Raymond Chin has left Wunderman Thompson Shanghai where he was chief creative officer, to take up the role at VMLY&R, where he will be the creative lead for Asia.
He will be based in Singapore, report to VMLY&R Asia chief executive officer, Yi-Chung Tay and work closely with Paul Nagy who was recently promoted to the role of VMLY&R chief creative officer APAC and is based in Sydney.
Chin brings to VMLY&R more than 20 years’ experience in both agencies and tech consultancies delivering creative, digital innovation and experience solutions for brands such as Ikea, Unilever, Nike, LVMH, Shiseido, Starbucks, Huawei, VW and Ferrari.
His appointment further strengthens VML&YR’s mission of building connected brands via an unrivalled commerce, experience, technology and creative offering.
Chin is known for his work to re-envision Ikea’s experiences across all touchpoints, including the brand’s Home Universe For One campaign, which involved transforming its ecommerce transactions into an inspiring customer experience. He was also responsible for Unilever Food Solutions’ We’re For Chefs platform, which aggregates data from dining apps to inform chefs of new dining trends and opportunities to upgrade their skills with new recipes and sauces.
Chin’s proudest work are campaigns which enhance brand and customer experiences, including his work for China’s leading location-based social app, MoMo. As part of the brand’s Chinese New Year campaign, Chin worked with MoMo to include a Let’s Go Home Together button on its app, allowing thousands of users travelling home for the holiday to connect with each other – turning what could be a tedious journey into a social adventure.
Yi-Chung Tay stated, “Ray is one of the rare creative leaders who truly understands how creativity needs to touch all dimensions of the brand experience. From communications to the way that we innovate products, services, commerce and customer experience, we believe creativity needs to be embedded in every touch point in the customer journey. Ray brings with him a deep understanding of that customer experience and a reputation as a natural leader, who can inspire the people around him to keep striving. I can think of no one better to take the creative helm for the region.”
Chin has spent the last 2 years in China as chief creative officer at Wunderman Thompson and before that served as chief experience officer for Accenture Interactive. Under Chin’s leadership the company won numerous awards at major awards shows including Campaign Asia’s Best Working Environment and Agency of the Year’s Best New Business Team.
Chin commented, “Creativity should not start and end with communications. It’s something that should naturally flow across everything we do – helping us to create real impact for our clients’ and their consumers.
“This idea is ingrained in VMLY&R’s culture of connected brands, which sees them continuing to push the envelope when it comes to creativity, innovation and technology – and the way the agency works with client partners to find ‘out-of-the-box’ solutions to real client problems. The freedom to think bigger than many agencies are able, excites me greatly, and I look forward to adding my own blend of magic into the mix.”
