WFA refreshes Asia Advisory Board

The Asia Advisory Board is an essential element of the WFA’s recognition that Asia Pacific has a distinct and varied set of marketing challenges as well as a media landscape that’s very different from Europe and North America.

Twelve experienced marketers from a wide range of brands across the region have joined the board and will play a key role in developing WFA priorities, guidance and events. The board will also work closely with local associations to ensure that its agenda provides value to marketers in each country across Asia Pacific.

These marketers will also bring their voice to the global WFA agenda to ensure that issues that are relevant across the region are addressed and inform the organisation’s work, feeding back to the Global CMO Forum in particular.

The board members represent a cross section of categories and markets to reflect the full diversity of Asia Pacific. The board consists of:

• Edward Bell, General Manager Brand, Insights & Marketing Communications, Cathay Pacific;
• Lex Bradshaw-Zanger, Chief Marketing & Digital Officer, SAPMENA Region, L’Oréal;
• Juliana Chu, Vice President of Digital & Ecommerce, Asia Pacific, Shiseido
• Sameer Desai, Vice President Marketing and Commercial Operations Asia Pacific, Align Technology;
• Rupen Desai, CMO & Venture Partner, Una Terra;
• Cheryl Goh, Group Head, Marketing & Sustainability, Grab;
• Chiradeep Gupta, Vice President, Global Head of Media & Digital, Personal Care, Unilever;
• Mikimasa Hamamatsu, Division General Manager, Global Marketing, NISSAN;
• Silas Lewis-Meilus, Global Head of Media Business Units, Haleon;
• Kenneth Lim, Assistant Chief Executive, Marketing Group, Singapore Tourism Board;
• Kok Hwee Ng, General Manager, Marketing, Zespri; and
• Josephine Tan, VP, Digital Hub APAC, Diageo.

The Asia Advisory Board is an essential element of the WFA’s recognition that Asia Pacific has a distinct and varied set of marketing challenges as well as a media landscape that’s very different from Europe and North America.

As part of the revamp of the AAB and the WFA’s work in Asia Pacific, Laura Forcetti, Global Head of Sourcing at the WFA, will also take on the role of Director, Marketing Services Asia Pacific, and will now be based in Singapore.

As Global Head of Sourcing, Laura has successfully built up the organisation’s profile among marketing procurement professionals and helped the sector manage its transition to value through the launch of Project Spring.

“I’m hugely excited to be leading the WFA’s efforts across APAC and looking forward to getting to know more about our members and their challenges, as we develop a programme of work that aligns with the urgent needs of the regions’ marketers and enables them to build better marketing campaigns that help their businesses grow”; said Laura.