Women to Watch Greater China 2023: Joyee Yu, Assembly

Joyee Yu

Market director, China
Assembly 
Shanghai 

With 14-years of experience in the digital industry behind her, Joyee Yu became market director in 2015 for Assembly China. Yu possessed a growth mindset from the beginning and had the ambition to transform the agency business in China. Before long, she had led the Shanghai office to become the fastest-growing market across the global agency.

Yu finds motivation in tackling the unknown and developing data-driven marketing solutions to help clients fuel growth. She has used this expertise to skilfully navigate China’s fast-growing digital landscape, helping countless international brands, including Hilton Resorts, Sands China, British Airways, Kering Group, Ralph Lauren, and more, find success.

In the past 12 months, even when brands were monitoring budgets closely in response to uncertain market conditions, Yu has played a big part in helping to drive new revenue by focusing on delivering long-term success. Embracing the role of partner, Yu put the client’s needs at the centre and built custom solutions to meet the needs of the client. This has included adapting the agency’s regional consultancy solutions in a relevant way for the market, including services in Data Consultancy, Consumer Insights, Business Strategy & Digital Transformation. 

In partnership with Assembly’s Korea team, Yu and her team created an extensive 400-page China market research report that catered towards the brief and business needs of a global luxury eyewear brand, helping them make strategic marketing decisions on their go-to-market approach. It’s this devotion to Assembly’s long-term vision that has allowed Yu to successfully land multiple new clients in the past 12 months. 

Since leading the Shanghai office, Yu has grown the team by 500%, with 40% team growth this past year. She takes talent development seriously and takes on the role of mentor herself, training over 65% of managers, and empowering them to reach their potential.

In addition, Yu is a member of the APAC senior management team at Assembly and continues to provide immense value for the entire agency, not only across APAC but globally as well. During the height of Covid, her team provided valuable learnings and insights from brands in China on how to best navigate the pandemic. Recently, Yu’s team also created Assembly’s first dedicated China whitepaper, showcasing the prevailing trends in the world’s fastest-growing luxury market. The report has been downloaded over 400-times from audiences across 47 countries.

Yu has been described by colleagues as being “like a superapp of the agency world”… with so many things she can do! A fitting description for an immense pack of talent who has played an instrumental role in building Assembly’s business in China.