How it feels to be a Young Blood at TBWA\Vietnam

In my last undergraduate year, I wanted to look for an internship opportunity that is different. I didn’t want to spend my time doing what an intern usually does since there is little for me to learned during a few months in a company without getting involved in the real work But there weren’t a lot of choice, as it is rare for companies to invest much of their time and resources in the development of their interns. But then, I found TBWA, and what they were offering couldn’t be overlooked. Because TBWA was not offering a simple internship, they offered a creative jumpstart called “Young Blood”, a program that was very unique even from the first glance. How can you ignore something sounded so interesting?

When TBWA’s general manager, George Nguyen explained to me and my fellow students about the program, I was impressed with the effort TBWA had put in for it. The part that was most intriguing for me was the fact that the Young Blood program is also a competition in which only the winner will be guarantee a position afterward. The Young Bloods will also be given real works and be treated as real employee. With only the exception of a monthly paycheck, this program couldn’t be any cooler.

Me, my friends and all the question about Young Blood

I was bombarded with a lot of questions about being a Young Blood. Most of which involve the program’s length, the salary level and why did I decided to apply. I like to scare them off by shooting straight away the idea of “6 months, no money”. It was fun to see how most of my peer reacts. They all widen their eyes for a big “really?” and end with “But you will learn a lot”. The program has generated a lot of interest in my university and it seems like the only thing that still hold most people back is because this was the first runs, so a lot of them are still waiting to see how well we will be doing. But in the end, everyone would agree that this program is a great idea, and for that, I am proud to become one of the first Young Blood.

TBWA Office and Working environment

TBWA\Vietnam’s office is impressive and is a great working environment for me so far. That was also the case for many other people. More than once I’ve seen clients walk in and put on an amazed look, seeing our office’s garage style sliding door, the over the top decoration, or the catchy slogan on the walls. It won’t do the office any justice just talking about it, as one should see the whole thing experience it. This is one of the most comfortable offices I have ever been in. I could actually sleep over here if the need arise (I am not sure if security allow that however). I am provided with almost everything I need to work as a creative. But most importantly, the atmosphere at TBWA is friendly, open and full of energy. You can actually turn your head and talk to the far end of the office. Everyone is open for question. And because of that, I know that I have a lot of opportunity to learn even more than I need.

But for any office, the essence of the company is certainly created by the personality of the individuals who work there. And this office is nothing short of an amazing surprise for me. Although the people who work here are mature, harden professionals who have had their share of experience and time in the industry. But they all somehow feel so much younger than they really are. Was the advertising industry and the creativity surrounding their work that make them young, or was it the open and friendly nature of the place that had help me feel closer to everyone? I’d like to think that it is both.

Coming every day to TBWA office has been like an adventure to me. It is unpredictable, filled with up and down. The work tempo in TBWA is certainly pretty much what you expected in an advertising agency. Days that are filled up with work suddenly ended with a period of boredom from having to wait for more work to coming. And when the work flooded in, everyone become so busy that we all seems to forget we even had those boring days that come before. For me, the best thing about being a creative here is I get to be involved in the whole creative process. Starting with a brief and all the way till production, I can see my ideas evolve and develop into something real. I might not be able to have hit a great idea every time, but it is very nice to know that I am able to. Seeing everyone else working at their best is very inspirational. Looking at a senior who stay till late to finish their work had teach me a lot about being committed to the work that I do, and being passionate about what I love to do.

The Bosses

The supervisors at TBWA are great, reliable mentors. My executive creative director, Patrick, is a calm and soft-spoken man who will soon demonstrate that he is very reliable in judging how practical your ideas are, using his years of experience. You just simply learn to trust his advice and decision in most cases. On the other hand, our general manager, George Nguyen, seem to be the exact opposite of Patrick. He is an emotional man who is truly passionate about advertising. His skill in dealing with people is certainly one of the best I’ve seen, a perk that can be gained through years of trying, failing and learning, I assume. With George motivates and backing us up while Patrick guides and refines our creativity, I am sure great ideas has been and will continue to be born in this office.

