Speaker Bios

Gregory Carpenter focuses on understanding how firms create competitive advantage through marketing strategy. Based on award-winning research, his recent book, Resurgence: The Four Stages of Market-Focused Reinvention (Palgrave Macmillan, 2014), examines how firms become more customer focused, regaining advantage and renewed success. He previously co-edited the Handbook of Marketing Strategy (Edward Elgar, 2012).

As Faculty Director of the Kellogg Markets & Customers Initiative, he fosters research, teaching, and engagement on topics that cross traditional academic boundaries, including customers and corporate culture, data analytics, and trust. He co-chairs the Marketing Leadership Summit, bringing thought leaders together each fall to explore the future of marketing, and as Academic Director of Kellogg’s Chief Marketing Officer Program he helps prepare executives for the challenging role of CMO.

Appearing in leading academic journals, such as Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Consumer Research, Management Science, Marketing Science, and Psychometrika, his research on marketing strategy has been recognized by The American Marketing Association with the William F. O’Dell Award, the Paul E. Green Award, the Donald R. Lehmann Award, and the Sheth Foundation/Journal of Marketing Award.

Harvard Business Review, Financial Times, Forbes, BusinessWeek, and National Public Radio have featured his research, and it has been cited in arguments before the United States Supreme Court. Recognized by BusinessWeek as one of a small group of outstanding faculty in its Guide to the Best Business Schools, he was voted Outstanding Professor of the Year by the Kellogg Managers’ Program, and he received the Sidney J. Levy Teaching Award.

He often speaks and advises firms on marketing strategy. Past and current clients include Bacardi, Carnival Corporation, Coca-Cola, Cunard Lines, Diageo, Dow Chemical, Federal Reserve Bank, Government of Mexico, General Electric, Harley-Davidson, Health Management Academy, Novartis, PepsiCo, Pfizer, SC Johnson, Target, Unilever, and Visa.

A former Academic Trustee of the Marketing Science Institute, he served as a member of the board of advisors of Hamilton Consultants, and a member of the advisory board of Terlato Wine Group. He was named a Chevalier in the Ordre des Coteaux de Champagne for his contribution to champagne.

He previously served on the faculty of UCLA, Columbia University, and the Yale School of Management. He received his BA from Ohio Wesleyan University, and MBA, MPhil and PhD degrees from Columbia University.

Thomas F. O'Toole is Clinical Professor of Marketing and Senior Fellow at the Kellogg School of Management of Northwestern University. At Kellogg, he is engaged in advancing the development, practice and teaching of subjects including: the use of data analytics for business outcomes, digital enterprise transformation, and the emergent structure of marketing and customer loyalty. His recent teaching includes: Big Data and Analytics, The Customer-Focused Organization: Leading Transformation in the Digital Age, and The CMO Program. He is currently teaching a new MBA course on Customer Loyalty.

O'Toole serves as a senior advisor at McKinsey & Company, where he provides strategic guidance to clients in the Travel, Transportation and Logistics practice and other business sectors for revenue strategy, marketing effectiveness, customer loyalty, digital business transformation, enterprise data analytics and related subjects.

Previously, O'Toole was Chief Marketing Officer, Senior Vice President and President, MileagePlus of United Airlines; and Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Information Officer for Hyatt Hotels Corporation. In 1998, he was named to the Advertising Age "Marketing 100".

O'Toole currently serves on several boards of directors including Alliant Energy (NYSE: LNT); LSC Communications (NYSE: LKSD); and Extended Stay America (NYSE: STAY). Since 2016, he has served on the board of directors of the Corporation for Travel Promotion (dba Brand USA) — the nation's public-private enterprise to promote travel to the USA — an appointment he received by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce.

O'Toole holds the degrees of Master of Applied Communication Theory and Methodology and Bachelor of Arts with concentration in communication research from the Cleveland State University. In 2013, he was named the Distinguished Alumnus of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences there.

Emily Chang is the Chief Marketing Officer for Starbucks, China. In this role, she is responsible for amplifying the impact of the Starbucks and deepening customer engagement within the Starbucks third-place.

A strategic business leader with 19 years of experience, Emily is known for globalization, cross-cultural team leadership, and innovative brand building. Recognized for her ability to drive change and renew organizations, Emily approaches opportunities with an entrepreneurial mind set to establish a culture, set a vision, and build capability. She is known first and foremost as a people leader and team builder.

Prior to Starbucks, Emily was the Chief Commercial Officer for IHG, Greater China, where she was responsible for all commercial functions across Greater China. Looking after 300+ hotels and an extended team of 5,100 S&M members, Emily spearheaded the market share turnaround of six hotel brands and the contribution mix of three loyalty programs. She also invested in building new BI and Digital capabilities, and differentiated the group with a focus on Branded Guest Experiences. With a deep understanding of the Chinese consumer and marketplace, Emily sponsored the China Ready outbound tourism initiative for IHG.

Moving to Shanghai in 2011, Emily built a high-performance marketing organization that established the face of Apple in Asia Pacific. She first developed her Marketing and Brand expertise at Procter & Gamble, with 11 years’ experience across all 3 Global Business Units: Health & Well Being, Beauty & Grooming, and Household Care. She has rich end-to-end business experience, from globalizing upstream design, to exceeding P&L objectives across going businesses in US and China, to leading the Walmart Health & Beauty Retailer team in Arkansas.

