Women to Watch Greater China 2022: Lynn Zhang, Kantar

Lynn Zhang

Managing director
Kantar China
Shanghai

Lynn Zhang leads more than 200 people on Kantar China’s product innovation team, providing global clients with consumer data insights and business consulting services. In the past year, her team achieved double-digit growth, the highest growth rate recorded in five years. This contributed to Kantar winning Alibaba’s Tmall Innovation Centre Golden Service Provider award. With the case of client Eucerin, Zhang’s precise marketing strategy for the client’s new anti-pigment product contributed to 90% growth in consumers.

Meanwhile, Zhang is the driver behind the company's digital transformation. Under her leadership, Kantar Marketplace, a one-stop, automated business-insight platform, has managed to offer new practical experiences in digital development. She is also involved in managing several functional teams, such as marketing, human resources and finance. As a result of her hard work, Kantar China was named by HR Asia as 2021’s Best Employer to work for in China.

Zhang coordinated the launch of Kantar BrandZ China’s Top 100 Most Valuable Brands Gala, where more than 1,000 branding and marketing professionals and journalists joined the live event. With over 20,000 online views and almost 7,000 media impressions, the Kantar annual flagship event helped promote an in-depth discussion of ‘sustainable branding’ in the industry.

Apart from her efforts to promote sustainability, Zhang is often on the stage at industry summits as a guest presenter or panellist, sharing insights with the industry. This has included events such as Sanya Finance International Forum and Kantar’s annual forum executive roundtable session, featuring women executives from the likes of Coca-Cola and Under Armour.

As the chair of inclusion and diversity in the company, Zhang organises events such as the Women in Leadership summit and is continually building a diverse team with different cultural and professional backgrounds. Nearly 80% of her team members are women, and she adopts a personal approach to people management that melds professional training and staff mentorship. For her team members, she is a leader who is willing to listen to ideas from staff.

Zhang started her career at AMR Interactive, the largest market research company in Australia, and then went back to China in 2007. She also served as vice president of emerging verticals and qualitative for Nielsen Greater China.