TBWA\ names Tessa Conrad as Asia regional head of innovation

TBWA\ Worldwide has appointed Tessa Conrad as Asia regional head of innovation. Conrad (pictured) will be based out of TBWA\ Singapore and will be responsible for accelerating the collective’s innovation strategy across the region for client partners, the Singapore agency and the Asia collective. She will build on existing foundations, tracking and scaling current capabilities while building new offerings with the objective of placing Asia at the centre of TBWA\’s growth. Conrad’s category expertise includes auto, quick service restaurant, financial services, information communication and technology and telecommunications.

TBWA\'s spokesperson told MARKETING-INTERACTIVE  that the head of innovation at TBWA\Asia is a newly created role. "In Conrad's regional capacity, she will report to Asia president Sean Donovan and will partner with the Asia market CEOs to continue to further the collective's innovation strategy and bring some of our most ambitious ideas to life with the objective to drive impact for our client businesses," it added. 

Conrad began her TBWA\ career in Hong Kong where she worked on a variety of clients and projects including evolving TBWA\’s 25-year-old Disruption methodology with the launch of Disruption LIVE (D LIVE), a platform that engendered a deeper connection with the changing shifts of culture and how these shifts impact our clients’ businesses. D LIVE was scaled across the entire TBWA\ global collective in 2015.

“Asia continues to remain at the frontline of change, which will impact the world for decades to come - the sheer scale and speed of this innovation coming out of the region make the role a really exciting one," Conrad said. 

Prior to Conrad’s move to Singapore, she was the global director of operations, based out of TBWA\’s Worldwide headquarters in New York City. Conrad led many of TBWA’s future-focused initiatives, including 10X, its global innovation platform; D-Cell, a capability-specific upskilling accelerator; NEXT, an in-depth analysis of its future trends and how they affect its clients’ businesses ecosystems and brand experiences over the next three to five years; and Knowledge Hub, TBWA\’s internal intelligence centre where its best insights, learnings and creative work are accessible to the entire global collective.

"As head of innovation, Conrad will build on existing foundations, fast-tracking, and scaling current capabilities while building new offerings with the objective of placing Asia at the centre of TBWA'’s growth," Donovan.

Prior to this, in April this year, TBWA\ Singapore added eight new hires to its creative roster, including former Ogilvy creative director, Loo Yong Ping. Loo brings over 10 years of experience across multi-platform and has experience with integrated work. Loo has worked with global agencies such as Ogilvy and Tribal DDB, media companies BBC and Fox International, and with brands such as HSBC, McDonald's, Twitter and Singtel. Some of the key campaigns he has worked on include the "Jewel Changi Launch First Visitors", "First on Twitter" and "Singtel Data Extreme". 

The agency also appointed former BBH Singapore creatives Chris Leow and Zachary Desker as its art directors. Leow, who was previously BBH Singapore's motion art director, is said to have a hybrid background in video editing and motion graphics, which led to works such as JollieEverAfter, Virtual Sentosa and Absolut It’s In Our Spirit. Former BBH junior art director Desker, on the other hand, brings skills in motion graphics, craft and social media. Desker worked on campaigns such as Nike Women’s Instazine, IKEA White Canvas and DBS Live Fresh. He also had previous stints in other agencies such as TSLA and Dentsu X, prior to his time at BBH Singapore. 

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