In a nutshell

Being a young blood has been an amazing experience so far. There has been more up than down in my time here. Even though I am just half way through the program, I believe this has been a great experience for me and I would recommend this program to anyone who’s considering entering advertising. Working at TBWA has been very rewarding for a fresh graduate. I have been presented with the opportunities to learn so much about how the advertising industry runs in Vietnam. If I win the position, it would be great of course. But even if I don’t, I know that one day I’ll be back for more TBWA coolness.

Tai Chung
TBWA\Young Blood

We've got Young Lions, and now we've got Young Bloods

This month our inaugural Young Bloods Programme started off with all guns blazing. This is the first time the programme has been launched in the region. 

So far, our Young Bloods - Vinh, Quynh and Tai (l - r) - have been immersed in the agency's 4th new business pitch of the year (talk about getting thrown into the deep end). We're looking forward to the next 6 months!

Here's the official announcement.

http://www.campaignbriefasia.com/2012/02/tbwavietnam-kicks-off-young-bl.html

http://www.lbbonline.com/news/tbwavietnam-kicks-off-young-bloods-programme-in-ho-chi-minh-city/
http://www.mediabistro.com/agencyspy/friday-morning-stir-104_b29773

Here's a look at the Young Bloods recruitment film.

Room 13 helps us spread the joy of Tet

To celebrate the Year of the Dragon, we wanted to do something very special. Instead of handing out the traditional ornate and gold foiled designs of most lucky red packets (li-see) during Tet and Chinese New Year, we asked our kids in Room 13 to express Tet in their own meaningful way. The result was a wonderful variety of paintings and illustrations. Art director Khanh Mai and designer Tram Tran worked with the students to create the lucky lisee designs that expressed the holiday cheer like no other red packet. 


Well done Room 13! Chúc Mừng Năm Mới. 

You say goodbye, and I say hello

Every year at the stroke of midnight December 31st, people say farewell to the previous year in hopes of a better year ahead. Sometimes it's good riddance, sometimes it's see you later and sometimes it's f-off and die. Whatever it is, would saying hello instead to the past year of experiences create a better outcome in the coming year?

It seems that all too often we want to wash our hands of the past so badly we lose sight of what we could have learned from it, both professionally and personally.

So this year, we're saying hello to 2011 in hopes that 2012 can be that much more fruitful.

Cheers and Happy New Year!

Happy Holidays with the first ever QRistmas Tree!

From everyone at TBWA\Vietnam, we wish you a safe and wonderful holidays. 

Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree...

Okay, so a bunch of people are getting sunburned right now in the fields, but it's all in the spirit of the holiday season. Peace.

The TBWA\Vietnam conical hat xmas tree

They bloody hell won!!!!

Woooohoooooo! Big news. Big, big, big, big, big, big, big. Well, our young team Nhung and Minh will get fresh stamps in their passports next June when they head to France. (Reminder to Minh... apply for a passport now!)

Minh (back) and Nhung (front)

Last Friday night they were named the winners of the 2012 Young Lions Film Competition sponsored by Sun Flower Media. Now they'll be competing against the world's best Young Lions in Cannes this coming June. Not only will they be representing TBWA, but they'll also carry the weight of the entire country on their shoulders (No pressure guys).

No doubt there will be much preparation for the team ahead, but for the moment, enjoy your well deserved win.

Congratulations on a job well done.

Heaven And Hell

2012 Vietnam Young Lions Competition - Nov 11 - 13


HELL
9 am, 11 November 2011, we take the brief and start stepping into the hell. 10 am. Back to our room. Ideas and themelines are posted on the wall. We're looking for the really big idea. We have some thoughts but nothing really makes us fall in love yet. The clock strikes 2 am. We must decide the fate of each idea. Some are meant to be fun, but turns out to be so complicated. What about the other three ideas? Minh gets an idea. He writes down all the musts a strong idea needs as a check list and starts killing some. We begin talking, debating, listening and even keeping quiet instead of saying no to each other. 


