Tag: Milestones

Singapore – Staying committed to your work, even in the face of challenges, is about cultivating a deep passion and love for what you do. This passion drives you to adapt, learn, and grow, turning your job into a fulfilling journey that shapes both your career and sense of purpose.

In the latest instalment of MARKETECH APAC’s Milestone Series, we spoke with Marcus Yong, vice president of global marketing at Klook, about the key milestones in his nearly nine-year journey with the company. From its early days as a fledgling startup to becoming a global leader in the experiences market, Marcus has played a vital role in shaping Klook’s evolution.

In this feature, Marcus reflects on the pivotal moments that shaped his leadership, his role in Klook’s meteoric rise, and his vision for the future of travel.

Boarding a journey of grit and growth

Marcus joined Klook in 2016 as its regional marketing director. As one of the first employees in Southeast Asia, Marcus had to roll up his sleeves and dive deep into every aspect of Klook’s operations. 

“Being in the trenches is part and parcel of life in a startup—there was no room for just delegating or outsourcing,” Marcus said. 

Joining a company in its early stages meant experiencing both its highs and lows firsthand. For Marcus, this required constant adaptation to each phase of Klook’s growth and evolution. 

He recalled being hands-on in every aspect, from personally convincing people to download the app at weekend events to guiding partners through live platform demos. With Klook still a relatively unknown brand in its early days, Marcus also admitted that attracting talent was a constant challenge.

“I recall flying to Kuala Lumpur for a lunch meeting after our prospective head of marketing had already turned me down once. Thankfully, my persistence paid off—she eventually joined us and went on to scale our Malaysia business several times over,” Marcus recounted. “It is moments like these that taught me the value of tenacity and hands-on leadership.”

Klook has gone through eight rounds of funding and experienced rapid growth. With each stage, Marcus’ role also evolved. Initially, their focus was on hiring the right talent and defining their go-to-market playbook, especially for Southeast Asia. 

During what Marcus referred to as the ‘golden days,’ Klook experienced hypergrowth and blitzscaling, rapidly expanding across teams, geographies, new verticals, and channels. However, much like a rollercoaster ride, the COVID-19 pandemic came and brought unforeseen challenges, prompting a shift in focus. The team redirected its efforts toward enhancing functional efficiencies, balancing local agility with central governance, and refining channel strategies and metrics.

Now, as Klook emerges stronger in the post-pandemic landscape, Marcus emphasises the company’s commitment to sustainable growth. By leveraging Klook’s strong brand and strategic partnerships, they aim to capitalise on the surge in ‘revenge travel’ and invite more Western travellers to explore Asia.

From when he first joined the company to now, Marcus admitted that his leadership perspective has evolved from wanting immediate impact to embracing mid- and long-term strategies.

“Now, I find myself challenging teammates, the ‘younger versions of me’ who are leading the charge today, guiding them as they craft strategies for success over the next 6 to 12 months. It’s humbling to witness their growth and play a part in shaping what comes next, as one global team,” Marcus shared. 

First stop: Navigating the multigenerational dynamics as a millennial leader

Talking about teams, Marcus pointed out how he is now considered a ‘millenial leader.’ And as a millennial leader, he has faced unique challenges while guiding Klook’s global marketing efforts. 

One of the challenges he faced is fostering a culture that appeals to a multigenerational workforce, especially given the high growth and constant changes within the company. 

Marcus believes that culture begins at the top. Establishing a clear vision and mission is crucial, along with fostering an environment that promotes high performance, ownership, and on-the-job training (OJT).

“At Klook, we are guided by our core beliefs, one of which is to ‘push boundaries.’ We don’t subscribe to what some may call ‘bureaucrat mode’; everyone is constantly moving, learning, and challenging limits regardless of their role or tenure. We encourage internal rotation, mobility, and the setting of stretch goals to challenge the status quo,” he noted. 

Even Marcus, who earlier in his career was recognised as a digital expert, found himself continuously adapting to emerging trends in a digital-first landscape. 

“I find myself in a position that is both a privilege and a humbling experience,” Marcus expressed. “I’m constantly adapting to the evolving landscape, where I’m both a teacher and a student—learning from our Gen Z teammates about new trends, fresh perspectives, and how to challenge traditional marketing funnels and concepts we grew up with as millennial marketers.”

On Layover: Turning a travel pause into momentum

Although Marcus was fully capable of leading his team, no one, including him, was prepared for the global pandemic, which brought the travel industry—the lifeblood of Klook—to a standstill.

However, despite the uncontrollable and uncertain nature of the pandemic, Marcus and his team remained focused on their mission of bringing people together through experiences.

