5 Minutes with… Tessa Conrad
When it comes to fostering the future, Tessa Conrad, head of innovation at TBWA\Asia, believes there is no better time to be alive.
Sharing her perspectives on driving change and navigating the dynamic landscape of digital marketing, Tessa offers a wealth of insight - particularly from an operations perspective.
Speaking to LBB, Tessa breaks down her global career, spanning diverse roles in Hong Kong, New York, and Singapore.
With her unique blend of leadership and hands-on experience in her role at TBWA\Asia, Tessa shares her expertise and offers advice for future and emerging marketers.
LBB> How has your diverse experience shaped your approach to innovation in your current role at TBWA\Asia?
Tessa> I’ve been fortunate that my career has allowed me to work across dynamic markets with equally dynamic people. This experience has given me a great balance to “lead” and “make”.
From a “lead” perspective, educating folks is key to really inspiring them and sparking their curiosity around innovation. Innovation isn’t just about novelty; it’s also about impact and understanding the ‘why’ behind it. Innovation is often the heartbeat of human advancement. It has the potential to reshape categories and industries, transforming lives and propelling us into uncharted territories of progress.
From the “make” perspective - with the anomaly increasingly becoming the norm, more business challenges are arising in a more complicated way that can be hard to tackle. With my operational background, I am hands-on in making the first proof of concept, creating a solid ops plan, and rolling up my sleeves to help show the way.
LBB> As the head of innovation at TBWA\Asia, what key strategies or initiatives have you implemented to foster innovation within the organisation and drive change for global clients and networks?
Tessa> I’m privileged to be one of the co-creators of our global innovation practice, Next. Next is where we apply the future today. It’s our innovation practice designed to reimagine the future of brand experiences. The specialist assemblage provides proprietary ‘shifts’ - the phenomenon at the crossroads between audience behaviour and emerging innovation opportunities.
Bringing this to life with my partners across Asia has been a huge focus and privilege. It’s inspiring to be a part of a region that rallies together to break conventions and create super innovative work with real impact.
Alongside Next, we’ve been able to roll out Next x No Format. The initiative brings our top innovative, creative minds across the region together against key business problems of select clients to create engaging, digital-first ideas. We’ve applied this process proactively to some of our key clients, resulting in work that can set the global bar.
Finally, Future Mapping from Next is also something I’ve been proud to create, execute and lead here. Future Mapping allows us to focus on clients holistically (or a set problem they have) and dive deep into mapping out the innovation opportunities and how to tackle them to unlock growth. This is both super enriching from a strategic perspective and very fun creatively.
LBB> In your role as a judge at The FWA, what criteria do you look for when evaluating digital projects, and how do you see the digital landscape evolving regarding creativity and innovation?
Tessa> I look for something really disruptive. This doesn’t mean doing something disruptive just for the sake of doing something disruptive. It has to be authentic and make sense for the brand. Work must demonstrate its driving impact and be distinctly different. If I’ve seen it before, it’s not world-class.
Additionally, I look for work across the experience; this is work where touchpoints of a brand’s expertise shine and all elements work together to create something seamless.
Next is craft. Given the pace of digital and innovation, we don’t always get to see the polish I’d like in the work - and that polish can make all the difference.
Finally, I look at impact - and definitely not just vanity metrics. I want to know what business problems work is designed to solve and how it was done.
LBB> As someone deeply involved in the creative and operational aspects of digital marketing, what advice would you give to young professionals looking to navigate the intersection of technology, creativity, and strategy in their careers?
Tessa> I’ll give three quick pieces of advice.
The first is to use your curiosity to your advantage. As a human and someone in this industry, you should be an avid consumer of brand experiences and blogs, forums, books, museums, etc. It’s crucial to go down the rabbit hole of your curiosities and keep that curiosity alive for your whole career.
The second is not to be boxed in by your job description. We're lucky in the digital and innovation space as we expect to lean in across most aspects of work, from research to brief to ideation to production to client management. Don’t burn yourself out - but don’t shy away from it. You’ll figure out when you need to be the glue and when you need to be able just to get shit done. Don’t be boxed in.
The third is the importance of communication and empathy. It is an area often overlooked at the start of your career. Learn to understand different team dynamics, how to read the room, continue to be curious and look beyond just what’s asked of you - really know where you can make the biggest difference. Once you’ve done that, communicate clearly and empathetically, and you’ll be unstoppable.
LBB> Can you share any memorable experiences or lessons learned from working in various roles, from internships to senior leadership positions, that have significantly impacted your professional growth?
Tessa> I’ve been really fortunate I’ve had a ton of meaningful experiences - but it’s not like there’s one “aha” moment.
My favourite moments are built around colleagues and the dynamic conversations around discovery when you’re being challenged on ideas and pushing for better outcomes. There is synergy, a shared goal, and a desire to win as a team.
Those moments when you’re working late because you love the project and the company and can keep going (fuelled by pizza or the like) are key.
LBB> You've been described as an "unapologetic nerd" interested in tech, TV, and trivia. How do these personal interests influence your work approach to innovation and creativity?
Tessa> Being an unapologetic nerd is definitely helpful when it comes to innovation - though lucky for me, being a nerd is kind of “in” right now. My definition of being a nerd just means being incredibly fascinated by knowledge - and going really deep into my hobbies.
For instance, before COVID, I hadn’t played games for years and then spent 300+ hours on Animal Crossing during the lockdown which really got me right back into gaming.
Gaming has a ton of lessons for modern-day storytelling and brand experiences and it’s clear how to apply that to the type of ideas you want to create - and how to bring them to life.
LBB> Looking ahead, what excites you most about the future of digital marketing and innovation, and what emerging trends or technologies do you think will have the biggest impact on the industry in the coming years?
Tessa> The young talent right now is sharp, passionate, knowledgeable, and just really interesting. I think we’re truly in the age of hybrid talent, where young folks don’t want to be boxed into a job description. They’re more confident and less afraid to challenge the status quo. They’re also uniquely versed in all things digital and social. That’s super exciting and means great things for future ideas.
Additionally, I love AI. It’s scary in some aspects, and there’s a lot to figure out - but the amount of creativity it is helping to unlock is insane. I love how innovation is arming us with more and more of the tools we need to create the world we want. That’s exciting.
Finally, I’m giddy about the future of Web3. The internet has become too stagnant, and it’s time for a change. I love the decentralisation of it, the focus on community, and the huge spark in entrepreneurship through creating and social commerce.
We’re in a great period of being alive when it comes to innovation.
