LarsonO’Brien Receives China Business Certification; Acquires Chinese Design Firm

Sept. 25, 2007 - PRLog -- Contact: Lauren Ban, LarsonO’Brien ADV/PR
Phone: 412-571-1600 E-mail: Lauren@larsonobrien.com

LarsonO’Brien Receives China Business Certification; Acquires Chinese Design Firm

Beijing, PRC…LarsonO’Brien/Dashi Shanghai, LLC, a subsidiary of LarsonO’Brien Advertising•PR, Inc. of Pittsburgh, has received its business certification from the Chinese government to operate as a wholly owned foreign entity.  LarsonO’Brien is the first locally-owned advertising/PR/interactive firm to create and operate a wholly-owned and certified marketing communications service in the People’s Republic of China.

In addition, the company has agreed to acquire Dashi Design, a Chinese advertising and graphic design service with headquarters in Beijing and offices in Shanghai.  The acquisition was finalized in an agreement signed by the parties on September 16, 2007.  Jack O’Brien and Garrett Andrae, principals of the US company, represented LarsonO’Brien in Beijing for the signing.

Dashi Design was established by Mr. Lu Yi of Beijing to serve customers of its parent company, Viewstock photo services, a provider of photo illustrations for advertising, literature and the Internet.  Dashi Design employs a creative and account service staff of 12 and produces literature, advertising materials and Internet sites for clients in the recreation, real estate development and consumer products markets.  Mr. Lu is famous throughout Asia for his spectacular golf course photography, and has been Jack Nicklaus’ primary Asian golf course photographer for many years.

The certification process involved a detailed and multi-layered approval that began at the local municipality, proceeded through the state level, and ultimately involved validation of the submission by the US Department of State. Financial stability and creditworthiness also were scrutinized, as were the personal resumes of the company’s principals. Legal counsel in both the US and China proved invaluable to achieving certification which allows LarsonO’Brien to provide the same services as a Chinese-owned company without requiring a joint venture arrangement.

In announcing the accomplishment, O’Brien explained the agency’s China business strategy. “Our business model supports the marketing efforts of a large segment of Western companies looking to sell their products and services into China. That particular segment includes the mid-sized company that simply can’t budget for a top-five agency, as well as the larger company looking for better value and better insights.

“Before LarsonO’Brien, if you were a company looking for marketing communications counsel in China, you had two choices.  You could pay top dollar for a giant worldwide agency with a China office, or select an all-Chinese agency and get ad production but no marketing strategy.

“Our position as a nimble, mid-sized American agency with strategic China insights is a niche we own today in China. LarsonO’Brien/Dashi will provide customers with access to extraordinary strategic and creative services – which, though more common in the States, is quite unusual in China. Plus, our customers will avoid the excessive costs associated with the large multi-national agencies that currently dominate China.

“This is only the latest step in a process that started 17 years ago when we recognized China’s emergence as a major global economic force. We saw a business opportunity for our PR and communications skills as we observed a large influx of Chinese delegations arriving in the US.  It became clear that their American hosts were terribly unprepared to greet them properly. They had no after-hours activities planned, they hadn’t prepared proper greeting gifts, they even failed to identify bathroom facilities with Chinese characters. They were unwittingly committing one faux pas after another. In response, we (LarsonO’Brien) formed a company to provide support to host companies with the help of a former media buyer at Leo Burnett-Hong Kong, and a senior financial services manager at HSBC. The Tiananmen Square incident in 1989 derailed our efforts until about three years ago when we began searching for an acquisition and renewing our network of marketing professionals within China,” continued O’Brien.

“Our goal is to continue to assemble a core of exceptional, creative marketing professionals to provide right-sized, high-value strategic marketing communication services to companies committed to taking part in the economic opportunity offered by the new China,” he concluded.

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LarsonO’Brien Advertising•PR, Inc., headquartered in Pittsburgh, specializes in strategic planning for marketing communications and provides creative multidisciplinary solutions for architectural building products manufacturers and a variety of clients in other areas .  LarsonO’Brien is a member of the Second Wind Network of Advertising Agencies and the Pittsburgh Technology Council.

For more information on LarsonO’Brien, call 412-571-1600 or visit www.larsonobrien.com.

Website: www.larsonobrien.com