Veteran creative Ng Tian It returns to Singapore as ECD on HPB account at Publicis
Ng Tian It has joined Publicis Groupe as executive creative director for the Health Promotion Board Singapore. He returns from China where he has spent the last decade working at agencies like Saatchi & Saatchi, DDB Group and McCann Worldgroup.
His last job in Singapore was as executive creative director at McCann.
His responsibilities will include leading creative at HPB One, a bespoke solution created by Publicis Groupe bringing in experts from several different agencies and practices.
Speaking about his appointment Publicis Communications Singapore CEO Lou Dela Pena said: “The recent track record proves the Power of One Model serves its purpose of breaking silos, focusing on creative solutions that will single-mindedly address the challenges clients face.
“We’ve been searching for some time to find the right candidate to do that for HPB One, and we couldn’t have been luckier to have Tian It join us to lead that change.
“An accomplished son of Singapore, Tian It brings a rare pedigree of real, effective and iconic work that will raise the bar in how we navigate the myriad ways to reach and connect with consumers today.”
Ng added: “Rarely do we get to serve a national cause when working on a brand. This role isn’t just about creating great ads, but it’s also a massive responsibility to shape the health of an entire nation.
“I take it as a great honour that every piece of work that we do can have an immediate and meaningful impact to our fellow citizens.”
Given the creative output on this account, they have found the perfect candidate to maintain this fine tradition. Loads of [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines]…this client provides the whole spectrum of creative opportunity.
ReplyHow can agencies push for new boundaries if they keep [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines].
ReplyThis comment thread already highlights everything that we as clients have come to hate about agencies.
Negative, bitchy, personal and professional attacks on your peers and your clients, from the safety of a pseudonym.
[Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines].
Other supplies don’t behave like this (certainly not in public)
Why is advertising so negative?
ReplyCalling BS on a press release that’s full of it is not negativity.
It’s called setting the record straight.
Sadly, clients themselves are pretty wet behind the ears these days.
They take questionable phrases like….”brings a rare pedigree of real, effective and iconic work….” and swallow it without holding such grandiose and vague statements to account. Obviously if there was [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines]? You
would think so.
Anyone who equates this account as silo breaking and the many other cliches were auto churned out is obviously living in another brain zone.
ReplyNg has led huge agencies in China (not just in singapore) at the highest levels.
ReplyAnd won the recent SIA repitch for TBWA.
Not too shabby.
What have you done?
“And won the recent SIA repitch for TBWA.”
Pitches are won on a number of parameters…a good relationship as incumbent being the prime consideration.
If he freelanced on that pitch, it’s good.
Probably makes up for the time he was the CCO of Batey when the agency [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines]. Due to his numerous leadership roles in China at “the highest levels” he probably forgot to add that to his timeline. I don’t blame him.
Life happens, either way we’re still waiting on that “iconic” work.
Reply“….And won the recent SIA repitch for TBWA.”
Hahaha.
Im surprised you didn’t say they were so impressed
they offered a job on the spot….but the opportunity to travel
all year around to exotic destinations on business class for airline shoots just paled in comparison to working on a public health account.
Yeah, that makes perfect sense.
ReplyA comment you have made from the safety of a pseudonym
Start the new trend: reveal all and stop being so negative.
ReplyI think @m is right, let’s all start using our real names and set a standard here.
ReplySo true. There is always one guy in here telling us trolls to behave while hiding behind the badge of a fake name!
ReplyAdvertising is ugly, that’s for sure.
But the naivete in believing other ‘supplies’ don’t have issues is laughable.
Any industry, especially one that is service oriented, with reasonably smart people, of relatively equal playing fields is likely to have the sort of stabbing and gossip and prancing to get ahead.
Our close cousins media and PR and consultancies are arguably slightly more famous than us, i highly doubt the medical industry and law firms don’t suffer the same problems, with their numerous awards and fame getting pretisgious positions.
