| 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: Jamie Aung
Places lived/worked: Singapore; Yangon, Myanmar.
Pronouns: He/him
CV:
- Associate creative director, Mango Myanmar Group, Yangon (2023-present)
- Head of copy, Mango Myanmar Group, Yangon (2022-2023)
- Senior creative copywriter, Mango Myanmar Group, Yangon (2018-2022)
- Digital account executive, Mango Myanmar Group, Yangon (2017-2018)
1. How did you end up being a creative?
Working as a creative is the last thing I thought that would happen, but it feels natural now. I started in a client service role, and initially, I didn’t even have a portfolio. At the interview, I ended up presenting my YouTube and Instagram accounts instead, where I showcase my love for videography and photography, as well as my hobby of collecting and creating dolls. I’ve always loved storytelling as a kid, and now I get to do it as a professional.
2. What's your favourite piece of work in your portfolio?
This particular TVC was a re-branding for one of the top telcos in Myanmar. It features a mascot I’ve conceptualised in memory of my own late pet cat. The client enjoyed my demo so much I was hired as the final singing talent for the jingle and voiced the mascot. Throughout my career, I’ve had the chance to work on many campaigns but creating jingles and writing story-driven TVCs have always been my favourite part. The animation was done by a Bangkok-based team, so it also marked my first time working with a partner outside Myanmar.
3. What's your favourite piece of work created by someone else?
If there’s one thing I struggle with as a creative, it’s UGC campaigns. As a Little Monster, the way Lady Gaga and the Mastercard team created the Abracadabra UGC was beyond magical. The passion that oozed out of every fan who participated was untouchable. The rewards were more “priceless” than cash prizes or gifts. It’s something fans would remember for a lifetime. I’d love to be able to work on such an impactful UGC campaign one day as well.
4. Who do you most admire?
Lady Gaga. She has influenced and inspired me since I was 16. Whether you like her or not, you are aware of exactly who she is and what she stands for. You are aware of her presence. Her creativity is bold and her belief in her own craft is what inspires me the most. No second-guessing or worrying about the public’s reception. If she enjoys her work, she puts it out confidently. That’s the kind of creative energy and mindset I’m trying to adapt into my own work as a creative.
5. What advice would you give to 10-year-old you, if you could?
That being imaginative is your biggest asset. Always dreaming up scenarios in your head is your biggest tool in life. Storytelling is the key to connect people from all walks of life.
6. Do you have a nickname? How did you get it?
The nickname that my colleagues gave me is ‘Chaymie’. It’s a play on my name—’Chay’ is slang in Burmese for being posh. I lived and grew up in Singapore, and moved back to Myanmar in 2017, so I was accustomed to a certain lifestyle. When we would go for team outings, I would be picky and choosy about the locations, asking: “Does it have air-conditioning?” or “Are the toilets clean there?”. Side note: I am not choosy anymore. If the food is good, I go.
7. Do you have a catchphrase?
‘It’s gonna be a mess.’ Me and my creative partner would laugh every time we have a crisis at work, and I would deliver this one-liner. It is our way of coping to the situation that is serious and scary, but this would ease our minds.
8. Cat person or dog person?
I’m an animal person who loves every furry friend, but cats have a special place in my heart. My only pet in life, Elfie, passed in 2022. He was with me for seven years.
9. Early riser or night owl?
Night owl for sure. I would be stuck thinking of ideas during the entire day and at night, when I can’t sleep, the ideas seem to come out like never before. So many of my TVCs and campaigns were midnight babies. Then the next morning I would have to pay for it with an email from HR about clocking in late often.
10. Extrovert or introvert?
I always say that I’m an ‘unlockable’ extrovert. Before you break my walls down, I will be the ice queen introvert all the way, with a fear of opening up and worrying people wouldn’t like me. So, I would just let others approach me but once I’ve opened me up, oh boy, there’s no going back! I will be cray cray with the people I’m most comfortable with.
11. Any regrets?
My only regret is that I wish I had stood firm and fought for myself when my parents wanted to send me to business school. They were traditional in thinking that business school meant good jobs. Maybe I would be doing better or at a different place in my life if I had started my creative journey in school. But hey, I think I’m doing pretty good so far as well for someone who learned their craft on the job.
