Vice Media Group (VMG) has appointed experienced media executive Lou Wee to lead sales and brand partnerships as it scales its commercial presence across Asia Pacific with a focus on fast growing Vice World News.
With more than a decade of experience at some of the world’s premier media brands, Wee joins from the South China Morning Post where as head of sales he helped accelerate the Post’s early advertising recovery amidst this global pandemic, driving revenue growth especially across its digital and branded content business. He has also held senior commercial roles at CNBC Asia and The Wall Street Journal Asia, helping pioneer their branded content studios including CNBC’s Catalyst.
In APAC, Vice Media Group operates four media brands, Vice, Vice World News, i-D, and Refinery29, with nine offices, more than 150 employees, and editorial presences in 16 countries.
In 2021 the APAC team released 80 documentaries, as well as The Unfiltered History, an AR guide to the British Museum’s most disputed artefacts, which recently won 18 Spikes Asia Awards.
Vice World News’ coverage of the Ukraine-Russia conflict has spanned breaking news, explainers, and exclusives across various formats and social media platforms. It has been widely lauded and consumed, with its videos on TikTok garnering over 150 million views.
Wee said: “I have worked in advertising sales my entire life and a decade’s been spent within news media alone. There’s no better time to join Vice than now, when brands have increasing options and the advertising growth potential for a media company such as Vice, with a clear and distinct audience differentiator is significant.”
Melbourne-based Myki Slonim, senior vice president, digital APAC & Middle East added: “Vice Media Group is on a roll across Asia, with audience growth flying and our unique storytelling going gangbusters across all platforms. As brands in the region realise the need to connect with younger audiences more through content, we’ve become the go-to partner for them to navigate this space with authenticity, style and scale.
“Lou brings tremendous expertise in orchestrating meaningful brand partnerships, particularly in the news space in which we have great ambitions for Vice World News across the region.”