The Association of Accredited Advertising Agents (4As) Singapore has announced the appointment of Hagan de Villiers as chairman for the 2019 Creative Circle Awards, aka GONG. Hagan is executive creative director at TBWA\Singapore and has been with the company for over a decade. He has worked with international and regional clients on a mix of financial, FMCG and retail brands including Manulife, Adidas, Mastercard, Singapore Tourism Board, Singapore Airlines and Standard Chartered.
Since his promotion to ECD in 2016, Hagan has helped TBWA\Singapore to numerous agency titles, including Campaign Asia’s Gold Creative Agency of the Year 2018, Gold Regional Integrated Agency of the Year 2017; and Marketing Magazine’s Overall Agency of the Year 2018. He has also been awarded at all major global advertising shows – Cannes Lions, CLIOs, D&AD, One Show, New York Festivals and London International Awards. Hagan is future focused and takes pride in helping nurture the young creative talent of Singapore, as well as elevating the creative reputation of the country. He has judged the global Young Glory competition, Young Spikes, and was most recently the Jury President for Singapore’s Young Lions Competition 2018.
“When I first arrived in Singapore,” said Hagan, “winning a Gong was a big deal. It mattered. For whatever reasons, the Gongs has lost its mojo and its prestige. We need to get it back. We need the best creatives in Singapore judging the work, and only the best work in Singapore winning an award. It’s going to be a lot tougher than in recent years.”
His passion, coupled with his creative expertise and experience, makes him the ideal chairman for this year’s Gongs as the 4As aim to reinvent the show, look to the future of the industry, and have only the best of the best world-class work submitted.