David Blecken
May 13, 2016

UltraSuperNew plans global expansion from Tokyo

TOKYO/SINGAPORE - UltraSuperNew (USN), a Tokyo-based independent creative agency, is to open a second office in Singapore to cater to the Southeast Asian market.

From left: Marc Wesseling, Jean-Francois Thery, Tomokazu Murakami
From left: Marc Wesseling, Jean-Francois Thery, Tomokazu Murakami

The office will be run by Marc Wesseling and Jean-Francois Thery.

Wesseling, a Dutchman, co-founded USN in Tokyo with Michael Sheetal in 2007. He now serves as director alongside Tomokazu Murakami, who joined in 2008.

USN bills itself as “a global creative sweatshop born and raised in Harajuku”. It is a respected digital agency in Japan, where foreign and independent agencies face a notoriously stiff challenge from domestic giants.

Wesseling will split his time between Tokyo and Singapore.

Thery, a Singaporean, will serve as brand and strategy lead. He has a master’s degree in digital media management from Hyper Island and has worked at agencies such as Cheil and BBH.

Wesseling said USN would seek to grow the team over the coming months “with young up-and-coming creatives that want to push the creative boundaries”. He said the agency aim to have a staff of four or five by the end of the year, but that it would also work with freelancers and promote an exchange of staff between Tokyo and Singapore to “keep fresh”.

He was unable to state which clients USN will initially work with in Singapore due to non-disclosure agreements. Wesseling said USN was “working closely with a few partners on the first campaigns, which we will reveal in mid-June”.

Clients in Tokyo include Heineken, Red Bull, Asics, Nike and Mini. Wesseling said opening an office in Southeast Asia was a “logical step”. He said the office would look to work with a combination of international and Japanese companies, but that Japanese companies would be a “key focus”. He said he saw “huge potential” to help Japanese brands expand their business in Asia.

Outlining USN’s positioning in Singapore, Thery said he thought a lot of the creative work produced in Southeast Asia was “still very traditional”. 

“Technology is a white elephant in a lot of places,” Thery said. “Very few people have successfully merged technology and creativity.”

Wesseling said the agency would be selective in the work it takes on, look to work with young companies and startups, and make a point of avoiding taking on work “just to cover the overheads”.

“The reason I’m in advertising is to make fun and beautiful communications,” he said. “A lot of agencies end up taking on mindless retainer work and before you know it, the life is sucked out of you. We’re not going to be like a banner factory or production company. You don’t go to McKinsey to make expense reports, for example.”

He cited Party, which has offices in Tokyo and New York, as an agency he was “jealous” of for its high creative standards and having “raised the bar” in Japan.

USN has ambitions to open more offices around the world and Wesseling listed Jakarta, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Amsterdam and London as potential cities for further expansion.

This article first appeared on Campaign Japan

 

Source:
Campaign Asia

Related Articles

Just Published

1 day ago

'Looking for the first domino': Titanium jury ...

In a wide-ranging interview, John explains how APAC work, like New Zealand’s stigma-smashing Grand Prix for Good and Ogilvy Singapore’s work for Vaseline, are setting the stage for global creative change.

1 day ago

John Wren on his vision for a bigger, better Omnicom

The chief executive tells Campaign why the IPG acquisition makes sense, what the impact will be and what will determine success.

1 day ago

Big ideas, not big algorithms, will win Cannes

At Cannes 2025, Adobe’s Shantanu Narayen and Publicis’ Arthur Sadoun unpacked why AI may power creativity—but humans still pilot it.

1 day ago

Campaign Cannes Global Podcast Episode 2

Our editors from the UK, US, Canada and APAC report from Campaign House at Cannes Lions 2025.