OneXeno Founder Returns to Agency Following Acquisition

Michael Zung will return to OneXeno, the digital marketing agency he founded in 2003, following its acquisition by Bite Communications. He is currently Asia Pacific senior vice president, business integration, personal financial services at HSBC.

OneXeno, which is based in Hong Kong, was acquired Monday by Bite Communications for an undisclosed sum.

Bite Communications Asia Pacific was previously known as Upstream Asia, an agency founded by David Ketchum, before it was acquired by Bite in November 2009. The public relations firm has 55 employees in the region, in addition to offices in Europe and North America.

With OneXeno’s acquisition, Ketchum, Bite Asia Pacific president, has expanded his role to oversee digital and social media development across the Group. He is also one of the founders of the Asia Digital Marketing Association and current chairman for the organisation.

In a video interview at SES Hong Kong with Anita Davis for ClickZ Asia, Zung discusses the merits of the merger and elaborates on the background about the transaction.

OneXeno, which is based in Hong Kong, provides search, email marketing, analytics, and social media marketing services and works with clients such as Toys R Us, Coach, and eBay.

While the digital marketing firm will do business under the Bite name, Zung said the agency will continue to deliver its full suite of services focusing on campaigns and social media management.

He cited a survey by the Direct Marketing Association of America where 65 percent of marketers don’t look at what’s going on online and about 30 percent look at it and hardly do anything with it.

Marketers, he said, must pay attention to what’s going on in the social media space. “Today’s clients are looking for more than just social media and online public relations; they are looking for digital initiatives that help them meet their bigger picture marketing and business development objectives,” he said in a statement.