Asia

Gabriel I. Agüero, a music producer and co-founder of Drop Music Branding. with over 12 years of crafting audio identities.Gabriel's work goes beyond music, encompassing innovation and strategy. Having collaborated with global agencies like FutureBrand, his contributions have redefined how businesses communicate through sound. Making him a pioneer in the realm of audio branding.

From Europe, the Middle East, South East Asia to South Pacific, Nuno has been instrumental in building meaningful brands and experiences that successfully cut through the noise.

At Coca-Cola, Nuno is leveraging Design Thinking and Inclusive Design vision while leading key global Sustainability and Retail Experience projects. Key to his role is to define best in class design solutions, inspire the future, manage and elevate the integrated brand expressions, contribute to the building of design capabilities and the organisation's reputation.

A multi-disciplinary designer, and passionate creative with extensive experience across a wide range of mediums.

With a background in graphic design and Art Direction and having worked on both the client and agency side during the last 12 years, Younes has worn many hats and worked on a wide range of projects in almost every vertical on the 5 continents.

Currently, he oversees the global brand creative direction at Infinix Mobility, a technology brand that designs, manufactures, and markets an expanding portfolio of devices worldwide. Prior to this, he was Creative Lead at NIO Brand design department.

Maria is Head of Creativity at GP Global Marketing, driving creative leadership on a global scale for the GP portfolio of consumer products. She has over 25 years’ experience in brand, innovation and creative strategy with extensive multi-disciplinary design experience within in-house, corporate and consultancy. To date she has covered electronics, lifestyle entertainment, Not For Profit, workspace and technology sectors and worked with leading global brands across Europe, US and Asia Pacific. Maria’s ambition is to create experiences that are meaningful - that touch the heart and minds of present and future audiences and build brands that can flex, scale, transform – brands that connect and that are truly memorable.

Ray oversees the creative work from Schneider Electric, a digital automation and energy management company, that through its efforts in helping provide sustainable solutions for some of the world’s biggest companies, led it to becoming 2021’s World’s Most Sustainable Company.

He has led creative teams for Publicis, Wieden + Kennedy, Saatchi & Saatchi, DDB and Bates, in Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai and Singapore.

Claudia Cristovao is the Head of Google Brand Studio & Social Lab APAC. She studied Communication, Film and Fine Art between Lisbon, Copenhagen, Amsterdam and London. She is an honours graduate at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam and holds an MFA from Saint Martins in London.

Claudia has worked as a writer, brand developer and Creative Director for Nike, Google, Honda, Adidas, MINI, AMEX and many others, at agencies like W+K, Sid Lee and AKQA. Her projects have included music videos, art installations, digital experiences, social media campaigns and business transformations.

Claudia was a speaker at ad:tech Tokyo, UN WOMEN and Spikes Asia, amongst other venues. She was jury President and/or juror for Titanium, Innovation, Creative Data, Brand Entertainment, Digital and Social at Cannes Lions, Spikes Asia, New York Festivals, AdFest, Spikes, and The One Show. She is a regular juror at the legendary WIRED Hack Awards, Tokyo. Her artworks, which link storytelling and interactivity, have been exhibited across the world, namely at the São Paulo Biennial, the Dakar Biennial, the Guangzhou Biennial, De Appel in Amsterdam and MOCA in San Francisco.

Vanessa is Head of Design at RetailIO focussing on Digital Product Design and Creativity across Rio’s B2B Pharma Marketplace. She has an overall experience span of 15+ years with a demonstrated history of working with Fortune 500 companies, successful dot-coms and inspired start-ups, to name a few are Voonik, Amazon, Deloitte, TutorVista, Flipkart, ADP & D E Shaw. She believes placing humans at the centre is the key to impactful business results at scale.

Wilson graduated from LASALLE College of the Arts with a Bachelor's Degree, First Class Honour. He started out as an Art Director in advertising agencies, represented his organisations and won multiple notable industry awards such as PRWeek and SABRE Awards. He is currently the Head of Brand Design at Beam Mobility and leads a team of designers for creative works across Asia Pacific and Europe. Aside from improving Beam's branding, he also co-develops city tender proposals to launch Beam in more cities.

As Wilson continues his career in the creative Industry, he strives to be a Leader who continuously learns and inspires creative talents across the world.

Jeanna Isham creates, consults and educates brands on sonic branding and sound marketing. With 20+ years of audio experience, she is well versed in the language of sound. Her company, Dreamr Productions, creates audio identities for companies and brands as well as consults and educates brands and marketers on sound in marketing and its best practices. She also produces, hosts, and edits the Sound In Marketing Podcast that then built out her subsite Sound In Marketing Learning. SIM Learning houses sound branding resources as well as education on sound in marketing yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

James Li is a Creative Director at OPPO, a leading smartphone manufacturer and tech company, where he oversees their film content for their global smartphone launches.

