Women to Watch 2023: Jessica Wu, Mindshare | Analysis

Jessica Wu

Chief operating officer
Mindshare
China

From joining Mindshare China in Shanghai in 2006 as a client leader to now, as its chief operating officer, Wu has been a driving force behind the agency’s brand growth and digital transformation. After stepping into her new role as the COO at the beginning of this year, Wu was quick to streamline operations and steer internal efficiency by leveraging advanced technology and automation.

In one of her initial assignments as a client leader, Wu’s most notable achievement was pioneering the Interior Routing Gateway Protoccol (iGRP) concept in partnership with Miaozhen, a startup at the time. She played a significant role in helping Miaozhen grow its measurement business into the industry giant it is today. Her ground-breaking digital concepts also led Mindshare to win all of YUM’s OTV, Search and Mobile business, making YUM one of their top three clients with a five-year contract.

Before joining Mindshare, Wu worked at JWT Shanghai’s media department as a planner on various large FMCG brands. She also gained deep expertise in media buying and negotiations during her stint with GroupM Trading. Later, Wu became the investment head of L’Atelier and UNITE, bespoke agencies created by Mindshare for LVHM and Unilever, respectively.

Building on her experience in media investment and working closely with clients and GroupM, she joined the leadership team at Mindshare in 2021 as the chief intelligence officer. She lives by the mantra of “Show Don’t Tell.”

Wu is also passionate about helping others reach their potential, which is obvious in her approach towards mentoring promising young talent. She doesn’t limit herself to existing mentorship programs and is always on the lookout for high-potential talent who have not had the right environment to shine.

It’s this steadfast belief that led her to discover and personally mentor one of Mindshare’s most outstanding managing directors today, Carey Wang. Wu also led large-scale training initiatives such as Project Advance, a GroupM-wide training program that ensures all agency talent is familiar with internal processes and best practices.

She is also involved in product development within the agency. Her efforts with key clients have resulted in multiple bespoke products being standardised and used across the agency with other clients as well.

Wu’s breadth of experience and multi-dimensional skill sets to take on challenges make her a valuable asset to the media industry.