Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: friendship, Inspiration, life, people, personal, relationships
I came across this and thought I’d share it. 
Love it!
When you figure out which one it is,
you will know what to do for each person.
When someone is in your life for a REASON,
it is usually to meet a need you have expressed.
They have come to assist you through a difficulty;
to provide you with guidance and support;
to aid you physically, emotionally or spiritually.
They may seem like a godsend, and they are.
They are there for the reason you need them to be.
Then, without any wrongdoing on your part or at an inconvenient time,
this person will say or do something to bring the relationship to an end.
Sometimes they die. Sometimes they walk away.
Sometimes they act up and force you to take a stand.
What we must realize is that our need has been met, our desire fulfilled; their work is done.
The prayer you sent up has been answered and now it is time to move on.
Some people come into your life for a SEASON,
because your turn has come to share, grow or learn.
They bring you an experience of peace or make you laugh.
They may teach you something you have never done.
They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy.
Believe it. It is real. But only for a season.
LIFETIME relationships teach you lifetime lessons;
things you must build upon in order to have a solid emotional foundation.
Your job is to accept the lesson, love the person,
and put what you have learned to use in all other relationships and areas of your life.
It is said that love is blind but friendship is clairvoyant.
— Unknown
Filed under: Branding, personal | Tags: advertising, Branding, career, personal, PR, self help
In the past few weeks, I’ve received many curious questions on why I left PR, just six months into it.
So, I thought I’d blog about it firstly, because I can direct people to this post without having to repeat myself and secondly, because I know there have been many speculations and isn’t it better to hear it from the horse’s mouth?
I know some of you are probably thinking that I had a less than pleasant experience in PR which drove me to leave the industry altogether. And, really – that’s a very natural and logical conclusion!
My past few weeks at TBWA\ have been awesome and I’m enjoying the experience immensely. Sure- the pace is pretty insane, but at this point of time in my life, I’m just hungry to learn as much as I can about communications and managing people. Thankfully, my directors and senior account manager have been really great in that respect, ensuring that I’m getting maximum exposure, and balancing between giving me independence on the one hand and providing guidance on the other hand. I couldn’t ask for a better team.
That leads me to the real question – so why did I leave PR?
I maintain that had I stayed on in my previous PR agency, I know I’d have been trained to become a full fledged PR professional by some of the best veteran journalists and PR professionals in the industry.
And even though I was only in PR for 6 months, during those 6 months, I became very intrigued by the art behind PR. It’s a highly strategic role that requires serious churning of brain juices to develop key messages and to convey them strategically such that your client doesn’t just gain publicity but the “right” kind of publicity with the “right” messages.
So, no – I don’t hate PR at all and no – my previous agency was not a harrowing experience that scared me away from PR.
But at this stage in my life, I’m just hungry… to be more exposed to global accounts, the conceptualization of ideas, media planning, and the intersection of strategy and creativity.
Also, having interned in advertising since I was 17, there was a part of me that wouldn’t rest till I had experienced advertising fully. Although advertising is a very high-pace and pressurizing environment, at this point of time in my life, it has a huge draw. I love being at the heart of ideas, unpredictability and intense pressure. It’s also an amazing training ground and I’m loving every bit of it thus far.
At the end of the day, I strongly believe that sure – climbing the ladder and recognition are important, but more importantly, when we’re young, we need to ensure that we’re worth the recognition one day by learning as much as we can and becoming better at what we do everyday. Even if we take on positions of authority one day, we should be people of substance who truly deserve them.
Last but not least, I know there are people out there who may call me idealistic and naive but I’m also a strong believer in integrity and gratitude. If someone took the chance on me and believed in me, I couldn’t bring myself to turn around and join a direct competitor so soon after.
So in many ways, the decision was a decision based on personal reasons. And no I was not driven out of PR and no I don’t hate PR such that I’d never consider going back to it again.
Rather, as an advocate of integration, at this stage in my life, all I want is to be learning as much as I can about as many facets of communications as possible, handling pressure and managing people.
