After a strong foundation year GUT Asia sets its sights on brave work for the region

A year ago, GUT – one of the most creatively fearless independent agency networks in the world – landed in Asia with a simple ambition: build bold brands through brave ideas. Singapore became the home base, but the vision was always broader. In just twelve months, GUT Asia has expanded across key markets, grown from one client to six, and is now moving into its own stand-alone “GUT House.” With momentum building, the leadership team of Jess Davey, Belynda Sim-Mak and Carlos Camacho is preparing for an even gutsier year two. Campaign Brief Asia sat down with them to find out more.

Founded in 2018 by renowned creative leaders Anselmo Ramos and Gastón Bigio, GUT has earned a formidable global profile. The pair built the agency around the bold creative philosophy of championing “brave” ideas, instinct-led thinking and long-term brand building, free from traditional network constraints.

Since its launch, GUT has expanded rapidly across key markets and become known for world-class creativity. When the time came to enter Asia, Singapore was chosen as the base – with a clear intent to serve the region.

An Asia presence had been a long-standing ambition for Ramos and Bigio, and once the moment was right, they set out to build a leadership team with deep regional experience.

The Singapore office is led by Managing Director Jess Davey (below left), who joined from Media.Monks APAC where she was SVP, Head of Clients. She brings more than two decades of experience across APAC and Europe, with senior roles at Ogilvy, Geometry and McCann Worldgroup.

Davey is joined by Belynda Sim-Mak (below middle), Head of Strategy for APAC, formerly Cultural Strategy Lead at Le Pub APAC with two decades of brand strategy experience at VCCP, TBWA, Ogilvy and BBDO Singapore; and Carlos Camacho (below right), Chief Creative Officer, who returned to Asia after serving as CCO at DAVID Bogotá, following nearly a decade in ECD roles at Lowe, J. Walter Thompson and Wunderman Thompson across the Asian region. His creativity has earned recognition at prestigious industry shows, including Cannes Lions (including a Titanium), ANDY Awards, D&AD, One Show, LIA, Clios, AdFest, Spikes and more.

Davey said she previously worked with Ramos and Bigio when she was a global partner at Ogilvy, based out of London and the opportunity to launch GUT in Asia came from this relationship.

“Anselmo and Gaston were my creative partners at Ogilvy and so we would run into each other every year on the Croisette at Cannes Lions, and we’d chat and always say we have to work together again sometime – and then we’d kind of go our separate ways. And that happened every year for around 10 years,” explains Davey.

Davey said GUT’s expansion into Asia began when several of its longstanding global clients, who work with the agency across multiple markets, approached the founders in late 2023 and early 2024, saying they wanted GUT on the ground in the region and would bring opportunities if the agency established a presence there. After GUT’s Independent Agency of the Year win at Cannes Lions in June 2023, that demand only intensified, leading to an initial stop-gap arrangement in which a few people were placed in Singapore to service Asia in partnership with other GUT offices.

“But time zones, cultural nuance and the need for true local expertise quickly made clear that a full-fledged Asia operation was required,” said Davey.

It was a significant step, especially since it was the first time Ramos and Bigio agreed to open an office in a city they had never visited – so conversations began in earnest around March 2024.

“I reconnected with Anselmo and Gastón then; we’d worked together during my time as a global partner at Ogilvy London and had spent a decade bumping into each other on the Croisette in Cannes saying we should collaborate again. This time, they reached out with a real invitation: “Do you want to build Asia with us?”

“From there, the focus was assembling a dream team, starting with securing our head of strategy and CCO, and ultimately building the kind of leadership partnership that we now. I could not ask for better partners,” said Davey.

GUT’s foundation client in the region is AB InBev, one of their major global partners. In Asia, the Singapore office is working with them across several markets, including Korea, China and Japan, and across a broad range of their brands. Globally, GUT is the agency of record for Stella Artois, and the new Singapore office also serves as the agency of record for AB InBev in South Korea.

The growth of GUT Asia has been impressive and very satisfying says Sim-Mak: “In just one year we’ve grown from a single major client to six foundational clients in the region. Alongside AB InBev, we now partner with brands such as foodpanda and Meta, giving us a strong mix across tech, food delivery and alcohol, with additional clients already onboard but not yet publicly announced while work is underway. We started with one client; now we have six.”

Davey said as a young office they are undertaking project work for some clients and not solely positioning the agency as a full-service agency..

“AOR appointments are increasingly hard to secure,” said Davey. “What we focus on instead is being our clients’ Agency of Culture – working closely with, proactively and in real time. It’s very iterative, culturally driven and reactive to what’s happening in the world. We do have a few clients where we’re delivering more classic 360 IMC campaigns, but much of what we do is about creating cultural impact – a real GUT punch.”

Camacho explained: “We’re in constant contact with clients on WhatsApp or WeChat, and some of our favourite work since the launch, like the Corona Japan campaign, literally began with me messaging the client with an idea and them saying yes.”

Currently Camacho and his team are building brand campaigns for some of the clients that they have in Korea: “This includes the launch of new products which are going to be interesting for the market. We also have been working on a few very cool pitches that I hope we win and we have invested a lot of time on other current clients, developing projects and campaigns for them”

He said a major strength of GUT was the close network of 12 offices around the world.

“We’re very connected as a network. There are many opportunities to work within the GUT network. We are completely in touch with them. We’re a small office, so we’re not always supporting everyone, but we are currently working with our Miami and Amsterdam offices.”