HEAVEN
4 am. Phew…! Eventually, some ideas cannot see the light of the day. We finally get the one that we both fall in love with. The morning after, we begin shooting and editing. We know the crafting could be better but we hope the idea can speak for itself. 
What are the feelings after we get the work done? Half proud, half terrified, I may say. On the way back from the competition, Minh and I kept jumping up and down between happy and unhappy, love and hate, win or lose and so on and so forth. In the end, we tried our very best and feel good about what we’ve done. Some ad legends have said when they have an idea, they never know how big of an idea it is until everything is done. Let’s wait and see. Fingers crossed.


Nhung Nguyen, copywriter

Media has become one of  Vietnam's greatest bridges to the rest of the world.  So I asked the team to put together a timeline and show me some key events and the impact it is making.

They know my complete and total lack of an attention span.  So what do they do?  They put in lots of pictures so that I can follow along.  Smart folks

Check out the following infographic about Vietnam's relationship with media.

Cheers,
George

We have Young Lions on the loose!

Roaaaaarrrrrrrrr! We’re excited to announce that our very own Nhung Nguyen and Minh Le, copy and art respectively, have been selected as one of five teams from a field of 30 to compete in the Vietnam Young Lions Film competition held on Nov 11, 12, 13. The winning team will be named Dec 9 and will represent Vietnam in the Cannes Young Lions Competition in France, June 2012, fully sponsored by Sun Flower Media.

From left to right, Minh Le and Nhung Nguyen

We’re cheering for them and know they’ll make TBWA and Vietnam very proud.

Good luck guys!

My Spikes Adventure

After returning from Spikes a few weeks back, I’ve finally had time to digest everything I learned and experienced which I’d like to share with you.

Generally, attending Spikes was well beyond my expectations in terms of quality and quantity: lots of great work, awesome ads guys, big parties (with weird but good music) and all beautiful memories about the local (a bit disciplined) people. All give me huge happiness for the very first time going abroad.  

#1: It's all about creativity

Never think of an idea as a thing in TVC, print ads and outdoor. If the client doesn’t buy it, it will be put the locker forever. Spikes proves that I am totally wrong. Having a chance to see the great ideas, listening to the experts real stories of the impact of the ideas, I am opened my mind and believe that creativity has the power to transform human’s behavior. One of the examples comes from Todd Thompson, CEO, Leo Burnett Australia. The idea starts with a group of normal people in Sydney wondering if we can turn off the lights for 1 hour and save the earth from global warming. Amazingly, all people are so willing to do it. At that night, lights around Sydney are off. Then, many blue chips companies and people around the world get involved. Later, the event of turning off lights for 1 hour is called Earth Hour. Again, the idea doesn’t have to be just in the TV, the press or some corner of the street. It should come to people’s real life, do something to make their life better. In Vietnam, I heard lots of comments and talks about the great ideas in TV, magazines or those of some real events. But the ideas are still too nice to be remembered or talked about. Advertising is still a separate part of life. Ideas are still in the paper and only come to life if the client nods their head. From now on, whenever I think of ideas, I keep telling myself: “Do something that moves people’s asses”. Look! One third of 80 million people in this country are under 30. Every chic wants to sacrifice the community values to express themselves, to live their lives in its true meaning. The country is more open than ever before. As creatives, we must wake up, go ahead to give our audience, our people the thing they never think they ever want.

#2: Time to open up

After introducing myself, everybody at Spikes asks me how Vietnam is doing. In the first 10 seconds, I feel so proud of it. I keep talking about the openness of people’s minds, meaning more chances for creativity, the economic growth, the friendly local people. But at the 12th second, as I am asked about the local advertising, I honestly don’t know what to say.

I and many ad guys believe that we can do more. We shouldn’t blame the conservative clients or the young market or the audience’s education. Look at the award-winning idea by Cheil Korea for Tesco- putting the shopping store into the train, making people shopping there and having the goods delivered when they come home. We should wake up. We should beat the fear inside ourselves. It’s time to face the fear of failure that asks us to give up before trying, of looking bad in front of others if you propose something new, or the fear of escaping from our comfort zone to something different.

But I won’t be pessimistic. Ogilvy and JWT Vietnam win a bronze for craft at Spikes this year. The names of some local guys are in the credentials. Am I gonna see some sparkling stars in the next 10 years? When will we have some legend from Vietnam? Is there any other way to boost the industry up? Yes, we need time. Yes, we are just growing up for about a decade. But it shouldn’t be an excuse to be not open up, embrace as much as we can. Let’s rock.

