Charlise Chen replaces Canon Wu as Momentum Greater China's ECD

With immediate effect, Chen will be responsible for driving the strategic creative direction of the agency across offices in Greater China: Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Taiwan, overseeing clients Nestlé, China Telecom, NFL and Coca-Cola.

Based in Shanghai, Chen will report to John Steere, president and regional director of Momentum Greater China. She will partner with another imported talent from Southeast Asia—Martin Lee, new ECD for McCann Worldgroup in China.

According to Steere, who made the hire, Chen's core strength lies in designing creative shopper marketing executions that relate to shopper behaviour such as purchase preferences, barriers, and decisions.

She has created deployment tools in market development organisation (MDO) campaigns, retail design (including HoReCa and unconventional outlet), as well as packaging.

Industry sources have said Chen's predecessor Wu was a "hidden gem quietly creating stunning ideas" for Puma, L'Oreal and Maybelline, who knew how to build a "new-generation creative cult inside a traditional [agency] setup". However Momentum is confident that Chen's CV speaks for itself.

Chen joins the agency from Leo Burnett Singapore, where she was creative director focusing on Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and Malaysia for Gillette and SK-II. For SK-II in particular, her team's work helped increase sales in the ASEAN market, resulting in the addition of US and Australia to her remit.

Her most recent experience in the mainland shopper marketing industry was with Saatchi & Saatchi X China from September 2008 to October 2009, specialising in handling Pampers (a 'Babytorium' for mothers), Tesco (weekly direct mailer), and Oppo (retail store design).

From December 2006 to July 2008, she also served the British American Tobacco (BAT) portfolio of brands such as Dunhill, Lucky Strike, and Kent at G2 in Shanghai.

Commenting on her new task, Chen said the Chinese landscape is aggressively evolving with more and more discerning shoppers.

“Chinese shoppers have a greater choice in how and where they shop nowadays—at home, in-store, online, or via mobile devices," Steere added. "Consequently, retailers have to be a lot clearer on why shoppers should choose them and what is the specific value they provide."