Time for another visit to Creative Leaders Corner. Pull up a seat for insights from industry leaders as they share their creative journeys and how they guide others on theirs.
Next up, we talk with Shingo Ohno, Creative Director at R/GA.
Based in Singapore, the visually focused Creative Director is originally from Japan. Before joining R/GA in 2021, Shingo spent 13 years at Wieden+Kennedy Tokyo and also worked at TYO Inc., one of Japan’s largest production companies.
In this interview, Shingo discusses the rewards of leading creative teams, lessons from working on campaigns across Asia, and how embracing technology—including AI—has opened up new ways of thinking and making. He also reflects on formative influences, shares memorable campaign moments, and offers advice to creatives seeking to stay engaged and relevant in a rapidly changing industry.
On leadership, he notes, “In Japanese, there’s a phrase: ‘communicate with your back.’ It means to lead, not by explaining everything step by step, but by showing your best work and letting others learn through your actions.”
What do you miss about being a creative without the leadership title, and what do you enjoy most about leading creative work today?
I’m a creative director, so I still spend a lot of time hands-on, coming up with ideas, editing videos, and designing alongside the team. I know some people say they miss being creatively involved once they move into leadership roles, but honestly, I haven’t felt that.
What I enjoy most about working with a team is seeing ideas evolve in surprising ways, directions I could never have imagined on my own, and watching things come to life that I know I couldn’t have built alone.
That sense of collective creativity is truly rewarding. Being able to rely on talented teammates, while still guiding key decisions, is something I really value in my role today.
What I enjoy most about working with a team is seeing ideas evolve in surprising ways, directions I could never have imagined on my own, and watching things come to life that I know I couldn’t have built alone.
Over the past year and a half, I’ve been leading campaigns for The Battle Cats, a mobile game from Japan’s PONOS, specifically for the Japanese, Korean, and Taiwanese markets. It’s a deeply collaborative effort involving R/GA’s teams in Tokyo, Singapore, and Australia, as well as local strategists and creatives. Together, we’ve created work that truly resonates with fans in each market, and in some cases, helped drive over 200% revenue growth.
That experience has been incredibly special. It’s given me a new level of confidence as a leader. I’ve worked under many different leadership styles over the years, and each one has shaped my thinking. By continuing to take on projects like this, I hope to keep evolving and get even clearer on the kind of leader I want to be.
Was there a particular ad or campaign that made you realize you wanted to apply your creative thinking in the ad industry?
When I was an art student, I was deeply moved by Apple’s ‘Think Different’ campaign and Nike’s ‘Frozen Moment’ featuring Michael Jordan. Unlike the Japanese TV commercials I was used to, which typically focused on product features, these campaigns delivered simple, powerful messages about life and human potential, brought to life through incredibly high-quality visuals. It was eye-opening.
Around the same time, I also came across the work of two legendary Japanese creatives – Masahiko Sato and Takuya Onuki. Their work pulled me even deeper into advertising as a creative discipline.
One memorable example was a commercial for Koikeya’s Scone snacks, created by Masahiko Sato. On the surface, it looked like a fun, playful ad, but in fact, it was meticulously crafted and unbelievably catchy. It got stuck in your head before you even knew it.
Takuya Onuki, known for campaigns like Cup Noodle’s ‘Hungry?’ series and Pepsi Man, created ads that felt deliberately aloof, as if they were meant only for people with a certain sense of humor. But at the same time, his visuals were elegant and refined, drawing in a much broader audience. That mix of irreverence and sophistication really impressed me.
Even though I was young and didn’t fully understand what I was seeing at the time, I could still sense the brand messages coming through. And I think that’s when I first started to feel like — maybe I could do something like this too. Maybe I could create something that would stick with people in the same way.
How do you help clients embrace bold, unconventional ideas?
If we want to surprise the public, we first need to surprise the client in the room. It’s important to help them viscerally feel the impact the idea could have once it’s out in the world, and just as importantly, to understand the thinking behind it. The idea shouldn’t just feel interesting; it should feel necessary, even inevitable.
When we worked on the Nike ‘Music Shoe’ campaign, we came up with the idea of turning the shoe itself into an instrument that plays sounds when bent, as a way to demonstrate the flexibility of the Nike Free Run+. But simply saying “the shoe makes sounds when you bend it” wouldn’t have made much sense, especially because the actual instrument didn’t exist yet.
So during the presentation, I hid an iPhone inside a Nike Free Run+ and held it in both hands. As I bent the shoe, I used my thumb to trigger sounds from a synthesizer app, making it look like the shoe was actually playing music. The client could instantly grasp both the product’s softness and flexibility, and the playful, unexpected twist of the idea. It was a simple demo, but it made the impact feel real.
They immediately got it and approved the idea on the spot.
