Joanne Lim, the head of marketing at Virgin Active Singapore, has been named as one of the winners of ‘Empowered Women in Marketing’ category at MARKETECH APAC’s inaugural recognition initiative for women leaders in the industry, Empowered Women Awards 2023.
Lim started out at Virgin Active Singapore back in 2013 as the marketing manager for the company in Singapore before being promoted to the role of head of marketing in 2015. She exited the company for the meantime in 2018 to serve as the head of portfolio marketing at Mercatus up until February 2021. She then returned to Virgin Active Singapore, retaining her role as head of marketing.
Championing marketing strategies for the holistic health and wellness scene
As one of the industries that were hugely affected by the pandemic, Lim believed that beyond the economic restraints of the health and wellness industry during a pandemic, working at one’s pace to achieve holistic health and wellness is possible to slowly revive the business.
She helped spearhead the launch of SkyPark Yoga in partnership with Marina Bay Sands in 2021, featuring a series of classes with varying intensities conducted by Virgin Active trainers on the Sands SkyPark.
Lim was also integral in the launch of the ‘BreakAway’ wellness retreat in 2022. This campaign focused on having guests being fully immersed in Virgin Active Singapore’s wide selection of activities. Following the success of the ‘BreakAway’ launch, the company is currently in talks with Sofitel to make it a permanent package in its hotel guest experience.
Lastly, Lim’s ethos to revive the health and wellness scene comes full circle in its ‘Reformer Pilates Programme’. With this initiative, the company aims to reinforce its commitment to providing the highest quality in training, coaching, and class experience across various types of guests, whether they are newcomers or experienced ones.
Strengthening brand partnerships through creative and strategic leadership
For Lim, being a leader is all about knowing where to get creative inspiration from, as well as being on-hand with the initiatives the company is doing. As a leader whose strength relies on brand partnerships, being able to be proactive in work allows her to better understand the strengths and weaknesses of the business.
Moreover, her strategic leadership involves looking at the bigger picture of the business in order to come up with strategic ways to work in both the micro and macro environment.
She further adds that while she started out as being prescriptive in terms of how things should be done, she later on adopted a wider approach to leadership. This means delegating, trusting, and nurturing her team members to deliver their personal and business objectives.
Lastly, she also describes her leadership style centred around persuasion through creative means, as well as understanding the individual needs of her employees to steer them to be aligned with the organisation’s goals.
Equal opportunities for everyone: the hallmark of a diverse workforce
According to Lim, she never believed in the concept that the voice of a man or woman should be different. For her, despite being in a male-dominated field, she continues to candidly share her views, as well as taking the time to encourage her team members and circle of influence to express themselves in a professional yet genuine manner.
Interestingly, she also runs her own F&B business outside of the corporate role. She believes that men and women should be empowered to dream, follow their passion and work collaboratively with their partners and stakeholders to deliver that together.
“Dreams, ideas, passions and abilities should have a voice but not a voice differentiation. Being a “man or woman”, should never be the subject matter, rather, the subject should be the one that matters,” she said.
Check out who else made it to Empowered Women Awards 2023 Winners’ list.
