Tag: Creative

California, USA – Adobe has split its global creative mandate, namely Dentsu Creative as its lead global scaled creative and content agency for its Digital Media Business (DMe), and Stagwell will lead the global creative campaigns and social content mandate for Adobe’s DMe.

Together, Dentsu Creative, Tag Worldwide and Adobe will redefine advertising by driving personalisation at scale through a robust Gen AI-powered content supply chain. Meanwhile, Stagwell and Adobe will also partner on a joint go-to-market initiative to accelerate the content supply chain for brands, the end-to-end process used to deliver content for marketing campaigns and personalised customer experiences. 

Transcending a traditional creative remit, Dentsu Creative will architect the company’s first ‘glocal’ go-to-market model, designed to drive relevance, effectiveness and efficiency both globally and locally across key regions–the Americas, EMEA, APAC and Japan. On the other hand, 

Dentsu Creative will also lead product and release marketing and local campaigns for the company’s B2B and B2C creative products and services. Underpinning the relationship is a unified global technology backbone, enabled by Adobe’s integrated set of best-in-class products to help companies optimise their content supply chain, and proprietary technologies from Dentsu Digital and Tag Worldwide.

Over at Stagwell’s side, 72andSunny will expand their seven-year partnership with Adobe by leading global creative and strategy within this new model. Movers+Shakers will lead global social efforts, with a focus on mining cultural conversations in real-time and producing socially-native content with speed and agility. Code and Theory will be responsible for the launch of Adobe GenStudio, among additional high-profile assignments.

Abbey Klaassen, global brand president at Dentsu Creative, said, “As a creative team that has long relied on Adobe’s products and services to imagine, create and bring digital experiences to life, this new partnership is meaningful in so many ways. We’re energised by Adobe’s vision to change the world through personalized experiences, and this fueled us to bring transformative thinking and creativity to every interaction. Now, we’re ready to bring that to customers everywhere through Adobe’s Digital Media Business.”

Meanwhile, Mark Penn, chairman and CEO of Stagwell, commented, “We are proud to join forces with Adobe, a brand synonymous with creativity and innovation, to build game-changing transformation tools for our clients and theirs. This partnership is another example of the value Stagwell is eager to create with clients via our integrated offering, and we are excited to bring our best-in-class creativity and technology to help Adobe inspire and empower their customers.”

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Marketing transformation agency GrowthOps Asia has strategically elevated its creative and performance teams with key appointments and promotions. 

Chee Heng Look is promoted to associate creative director, while Sann Dee Ng is promoted to creative group head, and Thomas Chiew and Belinda Hon join as new creative group heads.

Moreover, Gillian Lim and Nicole Wong are promoted to senior account executive roles, with new hires include Nailul Aini as senior account director and Nicklaus Lam as account director. 

Lastly, Aiman Musbri is now head of paid media, Brandon Yap is programmatic media lead, with Namrata Kadam and Himanshu Patel advancing to associate director and manager of the SEO team, respectively.

Adzam Bahrin, regional creative director at GrowthOps, said, “These promotions and key hires in the creative team signals how we’re moving forward with strong and experienced individuals who will help us deliver unforgettable work for our clients. It’s also our aim to nurture the next generation of creative leaders.”

Meanwhile, Chris Greenough, general manager of Malaysia and regional head of creative services, commented, “We have been successful at attracting talent from larger network agencies with more traditional backgrounds and integrating them into our digital-first mindset. This ensures we have the capabilities to execute large 360 campaigns while maintaining our digital-first agility and thinking.”

Shaad Hamid, regional head of performance and general manager of Singapore, commented, “As we expand our team and services, our focus remains on aligning our structure with the unique strengths and expertise that our people bring to the table. By prioritising technology, talent development, and team dynamics, we ensure that our growth not only reflects our evolving capabilities but also positions us to consistently exceed client expectations across all digital media channels.”

Together, these strengthened teams underscore the company’s commitment to delivering exceptional marketing and technology solutions and solidify its position as an industry leader. By strengthening these core capabilities, GrowthOps Asia aims to drive even greater success for its clients.

Bangkok, Thailand – YDM Thailand Group has appointed Anuwat Nitipanont as chief creative officer, where he will spearhead creative initiatives for both FCB Bangkok and MullenLowe Bangkok.

Nitipanont brings over 20 years of creative leadership to the role, where he will oversee the creative department, social content, influencer marketing, and production. Renowned for his innovative yet straightforward approach, Nitipanont is dedicated to crafting impactful solutions that benefit people, brands, and society.

Recognised for driving innovative solutions that create impact for business and society, Nitipanont’s appointment will ensure strategic alignment and seamless integration of services across all companies in the group. 

