The Uncertain Future of the Agency Holdco Model with Mark Heap

In the influencer economy, it has become increasingly common for influencers to go beyond promoting other brands and create their own. There are several challenges. Product quality could backfire, the product itself may not be the right fit. Given the risks of product sales and influencer reputation, are influencer brands worth the investment? We are joined by Dr. Majid Bahi, Global CEO of Socially Powerful, a global, award-winning, social-first marketing agency powered by technology and creativity. Founded in 2017, the agency operates across the UK, US, Europe, UAE and China. Majid has a PhD in Bioelectronics. 1. Majid's journey & Harry Styles' Sex Toy Brand 2. How do influencers handle sensitive topics? Is it important to find someone who's squeaky clean to represent your brand? 3. Where do you still see brands/agencies failing at creating effective influencer marketing? 4. How do we measure expectations with established influencers who still may not understand the power of influencer marketing? 5. When is the time when influencers decide to launch their own brand? 6. What's the insight process that helps influencers decide to go into the branding business? 7. Can small, niche brands actually compete with big companies that have massive R&D departments? 8. What's your POV on synthetic or virtual influencers? Does it conflict with authenticity? 9. Do you think China is still important in terms of seeing global trends? 10. What recommendation do you give to those who want to be influencers?

Special treat this week! We're sharing an interview Bryce made with Wenchi Yu on Perspectives. Host Wenchi Yu speaks with Bryce Whitwam, a seasoned marketing professional with extensive experience in Asia, including 17 years in China, where he led major advertising agencies and founded his own. Bryce highlights the "seismic shift" in marketing and consumer behavior brought about by the rise of multifunctional digital platforms such as WeChat, Taobao, Douyin, and Xiaohongshu (also known as Red Note). The conversation also covers the rise of Chinese domestic brands, a phenomenon known as "Guo Chao 国潮," like Luckin Coffee, which have challenged foreign brands such as Starbucks. Whitwam argues that while consumers may sometimes boycott foreign brands like H&M for nationalistic reasons, they generally base their purchasing decisions on product quality and trust. Despite tariffs and the closure of the "de minimis" loophole, Whitwam predicts an increase in direct-to-consumer sales from Chinese manufacturers to the U.S.. He views these tariffs as a "failed policy" that will lead to higher prices for consumers. Bryce Whitwam contributed a chapter, MARKETING AND SOCIAL MEDIA: Staying Ahead of the Most Dynamic Market on Earth, for Ker Gibbs' Selling to China: Stories of Success, Failure, and Constant Change. Bryce Whitwam is also a co-host of ShanghaiZhan, a podcast about all things China marketing, advertising, tech and platforms. 00:00 The Digital Revolution in China 02:46 Bryce's Journey in Marketing and Advertising 05:40 E-commerce and Social Commerce Transformation 08:38 The Shift in Advertising Strategies 11:40 The Rise of Short-Form Video and Influencer Marketing 14:32 Understanding Chinese Social Media Platforms 17:42 The Impact of Domestic Brands and Guo Chao 20:08 Navigating Geopolitical Tensions and Consumer Preferences 23:12 The Future of US-China Business Relations 25:43 Conclusion: The Competitive Landscape Ahead

We bring back ShanghaiMailbox! Thanks for your questions. Here are the questions you submitted that Ali and I answered on today's podcast. 1. If you had your own money, what’s one Chinese startup or trend you’d invest in right now that most foreigners have never heard of? 2. Learning Mandarin used to be the rage, but now it’s less popular. With all the powerful apps and AI is it still worth learning a second language? 3. How do you think of online dating in China? That is, the online “Relationship-shopping” culture. 4. What differentiates agencies if everyone is using the same AI tools or platform? 5. What lessons have been learned from the latest and successful Coca-Cola + Pop Mart Labubu collaboration?

Has agency consolidation begun to backfire? The media agency is undergoing a massive transformation as holding companies consolidate their operations & rebrand around unified entities. What does this seismic shift mean for the future of the industry? Will the industry's current path lead to better outcomes or just more cost-cutting? Joining us is Mark Heap, Founder of Mark Heap Consulting. Mark advises businesses on growth strategy, organization transformation & leadership development. He's the former CEO of Mindshare in EMEA and Mediacom in APAC. He spent 10 years in China from 2003 to 2013 serving roles at PHD and Mindshare.

