Member Interview with Vivian Chan

We are delighted to bring you a Member interview with Vivian Chan, Associate Marketing Director Pernod Ricard.

What’s your golden rule?

Stay curious. Explore boldly. Turn curiosity into action. 

Marketing changes too quickly to rely on what worked yesterday. Keep questioning, keep learning, and have the courage to test something new.

Who has been your biggest influence and why?

Frantz Hotton, Pernod Ricard Korea CEO - I admire leaders who combine ambition with humility. The leaders I learn most from are those who set a very high bar, but remain curious enough to listen, change their minds and give others room to succeed.

What is your most hated business expression?

“Because we’ve always done it this way.”

It shuts down curiosity at exactly the moment businesses need more of it. Markets, consumers and technology change constantly. Our thinking should too.

What’s the smartest business idea you’ve ever had?

Treat marketing investment as business investment.

The smartest shift I have made is to stop asking, “What campaign should we run?” and start asking, “What business or consumer problem are we trying to solve?” It changes everything, from where we invest to how we measure success.

Which leader do you admire most and why?

Elon Musk. I admire his ability to think from first principles and pursue ideas that initially seem impossible. What inspires me most is the scale of his ambition and his willingness to challenge conventional thinking. It reminds me that meaningful innovation often starts by asking not “How is this usually done?” but “Why can’t it be done differently?

What is on your mind the most right now as a marketing leader?

How marketing earns a bigger seat at the business table in the age of AI.

AI can make us faster at creating, analysing and optimising. But speed isn't strategy. The bigger opportunity is for marketers to combine consumer understanding, creativity, data and commercial thinking to identify where the next source of growth will come from.

Why is being part of The Marketing Society important for your career?

Because I want to keep learning beyond my own company and industry.

The Marketing Society gives me the opportunity to exchange ideas with people solving very different business problems, to challenge my own thinking, and to contribute back to Hong Kong's marketing community. At this stage of my career, I'm as interested in becoming a better business leader as I am in becoming a better marketer.

Why does marketing matter to you?

Because marketing sits at the intersection of people, culture and business.

At its best, marketing understands what people are changing, feeling and valuing before the answer is obvious in the numbers. It turns that understanding into products, experiences and ideas that create growth.

Tell us something that’s not on your CV

Becoming a mother has probably made me even more curious.

Watching a child discover the world reminds me how powerful simple questions can be. “Why?”, “Why not?” and “What happens if we try?” are surprisingly useful questions in marketing too.