Chris Baker

Chris Baker
Founder, Totem

I am the founder of Totem. I study, speak and consult about China, brand strategy, data and innovation in social/digital marketing. And I help brands develop strategies for growth.

I’m keenly interested in what the future of marketing looks like and believe that the answer to this comes from understanding many different markets/regions. My 20 years of experience as a marketer and planner have been centered around connecting the global, China and APAC ecosystems.

And, I believe that marketing in China offers a glimpse into the future for global marketers.

As agency, consultant and strategist, I’ve helped hundreds of the World’s top brands (eg. Apple, Volkswagen, Starbucks, Nike/Converse, Virgin, Omega/Swatch Group, Tencent, New Balance, Disney…) in China, APAC and Globally.

I am grateful to be connected, informed and inspired by some of the best marketing people in the World – and regularly discuss with top thinkers/practitioners in; e-commerce, data science, technology, media planning, design/creative, PR – to support our work.

Within the public discussion, I often contribute by writing media commentary and speaking at incredible events; AdAge, Campaign, Forbes, CB Insights, IRCE, Marketing, Business Insider. And privately, I conduct closed-door discussions with senior executives, investors and analysts.

Each year, I’m very proud of the work that we do with our annual reports on China, where we summarize, synthesize and project the key trends in a quickly changing market. This work also helps to inform the reports that we are publishing on how China-Global marketing intersect with one another – such as our recent report on DTC brands.