To those that knew him, Gerald Miranda’s Corporate motto was ‘Innovate or Evaporate’. It has been over a month since industry icon, Gerald Miranda, Founder of Invictus Blue – Asia’s first media agency and one of Malaysia’s most prominent media brands, passed away.
His son, Keith Miranda, assumes the role of President of Invictus Blue Group. The Harvard Educated Chartered Accountant is approaching his new role with drive and clarity. On where the industry is at the moment, Keith Miranda shares that “it’s not lost on me that the velocity of change in the media industry is increasing.
At the core, the paradigm of the ‘customer to brand’ relationship is not only changing but is being redefined. The motivators of human behaviour, let alone customer behaviour, have evolved and are driven largely by the internet of things (IOT). Given this, it is up to us as Media specialists to truly own the ‘Alpha or Value Add’ for our clients in an ever evolving context.”
When asked what he thought was unique about Invictus Blue… “the fact that Invictus Blue is truly a Malaysian brand, with unique local shareholding, leadership, staff, insights, and strategy BUT with a Global Reach. Something my late Father was very proud of. Invictus’ strategic relationship with Vivendi and the Havas Groupe Family has been great.
Their take on culture is game changing for this industry and we remain optimistic and excited in bringing this exciting element to clients.”
In order to guide Invictus Blue through to its next phase of growth, Miranda has appointed industry stalwarts to join him as part of Invictus’ Advisory Board supporting him and Chairman Tan Sri Norza Zakaria. The interim Advisory Board is led by Dato Haji Shafri Mohamad – one of Gerald Miranda’s oldest friends and most trusted of colleagues.
DSM is no doubt one of Malaysia’s / Asia’s most prolific advertising minds having won Awards from the New York Film Festival, Clio, Cannes, and was Golden Kancil ‘Best of the Best’ Grand Prix winner.
Another heavy weight to the Advisory board is Mr. Khoo Kar Khoon, advisor to Malaysian Government Private Equity Firm, Ekuinas. Khoo was ex Chief Marketing Officer with Nestle and brings to the table strong industry relationships.
The Advisory Board has been put together in order to strengthen Invictus Blue’s integrated proposition. Internally within the group there has been some realignment of roles and responsibilities; Chen Shiyen has been promoted to Group Head of Strategy, Research and Insights; Ricky Cheok will assume the responsibilities as Group Head of Media; and Vinesh Thanabalasingam has been promoted to Group Head of Finance.
Miranda shares that he would like to double down on the Group’s Sustainability offering which is led by industry veteran, Sharmini Nagulan, who via the Acacia Blue brand convenes the largest Sustainable Brand Conference in the region set for August 2024 this year.
In this regard Miranda states that “we need to assess what sustainability means in a Malaysian / Asian context and then have a responsible transition towards an optimal state that leaves no one behind.”
In probably what has been one of its boldest moves yet, Invictus Blue has recently brought on board Sara Jalil Low, a Chartered Islamic Banker, to drive how it can meaningfully help SMEs expand. It is understood that a number of MOUs with established SMEs have already been executed.
Invictus Blue’s Creative arm, Alchemy79, will adopt a new method of working termed ‘open architecture’ where the firm partners with the best in the market across different specialisations to bring cutting edge solutions to clients in a seamless manner.
An additional focus area will be its social media offering, which has been performing well and has been an important value add for current and prospective clients regionally. In ending Miranda shares… “God wiling, Invictus Blue will continue to live up to the mantra, ‘Innovate or Evaporate’, ensuring that our clients continue to benefit from these changes, and the Group continues to be the catalyst of change in the industry.”
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