This is the second installment of our ‘Rising Young Media Stars’ series, in which we profile the next gen media minds. Media pundits have been adamant that to succeed in the new mediaverse, agencies require new ways of thinking. Curious as to who these new thinkers were, and what they were thinking, strategy and Media in Canada canvassed the industry, asking media shops to single out their top innovative and strategic recruits – one of whom this continuing series will profile in each issue over the coming weeks. And we’re scouting for more of the same – so tell us about the dazzlers in your shop so we can shine a spotlight on them.

Kevin Hung,

Claim to fame: Kevin recently made his mark with two campaigns. One was the worldwide launch of the Visa Olympic Game themed around Torino 2006. Canada was number one globally with consumer participation, more than 61% higher than any other country. Canada also had the highest number of games played and highest amount of time spent with the game. Additionally, his online campaign for LEGO Canada’s Bionicle brand on YTV.com not only generated buzz and upped the cool quotient of the action figures with tweens, sales were up 186% at Toys R Us during the campaign’s run.

Background: With a University of Toronto degree in economics and political science and a minor in computer programming, Kevin worked in finance before combining his statistics-oriented education and his long-time love of all things geeky in his dream job – at Starcom.

What new gizmo should everyone be aware of? ‘iTunes. It’s revolutionizing the way music is now perceived by consumers – and not only music, now that there’s video streaming. Marketers have to start harnessing that power.’

‘The Nike iD campaign in New York. They combined retail with a digital out-of-home position in Times Square and mobile phones. They synchronized phones with the digital board so you could customize your shoe by the touch of your phone. You’d program it onscreen and send your shoe, with all the customization, to your mobile phone. You could then walk to the Nike store down the street, show them the shoe and get them to order it for you, and there was a discount as well. That’s a very innovative way to incorporate an integrated media program to speak to the right consumer at the right time.’

What would you love to build into a plan? ‘Broadband video streaming – and the reason no one will go for it, or hasn’t as aggressively, is the talent rights and production costs required to do it separately from standard 30-second TV spots.’

Which brand, other than your own clients, would you most want to work on? ‘Unilever. I do believe they’re one of the leaders in pushing within a digital realm, but I don’t believe they’ve truly harnessed it.’

Is a radical media rethink required? ‘No. What it’s about is being able to harness and appropriately manage your media mix. That hasn’t changed. There are more touchpoints, but at the end of the day, it’s still about being in the right place at the right time for the right price.’