Leonard Tan Khang Hwee
Encyclopedia
Leonard Tan Khang Hwee is an entrepreneur
from Singapore
, best known as Founder and CEO of PurpleClick Media Pte Ltd--the first and only company in Southeast Asia accredited by Google
, Yahoo!
and Baidu
.
Leonard is a member of the Youth Business Leader (YBL)--the first major initiative of the Youth Network (YN) Committee, which is chaired by Chairman (National Youth Council of Singapore
) and Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Community Development Youth and Sports and Transport Mr Teo Ser Luck
.
In 2008, Leonard was nominated by Bloomberg BusinessWeek as “Asia’s Top 25 Best Young Entrepreneur” for his strong entrepreneurial vision, creativity
and ability to overcome challenges with innovative solutions.
Leonard's ability
to create a successful and profitable enterprise that is socially responsible also garnered him the “The Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2009” and “Entrepreneur of the Year Award for eCommerce 2009”.
His recognition as a successful young entrepreneur in Singapore
continued in the following year. Leonard was awarded the Singapore Youth Award (SYA) 2010 for entrepreneurship
Category in July 2010. This highest national youth accolade in Singapore
marked imperative milestones for Leonard, in recognition of his remarkable achievements and prospective future.
Not long since 2011 began, Leonard created another history by securing an Exclusive Partnership with Baidu
--the largest search engine company in China with a market share of over 75%. He proceeded to set up DigiChina Pte Ltd to focus his efforts on marketing Baidu
.
family in Singapore. His family was not well-to-do during his younger days and he learnt to earn his pocket money through buying and selling of erasers when he was in Primary school. His first experience in setting up a business entity came about when he was studying for his Bachelor of Business
in the National University of Singapore
. He set up a tuition agency with his school mate when he saw an unmet demand of university students who wanted to earn an extra keep by giving tuition
. They later shut it down after they graduated from school to pursue their individual careers.
Leonard then went on to the Illinois Institute of Technology
in United States
for his Masters degree in eCommerce and started his second business – an online bookstore. After graduation, he took up a job doing door-to-door sales for Standard Chartered Bank
. Thereafter, he joined Yahoo as a Sales Account Manager to re-launch a product and do sales for the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) markets.
Leonard ran PurpleClick as Managing Director until 2010 when he became CEO to focus on overall expansion plans.
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
from Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, best known as Founder and CEO of PurpleClick Media Pte Ltd--the first and only company in Southeast Asia accredited by Google
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
, Yahoo!
Yahoo!
Yahoo! Inc. is an American multinational internet corporation headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, United States. The company is perhaps best known for its web portal, search engine , Yahoo! Directory, Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Groups, Yahoo! Answers, advertising, online mapping ,...
and Baidu
Baidu
Baidu, Inc. , simply known as Baidu and incorporated on January 18, 2000, is a Chinese web services company headquartered in the Baidu Campus in Haidian District, Beijing, People's Republic of China....
.
Leonard is a member of the Youth Business Leader (YBL)--the first major initiative of the Youth Network (YN) Committee, which is chaired by Chairman (National Youth Council of Singapore
National Youth Council of Singapore
The National Youth Council of Singapore otherwise known as the National Youth Council is the nationally-sanctioned youth council in Singapore and a division of the People's Association. It was set up by the Singapore Government on 1 November 1989 as the national co-ordinating body for youth...
) and Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Community Development Youth and Sports and Transport Mr Teo Ser Luck
Teo Ser Luck
Teo Ser Luck is currently Minister of State for the Ministry of Trade and Industry , as well as the Mayor of North East Community Development Council...
.
In 2008, Leonard was nominated by Bloomberg BusinessWeek as “Asia’s Top 25 Best Young Entrepreneur” for his strong entrepreneurial vision, creativity
Creativity
Creativity refers to the phenomenon whereby a person creates something new that has some kind of value. What counts as "new" may be in reference to the individual creator, or to the society or domain within which the novelty occurs...
and ability to overcome challenges with innovative solutions.
Leonard's ability
Ability
Ability may be:* Aptitude* Intelligence* SkillAbility may also refer to:* Ability score, in role-playing games* Ability Plus Software, makers of the office suite Ability Office* Ability grouping* ABILITY Magazine* Ability Magazine...
to create a successful and profitable enterprise that is socially responsible also garnered him the “The Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2009” and “Entrepreneur of the Year Award for eCommerce 2009”.
His recognition as a successful young entrepreneur in Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
continued in the following year. Leonard was awarded the Singapore Youth Award (SYA) 2010 for entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship is the act of being an entrepreneur, which can be defined as "one who undertakes innovations, finance and business acumen in an effort to transform innovations into economic goods". This may result in new organizations or may be part of revitalizing mature organizations in response...
