Asia Advisory Board

Asia Advisory Board

Asia Advisory Board

About the board

With 17 Asian and Asia-based corporate members and 10 national advertiser associations within our region, we are uniquely positioned to drive industry change across Asia, and to facilitate the exchange of ideas between the best marketing minds in our business.  

Widescale change takes focus and for this we have established our Asia Advisory Board with a view to set a regional agenda for brand marketers.

Advisory Board Members

Our board reflects the diversity of the region, with a mix of global, regional and local marketers, brands and sectors. All members are currently based within the region. 

The board is led by WFA's Vice President for APAC, Rupen Desai.

Asia VP & Chairs

  • Rupen Desai
    Rupen Desai Rupen WFA Asia VP & Advisory Board Member Copenhagen Cartel
    Rupen is the co-founder of The Shed 28 (TS/28), an organisation which helps build purpose-driven brands, and a Board Member of Copenhagen Cartel, as well as being WFA’s Regional VP for APAC. Previously, he was Global CMO at Dole, stewarding the company’s mission to provide equal access to good nutrition for everyone, delivered in a positive and sustainable manner. Prior to Dole, he was Edelman’s Vice-Chairman across Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa. During this time, he also led Edelman’s Women’s leadership network. He began his career with Mullen Lowe, where he spent two decades, leading the Asia-Pacific region for the last six. He is a strong advocate of the responsibility purposeful business and creativity have, towards the interdependence between people, planet and prosperity.
  • Silas Lewis-Meilus
    Silas Lewis-Meilus Silas Asia Chair, Media Forum& Global Head of Media Business Units, GSK

Corporate Members

  • Shyam Balasubramanian
    Shyam Balasubramanian Shyam Castrol head of brands ( cars , bikes , trucks), Castrol
  • Edward Bell
    Edward Bell Edward General Manager Brand, Insights & Marketing Communications, Cathay Pacific
  • Juliana Chu
    Juliana Chu Juliana Vice President of Digital & Ecommerce, Asia Pacific, Shiseido
  • Chiradeep Gupta
    Chiradeep Gupta Chiradeep VP, Personal Care Head of Media and Global Integrated Media Strategy Lead, Unilever
  • Mikimasa Hamamatsu
    Mikimasa Hamamatsu Mikimasa General Manager, Global Marketing, Nissan Motor Corporation
  • Josephine Tan
    Josephine Tan Josephine Global Technology - Solutions Readiness Director, Digital/Mobile , McDonald's

Objectives and aims

There are five objectives for this group: 

  1. To help determine the direction for WFA’s regionally-focused work, as it relates to the unique challenges of our markets.
  2. To identify key global issues that require adaptation and application at a regional level
  3. To champion the WFA’s priorities within our industry
  4. To impact regional growth through recruitment and retention efforts
  5. To provide a platform for leadership board members to share ideas, experiences, best practices and progress made with common challenges.  

In the face of on-going COVID-19 challenges, the WFA Asia Advisory Board will also offer strategic counsel in shaping our response as an industry, while providing support and guidance to our network of regional marketers. 

Meetings & Commitment

Meetings will be held approximately once per quarter via web conference. This will be a 90-minute session that will provide Board Members with updates on global initiatives and policy updates, discuss upcoming regional meetings as well as identify priorities and areas of focus for the group.  

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