Richard Yu leaves his Regional Chief Creative Officer role at ADK after 11 years

One of Greater China’s leading creative leaders, Richard Yu, has departed ADK. Yu had risen to Regional Chief Creative Officer, Greater China for the network and his departure ends his 11-year partnership with ADK Taiwan.

Yu’s immediate plan is to take a 2-3 month break, before continuing his career in the industry. He started his career at McCann-Erickson Taiwan in 1993 and worked at Leo Burnett, JWT and Bates in Taiwan before joining ADK Taiwan in 2012.

Yu is highly enthusiastic about creativity and that has never changed since he started his career in the advertising industry in 1993. His first international award was starting from Cannes Press Lions in 2004, and then he regained the glory by his signature work, “Uni Noodles – House of Little Moments” series film, capturing the Grand Prix of Branded Entertainment for Spikes Asia in 2015, Entertainment Gold Lion and Media Silver Lion at Cannes Lions 2016, and Entertainment Bronze Lion in 2021. In 2018, he received his third D&AD pencil praise with his innovate work, “Rhythm of Love Wall” created for 7-ELEVEN Taiwan, which won 86 awards internationally and locally in 2018.

Taiwan’s most awarded creative leader, Yu has lead ADK Taiwan to win awards at Cannes Lions, D&AD, London International Awards, Spikes Asia, ADFEST, AD STARS, AWARD, One Show Greater China, LIA Chinese Creativity Show and LongXi amongst others.

In early 2019 Yu was elevated from the CCO role at ADK Taiwan to the the network’s Regional Chief Creative Officer role for Greater China.

Over his time at ADK Taiwan, Yu created several significant “first” achievements for the advertising industry in Taiwan.

Under Yu’s leadership ADK Taiwan ranked in the prestigious “Top 20 Asia’s Hottest Creative Agency” table of the Campaign Brief Asia Creative Ranking for five consecutive years (2016~2020).

Yu said: “This is a huge honor.” Additionally he was honored as one of the “Top 20 Asia’s Most Awarded Creative Leaders” for five consecutive years.

Yu said during his tenure at ADK the agency amassed approximately 1,006 local, regional, and global awards. These accolades include the first-ever Cannes Lions Brand Entertainment Gold Lion in Taiwan, three consecutive Agency of the Year at the ONE SHOW Greater China Awards, and two consecutive Agency of the Year honours at the LIA Chinese Creativity Show.

“Every year, we endeavored to create a diverse range of excellent works, earning a strong creative reputation for the ADK brand and winning numerous new business.”

Another personal highlight came in 2016, when he was selected as the “Greater China Creative of the Year” at the Campaign Asia-Pacific AOY Awards. That same year he also received the “4A Creative Achievement Award” at Taiwan’s 4A Creative Awards.

Over the years, he served as a judge or Jury President for several major and prestigious regional and global creative awards.

“Through these roles, I actively contributed to the industry and had the opportunity to establish a reputation and influential presence for the ADK brand. Recently, I completed my role as the Jury President of the Experiential panel for D&AD 2023.”

Yu believe that Taiwan’s advertising industry is still continually evolving towards a brighter future.

“Larger agencies are actively undergoing transformations to diversify their capabilities to integrate various channels and resources, providing customers with comprehensive and one-stop services to boost profitability. On the other hand, smaller and independent creative agencies are striving to strengthen their unique expertise and styles, securing an irreplaceable position in the market.

“When it comes to the level of creativity, in addition to the internationally acclaimed emotional storytelling films created in Taiwan, we have also witnessed an increase in the number of outstanding works across different categories that have won international recognition in recent years – particularly in the fields of design and film production. I am of the opinion that if we can foster more opportunities and collaborate with diverse creative teams from around the world, Taiwan’s creativity will experience faster breakthroughs.”

Regarding creative talent Yu believes Taiwan’s industry boasts numerous excellent senior creative talent.

“However, in recent years there has been a slight concern over the increasing difficulty in finding senior talents who are willing to work in-house. Many seasoned creative talents have either left the industry or opted for freelance. Consequently, attracting the interest and enthusiasm of the younger generation towards the advertising industry has become an urgent matter that I believe requires immediate attention.”