Category in July 2010. This highest national youth accolade in Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
marked imperative milestones for Leonard, in recognition of his remarkable achievements and prospective future.
Not long since 2011 began, Leonard created another history by securing an Exclusive Partnership with Baidu
Baidu
Baidu, Inc. , simply known as Baidu and incorporated on January 18, 2000, is a Chinese web services company headquartered in the Baidu Campus in Haidian District, Beijing, People's Republic of China....
--the largest search engine company in China with a market share of over 75%. He proceeded to set up DigiChina Pte Ltd to focus his efforts on marketing Baidu
Baidu
Baidu, Inc. , simply known as Baidu and incorporated on January 18, 2000, is a Chinese web services company headquartered in the Baidu Campus in Haidian District, Beijing, People's Republic of China....
.
Early life and career
Leonard Tan Khang Hwee was born into a ChineseChinese people
The term Chinese people may refer to any of the following:*People with Han Chinese ethnicity ....
family in Singapore. His family was not well-to-do during his younger days and he learnt to earn his pocket money through buying and selling of erasers when he was in Primary school. His first experience in setting up a business entity came about when he was studying for his Bachelor of Business
Bachelor of Business
A Bachelor of Business is a three or four year business degree offered by traditional and newer universities from the post-Dawkins era in Australia and New Zealand...
in the National University of Singapore
National University of Singapore
The National University of Singapore is Singapore's oldest university. It is the largest university in the country in terms of student enrollment and curriculum offered....
. He set up a tuition agency with his school mate when he saw an unmet demand of university students who wanted to earn an extra keep by giving tuition
Tuition
Tuition payments, known primarily as tuition in American English and as tuition fees in British English, Canadian English, Australian English, New Zealand English and Indian English, refers to a fee charged for educational instruction during higher education.Tuition payments are charged by...
. They later shut it down after they graduated from school to pursue their individual careers.
Leonard then went on to the Illinois Institute of Technology
Illinois Institute of Technology
Illinois Institute of Technology, commonly called Illinois Tech or IIT, is a private Ph.D.-granting university located in Chicago, Illinois, with programs in engineering, science, psychology, architecture, business, communications, industrial technology, information technology, design, and law...
in United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
for his Masters degree in eCommerce and started his second business – an online bookstore. After graduation, he took up a job doing door-to-door sales for Standard Chartered Bank
Standard Chartered Bank
Standard Chartered PLC is a multinational financial services company headquartered in London, United Kingdom with operations in more than seventy countries...
. Thereafter, he joined Yahoo as a Sales Account Manager to re-launch a product and do sales for the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) markets.
Business
On 17 January 2006, Leonard Tan Khang Hwee incorporated PurpleClick Media Pte Ltd with the support of the top management of Yahoo as a 2-man team. Authorized resellers of both Yahoo and Google, PurpleClick is now a company with 22 staff and a compounded annual growth rate of 57 percent.Leonard ran PurpleClick as Managing Director until 2010 when he became CEO to focus on overall expansion plans.
Awards and recognition
| Month | Year | Award | Organization | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | 2008 | Top 25 "Asia's Best Young Entrepreneurs" (Aged 30 and below) | Business Week | Singapore |
| December | 2008 | Agency of the Year for SME Market Education 2008 | Singapore | |
| June | 2009 | Top Winner, Emerging Enterprise 2009 | The Business Times and OCBC Bank | Singapore |
| August | 2009 | Top 3 Search Marketing Agency 2009 (Global Category) | Marketing Magazine | Singapore |
| August | 2009 | Top Winner, Search Marketing Agency 2009 (Local Category) | Marketing Magazine | Singapore |
| September | 2009 | Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2009 | Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (ASME) and Rotary Club of Singapore | Singapore |
