Executive Forum: Beyond Sales, Are You Ready for Building a “Glocal” Brand?
Join us for a CEIBS Executive Forum on November 12, 2025, with Mr. Rupert McPetrie, Chief Executive Officer of WPP Media China, who will give a keynote speech on the theme of Beyond Sales, Are You Ready for Building a “Glocal” Brand?
About this event
Amid increasingly fierce global competition, Chinese brands' overseas expansion has shifted from an optional business strategy to a necessary driver of growth. There remains, however, a big difference between simply selling products abroad and becoming an internationally recognised brand deeply rooted in local markets.
At this event, Mr. Rupert McPetrie, CEO of WPP Media China, will offer insights from the perspective of corporate decision-makers. He will share the core strategies Chinese brands must follow to achieve effective brand communication and sustainable growth in global markets. Rather than providing a “how to” guide, Mr. McPetrie will offer an intellectual starting point designed to help brand founders and decision-makers grasp the essentials of overseas communication and reflect on challenging yet critical questions.
Our speaker
Mr. Rupert McPetrie
Chief Executive Officer, WPP Media China
Mr. Rupert McPetrie graduated from Oxford University with a degree in Modern History, and possesses a keen curiosity and insight into patterns and change. Since February 2024, he has held the role of CEO of GroupM China; in May 2025, under the company’s new brand WPP Media, he has led the WPP Media China team to embark on a fresh journey, steering the organisation through a successful transformation amidst a complex market landscape.
He has also been a high-level witness to perhaps the most pivotal decade of digital transformation in the history of the Chinese market, a period that has coincided with China's transition to a "new normal", from high-speed growth to steady development. Amidst an advertising market beset by disruption, Rupert and his team have delivered remarkable achievements in 2024: according to the latest report from independent third-party research firm COMgervence, WPP Media’s billings in China exceeded $7 billion, representing 42% of the market share among the industry’s “Big 6” companies and ranking firmly at the top.
Over the past decade, Rupert has played a significant role in the company’s leadership. He joined MediaCom China in 2015 as CEO and spent seven years living and working in Shanghai. In 2021, his managerial scope expanded to Greater China. Early in 2022, Rupert was promoted to CEO of MediaCom Asia Pacific and joined MediaCom's Global Executive Committee; he also adeptly steered the merger of MediaCom and Essence in 15 APAC markets, leading the swift development of the newly-formed company, EssenceMediacom, following its official launch in 2023. The agency has since gained several high-profile clients and earned wide recognition from and the industry and the market under Rupert’s leadership.
Rupert's media career began at Zenith in the UK, where he held various senior positions, including CEO for Central and Eastern Europe at ZenithOptimedia. With management experience across multiple global regions and an in-depth understanding of the Chinese market, Rupert excels at challenging and reshaping established norms, developing capabilities that disrupt conventions, and creating pioneering management models, thereby fostering the development of both business itself and company culture.
Event details
Date & Time: November 12, 2025 @ 18:30-20:15
Venue: AC3 -115, CEIBS Shanghai Campus, 699 Hongfeng Road, Pudong, Shanghai, China
Language: English
Event Format: Offline
Agenda:
18:30-18:35 Opening Remarks & Speaker Introduction by CEIBS Vice President and Dean Frank Bournois
18:35-19:30 Speech by Rupert McPetrie, Chief Executive Officer of WPP Media China
19:30-20:00 Q&A
20:00-20:15 Networking
Contact/Registration: To register, click the link below, contact Ms. Ruby Han at execforum@ceibs.edu, or call +86-21-28905396 for more information.
