The Trade Desk taps former AdMaster chief in China

The Trade Desk has announced Calvin Chan will be its new general manager for China, based in Shanghai. Chan comes to the DSP most recently from AdMaster, where he served as chief executive officer.  

In a release, The Trade Desk said in leading the operations, Chan will focus on localisation of branding & strategies, client relations and industry partnerships. Last November, The Trade Desk announced it would make Chinese consumers more accessible for international advertisers by doing what few DSPs had done before -- announce integrations with premium media platforms like Baidu Exchange Services, iQiyi, Tencent Social Ads and  Youku (Alibaba’s video streaming service).

"Calvin’s appointment will help accelerate our growth with major Chinese partners and advertisers,” said Troy Yang, Senior Vice President of North Asia for The Trade Desk, whom Chan will report to. “Calvin brings considerable expertise and experience to The Trade Desk, but also a well-established network that is critical to success in China.”

With more than 10 years of digital media leadership experience, Chan leaves third party ad verification business AdMaster which merged with its key competitor Miaozhen Systems last year. Maggie Wang is now president of AdMaster who has taken his place. Prior to AdMaster, Mr. Chan held management positions in China and the United States for Nielsen. He is a digital industry expert in China, keynoting major industry conferences and appearing on Campaign's “40 Under 40” in 2018 and China’s Digital A-List in 2015.

In an interview with Campaign in May, The Trade Desk CEO Jeff Green explained how they planned to open up China to global advertisers who previously were afraid of the market.

“The Trade Desk has developed a unique solution for the China market that helps global companies tap into local demand, and helps Chinese companies grow internationally,” said Chan. “I look forward to working with our team and all our partners to scale the industry’s leading independent, objective ad-buying platform in China.”