Sithu Aung.
I develop strategies, making yours simply work!
Hi there! Your friendly neighborhood marketing strategist, analyst, consultant, research enthusiast, and—let’s face it—a full-on strategy aficionado is here!
Hi, my name is
About Me
I’m a strategic marketing professional from Myanmar with a solid background in media, marketing, communication, and advertising. I began my career at 19 in Dubai’s hospitality industry, transitioned to Myanmar’s print media sector in 2010, and by 2016 was developing digital and social media strategies at “Ogilvy Myanmar”. Later, I became “Head of Digital Sales and Marketing” at “The Irrawaddy Media”, one of Myanmar’s leading digital media outlets, and co-founded “The Lab Digital”, an agency supporting local MSMEs and NGOs. I’ve also worked as a Consultant and freelanced for organizations of all sizes, including “Hogarth Worldwide”, “ICAP at Columbia University”, and “Institute for Strategy and Policy - Myanmar”.
Outside of work, I’m a reader, writer, blogger and online educator, teaching classes via Zoom on topics like business strategy, marketing, data analytics, and operational research to inspire Myanmar’s next generation of marketers. In my free time, I enjoy coding for fun (Python, PHP, R, and SQL, if you’re curious), exploring Buddhist ethics in business strategies, and geeking out on Indian/Hindu astrology. (Check out my GitHub to learn more about my Python project on Hindu astrology.) I’m also a lifelong Manchester United fan and a proud cat parent.
Currently, I’m focused on enhancing my skills in developing and optimizing strategies, consumer behavior and marketing, and data analytics, AI in marketing, and business ethics. If you’re looking for someone versatile, adaptable, and ready to make an impact, let’s connect!
Here are a few of the topics I'm currently working on:- Strategy Development and Consultation
- Marketing and Communication Campaigns
- Performance Monitoring, Evaluation, and Optimization
- Research and Data Analytics
- Content Creation
- Training
Experience
After I left my job at Ogilvy Myanmar, I wanted to utilize my skills in digital marketing and my connections in the marketing and communication industry. The Lab was founded by a small but very passionate group of professionals. So I joined there in 2016 as a non-payroll employee. My main responsibilities as Business Development Consultant there are :
- Developing new business opportunities
- Developing business proposals
- Maintaining relationships with clients
- Research and development
After being awarded over a USD 4 bn worth world wide project from Coca-Cola in 2022, HogarthWW approached me to lead their content creation efforts for the Myanmar market and I joined there as a contractor. My main responsibilities there are:
- Ensuring all Burmese contents are aligned with local culture and laws.
- Ensuring all Burmese contents are properly developed, translated and aligned with client’s feedback.
- Developing new content ideas to optimize the audience engagement.
During Covid pandemic and after the Coup, ISP-Myanmar developed over 150 policy related articles and they wanted to translate them into English. They approached me to oversee their translation project and I joined there as a non-payroll consultant. My primary responsibilities there were:
- Ensuring all translations were met with ISP-Myanmar standards and in-house content styles.
- Ensuring all projects were met with their deadline.
- Overseeing the Data Visualization process.
My contract was terminated after successfully finishing the project.
I joined The Irrawaddy in Sep 2017 as a digital sales and marketing officer. Back then my main responsibilities was to generate revenue from advertising. But six months later, I was promoted as a digital sales and marketing manager. Then my responsibilities were no longer limited to sell ads spaces and were extended to diversify The Irrawaddy’s revenue sources not only exploring new opportunities but also strengthening the existing ones. My primary responsibilities there were:
- Assisting Win Thu, independent director back then and Sanjay Gathia, then project director - fundraising, to develop project proposals.
- Maintaining communications and relationships with donors such as MDIF, NED and Partners Asia.
- Tracking projects’ activities and preparing reports.
- Engaging different communities and organizations to explore new business opportunities.
- Researching and analyzing market trends and data such as PESTLE factors to develop new business opportunities and optimize existing ones.
During Covid pandemic, the media industry was hit by the unprecedented downturn. The Irrawaddy was no longer able to afford my salary and I left the organization.
After being awarded a contract from MPT, Ogilvy Myanmar was asked to develop digital 360 marketing and communication strategy for MPT. They contacted Pete Mitchell, an ex-Ogilvian and founder of Kudos Content, a Singapore based content marketing firm, to carry out the task. After working over half of a decade in the media industry, I was hired to assist Pete for his MPT project. My primary responsibilities there were:
- Acting as a liaison among Pete, Ogilvy internal teams and MPT.
- Performing market research and analysis for Pete.
- Developing various marcom strategies for each MPT’s digital channels.
- Researching Social@Ogilvy campaign database
After MPT terminated its contract with Ogilvy, Pete’s and my contracts were also terminated.
Education
2024 - Present
Master of Marketing Management
University of Economics, Monywa
Remark:
- Right now, I’m enrolled in an online master’s program in Marketing Management at the University of Economics, Monywa.
2006 - 2024
Bachelor of Business Management
University of Distance Education, Yangon
Remark:
- I dropped out of university back in 2008 and headed abroad to work.
- Fast forward to 2022, I decided to jump back in and finish what I started. By 2024, I finally earned my degree!
1998 - 2004
High School
Basic Education High School No. 6 Botataung, Yangon
- Yes, I’m a proud alumnus of St. Paul’s English High School.
Projects
Marketing
Strategic Marketing
Business Strategy
Absolute Essentials of Strategic Marketing
I wrote a book on strategic marketing in 2023, covering key fundamental topics like the 7Ps of marketing and the marketing funnel.
Office Politics
Interpersonal Skills
EQ Skills
Emotional Intelligence
Office Politics - Everything You Need To Know
Back in 2019, I wrote a book on office politics. It covers common challenges, like handling difficult bosses and navigating tough negotiations.
U=U
ICAP Myanmar
Social Media Campaign
The Lab Digital
U=U (Social Media Campaign)
One of my proudest moments at TLD was when we landed a contract with ICAP Myanmar, an INGO supporting people living with HIV, to create social media content from Dec 2022 to Apr 2023.
The Irrawaddy
IRW Business Talk
Business Program
Irrawaddy Business Talk
In 2018, I took the lead in launching 'The Irrawaddy Business Talk,' a program designed to give local entrepreneurs a platform to voice their opinions and concerns about the government's MSME policies. I worked with various organizations to secure funding and successfully partnered with CB Bank to bring the project to life.
The Irrawaddy
Irrawaddy Travel
Tourism Program
Irrawaddy Travel
As part of efforts to diversify revenue, The Irrawaddy teamed up with AYAPay to create a tourism-focused news channel on social media. I led the project from the ground up, handling everything from negotiating with financiers to organizing programs, all the way until just before the 2020 election.
The Irrawaddy
Covid-19 Special
Pandemic Update
IRW Covid-19 Special
When the Covid pandemic hit, the media industry took an unexpected downturn. To help mitigate the impact, I negotiated with UAB Bank to sponsor a daily pandemic update program. The funding from this project helped cover the team's salaries, including my final paycheck.
