Tag: Leadership

Singapore – The World Wide Fund for Nature-Singapore (WWF-Singapore) has announced that Vivek Kumar will take over the role of the organisation’s chief executive officer role from R. Raghunathan, who held the role for more than three and a half years. The transition officially takes happen on January 1, 2024.

Kumar brings a wealth of diverse leadership experience spanning over two decades, including notable tenures at multinational corporations, and in Singapore’s public sector. Vivek was previously an assistant director-general at the National Trades Union Congress and a board member of Labour Movement entities such as NTUC Link. 

He has also served as a board member at Enterprise Singapore, Infocomm Media, Development Authority and Assurity Trusted Solutions (a wholly owned subsidiary of GovTech Singapore).

Kumar joined WWF-Singapore back in 2021 as its chief marketing and communications officer and was promoted to the role of chief marketing, communications and fundraising officer in February this year. He is also the architect of the inaugural WWF Global Earth Hour Summit 2023.

Speaking on his new role, he said, “WWF-Singapore strives to bring people together to act for nature and our shared well-being. This purpose is more relevant for our planet today than perhaps ever before. It is an honour to be designated to lead a team of talented and dedicated fellow Pandas at WWF-Singapore. We will work with our donors, supporters, corporate partners, and policymakers to create a sustainable future for all of us.”

Meanwhile, Hsieh Fu Hua, chairman of the WWF-Singapore board, commented, “The Board appreciates Raghu’s dedicated service to the organisation. Under Raghu’s leadership, the organisation navigated the challenges posed by the pandemic and achieved growth in local conservation efforts and community engagements. We are confident that the organisation is poised to achieve an even greater impact under his successor, Vivek, and his team.”

Singapore – Sebastian Graham, most recently the director of native for APAC at Yahoo, has been appointed by Taboola as its new director of agency development for Asia-Pacific. 

In the newly created role, Graham will be responsible for establishing Taboola’s APAC agency development team, while also creating further partnerships between Taboola and agencies, brands, and technology partners, to support and improve client success with native advertising.

Graham comes to Taboola approaching 20 years’ experience working in senior agency, marketing, media and tech roles across ANZ and APAC.

Prior to his role at Yahoo, he led group performance and technology for Bohemia Group and was also the performance director for UM Australia.

For Taboola, agency success is a focus for Taboola, which recently announced momentum and new technology to support them. This includes recent momentum for Taboola’s generative AI technology, which has been used by more than 3,500 clients around the world to generate content and copy for ad creative, such as titles, images and descriptions. 

In addition, Taboola has made significant advancements in its performance advertising-focused bidding technology, called ‘Maximize Conversions.’

Manila, Philippines – Alodia Gosiengfiao, one of the co-founders of SEA-centric esports and video gaming-oriented entertainment agency Tier One Entertainment, has announced her departure from the agency. At the time of this writing, she has been with the agency for over six years.

In a Facebook post, she stated that her departure from Tier One Entertainment was due to their visions and values not being aligned. Despite this, she has stated that the journey she has shared with the company has been both challenging and rewarding.

“I am grateful for the experiences, relationships, and accomplishments we’ve achieved together,” she stated.

Meanwhile, a separate post from Tier One Entertainment stated that they all wish her the best in the next chapter and hope she finds a new endeavour.

“There is no reality where Tier One Entertainment would have reached the heights we have reached without you. You are an unwavering beacon of excellence and continue to be an inspiration to cosplayers, content creators, and our industry as a whole. we are truly grateful for the time and dedication you have given us over the years. In the Philippines and around the world, you are undeniably one of one,” the company stated.

Tier One Entertainment was founded alongside Gosiengfiao, esports player Tryke Gutierrez and entrepreneur Brian Lim back in 2017. It received funding from Warner Music Group and Gobi Partners back in April 2021, with some of the funding used to expand to the Japanese market in October that year. It had also previously signed advertising partnerships with GroupM and Admazing Co., as well as a content creator monetisation partnership with Bent Pixels Asia.

