Englewood, Colorado: The Western Union Company has announced that it has selected Publicis Hong Kong as its first-ever global advertising agency of record to launch a brand campaign later this year.

Publicis Hong Kong is part of the Publicis Groupe, will align and optimise Western Union's global brand in each of the 200 countries where Western Union operates.

Western Union and its its affiliates Orlandi Valuta and Vigo together provide global money-transfer services. The money transfer service also covers the payment of bills and purchase money orders through a network of over 355,000 agent locations in more than 200 countries.

The announcement to broaden the 150-year old iconic Western Union brand comes after almost eight months of research and development. Western Union tested brand concepts in a number of countries with multiple ethnic groups, targeting both current and potential customers before deciding on the launch of the global campaign.

Western Union has a long history with Publicis Hong Kong. While the money transfer company has worked with regional advertising and marketing agencies globally in the past, Publicis Hong Kong has managed Western Union's advertising and marketing communications since 2003 across 10 markets in the Asia Pacific region.

Publicis Hong Kong is a fast-growing agency in the market, serving a range of multinational clients and local blue-chip customers. The agency manages their global, regional and local business, and its services cover a wide range of communications including interactive via Publicis Modem to deliver "contagious ideas that change the conversation" to build brands and drive results.

"Publicis Hong Kong has proven that it understands the global nature of our business and the needs of our consumers," said Gail Galuppo, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Western Union.

"As a recently independent company, Western Union is uniquely positioned to fully maximize our trusted brand in more than 200 countries and territories and throughout our global Agent network that includes 355,000 locations around the world."

Publicis Groupe is the world's fourth-largest communications group, and is ranked as the second-largest media counsel and buying group. It presence spans 104 countries, employing around 44,000 professionals.

"We are proud to have won this search, and we're pleased to work with Western Union, which has an iconic brand and a truly global business," said Laurie Kwong, Chief Executive Officer, Publicis Hong Kong.

"As an agency with solid experience in creating and managing global and regional campaigns from Hong Kong, we are well-placed to handle the challenges facing one of the world's most recognized global brands'', he said.