Over the course of a decade, Andreas Krasser has not only witnessed the rapid growth taking place in the Asia-Pacific but has seen his own fair share of growth as well.
From his early years in Seoul starting as a research assistant at Innocean in 2008, followed by marketing trainee at Lufthansa, and then an assistant executive at Edelman, the half Korean-half Austrian Krasser eventually landed in strategy with Tribal Worldwide.
After moving to DDB in Hong Kong in 2013, he has since risen to Chief Strategy Officer there – a position he was named to in April of this year.
Branding in Asia recently spoke with Krasser, a self-described “planner, thinker, humanist, geek,” about his career, trends in Hong Kong that he likes and dislikes, his interesting work on side projects, and the changing role of strategy in the industry.
Of particular interest in the area of strategy was Krasser’s take on the trend towards a growth of deeper bonds between the creative department and planners which has allowed brands to more quickly react to consumer needs in a rapidly-evolving market.
“I think planners and strategists should be involved throughout the entire process,” said Krasser. “Even throughout production and after production once the campaign launches, it’s so important as a strategist to stay involved not just to keep track of where the campaign is going but also to find opportunities that you as a brand or a marketer could jump on to basically utilize certain things in the way consumers are reacting to a brand.”
