Ziv Leinwand
Director of Marketing & Deputy GM
Haier-Strauss Water

With 14 years of International and domestic business experience, since 2008 Ziv leads the marketing for Strauss Water in China as global director of marketing for Strauss water, and since 2010 as deputy GM & Head of marketing for “Haier–Strauss Water” JV in China. Prior to joining Strauss Water, Ziv held various positions in the advertising industry, most recent as Director of Global Accounts for Saatchi & Saatchi Israel. Currently doing his MA in leading innovation and Change, Ziv is passionate about the predominant role of products and innovation in today’s marketing landscape.

Florian Pihs
Senior Planning Director Strategy, Innovation & Optimization, China
SapientNitro

Florian Pihs is SapientNitro’s Senior Planning Director Strategy, Innovation & Optimization. In this role Florian is leading a team of researchers, analysts and planners in transforming businesses through innovative, insight driven end to end solutions for branding, commerce and technology platforms.
During his 9 years in China, Florian has made his mark in the advertising community as a digital strategist and web analytics / big data evangelist. He founded the Web Analytics Wednesday in Beijing, and led digital planning at MRM Worldwide as Planner, Strategy and Innovation. At MRM he built social media and performance marketing capabilities and expanded ROI-based CRM strategies and programs for brand and performance advertisers.
Before returning to agency land, Florian also spent time at About.com China raising the platform’s stature as a partner of multinational advertisers with a strong focus on branded content and social media solutions. Florian holds an MBA from the HKUST Business School

Monica Lee
Managing Director,
The Brand Union China

As the Managing Director of The Brand Union China, Monica Lee is recognized for her strategic vision to achieve business goals. Her unmatched breadth of experience equips her to lead and excel in client relationships, leading them through start-up, survival and growth. As a distinguished thought leader in the branding industry, Monica is committed to truly understanding the business and the needs of customers, and serve as a driving force to build The Brand Union’s strategic value in the industry. With over 15 years of experience in corporate communications and branding strategies, Monica provides clients with a holistic view in compelling brand building. She works with leading conglomerates and emerging brands on their branding issues ranging from strategic positioning, value propositions and brand management to visual identity systems and package design. Her clients run the gamut from large national corporations to MNCs including Unilever Food Solution, Kraft Foods, GSK, Harley-Davison, to domestic conglomerates including COFCO, China Mobile, ICBC, SPD Bank, China Union Pay, Kang Shi Fu, Legend Capital, CITIC Property, Gemdale Group, CEIBS and etc. Monica has been quoted in numerous media articles including The New York Times, Campaign Asia and Money Week, to name a few. She has also led branding workshops and seminars for leading corporations and academic institutions.

Vladimir Djurovic
President
Labbrand

Vladimir founded Labbrand in 2005 and has assisted over 100 brands to understand and adapt to the Chinese market. He is an expert in helping both foreign and domestic brands to identity their unique positioning and execute effective branding strategies. He has an innovative mind, a natural instinct for trends, and a great understanding of the Chinese cultural context through years of experience with clients such as LVMH, Givaudan, Mercedes-Benz, Club Med, ING, Volkswagen and more. Vladimir has been interviewed by various global media including The New York Times, China Daily and Le Monde regarding branding strategy and brand naming in China. He speaks fluent French, English, Mandarin Chinese, Russian and Serbian.

Matt Liao
General Manager - Marketing & Communications
CapitaMalls Asia (China)

Matt Liao is currently the General Manager, Marketing & Communications with CapitaMalls Asia (China). Matt has a strong marketing and branding (Retail & Mall Management) background in China, especially in the marketing strategy, branding, digital marketing and CRM fields. He is well experienced in integrating marketing resources to drive customer end action. Matt has gained a great sense of understanding Western & Eastern people by working in a range of multi-national companies and living in China for 10 years (Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Beijing). His past work experiences have included being Head of Sales & Marketing for Mannings China, Dairy Farm Group as well as being Senior Director of Marketing with Walmart China. Matt has an MBA from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

Lisa Wilkinson
Managing Director
China Consulting Direct

Lisa Wilkinson is Managing Director, China Consulting Direct. She has over 25 years of marketing, communications branding and sales expertise. Mrs. Wilkinson has extensive knowledge on integrated communications, brand repositioning, brand strategy development, channel sales management and the creation of regional advertising campaigns. Mrs. Wilkinson is based in Beijing, where she offers consultative services to global and domestic clients. Lisa started her marketing career with the Clorox Company in the US and moved onto more fast-growth global leaders in various industries including The Clorox Company, PepsiCo, Kimberley-Clark, Dell Computer, American Express, American Standard. Most recently she held senior roles in two leading sportswear companies in China - Li-Ning and Anta. Lisa obtained her bachelor’s degree in China and MBA from the U.S.

