WPP and Facebook launch Creative Ambassador program across the Asia Pacific region

People across Asia Pacific are living their lives on their mobile devices. The adoption of mobile is not merely a shift in media consumption; it is a transformational change in the way people are discovering, experiencing, sharing and connecting with people, ideas and organizations that matter to them.

Here in Asia Pacific, Facebook is focused on helping partners develop great creative whether you need to reach millennials in Indonesia or working professionals in Korea. With the volume of content we are exposed to each day increasing, the competition for eyeballs is immense. Creative plays an important role in getting people’s thumbs to stop in their feed long enough to engage with brands. But if we want to be more creative, we need to be more connected. With each other, the industry and the world.

There is a lot more we can do for the creative industry, which is why WPP and Facebook have partnered to launch the Creative Ambassador program in Asia-Pacific.

Top creative directors, planning directors, copywriters and client leaders from WPP agencies across Asia including Geometry, Grey, J.Walter Thompson, Mirum, Ogilvy & Mather, Possible, VML, Wunderman and Y&R traveled to Facebook Singapore for the two-day education session. Agency attendees represented WPP offices from Japan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand.

What they did

Day one kicked off a deep dive into different segments of the creative journey with Facebook and Instagram. Client Solutions Manager SEA Rishi Mandhyan discussed personalization at scale, explaining how creative agencies can use Facebook targeting tools to break up audiences and deliver the right message to the right person at the right time.

Head of Creative Shop APAC Fergus O’Hare spoke about the importance of thinking ‘mobile-first’, showing examples of brands that were already utilizing Facebook tools like Carousel, Slideshow, Canvas, 360 and Live to tell stories in a creative way on mobile. Participants were able to ask questions throughout the session, to better understand how to use Facebook to achieve real business results for their clients.

Day two brought to life concepts from the day before. WPP creatives were given a client brief and worked in teams to define the business challenge before coming up with a campaign strategy using Facebook and Instagram tools. The program wrapped with each group presenting their creative ideas.

“Facebook and Instagram are where many people in Asia Pacific spend the bulk of their digital and mobile lives. Through partnerships like this we can work together to make rich creative expressions on Facebook and Instagram that are better for our clients and for people. The two-day session has really helped us understand how to utilize the tools available to us to and deliver the best work possible for our clients. This Creative Ambassador program partnership with Facebook is a first for WPP, and we look forward working with the team to help educate and train our next generation of creative leaders in the region, which ultimately will drive our industry forward,” said WPP Chief Digital Officer, Scott Spirit.

“We are excited to be rolling out the Creative Agency Ambassador Program in Asia Pacific with WPP. One of our goals with WPP in APAC is to produce award winning work that exceeds clients goals. Creative agencies are key to unlocking this award winning work. If you think about the talent WPP creative agencies have and you marry that with the people based targeting and the strong focus on delivering results that Facebook has, the potential is huge,” said Facebook’s APAC Agency Development Lead, Edel Horgan.

What’s next?

WPP Creative Ambassadors will share their training with their teams in their home countries. WPP will also have access to Facebook’s Creative Shop team to help them strategize creative ideas for clients, and activate those ideas on Instagram and Facebook.

In addition to this there are signs of momentum among the region’s industry talent and creative work. Horgan added, “We are already seeing some impressive work come out of the region with 21 winners from Asia Pacific at the recent Facebook Awards. This program also coincides with the launch of Mobile Moves People in Asia-Pacific which bring together best industry practices on how to build ‘mobile ready’ content that captures the hearts and minds of consumers. This is just the start of the journey and we’re committed to helping partners like WPP develop award winning, mobile first creative on Facebook and Instagram across the region.”