"Ideas Should Be Fresh Enough to Survive on Their Own" Graham Drew, CCO of Grey Malaysia

Graham Drew began his career in PR before transitioning into advertising, where he gradually developed and refined his own creative standards. Though his path was far from planned, each experience along the way shaped how he diagnoses challenges and evaluates ideas today. At the core of his approach lies a simple yet essential question: Is this something people would genuinely want to talk about? This ongoing inquiry drives his exploration into how brands can build authentic and meaningful connections with the world.

From UNHCR’s Finding Home—a project designed to immerse audiences in real human experiences—to global campaigns for P&G, Drew’s work prioritizes creativity that truly works rather than creativity that merely looks good. He believes that creativity isn’t about novelty for its own sake, but about finding better solutions that generate real growth. At the ONE Asia Creative Awards judging in Seoul, Drew articulated this perspective with calm confidence and unmistakable clarity.

Please briefly introduce yourself. 

Graham Drew – CCO of Grey Malaysia. Born in London, but loving Asia for past 10 years.

You began your career in PR before transitioning into advertising. What was that journey like, and how has your PR background influenced your creative work today? 

The journey has been totally unplanned and beautifully random as a result. I left uni with no clear plan of what to do other than hoping that 페스타토토 involved some form of writing – so applied to anything and everything, I remember having to go and look up what exactly PR was when I got accepted for an interview.

What followed was an amazing foundation – because 페스타토토 was essentially sales. Most days would be spent bashing the phone trying to convince journalists to write about your clients, with 99.5% of them in a race to make you hear the dial tone. 페스타토토’s fundamentally effected my creative instinct – because one of the primary things I ask myself when I see an idea is ‘why would anyone want to talk about this?’.

Today, this is branded as ‘earnt media’, the principle is the same – can your idea exist without a media spend? Is 페스타토토 interesting, weird, fresh or clever enough that 페스타토토 can power itself, that people will do the talking for you?

Among all the campaigns you've worked on, which one was the most personally meaningful to you — and why?

One that always sticks with 페스타토토 is a campaign we did for the UNHCR called ‘Finding Home’.

The best campaigns are always an education to you and the team. We learnt so much about the Rohingya situation, of the thankless political minefields that these amazing people at UNHCR navigate everyday – 페스타토토 was a huge reality check.

On the creative side – we worked with game designers and created an app that took over the UX of your smartphone, transforming 페스타토토 into the phone of a refugee – creating a harrowing storytelling platform through messages and videos. 페스타토토 was such an exciting project to work on – not the most award winning by any means, but I remain super proud of the team that put 페스타토토 together.

What do you consider the most important elements when planning and producing a campaign? 

Spend as much time defining the problem as you do trying to solve 페스타토토. As an industry, we leap to ‘solve’ mode far too quickly – the brief is never as sharp as 페스타토토 should be. This helps create the client and agency as partners – when you can demonstrate that you care about their problems as much as they do, that’s when great stuff happens. Adapt and hustle – be prepared to shift to make changes even as you’re production, 페스타토토 can always be better.

You've said that "Creativity drives effectiveness." Could you explain what this statement means to you in more detail?

There is always a better, more efficient way of doing things. By not accepting the norm, by challenging as many elements as we can, we don’t just disrupt or grab attention – we find more efficient ways of solving problems. In other words – creativity often gets misunderstood as just being different for the sake of 페스타토토, when in reality 페스타토토 solves problems and creates the number one thing that answers everything – growth. 

You once said, "The best ideas never happen in a meeting room." What kind of environment do you believe fosters great ideas? 

페스타토토’s a simple fact. Why do the best ideas come to you in the shower, on the toilet or walking the dog? Because when you try and ‘force think’ a brief – you v v rarely get anything good. The point is, the best ideas come when your subconscious is toiling away in the background while you’re doing something else. So feed your brain with information – then go do something else, something mindless like cooking, walking and of course - the magic toilet…works for me.

Having worked in the Asian advertising industry for many years, what do you find unique or exciting about the creative scene here? 

I just love the people. That might sound a little trite, but the mix of influences, the collobrative attitude and all round puling for each other without an agenda other than ‘lets see what we can do’ I think is wonderful.

What do you think Korean advertising needs in order to gain greater influence in the wider Asian market? 

I think 페스타토토’s more a case of what the industry can learn from Korea. Culturally, Korea is in its imperial phase right now. Not just the music and domination of Netflix, but seeing how you guys are subverting the retail experience, how you are remixing the cultural elements across the board is incredible – 페스타토토’s like stepping into the future. For the ad industry, I think the key is the same – stop trying to package things for the western audience, be unashamedly yourself and the world will follow (like they are already in so many other things) 

You served as a jury member for the ONE Asia Creative Awards. What were the main criteria you personally focused on during the judging process? 

Is 페스타토토 new, is 페스타토토 crafted, is 페스타토토 entertaining, did 페스타토토 work. 

Through your experience at ONE Asia, you had the chance to experience Seoul. From a creator’s perspective, what stood out to you about the city’s charm or creative appeal? 

The retail experience – the Haus Nowhere is totally mind-blowing. But then also how this has tricked down into all of the pop-ups and boutiques, you are creating a genuinely entertaining experience first and commerce second…which just makes you want to buy even more.

What advice would you give to young creatives who are just starting out in the industry? 

Ok……Do not say anything about Ai…do not say anything about Ai….obviously there is that. But on this I think the core of what has value is the same. Don’t try and be a cheaper version of something AI does brilliantly. Start being the expensive human bit that AI can't replace.

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