China's business landscape in 2025 is unforgiving—consumer spending is down, competition is fiercer than ever, and companies face a brutal reality: adapt or die. The old playbooks aren't working, traditional marketing approaches are falling flat, and while everyone knows they need to change, most don't know what to do or how to do it. In this environment, the difference between companies that thrive and those that merely survive comes down to one thing: innovative leadership that can actually navigate the messy, uncomfortable process of transformation in real-time. Today, we're diving deep into what it takes to transition into your innovative superpowers with Nishtha Mehta, a sought-after international change facilitator and ICF PCC innovation coach who has been helping Fortune 500 companies and startups do exactly that for the past two decades from her base in Shanghai.

Today's episode explores a side of the China media business that everyone knows exists but few are willing to discuss. Media corruption was so prevalent in the early days of the digital industry in 2010 that it became a competitive advantage for some companies. We all knew that it was big, but how big? Today's guest goes by the pseudonym "F. B." and is the author of the memoir, "Confessions of a Chinese American Swindler: My Rise, Fall, and Exile from the Cutthroat World of Chinese Advertising." The book takes the readers deep into the heart of China's media underworld, where ambition, opportunity, and moral compromise collide. 9.

Welcome to Season 4! Today, we're also celebrating the 10th anniversary of the 2025 Totem China's Marketing & Media Trends Report, hoping to solve the biggest challenge in China marketing: is performance marketing, and are brands nowadays just focused on short-term sales gains? According to Totem's report, 48% of marketers plan to decrease their 2025 marketing budgets, and 31% now rank sales conversion as their top objective. Amid this, an economy that's shaping up to be the "new normal," a normal that surprisingly looks like everywhere else in the world. To discuss, Totem's Chris Baker joins us again this year, along with OMD China's General Manager, Ahle Kuang. We try to solve all the marketing problems in 50 minutes! 1. What are some of the big things that stood out for you in this year's report? 2. Are some categories safe, or are there decreases across the board? 3. Have local companies found a way to grow brands and increase market share simultaneously? 4. How do you balance the desire for short-term sales with building long-term brand equity? 5. For China, is brand equity purely driven by product innovation? 6. Do Chinese products need to live beyond a certain period to be considered a brand? 7. Are there things brands should avoid doing in the 2025 context?: Positioning is Everything 8. Can signature global brands in China grow with products designed for a global audience?

Are traditional festivals still essential drivers in the Chinese marketing calendar? Or are they overshadowing the modern shopping days that seemingly overpower attention? We welcome Hope Hong, founder of Chuanmer, a non-profit organization specializing in cross-cultural marketing consulting, experience planning, curation, and promotion. Hope is based in Vienna. Besides being a cultural ambassador, Hope is a mom and a digital marketing leader working at Austria's largest telco. 1. What is Chuanmener? 2. How important is Chuanmener rooted in being a Chinese mother? 3. Do you see Chinese festivals as being more critical when you're living abroad? 4. Are the modern shopping festivals diluting the traditional festivals? 5. How did Bryce connect his children to American culture while living in China? 6. How can brands effectively connect with consumers during festivals in a modern way? 7. Which brands are doing festivals differently? 8. Who is not doing festivals properly? 9. What's your favorite Chinese festival?

Welcome to the world of Clienteling: it's a world where the brand manages the client relationship. It's an online/offline integration ecosystem that is alive in China, but the West has no equivalent. In the clienteling world, retail sales become online sales associates, and brands promote their products directly to the customer database, all possible thanks to WeChat. Aurelien Rigart, managing director and co-founder of Shanghai-based digital transformation consultancy IT Consultis (ITC), takes us on this journey. When will Clienteling come to the rest of the world? Listen and discover! 1. What are the biggest challenges for foreign brands embracing digital transformation in China? 2. Is there an equivalent to the Chinese ecosystem in the West? Will WhatsApp catch up? 3. Is Clienteling only for luxury and high-end brands? Will it work for FMCG? 4. How do you calculate ROI in Clienteling? Answer: It depends 5. Are there more luxury buyers, or have luxury brands kept their loyal followers? 6. Who owns the data in a Clienteling relationship? 7. Is there a separate Clienteling app for store personnel, or do they all connect through WeCom? 8. How do the stores get involved, and what's the social media connection? 9. Is Xiaohongshu more for awareness and WeChat more for the bottom funnel? 10. I don't have much money; where do I start? 11. Why are brands still behind in digital transformation? It's China! 12. Should the CRM manager run the sales department? 13. A/B Test: Ye all the way! (sorry, Taylor)

What opportunities exist for Chinese brands post-Olympics? In this world of micro-targeting and community building, smaller brands can take advantage of sponsoring Chinese athletes who may not be as expensive as sports celebrities like Eileen Gu. Did the Paris Olympics help break China's overseas travel slump? Ali and Bryce take a China marketing take on the recent Paris games.