The Changemakers Impact Conference | Review | Hong Kong

As I write this and I'm looking at my diary full of internal meetings this afternoon, it makes me fully appreciate the opportunity I, and around 150 Hong Kong marketeers, had at The Marketing Society’s Annual Changemaker Conference in November. Stepping outside from the day-to-day, hearing from an eclectic array of speakers, and connecting with peers… it’s invaluable.

The overall theme was around impact and how we create more of it. A lot of perspectives and provocations to digest and tough to condense to 500 words. But I’ve had a go at three broad takeaways…

The need for speed

In today’s world there’s no real optionality on leading at speed. We won’t succeed if we don’t. But I loved Sophie Devonshire’s nuance around this – ‘velocity’ is actually a better term as it means speed in the right direction. And to get to that right direction, Sophie highlighted the power of the pause and my personal favourite, ‘strategic laziness’ – to move faster, do less. 

Bian Hui from HSBC also showcased how the brand became cool in HK through acting like a ‘159 year-old start-up’ which has attracted a younger set of clients and new talent that aren’t just joining to get a good mortgage rate.

Max Woodward, former HK China rugby 7s captain also talked about speed but more around impact being achieved when players quickly reset after a mishap on the field. 

Not being shy to force change

Sometimes, David Kim from Vitasoy outlined, we need to force change to create impact. Vitasoy had a nice mantra for their sustainability commitment around 'making the right product, the right way' but education alone around this wasn’t enough to drive change. Adding targets to scorecards with impact on compensation did. 

Brian added, that as growth leaders, CMOs should push their brands to be ‘the talk of the town’. It may sometimes mean investing 1% in gimmicks but it works when pushing for change and landing new messages in the market 

Without forgetting marketing fundamentals

We, as marketers, are often drawn by ‘shiny new objects’ but the fundamentals of solid marketing remain. Some examples:

• Andreas Krasser from DDB reminded us that we need to be unique and vibrant to create impact. And importantly, not fall into an echo chamber trap where we sometimes lean too much on impressing our peers/stakeholders rather than focusing on our customers
• Florian Jungbauer from HK Jockey Club rightly stressed that partnerships need to feel part of your DNA and brand vision otherwise they will backfire
• Nixon Cheung from HK Tramways talked about the importance of being a caretaker of the ‘well-loved, made in HK, only double-decker tram in the world’ – it’s a brand that belongs to the local community.

My final thought aligns with the final presentation from the excellent Ines Gafsi from Inspiring Women HK. We can all be role models for the next generation – doesn’t require you to be a superhero. Just sharing your career ups and downs and inspiring youngsters to consider jobs/industries that they are unaware of. That can have a huge impact and something we can all do – beats an afternoon of internal meetings too…

Authored by Andrea de Vincentiis MD, Asia-Pacific Co-CEO Office HSBC
Published on 12 November 2024