Whalar recruits Meta’s Jason Li as global EVP, strategy

Creator marketing company Whalar has brought on former Meta creative shop lead Jason Li as its global EVP of strategy, a new role.

Li’s remit places him at the helm of the global creative strategy team, overseeing the development and delivery of creative briefs as well as strategic frameworks for brands and social media platforms. He reports to Whalar CEO Rob Horler and leads a team of 20 employees.

Whalar crafted the new role to ensure there was a leader dedicated to and responsible for strategy, which was previously overseen by a mix of other leaders, Li said.

Li will create global standards around how Whalar approaches pitching clients as well as how its teams in North America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa collaborate.

“How do we share and reapply our learnings?” he said. “How do we build out deeper vertical expertise? Those could help us operate more efficiently but also hopefully uplevel the creative output.”

Only two days into the job, Li said he will start by evaluating Whalar’s current pitching process before developing new global standards. He plans to closely monitor social media for trends that could better inform pitches.

Li plans to monitor how live streaming drives commerce and how emerging technology such as virtual reality can fuel Whalar’s creative output.

“Most social media platforms are also tech platforms and they’re constantly innovating with new ad formats and ways to engage consumers,” he said. “I think Whalar should do the same.”

At Meta, Li worked on the creative shop as its global director, starting in August 2021. Before that, he spent almost 12 years on Facebook, most recently as director of the creative shop between August 2018 and July 2021. He also spent over eight years at P&G, serving as brand manager of corporate marketing and multi-brand innovation from June 2009 to September 2011.

Jimmie Stone, who Li reported to for a time, currently heads Meta’s creative shop as a VP.

Meta doesn’t have plans to replace Li’s role.

Working within the creator economy, Li sees a responsibility to serve underrepresented communities, which are paid lower amounts and less frequently for their work.

“If we do our jobs right, it’s going to be a win-win for brands and for these communities,” he said.