22 NOV 2019
The Principles That Earned a “Most Influential Global Marketing Leaders” Award
An Unexpected Email That Started It All
For seven years, my professional world has revolved around the word “we.”
“We” launched 2Stallions, a regional digital marketing agency.
“We” landed a new client.
“We” celebrated a successful campaign.
When you’re building an agency from the ground up, your identity becomes intertwined with the team. Every success is a shared victory; every challenge is a collective burden. The focus is always on the agency’s brand, not your own.
So, when an email from the World Marketing Congress landed in my inbox this past June, I was genuinely thrown. It mentioned a nomination for their annual list of the “Most Influential Global Marketing Leaders.”
My first, unfiltered reaction wasn’t excitement. It was confusion, followed by a wave of skepticism. “What? Is this for real?”
After seven years of focusing exclusively on the collective, an individual recognition felt foreign. It was a strange and unfamiliar spotlight.
In our industry, you learn to be cautious.
So, I did what any digital marketer would do: I started digging. I discovered the World Marketing Congress is a major initiative by CMO Asia, an organization with a decade-long history of celebrating top marketers. I saw their past events were attended by leaders from the world’s most respected brands—Microsoft, Coca-Cola, Unilever, you name it. I was even more surprised to see industry peers from Singapore that I’ve long admired, like Damien Cummings (2014), Prantik Mazumdar (2015), and Joe Escobedo (2016) who have also accepted the award.
Okay, this was legitimate. The skepticism faded, replaced by a much heavier question. The winners were selected for marketing competencies, strategic perspective, track record, integrity, and a commitment to sustainability. The serious nature of the criteria was a call to look in the mirror and ask if my 7-year journey truly measured up.
A 7-Year Audit Against a Leader’s Principles
The nomination became a catalyst for a deep and honest reflection. It forced me to audit my entire professional journey against these four pillars, to see if the foundation we had built was as strong as I hoped.
1. Competence is Forged in Fire, Not Theory
Anyone can read a marketing textbook. Real competence is built in the trenches. I thought back to the early days, hunched over a laptop, personally managing ad campaigns and writing copy. Over the last seven years, I’ve advised hundreds of business owners from a place of hands-on experience. True expertise is earned through trial and error, through a willingness to get your hands dirty and learn from lived experience. It’s the only way to give advice that is both practical and powerful.
2. Strategy is a Patient Game of Proving Value
In the agency world, talk is cheap. Results are everything. My strategic perspective from day one was to build a sizeable portfolio of excellent case studies. We chose to build our reputation on a foundation of proof. It’s a slower, more deliberate path. It means focusing on delivering measurable outcomes for clients of our digital marketing services. Over seven years, this has become our core differentiator. Our track record is our best marketing tool.
3. Integrity is the Only Unbreakable Asset
This principle is the bedrock of it all. In an industry that can sometimes feel opaque, trust is the most valuable currency. I’ve always worked to ensure that we only propose the right strategies for our clients, even when it has meant leaving significant money on the table. Turning down a lucrative project because it isn’t in the client’s best long-term interest is a painful, but necessary, part of building an ethical business. A strong reputation, built over seven years of honest dealings, is worth more than any single contract.
4. Sustainability Means Building the Ecosystem
A business cannot thrive in a vacuum. From the very beginning, we’ve had an eye on social sustainability. True leadership extends beyond what you build to include what you give back. We’ve dedicated countless hours to speaking to students at universities and mentoring mid-career professional looking to switch to a career in digital marketing. It’s our responsibility to nurture the next generation of talent and strengthen the industry as a whole. We have regularly run pro-bono workshops, seeing it as an investment in our collective future.
After walking down that memory lane, it was clear that these criteria were the very principles that had guided us for seven years. I chose to accept the recognition.
From Reflection to Reality: The Climax in Mumbai
Five months later, that journey of reflection brought me to the bustling metropolis of Mumbai. The World Marketing Congress 2019 was held at the luxurious Taj Land’s End, with over 200 of the Asia Pacific’s top marketers in attendance.
Standing in that room, the energy was palpable. To receive my first individual award in that setting, among so many accomplished marketers, was a surreal and humbling experience.
But as I walked onto the stage, I realized something important. While it was an individual award, it was only made possible by the collective “we.” It represented a recognition of the team back home, of the clients who put their trust in us, and of the seven years of shared hustle.
This whole experience started with a question of external validation but ended as an exercise in internal reflection. So, I’ll leave you with the same challenge:
Take a moment to look back at your own journey. What are the core principles—the non-negotiables—that have guided your decisions?
Knowing them, and living by them, is what truly defines your impact, with or without an award.
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