Hello, how may I help you?
I have over two decades of creative experience spanning the fields of advertising, digital/social campaigns and experiences, tech and innovation.
I’m an idea-generating, tech-loving creator passionate about building brands, making products, forming experiences, converting users, solving business problems and communicating relevantly in a digital and AI age.
Ultimately, I see my job as building brands people will welcome into their lives. And strategy, creativity and technology are a means to that end.
Outside of the 9-to-5, I founded and chaired International Creatives London, the capital’s only support, networking and co-learning group for creative industry folk from around the world. I've offered branding and digital marketing consulting for social impact startups. And I've been an interactive marketing judge at D&AD.
Speaking of award shows, my awards include a D&AD silver for digital work and Cannes Grand Prix for outdoor. Other gongs are from shows like Clio, OneShow, Lovies, Sharks, BIMA (also a Grand Prix), Asia Pacific Adfest and so on. A total of 33 creative awards to date.
A key focus area of mine at the moment is applying AI in a variety of contexts e.g. businesses decision-making, customer experience and creative output.
Highlights in AI:
- Seen as the AI guru and catalyst
- Conducting AI consulting to identify business issues, propose strategic opportunities and cutting-edge ideas to CTOs and CIOs
- Gen AI experiments and prototyping
For more on my AI capabilities, see doc.
THINKING: joellimjohan.medium.com
Recommendations
"What do you say about Joel? Hard to describe..a pure Idea Ninja. He's mad in all the best of ways. His passion will slap you in the face (not a little slap but a big Grizzly Bear sized proper paw slap) when you really need a good slap to crack a difficult brief. He's got a truly infectious love for creativity and lives and breathes it. Love going into battle with Mr Lim. Many a Dim Sum we have shared together and created some out-standing work that has gone on to scope a table full of awards. Many a two tables full to think about it. Can't wait to steal him away from his agency - anytime."
— Wayne Deakin, Executive Creative Director, AKQA, managed Joel at Jam @ Engine (now known as Deep Focus)
“Joel kindly volunteered to spend a day with our cohort of Social Impact Entrepreneurs on our Accelerator Programme. He did an amazing job of challenging them with branding exercises so that they could explore their product positioning and think about what their brands really communicated to their customers. He also ran a 30 minute brainstorming session on creative thinking that the group are still talking about 6 months later! Finally, any guy that can trick me into dressing up like a superhero for the day is gonna get my vote. Still thinking about payback on that one!”
— Gordon Eichhorst, Head of Ventures, Resurgo Trust & Member of NASA’s Technology, Innovation & Engineering Committee
"I worked alongside Joel on a few pitches. Quirky and passionate - Joel knows what good creative work is. All you can expect from good CD - Ready to give directions whenever you need him, great energy, always ready to push ideas a step further and all with a smile!"
— Mathieu Cuvelier, Freelance Senior Creative, www.mathieucuv.com, reported to Joel at Holler
"A real go getter, Joel ended up teaching the class we shared and always seemed to be ready for the future whether it was ready for him or not. Media savvy, technically adept and good natured Joel seemed a good fit for any team looking to move forward in creative communications."
— Michael R Zrobok, studied with Joel at Queensland University of Technology
"Joel is... One of those bright creative kids who never grew up into us stodgy adults. He's also a smart kid who can grasp the bigger picture before it even shows up on the horizon of everyone else's radar. I remember him turning the tables on difficult accounts (aka. un-creative clients) and produce amazing pieces of real work. How he did it... only God knows. He can be very tough on juniors (so I heard), but if they had listened to him then, they'd have probably won awards by now. When he isn't busy working on your account, he's most likely to be found reading a book about anything at his table... (so he can apply it on your account if it comes in handy). This 'kid' has got powerful ideas to take you into the future, and an adult's tenacity to see it get there. You just have to be as curious and as brave as him, to see it."
— Zac Labang, Creative, Euro RSCG, worked with Joel at Euro RSCG
Other details
Adventurousness
I’ve lived in 4 countries – Malaysia, New Zealand, Australia and the UK. So I adapt quickly to different work and cultural environments. Every city I find myself in is an opportunity to stretch myself and make things happen. I would rather risk failure than to not try something I truly believe in. In fact, some of my best work are proactive jobs.
Imagination
I am continually thinking of new product/service/content/advertising/AI ideas for brands. I believe that the creative of today must have an entrepreneurial spirit; they need to have an innate proactive drive to deliver innovative ideas, outside of their comfort zone, for their clients. Entrepreneurial start-ups are changing the way people live, work and entertain themselves. We’ve got to be part of the mix.
Passion
I’m passionate about innovative ideas and am most alive when I have an effective and highly original idea to pitch to a client.
Leadership
The best leaders give their teams the freedom to explore what has never been done before. Leadership is not about managing people – it’s about building a culture of passion for big ideas, encouraging creatives to push the limits of their thinking, and freedom from fear.
Flexibility
I possess the ambidexterity needed to work with strategic and creative teams. The ‘lone creative genius’ is a myth. To create the best work, you need to be an active player within a high-performance, cohesive and multi-disciplinary group.
Conscientiousness
At the end of the day, what matters most to a client is the work. First we need to nail a great solution or idea. Then we have to craft it well so that the idea reaches its full potential.