10 minutes with Calvin Soh
Each week Campaign Brief Asia sits down with a prominent creative talent from our region and gets to know them better. This week in this regular "10 Minutes With" column is Calvin Soh - Vice-Chairman, Chief Creative Officer-Asia, Publicis.What did you do before getting into advertising?
I came out from my military service and my dad wanted to mortgage the house to send me to Australia to get a degree. I declined and worked as a telemarketeer, camera salesman, lifeguard and fast food chef.
How did you first get into advertising as a career?
I tried getting a job as a journalist but without a degree in Singapore, it was impossible. So it was stock broking or advertising then.
Who gave you your first big break?
Ogilvy. Wrote in to be a writer but again, no degree so they stuck me in traffic. Within two years I was account manager and employee of the year.
What is your career highlight to date?
While in Fallon NY/Mnpls, presenting to the senior boards of Citibank, United, EDS etc who didn't care if I had a degree or not.
Nominate the two best ads/campaigns that you have created?
Easy. My father's obituary ads. Everything I am and learned was in there.
Is there an ad that makes you green with envy?
The Bernbach ads from the 60s. I'll be proud if I could do them now.
Do you have a 'worst mistake' or a most embarrassing moment in your advertising career to date?
In my first year as traffic and as a suit, I was working 24/7 and had a pager (remember that?) constantly going off. I was going to office in jeans and bermudas. My dad was a civil servant all his life and couldn't understand it. He thought I was an illegal horse racing bookie. So he called my boss to make sure I was working there.
Is there a person you have enjoyed working with the most?
A very talented, inspiring, witty art director in my second job at Y&R. I married her.
Who is the most interesting, or most inspiring, or funniest person you have ever met or worked with?
It's a cliché but honestly, my children Dylan and Ava make me laugh the most. Them and Fox News.
What's your favourite leisure activity/hobbies outside of advertising?
My furniture, my art projects, my liver.
Favourite holiday destination?
Wherever I can take take the family.
Favourite hotels?
Anyone with the automated bum cleaner/dryer combo.
Tell me something about yourself that not many people would know.
I was born short and blossomed very late. So I had a Dudley Moore/Woody Allen childhood. I had to be funny to avoid being beaten up. On top of that, I inherited the family heirloom - a large bulbous nose like a barge transporting sand illegally to Singapore. So to be more attractive, I picked up the Saxaphone and played it for over a decade. It was a wasted decade.
10 Minutes with Graham Kelly.
10 Minutes with Steve Hough.
10 Minutes with Edmund Choe.
10 Minutes with Linda Locke.
10 Minutes with Ronald Ng.
10 Minutes with Gavin Simpson.
10 Minutes with Kevin Lee.
10 Minutes with Sheungyan Lo.
10 Minutes with Tay Guan Hin.
While in Fallon NY/Mnpls, presenting to the senior boards of Citibank, United, EDS etc who didn't care if I had a degree or not.
Nominate the two best ads/campaigns that you have created?
Easy. My father's obituary ads. Everything I am and learned was in there.
Is there an ad that makes you green with envy?
The Bernbach ads from the 60s. I'll be proud if I could do them now.
Do you have a 'worst mistake' or a most embarrassing moment in your advertising career to date?
In my first year as traffic and as a suit, I was working 24/7 and had a pager (remember that?) constantly going off. I was going to office in jeans and bermudas. My dad was a civil servant all his life and couldn't understand it. He thought I was an illegal horse racing bookie. So he called my boss to make sure I was working there.
Is there a person you have enjoyed working with the most?
A very talented, inspiring, witty art director in my second job at Y&R. I married her.
Who is the most interesting, or most inspiring, or funniest person you have ever met or worked with?
It's a cliché but honestly, my children Dylan and Ava make me laugh the most. Them and Fox News.
What's your favourite leisure activity/hobbies outside of advertising?
My furniture, my art projects, my liver.
Favourite holiday destination?
Wherever I can take take the family.
Favourite hotels?
Anyone with the automated bum cleaner/dryer combo.
Tell me something about yourself that not many people would know.
I was born short and blossomed very late. So I had a Dudley Moore/Woody Allen childhood. I had to be funny to avoid being beaten up. On top of that, I inherited the family heirloom - a large bulbous nose like a barge transporting sand illegally to Singapore. So to be more attractive, I picked up the Saxaphone and played it for over a decade. It was a wasted decade.
10 Minutes with Graham Kelly.
10 Minutes with Steve Hough.
10 Minutes with Edmund Choe.
10 Minutes with Linda Locke.
10 Minutes with Ronald Ng.
10 Minutes with Gavin Simpson.
10 Minutes with Kevin Lee.
10 Minutes with Sheungyan Lo.
10 Minutes with Tay Guan Hin.
0 TrackBacks
Listed below are links to blogs that reference this entry: 10 minutes with Calvin Soh.
TrackBack URL for this entry: http://www.campaignbrief.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/5343
2 Comments
Leave a comment
CAMPAIGN BRIEF ASIA Gold Sponsors
CAMPAIGN BRIEF ASIA Silver Sponsors
CAMPAIGN BRIEF ASIA Bronze Sponsors
CAMPAIGN BRIEF ASIA Magazine
Subscribe including the online edition to the region's most influential
creative ad magazines - Campaign Brief Asia and Campaign Brief
(Australia/NZ)
Download the subscription form (PDF)
Advertise in the region's most influential creative ad magazines.
Download the rate card for Campaign Brief (Australia/NZ) or Campaign Brief Asia.
I really admire Calvin....not because he doesnt have a degree (which he loves to point out) but because he is one of only 2-3 creatives I know who has done some really good award-winning ads that have actually run and made a difference.
Most of us Asians have that same bulbous nose.