Jane Lau

Content Producer

GroupM

Taipei

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"Change is inevitable, so why not have fun while we’re at it?"

In the year since joining GroupM, Jane Lau has built a robust content business from scratch, succeeding in a market flooded with similar offerings by pushing boundaries. Using data and a far-reaching content strategy, Lau created an influencer marketing campaign for adult diapers. Backed by celebrities, as well as physicians, the success of the campaign has rallied other clients to use influencer marketing for more than just the young.

How do you define innovation?
Reinventing and redefining strategies, concepts and executions that are “out of the way”, while improving on the process and end result. There’s no one before you to guide on the exact path, where you have to be curious, bold and make decisions.

What is the most innovative comms/marketing initiative you've seen in the last 12 months?
Being a huge fan of personalized marketing, Spotify’s 'Only You' initiative caught my attention with its clever usage of data insights, consumer trends and user experience. Marrying art and science, it offers a seamless integration of in-app experiences that highlight each user’s uniqueness, allowing each user to be expressive through the platform. Spotify acts as both a product, and a voice for the users. This initiative also localized content with deep cultural references, yet easily understood on a global stage at the same time. Spotify’s Wrapped and 'Listening together' are classic examples of the brand that piqued my interest in personalized marketing!

In your opinion, what brands and/or agencies are most innovative around PR and marketing?
Netflix is definitely one of the many brands I look up to for marketing innovation. I enjoy watching data-driven, creative and humancentric initiatives come to life. Netflix has always been successful in innovative content marketing, an area of expertise which I deeply admire. Many disruptive tech companies are very delicate, yet daring in their storytelling.

Describe a moment in your career that you would consider 'innovative.'
Having the opportunity to introduce and localize a global in-house product was definitely exciting, and pushed various boundaries within the industry. Setting up a new method of collaboration within the content ecosystem in Taiwan and implementing innovative go-to-market strategies, the whole experience was extremely challenging, yet rewarding. Being a foreigner in Taiwan myself, I understood the local culture and ways of working at a lightning speed through first-hand experience. Businesses are done differently in every region and market, and being a front-liner to bring a product to a new territory, I had to create innovative ways to work around that. Working with a great team with leadership support also played an important part to the business transformation success.

Who do you admire for his/her approach to innovation?
Elon Musk, not just in brand innovation, but also in business innovation.

How do you get out of a creativity rut?
Have conversations, and get fresh perspectives from different people! Also, getting close to nature to reboot my mind helps a lot as well. If all else fails, I’ll stick to daydreaming and sleeping.

What advice would you give to the PR industry around embracing innovation?
Be fearful, yet fearless at the same time. Fearful of staying status quo, and fearless of the unlimited future we can create. While working on solutions for the present, we also have to be well-equipped for the answers for tomorrow. Change is inevitable, so why not have fun while we’re at it?

What would you be doing if you weren't doing your current job?
I’d love to work in a venture capitalist firm, or in the F&B sector, probably as a bartender, barista, or sommelier.

Which book/movie/TV show/podcast/playlist/other cultural source has helped you get through this year or provided inspiration?
During this funny time, I’ve been binge listening to lo-fi music, my recipe to focusing when there’s work to be done.

What's your favourite time of day and why?
3am, where the world is asleep and I’m out having my gin and tonic.