| September | 2009 | Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2009 for eCommerce | Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (ASME) and Rotary Club of Singapore | Singapore |
| October | 2009 | Top Winner, Shell LiveWIRE awards | Shell, ITE Alumni and Singapore Press Holding (SPH)'s Chinese Newspapers Division. | Singapore |
| November | 2009 | Brand Leadership Award | World Brand Congress | Mumbai, India |
| December | 2009 | Silver Award, Best Digital Campaign - SEM/SEO | Direct Marketing Association of Singapore (DMAS) | Singapore |
| December | 2009 | Silver Award, Best Campaign Strategy - Customer Acquisition | Direct Marketing Association of Singapore (DMAS) | Singapore |
| June | 2010 | Top 3 Search Marketing Agency (Global Category) | Marketing Magazine | Singapore |
| June | 2010 | Top Winner - Search Marketing Agency (Local Category) | Marketing Magazine | Singapore |
| July | 2010 | Singapore Youth Award, Entrepreneurship Category | National Youth Council | Singapore |
| October | 2010 | National Infocomm Award (NIA) | Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) and Singapore infocomm Technology Federation (SiTF) | Singapore |
Media Coverage
| Date | Publication | Title |
|---|---|---|
| 26 April 2011 | AdAsia | PurpleClick Will Get You Into China |
| 26 April 2011 | Campaign Singapore | Baidu Selects PurpleClick as Exclusive Reseller in Singapore |
| 26 April 2011 | Entrepreneurs' Organization (EO) Singapore | Baidu Appoints PurpleClick as Exclusive Reseller in Singapore |
| 26 April 2011 | Marketing Magazine | Baidu Names PurpleClick as Exclusive Reseller |
| 8 April 2011 | Campaign Asia-Pacific | How to generate quality leads at low cost via search |
| 6 April 2011 | Marketing Magazine | Experts: Google's +1 Needs Paradigm Shift |
| 15 March 2011 | Campaign Singapore | Image Creative Appoints PurpleClick Media for Second Year |
| 28 January 2011 | Marketing Magazine | JCU Singapore appoints PurpleClick |
| 21 January 2011 | Campaign Singapore | MICA appoints Purpleclick to market www.sg |
| 5 January 2011 | PNE Group Website | If Only I Knew - PurpleClick Media |
| 10 December 2010 | Entrepreneurs Organization Singapore | Leonard Tan's PurpleClick Media wins National Infocomm Awards (NIA) 2010 |
| July 2010 | Entrepreneurs Organization Singapore | Mr Leonard Tan conferred Highest Youth Accolade |
| 30 July 2010 | Action Community for Entrepreneurship (ACE) | PurpleClick Media- Opening Doors for SMEs in Asia |
| 5 July 2010 | People's Daily Online | Singapore awards 4 youths highest accolade |
| 4 July 2010 | Channelnewsasia.com | 4 awarded Singapore's highest youth accolade |
| 4 July 2010 | The Straits Times Razor TV | From zero to hero (Singapore Youth Award Pt 1) |
| 2 July 2010 | XinMSN News | Four outstanding youths to receive Singapore's highest youth accolade |
| 28 June 2010 | Hwa Chong Institution | Hwa Chong alumnus conferred prestigious Singapore Youth Award 2010 |
| 24 June 2010 | Association of Small & Medium Enterprises | PurpleClick and the Young Business Leaders Welcome The World |
| 4 April 2010 | Utusan Malaysia Online | Usahawan Singapura minat melabur di Iskandar Malaysia |
| 19 January 2010 | The Business Times/AsiaOne News | Roaring start to Year of the Tiger for PurpleClick |
| 14 January 2010 | Marketing Interactive | PurpleClick's Tan Now CEO |
| 14 January 2010 | The Business Times/AsiaOne News | Bigger Prize Pot For This Year's Emerging Enterprise |
| 23 December 2009 | AsiaOne Business | Top Entrepreneurs Share Secrets Of Success |
| 8 November 2009 | The Straits Times | Workaholic Succeeds In Making A Mark In E-commerce |
| 4 November 2009 | The Straits Times | An Arresting Business Plan |
| 25 October 2009 | AsiaOne Business/The Straits Times | Young entrepreneurs singled out for good work |
| October/December 2009 | The Singapore Marketer | The New Digital Revolution - What it has taught us about Online Marketing |
| 10 June 2009 | The Business Times/AsiaOne Business | Emerging onto a bigger stage |
| 4 February 2009 | Marketing Interactive | Search Engine Marketing Gets Local Rev-Up |
| 3 February 2009 | Marketing Interactive | PurpleClick Media Names GM |
| 2 February 2009 | i-Marketer | PurpleClick Media Aims to Net More with Tay's Appointment to GM Role |
| 22 January 2009 | i-Marketer | PurpleClick Media Hands out Heavenly Awards 2009 |
| 20 November 2008 | The Business Times/AsiaOne Business | An Idea that clicks with SMEs |
| 10 October 2008 | Marketing Magazine Malaysia | Meet PurpleClick: Singapore-based SEM Agency |
| 2 April 2008 | AsiaOne Business | Everything Click-ed into Place |
| 1 August 2007 | Marketing Interactive | Avis Agrees PurpleClickMedia SEM Solutions |