George Godula
CEO
Web2Asia

George Godula is founder and CEO of Shanghai-based full service digital marketing agency Web2Asia. He is also Managing Director Asia of MH | direkt, an international direct marketing and order fulfillment outsourcing provider. MH | direkt and Web2Asia offer performance based digital marketing and one-stop solution e-commerce services for international brands and technology companies in China. Clients include Esprit, Swarovski, Bosch, W.L. Gore, Lufthansa, Bigpoint, PayPal, Henkel, Platinum Guild International, Costa Coffee, Alibaba and Tencent. Lastly, George is a partner in the global CMS & online shopping cart service provider Jimdo and responsible for its Asia business development and China operations since 2007. Japan is the second largest market for Jimdo in terms of revenues and China the second largest in terms of userbase worldwide. George frequently publishes and speaks on digital marketing and e-commerce in China and prior to his work in Asia, was responsible for Business Development and Portfolio Management at OMICRON electronics in Austria

Elliott Yuen
Partner
Gravitas Partnership

Mr Yuen is currently the Greater China General Manager for Stroili Oro , the largest jewelry retailer in Italy. He is also a partner of Gravitas Partnership and an Adjunct Professor for the EMBA class in Shanghai Jiaotong University. Mr. Yuen is a veteran in retailing and consumer goods marketing with over 30 years of experience working in Asia Pacific and has held senior management positions for global brands like Canon, Christian Dior, Wilson Sporting Goods and Campbell Soup in his early career with the Jardine Matheson Group. Between 1988 and 1994, he was Managing Director for IKEA in Hong Kong seeing the business expanded to capture over 25% market share in the loose furniture market. In 1993, he launched IKEA in Taiwan which since then has become the top imported furniture brand in that market. In 1994, Mr. Yuen co-founded Shanghai Tang together with entrepreneur David Tang as the founding CEO, a very successful Chinese luxury retail concept founded in Hong Kong and then expanded internationally under the Richemont Group to key cities around the world. Mr. Yuen became a jeweler in 1995 when he was Group CEO of TSL Jewelry, then the largest listed jewelry retailer in the Far East. He pioneered TSL’sdevelopment in China and built a 70-store jewelry chain during his watch. Another of his successful China projects was the green-field launch of Enzo Jewelry in 2004 which by 2010 has grown to over 150 stores and is one of the key jewelry retailers in China In 2005, Mr. Yuen joined the Luxottica Group, the global leader in optical products as their General Manager for Asia to spearhead an expanding network of some 300 LensCrafters optical stores in both Hong Kong and China. In 2008-10, he was Puma’s Country General Manager for China to look after a chain of some 2,000 Puma stores nationally. Mr. Yuen is an award-winning manager. He received Jardine Matheson’s Managing Director’s Award in 1992 and also won numerously the prestigious HKMA/TVB Marketing Excellence Awards for IKEA,TSL Jewelry and LensCrafters . Under Mr. Yuen’s leadership in 1998, TSL won three major awards in one single year (Marketing Excellence, TQM and Training Excellence). Mr. Yuen holds an MBA degree from the University of Warwick in the UK. He was an Executive Committee member of the Hong Kong Retail Management Association and an advisor to the Hong Kong Institute of Marketing.

Nick Henderson
Senior Client Business Director
FutureBrand Greater China

Nick has more than 15 years of experience in business development in Mainland China. He began his career in the operational and customer service market entrance of IKEA’s first two stores in the country (Shanghai and Beijing). Nick returned to Shanghai to establish the China distribution, manufacturing and import/export business for high-end German guitar manufacturer Warwick. Over the years, Nick has developed market entry strategies and business advisory, as well as created revenue streams, for a range of SME and large companies, including Tyco, Associated British Foods, Dyson, V&A Enterprises, Solutia and Acision. Before joining FutureBrand, Nick was Managing Partner of Vantage Partners Group, a business advisory firm providing mid-cap Chinese listed technology companies with international M&A strategies. Nick has worked in a number of roles including general management, operational, project management and business development in a broad range of sectors including TMT, cleantech, industrial, medical/life sciences, manufacturing and retail. Nick gained a Bachelor of Business degree and Bachelor of Arts degree from Monash University and an Executive MBA from the University of Southern California. He speaks fluent Mandarin.

Kestrel Lee Ri Qiang
Digital Creative Director
Edelman China

A frequent speaker at digital industry events like Ted, Kestrel’s innovative and award winning digital and integrated campaigns have made his clients extremely successful and well-known. One of his iconic campaigns attained 26.3 million search listings for the campaign with a US$3500 budget while his adidas Facebook gaming campaign recruited 130,000+ fans in 6 weeks with zero paid media.
With over 10 years of experience in leading integrated and digital campaigns in Asia while winning more than 100 digital creative and effectiveness awards, Kestrel is also a digital consultant and coach to L’Oreal Asia Pacific and Unilever China in areas such as social media, search, mobile, online videos and gaming for global brands. Currently, he is leading integration of traditional advertising services with digital offerings while setting up next generation digital agencies in China.

Michelle Chen
General Manager
Shen Yang Scitech Premium Outlet Mall (PCD Stores Group)

 

Michael H. Dardzinski
Counsel
Reed Smith

 

Sean Jiang, Ph. D
Managing Director
Harley Davidson China

Sean Jiang is Managing Director of Harley-Davidson China. In this role, Sean has overall responsibility for all Harley-Davidson operations in China. Sean brings to Harley-Davidson a broad range of skills in global sales and marketing operations. He has extensive professional experience in both Chinese and American contexts and a strong track record in business development. Prior to joining Harley-Davidson China, Sean Jiang served as Vice-President of Sales for Asia-Pacific at ADP Dealer Services International, where he was responsible for account management and new business development in the region. Sean also worked at Chrysler LLC in Detroit, where he served 11years in International Sales and Marketing. Most of his Chrysler experience was in the Asia Pacific area, which included positions initially as Country Manager for Australia and New Zealand, and later on as Country Manager for China and Taiwan, and finally as General Manager for Sales and Network at Chrysler Group (China) Sales Limited based in Beijing. Sean has an MBA degree from Thunderbird, The American Graduate School of International Management, as well as a Ph.D. from the American University in Washington D.C.

Lac Tran
Digital Strategy Director and designate Managing Director
Web2Asia

Lac Tran has a background in computer engineering and was part of the small team that pioneered the Canadian Government’s first e-commerce initiative at Statistics Canada. An avid early adapter of technologies and with an understanding of the core of digital, he moved on with digital marketing for the last decade. During this time, he worked with LVMH, Gucci, Swatch Group, Richemond Group to name a few. Being able to bridge both technical and creative work, he brings a unique perspective of what digital can offer.

Richard Lihe Ye
Chief Brand Officer of Wireless Product Operation, Senior Director of International Marketing in Product R&D System
ZTE

Mr. YE Lihe has 13-year experience in telecom industry with the growth of ZTE from 5,000 to 70,000 people. He had worked in Spain and Brazil for 5 years, led the local team to explore the business in Latin America. Since 2006, Mr. Ye has been devoted to marketing, branding and market analysis for mobile communication. He also has abudant experience for business development, organization and management optimization for globalization.

Dale Preston
Senior Vice President - Greater China
Nielsen

Dale Preston has been working in Asia for 8 years including 5 years in China. He is a seasoned operator in the Chinese fast moving consumer goods industry (FMCG) and assists multinational and local Chinese companies with strategies to grow their business. Dale’s areas of research expertise include retail measurement and strategies around distribution expansion and competitive analysis. He also works with businesses on price and promotion and assortment optimization to drive better effectiveness and profitability. His work with clients on branding and marketing spending optimization helps drive long term benefits for brands. He is a regular speaker at industry events to talk about opportunities for growth in China.

Karen Low
Head of Brand Communications
Tesco China

Karen is a multilingual, globally aware, achievement oriented professional with broad range of experience in marketing management, including managing strategic projects, branding, promotions and CRM from retail to broadcast pay TV, banking and financial, publishing, etc. Karen has worked in Singapore, Malaysia, China and other South East Asia markets. Her specialties include CRM, strategic marketing, branding and customer communications. Working and travelling has equipped her with exposure to various cultures and sectors as well as excellent communications skills. Also, her experiences have grown her capabilities in development and execution of global and regional brands.

Angela Au-Yeung
National Digital Manager China
LEE

Angela Au-Yeung is the National Digital Manager of Lee jeans, the key business driver of the world's largest apparel company VF Corporation in China. Specialized in developing online businesses and online-offline integration, she oversees all digital initiatives for Lee, including its brand marketing and eCommerce development in the market in her current role. Prior to working at VF, Angela was in charge of business development and digital marketing for Sasa.com, the eCommerce arm of Asia's leading cosmetics retailer Sasa International Holdings Ltd., where she expanded its online business and presence in China, the US, and Australia. Angela also worked for Discovery Networks APAC overseeing marketing campaigns with a digital focus around the region previously.

