JUDGES

With a career in Journalism with media groups both in Malaysia and Australia as well as Corporate Communications consulting expertise with two leading Public Relations agencies spanning more than 12 years representing clients such as BMW Group Malaysia, LVMH, Royal Philips Electronics Malaysia and ING Insurance, Sashi Ambi is currently the Corporate Communications Manager at BMW Group Malaysia.

At BMW, he is responsible for the overall Communications and Stakeholder Relations initiatives for the premium carmaker in Malaysia which comprise of the BMW, MINI and BMW Motorrad brands. Additionally, Sashi also oversees the Government Affairs function for the Group in the country as well as the specialised Sustainability Communications function, communication the Group’s BMW EfficientDynamics strategy in the country.
 

Steve Dahllof is president and CEO of Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, Asia Pacific (Ogilvy PR), responsible for the network’s operations throughout the region.

Steve’s broad background—over 30 years as a journalist, creative director, strategic planner, client lead and managing director of the network’s largest office, combined with his expertise in branding, message development, corporate communications, product marketing, public education and public affairs, make him a sought-after senior counselor by clients across the globe. He also has extensive experience with a variety of industries from healthcare and technology to education, NGOs, finance and consumer packaged goods.

Steve’s deep analytical ability to dig into research and uncover key audience motivators and barriers, gives him insight into framing effective campaign strategies time and time again. He is one of the agency’s senior advisors for key accounts across a wide range of countries, corporations, non-profits and government agencies, including the World Economic Forum’s Water Initiative, Barclays, Wells Fargo, Pfizer, the US Centers for Disease Control, Bayer, GSK, United Way, Nestlé, Unilever, Johnson & Johnson, Capgemini and WebMD.

Steve has been with Ogilvy PR since 1987. Prior to his current position, he served as global lead of the agency’s Strategy+ Planning Group, developing branding and communications

programs for clients around the world. He is a trained facilitator with an ability for finding agreement even when stakeholders come to the table with very different agendas. Steve has media trained many of the agency’s top clients across the world. A combination of his background as a journalist, his approachable style and his ability to craft salient messages, make his media training workshops both enjoyable and highly relevant to clients.

Prior to joining Ogilvy PR, Steve created and was executive editor of Restaurants USA—one of the leading trade publications in the hospitality industry. Steve also served as the National Restaurant Associations’ marketing and merchandising specialist, authoring more than 40 articles about marketing and food service promotions. His career began at the Food Marketing Institute, providing foreign members with insight into U.S. marketing and merchandising trends. In addition, Steve had his own marketing business, Words & Pictures. As a writer, photographer and graphic designer his work was featured in a wide variety of national publications including USA Today, Washington Post, The New York Times and Photography Today. 

Steve was named the industry’s Creative All-Star by Inside PR. He holds a Bachelor's degree in International Communications and Cross-Cultural Analysis from The George Washington University. 

Based in Hong Kong, Lynne Anne is responsible for overseeing the Asia Pacific operations of Fleishman-Hillard International Communications, including 16 owned offices in nine countries.  She joined the firm at its U.S. headquarters in 1990 and transferred to Asia in 1997.

Lynne Anne assumed regional responsibilities in 2001.  Since that time, the firm’s Asia Pacific business has expanded exponentially and is the fastest growing region in the 80-office network today.  In the last five years, the region has more than doubled sales and added multiple new offices.  Recruiting and career development for the firm’s greatest asset – its talent – are among her chief responsibilities, in addition to leading growth strategies, business expansion, and enhancement of the firm’s reputation for quality consulting and creativity, thought leadership and being employer of choice in the industry.   In 2004 and again in 2008, Fleishman-Hillard was named “Asia Pacific PR Network of the Year” by MEDIA/Campaign.  In 2010, The Holmes Report named Fleishman-Hillard “Japanese Consultancy of the Year” and “Asia Pacific Agency of the Year” in 2011.  In 2000, under Lynne Anne’s leadership as MD of Hong Kong, the office was named “Asia Pacific Consultancy of the Year” at the Asia PR Awards. 

With more than 80 offices globally, the firm’s regional client portfolio includes multiple government ministries, global industry champions and local challengers, and an increasing number of leading Asian-based enterprises with significant global growth ambitions, particularly from China and India.  

