#AOTYAwards 2021 spills: That Marketing Guy's journey in creating a winning strategy

Founded in 2012, That Marketing Guy is an integrated marketing agency and consultancy designed to perform as a natural extension of any business. Among the list of brands the agency has worked with include Tower Transit Singapore, 7-Eleven Singapore, MSIG Singapore, DSO National Laboratories and NTUC LearningHub. It recently won gold for Rising Star and was nominated for Boutique Agency of the Year, Full Service Agency of the Year, Mobile Marketing Agency of the Year, and Agency Leader of the Year at MARKETING-INTERACTIVE's Agency of the Year Awards 2021.

Will Lee (pictured), founder of That Marketing Guy, told MARKETING-INTERACTIVE that it was important to the agency that it did not shoehorn itself into any particular aspect of creative, digital, or media. He also explained the agency's plans to build a stronger brand reputation through sharing its views on industry trends and announcing new project wins in the near future.

This interview is done as part of MARKETING-INTERACTIVE’s winners' and finalists’ interview series for AOTY Awards 2021. To find out more about the awards, click here.

Tell us what these achievements mean for you?

Lee: That Marketing Guy has grown tremendously since it first started in 2012, and I’ve grown a lot too. When we first started, there wasn’t really a plan – we made a lot of mistakes and figured things out along the way. This award is recognition that despite the challenges which we had to overcome (with the limited resources we have), we have done many things right.

What makes you proudest about being part of your agency?

Lee: I’m most proud of the fact that the agency has grown from ground zero without any external investments or funding and we remain independent. Today, That Marketing Guy is not just a guy: we have a team of truly passionate people bound together by our shared values and vision of helping brands live forever.

The company was founded on the belief that “marketing is everything”. From a business point of view, good marketing can be transformative. It is also important to us that we didn’t shoehorn ourselves into social media, digital, creative or any particular aspect of it. It’s all about solving for the customer: Asking “why” and figuring out “how” before deciding on the “what”.

Along the way, we have found many clients who also share the same values – many of these are the relationships that have stood the test of time, and we have grown so much together over the years. I’m really proud that our team has been entrusted with opportunities to do work for clients that intrigue and delight millions of people.

What are some of the initiatives you have in place to ensure your staff feel proud to be associated with your agency?

Lee: We started taking part in MARKETING-INTERACTIVE’s suite of industry awards in 2020. From putting together the submissions, coming together for meals while watching the awards show and celebrating our wins, we’ve seen how these awards have helped bring people closer and provided much-needed external recognition for the amazing work that we’ve been doing. When we’re not winning, we’re constantly looking at what our peers in the industry are doing, sharing these best practices in our dedicated Slack channel towards learning with each other.

Other than this, we hope to invest time and effort to work closer with MARKETING-INTERACTIVE and other thought leaders to build a stronger brand reputation through sharing our views on industry trends and announcing new project wins in the near future.

How are you attracting talent to your agency?

Lee: Last year, we took on the challenge of crystallising our “why” and “how” through shared vision and values respectively – with these, we hope to attract like-minded people to the team: These act as our north star, which was particularly helpful as we transitioned to working from home due to the pandemic, which required everyone to work more independently while maintaining their efficiency. For example, our values provide a clear framework for what the organisation demands of its people: how they should think, act and win in every situation.

Based on our observation and feedback from our colleagues, we also implemented stronger policies for flexible work arrangements such as time banking and staggered hours; clearer meal and transport reimbursement, personal equipment use benefit, learning and development programmes and incentives, just to name a few. There is still a lot to do, and we look forward to continuously improving the employee experience by creating a positive environment for great ideas to germinate and thrive.

What are your hopes for the Singapore advertising scene in 2021?

Lee: The past two years have been incredibly challenging for everyone. In 2021 and beyond, we hope to have more opportunities to tell stories of empathy, hope and resilience for brands as we move through the crisis of our generation – to help them engage instead of transact; to nurture advocates instead of customers; to see profit as a byproduct instead of an outcome; and to be remembered as part of culture and history in a meaningful way.