Steve McGinnes tapped to lead SGK’S brand development group in Asia Pacific

SGK, formerly marketed as Schawk, Inc., has hired Steven McGinnes to lead its brand development group in Asia Pacific, along with direct oversight of Anthem’s Singapore office.

The brand development group of SGK drives brand performance by creating brand desirability through two brands, Brandimage and Anthem. Brandimage, a global consultancy of brand equity architects and designers with offices in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore, and Anthem, a global creative agency with offices in Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney and Tokyo, actively connect brands with people by amplifying desirability.

In this new position, McGinnes (left) is charged with building the Company’s brand development offering in this region and creating desire for the Brandimage and Anthem brands among C-level decision makers at global and regional organizations. Brad Wills, executive vice president international, group managing director, Asia Pacific, noted, “Steve has nurtured rich relationships with marketing decision makers by providing no fuss, insight-driven branding solutions across the region. We are pleased to add such a strong skill set, thereby further enriching SGK’s brand development capabilities in Asia Pacific.”

Eric Ashworth, president, added, “Asia Pacific is rich with opportunity for global companies to market their brands. It is also culturally complex, which requires a deft handling in the execution of brands across regions. We’ve nurtured a culturally diverse roster of exceptional talent at Brandimage and Anthem. Steve’s intelligence, passion and energy builds on an already strong base and will help us take our brand development group to the next level in this part of the world.”

McGinnes was the co-founder and principal of Singapore-based boutique strategy and creative consultancy, The Hummingbird Perspective, recognized throughout Asia for its innovative brand solutions. The Hummingbird Perspective served global companies and large regional organizations, and its clients included companies in the food & beverage, personal care and life sciences categories, in addition to others.

McGinnes, managing director, brand development group, Asia Pacific, commented, “Building a successful boutique offering has been exhilarating and very rewarding. However, the opportunity to bring Hummingbird’s tools and techniques, as well as its fantastic client partners to SGK is a fantastic opportunity that I could not pass up. Brandimage and Anthem have an amazingly talented team and great clients. My job is to further build on this successful foundation and help more clients drive exceptional brand performance across Asia.”

The services offered by The Hummingbird Perspective will now be available through SGK and driven by Steve in his new role. The addition of these services and skills represent a significant complement to SGK’s existing brand development offering, which will continue to be enhanced. Prior to establishing The Hummingbird Perspective, McGinnes served as regional managing director (Asia) for Clear, a full-service brand consultancy. Earlier he was regional managing director for Holmes and Merchant, brand innovation and packaging design specialists. McGinnes also served as the head of strategy for Saatchi Lab and as an innovation director at Drink Works in London.

McGinnes studied anthropology and communications at Goldsmith College, part of the University of London, and is well known throughout Asia Pacific as a lecturer at industry conferences and author of brand-related articles and white papers.

SGK has been conducting business in Asia Pacific since 1999. Today, the Company offers expanded services that help create brands, sell brands, produce bran assets and protect brand equities. SGK counts the region’s leading multinationals as clients.