As a younger travel company, Marcus sees Klook’s agile and growth-driven mindset as one of its greatest strengths. Without the burden of legacy models, they can “deconstruct to reconstruct” ideas, leveraging resources to drive rapid growth.

During the pandemic, when cross-border travel was restricted, Klook launched a staycation accommodation vertical that positioned the stay itself as the experience. Users could escape their daily routines and enjoy facilities like spas, dining, and attraction tickets without travelling to a new destination.

The blend of blog content, live streaming, and social media used to launch the company’s ‘STAY’ vertical enabled them to go to market faster than competitors, driving the vertical’s growth in multiple markets once cross-border travel resumed.

“Understanding that travel is an essential part of people’s lives, we knew that the closure of borders would result in a new wave of pent-up travel demand once the restrictions were lifted. It wasn’t a question of if, but when,” he said. 

Second stop: Visiting the new industry trends in the travel and experiences market

The rise of AI and the increasing influence of Gen Z have transformed customer behaviours, a shift that Marcus recognises. 

“You’ve heard the saying, ‘Gen Z broke the marketing funnel; it’s now a loop.’ I find this extremely relevant because we don’t live or work in a linear fashion anymore,” he stated. 

Marcus believes that while traditional marketing theories remain sound in principle, the reality has become far more complex. The conventional playbook—relying on search, paid ads, and static distribution channels—is rapidly becoming outdated.

He also acknowledges that attention spans are shrinking in an age of instant information, with consumers increasingly craving authentic, video-based content.

“To win, I often tell my team that we need to be part of culture and create content that can entertain, engage, and inform audiences simultaneously—and at scale—by using AI, refreshed creatives, and content,” Marcus said. 

Marcus further noted how the experiences market is evolving with younger generations prioritising authentic, immersive travel. From mega-events like Taylor Swift’s ‘The Eras Tour’ to wellness experiences, travellers are increasingly seeking meaningful, personalised experiences.

Beyond the types of experiences sought after, Marcus highlighted significant shifts in how these generations discover and book them. The evolution of social media is streamlining the booking process, enabling users to find inspiration and book experiences directly within apps. 

Additionally, content creators play a pivotal role in the travel industry, championing the discovery of hidden gems and unique destinations through authentic storytelling.

“As the next generation becomes increasingly socially savvy, content creators will play a greater role in igniting that sense of travel. After all, travel is inherently personal and emotional, and it is authentic content that will resonate most with today’s travellers,” Marcus expressed. 

Recently, Klook hosted its inaugural Kreatoverse Summit, uniting over 130 content creators in Singapore. This travel-focused event fostered collaboration among like-minded creators through idea-sharing sessions, exclusive experiences, and a live hackathon for content creation.

“At Klook, we recognised this evolution in customer behaviour and have shifted our focus toward content, social, and mobile marketing and even building our own global community of Kreators (Klook Content Creators) over the last few years,” Marcus concluded. 

Taking off: Celebrating years of joyful journeys and lasting impact 

As Klook marks its 10th anniversary, the company continues to innovate while giving back. To celebrate, Klook launched initiatives that reinforce its commitment to making a positive impact on local communities and users.

Among these initiatives are the 11 ‘Money-Can’t-Buy’ experiences that give users the chance to win unforgettable, once-in-a-lifetime travel adventures. 

“This project is close to my heart because it aligns with our mission—helping travellers create joyful memories that last a lifetime,” Marcus shared. 

Additionally, as part of their commitment to animal welfare, Klook partnered with ACES to accredit 12 elephant sanctuaries under the ‘Klook Assessed’ program, raising care standards for both animals and local communities. They also introduced over 200 certified sustainable activities, empowering travellers to choose eco-friendly experiences. Lastly, they offered complimentary local tours led by experts, providing authentic cultural insights and supporting small businesses. 

But it’s not just Klook marking a milestone—Marcus is also approaching his 9th anniversary with the company, having been part of its journey almost since the beginning.

As his anniversary approaches, Marcus admits to feeling a deep sense of ownership and fulfilment. 

“It’s probably quite rare (in life) that one finds a job that feels like a personal mission, despite not being a founder,” he shared. 

He also shared that he finds it fulfilling to mentor the next generation of talent following in his footsteps.

“The opportunity to mentor and lay the groundwork for the next generation of growth and years to come even when I eventually move on, makes each day feel fulfilling and unlike any typical 9-5 corporate job,” Marcus stated. 

Looking ahead, Marcus is committed to propelling Klook’s growth. His vision is to establish Klook as the premier platform for leisure and experiences, staying true to the mission of making the world a more joyful place by bringing people closer through experiences.

