Tag: Creative agency

Philippines – MullenLowe TREYNA (MLT) has officially acquired the full digital advertising business of digital creative agency Xiklab Digital, inclusive of its client roster and key talent.

The acquisition of Xiklab Digital aims to boost the agency’s services with expertise in digital strategy, performance marketing, and data-informed creativity.

Xiklab Digital is MullenLowe TREYNA’s third successful acquisition, following its joint venture with Quiddity Usability Labs in 2022.

The agency’s first strategic acquisition was ARC Public Relations in 2018, resulting in 30% year-on-year growth. Its succeeding acquisition of Quiddity added UI/UX, accessibility in design, and more to its roster of services.

MLT’s prior acquisition experience meant that the transition was completed in time for the new year, opening in 2024 with a significant expansion to its service offerings.

Mike Trillana, chairman and CEO of MullenLowe TREYNA, said, “We’ve nearly doubled in number of people since 2020. More importantly, we’ve multiplied the skill sets the agency group can bring to a client challenge while still believing in the power of breakthrough ideas in a complex landscape.”

Also speaking on the acquisition, Bingo Soriano, senior commercial adviser at MLT, said, “Current and future clients trust us to discover creative opportunities as we build their brands’ relationships with consumers. We’re excited to have all this potential for synergy in the services we offer and look forward to being part of the MullenLowe TREYNA group.”

Singapore – The Singaporean Ministry of Communications and Information has teamed up with creative agency MullenLowe Singapore to create a Chinese New Year film that celebrates the unity and resilience of Singaporeans as they celebrate the occasion.

Made in collaboration with local director Royston Tan, the film titled ‘Extended Love’ by MullenLowe Singapore and MCI displays how Singaporeans value both their family and their community. 

The film features a young overseas-based Singaporean woman who returns home for Chinese New Year to persuade her grandmother to join her family abroad. However, she soon learns that her grandmother, who runs a ‘cai png’ (mixed rice) stall at a coffee shop, has started her own tradition of bringing neighbours together for a  cai png reunion dinner at the coffee shop every year, showing that she is not without family within the community.

Talking about the film, Tan said, “The film explores our notions of family and community, and how ‘extending’ the warmth of a meal to those around us can make for a joyful reunion. Through the film, we want to highlight the beauty and strength of strong community ties, while encouraging Singaporeans to come together to celebrate the festive occasion in new and meaningful ways.”

Meanwhile, Paul Soon, CEO of MullenLowe Singapore, commented, We are delighted to collaborate with Royston to produce the film ‘Extended Love’ this Chinese New Year. In this short film, we recognise that Singapore is becoming more diverse in terms of aspirations and preferences, even in celebrating our key festivities, but that what makes us Singaporean — resilience, unitedness, inclusiveness — remains the same.” 

“This mirrors the values of the Forward Singapore exercise as we build our shared future. We hope this heartwarming story can remind Singaporeans of what’s truly important — being present for each other,” he concluded. 

The film is now on the official Singaporean Government’s social media channels and can be viewed on Free-To-Air Television, Ch 8 and Ch U from February 2 to February 25, 2024.

With INNOCEAN’s name being derived from the phrase ‘Ocean of Innovation’, it comes as no surprise that Chow Kok Keong, Innocean Indonesia’s chief creative officer, leads his team of creatives by cultivating an agency ecosystem that thrives on out-of-the-box thinking and bold ideas.

“Embracing the mantra of unlearning and learning, I always push my team to stay at the forefront of the industry and embrace new technologies to ensure our campaigns remain cutting-edge, fresh, and impactful,” said Chow.

As a creative leader who seeks to set their agency apart in an industry full of ideas, Chow has a unique way of encouraging his team members to think creatively, embrace diverse perspectives, and take risks rather than playing it safe.

Consistently staying out-of-the-box 

As the industry always demands fresh and unique ideas for new campaigns and initiatives, one of the biggest challenges faced by creative leaders is to always ensure that their team always has the creative direction to tackle a multitude of situations. Chow approaches this by seeing it as a challenge with a solution, and not a struggle. 

