While Singapore was up in lights for the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix, this past week, one of Asia’s biggest entrepreneurship networking events of the year, All That Matters 2024, brought together titans across industries to our Little Red Dot.
It was an all-star cast that included big names like McLaren, Grab, YouTube Music, and even superstar brands like the NFL and the NBA. Across three days, workshops, discussions and talks about key issues with wide-reaching impact across a range of different industries were held.
Being on the floor for the event’s last day provided a unique perspective, with experiences that included an inspirational talk by one of the event’s most prominent speakers! Want to find out who? Read on to find out! Here’s a hint: She’s a true trailblazer in her sport, paving the way for others like her.
The Glocalisation Of Sport
The first talk we attended was ‘The Glocalisation of Sport’, a discussion focused on the influence of the Asian market on international sports and the opportunities for sports brands to take advantage of this market.
The speakers in this discussion were some big names: Gerrit Meier, Managing Director, Head of NFL International; Sheila Rasu, NBA Asia Head of Fan Acquisition and Engagement; Smile Xu, Founder of Miles Group, with the session moderated by Denis Green, Regional PR Director for Asia at 160over90, the marketing arm of Endeavour China.
Some of the main points brought up were mostly on how much influence Asia has had on various overseas sports media properties, focusing on the NBA and Formula One. Sheila Rasu referenced an ad the NBA produced featuring BTS’ Suga, riding on the group’s immense popularity both in Asia and abroad to introduce the NBA to a new audience.
As someone with a deeply vested interest in media and various sports, I felt this was a great moment of awareness for how much of an impact Asian markets have on global sports, along with how the media produced about these sports deeply affects how they are perceived and the potential it has for breaking into new markets.
Another talking point was how media platforms such as Netflix can influence and drive mainstream perspectives on sports brands. A particular series mentioned that also resonated with my experience was Drive to Survive on Netflix, a show that kickstarted my love affair with Formula One. Given the series’ deep dive into the drama and politics of the sport, it appealed to the reality-show-watching audience (like me!) with little previous interest in Formula One. I’ve never thought about how media could have such an influence till now!
What Matters To Bianca Bustamante
This talk was a dream come true for a Formula One fan like me! I can’t lie; I could scarcely believe I was in the same room as THE Bianca Bustamante, social media sensation, professional racing driver, and all-around superstar. Suffice it to say I was thoroughly starstruck when she first walked onto the stage.
Her talk was mostly about her life experiences, motivations, how she’s overcome challenges in life and her racing career, and her plans going forward—like being brought to the race track at an early age by her father, who wanted her to live out his dream of being a racing driver despite financial constraints preventing him from doing so.
Some key things that stood out to me during her talk were how she draws inspiration from her fans on social media, who tell her that she’s a role model who inspires them to pursue their dreams.
When further asked about her opinions on social media by the moderator of the session, CEO of BRANDED and concerned parent Jasper Donat, she wholeheartedly endorsed the power of social media as a driver of her career. She told a story of how she found her first sponsor through them reaching out to her on social media, which was very validating to hear for anyone (me included) who’s been told social media is a waste of time!
“It’s not about how well you blend in. It’s about how bold you stand out.”
This quote from her has stuck with me even now. Speaking on past insecurities and directly to young people unsure of believing in themselves, she encouraged young people with passions to take a chance on themselves, advocating for their parents to support them as well.
Expanding on her feelings on racing, she spoke about feeling both gratitude and immense pressure with all that her parents had riding on her. They believed in her wholeheartedly, but she knew that they had bet everything on her succeeding as a driver, and it was stressful that she was the family’s breadwinner at such a young age. While not all of us can relate, it provided an eye-opening perspective for me as someone who has felt intense familial pressure to succeed, which is an experience I think most of us have gone through.
