FEATURE
THE FIRM
158
H
e's one of the big boys now.
Everyone pays attention
now: the big-time clients
in his pockets, the bigtime competition who have him in
their sights, and the big big world
of consumers across the globe. He's
got adobo magazine’s attention.
And now he's got yours as well.
Nicholas Ye, Chief Executive
Officer of The Secret Little Agency
(TSLA), is just 32 years old and
newly married, having begun his
career in advertising at 18 years
of age. His advertising agency is
just nine years old, having been
first established in Singapore.
Today, TSLA is no longer so
secret or so small—its quirky name
rendered ironic by its stupendous
growth and Ye's phenomenal success.
Clients include Shell, Lego, Netflix,
adobo magazine | July - August 2016
Nespresso, Rolls Royce, Unilever,
Evian, Telenor, Tiger Airways,
and Tiger Beer. Awards reaped
include The Creative Agency of the
Year 2015 by Marketing Magazine,
The World's Leading Independent
Agencies 2015 by Campaign UK,
and The Creative Agency of the Year
2014 by Campaign Asia. Offices
have sprung in Singapore, Hong
Kong, and Shanghai. Their work is
seen in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan,
Myanmar, Malaysia, Singapore,
Philippines, and Thailand.
Most impressive are the messages
they successfully communicate to
consumers: from youth empowerment
in India, advocacy for safe internet
in Thailand, mobile healthcare in
Bangladesh, financial inclusion
in Pakistan, all for Norway-based
telecommunications multinational
corporation Telenor, to ideas for a
better life for the victims of super
typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines for
Grey Goose vodka. Their portfolio
includes insightful campaigns on
how to celebrate Chinese New
Year for Netflix and How Not Be A
Tourist in New York, Paris, London,
Melbourne, and Beijing for the
online travel guide of the same name.
And TSLA is just getting started.
POPPING THE CHERRY
Much like a speakeasy, TSLA's
office on Singapore's Hong Kong
Street atop a restaurant has no
signage to indicate the location of
a world-beating advertising agency
sought by clients the world over.
It was here that Angel Guerrero,
adobo magazine's editor-in-chief, met
with Ye and the rest of TSLA for an