2024 Jury

Abhinit is a strategy leader with close to 16 yrs of work experience across leading advertising agencies in Singapore & India. He is currently working as Senior Strategy Director at TBWA Singapore, leading global strategy for Singapore Airlines & Mandai Wildlife Reserve and APAC strategy for Hilton.

In his previous stint as Regional Planning Director at Publicis, Wunderman Thompson & Ogilvy Singapore, he led strategy for Unilever brands - Lux & Pond's Men (Global), Vaseline & Comfort (APAC) and P&G brands - Head & Shoulders, Rejoice & Oral-B (APAC).

Before Ogilvy, he worked in leading advertising agencies such as Publicis, MullenLowe Lintas, DDB & Leo Burnett in India and led strategy for brands such as Heineken, Kingfisher, Twitter, McDonald’s, Volkswagen, Skoda, OneTouch (Johnson & Johnson), Kissan (Unilever), SonyLIV (OTT platform), Firstcry.com and Zee TV.

Throughout his advertising career, he has won numerous effectiveness awards such as Effie (including APAC Effie GOLD & Effie India GOLD) and Strategy & Effectiveness Spikes Asia. He has also served on the jury of APAC Effie multiple times since 2018 and Effie India in 2016.

He has been a visiting faculty and guest lecturer in various institutes in Singapore & India such as Miami Ad School, SMU Lee Kong Chian School of Business, MICA, FLAME, SIMC and XIC for the last 10 years and teaches subjects related to brand strategy, advertising and strategic planning.

Adrian is the Head of Strategy at DDB Group Hong Kong. Joining in 2015, he has since led the strategic thinking on both local and regional businesses, with a focus on finance and real estate industries, while specializing in corporate branding and communications. His key client engagements in his time at DDB include Octopus, Hang Seng Bank, Henderson Land Development, New World Development, Vitasoy, and Jardine Matheson to name a few.

With a pedigree spanning across brand strategy at Brand Union and brand management at start-up Nanoleaf, Adrian drives strategy in advertising through a rare combination of long term, big picture thinking and an astute insight into commercial implications. As a result of this approach, in collaboration with creative partners, he has produced multiple award-winning campaigns, as well as contributed to repeated agency of the year recognitions.

Born and bred in Hong Kong, Adrian was educated in the U.S. with a BA in Political Science from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. His eclectic and diverse interests, ranging from mixed martial arts to crypto-currencies, from gaming to behaviour economics, have equipped him with the exposure and empathy to derive unique and genuine human insights that drive world-class work.

Meet Alicja, a seasoned expert with over 20 years of passionately sculpting brand stories. She's not just a market whiz; she's the go-to person for turning brands into compelling narratives that stick.

From leading teams in Strategy & Applied Intelligence at Havas across Europe and Asia to snagging awards like Effie, Mix Awards, and the European IAB Research Award, Alicja's journey showcases her knack for transforming brands with finesse.

As the Chief Strategy Officer for Southeast and North Asia at Havas, she's the brains behind regional communication strategies spanning APAC, SEA, and NA markets. Alicja effortlessly blends local cultural flavors into brand marketing, creating an inclusive tapestry that clicks with diverse audiences.

Alicja isn't your typical strategist; she's a storyteller at heart. Her passion lies in uncovering the human stories behind brand benefits, weaving a narrative that resonates with people's lives. Beyond the hustle, her heart beats for equestrian photography. Picture this – she was the official Polish Eventing Team Photographer at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, capturing moments that tell stories beyond words.

A versatile strategist - passionate about building progressive, profitable and enduring brands. Having completed the unique trifecta across Brand, Creative and Communications strategy, Aliya has spent nearly 20 years in various agency roles within the APAC region. She is currently heading the strategy function at Nature, a leading strategic insights consultancy, operating across Australia and New Zealand.

Aliya has featured in Campaign Asia's Women to Watch List and her work on the likes of Vodka Cruiser and Arts Series Hotels, has been recognised internationally at several majors - including Cannes, Spikes and the Effies. She has sat on various local and global awards judging panels including the WARC Strategy Awards, Media Federation of Australia and is a regular at the Effies.

She is a firm believer in the power of brand building and business growth that centres around human truths, super charged through the potency of data. As a student of psychology and consumer behaviour, she strives to champion intuition, curiosity and simplicity as the basics that can't afford to get diluted when it comes to the craft of planning in the digital age.

She considers her wanderlust (32 countries and counting) as the inspiration when it comes to understanding cultural codes and sharpening her strategic sensibilities. She is a strong advocate for bringing diversity and inclusion to the forefront of the modern marketing agenda.

Alvina Seah is the Group Managing Director of GOVT and Ministry, one of the largest independent agencies in Singapore, that continues to create compelling campaigns for APAC. Prior to leading the charge of Singapore's largest independent agency, Alvina spent 9 years in China, spearheading digital social solutions for international brands like Visa, Pepsi, McDonald's, Gillette and SC Johnson.

As a Managing Director with over 20 years of advertising experience, she has built agencies across China and Singapore. Leading with a creative experience focus, the agencies under her helm is consistently awarded Campaign Asia Agencies of the year. Alvina has been recognised Campaign Greater China Account Person of the year and also named Campaign Women to watch 2018.

Amna Khatib Paracha is the Managing Director for Mindshare Pakistan, the leading media agency for Pakistan. In her previous role at GroupM, she was the Chief Digital and Strategy Officer at GroupM Pakistan.

A dynamic leader who has been credited for setting up and establishing successful media setups across GroupM Pakistan, Converge Technologies and Universal McCann- Orient in Pakistan. She setup Digital for GroupM in 2014, which has grown to be the most successful digital company across Pakistan, delivering award winning campaigns, world-class talent, and successful business results.

Recently she has also been given the lead for GroupM Nexus, which includes Xaxis and INCA in Pakistan, which are GroupM’s regional products.

Amna's expertise is spread across Strategic Planning, Leadership, Innovation and Setting up successful business operations.

Amy Shih launched her career as a researcher at Ogilvy Advertising (Taiwan). During her tenure 2000 to 2006, Amy developed a great curiosity and skill in obtaining information from a vast range of resources. In 2006 Amy became a Planner and exploited a keen insight of consumer data analysis to facilitate her strategic planning. In 2017, Amy was promoted as Strategy Partner of Ogilvy Group and helped to grow the clients’ businesses and create lucrative opportunities for Ogilvy.

After serving a stellar 18-year tenure at Ogilvy, Amy made a career transition from the agency side to client side. Amy joined Cathay Financial Holdings as Senior VP to work on digital transformation projects and new business development strategy. After almost 2 years of exploration, Amy decided to follow her heart, and return to the place she loves most – Ogilvy.

As the chief strategy officer of Ogilvy Taiwan, she will continue to be committed to lead the team to make the brands vividly thrive in business, culture creation, social contribution, and make the brands matter. In 2022 she has obtained Sustainability Manager certification, to further the contemporary mission of brands.

Andrew is an award-winning strategist who leads the strategy team across Brand Strategy and Customer Experience. His strategic focus is to create connected brands that have a strong emotional connection with their customers and deliver customer first brand experiences leading to strong commercial growth for his clients. With broad experience working with top tier clients he has developed and implemented work for clients including: FMCG (Coca-Cola, Lion), Education (University of Queensland, Bond Uni and TAFE), Retail (TABCORP, TerryWhite Chemmart, Amart Furniture and Foot Locker), Banking (Comm Bank, CUA, Suncorp, Bupa) and Travel (Tourism and Events Queensland, Air Asia).

Andrew has also worked extensively on a number of large scale brand transformation campaigns for retail clients such as Amart furniture, TerryWhite Chemmart and The Coffee Club. These brand campaigns all celebrated a strong brand and customer truth that was discovered through a range of research tools including leveraging BAV®, the largest and longest quantitative study of brands globally which is a proprietary research tool of VMLY&R. He leads that research survey here in Australia working closely with the global team to roll out each year.

Angela is the co-creator and Chief Brand Officer of AFFINITY and CEO of AFFINITY media. With two decades of media & communications experience, Angela has leaned into her previous career as a qualified lawyer as well as a medical research scientist to create agencies focused on achieving measurable outcomes. With over 13 APAC and Australian Effies & Australia's sole gold IPA Effectiveness Award (“the mother of all effies”) to her name, she finds herself on a mission to help evidence the vital role that our industry plays in generating behavioural change and commercial value. More recently she’s focused her expertise on championing a culture of wellbeing both within her own agency and the broader industry, most recently recognised by AFR Boss Best Places to Work 2022 as the Best Wellbeing Practice in Australia. A regular jury member of global effectiveness awards, it's always an privilege to review some of the best thinking in our region as part of the APAC Effies.

Angie is Executive Creative Director of Havas Ortega Group, Manila. Before joining advertising, she spent a few years as a radio DJ and newscaster for some of Metro Manila’s most popular FM stations. Her two-decade journey in the industry has taken her to Ogilvy, TBWA\SMP and Ace Saatchi & Saatchi in the Philippines, and Grey Group in Malaysia.

She has garnered local and international awards in creativity and effectiveness, served as a juror for Cannes Lions, Spikes Asia, Adfest, One Asia, ADC Awards, and D&AD among others. She is a frequent speaker and panelist in local industry events, served as Creative Panel Head in the Philippine Agency of the Year Management Committee, and a three-time Director in the 4As Creative Guild Board. Currently, Angie is the President of 4As Philippines Creative Guild.

Passionate about continuous learning, she recently completed the Executive Leadership Accelerator Programme for Digital Management of Hyper Island, Singapore.

Throughout his illustrious career, Asawin Phanichwatana has won numerous accolades including being named Southeast Asia Creative Person of the Year. He has been a grand jury / jury president at regional and international awards shows including Cannes Lions, New York Festivals, Spikes Asia, Dubai Lynx, AdFest and many more. He is a regular guest speaker at various universities, and frequently hosts workshops for marketers and creatives across the globe. He is also the current President of Bangkok Art Directors' Association as well as its affiliate school that helps nurture next generation talents.

Badong is a Founding Partner of GIGIL, winner for marketing effectiveness in the APAC Effies 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023, and for creativity in the Cannes Lions Festival 2021 and 2022. Badong was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Creative Guild of the Philippines in 2010.

Under his stewardship, GIGIL became the No. 1 independent agency in Asia in Campaign Brief Asia’s 2023 Creative Rankings; The Drum’s 'Top Ranked APAC Agency' in its 2023 World Creative Rankings; Ad Age’s ‘International Small Agency of the Year' in 2021; and the fastest-growing ad agency in the Asia-Pacific, according to the Financial Times in 2023.

He was named by Campaign Brief Asia as one of the ’Top 10 Most Awarded Creative Leaders in Asia’ in 2021, and the 'Philippines' Most Awarded Creative Director' in 2023. Badong was included in 2021 by Adweek in its ‘Creative 100' list—an annual celebration of the world’s top creative professionals, icons, and game changers.

Over 20 years of experience in brand strategy honed while working on the regional and global brands campaigns for Unilever. She established her mark by helping turn the fortunes of challenger brands in the banking and automotive categories during her stint in Bangkok. She believes in leveraging the power of data to inform strategies.

Her passion is mentoring and training the next generation of brand planners.

With 15 years of experience, Bitop is a hybrid strategist with expertise in portfolio strategy, brand strategy, creative communication, digital and content. He has been with Grey Group for 12 years and has risen up to be a home-grown planner in a network that believes in being borderless to produce famously effective works. He is now heading the strategy department of both Grey Group Bangladesh and Grey Group Pakistan. He has played an instrumental role in helping the Bangladesh office enhance the depth and breadth of their total integrated strategy services and create purposeful enduring brands.

His contribution has helped Grey Bangladesh win Global Effie, APAC Effie, Cannes Lions, Warc Awards, Adfest, AdStars and many others. He has won Global Grand Effie in 2022; Grand Effie, Gold Effie and Silver Effie in APAC Effie 2021; Grand Prix and Category Disruptor Special award in WARC Prize for Asian Strategy 2020. He has been published in various marketing publications including WARC. He has contributed to Campaign Asia’s insights on Bangladesh brands for their Asia Top 1000 Brands series.

He has been in the esteemed jury panel of APAC Effie 2023, 2022 & 2021, Effie Pakistan 2024, Warc Prize for Asian Strategy 2021, Tangrams Strategy & Effectiveness 2021 and AdFest 2020 & 2021.

Catherine is the CEO of TBWA New Zealand, running a group business that includes their advertising, PR, social, digital, CX, design, digital and experience offerings. TBWA New Zealand works with some of the largest and most successful businesses in New Zealand and have expanded their offering to work on global brands in markets all over the world. TBWA are known for delivering high effective, disruptive platforms, campaigns and experiences that have them working deeply across every aspect of their clients business.

Prior to leading TBWA she was Head of Transformation at Saatchi & Saatchi Sydney where she lead the fastest growing accounts and the Agency's transformation. This included large scale acquisition that moved the agency into CX and experience design. She came to Australia after 8 years of working in London across UK and Pan-European Accounts, including leading Nissan for the UK and part of Europe.

She has over 20 years experience working across the UK, Australian and New Zealand markets and she has worked across every major category over her career. She has also worked on campaigns that have won at every major award show, including WARC's most Effective Campaign in the world in, a Cannes Innovation Lion and Yellow Pencils.

Catherine King is the Chief Strategy Officer at Leo Burnett and has over 25 years of communication and marketing experience that focuses on brand building, behaviour change and cultural influence. Catherine is passionate about the power of creativity to unlock business potential and to inform this perspective, has held senior leadership positions with multinational and independent agencies across creative, consulting, strategy, earned and digital in partnership with a broad range of brands.

In her role at Leo Burnett, Catherine leads the national strategy team to craft effective, motivating, enduring and distinctive ideas for the agency’s local and global clients across telco, insurance, tourism, food and beverage, pharma, and financial services. Catherine also leads an ongoing research study called "What good is doing good", which guides businesses and brands on the role they could and should play in areas of political, societal and public interest.

Catherine has been a strategic communications advisor to the World Bank for an urban resilience project in Tanzania, a writer for the World Economic Forum, a facilitator of the World Economic Forum's Young Global Leaders and Global Shapers APAC program, and was also Chair of a Communications Advisory Group on behalf of the Australian Department of Home Affairs.

She once left the industry and tried her hand at being a chef. It lasted six months.

Charlie has 14+ years of agency experience specialising in integrated marketing strategy. The first 10 years were spent with Ogilvy across Melbourne, Beijing, Singapore and New York, working with clients such as IBM, Huawei, VW, Penfolds Wine and Nestle, winning him multiple Effie awards and a Webby. Just over three years ago, Charlie returned to Singapore and joined McCann Worldgroup SEA as the Chief Strategy Officer. In this role, he oversees the strategy department and manages day-to-day strategic relationships with clients such as Mastercard for APAC and The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf globally.

Chloe is deeply involved in the business transformation, product innovation and people development of Omnicom Media Group Singapore, Regional Center of Excellence. Chloe believes in constantly challenging the organisation and herself to reimagine the business operations and its value proposition. Under her leadership, the group sees accelerated growth across new business, differentiating capabilities, investment and data & analytics advancement.

Chloe is known to be highly passionate about the endless possibilities the world of communications could bring.

She believes in building a strong collaboration and prototyping culture that focuses on a simple philosophy of Happy People, Happy Clients, Happy Results.

This focused intent has brought about successes year on year, and sees Omnicom Media Group Singapore being recognised as the Best Companies to work for, as well the Most Caring Company,and known for its Digital Transformation and DE&I.

Chris has found success in the space between creativity and technology. His combined marketing agency, startup, and enterprise experience gives him a well-rounded perspective of the different challenges companies in various stages of growth encounter.

Currently, he is the General Manager of GrowthOps Malaysia, an APAC Marketing Transformation agency, leading 160+ diverse creative, consulting, technology, and marketing talent.

Prior to GrowthOps, he was the Global CMO for Everise, a Digital Customer Experience firm with over 10,000 employees and present in 7 markets. There he led the rebranding of multiple acquisitions and repositioned Everise from a traditional call center into a leading digital customer experience firm, which supported the acquisition of Everise by Brookfield Asset Management (NYSE:BAM) in January 2021.

One such acquisition that Everise made was Hyperlab, Southeast Asia's leading Conversational AI firm, which Chris Co-founded in 2016. There he led Hyperlab's product marketing and consulting services before being acquired by Everise in 2018, when he shifted into the CMO role.

Other notable awards and accomplishments include leading GrowthOps to 2X Campaign Asia's leading Customer Engagement Agency, a couple of EFFIE's and Mumbrella’s Campaign of the Year. Chris is also a multiple-time Malaysian and APAC EFFIE Awards Judge, a STEVIES Awards judge, and has contributed articles for Campaign Asia, TechinAsia, Marketing Magazine, Branding in Asia and Customer Think on the intersect of technology and marketing.

A young-at-heart veteran with 24 years’ experience, Christina started her career as a ‘grad’, at Unilever. After getting that solid grounding in marketing and category management, she jumped ship and found a permanent home as a brand and communications strategist where comms theory crashed into sociology with a little side of pop psychology for good measure. It was the goldilocks of roles for her, understanding people and even herself a little better. Since then Christina has contributed to award-winning, effective campaigns across an array of clients (ALDI, Government, FMCG) and is most proud of the behaviour change work she has been part of in both the commercial and social marketing sector.

An industry commentator and regular panellist on Gruen (ABC), Christina has led BMF to be the most effective agency in Australia, in 2017 and in 2019, and number 3 in the world in the WARC Creative Effectiveness ratings. Whilst she’s driven to deliver creativity that’s effective, it’s superseded by being mum to her two kids, the mini schnauzer, Ziggy and doing ‘life’ as best she can alongside her partner Mark.

Cindy has 25 years of media experience, of which 23 are with GroupM agencies: Mindshare and Wavemaker. For many years, she worked on global brands in Malaysia such as Nestle, L’Oreal, GSK, HSBC, Pizza Hut and many others. Her responsibilities include delivering media strategy and innovative solutions to the clients in her portfolio. During this period, her clients were recognized at Malaysia Media Awards, Effie Malaysia, A+M and others. Currently as APAC Managing Partner for Wavemaker, Cindy is responsible for the media investment of Huawei in the APAC region, which covers 14 countries. She heads client engagement, supporting Huawei and activating new business initiatives in the region.

Connie leads a team of more than 300 OMDers across three offices in China (Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai) with a focus on developing strong client partnerships, driving growth and creativity, and inspiring teams. With almost three decades of experience and her sharp business acumen, she has steered OMD China towards growth.

Throughout her career, Connie has proven to be a passionate leader. She has established for herself a reputation for strategic leadership that drives positive change and encourages growth. Connie believes in mentoring and embraces the importance of sharing experiences and knowledge to help build the next generation of leaders. She has developed mentoring programmes within the workplace, as well as mentored start-ups in accelerator programmes and university undergraduates.

She is currently the leader for the Omniwomen Chapter in China. Omniwomen serves as a catalyst for increasing the influence and number of women leaders throughout the Omnicom Group network.

She is no stranger to the APAC Effie Awards. She started as the Chairman in 2014 and continued to be on the jury since 2015 including serving as Head of Jury in 2023.

With over 20 years’ experience across client, creative, CX and media David has a broad background and currently leads OMD’s regional strategy. Based in New Zealand he is passionate about proving the value and impact of our industry through platforms like the Effies and has delivered a significant body of award wins.

Dheeraj is the Group CEO - FCB Group India. He is the best selling author of two books on the Indian consumer market - Consumer India and India Reloaded. He has helped shape brands such as Spotify, Amazon, PhonePe, Sensodyne to name a few. He also runs a podcast - SpeakEasy With Dheeraj Sinha.

22 years of experience in advertising, brand marketing communication, activation both above the line and online in diverse categories; health and beauty, beverage, household care, home appliances, finance and banking, insurance, hospitality, etc. JWT and Dentsu are among other network agencies she has been with throughout her career.

3 years experiences as the head of research and insight unit at Dentsu Thailand that incorporates data and introduces new technologies i.e., biometric research, social research, virtual ethnography, etc. to innovate new research designs and methodologies to serve today’s client’s expectation with more accuracy but less budget and time.

An experienced brand manager and a co-founder of an entertainment company producing a TV program for kids broadcasted on national channel, No.3. Co-partner for a startup project selected to participate in DEPA’s training and pitching program.

A school dropout, the chanced encounter with a career guide while working in a bookstore pointed to an option called copywriting. Early signs that the universe wasn't pulling a fast one include representing Singapore at TBWA's Young Blood Program for the best performing rookies.

Many moons later, his misdemeanours on behalf of reputable brands have been featured on CNN, Contagious, Mashable, PSFK, Fast Company, Channel News Asia, and somehow even Teen Vogue. He has played jury at Spikes, Adfest, One Screen Film Festival, ECI Innovation Award, Citra Pariwara - including Head of Jury for Brand Activation at the Gong Show. Recognised with metals from One Show, D&AD, Clio, Spikes, Adfest, and other local shows. Nabbing Singapore’s only Gold APAC Effie was also pretty cool.

None of which matters to his wife till he cleans the dishes.

Emily has over 20 years of strategic experience. She started her career in management consultancy, but on the hunt for a more creative outlet moved to London and became a digital strategist. It was there she spent time at digital agencies like AKQA and Razorfish before broadening into brand strategy at VCCP. She continued her integrated strategy journey back home in Sydney at BMF, Mojo and Leo Burnett before a brief covid-interrupted stint at Colenso BBDO New Zealand.

In her current role, as CSO of M&C Saatchi Group Australia, she leads a brilliant team of cross-discipline thinkers; from brand and social through to CX and data. The uniquely diverse team come together to realise the big ambitions of their clients in all stages of business; from start-ups and scale-ups all the way to grown ups.

This background means Emily has worked across pretty much every category, from financial services through to tech, travel and gaming and with innovative brands like Xbox, Samsung, Commbank and Tourism Australia. Emily is a strong believer in the power of creativity to drive results and as such, has won her fair share of effectiveness awards along the way.

For the past 30 years, Eric Chang has specialized in Brand marketing, Advertising, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and digital marketing.

An expert in the theory and application of integrated marketing and digital marketing, he is one of the few people in experienced at practically executing CRM from marketing and digital perspectives. He has advised clients in a wide array of industries such as finance, communications, high-tech, telecom, automotive, and fast-moving consumer goods.

He currently serves as Chairman & CEO of McCann Taiwan, helping promote the development of digital business, providing clients such services as branding, digital marketing strategy, digital media planning, CRM strategy consultation, direct marketing and communications planning.

Eric used to work at OgilvyOne Taiwan as MD and Vice-President in Asia Pacific.

Eric earned a master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin in Madison and also a professor in National Cheng-Chih University in Taiwan.

Erick Rosa was born and raised in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.

His career as a creative has spanned roles with Leo Burnett in Portugal, and with JWT, FCB and Havas In Brazil. And before joining Publicis Groupe as CCO in Japan, he was the Executive Creative Director at Mullen Lowe Singapore for four years.

Throughout his career Erick has had the privilege to work with some amazing, creative people and was very fortunate to be part of teams that have won several awards, several times. These include Cannes Lions, D&AD, The One Show, Clio, NY, London, ADC, EL Ojo, El Sol, CCP (Portugal), CCSP (Brazil), Spikes Asia and agency of the year for two consecutive years in Singapore.

And finally, Erick has served as jury in most of the major award shows– in every region he has worked - among them: Eurobest, El Ojo, Spikes, Adfest, Effies and twice at The Cannes Lions Festival.

Eugenia is the Managing Partner of GOODSTUPH, an independent Creative Agency in Southeast Asia that does platform-agnostic advertising with the goal of making consumers fall in love with brands.

100% independent since day 1, GOODSTUPH has made a name for itself by delivering on award-winning campaigns year after year for the likes of Netflix, Riot Games, Twitch, HBO, United Overseas Bank and Hewlett-Packard, Unilever and other large corporations.

Eugenia’s work has won over 70 awards to date. Through her leadership, GOODSTUPH clinched Hall of Fame Specialist Agency of the Year 2016 – 2018, Hall of Fame Independent Agency of the Year 2017-2018, Campaign Asia Singapore’s Independent Agency of the Year 2017-2018, Campaign Asia's Social Media Agency of the year Southeast Asia 2017/2022, Specialist Agency of the Year Southeast Asia 2018/2019/2022 and Marketing Magazine’s Social Marketing Agency of the Year for 9 consecutive years.

