Interview by Angel Guerrero | Words by Rea Gierran
One of the most awarded creative in Asia, Sucharittanonta’s works hoarded metals at renowned international award shows. His work, entitled Belly Button Face was one for the books for having carried home Thailand’s first Cannes Film Gold Lion in 2003. Under his leadership, BBDO Bangkok was constantly at the limelight for the recognitions the agency has won. It bagged GUNN Report’s 8th World’s Most awarded Agency in 2004 and Adman Award’s Agency of the year in 2004 and 2005. His TV spot for Black Cat Whiskey launched Thai commercials in the global stage.
A legend who saw Thai advertising start and reach its peak, Khun Suthi also saw it hit rock bottom when Thailand suffered from a political crisis. This unrest, which happened five years ago, affected their economy, creating a detrimental domino effect which even affected local tourism. And it showed: Thailand’s performance in regional and international awards festivals visibly struggled. Even the slapstick humor Thais were known for changed due to the lack of great directors and talents.
PHOTO: Suthisak is a self-taught guitarist
And if working with cut-price projects and a shortage of talent wasn’t hard enough, Suthisak had to train new people. Two batches of creative teams left him for better opportunities elsewhere, but he held no grudges and in fact is proud of this. When asked how he was able to cope with the challenge, he answers “You need to recruit ultimately. I’m happy for the creative team that left because they’re off to become CCO or ECD. Some of them became TVC directors.”
Suthisak was studying architecture when he took notice of the great shift Thai advertising went through. He credits Barry Owen, Bhanu Ingkawat and Thor Santisiri as its founders. “When they started working, everything looked different compared to the old days. Thai advertising before was very straightforward. It was full of hard-selling jingles. I was a student studying architecture but because of those three pioneers. Their work especially with Michael Warr, a great talented director, was phenomenal. Those spots made advertising look cool,” he says.
Jureeporn Thaidumrong, Suthisak’s former deputy at Results Advertising (a small firm opened by Ogilvy & Mather to serve local businesses) reflects about Suthisak. “For me he’s the funniest boss. He inspired me a lot in many ways. Working with him at Results was so much fun,” she shares.
“In Ogilvy, I was focused on the local accounts. I’ve never heard about Cannes or any other international shows until I moved to Results Advertising,” Suthisak says. He stayed there for three years, giving him the chance to meet another advertising legend, Neil French. His stint at Results changed Sucharittanonta’s perspective. “Barry Owen gave me a lot of freedom. I learned everything from them: art direction, copywriting and way of thinking. Barry taught me what is a great work. This training brought me into the award shows. That’s when I started winning regionally and globally,” he claims. Jimmy Lam COO of DDB Group China shares: “The ruthless mean bastard who does everything for his/her own good, and, the passionate communication practitioner who never hesitates to go the extra mile to help and suppport fellow communication practitioner from his own agency or even competing. Khun Suthisak is the latter one.”
Creative Leadership
For Suthisak, it’s important for every agency to look for the best talent to work with. “There’s a big difference between an average creative and a brilliant creative. We try to recruit the best talent to work for us. If those talented people believe in the culture of what we build, they can create the best brief that can convince the client,” he says. Right now he thinks that they’re having trouble finding great talents in the community, because most graduates would rather do something else, like selling online or establishing cafés. “But the thing is, there are students who graduate every year. We just have to make sure we find a great talent to join. Once we spot a talent, we groom them to reach the top,” he points out.
Suthisak is all for encouraging the youth to take a plunge at advertising. “Advertising is great because we’re no longer limited to just TV or Outdoor. They can now create whatever they want. If they like creating, then advertising will suit them well,” he philosophizes.
The Belly Button Face campaign for Giffarine EQ-10 bagged Thailand’s first Cannes Film Gold Lion
The legendary Suthisak takes great pride in his work for Black Cat Whiskey
Fresh Start
His move to BBDO Bangkok was a challenge, because he had to do globally great work to keep up with BBDO Asia’s established reputation. “We were more ambitious in BBDO. We want to be the best in the world. I worked very hard until I got sick in 2001,” he recalls. Fortunately, he recovered within six months and came back with a new attitude and a new perspective. He realized that there’s more to life than work. “I figured that you have to spend a lot of time with your family, friends and with your hobbies. You have to look at life differently and be less selfish. I was selfish before. My ultimate goal was just to win, which is bad. There are many other things in life that you should do. You have to be compassionate, do good to other people,” he reflects.
Despite a strong motivation to be the best, the super driven Suthisak Sucharittanonta ultimately knows that success is all about relationships.
This article was first published in the November-December 2015 issue of adobo magazine.