Gosiengfiao’s departure from the company comes recently after Tier One teased its ‘Esports Arena’ as part of its e-sports school course partnership with Lyceum of the Philippines. Other recent ventures by the company include a Web3 incubator programme ‘ALLIANCE‘, and its merchandise brand BLCKBOX, with a brick-and-mortar store launched in December last year.

Singapore – Yahoo has announced the appointment of Sona Iliffe-Moon as its new chief communications officer globally. She brings over 20 years of experience leading strategic consumer, crisis, and corporate communications for iconic brands including Facebook, Instagram, Nestle, Toyota, and, most recently, Lyft.

In her new role, she will be reporting directly to Jim Lanzone, CEO of Yahoo; and will guide all aspects of Yahoo’s global communications strategy, overseeing corporate, consumer, and internal communications.

Moreover, she will promote innovation across Yahoo’s products and demonstrate the brand’s evolution, leading end-to-end communications that help consumers, partners, and employees connect with Yahoo’s mission, and will partner closely with Yahoo’s marketing to tell integrated stories at the intersection of earned and social.

Prior to joining Yahoo, Iliffe-Moon served as vice president of communications and a member of the executive leadership team at Lyft. She was responsible for communications across corporate, consumer, and policy as well as direct-to-consumer storytelling through brand social and content.

She also previously drove communications at both Facebook and Instagram, launching key products and programs including Instagram’s IGTV, Instagram Stories, Facebook Dating, Facebook Marketplace, Facebook Communities Summit, amongst others. She additionally oversaw communications across Nestlé’s beverage and international divisions, and spent nearly nine years at Toyota driving corporate and marketing communications.

Speaking on her new role, Iliffe-Moon said, “Yahoo was a huge part of my introduction to the internet, and today it remains a highly trusted guide with potential to play an even more meaningful role in people’s lives. I’m thrilled to join Jim and the rest of the executive team to help tell the story of what’s next.”

Meanwhile, Lanzone commented, “Sona has a proven track record in elevating influential brands, and we look forward to welcoming her to Yahoo at a pivotal inflection point in the company’s history. As Yahoo charts a new path forward and our story continues to unfold, Sona will be instrumental in shaping our narrative and sharing it with the world.”

Washington, USA – Microsoft has announced that long-time chief marketing officer Chris Capossela is leaving the company after 32 years of being with the company. This comes after a recent slew of changes in Microsoft’s marketing leadership.

In a communication by chief executive officer Satya Nadella, he said that through the years Capossela has been with the company, he has shown a terrific job as their CMO driving revenue and brand love for the company.

“The numerous accolades Microsoft continues to receive in terms of brand recognition and marketing awards are impressive and a testament to the strong team he has built. Chris and I have been working on his succession plan for some time, and as this new era of AI is upon us, we’ve decided this is the right time to put that plan into action,” he said.

Capossela joined Microsoft back in 1991, and had his first senior role as the director of business operations for EMEA back in 1999. His first senior marketing role was being the corporate vice president of office marketing in 2003, and was then elevated to the role of chief marketing officer in 2011. He then served as both CMO and executive vice president from 2014 up until this year.

“After 32 years of dedicated service to our company, employees, and customers, Chris is leaving Microsoft. Over the many years we’ve worked together, I’ve known and respected Chris as a leader who has exemplified a complete, unwavering commitment to our mission and our culture,” Nadella said.

The CEO has also announced that Takeshi Numoto is being promoted to executive vice president and chief marketing officer, as well as Yusuf Mehdi promoted to role of executive vice president and consumer chief marketing officer.

Asia Pacific – Global digital experience analytics company Contentsquare has announced the appointment of Jean-Christophe Pitié as its new chief marketing and partnerships officer to lead the marketing organisation and partnerships.

In his new role, Pitié will lead the company’s global marketing initiatives, focusing on strengthening the brand and driving customer demand in markets around the world. He will take the helm of the marketing organisation and oversee strategic partnerships.

