BEIJING, Feb. 25 /Xinhua-PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- VisionChina Media Inc. (Nasdaq: VISN), one of China’s largest mass transportation mobile television advertising networks, today announced the appointment of Mr. Albert Tong to chief marketing officer.
“We are very pleased that Albert Tong has joined our senior management team,” said Mr. Limin Li, VisionChina Media’s chairman and chief executive officer. “Albert has a long track record in the 4A media and advertising world and he has spent many years working with the type of top-tier advertisers that VisionChina seeks to partner with. We are confident that Albert is the right man for this job and we welcome him to our team.”
Mr. Li noted that VisionChina has strong advertising relationships with leading multinational brands including KFC, Pepsi, and McDonalds and is working to secure contracts with an even greater number of multinational brands before the Olympic Games are broadcast on the company’s television network on Beijing’s public buses this summer.
Ms. Dina Liu, VisionChina Media’s chief financial officer commented, “Mr. Tong brings more than 21 years of marketing and media experience to VisionChina. He has been a media buyer and seller, has worked in marketing for multinational brands and has led advertising and media agencies. Mr. Tong has even worked for television and radio stations and has a solid foundation in television network operations. Albert truly understands our business from all angles and we are confident that he will help to significantly strengthen our marketing initiatives across China.”
Ms. Liu added that Mr. Tong will lead a team of approximately 180 marketing and sales personnel to sell minutes on VisionChina’s network that, as of December 31, 2007, was viewed by 26 million people per day on buses, subways and subway platforms in 15 cities in China. Since VisionChina Media’s IPO on December 6, 2007, about 70 additional sales personnel have joined the Company, coming mainly from other well-established out-of-home media companies in China.
Mr. Tong’s appointment to chief marketing officer is effective immediately.
Mr. Albert Tong began his career as a media planner at BBDO, one of the most prestigious advertising agencies in the world, in Hong Kong in 1985. In 1990 he joined Ogilvy & Mather Hong Kong first as a media manager, and then as a media director in the Guangzhou office. In 1997, Mr. Tong transferred to the Shanghai office of Ogilvy & Mather also as a media director. There, Mr. Tong played an integral role in the set-up of MindShare China, a giant in international strategic media planning, negotiation and execution. In 1999, Mr. Tong left Ogilvy & Mather Shanghai to become the deputy general manager of Mindshare Shanghai until 2000. After a brief time as vice president at Sun Satellite TV, he returned to the advertising business as the general manager of Leader Advertising in Shanghai from 2001 to 2003 and then became a vice president at Universal McCann in 2004.
In his agency years, Mr. Tong represented brands such as Cartier, Visa International, Korean Airlines, Seagrams, Pepsi President Group, Kodak, Siemens, KFC, Unilever, UPS, J&J, L’Oreal, Intel and Colgate. From 2005 until present, Mr. Tong has served as the marketing director leading media and marketing operations in China for PepsiCo International.
About VisionChina Media, Inc.
VisionChina operates an out-of-home advertising network on mass transportation systems, including buses and subways that reach approximately 26 million viewers each day in China, according to CTR Market Research. As of September 30, 2007, VisionChina’s advertising network included over 33,000 mobile digital displays on mass transportation systems in 14 of China’s most affluent cities, including Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. VisionChina has the unique ability to deliver real-time, location-specific broadcasting, including news, stock quotes, weather and traffic reports and other entertainment programming. For more information, please visit http://www.visionchina.cn .
For investor and media inquiries, please contact:
In China:
Mr. AJ Wang
Senior IR Manager, VisionChina Media, Inc.
Tel: +86-10-8418-6339
Email: aj.wang@visionchina.cn
Mrs. Helen Plummer
Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide (Beijing)
Tel: +86-10-8520-3090
Email: helen.plummer@ogilvy.com
In the United States:
Mr. Jeremy Bridgman
Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide (New York)
Tel: +1-212-880-5363
Email: jeremy.bridgman@ogilvypr.com
