One of the winners of the marketing category in MARKETECH APAC’s Empowered Women Awards 2023 is creative leader Heidi Hamester. Hamester is the digital design lead at marketing technology platform TASK. The said recognition initiative inaugurates MARKETECH APAC’s awarding platform for women leaders in the industry.
Heidi has been with TASK for 8 years. She joined the company in 2015 as a digital designer and soon moved up ranks to become TASK’s digital design lead.
Moving the needle in business through inspiring visual communication
To create stunning visuals that impress is one thing, but to craft creatives that encourage meaningful action is another story altogether. Heidi’s vision and prowess as a digital design leader is able to accomplish both – building a brand that looks the part and is the part.
TASK provides products in enterprise management, managing point of sale, online ordering, and managing loyalty and membership programs. Heidi is responsible for shaping the creative body of the said martech capabilities – and this includes TASK’s main website.
Heidi allows design thinking approach to direct her decisions and choices in visual creativity and in turn, she’s able to continually build a brand within TASK that empathises and resonates with the consumer.
This human-first principle in design spearheaded by Heidi enables the company to expand its market reach, grow revenue, and strengthen its customer relationships.
Fostering collaboration and mentorship within a creative team
Leading a creative team is a challenge in that such department requires the paradoxical combination of both autonomy and collaboration. As a passionate creative leader, Heidi takes on this responsibility gracefully and ensures that she is able to nurture both amongst her constituents.
Innovation can come from anywhere which is why Heidi is dedicated to empowering and prospering thinking creative minds. She mentors junior designers and encourages them to grow and develop their skills. By cultivating a culture that emphasises growth and learning, she has created an engaged team that isn’t afraid to trail blazes.
“I believe that women play a significant role in the workplace and the community. Empowering women to achieve their goals and reach their full potential is vital for progress and equality,” said Heidi.
Being a role model inside and outside the job
Heidi is an inspiring leader that values the importance of recreation outside the workplace. Through this work-life balance, Heidi is able to exemplify that exploring the world outside will only polish and refresh creative professionals with renewed space to explore and juggle dynamic ideas.
She brings her passion for visual storytelling outside the realm of business. As a photographer, she uses her creativity and artistic skills to capture moments of nature and daily life. When not behind the lens, meanwhile, she flexes quite her athletic streak and rides the waves through surfing.
Truly, leadership isn’t only about showing how hard you work but also demonstrating how much passion you actually put into the job by keeping a healthy personal life and in turn, becoming the best version of oneself in order to pour from one’s cup.
Heidi shows she is an empowered woman by being a role model both inside and outside of work.
Singapore – Empowered Women 2023: Marketing Conference & Awards, MARKETECH APAC’s latest initiative to recognise women’s leadership and empowerment in the marketing and advertising industry, has officially unveiled the official jury panel of its upcoming awards ceremony. The judging panel represents a wide variety of seasoned and leading women leaders in the Asia-Pacific region.
The panel will be led by head of juries Eileen Ooi Wei Ling, chief executive officer at Omnicom Media Group; and Michelle Eve A. De Guzman, marketing director at Cebu Pacific Air.
Wei Ling said, “I think this is a great way in recognizing women in driving change, leadership and building next generation leaders. Women need to support women more, and bringing awareness and recognition of women who’s done just that and also for others is a great way to encourage more women to do so, and to break barriers of women juggling work and life.”
She added, “I would like to see individuals demonstrating agility in leadership in achieving change, empathy in raising next generation leaders, and creativity in problem solving.”
Other members of the jury include Allenie Caccam, regional commerce head at AirAsia; Melissa Sandhu, head of sales and marketing at Prince Court Medical Centre; Tanushri Rastogi, marketing lead for Popeyes APAC at Restaurant Brands International; and Joanna Teoh, branding director at Una Brands.
There are 5 categories women leaders in the industry can participate in based on the nature of their company.
Empowered Women in Marketing is the category for women leaders from brands.
Empowered Women in Agency is for women leaders from the agency side.
