Hello.
Meet Jef Tan.
Press mentions
With over ten years of experience in the advertising and graphic design industry, one can claim he’s seen just about everything. From the redundancy of airbrush machines and blue-pencil’d bromides to the first Macintosh beigeboxes to today’s wonder machines that can do everything but make the coffee. From “Website? What’s that?” to “I’d like mine in xml and make it skinny buddy!” What’s next?
LÜRZER’s Archive Magazine Gulf Marketing Review The Straits Times, Singapore
Online, offline, above-the-line, below-the-line (where is that damn line?); One line doesn’t change: the almighty deadline. It keeps Jef on his toes and constantly alive: delivering fresh ideas on time and on the money.
Check out his work From a career that began in Singapore, Jef worked with regionally based clients and learnt to deliver quality work in the face of inter-cultural sensibilities, seeing the fruits of his labour distributed in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, the UAE, Sudan, Kuwait, Central Africa and even here, in Australia. If anything, these experiences have been valuable in shaping Jef’s abilities to empathise and conceptualise.
Disciplines Brand strategy / Campaign Management Art Direction Print / TV / Online: web / Offline: Interactive Graphic Design Corporate identity / Publication / Retail / Packaging
Awards Singapore Creative Circle Awards, 2003 Webby Awards: Action for AIDS Singapore 1997
How would you sell the benefits of a globally conspicuous brand of infant nutrition formula while avoiding international legal pitfalls?
PROGG/APM/ME/0506
“Enough of ‘genius’ themes already, if we see another idea with a baby Einstein in it, you can join our previous agency -- in dump town!” “And can it be ethnically ambiguous?” “We’d like to be able to sell our promise that kids from ages 1 to 3 will grow exponentially, mental-capacity-wise, without the World Health Organisation on our collective asses” Our pay-off line? Enhance your child’s mental development.
www.AtfalWyeth.com
WYETH PHARMACEUTICALS
+971 (4) 3635099 : ﻓﺎﻛﺲ+971 (4) 3635000 : ﻫﺎﺗﻒ7699 ﺏ. ﺹ. ﻡ. ﻡ. ﺫ- ﺍﻟﻤﻨﻄﻘﺔ ﺍﻟﺤﺮﺓ- ﺷﺮﻛﺔ ﻭﺍﻳﺚ ﻓﺎﺭﻣﺎﺳﻮﺗﻴﻜﻠﺰ
PROGRESS FORMULA FOR AGE 3 : REGIONAL Launch for gc MARKETS And in selling our strategy to the client, we snatched the entire account from the clutches of its incumbent. A concept that not only met the client’s requirements, it also addressed their deepest insecurities: an idea that saved them money because the campaign could be run in the most conservative of the Gulf Countries: the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, where Muslim women and girls were barred from appearing in any kind of advertising. We drew on the aspiration of the target audience
(parents of children from ages 1 to 3) and their desire to make the most of their children’s enhanced mental development (while consciously avoiding the clichés of portraying a freakish Einsteinesque looking talent) so voila! Parents anxious to transform their child’s immediate environment into a universe of learning. The idea was so simple it didn’t even need a headline! It spawned a whole flurry of applications that fit right into the client’s grander scheme of marketing.
From retail Point-of-sale displays to guerilla-style ambient marketing, right through to direct marketing to health-care professionals (secondary target audience) and sponsorships (schools), they just kept on coming. This campaign also boosted all concurrent PR activities and strengthened distribution channels throughout the GC.
Distributor’s address details to be placed here Tel: +971 (4) 3635000 Fax: +971 (4) 3635092
www.AtfalWyeth.co
Wyeth Pharmaceuticals FZ-LLC P.O. Box 7699 Tel: +971 (4) 3635000 Fax: +971 (4) 3635092
Distributor’s address
Distributor’s address details to be placed here Tel: +971 (4) 3635000 Fax: +971 (4) 3635092
Distributor’s address
The above items are only a glimpse of the much wider picture: RETAIL AND premium giveaways abound, not to mention vehicle liveries on various types of vehicles. The total number of items PRODUCED is an Excel spreadsheet eyesore and production was staggering in terms of numbers. Multiply everything by 2 languages: English & Arabic.
How would you promote an alcohol beverage in a Muslim country where advertising for alcohol is forbidden on mainstream media?
Not SHOWN: COCKTAIL CARDS, RECIPES, T-SHIRTS, UNIFORMS, COASTERS AND NUMEROUS BAR PARAPHERNALIA
DIAGEO / smirnoff
LAUNCH OF SMIRNOFF ICE + PROMO TIE-IN WITH “CASINO ROYALE” Take a world famous Vodka. Add an international superspy. Throw in his penchant for adultery, his taste for violence and what-the-hell, let’s throw in gambling as well. Call that fun? We call it a recipe for trouble with the law and the possibility of landing in the Dubai jail! Enter a smart direct marketing campaign that delivers the spirit of the drink combined with the mystery of the leading hero: a lush rouge jewel-box, an invite in the form
of cards (aces and spades) and chips for redemption (did we say redemption?) at the launch event. Follow up items include special cocktail cards at licensed drinking spots and various collector edition premiums, redeemable with those royal-esque casino chips. And uniforms for girls that made money for our pennies. Suffice to say we set quite a scene for the party. The way Mister Bond would have liked it. Shaken, not stirred!
How would you re-introduce a global brand renowned for its shoes and sports products to a never-before-reached demographic with an impossible deadline?
