Match Group swipes right on Charlene Lee for new APAC comms role

Charlene Lee has joined Match Group as senior director, corporate communications for Asia Pacific. MARKETING-INTERACTIVE understands this is a newly-created role as Asia Pacific is Match Group's focus market moving forward especially Japan. It is also understood that she reports to the group's headquarters in the US. Lee (pictured) was previously with Tata Consultancy Services for more than two years as head of corporate communications, Asia Pacific.

In a LinkedIn post, Lee said this move is "very special to [her]". "It is a move away from the more traditional, enterprise tech, to one that has a much more profound impact on human connection," she added in the post. MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to Lee for comment.

During her time at Tata Consultancy Services, she was responsible for crafting and executing its strategic communication to keep up with its growth in Asia Pacific. The role covered all aspects of communication, including traditional PR, internal and executive communications, and social media, among others, for all of Asia Pacific, sans Japan and India.

Before that, she was brand and communications lead at IBM Singapore. According to her LinkedIn, the scope of work expanded beyond external relations to include internal communications, covering crisis communication, employee engagement and executive communications, all the while driving Asia Pacific targets that land in Singapore. She was also external relations manager for IBM.

Lee also has experience in B2C marketing, having worked at Sennheiser Greater China as marketing communications manager (consumer) for more than a year in China. According to her LinkedIn, she started her career in the agency field, working at Bates Asia and Ketchum.

Match Group owns Tinder, Match, Meetic, OkCupid, and Hinge, among other dating brands. In 2019, it reorganised its leadership team to double down on what it labelled as "the significant market opportunity for dating products in Asia". It appointed three GMs in Asia to grow its portfolio of products in their local markets as well as hunt for new business opportunities.

Lyla Seo was named GM of Match Group for South Korea and Southeast Asia; Junya Ishibashi was appointed as GM of Match Group for Japan and Taiwan; while Taru Kapoor remains GM of Match Group India. Alexandre Lubot also remained in his role as CEO of Match Group EMEA and APAC, with the three GMs reporting to him. Working alongside Lubot is Elisabeth Peyraube who assumed the role of COO and CFO of Match Group EMEA and APAC. 

Mandy Ginsberg, Match Group CEO, said previously that the new GM structure and increased focus from tenured executives such as Lubot puts the company in a strong position to help people find relationships. She added that the Group would like to see a quarter of its revenue derived from Asia within five years. For the first quarter of 2021 ended 31 March, Match Group posted a revenue of US$667.61 million. According to its financial statement, most of its direct revenue comes from its international markets (US$328.35 million). During the financial period, North America amassed a revenue of US$326.82 million.

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