She has been named Top 50 Southeast Asia Women of the Future 2018, Campaign Asia – Women to Watch 2017, and won Hall of Fame’s Business Lead of the Year 2018.

Firrdaus likes ideas. So agencies in Dubai, London, and Singapore have paid his bills in exchange for thinking of ideas for them. Some ideas were featured on CNN, Forbes, and Bloomberg. Some were exhibited in museums in New York and Paris. Some even got talked about by people with really big pay checks. Like the Prime Minister of Singapore. One idea led to McDonald's Singapore's best-selling product ever in their 40-year history. Another idea brought home the nation's first-ever FWA Project of the Year.

It all led to some people at CampaignBrief Asia to rank him as the no.1 Creative in Singapore in 2023 - along with half of his creative department in the top 6. In fact, the same people also ranked Forsman&Bodenfors Singapore as the top agency in the country. All those achievements have culminated in the ultimate accolade; the invitation to write about himself in third person.

Francine is the CEO of BBDO Guerrero, one of the most awarded creative agencies in the Philippines. Under her leadership, the agency was recognized with several metals as Philippines Agency of the Year by Campaign, as well as two-time winner of Best in Management of Business at the 4A’s Agency of the Year awards. BBDO Guerrero has been consistently recognized at key creative and effectiveness shows locally and internationally including the Grand Prix for Asia strategy by WARC for the long-running ‘It’s More Fun in the Philippines’ campaign. BBDO Guerrero is part of Campaign’s Top 20 Creative Agencies in Asia.

Francine has experience across a breadth of categories that include food and beverages, automotive, banking and finance, travel and tourism, telecommunications and retail in her over 20 years in the industry. She was named one of Campaign’s Women to Watch in 2014.

Gareth is Chief Strategy Officer for VML & Ogilvy Japan based in Tokyo. He is passionate about harnessing consumer choice and behavior to inspire the creativity that will unlock growth for clients.

Gareth develops strategy throughout the marketing ecosystem; delivering integrated solutions for the omni-channel world in support of client business goals. Key clients in Japan include TCCC, Spotify, BAT, VW, Audi, and The Macallan. Previously to this role, Gareth was Regional Strategy Director for Geometry. In this role he was based in Singapore (2.5 years) then China (5 years) and worked across the Asia Pacific region with clients such as GSK, Unilever, Diageo, Huawei, Nestle, and Nike, among others. Prior to working in Asia, Gareth was based on New York for 12 years with clients such as SAP, Avon Cosmetics, TDAmeritrade, Unilever, and NewBalance.

Giri is a seasoned marketing leader with over 27 years of experience building brands and driving business growth. He's a passionate and transformative leader who thrives on challenging the status quo and fostering high-performing teams.

His career showcases strategic wins. Across two stints at Ogilvy, Giri excelled - setting industry benchmarks as Head of Ogilvy Action, he set industry benchmarks and developed a scalable business model. Later, as Head of Ogilvy Mumbai, he doubled revenue growth and secured the office's recognition as WPP's global office of the year in 2006.

Giri's entrepreneurial spirit shines. As regional leader of Advertising in Asia, he guided Ogilvy's top clients to revenue growth and secured the agency's #1 ranking by Campaign Asia for three years.

Currently, as Chief Client Officer for Ogilvy APAC, Giri is passionate about fostering strong client partnerships that deliver measurable business and brand growth. His priorities canter on:
• Building enduring client relationships
• Achieving tangible growth outcome
• Developing innovative, technology-driven creative solutions
• Cultivating diverse, multicultural teams
Throughout his career, he has consistently delivered on these values in various leadership roles.

Beyond work, Giri’s passion for speed manifests in his lifelong admiration for Formula 1 legends like Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton. His travels are always enriched by culinary adventures, from local street food to fine dining experiences. His fluency in over 7 Indian languages, including Tamil, reflects his deep connection to his Singapore residency.

Gosia Rzymska-Rakowska is the Global Commerce Client Partner, a role she started earlier this year. She's been with Publicis Groups for over 8 years now. In her 15 years in the industry, she gained digital marketing and eCommerce experience on client, publisher and agency side. During those years she’s worked in Poland and Singapore with clients from various industries: FMCG, finance, automotive, telco’s and more. She takes a great pleasure in being a part of multimarket and multicultural projects, and believes that building the right relationships drives success in such setups.

Fairly new to advertising awards judging world, she was D&AD Judge for eCommerce category in 2022 and Effie judge in 2023, and enjoyed both experiences a lot. Working with media focused teams, she has deep passion for creativity and constantly looks for creative angles to deliver work for eCommerce related projects. Focused on sustainability and responsibility of advertising industry in this area, she makes this aspect an important part of her judging criteria.

Tay Guan Hin, Creative Chairman of BBDO Singapore, has significantly impacted the creative industry, showcasing his talent across global agencies like Saatchi & Saatchi, Wunderman Thompson, Grey, and Leo Burnett. His digital engagement strategies have elevated brands such as Visa, Unilever, Audi, MOHH and Shell, effectively enhancing their market presence and addressing business challenges. His debut book, "Collide: Embracing Conflict to Boost Creativity," published by Penguin, quickly became an Amazon and Straits Times best-seller. Guan Hin has over 300 creative awards and notable roles, including Jury President at Cannes Lions and other prestigious events. A revered keynote speaker, he has shared his expertise at TEDx, Cannes Lions, and with top firms like Tencent and Meta. Passionate about mentoring, he founded Singapore's first student awards and actively supports young talent development. His leadership in innovation was highlighted during his presidency of the Asia Professional Speakers Association, marking him as a prominent figure in fostering creativity and nurturing future generations in the creative sector.

Huw joins the Effie jury from Edelman Hong Kong where he is Chief Strategy Officer for the APAC region.

Hal Ito is President of BBDO Japan, leading all the major multinational brands including Meta, Mars, VISA, Phillip Morris, Starbucks, Champion, SAP and others.

Besides branding and creative expertise he has also experienced the most innovative channel and media planning as Managing Director of PHD Japan, an Omnicom global media agency. Before BBDO, he was in JWT Japan as SVP, the worldwide director for major Japanese client expanding to Asian markets and in FCB New York as VP for Asia Pacific market. He delivered seminars and lectures at various occasions such as Japan Advertisers Association and the Graduate School of Tokyo University. A winner of major creative awards including Cannes and D&AD.

With two decades of experience spanning the UK & Australia, Hannah has built extensive expertise in consumer behaviour, insights and analytics, marketing strategy and creative effectiveness.

Spending 14 years with Kantar, she developed and led brand and communications research for a range of global clients such as Nestle, Unilever, Coca-Cola, Expedia, Disney Channel and IKEA.

This was followed by a four-year stint in-house leading the insights function at retailer ALDI Australia. During her time there, she was part of the team that won the Effie's Most Effective Advertiser three years in a row and the B&T Marketing Team of the Year Award. In addition, she played a key role in helping both ALDI Australia take home three Ad Campaign of the Year Awards, a Grand Effie Award, and a Spikes Asia Grand Prix.

Hannah joined creative agency BMF Australia as Head of Effectiveness in 2022, where she is working to harness data, analytics, and insights, to further their industry leading culture of effectiveness.

Hans’ foray into advertising began when he was casted for an ad in the Philippines 28 years ago. Today, he works behind the scenes as Regional Chief Operating Officer (Asia) at BBDO.

Hans is one of the emerging crop of agency leaders with a background in brand strategy. He helped establish the agency’s planning capability in China and built what industry-practitioners in the market consider “The West Point of Planning.” He also helped establish BBDO Voices, the agency’s in-house insights program which he has since expanded to the rest of Asia. While Chief Strategy Officer for BBDO Greater China, BBDO campaigns won more than 50 strategy and effectiveness awards in the region, and was named Campaign Magazine’s Greater China Planner of the Year in 2013.

Since expanding into a general management role, Hans was one of the key architects behind the agency’s impressive new business streak which most recently includes wins such as Brown-Forman, Haleon, and Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG) in China. He also helped reposition Energy BBDO Shanghai to become one of the most recognized digital and social activation agencies in the market which won multiple Social Media Agency of the Year honors from Campaign Magazine.

Huw joins the Effie jury from Edelman Hong Kong where he is Chief Strategy Officer for the APAC region.

I have been lucky enough to launch and work with brands big and small all over the world. I have spent the last decade or so living here in Hong Kong and working throughout the region. I love the Effies because they are proof that great creative work is the inevitable result of great thinking - creative brilliance IS creative effectiveness. I'm particularly interested in work that uses creativity to 'beat the system' and gets disproportionate coverage for its media spend.

Hwee Peng is the co-founder and Creative Partner at Blak Labs Singapore and Myanmar, an intergrated Advertising agency. With strong digital and branding experience, Hwee leads the way with her social and content creation, especially in mobile.

Prior to Blak Labs, she has worked in top agencies like Batey, TBWA, Leo Burnett, Ogilvy, Grey, JWT. With a strong digital and branding experience, she has led her team to continue to strive for results for their clients in Singapore and the region.

She believes in hard work, right attitude and passion. Hwee enjoys the industry as its filled with creative people and she is constantly learning from the young people. She believes in giving back and takes time to contribute back to the art schools.

Ida is a world-class leader and strategist who has partnered established giants and new-generation brands across China, Southeast Asia and Europe. Her work has won multiple Cannes and Effie awards, delivering business and cultural impact for the likes of The Coca Cola Company, Diageo, Unilever, Google and Grab. Her seminal brand campaign for the UK's Guardian News continues to be used as a marketing case study in schools, and she was recognised in CampaignAsia's '40 under 40' of rising stars in 2018, when she was the youngest female head of planning for a global network. She then led the 72andSunny office in Singapore as President before re-joining Ogilvy as Senior Strategy Partner for Asia.

With over 17 years of experience, Ishita is celebrated as one of Singapore's most innovative and effective strategists. Through her career, she has been both a marketer and an agency brand strategist. After leading marketing for blue chip entertainment brands (MTV, BBC, Discovery), she joined Ogilvy in 2017 and has played a pivotal role leading strategy across key categories - from FMCG, Travel, Telco to F&B and more. With a winning track record and a few awards under her belt she sits at the cross-section of creative thinking and consumer insights. Ishita's greatest joy is to help brands navigate the shifting marketing landscape with a vision for creativity and a pulse on effectiveness.

James’ career in Adland began in London working on the Apple account for TBWA / Media Arts Lab, playing a helping hand on putting a slew of iProducts on their path to world domination. At Iris Worldwide he then led the Planning across their sports, luxury and retail clients. Today he heads up Strategy for We Are Social across SEA, leading a team of 20+ multidisciplinary strategists helping clients get ahead of change curves in social culture and cut through in the world's leading attention arenas.

James believes great modern brands must stand for something but never stand still. In a world where people are taking drastic steps to block ads, the brands who’ll still be relevant in tomorrow’s world will be the ones who have remembered to treat people as people, educate them, entertain them, connect them with each other, be useful to them.

With over two decades of experience in the marketing and advertising industry, I began my journey with INNOCEAN in Korea before assuming executive roles in the company's Germany and London offices.

I am now the driving force behind INNOCEAN Indonesia & as APAC Regional CEO, my mission is to expand the business and provide truly integrated services to clients across the region.

Jan is a technology entrepreneur with a passion for helping brands grow. As the Founder CEO of Grivy, the leading provider of Commerce-led Personalization solutions, Jan is dedicated to empowering brands to create personalized consumer experiences that drive growth.

With over 15 years of experience, Jan has a proven track record of success in building and scaling innovative software companies. Prior to founding Grivy, Jan held leadership positions at several startups, where he led product, data security, and sales teams.

Jan is a strong advocate for the power of data and technology to transform businesses. He believes that Commerce-led Personalization is the key to unlocking new growth opportunities for brands in today's competitive (retail) landscape. Under Jan's leadership, Grivy has become a trusted partner for growth-minded consumer brands.

As a thought leader on the topics of Personalization, Data, and Digital Transformation, Jan is regularly invited to speak at industry events. Jan is a Technology Council Member at Forbes.

Jan is an engineering graduate of the University of Rotterdam, where he studied Business Engineering. He received his Master's Degree in Business Administration from Erasmus University and participated in global exchange programs at IE Business School and the London Business School.

Hello, my name is Jawahira Javed. I am the Creative Director at BBDO Pakistan for the Pepsi Portfolio. I have been part of the Pakistan advertising industry for the past 11 years and have had the honor of working on several local and international campaigns for the most prominent regional and global brands, including Nestle, Pepsi, and Coca-Cola. I have also enjoyed working for other regions like COCA-COLA MENA and PEPSI BANGLADESH.

I am a creative through and through, love storytelling, and ideas excite me as ice cream does to a kid. But most importantly, it is the journey that leads to the idea, be the insight or the strategic framework, that makes me fall in love with my profession over and over again.

Jeff Cheong is the CEO of DDB Group Singapore. He brings the best of marketing, technology, and consulting with Total Experience™ Consulting to the table for all his clients.

In the last 28 years, he has held leadership roles in TBWA, XM Asia, and a couple of dot-com start-ups.

Known as a fearless creative/business leader, he has delivered solutions for Unilever, Nokia, Heineken, Exxon, J&J, McDonald's, Volkswagen, BMW, Audi, Citibank, Uniqlo, Singapore Airlines and Changi (and Jewel) Airport, The Army, Nets, AXS.

He is passionate about education and community. He has contributed as a board member and to various advisory councils like Temasek Poly Board of Directors, Temasek Poly School of Design & Nanyang Poly, *Scape, Founders’ Memorial, and Design Education Advisory (DEAC), Families for Life, Media Literacy Council, Youth Action Plan - Somerset Belt Masterplan, National Integration Council.

Jeff’s love for storytelling has taken him from a self-funded documentary ‘Singaporean of the Day’ to a full-feature documentary ‘Andre and his olive tree’ on Netflix and the silver screen.

Jessica has over fifteen years experience working with some of the world's leading companies, including Coca-Cola, Unilever, Heineken, Microsoft, Mondelēz, L’Oreal, Google, Mastercard and Mars.

Born in Melbourne, Jessica has lived in Shanghai, Hong Kong, London and Singapore (twice) in a range of regional and global roles.

As SVP, Client Leadership APAC, Jessica oversees the Media.Monks client teams across the region, building bespoke solutions that harness the power of data, technology, creativity and craft to drive impact at both a business and cultural level for Media.Monks’s wide range of clients.

Jessica is a frequent public speaker/panelist at industry events, focusing mainly on the importance of creativity, diversity and representation in creative agencies.

ess is GPJ ANZ's powerhouse Director of Strategy, responsible for the strategy service offering. As Head of Strategy APAC for Project Worldwide, she also works with our Singapore, Korea, Japan and Greater China teams to further establish, build and nurture our strategic capabilities across the region.

Jess and her team guide the identification of measurable objectives and success metrics at the outset of a project and translate client briefs into compelling creative briefs jam-packed with brand, industry, audience and cultural insights. Her favourite word is ‘why’ and Jess loves to ask this throughout the ideation and execution process to ensure our teams never lose sight of the brief and what success looks like. She’s currently leading the development of a proprietary tool called the Experience Impact Score to put this all into practice.

Jess champions the importance of strategy in all its forms. She’s the driving force behind new business initiatives and processes, all implemented in service of delivering groundbreaking ideas for our ambitious clients’ most important moment. She’s also found her voice and isn’t afraid to use it, publishing thought leadership content to inspire and drive transformation within the industry.

In 2023, this passionate industry leader served as a juror on the WARC Awards for Effectiveness - Business to Business jury as well as Campaign’s Event Marketing Awards jury.

Ji is a seasoned executive with over 25 years’ global experience in finance and marketing. She moved to Tokyo in 2017 as EVP, CFO of McCann Worldgroup APAC to oversee financial management and stewardship of Asia Pacific markets. In addition, in 2020 she was appointed Representative Director of McCann Worldgroup Holdings Japan Inc. and was promoted to CEO in October 2021.

Ji began her professional career at Turner International in a marketing role overseeing the distribution of programming to international broadcasters. She then joined The Coca-Cola Company where she rose to the position of Director, Global Agency Management. After 10 years with The Coca-Cola Company, Ji joined Samsung Electronics in Seoul as Director of Brand Strategy Group.

Prior to joining McCann Worldgroup in 2015, she spent over 7 years at Ogilvy & Mather based in New York responsible for the financial and commercial leadership of multiple global accounts.

She holds a BBA in accounting from Oglethorpe University, and an MBA from Emory University’s Goizueta Business School, both in Atlanta, Georgia.

Ji is an avid yogi and a Pokémon trainer. She also enjoys visiting various places in Japan, and spending time with her husband and adopted adorable Japanese Yorkie.

Joe is a multi-awarded creative leader with over 25 years of grit and grind under his belt. Some of the metals he has picked along the way include a couple of Cannes Gold Lions and Gold APAC Effies. (Along with Silvers and Bronzes at both shows.) He has also consistently won at other shows such as the Clio Awards, the One Show, London International, AdFest, Spikes Asia, The New York Festivals, AWARD Awards Australia, The Boomerang Awards, Tangrams, Tambuli and Kidlat Awards.

Joe is currently CCO at VML Manila, Philippines. He had previously been CCO at McCann Philippines (which he led to becoming Creative Guild Agency of the Year in 2018) and also held creative leadership roles at JWT, BBDO and Leo Burnett.

Joe has done work for some of the biggest brands in the region and the country, including Nestlé, San Miguel, McDonald’s, Colgate Palmolive, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, FedEx, Schick, Fully Booked, Jollibee, Kraft, Mondelez, Tanduay, Globe, Shell, Ayala, HSBC, Shell, Petron, Ford, Unilever, J&J, P&G, Unilab, Pfizer and Mastercard. Inducted into the Philippine Creative Guild Hall of Fame in 2018, Joe has been ranked among the top Creative Leaders in Asia by Campaign Brief, and in the Philippines by Adobo Magazine.

Josh is Group Strategy Director at Special New Zealand, where he contributed to the team winning ‘Agency of the Year’ at both the New Zealand Effie Awards and the APAC Effie Awards in 2023.

Prior to joining Special, he held senior strategic roles at TBWA and VML and has worked on clients including Optus, Tourism New Zealand, ANZ, Wendy’s and Pfizer. Before being seduced by agency life, he grew up client side at News UK and ITV.

Originally from London, Josh has been enjoying the sunshine and beaches of New Zealand for 3 years which he’d hoped would be more than enough time to learn to surf. He was wrong.

Judy's 20-year career was built working on some of the world's most iconic brands - Nestle, Maggi, Coca-Cola, McDonald's, among others. As much a creative partner as she is a client partner, Judy has been the consistent driving force behind Leo Burnett Group Manila's most awarded work in the past decade. Across functions, agencies and geographical borders, she has marshalled teams that have racked up metals for both Creativity and Effectiveness, including Spikes, Clio, NYFest, APAC Effies and Cannes Lions.

Kaori joined BBDO Japan in 2016 as Head of Planning, leading the strategy for both international and domestic brands such as Visa, Mars, Phillip Morris, Kyocera, Kuraray, etc. She has received several awards including APAC Effie Gold and WARC Grand Prix, as well as Campaign Asia's Women to Watch award, which is given to individuals. In addition to her role as Head of Planning, she is also contributing to the company's culture by taking on the new role as DE&I officer from 2022.

She also has a strong background in exploring consumer insights, as she launched and led the women and mothers’ insight project based on her experiences with two maternity leaves while at McCann Erickson, where she worked before joining BBDO.

A creative-driven CEO who started her journey in Publicis Groupe at Leo Burnett and growing through the ranks to lead all 10 agencies of the Groupe in Vietnam. She harnesses the collective power of Publicis Groupe to set the benchmark for marketing transformation excellence and empowering talents to supercharge their growth by giving them access to diverse capabilities like never before.

In 2023, she propelled Publicis Groupe as the most awarded Vietnam agency in the Campaign Asia’s Agency of the Year with Leo Burnett repeating its GOLD for Creative Agency of the Year, Zenith won GOLD Media Agency of the Year, Digitas won Silver for Digital, MSL won Silver for PR and Publicis Worldwide won Bronze for Creative. Publicis Groupe was also the only Vietnam agency winner at the APAC EFFIE 2023 and ADFEST 2023.

In her prior leadership role in Leo Burnett Vietnam, she helped the Agency bag over a hundred of awards in New York Festival, Cannes Lions, Spikes Asia, MMA Smarties APAC and Vietnam, among others.

By helping brands to navigate the surge of eCommerce, social commerce, automation, gaming and AI, Kate’s goal is to keep propelling not only Publicis Groupe but the entire Vietnam industry forward.

Kat leads Ogilvy in Hong Kong and Advertising in Asia. She has held country leadership positions for Ogilvy & Mather since 2006, building capabilities and driving digital acceleration in markets like Vietnam and Indonesia. In Hong Kong, she leads the group’s integrated offering.

She is passionate about creativity and its ability to impact brands and businesses. Ogilvy is consistently the most internationally awarded creative agency in Hong Kong. Under her leadership, Ogilvy Indonesia won its first Cannes Lions, and doubled its value in four years. In Vietnam, she worked on campaigns that helped drive social change, including work for Kimberly-Clark that changed the way girls were portrayed; and an IPA-awarded campaign which ultimately influenced government legislation requiring the use of motorcycle helmets.

She has worked on a range of industries including CPG, retail, telco, travel and financial services for both local and international clients.

Kazz is a globally recognized, multi-award-winning creative with more than 20 years of brand-building experience in the U.S. and Japan. He started his professional career at R/GA New York as a motion designer in 2004. Later joining Leo Burnett Tokyo to lead the creative works on various global brands. In 2019, Kazz joined MRM/Tokyo and after four years as Executive Creative Director, Kazz was appointed to Executive Creative Director of McCann Worldgroup and he is driving work to ongoing creative excellence, working continually to elevate the team’s commitment to innovation, technology and the power of creativity.

Kelly, with a career spanning over two decades, currently holds the position of Chief Creative Officer at Publicis Communications China and BBH Shanghai. She was among the five founding members of BBH's inaugural office in China. Her work is characterized by its cross-cultural appeal, and she has successfully overseen the expansion of Chinese projects into the global market.

Kelly's creative endeavors have been recognized in industry awards such as D&AD, The Effies, Cannes, One Show, Clios, LIA, Spikes, and Effies, as well as various local and regional shows. Notably, she has been named as one of the "Women to Watch Greater China 2022" and "Women to Watch Asia Pacific 2023" by Campaign Magazine.

In addition to her professional accomplishments, Kelly is actively involved in the creative community, serving on the International Board of the One Show Awards as a representative for China. She frequently serves as a jury member for award shows, and has shared her insights as a keynote speaker at the China AdTech Conference and as an ambassador for China's chapter of The Art Director's Club. Kelly is dedicated to nurturing emerging creative talent through her involvement in L’Avenir, Publicis Groupe's mentoring program for women.

Beyond her professional life, Kelly's love for music and her training as a classical pianist during her university years, inspired her to establish Elevator, a renowned underground club in Shanghai.

Lalit “Cherry” Kanavivatchai is a dynamic, collaborative strategic thinker who excels in producing superior-quality work through data-driven insights and media innovation to ensure exceptional client business acceleration.

Cherry’s 18 years of experience encompasses Strategic Communication, Advertising, and Media in Thailand and the United States. Throughout her career, she handled many multinational brands across various sectors to include FMCG, Finance, Telco, and Tech. Her breadth of experience as a trailblazing strategic planner in creative agencies and media agencies as well as in leading highly competent, cutting-edge data teams has greatly elevated her unique ability to clearly see her clients’ business holistically, through the full funnel.

Cherry thrives in creating great work which employs fast-moving data to develop consumer insights, to sharpen strategic direction, and to analyze media and business performance via Data Management and Business Intelligence. Consequently, she consistently helps clients achieve extraordinary business results.

Based on her widely recognized industry contributions and enthusiastic endorsements from her clients, Cherry was recognized as a 40 under 40 from Campaign Asia in 2022.

