Strategising Success!
BY AIDEN JEWELLE GONZALES
Thailand is the land of creativity just as much as it is the Land of Smiles,” Sasha Alwani confides in admiration when I met her at her sun-drenched office overlooking the cityscape. With the perennial hustle and bustle of the metropolis floors below us, Sasha waxes eloquent on what a dynamic centre for creativity in Southeast Asia Thailand has become, and its magnetism for major brands and talent. “I was born and raised in Hong Kong, and as cliche as it might sound, I moved to Thailand for love,” she reveals with a rueful laugh. “But though my motivations were very much personal, the move helped me unlock so many new professional opportunities that I would never have had access to if I had stayed in Hong Kong or Singapore. From films, to music, fashion, and food, Thai culture is making its mark on a global stage and it’s a really exciting time to be a brand strategist and consultant in the market.”
Currently the Chief Strategy Officer, ASEAN at Vero, a communications consultancy helping top brands launch and build influence in Southeast Asia, Sasha is someone who I immediately took a shine to, with her easy-going demeanour, ready smile, and, I’ll admit, similar international school background. She’s someone who embodies the communications expert, which in my experience is always comprised of two parts: a keen mind for strategy, trends, and upskilling; and a natural gregariousness that allows you to engage with and learn from everyone around you. As she showed me around her office, which included an intriguing ‘thrifting corner’ that was a reflection of the company’s dedication to social and environmental responsibility, Sasha walked me through her peripatetic background, from Hong Kong, to Boston University in the US where she earned her Bachelor of Science degree, to Singapore, and several countries and touch points over the last 14 years of her career.
She brought to bear her experience from over a decade in the industry to give Masala further insights into Thailand’s creative landscape, how to lead the pack in the communications and branding industry, and what it’s like to be a trailblazer in this space.
What opportunities and challenges drew you to Vero as a company, especially as a woman in the branding industry in Southeast Asia?
When I moved to Thailand, I wanted the next step in my professional journey to be with an agency that not only had a strong foundation, but was also progressive in their work. Most importantly, I sought a company culture that aligned with my values, which I was very fortunate to find at Vero.
Over the last 17 years, Vero has been delivering communications solutions for brands across Southeast Asia — from media
engagement and influencer relations, to experiential events, digital content, and government and policy communications. As Chief Strategy Officer, my role is to help brands define their strategy across all their communications efforts in diverse and dynamic markets to build brand visibility, reputation, and trust. What’s great is that I get to collaborate with a team that takes its culture very seriously.
At Vero, people come fiirst. There’s a real culture of trust, and the company’s unlimited leave policy is just one example of this. Moreover, Vero walks the talk. It’s the fiirst agency in the region to sign the Clean Creatives Pledge, a commitment to not work for any brands that contribute to the fossil fuel industry. Vero also earned its B-Corp certifiication a few months ago as part of our genuine efforts to be a good corporate citizen. Lastly, the company also lets me broaden my horizons, since its regional reach means I wouldn’t be limited by geography. While Vero is one brand, the business has a footprint across five countries in the region, namely Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Singapore. This gives me the space and opportunity for growth in one of the most exciting regions in the world.
There are few Indian women who have followed a similar career path in your regions. What has your journey been like as a trailblazer in this space, and how does your identity as an Indian woman shape your approach in this arena?
Though I haven’t had the opportunity to work with many Indian women as mentors or colleagues over the course of my career, I have had the privilege to work with some amazing female leaders from a mix of cultures from around the world, including South Korea, Australia, America, the UK, and of course, Southeast Asia. These women come from diverse industries – some were bosses, some clients and some colleagues – but what they all have in common is professional and business capability combined with being caring, responsible, considerate people. All of them have made an impact on the person and leader that I am today.
While I don’t believe my ethnicity as an Indian woman has changed or influenced the way I approach my work, I do feel that my Sindh upbringing has made me a better negotiator when it comes to closing business deals. [Laughs] When you spend your childhood constantly trying to bargain with your parents and your siblings, it makes the art of closing a deal much more intuitive to navigate!
The resurgence of T-Pop and fandom culture like Butterbear has reinvigorated the creative scene in Thailand. How are these cultural movements impacting global perceptions of Thai culture and influencing your work?
Asian celebrities and inflluencers are increasingly dominating global fashion and pop culture trends. This year, Thai, Filipino, and Korean stars made waves at Paris Fashion Week, driving conversations as trendsetters in the luxury landscape, and signalling significant growth potential for Southeast Asia, and especially Thailand as a creative hub and inflfluence in the region
I feel a lot of excitement around three areas in particular:
Fandom culture: Beyond traditional celebrities and media products, fandoms are now embracing small inflluencers and even mascots like Butterbear or animals like Moo Deng, the Internet’s newest and cutest It Girl. This trend is democratising inflfluence, allowin anyone (or anything) with a dedicated following to play a signififican role in shaping consumer behaviour and cultural trends. Fandoms are on the rise, with communities, passion points, and cultural spaces that usually would only appeal to a small group of people now becoming mainstream.
