• Reportage
• Viewpoints

Source: Campaign Asia

She grew up inspired by black and white TVCs. Now, the group creative director at Hakuhodo Vietnam turns bold, contemporary ideas into innovative campaigns, night owl hours and all.

In Creative Minds, we ask APAC creatives a long list of questions, from serious to silly, and ask them to pick 11 to answer. (Why 11? Just because.) Want to be featured?

Name: Ngoc Nguyen
Origin: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Places lived/worked: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Pronouns: She/her

CV:
・Group creative director, Hakuhodo Vietnam (2020 – present)
・Experiential director, YouNet Digital (2018 – 2020)
・Creative director, Dentsu (2016 – 2018)

1.How did you end up being a creative?
I’ve dreamed of being a creative since I was kid watching ads on our black and white TV. The idea of a career that constantly challenges me to invent, imagine and innovate every single day perfectly aligns with that endlessly curiosity I had growing up.

2.What’s your favourite piece of work in your portfolio?
It’s a launch for Tiger Platinum. In this project, we flipped tradition by starting not with the finished product, but an open challenge to Gen Z: “Help us craft your ideal beer.” Together, we redesigned the taste, packaging, and ethos of what a beer could be. Brewmasters became collaborators, and Gen Z became co-creators—voting on recipes, shaping the brand, and ultimately endorsing the beer they helped build. It was uncharted territory, but the result proved its worth: a product that didn’t just speak to Gen Z, but for them.

3.What’s your favourite piece of work created by someone else?
It’s ‘The Epic Split’ from Volvo Trucks—an impossible stunt with a serious strategic muscle behind it.

4.Who do you most admire?
My parents. They are basically sunshine and rainbows, and their ‘no arguing in front of the kids’ superpower is frankly suspicious.

5.Who is/was the most important person in your life?
Myself. By taking good care of my mind and body, I’m able to show up better for everyone else in my life.

6.What advice would you give to a 10-year-old you, if you could?
Try almost everything.

7.What food can you not live without? What food would you be happy to never taste again?
Let’s be real, I’m pretty sure my blood type is R+ (for rice). As a born-and-bred Vietnamese, rice isn’t just food; it’s the very foundation of my existence. My palate’s pretty diverse, but there’s one clear exception: onions. We just don’t see eye to eye… literally, they make me cry.

8.What’s your guilty pleasure?
Daydreaming.

9.Do you have a catchphrase?
This too shall pass.

10.Cat person or dog person?
I love both. They’re just like kids: endlessly entertaining and always keeping you on your toes.

11.Early riser or night owl?
Night owl.

End article

Read article at:
https://www.campaignasia.com/article/creative-minds-ngoc-nguyen-on-crowdsourcing-the-ideal-beer-with-gen-zs/505796