McDonald's names new regional CMO for Asia business unit

McDonald’s has promoted its vice president of integrated marketing group for Taiwan Brenda Kou (pictured) to regional CMO of its Asia business unit, effective from 1 October 2023.

Within her new role, Kou will report to Thomas Ko, head of McDonald's Asia business unit, with a dotted line to Eugene Lee, international CMO of McDonald’s.

She will be tasked at overseeing the strategic marketing plans for 12 markets across Asia, including Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam, and working closely with the local MDs and CMOs to develop their long-term strategies.

Over the past decade, Kou had helmed various senior executive roles at McDonald's, including senior director and head of marketing for Taiwan and vice president of integrated marketing group for Taiwan. Prior to that, she was the eCommerce central marketing director for Yahoo! Taiwan, where she focused on customer development and driving synergy for the business.  

Kou said on LinkedIn: “I am humbled to explore learnings and best practices across markets and look forward to working and collaborating horizontally with marketing and leadership teams.  Together let’s serve our customers better, elevate our brand higher, and build our business stronger.”

Meanwhile, Lee said: “I can’t think of a better, more well deserving person to backfill me and continue the legacy of amazing marketing and creative effectiveness in the region[…]She also brings outside perspective from years in other industries such as retail and FMCG so I know she is well equipped take the region to the next level.”

Don't miss: McDonald's names Asia marketing chief Eugene Lee as international CMO

Back in May, Lee was promoted to international CMO for the international developmental licensed (IDL) segment. In his new role, Lee will oversee all international regions outside of the US including Latin America, Europe, Middle East and Asia.

Lee said in a LinkedIn post: "It’s been a crazy but oh-so-exciting 14-year ride with McDonald’s…I’m extremely excited and humbled by the elevated responsibilities, and looking forward to interacting with our marketing teams from across the globe!"

Famously, Lee played a key role in spearheading the launch of the BTS meal in Asia. The meal was initially supposed to be a US-only activation, similar to meal executions done with other music industry players such as rapper Travis Scott. However, Lee told MARKETING-INTERACTIVE previously that he knew it would be "a huge opportunity missed" if Asia was left out of the activation given the boy band's global popularity.

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