MA YAN PROMOTED TO JWT CHINA CHAIRMAN
Lo Sheung Yan has been promoted to JWT China Chairman effective from March 1st.
In addition to continuing in his role as Northeast Asia Executive Creative Director, Lo Sheung Yan will oversee JWT Beijing and Shanghai offices along with Tom Doctoroff, Greater China CEO of JWT.
Born and raised in Hong Kong, Lo Sheung Yan, known as Ma Yan among his peers, handed himself over to China’s advertising community when he joined JWT Shanghai in 1996.
Expressing his delight on Ma Yan’s new role, Tom Doctoroff says. “It’s more than just a new title. It’s a signal that, now more than ever, we regard our financial performance and product quality as inextricably linked.” Then, Doctoroff continues, “Ma Yan is a rare individual, and an even rarer leader. His blend of passion and pragmatism, wisdom and toughness, is an asset to both JWT and our client partners.”
During the last decade, Ma Yan has built JWT into the hottest creative shop in the Greater China region. JWT often takes the leading position in creative office rankings, such as the global office ranking in the Gunn Report, the Mainland China Creative Ranking in Campaign Brief, Longxi Global Chinese Creative Ranking and etc. Not to mention the innumerous awards in international and regional advertising festivals.
With a strong sense of responsibility for developing the industry as a whole, Ma Yan’s footprints can be found in universities, creative forums, and advertising associations around China. He shares his ideas and experience without holding back. In 2008, as a member of the Chinese creative industry, Ma Yan gave a speech — “Beyond the Great Wall” in Cannes. The attention of the whole world focused on China once again. Later that year, Ma Yan was awarded by “The Outstanding Contribution Award for Three-decade China Advertising.”
Being the leader of a multinational agency, Ma Yan gives equal attention to international brands and local brands. He has helped international brands to adapt to the local market with significant business growth, and he has also been instrumental in turning local companies into powerhouse brands.
In his new role, Ma Yan’s centre of gravity will remain on JWT’s product, both from a strategic and creative perspective. However, he will now proactively reach out to stakeholders outside of the creative realm to ensure harmony between all the pertinent pieces of the business.
Talking about his new role, Ma Yan says “I feel honored to work with such an outstanding team. We will keep on working as one to bring not only JWT or our client’s work, but also China advertising industry as a whole, to a brand new level.”