Empowered Women in Tech is for women leaders from tech companies.
Empowered Women in Platforms is the category for women leaders from media, e-commerce, and e-sports brands.
Empowered Women in SMEs is for women entrepreneurs and leaders who own or lead a company with employees below 250.
The nominees for the awards will be judged based on 2 main criteria – (1) the leadership they have shown to their respective companies and agencies; and (2) the contributions they have made to the company during their leadership tenure.
There would be at least 20 winners for each category. MARKETECH APAC will be writing a dedicated article for each winner to further celebrate their success.
Said event by MARKETECH APAC succeeds last year’s pilot launch, Empowered Women Series 2022. During the said inaugural initiative, it selected 13 women leaders across the Asia Pacific for exclusive conversations in discovering their leadership journey, experiences, and insights into marketing. The content was produced in the form of videos, podcasts, and articles.
Shaina Teope, regional editor at MARKETECH APAC, said, “We started the initiative with a humble yet notable content series in the form of interviews–it’s now time to bring it further. We’re thrilled to officially announce the co-women leaders in marketing who will be giving justice to the laurels we’ll be conferring in diverse areas of marketing leadership.”
Key dates related to the awards ceremony this 2023 are as follows:
Entry Submission – until March 31, 2023
Judging Period – April 1 – 15, 2023
Virtual Awarding Ceremony – May 31, 2023
The nomination fee is US$249 (early-bird rate), applicable until February 28, 2023. After which, the standard fee of US$349 applies.
Head over to the official event site for the complete details. Interested parties can contact MARKETECH APAC’s team about the nomination process and sponsorship opportunities at [email protected].
Hong Kong – Multinational advertising and public relations company Publicis Groupe has launched L’avenir, a leadership and creative development program tailored for high-potential female creatives across its network in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) and Middle East and Africa (MEA) regions.
The program aims to change the gender ratio amongst its creative leaders across the region and to equip high-potential women with the skills needed for creative leadership roles.
“Globally at Publicis Groupe, more than 50% of our workforce is female and 41% of key leaders are women: we’ve made huge strides when it comes to gender representation overall. Yet industry-wide, the percentage of female Creative Directors remains comparatively low,” said Natalie Lam, chief creative officer at Publicis Groupe APAC & MEA, who is also the key driver and developer of the L’avenir program.
She added, “To lead the change, we’re launching L’avenir, a tailored creative mentorship program that will nurture high-potential female creatives in two ways: career development, and creativity development.”
Publicis Groupe APAC & MEA will be selecting high-potential mid- and senior-level creatives every year to join the L’avenir program.
“We’ll identify our top female creatives, because true diversity makes the work better. L’avenir is a tailored program that pairs mentees and mentors according to specific skills and potential, backing up their positions as future leaders with a strong portfolio of work,” says Lam.
Fifteen female creatives have already been picked for the program over the last two months. They will be paired with 30+ mentors, including Publicis Groupe APAC & MEA’s Natalie Lam, Chief Strategy Officer Ed Booty, Chief Client Officer Anthony Wong, Head of Creative Technology Laurent Thevenet, and Head of Creativity Jason Williams.
They will be joined by top management and C-Suite leaders from Publicis agencies as mentors such as, Kelly Pon (CCO, BBH China), Sally Anderson (Group CD, MetaDesign China), and Ajay Thrivikraman (CCO, Publicis Groupe, Southeast Asia), amongst others.
Anna Tomasetti, creative community manager at Publicis Groupe further explains, “L’avenir means ‘the future’, and it is a program where our future creative leaders can reach their full potential through targeted skills development and mentorship. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime career development opportunity for our participants that will contribute directly to Publicis Groupe’s creative and leadership base for years to come.”
The program includes 1:1 monthly mentorship meetings, career growth sessions with chief talent officers, tailored creative training sessions, and leadership masterclasses. Participants will also get to use relevant technology and digital tools. Moreover, they will get to partner with one of Publicis Groupe’s biggest clients in the final three months of the program.
