Serge Dumont

Career and early life

A French citizen born in Tunisia, Dumont graduated from the Sorbonne University in Paris. He holds dual degrees in sociology and oriental languages and civilizations, and has studied at the Taiwan Normal University and the Political Institute in Taipei.

In 1985 he moved to Beijing and established China’s first joint venture communications and government relations consultancy, Interasia. The company acquired a roster of Fortune 500 clients and became a market leader. In 1993 Dumont sold Interasia to the world's largest PR group, Edelman. He was appointed Executive Vice President of the Edelman Group, President of Asia and sat on the Global Board.

From 1998 to 2006, Dumont concentrated on PE activities, as well as strategic advisory and philanthropic work. In 2006 he joined Omnicom Group and in 2011 was appointed to his current position of Vice Chairman of the Omnicom Group and Chairman Asia Pacific. One of his key responsibilities is directly managing the fast-growing Greater China business unit by developing business strategies for all Omnicom activities and building relationships that expand Omnicom’s operational footprint globally. He reports to John Wren, the President and CEO of Omnicom Group.

Advisory work and philanthropic activities

Dumont has been involved in philanthropic and government advisory work in the areas of education and public health. In 2006 he was named a Special Representative for UNAIDS, the joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS. He led a team of experts who advised the Beijing Municipal Government and the World Health Organization during the SARS crisis of 2003.

In 2004, with the Tsinghua University School of Journalism and Communications, he founded the first scholarship fund aimed at developing qualified professionals for the marketing communications industry. He has also set up partnership programs with Fudan University and the China European International Business School (CEIBS).

Since 2003, he has served as Conseiller du Commerce Extérieur de la France (France’s Foreign Trade Advisor).

He currently sits on several boards including the Advisory Board of the Tsinghua University School of Journalism and Communications, the Corporate Advisory Board of CEIBS, and the board of the China Youth Development Foundation.

Publications

In 2003, Dumont co-authored Brand Warriors China, ISBN 978-1861976994, the first book to analyze the brand strategies of the top Chinese companies who were expanding internationally.

Honors and awards

His contribution to society has been recognised through honors and awards from a number of national governments and international organizations. In 2008 he received a Gold Medal from UNAIDS for "outstanding contributions to the AIDS response". In 2011 he received the Holmes Report’s Asia-Pacific Lifetime Achievement Sabre Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement. In 2014 he was honored by the China Advertising Association for Outstanding contribution to the advertising Industry. In 2015, Serge Dumont was named by Debrett's among the top 100 most influential people in Hong Kong. In 2016, on the occasion of the APAC Cristal Awards, an Outstanding Merit Award was given to Serge Dumont.

Other honors and awards include the following: