Yip Su Ann and Seth Low take top prize at ‘On the Spot’ Singapore competition winning places to LIA’s Creative LIAisons in Las Vegas

LIA has awarded two places to their Creative LIAisons onsite programme in Las Vegas to the winners of the ‘On the Spot’ Young Creative Competition in Singapore. This live competition, which was held in partnership with GOVT VCCP presented Yip Su Ann and Seth Low of Team Wolfbird (from McCann Singapore) with the top prize at the event held on Friday.

Team Wolfbird (above) rose above 23 other teams of young creatives under the age of 30, to win their coveted places to the sought-after Creative LIAisons Global coaching and learning academy in Las Vegas. This Global Coaching Academy was set up by LIA to inspire, develop and educate young creatives. They will have the chance to learn from speakers’ sessions, panel discussions and from being in the judging rooms as the work is being judged and debated in real time. Since its inception in 2012, more than 1,500 young up-and-coming stars have participated in this coveted programme.

The first runners-up, Joo Xuan Chong and Phoebe Ting of Team Joojubee (from Publicis Singapore), won places in the LIAisons Virtual Coaching academy. Each member of Team Joojubee (below) will benefit by being mentored by three different industry-leading coaches. Each mentoring session is bespoke and customized between mentee and coach.

The ‘On the Spot’ competition is the first of its kind in Singapore. Everything was done before a live audience. It all began with a live briefing by LEGO. Following the briefing, each team had one hour to crack the idea before submitting it to the judging panel. From the initial 23 teams, the jury chose 10 Finalists, who were then given the opportunity to present their idea using only five (5) slides. They had 10 minutes to present. This was followed by a Q&A session by the jury as well as jury feedback.

“We wanted to recreate the beautiful chaos of real world agency deadlines by stripping away the safety nets. We forced these rising stars to lean on their best tools: their gut instincts and raw talent,” said Aaron Koh, CCO of GOVT VCCP and ‘On The Spot’ co-organiser.

“The vibe in the room was electric. Definitely not your typical, polite creative competition. It wasn’t just a race against the clock but seeing who could dance in the constraints. By killing the ‘overthinking’ that usually slows our industry down, we saw a level of grit and creativity that was honestly a breath of fresh air. By letting young talent stand toe-to-toe with industry legends in real-time, we’re closing the gap between “the next generation” and the “hall of famers.”

Koh added: “For the participants, the 60-minute format was a total adrenaline shot. It was a professional pressure cooker that forced teams to find the ‘North Star’ of a brief while the clock was ticking. This wasn’t about picture perfect decks, but about decisive thinking and rapid-fire teamwork. The kind of ‘battlefield’ skills you actually need in a world where trends move faster than a Slack notification. Since there’s only so much you can do in an hour, we included a Q&A segment, where teams could defend their logic and “stretch” their ideas on the fly based on the jury’s feedback. The Jury had to work just as hard as the contestants. Forget looking at high-budget case study videos; they had to look at the “bones” of the ideas.”

Khairul Mondzi, Executive Creative Director, BBH Singapore, one of the jurors on the judging panel of 10 agreed. He said: “The competition format works well overall.

“The one-hour timeframe to develop and present an idea feels right, and the judging duration was well paced. Having just two criteria made the evaluation more rigorous. It really forces you to think deeply about each entry rather than rely on a checklist.”

Laurissa Levy, Creative LIAisons & Global Initiative Director of LIA who presented the prizes to the winners, said: “It was amazing to see so much talent on display. The brief from LEGO was fun and the ideas we saw were imaginative despite the short time the teams had to work on it. All the finalists did well when they articulated their ideas and fielded questions from the jury. So heartiest congratulations to the winning teams as they rose to the top despite very close competition. Well done!”

“LIA and Creative LIAisons are grateful for both the partnership and the sponsorship of all those who were involved in making this event a success. The judges also did an amazing job with their relevant questions and comments. It is gratifying to see others share the same passion as LIA when it comes to supporting, nurturing and coaching the next generation of creatives. We know that winners will benefit greatly from both our onsite programme in Las Vegas and our Virtual Coaching programme. Many who have had the privilege of learning from both these programmes have seen a tremendous growth in their own career trajectories,“ added Barbara Levy, President of LIA.

The Onsite Creative LIAisons programme, runs concurrently with LIA judging and will be held from 27th September through 1st October 2026 at Encore @ Wynn Las Vegas.

The Creative LIAisons Virtual Coaching Program runs from May through November 2026.

The ‘On the Spot’ Young Creative Competition was a FREE event, held at Scape, Singapore, challenging young creatives to ‘think on the spot.’