TBWA\MAL Tokyo’s Elise Meng’s wrap-up and highlights of LIA Creative LIAisons in Las Vegas
Elise Meng, Associate Strategy Director at TBWA\Media Arts Lab Tokyo, was one of 130 young creatives from around the world who took part in the 2025 Creative LIAisons global education program. Here Meng describes the amazing experience of taking part in the London International Award’s global coaching academy.
The cheap cigarettes smoke memorialised in the carpets of the Treasure Island and the bedazzled Las Vegas bikinis of the lobby gift store was the warmest welcome to any city I’ve ever received. The Creative LIAisons mentee program, situated at the heart of the strip, felt lawless, absurd, exhilarating– the perfect backdrop for creatives from all over the world to butt-heads.
Representing TBWA\MAL Tokyo as a strategist at the 2025 LIA Creative Liaisons program felt like espionage: a strategist had not only snuck into a creative cookout, but was also loose and curious in Sin City. My to-do list for Las Vegas was clear:
✅ Chain-smoke off cowboy-hat-wearing slot machine frequenters
✅ Get a late-night tattoo (no ragrets)
🔜 Get married at the third-floor hotel wedding chapel (I proposed, no one bit)
✅ Lose a bunch (money)
✅ Win a bunch (in learnings and experiences)
With this checklist in mind, I came in with the expectation that there was going to be a half/half split of strategists and creatives in the room, or at least, more creatives who truly understood how to work with us. What I found was slightly different but just as interesting: many creatives were eager to learn, curious about folding strategy into their work, yet few seemed to fully grasp the value of a good strategist. That gap wasn’t a flaw of the program, but was instead, a mirror reflecting the broader industry challenge of creative-strategist collaboration.
Image caption: Winning a crowd over, as always.
The real highlights of the experience were in human moments: the interactions, the mentorship, the camaraderie. I’ll never forget the willingness of each speaker and jury member to hear us out. Being able to ask them questions, probe their thinking, and learn how they navigate the industry was more rewarding than any session. Personally, I found Suzanne Powers and Andrea Diquez’s talk on “Unpacking Creativity’s Secret Weapons (of Strategy and Business)” to be a standout mentor talk. Their chemistry and perspective illuminated how accounts, strategy, and creativity can blend to make the work stronger.
Image caption: Locking into creative mentor conversations
Sitting in on the LIA Creative Strategy jury was another eye-opener. I learned creativity in Asia often requires translation and sheer luck for these international award juries. We often need to overexplain our culture for general recognition, or hope someone on the jury connects or can relate to the cultural impact we’re aiming for. Witnessing this jury served as an active reminder on the importance of cultural bridging required to make our work in Asia resonate globally.
Amidst all this, I was reminded of something a good writer and even better friend, Kaleb Mulugeta, embodies perfectly: create for yourself. He showed me that creativity is everywhere and deeply subjective, and that if you only create for others, you risk being stuck. Hold something sacred to your own imagination; that’s where true creativity lives.
Pictured: Aaliyah Joseph, Art Director Oglivy Chicago (left), Kaleb Mulugeta (Senior Creative Copywriter Translation New York (middle), Myself (right) at the Encore Beach Party.
As with any good strategist, I was happy to have been proven wrong; Las Vegas isn’t just about showgirls and tacky hotel décor – it’s also about the people who finding meaning beyond the Strip. I was fortunate to have met locals who showed me their Las Vegas: Fremont, SOHN, the mountains. For such a transient city, there was a sense of stability and contentness that exists between spectacle and suburbia – nothing like the Las Vegas I had originally expected. But if you lean into the chaos, listen to the stories, and carve out space for your own creativity, Las Vegas is the best stage where learning and inspiration meet.
So, to anyone attending next year, my advice is simple: come with an open mind. Share your world, your experiences, your culture. Let people understand not just your work, but the context that made it. And above all, always keep something that’s just yours– a piece of creativity that no one else can define.
Afterword: All my thanks to Barbara and Laurissa Levy who planned this creative rodeo, and TBWA\MAL for this rare opportunity to meet industry heroes and likeminded individuals across the globe. This tattoo is for you.
READ MORE LIA WRAP-UPS FROM CREATIVE LIAISONS BELOW:
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ADK Marketing Solutions inc’s Akihito Omi
Wolf BKK’s Panupong Putong