Creating great award-winning effective work takes time and it is a journey for both the agency and clients. One year into the life of GUT Singapore Camacho believes they are making good creative progress.

“What I’m most proud of is the team,” Camacho said. “The way they respond to every brief and every challenge. Their willingness to invest the energy, time and craft needed to push for the best ideas is what truly stands out. We’re building our reputation in Asia, so we have to show up with strong, distinctive creative work, and the team is fully committed to that. The awards and recognition are really just a consequence of that commitment. I’m especially proud of how a group of people from so many different parts of the world have come together and created such a collaborative creative culture.”

GUT has a history of brave and confronting creative campaigns, which might not appeal to all Asia-based clients, but Davey says clients are interested in the agency and what they stand for.

“Clients don’t usually come to GUT without knowing exactly what we stand for – our website literally says we prioritise our people, our work and our clients, in that order,” she said. “If you choose to work with an agency called GUT, you’re not expecting a typical approach. That said, very few clients anywhere in the world, let alone in Asia, where there are unique pressures, show up saying they want the bravest, most provocative work in their category. What we look for instead is intent: do they want to be a little braver? Are they open to challenging the category? We use something we call the ‘bravery scale’ to understand that. And yes, we’re selective. Our 100% pitch-win rate comes from the fact that we only pitch for clients we genuinely want to work with, and they feel that energy from us. We’re not for everyone and we are very comfortable with that.”

Sim-Mak expands on the ‘bravery scale’: “It’s interesting, because when we show clients the bravery scale, they often react by saying, ‘Creatively, I want to be here, but my organisation isn’t there yet.’ One marketer even told us she personally felt braver than her company. And that’s exactly the point: we’re not asking anyone to jump to full bravery overnight, because nobody does that. What we’re doing is understanding where they are on the scale and committing to go on that journey with them. Step by step, we help them push a little further each time.”

As for key highlights of their first year Sim-Mak said watching GUT Asia grow from a small startup to a diverse team a year has been incredible.

“It’s testament to the talent, heart and hunger of the people who chose to build this with us. Cos every new seat we’ve added represents not just growth in numbers but growth in ambition, creativity and belief in what we’re building here.”

Davey has two highlights: “First was watching our logo go up outside the office. It is funny how as an industry we are all about the power of our client brands, but sometimes we don’t appreciate the importance of our own. Seeing our sign go up was a proper goosebumps moment.

“Second was watching Belynda and Carlos on stage at ADFEST in March talking about GUT, our philosophy and our hopes for the region. There was a slide featuring Anselmo and a quote from him “Life is too short to do shitty ads” and you could feel the response ripple through the audience. Afterwards, we were basically mobbed by people wanting to talk about creative bravery and what it means in and for Asia. It was a proper “oh, I think we can really do this” moment for me.

For Camacho working for more markets in the region is his highlight: “We have now partnered with clients in Korea, China, Hong Kong and Japan. Experiencing how creativity works the same but differently in each market. Another one thing that I think is good is consolidating a diverse team. We have people from across the region: Singapore, Indonesia, The Philippines, Thailand, China, Korea, and each bringing different skills and backgrounds. That is awesome.”

Comacho is bullish about GUT Asia’s creative ambition and ability to match the world-class, highly awarded creativity created by other GUT offices.

“We are a world-class creative network, and our ambition is 100% to match that level here in Asia in our own way, with our own voice”, said Camacho.

“We have the people, the talent, the ideas, the passion, the ambition, the right clients, and the appetite for greatness. Now it’s about time and consistency. Once everything clicks, we’ll bloom. And when that happens… vamooos, it’s going to be amaaaazing and beautiful.”

2025 will be the second year of GUT Asia and Davey says with their move into the new office it really feels like the next chapter of their journey.

“One of the things you quickly learn at GUT is that there’s a “GUT way” of doing things,” explains Davey. “Even coming in as someone with a very logical, account service background, I’ve seen time and again that when you follow that instinctive, creative-first approach, it works – no matter the market or the client.

“Most of our offices globally started in co-working spaces. The ambition has always been to evolve into a true “GUT house” with a space that feels bespoke, owned, and expressive of the brand. Reaching that milestone in under 12 months with our own stand alone building is hugely symbolic for us. It marks the shift from simply establishing ourselves to truly planting roots.

“This first year was very much about our foundation. Building the starter team, setting our culture, and beginning strong client relationships. Year two is about expansion and deepening those foundations. Seoul and Shanghai in particular remain major growth opportunities. We already have people on the ground in those markets, and our satellite model allows us to quickly build teams where client needs and cultural insight demand it.

“Our goal is to continue to grow smartly. To have people in-market where it matters without over-investing in heavy structures that create unnecessary pressure. GUT is a highly agile, creatively weighted network; globally, around 65% of every office is creative, and that balance is intentional. Too much business pressure leads to bad decisions and bad work, and we’re committed to avoiding that.

“So for 2025, the ambition is clear. We are out to strengthen our operating models in key hubs, grow the team in a healthy way, and scale where clients have the appetite. Awards are great as they’re a way to keep score – but they’re not the current goal. The goal is to keep building the right kind of creative culture and momentum for the region.”

As GUT Asia closes its first twelve months, the momentum is there to witness – new clients, new markets, a new home and a reputation for culturally sharp ideas. But the team knows the real test is still ahead.

GUT’s global reputation has been built on pushing boundaries and award-winning creativity. Living up to that standard in Asia will demand brave thinking, brave clients and brave work. Year one built the foundation, and year two is where they prove just how gutsy Asia can be.