Tony Ahn

Tony Ahn's unique blend of education and experience makes him one of the most highly sought after social media evangelists in Asia.

Tony's baccalaureate degree focused on ethnography, a branch of anthropology that studies and describes contemporary human cultures. Ethnographers capture and communicate "webs of meaning," defining the interworking of cultures from an inside perspective. This equips Tony with a deep understanding of the culture of social media networks and communities.

Tony holds a master's degree in counseling from Penn State University, giving Tony rich insights into human motivation and behavior. Simply put, Tony knows what consumers want and why. He has used this knowledge to reshape online customer service practices on two continents.

Tony's first entrepreneurial venture came in 2005 when he co-founded a publishing company. As the CEO of a small venture, he found himself overseeing both day-to-day operation as well as handling marketing, PR, and business development. In addition he innovated new uses of social media for crowdsourced content creation. The following year he made the move to Asia to pursue opportunities there, successfully running his company from abroad while working as an English communications consultant for the Korean military. He then took on another leadership role in 2008 as the communications director and spokesman for a professional association in Korea. One of Tony's primary responsibilities involved using social media to drive membership and connect with the public.

In 2009, Tony reunited with his baccalaureate discipline when he was hired as CEO of a Manila management consulting firm that utilized anthropologists to study consumer behavior. A year later he poured his knowledge of ethnography, human motivation, and social media into his own digital marketing agency, which he directed until it was acquired by one of the Philippines' larges public relations firms. In 2012, he opened hybrid marketing agency Tony Ahn & Co. which he directs today.