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The Hoffman Agency’s Korean operation was recenty featured in an article in Semiconductor Network magazine, which focused on the Agency’s PR work in the Web 2.0 sphere as well as its efforts supporting environmental PR campaigns.
An English translation of the article is below. It can be viewed in its original form here.
The Hoffman Agency: A Leading Public Relations Agency in the High-tech Industry That Offers Interactive and Green Image Services
By Heo Ji-Na
Semiconductor Network
September 2009
The Hoffman Agency is a Silicon Valley-based PR agency specializing in the technology industry. The company opened its first Asian subsidiary in 1996, and has created an organic network with local subsidiaries in countries across Asia, including Korea. The company’s Asia Pacific headquarters is located in Hong Kong. With its extensive network, the agency maximizes synergy effects to provide communications and PR services for local firms advancing into overseas markets as well as to help multinational companies launch local operations.
The Hoffman Agency was established in 1987, and has been providing PR and marketing services to a number of customers ranging from Fortune 500 companies to tech ventures. Presently, the company has a global network spanning North America, Europe and Asia. Leveraging their insight into the IT industry and their global PR skills, around 150 PR experts at the company, including Chief Executive Officer Lou Hoffman, provide specific business communications services for customers.
Experts Service a Range of High-tech Fields
Key service areas include a variety of high-tech industries such as communications, networks and semiconductors. Based on the experience and business know-how it has earned in these leading-edge fields, The Hoffman Agency has successfully supported and executed PR activities for big-name global companies like HP, Phillips, Sony, 3Com, Google, Brocade, i2Technology, BEA Systems, Siemens, Lexmark, OKI Systems and Dassault Systems.
Established in September 2000, The Hoffman Agency Korea has been playing a pivotal role in building a dynamic Asia Pacific network which is centered at the regional headquarters in Hong Kong. Presently, the company’s customer base includes Siemens, Novellus, OKI Systems, Silicon Image and Audience. It has served as a global PR partner for a number of global IT firms. Having successfully helped global IT companies launch local operations in Korea, it now plans to expand its customer base into local tech firms seeking to advance into overseas markets by delivering Hoffman’s extensive global network and global PR know-how.
Local Subsidiaries as Part of Hoffman’s Global Operations
The biggest forte of The Hoffman Agency is that it directly manages local subsidiaries in key global markets instead of working with local partners. Therefore, it is in a much better position to serve the needs of customers seeking to conduct integrated marketing communications campaigns in a number of key global markets. In general, the quality of global networking services tends to degrade when working through a partner agency. The partnership service structure can lead to problems such as the lack of global-scale communication and limited budget for each country. Hoffman addresses these problems by keeping a direct management system. Facing the worst economic recession in decades, many companies across the world are now considering engaging in a variety of marketing and communications activities to promote growth.
Focus on “Green Image” Services
“Despite the weak economy, businesses are engaging in a variety of marketing communications activities to stay afloat in the market,” said Chris Tang, managing director of The Hoffman Agency Asia Pacific, of the business community’s “green image” drive aimed at sustainable growth. Tang is presently touring key Asian countries to deliver speeches. “With governments across the world moving fast toward eco-friendly policies, more people have turned to environmentally aware consumption. PR agencies need to read this new trend in the market, and draw up strategies as to how to ride on this trend from a communications perspective.”
“To this end, they need to set up an internal verification process in which customers’ needs for the green image and core business units’ needs for environment-friendly image are identified. Then, they can come up with an idea of how to apply these needs to reinforcement of the green image in a strategic way,” Tang stressed. In providing communications and consulting services, Hoffman always tries to find the best way to develop and implement an optimal communications strategy that addresses the present business needs of its customer instead of being a simple publicity service provider.
The Launch of “Hoffman Interactive” Services
These days, a key issue at The Hoffman Agency is online communications optimization in the Web 2.0 environment. As part of its push into the Web 2.0 era, the company’s U.S. headquarters launched “Hoffman Interactive” services, which it hopes will help aggressively accommodate new trends as well as customers’ needs. Located in a country known for its world-class IT infrastructure, the Korean subsidiary is also putting resources toward the successful adoption of “Hoffman Interactive.” Recently, it hosted a press interview and invited top bloggers to an expert’s session to diversify its communications channels.
This approach is based on a strategy which is aimed at using social networking to distribute social releases to target audiences of key businesses, and to further share with other users and spread related videos, images and data provided by business customers. In fact, engineers at home and abroad who comprise a main target audience of IT companies often check the latest news and share their opinions through social networking. After having experience with this new communications service approach in a real business setting, a Korean online software firm successfully increased public recognition and trust in its business, and subsequently expanded its number of subscribers by targeting U.S. social networking sites. With its new online PR service model, The Hoffman Agency won Technology Campaign of the Year at the 2008 Asia Pacific PR Awards.
“Communication in the IT arena is now facing a major change, as the Internet continues to evolve dramatically,” said Bae Byeong-Gwan, president of The Hoffman Agency Korea. “PR agencies now need to create an opportunity in which a variety of information is shared through many different online channels, rather than simply publish media releases. We are now aggressively embracing these changes in the Web 2.0 era to become an ideal partner for new marketing communications campaigns which are executed at more than one site at the same time throughout the global market.”
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