“I often say that the indomitable Klook spirit is what sets this company apart, and I’m incredibly proud to have played a part in its growth story. More to come! ” He declared. 

In the dynamic realm of marketing, embracing innovation and leveraging technology isn’t just a strategy—it’s a mindset that defines the path to success. By embracing change and staying open to new ideas, marketers unlock endless possibilities to engage, inspire, and delight their audiences.

For MARKETECH APAC’s latest Milestone Series, we spoke with Maggie Effendy, associate marketing director – head of marketing for baby and child care (BCC) at Kimberly-Clark Softex Indonesia, to discuss one of her greatest milestones — blending her expertise and decades of experience to push the boundaries of technology and innovation in enhancing the consumer experience.

In this feature, Effendy delves into her illustrious marketing career spanning two decades, her first anniversary with Kimberly-Clark Softex, and her remarkable journey of relentless innovation with new technology. 

A merger of talent and opportunity

In 2020, Kimberly-Clark completed its acquisition of Softex Indonesia, a huge move that drew Effendy to join the company two years later. Attracted by the acquisition–an area missing from her career experience–Effendy saw this as an opportunity to leverage her hybrid expertise from both big local family-run companies and multinational corporations to contribute significantly to the success of Kimberly-Clark Softex.

A year after joining Kimberly-Clark Softex, Effendy had played a pivotal role in leading and contributing to some of the company’s most successful campaigns. Her tenure at Kimberly-Clark Softex has been distinguished by groundbreaking initiatives, including the recent and particularly proud launch of the ‘Sweety Dry Xpert X-Zone’ product.

As the head of marketing for Sweety, Effendy and her team have relaunched Sweety Dry X-Pert with new X-Zone Technology, featuring an X-shaped channelling system exclusive to Kimberly-Clark globally. This innovation allows the diaper to absorb liquid five times faster, keeping the baby comfortable and dry for up to 12 hours, reducing the risk of diaper rash, and promoting healthy skin.

And to top this all off, an extra special innovative feature made it into the creative process behind the product launch. Effendy and her team have integrated AI technology to generate personalised baby images on the packaging. This unique approach allows them to depict a baby that grows with Sweety from newborn to XXL sizes, something traditional photo shoots or image banks couldn’t achieve. 

“I believe we are the first in Kimberly-Clark globally to utilise AI technology for baby image on pack, and we would not be here today without the support from management that values leveraging technology. Our network of stakeholders also helped us to ensure we took all the necessary precautions in this new territory of marketing,” Effendy shared. 

Pushing boundaries and leading with innovation

The idea of using AI for the baby image project emerged from the challenge of meeting a tight timeline. With the help of AI technology, Effendy and her team not only significantly reduced the production timeline but also saved considerable costs per image compared to traditional photoshoots.

Effendy believes that the integration of AI in their packaging not only fosters a stronger connection with shoppers but also demonstrates how technology can enhance the consumer experience.

For Effendy, a successful product launch should aim to exceed customer expectations, even addressing needs that were previously unvoiced or unknown. This is where innovative technology can push boundaries. 

Effendy’s innovative way of answering challenges and providing effective solutions is honed through his decades of experience in the industry. Prior to joining Kimberly-Clark Softex, she was an FMCG international marketing professional working for global QSR companies. 

In one of her previous roles as marketing manager at an international fast-food chain, Effendy’s goal was to drive mainstream traffic to the store. Instead of just creating a better burger, she identified a barrier for group dining: the lack of options for non-burger eaters. 

By introducing chicken and rice to the menu, they were able to break this barrier that hinders the business’ growth. Consequently, the company became the first globally approved fresh chicken menu and operations standard.

Charting the course of the future

AI has played a pivotal role in Effendy’s recent product launch with Kimberly-Clark Softex, and looking ahead, she foresees AI continuing to disrupt the marketing industry, particularly in product innovation and development.

The potential for AI to transform marketing practices excites her, especially in the realms of design, communication, and social media. She, especially, anticipates AI advancements in shopper CRM. 

“I believe AI innovation will help accelerate the growth of smaller niche brands’ products and services, therefore closing the gap in current scale barriers between big mainstream brands and carefully curated ones,” she explained. 

When asked what she foresees shaping the future of marketing in the SEA region, Effendy sees Indonesia playing a pivotal role in shaping future marketing trends, given its vast population and burgeoning consumer market. And with Kimberly-Clark Softex’s global network and local agility, she is also confident in the company’s ability to capitalise on emerging trends in the personal care sector. 

Effendy shared, “I believe Kimberly-Clark Softex is well positioned with both the power of global networks as well as the agility of local movers to capitalise on future trends in personal care in Indonesia.”