Rounding out her sharing on a lighthearted note, Bianca spoke about how, as she grew older, she realised she was putting a lot of pressure on herself, not allowing herself to be interested in anything other than racing, and strove to change that. The fangirl in me was overjoyed to hear that she and I shared some creative interests like writing, anime, and more, among other things she’s been dabbling in.
Overall, Bianca’s talk was about sending a positive message, encouraging everyone to follow their dreams and fulfil them like she managed to do, something that will speak to anybody, regardless of age. On a personal note, I was thrilled to be lucky enough to snag a selfie with her, which makes this event all the more memorable!
AI Matters in Marketing
The next talk was ‘AI Matters in Marketing’, presented by James Redden, CEO of US and APAC at 2CV Research, speaking on the impacts of AI in marketing and industry opinions on it, taken from a survey of senior marketers in the Asia-Pacific region.
One area that James highlighted that stood out to me was AI’s impact on the environment. He spoke a lot about AI’s unrecognised environmental costs, overshadowed by how game-changing it is across industries. A single AI prompt response consumes a not-insignificant amount of energy. He posited the question of the ethics of using AI with the knowledge of the environmental costs associated with AI usage, which is something for all of us to ponder as AI gets more and more integrated into our daily lives.
Providing an anecdote of how an AI learned to lie to accomplish the objective set out for it by its programmers, he ended by posing a question to the whole audience – how would we manage an industry landscape rapidly changed by AI?
For me, who’s used AI such as ChatGPT, Midjourney and other mass-market AI tools for schoolwork before, and is also environmentally conscious, the points brought up relating to the environmental costs struck me, as I had never properly considered things from that angle before. Furthermore, I’ve realised that I use AI extensively to automate creative tasks that I would ordinarily have to do, which leaves me wondering – if other people figure out how to do this, where does that leave me and every other creative?
Why Does Marketing Matter?
The final talk we attended was ‘Why Does Marketing Matter?’, a sharing session by some members of the WFA (World Federation of Advertisers) on their takeaways from a closed-door WFA session that had happened earlier that morning. The speakers included Cheryl Goh, Group Head of Marketing and Sustainability at Grab, Jiunn Shih, Chief Marketing, Innovation and Sustainability at Zespri, and Rupen Desai, CMO and Venture Partner at Una Terra Impact Fund, with the discussion moderated by Laura Forcetti, Director, Marketing Services Asia Pacific for the WFA.
Jiunn Shih spoke passionately about the marketer’s role and how it’s changed since he first entered the industry. Some of his statements hit really close to home as someone who’s studied and is in a marketing-adjacent field and occasionally dips into it for work.
“Marketers are sometimes seen as vain, fickle and romantic”; this comment from Jiunn was particularly revealing to me in relation to marketers’ role as people trying to influence the choices of audiences by playing on emotions and various other methods. Even so, he spoke about the beauty of marketing, saying that it “can nudge people to make different choices and influence them” and noting the important role marketing plays in modern society.
On the matter of marketing’s importance, the other panel members discussed how marketing has actually faded a little in terms of relevance when compared to other aspects of running a business, with areas previously under its purview being given to other aspects of business.
They discussed ways in which marketers can combat this and give marketing a seat at the decision-making table again, such as taking care to translate marketing lingo into layperson’s terms when explaining to non-marketing colleagues, and researching and understanding consumers actively, following the latest trends and analysing how to use it in marketing.
Why It Mattered
For me, All That Matters 2024 was a truly fascinating event. It was an enlightening peek into the inner workings of oft-overlooked industries, giving me a fresh perspective from industry professionals on how things have changed and how we can all adapt going forward.
Truly inspirational, perspective-giving and absolutely unbelievable — especially for an F1 fan — All That Matters 2024 was something that really mattered to me, and an event I encourage anyone working to take the opportunity to go for. In case you missed it and want to find out more, here’s the event’s official page from BRANDED, and to catch the highlights, here’s their Instagram!
Photos by Leo Chia and Ethan Yeo of the DANAMIC Team.
