SoPa names Arbie Pagdanganan as country head for PH, unveils new office

Manila, Philippines – Southeast Asian loyalty and e-commerce ecosystem Society Pass is steadfast in the company’s growth as it amplifies its operations across Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines, a group it dubs as its ‘VIP’ markets. Alongside this, SoPa has announced the opening of its office in Manila along with the appointment of VP of product design, Arbie Pagdanganan, as the new country head.

On SoPa’s new Manila location, it is strategically located in the central business district of Makati, Metro Manila. This is SoPa’s second office in its VIP priority markets and employs over 20 staff in the Philippines with an aim to grow this figure to over 100 by the end of 2022.

Dennis Nguyen, founder, chairman and chief executive officer of Society Pass, said that the Philippines is a cornerstone of SoPa’s VIP acquisition strategy. Nguyen added that he is proud to appoint their VP of product design, Pagdanganan, as their country manager in the Philippines and looks forward to her expert leadership in steering our operations to greater heights.

“Also, this new office is part of our business strategy during this critical period of economic transformation for the Philippines. As we grow our Philippines business, we are confident that the SoPa ecosystem will nurture and accelerate the growing portfolio of brands,” Nguyen said.

As country head, Pagdanganan manages the country operations with P&L responsibility while coordinating regional finance, operations, and technology teams to conduct due diligence on future acquisitions in the country. Pagdanganan brings with her a rich background of over a decade of experience in visual design, branding, user interaction and experience, and product design across leading organisations including SoPa’s Leflair. In her dual role as VP of product development, she will be spearheading an organisation-wide transformation of design systems and front-end apps of all business units.

Sharing her excitement for the joint growth vision for the Philippines and SoPa, Pandanganan said, “Given the immense potential of the Philippines market, I am looking forward to herald the next e-commerce revolution in the country with SoPa’s unique modus operandi and look forward to taking my team along in this successful journey.”

SoPa also recently acquired Pushkart.ph, an online grocery delivery service in the Philippines to kick-start its expansion into the country. Pagdanganan will lead SoPa’s aggressive new plans for Pushkart.ph which include adding more hubs in key cities and regions and increasing its manpower.

In an exclusive interview for MARKETECH APAC’s Empowered Women Series, a special series to celebrate women leaders in marketing, Pagdanganan shared what made SoPa’s policy and philosophy on gender inclusivity great.

“We are a very diverse and inclusive organization. And we believe that it creates a huge impact on our productivity and success. So take, for example, in a male-dominated industry, like tech and operations, we don’t exclusively really look for men, nor do we seek women actively. But of course, it’s a breath of fresh air if a woman applies, like, for example, for a tech position, because that doesn’t usually happen. But really, all we care about is if the candidate shares our vision, passion and mindset,” shared Pagdanganan.