My Best Marketing Tips #14: Manulife Financial Asia / Sushmita Munshi / Head of ManulifeMOVE
Sushmita calls herself an agent of change and a designer by craft. A design student turned marketer, she discovered her passion for behavioural insurance and the lessons it can yield for marketers thanks to a side gig she was recruited for when she had only just started at Manulife.
One of Sushmita’s top tips is to always ensure that everyone knows you’re open to new opportunities or, as she calls them, “side gig stretch roles.” These can come up when you least expect them, but give you the opportunity to stretch yourself, learn more, and become a better professional all-around.
What would be your best marketing tip?
I think that, with any opportunity you get before your get your heart set on a campaign or solution, you should spend as much time as possible listening to customers.
This can mean speaking to customers in person, listening or viewing data, or getting involved with focus groups. In all cases, it’s all about watching people in the context of consuming or using the product you are trying to sell.
How have you put this marketing tip to good use?
Working in marketing in Asia is very different from the West. Here, cultures can vary massively from one country to the next, even between neighbouring countries. This is why listening to the customer and understanding the customer's voice is mandatory. There is no such thing as an “Asia expert” because of how different the market can be.
This is why I always start with the voice of the customer, in every project I do.
What marketing tips does the industry need most right now?
There are a few things I’ve learnt by being involved with our behavioural insurance product. Firstly, celebrate a launch, but be aware that’s where the story really starts. By using our products, customers help us configure them further, and we need to keep using those insights.
Secondly, technology is too important to be left to technologists. This isn’t to say their skills are not useful, on the contrary, but marketers need to work really closely with technology experts and with data experts as well, to interpret things the right way and to ensure that the customer’s voice is at the heart of the design.
And finally, test and learn. Every organisation has a certain appetite for experimenting and accepting some level of failure. Leverage this to learn and develop new things.
What is the marketing tip you give most often?
For those new to marketing, I will say: maximise grit, because you’ll need to persevere and there’s a high chance you’ll trip before you run. And sharpen your deducibility skills. To succeed, you’ll need to develop your ability to break down problems and frame the question before you look for answers.
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