It’s What I Do: Joanne Rico & Rosalle Macaspac

Joanne Rico

Head – Marketing and Sales, Bareen Cluster – NMC Healthcare

What do you do for a living?

I work for NMC Healthcare, the largest private healthcare company in the UAE and third largest healthcare provider all over the world.  It is the first company from Abu Dhabi to list on the London Stock Exchange and is now part of the premium FTSE 100 Index, an elite club of top 100 blue-chip companies by market cap. I am currently posted as the Head of Marketing and Sales for the whole Bareen cluster.

Please describe your job:

I look after everything that is related to Marketing and Business Development of all the medical facilities under Bareen cluster – from brand positioning to increasing brand awareness and growing brand loyalty to the facility, from increasing footfall to generating revenue and raising profitability for each medical facility.  From strategic planning to overseeing execution, I spearhead all offline, thematic, and tactical communications such as print ads, radio ads, car ads, electronic ads, and SMS promotions. I manage all media-related activities including press releases, press conferences, media and public interviews, film shootings community research among others. I oversee business relationships with all external agencies including advertising creative, advertising placement, public relations, transit media, electronic media, mobile media, website, digital marketing; and with all printing vendors for below-the-line communication materials to ensure seamless delivery of functional requirements.  I plan and develop the brand’s digital presence which includes campaigns on website, social media, search engine optimization, online advertising, and mobile application.  I lead and guide the team in executing all community events including wellness camps, screening campaigns, health lectures, health-related world celebrations, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities, and customer retention events.  I conceptualize and oversee corporate events including contract signing with new partners, unveiling/opening of new facilities, recognition gatherings for physicians, annual day celebrations for staff members.  I spearhead all medical events including medical conferences and Continuing Medical Education (CME) lectures for Bareen physicians and community-based doctors.  I strategize and oversee the business development functions of the company as well, which generate business from community-based doctors and corporate segments.  I guide the team which generates referral business from leading corporates and captive medical centers; identify and review doctors in the community for empanelment for admission rights, complete the contract and onboarding formalities for selected community-based doctors; generate and manage the referral business from community-based doctors.

Describe your typical working day:

I start my day meeting my team members individually in order to make sure we’re aligned in our work.  Then, I touch base with lateral leadership – heads of departments, center heads, etc. to discuss strategic requirements and collaborate to achieve project goals. This also opens the door for them to raise specific requirements where they need Marketing support. Then, I meet with my direct superiors – the Chief Executive Officer and Director of Operations, to discuss strategic plans and tackle operational issues.  The day becomes busier as I oversee the team implement campaigns – alongside communication with internal stakeholders, business partners, and vendors.  What’s more, in between a busy running schedule, there are “fire-fighting” sessions along the way.

Please share with us an interesting story/anecdote or anything remarkable or uplifting that has happened to you on-the-job.

Bareen International Hospital began its operations in 2015 under the management of its original owners.  For the last 3 years, the hospital has not been gaining any profit and has been on the red.  In January 2018, NMC Healthcare acquired Bareen International Hospital.

I received a call from NMC Healthcare in January 2018 and was offered to join Bareen International Hospital as Marketing and Sales Manager. I was able to join Bareen International Hospital in April.  As soon as I got onboard, the Senior Management Team gave a tall order to turn-around the company in September 2018.  On my first week at work, I intensively studied the facility and its market, conceptualized and drafted a Marketing and Business Development strategy, presented and discussed the plan to Bareen Management.

I pushed internal units to work faster in order to implement the campaigns.  Come September 2018: Bareen International Hospital finally hit break-even.  And on the same month, Bareen hit the highest profitability since it started its operations in 2015.

The fact that we were able to turn-around in less than a year is a record-breaker and an outstanding feather on the hat of NMC Healthcare. Shortly after Bareen’s breakthrough, NMC healthcare has stepped up business expansion plans and acquired more medical centers in Abu Dhabi and winged each of the medical facilities under Bareen team – which is now known as Bareen Cluster. In less than two years, we have grown from managing 1 medical facility to 8 medical facilities and counting.  As the only Filipino in the leadership team, I am proud to play a significant role in this milestone.

My journey in the organization was, and is not, a walk in the park.  The struggles are real and are most of the time, daunting. Breaking stereotypes of nationality and gender in the workplace is still an existing challenge, but with Filipino core values of faith, hard work, dedication, passion, and resilience, the Pinoy talent will always rise to break glass ceilings and wave the flag in the international arena.

