Arnold Ma

Arnold Ma is the founder and CEO of Qumin, Europe's first Chinese digital creative agency. Due to his bi-cultural upbringing and professional experience, Ma has developed expertise in both Western and Chinese markets, businesses, and cultures. At age 25, he established Qumin to help global brands connect with Chinese consumers, focusing on the cultural nuances and behaviors that drive engagement. His guiding mission—to "Open the World to China"—has shaped the agency's work and his public profile as a writer, podcast host, and keynote speaker.

Qumin is a full-service digital agency specializing in scalable online presence for brands marketing to China. The agency has supported Western brands including Sony, Manchester United, Mars Inc, General Mills, and Unilever in understanding and engaging with Chinese consumers. Among Qumin's achievements, Ma's team led Skyscanner's entry into the Chinese market, contributing to the company's eventual multibillion-pound exit to CTrip. In addition to work with Western brands, Ma has supported Chinese technology companies such as Bytedance and Huawei in their international expansion.

Ma's approach to the Chinese market emphasizes cultural authenticity over surface-level localization. He focuses on the users behind the platforms, the subcultures behind the hashtags, and the audiences behind the consumers. This philosophy has driven campaigns such as Marriott International's launch of Moxy in Shanghai, targeting Chinese Gen Z and millennials. Qumin also operates the largest fashion channel on Douyin, with a billion views annually, as well as a food channel and a YouTube channel for Asian diasporas. The agency's Manchester United campaign received recognition, winning a Drum Award for Best Interactive Content Strategy—the first Chinese campaign to win a British marketing award.

An expert on the Chinese marketplace, Ma is a global keynote speaker who has appeared on Chinese Global Television Network and has more than a decade of experience advising companies on success in the Chinese marketing landscape. He is regularly invited to deliver keynote speeches on China at events such as YMS London, FUTR Europe, NKF Fintech Summit in Germany, and the Data and Analytics Summit. His thought leadership has been featured in Financial Times, McKinsey, Campaign, and Reuters. Beyond Qumin, Ma founded Dao Insights, a platform dedicated to sharing stories, case studies, and content about China's evolving digital landscape. He also started the grassroots movement #EveryAsianVoice, further establishing his role as a bridge between cultures and a leading voice in global digital marketing.