Reflecting on a distinguished career

Over her 20-year career in marketing, Effendy has had numerous achievements, from successful product launches to impactful team development. Reflecting on her past works and achievements, she finds it hard to pick which is the most memorable, as there are too many of them. 

From her Mie Sedaap project to Oreo Blackpink and now her work with Kimberly-Clark Softex, each of Effendy’s works occupies a special place in her heart. However, she believes her greatest achievement is best measured not only by commercial success but also by the growth and development of the team during the project. 

“There’s nothing more satisfying for me than seeing a talent grow to their full potential,” she simply said. 

Effendy’s journey exemplifies the spirit of innovation, resilience, and leadership in the marketing industry. Her ability to navigate challenges, embrace technology, and inspire others underscores her role as a visionary marketer.

“After 20 years in marketing, I’m amazed by how much there is still to learn and even in awe of the great leaders and mentors that are always willing to share knowledge out there. I can only aspire to ‘pay it forward’ and continuously partake in building the next wave of inclusive leaders,” she concluded. 

At the heart of entrepreneurial success lies a keen, observant eye and an unwavering passion for bridging gaps in the market. For one visionary entrepreneur, his journey began with a profound realisation born from contrasting market trends across diverse regions. 

For MARKETECH APAC’s latest Milestone Series, we spoke with Rajiv Lamba, CEO and founder of SurveySensum and global managing director of NeuroSensum, to talk about one of his greatest milestones — creating an innovative AI-powered solutions platform to uncover deep consumer insights and democratise market research. 

In this piece, Lamba shares the inspiration behind the inception of SurveySensum and his journey in understanding consumer behaviour through technology and data-driven insights.

A vision realised through data 

Lamba’s journey began when he started observing contrasting market trends across different regions. Early in his career, he had some profound realisations, having noticed a stark difference in how consumers in the West versus those in Southeast Asia approached sharing feedback and preferences with brands.

“In Southeast Asian cultures, consumers would rarely provide direct, critical feedback in quantitative surveys, often claiming they liked a product or advertisement even if they didn’t,” Lamba explained. 

The observations Lamba made sparked his passion for bringing neuroscience principles into the market research realm through NeuroSensum, a neuroscience and AI-technology-based market research company. By leveraging tools like electroencephalography (EEG), facial coding, and eye-tracking, Lamba and his team could finally unveil the unspoken truths lingering in the subconscious minds of consumers. For him, it was an exhilarating experience to be able to unlock profound insights for their clients. 

However, as he delved deeper into the market research landscape, another glaring issue became apparent to him. Lamba identified that there is still a lack of fast, affordable, and accessible solutions for enterprises of all sizes. A staggering number of businesses couldn’t regularly leverage research consultancies due to the exorbitant costs and lengthy timelines involved.

Recognising the need for affordable and accessible market research solutions, Lamba founded SurveySensum under the Neurosensum umbrella. SurveySensum is an AI-powered customer experience platform that could democratise real-time customer feedback, making it a reality for mid-sized and large enterprises alike. 

“I envisioned a future where companies could rapidly build and share omnichannel surveys, gaining invaluable consumer insights at a fraction of research agencies’ cost, and enterprises could do more consumer research and make data-backed decisions,” Lamba shared. 

Building the vision, one piece of data at a time 

While the idea of launching SurveySensum holds a lot of promise for the industry, pioneering a disruptive technology is never without its challenges. Sceptics doubted the shift from traditional methods to a DIY customer feedback SaaS (software-as-a-service) solution.

However, no amount of doubt made Lamba let go of his vision, a strong belief that would soon pay him off tremendously. SurveySensum has grown into a platform that now serves over 170 large and mid-sized enterprises globally, spanning sectors as diverse as FMCG, telecommunications, banking, insurance, e-commerce, healthcare, retail, and automotive. 

What started as a vision has finally materialised into a platform that has helped clients save a remarkable 70–80% on their market research spending and up to 90% in overall time invested. 

Commenting on those challenges, Lamba stated, “My team and I persevered, fueled by our profound conviction that AI would inevitably reshape this industry. We doubled down on defining our target personas, educating them on the immense value SurveySensum could unlock, and demonstrating our real-world impact through our work.” 

It is interesting to note that while he’s working on SurveySensum, Lamba also serves as the global managing director at NeuroSensum, which means he was juggling both responsibilities across both entities. 

He revealed that his primary goals have been to generate consistent cash flow through a blend of internal profitability and external funding, while also exploring new avenues for growth, differentiation, and expansion beyond their current operations in Indonesia, India, Malaysia, and Manila, and their client base spanning over 25 countries worldwide.

