VaynerMedia Makes Social-Best Impact in Asia Pacific

Since opening its Asia Pacific headquarters in Singapore in 2019, VaynerMedia has grown rapidly to more than 250 employees in the region. Asia offices have been launched in key client markets in Bangkok, Thailand; Tokyo, Japan; Sydney, Australia and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The Singapore office is the base for heads of departments and it is the largest with 150 employees.

Founded in New York in 2009, VaynerMedia APAC was launched to bring “the best and the latest media, measurement and social-best practices to the Asian market”. Its DNA as a full-service agency offering strategy, creative, media, production and analytics to deliver impactful business results rides strongly on one premise – to be attention-first in its approach.

Headed by managing director Tim Lindley, he shares that its regional growth has been largely organic. “We went where our clients needed us to be. The broader footprint gives us deeper insights into consumer culture and a better understanding of local audiences.”

He explains further the driving focus of the agency’s approach in being right at the pulse of culture and to be where consumers are. “Attention is our religion; we're ruthlessly obsessed with it. Branding is being built in social, where brands have to earn attention through relevance. We've built the deepest level of understanding of platforms and culture to capture attention and make brands more relevant to more people than ever before. If you don't understand how to capture attention, nothing else matters.”

VaynerMedia achieves that by gaining a deep understanding of consumer cohorts in different markets. “We've put creative and media back together, giving our teams better understanding and leverage of attention within cohorts. We create a huge volume of content, targeted to specific cohorts, then build on the ideas that resonate the best. The cohort becomes the brief, and a much more impactful one at that,” says Tim.


The teams work seamlessly on content that is on point as they get feedback very quickly from platforms such as Tik Tok and YouTube Shorts and Reels. “They are the best insights engines out there. You’ll know within minutes if something's working,” he adds.

Recruiting Social-Savvy Talents 

VaynerMedia’s consumer-first mindset drives its talent recruitment as they continue to hire around the region. Since joining in 2021, Tim has seen the headcount snowball, with 2022 being a busy one. “Every single role in the agency has to have that deep, native understanding of social platforms, because it's the bedrock of everything we do,” he says.

Singapore welcomed creative directors Mae Ong and JY Lay, both now since promoted to group creative directors in APAC. In Thailand, Pitha Udomkanjananan was appointed as head of creative, while Malaysia added creative director Rachel Hoo to the team. More recently, Australia welcomed new group creative director (Australia) Yash Murthy.

The latest creative talent to join the VaynerMedia family is head of creative Chan Woei Hern. He succeeds VJ Anand who took on a global and EMEA creative mandate, based at the agency’s London office. Woei Hern brings with him an excitement for VaynerMedia’s “attention-first model” and over 20 years of experience across the creative, media, content and film segments.

Creative firepower goes hand in hand with media mavens, and Marc Langenfeld was appointed as APAC head of media in June last year. Marc has over 12 years’ experience in Asia Pacific and is recognised as an innovative and commercially driven digital media business leader. Tim shares, “Our integrated approach is key to driving relevance at scale, and with Marc leading the media charge, I have no doubt that our growth and impact in the region will continue to thrive.”

Launch of the Singapore APAC office

Driving Regional Markets

While the pandemic has caused some economic uncertainty over the past few years, and predictably caused brands and consumers to be cautious about their spending budgets, Tim sees it as an upside. Says Tim, “As the market becomes more thoughtful about where to focus investment, our model becomes even more attractive. Brands are built in social, it's where consumer attention is every single day, and it drives sales. We leverage what works to build relevance and drive business outcomes, putting money behind the things that work hardest.”


Regional markets offer unlimited potential for VaynerMedia as they are still in the early stage of growth as a business. “Expansion is always on the table, but we're not in any rush to jump into new markets for the sake of it. We have a great footprint and a very strong team. We will maintain the quality of what we do and stay focused on driving meaningful business impact for our clients,” says Tim.

He adds that the Australian market is growing really well, and that they are in the midst of working out the details of a new market office in Asia, which will be announced in due course.

VaynerMedia works across the region with a growing portfolio of leading brands such as PepsiCo, Prudential, YouTube and SK-II.