Lynne Anne led the establishment of the firm’s Global China Practice, launched in 2011 at the World Economic Forum in Dalian, China, as a platform for Chinese enterprises expanding abroad.  It includes a China Masters Exchange Program in partnership with Stanford University, George Washington University, Washington University and the London School of Economics.  The initiative provides tuition assistance to Mandarin speaking seniors who, upon graduation, are provided a fast-track position alongside a senior Fleishman-Hillard practitioner in the region of their study before transferring to one of the firm’s Greater China offices.  It is a major strategic investment in the next generation of communications counsellors groomed to serve increasing needs of the firm’s Chinese clients, while providing an additional pipeline of well-trained Chinese executives to Fleishman-Hillard Greater China, which is poised to triple in size over the next five years. 

Ms. Davis holds a journalism degree, cum laude, from the University of Missouri.  She is married, with two toddlers who keep her life as full of adventure at home as it is at work. 
 

In 2011, Jean-Michel Dumont marked his 25th year in Asia, and his expertise has helped Ruder Finn to become one of the top 3 international PR agencies in the China market and a recognized leader in several areas, including automotive, healthcare and corporate programs.

To provide counsel on communication issues, Mr. Dumont draws on his knowledge and experience from many different types of campaigns for a broad spectrum of clients. In the arena of corporate communication and public affairs, he worked with the Finnish Foreign Trade Association to reposition the country’s image, and with the French Government and clients after the Olympics issue with Beijing. He was also involved with the Beijing 2000 Olympic Bid and Beijing government communication support during the SARS period. He also assisted in setting up crisis protocols and trained executives for companies in the healthcare industry such as Boehringer Ingelheim, Roche and Novartis.

Jean-Michel also has been involved in positioning and product launches for global clients, including Mars Inc., Danone and Procter & Gamble, as well as the repositioning of Audi in the Chinese market. His lengthy experience in Asia gives Mr. Dumont a thorough understanding of how to create and implement image-building programs throughout the region. Additionally, his branding experience at Format Ltd. let him handle all design and corporate production for clients such as Cathay Pacific Airways, The Hong Kong Provisional Airport Authority, Swire and Hong Kong Tourist Association.

His lengthy experience in Asia gives Mr. Dumont a thorough understanding of how to create and implement image-building programs throughout the region. A native of France, he is fluent in French, English, Spanish and Portuguese and has a working knowledge of Mandarin, Italian and Indonesian.

Managing Director, Linda Fulford, formed Fulford Public Relations in 1999 when she was approached to provide services for two major accounts in the region: The Davidoff Asian PGA Tour and the West McLaren Mercedes Formula One Team.

As the owner of the agency, she has a well-earned appreciation of the value of public relations; she knows that the overall strategy must be supported by the details, and she brings that knowledge to every campaign that Fulford takes on.

Linda has made a point of recruiting account directors and managers who can turn creativity into bottom-line results. Her knowledge of consumer marketing, corporate relations, sports sponsorship and events management is a strong complement to the overall service provided by the agency.

Linda has overseen a great bulk of the agency’s consumer-related and regional accounts, which include F&N, The Macallan, IOC Meeting, Visa’s Member Bank Conference and some of the key accounts she is currently overseeing includes the Singapore Sports Hub, Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore, National Heritage Board, MCYS Child Abuse, BBC Channels particularly BBC Lifestyle and the Asian Food Channel.

Current Position
James is responsible for overall strategy and for ensuring the full complement of H&K’s system wide capabilities are delivered to our clients. James has 20 years experience in providing strategic counsel to companies and governments doing business and operating in Asia. Landmark client work includes the Beijing Olympics; the first RMB denominated IPO in Hong Kong; and strategic counsel to China’s largest listed SOE in the oil industry.

