#AOTYAwards MY 2021 spills: FCB SHOUT’s hat-trick of successes and why it is hungry for more

Last month, FCB SHOUT rebranded from FCB Malaysia nearly five years after the local management team bought out FCB. Co-owner Shaun Tay told A+M previously that FCB SHOUT is co-branded as such and is a testament to the agency's "best of both worlds" positioning. Meanwhile, co-owner Ong Shi-Ping explained that the agency has all the pieces in play – ability, ambition, and accolades – to make The Shout Group and FCB SHOUT not just a common fixture in the Malaysian market but soon, a louder presence on a larger stage.

At the same time, the agency also leveraged its No Plan B attitude and distinctive feisty personality to reshape the business. FCB SHOUT has seen much success following the local management buyout. It bagged the Agency of the Year and Local Hero of the Year at the Agency of the Year Awards Malaysia 2021. It also clinched gold for several categories including Creative Agency of the Year, Integrated Marketing Agency of the Year, Video/Production Company of the Year, Branding Agency of the Year, and Social Media Marketing Agency of the Year.

In this latest interview, Tay and Ong share what makes FCB SHOUT stand out from the competition and what is needed for agencies to succeed in today's day and age.

This interview is done as part of MARKETING-INTERACTIVE’s winners' and finalists’ interview series for AOTY Awards 2021. To find out more about the awards, click here.

1) Tell us about your agency and what makes it special?

Tay and Ong: In 2021, our work won more than 80 local, regional and international awards and our agency won three separate Agency of the Year titles. Our client, RHB Bank, also walked away with the Marketer of the Year award at Marketing Excellence Awards Malaysia 2021. These achievements alone propelled us to stratospheric heights.

But when you add in our success in terms of driving business growth, we’re actually in lunar orbit! No other agency has a better business growth record over the last four years than us. Our rise from being a challenger agency to the champions of Malaysian advertising is really the stuff of legends…a real moonshot. It’s the ultimate underdog story, prevailing against the immense odds thrown at us when we first bought out the agency from FCB in 2018.

These achievements were only possible because we were stubborn enough to believe that we could. Our team believed that we could. And our clients believed in us. Our No Plan B spirit is what makes us special and what makes us the number one Malaysian Agency.

2) What do you think is needed for agencies to succeed in today’s day and age?

Tay and Ong: Every agency needs to have its own recipe for success. Each should be different and must find their own USP. What works for FCB SHOUT may not work for others, as our DNAs are all different.

What is common, however, is the need for absolute tenacity.

Ours is an unforgiving business but therein lies its greatest reward: having your calling card, your CV, your credentials and the undeniable fact that you have tamed the beast that is advertising.

3) How do you attract the right talent for your teams?

Tay and Ong: Mediocre talents look for a job that pays the bills. Top talents look for a career that rewards. The best in our business looks for a calling – an opportunity to create behaviours that live on long after they are done.

What we do at FCB SHOUT and the journey that we’re on inspire others to also believe that they can succeed, no matter the odds. Everyone has something to prove, it just depends on the challenges that they set themselves up for.

Our way of meeting the challenge is to develop creative ideas that win the respect and admiration of our clients. This we feel is what the best in our business will also believe in.

4) What do you think makes for great client-agency relationships today?

Tay and Ong: A shared, symbiotic relationship in the long-term success of the brand. When our clients win, FCB SHOUT wins. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: a big flashy win means nothing to our business if it’s not sustainable. As owners/operators, we’re here, we’re invested and we’re playing for the long-run growth of our clients.

5) What capabilities will you build on as we head into 2022?

Tay and Ong: "New stuff" seems to feature strongly in every agency’s plan to generate more revenue. Innovation is of course essential to growth but so is ensuring that the real value an agency brings to its client is recognised. We could tell you all about the new capabilities that we are venturing into and the boundaries that we’re looking to break but what’s more interesting to us is the honing of the craft that has made us highly desirable to clients in the first place: strategy and storytelling.

All of our new thinking and explorations serve to strengthen these two fundamental and essential elements of advertising. Without being rock-solid in these two areas, data is just meaningless babble and VR is nothing more than a gimmick.