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Final interviewHead of Influence and Social, APAC
Total Influence,
made real in APAC
A conversation with Wendy Wang
W
你好 · Hallo · HelloI'm Wendy
Chinese roots.
Dutch directness.
At home in APAC.
3
Seats
Brand · Startup · Agency
Brand building + Social + Influence + Creator economy + PR
It all adds up to Total Influence.
!
The starting point
Reputation is now
shaped in public.
- And nowhere is it shaped faster than in Asia.
- APAC does not adapt global playbooks. It writes the next ones.
1
Question oneAs you asked it
“The current state of the influence & social landscape across APAC, and how you see Total Influence playing out across the region”
My answer in one line
Asia has been living Total Influence for years.
1
Question oneThe landscape
One region.
Many internets.
Greater China
WeChat · RED · Douyin
Thousands of small trusted voices outsell any single famous face.
Korea
Naver · Kakao · YouTube
Search and community decide what is true. Fandoms set the pace.
Japan
LINE · X · YouTube
Trust builds slowly and holds for years. Craft beats volume.
Southeast Asia
TikTok · Instagram · Live
Culture moves fastest here. Creators became storefronts.
India
YouTube · Instagram · WhatsApp
Massive scale, local language creators, influence in private groups.
One playbook will not fit five markets. Making it fit is the job.
A
Question oneThe shift
The West exported the playbook.
Asia is writing the next one.
Social commerce
Discovery to checkout in one scroll. This region proved influence converts.
KOC culture
Many small credible voices over one big face. Trust at street level.
Closed communities
Influence moves in group chats and private spaces brands never see.
Virtual and AI voices
Normal in Asia years before the rest of the world caught up.
Total Influence is not an import here. This region is proof the thinking works.
Question oneThe model, on the ground
Same three voices. Different faces in Asia.
Surface insightThe voices that know
Real insight here lives in forums, comment sections and super user communities, not analyst reports.
Shape cultureThe voices that move
Culture starts with fandoms and livestream hosts, and it moves faster than any celebrity.
Carry credibilityThe voices that vouch
The most trusted voice is the friend in the group chat who already bought it.
The most important conversations here happen in private. The map has to reach the group chat.
2
Question twoAs you asked it
“How you would bring this thinking to life beyond consumer briefs; across corporate communications, healthcare and B2B”
My answer in one line
Every industry runs on one rule: people trust people.
Beyond consumerCorporate
The CEO is now a channel.
- People trust employees more than ads.
- Issues start on social, not in newsrooms.
- A silent CEO is a risk now.
Beyond consumerHealthcare
The most regulated space.
And the most searched.
- Patients trust patients. Clinicians trust clinicians.
- Compliance is the brief, not the obstacle.
- Every market has different rules. Build for that from day one.
Beyond consumerB2B
Deals are researched in public
long before anyone takes a call.
- Trust sits with founders and experts.
- Small expert creators own entire categories.
- Buyers arrive already convinced, or not at all.
3
Question threeAs you asked it
“Where you see the biggest opportunity for Burson, and what hurdles you'd expect in your first six months”
My answer in one line
Stop selling campaigns, start selling the system.
3
Question threeThe prize
The gap: influence sold
as a system, not a campaign.
- Influence is still sold as a tactic.
- Clients want a system, not moments.
- Total Influence, run on Cultural Flow and CreatorIQ, localized by market.
- Repeatable revenue. It compounds.
6
Question threeThe honest part
The first six months
What will be hard
- Every market is at a different stage.
- Measurement stuck at reach.
- Adoption is a sell, not a memo.
- Creator native talent is rare.
What I would do
- Listen first, everywhere.
- Pilot with willing clients.
- Codify the wins.
- Scale by proof, not mandate.
- Build it with EMEA, not next to it.
Grow the revenue. Enable the teams. Transform the offer.
One more thingAn addition to your map
The next audience
is not human.
- AI already reads, ranks and retells reputation.
- People now ask AI instead of Google, and Asia switched first.
- So I would add an eleventh node to the map: the machine audience.
- You call Burson the communications leader for the intelligence era. In APAC I would make that literally true.
3
Before we wrapWhy me
If you remember three things
01 · Asia first
I know where influence lives here.
I have run it on the ground, market by market.
02 · Every seat
Brand, founder, agency.
I have been the client, built the startup and led the agency teams.
03 · Systems that compound
I build systems, not campaigns.
Teams, playbooks and revenue that keep working after the campaign ends.
You are building Total Influence globally. I will build the APAC half, with you.
Influence that builds reputation.
One global playbook.
Made real in Asia, together.
Thank you · Wendy Wang
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Appendix
The detail, if useful
Measurement · Market nuance · First 100 days
AppendixMeasurement
From outputs to outcomes
Step 1
Exposure
Reach, views, share of voice. Table stakes, not the story.
Step 2
Resonance
Quality of engagement, share of conversation, sentiment shift.
Step 3
Reputation
Trust, preference, narrative movement among audiences that matter.
Step 4
Results
The client KPI: pipeline, sales, policy outcomes, talent attraction.
Agree the business goal first, then measure backward from it. That is how influence earns the CFO’s trust.
AppendixMarket nuance
No single APAC playbook
| Market | Where influence lives | Creator dynamics | Watch out for |
|---|
| Greater China | WeChat, RED, Douyin | KOC ecosystems, seeding at scale, livestream culture | Platform rules shift fast, measurement is walled |
| Korea | Naver, Kakao, YouTube | Fandom power, high production bar | Community backlash is swift and organized |
| Japan | LINE, X, YouTube | Longer relationships, agency gatekeeping, craft matters | Slow onboarding, high loyalty once earned |
| Southeast Asia | TikTok, Instagram, live commerce | High velocity, affordable scale, strong local humor | Six plus markets inside one label, no shortcuts |
| India | YouTube, Instagram, WhatsApp | Local language creators, regional languages, huge tiers | Metro insight does not travel to the next city |
AppendixFirst 100 days
Mapped to the mandate
Grow
Prove it commercially
Audit the influence revenue base. Join live pitches immediately. Find the accounts where Total Influence expands scope this year.
Enable
Build the capability
Baseline every market's maturity. Start Cultural Flow training with the teams closest to clients. Stand up the AI toolkit with WPP Open.
Transform
Set the direction
Publish an APAC influence point of view. Set the measurement standard. Open regional doors with TikTok and Meta.
Days 1 to 30 listen. Days 31 to 60 pilot. Days 61 to 100 codify and show proof.