Prior History
James started his career as a media consultant with H&K Singapore in 1985.  Prior to re-joining H&K in 2004, James ran the JBH Consulting Group in New York, advising companies and governments dealing with Asia. Before that, he was President of China Online Inc.; Managing Director for corporate strategy, Bankers Trust/Deutsche Bank; and Manager of the Worldwide Asia team at the Boston Consulting Group where he worked extensively with Japanese keiretsu and Korean chaebol. In the early 90’s, James spear-headed Chase Manhattan Bank’s re-entry to China, when as VP of Corporate Development, he opened the bank’s representative office in Shanghai and its first branch since 1949 in Tianjin. Since then, he has successfully guided Western companies entering and operating in China, as well as Chinese companies with overseas market entry and expansion.

Other Information
James is a well-known speaker and author on the subject of business and investment in China, and his articles have appeared in The Economist, The Far Eastern Economic Review, Business Traveller Magazine, and the Canada-China Business Review. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and its Independent Economic Task Force on China which is charged with delivering policy advice to the White House. He is also a member of the National Committee on US-China Relations and sits on several company boards in the media sector and China.

James was the first American Fulbright Scholar at the National University of Singapore. He holds an MBA from The Wharton School as well as an MA in International Relations and a BA in Oriental Studies from the University of Pennsylvania

Based at Huawei's headquarters in Shenzhen, China, Ross is responsible for driving media relations strategies and initiatives across key international markets. He manages the company's global public relations network, overseeing day-today operations.

With over a decade of experience as a public relations professional, Ross previously held key positions in publicly listed companies that have significant international operations. Prior to joining Huawei, Ross worked as a senior consultant with The Hoffman Agency, an international public relations consultancy, serving a wide range of blue chip IT and telecom industry clients. Having begun his career in corporate communications with NYSE-listed Asia Pacific Resources International Holdings, a pulp and paper manufacturer. Ross has served in similar  capacities at Nasdaq-listed Pacific Internet Ltd, an Internet service provider and Singapore-listed CSE Global, a systems integrator serving the oil and gas industry.

Ross holds a bachelor of arts in communications from the University of Canberra in Australia.

Paul Hasegawa has worked in the fields of marketing, advertising, market research and management. Prior to joining COSMO in 2001, he served as President and Representative Director of ACNielsen Japan. During his tenure there, he developed the firm’s pharmaceutical market research practice into a major service in Japan.

He previously worked at I&S/BBDO (formerly I&S), where he handled all of the firm’s international accounts, and at Ogilvy & Mather where he was second in command for the firm’s Japan practice.
 

Paul began his career in marketing with Pepsi-Cola as a creative services manager, and was
subsequently promoted to Pepsi-Cola Brand Manager for Japan, Marketing Manager for Southeast Asia and finally Marketing Director for East Asia.

Since joining COSMO, he has led the company’s Food & Food Science practice and has been at the forefront of food safety communication in Japan through his work with the United States Meat and Export Federation (USMEF).

Jennifer S. James is the Regional Director, Corporate Affairs for PepsiCo Asia Pacific, a

position she has held since 2010.

In this role, Jennifer has responsibility for external and internal communications, corporate social responsibility, and government and public affairs for PepsiCo in Asia Pacific, partnering with PepsiCo leaders in 23 countries. Jennifer also leads the regional communications strategies for advancing PepsiCo's unique commitment to sustainable growth, called Performance with Purpose.

Before joining PepsiCo, Jennifer held communications leadership positions at Unilever Australasia in Sydney, where she oversaw corporate communications and external affairs, and at L’Oreal USA in New York. Prior to joining L’Oreal, Jennifer’s career was in journalism, where, as an accomplished reporter and writer, she worked for publications such as the Wall Street Journal and TIME Magazine, for which she wrote six cover stories.

Jennifer holds a B.A from the University of Melbourne, and an M.S. in Journalism from Columbia University, New York. She sits on the Public Affairs Committee of Food Industry Asia, a regional trade association, and on the Executive Committee of Waterhope, a collaborative social enterprise based in the Philippines that aims to provide safe drinking water to at least one million Filipinos by 2015. She is also a member of the International Association of Business Communicators.

Jennifer is based in Hong Kong.

Baxter Jolly was appointed vice chairman, Asia Pacific in February 2010. He is responsible for overall leadership of regional practices and multinational client services. Baxter is also managing director of Southeast Asia. He joined the firm in September 2005, as managing director of the Singapore office, a position he held until August 2011. Under his leadership, Weber Shandwick Singapore is today the largest and leading PR agency in Singapore. 

