Vale Kitty Lun: A Hong Kong creative powerhouse leaves us way too soon

The Hong Kong advertising community is mourning the sudden and tragic loss of Kitty Lun, one of the region’s most respected and influential creative leaders. A pioneering creative, business leader and champion of young talent, Lun built an extraordinary career across Hong Kong, Taiwan and Mainland China before taking her experience into the digital world with Facebook and Meta. Her work earned recognition on the global stage, while her leadership and generosity left an equally lasting impression on the many people she mentored and worked alongside. To mark her passing, long-time colleague and friend Chris Kyme has written this personal tribute to her, remembering the fiercely ambitious young creative he first encountered at Leo Burnett Hong Kong, the industry powerhouse she became and the warm, generous person she remained throughout her remarkable career.

Some of us who have been around the creative block a bit in Asia are reaching that stage in life when it’s perhaps less of a shock when one of our contemporaries departs from this world for that creative department in the proverbial sky.

This is not so in the case of the news we have just received that globally recognised creative legend and a giant among women business leaders, Kitty Lun, has died suddenly and tragically here in Hong Kong.

To say Kitty was an achiever is a gross understatement. Few from her Hong Kong generation who emerged in the late 1980s have risen to such heights, and more importantly, are still actively moving and shaking after many years and achievements.

Born in Hong Kong, Kitty studied advertising at Baptist University and then did her Master’s Degree in Advertising at Syracuse University New York. Her first role in the industry was at Leo Burnett Hong Kong as a Chinese copywriter.

This is where I had my own first personal glimpse of her steely determination and creative ambition, as Kitty was my first group head in Hong Kong at that agency. I recall one meeting where we were discussing English copy on a script and I had my own view about some changes she wanted me to make, to which she, in a firm but motherly way patted my hand and said “Just do it”, (this was pre-Nike don’t forget).

But she was firm and fair and showed great leadership qualities way back then. I recall her organising creative sessions at her home to get us out of the office. To me, fresh off the plane, this was a great way to settle in and get into the local creative groove.

She then headed off to Taiwan in 1988 to head up the creative department at Leo Burnett in Taipei. I mean she was still just in her early 30s at the time. Moving up so fast.

After a couple of years she returned to Hong Kong in 1991 as Executive Creative at McCann-Erickson, and I recall at that time she immediately started to have impact at what was a fairly middle of the road large agency (creatively speaking). Hiring in some respected talents like creative director Eddie Booth, we started seeing good work appear on clients like ICAC, and the awards followed.

Kitty pictured front, left with the Leo Burnett Hong Kong team early in her career.

Another great campaign she was responsible for around that time which was highly lauded locally was “Life has no Take 2” for Fight Youth Crime, and she became known as “The “Queen of Public Service Advertising in Hong Kong”.

Kitty’s career blossomed in an upwards direction from then on, with stints at places such as Euro RSCG Hong Kong (as Managing Director/Chief Creative Officer), Asian women’s portal miclub.com (Chief Executive Officer) and in 2001,Kitty joined Arnold Worldwide China in Shanghai, as General Manager/Executive Creative Director.

In 2006, Kitty took the helm at LOWE China as Chairman/CEO, where in 2014 she was behind the global award-winning ‘Human Traffic Signs’ campaign created in collaboration with Buick (Shanghai General Motors) for World Traffic Safety Day, promoting safe driving in China. Stunningly simple work that was recognised in just about every award show on the planet, including Cannes, and maybe one or two on Mars. It was named the most awarded print and outdoor campaign in the world by the Gunn Report for 2015.

Kitty was named among the top 10 Creative Directors of the Year and top 10 Distinguished Advertising Women of the Year and in 2011, she was the organiser and host of the Cannes Lions forum “Beyond Mad Man: Towards Gender Balance in Creative Roles”. She was honoured by AdAge as one of the Women to Watch in Advertising in China in 2013, and was the author of “Advertising Without Lipstick” a book about her life and experience in advertising.

I don’t mean this piece to just read like her personal bio (obviously since I’m writing this while still stunned by the sad news, I am informed by that), but suffice to say Kitty Lun was probably unrivalled as a Hong Kong-bred creative leader, female or not, who just kept powering her way across the industry. What’s more, while always remaining completely relevant. Always reinventing herself (the secret to staying young in my book), and her most recent position, which she has held since 2016, was as Head of Creative Shop, originally at Facebook and subsequently, Meta, and was a great example of how she always contemporary and moving with the times.

She was one of the most awarded and respected advertising professionals in Greater China, and chaired and judged at award shows in Greater China, Singapore, Indonesia, Korea, New York, Russia and Canada.

As I write, the entire industry here is in shock, so sudden was this news. And a lot of tears are being shed in the name of one of Hong Kong’s own who made it onto the world stage, who made a difference in the industry. Her impact on many young people’s careers was incomparable.

Leonie Ki, herself a bit of a first generation advertising legend, actually taught Kitty at Baptist University and said “Her copy line ‘Life has no take 2’ for the prevention of suicide has been one of my favourite slogans. She and Jimmy Lam (sadly also deceased a few years ago) were my two most brilliant students in the 1970s when I taught PRA at Baptist College( actually not yet a university at that time!)”.

Sheungyan Lo (Mayan), another of Hong Kong’s most respected creative leaders in his time, and no stranger to a few accolades, said “I will miss Kitty’s ever-evolving spirit and the generosity she poured into leading and nurturing young talents”.

Artist and creative director Stanley Wong commented “Kitty, beyond just her contributions and leadership to advertising creativity and the marketing world, should also be remembered for her motivation and passion to embrace the new generations, all of which have been deeply appreciated”.

Carol Lam, herself a leading figure in Hong Kong creativity over the years, shared her fond memories of Kitty. “Kitty was a precious creative leader, mentor, and friend whom I loved and respected with all my heart. Through her boundless wisdom, generosity, and graceful way of making everyone feel valued, she inspired me not just to excel in creative work, but to be a kinder, better person. She will be missed beyond words—not just by our industry, but by the world”.

Finally, I will end with this beautiful tribute from another of Hong Kong’s finest, David Tsui, Founder and Film Director at Moviola. “Dearest Kitty, You lived your life with so much elegance, warmth, and creative vitality, and that is exactly how I will always hold you in my heart. Your departure leaves a quiet ache, but I take comfort in knowing you are in a better place, simply ahead of the rest of us on the journey. Keep a spot ready so when we all catch up down the road, we can share a warm laugh and talk stories once again, David”.

Chris Kyme is a regular contributor to Campaign Brief Asia with his popular ‘Postcard from Hong Kong’ series.