Nitipanont joined YDM Thailand in July 2024 from VML, where he was chief creative officer for Thailand. During his impactful tenure, he played a key role in significantly expanding the client portfolio across diverse industries within a year, setting a record-breaking winning ratio for the company. Additionally, he successfully doubled the size of the creative department.

Prior to VML, Nitipanont also served as chief creative officer at BBDO Bangkok, where he led the agency to multiple Agency of the Year accolades. 

Throughout his distinguished career, Nitipanont has won over 300 awards at international and local advertising shows. He has served as a jury member for prominent events like MAD STARS and CICLOPE, chaired the Adman Awards in 2019 and 2022, and led Thailand’s Young Lions competition for eight years, nurturing top young Thai talent for Cannes. 

Tanapon Subsomboon, CEO of YDM Thailand, said, “We are thrilled to welcome Anuwat into our ranks. As a pioneer in Thailand’s advertising industry, he has been instrumental in transforming agencies and leading them to top industry accolades. With his wealth of experience, Anuwat will help us elevate our ability to integrate strategy, data, and creativity to unlock business growth for our network. I have no doubt his visionary leadership will drive creative excellence in our team and reinforce our position as a leading agency in the region.” 

Singapore – Edelman Singapore has appointed Daniel Ko as its new executive creative director to spearhead the firm’s creative team and offerings in Singapore. 

In this role, Ko will bring his breadth of specialist experience to deliver Edelman’s brand of earned creative value for a diverse portfolio of clients. He will join the firm’s Singapore leadership team led by CEO Julia Wei and will be part of Edelman’s regional creative community led by APAC chief creative officer Tim Green. 

With over two decades of experience, Ko has gained acclaim for his innovative campaigns for Income, Google, POSB, DBS, Heineken, Tiger Beer, GIC, and HPB. His work has been recognised on local, regional, and global platforms. Additionally, he has contributed to elevating Singapore’s marketing industry standards by serving as a judge at prestigious local award shows, including The Gongs, Hall of Fame, and Crowbars.

Ko joins Edelman Singapore from Accenture Song, where he served as creative director for two years. Leading the tech-powered creative group, he spearheaded transformative campaigns that addressed business challenges through integrated solutions in advertising, branding, digital, PR & activation, marketing strategy, and innovation.

His previous roles include group creative director at 72 and Sunny, creative director at The Secret Little Agency, and creative group head at Iris Worldwide. He has also held key creative positions at renowned agencies, including BBH, DDB, and Publicis. 

Speaking on the appointment, Green said, “Ko’s impressive creative career involves a unique blend of storytelling, story-doing, branding, and business transformation—all skills critical in an era of ‘Trust in Crisis’, when attention alone isn’t enough to mobilise audiences. We are thrilled to welcome him aboard Edelman as we forge ahead to unlock the power of earned creativity to change the world.”

Also commenting on his new role, Ko shared, “I am thrilled to join Edelman Singapore to contribute to its continued innovation and growth. Edelman has consistently pushed the boundaries of creative excellence and set new standards for earned creativity. I look forward to joining this talented community to craft compelling, transformative, and effective programmes that help our clients win with their audiences.”

Edelman Singapore is home to over 120 consultants and serves as one of four global hubs for the network. This year, the firm recorded its strongest showing at The Cannes Lions Awards 2024, winning a Titanium Lion, four Gold Lions, six Silver Lions and five Bronze Lions for nine separate client campaigns from EMEA, North America and APAC. 

Singapore – Independent creative group DO. in Southeast Asia has been appointed by Red Bull to handle its strategic and creative business in Vietnam. The agency is deep in creative and production currently and the work is expected to launch in the second quarter of 2024.

Beer Poonnotok, founding partner and executive creative director at DO. SEA, commented, “No better way to start our DO journey with an iconic brand like Red Bull. Personally, my passion and connection with the brand runs deep on so many levels. We put work in front of the client that not only excites us but will also have a significant impact on both the brand and the culture in Vietnam.”

Meanwhile, Matthew Collier, managing director of DO. SEA, said, “Winning such a prestigious brand as Red Bull in Vietnam is vindication of our ambition across the region. Myself and Beer have both lived and worked in Vietnam previously and having that market insight aligned with category experience and our desire to get to good work quickly were recognised by TCP and resulted in a win we’re incredibly proud of.”

Red Bull is under the ownership of the Thai F&B conglomerate TCP Group. In Vietnam, TCP Vietnam Co., Ltd., manages all operations related to the Red Bull brand, aligning its strategies with those of TCP Group in Thailand. 

Presently, Red Bull stands as the foremost premium energy drink in the Vietnamese market.

