Posted on: Thursday, January 24, 2002

Malaysia-based investor buys into Loomis ad firm

By Katherine Nichols
Advertiser Staff Writer

Austen Zecha, group chief executive of a Malaysia-based advertising agency, recently purchased 30 percent of Loomis Inc., the sixth-largest advertising agency in Honolulu.

Jim Loomis, now executive vice president, said Zecha's investment will exceed $250,000 over a three-year period.

Clients of Loomis Inc., which expects to bill about $12 million this year, include Tesoro Petroleum, Nextel and the Hawaii Restaurant Association. Loomis also has managed Neil Abercrombie's campaigns.

Zecha hopes other Asian investors will follow his lead and consider basing international businesses in Hawai'i, which he believes has many strategic advantages.

"It's easier to evolve into empathy for things Asian from an agency in Honolulu," Zecha said on what he estimated was his 50th visit to the Islands. "Some agencies in New York and California are pretty damn provincial."

Zecha believes that Hawai'i is more ideal than Los Angeles, San Francisco or Seattle for companies that need to find a global marketplace.

"I just feel that Hawai'i, for the North American markets, is perfect," Zecha said. "The perfect gateway is something off shore, midway between north and south, which is Hawai'i."