In a time when people zigged, I zagged,
and that has made all the difference.
During Covid / the pandemic, I decided to do some things I have always wanted to do and enrich myself by taking courses that enhanced my critical thinking (Systems Thinking Course ), leadership skills (Adaptive lLeadership Course ) and thought innovation process (Design Thinking Course) as well as encouraging a growth mindset (Prototyping Course).
Being a strategic creative leader I have a proven record of developing marketing solutions for some of the world’s most recognized brands.
I can story tell with the best of them, and love great ideas expressing themselves through different platforms, all with the long held practice, a team player gets the best results.
A builder of bridges between traditional and emerging digital/ content,
I help brands into known / unknown areas fluidly, enhancing audience engagement.
Since Parsons School of Design till now, I have used design thinking as a common thread, which allows me to navigate towards the best solutions creatively. User-centric solutions come from the ability to be open-minded and entertain multiple perspectives with empathy. I’m well versed in traditional brand advertising and digital transformation of brands.
My whole career is about connecting the right Brand’s to the right people. No matter how you want it, I orchestrate it to happen. I can also guide teams regionally to successful advertising ideas that communicate with the customer on a wide variety of touch points, adding value for both the brand and the especially the customer. I have an agile management style, with a growth mindset.
Recent Responsibilities:
• Event Concepting/ Brand Experiences / Campaigns/ Design
• Retail Design / Experience /
• Spatial Design
• Pre > During> Post Event Content
• Working closely with developers/programers
• Managing clients though all digital and social platforms from concept to completion
• Working closely with solution architects on large scale custom web applications as well as UX/UI, programmers and project managers, web designers
• Content Creator and Managing / Concepting Social Marketing regional toolkits
- Prototyping, Product Innovation, Platform Creation
I will relocate for the right opportunity.
I am Canadian and have Australian PR.
Trying to get back to North America.
I qualify to get a TN NAFTA Professionals visa to work in the United States.
Executive Creative Director ( contract • project based • freelance ) - Human Centric Consultancy Ltd.
Australia / APAC
Oct 2020 - Present
I am an independent consultant capable of building and managing departments, concept big marketing ideas, formulate brand strategies for marketing campaigns and inspire innovation, create design thinking workshops, change facilitator with roadmaps towards change, builder of bridges across media silos in advertising agencies, concept digital transformation/platforms that can add value to brands and create brand advocates, transcend the norm with story telling and story-doing campaigns.
Branding is a particular focus of mine at Human Centric Consultancy. I help brands evolve to accomodate trends and map out a brand's next steps to grow their business and stay relevant. I can also build and manage business and client pitches, mentor teams to successful outcomes, project manage (digital and non-digital) and develop strategies for brands and innovation models in order to future proof businesses.
My happy place is solving and understanding the pain points from all aspects and shifting cultures (corporate/brand) to make them more relevant to the world from Product design to a customer's experience on and offline. PR big ideas that have become events, experiential and brand environments is another ability in the bag. One would wonder what else can I do?
Just ask :-)
Accounts- Neo Analytics, Zigy, Impact Advertising, Prancing Pony Brewery, Centrex Limited, Alexander Spirits, Nike, SA Health
Companies: Fancy- NYC, Creative Underground -Hong Kong, Health Companies, Australia
Regional Creative Director APAC ( contract ) - Edelman
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
October 2021 - May 2022
Blending PR with creative brand ideas making 'earned' more of an integrated brand experience with
a lovely strategy to anchor it into the hearts and minds of people. From digital, social, events/stunts, experiential, brand environment and everything in between weaving value and meaning is what I will do. CLIENTS: Samsung, Microsoft, Lululemon, Novartis (Twitch), Gemie (metaverse), UN (TikToc).
This was always a contract position while the APAC region was developing.
Accounts- Samsung, Lululemon, Microsoft, Yidan Prize, Novartis
Executive Creative Director - McCann // MRM
Bangkok, Thailand
February 2019 - February 2020
A website and app developer agency, digital product, digital performance marketing, and influencer marketing arm of McCann. Acting as a consulting arm for digital transformation to truly add value and integrate a brand into people's lives in a useful way.
Covid made this a one year scenario.
