Telling Stories Expands with New Hires and Suite of Offerings

Telling Stories, DDB’s film and content division, expands its team with the addition of two former journalists for its new editorial arm.

Benjamin Lim was previously the former contributing editor at pop culture website Rice Media and wrote investigative features and think pieces. Multimedia journalist Edward Teo, who was at The Straits Times Video for four years, crafted human interest narratives such as the Living City video series and shot branded content.

They join Natasha Ann Zachariah, senior writer from Tribal Worldwide Singapore, who was previously from The Straits Times Life, and art director Nigel Tan.

Operating as a modern, tech-driven newsroom, the experienced team offers new services including editorial content, short- and long-form stories and visual stories – all tailored for various platforms. They join Telling Stories’ strong pool of directors, producers, social media strategists, and scriptwriters to form a content ecosystem that provides strategic planning, idea generation, writing, editing, art direction, publication, and analysis.

Jeff Cheong, deputy president at DDB Group Singapore and head of Tribal Worldwide Asia, says: “Content marketing has found its place in the menu of advertising solutions. Gone are the days where you can create a film and expect people to watch it or use media money to block the user experience.”

“Many of our clients have benefited from our bespoke curation of content from artificial intelligence, in-depth journalistic stories, entertainment content, rapid brand-jacking and original film content. They yield higher engagement, deeper influence and drives conversion,” he added.

Telling Stories has reached numerous milestones since its launch in December 2017. The division has produced more than 400 original film and social content. It has also garnered staggering engagement results for its clients such as the Singapore Deposit Insurance Corporation (SDIC), whose social media performance exceeded current industry benchmarks.

This year, Telling Stories looks forward to a new content platform with its finger on the pulse of local pop culture. It will feature in-depth opinion pieces, a live feedback video response on trending issues, and have its first AI Storyteller - an automated broadcast service that uses neuro-marketing and automation to create targeted content with speed.