DO.SEA officially launched in May 2023 with the acquisition of regional digital media and KOL agency Ambient Digital Group creating an integrated proposition of creative, digital and KOL divisions all under one roof. 

Singapore – The Secret Little Agency (TSLA) and Mandai Park Holdings have announced that it is closing their creative chapter as Mandai had recently called a new creative tender, as managed by R3. This marks the end of TSLA and Mandai’s seven-year work together, which began in 2017.

Mandai appointed TSLA back then as its lead creative and branding agency globally following a heavily competitive pitch process.

TSLA previously worked with Mandai for a new masterbrand and brand world back in 2021, as the multi-year rejuvenation of the Mandai Wildlife Reserve continued. This was done with TSLA’s global brand practice Anak, and aimed at bringing Mandai’s group branding ambitions to life on both a domestic and global level.

Photo Courtesy: The Secret Little Agency

From naming, brand strategy to brand architecture, and visual development across thousands of touch-points both digital and offline, the 4 year branding journey was often referred to as “a new playbook for biodiversity.”

More recently, TSLA and Mandai launched the highly-anticipated Bird Paradise, effectively migrating both brand and production from the former Jurong Bird Park into what is today the world’s largest free-flying aviary.

Eunice Tan, group CEO at The Secret Little Agency, said “Together with Mandai, we created something special that all Singaporeans can be proud of globally, shifting Mandai from just a zoo brand, to a global platform for wildlife conservation and biodiversity. The entire team at Mandai have been fantastic collaborators, and at this moment, there is only a sense of appreciation and deep pride for what we’ve been able to achieve together.”

Meanwhile, Belina Lee, deputy CEO, transformation and growth at Mandai Wildlife Group, commented, “In this changing of the guard, we want to thank our long-standing partner, The Secret Little Agency, who journeyed with us for seven years, and with our stakeholders, laid a solid foundation for the Mandai brand world. We are grateful to have strong partnerships, both present and future, as we transform the Mandai Wildlife Reserve from a collection of world-leading wildlife parks to a globally iconic destination.”

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Malaysian digital telco Yoodo has appointed The Clan as its new lead creative, social, and digital agency for the next 12 months in a 7-way pitch.

This appointment of The Clan extends is for a period of 12 months with an option to renew for the next 12 months, covering the spectrum of creative ideation, strategy, creative output, social media strategy, and content development. 

As life evolves for both the brand and agency in 2024 and beyond, Yoodo looks forward to enhancing its brand connection through this partnership with the Clan, further enriching its customers’ experiences. 

Casey Loh, creative chief at The Clan, said, “We are honoured to be given the opportunity to work with an innovative brand like Yoodo, which has all the makings of a gamechanger in the telco industry. Yoodo’s philosophy in challenging the status quo echoes Clan’s DNA to bring about positive change in everything that we do.”

Yoodo has since grown from strength-to-strength with a continued approach in innovation to differentiate itself from other telco players in an increasingly competitive environment. The telco brand empowers its users with full customisability of their mobile plan from 31 billion combinations through its app, while rapidly adopting breakthrough mobile connectivity solutions like seamless eSIM activation in under 5 minutes.

Manila, Philippines – Several advertising creatives have set to launch their own independent agency called Leron Leron Sinta. The new agency was founded by Dionie Tañada and Sajid Guerrero, as well as Varge Pollins Masanque and Joshua Surquia.

The agency’s name is rooted from a popular Filipino folk song of the same name, which tells the tale of a farmer who chose to find another tree to pick fruits after falling over on the first one. For the agency, this represents a metaphor for clients to always choose another agency to work with.

In an exclusive interview with MARKETECH APAC, the new agency described themselves as someone who could foster and champion genuine local grassroots creativity.

“At our core, Leron Leron Sinta is masa (the masses). Our collective grassroots experiences of being one with the masses help us bring out the creativity that is uniquely and truly Pinoy,” the agency said.

Tañada and Guerrero were previously part of the team responsible behind some of most popular local advertising works in recent years, including for RC Cola, GrabUnlimited, Orocan, Julie’s Bakeshop, Mega Tuna, TNT Sim Reg, Cheers, a few successful Netflix titles, amongst others.

For the agency, their former agency has taught them that creative campaign works with passion, and that they intend to bring said spirit to their future clients.

“We were taught to create work with passion. We intend to carry this passion with us and infuse our hearts for the masses. Our creative partners, Dionie and Sajid, are both master storytellers. With their ability to tell stories in an unignorable way, Leron Leron Sinta aims to tell brand stories that not only elevate the brand but also inspire consumers and ultimately drive sales,” they further added.