Sanchuan Wang
CMO
GAR China Food Division

Sanchuan Wang, who coins the ACT Marketing Model and Marketing Value Chain Model, is currently the CMO of GAR China Food Division, a leading manufacturer of youth snacks in China that boasts annual transactions of nearly 4 billion. Prior to that Sanchuan spent 7 years in the Coca-Cola China system where he broadened his marketing experience by taking up senior management roles on both the franchise and company sides. He also worked in Toronto for Kimberly-Clark in marketing roles of increasing responsibilities for brands such as Huggies and Kleenex. A graduate of Beijing Foreign Studies University (1992), Sanchuan obtained an MBA from the University of Toronto (2000) and was a visiting scholar at the University of Victoria (1996). A frequent and highly regarded internal speaker and trainer, Sanchuan has set a goal of returning to university, as a professor, by the age of 50, if not sooner.

Ronica Wang
Managing Director
The InnoGrowth Group

Ms. Ronica Wang is the Managing Partner of The InnoGrowth Group, a results oriented business development and consulting company, which: 1) delivers and implements growth and turnaround strategies, 2) conducts M&A due diligence and valuation, and 3) sources partnership. It is uniquely staffed with senior corporate executives with P&L operations experience to deliver innovative and sustainable results (www.innogrowthgroup.com).
Ms. Wang is also an active strategic advisor to several CEOs. She is a Board Director for both Pandora, listed company with presence in 65 countries, and for Active Kidz Shanghai. Previously, she was the Board Chairman of Avon Japan, listed on JASDAQ, and a Board Director of the Wharton Business School Global Alumni Association.
Ms. Wang has worked extensively throughout Asia, especially in China and Japan, as well as North America and Australia. Previously, she has held senior corporate positions either as CEO/President, VP or Managing Director at Avon, Hutchison-Priceline, and Johnson & Johnson. Prior to these, she worked for Procter & Gamble in brand management in China, Taiwan and Canada, and for Nortel as manufacturing engineer in Canada. Her industry experiences span across beauty care, fashion accessories, affordable luxury, FMCG, consumer health, medical, vision care, and telecom.
She graduated from the University of Toronto in Canada and obtained her MBA from the Wharton Business School. She also studied multinational management at the London Business School.

Catherina Chang
Former Group General Manager
Coca-Cola China Industries Limited

Catherina currently works as an independent advisor and leadership coach. Beyond this, she has over 15 years experience in leading multinational, culturally diverse organizations in emerging, high growth and underdeveloped markets. She has served at the Coca-Cola Company for 11.5 years in Asia/China & Africa, and worked for 3.5 years with SAB Miller in South Africa.
Her most recent role since 2009 was Group General Manager for South Region Operations, the Coca-Cola China Ind. Ltd. Catherina was appointed as Group General Manager in 2006 to lead the transformation and integration of the acquired bottling operations.
She also successfully led multiple teams for the Company’s first global go-live of business processes and systems (SAP ERP) redesign and integration initiative.
Between 1998 and 2006, she has served as Director of Business Strategy, Business Strategy, Strategic Planning Manager, Chairperson of Diversity Council at the Coca-Cola Company.
Catherina has served as Project consultant, Brand/Consumer consultant & Marketing research manager at SAB Miller.

Ken Whitaker
Vice President - Sales, Marketing, Research and Engineering
Kimberly-Clark China

Ken Whitaker is the Vice President of Sales, Marketing, Research and Engineering at Kimberly-Clark China. He is responsible for setting branded strategy and leading the execution of those strategies to achieve aggressive growth objectives in this rapidly growing China consumer market.
Prior to his current role, he spent the past 12 years residing in Malaysia and Singapore where he led many of Kimberly-Clark’s country markets and held branded responsibility for Huggies*, Kotex*, Depend* and Poise*.
He is a University of British Columbia graduate from his hometown of Vancouver, Canada which is also where he began his career in the FMCG industry.

Paul McNeill
Managing Director and Founder
Skye Media Limited

Paul has 21 years of broad strategic and leadership experience in the media industry of which 15 years has been spent in Asia and he was part of the founding team of Carat in Asia Pacific in 1997. Paul is a pioneer in the development of the internet as a trading and marketing tool in Asia at the turn of the century, when he founded online media trading company XS-Media. For Havas’ MPG launched and acted as CEO Greater China and was part of the company’s global corporate strategy team. Paul recently founded Skye Media, which builds brands through content creation.
Paul has a BA in Advertising and Communication and completed a post-doctoral study in Media Strategy & Communication. Paul brushed up his academic credentials with an MSc in International Management China at the SOAS in London finishing in 2011 and will join The Amsterdam School of Creative Leadership for their 2013 programme.