Born and raised in England, James has worked at various major advertising agencies in different countries all over Asia on some of the biggest brand campaigns.

James is fan of honest and truthful work as he believes that is the most potent weapon.

Gayatri Makhijani has over 14 years of experience in building brands for the digital world with a specialized focus on media, social media and digital + e-Commerce marketing. She has worked for top-tier brands, including Intel, Amazon and FMCG brands (Unilever, Coke, etc.) from her publisher/agency stints. Her role spans brand & media strategy, media planning & buying, influencer and social media marketing, creative strategy & production, measurement & ROI. Currently, she heads the Brand, Creative, Media mandate for Intel India. Over her career, she has received 24+ creative and media awards, including Effies, Abbys, Webbys, YouTube leaderboard, etc. She also participates in industry forums and events such as TTT Academy, Dentsu Gaming Summit, Flipkart Ads Conclave, etc. Previously, she trained undergraduate students in Digital Marketing at Mt. Carmel College, Bangalore.

Darryl drives remarkable consumer experiences that transform everyday health. He leads design activities within APAC, building holistic systems that deliver quality, effectiveness and consistency across brands and products.

Prior to Bayer, Darryl was a part of PepsiCo’s Design and Innovation team and also spent time at a number of global brand and packaging agencies based out of Singapore.

Across multiple consumer categories, his experience both in-house and at agencies has seen him successfully collaborate with business stakeholders in delivering award-winning creative solutions across touchpoints that resonate with consumers and fulfill business objectives.

With over twenty years of experience managing communications for financial services firms, Anjali Patil is, currently, the Head of Brand & Communications for Southeast Asia at BNP Paribas, based out of Singapore. Her responsibilities include managing corporate communications, sponsorships & events and corporate philanthropy activities. Previously, she has held similar roles with BNP Paribas India, Fidelity India, Morgan Stanley India and Singapore. She has also worked with Ogilvy PR India.

Anjali is a Member and an Accredited Practitioner with the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) and a registered member of the Commission on Public Relations Education’s (CPRE) research panel.

Alair Qu, Creative Director at Colgate, 3 times Cannes Lions winner in Design/Outdoor/Health categories. Start his first 5 years in advertising agencies: Y&R, Leo Burnett and McCann, served brands like Burger King, McDonald’s and Coca-Cola at the time. Joined LEGO as Art Director in 2019, looked after Technic line as creative lead and produced award winning campaign ‘LEGO Technic Challenge’ to help Technic build awareness among consumers. Spend 3 years at GSK/Haleon as Global Design Manager, initiate and lead total brand renew and innovation projects for all 6 brands: Centrum, Caltrate, Fenbid, etc.

Tanu Sinha joined PepsiCo in 2019 as Head of Design & Innovation for India Business Unit and is currently leading design for India & South Asia. In her present role she is integrating design thinking into PepsiCo’s culture and using it as an effective tool to drive growth of business for both Snacks and Beverages portfolio which include Pepsi, Lay’s, Mountain Dew, Kurkure, Gatorade, Tropicana, Doritos, Aquafina, Quaker & Mirinda amongst others. Under her leadership, the design function’s constant endeavor has been to create brands and experiences that consumers love.

Prior to joining PepsiCo, Tanu served as the Design Director at Nestle Design Lab (Nestle-Fitch partnership) and along with her team acted as creative partner for 50+ brands in Nestle India portfolio.
Over the years, in various roles, she has closely worked with the brand custodians to visualize some of the most successful global and local brands.

Tanu is a Design graduate from the prestigious National Institute of Design (NID, Ahmedabad) and has spent her career working with the best inter-disciplinary design studios like Fitch, Elephant Design. Over the years she has partnered with clients like Britannia, Heinz, The Coca Cola Company, Godfrey Philips India, Hector Beverages, Uttarakhand Government, Satya Paul, Mars Chocolate, Carlsberg Group, World Health Organization, Fox Channels and Volkswagen that made her journey an enriching experience.

Over 4 years of Design education and 15 years of work experience as a creative professional, she has built brands, teams, and relationships.
She was also nominated to WPP Stella India (a global women’s leadership group) mentorship programme for empowering women leaders.

Nicole Tan is the Innovation Marketing Manager - Luxury, Reserve and Digital at Diageo, one of the world’s leading drink businesses with over 200 brands. In this role, Nicole is responsible for shaping and crafting Diageo’s luxury innovation strategy, including the creation of digital serves and experiences.

