In a business world where marketing is often seen as a necessary expense rather than a strategic driver of growth, Hilda Chan, the newly promoted chief marketing officer, Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP), is on a mission to rewrite the narrative.
The Brand Mission
With a diverse background working on both the agency and the client side of the business, Chan’s career journey has taken her from the high-octane world of advertising to leadership positions at iconic Hong Kong brands including the Hong Kong Tourism Board. During her agency days, she moved between Hong Kong and mainland China, working with global brands, such as Cathay Pacific, that have their headquarters in Asia. She eventually transitioned to the client side of the business, with a mission to help brand Hong Kong itself. Now at HKSTP, Chan is responsible for an array of initiatives promoting Hong Kong as a renowned international brand that’s a global destination of innovation and technology.
“Marketing isn’t just about creating campaigns or managing channels,” she said. “It’s about using data, insights and creativity to transform the way customers engage with a brand and ultimately drive tangible business results.”
What’s needed today
Reflecting on this part of her journey, Chan soon realised that advertising is just a part of the entire function, and that marketing needs to be very close to the business.
“Marketing is not the supporting function –it’s not very helpful when people say that. It could be an important business function and if you treat yourself as just a support function, then you will be a support function,” she says.
Chan argues that marketing today needs to take a seat at the table and persuade corporations that it has the power to drive value and lead change. “Branding can sometimes seem intangible,” she says. “But actually, branding brings huge value to the organisation, and you need to demonstrate this.”
According to Chan, marketers should set clear performance goals and demonstrate value. In her role, she makes performance marketing including demand generation a key priority for her team and it has to work hand-in-hand with the bigger brand idea.
Chan also believes that AI and data are disciplines with which marketers must become familiar. She contends that if marketing can take control of consumer and marketing insights and predict possible trends, it can have a greater impact on the business agenda.
What it takes to thrive
There is no doubt that Chan is at the bleeding edge of marketing and has, in her own right, developed a unique perspective on the evolving marketing landscape and the skills required to thrive in it. She attributes her personal development – in areas such as curiosity, staying at the forefront of change, diversity of ideas and embracing different cultures – to her days working on the agency side.
“I’m a people person and I like to talk to different people; in a team, you need to have that diversity, have different perspectives and have constant constructive debates,” she says.
“The brand side is very different to the agency side today because we have comprehensive knowledge of the business and advertising is a part of it”, she says.
Chan believes the next decade will be marked by a consolidation of marketing after decades of fragmentation, and that bringing it all together will be crucial for growth.
Advice to followers
To this end, she advises those considering a career in marketing to be proactive in shaping that career, encouraging them to take calculated risks and seize opportunities.
“You have to shape your own role when you can, and work it to your strength,” Chan says. “Through marketing, you can create meaningful campaigns linking consumer insights to cultural context – and change behaviour and the world. That’s what keeps me moving every day.”
This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: The Growth Conversation Hilda Chan Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation