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ABOUT US
17 Years.
One Studio.
17+
3
YEARS IN HONG KONG
SENIOR FOUNDERS
We are a Hong Kong creative agency and commercial photography studiofounded in 2009. Three senior founders. 4A advertising pedigree. Award-winning photography. In-house video production. All under one roof — for financial services, insurance and property brands that refuse to be forgettable.
4A
ADVERTISING PEDIGREE
2X
HASSELBLAD MASTERS
HASSELBLAD MASTER
OUR STORY
Built in Hong Kong.
Built to Last.
2008
HAPLABORATORY Founded
Eric Wong and Pauling Wong establish the studio in Hong Kong, combining photography and creative direction under one roof.
We founded HAPLABORATORY in Hong Kong in 2009 with one conviction — that financial services, insurance and property brands deserve more than safe, forgettable advertising. Seventeen years on, we're still proving it.
What started as a photography-led creative studio has grown into a full-service creative boutique and commercial production house — combining 4A advertising strategy, Hasselblad Masters photography and in-house video production under a single Hong Kong roof.
We've never grown for the sake of growing. We stay small because small means every client gets the three people who built this studio — not a team briefed by them.
2010 & 2012
Hasselblad Masters — Twice
Eric Wong becomes the only Chinese photographer to win the world's most prestigious photography award twice.
2024
Sammy Lau Joins as ECD
Former ECD at M&C Saatchi and HK4As Chairman brings 4A creative leadership to the studio. The boutique is complete.
2026
17 Years On
Still the same three people. Still the same conviction. Still building work that earns its space.
THE TEAM
Three Seniors.
Every Project.
When you work with HAPLABORATORY, you work with us — not a team briefed by us. Every brief is handled personally by the three founders who built this studio. No account managers. No layers. No exceptions.
Eric Wong
CO-FOUNDER · CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER & VIDEO DIRECTOR
People who know me call me Gunman. The nickname came from years as a competitive pistol shooter. It stuck because both disciplines demand exactly the same thing — one read of the situation, one moment of absolute commitment, no second chances.
That instinct defines everything I do on set. I spent my early career as Executive Creative Director at Leo Burnett, McCann and Dentsu before picking up a camera professionally. That background never left me. It just moved behind the lens.
I'm the only Chinese photographer to win the Hasselblad Masters in Fashion & Beauty twice. My speciality is on-set photography during live TVC production — capturing real energy in motion, in a single take, with lighting built entirely in-camera. No fixing in post. Because it was right from the start.
When you work with HAPLABORATORY, I'm on your shoot. Every time.
Sammy Lau
PARTNER · EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Most ECDs at my level stopped touching briefs years ago. But you will talk to me every time with the new brief.
After 25 years at M&C Saatchi, Dentsu, McCann and Young & Rubicam — and a term as HK4As Chairman — I still write the idea myself. Not because I have to. Because that's the only way I know how to work. If you're in a room with me, the person across the table is the one building your campaign.
Over 30 awards across Kam Fan, Effie and Adfest. A career built on making financial services, insurance and property brands feel genuinely worth noticing. I'm also someone clients actually enjoy working with — and I'll tell you that's not a small thing. Good energy on a project is how good work gets made.
Today, AI is part of my creative process — not as a shortcut, but as an accelerator that lets me push further and move faster without ever compromising the thinking that starts every brief.
Pauling Wong
CO-FOUNDER · BUSINESS DIRECTOR
I'm usually the first person you'll speak to at HAPLABORATORY. And I'll give you a straight answer, fast — that's just how I work.
Twenty years of running regional accounts across HK and APAC will shape you that way. I helped scale G2 Hong Kong from 2 people to 50, co-built HAPLABORATORY to HK$3 million in its first year, and have led over 50 product launches across multiple markets in a single twelve-month stretch. I've also built a client-side marketing department from the ground up at Bachmann — so I know what it looks like from your side of the table too. That perspective changes how I manage every brief.
My instinct is always the same: have the end game in mind before anyone else has finished reading the brief.
As the studio's AI-certified marketing strategist, I use AI to sharpen strategic planning before a brief is written, and to ensure our clients' work gets found — through both traditional SEO and Generative Engine Optimisation.
I also consult independently for brands that need senior strategic thinking without the full agency overhead.
You have a brief.
We have the team for it.
Tell us what you're working on. We'll tell you honestly if we're the right fit — and if we are, we'll move fast.
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