Tay Guan Hin exits BBDO Singapore to join The One Club as APAC Regional Director

The One Club for Creativity has announced that Tay Guan Hin, a long-time creative leader in Asia Pacific, has joined in the newly created position of APAC Regional Director for awards, programs, and partnerships.

The addition of Guan Hin to this new role represents a major commitment by The One Club to significantly grow its presence and level of industry support in APAC.

He will be responsible for elevating all of the club’s awards, programming, partnerships, and membership in the region, primarily focusing on growing the ONE Asia Creative Awards and supporting a thriving regional creative community.

He will also enhance the organization’s visibility by establishing strategic partnerships with agencies, brands, production companies, creative associations, schools, and media in APAC, and developing regional events and educational programs.

Guan Hin joins The One Club from BBDO Singapore, where he was Creative Chairman and a BBDO Asia Creative Council member. He joined BBDO Singapore in 2020 as Chief Creative Officer and was elevated to Creative Chairman in 2022. In addition to founding TGH Collective, a successful independent creative boutique agency, his experience includes serving in regional and global agencies such as Wunderman Thompson, Grey, Leo Burnett, and Saatchi & Saatchi for blue chip clients like Visa, Unilever, Audi, HSBC, Nestle, Shell, Abbott Nutrition, and Johnson & Johnson.

He has also authored the best-selling Penguin book “COLLIDE”, presented at TEDx conferences, served as President of Asia Professional Speakers, and currently sits on The One Club’s International Board of Directors.

“The appointment of Guan is pivotal in expanding our presence and support in APAC”, said Kevin Swanepoel, CEO, The One Club. “We’ve had a strong relationship with him for many years: he’s a board member, served on our awards juries, hosted Portfolio Night in Singapore, and was featured in our popular ‘A Creative Perspective’ video series. Guan is a recognized creative leader in the region who is ideally suited for this opportunity, and we’re excited to have him on the team.”

“Having spent years in global network agencies, I’ve seen firsthand the incredible talent we have across the Asia Pacific region,” said Guan Hin. “I look forward to bringing our creative community even closer, building on the strong foundation we’ve established, and exploring new ways to inspire, connect, and innovate together through meaningful partnerships and programs.”

In addition to working on ONE Asia, he will also promote The One Club’s leading global awards: The One Show, ADC Annual Awards, Type Directors Club TDC competition and scholarships, TDC Ascenders, Young Ones Student Awards, Young Guns, Next Creative Leaders, and ONE Screen Short Film Festival.

Ongoing club programming with growth potential in APAC includes Portfolio Night, and initiatives from the club’s Creative Development department, such as ONE School, ONE Creator Lab, Executive Creative Summit, Creative Leaders Retreat, Brand-Side creative conference for in-house agency teams, and others.

Guan Hin will be based in Singapore, work directly with The One Club-APAC team in Shanghai, and report to Swanepoel in New York.