#3: Awesome people

When I write this, the first thing comes into my mind is the young guys from TBWA Hong Kong. I guess all of them are under 30 but most have a “director” or “manager” in their title. As we first meet, they just smile and say hello. But when I say Patrick is my ECD, all compliment on him and give me a warmer welcome. One cool guy with the curly long hair, always wearing a striped hat gives me his number, wakes me up every morning, takes me to the party every nite and gets me back to the hotel (just that! Hahah). He is a pro hip hop dancer who show me some fantastic move in the club but had his face turn red when I was about to film him wandering around the river.

For the first days joining in TBWA, Patrick and George kept talking about how strong our network is. And when I went to Singapore for Spikes, it is really happening. I was taken to the Singapore office, listened to Laurie Coots, Chief Marketing Officer, TBWA\Chiat Day from New York to update what is happening in the network and how to keep more updated from now on. Then we walked around the office after stepping into the old lift that broke down within 5s. It’s also lovely to talk to the 2 creative guys in the office and had a quick chat about their work. Well, the truth is there are much more pressure and energy and great work coming out from TBWA Singapore.

The last and the most impressive guy I met on the 2^nd day of the trip is Thirasak Tanapatanakul, Chief Creative Officer, Creative Juice Thailand (TBWA). Although some guys in my office talk about Creative Juice in Thailand, I’m still surprised at the first time seeing him. How can such a talented guy be that nice and friendly and authentic? He’s not trying to be cool or talking about big things at all but still amazes you by every of his joke. Dressing normally, talking with a medium volume, listening rather than being dominant in the conversation, being helpful and caring about others are the characteristics I never expect from such a big guy. Just some days ago, I saw his name in the top ranking creatives in THE WORK 2010 book and look up his work again. But when we talk at the network dinner, he humbly tells me to observe the stupid things in the country and make fun of it. That’s how the Thai ads are loved and laughed by the whole world. In the night of the award ceremony, when he comes to the stage to get a Gold for Design for Tamiya Models (a wall calendar that every month can be turned into a different model) he holds up an A4 paper to say “sharing the honor with the whole design team”. That makes the whole hall laugh out loud and give him a bigger hand ever. I have got my plan to go to AdFest next year and get a drop by Creative Juice. Surely, I will see more great things from that office.

By luck and efforts, I got to be a part of TBWA, where there have been so many rewarding firsts for a young creative. From the first real shooting, the first time of getting so much support from the team and your boss (trust me, you will hardly find it in any other agency around town) to the first time going abroad and joining in a big advertising festival, all will stay in my mind and creates a firm foundation for my further steps. I would like to thank Patrick for his strong support. Without him, nothing will happen and I won’t be shaped as I am now.

Nhung Nguyen - copywriter

Bye bye TBWA [from Rosa the intern]

So today is Rosa's last day.  When she first got here I asked her to pen something so that I would be able to compare it to what she had to say at the end.  See below: 

"Although this is only my third week here, I feel like I have learnt quite a lot of things about advertising. I was given a chance to work on a pitch for the Asean Basketball League from scratch which I thought was quite challenging but at the same time very enjoyable. In addition to getting hands-on experience at a multinational advertising agency, I also had the chance to work with people of different positions at TBWA which was very interesting as I got to know and understand of how it feels like to work as a team. 

With the opportunity to go to meetings with clients at Milkita, present the competitors' review and analysis at Standard Chartered bank and to work on many creative briefs have really helped me gain knowledge of what it is like to work as part of the Account team. One of the things that I learnt is that team work is a very important factor - it would be very difficult to work well in an advertising agency if you are not willing to work with other people. 

I am very excited to continue with my internship here at TBWA and to continue learning new things about the advertising industry."

Since she wrote that, she's helped us win 2 pieces of business!  I asked her to follow it up this afternoon before she left.  This is what she sent me: 

"Wow, its been 3 months already?!

