Laure de Carayon, China Connect Founder&CEO
As a brand content professional, I discovered China's marketing through the lens of Ad Age China early 2010. June 2010, as I launched the Branded Content section of a leading B2B media newsletter, I was excited to investigate further its internet landscape, beyond the all-time "US rules the game". August 2010, I travelled to China for the first time and interviewed among the best marcom leaders. Finally in September, my “Brand Content: Special China” series was published and the buzz started.
No single rendez-vous existed in Europe to tackle China’s marketing and digital landscapes - despite its 1 Billion people, and most likely, because of the Great Firewall. The concept of China Connect was born: make that bridge, and connect the Chinese internet and China based digital marketing experts with their pairs across Europe. The first ever event took place 9 months later, June 2011 in Paris, and in Shanghai July 2017.
For the past 10 years, I've been a privileged witness of China's Golden Decade, the country's fast societal, economic and overall, digital transformations. A fervent investigator of its uniqueness, meeting start-ups who happened to become major players, while visiting the most important internet companies and marketers.
A new decade starts, and it will be no less fascinating and challenging, jumping now for good in a whole new (digital) world: let's continue and share the journey all together!