After a career in branding, Mark Pointer has created a number of awards programmes for the industry.
What’s your story?
I am originally from the UK, but I spent 25 years living and working in Asia. I now divide my time between London, Paris, and Singapore. I have built a career in branding and marketing, both working for leading global Ad agencies and brand owners and running my own businesses.
Over the last 17 years, I have been proud to have run Superbrands awards programmes in a number of different markets across Asia and Europe.
What excites you most about your industry?
Branding and advertising are constantly evolving. Nothing is constant. Nothing is a given, especially when working across different markets and cultures and with different expectations, market development and cultural norms. However, creativity and exciting new ideas drive the business forward. They are still always essential human truths that ground good communications and define effective branding and advertising across all markets. With that in mind, it has been particularly exciting to be in a position to help celebrate and recognise the most successful work in our industry via the Superbrands awards programme.
What drives you in your career to push beyond what other people consider normal?
One of my primary motivations comes from the opportunity to celebrate the brand success of various companies that have qualified for Superbrands recognition. These are not always the biggest or most well-known global companies. Local consumers often vote for local brands as their ‘favourite’ brand in that particular category. It is inspiring and rewarding to see the satisfaction and appreciation the management and staff of these businesses gain from their Superbrands award. Essentially, they know their hard work and efforts are being recognised by their customers and the broader business community.
What have been the most useful skills you have learnt and applied in your journey?
Ask questions and listen! This can be one of the hardest things to do when you already have a plan that you believe will lead you to your goal. However, you don’t know what you don’t know. By asking questions and challenging your own assumptions, you can gain a better understanding of the environment, opportunities, and challenges that lie ahead.
What’s the best piece of advice you ever received?
If you run your own business, when you think you have finished your work for the day, try to do just one more thing on your to-do list before calling it quits. This is a good way to boost your productivity and end the day on a strong and positive note.
Who inspires you?
Anyone who has worked hard and made a success of what they are doing. In particular, someone who has built something from nothing, such as Richard Branson. But also sports people who have reached the pinnacle of their chosen sport. And those who have had to come back from injury, or mental health challenges such as the gymnast Simone Biles, who suffered from a huge loss of confidence and dropped out of competing for a couple of years only to come back and win three gold medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
What have you learnt recently that blew you away?
AI has the potential to transform the business world by automating tasks, improving decision-making through data analysis, and enhancing customer experiences with personalized services. For business owners, it offers the potential for cost reduction, increased efficiency, and fostered innovation. However, AI also requires companies to adapt to new technologies and ethical considerations.
If you had your time again, what would you do differently?
Following on from the above, embrace business technologies earlier. The application of technology in the workplace continues to move at a lightning-fast pace, but it is easy to hang on to familiar ways of working. While I was excited to see and celebrate how new technology was being used across the branding and advertising industry, I could have moved faster to adopt new workplace technologies to improve my company’s productivity.
How do you unwind?
My partner and I enjoy travelling. We have both held senior regional positions within major global corporations, and we have had the wonderful opportunity to visit and travel to many countries over the years. Of course, you never really see a country on a business trip, but it has piqued our interest in exploring further afield and off the beaten track. For example, we spent four days hiking through Vietnam’s Son Doong Cave, the world’s largest known cave. I am also an avid sports fan who enjoys attending major sporting events.
What is a major mindset change, belief shift or ‘ah ha’ moment that you’ve experienced in relation to your career?
Post-COVID, the business world has dramatically changed, particularly in the nature of personal business interactions. Businesses have shifted to flexible working practices, digitalisation, hot-desking, and e-commerce. There’s now a greater openness to flexibility and self-management. However, all of this can make it more challenging to reach someone. In the old days, you would call reception, be put through to someone’s desk, and they would answer the phone. You’d then arrange a meeting. While that still occasionally happens, we now have to rely much more heavily on multiple digital communication channels for new business generation.
Everyone in business should read this book:
Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike by Phil Knight provides fantastic insight into the business journey from entrepreneurial beginnings to a market-leading global corporation, with creative branding and marketing as central pillars to achieving that success.
Shameless plug for your business or career:
Superbrands is a global awards programme that operates in more than 90 countries. For more than 20 years, Superbrands has recognised and celebrated Singapore’s leading brands. Brands are identified via an independent survey asking Singaporean consumers to vote on their favourite brands across a range of product and service categories. Participation for qualifying brands is by invitation only. Participating brands are awarded Superbrands Status and the right to use the ‘Singapore’s Choice’ award seal. Attaining Superbrands Status strengthens a brand’s position, adds prestige, and reassures consumers and suppliers that they are buying a leading brand in its category.
How can people connect with you?
Email: mark.pointer@superbrands.com
Superbrands Singapore Website: https://sg.superbrands.com/
Social Media Links?
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-pointer/
This interview is part of the CallumConnects series.