The Growth Conversation: Manulife Hong Kong & Macau’s Celia Ling
- Celia Ling of Manulife shares with us how through customer-centricity, innovation and data, marketing can transform the insurance industry.
Insurance is a fast-evolving industry where customer needs and technology shift constantly, and this is something Celia Ling, chief marketing officer of Manulife Hong Kong and Macau, knows only too well. With more than 25 years of global experience spanning continents and disciplines, few leaders have left as significant a mark or helped redefine marketing’s strategic role as Ling, who has demonstrated how marketers can embrace change, leverage data, and foster customer-centric innovation.
Ling entered the insurance industry after earning a bachelor’s degree in Social Science from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, where she majored in Government and Public Administration and minored in Law. Her first role was at Allianz, where she participated in a management trainee program that significantly shaped her career. “I worked in Singapore, Munich, Australia, and Taiwan, gaining experience in both general and life insurance,” she explains. This global exposure taught her the importance of understanding diverse customer needs and market dynamics.
By the time she’d returned to Hong Kong after five years working abroad, Ling had begun her career in distribution and sales management. She elaborates, saying that she’d “spent five years managing agency and sales before transitioning to marketing,” and this dual expertise became her competitive edge. “To be a marketer, you need to understand how sales work.”
Constant change
According to Ling, shifting behaviours of customers demand that marketing evolves to match societal and technological changes, and one such example exists in our own backyard. Just look at how medical treatment in the Greater Bay Area has become a viable option due to the rapid expansion into this region. “Five years ago, no one would have expected this. Now, it’s a reality we must address in our marketing strategies,” she says.
While core needs like financial planning and health will always remain constant, Ling emphasises the importance of reimagining how these needs are met. “The way we develop, position, and deliver our products — as well as how we service customers — is constantly changing. Digitalisation is essential.”
At the heart of this transformation lies data, and “insurance is the OG of data,” Ling says.
As in many other industries, technology — and artificial intelligence (AI) in particular — plays a game-changing role in marketing. “With AI, we can use data more effectively to uncover insights and improve how we target and serve customers,” Ling says. And to remain competitive, embracing analytics as a core capability is critical.
She also underscores the importance of continuous learning, especially in the face of advancing technologies. “As a marketer, you have to be open-minded and willing to learn new things,” Ling says.
The midfield mission
For Ling, the position of marketing within an organisation is like that of the midfield in football. “Sales is like the forward converting the goal, while marketing is the midfield, creating opportunities and providing assists,” she explains.
With that in mind, she defines marketing’s mission as threefold: acquiring new customers, driving repurchases through upselling and cross-selling, and advocating for customer experience excellence. By aligning marketing with sales and customer engagement, marketing can serve as a strategic engine for growth.
However, to succeed, understanding diverse customer segments is very important. “In Hong Kong, we target three key customer segments,” Ling says. They are “the domestic market, mainland Chinese visitors, and new Hong Kongers.”
And for optimal understanding of these groups, she emphasises that further segmentation is crucial, because empathy and precision are key in crafting customer-centric strategies. “Whether it’s younger generations, mass affluent families, or other subgroups, each has unique needs. We must tailor our strategies accordingly.”
Ling’s advice to marketers is simple: stay curious, adaptable, and customer-focused. “Be open. Embrace change,” she advises.
