OldTown's parent firm brews up APAC creative partnership with BLKJ Havas

Coffee and tea company Jacobs Douwe Egberts (JDE) has appointed BLKJ Havas to act as the regional hub, managing brand stewardship, strategy and creative communications in Asia Pacific across markets including Singapore, Malaysia, China, Hong Kong and Thailand. JDE's flagship brands include OldTown, Moccona and Super and work will roll out in the first quarter of next year. The brand declined to comment on the length of appointment.

At the same time, Ninja Van, Amazon and Endowus also appointed BLKJ Havas for projects which are slated to roll out in the fourth quarter of this year. The appointments for these projects are at least six months.

BLKJ Havas's CEO Rowena Bhagchandani said it would be an understatement to say that the team is delighted to be working with JDE. "We won the respect and trust of the JDE team with a brand strategy and creative work that was reflective of each market's unique realities. Now, we look forward to bringing the work alive in the different markets," she added.

Bhagchandani explained that this is one of the agency's early efforts to bring together BLKJ's creative firepower and Vivendi Group's regional and global reach. "And we are chuffed to be working with Amazon Singapore, Ninja Van, and Endowus. These are modern, progressive brands that will enable our teams to flex their strategic and creative muscles," she added.

At the same time, the agency has also beefed up its talent roster by welcoming seven individuals - Fiona Huang as GM, Guilherme Machado and Trong Ronakiat as associate creative directors, Sha Omar as senior account director, Joanna Ortega and Marilyn Poh as senior writers, and Ginger Chia as senior account manager.

Alongside the new hires were promotions within the team. Skanda Lokeshwaran has been elevated to senior strategist while Pamela Ho has been promoted to senior writer. Shumin Leow is now senior art director, while Melissa Law and Brenda Yew have been named account directors. At the same time, K Cheng has been elevated to operations director.

Bhagchandani told MARKETING-INTERACTIVE that it looks for everyone who has a thirst for the type of work BLKJ Havas represents - ready to hustle, scrappy and hands-on, whatever it takes - in service of the work.

"Every individual is a creator, maker, in their own right. Whether it’s designing a new workflow for a client, through to creating brand moves and driving brand-to-business impact for the clients," she added.

BLKJ was acquired by Havas Group earlier this year and Bhagchandani told MARKETING-INTERACTIVE previously that both parties have a common vision of what advertising should be like and what makes a contemporary organisation. She added that BLKJ’s success lies in its culture that helps create work that is relevant, meaningful, and impactful.

BLKJ was founded four years ago by Bhagchandani and creative partners Khalid Osman, Lester Lee, and Joji Jacob who were all from DDB. Over the years, the agency has prided itself in "un-advertising - work that didn’t walk, talk, or could be pigeon-holed as mere advertising”.

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