In a new professional reality TV show on the advertising industry by Tencent Video, BBDO China plays the role of the panel of mentors and the only advertising agency to do so. The show will be presented today here.
Sweat, drama, creativity and the thrill of competition, yes, the show has it all. So when Tencent contacted BBDO China if they wanted to participate in their next season of “Next Promotion”, BBDO didn’t even blink twice.
Recently, career-related topics have become increasingly popular on Chinese social media platforms, resulting in a variety of workplace reality shows being produced.
As part of this growing trend towards workplace reality shows, Tencent decided to create one called “Next Promotion”, taking a look at the working lives of people in their thirties, covering different industries.
The latest upcoming show features 12 young, yet mature and hungry advertisers looking for career advancement opportunities in the advertising industry. Only by completing a variety of tasks in the workplace and using their own rules of survival can they receive opportunities to move up the career ladder.
“I am very happy to facilitate this cooperation with Tencent’s ‘Next Promotion’. I hope that through the show, everyone can witness the excitement of working in the advertising and marketing industry. type of people who work there. It is my hope that the show will attract more young people to the industry, arouse their interest and encourage them to participate,” said Beck You, CEO of BBDO Greater China.
“I called this experience ‘advertising for the advertising industry’. In recent years, the value of the advertising industry has always been distorted in various ways. This not only discourages new blood from our industry, but also causes some in-service peers to lose enthusiasm and leave the industry, resulting in a talent crunch situation in the industry. Through this reality show, I hope more people can understand the charm of this industry, so as to attract new blood and encourage the perseverance of their peers to build a better advertising industry,” said Wai Foong Leong, Chairman and CCO of BBDO. Greater China.
“A lot of people thought it was risky for us to be on that reality show about the advertising industry, because good advertising is very subjective, has no standards and needs to be judged. But although good advertising is subjective, good advertisers have standards. Coming onto the show, we all hoped to attract some awesome advertiser peers to join BBDO, and we’ve certainly met some really talented people. Now that the show is airing, we hope that people all over China will take notice of the advertising industry and that those, especially with a creative spirit, will see it as a career path where they can do what they love and do well, be creative,” said Nicole Ma, CCO at BBDO Shanghai.
“One of the reasons I join advertising is because it’s fun. Of course, some days are tough, but I love that no two days are the same. There are great opportunities for people who are both creative and analytical, which is rare. It challenges me to think outside the box, to think of new ideas that aren’t on the market, and I hope the show captures that exciting, diverse and fun industry as I live it,” added Harry Chen, Group Planning Director at BBDO Shanghai.
BBDO Greater China sent four members of management as mentors to help these 12 contestants in their growth and transformation throughout the show.
From BBDO, these included familiar faces and names, such as;
BBDO Greater China’s first locally born and raised CEO, Beck You
With over 15 years of marketing experience, Beck offers a full range of capabilities including creative, media and social platform management. During his career he has worked for brands and agencies and has judged numerous national and international advertising awards.
Under his leadership, BBDO Beijing has more than doubled in size over the past three years. In addition, he redefined the development direction of a forward-looking agency in China, linking various resources and platforms to create seamless, powerful and impressive services for clients to help them grow their business. .
Wai Foong Leong, President and CCO at BBDO Greater China
Identity 1: Senior Creator in the advertising industry. Having worked for 28 years, he has served hundreds of well-known brands and won over 100 local and international advertising awards. He was named “Creative Person of the Year” in Greater China by Campaign Asia and “50 Most Influential Creative People in Asia”; he has also been a judge for national and international advertising awards on several occasions.
Identity 2: Professional composer. Has cooperated with many famous singers at home and abroad. He won the Malaysia PWH Music Award, Singapore Hit Award, Hong Kong Jade Solid Gold Awards, China Music Billboard, Asian Television Awards, etc.
Nicole Ma, CCO at BBDO Shanghai
In 2018, she became the youngest CCO of the international agency 4A in China. In 2021, Campaign Asia named her one of Asia-Pacific’s “40 under 40”.
Since the beginning of her professional career, she has always been passionate about creativity, winning hundreds of creative awards both nationally and internationally.
In addition to creating, Nicole devotes a lot of time to supporting the next generation of creatives in China, sharing her knowledge and inspiration with students as a guest speaker at the Creative Lecture Hall and a judge at the China University Advertising Art Festival Academy Award. .
She has also served on juries for the Clio International Awards, New York Advertising Festival, APAC Effie Awards, One Show and many others.
Harry Chen, Group Planning Manager at BBDO Shanghai
One of the youngest and most promoted group planning directors in the global BBDO network. His international outlook, deep understanding of Chinese culture and consumers allow him to play a pivotal role in helping many international brands grow in China.
He has become a valuable strategic partner for many of his clients and has won several national and international awards, including China Young Lions Competition in 2021 and Young Spikes PR Competition in 2022.
How will these four people supervise these 12 candidates?
And will these 12 candidates be able to climb the ladder?
Only time will tell.
