Lion & Lion to invest in growing SG team, boosts data and content production offerings

Lion & Lion's is adopting a new growth plan that involves strengthening core capabilities and delivering impact through the integration of data and creativity. This will be done by adding even more specialised data capabilities, an in-house content production studio, and by investing in growing its regional hub in Singapore.

A dedicated investment will go towards growing the agency’s team in Singapore to drive more local business and unlock long-term regional growth. This comes as Singapore has become a hub for MNCs, with many of Lion & Lion’s clients having a regional scope there, including Mars Wrigley Doublemint and Kellogg's.

While CEO Fredrik Gumpel (pictured) declined to disclose specific figures for its monetary investment to grow its Singapore team, he told MARKETING-INTERACTIVE that the team currently has 15 new vacancies and five of them are based in Singapore while the remaining 10 are in Malaysia. The positions span creative, social, and client services. The combined team size of Singapore and Malaysia is approximately 100 individuals.

The current quarter has also seen Lion & Lion bringing on board new clients including AIA Takaful in Malaysia and 3M in Singapore. Lion & Lion works with the insurer for strategy, creative and social duties while it partners with 3M to oversee social duties for Nexcare, Post-It and Command.

In addition to its new data and analytics team, Lion & Lion will also launch an in-house content production studio in Kuala Lumpur to expand its integrated creative offerings, optimising growth opportunities with brands that require full creative to digital-film content production services. At the same time, Lion & Lion's production innovation and its various dedicated teams also plans to develop more specific ways to apply what the agency does today within eCommerce and B2B.

The data analytics team will be led by Krishna Kumar, group director of strategy and media, while the content production studio will be headed by regional chief creative officer Cheelip Ong .

Gumpel said seeing how its current product and regional delivery model are resonating with clients has given the agency great confidence to invest even more in the same direction. "With our dedicated focus on the Southeast Asia region and an increasing demand for our integrated solutions, we believe we can generate strong returns from these investments – both in terms of building a competitive product for the future and creating solid financial results," he added.

Kumar said that the agency's value proposition of making impact will be underpinned by data-driven approaches. This will be done via inputs that make all its functional deliveries better as well as outcomes that are clear and measurable.

"With impending changes in the data world that will impact a lot of our audience and media data, our approach will be geared to meet these challenges and help our clients," Kumar added. He is currently on the hunt for an associate director and senior analyst to drive the agency's data and analytics capabilty.

Meanwhile, Ong said that with a new dedicated film and content production team with directing, motion graphics, editing and music creation capabilities; to complement Lion & Lion's strengths in creative, social and digital experience solutions, the agency can facilitate brands’ demands for digital film content that engages.

"Our new T-shaped talent hires across all operating markets will also help us to blitz scale growth to win in our region, while creating exponential impact for our clients’ businesses," Ong added. He plans to hire film directors who are strong in long and short-form content, a film producer, a videographer cum editor and senior motion graphics specialists to complement the cast of creative talents.

It is not new for agencies to integrate data and creativity these days. They are also touting themselves to be nimble while having a global network. When asked what makes Lion & Lion stand out, Kumar said its competitive advantage stems from its integrated framework, which includes strategy, creative, social, and media.

"Because we have all of these skills, the red thread of data will link creativity to media and vice versa. Integrating data with only creativity does not show impact (clear and measurable). And our philosophy is based on the concept of impact," he explained.

The agency is also ambitious about growing its presence in the digital experience scene too, especially concerning new technologies and developments in the digital, Web3, and social media landscape. Last month, it brought on board Desmond Ho as group director of creative and digital experience reporting to Ong. Ho leads the agency's creative team while driving innovative digital experiences across the region.

Ho has 19 years of industry experience helming creative projects both in-house, and in agencies. He was most recently head of digital creative solutions for smart electric vehicle company AVATR based in China.

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