Ben Chew joins BBDO as MD

BBDO Malaysia has appointed Ben Chew as Managing Director. Most recently Ben was Managing Director at Isobar Malaysia, where he led the team to commercial and creative success.

In his four and a half years as Agency lead, Isobar was named Malaysia Digital Agency of the Year two years in a row, they clinched the Golden Kancil to become Malaysia’s No.1 Digital Creative Agency in 2017 and he helped the agency achieve double-digit growth.

Ben spent a decade at McCann Malaysia, where he served as General Manager for three years. He considers McCann Malaysia the most pivotal years of his career as it was here he developed his strong management competencies and business network.

His remit also included developing the agency’s key assets, such as the McCann Business School – the agency’s internal learning programme – establishing PR and Newsroom requirements as well as the pipeline for Creativity and Effectiveness Award submissions.

With 25 years in the industry, Ben has worked with some of Malaysia’s best brands including P&G, Unilever, Johnson and Johnson, Mondelez, MasterCard, OCBC, RHB, KFC, mudah.my and Pepsi, to name a few. 

Ben firmly believes that in helping drive success for clients, teams need to be relentless in pushing the limits of creativity and infusing technology into every great creative idea and consumer experience.

Ben Chew commented, “As much as it is about doing great work, it is our people at the heart of it all who make the work, work!”

Jean-Paul Burge, Chairman & CEO, BBDO Asia, said, “We met with some great people while searching for an agency lead for BBDO Malaysia, Ben stood out as someone who is going to not only get the job done, but do it in a way that is going to elevate the agency’s core competencies and creative output in the service of our clients. He has solid experience leading teams that transformed clients’ businesses through insightful and innovative creativity. We look forward to seeing him succeed at BBDO.”

Ben will commence this role on October 1, 2019. With this appointment, Ben replaces Farrah Harith-McPherson, who is leaving the agency and believed to be joining m/SIX as general manager.