2020 - a year to forget or to cherish?

It would be easy to look back and be a part of those that simply want to leave 2020 behind for all the challenges and restrictions the year through at us.

For 1) 2020 ended way too fast to enable a significantly better 2021 but 2) the year 2020 brought with it a lot of positive things we should cherish.

No doubt I join those that are not looking forward to a full on repeat of 2020 but as I get ready to lead and build frontline marketing at the Coca-Cola Company across ASEAN and South Pacific feels like the right moment to reflect ... the truth is 2020 brought lots of experiences worth maintaining, no matter what 2021 will bring:

1. EXERCISE & FAMILY: working from home provided an added layer of flexibility allowing me to exercise in the morning instead of commuting; having lunch impromptu with my wife or dinner with the kids before returning to my desk for night calls with Atlanta
2. CALLS > EMAILS: face to face conversations can’t be replaced but a quick phone call is a lot better than endless emails
3. INCLUDE FOR DIVERSITY OF OPINION: staying full on in a videoconference is hard work but video calls for all mean everyone gets a more even chance to participate unlike when most people are in the same room
4. TRUST & EMPOWER: team trust is even more critical when you don’t see each other in person, but people grow and are willing to go above and beyond if entrusted & empowered
5. EMBRACE CHANGE: to call rewriting our marketing plans midway a massive undertaking, amidst me taking my bosses role during his extended sick leave, is an understatement but with the need to act faster and the opportunity to synchronize strategy and action across all our countries we embraced change and evolved our ways of working, ways of creating, ways of implementing in a way we felt a few weeks earlier was impossible.

This list could easily be continued. A team is only as strong as the weakest link and 2020 highlighted this in many ways.

• We got named Brand of the Year and Marketer of the Year in APAC by MMA and won plenty of other awards across the region - a testament to the amazing work and efforts and hard work of our teams giving their best and trusting me and the other leaders.
• Joining the Smarties Jury, the board of the Marketing Society Singapore or speaking at panels provided great new insights for me, yet most importantly I’m grateful that my family and I stayed healthy.

2020 transformed (and will continue to do so) each of us professionally and personally as well as companies and culture. No doubt I’m looking forward to traveling, meeting family, friends and colleagues across the world and immersing live in consumer reality but 2020 taught me a lot more than just being a year I would want to forget.

THE BEST IS YET TO COME. Good luck everyone in your 2021 journey