“It’s a delicate balancing act, but one that I’ve approached with a steadfast focus on building an exceptional leadership team and empowering them to execute our innovative strategies. It’s a lofty endeavour, but one that has only strengthened my resolve and leadership capabilities over time,” Lamba stated. 

Shaping the future of market research 

Lamba believes SurveySensum has revolutionised how businesses approach data-driven decision-making.

Whereas such in-depth analysis once took weeks or months of arduous manual coding, SurveySensum has condensed that process to minutes. Companies can finally respond with agility to the rapidly evolving needs and sentiments of their customers, pivoting strategies and staying ahead of the competition like never before.

“Looking back, I’m incredibly proud of how SurveySensum has indelibly transformed the way businesses approach data-driven decision-making. By harnessing the power of AI and machine learning, we’ve made it possible to derive real-time insights from open-ended customer feedback across a multitude of languages, including Asian native languages,” he added. 

Lamba also shared that he is incredibly excited about the future that awaits customer feedback platforms like SurveySensum, as the accelerating advancements in AI and machine learning will undoubtedly continue shaping this domain in profound ways.

“At SurveySensum, we’re already at the forefront of these trends with our cutting-edge text analytics capabilities. Our proprietary algorithms are continuously trained and refined across verticals, geographies, and data sets, ensuring our ability to extract accurate, actionable insights from even the most nuanced customer verbatim grows more potent by the day,” he explained. 

On the idea of future trends and technology shaping customer feedback platforms, Lamba believes that SurveySensum is positioned well enough to capitalise on these trends. The brand is already working to launch an AI summary and insights on our platform, where a client doesn’t need to analyse the data or information from the surveys, but the platform itself will be able to provide a textual summary and actionable insights. This will again save hours of analysis time and reduce dependency on research agencies and consultants for consumer research needs.

“Moreover, our omnichannel approach has perfectly positioned us to thrive in today’s ecosystem, where consumers are engaging with brands across a myriad of digital and physical touchpoints. Whether it’s email, WhatsApp, SMS, QR codes, chatbots, or social media, SurveySensum empowers companies to connect with their audiences wherever they are,” Lamba added. 

Personal and career reflections

Reflecting on SurveySensum’s milestones, including four successful funding rounds and achieving profitability, Lamba takes pride in the journey of disruptive innovation. 

“I can’t help but swell with immense pride and gratitude. This journey has been an exhilarating testament to the power of disruptive innovation and the tireless efforts of my passionate and highly talented team,” he shared. 

As he reached his fifth year on SurveySensum, he shared that some of his most profound learnings have stemmed from the setbacks and course corrections they’ve had to navigate along the way. The team faced some major mistakes early on, getting too caught up in the competitive landscape and over-engineering their initial product far beyond the basics of a true ‘minimum viable product’ (MVP).

It wasn’t until they took that first iteration to market that Lamba and his team realised it wasn’t aligned with what their clients truly needed. That, for him, was a wake-up call that taught him a lesson he will never forget: the paramount importance of deeply understanding your market from the outset.

“Knowing your target personas inside and out, grasping the nuances of their pain points and the true market size, and talking to them directly are the crucial first steps before investing significant time and resources into product development. Getting a lean MVP into the market rapidly, absorbing feedback, and iterating from that stable base is the smartest path to sustainable growth,” Lamba further explained. 

For Lamba, if there’s one piece of advice he could impart to aspiring entrepreneurs, it would be to make understanding your market deeply a priority from day one. Define your target personas with granularity, validate the scale of the opportunity, and start leaning with an MVP before overinvesting prematurely. Then, embrace an evolution mindset—continue evolving that initial solution based on real user inputs and consumption patterns.

“This approach has become the bedrock of my own entrepreneurial philosophy and leadership mindset. While the path has been arduous, it has also been immensely rewarding, constantly propelling me to new heights of personal growth, strategic thinking, and passionate determination,” he said. 

Another piece of advice from him is to closely monitor profitability and cash flow from operations and align your management team so that the company is self-reliant and self-sustainable. In spite of having two offerings—neuroscience-based consulting and SurveySensum SAAS solutions—we became profitable in our fourth year, and at the same time, we were able to get business from more than 25 countries across the globe and have a physical presence in four countries.

Lamba’s journey with Neurosensum and SurveySensum exemplifies the impact of innovative thinking and technological integration in market research. As he continues to lead with passion and vision, the future of market research promises to be more insightful and accessible than ever before.

