Christopher Millward

Christopher Millward is a veteran of the communications industry in China and has lived in Beijing, P.R.C. continuously since 1992. During his career, Millward has worked with several of the world's top public relations agencies and a host of multinational companies, handling a wide variety of marketing and communications assignments.

Millward has special expertise in media planning and management, brand strategy counsel, crisis management and crisis and media training. He has handled major assignments for leading multinational firms in each of these areas, across China. He has extensive experience working with local, regional and national government bodies and media outlets throughout the greater China and Asia region. As a crisis counselor he is well grounded in the wide range of business risks which characterize the current commercial environment in post-WTO China.

In the field of brand positioning and strategy, Millward has counseled corporations on winning market strategies and helped them develop competitive brand advantage in China. He has advised large FMCG firms such as Procter & Gamble, technology firms like Ericsson and Intel and specialist niche players, including NGOs and Internet businesses. Millward's long tenure "on-the-ground" in China has helped him develop a uniquely accurate and compelling perspective into the local consumer, which he has leveraged to the benefit of bottom-line sales for clients.

Specific crisis and issues management work handled by Millward in China includes customer complaints and litigation, IPR disputes, labor disputes and merger and acquisition communications. These have included work with all levels of government including the Supreme Court and the State Development and Planning Commission of the PRC.

Millward has handled branding, product marketing and national publicity campaigns for blue-chip clients including: Procter & Gamble (Vidal Sassoon, Oil of Olay), Mars/Effem Foods (M&Ms), Fujifilm and Ericsson. Combined with his experience in brand protection and crisis management, Millward has proven brand management capabilities that extend throughout the life-cycle of a brand in China,

Among the agencies and top firms Millward has worked with are Procter & Gamble, Northwest Airlines, Compaq Computers, Ericsson, Edelman PR Worldwide, Weber Shandwick, Anheuser-Busch, Mastercard, Audi and Fujifilm, to name a few.

Millward holds a degree from Columbia University, has done advanced research at the University of Hawaii and has been honored by the China International PR Association for his work in the field of public relations in China. He is fluent in Mandarin Chinese and English and is a frequent contributing author and commentator in local Chinese newspapers and television.