Interning at TBWA had been lots of fun. And to be honest - a lot less scary than I thought it would be. I really enjoyed it and I have learned so many new things these past 3 months.

When I first got my offer to become an intern here for the semester, I was pretty nervous as not only is it my first job at an advertising agency, but also at a global advertising agency! However, after getting to know everybody here, I really felt like I was part of the team.

I was very lucky to be chosen to intern at TBWA for the semester. This internship has taught me a lot of what it is like to work in the field of advertising and had gained me a lot of new friends.

Thank you for such a great time, TBWA Vietnam."

I promise she wrote this under no duress.  Rosa, you'll be missed.  Good luck in the future.  We'll keep an eye on the trades for your success.

- George

Spikes Asia 2011 - Day 1

The first day at Spikes is amazing and I will take more advantage of it till the end. The event acutally started at 12 in the afternoon rather than at 9 am so the guests can go through the shortlists. Thus, all have to make use of the short breaks between seminars and the dinner to see the works. 
I attended the Coca Cola seminar where the topic was: Is Tomorrow Agency's the Consumer? So here's what I sat in on.

An upcoming shift for agencies in the future?

Phenomenon:
The convention is the client gives the agency the brief. The creative idea will be discussed till an agreement and customers will let us know how well the idea works. However, Coke did the reverse thing. They gave the brief to the customers, meaning asking them to interpret the energizing refreshment from Coca Cola. In form of an online contest, the customers will submit their films and the leading ECDs in agencies will judge their films.
The response: 1.6 million films submitted during 2 weeks. 2 films are picked and will be adjusted a bit to become real TVC/ viral video about Coke.
 
Why the client comes up with that idea:
Brand communication comes to a stage where the customers connect to the brand individually. They are the ones who actually defines the brand personality and equity. The time of the brand will bring themselves to the customers and get them buy it seems to be over. Now, the customers are sophisticated and ready to lead the game.

According to Leonardo O'Grady, Director ASEAN Integrated Marketing & Communications, Coca Cola Asia Pacific, the success of the communication tend to depend on the individuals who know what the brand needs. Meanwhile, the vast creative source, customers with their all wants and needs, is still available and not taken the most advantage of. It's time to let them interpret the brand in their own way.

Agency's comments:
However, if the future is the co-creation btw the client and their own customers, what's the point of working with an agency? Although the short video shows the juries are quite impressed by the quality and quantity of the films, Rob Sherlock, Chief Creative Officer, DraftFCB still thinks it's too early to state anything. Even with the 2 films rewarded, only the first one really has an idea in it whereas the other rely too much on the crafting, editing and music. Interestingly, he also made a point that the competitors were asked to do films rather than prints because they are not there yet. It's still a playground of the pros only. Again, it proves the idea doesn't necessarily come from the creative or the guys in an agency. It comes from anyone, and now, it's amazing to see the creativity really makes things happen in an unpretentious and beautiful way. The agency needs to know this phenomenon. One, to get ready for the shift, meaning, it could work as an instructor to get the creativity of the amateurs onto the right path. If it's a good idea, it's a good idea. It doesn't matter where it comes from. 

Lesson Drawn:
Honestly, when I wrote about this thing, I worried that most people will think "OK, but nothing is really new, Nhung". Before attending Spikes, the word "co-creation" to me is not a big deal. Interaction? Somehow it seems it already happens in Vietnam when we asked the audience to do clips for a client, to tell their success stories? Nope. Co-creation means the customers are made to cook their own food according to their taste. Back to the point of why I get so excited abt it. Well, it reminds me of the Young Bloods Programme where we put potential students who never work in advertising before. And we give them on the job training while they make their own porfolio after a period of time. More than a head hunting project, I think we are creating a new generation. It is the generation that are active, passionate, creative, confident to define what a brand should look like. Who knows? Some of the ex -Young Bloods will win the award if the co-creation of Coke comes to VN?

Nhung Nguyen, copywriter

Spikes Asia 2011

Our very own copywriter Nhung Nguyen will be attending Spikes Asia in Singapore and sharing her experience with us. Stay tuned.

What's it like to intern at TBWA?