And I’m glad to have been blessed with the opportunity to do so in TBWA\. Of course nobody knows what the future will bring, but as long as I’m learning and exposed, I’ll give my utmost best to everything I do.
I hope this answers the questions and clears up the air. Because this is the real answer from me and nobody else!
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: business, Branding, Creativity, advertising, TBWA, create connect convince, jorg dietzel, smu
Yesterday, I was reading Jorg Dietzel’s book on the fundamentals of advertising, “Create Connect Convince” and it just struck me how so many of us tend to focus on the “create” and “convince” in the entire equation but hey, there’s a very good reason why “connect” is right in the middle – it’s the cornerstone of everything else! Yet, great(er) emphasis is sometimes placed on creativity that wins creativity awards and convincing the target audience to “act” through strong calls to action.
Hearing it from the Experts
The best thing about Jorg Dietzel’s “Create Convince Connect” is that it features “advice”, “insights” and “moments of truth” from advertising veterans. I totally agree that we always need “young blood” to provide an alternative point of view but at the same time, I love to hear from communications veterans because they have something priceless – “experience”.
I also noticed one “advice” in common between Jimmy Liang – Operations Director of Leo Burnett Advertising in Shanghai and Peter Smyth – Senior Strategist of BBDO Inc in Tokyo, both with more than ten years’ experience handling strong portfolios of global accounts – a running theme of connection.
For starters, Peter Smyth talks about his experiences in Japan – a high context society, which seems simple on the surface but in reality, thrives on hidden meaning because in his words, “underlying rules are so important in Japan”. He also emphasizes that in order to be an advertiser in Japan, it takes “really understanding the context and expectations surrounding Japanese advertising”.
That’s connection, isn’t it? Connecting with the environment and the culture in which the campaign is running.
Across the ocean in Shanghai, Jimmy Liang similarly talks about connection in another form – the connection between the client and the agency. Listening to the client is so important, he highlights, because nobody understands the industry and the client’s business needs as well as the client. If the client is a friend, better still. Because you can spend time talking to the client about his business needs and the industry outside of the high pressure corporate setting and these conversations are pivotal in establishing trust and mutual respect between the client and agency.
Ever since the age of 17, I’ve interned with various agencies and over the years, sometimes, while making my trips to the toilet, I would overhear agency people complaining about difficult clients, etc. Every once in a while, frustrations can arise in the client-agency relationship everywhere. But, Jimmy Liang’s advice is important to bear in mind because at the end of the day, most people want to do what’s best so clients are also driven by their business needs, bosses’ expectations and industry norms.
Connecting with the Target Audience
Connecting with the target audience – It seems like common sense, isn’t it? But actually doing it is a different matter altogether. As someone I work with once put it, it’s not enough to know the target audience as a statistic or as a creature to be examined under a microscope. If we really want to develop insightful transformational campaigns, we need to get under the skin of the target audience. From in-depth research, consumer journeys (mapping a day in the life of the consumer) and thinking of family members or friends who fall into the target audience, in the midst of conceptualizing the messages behind the ad, connecting with the consumer as living breathing people is vital, I’ve learned.
Your target audience is not just a demographic group. They’re somebody’s daughter, son, friend, mother, father, brother or sister, with their own world views, beliefs, convictions, fears and dreams.
Connecting with the Client
Admittedly, it can be tempting to lapse into the client-agency divide where the client grouses about the agency and the agency gets frustrated with the client. But, like Jimmy Liang has shared in “Create Connect Convince”, this divide is not going to be beneficial to both parties.
Rather, there must that mutual trust and respect to understand that both parties have their own areas of expertise and both definitely mean well. With that belief as the starting point, both agency and client can work hand-in-hand to synergise the client’s understanding of its own business needs, industry and competitors, and the agency’s understanding of communications and branding, to enjoy a win-win relationship.
Connecting with the Brand
This thought brings to mind one of my interviews with TBWA\ when the interviewer had shared that she was looking for someone who would go the extra mile to take such ownership over her work that she would bleed too when her work wasn’t up to par.
