How would you describe your current role and the biggest challenges you face?

I am currently building a marketing consulting company startup as a co-founder. This consulting company is focusing on other startups as our clients. We want to help the startups to start off on the right foot when it comes to their own marketing campaigns because as a startup, there would be a lot of tests to validate certain assumptions in the market. The biggest challenge right now is to make the startups understand how marketing is important during the early stages of their companies to help validate their products and/or services.

What is a common misconception about the work you do?

That we are not an advertising agency but a marketing consultancy firm. We intend to focus on building the strategy behind branding, campaigns, etc. for the brand/clients we will have. Most of our initial inquiries from potential clients intend to hire us as additional manpower for execution.

How did you get started in your marketing career?

I started as a Management Trainee at a local telecommunications company in the Philippines. There were different assignments through different departments during my tenure as a Management Trainee and my stint with Marketing was the most memorable and significant during that time.

Describe the most impactful marketing campaign/project you've personally worked on.

One of the most impactful campaigns I had was when I was with another local telecommunications company and it was during the time when data/mobile internet was not prevalent in the market. There was a series of campaigns on data adoption where I could literally see the behavioral change of our consumers overnight - by switching to smart phones and moving from analog to digital.

What is one marketing trend or change you're not convinced will work for SEA tech brands?

AI has been growing exponentially worldwide and I believe that it will significantly change the market in the near future. With the exception of some countries/cities such as Singapore, I think it would take a relatively longer time for the SEA market and its consumers to adapt to AI immediately. Although AI can be proven to be useful with the day-to-day operations of a SEA tech brand, but AI as a product to consumers might take some more time.

What is one marketing trend or change that you hope to see more of at SEA tech brands? And, why?

I want to see more sustainable efforts towards marketing. SEA is seen to be one of the most affected regions when it comes to climate change and I think the region should be a leader when it comes to sustainable efforts with its campaigns.

What is your favourite marketing resource that you would recommend to this community? And, why?

Not necessarily a marketing-centric resource, but Medium. I find a lot of interesting topics and trends as shared by the community and their own points of view. This helps me understand these better and have a better opinion for myself.

Lastly, where are you based, and where would you take friends visiting your city for the first time?

I am currently based in Metro Manila, Philippines. I would take friends visiting around Metro Manila since this region has always had a negative reputation with tourists. Most tourists would go straight to the islands and other tourist spots without taking a second look at Manila.