My initial fear of becoming an “intern” was to waste my summer photocopying, making people coffee, and being miserable without any achievements except the name of the agency on my resume. Fortunately, I have landed here at TBWA. I am grateful that everyone has been so nice and welcoming. I’m learning so much about the advertising industry from the creative and account perspective. I enjoy being involved with clients and seeing the process play through to complete a job. I feel so lucky to be able to listen in on the Creatives’ thought process on new ideas and to see the artists sketch out amazing drawings in minutes. I also appreciate everyone putting up with my broken Vietnamese and no one is shy to correct me when I’m wrong. I already feel like my understand of Vietnamese has improved by simply being here. Unfortunately, my understanding correlating to my speaking is another story. I feel that I will be returning to the States with a better understanding of an agency’s functions and procedures but also a broadened view of Vietnam, thanks to TBWA.

My experience at here has satisfied my curiosity for the premise of advertising but also given me a much greater understand into the industry. My job in the States at commercial production company started my interest in advertising and marketing but I never really understood how they got the jobs and how concepts are created for commercials.

I have always been very business focused in school, taking art instead of math would have been a crime in my book because I thought art and creativity was a slight waste of time. What am I suppose to do with my creativity? (It’s also because I am not creative) However, since being here I am constantly being amazed and inspired by the Creative Team. Thank you so much for letting me sit-in and ease drop on all of their creative thinking and seeing their artistic talent. I have developed an appreciation and gained a greater understanding on the importance creativity in the world.

As for the Account Team, everyone has been wonderful mentors. I never knew there was business involved in advertising. Obviously, someone needs to manage things on a business level but it never occurred to me that I could possibly go into advertising with a business degree. I have really enjoyed being involved in the client brief, creative brief, and execution of jobs.

One of the best things that I have gained from TBWA during my time here with the creative and account team is my broadened my way of thinking to expand outside the thought process of an American, and focus on who my target audience is. (Who ever it may be) I believe it’s a incredibly good lesson that I will carry with me in my career.

The Account Team has really gotten me involved with the client process and because they have, I now understand why the research I do is important to the job overall. I would like to go on more meetings with clients just to see how the account team deals with different situations but other than that, I’m fairly happy with the work load I’ve been given. 

- Julie, summer intern

Thanks, Julie.  It's been a pleasure to have you as a part of the team this summer.

- George

Room 13 kicks off in HCMC!

On Sunday, July 24^th, at 8:40am, 20 minutes before the official launch of Room 13 Vietnam, an 11 year old Long and his 9 year old sister Ngan arrived at the TBWA office. By 9am, the young artists were all seated and ready for Room 13 Vietnam.

"Ship offshore" by Ngan

The first day of Room 13 Vietnam was pretty organized, quiet, kind of like an art class. You could tell that the young artists were used to being students, being instructed by a teacher, so they were well behaved for the most part. Mr. Vo Binh, the artist in residence gently guided the young artists as they painted and we saw flowers, tigers, ships, a princess and a robot on the canvases on the first day.

Room 13 artists took to the walls of TBWA

Launching Room 13 in Vietnam was, without a doubt, exciting, but I’m more excited for a month, 3 months and 6 months later. What will come out of the young artists then? How will they be expressing themselves through art? How will they change when they see themselves as artists rather than students?

The goal is to encourage the young artists to have ownership of Room 13 Vietnam, to make decisions as to how to run the studio and how to sustain it.

We took a big step forward towards that goal on Sunday.  The amazing process has begun! 

Our very own Lee Clow. Making Vietnam proud.

Nice muscles.

Room 13 opens its doors in Vietnam this month!

Creativity is the color on the canvas, the waves in the ocean. Without creativity, our world would be flat, gray and painfully boring. Without creativity, so much of what exists today wouldn’t exist, like…. a fork! Someone had a creative idea to make a utensil with teeth that can also scoop up food. Solutions that are so familiar to us today had to be solved by someone who approached the problem differently and creatively.

