Industry veteran Richard Bleasdale joins TSLA as managing director

Industry veteran Richard Bleasdale has joined The Secret Little Agency (TSLA) as managing director. This is a newly created role for the agency. Bleasdale brings over 30 years of experience as both a global agency leader and counsel to C-level clients around the world. He started his career at Ogilvy in London and was famously known for his time at the DDB group, where he was group managing director at Tribal. He also led creative and experiential agency iris across Asia Pacific as CEO before his last stint as principal consultant for The Observatory in Asia Pacific, which recently ceased its operations in Singapore. “It’s been well over a decade now, and there continues to be an unmistakable consistency and quality of work being done at TSLA. I am absolutely thrilled to be leading some of most genuine, talented creatives in our industry,” said Bleasdale (pictured). “Together with Mother, [the agency] has now forged one of the last remaining, independent global networks offering clients a scale, speed and care that only a founder-run creative company can offer,” he added. Meanwhile TSLA, which was first started up in Singapore, also strengthened its presence in global markets through a partnership with Mother Holdings. The move, which first came about in 2017, also came one year after TSLA made its first foray into the Shanghai market with the opening of its new office. The expansion looks to form an independent global network for both agencies across major creative hubs. This includes the Americas, Los Angeles, New York and Buenos Aires; Europe, London; Asia, Singapore and Shanghai. This will allow for a broader reach in both talent pool and cultures for its clients and teams. "Bleasdale has led agencies in over three continents, is one of the best listeners I know in our business and has a beautiful head of white hair! We absolutely want someone like Bleasdale at the helm so that we can continue to keep things fun and surprising every day,” said Nicholas Ye, founder of TSLA.