Women to Watch Greater China 2022: Theresa Wu, JKR

Theresa Wu

General manager
Jones Knowles Ritchie
Shanghai

Born and raised in Singapore with a global vision, Theresa Wu has helped international brands understand and enter the local market in China. Under her leadership, Jones Knowles Ritchie (JKR) caught new clients such as Be-KIND and Nestlé, as well as local FMCG brands, including Bright Dairy, RIO, and Plantag. The agency also extended services into new categories, such as retail, consulting, and F&B, that have now become new growth engines.

During the same period, Wu reshaped the market perception of JKR as “a packaging design firm” by providing brand and product positioning, communications planning and visual implementation, channel visual design and brand-identity services. 

Wu has also played a crucial role in consolidating JKR's long-standing partnership with Budweiser and Mars Wrigley. From 2017 to 2021, she supervised the team to deliver several critical projects for Budweiser, including the rebranding of Harbin Beer. 

In 2020, JKR did not lay off staff but achieved positive business growth. In 2021, Wu was promoted to general manager, in a year when the staff expanded by 20% business performance increased more than 35%. 

What’s more, Wu is responsible for the company's organisational structure and strategy and team-building for human resources and marketing. She recruited talent, built a team with diverse backgrounds, and worked closely with them to prepare for the company's strategic transformation. 

Wu believes in the philosophy of creating a happy working environment for the team. She has a rigorous working style but laughs loudly during the company’s team-building events. She spends time nurturing promising young people and supporting staff welfare and training programmes. 

Besides all these efforts, she communicates with the younger generation by sharing experiences with university students and launching the JKR Shadow Day Programme to give young people a better chance of understanding the industry. She served as a judge for the BotF Future Branding Conference and shared industry observations with AmCham and the British Chamber of Commerce.

Wu worked for BBDO, J. Walter Thompson, Lowe Advertising and Ogilvy & Mather before becoming client service director of JKR Shanghai in 2017.