Lee began her career in London at Digitas before joining Tribal DDB where she ran the Volkswagen, Barclaycard and Guardian business. She moved to Grand Union to run the Britvic and Santander account portfolio and was promoted to Managing Director a year later.

In 2006, Lee joined Dare as Managing Director and was part of the team that saw Dare named Digital Agency of the Decade by Campaign magazine in 2010. Dare merged with MCBD in 2011 & Lee was named CEO of the newly merged agency. During this period Dare was named one of the World's Most Innovative Companies (Fast Company) and IPA Effectiveness Company of the Year.

In 2013, she moved with her family to Australia and joined IPG’s Initiative as CEO. From here she spent time consulting to a range of agencies including Havas & Publicis.

In 2019, she joined Wunderman Thompson as CEO of AUNZ and in 2022 moved into an APAC wide role as Chief Growth Officer. In 2023 she joined CHEP Network, part of the Clemenger Group, as CEO for Australia.

Lee attended Wharton Business School in Philadelphia having been awarded the Patricia Mann Award in 2008. In the UK she sat on the IPA Council and chaired the Digital Group until 2010. She remains a member of Women in Advertising and Communication London (WACL) and has served on the Executive overseeing the Future Leaders Fund. Most recently, she was appointed as a Senior Advisor to the United Nations Development Programme for her continuing on The Lions Share Fund.

She lives in Sydney Australia with her husband Jaimes and their children Tate and Miller.

Leigh is C3PO (Chair 3meritus & Product Officer) of MullenLowe TREYNA.

She served on the IMMAP (now DMAP) Board from 2016-2021, holding the office of President in the last year. She co-chaired IMMAP DigiCon, the country's largest digital marketing conference, from 2018-2020.

She entered the Creative Guild Hall of Fame in 2015. Winner of the country’s first gold Clio, she has received awards at Cannes, D&AD, One Show, ADC, and Spikes, among others. She has judged at APAC Effies, Cannes, AdFest, and more.

Leigh is a co-founder of Dama Ko Lahi Ko, a movement launched in 2021 that aims to spotlight Filipino culture on the global stage.

As @leighpod, she creates content around art, writing instruments, technology, and culture. She has held workshops on everyday creativity, journaling, and making a mess in Manila, Chicago, and San Francisco. She also organizes the Manila Pen Show, the Philippines' only event featuring fine writing instruments, ink, paper, and related accessories.

Luke Brown is the CEO, founder and driving force behind Australian agency, AFFINITY.

Luke has divided his career equally between the disciplines of integrated communications, media and tech over the past 20+ years. Following a decade with some of the industry’s top multinationals, he uncovered a need for a very different type of agency. He started AFFINITY with data analysis at its core. AFFINITY is a data-driven advertising, CX and media agency and right now is Australia’s most effective digital/specialist agency for the last three years.

Along the way he’s garnered an impressive list of over 70 effectiveness awards and is a regular conference speaker including global events such as SXSW and IPA Eff Week to local events like Mumbrella 360 and ADMA Data Day.

Manisha is passionate about the alchemy of behaviour, culture and business.

Finds joy in creating work that works.

Loves geeking out on why we do what we do, folk music and tales.

Keen observer. Eavesdropper. Habit-watcher.

Ranked amongst the top 10 Planning Directors in the world by The Big Won Report.

Her work has been proven effective in the crucibles of the real world and awarded the highest of effectiveness honours at APAC Effie, WARC, Cannes Lions and Jay Chiat.

As a proven business transformation specialist, Mazuin has led Edelman operations in Malaysia and Indonesia to emerge as Campaign’s ‘PR Agency of the Year’ winners in respective markets now two years in a row (2022/2021).

The winner of A+M’s ‘2023 PR Champion for the region’, Mazuin takes immense pride in transforming Edelman into a holistic marketing communication consultancy that drives results and impact.

In a career spanning over two decades, Mazuin has had the distinction of leading agency and client operations at some of the most respected network agencies in MullenLowe Group, Leo Burnett, and Ogilvy.

Mazuin has also regularly served as a jury at some of the region’s prominent award shows like APAC Effie, Spikes, Dragons of Asia, and Effie Malaysia, to name a few.

Melinda, the CEO of IPG Mediabrands Greater China, skillfully oversees operations in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan by utilizing all agencies and functions within the company to provide cutting-edge media solutions. With more than two decades of experience, she is renowned for her ability to enhance operational efficiency and corporate success in various types of organizations, from large corporations to start-ups. Melinda is also a respected figure in the industry, participating in esteemed award panels and promoting diversity and inclusivity in leadership positions. She strongly believes in the transformative impact of marketing in driving positive change.

Michaela is currently the Managing Director and Head of Strategy at Media Arts Lab APAC. Based in Singapore, she leads the creative output across seven markets for Apple and only Apple. She moved to Asia four years ago after working on clients across the region and falling in love with the opportunity and challenges of growth markets. She grew up in advertising agencies in Australia such as DDB, Clemenger BBDO, The Royals and Droga5. After completing an exciting but useless degree in Electronic and Temporal Art at Sydney College of Art, she began her career as an Art Director before soon being lured into the world of human truths, cultural insights and strategic storytelling. She loves big brand stories, ambitious media moments, new technology, talking about cultural artefacts all day long, and believes nothing will ever make strategy batter than real-world, boots-on-the-ground, having-coffee-with-a-real-life-human insight hunting.

After starting out as an academic then management consultant, Milla found her true home in creativity, spending 5 years at Droga5 Sydney then New York, as the youngest winner of B&T’s 30 Under 30, working to earn Cannes Lions Indie Agency of the Year; Creativity Agency of the Year & Adweek Agency of the Decade.

She then headed up Strategy at adam&eveDDB London, where she led her team to win the illusive ‘Triple Crown of Effectiveness’ (APG, Effies & IPA Agency of the Year, simultaneously), as well as Cannes Lions Agency of the Year & EU Agency of the Decade.

After this, she did her time client side as Amazon’s Head of Brand & Creative Strategy - working on globally award-winning work for its Alexa, Prime and retail brands. Most recently, she’s found herself back home in Sydney at Accenture Song as MD, Strategy across Growth Markets.

Mohammad Akrum Hossain has been in the advertising industry for over 18 years. He has won over 120+ awards; including Cannes Lions, APAC Grand Effies,, Spikes Grand Prix, Global Grand Effies, AdFest awards, and Mad Stars. He has also served as a jury member and a speaker at different award ceremonies such as Cannes, AdFest, Effies, Mad Stars, Ciclope Festival and other international festivals. He has looked after both national and international prominent brands such as Telenor, Banglalink, GSK, Reckitt Benckiser, United Commercial Bank and other local brands.

Currently, he is the Executive Creative Director at Asiatic & The Network, in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

His first brush with fame was when he joined Grey Dhaka, with HMBR's Impossipuzzle, which won a bronze at Spikes. Impossipuzzle was an impossible to solve puzzle that reflected the impossible to break HMBR bicycle locks. In 2016, he was a part of the team that helped Bangladesh win the first ever Cannes Gold Lion in the product design category with the Eco-Cooler - the world's first zero-electricity air cooler. In 2019 his Project AgroBanking went ahead to win 2 silver and 1 bronze Cannes Lions along with 9 Spikes including 1 Grand Prix and 2 Gold. It was the world's first initiative to turn fresh fruits and vegetables into bank accounts. In 2023, he won 16 MAD STARS, the highest number of MAD STARS won by any agency in Bangladesh. His recent projects include but are not limited to the Child Marriage Prevention Loan, The Unwritten Story, Tally Loan Druti, and the Plastic Exchange Store.

With 10 years of planning experience, Naina has led many national and global brands to strategic success. Her breadth of experience ranges from hardware to personal care and everything in between. She has been a part of award-winning campaigns like Whisper’s Touch The Pickle and Ariel’s #ShareTheLoad.

She has mapped the minds of consumers, not just from India, but across South Asia, Indonesia and the Middle East. Insight mining and consumer research is what keeps Naina ticking.

Navin belongs to a rare breed of Account Management - hard-nosed about growth for client businesses and a warrior for great creative work. Before he co-founded The Womb, Navin was on the Board of Ogilvy in India and ran Ogilvy Mumbai. Under his stewardship Ogilvy Mumbai was ranked among the “Top 10 Agencies creating the best work around the world” – Adweek, and Top 3 on the Effie Worldwide Index 3 years in a row!

This balance between the left and the right brain has helped The Womb create sharp work, one of which, Saregama Carvaan – A product innovation , won the 'world's most effective campaign' – 2018. The Womb has also won the Independent Agency of the Year title at the APAC Effies in 2018. Navin champions a strong ‘No Pitch’ policy that The Womb follows and has found many agency heads following the lead.

Navin in his after-hours is a strong advocate and spokesperson for dealing with mental health issues in the Industry and also a well-established Theatre and Film Actor with shows on Amazon, Netflix and the like in India!

Nicky is a brand strategist with two decades of success in both multinational and independent agency environments across Asia, advising leading global brands on their marketing and communications strategies.

She was a co-owner of the China-based communications agency Red Bridge with offices in Shanghai and Beijing. Built from the ground-up over 12 years to a 120-people award-winning business, the agency was fully acquired by WE Worldwide in 2021, with Nicky appointed as CEO to continue leading its China operation.

Nicky embodies the qualities of a next-generation leader – she leads by example, encourages cross-discipline collaboration, and advocates client consultancy over client servicing. The agency follows a non-traditional approach, inverting the top-down ways of working in China and championing diversity and inclusion across gender, nationality, and regional representation.

Under her leadership, her teams led the successful launch of many brands in China, fostering long-lasting client partnerships across a diverse range of sectors. WE Red Bridge has been consistently recognized by global and regional awards including Cannes Lions, Sabre, Hashtag Asia and PRWeek Awards. Nicky herself was named a Woman to Watch in 2020, and Young Business Leader of the Year in 2019 by Campaign Asia.

A highly sought-after expert on China’s marketing landscape, Nicky is frequently invited to sit on regional award juries, including PRWeek Asia Pacific, Sabre Awards Asia Pacific, The Drum Global PR Awards and Greater China Digital Media Awards.

Nicole Roe, CEO of Publicis Groupe Korea, stands out as a visionary business leader and strategist with an extensive background in communications, having worked for top global brands including Samsung, McDonald’s, and Disney. Her journey began at J. Walter Thompson, where for over a decade, she excelled as a Client Service Director and Strategic Planner for brands like De Beers and Unilever, leveraging consumer insights to develop global brand strategies.

In 2010, Nicole joined Leo Burnett as Executive Planning Director, leading initiatives for health, beauty, and FMCG brands. Notably, she directed the strategic planning for McDonald’s Korea Big Mac Song, earning a Cannes Lions Media Bronze Award. Since taking the helm at Publicis Groupe Korea in 2020, Nicole has driven the agency to four years of consecutive growth through her strategic foresight and innovative leadership.

Beyond advertising, Nicole's diverse background includes roles as a journalist for the Korea Times, an executive producer for TV commercial projects, and a Consumer Insight Manager at Philip Morris, enriching her expertise in global markets and consumer behavior. Her multifaceted career underscores her exceptional capability in branding and strategic communication.

Nizwani is an outgoing, passionate and motivated enthusiast in advertising. A natural, born leader who is skilled in strategic planning and business development, she is highly competitive and will love the chance to debate, nurture and drive a business towards positive growth and brand salience. Being the youngest network Chief Executive in Malaysian advertising does come with its set of challenges but what she needs to prove with her business insight as well as foresight; she also delights with her fresh approach to delivering business growth. Niz is a leader who’s had vast experience across categories: tech, FMCG, finance, GLCs, automotive, retail, hospitality, airlines, government and more. What she does best is understanding a client’s business challenge, its levers to growth and responding via a multi-disciplinary approach.

Nizwani ensures her mini-me, Chloe has a role model she can look up to; that can show her how making a positive impact to humanity through our brand of work is both meaningful and fun at the same time. Nizwani works with UN Women and LeadWomen, as an advocate of diversity and inclusiveness. She focuses her energy in helping women thrive as leaders in the workplace.

Park has been in the ad business for over 18 years, handling regional and global accounts; Beiersdorf, Cerebos, Twinings, PepsiCo, Pernord Riccard, Carlsberg, Heineken, Smirnoff, Honda (Automotive), Canon, Mercedes Benz, Shell, Netflix and Siam Commercial Bank etc. His work has been awarded across multiple categories in every major advertising show, including Cannes Lions, D&AD, Spikes, The One Show, Clio and many more.

In 2010, he represented Thailand at the Cannes Young Lions. He’s also been a jury in Cannes, Spikes, One Asia, MAD Star, Effie Award, and Adfest.

He looks for the unconventional in every brief, searching for free-format ideas that can solve business issues and positively impact consumers' lives.

Pat Law has been playing the game of digital and social advertising for almost 20 years. She's been a part of the furniture at Publicis, Leo Burnett, and Ogilvy, so long that she might have left an imprint on their office chairs.

She is the founder of GOODSTUPH, an 11-time Social Media Agency of the Year recipient. GOODSTUPH is a 150-human-2-dogs-1-cat social media agency headquartered in Singapore, with offices in Bangkok and Jakarta.

In 2017, she got invited to the Cannes Lions jury and nearly killed her liver at Gutter Bar. Thankfully, liver failure didn’t happen and she found herself chairing one of Singapore’s longest-running advertising award show - Hall of Fame, the year after.

Named one of Singapore’s Most Influential Creative Directors since 2017, and one of just two women to ever have been so named, she sometimes wonder if she was mistaken for a guy by the judges.

Outside the office, Pat is known for her philanthropy and advocacy, particularly with the LGBTQ+ community. Her agency is a 7-time sponsor of Pink Dot, Singapore’s annual event for LGBTQ+ rights. Pat is also a member of McKinsey’s The Alliance network - a global league of extraordinary LGBTQ+ leaders. It’s basically like Avengers, but with less spandex and more office attire.

Pathamawan, or Linda to clients and colleagues, joined GroupM in 2006 as Insights Director of Mindshare Thailand. She became Managing Director of Mindshare in 2014, and subsequently GroupM CEO in 2022. Her career began in 1990 as AE trainee at Lintas (LOWE), where she was Account Director until 1995, when she joined Bates Thailand. She returned to LOWE in 1997 as Associate Director, was promoted to VP, and subsequently became a strategic planner. Through the years she has wide experiences with a wide variety of brands ranging from FMCG to luxury brands, and enjoyed the strategic and analytical aspects of helping clients become successful.

Pat began his career in 1978 at Fortune Advertising, then Singapore's largest local advertising agency. Working on blue-chip accounts like Mitsubishi cars, Ikea furniture, and DBS bank gave him the perfect foundation for what was to follow.

In 1981, he joined Ogilvy & Mather, where he won his first major award for Philips, becoming the first Singaporean to feature in the prestigious One Show. At Ogilvy, he worked on many blue-chipped accounts like Carrier, BMW, and Shell. He then moved to Y&R in 1987, where he spent a large part of his career creating many award-winning and memorable advertising campaigns.

In August 2009, Pat left Y&R after 22 years to form Goodfellas.

Pat was the first Singaporean to chair the local Creative Circle Awards in 1995. In 2005 he was awarded Champion of the Creative Circle by the advertising industry. In 2007 he was voted Singapore's Creative Director of the Year at the Singapore Advertising Hall of Fame Awards.

In 1998, he co-wrote the short film 'OOPS', which was featured in the Sundance Film Festival.

Pat has won awards in every major international competition, notably the One Show, D&AD, Clio, New York Festival, London International, Communication Arts and Cannes. Besides winning awards, he has also judged many, including the APAC Effies and Cannes Advertising Festival.

Pat is a member of Temasek Polytechnic's board of governors and an Advisory Council Member of its School of Design since 1999. He's also the Vice Chairman of the Institute of Technical Education Design School Advisory Council.

Pierre is a senior consultant with extensive experience in supporting global business in their marketing and business transformation, advising business leaders in leading the change and designing future ready, data-infused customer experiences and new business models.

Having worked across Europe, North America and Asia, Pierre led global brand transformation agenda for AXA, MSD, Sanofi, Nestle, L'Oréal and co-founded the European Tech global conference Viva Technology in 2016 before joining Ogilvy to launch and structure Ogilvy Consulting in ASIA. Starting with a specific remit on leading the Growth & Innovation practice for the region, Pierre was rapidly promoted to Managing Director of Ogilvy Consulting SEA and contributed to establish Ogilvy Consulting as a key transformation partner in ASIA.

Fascinated by the rapid transformation of the Health and Wellness industry, Pierre is now the CEO of Ogilvy Health ASIA, leading the rapid growth of Ogilvy Health ASIA offering with a wide range of marketing solutions including health marketing, data transformation, and patient digital experiences.

Pierre is also recognised as a thought leader in Singapore, as founder of Live With AI, a non-profit running advanced research on several topics such as the future of work, data privacy regulation, and new healthcare decentralised models. In this context, Pierre worked alongside Singapore officials, and its publication on the impact AI will have on the workforce and business models which was recognised and published in the National AI Strategy of Singapore end of 2019.

Prem leads strategy for Ogilvy India. In his 20 years at Ogilvy he has led strategy on some iconic brands – Unilever Coca Cola, Colgate, Amazon, Asian Paints, Kellogg’s, Tata Motors, Bajaj, Castrol, Ceat Tyres to name a few.

He is a passionate champion of effectiveness. A testimony to this is the fact that Ogilvy India was ranked the No.1 agency in Asia and No.2 in the World on the Global Effie Index in 2020. In 2022 Ogilvy Mumbai won Agency Office of the Year at the APAC Effie and the Grand Effie for the Cannes Titanium winning ‘Not just a Cadbury ad’ with Shah Rukh Khan.

Prem’s greatest joy comes from partnering creatives & clients to create work that makes a real impact.

Rana Barua, a distinguished leader in global advertising and marketing, is renowned for his transformative impact throughout his nearly three-decade career. Recognized as a progressive business leader, he has revitalized companies, fostered award-winning cultures, and steered successful corporate ventures in advertising, marketing, and media. Committed to meaningful leadership, Rana prioritizes the well-being of people, profit, and planet, utilizing business as a force for good. In 2024, he assumed the role of Group CEO of Havas India, South East & North Asia, expanding his leadership to nine additional markets across the Havas Network.

Under his guidance, Havas India experienced remarkable growth, elevating from 3 to 20 companies and expanding its workforce from 200 to over 2000 employees in just five years. Passionate about industry evolution, Rana actively engages in corporate governance, sustainability, and policy formulation. He holds pivotal positions in various industry bodies, including serving as President of The Advertising Club (TAC) and Vice President of the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI). Additionally, Rana champions initiatives promoting gender equality and workplace excellence, exemplified by Havas India's involvement in the UN Women Unstereotype Alliance and consecutive Great Place To Work® certifications. Recognized as the Trailblazer of the Year in 2021, Rana's advocacy extends to global platforms and award shows, showcasing his commitment to advancing the advertising industry's impact. Beyond his professional pursuits, Rana enjoys fitness, wine appreciation, and is an avid supporter of Manchester United and Dire Straits.

Originally from Australia, Rebecca has spent the last 17 years between Australia, the US and Singapore as a Chief Strategy Officer, working on brands like Unilever, AT&T and HSBC, which saw her win Effies in the US for CVS, and a Cannes Lion for AT&T. In the last year she transitioned from Strategy lead to Agency lead, and became the Managing Director of Iris Singapore. She believes in a “lead by example” leadership where she rolls up her sleeves and is much a doer as she is a leader, and she’s intent on cultivating a high performing culture that’s also kind and empathetic. She also has a two and a half year old, so she is busy balancing motherhood and the realities of a demanding job – but wants to show that with the right culture, women can do both.

Robin is Consulting Partner at MullenLowe, Singapore, bringing over 30 years of experience developing transformational brand, marketing and creative strategies to a new roster of regional clients. He also remains Principal of Dare, a brand consultancy he started, which is part of the global T3i partner network. Before that he was regional CSO At TBWA, an agency he helped build, shape and lead in Asia for some 24 years.

Said to be one of the world's foremost financial sector strategists, he led global strategy for Standard Chartered for 18 years (pioneering its platform of here for good), DBS for four (where he rescued its POSB franchise from closure), AIA (developing its real life company position), and FWD (shaping its post pandemic recovery strategy).

Beyond financial services, Robin famously led the global pitch win for Singapore Airlines and was its chief global strategist for over 10 years, introducing the world to the A380 and the SIA Singapore Grand Prix. He recently advised CapitaLand's Ascott family of worldwide hospitality brands, and developed its 40th anniversary platform. He has shaped countless blue brand and marketing strategies, including for Apple, BMW, Adidas, Corona, The Ritz-Carlton and Sony’s consumer electronics and TV networks.

With an MBA from Boston University, Rohit worked in Forex banking in London for 2 years before joining Contract, a part of the erstwhile JWT (now VML) Group in 1990.

Rohit is the Chief Strategy Officer for Contract; and also heads Core Consulting, the marketing & strategic consulting division of Contract . The range of assignments for Core Consulting include brand positioning, marketing strategy & plans, portfolio planning, service benchmarking, business models, mix development , innovation & NPD projects & marketing training.

Rohit has a passion for training and regularly conducts training programs & workshops in the field of strategy & marketing for a number of large companies, some of this across Asia Pacific; besides being guest faculty at some of the premier management institutes.

His white papers on areas of strategy have been awarded the Atticus Merit Certificates, the global WPP recognition for original published thinking. He has been a member of the Global Effies Jury; and of the Effies Jury in India for many years.

Over the years, Rohit has worked closely on a wide range of categories & clients that include Cadbury/Mondelez, Dominos, British American Tobacco, Unilever, HSBC, Whirlpool, Braun, Philips, Honda, Franklin Templeton and BAT..

I am executive creative director at DDB Aotearoa, the agency where I've spent the vast majority of my career. I’ve produced campaigns for FMCG, financial institutions, automotive, lottery, charity and booze clients. Along the way my campaigns have won multiple grand effies and a Cannes Creative Effectiveness Gold, but never the office beer pong tournament. Maybe 2024 is my year though. Probably not. But maybe.

Even as a seasoned veteran of the regional Ad world with a career spanning over 26 years, Rowena very much approaches everyday as day 1. It is with this zeal that Rowena has co-founded BLKJ and built the creative collective to reach great heights. Winning “Agency of The Year” in its debut season, BLKJ has since been known for consistently putting out effective, inspiring and disruptive work over its short history. Rowena’s modus operandi is simple: focus on the business problem, create work that is relevant, fresh and inspiring, smartly make it work across all the various objectives and stretch the budget to get maximum impact. This is possible because Rowena understands that the new kind of agency must enable its people to do whatever moves them.

Rowena is unafraid and unintimidated by change and joined the Havas Group in February 2021 pushing this creative collective, BLKJ Havas to now becoming the creative beacon for the Asian region.

Rui joined GREY and has played a key role in crafting a series of successful campaigns. His approach, blending purpose-driven brand strategies with powerful cultural insights, has been instrumental in shaping campaigns like Pantene's “#HairWeGo”, “Hairy Tale”, and “#PrideHair”, alongside projects for clients such as P&G, The Coca-Cola Company, and Domino's Japan. His list of awards includes 11 Effies and creative awards such as Cannes, One Show, New York Festivals, D&AD, Spikes Asia, and more. Before embarking on his career in strategy and creativity, Rui explored his passion for music, playing in a band that released three CDs.

Before he discovered the world of strategy and creative, he played in a band that released 3 CDs.

Rupert McPetrie is CEO, APAC at EssenceMediacom, GroupM’s newest and largest agency that is committed to delivering marketing breakthroughs for brands.

Borne out of two pioneering agencies, EssenceMediacom fuses Essence’s performance, data, analytics and creative technology DNA with MediaCom’s scaled multichannel audience planning and strategic media expertise. In APAC, Rupert oversees 2,500 people across 15 markets in the region.

