Publicis Modem appoints new creative director

Upton has headed creative teams at MRM Worldwide, Euro RSCG and most recently at The Gate Worldwide, helping to win accounts such as Mastercard and Nestle for MRM, Saxo Capital Markets and UPS for Euro, and at The Gate, National Arts Council, NTUC and ABB.

Prior to that, was in London working on a contract basis for a number of design and advertising agencies, including Leo Burnett where he re-designed the Morgan Stanley European credit card website.

Originally from Melbourne, Upton came to Singapore in 1995, where he joined the marketing team at Zouk nightclub; he developed the club’s first ever website and put Asian club culture on the online map. Soon after that, he set up the off-air creative department for MTV Asia where he helped establish a digital presence for that company.

Upton explained why he’s really excited about joining the Publicis Modem team. “Not only do they have some great clients who are ready to embrace digital, we also have an extremely talented and passionate team who seem like a bunch of great guys. With potential challenges in the coming year and aggressive goals we’ve set ourselves, I’m confident of a successful journey.”

Publicis Singapore’s executive creative director Ajay Thrivikraman describes Upton as a terrific addition to the truly integrated team they have at the agency.

“Robert was into digital long before it became fashionable and his deep local knowledge and experience will be a big asset in providing cut-through digital solutions on some of the world's biggest brands. Besides, he remembers absolutely everyone who passed through the doors of Zouk in the last 16 years, and who did what to whom, which is a really useful knowledge-base to have,” said Thrivikraman.