#123 | Scott Kronick | The Long-Time China Hand

Scott Kronick on more than 30 years in Asia, leading Ogilvy Public Relations Asia Pacific, and his Monday Morning Mojo blog. Scott Kronick is a long time China hand with over 30+ years in the region. Scott is currently a Senior Advisor of Ogilvy Public Relations, Asia Pacific, covering 30 offices in 15 countries. He was formerly President and CEO of Ogilvy Asia Pacific for 7+ years. Also, Scott is the author of the blog, the Monday Morning Mojo at To learn more about Scott: https://www.scottkronick.com Chapters 0:00 Welcome Scott Kronick 2:33 Growing up around Flint, Michigan 5:03 Twenty-six years in Beijing and four in Taipei 7:36 Knocking on doors in New York 10:05 Finding Ogilvy Public Relations 12:34 Aiming for Australia 15:08 Global brands arrive in Taipei 17:31 The chance to go to China 20:04 A team across Hong Kong and Beijing 22:33 Families who grew up together 25:06 Westerners who succeeded in China 27:37 A phenomenal business builder 30:04 A staffing strategy for China 32:39 Hershey's and the sweetness of chocolate 35:04 The late 90s rush to go public 37:30 Alibaba and the early stories 40:02 Running from meeting to meeting 42:31 Taipei 101 and a career built early 45:00 All in the same boat 47:30 Asia Society, USC and the US China Institute 50:02 Beijing wins the 2008 Olympics 52:30 Ten Olympic clients 55:04 Opening night in the hutongs 57:33 The media narrative on China 1:00:03 Why more journalists in China matters 1:02:33 Not an apologist 1:05:02 The importance of community 1:07:36 An independent PR business 1:10:01 Surface area luck 1:12:34 A football team with a Premier League ringer 1:15:03 Room for two superpowers 1:17:35 Tough days in quarantine 1:20:04 Taking stock in his 40s 1:22:37 Stephon Marbury and a Pioneer award 1:25:01 A player who reinvented himself 1:27:30 An early boost for the firm 1:30:05 Access in a small world 1:32:37 A journalist friend turned ambassador 1:35:01 Views on how countries are governed 1:37:31 Jogging in Beijing air 1:40:04 Missing the energy of Beijing 1:42:35 Before China, there was Japan 1:45:04 Living the dream 1:47:32 Shared journeys 1:50:04 Final thoughts The Ryan Pyle Podcast is ad-free by choice. If you enjoy these conversations, you can buy me a coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/ryanpyle Ryan's TV series are streaming around the world. Follow the Podcast X: https://x.com/RyanPylePodcast Facebook: https://facebook.com/ryanpylepodcast Follow Ryan Pyle YouTube: https://youtube.com/@ryanjpyle Instagram: https://instagram.com/ryanpyle X: https://x.com/RyanPyle Facebook: https://facebook.com/ryanpyle https://www.ryanpyle.com