With 22 years of government, media, design, sales and marketing experience – both as brand owner and consultant – Tim Heberlein heads U.S. operations for crisis management & preparedness consultancy, Crisis Consultants Group Worldwide.
Heberlein is a veteran issue and crisis management expert. He has counseled companies through consumer litigation, product recalls, blackmail attempts, competitor attacks and restructurings. Over the past 5 years, he has trained dozens of FORTUNE 500 firms in crisis communications and management.
Former president of EDELMAN Public Relations Worldwide – China, Heberlein provided strategic counsel to leading MNC’s across a range of business creation, revitalization, education and defense programs, growing the agency to #1 in China. He also served on the Board of Governors of the American Chamber of Commerce – Beijing as well as media counsel for its chairman. Other achievements include media strategy for a successful China Supreme Court appeal and authoring the winning campaign strategy and slogan for Beijing’s 2008 Olympics bid as well as top medallist at the China International PR Association’s ‘4th Golden Awards Competition’ in 2000 and its ‘5th Golden Awards Competition’ in 2002, among others.
Before EDELMAN, Heberlein served 8 years at Cotton Council International as managing director, Asia-Pacific, first in Korea and later Hong Kong. There he created and managed award-winning marketing campaigns for U.S. cotton as well as cross-category merchandising partnerships with P&G, Unilever, Polygram and Epic/Sony.
Heberlein earlier served as managing partner of Thayne Madrid Marketing and Design Consultants in Singapore, co-authoring “marketing design”, a process-based approach to visual design and marketing strategy development. He also has served as Far East director for the Wisconsin Dept. of Agriculture; and sales & marketing director at China Consultants International, erstwhile leading industrial publishing house and political risk consultancy for China.
Heberlein graduated the University of Wisconsin/Madison with twin B.A.s in Chinese linguistics and literature, with additional academic training at Taiwan National Normal University and Phitsanuloke Pittyakom in Thailand. He has lectured at Qinghua University and Beijing University and contributes on brand management for Asian business media as well as founder/former publisher of China PR News. A 27-year Asia resident, he is fluent in Mandarin and Cantonese Chinese and conversant in Thai and Korean.