Joanna Lu is an expert partner in our global Consumer Products and Marketing Excellence practices, based in Shanghai.

With more than 25 years of global and local brand marketing experience, Joanna has developed sharp insights and a forward-looking, strategic vision into consumer trends, specializing in brand building and innovation, integrated marketing strategy, channel excellence, growth path driven by new consumption, digital transformation of enterprise value network, etc. Since joining Bain, she has led multiple consultancy projects for leading consumer products brands, focusing on building innovation capabilities and exploring new growth models for the industry. In addition, she works to drive disruptive growth for insurgents and is a lecturer for the Hundun College’s “Navigating Through the Downturn” course. She is the co-author of several Bain’s whitepapers, including China Growth Formula, Bain x Douyin 2021 Douyin E-commerce White Paper, Bain x Tmall Pet Brand Playbook, Bain x Meituan White Paper on Food Delivery Operation System. Committed to improving team marketing capabilities, she has also developed and launched a series of marketing training courses, actively engaged in the development of young marketing talent with a global vision.

Throughout her career, Joanna has led and advised consumer products brands and their marketing teams, as well as key Digital giants. She has direct professional experience across the United States and Asia-Pacific, especially China and South Korea.

Prior to joining Bain & Company, she worked at Coca-Cola as Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) for Greater China and Korea. With her unique strategic vision and excellent leadership skills, she has led the team to be consumer-centric, understand market trends, establish new marketing logic and brand growth formulas, and successfully shape multiple brands worth more than US$1 billion. Through a clear growth strategy, a full-dimensional innovation drive, and a series of well-known marketing cases, it has promoted the rapid growth of the business to become the undisputed first in China’s beverage industry, and has won many marketing awards such as the 2019 Effie Gold Award.

Joanna has received numerous awards for her outstanding leadership, including being named one of HBR China’s inaugural “Top 30 Leaders in New-Growth Innovations in China”, one of Campaign APAC’s “Most Influential CMOs” in 2018 and one of Advertising Age’s “Women to Watch China” in 2014. Joanna is the “New Consumption Era” columnist for CEIBS Business Review. She is also a judge for the 2022 Cannes Lions, W Awards, the ROI Awards, and the WARC Awards.

Prior to joining Coca-Cola, Joanna spent 10 years at Unilever in a variety of marketing leadership positions.

Joanna holds an MBA and a B.A. in Biophysics from Fudan University.