“Every challenge comes with a solution when we keep pushing ourselves and never give up until we find a way to overcome it”, Chow mentioned. 

As chief creative officer, Chow says that his role is to provide his team with clear creative directions when they are stuck in a rut when it comes to ideas. Additionally, he pushes his team to not settle for anything that they are too comfortable with.  

With this in mind, one of Chow’s strategies to drive creativity in the workplace is to include internal sessions among his team members on ‘Trend & Knowledge Sharing’ to always stay relevant on what’s new within the industry, and holding an ‘Open Brief Challenge,’ to allow collaborative effort between multiple entities to come up with a collective solution to the client’s demand.

Going into more detail, Chow remarked, “I conduct idea reviews every two weeks and regularly participate in brainstorming sessions with the team. Consequently, the best ideas will be produced and submitted to award shows, where exposure and involvement serve as the best rewards and motivation for the team members to stay passionate in their creative work.”

Creating memorable, iconic campaigns

With his style of leadership, Chow and his team always strive to make sure that they always put the similar creative intention and passion into every brief, as they see it as a significant opportunity for them to showcase their skills and make themselves proud of their work, regardless of how big or small the projects are.

When asked about the most memorable projects that he led as CCO, Chow said that he really appreciated doing Hyundai’s U17 project, which was a campaign that supported young football players in terms of transportation during the U17 FIFA World Cup in Indonesia.

“There are several projects that we produced in 2023 that I like, and one of them is the Hyundai U17 project where we believe every young footballer deserves an opportunity to shine. Hence, we empowered the youth with a series of programmes to inspire them to be champions of tomorrow for the nation,” he explained. 

Furthermore, another major project that Chow shared was the ‘Anti-Hate Keyboard,’ which was actually a campaign for corporate social responsibility(CSR) which helped raise awareness and stop cyberbullying through a creative way of modifying gaming keyboards.

“I am proud of the Anti-Hate Keyboard, a CSR project that stopped cyberbullying through innovation by reprogramming the firmware of the gaming keyboard. When bullies type out insulting words, the keyboard automatically swaps the negative words for positive ones”, added Chow.  

A rising force of creativity in Indonesia 

Founded in 2020, INNOCEAN Indonesia has seen its fair share of milestones and successes. On the creative side of things, Chow admits that there are still several things that they need to improve on to always stay on top of the industry, but there is no denying that Chow’s leadership contributes greatly in always pushing the agency to that goal. 

“Over the past 18 months, through the collaborative effort of my creative team, along with the unwavering support and guidance from our APAC regional CEO, James Lee, we’ve achieved several milestones.” 

“Although our creative output isn’t perfect yet, it has significantly improved, and we remain committed to pushing for even greater creativity. Additionally, we successfully secured new business through pitches and earned recognition in creative award shows, both regionally and globally,” concluded Chow.

Indonesia – Creative agency M&C Saatchi Indonesia has officially rebranded itself as ‘Moonfolks’ on its sixth year anniversary, following CEO Anish Diryani’s acquisition of the company as an independent entity and exit from the M&C Saatchi group of companies.

As such, Moonfolks will be led by its co-founders, with Anish Daryani as president director and CEO, Dami Sidharta as chief creative officer, and Elki Hendra as chief strategy & digital officer. 

With the new agency’s new purpose being “Make Audacious Possible”, Moonfolks aims to deliver ideas that are out-of-this-world to help brands achieve the impossible and take them to new heights. 

In order to achieve this, the agency has created an ‘accelerated commerce” model, whereby all agency services are directed towards generating commerce for clients, delivering higher ROAS (Return on ad spend).

The services, according to the agency’s newly launched website, are, Moonfolks Advertising as the advertising arm, Moonfolks Digital as the digital services arm, Moonfolks Shopex as the retail and brand experience arm, and Moonfolks PR as the brand reputation arm. 

Furthermore Moonfolks Authentic Intelligence is another solution the agency has launched, riding on Gen-AI expertise to create high volumes of content with a distinct cost advantage for clients. The agency has also announced the launch of its internal content production unit, Goosebump Pictures.