Your message to Filipinos out there:

 Life is never easy. That is why I urge all Filipinos – whether in our home country or overseas, to champion life with grit and resilience.  No matter how big or small our failures are, it is how we deal with these failures and choose to move forward that defines our character. More than winning, we must not be afraid of failing, because failures make us wiser, bolder, and stronger. The challenges make our breakthroughs more meaningful and make our achievements more rewarding. And if we do make mistakes, we should push with tenacity, learn from experience, bounce back, and move forward knowing that we are one step closer to our victory.

Rosalle Macaspac

Marketing and Communications Manager

Customer Experience Group

Dubai, UAE

What do you do for a living? Please describe your job briefly:

 I’m the Global Marketing and Communications Manager of Customer Experience Group (CXG), a strategic alliance of five leading agencies, offering together a platform that elevates the customer experience of the luxury industry. CXG caters to 200 of the world’s most iconic premium and luxury brands and we help them transition from a transactional model towards a personalized relationship and emotional model. I have a global role, and this allows me to serve our teams spread out in our 14 offices worldwide.

I oversee the development and implementation of long-term plans for CXG and its agencies, aligning the communications and marketing activities of Customer Experience Group across Asia Pacific, Europe, North America, Middle East and Africa. I have over a decade of experience in the field of public relations, marketing and events, where I spent nearly 12 years in Dubai.

I have led the rebranding of one of CXG’s agencies, Albatross CX, when it reorganized and refocused its strategy towards ‘customer experience’. I was also responsible for the brand creation and launch of the Customer Experience Group, as well as two of its agencies: Wisely Insights and SmartCX.

My job requires me to be fully informed and updated in digital marketing, and I’ve been fortunate to have attended a two-day marketing event in London this year, where I got the chance to meet with fellow marketers and learned to navigate the modern marketing landscape.

Part of my communications role is to drive our internal social media ‘Yammer’, and this enables me to think of exciting campaigns to enhance our employee engagements. One of the most memorable campaigns I’ve led is “#GoodDayCXG” – this allowed our teams to post a photo/video for one month about their business unit (i.e. team brainstorming session, amazing office view, client meetings etc.) or just about anything that’s good during their day. The campaign generated 127 posts accumulating 1,457 likes and 206 comments, involving 220 team members based in 10 cities including Paris, Dubai, London, Taipei, Shanghai, Tokyo, Moscow, Hong Kong, Singapore, and New York.

Earlier this year, I have been appointed as a member of the Executive Committee, enabling me to share ideas, raise issues and support our Group CEO in decision making to implement the Board’s strategy, aligned with the company’s vision, mission and guiding principles.

Please describe your typical working day:

I wake up every day at around 6:30 in the morning, and the first thing that I do is grab my phone to read the daily pick of my ‘Blinkist’ app – usually about management, leadership, and marketing topics. After which, I meditate for about 15 minutes. I arrive at the office, usually 20-30 minutes early, and proceed to read the news, typically Gulf News, CNN, BBC and New York Times, and industry publications including Luxury Daily and Business of Fashion. Before I start working, I look at my project calendar, and organize my priorities. I usually pick six essential deliverables and aim to accomplish these within the day.

One of the best parts of my job is that I get to work with a global team. A day won’t go by without a conference call with our teams (except on Sundays when the Dubai office is the only one working). I get to exchange ideas with team members, and I am always challenged to keep thinking of new and engaging initiatives that are important for the growth of our organization.

Please share with us an interesting story/anecdote or anything remarkable or uplifting that has happened to you on-the-job.

I was once called the ‘Best Lighthouse Ever’ in CXG. Let me share the story with you. Every January, our company holds our annual management seminar in the UAE – where every agency CEO, department head, country manager and managing director from different countries, spend a week together to strengthen work collaboration, discuss strategies and opportunities ahead. My innate love for events allowed me to organize this project year after year, from sourcing the venue, booking the flights and transfers of the attendees, preparing the itinerary and ensuring that everything has been arranged to make sure that each team member’s stay is as memorable and convenient as possible.

Part of the management seminar is to also hand out awards to exceptional managers, and in one event, I was surprisingly called at the very end of the awarding ceremony and was given the ‘Best Lighthouse Ever’ award. Our Group CEO has compared me to a ‘lighthouse’ – one that shines and guides everyone. It was a great honor and a humbling moment for me, a memory that will last for a lifetime.

 Your message to Filipinos out there:

Reports suggest that 85% of jobs are filled via networking, hence it’s very important to build genuine relationships. Always strive to have meaningful relationships as it is an important foundation of success.

We need personal connections not only to succeed in our workplace, but also for support, friendship or just plain happiness.

Maya Angelou once said: “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

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