Along the same line of thought, Jimmy Liang also shares about the importance of taking ownership of the brand you are working with. That way, clients can trust you to stand on their side always because when they bleed, you bleed too.
So now you know whyI have CAPITALIZED connect in the title of this post – it’s really the cornerstone of everything else.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: ad, advertisement, advertising, Branding, career, Creativity, learning, lessons, life
In my first week at TBWA\ Singapore, I have learnt a lot and my eyes have been opened. So for the benefit of my readers, I’m sharing five key advertising commandments I have picked up from listening in on the awesome people I work with:
1.What’s the brief again?
Creativity is very very important and I cannot emphasize more the importance of novelty and creativity. But, first up – before evaluating the creativity behind concepts, the first question we need to ask ourselves is : What’s the brief again? Does this concept align with the brief? At the end of the day, the brief sets out client expectations which cannot be ignored.
2. Does this translate?
Especially when handling global campaigns, we may have a fantastic copy in English but another crucial consideration is whether this copy can be translated into other languages in a meaningful way. Sometimes, it’s not just about the copy – it’s also about the idea. Will all cultures be embracing of the idea? Will the idea spark unpleasant controversy in certain cultures?
3. Is this a big idea?
Perhaps you may have a beautiful mnemonic or logo but at the end of the day, is it just a brand device or is there a big idea behind it? This may seem like a very basic “commandment” for many experienced advertising professionals but as a young ad executive, it hit home to me that at times we can become so excited about a fantastic mnemonic or logo; But, if there is no big idea behind it that we can explain and inspire others with, the mnemonic remains just that – a symbol and a brand device, not a big idea.
4. Will it travel far?
Another consideration is whether the idea can travel far, in terms of activation. Does it drive action and is it the kind of action that will travel far and spread? E.g. painting your nail a certain color to represent your support for a cause.
5. Insight insight insight
Many people think that the ad industry is about being creative and controversial. They’re not far from the truth. But, what some may not realize is that even in developing creative concepts, we need to go back to insights about our target audience. In other words, creative concepts are not plucked from our dreams and the air. They must be based on insights developed from thorough and careful research.So really good advertising is not just about being crazy and fun, but also about being strategic and thorough.
I’m off to church but I think I’ve left you with enough to mull over, for now!
Filed under: Branding | Tags: advertising, business, career, communications, life, personal, TBWA
Some of you have suggested that I blog about my first week at TBWA\… so I am taking *your* suggestions!
Of course no place is ever perfect – it’s really about what you are looking for and what you are willing to give up because life is all about trade-offs!
Compared to my previous agency, TBWA\ is a lot larger and sometimes, I do miss the small company feel of my previous agency.
But all in all, the first week has been not bad! I’ve been fully exposed to global concalls, client meetings, internal reviews, etc, such that in just a few days alone, I feel like I have learnt and seen so much.
Also, the people I work with have my utmost respect for their professionalism, strategic skills, dedication and passion.
A mentor figure once said that at my age, really – it was about being a sponge and soaking up whatever I can. Just sitting through all the meetings and concalls, I’m learning new things everyday.
Time will tell a lot of things but as of now, after a week, I am convinced that TBWA\ is an awesome agency made up of highly intelligent and talented people. It’s also a great learning ground for people serious about pursuing communications.
My director has been ensuring that I’m exposed to as much as possible and my senior account manager has been so good about giving me independance while still guiding me along.
No journey can ever be completely rosy and smooth-sailing (so I am not expecting a walk in the park here) but at least, I know I will learn a lot in my time at TBWA\ and I’m also grateful for the exposure and professional guidance. At the same time, being around people who love their work is very invigorating.
A good start is so important. =)
I don’t usually blog about my religion, but recently, some good things have happened in my life that I just want to give thanks and glory to God for.
I know there are many Christians who are definitely far from perfect (myself included) but through it all, I thank God for being there for me, always.
Even in hopeless situations, He has time and time again lifted me out of them and given me even better things. He has taken away, but also given.