On the acquisition, the company retains all business licences and tax papers, with complete continuity of business where the agency retains all client, talent and partner contracts. The rebranding does not affect any significant changes to the team.

Commenting on the launch, Daryani said, “We’ve had tremendous success as M&C Saatchi Indonesia. And we’ll take that several notches higher as we relaunch the agency with the freedom that comes with our independence. We will be more agile and fluid in our approach, and build further on the values we have created over the past 6 years.”

“Moonfolks has all the ingredients for success. A loyal and satisfied client base, a fun-loving culture that embraces DEI, a talent-centric approach to business and an environment that encourages people to do their life’s best work. The industry is going to feel our impact in Indonesia, and across the region,” he added.

Meanwhile, Sidharta also commented, “We’re taking our second-first step. But unlike our first-first, it won’t just be the three of us. We have some of the brightest minds in the industry with us this time around and we’ll get to where we want to be a lot sooner. It’ll be very exciting every step of the way.”

Lastly, Hendria concluded, “Our goal is clear: not only do we curate compelling ideas and content, but we’re committed to crafting narratives that not only captivate but also catalyse commerce. We are here to redefine the boundaries of possibility, making audacious goals strategically achievable in an AI driven world”.

Singapore – Mandai Wildlife Group has just recently announced its appointment of TBWA\Singapore as its new creative agency of record for their next phase of transformation, following the end of Mandai’s seven-year partnership with The Secret Little Agency. 

With TBWA\Singapore acquiring Mandai’s business portfolio, the agency’s responsibilities now extend across all facets of building a destination brand experience which will span the group’s multiple award-winning flagship zoological parks and other offerings in its pipeline.

Talking about this new partnership, Belina Lee, deputy CEO, transformation & growth, Mandai Wildlife Group, said, “TBWA\Singapore’s marketing expertise and passion are compelling and inspirational, and the team demonstrated strong strategic acumen.”

“Our ambition is to anchor our masterbrand, Mandai as a global biodiversity brand, and grow recognition and affinity for the Mandai Wildlife Reserve at home and around the world. We aim to be a meaningful and much desired destination for local residents and global travellers seeking diverse experiences ranging from unique wildlife encounters, immersive dining experiences to inspiring digital engagement and much more,” she added. 

Meanwhile, Mandy Wong, president of TBWA\Singapore, commented, “This is a significant win for the agency and one I’m incredibly proud of. Our ambition as The Disruption Company is to build the world’s strongest brands, and to be given this opportunity to take Mandai to the next level is truly an honour.” 

“With Mandai as a biodiversity brand, it is a treasure trove of endless wonder, and an inspiring canvas for meaningful creativity. I congratulate the entire team who were nothing short of impressive with their synergy and big platform thinking,” she ended.

Singapore – TBWA Asia has appointed Peter Khoury, the current chief creative officer of TBWA, to the position of regional chief creative officer as well as the chief creative officer for TBWA Singapore, effective January 1st. Khoury will work from TBWA’s Singapore offices. 

As chief creative officer of TBWA\Singapore, Khoury works closely with president of TBWA\Singapore, Mandy Wong, as well as deputy executive creative director Loo Yong Ping and executive creative director Asheen Naidu. Together, they are in charge of the agency’s clientele, which consists of companies like Hilton, National Arts Council, Singapore Airlines, and NCS, among others. 

In addition to his position at TBWA\Singapore as chief creative officer, Khoury will take on additional duties in his role as regional chief creative officer. He will work closely with the regional creative leadership team in this expanded role, which consists of Veradis Vinyaratn (Mike), chairman of TBWA\Thailand, Melvin Mangada, chief creative officer at TBWA\SMP Philippines, Takahiro Hosoda, chief creative officer at TBWA\Hakuhodo, Ronnie Wu, chief creative officer at TBWA\China, and Takahiro Hosoda. 

Khoury took over as creative lead, global, after moving from TBWA\NEBOKO in the Netherlands, where he worked on the adidas account. Prior to this change, he spent eight years as the chief creative officer at TBWA\Hunt Lascaris, where he made a major contribution to the agency’s numerous years of straight individual agency accolades.

