DDB Group Singapore adds Daniel Huang as Senior Strategist + launches Global Feels Barometer

DDB Group Singapore has expanded its strategic planning department with the addition of senior strategist Daniel Huang. In his new role, Huang will work alongside chief strategy officer Subodh Deshpande, who joined the agency group last year.

With experience working in Shanghai, London, and Hong Kong, Huang is schooled in marketing to diverse audiences. The brand planning and customer experience specialist has collaborated with brands across FMCG, consumer technology, and hospitality sectors. Specifically, Huang collaborated with Unilever to help Dove effectively combat misconceptions about beauty across multiple cultures worldwide. He was also instrumental in the global launches of Huawei’s Mate 40 and P40 smartphones, as well as the Huawei Global Photography Awards.

Huang joins a planning team that includes planning director Susanna Yap and brand and social strategist Annabelle Goh. Goh joins DDB from Ogilvy Singapore, where she worked on key accounts Unilever, The Coca-Cola Company, and Colgate-Palmolive. She specialises in social-first and digital campaigns, and has won Marketing Interactive’s E-commerce Team of the Year. Yap is a long-time DDBer whose renowned social-first planning and strategic work with clients such as Google, DBS Bank, and McDonald’s have seen her quickly rise through the ranks over nearly 12 years with the agency.

The team is further supported by integrated consultants, including researcher, strategist, and futurist Kenneth Wee, who specialises in understanding the cultural context and unspoken needs of the people brands impact. Wee is a skilled editor, data storyteller, and content strategist with an impressive track record across public and private sector clients in the United States and Southeast Asia.

Huang’s appointment coincides with the launch of DDB’s Feels Barometer – a first-of-its-kind global tool designed to measure, decode, and harness human feelings at scale. Created in partnership with insights agency TRA, the Feels Barometer is powered by an exhaustive global study that goes beyond sentiment analyses to capture the texture of feelings, including intensity, cultural nuances, and even sensory associations like colour, shape, and temperature. A localised version of the Feels Barometer, designed explicitly with Asian audiences in mind, is due to launch later this year.

“We have seen first-hand the power of feelings to gain an emotional advantage,” said Deshpande. “As a hub for regional clients, the Feels Barometer will be instrumental in making sure our campaigns align with the unique emotional drivers of diverse audiences. This is particularly pertinent in Southeast Asia, one of the most culturally diverse regions in the world.”

“I believe that a brand’s value lies in its meaningful impact on people,” adds Huang. “Thanks to our incredible team and the powerful resources we have at hand, we are in the best position possible to empower clients with creative ideas that move people deeply.”

The Feels Barometer will be integrated into DDB’s global strategic and creative process, adding to the global group’s proprietary AI tool stack – RAND DDB. Clients will now have access to in-depth reports, interactive workshops, and customised applications of the tool tailored to their specific industry.