Last year, MARKETECH APAC selected 13 women leaders across the Asia Pacific to discover their leadership journey, experiences, and insights into anything about marketing. The content was produced in the form of videos, podcasts, and articles. Some women marketing leaders that graced the inaugural series were Manisha Seewal, CMO of Gumtree Australia; Vasuta Agarwal, SVP & managing director of InMobi APAC;Angeli Beltran, director of interactive commerce ASEAN & global care centre of excellence at Reckitt; Raushida Vasaiwala, general manager for APAC at Celtra; and Eileen Ooi, CEO of Omnicom Media Group Malaysia.
The conference component
This year, MARKETECH APAC introduces a unique platform to recognize women’s empowerment in the industry in a one-day virtual event on May 31, 2023. The virtual event starts with a half-day conference featuring renowned women industry leaders in the Asia Pacific to talk about the trends and insights in marketing
Approximately, 10 top-notched women speakers will be invited to speak. While the conference features women marketing leaders, the event is open to all audiences.
The awards segment
The second half of the day will be an awards ceremony. There are 5 categories: (1) Empowered Women in Marketing, (2) Empowered Women in Agency, (3) Empowered Women in Tech, (4) Empowered Women in Platforms, and (5) Empowered Women in SME
There would be at least 20 winners for each category. MARKETECH APAC will write a dedicated article for each winner to further celebrate their success.
All nominees will receive a complimentary pass to join the virtual event
Speaking about the launch, Joven Barceñas, founder & CEO of MARKETECH APAC, said, “We have received great feedback and reviews about our last Empowered Women Series. We are greatly encouraged to innovate and to reformat the programme to further highlight the achievements of women in the marketing industry.”
Barceñas added, “The conference component of the event allows us to gather the select women marketing leaders to share their insights and experiences not just to empower women marketers but everyone in the industry.”
“The award winners are selected by an esteemed women panel of judges in the industry. This process offers a genuine result for the winners. Not to mention that we have a head of the jury for each category which further validates the authenticity of the awards.”
Meanwhile, Shaina Teope, regional editor of MARKETECH APAC, also commented, “Diversity in leadership is an ongoing challenge for all industries and this includes the marketing world. Some of the most successful brands and creative outfits are helmed by women and we want to be at the forefront of honouring these amazing leaders. While we introduced a very successful pilot series last year, we wanted to come out with a stronger initiative. We’re proud of ‘Empowered Women 2023’ which now boasts a bigger platform to give female marketing leaders the recognition they deserve.”
Here are the key dates:
Entry Submission – until March 31, 2023
Judging Period – April 1 – 15, 2023
Virtual Awarding Ceremony – May 31, 2023
The nomination fee is US$249 (early-bird rate), applicable until February 28, 2023. After which, the standard fee of US$349 applies.
Head over to the official event site for the complete details. Interested parties can contact MARKETECH APAC’s team about the nomination process and sponsorship opportunities at [email protected].
In an interview with Manisha Seewal, chief marketing officer at Gumtree Australia, she shared her marketing journey and her experience in overcoming preconceptions about all women working in the automotive industry.
“It was my love for cars and technology that made me take a leap of faith and join Carro, which was a young startup in 2018. I wanted to be part of a change where we use data and technology to remove human bias from car buying and selling,” she shared in the ‘Empowered Women’ interview.
Manisha emphasised, “I think that’s the main reason why we need more women to join the industry so we can start changing the narrative.”
During the conversation with Manisha, we asked about her top leadership strategies in ensuring a successful marketing business of a brand, she shared, “[My] top leadership strategies are: Clarity in communication, leaning on your team and enabling them rather than being too prescriptive, owning up if we make a mistake – leaders are just normal people. We should not shy away from owning up if we make a wrong decision, call it out, learn from it and move on.”
“I think it’s important because as leaders, we lean a lot on our teams, to be able to buy into the vision that we have to be able to drive the strategies together and really grow the business together. So clarity and communication are important,” Manisha adds.
