Visa hires Celine Ong to lead music partnerships in Asia Pacific

SINGAPORE: Celine Ong is swapping whisky for wallets. The veteran partnerships operator has joined Visa as director, experiential marketing, sponsorships & partnerships – music, Asia Pacific, marking a switch from 18 years in spirits, tourism and entertainment to the world of global payments.

Ong arrives after four years at Diageo, where as head of brands in culture & partnerships she turned Johnnie Walker, Don Julio, Mortlach, Singleton, Tanqueray and Guinness into fixtures of the region’s music and culture scene. Her standout play: signing Korean DJ Peggy Gou for the South East Asia launch of Don Julio 1942, landing the tequila a product tie-in on the music video “(It Goes Like) Nanana”, now past 82 million views. The tie-up snowballed into a global partnership, with Gou co-designing Don Julio 1942’s first-ever limited-edition release.

Ong also assembled the star cast for Johnnie Walker Vault’s global launch, including Lee Dong Wook, Sandara Park, Apo Nattawin and Toc Tien, pulling the brand deeper into a younger, luxury-minded audience across the region.

Before Diageo, Ong spent six years at Edrington working on The Macallan, Highland Park and The Glenrothes, and earlier held roles at the Singapore Tourism Board, UK Trade & Investment and Sony Music Entertainment, giving her a rare hybrid CV spanning tourism policy, luxury spirits and artiste management.

At Visa, Ong will be betting on the same instinct that built her reputation in spirits: that the sharpest partnerships do more than get noticed, they earn a seat at culture’s top table. For a payments giant chasing relevance with APAC’s youth, that bet looks well placed. Watch this space, the money’s about to get musical.