Taste data algorithm designer named Digital Disrupter of the Year (Rising Star)

You might say Anson Leung knows as much about changing consumer tastes as anyone. After all, the work Neo’s associate director of performance marketing at Mindshare Hong Kong did for client Nespresso depended on it. 

Knowing each coffee lover has a preferred flavour that influences their purchase behaviour, Leung tapped into his client’s own analytics data, blending it with point-of-sale offline data and online shop sales to create the first ever ‘taste data algorithm’. When infused with media tactics, Leung and his team were able to create dozens of user personas for direct personalised ads. Under his guidance, Google Hong Kong noted that Nespresso became the first advertiser to have run a successful O2O study across Greater China and Korea.

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In another example of breaking new ground, Leung and his team helped struggling cruise giants break their reliance on travel agents and ramp up their online business. To do that required streamlined in-depth customer insights for more precise marketing, so Leung pulled in CRM data with website content consumption analytics, third party traveler profile data and booking engine data, adding in seasonal and geographic characteristics to deduce actual user traits. The improved data helped improve online revenue share, conversion rates and transactions significantly and also supported an expansion plan into several new markets. 

As stated in his submission, Leung’s proactiveness, hunger for results and status-quo-challenging nature make him the perfect change agent. As one jury member stated:

Anson Leung Man Lok demonstrated what most media agencies need to do to transform by capability, perception, and revenue perspectives in the time of a growing 'Direct To Customer' economy. 

So when Neo was moved from Ogilvy to Mindshare, he was a natural candidate to help lead the transition and became Mindshare’s youngest associate director. He then proceeded to expand Mindshare’s offerings, setting up the first affiliate trading team in Hong Kong en route to becoming the first Hong Kong winner of the Mindshare’s regional ‘Wild card Awards’.