Contributors

Matthieu Francois

Matty Kaffeman

Matty Kaffeman, the Vice President for North Asia and Korea at customer engagement platform provider Verint, is a business technology leader with more than 20 years of experience in the global IT industry. He has a solid track record of improving customer satisfaction for his clients, leading businesses and developing and enhancing IT sales both direct and via channel partners, as well as excellent presentation and customer-facing skills.

His experience spans a diverse range of sectors from Automation, Enterprise Management, Security, Workload Automation and Software Development tools, and he has a deep knowledge of APJ Markets.

Matty holds B.A. in Computer Science and Economics as well as LL.B. degrees from Tel Aviv University.

Mehdi Jaouadi

Mehdi is a Partner based in Thailand. He has over 11 years of experience in marketing sales, distribution, e-commerce and digital within the FMCG and healthcare industries across Asia, Europe and Latin America. Mehdi brings with him an excellent track record in strategy formulation, business development and large-scale expansion growth within top tier MNCs in the personal care, healthcare and food industry. He holds a B.A. in International Business Management from Edinburgh Napier University and a Masters in Management from EDHEC Business School.

Mitch Bittermann

Mitch Bittermann leads the e-commerce and digital team as Executive Vice President of e-commerce for TMX Asia. He brings over 20 years of global experience in e-commerce and supply chains. A recognised leader of e-commerce and logistics strategies, Mitch was previously the Director of E-Commerce, Southeast Asia at adidas, where he played an integral role in establishing adidas’ brand.com and marketplace ventures across Southeast Asia, enabling the brand to significantly scale its online business. Prior to adidas, he was the Group Chief Commercial Officer at aCommerce, the leading e-commerce service provider in Southeast Asia where he supported global brands and retailers to go online.

Mochamad Arvyana Jayaprima

Nick Bradstreet and Simon Smith

Nick Bradstreet is the Director and Head of Asia Pacific, Retail at Savills UK. Having recently returned to the UK with his 30 years of experience in Asia, Bradstreet provides a global perspective of the retail market. He acts as the bridge between the Savills offices in Asia and Europe whilst continuing to be involved in cross border transactions. Bradstreet is focused on bringing Asian retailers to UK/Europe and assists the London team with International facing projects.

Simon Smith heads Regional Research and Consultancy for the Asia Pacific region at Savills Hong Kong. He leads a team of experienced researchers in analysing the commercial real estate markets across various property sectors, developing strategic insights and intelligence which empower Savills’ clients to make informed decisions. With over 30 years of industry expertise, Smith is a recognised thought leader in the industry.

Olivier Gergele

Olivier is Asia-Pacific EY-Parthenon Consumer Leader and EY Asean Consumer Products & Retail Leader based in Singapore, with vast operational and consulting experience in the consumer products and retail sector globally and across Southeast Asia.

His experience covers projects on growth strategies, innovation, value creation, go-to- market, sales and marketing effectiveness, profitability improvement, cost and complexity reduction, change management and large-scale transformation.

Olivier assists clients in engagements such as strategy development, operating model and organization review, go-to-market definition, value creation, and large-scale commercial and cost transformation programs.

Before joining EY in 2019, Olivier was at a management consulting firm, helping global and regional CPR clients transform to drive sustainable growth. Olivier has also been spending over a decade at a multinational consumer goods corporation, driving innovation across geographies and brands.

He holds an MBA from Warwick Business School, UK.

Phang Oy Cheng

Quan Yao

Quan Yao is a Senior Analyst (Channels) at Euromonitor International, leading research for the Retail and Digital Consumer sectors in Southeast Asia. He has a keen interest in the impact of retail digitalisation and evolving business models, and its implications for businesses and consumers within the region. 

Over his time in the company Quan Yao has engaged and advised clients on the industries’ competitive landscape, market trends & strategic outlook through his analysis on Euromonitor's Passport database, external publications, and client and industry conference engagements. He is the Co-Author of Euromonitor’s “Top 100 Retailers in Asia Pacific 2021” White Paper, and his sector commentary has been featured on prominent regional publications such as Singapore Business Review, Tech in Asia and DealStreetAsia. 

Quan Yao holds a Bachelor of Business Management degree with a Double Major in Operations Management and Analytics from the Singapore Management University. 

Rakesh Mani

Rakesh leads the Consumer Markets practice in South East Asia in PwC’s Strategy& practice, based in Kuala Lumpur –and leads the (x-sector) Strategy& team in Malaysia and Vietnam. He brings 15+ years experience serving Corporate, PE and Trading House clients in the Retail, Consumer and Leisure sectors on Strategy (revenue management, route-to-market, channel and pricing optimization);M&A/Deals (portfolio strategy, diligence, post-deal value creation, integration)and Transformation (sustainability and organizational structure) topics –typically working with executives on the Board and across the C-suite (in Finance, Strategy, Commercial).He serves large multinational accounts (examples: F&B, Tobacco, Cosmetics)on Strategy topics and in account leadership –building & deepening C-level relationships; marshalling firm engagement on local priorities; sharing global best practices and driving coordination and capability exchange with international teams. He also serves as the Asia-Pacific account leader (across all lines of service) for two of PwC’s largest global priority accounts in the Consumer Products sector.Earlier, in Japan and the U.S., he served marquee global clients on Strategy and Transformation initiatives. He was part of the founding team of PwC’s U.S. Deals Strategy practice, where he advised PEs and Trading Houses on portfolio strategy, M&A diligence and execution and also, on rapid post-deal value creation. Prior to joining PwC, Rakesh worked across multiple sectors –from investment banking and capital markets (J.P. Morgan, Deutsche Bank), to non-profit (Teach For India) and international development (Asian Development Bank). Rakesh holds an MBA degree (Strategy, Finance) from the Kellogg School of Management, and a BS degree (Actuarial Science, Finance) from New York University. He was named a Global Shaper by the World Economic Forum in 2013.

Relevant project leadership:

• Advised the board of a U.S. beverage alcohol player on extending into a new spirits category –defined target business profile, built unconstrained views on attractive pockets, evaluated capability strengths and gaps, prioritized ways-to-play and presented a phased roadmap to launch and grow, including investment and M&A plans (growth strategy)
• Led the diligence and subsequent integration of a major U.S. acquisition for a global tobacco player –and later advised on strategy and M&A efforts for the development of their reduced risk portfolio, serving the C-suite (growth strategy)
• Supported an FMCG leader in Japan with developing an effective direct-to-consumer strategy –reviewing consumer purchase behaviors, product and platform requirements and anticipated business impact (digital, e-commerce)
• Assisted a European footwear retailer with refreshing their online retail strategy across priority markets, through offline-to-online transitions using couponing and customer data to develop a e-commerce proposition (digital, e-commerce)
• Advised a distressed specialty retailer on a turnaround strategy –evaluated market demand, brand positioning and competitor strategies to refresh pricing architecture and promotion spend (turnaround, distressed situations)
• Developed a transformation roadmap for a PE-owned casino chain –assessed gamer behaviors, location performance, revenue mix and cost models to advise on an end-to-end organizational realignment to streamline the cost structure and reinvest in capabilities that support further prospects for profitable growth (transformation, organization)