Of course, it doesn’t always go this smoothly. Not every client is open to unconventional ideas. In my experience, the clients who embrace bold ideas are usually the ones who were looking for them to begin with.
That said, I believe all clients want to see results. So even if it’s just a small step outside the norm, I try to help them see the potential, and ideally feel a bit of surprise along the way. That’s what helps bold ideas become a reality.
What are your go-to methods for energizing your team and pushing creative thinking further?
In Japanese, there’s a phrase: “communicate with your back.” It means to lead, not by explaining everything step by step, but by showing your best work and letting others learn through your actions.
That’s why I always try to contribute ideas myself, as a member of the team. If I can demonstrate how far a concept can be pushed or how differently a brief can be interpreted, with the exact same time and information as everyone else, it can raise the bar in a very concrete way.
Of course, I also put a lot of effort into spotting strengths in the ideas my team brings and helping those shine. But even then, having been with them in the trenches from the start allows me to better understand their thinking and give feedback that actually resonates.
How is AI showing up in your team’s process or shaping the way you develop ideas?
R/GA has always thrived by embracing technological shifts, from pioneering interactive and mobile practices to now leading in AI. The difference today is that AI doesn’t just change what we make; it changes how we make it, and how we collaborate with clients.
We’ve already begun applying this shift internally, using AI during the planning phase to generate visuals and mockups. Beyond that, we’ve been actively proposing a range of AI-driven ideas, and clients are starting to recognize the potential.
The difference today is that AI doesn’t just change what we make; it changes how we make it, and how we collaborate with clients.
We’re moving from simply writing and designing assets to training systems, tailoring AI to client needs and desired outcomes, and generating new types of creative outputs that weren’t possible before. We can now make things that make things.
It’s already unlocking new kinds of briefs, deeper partnerships, and net new business opportunities.
What advice would you offer for someone just starting out in the creative industry – especially for those wanting to stay creatively hands-on as they grow?
If you’re an experienced creative and you still want to stay hands-on, you absolutely should. Management and hands-on creative work are both valuable and choosing doesn’t make your contribution any less meaningful. What matters is being honest about what excites you, and leaning into what you’re best at. That benefits everyone.
That said, staying hands-on isn’t just about experience. It also requires constantly learning and adapting. You won’t really understand the strengths of Instagram or TikTok’s editing features unless you actually try them yourself or AI tools unless you get in and experiment yourself. They’re evolving fast, and you’ll need firsthand exposure to stay creatively sharp.
If you stay curious and keep building on your past experience while embracing new tools, you’ll develop a kind of creativity only you can offer.
What are some campaigns you worked on during your career that you are most proud of and why?
PlayStation – ‘The Global Multi-Purpose Talk’
An older campaign, but one I still love. It was a quirky series that communicated how PlayStation offered more than just gaming, told through a “conversation” with a green onion, imagined as a multi-purpose being. The idea started when I misheard a copywriter during a casual chat in the office.
They said something completely different, but I thought they said “what if a vegetable could talk?” and ran with it. It’s a great example of a team unexpectedly developing an idea in a wonderfully strange direction.
KFC – ‘Best Biter’
This was a standout campaign we created after I moved to Singapore. We ran a social media–based audition asking, “Who in Singapore eats fried chicken in the most delicious-looking way?” The winner starred in a TV ad. It was a simple idea, but it made people crave fried chicken.
Ponos – The Battle Cats ‘Year of the Cat’
More recently, I’ve been working on campaigns for The Battle Cats, a mobile game by Ponos. One of my favorites was the 2024 Lunar New Year campaign, sparked by the thought “Why does the zodiac include a dragon, an imaginary animal, but not a cat, which is hugely popular?”
So we launched a signature campaign to make the “Year of the Cat” a reality. It was playful, but it performed really well, one of the reasons I’m especially fond of it.
Quick Hits
Most useful app or tool you’ve started using recently:
The voice AI platform ElevenLabs is incredibly well-made. For English, it works great for reading scripts aloud, but what I really enjoy is how it handles Japanese, you can change the tone and character of your own recorded voice. That means you can play multiple roles by yourself when creating video comps, which makes the process surprisingly fun.
A book everyone in the industry should read:
Golden Lucky by Shunji Enomoto bizarre manga series from the 1990s that had a huge influence on me. I don’t think there’s an official English version, but you can find it online and have it shipped internationally. If you’re curious, try reading the Japanese version with a translation app. You’ll might still find it puzzling, but that’s part of manga’s charm.
Something you’d love to learn or wish you were better at:
I love playing the guitar, and I wish I were better at it. And once AI progresses a bit more, I’d love to jam with an AI band that knows exactly the kind of sound I’m into.
You can see more of Shingo’s work on his website, shingo-ohno.com.