When I think about creativity in my own life, I think about a story from my childhood. One day at the kindergarten I attended, we had an assignment to draw a crow, and a few days later, the parents were invited to the school for one of those “parents get to come watch their kids at school” days. On that day, my parents saw a room filled with pictures of black crows, because crows are, in fact, black. Except for one. My crow was HOT pink, probably because I used to like the color pink or maybe I just felt like drawing with pink that day. Why the hell not? The teacher didn’t say, “draw a BLACK crow”, she said, “draw a crow”.

Unfortunately, I’m not sure that I have that “creativity” and freedom within me today, now that I’m an adult. I probably care too much about being correct, what something is supposed to look like, sound like, etc. I think kids are damn creative by nature, and it’s a beautiful thing, but where can you find a place today that encourages this type of creativity and freedom? That place certainly didn’t exist in the educational system when I was a kid. Well, in Vietnam, that place is going to be Room 13.

Room 13 kids in Scotland

Room 13 began in Scotland in 1994 as an art studio run by children between the ages of 8-12. It’s not an art class where there is a teacher or an assignment. The children raise the funds to pay an “artist in residence” who is seen as an artist with more experience who can help them and guide them if needed, and to pay for supplies as well. The kids who participate in Room 13 can discuss and create whatever they like.

TBWA got involved with Room 13 in 2004, and has been supporting it by helping launch the program in various countries. Today, you can find Room 13 studios in many countries, including South Africa, India, China, Mexico and Turkey to name a few.

It’ll be interesting to see what the kids in Vietnam will create in Room 13. Will they feel lost without an assignment, or will they feel liberated and enjoy being able to express themselves freely? I certainly want to see a HOT pink crow come out of Room 13 Vietnam and encourage them to continue to tap into their own creativity.

TBWA\VIETNAM ON CLOUD 9

Welcoming the team to Vietnam

“When George said: “Hey guys, you’re all invited to a party with Tom Carroll. He's our CEO” - I thought “How much fun is a party where I'll need to behave!?!” I was wrong.

The party was at a nice, cozy bar called Cloud 9.   Not only Mr. Tom, but we also had 4 other people from the executive committee: Emmanuel, Denis, Alain and Keith.


It was a great party.  None of us anticipated so much madness with the top brass.  Tequila, cocktails, beers and all you could hear was cheering, chit-chat-ing, haha-ing.  And it didn't feel like we were meeting them for the first time.  We talked and talked and talked.  From work to family and everything in between. They've set a new standard for Boss. Super fun and super cool.

A little French with Alain. Some Vietnamese-name-explanation for Emmanuel (his wife’s Vietnamese and he’s curious). More fun stuff with Alain, Keith and Tom.  My initial intention of showing up late and then sneaking off failed. I stayed until late over midnight.  I didn't want to leave.

-Vy, copywriter

Can TBWA give Communism a good old capitalistic push?

The Propeller Group, a mutil-talented production house, approached us with just such a proposal.  Well, more of a challenge really…  Could we successfully rebrand the idea of communism?   After all, here was a brand name that has been around for the last 40 years.  

An interesting proposal in and of itself since a marketing agency is one of the most capitalistic services that could ever exist.  After all, what is more capitalistic than creating preference for one service or product over another?

And this was the challenge for the agency; revive an aging brand that was in need of a refresh. The process would be at the heart of TPG’s latest documentary film the premier at the 2011 Singapore Biennale, a showcase of contemporary art.

It was an incredible and exciting challenge for us.  I don’t think anyone was concerned with the subject matter, but more about the sheer intellectual challenge that was being proposed.  When we did our analysis of communications and previous marketing, we came face to face with decades of symbols and marketing that had generated fierce debate over the years.  On the plus side, talk about brand consistency, EVERYTHING was red and yellow.

But the more we looked into this, the more we came to love the brand.  After all, it’s such a wonderful idea, a utopian society where we looked out for the best interests of each other.  It’s a brand that fits so perfectly with where the modern marketing world is headed as well as evidenced by the proliferation of values advertising and CSR efforts. 

Was this about love?  About being good to your fellow man?  About making the world a better place?  They were all avenues we had fun exploring.  Hopefully the result did justice to the Propeller Group’s expectations of TBWA.  


To find out more about The Propeller Group, you can visit www.propeller-group.com or the Singapore Bienalle, visit www.singaporebiennale.org