And although fandom communities can’t be manufactured, once a spark is lit, brands can gain dedicated communities of passionate fans once they know how to nurture that spark into a fllame.
Immersive experiences: We’re seeing a shift from storytelling to story-living. Brands can no longer just think about creating social impressions or simply offering a photo opportunity; a successful campaign today involves fully immersing consumers in the experience, making it something they will remember long after your event. Tapping into the human senses is key — they want to be active participants, not passive observers. It’s not about the scale of the activation, but about how long you can hold their attention and keep them engaged. The focus should be on immersive and personalised experiences that continue to resonate and stay relevant in their digital ecosystem, sparking lasting interactions beyond the physical event. We’re seeing this come through across social platforms, with TikTok Shop redefiining the ‘shoppertainment’ experience and YouTube recently partnering with Shopee in Indonesia.
AI: Artifiicial intelligence is this year’s buzzword, and while there has been a lot of discussion around what this tech means for brands and the future of marketing and communications, the consistent takeaway is that AI is going to change how quickly we can access data and insights to inform strategy, improve effificiency, and enable a new generation of AI-powered humans. Brands shouldn’t be afraid to embrace AI across their work functions to enable quicker testing of ideas, failing, learning, and refining.
In a field that is often fast-paced and evolving, how do you maintain your creative energy and drive? What inspires you and keeps you motivated?
I love it when I see a brand execute a campaign that moves me — whether it makes me laugh, cry, or look at something in a completely different way. There is something magical about creating campaigns that can move a community of people, the way Spotify has with iconic data-driven campaigns that tap into different subcultures, or Duolingo with its playful and strategically-unhinged marketing tactics that continue to win among young people.
As a professional in this fast-paced industry, I’m motivated to continue creating smart and strategic work for brands in this region who not only want to move the market, but who also want to make a difference through their work. We’re in an interesting time in history where we’re seeing a lot of dramatic changes happening around the world. Brands, alongside policy makers and industry leaders, are navigating these changes without any kind of rulebook, and this is both a challenge and an opportunity to create new ways of thinking for the benefiit of not just brands, but also of people and the planet.
Looking back on your career so far, what would you say has been your proudest professional achievement, and what are you most excited about for the future?
I’m not really one to gun for personal accolades. But twice now in my career, I was encouraged by my bosses to apply to industry competitions, and both times I ended up walking away with huge wins that have made a massive mark for me in my career. One of them was the Cannes Young Lions Southeast Asia (Under 30), which is a professional achievement I’m so proud of and grateful for. Winning meant I was able to attend the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in France as a competitor and representative of Southeast Asia, allowing me to meet like-minded people from around the world and learn from some of the best talent in the industry.
There are a lot of things that excite me about the future:
• The first is AI; it’s certain that AI technology will be everywhere in the years to come. It’s an inevitable force of workplace revolution, and at Vero we are embracing this trend as an opportunity for growth. We recently launched an AI-powered business unit, Rover, which is a space where we can pilot and experiment the use of AI across our entire workfllow and roster of services. I’m very excited to see where this takes us, and what innovations we can work on together with our brand partners and clients.
• I’m also excited to be working with creative young talent across the region — the cultural drivers and change makers — and having fun while doing it.
• Finally, I hope that one day, I can also inspire the next generation of women leaders in the industry.
Tell us a little about your personal life and support systems – what excites you outside of work, and how do you manage a good work/life balance?
It’s always challenging to manage a healthy work-life balance, especially when you’ve invested so much time and effort over the years to build your career and you feel personally motivated to give it everything you’ve got. But when you truly enjoy the work that you do, you don’t feel like the work takes away from your balance.
That said, there are a few things that help me personally maintain a healthy balance in my day-to-day life. The fifirst is Vero’s flexi-wor structure, which means I’m able to work from home when I need to. This fllexibility makes it possible for me to sneak in a workout during lunch or paint my nails during a creative brainstorm. It also lets me work from any of our offifices in Singapore, Manila, Jakarta and Ho Chi Minh when I travel, extending business trips into long weekend breaks. The second major thing is pure, meticulous planning. I’ve always been a planner, and I plan for my clients, my family, and myself. One trick I’ve learned for maintaining a healthy balance is planning all my holidays at the start of the year, so I always have something to look forward to. As an explorer, making sure I have time to travel helps me unlock a lot of the creativity I bring to my work because I fiind so much inspiration from the culture, places, and people I encounter.
Finally, do you have any advice for young people, particularly young women of colour looking to enter the corporate world or be a vanguard in mostly male-dominated industries?
First, don’t be afraid of making mistakes. This is where you make beautiful and unexpected discoveries. Second, worrying is a waste of time. There is nothing that ever gets better or prevented because you worried about it more. So, focus on being solutions oriented and make the best decisions you can with the information you have available. Last, and perhaps most important for long-term growth, is to fifind and work with good people. Regardless of race o gender, if you surround yourself with talent who are all motivated to learn and grow together, you’re setting yourself up for success.
