Former Publicis ECD Adrian Yeap and ex-Germs CEO James Chua get sweaty to launch Sweatshop
“We work hard to make work hot.” That’s Sweatshop, a newly-launched creative agency in Singapore, in a nutshell according to founders Adrian Yeap, formerly ECD at Publicis, and James Chua, ex-CEO of Germs.
“There’s also a deeper meaning behind the name,” says Yeap, founder and CCO of Sweatshop. “We as an industry need to get better at cultivating our most prized asset: our people. Many agencies loath being called sweatshops because they feel it is demeaning and insulting, but yet the way employees there are being worked doesn’t make those agencies any different from the real sweatshops.”
“Our industry is already facing a talent crunch, and we cannot afford to continue working the way we have worked. We believe it’s possible to do good work without sacrificing everything else. We want to create a culture that cultivates creativity alongside fairness and humanity. So as we call ourselves Sweatshop, it serves as a daily reminder of the need to change our approach to work,” says Chua, founder and CEO of Sweatshop.
Sweatshop wants to “be the change they want to see in the industry”, and is offering flexible work arrangements on top of an array of benefits that includes “Sweat Anywhere” for staff to work overseas for an extended period of time, and “Sweat Outside” allowance and time off for staff to pursue their interests outside of work.
Yeap said: “There’s no arguing that creativity is fed by life experiences yet we’re spending longer hours in the office than before. It just doesn’t make sense. We’ve got skin in the game, and we want to do our part.”
As for clients, Sweatshop believes that as the business landscape evolves, so will marketing needs. Sweatshop specialises in solving a brand’s business problems through, but not limited to, communications. They offer different approaches like sprints called “Quick Sweat” and fractional marketing services called “Sweat Buddy”, on top of the traditional agency model. “There is no such thing as one size fits all – just like sweatpants,” suggests Chua.
Sweatshop promises to help brands get hot by combining intelligence with intuition. “Intelligence can take many forms: AI, data, research. But alone, intelligence is not enough. On the other hand, intuition comes from experience, taste, and that part of your body called your gut. That’s the real difference maker,” the founders believe.
“We’re not really a startup. We’re more like a seasoned startup,” the founders cited. Combined, Yeap and Chua have close to 50 years of industry experience. According to them, they work directly with clients and on their briefs, and they aren’t just “two people whose faces appear in a deck or show up only during presentations”.
Chua was previously CEO of Germs, a digital agency he co-founded in 2009 and has worked with clients from varying industries such as UOB, Income Insurance, Volkswagen and Far East Organisation. He led the agency to multiple awards including the Effies, One Show and APPIES culminating in Chua being crowned as Creative Agency Head of the Year in Marketing Talent Awards. Before Germs, his stints include Kinetic, DDB and Ace:Daytons.
Yeap brings experience from his time at agencies including Publicis, Ogilvy, Leo Burnett, Saatchi & Saatchi and DDB where he picked up over 250 awards. He was the first and only Singaporean to win back-to-back D&AD Yellow Pencils and has led award-winning work for brands like McDonald’s, Tiger Beer, Scoot, Singtel and Health Promotion Board. Last year, he steered Publicis to a historic, first-ever Effie Agency of the Year.
There are projects in the pipeline for Sweatshop with clients who are “aligned with their vision and way of working”, and they include a wellness startup and a financial brand among others.