MANILA, PHILIPPINES — Vero, an award-winning Southeast Asia-focused PR and digital marketing consultancy, announced the formation of the Vero Vox Council, a shadow board that will inform decision-making on strategic policies at Vero.
The Vero Vox Council (VVC) will work closely with senior decision-makers in creating policy and innovation, reviewing Vero’s internal processes, designing training and development programs, and spearheading diversity and inclusion initiatives. It will also advise on business strategies, taking a deeper dive into client sourcing, growth, and thought leadership.
The Vero Vox Council aims for proportional representation, with factors such as location, gender identity, and age group influencing the selection of board members in order to better involve minority voices at a decision-making level.
“At Vero, we work with clients from a wide variety of perspectives and backgrounds, so it’s essential that we understand and prioritize diverse perspectives. To provide clients with the best work possible, we need to listen to our Gen Z team members as much, if not more than those who are older and more experienced. We believe that a shadow board with a high Gen Z membership is a great way to make sure that our business remains at the forefront of creativity and innovation,” shared VP of Culture and Brand Vu-Quan Nguyen-Masse.
Vero’s Vox Council consists of 12 members, with proportional representation from each of their five offices around the region. Members from the Thailand office include Tuchachakorn Phataprasert, Account Executive; Muthita Kaenmee, Digital Account Manager; Sitala Sangkaew, Digital Creative Director; Jatupon Nasaree, Senior Digital Account Manager; and Thanomsak Kriengphan, Senior Digital Account Executive. From the Myanmar office, there is Su Yamin Phone, IMC Account Manager; Khine Zar (Skylar) Thwe, Operations Director; and Htoo Htet (Jack) Aung, Senior Account Executive. Nguyen Thi Quynh Anh, Media and Influencer Specialist, and Pham Hoai Anh, Regional Strategic Manager hail from the Vietnam office. Claudia Graciela Pusung, Account Executive is based in Indonesia, and Mark Anthony Ybanez, Digital Account Manager is in the Philippines.
Initiatives for Vero’s Shadow Board
The Vero Vox Council will meet regularly to design solutions around culture and wellness, operations and management, and business growth for the agency’s team of more than 200 PR, creative, digital, and influencer marketing professionals, 75 percent of whom are under 30 years old.
Vero’s culture campaigns have recently included unlimited leave, extended parental leave, internal training, hybrid work, and specialized onsite office spaces which make up a region-wide Super Campus. Alongside Vero’s VP of Brand and Culture, the Vero Vox Council will advise on new initiatives and gauge the success of those already in place.
“One of our goals at Vero is to provide a great professional experience for our team members. Our Shadow Board offers not only a safe space for diverse viewpoints to be heard, but also an excellent development opportunity for board members to influence executive decisions on the direction of Vero,” said People and Culture Manager Supreeyaporn Sihawong. “We respect and value the opinions and ideas of our younger team members, and this board is a way for us to demonstrate our commitment to them.”
“We operate in a young industry full of creative talent and a generation that knows what they want, in a space where change is constant. This change is something they are uniquely familiar with, enabling the sharing of invaluable insights and counsel to our growing roster of clients. And because we root ourselves and our brand culture in the core principle of trust, we trust our young shadow board to contribute to decision-making even at the highest level,” added VP of Growth Sasha Alwani.
Growing Recognition of the Value of Shadow Boards
As working styles evolve, shadow boards are being introduced across multiple industries. A 2019 article by The Harvard Review compared the approaches to shadow boards of fashion houses Gucci and Prada.
As reported in the article, in 2015, Gucci created a shadow board of younger employees who worked with their executive committee, leading them to implement strategies that led to growth of 136 percent over the next four years. Prada did not, and they suffered losses of 11.5% in the same period. The article goes on to describe three more businesses that experienced breakthroughs thanks to shadow boards.
“A shadow board highlights the need for reinvention of business strategies, and processes while giving visibility to team members who feel undervalued, or unheard,” said Vero Senior Account Executive Claudia Grace Pusung. “This is a great way for younger team members to voice opinions, create positive change, and gain executive-level experience in setting the direction for the company.”
