Mediacorp central marketing to report to CEO as CMO Debra Soon departs

Mediacorp's newly appointed CMO Debra Soon (pictured) is leaving the organisation. She first took on the CMO role in June this year and was appointed to create an integrated marketing organisation that brings together the majority of its marketing and communications personnel under a unified leadership.Karen Yew, head, brand and communications, Mediacorp confirmed the move to Marketing saying Soon will be leaving the company to pursue a new challenge. She added that central marketing division will for now, report to CEO Tham Loke Kheng.Soon said, “I am pursuing an opportunity in a different industry which recently presented itself to me. It will allow me to take up new challenges and have more flexibility of time to spend with my family.”She added: “It has been an exhilarating 24 years spent in the media industry.  There have been many achievements and milestones which were only possible because of the professionals I have worked with. I would like to put on record my sincere thanks to the three CEOs I have worked directly with: Tham Loke Kheng, Shaun Seow and Lucas Chow, who taught me much about leadership and strategy. Mediacorp will always have a place in my heart and I wish my Mediacorp family all the best.”Soon was holding the chief customer officer for over a year prior to taking on the CMO role. She has worked in Mediacorp for over 20 years, reorganising the properties under Mediacorp’s Customer Group to align consumer preferences and new consumption habits. Soon also oversaw a strategic initiative to reengage radio listeners and keep Mediacorp radio stations in pole position through successive Nielsen radio listening surveys.During her appointment, Mediacorp CEO Tham Loke Kheng said the new integrated marketing organisation will unify branding efforts across the company, strengthen its brand identity and communicate consistent messages as part of its efforts to create better, on-brand experiences for consumers. It ultimately wants to create a more personalised and relatable Mediacorp."Soon’s wealth of industry experience, deep understanding of our consumers and passion for the business make her the natural choice for this much needed role," Tham said at the time.Under her leadership, Soon also nabbed StarHub's former VP of brand experience, Oliver Chong, who joined Mediacorp as head, consumer marketing. In a statement to the press earlier, the company revealed that Chong was brought in to assist Soon in creating a coherent marketing strategy that unified the branding of Mediacorp.