Emily Chang
Emily Chang is the Chief Executive Officer at Wunderman Thompson West. Emily is a renowned executive with over two decades of experience in customer experience, business strategy, cross-cultural team leadership, change management, and brand building. She has held senior positions in global companies such as Starbucks, Apple, P&G, IHG, and McCann Worldgroup. Emily is also a board of directors member and best-selling author of The SpareRoom. This book provides practical guidance on how to live a purposeful life by defining one's social legacy.
Emily worked at P&G for 11 years in all three global business units, from front-end innovation to retail. She joined Apple in 2011 to establish the brand's face in China and was promoted to Head of Retail Marketing, Asia.
In 2014, Emily joined IHG as CCO, where she was in charge of a 200-person corporate team and 5,200 on-property staff who generated $2.7B in revenue. In 2017, she moved to Starbucks to look after the company's branded customer experience, first as CMO of China and then as SVP of Marketing based in Seattle. Currently, Emily is the CEO of McCann Worldgroup, China. She has led 400+ creative people across McCann, MRM, and CRAFT agencies, partnering with some of the world's best brands to create innovative stories and customer experiences.
Emily is known for her change leadership and entrepreneurial mindset. She thrives in ambiguity and sets a vision, establishing a culture to deliver delightful and brand-building customer experiences. Emily is a proven global organisation builder and leader with end-to-end business experience.
She takes a balanced approach to recruiting, training, and retaining rock-star teams to deliver short and long-term growth. With her exceptional track record of accelerating global brands, Emily blends analytical dexterity with insight-based innovation to tell fresh stories and inspire breakthroughs.
As a bicultural and bilingual executive, Emily has a meaningful understanding and success bridging Chinese and U.S. cultures. She embraces cross-cultural perspectives and diversity as an advantage, allowing her to establish and build brands in the world's two biggest markets.
Emily is also an Adjunct Professor at NYU SPS Integrated Marketing & Communications in Shanghai, where she teaches a 15-week course on "Finance for Marketing Decisions." Her course examines the financial impact of integrated marketing programs on a company's bottom line. It provides real-life cases, practical applications, and direct engagement with industry-leading C-suite executives.
Emily is a member of the board of directors for SOS Children's Villages USA, the largest NGO dedicated to the care of orphaned and abandoned children. She has committed to contributing 100% of the retail sales of her book, The SpareRoom, to SOS. Through her family's spare bedroom, which has become a way to serve the community, Emily and her family have cared for sixteen hurt or vulnerable children and young people. Emily's book weaves poignant storytelling with thoughtfully designed exercises to provide inspiring yet practical guidance on how to live a richly purposeful life by defining one's own social legacy.
Emily Chang is an exceptional marketing leader, author, and educator with a distinguished career in global companies. Her expertise in cross-cultural team leadership, change management, and brand building is recognised globally. She is committed to contributing to a meaningful mission through her work with SOS Children's Villages USA. Emily's book, The SpareRoom, provides practical guidance on how to live a purposeful life by defining one's own social legacy.
* Emily joined Wunderman Thompson West, as Chief Executive Officer, in April 2023. This episode was recorded while Emily was the CEO of McCann Worldgroup, China.
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