What happens when a seasoned marketing executive dares to reimagine the entire foundation of how businesses approach growth? Dr. Jaslyin Qiyu didn’t just ask the question, she built the answer.
With over two decades of experience at the helm of marketing transformation across global giants like Citibank, EY, Credit Suisse, and Kantar, Jaslyin’s career has always revolved around solving complex business problems. But it wasn’t until she noticed a critical gap, where traditional agencies fell short in aligning people, processes, and platforms, that her entrepreneurial path truly began.
Fuelled by a desire to democratize access to sophisticated marketing capabilities, she founded Mad About Marketing Consulting in early 2024. Her venture has since become a trusted strategic partner for organizations navigating modern challenges in an AI-powered, culturally nuanced, and operationally demanding environment.
In this exclusive feature, Jaslyin shares the insights behind her transition from executive roles to entrepreneurship, the real-life experiences that shaped her unique business model, and her vision for the future of sustainable marketing transformation.
Her story is one of clarity, conviction, and measurable impact. We invite you to explore her journey, a blueprint for redefining value in today’s business landscape.
The Spark Behind the Venture
Could you briefly tell us about your background and how it led you to start your business?
I have over 20 years of marketing and transformation experience across global MNCs, including Citibank, EY, Credit Suisse, and Kantar, where I served as Asia Regional CMO. Throughout my corporate career, I consistently observed a critical gap between what organizations needed and what traditional agencies delivered, particularly around the operational challenges that derail marketing transformation: misaligned people, inefficient processes, and underutilized platforms.
The defining moment came when I was advising a founding team on their wealth tech platform, helping them refine customer journeys and value propositions. Seeing their trust in my strategic inputs and dedication despite limited resources made me realize I could create more impact by democratizing access to sophisticated marketing capabilities.
After years of leading marketing transformation across different industries, I became frustrated with the one-size-fits-all and undervalued marketing approach dominating the industry.
Wherever I first started in each organization, regardless of their setup, marketing either gets a seat at the table or is not even invited to the meeting, depending on their own propensity towards defining what is truly measurable in business terms. This insight, combined with my belief in the potential of integrated marketing to solve real business problems through both art and science, led me to establish Mad About Marketing Consulting in January 2024.
Redefining the Marketing Model
What does your business focus on, and how is it positioned in the market?
Mad About Marketing Consulting is positioned as a strategic transformation partner rather than a traditional marketing agency. We provide marketing advisory and go-to-market strategies for B2B and B2C clients across Asia Pacific, partnering with CMOs and C-Suites to maximize their marketing potential through strategic transformation.
Our unique positioning centers on our "people, process, and platform" methodology, addressing the operational trinity that determines marketing success. Unlike traditional agencies that focus on tactical deliverables like campaigns and creative, we also unpack underlying operational challenges around team structure, workflow optimization, and technology stack effectiveness.
We differentiate through our hybrid approach that merges marketing advisory with management consultancy principles, combined with our fractional talent model. This allows us to provide enterprise-grade strategic thinking without traditional agency overhead, making sophisticated marketing capabilities accessible to organizations of all sizes.
Our market position is as trusted advisors who elevate marketing from a cost center to a genuine business enabler, helping clients navigate AI-age transformations while bridging technological innovation with human dynamics and cultural nuance.
A Vision for Scalable Growth
What are your plans for growth or expansion in the near future?
Our growth strategy operates on three fronts: geographic expansion, methodology development, and talent network scaling. We recently opened our Vietnam representative office at The Executive Centre, Friendship Tower in Ho Chi Minh City, led by Ngoc Nguyen as Vietnam Country Lead. This expansion responds to consistent client conversations highlighting Vietnam as a critical market for innovation and growth.
We're developing proprietary frameworks that codify our people-process-platform approach, enabling scalable knowledge transfer to our expanding consultant network. The five-year vision includes establishing regional hubs across key Asia Pacific markets, creating a comprehensive ecosystem where fractional specialists collaborate seamlessly across industries and geographies.
Technology-wise, we're pioneering responsible AI integration in marketing transformation through our AI Transformation Readiness Framework, not just adopting tools, but developing ethical frameworks that help clients navigate generative AI implementation without losing strategic thinking capabilities. We plan to build a team of consultants empowered with our methodology to handle more complex, longer-term client engagements.
Our ultimate goal is to become the definitive authority on sustainable marketing transformation, setting new industry standards for strategic depth and execution excellence across the region.
Milestones and the Road Ahead
How has this year impacted your business, and what are your goals moving forward?
This year has been transformational for our business. We've scaled from one client to seven clients in our first year of formal operations, with one of our initial clients expanding their scope of services, demonstrating that we're delivering genuine value. We were awarded "Best Marketing Consultancy in South East Asia" this year, which validated our objectives to help companies solve real problems.
The transition from independent consulting to full business ownership presented challenges around wearing multiple executive hats, CEO, COO, CFO, CMO, CRO, while building sustainable client pipelines. However, this experience strengthened our operational capabilities and proved our fractional model's effectiveness.
Moving forward, our goals include consolidating our Vietnam market entry, expanding our fractional talent network, and developing scalable methodologies that maintain quality while enabling growth. We're focused on acquiring more long-term client engagements rather than project-based work, as these create more sustainable impact on business and marketing outcomes.
We're also committed to proving that marketing can be both creatively inspiring and operationally robust, helping debunk persistent misconceptions that marketing's value lies primarily in creative aesthetics rather than strategic business contribution.
Insights for the Next Generation of Entrepreneurs
What advice would you give to startups or entrepreneurs in your industry?
First, be crystal clear about your unique value proposition, strengths, and weaknesses to establish your own niche. Don't just follow other founders' success stories, spend time observing and researching what your target customers actually need.
Start small and practice what you preach. If you've led bigger campaigns in corporate life, implement similar strategies for your own business but at a manageable scale within your means, whether SEO, SEM, digital ads, or events. Remember that regardless of your corporate reputation, your business entity is separate and still needs to prove itself.
Most importantly, don't low-ball yourself when trying to win client deals. Understand, know, and believe in your own self-worth and years of expertise. Don't be afraid to own it. I declined numerous opportunities early in my career because I felt "not ready yet," and I now realize those were missed learning opportunities.
My advice to aspiring marketers is: "Stop trying to be ready and start being valuable." Growth happens through solving real problems for real people, not through accumulating credentials. Instead of asking "Am I qualified enough?" ask "How can I create value while learning?"
Finally, focus on building relationships and genuine partnerships rather than transactional client interactions. The most successful outcomes emerge when you involve stakeholders in the solutioning process, making them feel consulted and accountable for the transformation rather than passive recipients of change.
Final Thoughts
Jaslyin Qiyu’s journey is a powerful reminder that transformation doesn’t begin with tools, it begins with vision. Her ability to bridge corporate insight with entrepreneurial courage has allowed her to build more than a consultancy; she’s built a platform for lasting, strategic change.
In a world where marketing is often reduced to surface-level tactics, Jaslyin brings depth, structure, and integrity to the conversation. Through Mad About Marketing Consulting, she is reshaping how organizations across Asia Pacific approach growth, not just through campaigns, but through culture, operations, and ethical innovation.
Her commitment to elevating marketing as a true business enabler, not a cost center, is evident in every aspect of her model, from fractional talent networks to responsible AI integration. More importantly, she leads with purpose, pushing others to rethink their value and take bold steps forward.
To follow Jaslyin’s ongoing journey or explore collaboration opportunities, you can connect with her through the platforms below:
Her story doesn’t end here, and neither should your curiosity. Dive deeper, connect, and discover how strategic marketing transformation can shape the future of your business.
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