Here’s one of my favorite Christian songs too:
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)
Filed under: Branding | Tags: advertising, bank, Branding, business, Citibank, communications, corporate, creative, Fallon, live richly
After reading about all the brain juices and hard work behind some of Fallon Worldwide’s transformational campaigns in “Juicing the Orange” by Pat Fallon and Fred Senn – co-founders of Fallon Worldwide, the book has become like an advertising bible to me! For those of you on the look out for honest insights into the world of advertising and creative communications, go read it!
One campaign Pat and Fred shared about in their book that got me thinking about advertising and life in general is Citibank’s “Live Richly” campaign.
At a time when deviating from a safe and reliable style was unimaginable for banking clients, Fallon Worldwide decided to take a different approach for Citibank. They were convicted that this refreshing approach was necessary to set Citibank apart from other banks which were fast becoming commodotized and indistinguishable from each other.
How was Citibank’s “Live Richly” campaign different from conventional bank advertising?
- Instead of being driven by the conventional wisdom that people chose a bank based on purely rational criteria, Fallon Worldwide discovered that people were engaging emotionally with their money. (As I’ll explain further under “The groundbreaking insight”.)
- At the same time, while it seemed foolhardy to move away from the safe, reliable, dependable and trustworthy portrayal of banks for fear of upsetting the reputation and credibility of the said bank, Fallon introduced a quirky and humane touch to Citibank’s ads.
The ground-breaking insight
When the planning team had initially asked members of the target group about banking services, responses were highly rational and logical. But, when asked about their views on money, members of the target group became excited, reflective and emotionally engaged as they shared with conviction that to them, living a rich life was more important than being rich, materially. Money was a means to fulfill dreams, to live life to the fullest and to care for loved ones, but it was definitely not the be-all-and-end-all, they confided. Aha! That was it! The Fallon planning team had chanced upon a ground-breaking insight that eventually drove the creative concept of the campaign: “Live Richly”.
“Live Richly”
A sure way to get rich quick:
Count your blessings.
There’s more to life than money.
There’s a bank that understands that.
Citi. Live richly.
Show me the ads!
I couldn’t find the images for some of the print ad variants with very powerful copy, so I’m going to share the copy of these variants here:
“Your truly valuable hours will not be found on a time sheet.”
“He who dies with the most toys is still dead.”
“Save money. Hoard friends.”
“The bank for the upwardly normal.”
So did these ads work?
Being creative and winning awards that celebrate creativity is one thing, but more importantly, clients need the ads to work; they need to justify ad budgets with respectable returns on investment. So the next vital question Fallon had to ask itself was whether the ads were bringing in tangible results:
- After the first 8 weeks, tracking research showed that consumers’ predisposition to use Citi as financial services provider jumped 50 percent.
- Citi also saw a 25 percent increase in Website inquiries during that same advertising flight.
- By 2005, Citi had risen to twelfth place on Interbrand’s list of the world’s most valuable brands, the highest of any financial services company.
My thoughts
- The “Live Richly” campaign is one of my favorite campaigns ever because it’s a living and breathing example of how excellence is achieved not by “doing as the Romans do” but by constantly questioning the status quo and daring to be different.
- It’s also a reminder to me that while creativity is highly important, creativity needs to be grounded in a clear, insightful and in-depth understanding of the people we’re speaking to.
- I’ve also realized that although people may cite rational reasons when questioned about their decisions, deep down inside, many of us cannot run away from the powerful influence of emotions in our decision-making processes.
- Regardless of the product, at the end of the day, advertising is about speaking straight to the hearts and minds of people, so truly effective advertising interweaves the product into human experiences in a manner that is meaningful to the target group.
Really, everything comes down to human experiences and connections. Both Citibank and Fallon Worldwide understood that, and with that in mind, not only did they catapult Citibank forward in the banking sector, but they also transformed the nature of bank advertising!
There may not be snow or gifts from Santa in the Christmas sock to wake up to but there’s always family, friends and rest.
