The Drum South East Asia Indie Agency Spotlight: Iris
Complexity and fragmentation make it harder to survive as an independent in South East Asia but the scene is thriving. The Drum’s selected some of the top agencies from the region to profile in the coming weeks, celebrating independence.
The Drum South East Asia Indie Agency Spotlight: Iris
Iris
Year founded: 1999
South East Asia HQ: Singapore
The regional HQ for Iris is in Singapore, with 105 staffers, is not a small number for an agency that isn’t owned by one of the big four holding companies. In total, the agency has over 350 people in APAC, across offices in Singapore, Bangkok, Sydney, Delhi, Seoul, Shanghai and Jakarta.
2018 was a record year in Asia for the agency, it says, with its HQ expanding from 70 to over 100, all in response to winning new clients and expanding the existing business. The crux of this success started around a major repositioning - ‘For the Forward’, which explains the agency’s belief that it can help brands thrive in a world where they need to be better, faster and cooler. It also allows the agency to be more specific over who it works with, in order to have clients that align with its way of working, which is all about candour.
“Candour is our x-factor. It guides us to find the right voice for the brands we work on. And not having to force justify any merger model spiel allows us to be honest with our clients on what they truly need from us. Advertising isn’t rocket science. At the end of the day, it’s about having a diverse team from analysts to artists being accountable for the same work that consumers see.” - Ed Cheong, executive creative director, Iris Singapore.
In 2018 alone, the agency picked up 12 new clients, including the agency of record for Tiffany & Co, Hugo Boss, William Grants & Sons, Guinness, Little Caesars Pizza, as well as key projects with Meat & Livestock Australia and the Asean Football Federation.
According to Iris, the ‘For the Forward’ mentality isn’t just about client-agency success but also in how it carves out its culture. It says it can be summed up in three key areas: Firstly in actively evaluating the varied and new skillsets that make up modern creativity and bringing them into the agency in abundance. Secondly, the agency has is working to create a no-bullshit environment that feeds and charges restless minds to continually identify ways for brands to move in culture. Finally, Iris says it is fighting against the trend for very well-reasoned-well-crafted-mediocrity that is awash across the industry with new processes that aim to catch anything straying towards category norms.
The Drum’s spotlight on South East Asia’s independent agency scene comes ahead of a wider research project for 2019 in which we’ll publish a guide to the best independent agencies across the Asia Pacific region. To find out more, or to register interest for next year, email Lauren.Mccreath@thedrum.com.