The Independents: Kinetic Singapore

Daring and innovative, the agency has made a name for itself over the last 16 years. First starting out as Kinetic Interactive in 1999, the agency is now officially known as Kinetic Singapore. Marketing sits down with Carolyn Teo, who has been with the agency from the very beginning, to find out a little bit about its culture.When was the precise moment you knew you wanted to do something on your own?When I realised that locals weren’t given enough credit for the work we do.Which year did you first start up? Who was the first client you had on board?July 1999. Nokia was our first client.How did you put your first team together?Sean was my schoolmate from Junior College, and Benjy was my husband’s best friend. We decided to set up Kinetic Interactive many rounds of drinks. I approached Adrian from Ad Planet to start the company, and it was done within three days. Two years later, we started Kinetic Design & Advertising with Pann who’s also from Junior College and Roy, who’s my husband.What was one of the toughest moments in running your agency? How did you overcome it?Losing people you really care for. You never overcome it. You just learn to be less outwardly emotional and tell yourself that you will see them again because we’re always family, just out of the context of work.Were you afraid of failing? How did you handle it?I’m not afraid of failing, but I’m afraid of failing my team.I handle it by always being the “devil’s advocate”. I always feel there’s nothing wrong with being overly prepared. My team will feel otherwise I’m sure because I ask so many questions that I think sometimes they feel I don’t understand the concepts and don’t like it. My job is to understand it so well that I would be able to explain it best to the Client and have all the answers at hand if the Client isn’t sure. So I over-analyse to understand better.How does it feel like to be your own boss? Could you ever work for someone else again?I’ve never been my own boss. Our clients and our Kinetic teams are my bosses because I work for them. If there is one day I work for myself, that would be the day I know it’s the end of the road for me.Pluses and minuses of being independentWe run our place as a family. We make decisions based on what we think is best for everyone. We have our own house rules that allow us to be who we are. The biggest plus for me personally is the fact that I can wear a t-shirt, shorts and slippers and my Clients and team trust I can do my job. There’s really zero pretense. All the time and effort is focused on the client, the team and doing good work, so you don’t waste your time on politics and shit.When you first started out, how did you market your agency? How did you get clients on board?I have to say that we had a stroke of luck. I was finishing my term in Nokia, and my bosses (Thank you!) wanted me to finish the job at my new job. It was for a Nokia video which we even managed to get Massive Attack to give us rights to use their track.That gave us our capital to get three computers. Then we got our 1st award for our next project with Pestbusters (Thank you!) and the jobs started to come in. Because we kept ourselves really small, paid ourselves little, we didn’t feel the real pressure of getting a lot of Clients at the start. I think because we started by thinking small, the pressure wasn’t too hard to deal with.What was your first experience in the ad world? How do you think that shaped you?My first experience with the ad world goes way back to the time when I was a child spending hours watching repeats of TV ads. My Dad recorded commercials and played it for me to keep me busy. I could sing every jingle that was on TV. When we did go on holidays, people would look at landmarks, I would look at posters & street ads. So I knew it was something that intrigued me.What have you taken away from your years in the ad world and implemented in your current business?I started Kinetic when I was only 26. It’s been 16 years since. Whatever I have learned, I sometimes have to actually try and unlearn so that I don’t end up dating myself. The one thing I do implement in my business is that clients, creatives and suits all want the same thing. We want to do what is right and do great work. We just have to try to put ourselves in each others shoes to make that journey an unforgettably enjoyable one.What is the one thing start-ups need to remember in this market?Don’t spend on the unnecessary. Kinetic was housed in Thye Hong Centre for 10 years before we saved enough to buy our current Shophouse in Joo Chiat. And when we got our shophouse, Pann had to double up as the interior designer because we only had that much that we could afford for the renovation. And this shophouse is probably the best investment we have because the biggest killer in most companies is rent. And our prudence paid off because we will never be a slave to any landlord.What is one piece of advice you’d give anyone wanting to make it out on their own?Be humble.Would you be open to buyout?It’s not me to say never, but I think we’ve passed too many boats now. People know us too well to know we love our brand too much to do the “requirements” we have to if we were bought up. We didn’t start Kinetic for money, and I don’t see us ending Kinetic for money either. KIN is family.Five year plan for the agency?It's funny to me why there’s a question on a five year plan for an Independent like us, because I can’t even get through a two year plan without things changing and new challenges. Maybe I’m a pessimist but I see two very horrific years ahead of us, and I want to make sure we get thru it unscathed and still together as one family. :) First team/Founders: Kinetic Interactive 1999: Sean Lam, Benjy Choo, Adrian Tan and Carolyn TeoKinetic Design & Advertising 2001: Pann Lim, Roy Poh, Adrian Tan & Carolyn Teo. We consolidated the company as Kinetic Singapore in 2009. Pann runs the Creatives, I run the business, and Adrian remains our investment partner.First client:  NokiaFounding year: 1 July 1999Claim to fame:For me, it has to be K+. In the last few years I started going on mission trips and I started to look at my job and even though I love what I do…I think “why can’t I be a Doctor who can save lives”. I still don’t save lives, but it inspired me to think of the concept of building a space that could provide local designers avenues to showcase their talents and to bring in international Artists that can inspire the future generations.K+ is now in its 8th month, and we’ve watched over 10 Artists/retailers come into our space inspiring people from all walks of life to appreciate local designers/crafters/retailers. We’ve conducted demos, workshops for anyone and everyone who loves design. What is even more satisfying for me is watching fellow artist support one another even though their works are so different in style. K+ gives me an incredible sense of joy that Kinetic is “paying it forward” for all luck and support we’ve had thru these 16 years of existence. Clients worked on:  MINI, CDL, Keppel, Nokia, Nike, Ho Bee, Fraser Centrepoint, 100 plus, F&N, Hasbro, Lazada, HBO, Citibank, HSBC, Zuji, Wong Coco, Sour Sally, Makisan, Levis, Dockers.