The Chariot Agency solidifies leadership team, grows to 30 staff

A year after The Chariot Agency was founded, the team has now grown from six to 30 individuals, along with a full senior leadership team. It brought on board Bryan Leong as strategy director, Gillian Yap as head of account management, Kuah Jenhan as creative content director, Christyna Fong and Ng Yao Ding as creative group heads, and Vanessa Pang as senior manager - agency ops.

Leong is responsible for digital/brand strategy and community management while Yap oversees client management. Kuah is responsible for its influencer/KOL engagement arm Chariot Creators, while Fong and Ng lead the creatives. Pang is responsible for keeping the agency in check. MD Adrian Cheah told A+M that Chariot's plans remain the same - to disrupt and create work that speaks to people in a way that connects them with brands.

"We believe, with a structured team across all functions, they are able to focus on their respective craft but more importantly our young team now have a space to learn from individuals who are well experienced in what they do. As for our leads, they are empowered to decide how their department operates – this gives ECD Jarrod Reginald and I space to also learn and see perspectives from others instead of being stuck in our own bubble," he explained.

The Chariot Agency is currently backed by Foetus Group and joins sister agencies Naga DDB Tribal, Milk PR, Vogue Point, C27 and Ampersand Advisory. Both Cheah and Reginald told A+M in a previous interview that it plans to keep the agency bottom-heavy as it wants to encourage younger employees to learn and grow.

The agency name also reflects its creative entrepreneurial mindset. "To be more creative you need to be more inquisitive too by seeking out new opportunities and solving unusual problems," Reginald said then. As a result, the team pushes itself to think about the type of content required and how they can grow and engage with the fan base. Chariot launched with Tiger Beer and Costa Coffee as clients. It has since expanded its portfolio to Netflix, Taco Bell, Glico and more recently TikTok Malaysia. It is currently working with TikTok to create content on its owned channels, an experience which Cheah describes as "really interesting as the work being done is not conventional advertising but towards entertaining people". 

"We have not pitched much this year as we have been working to stabilise existing clients to ensure it is well resourced, relooking at strategies and to a certain extent, refreshing the work," he added. The team also bagged bronze for Boutique Agency of the Year and silver for New Kid on the Block at A+M's Agency of the Year Malaysia 2022 Awards.

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