Please share with us your professional life’s journey and at which point in your career did you aspire to pursue this programme?

I have near to 30 years of commercial experience in the retail industry. Being a Management Consultant for the last decade, I have never seen the retail landscape changes as drastic as it had in these few years. The need for digitalisation is urgent and aggressive. Within all the functions of retailing, the most immediate and relatively easy digitalisation is marketing. When a company is looking to improve and expand its business, digital marketing will be one of the key strategies to explore. I decided to enrol in SGUS Programme in Digital Marketing offered by PaCE@NTU because it would equip me with all the trends, knowledge, and tools in digital marketing to help my clients to obtain a breakthrough by improving the way they conduct marketing investments and activities.

What attracted you to your chosen programme at PaCE@NTU?

I know clearly that I need to upskill with courses that would put me at the forefront of the best practice and current trends of digital marketing. The knowledge transferred should not be limited to just textbook teaching, it should enable me to have the hands-on skill to conduct effective marketing campaign. With these expectations in mind, I searched for courses that are taught by practitioners. I was delighted to know PaCE@NTU, a CET centre of a reputable university offered this SGUS programme with trainers who are industry practitioners in the field of digital marketing.

Has this programme benefitted you in your career development?

This programme allowed me to understand and practice the key aspects of digital marketing. Through valuable experience taught and shared by the trainers and the introduction of many useful tools, I am now able to strategise good marketing plan, set up effective campaigns on platforms, and optimise the efficiency of digital marketing activities. With all the excellent platforms for data analytics and search engine optimisation, I can now demonstrate to clients easily on how to use the data collected to add value to their business decision.

How would you apply what you've learnt from this programme?

The skills and knowledge required to perform effective digital marketing are not exclusive to the marketing function, but also involve a lot of planning in the business along the value chains. For example, the product range, supply chain, as well as internal and external customer journey experience, which are all crucial for a business model to be successful. After completing this programme, I am able to incorporate the skills and knowledge that I learned in the total business concept to provide more holistic approach when I advise my clients.

Do you think lifelong learning is important? Please share your thoughts about it.

Lifelong learning is important as it is one’s constructive attitude towards life. As quoted from a Chinese Proverb: Learning is like a boat sailing against the current, if you do not advance, you will fall behind. I believe that in this fast paced technological era, what could be fallen behind is not only our competitive advantage at the workplace. It could also include deterioration of our mental health, emotional well-being, and motivation in life. The benefit of lifelong learning is more than just gaining new skills, it helps us to gain joy and confidence in dealing with challenges in life.

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