Pitié will also be responsible for identifying, nurturing, and enhancing strategic alliances with key partners. He is expected to grow Contentsquare’s rich partner ecosystem worldwide.

With a solid track record of leading global companies through their digital growth and transformation journeys, Pitié brings with him an expansive portfolio of scalable and world-class demand generation strategies.

Prior to his new appointment, he spent more than two decades at Microsoft, where he played a key role in Microsoft’s journey to cloud-based solutions. He was involved in the launch of Office 365 for consumers and Microsoft 365 for businesses.

Additionally, Pitié also led Microsoft’s digital stores division at the company’s global headquarters in Seattle. More recently, he served as chief operating officer at Microsoft France, where his duties included executing Microsoft’s go-to market and strategy within the French market.

Jonathan Cherki, CEO and founder of Contentsquare, said, “We couldn’t be more excited to welcome Jean-Christophe to the team. Not only does he have an impressive track record of bringing innovative technology to market, he also embodies our company values and puts his team first with everything he does.”

“Contentsquare is at an exciting stage of its journey, and Jean-Christophe’s deep expertise in tech will be incredibly valuable as we continue to grow. We couldn’t think of a better person to activate our brand vision and partner strategy,” he added.

Speaking on his appointment, Pitié also shared, “Having access to a holistic understanding of customers is critical in today’s business landscape, and Contentsquare is leading the way when it comes to customer experience insights. I’m thrilled to join the company at this exciting moment in time and to help bring its unique insights to more teams.”

Singapore – Multinational banking and financial services corporation OCBC has announced key leadership changes amidst the group’s ASEAN-Greater China strategic thrust gathering momentum this year.

Wang Ke, currently CEO of OCBC Wing Hang China, will assume the role of head of Greater China, succeeding Tan Wing Ming. With Wang’s appointment, Ang Eng Siong, currently deputy president and head of corporate banking at OCBC Wing Hang China, will step up as the acting CEO of OCBC Wing Hang China.

Wang joined the OCBC Group in 2012 as the Head of IT in China and expanded his responsibilities to include operations in 2014. He was appointed the head of Pearl River Delta region in 2017, then assumed the position of CEO of OCBC Wing Hang China in 2019. Under his leadership, critical technology infrastructure and capabilities were built up, and the business deftly steered through the COVID-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile, Ang has been with OCBC since 2009. He spent 6 years in Singapore in various roles across risk management, finance and business development. As part of OCBC’s talent development programme, Ang moved from Singapore to China in 2015. He was appointed China’s chief risk officer in 2018 and head of corporate banking in 2022.

Helen Wong, group CEO of OCBC, said, “I am pleased that our deep internal talent pool has provided the best candidates for these senior Greater China appointments. It affirms our commitment to nurturing homegrown talent and providing avenues for career progression and mobility. Wang Ke and Eng Siong are valuable contributors to the OCBC franchise. I am confident that, in their expanded roles, they will further advance OCBC’s strategic priorities in Greater China.”

Singapore – Independent creative agency GOVT Group has officially launched MINISTRY, a hybrid consulting and agency model, and has appointed Kelvin Koo as its new managing director and partner.

MINISTRY is a digital consultancy dedicated to driving digital growth and transformation tailored to the contemporary needs of business owners and marketing leaders.

The newly launched agency will focus its offerings on ensuring growth for its clients. It is committed to a holistic approach to digital growth and transformation, providing strategic consulting and execution across diverse domains, including social and content, UI/UX, tech, digital media, CRM, and data analytics.

And to lead the MINISTRY, GOVT has brought in Koo as its managing director and partner, who was back in the agency world after a brief hiatus.

Earlier this year, Koo joined GOVT as a consultant, contributing to the agency’s strategic efforts to bolster its digital capabilities. This collaboration has culminated in the assembly of a robust team of specialists adept at delivering comprehensive digital marketing solutions, including data analytics, digital product planning, and expert consultation for seamless digital ecosystem integration and implementation.

