THE KINGMAKER
Wielding storytelling as a tool and a creative, indomitable spirit, BENJAMIN ARYANTO is driven to elevate a brand from dull to outstanding.
If life were a video game, Benjamin Aryanto would dislike playing it on the ‘Easy’ setting.
For one, the Founder of creative agency Grimm & Company is a Manchester United fan, which, as some in our team would testify, is a thankless position with very poor returns on investment, post-2013 at least. For another, he started his agency in 2020, smack dab at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, a time when some agencies were closing as life came to a standstill.
Four years on, Grimm & Company has found some success. It isn’t quite in the big leagues yet, but they’ve been making waves ̶ especially in the food and lifestyle space.
They went viral in 2021 with a set of parody UNO cards for Chinese New Year (the ‘Skip’ card, for example, had the picture of a judgmental Chinese auntie, and encourages you to use it when relatives ask you annoying questions).
Their client list includes the likes of fashion retailer LUMINE and The Golden Duck Co, purveyors of some of Singapore’s most beloved potato chips ̶ particularly their salted egg-flavoured and chilli crab-flavoured ones.
And leading it all is Benjamin. A strong believer in the power of storytelling and creativity in brand communications, he has created an agency that uses all the tools a brand needs to stay ahead in today’s digital marketplace. Grimm & Company serves as a food & beverage consultancy for bars and restaurants, social media and search engine marketing, and branding design.
“Creativity is very subjective, especially for those of us who do it as a businesss,” says Benjamin.
“It’s a balance between going fullblown creative, while also serving the client’s commercial needs.”
And indeed, creativity is subjective. It differs from creative to creative, from medium to medium.
In an industry sometimes marked by noise, he remains focussed on his creativity and that of his team’s. “I’m inspired by pop culture a lot ̶ music and movies. But ultimately, it’s about having a clear mind,” he tells us, “And having that space for yourself to think.”
Benjamin has the foresight to realise that to be successful in the agency game, you also need the right people. He says, “We’re a bunch of really quirky people. We love to have fun in what we do, to think of solutions outside the box but, most importantly, it’s about understanding our clients’ competitors and helping our clients stand out.”
And stand out he does. When asked for the secret to his success, Benjamin says: “Dare to be the odd one out in a sea of ordinaries. It’s often the unconventional ideas that rewrite the rules of the game.”