“As I look to the future, I’m filled with excitement for what lies ahead for SurveySensum and the market research industry as a whole. The key is to keep evolving, keep rapidly iterating, keep shattering paradigms, and never lose sight of the deepest needs of your clients and the value they expect you to provide them,” Lamba concluded. 

As the digital landscape continues to evolve, so too does the potential for technology to be a force for good. Through a blend of entrepreneurial spirit and social responsibility, advertising is now a platform to create meaningful connections and drive positive change in the world. 

For MARKETECH APAC’s latest Milestone Series piece, we spoke with Srikanth Ramachandran, founder of Moving Walls, to share one of his greatest milestones — employing programmatic DOOH technology to guide charitable initiatives needing exposure on digital screens situated in the real world.

In this feature, Ramachandran shares his journey and experiences in leading the company, starting the Moving Hearts initiative, and working with NGOs to run campaigns in Southeast Asia. 

Shifting paradigms and ‘Moving Hearts’ 

Ramachandran’s Moving Walls is an adtech company that works with out-of-home media owners across the world as an end-to-end enterprise solutions provider.

While working on expanding the company’s reach, Ramachandran and his team were able to reflect on the state of OOH media as a channel for advertising and its effect on the larger community. 

With a collective belief in the media’s transformative power that goes beyond commercial messaging, Ramachandran and his team launched an environmental, social, and corporate governance initiative in November 2023. 

Named ‘Moving Hearts’, the initiative aims to break through with the power of OOH media to spotlight social and humanitarian causes. By bridging the gap between charitable organisations and community groups with available OOH media slots on short notice, Moving Walls’ ‘Moving Hearts’ provided these organisations with a platform for their philanthropic campaigns to reach a wider audience. 

Ramachandran said, “At Moving Walls, all of us, as individuals, believe to our core that the media has an unparalleled opportunity to move minds. So we thought, why not use this airtime—the unsold spot or inventory that would have otherwise gone to waste—to support and amplify positive community causes that do not have the budgets to access high-reach media channels? ” 

“You can call us a catalyst for social sustainability. But this was our biggest motivator to connect media owners to charitable causes and bridge the growing divide between amplifying a cause and inspiring action,” he added. 

Amplifying social causes one screen at a time

Since its inception, the Moving Hearts initiative has expanded its reach in Southeast Asia. Ramachandran and his team were able to work on several campaigns, leveraging Moving Walls’ advanced technology to match registered charities to available DOOH inventory from supporting media owners. 

When asked what was most memorable among those campaigns, Ramachandran shared that he believed each cause was special to him and his team. But among these campaigns, some left a special mark on him and occupied a special space in his heart. 

Moving Walls’ Moving Hearts partnered with Healthy Malaysia and Sokong by Malaysiakini to launch a digital campaign raising awareness about breast cancer and the importance of early detection. 

In Malaysia, Moving Hearts was able to support two youth networks with a digital OOH campaign to amplify the good work they were doing. They also ran a campaign to create awareness about free screening and the importance of early detection as part of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. 

For Singapore, the initiative helped in securing airtime devoted to dementia, the care providers, and creating awareness of mental health issues. Meanwhile, in the Philippines, Moving Hearts collaborated with UNICEF to carry out a fundraising campaign for Christmas. And in Vietnam, the initiative was also able to support two children’s charities. 

Moving Walls’ Moving Hearts supported Youths United for Earth (YUFE) with a digital campaign advancing environmentalism in Malaysia. 

“On a personal note, my visit to the National Cancer Society of Malaysia, a cause we’ve recently supported, left me feeling humbled. Experiencing their work firsthand, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of insignificance. Yet, simultaneously, there was a swell of pride knowing that through Moving Hearts, we’re able to make a modest difference,” Ramachandran shared. 

Moving Walls, breaking boundaries 

Organising an initiative as big as Moving Hearts doesn’t come off as easy and sweet as it sounds. While navigating the complexities of digital OOH technology, Ramchandran has also encountered challenges in engaging media partners and aligning causes with willing stakeholders.

Moving Walls’ Moving Hearts provided the Five Arts Centre with DOOH media exposure to support their crowdfunding campaign to upgrade their equipment and settle their studio and office rentals. 

Ramachandran and his team had to deal with a lack of direct media ownership, meaning they had to work on engaging their media partners who possess these assets for them to contribute to the cause. 

They also have to make sure they align the causes to be integrated on the OOH platforms of willing media owners and execute the campaigns with as minimal disruption as possible to all stakeholders involved. 

To tackle these challenges, Ramachandran invested in a dedicated team that was inspired to make a difference. Leveraging Moving Walls’ programmatic technology, they can automate the process of playing the right content at the right location at the right time. 