Speaking about the appointment, Sean Donovan, president, TBWA\Asia, said, “As we gear up for a new year and a new level of Disruption and growth, Peter joining us reinforces our continuous commitment to re-invent how we create ongoing value and deliver sustainable creative solutions for our clients. A dynamic world requires a dynamic approach.” 

He added, “Perhaps I’m biased, having worked with Peter in South Africa for many years, but I can attest to his outstanding creative capabilities and the vital role he played in the growth and creative success of TBWA\Hunt Lascaris. His impact has already been felt, and I’m excited to see more of this in the coming months.” 

Meanwhile, Mandy Wong, president of TBWA\Singapore, said, “We entered 2023 with ambitious targets, and closed off having exceeded our plan. As we set our sights on 2024, I’m delighted to welcome Peter to the agency, and the region.”

Philippines – BBDO Guerrero builds its creative team with the promotion of Mica Dela Rosa to creative director. 

Dela Rosa joined BBDO Guerrero in 2019 as a copywriter and has contributed to the agency’s portfolio. Some customers she works with include Chowking, Cornetto, and the Department of Tourism. Notably, she was a major contributor to the development of winning ads including It’s More Fun in the Philippines and The Pepsi Can Light Stick, which won awards at contests like the Asia-Pacific Tambuli Awards and the Kidlat Awards.

As the agency’s ambassador, Dela Rosa has taken an active part in a variety of competitions, including New Stars 2023 and the Young Lions competition sponsored by the Philippine 4A. She was granted admission to the London International Awards Creative LIAisons program as one of the network’s emerging creative talents. She profited from one-on-one mentoring during this program from some of the world’s most brilliant creative minds.

Speaking about the promotion, Dela Rosa said, “BBDO Guerrero is a great place to grow as a creative. I’m very grateful for the trust, and excited to do more fun and meaningful work with our partners.”

Meanwhile, David Guerrero, creative chairman at BBDO Guerrero, said, “We are proud to see Mica develop her creative confidence over the years. She approaches work with authenticity and a unique perspective. She is a great collaborator and a joy to work with, and she has our full support as she achieves even greater things in her new role.” 

Singapore – Full sensory experience agency The Company We Keep (The CWK) has expanded its SEA team and offerings with the addition of Tam Xu as project director and Nicole Pow and Deon Tan as project managers.

In her new role, Xu will spearhead the delivery of bespoke projects for clients across the SEA region. She will nurture and train the team of producers that will be based on the newly-opened Singapore hub to ensure a stellar production powerhouse.

Xu will also be responsible for day-to-day project management across multiple departments, ensuring operational and financial discipline, delivery excellence, and resource optimisation.

Prior to her appointment at The CWK, she played a pivotal role in setting up the events and project management teams from scratch at MOI Global. As an event director, she led a growing team to manage end-to-end event planning and execution, building strong client relationships with companies such as Fujifilm, Google Cloud, Oracle, Red Hat, and UBS.

Meanwhile, in their new roles as project managers, Pow and Tan will be overseeing the CWK projects within the Singapore hub.

Pow, who brings with her 8 years of experience managing various events ranging from conferences, meetings, award ceremonies, and travel incentives, will also leverage her tech-savvy expertise in her new role.

On the other hand, Tan will take on a social and creative-heavy role. She brings 10 years of experience across events, sales, and marketing.

With the opening of the agency’s Singapore office earlier this year, they are now officially in operations and are working with clients such as Credit Suisse, WalkMe, Salesforce, and DocuSign.

Victor Darmawan, business director for Asia at The CWK, said, “I am incredibly excited about Tam, Nicole, and Deon joining the company, and I look forward to working closely with them to elevate Singapore as the next hub for The CWK. Together, we will continue to provide world-class service to our clients, fostering growth and success.”

Nigel Ruffell, CEO at The CWK, also shared, “The addition of Tam, Nicole, and Deon to our growing team is a testament to The Company We Keep’s remarkable success in the SEA region. Each of them brings a wealth of invaluable experience that will undoubtedly enhance our capabilities across APAC. With our expanding team and reinforced presence, we’re embarking on an exciting journey filled with limitless opportunities, and we eagerly anticipate the amazing work they will do.”

