Gavin Simpson takes up chief creative officer position at TCP-TBWA\Indonesia
Former long serving Ogilvy creative stalwart, Gavin Simpson, has joined TCP-TBWA\Indonesia as chief creative officer with immediate effect.
Simpson (pictured) was with Ogilvy for 20 years, over two stints, across his home market of Malaysia and also Hong Kong and the Philippines. He originally joined Ogilvy & Mather Malaysia back in 1991. After a 3-year stint at Naga DDB, Simpson returned to Ogilvy in 2000 and went on to win Malaysia’s first Gold & Silver One Show Pencils. In 2002, Ogilvy Kuala Lumpur was ranked the 10th most Creative Agency in Asia in the Campaign Brief Asia Creative Rankings, and he was ranked the No.1 local creative. After 3 years with Ogilvy & Mather Malaysia, Simpson had stints at Y&R Malaysia and Leo Burnett Indonesia where he transformed both agencies’ creative products. In 2005, Gavin joined Ogilvy & Mather Philippines and led the office to win 4As ‘Creative Agency of the Year’ in 2006.
Simpson then moved back to Malaysia in 2010 from the ECD role at Ogilvy Hong Kong to take up the role of Group Executive Creative Director of Ogilvy Malaysia. He left this role in March 2018.
“I’ve long admired TBWA\ and the work they do. I can’t wait to wear my pirate patch and disrupt market conventions. I’m very excited to be part of the incredible team in Jakarta,” said Simpson.
“Gavin is an exciting hire for TCP-TBWA\Indonesia. His reputation is impressive, he is tenacious and he’s a fighter, constantly challenging the status quo to ensure brands he works on are creating an impact. Gavin is a phenomenal talent and I’m looking forward to working with him again,” said Chris Garbutt, worldwide chief creative officer TBWA\Worldwide.
On Gavin’s appointment, Saumyajit Banerjee, chief executive officer, TCP-TBWA\Indonesia said: “Indonesia is dynamic market fuelled by young creative talent shaping the landscape of our industry. It’s a land of possibilities and home to disruptive brands like Gojek, Cek-aja, Traveloka. We’re looking forward to welcoming Gavin to the collective and confident he’ll deliver the kind of work worthy of our brand portfolio. Gavin’s strong leadership, vision and drive makes him the perfect candidate to create work that not only results in transformative creative for our clients, but also developing the agency’s talent.”
In addition to client responsibilities, Gavin will also be responsible for developing and training the agency’s talent.
18 Comments
Mate, the lining in your jacket needs attention!
Gavin is tenacious and a fighter. It will be good to see if he can make an impact in Indonesia again. His last two years at Ogilvy KL were pretty disappointing but most of the network was suffering from politics and budget cuts at the time.
Gav will bang a few heads and raise the creative bar at both the agency and in the country.
Din Sumedi, Adrian Miller, Ali Shabaz and now Gavin Simpson.
Indonesia, welcome to Jurassic Park.
LOL!
Hey, just missed VJ who jus left Indonesia! If not they can have a reunion lunch in Surabaya together. Gav & VJ. Best friends. xoxo.
I haven’t left Indonesia yet, have a month or so to go. I’d gladly buy my friends Gavin and Ali a feast at Nasi Padang Pagi Sore. Not Adrian though, he doesn’t eat human food. He probably has iron and steel for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Have you seen his muscles?
There’s a red chip on his shoulder
His last years at Ogilvy KL was terrible, no client wanted to see his face. TBWA didn’t do their research is it? Good luck to both parties
Gav must be desperate la to head to TBWA Indo
Wow nasty comments guys. He’s just providing for his family
It’s praiseworthy when one works hard to provide for one’s family.
It’s quite another when the dogged agenda for personal glory results in the loss of jobs for others within the same agency.
Who lost their jobs? No proof.
It is quite unusual to see the readers of Campaign Brief Asia to engage in such a passionate discussion in a long thread like this one.
But I must admit the arrival of Asian veterans to Indonesia is very interesting indeed.
When budget shrunk and the local creative leaders are reluctant to take the top jobs at network agencies -many preferred to go independent instead.
Ps:
The exact same news right next door have zero comment! This is truly an anomaly.
VJ’s work is running across Asia. Let us not knock the work that comes out of Jakarta.
VJ’s work ran. But was it good?
We don’t say this enough, but as a fellow Malaysian Indian minority in the industry, I’m actually really proud to see a fellow Malaysian Indian creative continue to rise above and make it even beyond our borders. Great news in time for Deepavali.
From one Malaysian Indian to another, Gavin, thank you for being a role model. Please continue to be a shining example of our community, and happy Deepavali!
Sorry to break your heart – but Gavin is more of a Scotsman.