Rupert started his media career in the United Kingdom at Zenith. Over the last two decades, he moved progressively east as CEO, Central and Eastern Europe at ZenithOptimedia, before entering APAC in 2015. Over seven years, he led MediaCom in the fast-paced China market, creating new models, developing game-changing capabilities, as well as growing the team and business, propelling the agency up industry rankings. In early 2022, he expanded his remit to head MediaCom as CEO in APAC in addition to Greater China and joined the agency’s global executive committee.

Originally a media buyer, Rupert is a passionate believer in a people-first approach to delivering results, and takes great pride in building and nurturing diverse, high-performance teams.

Ryan Jordan is Head of Strategy at Bastion Shine, a brand and creative agency in Auckland, New Zealand.

Ryan is a brand strategist with a passion for behaviour and social change. His experience includes driving the strategy for The Movember Foundation, the Ministry of Social Development and The New Zealand Heart Foundation. Ryan now leads the brand and creative strategy for New Zealand's largest telco, Spark, and some of New Zealand's most loved brands, Air New Zealand and Whittaker's.

Ryan has judged at APAC Effies for the past 7 years, and is looking forward to reviewing the most effective creative work across the region.

With over 20 years’ experience in the industry, Ryan is one of the most awarded strategists in Australia - if not the world - having won over 40 effectiveness awards. He has also been named Campaign Asia's AUNZ Brand Planner of the Year, three years in a row (2021, 2022, 2023).

In 2024, he launched jnr. - an independent, effectiveness led, creative agency. In his previous role at Chief Strategy Officer of Ogilvy Sydney, he led the agency to the number 2 ranking worldwide on the WARC Effectiveness Index.

During his career, Ryan has worked on a broad range of clients and categories, and led the Strategy disciplines of Brand, Behavioural Science, Business, Comms, CRM, Data, Digital, Social and UX.

He was in charge of a global automotive company account since 2001 for about 20 years and was posted to Guangzhou, China, from 2006 to 2014 to support the success of the businesses there.

Right after he took over the MD post in Hakuhodo Malaysia , he led the agency to win the Cannes Award in 2018. In the same year, the agency, for the first time in 45 years of its history, also won the AGENCY OF THE YEAR at “Kancils”, one of the most prestigious creative awards in Malaysia.

He is strongly based on a sei-katsu-sha(Life Living Person) philosophy, placing the achievement of clients' missions at the top of his priority, while in the process creating significant change through bold approach.

On the other hand, he places the ultimate goal at making Life Living Person and society happy.

Currently, he is a Acting President of the Malaysia 4As (Association of Accredited Advertising Agents Malaysia) and Organizing Chairperson of Effie awards Malaysia 2022/2023/2024.

Sailesh currently Co-leads Edelman’s ‘Business of Brand’ practice for the region. In addition, he serves as the Chief Strategy Officer for Edelman’s Malaysia + Indonesia cluster, offering Clients Integrated business solutions.

In a career spanning over two decades, Sailesh has had the opportunity to work on business transformation assignments for both Clients & Agencies across a few geographies (KL, Colombo, Mumbai, Delhi).

Sandy was born and grew up in Taiwan with a master degree of public policy in National Taiwan University.

With over 15 years of brand communication and account management experience in 4A agencies, Sandy also used to work as planning consultant for 2 years. Sandy started her advertising career in STWA, one of the most influential boutique agency in Taiwan, worked in Ogilvy Beijing for 6 years running “360 degree” brand team, then joint Saatchi and Saatchi Shanghai to take up the account lead role mainly overseeing global brands.

Familiar with global and local network operation and having rich experience cross strategic planning, branding, digital and social communication. By building up integrated team and operation model, Sandy is good at customizing and coordinating resources to provide the most efficient solution fitting client’s requirement.

Client experience includes: Porsche, Mercedes Benz, Infiniti, Nissan, Citroen, Great Wall, Volkswagen, China Citic Bank, Motorola, Huawei, Lenovo, VIVO, Siemens, Ritz-Carlton, Sands China, Coca-Cola, Pechoin…etc. Possessing in-depth expertise on the brand communication and consumer insight of automobile, technology and lifestyle brands.

Currently serving as a Group Strategy Director at Ogilvy Bangkok, Sasipa takes the helm in steering brand strategy and driving business and sustainability branding initiatives.

Her clients include Thai Life Insurance, Nestle, Milo, Tourism Authority of Thailand, Charoen Phokphan Group (C.P. Group), Dutchmill, ONE Bangkok, The Erawan Group and Monde Nissin.

Sasipa's passion is to create work that makes an impact with culturally-driven strategy and creativity, proven with several award-winning campaigns such as Gold from WARC 2023 Customer Experience for Tourism Authority of Thailand's "Culture to Commerce", Silver APAC Effie 2017 Asia Pacific Brands for Thai Life Insurance's "Life is An Opportunity" and WWF's "Chor Chang Can Save Elephants," a masterclass campaign featured in Ogilvy On Advertising in the Digital Age.

Sean has over 25 years of experience in the marketing communications industry working across Asia-Pacific covering China, SE-Asia, North and South Asia. Formerly based in Shanghai, his previous agency roles had him wearing the regional leadership hat for global brands like British American Tobacco, SC Johnson and Huawei. Sean has been around the proverbial block, starting with advertising, then CRM, and digital marketing, getting behind the counter for retail and shopper marketing, before coming back to brand communications in McCann Erickson Malaysia as it's CEO. Having a 360-degree experience has helped him understand how to build better value for clients. Sean brings an interesting set of hybrid skills to the fore, as he was from a creative background before stepping into the business management role. Over the course of his career, Sean has also helped client brands win numerous creative and effectiveness awards like Cannes, D&AD, One Show, Spikes and the Effies. An incidental entomologist, Sean has perfected the art of collecting bugs with his teeth, whilst travelling across Asia on his motorbike.

Shailesh is the CSO for VML Singapore and the lead for the Unilever brands forVML. Before that, he was at Publicis Groupe where he has spent more than 11 and half years across three markets (Singapore, UAE and Indonesia) in various regional and local roles and before that in India at agencies like Contract, Ogilvy and Publicis.

Shailesh, is a well rounded strategist who started his career in account management. With 18 years of experience, Shailesh comes with strong leadership credentials, multi-category experience and an integration driven strategic approach across a multitude of categories and clients.

Shailesh believes that in a world that’s heading into AI, journey and experience based thinking, creativity and a grounded human approach still matter.

He has worked across global brands like LUX, McDonald’s, Oreo, Cadbury, KraftHeinz, Samsung, Marlboro, Nestle, Coca-Cola, SK-II, Tide, IKEA, HSBC, Citibank and many more…

Hands-on and full-on. Shaun is the Co-owner & CEO of The Shout Group and the driving force behind the FCB SHOUT’s current standing as the #1 Malaysian agency thanks to an impressive record of 50+ new business wins since 2017 and a record haul of agency-of-the-year titles including Advertising+Marketing Magazine’s first 3-peat as Overall Agency of the Year in 2021, 2022 and 2023, Agency of the Year at the 2022 APAC APPIES and 2023 Malaysia APPIES, Dragons of Asia’s Agency of the Year in 2021 along with Best in Malaysia in 2021 & 2022, and Campaign Asia’s Malaysia Creative Agency of the Year in 2023.

Shaun joined FCB in 2015 following a highly successful nine years with TBWA Malaysia and before that, seven years with Bates Malaysia & Bates Singapore. Together with his partners, he bought out FCB’s Malaysian operations in 2017 before proceeding to rebrand the agency to FCB SHOUT and as part of the newly launched The Shout Group in 2022.

With over 25 years of advertising experience honed working on global and local brands and over 200 awards, titles and accolades incl. Marketing Magazine's Agency Head of the Year 2022, Runner-up as Campaign Asia’s Agency Head of the Year 2022, Southeast Asia Business Development Team of the Year 2021, 2022, Runner–up as Mumbrella Asia’s Agency Head of the Year 2019, APPIES’s Presenter of the Year 2021, and along with frequent judging stints at the Asia-Pacific EFFIEs, Malaysian EFFIEs, Dragons of Asia, Malaysian Media Awards, Malaysian Digital Awards, CreativePool, Shots Film Awards, The Globes and Spikes Asia… Shaun knows what winning is.

Known as a “planning head with a creative heart”, Shehan Samarasinha is Director & Chief Strategy Officer at Triad, Colombo. Contributing to several milestones in the Sri Lankan Ad industry, Shehan became the 1st to be awarded “Global Strategic Planning Leader 2021 – Finalist”, “South Asia Strategic Brand Planner of the Year 2021 & 2020”, while contributing to Triad being named Sri Lanka’s 1st agency to be awarded “South Asia Independent Agency of the Year 2021”. Playing a dual role both in strategy and creative, Shehan’s unique perspective was called upon as he was selected as the only Sri Lankan representative at the APAC Chapter of the ANA/Cannes Lions Global CMO Growth Council in 2019.

In just two years Shehan has helped transform the agency as one of the most awarded in Sri Lanka with over 50 international awards hailing from Effie Awards, NewYorkFestivals, Spikes Asia, D&AD, AdFest, Cresta Awards, AD Stars, Indie Awards, Dragons of Asia and MAA Globes Worldwide.

As Chief Strategy Officer Shehan has spearheaded major client pitches out of which 80% have been won.

Shehan is an avid proponent of behavioural economics “truth telling” and “acts over ads”, thinking that drives business value.

Shilpa is currently Chief Strategy Officer APAC at McCann Worldgroup. In a two-decade versatile career as a marketer & strategist, she has worked as part of global, regional and local teams in preeminent organisations like Unilever, WPP & IPG. Shilpa has amassed rich brand building experience in diverse categories- beauty & personal care, food & beverages, automotive, entertainment, financial services, telecom, retail, home care and more. She has shaped several leader and challenger brands like L’Oréal Paris, Maybelline, Lakme, Nivea, Sunsilk, Lincoln, Pantene, Lincoln, BMW, Coca Cola, Mondelez, Nestle etc. Armed with robust firsthand senior leadership stints in prominent markets like India, the UK, China, Russia and Singapore, Shilpa has relentlessly imbibed the cultural zeitgeist of the Orient and the Occident. As a true champion of effectiveness and creativity, Shilpa has led her strategic teams to compelling performances at Effie, has been on the jury of Effie Russia for several years and has also been awarded creativity awards including Cannes Lion. Additionally, Shilpa has served as Assistant Private Secretary to HRH The Prince of Wales, handling his strategic portfolio on The Commonwealth, Faith and Ethnic Communities’ engagement in the UK.

Jin Xia, (Shirley King), the founder of Atcomm Integrated Marketing Communications, started her career in journalism as an editor of a local newspaper before gradually shifting to a marketing career. Having been one of the first Chinese employees of McCann Advertising and Nike, Shirley developed a rich experience across both agency and client sides, providing her with a strong professional foundation on which to start her own marketing company.

In 1999, Shirley, tapping into her knowledge of advertising, PR, and media, founded Atcomm, expanding the company over the last 25 years from a handful of people in China to a team of over 100 across Mainland China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. Initially established as a PR agency, the company has continued to evolve over time to become what is now a full-service integrated marketing communications company servicing clients across the APAC region. Atcomm specializes in creating 360-degree integrated marketing ecosystems for its clients with professionally customized strategy, creativity, communications, media, and IP resources.

Atcomm is the designated marketing partner of many Fortune 500 and world-class brands both in China and the broader APAC region. Key clients include Haleon, Mars, McDonald's as well as many other well-known brands both in APAC and abroad. It has also won several authoritative awards globally across multiple years, such as the Gold Award at the ROI Festival, the Gold Award of TopDigital, and has been recognized several times as the Greater China Independent Agency of the Year at the Campaign AOY awards.

Siddhant is a Senior Strategist with 15 years of experience across brands, categories (FMCG, Telco, Automobiles, F&B), agencies (Dentsu, Leo Burnett, Y&R, JWT, DDB), and regions (Singapore, Malaysia, SEA, India). In his career, he has won 5 international strategy awards and 14 national strategy awards. He has also been selected as Campaign Asia's 40 Under 40 2023.

Sieg has over 25 years of experience in formulating business solutions using the power of creativity. He has taken on global , regional and local leadership roles accross different markets including posts in the Philippines, Mexico and Japan where he spent more than ten years prior to taking on his current Group CEO role in Ogilvy Indonesia. He believes that the real impact in business and brand building comes from the ability to fuel data, technology and creativity with powerful cultural and human truths.

Simone currently leads the dentsu group of agencies across creative, media and customer experience management (“CXM”); agency brands such as dentsu Creative, Carat, iProspect, dentsu X and Merkle across Greater Bay Area (“GBA”) covering Hong Kong, Macau and Guangdong.

Simone herself has earned numerous recognitions over the course of her career. She has been named top 5 Women CEO Leading Change in Asia by Campaign Magazine, as well as named Agency Leader of Hong Kong by Marketing Magazine in 2022. And most recently Grand winner of Empowered Women Leader by Marketech APAC in 2023.

Prior this Greater Bay Area role, Simone led dentsu Hong Kong as group CEO, winning accolades such as Best Agency Culture and Best Place to Work in Greater China.

She joined dentsu through launched mcgarrybowen Greater China, winning an impressive number of accolades. Shanghai agency named Top 3 Creative Agencies and Top 10 Hottest Agencies in China, while Hong Kong was crowned as the Fast-Growing Agency as well as the Newcomer of The Year.

Simone has served as jury for Cannes, Spikes, Tangrams, and Global Best of the Best, Asia Pacific & Greater China Effie Awards, and YouTube Works.

Siyuan is the Chief Strategy Officer of DDB Singapore. Over the past 20 years, Siyuan held senior strategy roles in Singapore, London and Shanghai. His work has been consistently recognised at effectiveness and creative award shows.

Since 1995, Somkiat has lived in creative agency life on Account Management side managing various brands across multiple industries including Banking, Telco, Food & Beverages, Automobile, Motorcycle, Entertainment, Government Office, and personal and household FMCG. His agency experiences covers working with all sizes of clients including startups. From Lintas Thailand, to JWT Bangkok, Lowe, and Leo Burnett where his last position was Managing Director, he joined BBDO Bangkok in 2011 as a CEO.

Under his leadership, BBDO Bangkok has transformed from traditional structure to hybrid and to precision creative agency where platform-based talents are the key to drive the evolving strengths of the agency. Despite all changes, BBDO Bangkok still hold the belief in creativity to deliver great solutions for business success.

The agency has won Thailand Agency of the Year Spikes Asia 2019
, Thailand Agency of the Year Campaign Asia 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, Southeast Asia Agency of the Year Campaign Brief Asia 2017, Agency of the Year, Direct & Promo ADFEST 2017, and Adman Thailand Creative Agency of The Year in 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2019. Especially in 2016 and 2019 where the agency was double crowned both Creative and Digital Agency of The Year.

A Strategic Planner for close to 30 years, Sosuke joined beacon as Executive Planning Director in August 2014. After moving to Facebook in 2018, Sosuke returned to help with the launch of Publicis’ new unit Digitas in 2020.

He has worked in multiple countries, cultures and agencies including Japan, the United States, China and Singapore. His past clients include everything from cars, shoes, fashion, FMCG, electronics, travel, fast food and the finance sector at agencies such as W+K, Fallon, BBH and TBWA.

Soumya leads strategy for Mindshare group (Mindshare, mSix&Partners, and OpenMind) in Vietnam. He has 18+ years of experience in media practice, driving digital marketing transformation across India and Vietnam.

With cross functional expertise, Soumya has a successful track record of creating innovative and effective media solutions across FMCG, Food, Beverages, Beauty & Wellness, Healthcare, Consumer Electronics & Durable, Automobile, Financial Products & Services, IT / Telco, Real Estate, and Retail brands.

Soumya has 100+ industry awards under his belt across Global, APAC and country specific forums. He played a pivotal role in transforming Mindshare Ho Chi Minh City as one of the top-10 most awarded media agency office globally in WARC Media 100 Ranking on consecutive years.

He has also served on jury / screening councils for several industry awards such as WARC Awards for Media, Effie APAC, MMA Smarties Global (Smarties X), MMA Smarties APAC, Advertising Club India's Emvies and Goa Fest.

Sourav has over 20 years strong track record in stewarding brands in India, HK and China across leading agencies like Ogilvy, Leo Burnett, Bates 141, Havas Worldwide and now Cheil. He has experience across FMCG/CPG, Mobile Devices, Finance, Media, Pharmaceuticals, Lifestyle, Travel, B2B technology and the Social Sectors.

Sourav loves technology and its transformative power. He is deeply interested in work that drives change; brand/business transformations, behaviour change or even social change.

With a degree in Advertising from the Academy of Art University San Francisco, Su Ling describes herself as someone who actually made full use of their degree. She has 15 years of through-the-funnel marketing experience with a passion for data driven, top of the funnel marketing activities.

She’s won multiple marketing effectiveness awards like Effies and WARC. She also won a Gold Spikes Asia in 2020, has been recognised as a Young Business Leader in 2019 by Campaign’s Women Leading Change Award, was in Campaign Asia’s 2018 Woman to Watch list, and was 2017’s Southeast Asia’s Strategist of the year.

Suzzane Zhang, VP, MW Advisory & Head of Strategy, McCann Worldgroup China, has been leading the strategy team for McCann Worldgroup China since 2017, with a total 19 years of brand and communication planning experience across a wide spectrum of businesses.

Suzzane groomed and mentored a new generation of planners across brand, and digital planning disciplines. She also co-founded and chairs APG China, creating a “Planning Community” with over 300 planners in the group to date. Inspired and partnered with creatives in developing award-winning campaigns.

In 2022, Suzzane has built a new Strategic Advisory and Consultancy service to help Chinese brands expand their outbound business and assist international brands entering China.

Outside of the workplace, Suzzane has given lectures on the importance of strategic thinking in advertising and marketing at NYU, Fudan, Jiaotong, and Shanghai International Universities. She is a frequent judge at industry awards including Effies, WARC, AdFest, etc.

Taku is the APAC Integrated Strategy Partner at Dentsu Asia Pacific. He has taken a strong leadership and influence to drive new initiative to shape the future of clients’ business, agency and the society.

Taku has a wide experience of creative solution development with a strong strategic thinking, offering not only traditional creative executions, activation, but also brand management, data, technology, and content. He has a deep experience offering solutions for various markets in APAC.

Taku has been committing himself to provide innovative solutions for just one purpose, to drive positive changes.

Terence has two decades of experience in the marketing and communications industry. Originally a client-side marketer, he has led business and brand strategy on both client and agency sides. Through TBWA’s Disruption® philosophy, his team has helped organisations unlock unforeseen opportunities to Disrupt at both the local and regional level. Organisations such as the IPA, WARC, Effie and AMES have recognised such success over the years. Terence leads a team that includes data, social and integrated strategists. As part of the senior management team, he also contributes strategy for TBWA to further its growth and cement its position as The Disruption® Company. TBWA Hong Kong has been consistently recognised as one of Greater China's leading digital, creative and brand experience agencies. He also spends time coaching startups at a few incubation programmes, as well as judging at international effectiveness awards.

Thien Thanh has more than 22 years of experience in leading creative campaigns that have helped bring stronger, more meaningful brands.

Her work in strategizing integrated projects have supported in the transformation and reputation building of organizations from a wide variety of industries and sectors.

Thien Thanh is a thorough market explorer with deep insights into consumer and stakeholder behavior. She is a big believer in authentic conversations and content, which when delivered in a creative and engaging way, will provoke and generate conversations across relevant touch-points and effect behavior change.

Her work in Edelman spans creative and integrated communications as well as issues and crisis management for clients in the FMCG, F&B, pharmaceutical, automotive, and transport industries, among others.

Prior to joining Edelman, Thien Thanh served as the MD of Publicis Vietnam, known for her strategic leadership on corporate and brand building for FMCG, financial, automotive and luxury brands.

Thien Thanh obtained an Executive Master degree from INSEAD.

Thasorn (Pete) is a storyteller, songwriter, film director, and creator.

He started his career 12 years ago and has consistently produced highly popular, 220+ award-winning works across multiple categories and different agency networks, including Gold, Silver, and Bronze from Cannes Lions, Gold from Andy, Graphite and Wood pencils from D&AD, Best in Adfest, Spikes Asia country of the year 2021 and Grandprix from Adstars. He has handled brands such as PepsiCo, Mercedes-Benz, Tiktok, Tinder, Kleenex, Kakao, Smirnoff, ThaiBev, Mars, Wrigley, Roojai, MQDC, Nestle, Krungthai, Krungsri, TCP (Redbull Family), Huawei, Samsung, and many others. Clients call him ''Crazy Pete" because of the passion he brings to every brief, no matter its size; he gives his all.

Curiosity took him to Shanghai for a couple of years, where he headed content and creative work for leading multinational brands.

Currently, he is the Chief Creative Officer at BBDO Bangkok, likely the youngest CCO ever at BBDO Bangkok. In less than 2 years, we've helped BBDO win big pitches, including Samsung Consumer Electric, Chang Football&Music, GMM Music, Line, and the Tourism Authority of Thailand (two consecutive years). He's garnered 70+ awards from around the world, including Bronze Lions from Cannes and Gold from One Asia in 2022. He was selected to be in Adweek's Creative Leader 100 for 2023.

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2022 was a year of great change in behavior and beliefs. The way a product is bought has become an action similar to that of casting a vote towards a certain brand. As one of the MDs at dentsu with over 800 creatives all with unique missions, keeping up with change is a challenge, but, I see a space to demonstrate our diverse creativity to lead the change.

I grew up in the U.S. as a child and as a high school student. I joined dentsu and was lucky enough to be on the team producing prominent campaigns starting from Japan Railway Express series. Also, I loved working on automobile accounts ranging from the launch of Mercedes-Benz Japan, Honda, Mitsubishi-Motors. Beverage clients such as Coca-Cola, Otsuka Pharma, and Asahi Beverages were a pleasure to work on. Insurances, games, credits, and beauty brands, FMCG and wellness brands, all were great to work on and gave me the chance to pick-up awards like Cannes Lions, NYADC, Spikes and many national awards on the way. My marketing experience is in global accounts for Japanese national clients mainly for the Asian market.

I strongly believe that a strategy needs to be a visible story where we creatives make the difference.

Toni is passionate about brands and people, creating impact through developing individuals' growth with a focus on learning and DEI. She contributes to borderless creativity through transformative business strategies.

As Head of Strategy at Ogilvy Philippines, Toni oversees strategists, anchoring experience-driven solutions in business, human, and cultural needs. Toni joined Ogilvy in 2013, bringing with her a decade’s worth of experience in brand strategy across multiple categories, including healthcare, QSR, telecommunications, alcohol, beauty and personal care, confectionery, cooking essentials, and baby care.

In 2014, she took on the concurrent role of Training Director, leading programs to build leadership skills, deepen expertise, strengthen company culture, and foster belongingness. Toni is also the agency's DE&I champion.

Toni is a professional coach certified by Benchmark Consulting, the Philippines’ pioneer in coaching, training & consulting solutions. Toni specializes in coaching for both personal and professional goals.

With over 20 years in the digital business, Tuomas works in the intersection of technology, strategy, creative and business, with a focus on digital, brand & commercial strategy.

Tuomas is a Managing Director at Accenture Song, and leads Go-to-Market & Client Service for Southeast Asia. Prior to joining Accenture Song, Tuomas led R/GA's Asia-Pacific business, and consulted clients on digital transformation. Before that he led TBWA\'s digital advertising and marketing business across Asia.

Tuomas was featured twice by Campaign Asia as 40 under 40 to watch, and awarded as Asia Pacific Digital Network Agency Head of the Year. He is a regular industry speaker and awards jury member, having lectured at MBA programs and spoken at marketing events around the world. His awards jury experience includes Cannes Innovation Lions, Spikes Asia Innovation (Jury President), Asian Marketing Effectiveness awards, Tangrams, APAC Effies, the WARC Prize for Innovation.

He is also a startup advisor, mentor, and board member, and an investor in web3 and digital businesses.

Valerie's love for painting, since the age of five, has spawned a career of more than 20 years across brand-building and integrated creative solutions for major brands such as Zespri, Caltex, Hewlett-Packard, Procter & Gamble, Singapore Airlines, HSBC, Burger King, VISA, Singapore Tourism Board, Changi Airport, Central Provident Fund, Shell, GSK, Cycle & Carriage, Friesland Campina and many others.