Meanwhile, commenting on her new role, Xu said, “The CWK has an envious reputation, and I’m thrilled to be part of the SEA team during an exciting growth phase. Together with Victor, I look forward to scaling new heights, building a team, and achieving new milestones for The CWK’s Singapore Hub.”

Singapore – Dentsu Creative Singapore has partnered the Ministry of Communications and Information(MCI), to develop an integrated marketing communications campaign with a festival as the main highlight, from creative ideation, event activation, to delivering omni-channel experiences for Forward Singapore(FSG), a government-led collaborative effort that has engaged over 200,000 Singaporeans from all walks of life over the past 16 months to refresh Singapore’s social compact.

To promote the festival, MCI and Dentsu Creative Singapore launched a thought-provoking flagship television commercial titled “Our Next Generation”, to foster deeper understanding among Singaporeans about how present choices can significantly shape the future for the next generation. 

Additionally, in a first-of-its-kind collaboration with four homegrown directors, Dentsu Creative Singapore delivered short films that reimagined success, ageing and community as part of the nation’s renewed social compact. The four films are, Beautiful Dreamer by Boo Junfeng, In the Pipeline by K. Rajagopal, The Machine by Siyou Tan, and Masih (Always) by Roslee Yusof.

These film campaigns serve to promote the Forward SG Festival, a roving interactive roadshow that was launched by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong on October 27 at Gardens by the Bay, and will move to various locations across the island in November 2023 and January 2024.

The festival features a roving interactive roadshow with informative panels that outline the key recommendations from the FSG report, as well as interactive experiences such as a Holographic Pledge Booth, a Shared Future Booth, and River, a multilingual virtual identity developed by Dentsu Creative.

Talking about the films, Prema Techinamurthi, managing director at Dentsu Creative Singapore, said, “We are honoured to be part of this meaningful initiative in helping to materialise and share the collective voice of Singaporeans via a visually engaging report and an illuminating campaign. We look forward to future collaborations with FSG in fostering unity and growth through progressive creative concepts and communication.”

Meanwhile, Stan Lim, chief creative officer at Dentsu Creative Singapore, commented, “Our collaboration with a strong cast of diverse filmmakers will help Singaporeans understand the tangible outcomes of our refreshed social compact, in a way that is relevant to our intersecting lives. We hope the films will inspire individuals to work together and build our shared future where everyone can find success on their own terms.”

Singapore – European automobile company PEUGEOT announced that it has appointed Accenture Song, the tech-powered creative group of Accenture, as its global creative agency of record from January 2024, as part of a competitive pitch.

Aiming to be the electric vehicle (EV) leader in Europe by 2025, PEUGEOT has consolidated all its global advertising communications, across Europe, Middle-East-Africa, South America, Mexico and Asia Pacific into Accenture Song.

Accenture Song is mainly tasked with helping to enhance familiarity and appeal to the brand and its wide EV line-up for a new younger, global audience with creative communications across all channels.

The first campaign will be a full-360 integrated launch of the all-new Electric Fastback SUV E-3008 in early 2024. It will be followed by supporting activities for the reveal of the new E-5008, as well as further launches yet to be revealed.

Phil York, head of PEUGEOT marketing & communications, said, “Over the last few years, we’ve seen dramatic and fast unfolding step-changes in the automotive industry and customer expectations. This rapid pace of change requires bold thinkers, and we’re thrilled to be partnering with Accenture Song to help us on our journey of transformation into a 100% electric brand that sets new benchmarks for alluring design, driving pleasure and tech.”

Meanwhile, David Droga, chief executive officer at Accenture Song, commented, “Together, PEUGEOT and Accenture Song aim to do something new and different. PEUGEOT has an exciting opportunity in the electric category to define their products and services with a distinctive and human approach, emotionally connecting with a new generation of drivers.” 

“I believe our tech-powered creatively driven model that’s fuelled by our collective ambition will support PEUGEOT in the vision of becoming a true tech mobility company,” he added.