Dream Teams: The Secrets to a High Intensity Partnership
Not every great partnership seems obvious from the get-go.
Some take time, even years, to reach their potential. Others begin on not-so-friendly terms out of necessity, and only thaw with each new creative endeavour.
But when Virtue APAC’s Huiwen Tow and Lesley John first sat opposite each other at BBH 14 years ago, their equally intense personalities created a maelstrom that immediately brought the pair together.
Huiwen remembers Lesley as a “super cool” account director who killed it at every themed agency party.
“Lesley looked terrifying for most of the day, so we mostly spoke only at the end of the day – want to get a drink?” Huiwen says. “We probably drank more together than we actually worked together back then.”
Lesley recalls that Huiwen was impossible to ignore.
“Her voice was only outdone by the commanding clatter of her four-inch heels on the agency's wooden floors,” Lesley says. “We sat directly opposite each other, both notorious for our intense, angry typing. Huiwen was always deep in the zone, hammering out strategic brilliance while I was critiquing competitor campaigns and sending out enthusiastic notes to the team on what we could learn. Our shared intensity and love for the work quickly forged a strong connection.”
The two got on immediately. They were fiercely ambitious, deeply passionate, and stubbornly optimistic about the great contributions they would make to their teams, clients, agency, and industry.
“Even in those early days,” Lesley says, “we shared a divine discontent with the status quo and enjoyed the subtle acts of rebellion and daring that pushed against the edges of acceptability. I never got used to her heels, though.”
Huiwen, who Lesley says doesn’t wear heels anymore, still considers her creative partner to be impossibly sharp, humane, and plugged in – all while maintaining her “scary” edge.
Of Huiwen, Lesley says that while her once fiery, hot-headedness and reactiveness have been tempered by maturity, she has never lost the spark that drives her to push beyond ‘good enough’.
Huiwen and Lesley move at the same speed, completing each other's' sentences.
“We help each other articulate the vague shadows of ideas that are percolating and still taking shape in our respective ethers,” says Huiwen.
“We’re both comfortable in double/triple/quadruple-hatting across different agency functions. Lesley is 100000% better with people – clients, partners, industry, internal. I’m the ‘this is not good enough’ person in the relationship. And when I have thrown all of my toys out of my pram, she comes by to give me perspective and gently nudges me to put some of the toys back in, while taking on some of my battles on her own.”
Lesley concurs, “She is an excellent sparring partner. While we don’t always agree, that friction can spark fresh thinking for both of us. We both share the same high standards of excellence, holding ourselves and each other accountable, and we’re not afraid to have the difficult conversations when they’re needed.”
Together, Huiwen and Lesley make taking on the APAC market look like a piece of cake. Navigating diverse regions has long been an achilles heel for network agencies, with regional teams struggling to break through. Meanwhile, Virtue Worldwide APAC was directly responsible for the limited edition flavour concept, Coca-Cola Creations, which turned what is possibly the most mainstream brand in the world into some of the most exclusive, desirable, and unexpected spaces in culture.
Similarly, Virtue APAC helped position Johnnie Walker in the local market by creating a brand platform spotlighting the progressive blend of creative cultures born from the streets of Southeast Asia, encapsulating the brand's departure from stereotypical whisky tropes and reflecting broader shifts in the world and marketing.
“Regional teams want simplicity, local teams are seeking nuance,” Huiwen says.
“The old advertising model of taking a regional asset and adapting it for talent and location is increasingly irrelevant, especially in Asia, where a new generation are proudly, defiantly, and creatively asserting their local identities in the most exciting and expansive ways possible.”
“From a client and campaign perspective, it's crucial to build platforms that resonate regionally, while allowing for inherently local expressions and executions,” Lesley adds. “For our team, maintaining clarity, and consistency in our culture is key.”
With their extensive shared experience in the media and advertising sectors, both partners see new trends emerging in the APAC market that will become future staples of the industry.
“Lower fees coupled with marketers’ desire for the convenience of a ‘one stop shop’ has resulted in a desperate race to the bottom, with agencies by and large trying to retain relationships by offering more services at increasingly reduced rates” Lesley says.
The business model Virtue APAC has built is one that drives differentiation via products, proprietary knowledge, and custom insights. This, combined with their borderless delivery model allows them to build local core teams that are grounded in local insight and cultural understanding, supplemented by specialists that can sit in Virtue offices anywhere in the world.
“Culture moves fast,” Huiwen adds. “Media is fragmented, attention is scarce. Rather than building marketing in traditional ways and then trying to insert it into culture via interruption, the best brands are making culture from the inside, drawing attention to themselves magnetically. Brands need to look for a visible and valued role inside the culture to cut through the clutter, not just seek ever more intrusive ways to interrupt it.”
Lesley credits Virtue APAC’s robust, enthusiastic approach to their work with a balanced, less structured approach that encourages openness, play, and exploration.
“We also prioritise work-life balance, recognising that a refreshed mind and body are crucial for creativity and productivity. Embracing the power of downtime and encouraging our team to recharge is really important, knowing that moments of doing nothing can lead to breakthroughs.”
All good partnerships are the sum of each of our individual strengths and this is certainly the case with Huiwen and Lesley.
“We have strong creative chemistry and present really well together,” says Lesley. “Our shared experiences and understanding of how each other operates allows us to work at a high intensity.”