The agency was awarded Outstanding Overall PR Consultancy of the Year at the PRISM Awards 2010. In 2009, the agency was named winner in the SABRE (Asia Pacific) Awards 2009 and IPRA Golden World Awards 2009 in the financial communications category. In 2008, the firm was awarded a Stevie Award for “Best PR Agency” globally by The International Business Association. In addition, the firm won a category award for Best Financial campaign at the Asia Pacific PR Awards 2008 and two runner-up positions for “Agency Head of the Year” and “Consultancy of the year”. He also led the firm to four awards at the Asia Pacific PR Awards 2007, including Runner-up for "Consultancy of the Year". In 2006, the firm was voted the Number One agency for PR companies in Singapore by Marketing magazine

Prior to Weber Shandwick, Baxter was the managing director of GolinHarris Singapore, sister company under the Interpublic Group to Weber Shandwick. Before moving to Singapore, Baxter was executive director of a boutique PR agency in Japan. In that capacity, Baxter provided counsel to a number of multinational clients based in Tokyo and Osaka. From 1999 to 2002 Baxter led the corporate, travel and financial practice at a leading international PR agency in Hong Kong. He began his consultancy career as a senior consultant with Ludgate Asia (renamed Weber Shandwick) in Hong Kong in 1998.

He has provided counsel on communications issues for corporate and government clients and has experience across a wide range of sectors including aviation, banking (retail and investment), consumer lifestyle, entertainment, finance and investor relations, healthcare, hospitality, luxury, technology and telecommunications, transportation and logistics, property and tourism. Besides counseling and client servicing, Baxter occasionally conducts media training and presentation training. He has also counseled on a number of client crises.   

Before entering the communications industry, Baxter led the trading team for a Malaysian equity house in Hong Kong. Baxter holds a bachelor’s degree in politics and history with joint honours from Queens Mary’s College and the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London and a diploma in law from Wolverhampton University in the United Kingdom. A Malaysian national, Baxter speaks Bahasa Malaysia.

David Ketchum is President, Asia-Pacific, Bite Communications.  David is on Bite’s global board and in addition to leading the development of the business in this region, he also has a remit to drive the development of Bite’s digital capabilities worldwide.  He is also Chairman of the Asia Digital Marketing Association, and the author of the book “Big M, Little m Marketing; New Strategies For the New Asia.”

David founded regional communications firm Upstream Asia, which was merged with Bite in 2009.  Prior to that, he was Senior Vice President, Marketing and Communications, Asia Pacific with Calvin Klein, Inc. He has also held senior management positions internationally with Burson-Marsteller and Hill and Knowlton.

David began his career in New York in 1983, and has worked extensively throughout Asia and in Europe. 

Andrew Kirk is the Managing Director of Hong Kong & Taiwan providing counsel to clients in corporate communication strategy, crisis and issues management, media, government, and stakeholder relations. He has been with Edelman since 2009 and most recently rebuilt the Hong Kong Corporate practice, more than tripling its size with a high-quality strategic offer, creating a new offering combining Corporate Reputation and Sustainability, and further building upon the firm’s leadership in Crisis, Issues Management and Training as a strategically critical end of the business.

Andrew has 12 years of experience working in Asia, and was previously General Manager and Executive Counsel at Hill & Knowlton Australia at the time it won PRWeek’s Asia Pacific’s Agency of the Year award. Along with advising corporations and CEOs, he also works with senior executives each year conducting leadership, media, and crisis and communication skills training.

Andrew has won a number of industry awards including one for a pro bono campaign he helped conceive for Young Care that involved him walking 300 kilometers from the Australian capital city Canberra to Sydney in nine days. He is passionate about giving back to the community and helping businesses make a real difference in their communities and broader society.

Andrew is a board member of the Mekong Club, a foundation made-up of senior Hong Kong business people attempting to abolish human trafficking and slavery in Asia.

He is a former senior broadcast journalist with seven years experience in radio and television. He spent the last six of his journalism years at a major Australian TV news station as a senior reporter, Chief of Staff, Foreign editor and producer of the morning, evening and late news bulletins. He has a Bachelor of Arts - Journalism from CSU Bathurst.

