Ali Shabaz: Chief Creative Officer of Grey Group Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand

SINGAPORE — Ali Shabaz has been appointed to the newly-created position of Chief Creative Officer of Grey Group Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand with immediate effect. He is based in Singapore.

“In a rapidly changing marketing landscape, we are even more committed to delivering brilliant ideas and creative work that successfully engage people and generate results for our clients. I am delighted that we are attracting a pool of top creative talents, as seen by our strategic partnership with Jay Furby in Australia, and now Ali, both of whom will help bring us closer to becoming the most “Famously Effective” network in the region,” said Nirvik Singh, Grey Group Asia Pacific’s Chairman & CEO.

“There is great promise in the plans lined up for Grey Group Asia Pacific and I am looking ahead to working with a dynamic creative force in the three markets,” Shabaz said.

Shabaz’s primary focus is to lead Grey Group Singapore’s creative team, handling its roster of clients such as Wildlife Reserves Singapore, Qatar Airways, ESPN STAR Sports, Metro, AXA, GlaxoSmithKline and Mitsubishi Motors. He is responsible for elevating the creative standards and raising the creative profile of Grey Group Singapore comprising Grey, G2 and Batey. He also oversees creative development at Grey Group Indonesia, with clients including GlaxoSmithKline, Mayora, Orang Tua Group, Avena Cooking Oil, Wyeth Nutrition, Barclays, Bank Mandiri and Nestlé Professional, and in Thailand for clients like Procter & Gamble, GlaxoSmithKline, AXA and the UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund).

Commenting on Shabaz’s appointment, Subbaraju Alluri, CEO of Grey Group Singapore, said, “Ali is highly respected as a truly passionate creative professional with one of the sharpest minds in the Singapore creative scene. Widely acclaimed as one of Singapore’s most revered creatives, he has an outstanding track record of producing impactful, award-winning work for clients. He is a definite boost to our creative credentials and I look forward to the fresh burst of energy that he will bring into the agency.”

Previously from JWT Singapore, Shabaz served as Associate Creative Director in 2005. Within a year, he was promoted to Creative Director and honoured “Advertising Professional of the Year” at The Singapore Advertising Hall of Fame Awards. To add, he was ranked the 11th “Hottest Creative” for two years in Asia and voted one of “Singapore’s Most Influential Creative Directors” by the Institute of Advertising Singapore for three consecutive years since its launch. Under his watch, the agency ended 2007 as the best performing JWT office and third most awarded WPP office in the world. In 2008, Shabaz rose to the position of Executive Creative Director, the same year that the office was ranked as the sixth “Most Creative Agency” in Asia.

Formerly, Shabaz help build BBDO Singapore’s creative reputation over his five-year tenure to become the second most creative agency according to Campaign Brief Asia. Under his helm, the agency’s print campaign for Pizza Hut was acknowledged as the eighth most awarded print campaign globally in the Gunn Report.

A 17-year advertising veteran, Shabaz has worked in India, the Middle East and Singapore on a diverse range of local and international brands like Visa, KFC, FedEx and ICI Paints which won him a slew of awards at Cannes Lions, D&AD, One Show, Clio, Effies, AdFest and Spikes Asia.


About Grey Group
Grey Group ranks among the largest global marketing communications companies and its total offering includes Grey (advertising) and G2 (activation marketing). Its parent company is WPP. “Famously Effective since 1917”, Grey Group serves a blue chip client roster of many of the world’s best known companies. Grey Group is represented in 96 countries, with 432 offices operating in 154 cities. In the Asia Pacific region, Grey Group covers 29 cities in 17 countries. More information about Grey Group Asia Pacific is available at www.greygroupasiapacific.com.