The Asia-Pacific (APAC) region is a vast, diverse cultural and economic landscape, requiring businesses to adapt their CX strategies to meet the specific needs of local customers.
Step forward the CX influencers, who through their expertise and thought leadership are shaping the conversation around customer experience and helping businesses stay ahead of the curve according to geographical demands.
Earlier this month CX Network published its global guide to the top 50 CX influencers to follow in 2023. We selected these experts for their valuable insights, practical tips and thought-provoking discussions, both on social media and in real life.
Here we introduce you to 12 influencers from the list who are leading the way in the APAC region. As we compiled this guide, several recurring themes emerged, including customer loyalty – which our 2022 report identified as a key priority for APAC CX practitioners – an increasing use of digital tools and a focus on personalization. Read on to find out what the experts are saying about these key trends.
Customer loyalty matters
Jason Bradshaw, the serial entrepreneur
Jason Bradshaw became an entrepreneur at the exceptionally young age of 14, when he started a distribution company selling telecommunications and computer equipment in the Australian city of Toowoomba.
He has since led transformative change at Target, Fairfax and Volkswagen Group Australia, and today is an acclaimed keynote speaker, strategic advisor to C-suite executives, and founder of the Power Of CEX consultancy firm.
Designing customer-centric strategies
Laura Frazer, the DEI specialist
Laura Frazer is the co-founder of Frazer Tremble Executive, a customer experience consulting firm based in Melbourne. She advises businesses on customer-centric strategies and recruitment processes, and the company also offers training in Lean Six Sigma, robotics, process mining and diversity and inclusion.
She has also established a networking group for senior female leaders in process transformation.
“One piece of advice that has stuck with me throughout my professional journey is to always stay curious and never stop learning. It is essential to continuously seek out new knowledge, experiences, and perspectives to grow and evolve as a leader.”
Creating personalized experiences
Lolitta Suffian, advancing human-centric tech
Telecommunications companies are a perfect example of a type of business that relies heavily on providing excellent customer experiences.
As the chief experience officer at Telekom Malaysia, Lolitta Suffian is in charge of ensuring customer journeys are as smooth as possible, by leveraging a human-centric approach while deploying cutting-edge technology for its 2.4 million broadband customers.
You can catch Suffian sharing her insights as part of a panel at Customer Experience Asia Week in November this year.
“Championing CX in any organization is never a one department or division responsibility, and I am grateful that in Telekom Malaysia the customer-centric brand culture is everyone’s common goal.
"We aim to build frictionless end-to-end journeys for our customers and we do this through internal collaborations and strong teamwork. CX is everyone’s responsibility.”
Advancing digital CX
Jeff Bullas, the social media genie
On his highly acclaimed blog, Jeff Bullas dishes heaps of helpful tips for digital marketers and social media strategists, including a wealth of information for beginners getting started on SEO and keyword strategies.
Based in Australia, he is the host of The Jeff Bullas Show podcast and an international keynote speaker. Among his many accolades, he has been named one of Entrepreneur’s top 50 online marketing influencers.
“Influencers are the modern digital version of the mass media celebrity, movie and sports stars.”
Aneesh Kammath, the tech evangelist
Aneesh Kammath is an advocate for technology fuelling CX. As a consultant and coach, he works closely with customers, leadership teams, employees and stakeholders throughout India and beyond to advise on digital transformation and analytics.
He is also a Certified Customer Experience Professional (CCXP) which he describes as “the dream of each and every CX Consultant.”
Luke Jamieson, the Steve Irwin of CX
Luke Jamieson has earned himself the nickname 'Steve Irwin of CX' for having a rebellious, unconventional approach to customer experience and employee engagement strategies.
The Australian keynote speaker, podcaster and blogger is an expert in gamification, a fast-growing trend that incorporates game playing into strategies to drive customer loyalty.
“I stick to these three pearls of wisdom that have proven true time and time again: Closed mouths don't get fed; confident not cocky - cockiness breeds complacency, and be yourself, nobody else can.”
CX in finance
Walter de Oude, the banking visionary
Walter de Oude founded life insurance company SingLife with a vision to create a financial ecosystem for digitally native customers. It has since merged with Aviva Singapore in a deal that became the largest ever merger in Singapore's insurance sector.
His latest venture is Chocolate Finance, a fintech startup.
“In the art of capital raising, you need quite a lot of crazy, but an even more amount of optimistic. You need to be able to tell a story where your investors need to be buying your product first, before they invest in your business.”
David Jimenez Maireles, the fintech innovator
Fintech influencer David Jimenez Maireles has spent most of his career building digital banking products all over the world. His current role as chief experience officer at TNEX, a digital-only bank headquartered in Vietnam, sees him overseeing the organization’s overall CX strategy and tracking customer satisfaction metrics.
Aimed at a young market, he has helped develop an “emoji-driven multi-purpose fund” to help customers manage their money. TNEX has also been named best digital-only bank in Vietnam two years in a row.
Omnichannel solutions
Danny Phillips, the omni thought leader
Danny Phillips is the co-founder of two companies in Melbourne: Arkade, an agency that helps businesses improve their customer service and Omneo, a centralized platform that can manage everything from customer feedback and loyalty programs to back-end reporting and e-receipts.
He leads CX strategy for a number of established Australian businesses. A seasoned speaker, he spent his early career guest lecturing at RMIT University and General Assembly.
“How many logos can your customers see on your website other than your own? Every time a brand makes their customers sign up to a third party platform to get a better experience, they are leaking the value of that customer's data to a future competitor.
"Brands are not measuring the right metrics - Annual Average Value, Retention Rate and CSAT should rate a lot higher in the KPI priority order than they currently do.”
Nicola Clement, the omnichannel mentor
After 20 years of working with major Austrlian companies including Jetstar/Qantas, L'Oreal and Telstra, Nicola Clement decided she wanted to give back by developing new talent. Today she mentors people who want to upskill or who are not digital-natives, while also helping tech companies with their customer roadmaps.
She is also an expert mystery shopper and is currently studying for an MBA at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford. This week she opened CX Network’s very own All Access: CX APAC 2023 online event with a talk on how to ensure you meet changing customer demands.
"Remember, you are not your customer, or your employee. What motivates you, will not necessarily motivate your team."
Measuring the value of CX
Ali Malik, the metrics pundit
As head of customer experience projects at Pakistan’s Static-A, Ali Malik specializes in one of the most challenging tasks for CX practitioners: metrics. Working with brands and manufacturers in the Asia Pacific region and beyond, Malik develop strategies for KPI management, Voice of the Customer programs, brand analysis and mystery shopping among others.
“The ultimate goal in a Customer Experience Measurement Program should not be a single or multiple metric or rat race on a scorecard, but having a clear objective to find the opportunities and add incremental value for the customers, employees and the business.”
Maneesha Bhusal, the measuring strategist
Maneesha Bhusal is one of the leading lights of CX in the Asia Pacific region. Based in Indonesia, she is the director of operations for customer experience, customer service and marketplace at JD.ID, an ecommerce site belonging to the largest online retailer in China.
Since joining in 2018, she has spearheaded a strategy to measure the organization's CX strategy to measure performance and maturity.
"CX and EX go hand in hand. It is all about feel good factor. Good feelings lead to better thoughts, and better thoughts lead to positive actions."
Quick Links
CX Network names its 20 CX Leaders to Watch 2022
The top customer experience influencers to follow in 2023
CX Network’s 20 leaders to watch in 2024
The top 50 customer experience influencers to follow in 2024