Ken Hong is an expert Chinese / APAC business leader who has studied, lived and built successful careers in both the US and China. Ken is currently the CEO of China and Greater North APAC for Dentsu International Customer Experience Management (CXM) Line of Business, as well as the Managing Director for Merkle China. The CXM Line of Business and Merkle uses data and technology to help many of world’s largest companies design and realize their Digital Transformation, Data Transformation and Customer-Centric strategic initiatives. In this capacity, Ken leads the fastest growing line of business for the Dentsu International, one of the largest marketing companies in the world.
Before joining Dentsu International and Merkle, Ken spent seven years with Sina Weibo, one of the largest social media platforms in the world.
Previously the GM of Commercial Operations and since promoted to General Manager of Corporate Strategy. Ken joined Weibo in 2012 as a member of the core team to kickstart the platform’s monetization effort. Here, he oversaw the strategy that grew monthly active users from 80 million to over 400 million. Weibo was generating USD 65 million when Ken arrived and in 2018 generated revenues of more than USD 1.5 billion.
Ken's deep marketing knowledge also comes from his years of advertising agency experience spanning from analytics, strategy and as the Managing Director for Razorfish and Digitas China. Over the last several years, he has been an advisor to the New Zealand government in order to help many New Zealand business enter and grow in the Chinese market. Simultaneously, he has been an investor and advisor in several startups in different sectors.
Ken has given speeches in some of the top industry conferences and client summits, such as Cannes Lions, the Festival of Media Asia, iMedia Summit and Better by Design CEO Summit.
With a focus on dynamic audience engagement, he shares with audiences how to understand Chinese customers, develop effective go-to-market strategies, fully utilise the locally relevant social media channels to build brand and influence, and find the right partners to successfully expand any cross-border business.
