KFC Malaysia names former Digi talent new CMO

KFC Malaysia has named Chan May Ling as CMO, replacing Angelina Villanueva who has taken on a regional role at KFC Asia. Chan will report to KFC Malaysia's brand head Chandrasagran Munusamy and will lead the marketing team in continuously driving KFC's brand growth and driving its market leadership. She told A+M that her vision is to accelerate digitalisation and make data-driven decisions to drive growth and leadership.

Chan (pictured) was previously with telco Digi and its largest shareholder Telenor for about 13 years in total, according to her LinkedIn. Chan last helmed the role of digital customer experience transformation lead at Digi for eight months, her LinkedIn said. Before that, she was based in Myanmar with Telenor as VP, head of digital services and VP, head of brand strategy and online marketing.

In those roles, Chan said she drive the digitalisation journey of Telenor's flagship channels, resulting in the monthly active users on its MyTelenor app growing by 8.5 times within 10 months of the launch, her LinkedIn said. She also structured a brand exercise utilising Telenor's SMART process that formulated the brand proposition of "Be There For You" during the company's third anniversary.

Before heading to Myanmar, Chan was Digi's head of marketing services for four years, during which she led a team that spanned across brand, marcomms, customer insights, design, privileges, partnerships, as well as activation and sponsorship. She also led Digi's rebranding exercise in 2015. She first joined the company in 2007 as a senior in the marcomms team and also helmed the role of head of marketing communications, her LinkedIn said. Chan also has experience on the agency side, having worked at Saatchi & Saatchi as an account director and McCann as brand director. She was also at dentsu Y&R. 

On how her experiences at Telenor and Digi will help in her new role, Chan said as both brands deal with mass market segments in hyper-competitive categories, the agility to pivot quickly with new consumer trends and drive impactful execution will come in handy. "The combined experience in both brand communications and digital product development would prove beneficial in this new role," she added. 

Ever since the pandemic struck, Chan said KFC has been helping Malaysians stay true to the new normal by ensuring that the health and safety is its utmost priority, as well as serving customers in innovative ways. With the disruptions brought about by the pandemic, KFC has invested in eCommerce and contactless channels, as well as introduced its KFC self-collect service pandu ambil.

When asked how she plans to futureproof the marketing team, Chan said: "The team already has a stellar record for marketing bravery. Futureproofing it would mean to continuously raise the bar in delivering high impact work that matters."

Meanwhile, Digi's spokesperson said Chan had grown to be an exemplary leader throughout her 13 years with Digi. "We are proud to see one of our own stepping up to a huge role, and continue to lead and shape the Marketing industry. She goes with our best wishes," the spokesperson added, but declined to comment on Chan's replacement.

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