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New creative agency Nine:TwentyEight opens up in SG

New creative agency Nine:TwentyEight opens up in SG

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A new creative agency has opened its doors in Singapore. Called Nine:TwentyEight, the agency is launched by four partners, Katherine Khor, Kevin Joseph, Pradeep D'Souza, and Jude Foo. Prior to launching Nine:TwentyEight, Foo was GM at BLKJ Havas. He first joined Havas Group in 2018 as director of client services for the creative business and his appointment was part of a management structure to bring together creative, media, digital and public relations under the Havas Village umbrella previously. He was promoted to GM at the end of 2019.

ninetwentyeight founders lr 1

With the new team, Foo will handle the business and administrative side of things, while the three creative partners handle the creative work.

Meanwhile, Khor is the co-founder and creative director at Nine:TwentyEight for the past eight months. Previously, she was the associate creative director at GOVT for over six years where she worked with Nestle, Netflix, and OCBC. Khor also worked for Young & Rubicam and Leo Burnett as senior art director and at McCann Worldgroup as art director. Khor will look over art.

Joseph heads up copy and was last associate creative director at GOVT. He was at the agency for five years. Similarly, D'Souza, who is now both the co-founder and creative partner at the agency, he previously worked for GOVT as a creative director for over four years starting in 2017. He also worked for DDB Group Asia Pacific and DDB Group Singapore as the creative director and creative group head for five years and two years respectively. D'Souza doubles up with creative and planning.

Foo told MARKETING-INTERACTIVE that the partners are committed to “being tenacious in creating fun” while coming up with “entertaining and effective solutions” for clients – regardless of platforms. Some of the clients the agency currently works with include Cycle & Carriage, Urban Company, NTUC and ANEXT Bank along with some projects in the pipeline with other clients.

Future plans

Currently the team consists of 10 members, and Foo and the partners are looking for talent to add to the team progressively. He added that it is a relatively simple model in which the agency operates of suits and creatives but expansion is definitely in the cards for the next three years. "At the end of the day, an idea is an idea. If you have a product or service you need to advertise to someone, we’ll find a way to get you their attention,” he shared. He added that while currently the team consists of more senior hires, which wasn’t exactly planned, it also allows the teams to run independently which clients appreciate.

When asked what led to Foo and his partners launching in a crowded market like Singapore, he said it is about “pushing the ceiling upwards." “That applies to our own growth and that of our clients. And that’s what this is about. It’s about taking risks, striking it out on your own and discovering just how far your talent and potential can take you. Whether we succeed or not, we all knew we would regret it one day if we didn’t take our shot,” he said.

"Singapore is so competitive that if our ideas and work and can stand out, then we know that we are doing great work," he said.

He added that all the partners have learnt from their previous roles and felt that there were learnings that could put in place if the right team was formed. Explaining the name of the agency, Foo added, “We started with a long list of names. We overthought it. We had a few drinks. We under-thought it. We had a few more drinks and in the end, we decided to go with the timestamp in our group chat when our first client was confirmed. It was our ‘what the heck - let’s give it a shot’ moment."

 

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GOVT Singapore helps biscuit brand Julie's resonate with China market
GOVT Singapore bolsters creative team

 

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