SINGAPORE – Maurice Wee and Devika Johri have joined Grey Group Singapore as Creative Director, and Planning Director, respectively. They will both work primarily on the GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) account. An experienced and dynamic creative, Maurice will oversee concept development processes of the creative teams. Devika is an insights-driven, culturally attuned marketing communications specialist, with a passion for distilling complex business, consumer & channel strategies. In their new roles, Maurice will report to Marthinus Strydom, Executive Creative Director (GSK), Grey Group Singapore, while Devika will work closely with Neil Cotton, Chief Strategy Officer, Grey Group Singapore
Maurice joins Grey from BBH Asia Pacific, where he was Creative Director. A leader with a reputation for doing things differently, he achieved considerable success while leading the IKEA, Mentos, UOB Bank, and Singapore Tourism Board accounts. His very first campaign for BBH, the ‘Mentos National Night’ won the Campaign of the Year and Digital Campaign of the Year at the IAS Hall of Fame awards. In addition, he also made the front page of the Straits Times with the viral ‘The IKEA Bookbook’ campaign, which accumulated more than 5 million views in 3 days and has since become the most viewed IKEA YouTube video of all time.
Prior to joining BBH Asia Pacific, he was the global lead creative team for Singapore Airlines at TBWA Singapore, with the global brand campaign being named among the Top 3 Successful Campaigns of 2011 by Campaign Asia.
Before TBWA, Maurice honed his expertise at Ogilvy & Mather Singapore as Creative Director, and BBDO Singapore as Associate Creative Director. While at Ogilvy & Mather Singapore, he worked on Huggies, Soyjoy, Health Promotion Board (HPB), and Infocomm Development Authority (IDA), winning an Effie for a campaign to help teenage self-esteem. At BBDO Singapore, he played a significant role in winning new businesses. As a result, the agency was ranked #1 in Singapore by The Straits Times, and #5 in Asia by Campaign Brief Asia.
Maurice’s stint at BBDO Singapore was preceded by two separate stints at Saatchi & Saatchi Hong Kong (2001-2003) and Saatchi & Saatchi Singapore (1998-2001) respectively, winning a slew of prestigious awards at Cannes and picking up the Golden Gong (Best of Show) at the 2000 Singapore Creative Circle Awards. Over the course of his career, he has produced consistently excellent award-winning work, with accolades at Cannes, D&AD, Webby, Effies, One Show, AdFest, CCA, LIA, Clio, and HK4As.
Devika joins Grey from Ogilvy & Mather Singapore, with 11 years of cross-category experience in FMCG, and Media & Entertainment. As Global Planning Director, Unilever (Pond’s), she crafted high-impact communication strategies, collaborating with Unilever marketing upstream to identify sources of growth, and key consumer segments. Successfully integrating digitally-inclusive solutions alongside Media, Social, PR, and Shopper agency partners, she was instrumental in revamping the brand’s facial cleansing & male grooming business in the SEA and SA region.
She was on the client side before her stint at Ogilvy & Mather Singapore. At Star India Pvt. Ltd, Devika drove Content and Marketing strategies as Head of Consumer Insights, Life OK (General Entertainment Channel). Best known for transforming Life OK from a niche entertainment channel to a mainstream one, she crafted a brand-new channel agenda, launched several new programmes (Mahakumbh, Savitri, and Haatim), and developed a fresh identity visible within its culture, philosophy and consumer positioning.
Earlier in her career, Devika spent 7 years at DRAFTFCB+Ulka Advertising Pvt. Ltd over in Mumbai, India in the role of Group Account Manager, Strategic Planning. She developed an astute sense of positioning, optimizing brand connectivity and business objectives as a result, with an impressive portfolio encompassing clients across the FMCG and Media sectors. These included ITC Foods (Cookies & Confectionery), Wipro Consumer Care (Beauty Soaps), Bajaj Corp (Hair Care), Zee Enterprises (Entertainment Channel), and GCMMF – Amul (Milk & Dairy).
Konstantin Popovic, Executive Vice-President & Managing Director (GSK), Grey Group AMEA commented:” Maurice has an amazing history of producing ideas which disrupt the boundaries of creativity, and is passionate about nurturing and inspiring young creative talent. I am certain Maurice and Marthinus will make a formidable creative team, and raise the bar of our creative output. Devika prides herself on evolving rigid stereotypes in communication to reflect changing norms. Her portfolio aligns well with Grey’s ethos of producing Famously Effective work, and her experience across both the agency and client side will be a great asset.”
“I love that our business is constantly evolving and that there is always a need for fresh ideas. I can’t wait to start.” commented Maurice Wee, Creative Director (GSK), Grey Group Singapore.
Devika Johri, Planning Director (GSK), Grey Group Singapore said: “I want to thank Grey for this incredible opportunity, and look forward to leveraging my insights to bring the consumer and brand back to the forefront of communication strategy.