And ‘clients’ like banking and finance? I don’t have to spell it out. G clients? – there’s a bit more pomp and circumstance and regulations to limit the outflow, but there’s also reduced intelligence, initiative , and more talking down to suppliers protrayed in such an excessive environment (not everyone succumbs to it, but I suppose anecdotally it does happen)
ReplyLet’s keep it civil and respectful. A Singaporean son has returned and who knows what he can bring to the table with his experience. Like it or not he has earned his stripes and only time can tell if he can fulfill the mandate of a silo-less HPB One — which seems not to be the name of the account but a new organisation (?) set up to service it.
Reply@O. is so right. Give him a chance my friends, as soon as he reports for work one of us is [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines]. Under bosses like [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines] he will be busy in no time you’ll see.
ReplyWe are truly greatful to have such an esteemed premier gravity defying piece of industry news hit the
[Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines] press. Now obey all of you and do not question our generic press-release. Our management do not live in a world where there is internet, where real people spend their time, so we expect you to suck it up like the rest of us, for no good reason at all.
If you don’t we will gaslight comment sections with “negative industry comments” … blah blah blah …
ReplyThe reference to ‘iconic work’ is really mindblowing.
iconic
adjective formal UK /aɪˈkɒn.ɪk/ US /aɪˈkɑː.nɪk/
very famous or popular, especially being considered to represent particular opinions or a particular time:
Nike’s Colin Kaeprnick Ad, for example, is iconic.
On the other hand, creating a [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines].
ReplyColin K-whatever…what?
ReplyHello
ReplyAny chance we can see some of the iconic work he has done? Even a single reference.
Thanks
If he is the same guy I am thinking of [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines].
ReplyIt is disgusting how you all treat ECDs/CCOs in Singapore. No wonder nobody wants the job. This guy did a good job at Havas before Val got there, so just let him be. There are so many worse guys but most have been moved to Saudi or Jakarta. Please, he is under the good leadership of Jeremy and Fajar now so just sit back and prepare to lose you clients to Publicis now.
ReplyWas he helming Havas before Val?
ReplyYou know what they say bout who do nothing but complain.
ReplyLet’s face it….anyone whose rise up the ranks coincides with Singapore’s award winning print ad streak during “those” years
should fully expect to be put under the microscope when over the top statements are made about their work.
A google search of statements made in past press releases claim:
“Tian It is known for revival of ailing agencies like McCann Erickson and Batey in Singapore…”
https://campaignbriefasia.com/2015/07/22/ddb-china-group-hires-multi-aw/
“Ng is known for revival of ailing agencies like McCann Erickson and Batey in Singapore…”
https://www.marketing-interactive.com/saatchi-saatchis-ecd-ng-tian-it-heads-to-ddb-as-creative-head/
It’s worth pointing out that [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines].
So please….all the best with the new job…but let’s not treat the audience as idiots who will lap up any press release and not question its veracity if necessary.
ReplyFact Check: True, Ng was a temporary freelancer at TBWA during our pitch for SIA. Our team won the SIA pitch on relationship and agency strength led by our new CEO Ara. Ng was part of the team on that pitch but shouldn’t take credit for the work, as the pitch work will never run. The new team is now shooting an entirely new campaign. Records show that Ng’s last experience with SIA was at Batey Advertising as ECD. The agency famously lost the account and SIA was awarded to TBWA, after which Ng left Singapore to China as @Metal has ref. Batey Ads was never an ailing agency until they lost SIA. These are all facts.
ReplyEven though it has now been debunked as PR nonsense, being known for “revival of ailing agencies” is an unwise thing to claim from a strategic point of view. It puts any future agency that considers hiring you in a slot that may not appeal to them.
Also, the comment that implies he singlehandedly won a huge account as a freelancer is pretty questionable as well.
But not everyone can think strategically.
The one thing that is true is that he has experience and I don’t think
Replythis account had [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines].
You publicly state “Tian It brings a rare pedigree of real, effective and iconic work that will raise the bar in how we navigate the myriad ways to reach and connect with consumers today.” then people will want to see examples of his iconic work.
The fact that this work isn’t found by a simple Google search says everything. And Deputy Jane is right on SIA (aside from the new CEO part).
