Page 37 - Internationalist Magazine 2015 75

P E R S P E C T I V E S
I
I

N
N
agency leadership and GroupM to revamp the network’s dig- N
N
Aaron Lau has been a vibrant part of the advertising

ital approach dramatically:
industry since 1983, and has worked for a variety of global O
O

agencies including Ogilvy & Mather Hong Kong and New V
V
• Digital is not a silo, it’s not just ‘fully integrated’

York, DDB Hong Kong and DDB Greater China where he but digital thinking – the application of informa- A
A

was appointed to the DDB Worldwide Board as Asia Pa- tion, the challenge of technology (de ned as the T
T
ci c’s only representative and member. He set up his own tools the person is using) and the use of imagina- O
O

boutique, Bravo Asia, in 2006 to provide advertising services tion – has become everyone’s job and everyone’s R
R

and develop an integrated services platform. Six years later, responsibility as part of our unique systems think- S
S

Bravo Asia was acquired by Cheil Worldwide, and Aaron ing approach.

took on the role of CEO for Cheil Greater China.
• At the same time specialist skills are being recog- 2
2
He is an undisputed advertising and communications, nized as important, celebrated and pushed.
0
0
and as such has served on a number of prominent advisory • Knowledge dissemination and local market skills 1
1

boards in Asia, including the Hong Kong Trade Develop- have been given a higher priority with dedicated 5
5

ment Council, HK-China Business Council and the Shanghai roles created covering global media partnerships,

Xu Hui District Mayor’s International Advisory Board.
mobile, social and programmatic.
In his expanded new role, Lau will divide his time largely She says, “Here at MediaCom we’re always looking at how

between China and London, while reporting to Cheil Global to do things differently to do them better. I love our Bose

COO Michael Kim.
work, which used Spotify’s unique insights to uncover hid-

den musical movements from around the world and Vice to
Deirdre McGlashan, Global Chief Digital
turn those insights into beautiful content, and won a Lion at
Of cer — MediaCom
Cannes. Our systems thinking approach enables innovation
because we’re looking at the entire system of communica-
Deirdre McGlashan believes that
tion, not just one part of it. We’re enabled by tech and data
innovation isn’t about technology
but real innovation comes from the brilliant minds who use or job titles. To her, innovation is

that tech and data.”
de ned by a viewpoint that every-

one can and should be innovating Deirdre has also widely championed the role of women
in tech across the industry. She spoke on the Cannes Lions
in their roles. It is about always
stage this year alongside speakers from Unruly and Dell to
wanting to do it better, looking at
challenges from a different angle address the issues surrounding women in tech and how the

and solving a problem.
gender gap can be closed.

She is a boundary pusher, a
Shannon Pruitt, President, The Story
challenger, and always willing to break what exists in the
Lab — Dentsu Aegis Network’s Branded

search for better solutions. She never lets the setbacks stop Content Agency

her in her quest to make something smarter and more ef-
fective. Deirdre co-founded analogfolk in 2008, moved to According to Shannon Pruitt,

China to run wwwins Isobar Greater China in 2009, and is “Great content begins and ends

now revolutionizing about people think about digital at Me- with people, while data, insights

diaCom. At the heart of her approach is a total engagement and new technologies ensure the
content is audience-led, targeted,
with the need to help MediaCom’s clients understand the
digital opportunities of today as well as prepare for tomor- and on-brand. New technology

row’s challenges.
and media platforms are enabling

Her perspective is informed by having worked across all us to reach niche audiences,

aspects of digital – creative, production, development, op- as well as those that are often
underrepresented in the old para-
erations, media, strategy, technology, and data. This wider
view is driving her program to put digital into the job de- digm.” She goes on to explain how her company, The Story

scription of every one of the network’s 6,000 staff globally. Lab, recently partnered with the media company MiTu to

Since she arrived in 2014, Deirdre has worked alongside the
develop an in uencer program aimed at bi-cultural Hispanic

www.internationalistmagazine.com 35