His decision to return was sparked by the compelling vision and ambition of the partners at GOVT Group and the unique opportunity to construct an agency model with a distinctive culture.

Koo’s wealth of experience comes from his previous roles, serving as CEO at FALCON Agency and managing director at ADK Connect.

MINISTRY will leverage Koo’s extensive expertise as it aims to integrate strategic advisory and data with creative storytelling, design, tech, and digital performance to deliver tangible, impactful results.

Together with Koo, GOVT also appointed Foong Min Mei as the new growth director and partner at MINISTRY. Prior to her appointment, she worked as a digital and social lead at GOVT Singapore.

Leon Lai, co-founder and CEO at GOVT Group, said, “Our vision has stayed the same since Day 1: create a company that has longevity, possesses ambition, and champions foolish bravery. It has been 11 years since we started this journey, but we’re still not done or content with what we have built. As a partner-led business, we’re excited to attract someone of Kelvin’s calibre onboard this journey as we take deliberate steps towards fulfilling our mission of being a leading Asian communications company.” 

Also commenting on the appointment, Alvina Seah, group managing director at GOVT Group, said, “Kelvin’s leadership and proven track record in building agencies and delivering results-driven digital solutions to clients make him the ideal figure to spearhead MINISTRY. His commitment to growth and culture aligns perfectly with our mission, making this collaboration strategic and synergistic.” 

Meanwhile, Koo commented, “Our game plan at MINISTRY is straightforward: marry sharp strategic advice with creativity, the latest tech, and strong digital know-how. This way, we can get into the nitty-gritty of what CMOs and business owners are up against and offer them insights and solutions that hit the mark.”

In pursuit of one’s professional aspirations, a true marketing leader is dedicated in delving deeper into the intricacies of customer dynamics within their regional leadership landscape. For an ideal leader, the true ambition is to not only comprehend the nuances of this diverse market but also to play a pivotal role in moulding their business framework into one that fosters enduring profitability through steadfast foundational principles.

For MARKETECH APAC’s second Milestone Series article, we spoke with Achint Setia, chief revenue and marketing officer at ZALORA, to share one of his greatest milestones–leading ZALORA’s marketing efforts across the Southeast Asian region, in order to contribute towards shaping ZALORA’s business model.

In this narrative, we take a look of his accomplishments within the company, what his industry insights are, and what he aspires as a marketing leader moving forward.

Challenges on leaping to a new role

Prior to joining ZALORA, Setia was previously the CXO and head, marketing and social commerce business at Indian fashion e-commerce company Myntra. He has two decades of experience across media, management consulting and technology. For him, he joined ZALORA at a time when the larger consumer tech industry, and e-commerce in particular, was going through a major transition, with the focus shifting from pure play growth towards profitability. 

When asked what was his biggest challenge as a business leader, he said that it had something to do with driving business outcomes in a very volatile macroeconomic landscape in Southeast Asia, among inflationary pressures, geo-political challenges, supply chain disruptions (with lockdowns in some markets), unprecedented consumer purchase behaviours (with the return to offline), as well as weakened employee morale from the pandemic era.

“Keeping our teams excited and motivated about the opportunity ahead, while continuing to push problem-solving and innovation in unexplored territories, has been a roller coaster thus far, but it has also been an immensely rewarding ride over the last year. Throughout this period, I am extremely thankful to be a part of a caring organisation surrounded by highly talented colleagues, and for the presence of a strong family support system to help me through this transition,” he said.

What contributions led to one

Building continued success on the company’s anniversary milestone

Setia noted that a key factor why businesses needed to calibrate nowadays is because consumers are now enticed with digital-led strategies, which include innovations like “Shoppertainment” – a portmanteau of “shop” and “entertainment” – and virtual retailing, which further diversified retail’s omnichannel ecosystem.

Citing a recent report they had, he goes on to say that consumers are becoming increasingly adept at shifting between reality and virtual landscapes – they constantly straddle between both on a daily basis. This brought on an increased demand for shopping journeys to be more humanised and personalised as they continue to discover their footing in today’s “next normal.