Listen to the full conversation with Manisha Seewal over on Spotify, where she discussed the changes in the automotive industry due to COVID-19. Hear her insights about trends that would shape the future and her advice for marketers who want to be part of the automotive industry. You may also view the highlights of the conversation on YouTube.
If you are a marketing or tech leader who wants to share your industry journey and insights, email us at [email protected].
In an interview with Melissa Sandhu, deputy general manager of marketing communications at Desaru Coast, she discussed her marketing and communications career path, from a young kid discovering the importance of personal messaging to the marketing leader she is now.
Melissa’s marketing and communication skills led her to work in various industries such as the banking and publishing industry, as well as the advertising and real estate industry until she finally landed in the area of hospitality.
“The ability to bring ideas to life makes me happy, and marketing allows me to do that. I enjoy bridging business goals with marketing outcomes, and I do that by leveraging technology, focusing on value creation and emphasising customer-centricity. And what I enjoy at the heart of it all is the ability to be creative with your storytelling,” Melissa shared in the ‘Empowered Women’ interview.
During the conversation with Melissa, we asked about her marketing and leadership philosophy, she shared, “Part artist, part scientist is how I would define it. Although ROI tends to always be at the forefront in marketing investments, it’s also about fully understanding the brand values, understanding what parameters can be worked around or what parameters can be ‘stretched’, and whether there would be any positive or negative impact on the brand in the long run.
Melissa emphasised, “This also includes the importance of being fully aware of current and emerging trends, yet having the ability to recognise what would or potentially wouldn’t work for the brand. In developing content, I generally use a 3-step framework that focuses on who am I speaking to, where do they consume content, and how can I make them care.”
If you are a marketing or tech leader who wants to share your industry journey and insights, email us at [email protected].
In a conversation with Angeli Beltran, director of interactive commerce ASEAN & global care centre of excellence at Reckitt, she shares her industry journey and the challenges she faced upon building her marketing career.
Angeli boasts more than 20 years of experience in marketing, communications and business management. Of what makes her thrive in handling different market profiles she shared, “I always tell my teams that if we are generalizing, we’re probably not doing the right thing for the consumer because the purpose of digital and CRM is to recognize consumers as individuals and rather than nameless homogeneous cohorts.”
“My role has been really focused on capabilities building, which is equipping and empowering the markets with lasting competency so that they can outperform in their categories and their markets,” Angeli adds.
During the conversation with Angeli, we asked about what remarkable progress in gender equality in the workplace she experienced and how she addressed it, she shared, “You know, the reason why I’m passionate about gender equality is that I’ve experienced firsthand what it means to be a victim of gender inequality.”
Angeli emphasised, “In Reckitt, for example, we believe that gender equality is not just a moral imperative, it’s also good for business. Our focus is to increase the number of women in Reckitt’s leadership. So right now, within Reckitt, men and women have the same level have the same earning opportunity, which is great.”
Currently, Angeli is the sponsor for the Asian chapter of Spark, which is the empowerment of women in digital and e-commerce within Reckitt. This initiative encourages women to learn from the success of other women and build a network of support within the organization. [And also] leveraging that enormous skill set and capabilities that women can bring to the industry.
If you are a marketing or tech leader who wants to share your industry journey and insights, email us at [email protected].
Women in marketing, media, and technology enterprises are increasingly embracing the reins of their respective organizations. This connotes how women are excellent, not only in management but as well as handling business transformation.
In this podcast episode, we are featuring two industry leaders who are ‘Empowered Women’ in their own way, handling top management and executive level of leadership at Society Pass.
This episode will discuss topics focusing on the career journey and leadership of Arbie Pagdanganan, Philippines country manager & vice president of product development and Pamela Aw-Young, chief operating officer at Society Pass as well as their insights on the recent announcement of SoPa to transform the Philippine market with the strategic purchase of an online grocery platform as part of their Southeast Asian expansion.