He still harbors ambitions to play rugby for Australia and front a massive, globally recognized rock band. He lives in Hong Kong with his wife and four children, who he forces to listen to old rugby stories and watch him perform “air guitar” in the kitchen.

David Ko is executive vice president and managing director of Asia Pacific at Waggener Edstrom Worldwide. He is a veteran of the Asia public relations and marketing scene with a wealth of experience accumulated over 20 years of agency and in-house experience. 

Founder of Shout Communications, a pan-Asia boutique agency acquired by Waggener Edstrom in 2005, David now oversees the company’s Asia operations, including China, Hong Kong and Singapore, as well as a network of affiliates that spans major cities from Seoul to Kuala Lumpur. As EVP for Asia Pacific, David is also responsible for expanding the agency’s presence in the region through organic growth or new affiliations. 

Before founding his own consultancy, David was Asia Pacific director of marketing for Redback Networks Inc., a San Jose, Calif.-based provider of networking solutions for the broadband and optical transmission markets. In that capacity, he oversaw Redback’s corporate marketing programs for the Asian region, covering countries extending from Japan and Korea in the north to Australia and New Zealand in the south. Directing a dedicated team of events, PR and field marketing experts based throughout the region, he generated substantial buzz for this NASDAQ-listed company within a short time.

Prior to Redback, David headed up Cisco Systems Inc.’s North Asia public relations, managing the networking giant’s external image in Korea, China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. At Cisco, he helped to drive such high-octane regional PR programs as NetAid and Cisco Networking Academy, and participated in many CEO-level government relations activities involving various Asian heads of state.

In addition to his in-house experience, David spent more than five years in the PR agency field, working at multinationals such as Hill & Knowlton and Edelman Worldwide. Before joining Cisco Systems, he was group director of Hill & Knowlton’s technology practice, with overall responsibility for the Greater China region. Client teams that he led serviced Microsoft, BT (formerly British Telecom), AMD, Compuware, Tektronix and Iomega, among many others. At Edelman, he was senior consultant servicing a portfolio of clients that included AST Computer, EMC, Fujitsu/ICL, and Novell Inc.

A keen technophile, David was contributing editor of IDG’s PC World Hong Kong edition from 1993 to 1995, when he wrote two monthly columns under his byline, one covering the then-burgeoning Internet, the other on high-tech gaming and entertainment.

A graduate of the Hong Kong Polytechnic (now Hong Kong Polytechnic University), David is fluent in English, Mandarin and Cantonese.

Shingo Nomura is the Vice President of North Asia with 20 years of experience in the PR industry. Since he joined The Hoffman Agency Japan in 2002, he has provided strategic counseling to over 40 technology/Internet related companies for raising company/organization/product profile in both domestic and overseas market. He has also provided issue management consulting for issues that occur both domestically and internationally. He is currently responsible for overseeing the Japanese and the Korean market.

Prior to joining The Hoffman Agency, Shingo worked with PRAP Japan for four years, where he established solid business relationship with clients from the IT industry and grew the agency’s IT division by three-fold. Shingo began his career in marcom/PR with Weber Shandwick Worldwide where he worked on several high-tech and pharmaceutical accounts.

A 24-year veteran of MSL, Glenn is the President of Publicis Groupe’s flagship speciality communications, PR and events agency, MSLGROUP in Asia.

Glenn oversees the Asia operations which includes over 22 owned offices and 700 employees in Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong, Singapore, Kuala Lampur, Seoul, Tokyo, Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Pune and a strong integrated network of affiliate partners across the region.

In addition, Glenn is a member of the Publics Groupe China management board and also spearheads MSLGROUP India.

Prior to moving to Shanghai in January 2005, Glenn was managing director of MSLGROUP’s Los Angeles office for six years. His Asia experience includes regional management for clients such as The Coca-Cola Company, Procter & Gamble, Philips, Sunkist, Johnson & Johnson, Underwriters Laboratories, Nestle, World Gold Council, SPX Corporation, Business Software Alliance and numerous assignments for the 2010 Shanghai World Expo and 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. He also managed public affairs, PR and events for California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s trade missions to Tokyo in November 2004 and to China (Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong) in November 2005.

