Digital Dawn: Shirley Chan

For a company that delivers large-scale outdoor media projects across Hong Kong and Macau, specifically brand promotion across transportation systems like the metro and airports, the COVID-19 pandemic seemed catastrophic.

After all, how can you sell a brand or product to a commuter if there is no commute? How do you get eyeballs on your advertising campaigns when the consumer is locked down at home, prohibited from using trains and planes?

"It was a really tough period, especially for an outdoor business like us."

"It was a really tough period, especially for an outdoor business like us," Shirley Chan, Managing Director at JCDecaux Transport Hong Kong and Macau, tells The CEO Magazine.

"The significant decrease in visitor traffic volume due to airport shutdowns certainly had a big impact on our outdoor business."

Steady Direction

Thankfully, JCDecaux Transport had an experienced leader at the helm. Chan has been at the company for close to three decades and has run the day-to-day operations of MTR and Hong Kong International Airport advertising for more than seven years.

And it’s not just longevity that Chan offers. She has been consistently decorated, boasting major awards for marketing, innovation, leadership and social responsibility.

So when the world came to a standstill during the pandemic, Chan was a calming influence and a cool temperament. While she had never faced a challenge of this magnitude before, her experience and skills allowed her to keep JCDecaux Transport on the rails.

The marketing giant was already investing in digitization through a transformation strategy coined ‘4D’, but under Chan’s direction, this was accelerated.

"JCDecaux Transport is not just an outdoor company anymore. We are more than that. We sell omnichannel marketing solutions to everyone."

This meant that while the business took an unavoidable hit, Chan was busy setting it up for a quick rebound post-pandemic.

"JCDecaux Transport is not just an outdoor company anymore. We are more than that. We sell omnichannel marketing solutions to everyone," she explains.

"We now connect the data from the stations and connect them with online solutions, so as to enhance the results of integrated marketing for brands and advertisers as a whole."

Future Planning

Knowing the company had to adapt to the unprecedented situation and reposition itself, Chan called on her managers from different departments for regular brainstorming sessions and robust dialogue.

This future planning has already paid dividends, with JCDecaux Transport reporting double-digit growth year-on-year. It also became the first media company in Asia to move into the metaverse.

"This really is the new generation, it’s no longer just about display ads and promoting brands," she explains. "Apps will be accessing the metaverse where there will be 3D/4D visuals and an entire advertising ecosystem."

JCDecaux Transport has also launched its ecommerce full-solution platform, another response to the changing landscape.

The agility and decisiveness that’s necessary to make all this happen has been learned through the last few tumultuous years, Chan reveals.

"For me, the key learning from that period is to be more flexible, and I think you are seeing that with the way we are innovating and pushing ahead now," she says.

Green Focus

The other focal point for the company is sustainability, or being part of the ‘green media’. In fact, JCDecaux Transport recently received an environmental excellence award from the Environmental Campaign Committee of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government.

"Our ESG planning is very important to us. Our team works together not just to save costs but to save energy, and ultimately play a small part in trying to save the world," Chan says.

"We have posters and advertising materials in our media, but we recycle 100 percent of it. We also frequently propose green campaigns to our clients."

"Our team collaborated closely with our partners during the difficult period, and now it is time to revive together."

Of course, if it weren’t for strong partnerships, JCDecaux Transport may have been one of the many businesses brought down by the pandemic.

"Our key partners are the MTR Corporation and the Airport Authority Hong Kong, and our relationship with them was already very strong. But the adversity we all faced over the last three years bolstered this," Chan explains.

"Our team collaborated closely with our partners during the difficult period, and now it is time to revive together."

Then there are other long-term partners, like digital printing specialists Hin Lee Plastic and Screen Printing, who also saw business dry up almost overnight.

Chan says the support shared among these companies and their open communication was crucial. And now, with the pandemic in the rearview mirror, they are in a wonderful position to launch into their new digital chapters.