Kinetic Singapore's co-founder Carolyn Teo bids farewell to ad land

Carolyn Teo (pictured), co-founder of Kinetic Singapore, has left the agency to focus on her family business - more specifically running her late father's business in disinfectants and spending more time with her daughters.Teo told Marketing in an interview that she will continue to work with Kinetic behind the scenes until December 2018 to assist with certain aspects of the business and coach the team.Teo founded the agency in 1999 alongside Sean Lam, Benjy Choo, Adrian Tan. Known as Kinetic Interactive back then, the agency changed its name to Kinetic Design & Advertising in 2001. The move saw Teo and Tan leading the agency with current creative director Pann Lim and Teo's husband Roy Poh. In 2009, the company was consolidated as Kinetic Singapore, with Teo running the business while Lim is in charge of the creative aspect. Meanwhile, Tan remains the agency's investment partner.Among the list of clients the agency has worked with include MINI, CDL, Keppel, Nokia, Nike, Ho Bee, Fraser Centrepoint, 100 plus, F&N, Hasbro, Lazada, HBO, Citibank and HSBC, among others.Commenting on her decision to move, Teo said her father's passing last year made her realise it was important to prioritise and choose what is needed to be done. "You only have 24 hours, you can't extend that but you can decide what you want to do within that 24 hours. I have been with Kinetic for 19 years so whatever I wanted to do, is done," she said.Nonetheless, Teo sees the move as her leaving the "work aspect" of Kinetic, because of the strong relationships and friendships she has forged within the agency and her clients over the years. She said:I'm not worried because I'm not leaving the people, I'm just leaving the work behind.Teo also described Kinetic to be her home and while she is stepping down from her role, she is "not closing the door to [her] home".When asked if she will join another firm if she were to ever return to the agency world, Teo said no. "I don't think I can ever go to another house and feel the same," she added.[gallery link="file" ids="237644,237643,237638,237639,237640,237641,237642,237637"]According to Teo, she has been gradually taking a step back from her duties at Kinetic in the past year to focus on her daughter's indoor skydiving career. As such, her other colleagues, including Lim, were responsible for taking over the account servicing aspect of Kinetic and meeting with clients.Lim, who was also present during the interview, said he knew he had to continue running the agency amidst the gradual change, adding that he had also prepared himself for Teo's eventual departure. "We have a strong team and both of us have been very hands on as bosses. Over the years, Teo has imparted her knowledge and guidelines of how things should be done, so all of us know the fundamentals of running the agency," Lim said."It's always sad to see someone leave. And [given Teo's contributions] of course there will be a difference [in the agency], and we might take awhile to get used to it. To put it colloquially, the atmosphere will be 'same same but different'," he added. Lim also acknowledged that Teo has played a crucial role in the agency since its founding and that the team has "huge shoes to fill".While nervous about the new journey, Lim is also excited about learning new skills."I have to do this because if I never try, I will never know. I want to make my weaknesses my strengths, and my strengths stronger because at the end of the day, I still love what I'm doing," he told Marketing.Read the rest of Teo's interview below:Marketing: What are some of the biggest challenges you faced at Kinetic?Halfway through [my time there], I think the awards industry got to me and I lost passion for the industry. While I agree with Lim that awards are to reward the next generation of individuals who join ad land, I also believe that in our industry, you either sell things to millions of people who don't need it, or you have people who win things that actually build egos that may not be in the right place.Despite losing my passion for the industry, I lasted another nine years just by focusing on the people at Kinetic. This was also how K+ came about. [Launched in January 2015, K+ was curatorial space owned by Kinetic and was a combination of a gallery, shop and workshop space and featured works from local and international artists. K+ closed its doors in June this year.]I needed to find sanity and do something that I feel is meaningful in my life. I felt K+ was an outlet for us to put our money where our heart is and do something good for the community.Marketing: What are some of your takeaways from the ad world?Do what is right, we forget that sometimes but that's what's important for me. Although I often feel torn between what I'm doing and what has meaning in my life, I would like to think that we've made a meaningful impact in every person who has worked at Kinetic. To me, it's not about how much you pay an individual or how much work that person has done. The question we always ask is who will come back and find you when they walk out of the office.Marketing: What is your idea of "great work" and how do you achieve that?I feel the reason why Kinetic has lasted 19 years is because we consistently do great work and meet the client's brief. Most times, we delivered more and to me, that accounts for a job well done.In my opinion, account servicing is an extended arm of the client's marketing department. I don't expect a client to tell me what I am required to do. I work with the client to ensure we are on the same page and work towards a better brief.Great work is about consistency and making a difference in people's lives.There are two works that I am most proud of - K+ and the single mother's campaign titled #asinglelove. I didn't expect my letter to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to go viral. I wrote it because we had a staff who was at that time a single Mum and I found her plight to be disturbing. However, when it went viral, we decided to launch a campaign to show our support for and empower single parents and their families. When we did the campaign, I knew it was not going to win any awards but I wanted to help promote change.Marketing: What are your hopes for the ad land?I just think everybody should live amicably and happily together, that's what I really hope the industry will be. I'm just doing it for the people and my clients, because a lot of my clients have become my good friends.Marketing: What tips do you have for young people who want to join the agency world?You need to have the passion for it because ultimately, that's the only thing that's going to keep you going. Some people do it for the money but this is just temporary. You need to really have the passion, not just for advertising but for everything that you do.I would like to thank all my clients, industry friends, my Kinetic family (especially baby Biru) and every person I have crossed paths with in the course of work. I would especially like to thank Lim for really tolerating a lot of my sh*t and being my best partner ever. I’m really excited to see Kinetic’s new journey.Love always wins and I will always have Kinetic in my heart. Love you all!