Born in Tokyo, Japan, Sobia lives in Auckland and works as a B2B Marketing Manager at Trade Me.

Sobia has over a decade of B2C and B2B experience in industries such as education, FMCG and, more recently, SaaS/technology. Her multicultural and multilingual background brings a fresh perspective to her personal and professional life.

In addition to her masters in marketing at the University of Auckland, Sobia has lectured in Germany and Portugal, for which she received the Best Lecture Award at the MAG Scholar Conference at the University of Porto.

A Moment with Sobia

Q: What are you passionate about?

Sobia: Well, making a difference is my jam! I'm a results-driven doer passionate about providing solutions. I've done everything from strategising, project management, launching new products, and leading teams. I love developing marketing plans backed with data that puts customers first.

Q: What do you do outside of work?

Sobia: Outside of work, I'm a travel enthusiast (@simple_escapist), a proud mama of two furbabies (@ty_and_acey), a bit of a coffee snob, and an avid dancer.

Q: How would your colleagues describe you?

Sobia: Passionate, solution-driven, planner, influencer and collaborative.

Q: How long have you been working in marketing?

Sobia: 11 years in the marketing industry now.

Q: What are the biggest challenges marketers may face over the next year?

Sobia: Cost of living and how that significantly impacts all our consumers. How do we, as a business, make revenue when people are in survival mode?

Q: What do you love the most about working in marketing?

Sobia: Consumer behaviour and how people think or make decisions are fascinating. Working with many subject matter experts to find solutions for pain points or opportunities. I love to make an impact, and marketing does that.

Q: What are the significant changes you've seen in your marketing field over the last few years?

Sobia: Technology has changed how we work across all industries, especially marketing. We no longer do any traditional marketing that we studied in class and at universities. Major disruptions like the sharing economy and global consumers having more choices and access to information have changed how we market to consumers, and expectations of consumers have also shifted.

Q: What's the coolest new tool or gadget you'd like to use?

Sobia: ChatGPT.

Q: What is a piece of martech / software you couldn't live without?

Sobia: GOOGLE WORKPLACE SUITE (SAVES YOU SO MUCH TIME). And slack.

Q: When did you first become aware of the Marketing Association, and how long have you been a member?

Sobia: Member for a decade through different roles. I learned about it during my internship at the University of Auckland.

Q: How has the MA helped you in your career?

Sobia: Access to other subject matter experts to soundboard similar challenges or ideas.

Q: How do you keep the balance between work and personal life? What do you do to unwind?

Sobia: Binge-watch Netflix read a book, or go disconnect in nature.

Q: Other than marketing, what are you passionate about?

Sobia: Travelling, giving back to the community, teaching students and dancing.

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Sobia is a senior marketing professional experienced in the technology, education, and services industries. She's had both B2C and B2B Marketing experience but currently, her role focuses purely on B2B as a Marketing Manager at Trade Me. For over 9 years, Sobia has been managing advertising campaigns (digital), go-to-market projects, new product launches, market research, and working with key stakeholders to provide solutions from a marketing point of view.

Alongside her professional career, she's also active in the marketing academia. She's presented two research conference papers in Portugal and Germany. One of which she won the Best Paper Award at a Macromarketing Conference. What gets Sobia up every day is having a meaningful and purposeful life. And to her, that starts and ends with people whether it's volunteering giving back to the community, or simply helping a friend out.

Sobia is also the Co-Chair for MA's B2B Special Interest Group.