Uprising: “I’ve Always Been Driven by Curiosity”
“Growing up I’ve always dreamt of being a musician, a scientist or a writer, but I suspected I’d end up with a white-collar job. I guess what I’m doing now is somewhere in the middle,” says VMLY&R Commerce Dubai’s senior strategist Mohammad Bilal Abdul Rachman. With a childhood spent in various countries and being encouraged to read anything and everything he was interested in, it’s no surprise he’s taken to his job quite naturally.
He explains, “I guess I’ve always been driven by curiosity, which sort of helps as a strategic planner, as it makes the tons of research material we’d often need to read through seem less tedious.”
A global citizen of the world, Bilal was born in Indonesia and spent his formative years of education in Australia, with an international group of friends. “Hooked on a steady diet of Western and Japanese cultural content,” according to him, these interests developed a “more open outlook on life”. With his upbringing, he also developed the feeling of cultural ambiguity, able to tap into various nuances, this trait lends itself quite naturally to the international market of the UAE, where he’s found himself working.
“Over the years I’ve been into photography, design, writing and a couple of sports but the one that’s always been special to me is music,” he says when reflecting on younger days. “Music has been the constant passion I’ve had, what started as sifting through my parents’ cassette and record collection evolved into piano and guitar lessons. Later, it transpired into joining bands, getting into music production and then amassing my own collection of records and vintage gear.” From Madlib to David Mancuso and Larry Heard, crate digging to club culture, he’s fully immersed.
However, Bilal also appreciates time spent on his own, watching movies, sinking into a good book or simply allowing himself to wander amongst his own thoughts. “People tell me I’m quite approachable and talkative,” he explains, “but I guess it just takes a bit of time for me to really open up.”
While his degree at the University of Melbourne was in business studies, it wasn’t the course that he connected with, but the experiences and lifestyle which came with being a student. He reflects, “Looking back, despite not getting stellar scores in general, the classes in which I performed best were probably the marketing-related ones as well as my creative electives.” So it seems he’s landed in the right place after all.
As his family encouraged him to travel around the world, Bilal gained perspective on his life. “My parents are avid travellers, for our family travelling is sort of like a tradition. Their excuse was that they wanted me to learn how big and weird the world was,” he says. This travel grew his appetite for discovering new things, so it’s no surprise that he stumbled into the industry while chatting with friends and sending out numerous CVs when he finished his undergraduate studies.
“It wasn’t until I met up with a high school friend, and she suggested I should try for an opening her place of work, that I landed my first internship at Leo Burnett Indonesia’s planning department,” he says. “Things worked out well and I haven’t really looked back since.”
Surrounded by experienced creatives he says, “I was lucky enough to get a string of great mentors along my journey that helped me hone my craft, though each of them influenced me in very different ways.” Consuming as much content as he could, the work he saw supported his understanding of the industry and in turn, helped him in his role.
“I think the most important lesson I’ve learnt is always to try your best to listen and stay open minded,” says Bilal, “which is easier said than done.” Within the industry which encourages opinions and values them, he says, “it can be a bit tough to escape your biases and bubbles.” So, he takes the time to understand different points of view, incorporate and empathise with them as much as he can.
The first project in Bilal’s portfolio of work is a fried chicken campaign for none other than McDonald’s. “It was quite memorable for me because it was the first time I had to think creatively and really rely on my cultural understanding of Indonesians’ relationship with fried chicken,” he explains – not to mention, they had to compete with quite the rival brand. “Looking back, I think it’s briefs like this that I received as an intern that got me hooked on the job as it got me to research and consider things I’ve never even thought about.”
Equally, he explains that working on Mondelez was “a big turning point” in his career. “It was my first regional client which had brands (and partners) that were very open minded, creatively. The account allowed me to push myself in terms of the solutions and ideas I could propose. This project also gave me my first experiences of managing brands and collaborating with teams across markets.”
As a strategist, it’s no surprise to hear Bilal’s favourite aspect of the role is the discovery phase. “I love researching and formulating hypotheses on how to best tackle a problem.” Though time-consuming, gathering knowledge of new products and markets is what keeps things engaging for him, especially since succinct ideas and presentations are what he finds most challenging.
“Even though I would love to be recognised through awards for my work, personally I aspire to craft a brand narrative that could outlast my career,” he shares. “I think it would be great if I could crack a brand platform such as [Nike’s] ‘Just do it’, one that could stand the test of time.” His passion for the industry means that as the “fear-mongering” of AI sets in, Bilal is confident that a “human touch and a bit of creativity to crack a solution” is essential.
He continues, “At the moment, I try to regard AI more as a tool than a solution, but personally I don’t really use it much as I feel like it’ll make me a bit lazy.” But there is a current trend which he takes particular interest in. “I love the fact that the intersection between gaming and ads continues to grow. As a gamer, I always felt that the metaverse was a bit redundant, as those “universes” have always existed within the gaming-sphere.”
In his opinion, Bilal feels that there’s a real benefit to brands engaging with trends and cultural moments in a meaningful way. “In these culturally conscious times, I’m a bit frustrated with brands that are trying to be overtly safe or attempting to be everything for everyone. Brands need to have a unique point of view and take some creative bets if they want to be meaningful.”
Speaking of meaningful implementations, there is something that Bilal has reflected on during his time in the industry. “On a personal level, based on my previous experiences, I wish that the working culture around creative agencies would be a bit less toxic. There’s always a lot of egos flying around and a lack of work-life balance.”
Bilal’s balance comes from his main passion – music. “I love learning about the history of different scenes and finding hidden gems. I used to collect a lot of records and audio gear, but I haven’t gone around to continue building my collection since I moved to Dubai. Most of my things are still back home in Jakarta.”
Aside from that, there are also the Japanese creators Kentaro Miura and Hideaki Anno who he takes an interest in. He says, “I really think Berserk and Evangelion are some of the greatest stories ever told.” And directors-wise, it’s Paolo Sorrentino he’s currently dabbling in. “I love almost all his movies for some reason. I guess it’s a mix of his surreal storytelling and visual style.”
With some of his side projects – such as DJing, working with online radio stations and blogging – taking a backseat to his career, his current focus is to be involved with projects that stand the test of time. Keeping that in mind, Bilal leaves us with this:
“I’m mostly motivated by a constant need to stave off boredom. I’ll keep diving deeper into that rabbit hole as long as it’s still challenging or interesting for me.”
