Posted on by Nathalie Tay
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VJ gets ballsy on March 20!
07 Mar
VJ is Malaysia’s proud flag carrier on the global stage. He went to Jakarta some years ago and helped Gojek achieve cult-like status, working closely with the founder who later became a government Minister. VJ’s adventures continued when he was approached by the celebrated Gary Vaynerchuk to join them. That sparked another illustrious journey for this man from Taiping. VJ rose to head global creative at VaynerMedia and has been based in London for the past two years.
His is a story of bravery and inspiration.
What has been the most challenging career decision you’ve made so far?
Toughest and most challenging decision certainly has to be leaving an amazing global and European role, nice pay package and now down to zero and hustling for projects. Back in my Gojek days suddenly everyone was my friend and in Vayner as well; everyone wanted to meet and get something from Gary V. Now that I’m doing my own thing suddenly some of these fellas disappear and those whom I helped before suddenly gone missing. So I guess starting your own business and suddenly is a filter for your real friends and supporters.
Can you describe a time when you implemented an unconventional strategy?
At 3am in Paris: for one of my Gojek projects. The brief was to do a chest-thump print ad to say we are now in Vietnam. We had to create something with a lot of heart, bring a few Gojek drivers to Vietnam and document it. I think I managed bring some of that “heart” into Gojek in the few years I was there. Something I haven’t managed to do with other brands since. I think it was easier when the founders craved for it and I directly reported to them and change could happen easily.
Who motivates you and why?
One of my biggest motivation is to show what Asia can do to the world. I feel being out there in a global role, sometimes Americans think they are the world (giggles). And a lot of other “first world” markets don’t know the talent and brands from Asia. I am super motivated to show what we can do to the world. We always look to droga5 and Mother as the ones but my motivation is to get an Asian name and setup to be as hot as those agencies.
My other source of inspiration is my wife. She’s the one who pushed me to open my own consultancy and has been the silent driving force behind it.
Tell us about your social media hijack work…
Social Media has always been my greatest weapon of choice!
Not many know I started my career in digital. Before I was ECD I was a Digital CD. I’ve always been into content, social platforms and so on. I got to fully express myself during my days working on Nando’s, they were amazing clients who let us play big on Social. I always ask “why would someone share this idea” as a thought starter. Continued the hijacking in Gojek where we did the whole Rich Brian thing. How to be the talk of town has always been my gig and social media is the best way to do that.
How do you manage when you have incomplete info but need to make a decision?
Sometimes you got to be ballsy and just go with your gut when the data is incomplete. But honestly, always ask for as much data before I think of ideas. My Gojek days has thought me that; how data is so important to make the work richer.
Any professional setbacks?
I never felt like I had any setback or even if I had I never thought of it that way. I always find the good in even the bad situations. I am a small town fella lah who got the chance to work with Charli xcx, John Legend and some amazing Olympians. I look at it as a journey, which has been amazing so far.
Where do you see Malaysian creativity heading and what can propel it?
We are unique because we have so many cultures around us. And we adapt easily, so we are good advertising people because we understand cultures and insights fast.
I think Malaysians can really hack it out there, and honestly there’s so much talent in this market. Beyond creatives we also have clients who are ballsy, open to wild ideas, the only tough part is the budgets are smaller. But we are open and got a big heart. We just need to get back to showing more of our unique culture, look at the P Ramlee films. Those were mad days. Look at Yasmin’s ads. And Ronald Ng’s early KFC ads. They were rich. Funny. Had heart. We need to find a way to bring that back, but in today’s platforms and today’s algorithms.
VJ is now back in the region and has launched a consultancy called ballsy.
His is a story of bravery and inspiration and you can meet him on March 20 in KL.
