Peter Pek

Peter Pek is a brand strategist, writer, columnist, editor, publisher, designer, creative director, public relations professional, public speaker, corporate celebrity, radio and television personality from Malaysia. He is the chief executive of the World Branding Forum, a global non-profit organisation that manages and supports a range of programmes covering research, development, education, recognition, networking and outreach.
He is best known as the former creative director of New Nation, a British tabloid; the editor-in-chief of Food & Beverage magazine; publisher of Malaysian Superbrands; and for his work in branding.
He was a host and judge of the corporate reality television series The Firm, where he played himself, acting as a corporate leader and mentor. The show premièred prime time nationwide on Ntv7 and Astro's Channel 7 in Malaysia in 2007. It was the only show in the country to feature three millionaire judges. He also starred in The Firm with Chan Boon Yong. The second season of the hit show premièred on 2 August 2008.
On 1 January 2008, he began hosting his own branding talk show, Brand Malaysia with Peter Pek, on Radio24. The show began podcasting episodes through the show's website in March 2008, making him one of the few Chief Executives in Asia and the first in Malaysia, to podcast.[1]
Considered one of the world's leading brand strategists, he has worked with many top brands in Asia, Europe and Australia, and services clients from around the world. He was the Group CEO of Mercatus+ in Malaysia. He is a Fellow of the Public Relations Consultants Association and a former honorary secretary of the Malaysian chapter of the International Advertising Association, and the chief executive of the World Branding Forum.

Peter Pek with candidates from The Firm (Season 1)

Peter hails from the same town as Michelle Yeoh – Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia, and studied at St. Michael's Institution, before setting off to Sydney, Australia when he was 13. Educated in Sydney, Peter qualified as a Chartered Designer in 1993, and is now one of the few Chartered Designers practising in South East Asia. He worked for a number of branding, advertising, design, publishing and PR agencies in London, where he was based for nearly 10 years. These include Brand Mercatus, EMAP, Euro RSCG, The Guardian, Hill & Knowlton, J. Walter Thompson, The Observer, Saatchi & Saatchi, The Voice and Wunderman Cato Johnson (now part of Young & Rubicam). He is the current chief executive of the World Branding Forum.

Peter's work in branding centres around creation, strategy, communication, public relations and development. Some of the brands he has produced work for include Arab Banking Corporation, BAA Heathrow & Gatwick airports, Barclays Bank, BMW, British Airways, British Telecom, Citroën, City of Westminster, Coca-Cola, Dell, EMI Classics, Eurotunnel/Le Shuttle, KFC, Lloyds Bank, NCR, Microsoft, MTV, Prudential, Revlon, Safeway, Schweppes, Sky TV, PlayStation, Superbrands, Swedbank, Telecom Italia, and Toyota. He was also a member of the inaugural Malaysian Superbrands Council. He is currently the honorary secretary of the Malaysian chapter of the International Advertising Association.

Peter Pek began his career in the publishing world as a columnist for Sydney-based Livewire Magazine in 1987. In the 90s, Peter became well known for designing launch publications, having worked on the launch editions of Microsoft magazine and SkyPlus magazine (now known as Sky Magazine) for Sky TV. In 1995, he was appointed designer to The Voice, Europe's largest African-Caribbean newspaper. The following year, he was hired to design the launch edition of New Nation newspaper, a British tabloid from a company of Elisabeth Murdoch. In the late 90s, Peter worked with The Guardian and The Observer newspapers. He was also the creative director of Galazee magazine for the Indian satellite station, Zee TV. He had a stint at the Australian Financial Review before being appointed in 1999 as Editor-in-Chief of Manila-based Food & Beverage Magazine, the largest trade and consumer F&B publication in the Philippines.

In 2001, Peter took the Superbrands project to Malaysia, and a year later, co-edited and published the Malaysian edition of the hugely successful hardcover coffee table book, Superbrands. He designed the Superbrands awards seal logo used in many countries.

In 2007, Peter appeared in The Firm, Malaysia's first corporate reality television program produced by Popiah Pictures and Ntv7. Hosted by Peter and Chan Boon Yong, the show was directed by award-winning director Ng Ping Ho of Kopitiam fame. In The Firm, a group of professionals compete in an elimination-style competition to find the next corporate high-flyer. The winner gets a car as well as a one-year contract with Tune Money, Asia's first "no-frills" online financial service founded by Tony Fernandes of budget airline AirAsia. Peter plays himself in the series, acting as a corporate leader, mentor and judge.

The show attempts to separate the weak from the strong, the under-achievers from the over-achievers and the followers from the leaders. Each week, candidates compete in a series of tasks dealing with different disciplines in business that is imperative to the success of a corporate high-flier. Amongst others, these include branding, promotions, positioning and catering to target markets. Peter was the first to use the show's catch phrase, "You're terminated". The show premièred prime time nationwide on ntv7 and Astro's Channel 7 on 24 June 2007. He also starred in The Firm. The second season of the hit show premièred on 2 August 2008 on ntv7 and Astro channel 107.

In 2008, Peter began hosting his own talk show on Malaysia's first and only 24-hour news and talk radio station, Radio24. His program, Brand Malaysia with Peter Pek aired every Tuesday at 7-8pm, with repeats throughout the week. The show premièred on New Year's Day, 2008, and was the only branding talk show in Malaysia.

Peter is a well known commentator on the subject of branding, and has been featured on radio and television, spoken at many conferences and conducted workshops around the world. Notable speaking engagements include conferences organised by the Asian Strategic & Leadership Institute – ASLI, Asia Business Forum, Davos Management Institute (Davos), Rotary International, The Harvard Project for Asian and International Relations (Hong Kong), Marcus Evans, Malaysian Media Conference, Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers, Malaysian Franchise Association, and the Malaysian Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

A Rotarian, Peter is a past President of the Rotary Club of Gombak, Kuala Lumpur, and District Secretary (communications) for Rotary International District 3300. He is also a trustee of the Rotary Club of Gombak Charity Foundation. He is currently the honorary secretary of the Malaysian chapter of the International Advertising Association.