Being a new independent agency, MARKETECH APAC asked: what’s unique about them compared to local arm of larger ad agencies?

“We’re the only agency that’s 100% founded by people with an attitude and perspective that came from the grassroots, streets, and rural settings. We’re masa, and we’re proud of it,” they explained, further adding, “Leron Leron Sinta specializes in work that is ‘pang-masa’ (for the masses) and is anchored on creative ideas that help businesses sell and grow.”

As they open their doors for future work, they assure future clients that their populace familiarity gives them an advantage to also include them on their future campaigns.

“A more involved market, especially the masses. Being part of the masa gives us an edge in involving these people in creating campaigns. Just like the farmers in the folk song ‘Leron Leron Sinta’, we will channel our relentless spirit in pursuing brave ideas that solve our client’s marketing and advertising problems,” they concluded.

Singapore – Global marketing services company McCann Worldgroup has appointed Valerie Madon as its new chief creative officer for the Southeast Asian region. She will be reporting to Nick Handel, president of McCann Worldgroup SEA.

Madon brings with her over 20 years of experience across brand-building and integrated creative solutions for major brands such as Zespri, Caltex, Hewlett-Packard, Procter & Gamble, Singapore Airlines, and HSBC, amongst others. In the new role, she will be tasked to head the creative teams across Singapore, Thailand and Hong Kong, as well as assuming the additional responsibility of Chair of McCann Worldgroup’s APAC Creative Leadership Community (CLC).

Prior to joining McCann, Madon was the director of creative shop for SEA and emerging markets at tech giant Meta. She also held senior creative roles at agencies VMLY&R and Havas Group.

She has also made her mark judging at awarding bodies such as Cannes Lions, D&AD, One Show, London International, Effies, Golden Drum, Spikes Asia, Adfest, and more.

Commenting on her appointment, Madon said, “This opportunity represents the perfect storm of my creative ambitions – to reunite with Nick Handel again, as a leader who believes in the value of a creative partner, and to join the network that created ‘Fearless Girl’, one of the most inspiring pieces of work that went beyond advertising to become a meaningful part of people’s lives. I’ve always felt blessed in my career but this invitation to work and learn from so many of the creative greats within McCann Worldgroup is extra special.”

Prasoon Joshi, chairman of McCann Worldgroup Asia Pacific also commented, “The addition of Valerie to our organisation marks a significant development. Her extensive experience and innovative creative approach will add a fresh dimension. She is a keen observer of the evolving media landscape and latest technologies, which will further drive our creative excellence and strengthen our creative leadership in the region.”

Meanwhile, Nick Handel, president, McCann Worldgroup Southeast Asia, remarked, “I am thrilled that Valerie has joined our McCann Worldgroup Southeast Asia family. With her vision and expertise, she will make a significant contribution to our ambition of being the irrefutable leader in the business of creativity. And what’s more, I believe that she will be an excellent team leader and mentor to our people.”

Madon joins in mid-May and will be based in the network’s regional headquarters in Singapore.

Shanghai, China – BBDO in Greater China has announced key leadership changes in its team following the news of Leong Wai Foong, current chairman of BBDO Greater China, stepping down from his current role to pursue music-related opportunities.

The key changes include Arthur Tsang, current chief creative officer of BBDO China as new chief creative officer of BBDO Greater China; Nicole Ma, current chief creative officer at BBDO Shanghai as new chief creative officer of BBDO China; and Kevin Jin, current executive creative director of BBDO Shanghai as new chief creative officer at BBDO Shanghai.

Foong joined BBDO Greater China in 2006 and has since then been instrumental in growing the company into one of the leading creative agencies in the region. He has been a creative visionary who has driven BBDO Greater China’s success and shaped the company’s creative vision. Throughout his time with the company, Leong has played a key role in developing innovative advertising campaigns that have received recognition and awards at various international award shows. 

“It has been an honor to lead such a talented and dedicated team at BBDO Greater China. But after 29 years in the advertising industry, I feel it is time for me to pursue my passion as a musician and composer. I am confident that the talented team at BBDO Greater China will continue to lead the way in innovative and effective advertising solutions,” he stated.

Meanwhile, Tze Kiat Tan, CEO of BBDO Asia, commented on the change, saying, “When I told Andrew Robertson about this news, he said, ‘it’s the end of an era’ I couldn’t agree more. Its been 17 years. He’s been a partner to count on, had a big impact on my career, and a great friend I’ve enjoyed many laughs with. BBDO won’t be the same without him. Leong has made a significant impact on BBDO Greater China and the advertising industry as a whole during his time with us. We’re grateful for what he’s done, but we’re also excited for what he’s going to do next.”