Known as one of APAC’s top creatives, she joined McCann Worldgroup as Chief Creative Officer, Southeast Asia, in May 2023 and expanded her remit to cover Asia Pacific in August 2023.

Previously the Director of Creative Shop, SEA & Emerging Markets at Meta, Valerie is responsible for creative product across the region, as the network continues in its mission to be the irrefutable leader in the business of creativity. She also Chairs McCann Worldgroup’s APAC Creative Leadership Community.

Valerie has judged and been awarded at all major shows including Cannes Lions, D&AD, One Show, New York Festival, Effies, Spikes Asia and AdFest.

In her spare time, Valerie flexes her creative muscles crafting ceramics or churning her own homemade ice-cream!

Vishnu is currently the Partner & CEO of international digital agency DEPT® responsible for scaling up the network’s operations in Asia Pacific. Since its launch in Asia Pacific in the end of 2021, Vishnu has played a key role in growing the agency to 800 employees contributing 5% to global business.

In his three-decade long career, he has spent more than 25 years with the Havas/Vivendi Group, one of the world’s largest media and entertainment companies, working in India, China, Singapore and the UK. At Havas/ Vivendi Group, he was credited with launching Havas Media network in Asia Pacific, establishing an operation across 18 markets with 2500 employees and leading 12 key acquisitions personally.

He left the group as its Chairman/CEO for the region in 2021 and founded Avyan Holdings in 2021 designed to be a collective of companies at the junction of design, tech and data helping brands and people thrive in a digital-first world currently operating across Singapore, Sydney, Manila and Delhi.

Yoshihiro is a highly experienced business, branding, and marketing consultant with over two decades of expertise in Japan and Singapore. He is an expert in connecting consumer insights across Asian markets with brand and business strategies for leading companies in various industries from regional and global perspectives.

His impressive track record includes hundreds of projects ranging from cultural trend research to new business development. He has been instrumental in providing consumer insights, business strategy, and brand strategy services to clients at the management level, establishing himself as a trusted advisor to leading companies.

His career began as a strategic planner at Hakuhodo Inc. During the 1st wave of the internet boom around 2000, he worked for an internet venture company and helped a Japanese telecom company to develop new internet services.

Yoshihiro holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Chicago and a Master of Engineering (Marketing Science) from Waseda University. He is a regular lecturer at Singapore Management University, where he shares his wealth of knowledge and experience in marketing and branding, particularly with regard to Japanese companies.

Yukio is one of the few creative directors capable of leading both global and digital projects at Dentsu Inc. Born in Japan and raised in Canada during his early years, pursuing an international career came naturally to him. While at Fallon London, he worked with clients such as Cadbury, FIFA, Orange Mobile, and Sony. At Dentsu Tokyo, he supported multinational clients including Disney, Toyota, UFC, and Moët Hennessy Diageo K.K., aiding their success in the Japanese market. He has won awards from Spikes, Adfest, The Webby Awards, the Dentsu Award, TCC, ACC, and more.

Yusuke's journey with Hakuhodo began in 2004 as a strategic planner. He has been responsible for brand strategy and communication strategy planning across various industries such as automobiles, telecommunications, food, and beverages.

From 2012 to 2019, he served as the regional strategic planning director for ASEAN, based in Thailand, where he led Marketing Digital Transformation for multiple companies. His responsibilities included developing strategies for digitizing customer touchpoints, DMP/CDP development, and utilizing data for marketing activities. Additionally, he launched the Hakuhodo Institute of life and living ASEAN to conduct research and gain a deep understanding of the lifestyles and desires of people living in ASEAN.

Upon returning to Japan in 2019, he assumed the role of Deputy General Manager and took on the responsibility of expanding Global Marketing Digital Transformation business development in SEA + China/Taiwan. In 2022, he relocated back to Thailand and now oversees the establishment of the H+ APAC regional network and drives the development and promotion of digital transformation business.

In her 14th year practicing advertising strategy, spanning a journey with agencies like JWT, the Publicis group, Zahra is fascinated by human behaviour, brands, society, and how they all shape each other.

Now responsible for spearheading strategy at Ogilvy Pakistan since the past 10 years, she leads and mentors a team of strategic planners working across 3 cities of Pakistan. Zahra has led the Ogilvy Pakistan to win its first global Marketing Effectiveness award, Effie in 2018 and then again in 2021 and won several local awards over the years.

She believes in simplifying complexity and in growing her own and her team’s capacity to craft smarter, braver and effective solutions for business and brand challenges. She’s involved in training internal teams in using Ogilvy proprietary tools, leading workshops with clients to help solve complex business & communication challenges and in learning Behavioural Science as a parallel skill.

With over 25 years of transformative marketing experience spanning Unilever, HSBC, and currently as the Group Chief Marketing Officer at RHB Banking Group, Sani has left an indelible mark on the industry. From his humble beginnings at Unilever Malaysia to Thailand, he led branding teams, steering businesses to market leadership and earning numerous Business & Marketing awards.

At HSBC Bank Malaysia, he orchestrated structural changes which include launching the Islamic Bank franchise, expanding the affluent clientele, and spearheading digital channel commercialization. Now, as the Group Chief Marketing Officer at RHB, he breathe new life into the brand, resonating with younger, affluent segments, driving digital platform commercialization, and championing financial sustainability, supporting SME growth and community financial literacy.

Sani’s journey is defined by innovation, purpose, and impact which have garnered acclaim. He’s recognized as one of Asia Pacific’s Top 50 Most Influential and Purposeful Marketers by Campaign Asia, and have been honored as 'CMO of the Year' for consecutive years in Malaysia. Heralded as a 'Marketing Trailblazer for Financial Services by Marketing Magazine Asia,' he continues to shape the future of marketing with passion and purpose.

A marketing and business leader with 15+ years of experience across Asia Pacific in delivering strong top and bottom line results, and building strong teams.

Diverse experience in health care and consumer-packaged goods sectors across regional and country (developing and developed) geographies, in marketing and commercial roles.

Abraham is a Marketing & Brand professional with close to 30 years of varied experience at senior strategic levels across the varied domains of Brand & Business building, Business Communication, Business Innovation, PR/Media relations & Customer-Centric marketing from ideation to process engineering and a passion for MarTech.

He has worked in the past, as part of senior management teams at Ogilvy, Reliance Capital, DCB Bank, Future Generali Life & General and an international web solutions start-up. He currently leads the Marketing, Media Relations, Service Quality, Innovation and Value Added Services teams of India’s largest integrated travel services group - Thomas Cook India.

Abraham is a part-time writer/columnist/panellist/speaker who has featured in various business publications & Brand & Marketing forums and publications. He has served on the juries of the Asia Pacific Effies & India Effies multiple times - among many others.

Abraham has been instrumental in setting up and currently serves as pro bono CEO of the Fairfax India Charitable Foundation (FICF) that has since its registration in November 2016, embarked on a National Dialysis Initiative aimed at enhancing sustainable, free/affordable dialysis access in remote areas of the country.

FICF has installed over 1200 free to use dialysis machines across 250 centres spread over 26 states and delivered over 1.5 million free dialysis sessions for underprivileged patients.

Ada Lazaro is currently Regional Marketing Director for McDonald’s Asia Business Unit. She has been working with the McDonald's brand for over 11 years, 10 of which she spent at the Philippines business. During her time at McDonald's Philippines, she has earned for the brand a Hall of Fame recognition for consecutive success of sales driving and brand building campaigns. In her present role, she works closely with 12 markets in accelerating growth opportunities and elevating the creative ambition for the region.

Before joining McDonald’s, she spent 3 years with an FMCG company giving her a total of 14 years marketing experience.

Ada is a Mansmith & Fielders, Inc. Young Market Masters Awardee, and has once represented her country at The Young Lions Marketers Competition at the Cannes Festival of Creativity.

She resides in Manila with husband Lester and their daughters Livia and Lianna. On her free time, she enjoys travelling and maintains an active lifestyle through sports.

Alexander has been at AB InBev for >19 years and has played an instrumental role in driving growth across geographies. During his tenure, Alexander has leveraged his broad experience to constantly deliver successful results while leading teams across Australia, USA, China, India, Vietnam and Europe. He currently leads marketing operations for AB InBev in East Asia (Korea & Japan)

A strategic marketing disruptor with strong analytical skills and data-driven thinking, his strength is in developing disruptive solutions to new and existing consumer needs through creativity/ innovation & technology. Because that’s what growth is all about. And that’s the only objective for marketing.

A growth marketer, prior to his stint at AB InBev, Alexander held roles in marketing (Brand Marketing Becel & Bertolli) & sales (National Key Account Carrefour) at Unilever Belgium. On a personal level, he is a passionate beer lover, an avid traveler and sports fan; and most importantly proud husband and father of 2.

Alexander holds a master’s degree in Economic Sciences – Marketing from the University of KU Leuven, Europe and Advanced marketing & business trainings at Harvard (Brand led Innovation)/ Kellog (Brand building)/ Stanford (Advanced Marketing Consumer Connections) & Wharton (Competitive Marketing Strategy).

Alvin Neo is the Chief Customer and Marketing Officer (CCMO) at FairPrice Group (FPG) and the Managing Director of NTUC Link. He is responsible for driving strategic marketing, digital transformation, customer, partnership and communications initiatives to achieve business growth; and uplift customer experience, customer-centricity and loyalty across the group. FPG is Singapore’s leading everything food provider with market leading positions in both groceries and food courts; and Link is the largest loyalty programme in terms of active member base.

Prior to his current appointment at FairPrice Group, Alvin spent over 20 years in local and international brand, business and marketing management experience. He was part of the management team at IHH, Asia’s largest private healthcare group; where he was the Group Chief Marketing Officer, heading their commercial function which included sales, marketing, market development and doctor/portfolio management. He was responsible for driving revenue and volume growth across multiple countries, as well as the development of the group’s Future of Healthcare Marketing. Prior to IHH, he was with Johnson & Johnson where he was Diabetes Care Franchise Head for J&J Medical Asia Pacific and Senior Marketing Director for Global Emerging Markets for J&J Consumer. His earlier career spans various business, marketing, strategic business development roles with Procter & Gamble, Gillette, technology startup Netdecisions, and he was also a strategy consulting leader with The Boston Consulting Group.

Alvin holds a bachelor’s degree from National University of Singapore (Dean’s list) and completed the General Management Programme at Cambridge University.

Andrew currently oversees the marketing and digital transformation arm of TIME dotCom, a listed Malaysian telco with investments in fixed broadband, cloud computing, data centre, connectivity and cybersecurity solutions spanning the globe.

He has more than 20 years’ experience across both the client and agency spectrum, handling brands as diverse as IKEA, KFC, Uniqlo, BMW, and Disney both locally and regionally. Prior to TIME, his experience includes marketing and strategy leadership roles at IBM, P&G, Interbrand, Isobar, DDB and IKEA.

He holds an MBA from the Melbourne Business School. Andrew was recognised as one of the Top 25 Innovators in Asia Pacific for 2020, according to the Innovator 25 Global Rankings.

Anita is working at Sephora Greater China as the VP of Marketing, responsible for the company’s brand management. Belongs to LVMH group, Sephora has entered China market for over 19 years. Being the largest premium beauty retailer in China, Sephora has more than 340 stores in 100 cities plus multiple on-line sales platforms, serving over 25 million Sephora members. Through omni sales & marketing, Sephora connects with 1 million beauty lovers on average every day.

Anita has more than 27 years of Brand Marketing experience, which includes Brand Building, Digital & Media Communication, Public Relations, Product Development, CRM, etc. Her career always focuses on Beauty Care, Personal Care and Nutrition. She had experiences in multinational companies including Procter & Gamble, Unilever, Avon and Henkel, managing both China and Asia Pacific markets.

Her career vision is to enhance confidence of women in Asia via bringing beauty power to them.

Anshul Khanna is the Vice President and Foods Category Head for India and South Asia at PepsiCo, overseeing communications, innovation, and growth for PepsiCo’s portfolio of love-mark brands including Lay’s, Kurkure, Doritos, Quaker amongst others.

In his over 21 years of career at PepsiCo, Anshul has worked across multiple roles in India, US, and Europe. Prior to his current role in India, Anshul served as the Senior Director of Global Beverages Marketing, based out of Dublin, Ireland, wherein he led brand marketing for PepsiCo’s beverages brands 7Up, Mtn. Dew and Mirinda. Further, as the Marketing Director on Beverage Portfolio Transformation, based out of New York, he played a pivotal role in driving the transformation of the beverages portfolio across more than 100 markets through the introduction of reduced sugar and no-sugar formulations on core portfolio.

Anshul is a seasoned marketing professional with a deep-rooted passion for driving transformative growth, elevating creative excellence through new-age storytelling, and building meaningful purpose on brands by driving positive impact on planet and people. He has won multiple Creative Cannes Lions for Innovation, Creative Transformation, Creative Data, and Sustainable Development Goals.

Anshul earned his MBA in Marketing from the Faculty of Management Studies at the University of Delhi.

A Marketer by education, a digital and tech enthusiast by passion, have garnered varied experiences in managing and thinking about brands both as a brand owner and as a strategic planner. Have amassed great learnings along the way in creating, building, re-imagining brands across traditional and digital spaces. Have nurtured keen interest in the startup space, Ecommerce and all things technology.

Bassam began his +18 year career in marketing by adopting roles in both the creative and the media ends of the agency spectrum before making the plunge to the client side. Having worked in multiple sectors with a focus on the telecom and FMCG sectors, his roles in various regions have oscillated from brand management, data-analytics, digital transformation, creative excellence to designing consumer experiences.

Having fallen in love with their brands, Bassam joined Coca-Cola back in 2010 and is currently heading the Integrated Marketing Experiences division for the Greater China & Mongolia region; translating business strategies into consumer & shopper experiences across media, social, design, retail, digital and owned CRM platforms for the Coca-Cola Company. Working on various global, regional & local initiatives that have garnered global recognition, Bassam looks to abide by five core principles

i. Strive for both strategic creativity & creative strategy
ii. Experiences can be designed both for cultural impact & efficiency
iii. The era of segmenting ATL/BTL/Online is over: we must Be The Line
iv. Nothing replaces a good idea
v. You’re only as good as who you partner with

Bea is an award winning planner with more than fifteen years of digital experience across international markets. Her approach merges brand planning and consumer-cultural insights with full- funnel marketing and ecosystem development.

She is currently serving as Marketing Director for Impactful Brand Experience at Colgate Palmolive Philippines where she leads digital transformation, creative excellence and integrated media strategy. Prior to joining client side she was Chief Strategy Officer at Dentsu Philippines where she championed strategy and digital transformation across the network's creative and media agencies. She was concurrently General Manager at iProspect, the group's performance marketing arm. She previously held planning leadership positions with international remits at Edelman Digital Singapore, Wunderman Singapore and McCann Shanghai. Originally from Manila, she was charged with setting up the Strategy team for McCann/MRM Philippines. Industry Awards & Judging: She has received industry recognition from award bodies including Campaign Asia (40 Under 40 SEA Account Person of the Year by Campaign Asia’s Agency of the Year Awards) and Mansmith Philippines (Young Market Master). She is an active industry speaker and member of the award circuit, having previously judged for New York Festival's Asian Marketing Effectiveness Awards, Tangrams Strategy & Effectiveness Awards and Warc Strategy Awards. Since 2023 she has served on the board of the Philippine Association of National Advertisers.

Bea originally graduated from Ateneo de Manila University and has an MS in Strategy & Design Management from The New School, as well as a professional certificate in Digital Media Marketing from New York University. She regularly teaches marketing and brand strategy at prominent universities including Singapore Management University, Ateneo de Manila University, and University of Asia & the Pacific.

Bernie has a cool job.

He gets to taste and lead some of the most delicious and iconic brands as the Chief Marketing Officer of PepsiCo Asia Beverages.

Throughout his career, Bernie has been fortunate to lead and build some of the most iconic brands across the Consumer Goods and F&B Retail Industries.

A strong believer of talent and capability development, Bernie is an advocate for helping and empowering teams to find their best self.

Brendon is an experience designer and marketer who cares about strategy, brands, and campaigns which matter. He currently works at Oracle on the Go-to-Market team and helps customers on their digital transformation strategy.

Previous to working at Oracle, Brendon spent 10+ years at McCann Worldgroup in Singapore where he started the UX department as a consultancy and lead the multidisciplinary strategy team for both the McCann and MRM//McCann business across APAC.

Always interested in “Why” and “What Next”Brendon is especially interested in how new technology and innovations can help brands in a meaningful way. He writes about it, creates strategies around it, designs them, and connects people and teams to bring them to life.

Cheryl is part of the early founding team at Grab. She leads marketing and sustainability for the group, covering all of Grab's business verticals including mobility, deliveries, financial services and enterprise. She oversees Grab’s marketing and sustainability efforts across the region, leading a team of over 500 across Southeast Asia.

In her role:
• She shapes the strategy behind the company’s brand and reputation.
• She leads teams across the end-to-end sphere of marketing, covering user acquisition and demand growth, advertising and promotions, branding and social, public and corporate reputation, marketing research and insights.
• She also leads sustainability and social impact at Grab and believes in building inclusive capitalism to solve problems of poverty and climate change.

She is currently a Board Member of Malaysia Aviation Group, Malaysia Airlines Berhad. She is a Global Executive Committee of World Federation of Advertisers (WFA), a committee member of Tengah Island Conservation and a 2021 Acumen fellow.

As an experienced International Marketing Director in the Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) sector, I have a proven track record of successfully launching marketing campaigns across diverse global markets, including Europe, Asia, and the Americas. My strategies are insight-driven and incorporate innovative approaches to brand growth, while my cross-cultural communication skills have enabled me to navigate different markets with ease. Under my leadership, Brown-Forman has consistently achieved robust revenue growth and enhanced brand recognition.

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Crisela has over 20 years of experience in communications, media and brand building. She has been at the forefront of digital transformation for many brands leading digital Agency teams across Southeast Asia. Prior to joining Globe, she was a Principal Partner at Mindshare Indonesia looking after digital strategy, programmatic, commerce and content.

As Head of Marketing Communications at Globe, she combines her passion for technology, love for insight and channel expertise to create ideas that deepen Globe’s relationship with its customers. Together with her team of strategists, channel experts and creative specialists through Globe’s campaigns, they bring to life Globe’s purpose to uplift the lives of Filipinos.

Dawn Lee leads the Corporate Marketing function at the Health Promotion Board (HPB), to support the achievement of its vision – A Nation of Healthy People. She sets the strategic directions for the marketing programmes of HPB, spearheads effective communications in all channels, both offline and online, to achieve the Board’s goals of high levels of outreach to all Singaporeans, enhancing health literacy and driving sustained behavioral change.

Prior to joining HPB, Dawn has more than 20 years of experience in the marketing and management of consumer packaged goods and held progressively responsible roles in several MNCs, including GSK, Sara Lee, Quaker Oats and 3M. In her past employment, Dawn managed the full spectrum of marketing function across different Asian markets; including the development of market entry strategies, brand positioning and marketing communications, product portfolio management and new product development.

Dawn holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree and a Master degree in Marketing. She is married with two children.

As Chief Marketing Officer, The Durant Guild, Dean Sciole is spearheading General Motors’ efforts to break into new market segments and drive growth in China’s luxury auto market.

Dean has a solid background in automotive marketing. Prior to joining GM, he worked for many global vehicle brands, including Lexus, Toyota, Renault, Bentley and Infiniti. He also has significant experience in the luxury goods and technology industries.

Dean began his career with Saatchi & Saatchi, where he became Director of Strategy and Executive Creative Director. In 2001, he led a project for UNICEF that won a top prize for international creativity – a first for China. He has also been a judge for 4A China, the Effie Awards China, the China Advertising Association, the Long Xi Awards and One Show China, and helped develop advertising talent in China. He was the global board member of One Show representing China.

Sciole is originally from New York, studied Chinese in Taiwan, and has been working in multiple countries in Asia, including nearly 20 years in China.

Outside the office, Sciole enjoys photography, sailing, skiing, ultimate frisbee, auto racing and is rumored to have successfully cooked a Turducken.

Dennis Perez, a champion of digital transformation, leads Digital Marketing, Media and Commerce for Unilever Beauty & Wellbeing (B&W) in Southeast Asia. He orchestrates data-driven marketing strategies and crafts compelling digital experiences for Unilever B&W brands across the region. Leading the beauty charge into the future, Dennis spearheads the adoption of influencer marketing, advanced analytics, and AI-powered "beauty tech" for next-gen beauty experiences.

A licensed Chemical Engineer, Dennis brings analytical precision to his marketing pursuits. A film critic at heart, he weaves captivating narratives into B&W campaigns and digital content. When not strategizing, you'll find him on the tennis court, mastering his forehand and crafting his next game-changing approach to beauty marketing.

Dhawal Katkar, currently working as Sr. VP - Glenmark Consumer Products-India. He has two and half decade of experience in Consumer Goods, Media & Entertainment, OTC/Pharma companies. He has worked with L’Oreal, Godrej, Heinz, Disney, Turner, Piramal in the past, leading brands, business and P&L’s.

Dhiren is a seasoned marketer with 20 years of marketing experience, with more than 8 years as CMO/CCO, across FMCG and Financial services, handling mixes in more than 12 different countries, and living in 4 of them in the last decade. He has led teams of more than 100+ marketers and product development professionals for more than 8 years and has a proven track record of delivering revenue growth across sauces and insurance. He is credited to have launched more than 100 different new products and a little over 200+ campaigns, spanning Indonesia, China, India, Singapore, Thailand, South Africa and other Asian markets. He has held Jury Chair positions for WARC awards in 2021 and 2022, APAC Effie Jury Chair in 2022 and Singapore Effie Jury chair in 2023. Additionally, he has been a judge at Campaign Global and Asia awards, Effie APAC, MMA Smarties APAC and Campaign Women for Change for more than 5 years. He currently sits on the board of MMA APAC and AAMS Singapore.

A seasoned marketer with 25+ years in Southeast Asia, is a results-driven Chief Marketing Officer. Her expertise lies in full stack marketing with a proven track record in data-backed business growth and customer-centric strategies. Prior to joining Boost Holdings (An Axiata Company), Diana was the CMO at Lazada Malaysia, her team secured the 2021 Marketing Excellence and Innovator of the Year awards. Earlier, she led four key divisions, mainly content, marketing, distribution, and sales as Country Manager at iflix, Malaysia and Brunei and co-founded CtrlShift, where she served as Regional Head of Publisher Solutions for 10 years, she saw the evolution in digital media, managing publisher business in Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand and Singapore. Diana's journey began in renowned advertising agencies, including BBDO/Proximity and Saatchi & Saatchi, before venturing into digital media. Approachable and friendly, you can call her Diana, D, or Boo.

Digs Dimagiba is the Chief Marketing Officer and Head of the Analytics, Brand, Communications & Marketing Technology (ABCMT) Group of Metrobank (Philippines) since 2017. Previous to Metrobank, he was the first Country Director of Facebook Philippines from 2016 to 2017, Country Director of the IT & Mobile Business Unit of Samsung Philippines from 2014 to 2016, and also served with Unilever from 1999 to 2016 in international Senior Brand Marketing Director positions. He is also an incorporator and member of the board of directors of the H&D Group of Companies since 1999. He was the elected 2022 President of the Internet & Mobile Marketing Association of the Philippines (IMMAP), the digital industry group of which he has also served as a Director and Executive Officer since 2018.

Edward Bell is responsible for the development of brand strategy, consumer insights, loyalty marketing and marketing communications for the Cathay Pacific group globally. Mr Bell has spent the majority of his career in marketing strategy and later as a CEO for marketing and communication consultancies across Asia and Greater China, working for a diverse set of brands and businesses.

A seasoned marketing professional, Mr Bell is the recipient of the prestigious IPA and Jay Chiat awards for marketing effectiveness and strategy and is a regular author and speaker.

Originally from Melbourne Australia, Mr Bell is married with three children, and happily calls Hong Kong 'home'.

Faycal is a senior strategic brand and marketing leader, with over 25 years of experience. He has worked at National Australia Bank (NAB) for the past 15+ years, leading the global Group Brand function covering the areas of Brand, CSR and Sponsorship. In his role he is responsible for all visual design and governance, brand experience, strategy, brand research, brand measurement & insights, media planning, brand content and advertising, for the bank’s key brands.