All eyes on Tian to live up to the press release now.
ReplyAra just one IKEA okay, how about that!!!! #ara #winning #tbwa #bitchslap
ReplyWhy is everyone so sore about welcoming someone back to your little miserable industry? You guys should be happy. New team mates!
ReplyNo lah, we are not [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines].Just one more name and stomach to suck our shrinking poison pie.
ReplyHe used to work at McCanns with Wibobo and Craig. I remember him I think. They did a poster that had a giant thumb in a foxhole for playstation. It was playstation. That was a good one.
ReplyThink that was for Xbox… Playstation would never do lame stuff like that…
ReplyHas anyone senior been moved aside to accommodate this legend?
ReplyThere must be at least one who’s shitting himself.
Nobody older than him that’s for sure. Fajar will be a good boss for him to learn from. LDP is also a very strong leadership masterclass in her own right.
Reply[Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines]
Hahahahahahahaha.
ReplyI remember Tian It did help bring McCan back from the creative graveyard by [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines] with the help of a talented creative team which he has [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines] “great leadership and gratitude shown here”. He has been also bouncing from one agency to another in China so I’m not sure which ailing agency he has helped since then as he did not stay long enough. Can we just accept that Singapore is just playing musical chairs with senior creatives who are not [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines]? If you want to be great as a creative professional, try to make it overseas as a real success story. That’s the litmus test.
ReplySingapore is a creatively dead market. The work here is so boring now that we’ve all been Facebooked. No wonder we are so keen to win PR and Media Lions now. I never heard of this guy, but I do remember that Mcanns used to do a lot of credit card stuff. Masterdcard I think. China isn’t an easy market. So what if he comes back here, not like there are any exciting CDs anymore anyway after Andy left Dentsu anyway. The musical chairs now are just the lower tier guys who are running for the scraps that fell off the bench.
ReplyI think he is a good hire what, he can understand simple ideas. I tried to find him on FB but don’t think he has an account. But he can catch up fast. More to the point, after seeing what the “young” millennial ECDs are producing maybe we do need a new/old approach. Our advertising here is nowhere near the level of the USA, or European Markets, or UK. Looking over the work at all these award shows recently I can’t even get my head around what we are celebrating. The work is done so poorly, the strat is retail at best, and the creativity is garbage. I don’t know what a scam is, but winning for this shite that we see digital agencies here winning for isn’t all that much better. I need to get north to the China market or something. Have a serious look at these award winners and decide for yourself guys. We are making garbage and giving ourselves trophies for it. This is just my opinion as a self-critic, we recently won for something that I worked on and I can tell you, it’s a real campaign for a real client and I was a little embarrassed to go on stage for it as it was really some bottom drawer stuff. Publicis is an okay place to work for a first job. Just stay in line is my advice.
Reply@Second thought, China is a great market but more for innovation or media-driven ideas, not brand ideas. Check out the KFC Pocket Franchise ideas, which was a legit piece of award winning work. adidas Hoodie Tick Tock rode on an existing Tik Tok phenomena and the McCann app idea (no offense intended but it is innovative but [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines] as most of us in tech and advertising were not aware of it in China).
Part of the creative decline in Singapore is due to scam culture i.e. 80% scam and 20% real work in terms of time spent on work. It is also about the total BS about media agnostic creativity. Media drives result and engagement. TV and print ad does nothing beyond trying to get your attention and they can’t even do that without media.
I am judging work and I see still asinine work from Singapore using Facebook when markets like Malaysia are experimenting with Tik Tok and other interesting media-driven ideas. I also keep seeing campaigns which just feature a series of films for TV from Singapore sent for online or integrated categories. So I guess this is based on a 1990s definition of what is integrated i.e. shown on TV/Cinema and post on Facebook = integrated campaign in Singapore?
ReplyIt is all just one giant shit sandwich now isn’t it. There is a song by the Doors. I love it, it just repeats, “this is the end…” You know that one? I love it. But good luck to [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines], hope they get this new guy [Edited under Mumbrella’s community guidelines].
ReplyHave your say