Join fellow NYC alumni and Tom Doctoroff, '89, author of What Chinese Want
"As China races toward becoming the world's largest economy and a formidable superpower, we need to better understand the ways their people are changing and the ways they're staying Chinese." What Chinese Want: Culture, Communism and China's Modern Consumer (May 22; Palgrave Macmillan) sets the record straight about the worldview, consumer desires, and values of a people who are rapidly modernizing but not becoming more like us. Written by Tom Doctoroff, '89 Greater China CEO for J. Walter Thompson, the book is a nuanced and wide-ranging portrait by an American who has been marketing to China for twenty years and living there for fourteen. Here, he explains why China continues to and instead remains driven by a profound sense of nationality,a complex morality, a deep connection to history, and an embrace of the family over the individual.
$ 30 Includes light appetizers and cocktails
Speaker Profiles
Tom Doctoroff (Speaker)
Greater China CEO, J. Walter Thompson
Tom is one of Asia's most respected advertising professionals and also a leading expert in Chinese consumer psychology. Born and bred in America's Detroit and educated in Chicago, he took a detour to Hong Kong in 1994 and never quite made it back to the States. His unique combination of pan-Asian work, plus more than a decade based in China, has made him a leading expert in the cross-border management of brand architecture and brand building.
He has appeared regularly on CNBC, NBC's The Today Show, Bloomberg and National Public Radio and is frequently featured in publications ranging from the Financial Times and Business Week to the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. Furthermore, he is a sought after keynote speaker for events such as the International Advertising Association's global symposium, University of Chicago's Global Management Conference, the China Luxury Summit and the JPMorgan Asia Pacific Equities conference.
Tom started his advertising career at Leo Burnett in Chicago but jumped ship to JWT (Chicago). In 1994, he moved to Hong Kong as Regional Business Director for clients such as Pepsi, Philip Morris/Kraft and Citibank. In 1998, he landed in China as the Managing Director of JWT Shanghai. In 2002, he was appointed Northeast Asia Area Director (China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Korea) and Greater China CEO. Through diversification into customer relationship marketing (CRM) and trade marketing, promotion network management and brand identity/design, JWT Northeast Asia has emerged as one the most synergistically integrated, creatively dynamic communications networks. Some of JWT China's key clients include: Unilever, DeBeers, HSBC, InBev, Ford, Nokia, Microsoft and Nestle as well as several leading local enterprises such as Lenovo, COFCO, China Unicom, Yili dairy and Anta shoes.
Tom is the recipient of the "Magnolia Government Award (????????)," the highest honor given by the Shanghai municipal government to expatriates and was selected to be an Official Torchbearer for the Beijing 2008 Olympics. He is also the author of the best-selling book "Billions: Selling to the New Chinese Consumer" and his most recent title, "What Chinese Want," to be published in April 2012.
Tom completed his undergraduate studies at Northwestern University (Evanston, IL) and his MBA at the University of Chicago.
Questions
Jennifer Tobin
Associate Director, Alumni Affairs
212-218-4277