“Customer experience is always a key priority for me, and we still see many opportunities for us to spearhead improvements to consumers’ e-commerce experience in the region,” he said.

For ZALORA’s recent anniversary, the company launched several pop-up activations with partners like Adidas, Nike, and Trendyol, which offered immersive ‘click-and-mortar’ experiences. Citing an example, a pop-up collaboration with Adidas, called The Supermart, showcased over 90 Adidas products exclusive to ZALORA, and enabled customers to explore a supermarket-themed physical store, scan unique QR codes tagged on each item, and purchase via the ZALORA app with direct shipping to their doorstep.

Moreover, a significant portion of the company’s achievements this year can be attributed to their year-end mega campaigns such as 11.11, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and 12.12.

“We see strong performance during our shopping events, and typically enjoy three to six times the number of sales as compared to non-campaign days – last year, we saw the highest number of sales during 11.11 and 12.12 compared to any other day,” Setia also added.

He also added that the company also made significant investments and progress on customer loyalty. For the company, they revamped their subscription program, Zalora VIP, which offers free and fast shipping at no minimum spend, along with a host of privileges such as access to sales, priority customer service, and exclusive offers from their lifestyle partners for a complete VIP like experience for their subscribers. 

Aspirations of bringing more success to ZALORA

As the company’s chief revenue and marketing officer, his main objective is to drive business growth and profitability led through customer experience, assortment and post purchase experience.. For him, they are placing significant emphasis on their customer journeys and personalisation to ensure increased engagement, loyalty, and satisfaction when customers interact with ZALORA.

“This includes anticipating and addressing the growing demands of our customers by ensuring that we offer the best assortment of only authentic products from over 3,000 brands; deploying innovative omnichannel strategies–like The Supermart–to create inventive and personalised retail journeys; and adopting 27 different payment methods, including innovative options like BNPL and other digital wallets to broaden financial accessibility and inclusion for millions of SEA’s underbanked,” he explained.

He goes on to say that they also aim at expanding their platform services business to enable brands to grow their presence in the region and provide breakthrough solutions to enhance the overall customer journey.

However, Setia noted that brands venturing into overseas markets often face a multitude of challenges, and this is particularly true in Southeast Asia, a region with complex geographies, and where each country boasts its own customs, culture, religion, and language.

And yet, for him, it is also a region where e-commerce is experiencing strong growth on the back of continuing digitalisation and a rising middle class.

“The combination of ZALORA’s holistic platform services empowers our brand partners to swiftly and more effectively capture the region’s demand boom – whether it is harnessing benchmark data to understand buying behaviour and pricing insights from close to 60 million monthly platform visits with our ‘TRENDER’ data service, or boosting brand visibility through targeted content, onsite campaigns, influencer marketing, insights, and analytics through our ZALORA advertising platform (ZAP), or even tapping onto our comprehensive supply chain infrastructure and state-of-the-art logistics capabilities across different markets, through our fulfilment services,” he added.

When asked what he wants to continue doing as part of ZALORA, Setia says he wants to go deeper with his customer understanding in Southeast Asia, as well as contribute towards ZALORA’s business model.

“My personal passions include investments in building deeply segmented experiences using advanced analytics, along with driving a multi-channel engagement ecosystem to inspire customers to shop at the convenience of their fingertips,” he said.

This piece is published under MARKETECH APAC’s content series ‘Milestones’, which celebrates the different milestones and achievements of industry leaders across the Asia-Pacific region. Please reach out to [email protected] for more information.

Building a career in a foreign land is a feat that’s not easy to achieve. Along the way, hurdles, failures, and hardships are to be expected, but with hard work and determination, valuable lessons and achievements will surely come with the challenges.

For the inaugural piece of MARKETECH APAC’s Milestones Series, we talked with Mark Opao, communications planning partner for APAC and META at Kaspersky, to share one of his greatest milestones — having a successful career in Singapore and China for the past 12 years and counting. In this narrative, Opao bares some of the challenges, the achievements, and career lessons that he gained through these years.