Furthermore, with the company’s patented DOOH audience measurement, they were able to report to all stakeholders the number of hearts each campaign had reached. This part is important, as measuring a campaign’s reach is critical to sustaining their initiative. 

With hard work and dedication to their initiative, Ramachandran and his team were able to hit 3 billion impressions, deploy 8 campaigns, and are Moving Hearts in five markets. This they fulfilled in the last six months only, making this their biggest success yet as they continue to work on the initiative. 

Aside from what they’re doing now, Ramachandran also plans to go beyond just driving awareness for social causes to implement best practices for OOH media owners to offset their carbon footprint. 

He shared, “There’s a widely held belief by investors that organisations with high ESG performers can drive superior financial results. Moving Hearts plans to address all three pillars of ESG (environmental, social, and governance). To us, social sustainability isn’t simply about looking inward at our organisation’s process; it is also about leveraging a larger ecosystem of our partner’s assets as well.” 

Navigating boundaries and moving towards the future 

For Ramachandran, building the company first in a market as vast as Asia meant that they had to deal with a lot of unique challenges like fragmentation, a lack of standardisation when it comes to measurement and formats, and a variety of rules for OOH advertising in different markets. 

Nonetheless, establishing roots in emerging markets has positioned the company favourably to cater to the rapidly expanding global markets. Ramachandran and his team’s experiences have taught them how to provide bespoke or white-label solutions that address specific use cases for media buyers and owners. 

The company was able to set up multiple support hubs, form on-the-ground teams, and provide advice to media owners and advertisers who may be at different stages of their OOH advertising journeys. 

Looking ahead and examining the evolution of technology platforms, Ramachandran highlighted two parallel trends that will affect Moving Walls and the advertising space in general. 

He pointed out how omnichannel platforms are evolving to support new media channels like DOOH. At the same time, specialised platforms are building solutions to digitally transform traditional media channels like OOH, audio, and TV.

Ramachandran explained, “The key implication for us and other players in our ecosystem is to improve interoperability. Marketers and publishers will have to work with several partners depending on their specific needs, and for them to experience the main benefits of technology—efficiency and automation—these platforms need to be able to work with each other.” 

A decade of shaping the future and driving growth 

When asked what he considers his greatest achievement over the past decade of leading Moving Walls, Ramachandran said that there is not one single greatest achievement but rather many that he has treasured along his journey. 

The company has received numerous external recognitions, including recognition for being among the top startups globally and for having a highly valuable product in 2021.

However, aside from these big moments, Ramachandran shared that a different feeling of accomplishment would fill his heart when he started to remember the company’s humble beginning years ago and the fact that many of the people who were there at that beginning are still with him and the company now. 

Being in the industry for the past three decades, Ramachandran has experienced a lot. He has lived and worked in multiple countries for global and multinational corporations and also entered a successful entrepreneurial venture with Knowledge Dynamics. 

His experience building an industry vertical product whose revenues are derived from software-as-a-service (SaaS) has been a unique experience that has made him learn and unlearn a lot of new skills. 

Reflecting on it all, Ramachandran simply said, “I believe that I have grown as a professional, a leader, and an entrepreneur. Furthermore, I believe that the Moving Hearts platform has offered me an opportunity to apply my time when other capable leaders inevitably take the helm at Moving Walls in the future.” 

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.

The leadership journey is often marked by resilience, determination, and the relentless pursuit of excellence. It takes unwavering dedication and profound commitment for someone to rise and achieve success, not only for themselves but also for the organisation they serve.

For MARKETECH APAC’s third Milestone Series article, we spoke with Peggy Koh, vice president of growth partnerships for SEA and Greater China at Adzymic, to share one of her greatest milestones — rising to her current position today to sharpen the company’s focus on SEA as its key region driving growth.

In this narrative, Koh shares her journey and experiences throughout her career, her leadership work, and her insights on driving growth for a small tech company.

Climbing higher and pushing forward

Before joining Adzymic, Koh handled several marketing and sales roles in other companies. Most notably, she served most of her career in the banking industry, having worked both in local and regional management roles at DBS Bank, Citi, and UOB.

Bringing with her everything she’s learned in her previous roles, she joined the creative dynamic management platform Adzymic in 2021, where she took on the role of head of growth and client success. Her responsibilities then include managing the company’s key global accounts, ensuring that they deliver successful campaigns, and driving further growth for its clients and the company.

It didn’t take long for Koh to earn herself a promotion, welcoming 2024 as the VP of partnerships for SEA and Greater China.

Her extensive background, having been both a media owner and a client, and her holistic understanding of the Southeast Asian market, where she had worked for so long, paved the way for her to develop strategies that were instrumental in positioning Adzymic in the key region.