Society Pass Incorporated is a Southeast Asian e-commerce loyalty platform that will transform how consumers and businesses in the region engage with one another. With their society points, they are generating long-term client loyalty by adding value to every transaction.
Expansion to the Philippine market
Filipinos have embraced e-commerce like a fish to water, and the market has flourished tremendously over the past years. By 2025, the Philippines’ e-commerce business is predicted to generate $7.67 billion in revenue. Following the SoPa’s $28 million IPO on the stock market, the company has decided to expand to the Philippines.
The announcement comes at a time when the Philippines’ internet economy is predicted to rise by 24% from US$17 billion in 2021 to US$40 billion in 2025, accelerating the rapid growth of delivery services in the country. To date, Pushkart.ph has amassed more than 125,000 registered members, 35,000 social media followers, and more than 20,000 mobile app downloads in the Philippines. For the company to commence operations in the Philippines, acquiring e-commerce based businesses is a necessary first step.
SoPa’s VIP (Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines) regional expansion strategy includes the Philippines as a significant component. By using SoPa’s capital, Pushkart.ph plans on expanding its food delivery services to more people and businesses in the Philippines, starting with Metro Manila.
To further serve its clients SoPa can now provide consumers with even greater value by letting them purchase whenever and wherever they choose, without having to deal with any hassle, through Pushkart.ph. A major objective of the organization is to make it easier for local businesses in the Philippines, both established and start-ups, to expand their reach into the internet marketplace.
Commenting on this strategic step Pamela said, “Philippines is an exciting space for us with a population of 112 million economic growth forecasts 6% new young median age of 26 that represents the future for us. It has a high Internet penetration rate of 67%. What we would like to do is give opportunities to entrepreneurs to grow their businesses, integrate platforms for users, and create efficiencies in this ecosystem.”
SoPa’s aggressive new plans for Pushkart.ph, which include expanding its network of hubs in key cities and regions and boosting its workforce, make this acquisition of this company extremely important to the end customer. By 2022, SoPa hopes to increase the number of registered users to over 300,000 and the number of app downloads to over 150,000 by expanding Pushkart.ph’s technological capabilities. Using Pushkart.ph, Metro Manila residents will be able to get their purchases delivered the following day in 19 cities.
Creating an interconnected loyalty program
Building a reward system that stands out in the world of customer loyalty programs is a huge undertaking for any organization, and it can be a game-changing opportunity if done with care and accuracy.
At its core, SoPa’s primary goal is to keep clients abreast of the most recent goods and services. It is possible to increase customer retention and revenue by building emotional connections with customers and developing long-term relationships with them.
On the subject of SoPa’s priorities and programs, Arbie discussed during the ‘Empowered Women’ interview, “[Because of the sheer number of orders], delivery, and loyalty programs available for virtually every type of business or service, customers are becoming increasingly disenchanted with online shopping. In addition, it is time-consuming and cumbersome to utilize multiple applications or reward programs for different purposes and at different points in the purchasing process. So our business on the consumer-facing side, we aim to integrate everything that you need into just one ecosystem. This is where consumers can easily search books or order anything they want or need, through our values interconnected that works.”
We also asked Arbie on what are the most important verticals that SoPa needs to revisit in terms of customer loyalty and programs, she discussed, that she would revisit food and beverage and as well as lifestyle verticals.
Arbie highlighted, “So in theory, rewarding the customer’s loyalty is a great way to boost customer interaction and engagement for a business. So we do think that this is one way for them to be a frequent customer, right. But actually, from the customer’s perspective, sometimes it’s challenging to redeem the points awarded to them. Take restaurants, for example, the only time a customer can redeem points is when they return to the restaurant that awarded the points to them. And normally, a person does not eat at the same restaurant every day unless they have limited options.”
“Furthermore, most loyalty points have an expiration date as well and this withholds consumers to maximize or enjoy their points. So I believe that for a loyalty program to be effective, it has to be interconnected and accessible. Like the number of points I earn at store A, I can also spend it at store B,” Arbie adds.
