Alan Chan Design (Seanna Liu, who joined the Gate as MD last year, was previously GM of Alan Chan Design) and has also worked with 4As agencies, including Leo Burnett, JWT and Euro RSCG, handling accounts such as Standard Chartered Bank, Sony, Hang Seng Bank, Sun Hung Kai Properties and Pizza Hut. 

Tom Kao, The Gate Worldwide's CEO for Asia, told Campaign Asia-Pacific that specifically, the new senior members will focus on strengthening the work for existing clients, such as Bank of China (Hong Kong) and State Street Global Advisors.

They will also be involved extensively in business development, as the agency is now close to clinching a couple of prospects.

The agency became a member of the Hong Kong 4As this month, and Kao added that the agency aimed to continue to lift its professional standard and quality of work. "Attracting new, emerging talent to join our ranks is vital in achieving our goals," he said.

Since Kao, who was the former Greater China chairmen of Y&R, joined The Gate last July, he has hired Michael Dee, ex-chief creative officer of DDB China, as chairman and chief creative officer earlier this year. The Gate Worldwide is a part of MSQ Partners, a communications group headquartered in London.