‘EVOLVE WITH YOUR CONSUMERS’
Vital to focus on customers’ needs and not get lost in tech, says CMO of the Year winner
WITH more than 20 years of experience, Telekom Malaysia vice-president of Unifi Marketing and Communications Lai Shu Wei, 48, had witnessed many changes in the country’s technological landscape driven by fast-changing development.
Shu Wei, who was named the Chief Marketing Officer of the Year at the Malaysian CMO Awards 2019, believed it was important for marketers to focus on the needs of consumers and avoid getting “lost” in the technology.
“There are so many (developments in) technology happening today.
“It is important to keep up with them to enable you to stay innovative and creative in that space, but do not lose sight of who you are ultimately serving.
“Do not get lost and caught up in jargon and technological products. You are serving the same consumers, so ensure that what you offer your consumers will help them by either solving or improving a ‘pain point’.
“My arguments have always been based on the needs of consumers. This has never changed,” he told the New Straits Times.
At the awards event, Shu Wei also clinched the gold award under the Marketing Trailblazer in the telecommunications category, which he also won last year.
Shu Wei, who started his career as a marketing executive at Lam Soon Bhd in 1995, said it was important for every organisation to prevent complacency with their legacy in order to stay relevant in today’s market.
“We must continue to ensure that we evolve with our consumers.
“You must always be on the minds of your consumers, impacting them in whatever they do.
“The decades of whatever you build can disappear in a short time if a company refuses to evolve.
“Keep building a relationship with customers if your company aspires to remain ‘in the game’.”
Working for Telekom Malaysia, Shu Wei stressed on the importance of breaking away from the conventional culture of “org chart” (organisational chart) when it came to his work philosophy.
He said the challenge was to communicate work matters to his team members due to the size of the company.
“I tried to get them in smaller groups and build them into a more agile set-up. This way, everyone becomes a member of the squad.”
His words of encouragement were borrowed from popular culture to make them more accessible to the team members.
“I would tell them that I was the ‘Jedi’ who set out the path, and my teammates were the ‘padawans’ (Jedi apprentices), who would embark on programmes based on the approved approaches and complete the task.”
He said it was important to continue experimenting with new approaches.
“Always be in ‘beta’ (testing phase) mode. This is important to enable you to identify where you are and set your goal.
“At the same time, it is equally important to learn from your customers.”