He has held various roles at NAB including key strategic marketing, digital, advertising and communications roles, covering consumer to corporate & institutional audiences in the APAC region, as well as wealth management and markets products areas. Prior to NAB, Faycal spent time honing his skills in a number of marketing communications roles with Mercer, Colonial First State and Finsia. Before his move into the financial services industry, he held marketing and advertising roles in local government and telecommunications industries in Australia and The Netherlands.

He has also spent time on agency side, as owner and director of a boutique marketing strategy and communications agency, consulting to both corporate and not-for-profit clients.

Fern has 20+ years' experience growing, evolving and protecting the largest brands in the world.

As Marketing Director of Consulting at Deloitte Australia, Fern oversees the marketing strategy and execution for the professional service's firm large Consulting business.

Previously Fern was an Executive Vice President, APAC at Edelman and Global Strategy Lead, PayPal, and served as MD Edelman Australia, and MD of Mango/DDB.

An awarded brand builder and agency leader, Fern has developed strategic and creative campaigns to drive business impact for major organisations including Microsoft, Unilever, P&G, IKEA, Diageo, HP, PayPal and Audi. As a marketer who believes that insight with data-led strategy is the backbone of effective work, her focus is using the power of creativity to drive proven business impact.

Passion for purpose combined with business impact drives Fern – besides supporting the strategic repositioning of Audi UK, and purpose-focused programmes for the car brand, she has also worked with multiple brands including IKEA and Unilever within the purpose and sustainability arenas. She also served as strategic advisor to the Global United Nations' Develop Program, The Lion's Share.

Fern is an alumni of The Marketing Academy, the distinguished scholarship creating outstanding leaders in marketing, media and creative industries.

Frankie Lee heads up marketing and communications for Asia Pacific at NielsenIQ GfK, a global leader in consumer, brand and market research and intelligence. In this role, Frankie leads a diverse team of marketers and communications professionals across the region, who have collectively transformed the function from a communications-centric to a revenue and demand generation engine.

With a career spanning over 20 years, Frankie acquired a broad spectrum of B2B technology marketing skills and knowledge across global, regional, country marketing, product, and communication roles with companies like Sophos, Red Hat, Dell and Symantec. Of all, being in a field marketing position remains his greatest passion, partnering sales team in driving brand preference and sales funnel with measurable ROI.

Frankie is based in Singapore and an avid follower of developments in content marketing innovation and practices, customer journeys, data-driven marketing and martech. Frankie is currently a member in the CMO Council Asia Pacific Advisory Board and an active juror of the APAC Effie Awards for marketing excellence.

Gourab is a digital marketeer, currently leading Digital efforts for Citibank in South Asia. He has worked extensively across new business development, product marketing, brand management, and client experience. Working with colleagues across geographies and cultures really excites him.

Helen, is an award-winning marketer and a purpose-driven leader renowned for her transformative impact across industries. With a career spanning prestigious organizations like Nestle, L'Oreal, Mars Inc, Netflix, and Warner Bros Discovery, she consistently drives revenue growth, profitability, and fosters high-performing teams in multicultural environments across Asia and Emerging Europe.

Recipient of accolades such as the 2022 and 2020 Thailand Women Leader Award from CMO Asia, and the 2013 Best Global Brand Campaign for Pedigree 5 Signs "Miracle" at Mars Global Marketing Heroes, Helen currently serves as the Senior Director of Brand Marketing for Warner Bros. Discovery in Singapore. There, she spearheads content marketing strategy for groundbreaking HBO originals and iconic franchises, supporting efforts to drive user growth in Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Her dedication to purposeful innovation inspires impactful change on a regional and global scale.

Igor Lau is the Head of Marketing at Mox Bank Limited, a virtual bank backed by Standard Chartered in partnership with HKT, PCCW and Trip.com. He leads the bank's marketing activities, and related technology functions that delivers best-in-class experiences such as enabling customers to open a bank account in less than 3 minutes. Together with his team, he’s on a mission to make Mox the global benchmark in digital banking.

Igor has more than 20 years of integrated and digital marketing experience across financial, travel, hospitality and healthcare sectors. Prior to his current role, he was the Digital Experience and Member Engagement Head at Asia Miles.

J-Anne Aruta is a marketing leader who has spent almost 20 years navigating the ever-changing worlds of FMCG and Tech. After a 14-year stint at Johnson & Johnson - where she championed everything from baby care to oral care, J-Anne made a strategic shift, grabbing the reins of Grab Philippines’ marketing three years ago. As the leading superapp’s Country Marketing Head, J-Anne is focused on nurturing brand connections that fuel sustainable growth throughout Grab’s vast ecosystem of consumers, partners, riders, and merchants. J-Anne believes that powerful marketing has the power to transform lives, and she’s on a mission to do just that for Filipinos and the Grab ecosystem.

A visionary marketer and business developer with over 20 years of experience in building brands through driving disruptive marketing strategies in the digital and social media space. Currently, Jamie Lee leads the Marketing function for the Uniqlo brand in Singapore. Jamie is responsible for the strategic direction and implementation of marketing, branding, partnership and communication efforts to achieve business targets.

Prior to this, Jamie spent 14 years in China and Singapore with the Volkswagen group, one of the global leaders in the automotive industry where she was successful in building strong local business development teams in partnership with business partners to achieve over 150% growth in key performance indices.

Jaslin Goh had deep and broad digital, marketing and customer experience across various sectors such as banking/finance, hospitality and retail by holding senior management positions in both client, management and consulting positions across North Asia, Asia Pacific and Greater China. She is currently VP, Marketing for Foodpanda Asia covering 11 markets. She was ex Chief Marketing Officer of PayMe by HSBC based in Hong Kong. Her background spans Marketing, User Design and Customer Experience, partnerships and commercial functions. She is also an active speaker at various marketing, digital and customer experience forums in Asia Pacific, Greater China region. She is also honoured to be one of the awardees for Women to Watch (Campaign Asia) in 2022 and Marketing Leadership Award from HKMA 2022.

Jelina Wan is a seasoned and passionate business leader with over 20 years working experience in FMCG industry.She is responsible for Mars Wrigley snacking portfolio and expanded her role into Ice cream busines with full P&L ownership. Before this role, she has stayed in Chicago for 2.5 years as global brand director Maltesers. Prior to Mars Wrigley integration, she has spent 7 years in chocolate as China Dove/M&M’s marketing director in Beijing. Before joining Mars, Jelina accumulated 6.5Y marketing experience in Unilever China and COCA-COLA bottler across different categories in Beauty & Personal Care and beverage. Jelina is an authentic, connected & collaborative people leader with track record in developing diverse talents and building effective team. She has consistently inspired and lead others through being courageously provocative as well as being fearlessly vulnerable. She is also a strong believer of Five Principles into action and people oriented culture.

Jennifer Lam is Director and Head of Marketing & Communications of Hongkong Land Limited. She leads the corporate communications and marketing functions with a focus on the Company’s prestigious and luxury portfolio. Ms Lam has a passion on data-driven marketing and launched the regional luxury loyalty programme, BESPOKE in 2017. She also successfully led the rebranding of Hongkong Land in 2013 and 2020.

Ms Lam joined the Company in 2012 and has strong regional exposures covering 16 markets. Prior to joining Hongkong Land, she managed Melco Resorts & Entertainment’s marketing and launch of City of Dreams and its US$250 million entertainment offering – The House of Dancing Water. Ms Lam has also held a number of senior and leadership roles at integrated communications agencies. In these roles she gained extensive experience in integrated marketing and communications.

Born in Hong Kong, Ms Lam graduated from the University of Hong Kong with a Bachelor of Science Degree (Honours)..

Jennifer is currently Associate Director, Marketing Insights and Performance at Destination NSW.

Jennifer has been championing effectiveness over the last 20 years, both agency side (BMF, RAPP, Leo Burnett) and client side planning data-driven campaigns in in Financial Services and Alcoholic Beverages. She currently heads up marketing insights and performance for Destination NSW, the lead government agency for the New South Wales tourism and major events sectors.

Jun started her career as a business consultant and her major filed was building business/marketing strategy for manufactures and retailers. Then joined Francfranc, a major home furnishing SPA company and played a prominant role as a brand manager and then contributed MOGU, interior brand launch in US as VP.

Since 2005, she joined McCANN and had been engaging in consultation planning on brand/communication strategy for both global and local clients for 16 years and lead the initiative studies of "Truth About Age","Truth About Gender in Japan", "Truth about Global Brands".

Joined FineToday newly founded company as a group company of Shiseido in 2021, and leading brand communications for all brans (hair care, skin care and body care category) as VP. She is also an active speaker at Advertising Week Asia, ad:tech Tokyo, Sendenkaigi and JAAA.

June is the CEO of ScentOn, a leading scent marketing company based in Seoul, Korea. She is a business person, perfumer and marketer.

June found scent marketing fascinating with scent marketing techniques getting used more by companies worldwide to enforce a brand image, improve consumer's perception of product quality and drive sales. Scents can help create an experience associated with a brand.

Previously, she was a marketer at global FMCG/food companies such as CJ, Bullsone, Unilver, Reckitt Benckser and Bausch & Lomb, working on a number of new product launches and brand campaigns.

Karen McGregor heads up the Consumer Marketing team for Asia-Pacific at Visa. In her role, she is responsible for all communication to consumers including brand campaigns, media, content, brand experiences and governance. Karen joined Visa in 2020. In her 25 years of working experience, she has worked in Tokyo, New York, Sydney and Singapore across agencies as well as global financial institutions.

Karen Ng has been an accomplished marketing and branding professional for over 25 years. Her career has taken her through various advertising agencies and in-house positions at companies such as Huawei, TCL/ALCATEL, and CATALO. Karen has consistently achieved exceptional results in multiple markets across Asia.

Karen's creative talent has earned her numerous prestigious awards, both locally and internationally, including the Hong Kong 4As and MARKies, France's TOP/COM GRANDS PRIX, and China ROI Festival. Her ability to design compelling campaigns for diverse audiences sets her apart from others in her field. As the General Manager for Corporate Branding and Marketing at the Airport Authority Hong Kong, Karen leads strategic initiatives that extend beyond local borders. She is responsible for spearheading campaigns both locally and in key overseas markets, positioning Hong Kong International Airport as a significant regional hub.

Karen's passion for branding and marketing communications inspires her to create impactful campaigns that resonate with audiences worldwide.

Kavita has nearly two decades of experience in Consumer product goods, comprising creation, development and nurturance of some of India's foremost Food brands such as Aashirvaad, Sunfeast Yippee! Noodles, Bingo! Snacks, Fabelle Luxury chocolates, ITC Master Chef, Kitchens of India and so on.

An MBA from Mudra Institute Of Communications Ahmedabad (MICA), the first two years of her career were spent working on mainstream aswell as non-traditional media on Unilever's Haircare, Infant Care and Femcare brands.

A certified Scuba Diver, Kavita likes to add dives to her "log book" during her travels.

Kavita Jagtiani, the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of L&T Finance Holdings Ltd., is based in Mumbai and is renowned for her expertise in leading marketing and communications strategies. In her current role, she is spearheading the branding and communication efforts towards positioning the Company as an admired and inspirational financial institution, creating sustainable value for all its stakeholders.

Kavita has over two decades of rich experience in brand building and marketing. She has a proven track record in strategic planning, category creation, innovation, consumer insights, in-market brand activation and integrated marketing campaigns.

In her last role at Pidilite Industries, Kavita served as the Regional Marketing Chief of International Business steering integrated marketing communications and crafting award-winning campaigns across diverse regions. Prior to her tenure at Pidilite, Kavita held leadership roles at esteemed organizations like ICICI Bank Ltd., General Mills India where her work has received several global and national accolades.

Kavita's educational background includes an Exemplary Certification in Digital Strategies for Business from Emeritus & Columbia Business School and a Post Graduate Diploma in Business Management in Marketing from Sydenham Institute of Management Studies, Research and Entrepreneurship Education. She also holds a master’s degree in commerce from Mumbai University.

KokHwee Ng is the Global Marketing General Manger of Zespri, world’s largest marketer of kiwifruit, present in more than 50 markets. KokHwee oversees the development of Zespri’s brand and marketing strategy, and implementation across the globe. She is focused on delivering Zespri’s purpose of helping people, communities and environment thrive through the goodness of kiwifruits, through marketing excellence and brand thought leadership that will put the high quality and nutritious kiwifruit onto more consumers’ plates.

Kosala Wickramasinghe is a seasoned entrepreneurial, sales-driven marketer with a 20-year track record in B2C/B2B Demand Generation and eCommerce across the United States and APAC.

Kosala started his marketing career in the US with Dell where he led the SMB Marketing Programs team before spending 7 years at Walmart in eCommerce roles. As Marketing Director for Walmart.com & Walmart Labs he oversaw demand generation & digital marketing strategy for Walmart.com and the deployment of a cutting-edge marketing tech-stack across multiple markets.

Following his move to Asia, Kosala joined PayPal where he orchestrated innovative campaigns and customer experiences across South East Asia. His latest role as Director of APAC & Japan Digital & eCommerce at Autodesk has focused on leading digital transformation and direct sales initiatives to deliver incremental business results.

A communications leader with over 30 years of experience, Krobkaew is an expert in integrated communications planning. Her impressive career spans both International and Thai companies, including King Power, Coca-Cola Thailand, and Webershandwick PR. Krobkaew's experience covers the full spectrum of communications, from crafting corporate image and social sustainability initiatives to crisis communication. Currently, she is the Chief Strategic Corporate & Communications Officer forThe One Enterprise Public Company Limited.

Louis has been helping brands and teams achieve their purpose and growth potential for over 20 years across the world based in Brazil, Chile, China, USA, South Africa and Singapore. A true global citizen who connects East – West and believes that magic happens when you combine curiosity, vision, great ideas, craftmanship and a passionate team . Proven track record building Brands that have a positive impact in the world and deliver outstanding business results.

Luca Destefanis is VP of Marketing at Kyndryl, leading global Campaigns and Digital. A senior marketing executive with strong business background, rooted in 25 years of international experience across Asia, Europe and US, Luca transforms organizations, develops talents, and simplifies complexity to create purpose-driven brands and drive business impact.

Known for continuously challenge the status quo, Luca has built the Customer Experience Management offering in IBM EMEA; worked in partnership with Zayed University in Dubai to launch Smartsquare, an innovation center with skills at the intersection of design, consulting and technology; advised more than 20 clients on customer and employee engagement; transformed marketing organizations by adopting new operating models; built the IBM Services brand in APAC. In Kyndryl, Luca is now focused on nurturing an amazing pool of talents, aligning central and country teams on a mission to drive reputation, relationship and revenue.

In addition to his role in Kyndryl, Luca is an active Advisory Board member (Joye.ai, ViaRT, CMO Council). Passionate about exploring trends in contemporary art and everything wellness, Luca lived and worked in New York, Milano and Shanghai before moving to Singapore, where he currently resides with his family.

Madhav Nayak is Chief Marketing Officer for KFC Greater Asia at Yum! Brands, leading the marketing organization for the region. In this role, he looks after marketing strategy and calendar, communication, innovation, consumer insights, ecommerce and media strategy, with accountability for competitive sales growth in partnership with franchisees across markets.

Madhav is passionate about building relevant, easy and distinctive brands and inspiring teams to achieve their full potential. Prior to joining Yum!, Madhav’s experiences spanned Unilever and Facebook (now Meta), covering large businesses with Global and APAC footprints. In his last role at Unilever, he served as Senior Marketing Director for the global fabric care business with responsibility for topline and bottomline delivery, market share growth, and the innovation and communication program.

Outside work, Madhav enjoys teaching and building marketing muscle in future generations of marketing leaders. He is also a writer, with his debut novel releasing shortly.

Mandy currently serves as Senior Director, Marketing and Transformation, Asia Pacific at Subway, where she is responsible for Strategic Planning & Consumer Insights, Integrated Brand Communications, Innovation, PR, Corporate Communications and Sustainability. As part of the APAC Leadership and Global Marketing Leadership teams, she focuses on driving brand transformation by instilling a consumer-first and data driven mindset, building a high performing marketing organization and delivering brand initiatives that have resulted in profitable sales growth.

She is passionate about leading positive change, building brands that bring joy to people and elevating enterprise-wide Marketing and Commercial capabilities.

Before Subway, Mandy worked in a variety of global, regional and business unit level roles at P&G, Fonterra and General Mills.

Outside of work, Mandy enjoys spending time with her husband, daughter and family cat. When she has time for herself, she enjoys reading, shopping, swimming and going to the spa.

Yoly is Globe’s Chief Sustainability and Corporate Communications Officer and joined Globe Telecom in 2009. She is a Corporate Communications and Sustainability executive with over 35 years of solid experience in Sustainability and Integrated Marketing Communications, with specialization in Strategic Communications for Corporate, Brand, and Crisis Communications.

Ms. Crisanto is currently a Board Member of AdSpark, Inc., the Asia Video Industry Association (AVIA) and Go Learn. She currently serves as Board of Adviser to the Public Relations Society of the Philippines.

She is a multi-awarded professional and executive recognized by both local and international institutions in her fields of expertise, specifically, communications, sustainability and corporate social responsibility.

Ms. Crisanto recently completed the World Business Council for Sustainable Development’s (WBCSD) LEAP Program in ESADE Business School in Madrid, Spain and Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut USA. She earned her Master's in Business Administration degree from the Ateneo Graduate School of Business and Bachelor of Arts major in Communication Arts from the University of Santo Tomas.

A strategic, innovative and disruptive business leader, that specialises in connecting brands to consumers across aspirational lifestyle sectors. I've been extremely fortunate to lead marketing & commercial efforts for some of the world's leading beverage brands including Bacardi, Jagermeister & 42 Below. I've also had the pleasure of working in all types of organisations from super successful entrepreneurial start ups, to big global corporates, and everything in between. This gives me a uniquely balanced perspective for what it really takes to win the hearts and minds of consumers!

Matthew Walker has over 25 years of Marketing and Digital experience having lived and worked in Melbourne, London, Hong Kong, Singapore but predominantly in Japan with local, regional and global marketing and business growth in the financial and telecommunication sectors.

He joined AIG Japan in 2013 as SVP, Regional Chief Marketing Officer based in Tokyo. In 2020 he took on additional responsibilities for Global Customer Experience leadership.

With broad consumer and commercial, marketing, digital acquisition, branding, CX, customer research and management experience, Matt has held various leadership roles throughout Asia Pacific.

Matt graduated in Marketing at RMIT and studied his Master’s Degree in Digital Marketing Strategy at Victoria University.

In his spare time, he has developed and lectured Post Grad University Marketing Courses in Tokyo pro bono. He is also a regular judge at the annual Asia Pacific Marketing Awards and has been awarded many Global and Japan Marketing awards for AIG and throughout his career. He also finds time for his wife, twelve-year-old daughter, his labrador, Guide dog training, cricket, music and films.

Senior Executive at Reckitt, Matt is the CMO for the ASEAN and part of Regional Leadership Team.

Commercially driven & purposeful, Matt is passionate about building incredible brands, driving the P&L & forging an inspiring organisational culture where “doing well & doing good” intertwine, sparking outperformance – consistently.

Matt has 20 years of experience in FMCG in a wide range of marketing functions, from country activation to regional and global brand & innovation leadership. Matt has a true global vintage point as he brings insights from various the various regions he has worked with/from: from EMEA, USA to LATAM, ANZ, India, China, Japan & now ASEAN.

Matt is based in Singapore with his wife Natasha & their two boys, Jasper & Tobias.

May Ling is an experienced marketer with over ten years at the executive level and a track record of success in developing branding and marketing strategies, digital transformation, change management, and innovative firsts across multiple markets; her background spans FMCG, telecommunications, and Quick Service Retail.

Her expertise is in pioneering new digital innovations in a developing market while directing cross-functional teams to develop award-winning brand and marketing communications campaigns, number-one digital products, and the first digital telco payment.

May Ling has accumulated numerous accolades throughout her career, having been recognised as CMO of the Year 2023 (Best Telco Marketer) 2021, 2022 (Best Marketer in Retail & Promotions Marketing) and Advertiser of the Year while in Digi.

I am an international marketing leader with a strong record of successfully leading marketing initiatives across a variety of industries and sectors, including both private and public. My expertise lies in designing and implementing strategic marketing plans that drive growth for the business and increase brand visibility.

Born and raised in Taipei, Taiwan, Mel's dynamic career has traversed diverse industries including CPG brands, medical, and tech marketing. With invaluable experience at Unilever and Johnson & Johnson, she has left an indelible mark by shaping the local presence of global mega-brands across Taiwan and Hong Kong. Mel's strategic acumen also propelled J&J's medical portfolio of orthopedics products.

Currently serving as the Head of Marketing at Uber Eats Taiwan, Mel brings an unwavering commitment to consumer-centric strategies, driving the adoption of on-demand delivery services within Taiwan's vibrant restaurant and retail landscape. Under her leadership, Taiwan has emerged as one of Uber's most strategically significant and engaged markets.

Mel's exceptional contributions have been acknowledged by industry accolades including Campaign Asia-Pacific's 40 Under 40 2023, Women to Watch 2022, and PRovoke Media APAC's Innovator 25 2022. Actively representing Taiwan in APAC industry forums, she lends her expertise to prestigious judging panels such as Greater China Effie and most recently The One Show 2024. Mel is a fervent advocate for championing the power of brand and creativity, DEI, and cultural intelligence, enriching the landscape for Taiwanese marketing professionals and beyond to shape the industry standard.

Michelle joined Aesop as Head of Marketing, Asia in January 2017. Based in Hong Kong, her role extends across all facets of marketing from regional brand strategy, customer management and experience, brand and customer marketing to publicity, partnerships, channel mix and insights across nine markets - Japan, Korea, Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Philippines. She leads, develops and advocates for the Aesop brand for Asia based on the regional environment, opportunities and goals. As the voice for Asia marketing, she contributes to the global marketing strategy and its translation and implementation into the region. She is a key member of the Asia leadership and management team and works closely with her peers to deliver the regional ambition for Aesop.

Michelle has been a fan and user of Aesop for over twenty years and always admired the brand and culture of Aesop – where simplicity, integrity and authenticity is at the heart of what the company stands for. A brand that does not prey on insecurities, but instead embrace sensory and nourishment that nurtures the skin and the mind.

Key projects include the Mainland China entry, activating a brand sensory encounter pre-store opening in Shanghai, large-scale skincare, body and scent activations in Singapore, Seoul, Tokyo, Taipei & Hong Kong, to unprecedented Aesop Queer and Women’s libraries activated in Taipei, Taichung, Tokyo, Osaka, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Penang.

Born in Malaysia, Michelle graduated from her Marketing degree from Monash University and prior to joining Aesop she worked for 3.5 years at the Hong Kong Tourism Board to lead the brand marketing to promote Hong Kong as destination for travellers globally and spent more than 15 years in the advertising industry – with 5 years based in Shanghai prior to moving to Hong Kong. She is passionate about food, design and travel.

Mohit Gupta is a Marketing and Digital leader with over 2 decades of sales & marketing experience in the financial & banking industry across B2B and B2C segments.

He is currently the Head of Marketing for APAC and Global Head of Social Media for the Corporate Bank at Deutsche Bank. He has previously held leadership roles in marketing & sales at Standard Chartered Bank, Julius Baer, Norther Trust and Citibank.

His expertise lies in Marketing & Brand strategy, Content Marketing and Digital & Social media including SEO, SEM and Performance Marketing, leading high performance teams across Asia Pacific.

Mohit is regularly invited as a keynote speaker at leading marketing conferences in Asia and globally. He serves as the Advisory Board Member - APAC CMO Council, a body of regional leaders and brand decision-makers at Fortune 500 companies. Additionally he is a Jury member at various marketing, digital and advertising award forums in Asia- Pacific.

Neha Ahuja is the Director, Head of Marketing at Spotify. She has been responsible for the overall Marketing and Consumer Communication Strategy for the market. She is instrumental in designing and delivering all tent pole initiatives delivering growth on Business and Brand Metrics.