Pamela also shared her tips for brands when it comes to creating loyalty programs, “Think beyond value creation. Consumers always look for choices and variety as Arbie said earlier. But connecting with other like-minded businesses, you can grow your business faster and drive efficiencies. This is what our ecosystem is all about.”
SoPa as a female-dominated company
Alongside SoPa’s expansion is its commitment to promote equality and diversity for women in the organization. With the two highest positions occupied by a female, it tells how SoPa is a company that values gender equality.
We also made sure not to miss Arbie’s take on how SoPa came to encourage gender equality and diversity in the workplace.
Arbie underscored, “To be transparent, 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.”
Meanwhile, Pameladiscussed the importance and influence of women in marketing decisions, she shared, “Well, there are two forces driving the retail landscape, women and technology. Women drive 80% of all consumer purchasing decisions and are great influencers. Even before the time of social media. Women are great at spreading information through word of mouth, e-commerce combines retail and technology which makes it interesting. Who understands women best? It takes one to know one.”
During the conversation with Arbie and Pamela, we asked them about their advice to those who want to become part of SOPA, Arbie said, “In terms of what advice I can give for them to have an edge to be selected. Actually, we equally value technical skills with both soft skills and attitude. So having an entrepreneurial spirit with a clearer sense of ownership, and if they have our results and data-driven and being able to adapt it to a fast-paced environment, will give them the upper hand. And also we would love to work with people with the ‘right now’ mindset [or simply being diligent and persistent].”
Arbie emphasised, “Our culture at SOPA is something we are incredibly proud of, we get to spend our time collaborating with warm, talented and motivated colleagues. So what we are currently looking for is expanding our marketing. So that includes digital marketing, search engine optimization, and content managers, for example. And we would also want to expand our business development and customer support teams.”
If you are a marketing or tech leader who wants to share your industry journey and insights, email us at [email protected].
In a conversation with Charlotte Ward, founder of Agnes Media, she shared her entrepreneurial background, which fueled her desire to one day establish her own business.
Even as a teenager in secondary school, Charlotte was able to demonstrate this character, when she developed her own business plan and launched her own organic soap company. Fast forward to her professional career, she built the Agnes Media we now have today through tremendous effort, starting as a freelancer and taking contract works.
“I always felt that we can do things better ourselves after working in various large agency corporations,” Charlotte adds.
During the conversation with Charlotte, we asked about her philosophy in leadership, by which she shared, “Empathy and transparency are at the core of my leadership style, I think this is [something many leaders missed], without this, you’re really just a business owner or a manager, you’re not a true leader.”
Charlotte emphasized, “Leadership is not something that I developed overnight, definitely, when I started out my career I was not the best manager and it’s something that comes with mentorship and learning and being able to admit to yourself when you’ve made a mistake.”
If you are a marketing or tech leader who wants to share your industry journey and insights, email us at [email protected].
In a conversation with Raushida Vasaiwala, general manager for Asia-Pacific at Celtra, Inc., she shares her career trajectory and what motivated her to pursue the marketing and tech industry.
“I grew up in a family of businessmen so entrepreneurship quite comes akin to my nature. So there was this constant internal push of leading business that would help me pursue my varied passion in advertising, brand communication, art, and technology, ” she shared in the ‘Empowered Women’ interview.
Raushida believes that having a different career from the degree of specialisation is perfectly fine, especially if you have developed a new interest or have better self-awareness.
“So essentially love what you do and do what you love,” she remarked.
During the conversation with Raushida, we asked about her marketing journey and her leadership, and she shared, “A mentor in my family guided me to explore digital marketing especially the adtech and martech ecosystem.”
“As leaders, we need to ensure that our teams are upskilled and kept abreast with the latest tools that can help in driving better business outcomes,” Raushida adds.
Meanwhile, Raushida strongly urges marketers to re-evaluate the implementation process of their marketing activities and do a deep dive to look for areas that keep them from achieving their goals.
If you are a marketing or tech leader who wants to share your industry journey and insights, email us at [email protected].
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