Beating Giants With No Money. The Challenger Brand Playbook [TBS 57, In Collab With UOB Finlab]

The traditional marketing funnel, awareness, consideration, conversion, is dead. Real buyers don't move in straight lines. Some jump straight to purchase. Others sit on the bench for six months. And some only buy because their friend did.

Recorded live at the UOB FinLab SME programme, we dig into what actually moves people from curious to converted.

From community-led growth to founder content, nano influencers to post-purchase loyalty, this episode covers the full picture.

Meet the Guests

• Laura Kantor Hero Marketing, Southeast Asia, Canva - Building community without a single paid ambassador, and why Canva's growth engine isn't ads, it's people.
• Vanessa Tan CMO, STRYV - From launching POCO phone at Xiaomi Indonesia to competing with Dyson and Philips, lessons in brand-building for challenger brands.
• Don Siah Founder, Diamond Ateliers - From random Instagram videos to a flagship store on Orchard Road, how radical trust-building converts high-ticket buyers

Key Takeaways:

• The 3 things buyers always look for before they pull the trigger (it's not more information)
• The trust formula for big-ticket purchases
• Why nano influencers (under 5,000 followers) can outperform celebrity endorsements
• The difference between content that attracts and content that converts, and why you need both
• Founder-led content: why putting your face on the brand is your biggest unfair advantage
• How to extend customer lifetime value even for products people only buy once

Whether you're running a small business, scaling a startup, or trying to compete against the giants, this episode is packed with real, battle-tested strategies you can steal today.

If you're still marketing like it's 2015, this episode will change everything.

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