Koh shared, “Every step in my career has led me to today. I cut my teeth doing online media sales for a small firm back in the early 2000s, when digital media was the complete underdog, and picked up the basics. Thereafter, a 12-year marketing career in the banking industry, managing both local and regional roles, was instrumental in letting me gain experience in the corporate world, understanding how decisions are made on the client side and also observing how corporate culture is built in global organisations.”

Leading Adzymic towards success

As the vice president of partnerships for SEA and Greater China, Koh oversees both sales and marketing roles. For her, both roles ‘naturally feed off one another’, which is why it’s important to ensure synergy between these two functions.

“In sales, whenever we clinch projects with notable brands, the marketing kicks in to craft case studies that tell our DCO (Dynamic Creative Optimisation) stories to foster more learning in the industry of our adtech application. We make it a point to be present at major martech events in all markets we are active in, to stamp our presence, and to showcase our client brand portfolio. This in turn increases our visibility to become a well-established DCO brand that’s born and bred in Asia, with keen Asian insights and understanding of how local business is done,” she stated.

Koh believes that her exposure to new markets has propelled the growth and development of her business acumen, negotiation skills, and understanding of different cultures. After only working in the Singapore market, she is now managing networks in six markets for Adzymic.

With this, from having two team members, she now handles a team of ten across SEA and Hong Kong for both sales and key account servicing. Her understanding of the role and the market is relevant in leading her teams to work towards achieving their objectives.

However, as they are still a relatively small tech company, Koh also knew that one of the challenges of being a leader is attracting and retaining talent. In a competitive market such as Southeast Asia, many talents would flock to bigger companies with more established names in the industry.

This is why Koh shared that she also felt grateful and fortunate to have found goal-driven and talented young people who are rendering their time and skills to support Adzymic’s goals across all of its key markets.

“I see it as my job to build up the Adzymic culture, one that is nurturing of our people’s talent and career skill sets, and I’d like our people to have a strong sense of belonging here as we truly value everyone’s hard work and contributions,” she added.

Staying ahead of the curve

Navigating the dynamic and competitive tech landscape is no easy feat for many who have tried to penetrate its intricate web of opportunities and challenges.

The global adtech market, in particular, is showing promising numbers, with an estimated growth of USD 1.4 billion by 2030. And the Asia-Pacific region is among the fastest-growing in this area, according to a report by MarketsandMarkets.

And Koh is confident that Adzymic is already well-positioned to capitalise on this projected growth rate.

She shared that the company is always looking for ways to stay at the forefront of the curve, making sure to offer solutions that answer the evolving needs of their clients, such as new ways to apply DCO techniques by harnessing data and focusing on mobile advertising formats. The company also recently launched its APX to bring high-impact skinners and mobile scrollers to Asian advertisers.

Furthermore, the company’s campaigns were able to successfully showcase Adzymic’s well-differentiated propositions for their Asian clients. Among their works, two that stood out the most are their campaigns for Income Insurance Singapore and Standard Chartered Hong Kong.

For Income Insurance Singapore, a client with advanced martech stacks, Adzymic DCO developed as many ad variants as their data insights could generate to consistently support higher performance with relevant messaging.

Meanwhile, for a client that embraces innovation and fresh approaches to advertising, such as Standard Chartered Hong Kong, Adzymic activated new and innovative rich media formats to meet their campaign objectives.

Furthermore, Adzymic currently boasts a strong brand portfolio and a client base. And so, one of Koh’s main jobs is to maintain and strengthen these relationships to ensure customer satisfaction and loyalty.

She noted how Adzymic places great importance on their customer service, making it the centre of their organisation and their very DNA. For them, it’s important to employ a customer-oriented mindset, making sure they are doing their best for every client.

“Our adtech solution is dynamic, our tech team is innovative and imaginative, and our account managers are trained up to be conscientious and strong at managing projects and timelines. When you do something well, the results and the experience speak for themselves; trust is built, and then clients will naturally stay with you over the long run,” she continued.

Reflections approaching her third anniversary 

When asked what moment in her career is the most rewarding, Koh says it’s her time now in Adzymic as she was able to make the most impact in her workplace.

“It will be 3 years in a few weeks’ time. With Adzymic, it’s always felt intuitive, with a sense of constant growth and positive learning, and I’m really coming into my own at this juncture. It’s not a glamorous large corporate organisation, but it’s a place where I feel safe to learn, grow, and be empowered to contribute,” she said.

With an excited outlook on what lies ahead in her future, Koh simply ends with, “I’m excited to see where this path will take me! ”

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.

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.