Women to Watch 2024: Margaret Key, MSL

Margaret Key

CEO for APAC
MSL
Korea

After gaining a master's degree in international relations in South Korea, her mother's homeland, Margaret Key had intended to join the US foreign service after graduation. Two days before her planned relocation to the US, Key received a call from her Korean professor about an opportunity with Hyundai Motor’s first global public relations team. She never took the flight home. Over 30 years later, she has built a distinguished career as a global communicator in Asia, notably becoming the CEO of Burson-Marsteller Asia-Pacific in 2015—the youngest and first female CEO in the firm’s history.

Today, Key serves as CEO of MSL across APAC, a public relations firm within the Publicis Groupe stable. Since taking up the mantle in 2019, Key has consistently delivered double-digit profit margins and topline growth, as well as positioning APAC as MSL’s largest exporter of client opportunities.

Under Key's leadership, MSL APAC’s top ten clients in 2023 achieved greater market diversification and high revenue growth, and she transformed them from local-market clients into multi-market and global remits. As global client lead for Samsung in Korea, Key holds a crucial seat at the table, advising on high-stakes engagements and strategies that significantly impact the company's global trajectory.

As a leader, Key has fostered greater cohesion with MSL's regional team. She has also introduced new sustainability offerings, including hiring its first regional sustainability director, which positioned MSL to lead in thought leadership within this vital area. Key has been passionate about creating a more inclusive leadership structure, and the formation of the MSL APAC EXCO team, with over 50% women in leadership roles on the board, exemplifies her strong commitment to women’s empowerment within the Groupe.

Furthermore, Key spearheaded the launch of the Women’s Forum Asia Barometer, a pivotal report aimed at revealing the untapped economic potential of women. Focusing on key markets such as Australia, China, Japan, and Korea, the Asia Barometer underscored the challenges that working women encounter in managing workplace dynamics and addressing ongoing gender disparities in labour force participation. Her leadership in this initiative established a new benchmark for generating actionable insights and empowering women across these crucial economies, advancing both gender equality and economic growth in the region.