SHANGHAI—The Hoffman Agency has hired Cassandra Cheong as Asia-Pacific MD after Natalie Lowe resigned less than a year into the role. 

Cheong joins from Burson-Marsteller, where she was deputy Beijing market leader and MD of the brand marketing practice. She plans to relocate to Shanghai next month.

Lowe joined Hoffman in November last year from Weber Shandwick.

"I valued Natalie’s contributions and sitting thousands of miles away, I especially appreciated that Natalie’s decisions were always grounded in the agency’s best interests," Hoffman Agency founder Lou Hoffman told the Holmes Report via email.

After a turnaround that began in 2010, Hoffman has grown to more than $6m in Asia-Pacific revenues, with offices in China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea and Singapore.

"Just because our A-P operation has continued to grow over the past few years doesn’t mean squat as far as long-term trajectory," added Hoffman. "Similar to what we went through in the US, it’s now time for our A-P team to rethink how to best serve clients today and tomorrow.

"Cassandra has the leadership acuity to guide such change which inevitably involves nudging – sometimes even pushing – people out of their comfort zones."

Prior to joining Burson in 2007, Cheong was regional PR manager at HP Asia-Pacific and Japan for six years, overseeing consumer communications.