Responsibilities:
•Directing the creative functionalities of concept development, collaborating with team members, creating work environment, meeting work expectations, and discussing team goals and achievements •Providing strategic solutions to the company and clients considering their market stakes involved in creating brand reputation for their organization
•Accommodating the client's needs and requirements as per the marketing goals and strategies, creating unique brand promotion concepts in accordance with the client's promotional scheme, prioritizing the creative work as per client's demands, and translating the client's profile into a creative visual experience
•Collaborating with the creative team for processing the client's projects in a specified manner, assigning duties to creative / account management team, and leading the team in carrying out post production activities like video graphics, motion graphics, interactive web integration, and web marketing
•Keeping track of latest advancement in technologies used in creative direction and understanding the progress in marketing technologies like digital marketing technology
•Directing activities for professional development of organizational team members, conducting creative workshops for staff members, implementing corrective strategies in promotional activities, and recommending promotion of the team members based on their productivity
•Taking important decisions that ensure the organizational profitability without compromising the creative quality of the project, directing constant improvement in creative quality, and enhancing the designing capability for accomplishing the task
Accounts- CIGNA, ENFA, Maybelline, GM, Darlie, Vaseline, True (telecom), Unilever Brands
Executive Creative Director - Geometry - AKA - VMLY&R Commerce
Hong Kong S.A.R.
March 2018 - February 2019
Leading the creative team and partnering with the GM and Strategic lead for all things in shopper marketing and connected commerce (Omni channel) in the local and APAC region. From packaging design, retail design, logo / brand creation, events design, store design /layout (flow) we realized how brands could create experiences that could become destinations both online and offline. This was around the time of huge network mergers and Geometry became VMLY&R commerce. I left here because there was a merger and stability was an issue.
Accounts- BAT, MAC Cosmetics, Branding Retail Design, Nanyang Technological University (Singapore), Estée Lauder
Executive Creative Director - Tribal DDB
Ho Chi Min City, Vietnam
July 2017 - March 2018
I was an (interim) ECD and worked in partnership with Olaf Mueller who wrote a great recommendation for me as well as Lance Eugene Yumul and Liza Geysens on LinkedIn. From managing all departments, pitching business, managing creatives who were both from Vietnam and elsewhere I was lucky to have a mini UN of people all working towards a common goal. Adding value to brands in the APAC region. From digital to traditional consumer marketing we helped brands connect to create desired dialogue and brand love.
Accounts- Vina Cafe, Tetra Pak, Jolli Bee, Stanley Furniture
Executive Creative Director ( contract • project based • freelance ) - Human Centric Consultancy Ltd.
Australia / APAC
November 2015 - July 2017
This is my go to consulting firm when I am in-between jobs.
Human Centric Consultancy allows me the freedom to work on projects with businesses.
I am an independent consultant capable of building and managing departments, concept big marketing ideas, formulate brand strategies for marketing campaigns and inspire innovation, create design thinking workshops, change facilitator with roadmaps towards change, builder of bridges across media silos in advertising agencies, concept digital transformation/platforms that can add value to brands and create brand advocates, transcend the norm with story telling and story-doing campaigns. Branding is a particular focus of mine at Human Centric Consultancy helping brands evolve to accomodate trends and map out a brand's next steps to grow their business and stay relevant. I build and manage business and client pitches, mentor teams to successful outcomes, project manage (digital and non-digital) and develop strategies for brands and innovation models in order to future proof businesses. Solving and understanding the pain points from all aspects and shifting cultures (corporate/brand) to make them more relevant to the world from Product design to a customer's experience on and offline. PR big ideas that have become events, experiential and brand environments is another ability in the bag.
Accounts:
HSBC / Barclays / N26 / Standard Chartered / MasterCard / Your Singapore / Dubai /Stratco / Beyond Bank
Companies:
Creative Underground - Hong Kong, Mirium - Singapore (acting ECD), Digital Arts Network / TBWA - Singapore (Creative Lead - Mastercard Engine room), Nation - Australia (Stratco), Ogilvy - New Zealand, Adelaide City Council - Australia, SMS Technology & Management - Australia, Creative Underground - Hong Kong - Meyer Cookware Global Brand Launch
Executive Creative Director APAC - Creative Underground Ltd.
Hong Kong
February 2008 – November 2015
Creative Underground walks in step with the current media landscape and is a digital boutique.
Working closely with programmers (front/back end), UX/UI and web designers on a regular basis and as a team, we created really great things.
As the founder and general manager, I competed with the likes of Digitas and 49 other agencies when we pitched for ASUS Zenbook laptop and won! We developed the "Find Your Zen" campaign for them that was first APAC and then it became a global campaign.
