KBS Shanghai hires May Xiao as director of new business to focus on the local Chinese market

KBS has appointed May Xiao as Director of New Business for its Shanghai office, effective immediately. Xiao (pictured) joins the team from Fred & Farid, where she founded and led the FF SOCIAL business unit, in addition to overseeing business and client management on internationally renowned brands including Alibaba, DIDI and Tencent.

Born in China and educated abroad, Xiao is fluent in both Mandarin and English and brings a thoroughly global perspective to the Shanghai office. Her responsibilities at KBS will involve a focus on the local market, reinforcing KBS Shanghai’s commitment to working with Chinese businesses on a global scale. Having just won Maldives’ International Airline and the GoPro business, the office is already building considerable momentum on this front.

“Our Shanghai office has already amassed a small, but terrific roster of global and regional clients,” said KBS Global CEO Guy Hayward, “But as they continue to grow and evolve local business will become more important in our ambition of helping companies in China modernize to thrive in a global tech-driven culture.”

Having helped propel her former agency to both Ad Age International Agency of the Year and Spikes Independent Agency of the Year, Xiao’s hire puts the spotlight on KBS’s growing reputation within China as an agency partner for the next generation of innovative companies.

“KBS is building a modern, global network designed for speed and scale, enabled by technology and data,” said Douglas Lin, CEO of KBS Shanghai. “We opened in Shanghai because we firmly believe the next global brand will come from China and we believe that May Xiao will be instrumental in our drive to find those kinds of modern, forward-thinking client partners.”

On joining KBS, May Xiao said, “When the opportunity to join KBS Shanghai presented itself, I jumped at the chance. The agency is at an incredibly exciting time in its evolution and perfectly poised to win the business of some of the most dynamic, modern companies in China and, by extension, the world.”