Virgin Active SEA marketing head takes on expanded role

Virgin Active has expanded Joanne Lim’s role to head of marketing, member experience and engagement for Southeast Asia, bringing brand, experience and community closer together under one regional remit.

In her expanded role, Lim will continue to lead marketing across Southeast Asia while also overseeing member experience and member engagement. The move is aimed at strengthening the full member journey, from how consumers first discover Virgin Active to how they experience its clubs, engage with its products, people and services, and eventually become advocates for the brand.

Speaking to MARKETING-INTERACTIVE, Lim said the expanded remit gives her the opportunity to look beyond acquisition and take a more holistic view of the member journey.

“A key part of the role is ensuring that we continue delivering meaningful and differentiated experiences that strengthen member connection, engagement and retention, while supporting the broader growth ambitions of the business,” said Lim.

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Her remit spans Virgin Active’s Southeast Asia markets and includes the marketing, member experience and member engagement teams across the region.

Lim brings extensive regional marketing experience to the expanded role. She has been with Virgin Active for more than five years in her current stint, most recently as head of marketing for Southeast Asia from July 2023, after serving as head of marketing for Singapore between February 2021 and July 2023.

This also marks Lim’s second stint with the brand. She previously spent more than five years with Virgin Active from 2013 to 2018, first as marketing manager for Singapore before becoming head of marketing for Southeast Asia. Between her two stints at Virgin Active, Lim was head of portfolio marketing at Mercatus Co-operative Limited from 2018 to 2021.

According to Lim, the decision to bring marketing, member experience and engagement closer together comes as consumer expectations continue to shift.

“The distinction between brand, experience and community is becoming increasingly blurred. People no longer evaluate organisations based on a single interaction. They evaluate the entire experience,” she said.

Over the next 12 months, Lim’s priorities will include strengthening how Virgin Active engages individuals across every stage of their journey, from prospect to member and eventually brand advocate.

As Virgin Active continues to evolve as a social wellness club, Lim said there is a significant opportunity to create more meaningful experiences that support not only physical wellbeing, but also recovery, connection and overall wellness.

“Ultimately, the goal is to deepen engagement, strengthen loyalty and continue building communities that empower people to live a life powered by wellness,” said Lim.

She added that what excites her most is the opportunity to bring marketing, membership, customer experience and loyalty closer together in a more integrated way. Throughout her career, Lim has led marketing, membership, customer experience and loyalty initiatives, as well as launched digital products designed to strengthen engagement and retention.

“I’m looking forward to working closely with our teams to better understand what creates meaningful engagement, lasting loyalty and genuine advocacy,” she said. “I see tremendous potential to further strengthen how our members move, recover, connect and thrive within our clubs and communities." 

The expanded remit comes as Virgin Active continues to deepen its positioning in the wellness space.

In October last year, the brand rolled out “Recharge”, a two-week campaign challenging Singapore’s hustle culture and reframing rest as an essential part of wellness. The campaign ran across all Virgin Active clubs and featured recovery-led experiences such as sound baths, zero-gravity sleep pods, ice rooms, hydrotherapy spa pools and regeneration zones equipped with Hyperice devices.

“Recharge” also saw Virgin Active partner with Somnus Sleep Wellness to offer members monthly sleep masterclasses and personalised assessments, following findings from its Wellness Trends Survey 2026 that highlighted Singaporeans’ struggles with sleep and recovery.

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