GOVT Singapore beefs up creative team with 2 senior hires

Independent creative agency GOVT Singapore has made two senior creative hires with Jimmy Neo as Group creative director (first from left) and Joseph Chan as associate creative director (second from left). GOVT's creative director, Kevin Poh has concurrently been promoted to the role of group creative director (third from left).

Previously, Neo was content agency Carbon’s ECD, and will now be leading OCBC Bank and The Learning Lab. Before Carbon, Neo worked as creative director in TBWA Singapore for seven years. He worked on brands such as Singapore Airlines, Standard Chartered, Manulife, Unilever, NTUC Fairprice, NTUC Income, Maybelline, Levi’s and others.

Meanwhile, Chan has worked on brands such as Great Eastern, Starhub, Scoot, RSAF, MCI, IMDA, Mediacorp and more as the former associate creative director of BLKJ Havas. He was with BLJK Havas for a total of nine years, prior to BLK J's merger with the Havas network. He will now be a part of Poh’s team across different brands.

Poh has been made group creative director. He continues to lead the Sentosa, Heineken Asia Pacific, Peroni and Asahi accounts. He has had two stints in GOVT, from 2017 to 2018, before returning again in 2019.

GOVT Singapore’s ECD Tim Chan said, “Bringing legitimate heavyweights such as Neo and Chan into the team gives us a real fighting chance to continue on our new chapter. They’ve been there, done that, picked up the metals, led teams and plotted breakthrough work for a whole body of clients. They’re already slotting in like they belong.”

He added that with Poh’s promotion, teams will be built around his leadership for the long term. Meanwhile, chief creative officer and co-founder Aaron Koh will continue to provide guidance across the creative department, while strategising plans to expand the agency’s offerings across the region, alongside CEO and co-founder Leon Lai.

The agency has been in the Singapore market for 10 years and was built on two core pillars – courage and common sensea - both of which, it believes, are vital in the business. Helming the local day to day operations, and keeping these pillars upright are managing director Alvina Seah, and executive creative director Chan.

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GOVT's Jude Foo heads to Havas Group Singapore
GOVT Singapore bolsters creative team (marketing-interactive.com)