Andrew Craig Ballen (born April 27, 1973) is an American digital media and China millennial marketing expert, consumer advocate and entrepreneur.
Ballen holds the distinction of being first American to produce, host and syndicate his own TV series in China.
He is the founder and CEO of AVD Digital Media, headquartered in Shanghai, China.
AVD Digital Media is a venture-backed innovation hub that created China's seminal interactive in-video ad messaging systems.Best known in China by the name Da Long (??), or Big Dragon, Ballen is a familiar foreign-face on Chinese TV.
widely known for his role as host of China's internationally aired travel series, Getaway.In 2013, Ballen and his team of technologists envisioned and pioneered China's first fully interactive video shopping experiences for sports apparel brand Nike, Unilever, Kraft Foods, LVMH Group's Sephora on Youku, and Chinese TV shopping giant Acorn International as reported by Retail In Asia.
Ballen's TOUCHâ„¢ V-commerce mechanism produced greater than 500% increases in viewer engagement relative to traditional online banner, play-pause and pre-roll ads for Nike and Sephora, helping to revolutionize China's V-commerce industry.
Though patented, since inception, Ballen's TOUCHâ„¢ mechanism has been emulated by several of China's largest video portals.