Prior to joining Diageo, Nicole has worked in both network creative agencies and innovation consultancies across the Asia Pacific region as a Strategy Director and has launched both locally-loved and global brand platforms, innovative brand products / experiences and marketing campaigns for brands like PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Audi, Scoot Airlines, Cigna Healthcare, Oracle Financial Solutions, to name a few.

With over 30 years’ experience delivering inspirational and usable brands from London, New York, Hong Kong and Singapore; Mark originally trained as an illustrator producing games for the likes of Electronic Arts and Interplay before moving into agency life, overseeing and nurturing a large and eclectic band of creative brains to deliver amazing and innovative work.

With hundreds of plaudits and awards; including 14 Cannes Lions, a BAFTA and a plethora of Spikes Asia, Clio and D&AD for a wide range of brands, charities, and professional bodies such as JLL, Porsche, Chanel, Netflix, UNICEF, Credit Suisse, Nike, The Glenlivet, and Unilever to name but a few.

Mark works as an advocate for a number of underprivileged and under-represented communities through SHE IS MORE, AWARE and UNICEF; and mentoring for SCA, Microsoft Imagine Cup and D&AD New Blood.

Ms. Danh Tran is the Vice President of VDAS Design Association, Hochiminh city, Vietnam. She is also the Founder & CEO of VMARK VIETNAM DESIGN WEEK & VMARK VIETNAM DESIGN AWARDS, the anchor event of VDAS Association. Its main mission is to build a connection between Designers, Entrepreneurs, and International Organizations.

It redefines the local Design Community identity with a fresher look to the world. With over 20 years of management experience in the design industry and the diverse activities related to the design field, she knows all of the aspects of her job. The process from concept to production, strategic planning, to customer contact. Her understanding of the local, international market and potential of the creative industries in Vietnam has connected her with international business partners and multinational companies. Her vast knowledge in the creative industry, plus great leadership skills has landed the Association multiple supports and collaborations from the creative community in the world.

Ms. Danh Tran has strong Creative Entrepreneur skills. She has in-depth knowledge of the different creative segments and is able to communicate effectively. She has the opportunity to learn and participate in international training courses and conferences in different countries. Some of these collaborations with international organizations have raised notable awareness for the Vietnamese Design Industry. She was also a keynote speaker for many prestigious design conferences in Vietnam and overseas. She hosts frequent design workshops to train the new generation of Vietnamese designers.

Jimmi Tuan is Founder and Creative Director of Bratus Agency in Vietnam, with 17 years of experience in branding. His philosophy centered on transforming the brand to come alive.

This belief has led him to work across various industries, including healthcare, financial,  F&B, real estate, technology, consumer goods, automotive, industrial, and agricultural.

Tuan is a versatile expert in brand strategy, art direction, logo design, brand identity, and packaging creation.

His work has been recognized by: Communication Art, Pentawards, HOW, Graphis, A’ Design Award, Transform Awards, Novum magazine and various international publishing platforms.

For nearly two decades, with a global vision and an understanding of local insight, Jimmi Tuan has become known as one of the leading brand designers in Vietnam, helping local businesses to globalize their identity, enhance their competitiveness, and integrate into the international market.

He also won the Best overall visual identity at Transform Awards Asia in 2022.

Michelle Wan is the Brand Design Manager at Kenvue, a major company in Consumer Health. Leading the Self Care and Essential Health Design team, she drives brand strategy, systems, and communications across Asia Pacific for impactful consumer and patient experiences. With 15 years of creative expertise, Michelle's background spans across branding and advertising agencies in Shanghai and Singapore. Known for her design thinking and keen attention to details, she brings a thoughtful and meticulous approach to her work.

With a background in graphic design/art direction, Atsushi Yamada has a wide range of creative experience in advertising, branding, print, and digital. Previously working in the UK, he currently leads a creative team at BuzzFeed Japan—an online media company where he is responsible for creating native advertisements for external clients. He continues to challenge himself with innovative content that attends to both the client and the viewer’s needs in today’s society.

Zihan Zhao holds the position of Design Manager (Co-branding and IP licensing Creative, Branding Centre) at POP MART, a leading company in character-based entertainment and a global advocate of designer toy culture.

Zihan graduated from UAL in the UK and has since worked in the Chinese market. Prior to joining POP MART, she worked as a creative strategist for bilibili, KANTAR China (WPP), and creative directed a lifestyle brand in China. Her expertise lies in applying Design Thinking to understand Chinese youth pop/internet/subculture and creating marketing designs for independent cultural units. She has worked on projects involving domestic and international artists, as well as brand collaborations in creative industries, across multiple countries and regions.

Zihan has a talent for communicating effectively with young generations worldwide and has a deep understanding of cultural and designer products for commercialisation. She has been invited to speak at various institutions and forums, including SKEMA, BIGC, and Design Week Young Talk China.