Fuji Xerox's Susie Wong: 'It's time to embrace reverse mentorship'

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As Fuji Xerox Singapore’s chief digital and marketing officer, Susie Wong (pictured) is responsible for driving profitable market share and mindshare through helping customers in their transformational journey, from document to digital intelligence. Her new charter includes customer experience, field and digital marketing, brand and product management, as well as eCommerce strategies.

Wong brings to Fuji Xerox data-driven, customer-centric marketing, and leadership experience that creates lasting impact for brands. Prior to Fuji Xerox, she held a multitude of regional and global roles in IBM in her 19 years with the company. Her last appointment at IBM Asia Pacific was the director of performance and programmatic marketing.

Wong, who joins Marketing‘s Marketing Talent Awards 2019 as a judge, shares what she hopes to see in budding marketers.

[Celebrate and reward your star employees and teams at the inaugural Marketing Talent Awards 2019 and attract new talent. Entry submissions close on 12 July—start your entries now!]

Marketing: As a judge what do you hope to see in the submissions for Marketing Talent Awards from the rising stars?

Wong: It's always exciting to see breakthrough ideas from budding marketers as well as established marketers and their teams. What matters is that the ideas are not just creative, but executed with immersive storytelling that are also focused on delivering business impact and are centered on delighting the customer.

Marketing: What do you make of the awards?

Wong: I like that the awards are diverse and that they recognise both individuals and teams who excel in their work. I personally find two of the categories - "Excellence in Learning" and "Best Place to Work" - interesting as they align with Fuji Xerox Singapore's philosophy of using human intelligence to encourage creativity and curiosity, integral to driving transformational horizons.

Marketing: Why do you think talent retention is such a problem in the marketing/advertising community?

Wong: I think this is true in every growth industry and is not unique to our community. The marketing profession is on the forefront of technology disruption. This means we have to stay ahead of the development curve, and because we do, this makes marketers a very versatile bunch of people and therefore, very fluid.

Marketing: What do you feel has to change to ensure young talent stays in organisations, and you can attract young talent?

Wong: Growth happens when there is discomfort, and therefore creating the right “discomfort” and providing avenues for continuous opportunities to “drink from the fire hose” will make it interesting for talent to stay in the organisations.

Marketing: What about the veteran marketers? What will you be on the look-out for?

Wong: I believe that today’s accomplished marketers need to be T-shaped professionals, they need to have breadth in scope and depth in focus. By that, I mean individuals who are well versed in broad topics such as market intelligence and how the trade war is impacting purchase decisions to conversations on martech and how it enables funnel diagnostics. Beyond this, I am inspired by marketers who continuously reinvent themselves to stay essential.

Marketing: What role do you think veteran marketers play in attracting new blood in the industry?

Wong: I believe that we are in an era where we should embrace reverse mentorship and to pay it forward by sharing not just what worked but also what did not.

Marketing: One important tip for our veteran marketers:

Wong: Think big, start small, fail fast.

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