Taking the leap

Having a steady career in the Philippines, Opao didn’t have plans to move out of the country in his early days. This was until a couple of opportunities were presented to him in Singapore. Taking a leap of faith, he decided to give it a try without any high expectations — which led him to where he is today.

“I already moved several times in my career so far (from the Philippines to Singapore to China and back to Singapore), and I would say the defining moments of these moves were the exciting opportunities that it presented. I get exhilarated when I explore unfamiliar territories and the chance to meet new people of different backgrounds and perspectives,” Opao said.

Overcoming challenges

One of the most difficult challenges Opao had to face working in a foreign country was the difference in culture. To this, he admitted that it became hard for him to work with people with different working cultures. But through time, he learned how to manage his relationships with his colleagues, whilst still maintaining boundaries.

“When you move to another country, you’re the one who should adjust and not the other way around. That includes having an open mind and learning to appreciate (or even practice) their way of life and working styles, the customs and traditions, as well as the nuances in the way they engage with people,” he said.

Another thing was working in a fast-paced and high-pressure advertising market. He even mentioned that in Singapore and China, there is a need to increase resilience, especially in thriving against tough and stressful situations. 

“In my job where I need to hit the ground running from Day 1, the way I managed to overcome challenges is EMBRACING IT. When I move markets or join a new team/company, I always like to start by observing everything- from the meeting dynamics, to looking at previous reports and presentations, and even interactions during lunch. From there I take down notes, highlight key pointers, and from there I make my “attack”!”

Better than gold: His most valuable career lessons

For Opao, the past 12 years were a tough road, but it was also when he picked up some of the most valuable lessons that he still treasures to this day, one being the true meaning of humility. According to him, he thought at first that being humble is to avoid being in the limelight, immediately putting down any form of praise or recognition from others, and shying away from leading bigger responsibilities. 

“Now I believe that true humility is recognizing that you are blessed with certain gifts/talents/strengths and you should use that to reach out and help as many people as possible. Personal branding and promoting yourself well are very important. But you must use it with the right intention. Don’t remain quiet and allow yourself to just be put on the side whereas you know that you have more to give and more to share,” he said.

As he climbed the corporate ladder, Opao also eventually realised that skills, intelligence or plain hard work alone will not take someone upward, seeing different people use different ways, both good and bad, to get to the top — thus, he learned never to lose his values.

“It can be easily tempting to join the bandwagon. But in a world where you are as good as your last show, when the moment comes where everything has been stripped down from you- power, prestige, title- that’s where you’ll realize what truly matters. Work should be treated as a means and not an end. So don’t lose your values until the moment you’ve realised that you are already losing yourself,” he added.

Another career lesson he wished he learned earlier was to avoid aiming for fame but for longevity. To him, career sustainability and slow yet steady progress are more valuable rather than trying to compare himself to others and constantly trying to surpass them.

“I have to admit that I was on “team fame” early on in my career because I had a toxic habit of comparing myself to others. But as I journey on in my career I learned to develop my self-esteem and started to believe more in myself.”

Moving forward

Opao has achieved great feats as a communications and media professional throughout his career, but for him, there’s more for him to do to fulfill his purpose. One of these is to channel all of his learnings to the younger generation aiming to achieve greater heights in the industry.

To this, he said, “After accumulating years of experience in media advertising (and counting), I like to progressively channel those learnings to younger folks who wish to be in the industry and to companies who need advice in capitalizing digital media to grow their businesses-either as a corporate mentor, a consultant, or in the academe.”

“No regrets!” Twelve years later, this is what Opao can say looking back on his first overseas move to Singapore in 2011 to today, which, according to him, was the best decision he had ever made.

This piece is published under MARKETECH APAC’s content series ‘Milestones’, which celebrates the different milestones and achievements of industry leaders across the Asia-Pacific region. Please reach out to [email protected] for more information.