10 March 2005: Foresight Brand Management Consulting Company, a Shanghai-based brand consultancy has appointed international brand strategist Martin Roll to its Advisory Board. Martin Roll is CEO of VentureRepublic, the leading international strategic advisory firm on Branding Excellence.

With this appointment, Martin Roll will play an external advisory role to Foresight and its clients in China. Specifically, he will contribute international best practices and expertise on brand strategy and brand management to the growing numbers of Chinese companies seeking to build and sustain strong brands.

"I am delighted to have Martin on our international advisory board. He delivers the combined value of an experienced international branding strategist, a senior advisor to boards and management teams and an internationally renowned speaker and sought-after workshop host," said David Shi, CEO of Foresight.

"There is currently a serious lack of professional brand knowledge and skill-set within companies in Asia, particular those in China, to actively enhance their brands and improve their financial value. Foresight provides Chinese companies with a fresh perspective on international branding practices and its direct contribution to commercial opportunities and enhanced profitability. I am confident Martin's international insights will add tremendous value to the Chinese boardrooms," added David Shi.

"Many corporate leaders still perceive branding as primarily related to corporate identity and advertising dollars. This is not accurate. Branding relates directly to business strategy and will become an integrated part of corporate management. Branding is now a crucial success factor for Asian companies who want to create a long term competitive edge internationally," said Martin Roll.

Martin Roll is author of two forthcoming leadership books on branding to be published globally by Palgrave Macmillan: Asian brands (2005) and Brand strategy (2006). He is also Visiting Professor in Strategic Brand Management at the China European Business School (CEIBS) in Shanghai recently ranked the top Executive Education in Asia by Financial Times.

Martin Roll is also represented as an international speaker and workshop host by three of the leading speaker bureaus in the world: Washington Speakers Bureau (US), Celebrity Speakers CSA (London) and Saxton Bureau (Australia and New Zealand).

About Foresight
Founded in 2000, Shanghai Foresight Brand Management Consulting Co. Ltd is the first brand management company set up by professional brand managers in China. The key team members have senior managerial and operational experience from multi-national companies like P&G, Coca-Cola, JWT and Research International in China. Foresight is specialized in brand management providing multiple services including, brand strategy, brand identity, brand portfolio management, operational brand management, brand management organization development, brand equity monitor and brand valuation.

About VentureRepublic
VentureRepublic is the leading international strategic advisory firm on Branding Excellence to corporate boards and top-management teams in multiple industries across the world. VentureRepublic's unique approach of strategic brand consulting is developed specifically to sustain branding value embedded in organizations. It combines the firm's strength to engage a client's boardroom, employees and business associates with strategy-driven and market-centric brand strategy programs to maximize commercial benefits. VentureRepublic has offices in Singapore and Denmark.