Harry Chen
Group planning directorBBDO ShanghaiChina
Within the eyes of Hans Lopez-Vito, chief operation officer and chief technique officer at BBDO Asia and Harry Chen’s direct supervisor, “Chen is a stellar illustration of what the subsequent era of planners might be. We might absolutely be a lesser company if not for Chen’s function on Mars, ABinBev, Pepsi, Goodyear, and Didi (to call a couple of).”
Chen has labored laborious to earn his stripes. All of 29 years of age, he has change into the youngest and fastest-promoted group planning director within the historical past of BBDO Worldwide. A London Faculty of Economics graduate who majored in social science and philosophy, Chen pursued his ardour for investigating the causes of issues, understanding human motivations and reasoning as a pupil, arming him with the precise arsenal to change into a profitable strategic planner within the promoting trade.
Chen excels at enabling creativity backed with sharp insights and technique. Take, for instance, AB InBev’s Harbin Beer marketing campaign that rides on the FIFA World Cup fever. The insights impressed the launch of “Harbin Sit Pack”—a particular bundle of 10 beers that may prolong and remodel right into a bench accommodating as much as eight individuals. This went viral on social media, drove substantial enterprise development, and swept a number of awards, together with gold at The New York Festivals and AME Awards.
Chen has not solely been driving natural development from present accounts, he has efficiently created a brand new income stream for the company by foraying into the territory of name consulting. Given his sturdy strategic functionality demonstrated in work for manufacturers like Mars, Wrigley, AB InBev, PepsiCo and Goodyear, and a deep understanding of the baijiu class in China, Wuliangye, the second largest baijiu company in China, awarded BBDO their model consultancy challenge and not using a pitch. This strategy-led challenge brings the company a income incremental of 4.8 million RMB.
Final yr, Chen was chosen to hitch the Tencent Actuality Present—Subsequent Promotion as one of many mentors from BBDO China. His sharp strategic considering and insights, mature and empowering management fashion, and charismatic persona made him very fashionable on social media. He used this affect on the youthful generations to advocate the promoting trade as an thrilling profession possibility.