Japan Appoints Toshimune Takada to Support Branding and Consumer Marketing Communications


Toshimune Takada and his surfboard

The Tokyo office of GolinHarris recently appointed Toshimune Takada as senior account director to lead the branding and marketing communications teams serving key Tokyo clients including SC Johnson, Jaguar, Land Rover and DHL. Toshimune is also responsible for spearheading new business projects in Japan as well as assisting clients based overseas to better understand and penetrate the Japanese market.

A seasoned expert in consumer relations, Toshimune brings a wealth of PR experience gained at major international and domestic PR agencies. He has served a number of high-profile clients such as Procter & Gamble Far East, Inc. and Pfizer Japan Inc. He also established a communications firm where he gained valuable experience working for automotive and apparel industry clients.

"Japan has one of the top GDP per capita among all Asian nations and is an important market for GolinHarris. I look forward to working and cooperating with other GH offices, especially in the Asia Pacific region, to secure regional and global accounts," says the clearly ambitious Toshimune.

An avid, longtime surfer, Toshimune often drives his classic Volkswagen to the beach on weekends to catch some waves. He has traveled internationally to Taiwan and even as far as California and Mexico with his beloved surfboard tucked under his arm.

Favourite:
  Saying? "Try, and you'll succeed"
Book read recently? Raymond Chandler, The Long Goodbye
Band? U2
Electronic gadget? My Sony Vaio (computer)
Career highlights:
  The launch of Qatar Airways' inauguration flight to Osaka
The launch of Phoenix Resort Miyazaki Seagaia
The launch of Pfizer Listerine Pocketpaks in Japan
Overseeing the soft landing from a recall incident at a major electronics manufacturer

Toshimune Takada, senior account director at the Tokyo office of GolinHarris, can be contacted at ttakada@golinharris.com.

Fanny Wong Bolsters Government and Issues Management for Hong Kong


A clipping from the Donald Tsang campaign (Fanny Wong stands at the back), taken from prominent Hong Kong newspaper Apple Daily in May, 2005. The headline reads, "Star team to work with Donald Tsang.".
The Hong Kong office of GolinHarris has added to its formidable group of highly experienced practice leaders by naming consultant Fanny Wong its new Head, Public Affairs. Fanny is one of the most respected names in the government relations industry, and her 18 years of experience are already paying dividends for the firm and its clients.

Fanny’s professional career has been one learning experience after another. She began her career as a government and political journalist for Oriental Daily, the city’s largest-circulation Chinese-language daily. Four years later she moved to the South China Morning Post, Hong Kong’s most famous English-language daily, where she served as political editor. One of her main responsibilities during this time was covering the Sino-British negotiations over the future of Hong Kong post-1997, the year of the handover of the territory from British to Chinese rule.
After 14 years in print media, Fanny decided it was time to take on a new challenge. In 1998 she joined the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), the government anti-corruption agency, where she was responsible for communications and community relations strategies. She says although this seemed like a highly unlikely move at the time given her background as a newshound, she aspired to join the ICAC because of the organization’s importance to Hong Kong.
Then came the hardest job of all: full-time motherhood. Fanny says that after four years at the ICAC, she decided it was time to focus on her two young children—whom, after a couple of years, she "drove nuts." All the while, though, she maintained her longtime contacts at the government, and she was also in touch with senior staff at GolinHarris, who soon began to talk with her about joining the firm.
Fanny came aboard in 2004 and has since made a significant impact on the firm’s public affairs work and reputation. In the fall of that year she worked closely with DBS to help the bank emerge from a crisis involving its safety deposit box business. During the summer of 2005 she counseled Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang during his election campaign. Today she works with a diverse group of GH clients on major initiatives that—like much of her important work—she is not at liberty to discuss.
But it was one client’s failure that stands out the most among her PR experiences, a campaign in which the company found its property development project challenged by interest groups, local politicians and the general public. "This illustrated how civil society in Hong Kong has changed and become more aware of the power it wields, which in turn has profoundly impacted how business is done in Hong Kong," Fanny says. In terms of public engagement and transparency in business, she gives particularly high marks to a GH client in the middle of a major project that has painstakingly involved public interests every step along the way, including historically contentious green groups.
One of Fanny’s greatest assets is a rolodex-like list of close contacts she has cultivated over the years, many of whom stem back to her days as a journalist when people who are now leaders of the city were mid-ranking public servants. Although she says certain people "might be more relaxed" around her now that she is no longer in the media, they always respected her need to report accurately and fairly. She still maintains her media presence through regular appearances as a contributor on radio programs.
"Working at GH is very interesting," Fanny says. "When I was a journalist, I was responsible for government policy. When I was with the ICAC, I also worked with the government. So I have always had a lot of experience with public sector decision-making. But to join a commercial firm, you have to be very business-conscious. It gives me a much more balanced perspective of how things work in this community.
"I’m very happy here. I have good colleagues. We have quality clients here, too, and working with competent management teams who are receptive to counsel and involve us at a very high level is a very rewarding experience."