It’s not just her team who she pushes. She negotiates equally hard with the global counterparts to get the agency’s proprietary planning products localised for the unique China market. Abby has an intuitive understanding of how the market works and what can give a brand the required competitive advantage, and will go all out to achieve that. This has come from being a self starter and tackling projects from scratch.
Abby has worked across agencies and media houses starting out as an early media innovator, but her transformation into a master strategist truly began when she landed in Shanghai in 2012, just when the Internet giants were about to embark upon their journey. An intuitive learner, Abby became an industry pioneer in bringing path-breaking digital end-to-end solutions to clients. It changed the way media positioned itself in China. Abby joined Initiative in 2020 just as Covid threw the world into a tizzy but with astute planning and far-sightedness, she helped the agency emerge on top amidst stiff competition.
Abby understands that a CSO at times has to function as a ‘mini-CEO’, with an ability to have a bird’s eye view of issues confronting the company. From Q1 2021, Abby pulled her strength to refocus on bringing ‘cultural velocity’ to life. Under her aegis, Initiative China developed a 90% new business strike-rate, brought home 33 local and regional awards, and built a team of planners that are well-known within the IPG Mediabrands global network.
Campaign’s Women to Watch Greater China presents 25 outstanding and inspiring female talents shaping the marketing and communications industry across Greater China, and seeks to identify women with inspirational stories, strong business achievements and a passion for driving the industry forward.