Emily is a regular speaker and panelist at conferences and events, including the Fortune Most Powerful Women’s Summit, WPP Velocity 12 Brand Forum, C2MTL, Hatch, and an upcoming TEDx event. She holds a B.A. in Biology with a minor in BioChemical Engineering, and an MBA in Competitive Strategy and Finance. In her free time, Emily enjoys spending time with her family, and serving in the community.

Richard He is the Vice President, Head of Marketing and Innovation of Bayer Consumer Health.

He is a strategic, innovative and transformational business executive with extensive domestic and international experience in consumer goods and healthcare industry.

Prior to joining Bayer, Richard was the Marketing Vice President of Pizza Hut and KFC in Yum China where he led the brand to achieve continuous innovation and out-of-the-box thinking. Before that, Richard spent more than 10 years in PepsiCo, taking various senior marketing roles with increasing responsibilities in different markets, including Greater China, Asia Pacific Region and Global market. During his tenure in PepsiCo, He turned around the business back to double digit growth and continued its momentum with stronger foundation and better capability. Previously, he was Marketing Controller in Unilever, where he advanced brand leadership position for laundry category with strong sustained innovation and communication campaign year on year. His early career was with McCann-Erickson and Star TV.

Richard holds a B.A. in English from Foreign Language Institute of Military, and an EMBA from Washington University-Olin School of Business & Fudan University.

Jasmine Xu is Vice President, Greater China e-Business, Media & Brand Operation of Procter & Gamble. She is a well-rounded and seasoned business leader in business management (P&L), digital, innovations, marketing and trade marketing.

Since joining P&G in 1997, Jasmine has accumulated 19 - year branding management experience across 6 categories and 7 brands. Apart from her profound insight into the China market, she also has managed P&G operations in Japan, South Korea and other Asia Pacific markets. Under her leadership, P&G China’s e-commerce business has achieved fast growth spanning all categories. With effective integration of various digital media platforms and communication agencies while leveraging big data technology to conduct targeted marketing, she has built many high-profile digital marketing credentials.

Jasmine earned a Bachelor degree of Investment Economics at Nanjing University.

Johnny Song is an expert on advises clients in Greater China on executive search and recruitment strategies, supports their succession planning, and assists with management assessment. Based in Shanghai, he is active in Egon Zehnder’s Consumer Practice. He draws on deep industry knowledge acquired first-hand as a business executive across multiple companies and sectors.

Before joining the Firm, Johnny was a General Manager with Abbott where he was based in Hong Kong responsible for its infant and medical nutrition business. His career started in marketing with Unilever in China, then worked as China Marketing Director with General Mills which progressed to become an International Marketing Director based in US headquarter and later Greater China Business Unit Director. Besides rich experience in marketing and general management for global leading consumer goods companies, Johnny also has experience for luxury retail (as General Manager for the Swatch Group in China) and Sino-foreign joint venture business.

Johnny earned a MBA degree at University of Technology Sydney in Australia and a BSc in Electrical Engineering at Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China.

Over a decade of serving McKinsey’s clients, Julien has drawn on his expertise in business technology to drive digital transformation in marketing, e-commerce, and operations for consumer-oriented businesses.

A particular focus of Julien’s work is optimizing digital customer life-cycle management—helping executives accelerate sales growth across channels and increase profitability at each step of the consumer journey. He has led value-enhancing initiatives for retailers, consumer brands, and travel and entertainment companies globally and in North America. In all his work, he helps companies better understand their customers so they can define the right operational and strategic priorities.

Examples of his work include the following:

running a major e-tailer’s online marketing operations, including implementing accelerated email processes and building new internal capabilities, which boosted revenue within a year

directing a recovery and reorganization initiative for a leading online player, restoring sustainable growth across geographies and functions

designing and implementing a new supply chain and fulfillment strategy for a leading global e-commerce player

leading the large-scale transformation of a company's sales function, including training more than 200 employees to use new analytics and sales tools

Strongly interested in the development of online customer outreach, Julien has published insights into the realities and potential future development of email marketing.

Rory Finlay is based in the Chicago office of Egon Zehnder and leads the firm’s Consumer Practice Group globally and is a member of the Chief Marketing Officer Practice Group. He has over 25 years of experience in marketing well-known and iconic consumer brands around the world.

Prior to joining Egon Zehnder, Mr. Finlay was Senior Vice President and Global Chief Marketing Officer at Beam Global Spirits & Wine Inc., where he led the company’s marketing function globally. He previously spent eighteen years with the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company, where he held various global positions, including two years based in Munich, Germany, leading Wrigley’s European marketing operations across 30+ countries and as Vice President and General Manager of Wrigley’s Confectionary Brands. He started his marketing career in the textile industry at Celanese Corporation in New York.

He was recognized by Advertising Age as a Top 50 Marketer of the Year for his attention-getting work on Jim Beam. He has also won several prominent marketing and advertising awards, including Cannes Lions for Orbit chewing gum, Canadian Club whiskey and Altoids Sours.

Mr. Finlay is a Scot and native of Great Britain.