Living Marketing

As global marketing director for Plaza Premium, among the world's largest operators of luxury airport lounges globally, Janis is no stranger to the trials and triumphs of a second year being battered by a history-making pandemic. In spite of all that I'm most impressed by her ability to maintain a work/life model that balances health and happiness with the demands of work, home and family. How does she stay centered? What are her regrets? What does the future hold? All this and more, in my ch...

10-08

30:11

Before she joined Archetype as deputy managing director, Liz was editorial director for LUXE City Guides for five years. I'm a huge fan of LUXE, one of what their founder Grant called "Luxe Lovelies", so it was a fascinating conversation about where LUXE is today, and how shifting patterns of travel information consumption has impacted their ability to grow over the past decade. As usual, Living Marketing is more about "living" than "marketing", so it was a pleasure to hear Liz recount her li...

08-12

48:46

As head of Corporate Communications for AQUMON, an Asia-based investment platform and roboadvisor, Caroline enjoys an exciting role at the intersection of fintech and consumer marketing. Her path to FSI is anything but typical though, only moving into the finance field after six years in the fashion industry dividing her time between Hong Kong, Milan and Beijing. In fact, Caroline's personal journey is a case study in experimentation. Her first major was Egyptian Archeology, then Law, before ...

07-26

49:51

As Director of Membership for Hong Kong's hottest new private members club, Carlyle & Co, Kimberly has waited a long time for the club to open its doors because of the pandemic. Personally, she's also navigated a journey without a script to follow, as a biracial American kid growing up in Hong Kong who had to learn Chinese at the age of nine. Walking out of the family business into the publishing business, she spent seven years at lifestyle magazine HK Tatler, before she moved on to becom...

07-08

45:10

Henry is Asia Head of Marketing for FCM Travel, part of Flight Centre Travel Group. At 27 years old he's also my youngest podcast guest to date, a millennial marketer who has enjoyed a swift rise up the ranks during his five years with FCTG. We chatted while Henry was still in London, working remotely until travel restrictions opened up for him to relocate to Singapore. With the occasional East London ambulance siren as background music, we discussed his views on how Gen Y and X can complemen...

06-16

39:32

Welcome to part 2 of my chat with Arun, CEO and Editor-in-Chief of PRovoke Media, one of the most respected and widely read trade media of the marketing and communication industry. We start with a rumination over how well-prepared agencies really are for a post-Covid world, then change gears and talk about Arun's personal views on happiness, the various roles he plays in life, and what it meant for him growing up as a person of colour.

06-02

20:53

I'm incredibly excited to have Arun as my latest guest. He is someone I've known for decades, a highly respected journalist and entrepreneur who has covered the communications industry for almost 20 years. As CEO of PRovoke Media, formerly known as The Holmes Report, Arun has personally witnessed and written about the countless triumphs and controversies of our industry, and certainly the personalities that make our tribe so interesting. In Part 1 we go back to the beginning, how Arun got his...

05-20

31:39

Julie Purser, Marriott International's VP of Marketing for Loyalty & Partnership in Asia Pacific, is articulate, outspoken, a ton of fun to talk to, and someone whose adventurous spirit I admire so much. She came to Hong Kong seven years ago with her husband and 18-month daughter, and has never looked back. Julie talks about the pros and cons of making friends in a cosmopolitan city where expats come and go, the stresses and rewards for a marriage when making such a dramatic move, and eve...

04-28

44:20

After years of marketing leadership roles at major financial institutions such as Vanguard and Fidelity International, Audrey Khong might seem like she's been an FSI veteran forever, but her career actually began in FMCG in her native Malaysia. Hopping between sectors has been relatively straightforward for Audrey, who has navigated her career without letting fear derail, whether it's fear of the unknown, or fear of earning the disapproval of others. We talked about the rewards of overcoming ...

04-07

38:27

As Senior Director of Sales and Marketing for the Lan Kwai Fong Group's hospitality division, Sylvia is a champion of innovating digital solutions wherever she works. No surprise, since she first cut her teeth in Developer Relations for Netscape, one of the key players of the dotcom era that dramatically influenced the Internet's rose to ubiquity during the 90s. She first moved from her native Chicago to San Francisco, then crossed the pond to Macau where she led digital marketing for The Ven...

03-17

45:04

Tina Chao is Chief Marketing and Digital Customer Experience Officer with McDonald's Hong Kong, but we first met years ago when she was General Manager of Marketing for the Hong Kong Tourism Board, a post she held for five very successful, eventful years. In my fascinating chat with Tina, we revisit her surprising entry into marketing back in her Shell days, her favorite HKTB campaigns, and how her love of Hong Kong has influenced her career every step of the way. What Big Data discovery surp...

03-03

46:08

As VP of Brand Marketing and Communications at The Peninsula Hotels Group, Carson brings decades of luxury marketing experience with such iconic brands as De Beers, Harry Winston, and Tiffany & Co. to his new role in hospitality. His career has gone through several transitions, from agency to in-house, from New York to Hong Kong, and from jewellery to hospitality. How has he managed the change with every move? What were the frustrations his unconventional family experienced? We also talke...

02-16

44:57

Since becoming executive director of the Hong Kong Shark Foundation, Andrea Richey has given numerous talks in schools and private companies, lobbied heavily for major restaurant groups to cease serving shark's fin, and tirelessly championed marine conservation to an occasionally apathetic public. What was the lightbulb moment that made her decide to devote her life to shark conservation? How does pro bono work give purpose to marketing agencies and what are the business benefits? What ...

02-03

42:28

Penny Davis, head of Brand, Customer & Public Affairs for Bupa Hong Kong, is an adventurous soul who thrives on new experiences. Growing up on an Australian sheep farm, her globetrotting started in South Africa during her late teens, culminating in Hong Kong just as the Covid beast was rearing its spiky head. Join me as I talk to Penny about her year consumed by the pandemic, her views on how marketing campaigns are differently conceptualized in Australia and Hong Kong, the use and misuse...

01-20

44:40

In 2014, Patrick Sun founded SUNPRIDE FOUNDATION, a non-profit that aims to promote a more equitable world for LGBTQ people and their allies, through the exhibition and preservation of contemporary art. He’s also made it his personal mission to inspire young, up-and-coming artists to find their voice and channel creative energy towards change. SUNPRIDE has presented two wildly successful exhibitions in Taipei and Bangkok, Spectrosynthesis I & II, and is already planning the next one. ...