In the second of a two-part series on Hong Kong’s economic transformation, Ambrose Li and Wynna Wong profile three established enterprises that have rejuvenated their brands and reinvented their businesses. Read part one here.
Late into the night, Hong Kong football fans in their twenties, thirties and forties sat in Lin Heung Lau restaurant on Wellington Street watching World Cup matches over dim sum rather than pints at a sports bar.
The historic restaurant, traditionally associated with elderly morning-tea regulars, extended its operating hours during the World Cup in the summer, drawing on the expertise of chairman Rocky Wong Hei-yan, a nightlife industry veteran behind once-bustling Lan Kwai Fong venues such as Club No 9, Club Beijing and Magnum.
“On that occasion, we were not calculating money only,” he said. “We were looking at brand-building and opening another channel through which we could find customers.”