Bob Pickard is an international public relations executive with more than two decades of experience focused on providing communications counsel for senior business leaders. An experienced crisis communications practitioner, Pickard has media trained several hundred leaders in America and Asia plus provided senior counsel on a wide range of communications issues to clients including AstraZeneca, Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, British Airways, De Beers, EMC, GlaxoSmithKline, ING, Johnson & Johnson, Kia Motors, Merck, Microsoft, Nissan, Nomura and Pfizer.

 
Now the leader of a rapidly expanding 31 office network across 16 Asia-Pacific markets with more than 700 employees, Pickard led the creation of the global firm’s energy practice this year.

Pickard has co-founded and led successful award-winning PR consultancies in the United States, Japan, Korea and Canada. He first came to Asia after a successful 15-year career in North American public relations. He joined Edelman as Managing Director for Korea in 2002, where he led the Seoul office to record growth as the firm’s largest market in Asia-Pacific. Edelman Korea was named “Consultancy of the Year” at the Asia-Pacific PR Awards in 2004. In 2005, Pickard led Edelman’s successful entry into the Japanese market, establishing the firm’s Tokyo office.

 
Prior to joining Edelman, Pickard was Executive Vice President of Environics Communications, a leading Canadian PR firm which he co-founded in 1994.  In 1996, he opened the firm’s New York-area office and in doing so, established the first Canadian-owned PR agency in the U.S. market.  Before then, Pickard was a Vice President at Hill & Knowlton Canada, where he led the firm’s technology practice and undertook international communications projects including global media relations for Canada’s sale of nuclear reactors to the Republic of Korea.

 
Prior to working in the public relations industry, Pickard was active in public affairs and served as a political aide to several Canadian federal Cabinet ministers, including the country’s 16th
Prime Minister.

 
A member of the Canadian delegation to the United Nations Earth Summit at Rio de Janeiro Brazil in 1992, Pickard has a long record of involvement in sustainability issues and has been a speaker on corporate social responsibility in Asia at APEC, Economist Intelligence Unit, and World Economic Forum conferences.

 
A graduate of Canada’s Queen’s University with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Studies, Bob frequently delivers campus lectures and provides thought leadership commentary on public relations industry topics such as digital storytelling, apology communications, social networks, and the psychology of persuasion.  He is a social media enthusiast and maintains his own blog: www.bobpickard.com.

Jannie Poon was appointed Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs and Communications, Asia, News Corporation in 2009. In this role, Jannie provides strategic advice and support to News Corporation and its business units on corporate affairs and communications in Asia and acts as its spokesperson in the region.

Prior to the News Corporation role, Jannie was Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs and Communications of News Corporation’s Asian broadcast business STAR TV, responsible for developing internal and external communications strategies and corporate responsibilities program for the Company. She joined STAR TV in 1995 and was promoted to the head of the Department in 2004. Before joining STAR TV, Jannie was Public Affairs Manager of The Business and Professionals Federation of Hong Kong. She also worked for The Hong Kong Arts Development Council and The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts.

Jannie graduated from The Chinese University of Hong Kong, where she also earned a Master’s degree in Business Administration.

Anthony Rose currently serves as Vice President, Corporate Affairs, Walmart, based at the Regional headquarters in Hong Kong from where he leads the Corporate Affairs function for Walmart in Asia.

Anthony began his Corporate Affairs and Influencer Marketing career in 1991. Prior to joining Walmart in 2010, Anthony held a range of Corporate Affairs and Influencer Marketing roles across Asia and North America with Procter & Gamble (1997-2010); Clea PR (1996-97), Glaxo (1993-96) and the Datamatics Group (1991-93).  

Anthony’s passion is the leverage of Corporate Affairs that delivers real results. He brings this passion daily to work to design and execute communication and brand building   programs that have a proven impact on business and reputation. Anthony is credited with several breakthroughs in Corporate Affairs and Influencer Marketing including his blueprint vision for the Future of Influencer Marketing, which became the basis of P&G’s capability building in this area. Anthony is also author of “The 12 winning principles of Marketing PR” - a work that became standard curriculum for the Marketing and External Relations functions in P&G.

Anthony’s experience includes eight years as faculty for the Xavier Institute of Communications. 

