E-commerece enabler, CREA expands in Malaysia, appoints Katrina Neo as CEO 

• Held numerous leadership roles in FMCG in her career 
• Lead CREA’s expansion in Malaysia, help brands maximise opportunities

CREA, is strengthening its regional presence and offerings with the appointment of fast-moving consumer goods veteran Katrina Neo as chief executive officer (CEO), Malaysia. 

In a statement, the leading ecommerce enabler said Neo will lead CREA’s continued expansion in Malaysia to help brands maximise their opportunities to go direct to Malaysian consumers in addition to assisting consumers gain greater access to different products across multiple channels. 

This will include several exclusive independently-owned brands through CREA’s strategic partnership with SuperOrdinary, it added.

Prior to joining CREA, Katrina held leadership roles in Dutch Lady, Kraft, GlaxoSmithKline and Kimberly-Clark, where she was instrumental in driving commercial transformation. 

She was also responsible for implementing various go-to market strategies that led to market share and revenue growth for the brands.

Neo brings with her extensive in-market landscape knowledge, which will help her drive CREA’s growth and scalability. Her industry expertise coupled with CREA’s innovative technology will help brands under the company grow by maximising their scale and reach through a single multi-channel solution.

Additionally, as CREA onboards new brands and expands its presence into Malaysia, Neo will be instrumental in spearheading localisation efforts for those brands. 

Commenting on her appointment Katrina Neo, CEO of CREA Malaysia said she’s excited to be joining industry veterans like Aimone and Alessandro, and to help bring their vision to life here in Malaysia.

“The Malaysian market presents a great opportunity for growth and CREA’s innovative solutions will help brands in Malaysia tackle the complex world of digital commerce and scale across different platforms. With CREA’s capabilities and technology firmly in place, I look forward to hitting the ground running with the team,” she added.

Founder and co-CEO of CREA, Aimone di Ripa Meana said with Neo’s experience as a business leader, and her extensive industry knowledge, she will be able to help brands in Malaysia navigate the complexity of the fragmented digital space and achieve ecommerce success across multiple channels.

“We are confident that our continued success in Southeast Asia, led by our power-based market of Thailand, can be replicated in Malaysia, under Neo’s leadership,” he added.

CREA was founded in 2019 by serial entrepreneurs, Aimone Ripa di Meana and Alessandro Piscini, and is headquartered in Thailand. In 2022, Malaysia will be one of the strategic growth markets for CREA as they continue expanding their Southeast Asia presence.

As a leading ecommerce enabler, CREA makes ecommerce success effortless for brands, helping them to grow across multiple channels. By leveraging ecommerce expertise and innovative proprietary technology, the company’s single multi-channel solution helps brands tackle complexities of a fragmented digital commerce space on one unified platform by providing brands with marketing, branding and data-driven channel insights to further brands’ growth within Southeast Asia. 

Additionally, CREA’s direct-to-consumer fulfillment, store and channel management assists brands to maximise their opportunities to go direct to consumers.

It’s portfolio currently includes over 84 international beauty, fashion, and FMCG brands such and with five integrated warehouses across Southeast Asia, CREA is able to help brands with multi-channel direct to consumer fulfillment.

This move follows its US$25 million (RM104 million) investment in mid-November 2021 by brand accelerator SuperOrdinary. The strategic partnership with SuperOrdinary also creates a global distribution network which allows brands CREA work with to expand into new markets seamlessly.