Taylor’s Education Group CMO Ben Foo departs after nine-year run

Ben Foo, group chief marketing officer at Taylor’s Education Group, has stepped down from his role after more than nine years with the university group.

In a statement to A+M, Foo said it has been “the ride of a lifetime.” Reflecting on his time at Taylor's, Foo said he still remembers feeling “excited, a little nervous, but fully aware of the challenges ahead” when he first joined in 2015. He added that he was drawn by the chance to revitalise the brand and build something meaningful.

Foo led the group’s commercial strategy and execution. He played a key role in pushing Taylor’s beyond Malaysia’s borders, strengthening its presence in China, Indonesia and India. Under his leadership, the university doubled its student enrolment numbers — the highest in its history — and accelerated a digital-first transformation that repositioned Taylor’s as one of the region’s top private education brands.

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TO the success, he credited the “incredible team of talented, driven individuals” he built over the years for embracing a customer-centric mindset and making the Taylor’s brand more relevant than ever, adding that: 

We didn’t just talk about education — we sparked conversations around social issues, women’s empowerment, sustainability, and more. Always striving to be bold, honest and human.

Beyond the numbers, Foo leaves behind a marketing legacy defined by bold storytelling and purpose-driven campaigns. He championed a series of emotive brand films that tapped into topics often left unspoken from discrimination and social inequality to mental health and cyberbullying. All of which were deeply rooted in Malaysian realities.

These short films, released during major festive seasons, regularly tugged at viewers’ heartstrings and turned Taylor’s into one of the few higher education brands known for cause-led content.

Most recently, for Deepavali 2024, Taylor’s released "Spark in the dark", a short film featuring an original Tamil song that shed light on the issue of cyberbullying. The story follows a young Tamil girl bullied for sharing song covers online. She later regains her confidence after one kind comment sparks a wave of support. The film’s launch came as Malaysia was ranked sixth in the world — and second in Asia — for cyberbullying prevalence. The timing also echoed public outcry over the death of local TikToker Esha, whose suicide after online harassment reignited calls for stronger safeguards against cyberbullying.

In 2023, Foo’s team addressed another sensitive topic through "Not for rent", which tackled housing discrimination against Malaysian Indians. The film, backed by data from a local property rental website, highlighted how nearly half of rental listings in Klang Valley explicitly reject Indian tenants, with 46% of Indian respondents saying they had faced discrimination during the rental process.

These campaigns became known for combining emotional narratives with real data points, making Taylor’s festive ads not just feel-good stories but conversation starters that sparked social dialogue well beyond the education sector.

“That approach worked. We saw significant growth in enrolment, revenue, and reputation — not just in Malaysia, but across Asia. We turned a university brand into a movement that meant something to people. And that’s something I’ll always be proud of,” Foo said.

As he moves on to his next chapter, Foo said he leaves with “tremendous gratitude, joy, and the confidence that the foundations we’ve built and momentum created will continue to drive the brand forward.”

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