Neha started her career in Procter & Gamble, where she spent over a decade in various roles leading business across multiple categories such as oral care, grooming and healthcare. Neha was also instrumental in setting up the influencer marketing channel for P&G in India that became a core marketing channel for many of its brands.

Post her FMCG experience, Neha moved to the Telecom sector. She led marketing and brand partnerships at Vodafone for over 3 years. She was instrumental in bringing to life many Vodafone brand campaigns leveraging its key brand assets such as the ZooZoos.

Neha was the project lead for setting up the Social Media Command Centre at the Vodafone premises that led to many real-time marketing campaigns for Vodafone during IPL.

Neha lives in Mumbai with her husband and twin boys. She is a sports enthusiast and a regular marathon runner, who likes to experiment with yoga, calisthenics and parkour. When she's not training or spending time with her boys, she can be found discovering new music (most recently Indian indie artists) and old (classic rock).

Neil Trinidad is the Chief Marketing Officer of GCash, the #1 Finance Super App in the Philippines.

He has 20 years of experience in marketing, general management, and sales across FMCG, tech, fintech, and e-commerce. He was recognized as the Asia Pacific Tambuli Awards Chief Marketing Officer of the Year in 2021; and was included in Campaign Asia Pacific's CMO Power List 2023.

He was previously the Chief Marketing Officer of Lazada Philippines, the country’s leading e-commerce platform.

Neil has also worked in Google Philippines as an Industry Partner to Telco, Travel and QSR clients; and in Unilever across local, regional and global marketing roles.

Neil is the Co-Founder of The Feel Good Food Group, an e-commerce health food delivery business.

Head of Brand at KFC Thailand. Marketing Strategist specialized in Branded retail business with a strong experiences of building an iconic brand.

Pearlina brings nearly two decades of diverse experience spanning agency and client-side roles, excelling in brand management and crafting award-winning campaigns of global acclaim. Currently the Senior Brand Marketing Regional Lead at Bridgestone, she spearheads strategic brand initiatives across the APAC region, leveraging her extensive expertise to drive brand success.Previously, as Head of Brand Marketing for Digital Appliances at Samsung, Pearlina led numerous groundbreaking campaigns, pushing the boundaries of innovation and garnering industry recognition. She is passionate about marrying the emotive power of creative storytelling with the precision of analytics to ensure tangible results.

Peijuan heads up the Strategic Communications and Marketing division in MOH Holdings (MOHH). As the brand steward of the holding company for Singapore’s public healthcare institutions, she is responsible for elevating the public healthcare brand and sharpening its value messaging to drive perception and behavioural change among the local population. Extending beyond sectoral-level marketing programmes, her work encompasses the full spectrum of corporate marketing and communications initiatives, ranging from employer branding, internal comms, crisis management, digital marketing, design and creative as well as outreach and partnerships.

Nation branding has always been something that is close to her heart. Prior to MOHH, she was Vice President, Brand, Marketing and Communications at the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) where she led teams to develop and implement major branding campaigns to cement Singapore’s reputation as an attractive business hub for multinational companies and global talent, across key markets such as the US, Europe, Japan and China. In her 13 years at EDB, she had the opportunity to work with global MNCs the likes of Shell, ExxonMobil and Evonik and also championed the shift towards digital and marketing automation technologies to do lead generation and nurturing at scale. This is guided by her belief that stronger marketing and sales alignment is crucial in achieving more effective lead management and business outcomes for organisations.

Pepe Torres is the Chief Marketing Officer of Maya, the Philippines #1 Fintech Ecosystem with the #1 Digital Bank and the #1 Omni-Channel Payments Processor. He's previously had international marketing experience in Procter & Gamble, Airbnb, and BDO.

An experienced marketing and business leader with proven success in driving sales, market shares; accelerating innovation, digital transformation and building capabilities.

A passionate and creative marketer, he combines story-telling with strong commercial acumen to successfully launch new business models, winning products and develop exciting communication and social campaigns.

He has a multi-faceted career extending from commercial roles such as sales and marketing to functional ones like innovation, corporate affairs and training.

He is a firm believer in the compounding strength of teamwork and takes pride and effort to build and recognize talent.

Ranjivjit Singh, is a Business Leader with over 30+ years of expertise in building stellar businesses and brands. His fabric of experience spans from sales, marketing, go-to-markets, business operations, business development to consulting across various business arms like technology and consumer.

Having joined the Hero MotoCorp family at the helm of Marketing as the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) in July’21, Ranjivjit was quickly elevated to handle the larger pie of Sales & Marketing, as the newly appointed Chief Business Officer (CBO) in June’23.

In his 20 years of association with top multinational organizations at CXO level, Ranjivjit has left his footprint across brands like Levi’s, Ericsson, Microsoft, HP and Samsung. His grooming into acceleration started early in life, with his first role at Unilever. Prior to joining Hero MotoCorp, Ranjivjit held the positon of Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at Samsung, where in his 6 years, he was credited with building a $10 billion company and one of India’s Most Trusted Brands.

An MBA from Mumbai University, with specialization in Marketing, Ranjivjit is passionate about mentoring. He capitalized on this passion to nurture talent through an exciting stint as mentor and consultant to global digital entrepreneurs during the Covid-19 pandemic between 2020-21. Growth and Evolution has always been close to Ranjivjit’s heart and he continues to demonstrate this through his career choices.

As Chief Marketing Officer of MSIG Asia, Rebecca oversees the Brand, Communications & Sustainability functions where she is responsible for formulating strategies and governance on corporate branding, corporate communications and sustainability priorities. She works with 14 markets in Asia and has achieved remarkable results in enhancing the MSIG brand identity, setting marketing standards and advancing the company’s sustainability agenda in the region. Currently, Rebecca is also seconded to the company’s head office in Tokyo for key projects on Brand, Communications & Sustainability for the international business.

Rebecca’s leadership and vision have earned the company and herself several accolades in the marketing field, including the 2021 Gold Winner for Marketing Leader of the Year at Marketing-Interactive’s Marketing Excellence Awards. She also led the company’s regional brand campaign that won multiple awards.

Rebecca has over 30 years of marketing experience spanning across industries such as fashion retail, advertising, banking and insurance. She is known for her ability to drive strong business returns, loves bringing concepts and ideas to life and is passionate about pushing the boundaries in marketing.

Regina is currently the Head of Marketing for Visa in Singapore and Brunei. In past 20 years, she has worked across different markets in AP to build brands and drive marketing efforts anchored in deep consumer understanding, and her experience spanned across different industries, such as financial services, telco and FMCG.

With 22 years of strategic planning experience in Lowe, Saatchi & Saatchi and Wunderman Thompson, Retna has played a major role in building local and global brands in Indonesia. Amongst her recognitions in the agency is her work with Johnson & Johnson, “Our Playtime” campaign, a calling for Indonesian children to leave their gadgets and play traditional games, that was made a national movement by President Joko Widodo.

After a long stint in advertising, Retna decided it was time to embark on a greater role as she was offered to join InJourney, a state-owned holding company for Tourism. InJourney was inaugurated by President Joko Widodo in 2022 to lead tourism ecosystem in Indonesia and accelerate its growth after the pandemic. Some of InJourney’s projects in building destinations are MotoGP and World Superbike in Mandalika Lombok. Just recently in February 2023, InJourney held the first F1 Powerboat Championship in Lake Toba, Indonesia.

Retna is now juggling her role as a mother of three who are her source of strength and inspiration, and as the SVP of Marketing and Tourism at InJourney, continuing her passion in building brands, now channelled towards one of the nation’s most important assets: tourism.

As Vice President and Head of Marketing for Castrol in India and South Asia, Rohit Talwar oversees the iconic brand in one of the most important economies in the world. Prior to this he was Marketing Director for Castrol in Vietnam where he led several important initiatives in the market and Asia Pacific region for Castrol.

Passionate about marketing that makes a positive impact on consumer and customer lives, Rohit’s 21-year career has seen him leading high-performance multicultural teams, both locally in India and globally. His distinguished career spans both developed and growth markets within the Castrol group.

He is currently based in Mumbai with his wife and son.

Outside Castrol Rohit serves on multiple marketing award juries and he is also an active participant in industry-influencing forums. Rohit's academic background includes a science degree and an MBA in marketing from ISB, Hyderabad. Rohit is a dedicated family man with a passion for sports, often found on the tennis court or enjoying quality time with his family at the beach.

Roshan has over 15 years experience in digital marketing - across various categories and markets.

Roshni is a force of nature, never failing to bring vibrant energy, unstoppable passion, and an eye for excellence to everything she touches. Roshni is a founder of her own strategic creative agency, Pinch of Masala, and is a JAPAC Enterprise Director with Oracle focused on AI, sustainability and human performance. Prior to joining Oracle Roshni was the Managing Director for McCann Australia, where she led a team of 100 and increased revenue by 25% within just 18 months.

In that role, Roshni was responsible for the strategic direction of the organisation, shifting the role of McCann Australia from delivering creative to a being a strategic business partner.

Roshni’s drive is motivated by her desire to have a positive impact and material change to the businesses she works with and the people those businesses touch.

Roshni has realised the importance of radical collaborations and uplifting others, which is why has started her own Women in Leadership networking group to bring like-minded female leaders together to support, learn from and meaningfully connect with each other.

Roshni also takes pride in collaborating closely with Igniting Change and Campfire X, tiny but meaningful organisations that spark big positive change. She launched: “TakeNote – a notebook that gives a voice to marginalised communities”; “The Hope Bracelet” – A collaboration with designer Kit Willow that turned Cambodian landmines into symbols of hope, love and curiosity; and helped legitimize “Bridgit”, a non-for-profit that helps homeless women find a home.

It's been a privilege to be part of the IKEA family for over two decades, and I'm currently serving as the Head of Marketing for IKEA North Asia (covering HK/MO/TW).

Throughout my career, I've honed my marketing superpowers and kept myself energized through my passion for business solutions. While marketing can sometimes be a serious business, I firmly believe that thinking outside of the box and embracing creativity is the key to success:)

Samantha Burgess-Allen is a communications leaders with more than 20 years international experience working in Asia, the Middle East and London. She has run regional communications for a range of organisations and brands including Coca-Cola, DHL, Philips, Allied Domecq, Banyan Tree and IHG Hotels & Resorts.

She has strong experience working collaboratively with teams across a range of communication disciplines including advertising, activation, Public Relations, social media and media planning.

Sam has been working at IHG Hotels & Resorts for more than 8 years and is currently Head of Communications for South East Asia and Korea and EMEAA Corporate Affairs.

Experienced marketing and digital professional with over 20 years in leading MNCs, adept at collaborating with senior management, regional teams, and international agencies. Specialized in branding and consumer insights across diverse marketing functions including brand strategy, media, strategic planning, trade marketing, and distribution.

Master’s Degree in Marketing from Thammasat University and Bachelor’s in Business Administration from Chulalongkorn University, Thailand. Extensive career history includes roles such as Marketing Director at Minor Food Group, Head of Marketing at Klook Technology, and various leadership positions at L’Oréal, Samsung Electronics, and Tencent.

Expertise encompasses branding strategies, media planning, budget management, digital marketing, team leadership, and fostering strategic partnerships. Proven track record in driving innovative product launches, enhancing brand visibility, and optimizing market performance through data-driven insights and collaborative teamwork.

Sascha Scholz is an experienced leader in the Automobile Industry. Being with the Volkswagen Group since 2008, he covered all major marketing disciplines in his career including brand and communication strategy, advertising, digital and social marketing and experiential formats. Moreover, Sascha was responsible for the global development and implementation of the new retail experience concept and international dealer qualification at AUDI AG. His work includes projects like the Audi test drive cube, the Audi e-tron meteorite and the #untaggable global launch campaign of the Audi Q2. He won numerous prestigious awards on these projects.

Since 2021, he served as Head of Marketing and Public Relations for SAIC Audi in Shanghai and was responsible for all ATL, BTL and PR activities of the newly started, highly innovative Joint Venture between SAIC and Audi. In 2023, he joined the Volkswagen brand at SAIC Volkswagen as Senior Director Marketing and Customer Operation and oversees now all marketing and digital activities of the Volkswagen brand.

Shubhranshu has global brand and category building experience on some of the most admired brands in the world. He has built a celebrated career spanning more than two decades having held leadership positions in global corporations such as Unilever, Visa, Diageo, Star 21st Century FOX, and Royal Enfield. He has been instrumental in encouraging path-breaking work, creating successful IPs, and inspiring large teams to go beyond. Shubhranshu has international and wide-ranging exposure to brand management, demand creation, customer experience management across diverse categories. Shubhranshu has received over 40 Indian and International awards for his work.

He was a Head of Jury for the APAC Effies 2021, 2023 and also served on the jury for the Global Iridium Effies 2021. He is a prolific writer and a columnist for several publications, particularly on brand design, consumer sociology, technology, and trends. Needless to say, he is as excited about building brands today as he was when he first stepped out of business school.

Thought Leader, Contributor, Academic and Flying Enthusiast.

An accomplished Marketing professional with 'Deep India' exposure and over nineteen years’ experience across multi-sector brand businesses and managing a profitable P&L. This across Government Sector and deeply mature MNCs to steer critical work for global power brands like: Visa, P&G, Unilever, GE, Mondelez, Generali, ITC and currently with Tata Motors.

Cannes Grand Gold and Grand Prix for challenging gender inequality with Ariel #ShareTheLoad and breaking menstruation related taboos with Whisper #TouchThePickle. Democratizing dreams and pivoted access to money with debit and online payment solutions from Visa. Created and deployed #RoadsThatHonk, an initiative with HP Lubricants to make mountain roads in India safer which won the Cannes Lion for Innovation. Triggered demand acceleration in the cruiser motorcycle category with Royal Enfield’s Meteor 350, Classic 350, Himalayan, Scram 411 and more.

Also a faculty for Advertising Strategy with Xaviers Institute of Communications, St. Xaviers, Mumbai for 9 years.

I am the Global Head of Media Business Units for Haleon (previously known as GSK Consumer Healthcare). In this role, my responsibilities revolve around driving adoption and scaling our global priorities and programs into the Business Units (Markets). This includes everything from driving media effectiveness solutions and accelerating test/learn/scale opportunities to working to manage the commercials with our key partners. Prior to this, I was APAC Head of Media, where I was active in a variety of areas including driving more advanced media techniques within the AdTech, data, and audience planning space, landing our agency model throughout the system, deploying key media technology platforms globally, driving better outcomes by forcing an effectiveness conversation and providing an overall media center of excellence with my talented team of media professionals.

Previous to GSK, I held multiple roles at McDonald’s – as its Global Media Lead based in Singapore, Global Engagement Team Lead for the London and Singapore teams and Digital Media Lead at McDonald’s Singapore CoE.

Before that, I worked at OMD Singapore, managing McDonald’s regional media business. I led the business to considerable digital media change including a more than 300% increase in digital media investment, rollout and institutionalization of data-backed media practices, a focus on the leveraging modelling to more closely link media to the McDonald’s business as well as partnerships with key media companies.

My time before Singapore was spent at MindShare, UM & Ogilvy in London and New York, where I both started my career and where I am from originally.

Somasree Bose Awasthi is currently the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) at Marico Limited where she is responsible for leading the brand marketing initiatives, including core brands like Saffola Edible Oils and the iconic Parachute Coconut Oil.

A veteran in the industry, Somasree has over 21 years of marketing experience across categories such as personal care, home care, and air care brands. She started her professional career with Godrej as a Management Trainee as a part of their Godrej Sara Lee business and then continued with Godrej Consumer Product post the merger. Early in her career, she worked as Areas Sales Manager for West Bengal in GCPL upcountry and was the first Female ASM in Eastern Region for the company. Thereafter, she continued her journey with Godrej Consumer Products (GCPL), having been the Chief Marketing Officer recently.

During her tenure at GCPL, she has gained significant experience in business turnaround for soaps category, successfully scaling up innovation and has led new product launches in the health and wellness space. She also, notably, started the Direct-to-Consumer channel for GCPL for the first time with Godrej Aer.

She has been featured among the Top 26 in The Economic Times Women Ahead 2017 list and has been included in Impact’s Top 50 most influential women in marketing and media three years in a row.

Somasree holds a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering from RCOEM, Nagpur, and completed her MBA from Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneshwar.

Stephanie Brown is an award-winning, Head of Brand for Tyro Australia - an ASX-listed fin-tech provider of payments, business banking and lending solutions. She was previously Global Head of Brand at Intuit for Australia, Asia-Pacific, LATAM and EMEA.

She’s won multiple campaign and marketer-of-the-year awards for work that truly works. She was B&T's Women Leading in Tech finalist in 2020 and 2021, shortlisted as 1 of 5 finalists for mUmBRELLA Achiever of The Year and B&T 30 Under 30 in 2016. Her work has been recognised for its effectiveness by B&T, ADMA AC&E, The Effies, mUmBRELLA, PRIA, SABRE, Clio and the IAB awards.

From crafting cultural and consumer insights, leading multi-market agencies, to localising brands for different countries uniquely different to Australia - it has opened her eyes about how lucky she is to call Australia home.

Stephanie Ng is the Global Head of Marketing, Wealth and Personal Banking at HSBC, she brings more than 20 years’ experience in consumer financial services in APAC, across business strategy, strategic partnerships, product innovation, portfolio management and customer loyalty. She was most recently the Financial Services Head at Meta (Facebook) where she led all Financial Services initiatives across the Facebook family of apps. She is passionate about building businesses, marketing innovation and digital transformation, helping brands keep up with technology and changing consumer behaviour to drive results.

She joined HSBC in August 2022. Prior to her role at Meta, she was the Executive Director for Credit Cards in Standard Chartered Bank, having led successful teams in cards, payments and unsecured lending businesses in Singapore, Malaysia and globally for the Bank. She has also held senior level positions with Mastercard and AIG.

She holds a master’s degree from University of Bath and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Sheffield, both in the UK. She volunteers at various women’s events and is an active grassroots leader. Originally from Singapore, Stephanie is now based in Hong Kong and is married with a young child.

Stephen Howard is a Marketing Communication professional with a variety of experience spanning over 20 years in a number of different industries and cultural backgrounds having lived in Australia, Hong Kong and the United Kingdom.

Stephen began his career studying at QUT in Brisbane, Queensland whilst running the Marketing and Promotions for a number of high-end hospitality venues. In 2007, he joined The Popcorn Group in Sydney and ran the PR and Marketing for the national social beach volleyball festival SLAM.

In an extreme change of direction, he joined the Hyundai Motor Company in 2008, where he oversaw a complete brand evolution in the company, launching a number of new vehicles and also implementing a new direction in their PR practices.

In July 2012, Stephen joined one of Australia’s largest hospitality and entertainment companies, EVENT. Here he successfully launched the designer hotel brand, QT Hotels & Resorts, across Australian and national markets whilst also overseeing the company’s group communications across EVENT businesses like Event Cinemas, Rydges Hotels, Thredbo Alpine Resort, among others.

In 2017, Stephen furthered his education, completing the Strategic Marketing Management course at Harvard Business School.

Since Stephen joined Ovolo Hotels in 2018, the company has expanded to more than 10 hotels globally, more than 8 F&B venues and has implemented many marketing communications strategies to assist in increasing Ovolo's global brand awareness, enhancing digital customer experience, increasing direct revenue and winning some prestigious awards including 'Hotel Brand of the Year' at the 2019, 2020 & 2022 HM Awards.

Stephen Lau was appointed the Senior Vice President, Asia Pacific for SC Johnson in 2020. With over 30 years of experience in general management, sales, and marketing within the Fast Moving Consumer Goods industry in the Asia Pacific region, Stephen has held sales leadership positions at prominent companies such as Procter & Gamble, Asia Pulp & Paper, Mars-Wrigley, and Colgate-Palmolive.

Stephen obtained his bachelor's degree in Business Administration from The Chinese University of Hong Kong and holds an EMBA qualification from Fudan/Washington University.

Sujatha has over 25 years of working experience in the field of Marketing. She has worked extensively in all key areas, such as Brand development, Launch strategy, Category Management, Retail strategy and promotions, Creating Advertising, Media, Consumer Behaviour, Client Engagement, Market Research and In-market implementation of Programs.

Sujatha is the Head of Marketing for Visa India and South Asia. She is responsible for driving the overall marketing strategy and execution, including consumer, retail and digital marketing initiatives for India and the emerging markets of Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal and the Maldives.

Prior to joining Visa, Sujatha was the Head of Brand & Reputation, Marketing & Strategy at Google India. She has over 25 years of experience in strong consumer marketing companies. Sujatha started her career at Procter & Gamble and, over the years, has gathered rich experience in sales and marketing across companies such as Gillette, Nokia, The Royal Bank of Scotland and Coca-Cola.

Growing up as the nerdy daughter of an obsessive history buff, Sulin dreamed of wandering the world as a journalist — but fate intervened, and she ended up in marketing instead. She went on to lead regional strategy teams at BBDO and DDB, and later led marketing and e-commerce for 2 telcos.

She’s been active at the Effies for a decade, having won Malaysia’s EFFIE Brand of The Year 8 times, the last 3 years in a row with Grab.

Before Grab, Sulin was the SEA Head of Agency Partnerships at Facebook. Now at Grab, she oversees the superapp's brand globally and leads B2C and B2B marketing across all countries.

Sulin also dabbles in teaching, writing, has published ThinkThings, a creative marketing tool helping small firms think big on a small budget.

These days she enjoys exploring SEA's obscure and colorful fringes while being foster mom and dog-trainer to a family of rescued strays.

Director Coffee & Beverages at Nestle , South Asia Region

Diverse professional journey spanning developing markets that included roles in General Management, Business Strategy, Marketing, Field Sales Operations in FMCG Multinational Corporations. Total experience 27 years with 17 years in Nestle and 10 years in Perfetti Van Melle.

Experiences range from business turnarounds, creation of new businesses, generation of robust growth for established businesses.

Grown up and lived mostly in India, exposure to global living and culture through a role based out of Switzerland.

Passionate about demonstrating exceptional and lasting outcomes can be delivered through respect, clarity of purpose and a conscientious approach with the North Star being to Create value and leave spaces better than they were before.

Sylvia Lee currently holds a dual role at Merz Aesthetics, as the Senior Vice President of Regional Marketing in APAC and the Regional Commercial for Greater China region. In this role, she oversees engagement with healthcare professionals and consumers across Asia Pacific.

Born and raised in Seoul, Korea, Sylvia’s career with Merz Aesthetics began in 2010, when she joined the Korea office and a year later, she moved to Singapore and joined the regional headquarters to run a filler franchise.

In 2014, Sylvia took on a new challenge to expand her responsibilities beyond Marketing function and became the Chief Representative in Vietnam to support the company’s geographical expansion where she spent her time establishing the organization and leading the day-to-day operations. She continued to build her commercial experience in the region, moving to Taiwan in 2015 to serve as the General Manager. She led the organization in TW aggressively accomplishing all the set goals and objectives for nearly 3 years in a row and made Taiwan the most profitable affiliate within the entire organization.

After Taiwan, Sylvia moved back to the Regional office in 2018 and has been leading the Regional Marketing Team ever since. She brought along her commercial experience with extensive marketing expertise in the Medical Aesthetics industry to lead the Regional Marketing Team and has pioneered various innovative campaigns such as Merz Aesthetics Serendipity Journey(MASJTM) which changed the narrative of Medical Aesthetics and helped normalizing Medical Aesthetics among HCP and consumer’s mind.

Prior to her work at Merz Aesthetics, she served as Product Manager for SkinCeuticals and Associate Marketing Manager for ELLE Korea in Hachette Filipacchi Media.

Sylvia graduated from Kyung Hee University, Seoul South Korea with Bachelor of Science (BSc).

A seasoned and passionate marketer, SzeKi is Senior Vice President and Head of EDB’s Brand, Marketing and Communications division. She leads integrated marketing and communications efforts to drive EDB’s mission of creating sustainable economic growth for Singapore, with vibrant businesses and good job opportunities.

SzeKi was previously Executive Director, Community and Brand at SGInnovate, which promotes Singapore as a place of thriving innovation in Deep Tech entrepreneurship. She built the brand and community team from scratch to achieve SGInnovate’s mission of enabling ambitious and talented men and women to build, commercialise and scale globally-relevant Deep Tech innovations from Singapore. In less than three years, she helped establish SG Innovate as a leading force in driving Deep Tech innovation and entrepreneurship in Singapore and internationally.