He is also Co-Chair of the ECR Asia Pacific Executive Council.  

Anthony is passionate about developing Corporate Affairs and Influencer Marketing  excellence within the industry. Past appearances as a speaker include the Centre for Corporate Affairs “ 2011 Public Affairs in Asia Institute”, Hong Kong; ACTE Annual Conference, Singapore, 2009; IQPC “Marketing to Women Symposium 2007”, China; European Networking Group’s “Advertising Innovation Summit”, Netherlands, 2006;  GIC’s “The China Consumer Strategy Summit”, Shanghai, China, Oct. 2006.

Anthony holds a Masters Degree in Geology and post graduate qualification in Mass Communications from St Xavier’s College, Mumbai, India and the Xavier Institute of Communications, India, respectively.

Jonathan Sanchez joined Unilever in May 2011 and leads the corporate communications for the Asia market clusters, as well as the capability building for the global Communications function at Unilever.

His current portfolio includes leading the Communications strategy and implementation in the Asia market cluster which includes South Asia, North Asia, South East Asia, North Africa, Middle East, Turkey, Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. Further, he also leads the development of the skills and capabilities for the global Communications function of Unilever.

He has more than 15 years of communications experience spanning all disciplines and three continents (Europe, North America and Asia).

Jonathan has a unique point of view on the inter-play between corporate reputation and brands in today’s more integrated stakeholder environment. 

Prior to joining Unilever, Jonathan was the Regional Director for Brand Marketing in Asia Pacific at Edelman, a global public relations firm with consumer, finance, healthcare, technology and industrial practices. He leads the corporate and consumer practices for the region from Singapore.

He was also the Global Chief Communications Officer at IAC, one of the largest global internet conglomerates and owner of leading digital businesses such as Ticketmaster, Match.com and Gifts.com and over 60 others, he was responsible for managing a wide array of disparate online brands as well as the holding company’s corporate reputation and IR strategy. He took the company through its US$6 billion reorganization, including merger and acquisition activity and the change communications that entailed. 

In the UK, Jonathan was managing director of Euro RSCG Biss Lancaster, where he was responsible for instigating and managing a company turnaround that tripled growth year on year and delivered Bayer Healthcare’s PR Week Campaign of the year for his global stewardship of Levitra. Prior to that, he was a board director at one of London’s most established consumer, brand and entertainment PR firms, Freud Communications.

He has also worked in global communications roles for J Walter Thompson Worldwide and EURO RSCG. 

His experience in shepherding and managing global brands has included managing the communications strategy for companies including Bayer, Dell, Diageo, Jaguar, Kimberly-Clarke, Nike, Unilever, British Telecom and Nestle.

Before he worked in public relations he was a radio presenter in London and a weekend editor for a UK national radio station, Talk Radio UK and a production co-ordinator for the BBC.

Chantal joined Taylor Bennett in 1999 and has over 20 years experience in the communications industry.  She has a first class degree in English, from Victoria University, New Zealand.

Her career started in financial PR at Streets Financial, covering IPOs, M&A and calendar work but ultimately switched to HR & Development at Shandwick.

Chantal handles senior corporate appointments for clients within the FTSE, Euro300 and public sector and is the practice head for internal communications.

Richard Tsang is the founder, Chairman and Managing Director of Strategic Public Relations Group, the largest PR consultancy in Hong Kong. He is a Vice President of Asia-Pacific of Public Relations Organisation International, a Council Member of the Hong Kong Institute of Directors, Director of the Board, Ocean Park Hong Kong, Board Member of Hong Kong Bible Society, Chairman, Alumni Association of the School of Journalism and Communication of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (2011-2015), Honorary Media Relations Adviser to the Hong Kong Securities Association Limited, Founding Member of the Hong Kong Professionals and Senior Executives Association, Lifetime Honorary Vice-Chairman of the “Weekly Economic Observer”, Research Institute of Market Economy Development Research Center of the State Council of the PRC, Permanent Vice Board Chairman of the “China Business Update”, China Shippers’ Association of Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China, Vice Board Chairman, Council of “World Market”, Shanghai Foreign Economic Relation & Trade Commission and Special Researcher of the China International Economic Development Research Centre, and Board Member of various NGOs and schools.