KUALA LUMPUR: Tan Sri Vincent Lee (pic), the man known as the driving force behind many high-profile brands in the market today, has been inducted into the Association of Accredited Advertising Agents of Malaysia (4A’s) Hall of Fame in recognition of his efforts as one of Malaysia’s best brand builders.

Lee, who is the honorary life president of 4A’s, was inducted during the 2014 Kancil Awards on Nov 14, said Naga DDB Sdn Bhd, an advertising and communications agency owned by Lee, in a statement last Friday.

During Lee’s six-year tenure as president, he oversaw the launch of Malaysia’s Most Valuable Brands and the Putra Brand Awards, to recognise brand-building as an integral business investment, said Naga DBB.

Lee, who had a stint in Star Publications (M) Bhd as its executive deputy chairman, a post which he relinquished in April this year, was formerly chairman of the Audit Bureau of Circulations and a member of the National Branding Task Force of the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade).

“Some of his achievements during his tenure were the implementation of a mandatory pitch fee to elevate the Malaysian advertising industry to a more professional level,” Naga DBB’s statement further read.

“He also recognised the need for self-regulation within the industry as documented by such efforts as negotiating with the Health Ministry to ban the widespread advertising of alcohol,” it said.

Naga DDB, which has been around for more than 25 years, spearheads Lee’s other agencies within Foetus International Sdn Bhd, a multifaceted conglomerate that includes Rapp (M) Sdn Bhd, Tribal Worldwide Sdn Bhd, Vizeum Media Services (M) Sdn Bhd, Milk PR Sdn Bhd, Milk & Co Advertising Sdn Bhd, Beyond Events Sdn Bhd and Soft Space Sdn Bhd, bringing the total number of employees in the group to over 500 staff.  

Lee recently started up IdeaRiverRun, a digital venture comprising enterprises like Trip Sales Sdn Bhd, EventHaha Sdn Bhd, Green Jobs Bay Sdn Bhd, MVP Digital Sdn Bhd and Cilisos Media Sdn Bhd .

IdeaRiverRun was recently in the news for providing Digital News Asia Sdn Bhd, an independent technology news portal, with RM1 million in seed funding to grow the latter’s regional expansion, build its team, and to develop new products and channels.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on November 24, 2014.