Alvin Neo: Employees over 50 remember fundamentals, having learnt the hard way

While our industry remains keen to celebrate diversity in its workforce, there remains a certain hesitancy when it comes to age. Often, it's those who are 50+ themselves who are most reluctant to draw attention to their age. Overt discrimination is rare, thankfully, but the fear of silent judgment is enough to deter many from being too open about the length of career experience. 

Campaign's 50 Over Fifty initiative is aimed at countering this, by removing stigma and not only celebrating the value of experience, but also showing  how senior professionals are also driving the industry forward with new ideas, innovations and entrepreneurial spirit. 

Nominate yourself or an outstanding peer and enter now. You have until the extended deadline of 6pm HKT Monday, March 9, 2026. 

Campaign has asked some of last year's 50 Over Fifty recipients to weigh in on how secure senior professionals are in the workplace and how generation gaps can be turned into advantages. Today we feature Alvin Neo, chief customer and marketing officer & managing director of Singapore's supermarket giant Fair Price Group and NTUC Link.

Are 50+ professionals prone to feeling more secure in their roles or more defensive about them?
“Secure” isn’t the right word. No one in marketing has job security anymore. What 50+ professionals should have is confidence — the kind that comes from having survived multiple industry 'revolutions'. By that stage you also know something important: always build a network and always have a Plan B.

What is one thing you notice that 50+ employees tend to do better than others?
They remember the fundamentals, having learnt them the hard way. Trends change every six months, but the basics of marketing don’t: clear positioning, strong brand assets, and seeing the world through the customer’s eyes. Senior marketers have watched enough hype cycles to know the fundamentals always win in the end.

What impact is AI having on senior professionals, their competitiveness & productivity that might be different from other age groups?
AI rewards judgment; used well it accelerates and amplifies clarity and quality. On the flip side, it will also enable muddy and poor thinking to crash and burn faster. Anyone can generate content now. The real advantage is knowing what’s actually good. When you combine deep experience with AI tools, productivity jumps — because taste and strategy still matter.

What can Gen X bring to a marketing campaign targeting Gen Z?
A healthy radar for bullshit.  Gen X grew up through multiple media revolutions. We know when brands are trying too hard to be “relevant”. And nothing turns Gen Z off faster than a brand pretending to be cool.

What should older marketing professionals try to learn from their younger peers?
Cultural speed. Younger marketers have an instinctive feel for how culture moves across creators, communities and platforms. That fluency is incredibly valuable.

How open, from your experience, are they at doing so?
The good ones are intuitively very open. If you’ve practiced marketing for 30 years, you already know one thing: the moment you think you’ve figured it out, the market moves on.

What should older professionals definitely not do in an attempt to gain cred with the young kids?
Don’t try to be young. Nothing looks more desperate than a 55-year-old executive suddenly speaking TikTok slang. Authenticity is far more credible than imitation.

What reaction did you get from peers on being named to 50 Over Fifty last year?
A lot of encouragement — and many quiet messages saying, “This gives me hope.” Because it reminds people that creativity and impact don’t have an expiry date.