12 Questions : 20 People – #7 Tay Guan Hin, regional executive creative director south east Asia & Lux Global ECD, JWT Singapore

12:20 is a Sydney based creative consultancy that works with agencies across Asia. Recently, while working in Singapore and Hong Kong, Christian Finucane and Jon Skinner met with 20 creative leaders from the top agencies to discuss the opportunities and challenges for the industry. The interviews, ’12 Questions: 20 People’ are being published in a series of blog posts on Campaign Brief. The seventh interview is with Tay Guan Hin (pictured), Regional ECD South East Asia & Lux Global ECD, JWT Singapore.

What’s the most exciting thing about working in Asia

. Vast opportunities

. Smaller budgets, willingness to experiment

. Growth, fast paced, great lifestyle

. Sense of dynamism.

What inspires you?

. Facebook. Friends sharing personal blogs, posting unusual stories or popular YouTube videos even before the industry even reports about it.

. Friends sharing challenging real-life issues and how they dealt with it are also very inspiring.

What is the recent campaign everyone wishes they’d done?

Van dam split truck Volvo stunt, awesome demo for such an unsexy category – truck dynamic steering. Done in one complete take. Caused a lot of conversations if the take was real or fake.

Which clients are pushing the boundaries and how?

2 recent campaigns I’m particularly proud of are: a) Human Hair Quartet from Unilever and b) Smell a memory from Givaudan

Are there any cultural ‘creative watch outs’ working here?

. Not so much in Singapore as it a multi cultural country.

. Asian culture must be respected. Reading between the lines.

. What is said is sometimes not what they mean.

. Silent but deadly.

Which Asian country is punching above its weight creatively?

Philippines, Cannes Grand Prix in mobile category last year really gave a much-needed boost in a country that has already done more than it’s fair share of winning international awards. They have the passion and eagerness to climb even higher.

Why does creativity matter?

. Without creativity life will be so predictable.

. Makes us human, explore and experimenting to keep developing.

. Solve problems to complex issues. Finding the easy simplest way possible.

What makes the local industry different?

. Close bonding, tight friendship, sense of belonging.

. Recently finished Singapore Creative Circle Awards, it’s not about the winning but the entire creative industry getting together celebrating in a relaxing environment.

. Helps to build the next generation of young creative talent.

Cannes Titanium, Spikes Asia Grand Prix or AWARD Gold Pencil? Which and why?

Cannes titanium, global-value is greater for clients and network.

More innovative inclined. Depends on the category. Print and other traditional medium is not getting as much attention as innovative awards. Ever since Global clients are organizing their meetings around Cannes, the show has grown into a must-win, must-attend annual event.

What is the creative issue that frustrates you the most?

. Poor briefs or miscommunication that leads to unrealistic expectations.

. Result in wasting manpower and time.

What’s the biggest opportunity for creative people?

. Best opportunities are jobs where others do not see it as an opportunity.

. Low profile briefs that don’t get the same pressure as high stakes, big budget expectation.

. Learning to read the client’s mind and doing something they need rather what they want, many times they don’t know what they need until it’s shown to them.

Photo above: Jon Skinner (left) and Christian Finucane (right).

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