Terence Wu stands as a well-regarded figure in the digital marketing and e-commerce landscape, with an impressive tenure as the Corporate Director of Digital Marketing & E-Commerce at Capella Hotel Group since 2019. At the helm of Capella's digital marketing strategies, Terence has been pivotal in overseeing the group's digital and e-commerce business, setting a long-term global digital marketing and e-commerce infrastructure that encompasses brand.com, digital gift cards, email marketing, and performance marketing. His strategic vision has been instrumental in maximizing the group's direct revenue performance and establishing Capella Hotel Group as a leader in the digital realm.

Under Terence's leadership, the group witnessed a remarkable 50% year-on-year growth on its brand website from 2019 to 2022, making capellahotels.com the most cost-effective channel within the group.

Terence's strategic foresight in developing and championing the proprietary guest profiling strategy, Guest360, has given Capella Hotels the competitive edge of anticipating guest preferences based on nationality, enhancing the guest experience and satisfaction.

TseSan Wong, Head of Brand & Marketing at Maxis - the leading integrated telecommunications provider in Malaysia - has more than 20 years of experience in B2C and B2B marketing, media, digital and social.

She has built her experience in major global advertising and media networks such as Group M and Dentsu Group both in Malaysia and regionally. Coming from the strategy side of the business and working closely with seasoned global marketers, TseSan brings a critical view on marketing practices and effectiveness within the APAC landscape and its challenges. Prior to joining Maxis, she was Dentsu X’s APAC Head of Strategy for some of the most influencing global and APAC brands (Airbnb, Abbott, Huawei, Lazada, Marina Bay Sands, META (B2B), Shiseido,).

TseSan’s passion is unearthing new insights of the Asian consumers and bridging new ideas to connect with them authentically.

Veetika is a seasoned TAS (Tata Administrative Services) officer with over 21 years of professional experience within multiple Tata Group companies such as Tata Sons, Tata Starbucks, Tata Capital Limited, Titan Industries Limited, Tata Teleservices Limited, Tata Chemicals Limited and Tata Global Beverages in various capacities.

Veetika is currently the Global Vice President of Brands and Marketing for the Indian Hotels Company Limited. In her role, she is responsible for strategically managing all the marquee brands in the IHCL portfolio, including Taj – recognised as India’s strongest brand in 2023 by Brand Finance. She is also responsible for the various marketing initiatives, customer initiatives, the Loyalty program, and other membership programs of IHCL.

Veetika has an MBA in Finance and Marketing from the Faculty of Management Studies, Delhi and is a Fulbright Fellowship Programme scholar. She lives in Mumbai, India, with her husband and son, and her interests include sports, travelling and reading.

An accomplished marketing and brand director for Danone, Vincent has garnered extensive experiences across various domains including retailer, operations and trade marketing, equipping him with a comprehensive understanding across various facets of the business and industry.

Drawing from his international experiences across multiple countries like United Kingdom, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia, Vincent has cultivated a deep understanding of diverse markets and consumers. The exposure has endowed him with high cultural sensitivity and adaptability, enabling him to effectively navigate cross cultural dynamics both externally with consumers and internally within organization.

With a remarkable track record in his previous role as regional digital & data director, Vincent has demonstrated exceptional leadership abilities in leading transformations and capabilities building across digital, data, insights and ecommerce. With his commercial expertise and technical prowess, Vincent continues to drive Danone’s brands forward, ensuring their continued success in the ever-evolving marketplace.

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Alan was with J. Walter Thompson for 25 years, the last 10 as President Asia-Pacific and a member of the JWT Worldwide Board and Executive Committee.

Alan co-founded Duxton Consulting Group in 2009. Duxton uses unique psychological principles and data analysis to help companies create business opportunity. Duxton works with a broad range of Governmental and private companies across Asia and Europe.

Alan is also an investor and is the owner of Melon World GmbH, a manufacturer of cycling helmets.

He graduated from Durham University with an Honours Degree in Psychology and is the author of ‘The Age of Selfish Altruism’ published by Wiley & Co in April 2010.

Change, the only constant. Many don’t like it. I enjoy it. It brings opportunities, it drives business.

I‘m a strategist, a digital marketeer, a change manager, a team coach and team player, an inspirator, a brain for hire, a friend. I like to play at the intersection of technology, creativity, brands and business. I enjoy tech, good thinking, great company, culture and play. I explore the new and weird to find inspiration for team and client.

My focus lies in making the marketing ecosystem work for business and its bottom line. Clear objectives, a marketing strategy to achieve these, and directing the execution of it are key elements. A strategy shows its value only when the rubber hits the road.

After 30 years @ Publicis, BBDO, DDB, S&S, SapientNitro, Isobar and VMLY&R in Berlin, Amsterdam, London, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo I am now an independent brand and marketing consultant working across APAC.

Angela Bassichetti has 20 years of expertise carved in advertising and entertainment marketing.

Leading Creative Shop APAC at Meta for the last three years, Angela has overseen multi-cultural teams across the Asia Pacific to develop progressive, efficient and people first advertising.

With a solid digital background, since the early age of the internet in Brazil, Angela helped to build digital departments in advertising agencies like Publicis and Ogilvy, where she conceived and deployed creative work for global clients like J&J, Unilever, Samsung, and Coca-Cola. During her career, she was awarded in the most recognized ad industry international festivals, such as Cannes Lions, London Festival, Clio, and AD&D.

Before Facebook, she led the creative and production team at the Content Partnership division of Warner Media in Latin America, developing global and local projects, harnessing the power of creativity, and giving voice to brands to communicate with their consumers in a new and relevant way.

As a manager, she had the chance to lead a diverse team of creatives, strategists, and producers. Always working closely with the Ad Sales team, she designed omnichannel custom projects, scalable products, and solutions for the countries in the region.

Angela’s high-performance work profile can be understood by knowing that during her university days, she worked in the City Zoo and spent 6 hours a day painting forest murals in a cage with a 22 lbs Sucuri (Brazil’s giant snake). This curious fact can tell much about her resilience and ability to work under pressure.

Near four decades helping brands develop their stories across Asia Pacific. Dave started out at McCann in Sydney for nine years heading Strategic Planning. From 1996 he was then based in Bangkok, Hong Kong and Tokyo primarily as head of Consumer Insight and Strategic Planning for McCann Asia Pacific and at times acting as country lead in Thailand and Hong Kong. During that time he created and led McCann PULSE for 17 years, the longest running continuous qualitative investigation of AP people and what motivates them. In 2015 he started BIBLIOSEXUAL, a brand story consultancy looking at the narratives that frame brand stories. In 2017 he co-created Ai.agency, a co-operative that uses AI based research tools to explore brand narratives and in 2018 he also co-founded Marketing Futures in Bangladesh, helping brands in that country develop world class marketing skills.

Francis Flores boasts a remarkable 27-year trajectory in marketing and business strategy, with transformative roles at Smart Communications and Jollibee Foods Corporation. As Business Unit Head for Mobile at Smart, he led strategic campaigns to strengthen the brand and drive innovation, significantly enhancing the company's market position. His pioneering work contributed to Smart's leadership in telecommunications.

At Jollibee Foods Corporation, as Global Brand CMO, Flores' visionary leadership was crucial in global expansion. He launched the "Kwentong Jollibee" campaign, a narrative-driven approach that resonated worldwide, winning multiple 2018 APAC Effie Awards. This initiative exemplified his expertise in combining storytelling with strategic marketing for impactful brand engagement.

After his tenure at Smart, Flores embarked on a new venture, founding FEF Marketing Consulting, where he serves as CEO. This move marks a significant milestone, leveraging his extensive experience to offer strategic marketing insights and solutions to businesses aiming to navigate the complex digital landscape successfully.

Throughout his illustrious career, Flores has consistently demonstrated an exceptional ability to merge traditional and digital marketing strategies, guiding teams to achieve remarkable success. His contributions have significantly impacted the marketing industry, cementing his reputation as a distinguished leader, strategist, and innovator.

Originally from Germany, Jan has spent over 15 years in Asia (Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Bangkok). He is a seasoned expert in communication and marketing and has had local, regional and global roles in both international 4A agencies as well as on the client side (Global Media Investment Director at Huawei, Global Media Director at OPPO, Regional Director for Brand Media and Performance at foodpanda). He is passionate about insights, creativity, analytics, strategy and innovation and specializes in driving measurable business results through strategic campaigns and effective leadership. He successfully developed and implemented holistic data driven campaigns for world leading brands of various industries throughout China, Asia Pacific and Western Europe.

Jan is fluent in English, German, conversational in Mandarin Chinese and equipped with an MBA. As a respected industry expert, Jan is a regular industry panellist and judge for distinguished global, regional and local and marketing awards.

Since 2023 Jan leads Virtus Asia Consulting as the CEO aiming to become the partner he always wanted to have.

He has been CEO of LIVE BOARD since 2021 and was Managing Director of dentsu X China and CEO of dentsu X Vietnam. He is leading the growth of LIVE BOARD, the first programmatic OOH company in Japan based on NTT DOCOMO's big data, which is the most advanced in Asia. He has worked closely with many Japanese and global clients and his work experience at dentsu has equipped him with in-depth experience and strong expertise in IMC (Integrated Marketing Communication). He has succeeded to lead the amazing growth of LIVE BOARD and showed a strong presence in the global OOH market with clear vision.

Karthik Venkatakrishnan is currently the Managing Director for Consumer and Marketing insights at NIQ/GFK for the APAC region. He is an accomplished hands-on business executive with over 20 years of proven track record in insights, analytics and consulting areas. Demonstrated strength in roles ranging from commercial leadership to specialized focus on digital & technology enabled measurement. Our work focuses on helping companies based in APAC to efficiently anticipate changing consumer needs and behavior across all touch points of the consumer journey as well as to help them drive ROI of their marketing investments.

Experienced in putting together high-performing leadership teams, solving complex business issues & launching new businesses. Also has done product development, software and technology transformations, from start to end.

Involved in conceptualizing many product initiatives on new ways of doing market measurement including data integration with media & retail data, Marketing Mix Models, touchpoint optimization, mobile ad effectiveness and digital audience measurement. He is also recognized as an industry expert in digital and technology space, through transformation projects and thought leadership work.

Ken Mandel is the Regional Managing Director of GrabAds and Brand Insights. He leads the overall ads and brand insights strategy for Grab across Southeast Asia, and spearheads a fast-growing team comprising commercial, partnership and product functions to grow the advertising services business at Grab.

Ken's current remit at Grab is an eclectic accumulation of almost everything he has done in his 25 years in the industry. His vision for GrabAds is to support brands with offerings that span the full marketing funnel, enable marketers with deep insights of their customers’ behaviours and preferences, and help drive the ‘last click to the last mile’ for brands via the Grab platform.

A digital industry veteran, Ken has held various C-level positions across the Asia Pacific region at leading advertising, marketing and technology companies. Among his key career milestones include building XM Asia Pacific into one of the region’s leading digital consultancies; establishing Yahoo!’s advertising product line including Display, Search, Ad Network, Mobile and the RightMedia Exchange across Asia Pacific, as well as launching Buddy Media in Asia Pacific which was later acquired by Salesforce.

He is also a recognised leader, influencer and supporter of the Asia Pacific advertising industry, having held the position of Chairman at associations such as Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) and Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA).

Born in Hong Kong, Kitty received a Masters Degree in Advertising from Syracuse University, New York.

Kitty started as a copywriter and is the rare breed of creatives who moved up to management. She worked in Hong Kong, Taiwan and China mainland, for Leo Burnett, McCann, Euro RSCG, Arnold, Lowe and accumulated a lot of local and international creative awards. In 2016, Kitty moved to Facebook (now Meta) to head up Creative Shop Greater China to explore innovative ways to deliver creative content on a platform with the world’s largest audience.

In 2011, Kitty initiated and hosted the Cannes Lions main stage forum “Beyond Mad Man: Towards Gender Balance in Creative Roles”. She was honoured by AdAge as one of the Women to Watch in Advertising in China in 2013. Kitty was behind the world's most awarded print campaign in 2015. Judged and chaired many international and creative awards including D&AD and, Kitty is a two-time Cannes Lion jury.

Kitty is the author of “Kitty Lun | Advertising Without Lipstick”, 2003 in which she shared her philosophy and experience in her eventful advertising life. In 2022, she co-authored with 19 Advertising veterans and published “Philosophy of Everything"

Lee has over 30 years of experience in market research in both Europe and the Asia Pacific region. He began his career in a client side marketing role before joining GfK based in London.

2023- Present Vice President, Global, Media Measurement, GfK, an NIQ Company
Leading the Commercial Division for Media Measurement Globally

2011-2023 – Commercial Director APAC, Media, GfK Asia
Leading the media research division for one of the world’s leading market research agencies.
Involved in all areas of media research including industry currencies and custom projects.
Under his leadership, GfK was awarded the Radio Audience Measurement in Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and the multi-platform TV Audience Measurement in Singapore.

2009 – 2011 – Managing Director APAC, Analytic Partners
Leading a boutique analytics agency in the APAC region working with blue chip clients on marketing mix modelling projects.

2001 – 2009 – Sales & Marketing Director APAC, GfK Asia
Heading the commercial division of one of the leading market research agencies in the APAC region.

Lew Bentley is the owner of Headlight, a strategic consultancy based in New Zealand, but works across the wider APAC region. He is very experienced in business, marketing and communication strategy, shopper marketing, behaviour change, Digital marketing and customer experience.

Lew has previously worked as a strategic planner for agencies such as Clemenger BBDO, M&C Saatchi and The Campaign Palace, and as an independent strategic consultant and researcher. He has designed the strategy for many campaigns that have seen success at Effie and creative awards both in New Zealand and internationally. He has also been the Convener of Judges for the New Zealand Effies for five years, and the Beacons (media awards) for three years.

Before joining the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Mike had held prominent positions in marketing and communication. He was Greater China Marketing & Innovation Director of Diageo, the world’s leading producer of spirits and alcohol, overseeing brands like Johnnie Walker, Baileys, Guinness and Smirnoff. He was also North Asia Head of Strategy of Bates Asia, Greater China Vice President and Managing Director of McCann WordGroup, Managing Director of Ogilvy & Mather Advertising HK. He had also served as the Chairman of the Hong Kong Association of Accredited Advertising Agents (The HK4As). The markets witnessed the introduction of the Effie Award during his tenure as the 4HKAs Chairman.

Nikhil's journey reflects a deep passion for unearthing brand truths and translating them into captivating narratives. From his roots in broadcast and entertainment, shaping content for icons like Disney and National Geographic & Viacom, he seamlessly transitioned to the digital & led transformative initiatives for Aircel, Maxus, and Nestle, driving digital transformations & defining content strategies.

Now, as TikTok's Brand & Creative Lead (TH/ID/VN/GA+), Nikhil empowers brands and agencies to unlock their full potential on the platform. Leading a team of creative strategists across Southeast Asia, he fosters an environment of exploration and innovation, unlocking authentic voices for brands to connect with the dynamic TikTok audience.

With two decades of experience in the media and communications industry, I have built specialisations in communication for development and healthcare within agency networks like Ogilvy, DDB, Dentsu and Cheil. I have led mid-sized agencies with cross functional capabilities, working with a diverse portfolio of clients across sectors. As a brand strategist I have partnered with the GOI in the launch of flagship programs like Digital India and Aadhaar(UIDAI). Additionally, I have spearheaded research and learning initiatives and fostered brand strategy collaborations with Philips Healthcare, GSK, Hamdard Wellness, Danone, UNICEF, PSI, Dabur, Mother Dairy, Panasonic, Cisco, and Maruti.

In recent years, my focus has been to work at the intersection of healthcare and technology, delving into how the pandemic has reshaped people's interactions with healthcare and its influence on future consumer experiences. My certification in Digital Transformation in Health Care from the Harvard Medical School, has helped with learnings from real-world digital health transformation experiences and pilots. I am currently involved in building distinctive offline and online consumer experiences in adolescent health, elder care, social impact and financial inclusion. My academic foundation includes a master's degree from the London School of Economics.

Peter F. Smit, based in Switzerland, is an independent expert and advisor, specialized in Executive and General Management, Marketing and Sales, with focus on fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG). He was on the Board of Directors of the Softex Company in Indonesia (2016-2018), an advisor on FMCG projects in Iran and in South East Asia, and is an Investor and Advisor at Spinn Coffee, and at Environmental Technologies Pty Ltd, and more. His career spans more than 35 years in executive positions at the Hershey Company, Chiquita Brands International Inc, and the Procter & Gamble Company.

From 2007 to March 2014, Peter was the Senior Vice President at the Hershey Company in Singapore, overseeing the Asia, Europe, Middle East, and Africa Regions and part of the Global Management Team of the Hershey Company. His focus was to establish Hershey as a major player in the confectionary market throughout China, India, and ASEAN. He was responsible for five business units across the region, and over 750 employees (excluding manufacturing).

From October 2005 to August 2007 Peter was President of Asia Pacific & Middle East at Chiquita Brands International Inc, based in Singapore. In this role, he was responsible for reorienting this major global banana grower and trader in the region.

From 2002 to July 2005 Peter took time off to give back to the world. He joined the International Trade Centre (ITC), in Geneva, Switzerland, an Agency created by UNCTAD and WTO. As the Chief, Market Development Section, he was in charge of initiating and managing projects to develop the export capabilities in developing countries, funded by member countries of the United Nations.

From 1977 to 2002 Peter was with the Procter & Gamble Company for 25 years, evolving through the Marketing function, to positions of increasing responsibilities in General Management, in Eastern Europe, Middle East and in Asia, living in 8 different countries (Switzerland, UK, Germany, Turkey, Russia, Egypt, Indonesia, Singapore). He was General Manager and Vice President during the last 13 years of his career at P&G and his last function was Vice President and General manager of Baby Care and Fem Care in the Asean, Australasia and India region, based in Singapore.

Born in Haarlem, the Netherlands, Peter was raised in Indonesia and moved back to his native the Netherlands in 1958 where he completed his MBA studies in 1977 before joining the International Division of the Procter & Gamble Company (P&G E&SO) in Geneva, Switzerland.

Co-founder of BetterBriefs, ex-agency strategist. Pieter-Paul trains the world's biggest and most ambitious brands how to get better at writing briefs and evaluating ideas after having conducted the largest and first global study into briefs. Having won numerous Effie awards, including two Grand Effies and one IPA Effectiveness award, he knows client briefs and their effectiveness inside out.

Ramesh is the founder and principal consultant at In Plain Sight Consulting, a strategy boutique focused on the pursuit of simple and elegant paths to influence behaviour, build brands, groom talent and nurture relationships.

He has been in the business of building brands across Asia Pacific for more than 25 years, having held leadership roles in blue chip agencies like M&C Saatchi, Leo Burnett, Ogilvy and TNS. He is experienced in driving global and regional strategy for top-notch brands that include Carro, Friesland Campina, Samsung, BP Castrol, Philips, Shell and Royal Brunei Airlines among others.

His deep knowledge of Asian consumers combined with a passion to understand human behaviour is a proven asset in solving business problems for clients. He is passionate about Behavioural Economics, and is a firm believer in the power of ideas to influence behavioural change.

Rey Tiempo has built his expertise in creative marketing for the past twenty five years, leading teams to award-winning creative and effective work in the biggest advertising networks.

Rey is the founder and creator of “Game On”, the first and only industry column / portal of its kind with all original content on Gaming X Marketing, tackling the increasingly rich creative and strategic branding opportunities in gaming.

Rey is a multi-awarded creative gaming marketer and quite possibly, the biggest gamer in the advertising industry. His passion for gaming, music, comic book, literature, and pop culture have led to some of the most landmark achievements in the industry - among them, the Philippines’ first-ever Cannes Lions in Gaming, the country’s first-ever Spikes Asia Grand Prix for a Gaming work, the country’s first-ever Best in Discipline for Gaming at ONE Asia, as well as multiple Grand Prix, Golds and various metals and citations at MAD Stars, ADFEST, New York Festivals, Clio, AWARD, D&AD, and London International Awards.

A proven industry leader, Rey has served as President of the Creative Guild of the Philippines and has been invited to juries around the world: from the New York Festivals to ADFEST, Spikes Asia, APAC Effies, MAD Stars, ADC, Creativepool Annual.

Rey preaches his motto “Playing while working” while leading industry talks on tech and the future of creative marketing in gaming: most recently, in an ADFEST session introducing APAC marketing leaders to Gaming X Marketing; at DigiMax, moderating the gaming track at the country’s premier Digital Marketing Summit; and at a Cannes Lions Live session, on gaming and its many brand opportunities.

Sajju Ambat is the Chief Strategy Officer at Strata Consulting.

Sajju has an advertising & consulting career spanning 20 years. He has worked as a planner/strategist across markets in Asia, Southeast Asia & the Middle East. He has been managing strategy for marketers like Unilever, Nestle, Suntory Pepsico, Renault, General Mills, Sanofi, Perfetti, Etisalat, J&J & Tinder.

His work in brand strategy & marketing effectiveness has been recognized at Cannes, Jay Chiat Day, WARC Asian Strategy Prize, Tambuli & AMES. He has been consistently winning mobile & digital awards at MMA, MOBEX, EPICA, MENA Cristal & SPIKES.

LIFE OBJECTIVE: SIMPLICATE
SUPPORTS: BREAK BUT BUILD

Subbaraju Alluri, better known as Raju is an Integrated brand builder with 20+ years of experience in multiple categories across various regions and communication disciplines.

Currently he leads the Asia operations at Genero building truly borderless creative eco-system for brands through Technology. He advises brands faced with demanding creative challenges and changing media landscapes create powerful creative work.

Prior to Genero Raju headed a number of Grey operations in the Asia region including stints as the CEO of Grey Group Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand. He was winner of The Agency professional of the year - 2011 and Agency Head of the year 2014 at the Singapore Hall of fame awards show. Under Raju's leadership, Grey Group Singapore won the Agency of the year and Digital agency of the year at the Gong show Singapore in 2015. Within 12 months of taking over the duties at Grey Indonesia, The agency was awarded “ Creative agency of the year (Silver) at the Campaign Asia Awards in December 2018.

Under Raju’s leadership Grey went on to win multiple Global, Regional and Local awards for creativity and effectiveness namely at Cannes, D&AD, Clio, One Show, Webby, Spikes Asia and many more.

Having headed multiple award winning strategy teams across creative and media holding companies in SEA, today Udara functions as the Insights & Client Strategy Director at Ogury APAC - the Ad-tech platform that is championing a cookie-less and an ID-less digital future for brands across the world termed as Personified Advertising Technology. He is also a mentor for Start-ups in SEA as well as a visiting University lecturer on Digital & Design Thinking in Singapore.

Yoshi is an international planner who founded StrategyX, a strategy-focused brand marketing company, which is one of the largest network of bilingual planners in Japan. He possesses extensive experience from his six years leading the planning department at McCann Tokyo. He has lived, studied, and worked in many parts of the world, including the United States, China, and Japan. He started his career in Hakuhodo as a planner and later moved to Shanghai Hakuhodo as the Head of Strategic Planning, where he worked on projects for prominent international brands ranging from toiletry brands to automotive brands.

APAC Effie 2019 Silver (Thermos), APAC Effie Jury 2016-2020, Global Effies 'Best of the Best' Grand Jury 2021.

He is also a well-known Chinese market specialist with an academic background, has written numbers of published books, and has contributed to numerous articles in business magazines in Japan. His speech regarding globalization at Adfest, Spikes, and Effies met favorable reception.

His love towards China has also led to judging the 2012 & 2014 Chinese International Advertising Festival, appeared on TV debate program "Brainstorm", and taught advertising planning as a Visiting Professor at Shanghai Tongji University.

Yoshi is passionate about the forces that are driving our industry, and has a fascination for Asian culture. He holds a Master’s degree in International Affairs (East Asian Studies) from The George Washington University in Washington DC. Currently Yoshi also teaches brand strategy at Aoyama Gakuin University MBA in Tokyo, and also serves as a Specially Appointed Professor at National Shinshu University.