Ad Agency Veteran Edward Yu Named President of Cie Studios

LONG BEACH, Calif. (Nov. 17, 2010) – With its expertise at developing custom Web, mobile and social apps in high demand, Cie Studios (www.CieStudios.com) today named advertising agency veteran Edward Yu president of the company.

In a separate announcement, Cie Studios said it is doubling its office space at its Long Beach, Calif. headquarters and opening a new office in São Paulo, Brazil.

Yu spent the past 15 years at some of the world’s leading ad agencies, including Saatchi and Saatchi, Doner, Euro RSCG Worldwide, Marketing Factory Inc., RPA and Citizen7 Studios.  He has executed digital, broadcast TV, print, radio, out of home, and promotions for such brands as Toyota, Honda, Mazda, American Century Investments, Acura, Cathay Pacific Airways, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Neutrogena and Alpine Electronics.  His expertise ranges from consumer strategic insights to mass awareness advertising to extensive targeted digital initiatives.

Most recently, as president of Citizen7 Studios, Yu built a start-up full-service advertising agency from scratch for a division of Entrepreneur Media.

“Edward has the leadership and the vision to run Cie Studios and help the company grow as our app specialty becomes a distinctive practice area for the firm,” said Justin Choi, founder and CEO of Cie Studios.  “He has the experience of running an agency, and he’s helped some of the world’s biggest brands create memorable campaigns.  He’ll bring that same expertise to our clients, as we help them use Web, mobile and social apps to connect with their customers through engaging, interactive experiences.”

“Cie Studios has become the go-to app developer, and I’m thrilled to be here to help the company expand its reach even further,” said Yu.  “BusinessWeek recently reported that analysts peg the ‘app economy’ at about $1 billion, and predict that it’ll reach $4 billion by 2012.  Cie Studios is perfectly aligned to take advantage of this booming market, with a dozen years of experience in interactive development and a focus on developing these custom apps for businesses.  This is precisely the kind of skill-set that leading agencies need to be able to offer their clients in this environment.”

At Saatchi & Saatchi, Yu was responsible for driving the business forward for Toyota Motor Sales, for the full U.S. lineup of 18 Toyota models, ranging from America’s best-selling car (Camry) to Toyota’s successful involvement in NASCAR – all at a time when Toyota became the world’s largest automaker.

Yu held a similar position at Doner, where he was Group Account Director on the Mazda account.  He directed and oversaw national advertising for Mazda North American Operations for all Mazda products, including sedans, crossover SUVs, sports cars and motorsports.  Yu was the brand steward for the successful and recognizable “Zoom-Zoom“ slogan.

At Euro RSCG in Irvine, Yu oversaw the launches of Volvo C30 and C70 and the campaign “Who Would You Give a Volvo To?”  At music marketing promotions agency Marketing Factory in Venice Beach, he served as GM of the Honda Civic Tour, featuring Maroon 5 and Dashboard Confessional.  Prior to Marketing Factory, Yu spent more than eight years at Rubin Postaer and Associates on the Honda, Acura and American Century Investment accounts in both the traditional and interactive arenas.