BBDO China stars as mentors in Tencent’s latest reality show “Next Promotion”

In a new career reality show on the advertising industry by Tencent Video, BBDO China stars as the panel of mentors and as the only advertising agency to do so. The show will premiere today.

Sweat, drama, creativity and a competitive thrill, yes the show has it all. So, when Tencent reached out to BBDO China if they wanted to take part in their next upcoming season of “Next Promotion”, BBDO didn’t even blink twice. 

Recently, career related topics have become increasingly popular on Chinese social media platforms, and a variety of reality shows featuring the workplace have thus been produced. 

As a part of this growing trend toward workplace reality shows, Tencent decided to create one called “Next Promotion”, peeking into the working lives of people in their 30s, covering different industries. 

The latest upcoming show features 12 young, but mature and hungry ad people who are looking for career advancement opportunities in the ad industry. 

Only by doing a variety of work tasks at the workplace, and through using their own rules of survival they are able to receive opportunities to move up the career ladder.

“I am very happy to facilitate this cooperation with Tencent’s ‘Next Promotion’. I hope that through the show, everyone will be able to witness the excitement of working in the advertising industry and the type of people who work in it. It is my hope that the show will attract more young people to the industry, pique their interest, and get them to join in,” said Beck You, CEO of BBDO Greater China.

“I put this experience as ‘advertising for the advertising industry. In recent years, the value of the advertising industry has always been distorted by various kinds. This not only discourages new blood from our industry but also makes some in-service peer lose their enthusiasm and leave the industry, resulting in a situation of talent crisis in the industry,”.  said Wai Foong Leong, Chairman and CCO of BBDO Greater China.

Through this reality show, I hope more people can understand the charm of this industry, so as to attract new blood to join, and encourage the persistence of peers to build a better advertising industry,”. Wai Foong Leong added.

“A lot of people thought it was risky for us to take part in this reality show about the advertising industry, since good advertising is very subjective, has no standards, and is bound to be judged. But though good advertising is subjective, good admen have standards. Going into the show, we were all hoping to attract some awesome advertising peers to join BBDO, and we definitely came across some really talented people,” said Nicole Ma，CCO at BBDO Shanghai.

Now that the show is airing, we hope that people throughout China will take note of the advertising industry and that those, particularly with a creative mind, will see it as a career path where they can do what they enjoy and are good at, be creative,” Nicole added.

“One of the reasons for me to join advertising is that it’s fun. Sure, some days are hard, but I love that no two days are the same. There are big opportunities for people that are both creative and analytical, which is rare. It challenges me to think outside the box, to think of new ideas that aren’t on the market, and I hope the show captures this exciting, diverse, and fun industry as I experience it,” added Harry Chen, Group Planning Director at BBDO Shanghai.

BBDO Greater China sent four management members along as mentors to assist these 12 candidates in their growth and transformation throughout the show.

From BBDO, these included familiar faces and names, such as;

The first local-born and bred CEO of BBDO Greater China, Beck You 

With more than 15 years’ experience in marketing, Beck offers a full range of capabilities, including creative, media, and social platform management. 

Over the course of his career, he has worked at both brands and agencies and has judged many domestic and international advertising awards. 

As a result of his leadership, BBDO Beijing has more than doubled its size over the past three years. 

In addition, he has redefined the development direction of a future-oriented agency in China, connecting various resources and platforms to build seamless, powerful, and impressive services for clients to help them grow their business.

Wai Foong Leong, Chairman and CCO at BBDO Greater China 

Identity 1: Senior creative person in the advertising industry. Having worked for 28 years, he has served hundreds of well-known brands and won more than 100 local and international advertising awards. He has been named as the “Creative Person of the year” in Greater China by Campaign Asia and the “50 Most Influential Creative People in Asia”; he has also served as a judge for national and international advertising awards several times. 

Identity 2: Professional Composer. Cooperated with many famous singers at home and aboard. He has won the Malaysia PWH Music Award, Singapore Hit Award, Hong Kong Jade Solid Gold Awards, China Music Billboard, Asian Television Awards, etc. 

Nicole Ma, CCO at BBDO Shanghai

In 2018, she became the youngest CCO of an international 4A agency in China. By 2021, Campaign Asia named her one of Asia Pacific’s “40 under 40”. 

Since beginning her professional career, she has always been passionate about creativity, earning hundreds of creative awards both domestically and internationally. 

Besides creating, Nicole devotes much time to supporting the next generation of creatives in China, sharing her knowledge and inspiration with college students as a guest lecturer at the creative Lecture Hall and a judge at the China University Advertising Art Festival Academy Award.  

She has also served on juries for the Clio International Awards, New York Advertising Festival, APAC Effie Awards, One Show and many more. 

Harry Chen, Group Planning Director at BBDO Shanghai

One of the youngest and fastest-promoted group planning director in the global BBDO network. 

His international perspectives, deep understanding of Chinese culture & consumers allow him to play pivotal roles in helping many international brands grow in China. 

He has become a valued strategic partner for many of his clients and won several awards both domestically and internationally, including the China Young Lions Competition in 2021 and the Young Spikes PR Competition in 2022. 

How will these four people mentor these 12 candidates? 

And will these 12 candidates be able to rise through the ranks?

Only time will tell.

The first episode of the show aired on August 18 at 8pm in China, click here to watch it.

*Only available in Chinese

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