Trendsetters: Philips' Boon Lai Discusses Brand Transformation as Healthcare and Technology Intersect

Few marketers reach the level of in-depth global experience that Boon Lai has achieved in less than a decade through his varied roles at Philips. The Singapore native has worked for the diversified Dutch multinational for nine years on three continents--as the Global Head of Brand Strategy and Communications at Philips' Amsterdam headquarters, as CMO of Greater China from 2009-2012 for the company's three businesses--Consumer Lifestyle, Healthcare and Lighting, and now as VP Marketing for Health and Wellness for Philips North America in New York.

However, it took a children's electronic toothbrush and a new character called "Sparkly" for Boon Lai to reflect upon the evolution of his own journey as a marketer and particularly how it paralleled the transformation of Philips as a Health and Technology brand.

But first a word about Sparkly.... Philips' new Sonicare for Kids, launched at the end of August, is a power toothbrush with Bluetooth wireless technology and an interactive app that motivates children to brush properly. Sparkly is their whimsical coach who keeps kids brushing for a dentist-recommended two minutes through fun, educational games. Kids can even score points in a Philips game which enables them to feed Sparkly or personalize their Sonicare brush with colors and stickers. The app also allows parents to check on their children's performance and set milestones and rewards.

Already, Boon Lai--who admits to a passion for analytics--has been monitoring product data and parental feedback with an eye to improving Sonicare for Kids, while gauging early usage trends. In fact, Sparkly's role has already been modified. According to Lai, "Most children loved the brushing game so much that they wanted to play it over and over and weren't going to bed. We quickly adjusted the app so at night Sparkly immediately falls asleep after two full minutes of brushing."

"I'm motivated by data," says Boon Lai, "whether it's social media postings or consumer research. At Philips, we're leveraging our marketing insights through both qualitative and quantitative information--from apps and web-connected products to better understanding how consumers are genuinely interacting with our brands. The information not only helps me do my job better, but paves the way for so many opportunities-- especially in product development. In fact, if we've learned anything, we now know that we've often underestimated the passion our consumers have for our brands."

Boon Lai, through his nine years of experience, has seen how the Philips brand is transforming to embrace healthcare and technology--in all of the channels the company serves from business-to-business, business-to-consumer and even business-to-government.

When Lai started at Philips in Amsterdam, his role as Global Head of Brand Strategy focused on understanding consumer insights, then seeding an integrated brand ambition and direction forward for Health and Well Being. While CMO of China, he was able to execute the very strategic framework he helped to create as he marketed to China's growing consumer middle class, and led ancillary educational initiatives in rural areas of the country. Of course, during his years at Philips, marketing changed dramatically. However, Boon Lai admits that "the evolution of marketing simply made my job easier as we could increasingly connect more directly and more deeply with our customers."


Prior to his roles throughout the world for Philips, Boon Lai had other early client-side marketing experience while based in London. He spent over two years as the Global Strategy Manager at Castrol and nearly five years as the Brand Manager and Media Manager for Europe while at Reckitt Benckiser. Prior to these positions, he served in a number of agency planning roles at Leo Burnett in his native Singapore and at McCann Erickson in New York after he completed a BA at Boston University. Other advanced education included MBA and Executive Leadership programs at Wharton, the London Business School, Columbia and Harvard. Boon Lai is fluent in English and Mandarin Chinese.