JON PYE
UK & ASIA EXPERIENCED CREATIVE LEADER.
JON PYE
UK TRAINED. ASIAN EXPERIENCED
CREATIVE LEADER.
Special feats have included building a boutique advertising agency from scratch to winning The Next Big Thing Award in 2012 (Asia Marketing Magazine) amongst more than 100 awards; turning seemingly impossible briefs into profit churning brands; adding brand value to countless products and services across Europe and Asia; and bringing up 2 sons to adulthood with minimal bloodshed.
A good day is a day injected with fun, authenticity and turning challenges into opportunities through teamwork and collaborative partnership with clients.
EXPERIENCE
The Entrepreneurial Experience
2012 - Present
Chief Creative Officer and Founder
Brilliant started with a single question from an existing client - "Why have you not started your own agency?"
My first 20 years of agency experience formed the pillar of this entrepreneurial endeavor. It was time to harness that for a shop I’d call my own, with a partner whose work I admired and still admire today. Was it tough? Hell, yes! Has it been worth the endless nights and frenetic days? Absolutely.
Within a year, we were voted "The Next Big Thing" by Marketing Magazine Agency of the Year.
10 years on, Brilliant has grown to be one of the agencies of choice for clients in the financial, automotive, FMCG, insurance, hospitality, entertainment, and property sectors. We have developed solutions across Asia for Standard Chartered Bank, PropertyGuru, UBS, Tokyo Marine, Mazda, MG Cars, Johnson & Johnson, Unilever, BBC, Fraser Hospitality, to name a few.
To say I am proud to see our team’s work create significant positive, commercial impact locally, regionally, and globally for our clients will be an understatement.
Integration success
2009 - 2012
Executive Creative Head - Integration
As the group grew, there was a need to oversee the integration of brands and businesses across different disciplines. I headed the Strategic Creative Management of all brands across Proximity and BBDO across Asia; ensuring a seamless integration of business and creative solutions through the line, between the then mainstream advertising and direct marketing chasm.
Developing a global brand across Asia
2006 - 2009
Executive Creative Director
Family needs prompted me to consider Singapore. The agency created a role for me to ensure I would continue to develop the Proximity business in Asia. I took the role of Creative Lead for Proximity Singapore, working closely with BBDO to ensure client account wins in Singtel, Visa, Aviva, Emirates, Citibank, AsiaRooms, Anlene and was the Regional Creative Lead on key accounts like Guinness, Hewlett Packard, and Aviva. Appointed to be on the BBDO Proximity Asia Creative Council to augment the creative muscle of the BBDO Proximity Group.
Establishing a global brand across Asia
2003 - 2005
Executive Creative Director and Managing Director
A bigger challenge to stretch my leadership presented itself in my last 2 years in dynamic HK. I was tasked to set up Proximity's first APAC office. This continued with my supporting the establishment of Proximity China, Taiwan, and Malaysia offices. Over this period, I helped develop enterprise businesses with account retention and wins of Huawei, MSN, PCCW, Mercedes Benz, CNN, Standard Chartered Bank, BOSCH, AIA, DHL, Air New Zealand across the network.
Integration Success
2000 - 2003
Executive Creative Director
There was no way I could resist Asia when she beckoned a second time, culminating in my move back to HK to build and lead the creative department at Rapp Collins. Creative focus was needed over a plethora of clients from categories including Insurance, Finance, Hospitality, Airlines, and FMCG. My role was to champion holistic thinking and integrate the agency with DDB in a merger. I achieved beyond my goals to increase profitability whilst raising creative excellence across all accounts.
The European experience
1997 - 2000
Executive Creative Director for London and Northern Europe
HK was fabulous. But I was shamelessly lured back to London to lead a team of 25 young creatives in a growing agency in London. I led the teams in regional pitches and was the go-to Creative Head for Hewlett Packard, Compact, IBM, Royal Sun Alliance, Jaguar, Sky TV for the entire agency network stretching from Australia to the US and across Europe.
With an energetic team, we won the Fastest Growing Agency title in The Financial Times Award. This snowballed the agency's growth which resulted in a multi-million pound acquisition of the agency by Intercepta Group.
The Direct and Loyalty Experience
1995 - 1997
Senior Art Director
In the midst of a life enhancing experience (I got married), I took the plunge at work as well and expanded my Art Direction scope at another prominent agency. Here was an opportunity to work across new industries - Energy, Finance, Airline, Hospitality (Caltex, HSBC, Air New Zealand and the chain of Marriott Hotels).
Adland London to Adland HK
1992 - 1995
Art Director
A much needed 5-week break from rainy London got me to exciting HK. A temporary working holiday role at this respected agency turned into a full-time job offer I could not say No to. I had the chance to apply my Designer experience from London to Direct Marketing for IBM, Dell, DeBeers, HK Telecom, Citibank in Asia. I also met my life partner here, so clearly, it was the best place to be then!