Cassandra Ong is the founder of OtterHalf, an award-winning fractional marketing agency specializing in B2B and B2C tech companies.

She helps post-PMF startups turn marketing from a major cost into their biggest growth lever—without the complexity, risk, or cost of building an entire internal team.

They’ve worked with clients like Airalo, REFASH, Lendela, Oddle, and CapitaLand.

She’s also the creator of Ottie’s Fishy Business, a card game that teaches kids (and adults!) real marketing concepts through play.

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👋🏼 How would you explain your job to someone outside tech?

I run OtterHalf, a marketing agency that operates as experienced part-time marketing teams for businesses. 

We jump in, help them grow, and sometimes leave when we’ve made ourselves redundant (the good kind of breakup). 

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🧐 What's something about you or your job that would surprise us?

Someone once told me before that "marketing doesn't work" for their company, and I was surprised at that remark.

But after looking into the company's way of doing things, I realise why this person said that. It's because nothing on the marketing front was tracked.

With no tracking in place, there was no sales attribution to marketing. But once tracking was in place, we started seeing the attribution to sales and that marketing does work!

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🏆  What has been the biggest highlight of your career so far?

Sometimes, things fall apart so better things can come together. 

Getting laid off turned out to be one of the best things that happened. It gave me the push to start OtterHalf. 

It wasn’t the easiest choice, but it forced me to get clear on what I wanted to build and who I wanted to build it with. 

One of my biggest career highs would be winning Gold and Local Hero in the "New Kid on the Block" category at Marketing-Interactive’s Agency of the Year Awards 2025, just two years in. 

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🔍 What's a startup trend or space you're watching this year?‍

AI, of course. But beyond that, I’ve got my eye on play-based learning and edu-tainment. 

As a mum to two girls (4 and 7), I’m always hoping to do what I can to influence the environment they grow up in, and I try to be a part of that.

That thought has led me to create Ottie’s Fishy Business, a marketing card game that’s sneakily educational. You can learn more about it here.

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💼 What advice would you give someone starting out in your industry? 

Give yourself some grace. When I started out, I thought the worst of everything—“What if this doesn’t work?” “What if someone leaves?” “What if we lose this client?” 

But I’ve learned that most things do work out. Maybe not in the way you expect, and not always right away, but they do. 

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🗣  What's one thing you can keep talking about for hours?

Brand partnerships. Email marketing. Or how to explain marketing to a 7-year-old through gameplay.

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🎥 What's your favorite movie/TV show? 

One that really stayed with me recently is Mad Unicorn on Netflix. 

It’s based on the true story of Komsan Saelee, the founder and CEO of Flash Express, a Thai e-commerce logistics startup that took on the giants and came out on top. 

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🍨 What's your go-to ice cream flavor?‍

Sea salt gula melaka from Creamier. 

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FYI. We've edited this interview for clarity.

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This article was sponsored by OtterHalf.

OtterHalf gives you an award-winning marketing team without the full-time overhead. They plug in exactly when you need them.

This could be after funding rounds, before major launches, or when your current efforts hit a ceiling—and they act like true marketing partners who understand B2B and B2C tech.

You get senior-level strategy, hands-on execution, and the structure to turn marketing into your biggest growth lever. And this is all for a fraction of what full-time hires would cost.

Their clients include Airalo, REFASH, Lendela, Oddle, CapitaLand, Circles.Life, GuocoLand, Suntec, FortyTwo, and Sustenir.