We all took what we learned from years of big agency experience, and ran with it.
From the various parts of our profession in advertising, design, interactive media, and TV/film, we became new kind of advertising boutique that strives to create impactful and engaging messaging for brands and enterprises. Real-time/social marketing/content creation has become the latest addition to what can be done as well, especially in terms of adaptation of new technology and platforms.
CU specializes in creative digital content but our management team also provides a complete range of strategic marketing solutions. From small companies to a new business or global companies, Creative Underground helps brands create dialogue. Never bound by any format, but only by our limitless imagination.
From events, guerrilla advertising, interactive, designing products to more traditional TVC, Print campaigns Creative Underground does everything the big guys do.
Accounts - MasterCard, Emirates Airlines, Asus Zenbook Ultralbook, Langham Hotels, Levitra, Black Diamond Touch Phone (HTC), Motorola, Vita Drinks, Pampers, Harvey Nichols, Sunsilk, Heineken, Lux, Omo, Standard Charter, Colgate-Palmolive, Transitions, Pillsbury, Foldgers, Tampax, Pantene, Canon, Panasonic, Durex, Aspery, Qantas, British Airways, Finlandia Vodka, General Mills, Bayer / Levitra, HSBC, Singapore Tourism Board, HP, Royal Caribbean Cruises, IHG, Mastercard, SK-II.
APAC Regional Creative Director - Saatchi & Saatchi
Hong Kong
January 2007 – December 2007
Accounts - PAMPERS (P&G) Regional Creative Director of Asia Pacific In charge of Pampers in the Asian Region (except Australia and New Zealand) worked with Creative Directors and teams all through the region from India to Japan. Seven projects in three months= two years of work.
SA & SEA Regional Creative Director JWT
Bangkok, Thailand
April 2004 – November 2006
Part of a regional team that was responsible for Sunsilk’s brand relaunch in the APAC region. Eight commercials (4 for South East Asia, 4 for South Asia - 70 different edits - one month). It was a great experience in how to be global but act local as a brand.
Accounts - SUNSILK, LUX, OMO (UNILEVER) Relaunched Sunsilk in South Asia and South East Asia and managed teams for regional work. Translated global brand to local markets in APAC.
Just before taking this job I freelanced for Strawberry Frog- Heineken and TBWA/Singapore - Standard Chartered.
Regional Creative APAC - Y&R
Hong Kong
January 2003 – April 2004
Created one of the most popular shampoo commercials in the Philippines (Silky Straight Shampoo), Launched successful Colgate Total 12 toothpaste in China with a Big Tooth. We promoted dental hygiene using the tooth as an experience and a place to try the product.
This was my first venture into APAC and connecting big brands to the Asian market.
Accounts - COLGATE / PALMOLIVE
Associate Creative Director - Saatchi & Saatchi
New York City
January 2000 – January 2003
Detrol, the #1 prescribed overactive bladder medication. Oversaw and created the development of TV, advertising and marketing collateral for this $550M product line.
Created the launch campaign of DETROL LA in the US.
Key Accomplishment:
Directly influenced a 53% increase in brand awareness, and a 28% growth in sales with the successful “Gotta Go” campaign.
For healthcare / pharma / HCP I met my sweet spot.
My work was well received and I loved my job but was spurred on by the adventure of APAC.
Accounts - Nexium, Detrol LA, Transitions Lenses, PSA on Flu, Tide Detergent, and General Mills. Managed accounts and two creative teams.
Associate Creative Director - D'arcy
New York City
January 1999 – January 2000
Accounts - Pillsbury, Folgers Coffee, American Auto Association
Senior Art Director (freelance) - Grey Group
New York City
January 1998 – January 1999
Accounts - Tampax, Pantene, Canon, Aqua Fresh Tooth Paste, Fit, Panasonic, L'Oreal, Durex, Heineken
Senior Art Director - M&C Saatchi
New York City
January 1996 – January 1998
Part of the start up of this agency from the founders of Saatchi&Saatchi in NYC.
Accounts - British Airways, Aspery, Packard Bell Computers, Finlandia Vodka, Qantas
Art Director - Saatchi & Saatchi
New York City
January 1994 – January 1996
Accounts - L'eggs, Stayfree, Florida Orange Juice, BMG Music, Tylenol, Genral Mills, Mylanta