NIKE SOUTH EAST ASIA
kids
NIKE “kids’ RULE” SHOES AND APPAREL RANGE FOR KIDS Photographed, designed, printed and distributed in one business week, this project was almost on the brink of disaster. Faced with a delay in cargo and a shortage of the right talents, we were nearly forced to cancel the project altogether. But luck smiled and we were able to assemble a fresh team of photographers, stylists and talents in the nick of time and transformed what would have been every creative
director’s nightmare (photographing kids) into an absolute dream. In this project, Jef not only ‘concepted’, but art directed, retouched, designed and copywrote the entire catalogue which was then distributed ASEAN wide. Kudos to Dave Wee (Photography), Angela Koh (Hair & Make up) and Ivan Sim (Styling)
CESAR PET FOODS
A CAMPAIGN WORTHY OF PEER RECOGNITION Sometimes it’s cool to take an idea literally. And in this popular brand of dog food, how else to express “an extra topping of vegetable” than to let the picture speak for itself? In 2003, this campaign won the hearts of international jurors and was awarded three bronzes. Kudos to Shaun Quek and Priscilla Sim!
With a pay-off line that said: “Brand new Capo, same great taste” and headlines like “You can’t fake quality”, we rolled out an advertising campaign that included 4 TV spots, radio jingles and even smart cars! But what must have been the most talked about was our ‘crazy stalker cow’ that appeared on Billboards and obscure street corners, surprising passersby and reinforcing TV-recall. Not bad considering Sudan’s reputation as an advertising no-man’s-land! DAL GROUP, SUDAN
ReBRANDING roll-outs on unchartered seas Possibly the single most ambitious marketing campaign in Sudan ever, was the re-launch of the ‘Capo” range of dairy products, the flagship brand of Sudan’s Dal Group Company. With a brand new mascot and logotype, the client had to redesign and albeit all existing packaging designs. But
that’s not all. A massive advertising campaign was rolled out to educate all consumers and distributors that what they were seeing was the same great product that they all know and love, albeit in a brand new look. This was essential as the largely unsophisticated market was unaccustomed to the same kind of advertising exposure we’re familiar with in developed economies.
The above items are only a glimpse of the much wider picture. TRAVELLING road shows for food sampling, school sponsorship programs and charity food giveaway events also shared the concept.
THE SINGAPORE POLO CLUB
Rebranding & relaunching an age-old institution If your last major launch took place over 200 years ago, what could you possibly do next? Will this institution, once revered by royalty and dignitary alike, survive a re-branding exercise?
their membership list. But not any ordinary member though, but strictly those of the upper-class. How do you correct the old impression of the club as a stoic, archaic bore into that worthy of celebrity gossip?
The Singapore Polo Club had more than that to worry about. With millions of dollars in investment (brand new extension, spanking new facilities and top notch refurbishment sprucing), it had no choice but increase
Enter the new campaign that extolled its promise that it is “no ordinary club� with a print campaign, brand new corporate literature, invites to special previews, web site and right down to each classy detail.
DETAILED SNIPPETS OF THE CORPORATE BROCHURE (ABOVE) AND INVITATION TO A PRIVATE PREVIEW FOR POTENTIAL MEMBERS ONLY
CORPORATE IDENTITY INITIATIVES
More work AVAILABLE HERE : http://www. jefsix.com/pdf/JefTanId.pdf
To entrust anyone in the design of your first brand identity is a serious investment. Jef has been very fortunate to be integral in the introduction of some of these babies into the marketplace. Most of these business entities have since grown steadily over the years while others linger on for posterity, preserved and not forgotten.
From left: Halia Restaurant (now Halia Group of Companies, Singapore), James & Wee, The Tamarind, Versa (Versa Smart Marketing, Singapore) i-enable Procurement Solutions, Nike Women’s Series (Asia), Traffic Safety Initiative for Children (UAE) and lastly, The Royal Breeze Properties (UAE) .
Talent tested, tried and trusted.
WHAT former EMPLOYERS, CO-WORKERS and CLIENTS ARE SAYING ABOUT JEF TAN
“How would I describe the standard of Jef’s work? The best possible. Jef is ‘anal’ in a good way and perfectly well organised, and all this comes in a very gentle and very professional package. Let him be in charge of setting up or systems fine tuning. Give him room to be creative.” – Arnaud Verchère Managing Director, Tonic Communications Dubai (Ranked 45 in the Gunner Report 2006) “I once put Jef in quite a spot when I asked him to help me produce five television commercials for a major corporation in Africa in a very short period of time. The production took us to some of the remotest places in Central Africa including Sudan where commercial production was practically nonexistent. After a few weeks with Jef’s help we delivered some great spots to a very happy client. I think it’s in Jef’s nature to roll-up his sleeves and take up a challenge no matter what is required of him. His honesty and gentle nature has always been a guiding light for other creatives working under him. His attitude and brilliant work has always pleased the clients and I know they will miss him dearly.” – Vincent Raffray Creative Director, Tonic Communications Dubai
“Since 1997, I have had the pleasure of working with Jef as a creative designer for my publicity projects. I found his concepts to be unique, refreshing, ingenuous and bold.” – Emida Natalaray Executive Producer, Ark Pictures Pte Ltd “I can’t recommend Jef’s work highly enough. He’s a designer who THINKS and he gives you 110% each time” – Lucy Ashley Creative Director, E-DM “Jef is an excellent worker – dependable, committed to the job at hand, easy to work with and very creative. As a client of his, I was more interested in how he interpreted the brief and he not only always met the brief, he would come up with interesting ideas and work that often pleasantly surprised me. Over the years I’ve known Jef, I think he is passionate about design and creating things from scratch – be it writing, or photography or designing/art. He loves what he does; and it shows.” – Melissa Tham Communications Director, Discovery Inc
Talent. Now for hire.
SEE MORE work have a chat
For up-to-date works please visit http://www.jefsix.com +614 03 800 791
jeftan@gmail.com