Born: China
Worked in: Throughout its network of 23 cities in China with multinational clients
Oscar Zhao (Zhao Wenquan) founded BlueFocus in 1996 and the firm has now grown to be one of the largest local marketing communication groups in China with 14 brands, 24 offices and 1000 staff in Mainland China. BlueFocus provides marketing and public relations services to a stellar line-up of companies like Lenovo, Founder, IBM, Intel, HP, and APC. Mr. Zhao also uses his 20 years of experience to lead the group’s subsidiaries in providing professional public relations services to such specialized industry sectors as finance, real estate, high-tech, and fast-moving consumer goods. He also serves as an executive member of the China International Public Relations Association (CIPRA) and trustee of Communication University of China (CUC).
Last year, Dentsu Inc. established a joint venture with BlueFocus Communication Group Co., Ltd. as it recognized how marketers in China are facing an increasing need for communications solutions. BlueFocus brings its national network of offices and expertise in the growing Chinese public relations market, as well as its media and government relations experience to the joint venture, while Dentsu and Dentsu PR contributes experience in PR planning and crisis management consulting.
In an historic move, BlueFocus also recently invested in Financial PR Group, Singapore’s leading investor relations firm. According to Mr. Zhao, "The investment in Financial PR Group marks a significant milestone for BlueFocus as this is our first overseas acquisition. The service network of BlueFocus will extend to the entire Greater China region and Singapore market. This will be our starting point to actively seek expansion opportunities across the globe.”
What is the biggest challenge you face in applying innovative thinking to international projects?
“With the high-speed growth of the Chinese economy, the standing and influence of Chinese companies in the world are also growing. China now has its own multinationals and quasi-international brands. More and more Chinese companies have made the Fortune 500 list. Unfortunately, we are still far away from world-class players in terms of professional services, such as investment banking, accounting, legal service, various intermediary services, as well as advertising, PR, and market research. Even in local market, it’s still very hard for us to compete with top global brands, let alone participating in global competition. We are simply not at the same level with them in terms of brand influence.
At BlueFocus, the leading brand in China’s PR market, our dream is to build a world-class brand of the Chinese people themselves in the PR industry. We have been making efforts over the past 12 years in order to make this dream come true, and today nearly 400 BlueFocus employees around the country are still working toward this direction. We have created one miracle after another in China PR market, and we are getting closer and closer to fulfilling our dream, slowly but resolutely. We strongly believe that in the near future the name of BlueFocus will make the list of world-class PR firms.”