Chu has worked in digital marketing since its infancy at one of the industry’s pioneering digital agencies USWeb/CKS. He has been passionate about exploring the possibilities between technology and brand-thinking ever since.

In China he has led some of the most influential digital agencies such as Akqa and Tribal DDB, believing an agency is only as good as the people behind its doors. Chu says one of his biggest accomplishments has been finding, developing and retaining some of the sharpest digital talent in the local market.

Chu’s part in shaping the digital marketing industry in China consists of pushing clients to take risks, convincing them to invest in digital, and educating them on the influence of digital engagement in consumers’ lives. Chu says this required a lot of hand-holding to establish trust in the early years, and all led him to where he is today at W+K.

While improving the overall digital literacy of the agency, his role goes beyond digital to include overseeing integration of different marketing disciplines, creative processes, team structures and talent management. One of the biggest investments he suggested to date was a ‘maker’s lab’ where the team can go to create anything they want: virtual reality, drones, 3D printing, photography, recording and mixing.

Chu’s track record in working with clients like Nike, Unilever, Uniqlo, Beats and Tiffany has helped them achieve business objectives through his strategic advice on digital solutions. Aside from increasing digital billings through both organic and new business, Chu is taking W+K down a new path focusing on Chinese technology startups.

Work for the flirting app, Momo, has been among his most rewarding experiences, as his firm helped the company go public with a recent Nasdaq listing. He says his next project with a new, unnamed client in the fast-growing taxi app space has endless potential.

What makes digital marketing invigorating for him is how something new can be invented every day, especially in China which is always slightly different from other markets by really driving its own innovation agenda.

The List 2015