Wildlife Reserves Singapore names new CMO

The Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS) has appointed Irene Lin as its chief marketing officer. WRS was on the lookout for a CMO since January 2020. Lin (pictured) has over 19 years of experience in the hospitality sector.

In a LinkedIn job post, WRS stated that a CMO will be responsible for the design, planning, and implementation of all marketing activities, as well as the tracking, measurement, and optimisation of outcomes. This will span digital marketing, social, events and programming, in-park and out-of-park activations, as well as design and creative production. According to the WRS, the CMO will also be required to be skilled with a combination of strategic, out-of-the-box thinking, technical skills and numeracy, the ability to plan and execute well, and the ability to communicate and collaborate across organisational boundaries, among others. 

Lin last helmed the role of executive vice president of global marketing at Shangri-La Group for the past two years. According to her LinkedIn, she was responsible for constructing a global marketing ecosystem to promote a 360-degree understanding of Shangri-La; activating personalised engagement strategies, develop deep consumer insights and data analytic capabilities to drive marketing, as well as revamp Shangri-La’s digital media framework for paid media, content/social and field support to drive new customer acquisition and increase e-direct business, among others. 

Prior to that, she was with Marriott International as the APAC vice president of digital, loyalty and portfolio marketing for one year and seven months. Lin was tasked to lead lead all aspects of digital, loyalty, partnerships and portfolio marketing for Marriott and Starwood for Asia Pacific. She was with Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide helming a similar position for two years and was moved to Marriott in 2016. Lin had led strategies for Marriott rewards, Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) loyalty program and Ritz Carlton rewards, and build engagement and loyalty mindset across all hotels, improve acquisition strategies and use of customer data, member engagement, experiences, buzz events and loyalty alliances. 

Lin has also had stints with The Westin and Delta Whistler, both brands under Marriott International. She was based in Canada, the US and the UK in her time with these hospitality brands. Marketing has reached out to WRS and Lin for comment. 

Similar to hospitality, tourism has also faced significant losses due to the spread of COVID-19. The Singapore Tourism Board recently said it expects visitor arrivals this year to fall by about 25 to 30%. The Singapore government has implemented circuit breaker measures to curb the spread of COVID-19 and also quicken the pace of recovery. As such, tourism frontliners from local attractions such as Singapore Zoo (Wildlife Reserves Singapore), Gardens by The Bay, Sentosa, and National Gallery Singapore were featured in STB's recent film to encourage Singaporeans and residents to play their part by staying at home. 

While we ride this wave together, stay productive and join us for our newly launched webinar series covering a wide range of topics on business resilience.

Related articles:
STB entertains netizens with new edutainment series featuring SG personalities