Don’t syok sendiri, aspiring talents told

THE only thing that is constant in the world today is change.

To stay relevant, one needs to constantly rethink the value of one’s work and integrate a wider set of principles to further understand how to make it work for one’s clients, according to Joey Khor ( pic).

The executive creative director at one of the world’s leading experiential marketing agency was sharing his story and 20 years of working experience with The One Academy students during a live presentation titled “Integration: Creativity on Steroids” via Zoom.

The multimedia major started his career by doing interactive web design. He then moved on to motion design and animation, before working on integrated marketing, and digital branding and solutions.

In 2016, he relocated to Beijing, China, despite having no understanding of the Chinese language and culture. He persevered against all odds, and ended up working for some of the largest brands in China such as Tencent, OPPO, Huawei and Alibaba.

The One Academy’s alumnus also delivered some hard truths: “Don’t syok sendiri. Designing an image and writing some copy isn’t going to help sell more.”

He urged students to think more cohesively.

“The basis of advertising, such as print ads and billboards, is just a small component of a much bigger ecosystem in today’s world. The connected world of today has changed how people behave as consumers – how we pay for stuff, how we don’t have to wait for anything anymore, and how we form opinions on the Internet.”

He shared that his inspiration comes from everyday life and everyday people, urging the audience to imagine ideas as unfolding stories, and a stream of inclusive engagement and interactions. By applying creativity around humanity, magic happens. It means that having ideas around deep human insights will result in effectiveness of the work we deliver.

He discussed the skill sets that a creative practitioner should have. Most start out with functional disciplinary skills but soon realise that those are not enough in the working industry today. He advised students to improve their skill sets and acquire as many diverse skills as they can to be a jack-of-all-trades, to gain a bit of understanding on everything such as marketing, strategising, planning and the ability to apply knowledge across situations.

To be successful, Khor said: “One of the key qualities is the ability to be flexible and balance everything. You need to have enough confidence and enough self-doubt to be able to blend into different environments.

“Admitting to one’s own shortcomings is the way to improve, so adopt new skills and adapt to new times.”