Former BreadTalk Group comms director takes on head of brand and marketing role at ECON

Former BreadTalk's brand director of group corporate affairs and communications, Joanne Wong, has taken up a new role at private nursing home operator, ECON Healthcare (Asia), as head of brand and marketing. In her new role, Wong (pictured) will be leading the company's corporate branding, as well as marketing and communications, including optimising the customer journey and experience. ECON currently has presence in Singapore, Malaysia, and China, and its marketing team comprises marketing, care advisory and sales. Leading a team of four to five, Wong will report to Ong Hui Ming, executive director and deputy chief executive officer, Singapore. 

In a conversation to MARKETING-INTERACTIVE, Wong said she is delighted to join the team at ECON, and taking up a "very meaningful and purposeful role" as she observes a genuine commitment to serve the senior community resonating across the organisation. "I am excited for the opportunities that are available to support the organisation’s growth and to create an even stronger and clearer identity for the group. I believe that my experience at BreadTalk, the bakery brand as well as the F&B group, will bring a fresh perspective and energy to ECON Healthcare as we expand and build an even stronger presence in our overseas markets especially China," she said. Wong also added that ECON is looking to hire roles such as content producer, as well as PR and social media agencies to support the group’s communication needs.

Prior to joining ECON, Wong was with BreadTalk for more than five years. During her time there, she led the marketing team for the bakery brands in BreadTalk business division, namely BreadTalk, Wu Pao Chun, and The Icing Room. Besides handling the marketing campaigns, communications, partnerships and sponsorships of the brands, Wong was also involved in conceptualising new retail brands and its development. Wong handled BreadTalk Group’s corporate affairs and communications and corporate social responsibility matters as well, before transiting to BreadTalk Group as a brand director fully after more than a year. Before BreadTalk, Wong helmed the role of account director at agency GERMS Digital for three years, where she was a key lead and mentor for an account servicing team of three within the agency, according to her LinkedIn profile. She also had previous stints in Grey Global Group and Batey Ads. 

According to Wong, ECON seeks to be the game-changer in senior care industry. The company wants to re-shape the stigma many have towards nursing homes. It also sees several opportunities to create more awareness of the work it does and the contributions to the senior care sector, and looks to do so through interesting, engaging and light-hearted brand narratives.

"Together with the management team, our vision is for the brand to be the voice of our seniors, heart for their families and the hands for our people in nurturing a culture of care and service for our senior community," Wong said. MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to BreadTalk for more information regarding Wong's replacement.  

Founded more than 30 years ago, ECON was publicly listed on Singapore Exchange last week, marking a milestone for the company's growth journey with expansion plans across Singapore, Malaysia and China. The group offers a holistic suite of services from residential nursing home services, community-based services such as home care and day care services, physiotherapy and rehabilitation services and traditional Chinese medicine services.

Ong Chu Poh, founder, executive chairman and group chief executive officer of Econ Healthcare, said in a press statement: “We are elated to see that our stock has garnered much interest from the public and has performed well on its debut trading day. We would like to take this opportunity to thank our investors for their vote of confidence. To those who continue to place their trust and faith in Econ Healthcare, this is an encouraging and exciting start to our next chapter of growth. We strive to deliver on our promises and steer the group towards sustainable, long-term growth for all our shareholders.”

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