core sector communique

GfK reinforce regional management in Asia

GfK continues to strengthen its APAC focus with seven senior appointments.

Nuremberg, 21 September 2012 – GfK has appointed seven senior leaders in China, Korea, Malaysia and Japan, underlining the strategic focus on expanding its global research solutions across its Asia and the Pacific region.

Matthias Hartmann, CEO of GfK, said, “Our accelerated investment in Asia is one part of our Own the Future strategy. The core of this lies in new global and regional positions such as these in Asia, which support the shared utilization of our existing data and resources. It also promotes the transfer of expertise between our GfK specialists at sector, country and client level. With this approach, our clients benefit from highly connected and consistent research solutions across every country in which they are involved. They gain more powerful insights and better access to GfK’s wealth of experience, global services and knowledge of consumer trends.”

Debi Basu and Frans Janssen, GfK’s Regional COOs for Asia and the Pacific, commented, “These appointments give an important indication of our commitment to leading the APAC market research arena over the coming years. With our major clients investing in Asia, we are supporting them every step of the way – bringing our global solutions ever more into the Asian realm and developing specific offerings for this unique market.”

The seven APAC appointments are:

Kyungeun Chang (KE) has been appointed as Managing Director of GfK Korea. She brings more than 22 years of market research experience to GfK. Prior to joining GfK, Kyungeun Chang was Managing Director of the newly combined Ipsos/Synovate business in Korea. She was named global business leader of Samsung and was responsible for the setup of the User Sensing team for Synovate Korea, which became the market leader in the user experience sector in Korea.

Selinna Chin has been appointed as General Manager of the GfK Consumer Choices office in Malaysia. In her new role, she will be responsible for the day-to-day business and leading the local team to achieve greater market research excellence. Selinna Chin has nearly 20 years of experience in the information and communication technology (ICT) industry. Prior to joining GfK, she was with IDC for 18 years, where her last held position was VP for emerging ASEAN markets. Selinna Chin holds a double Bachelor’s degree in Commerce and Science from Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia.

Yoshi Fujibayashi has been appointed as Managing Director of GfK Consumer Choices Japan. In his new role, he will lead the business through the development and implementation of GfK’s overall strategy in Japan. Yoshi Fujibayashi started his career with GfK as the manager of global services, where he grew the international business and also expanded domestic business. In his most recent position at GfK, he served as Senior Executive Officer, managing all commercial aspects of GfK Consumer Choices Japan. Before Yoshi Fujibayashi joined GfK, he worked at NEC for more than 15 years, where he was responsible for the international marketing of display equipment, specifically in the U.S. and Australian markets. He graduated from Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto, Japan, majoring in Sociology.

Nehal Medh, has been appointed as Managing Director of GfK Consumer Experiences, Singapore. In this role, he will lead new business development amongst existing clients, as well as identifying and developing new business opportunities outside the existing client base. He will also be responsible for the overall quality and profitability of the services provided by GfK in Singapore. Nehal Medh has 26 years’ agency and client side experience in Singapore and India, with Forbes, Nielsen, Market Probe and Ipsos. He has knowledge of both qualitative and quantitative research, covering customized and syndicated studies in the FMCG, finance and banking, telecoms, lifestyle products and media sectors. He is a graduate in Statistics and also has a Master’s degree in Management Studies from the University of Mumbai, India.

Ashok Sethi has been appointed as Regional Development Director for Asia and the Pacific. In his new role, he will spearhead GfK’s efforts to enhance its relationship with clients through superior product and analytical services. Ashok Sethi’s responsibilities include development and deployment of marketing science expertise, customizing GfK products and solutions to the needs of clients in this region and providing thought leadership on consumer trends and insights. Prior to this, he was the Head of Consumer Insights, Rapid Growth and Emerging Markets, at TNS. His earlier positions include being Managing Director at TNS China and Regional Director for Methodology and Best Practice for Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. Based at GfK’s office in Shanghai, Ashok Sethi is a graduate in mathematics and also has a Master’s degree in Business Administration.

Eliza Wong has been appointed Managing Director Hong Kong & Taiwan and Head of Operations for Greater China. In her new role, she will build up core teams in each market, lead business development with local, regional and global clients and manage cross-selling in mainland China. In addition, she will be responsible for implementing global solutions and innovations within the operations teams. Eliza Wong has been working in the market research industry in Hong Kong, Canada, mainland China and Taiwan for 17 years. She is now joining GfK after a successful career at Synovate, where she was the CEO for greater China. Prior to this, she served as Operations Director at ACNielsen Hong Kong. Eliza Wong graduated from Hong Kong Polytechnic University and is an ACMA I accountant (Association Member of Charter Institute of Management Accountants – London).

Alfred Zhou has been promoted to General Manager, GfK Consumer Choices China. In his new role, he will be responsible for leading the team through the planning, development and implementation of GfK’s strategic roadmap in China. Alfred Zhou started his career with GfK as the Sales and Marketing Director in GfK Retail and Technology China in 2004 and has been leading the commercial team to provide marketing services to clients and retailers, at both local and global levels. Prior to joining GfK, Alfred Zhou worked in sales and marketing in the IT industry for more than 14 years. He graduated from the branch campus of Peking University, where he majored in Urban Planning.

About GfK

GfK is one of the world’s largest research companies, with more than 11,500 experts working to discover new insights into the way people live, think and shop, in over 100 markets, every day. GfK is constantly innovating and using the latest technologies and the smartest methodologies to give its clients the clearest understanding of the most important people in the world: their customers. In 2011, GfK’s sales amounted to €1.37 billion.

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