Filed under: Inspiration, personal | Tags: 2010, christmas, dreams, happiness, Inspiration, life, new year, personal, resolution
Visa’s GO Campaign which captures the essence of my New Year resolutions for 2010!
2009 has been one hell of a year. Yes, pun intended on the word “hell”. Both meanings apply – hell as in hellish and hell as in eventful and memorable!
It’s interesting how many people I speak to roll their eyes when talking about the past year. Nobody liked 2009. Poor 2009 is so unpopular. Anyway, we all welcome new beginnings. It’s human nature after all to delight in novelty, fresh opportunities and positive change!
But, I’ve also realized that experiences are meaningless, unless you make sense of them, either by internalizing the lessons or by purposefully scaling greater heights.
So, before I get caught up with the Christmas and New Year flurry, here are my top 5 new year resolutions for 2010, based on lessons I’ve learnt in 2009:
*drum rolls*
Top resolution of the year: Love my job
OMG, that sounds like such a workaholic freak! But don’t get me wrong – it doesn’t mean I’ll be obsessed with it. What I mean is that I want to be loving what I do! That entails choosing my first post-graduation workplace very carefully. Top things I’ll be looking out for: exposure & learning opportunities, a culture that “clicks” with me, and colleagues and bosses I can envision being friends with (I think this is a good indicator of whether the chemistry is there). We’re young only once and I believe the first few years are the most critical years in building strong foundations if you want to pursue expertise in any given field.
First runner-up resolution of the year: Go out there and play
No, I’m not schizophrenic such that I want to love my job and yet go out there and play when both sound like they are polar opposites of each other. I think it’s possible to love your job such that you will go the extra mile for it and yet go out there to play and experience the world. It’s just about managing your time effectively and creatively finding ways to strike that critical balance. By going out there to play, I mean that I’ll be purposefully seeking out new experiences by moving out of my comfort zone to meet new people and to experience new things everyday! Because I want to be a bigger person and human being.
Second runner up resolution of the year: Love my body
The past six months haven’t been the best of times for me and I’ve neglected my health and body. It’s not the stress or workload but I was very disillusioned and disappointed so I took everything out on my body by stopping my exercise regime and binging. Not good at all. That has got to change. So it’s time to start loving my body because without good health, I won’t be able to fulfill my top 2 resolutions either. Although my top 2 resolutions are more “important” to me, this third resolution is a “support” resolution because the success of the top 2 resolutions hinges on this third resolution! The good news is that I’ve been gyming every alternate day so the next step is to start watching what I eat.
Third runner up resolution of the year: Be happy
You’re probably wondering why this is resolution number 4, not the first. After all loving your job and playing are essentially about being happy too. Call me a masochist if you will but while I am convicted that being happy is highly important, I also believe that we can’t be happy all the time if we want to grow. In other words, sometimes we need to suffer and to bite the bullet a bit when the going gets rough if we want to become bigger people and to grow. Pain is the fastest way to grow sometimes so if we’re not going to take some suffering at least, how will we ever grow and get better in what we do? Still, if there are no moments of joy and if we’re depressed and disgruntled all the time, it’s a warning sign that something is very wrong. Time to do a quick check whether we’re on the right track. So happiness is important but sometimes, realistically speaking, pain is necessary to grow.
Last but not least: Re-pick up my guitar
My poor guitar has been sitting in my room on my guitar stand like a decorative piece. Somehow, in the past six months, I couldn’t bring myself to play it. Don’t ask me why because I can’t explain it! I just know that I couldn’t bring myself to play it – Perhaps my soul died a little in the past few months and I was simply too tired to delight in music. Whatever the reason was, it’s okay because it’s going to change. Most of all, playing the guitar was my way of communicating with God and the many times I used to strum my guitar, sing and pray were ecstatic. I’d really love to experience them again.
So there, these are my new year resolutions. What are yours? If you haven’t got any yet, maybe it’s time to start cracking “to get out there and play, to get out there and do, to get out there and experience all the things life has to offer”!
