Ad veteran SP Lee exits full-time role with SearchGuru, launches Pocket Stories

Industry veteran S P Lee has stepped down from his full-time role as creative director at SearchGuru to launch his creative consultancy Pocket Stories, which provides strategy, ideation and AV production. In a conversation with A+M, Lee said Pocket Stories in a snapshot focuses on content. This can be branded content, pocket documentaries, or ads. The establishment's first video was an assignment from Ampersand Advisory for International Women's Day.

Lee told A+M that what is vital today is how brands get messages across to ensure they are being viewed and shared by consumers. "In this age of Tik Tok, Instagram stories, games and memes, competition for attention is harder than ever. The platforms have all the bells and whistles which enables people to create very engaging stuff which suck viewers in all day," he said.

He added that brands today are no longer just fighting with just their competitors, but are fighting to be heard in this sea of overwhelming information. As such, getting a few seconds of someones attention is a major accomplishment. “Pocket Stories comes from the fact that the first thing we turn to for stories in this thing in our pocket. Those ten of so square inches of screen on our mobiles is really the expensive real estate in the world. Everyone wants a piece of it.”

Prior to his time with SearchGuru, Lee spent 16 years with Dentsu/DYR group, helming various roles such as CEO, ECD and writer. He was also with Draft:FCB and Bates for six years each as ECD, and a journalist for the New Straits Times for three years. Lee told A+M previously that when he first started in SearchGuru, some asked if he was out of his comfort zone, having started in a creative agency with a media department.

To this he generally replies, "I began in a creative-media model agency, so I am very comfortable here. I’ve worked in a silo before, and clearly having creative, paid, search and web in one space makes better sense." He added that technology has also changed the way consumers consume content and regardless of how that evolves in the future, the job scope of those in the advertising field remains the same - to engage and sell. 

He told A+M then that having mainly worked with individuals from the creative and media industries for several years, it is "refreshing" to be surrounded by "tech geeks who live on the left-hand side of their heads".