We continue our conversations with leaders in the space of the experience of the older adult in Asia, and this time, our guest is Anna Mori. Anna is an executive officer at TDS, a strategic design company based in Tokyo, and Learning Design Director at digital creative business school Hyper Island Japan. She is a trained graphic designer and has worked with global brands on a variety of projects involving branding and design solutions. She recently published a book called Transformative...

We continue our exploration of the retirement experience in Asia, and this time, our guide is QiNi Lee. QiNi brings a unique perspective as Sodexo's Corporate Responsibility and DEI lead for Malaysia and Singapore, combining her academic background in gerontology with government, NGO and corporate experience. She helps us shed light on how businesses can tap into the opportunity the retirement experience and this lifestage represents. QiNi is busting myths... She challenges the pervasiv...

We sit down with Dave McCaughan as we continue exploring "The New Contract of Retirement" across Asia. Dave has coined, championed, and now serves as the epitome of "The New Life Builder" . But what is this "New Life" actually built on, and why should brands look to be part of its foundations? With four decades of advertising experience with McCann across Bangkok, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo, Dave spotted the implications of this emerging demographic shift far earlier than most. Where...

As we're continuing our journey into the world of retirement, our guide today is Dr. Shiori Shakuto, author of "After Work: Japanese Silver Backpackers in Malaysia." In this episode, Shiori is helping Drago and Scott explore the evolving perceptions of retirement across Asia. Dr. Shakuto's groundbreaking anthropological research reveals how Japanese retirees are rejecting traditional expectations and embracing hypermobility, self-discovery, and new forms of community. What We Discuss: Debunki...

Scott and Drago return, introducing their new research: Retirement: The New Contract. Silvers, Seniors, Boomers...labels that dismiss older adults as a homogeneous audience. Yet, across developed Asia, the older demographic is growing not only in size, but also in its diversity, influence and spending power. So, why are they so often ignored or misrepresented by brands? With the nature of work rapidly changing and the official retirement age rising, we wanted to shine a light on one of life's...

Objects: things we covet, collect, display, share and utilise. But what do they mean as ‘stuff’ increasingly integrates with our digital lives, or even morphs into virtual worlds? Who better to ask than Justin Peyton from Wunderman Thompson, whose BRAND N3XT platform explores the people and ideas that are working to make Web3 and Metaverse a positive force for people, business and society. In Potluck’s latest episode, hear Justin’s thoughts on… · How he defines the M...

This time, it's Chris Arning who's come to stir the pot with Drago and Scott. Chris runs boutique consultancy Creative Semiotics, teaches an online course titled How to Do Semiotics in Seven Weeks and is the co-founder of Semiofest, and more... What did we get up to stirring up: - We start off with that perennial question of what is Semiotics. - Chris shares some examples from applying Semiotics to work in Asia; Chris is an unashamed Japanophile, so of course he mixes in Japan examples, to...

Potluck returns for our 3rd season, and the first episode of 2022. Pei Ying Loh is Head & Co-Founder of Kontinentalist, an organisation dedicated to telling data-driven stories about Asia. As a collective of writers, designers, developers and data-visualisers, they tackle topics connected to Culture, Politics, People and History through various creative approaches. Our discussion charts: - The parallels between Pei Ying’s background in History and storytelling, and Kontinentalist’s...

Before Scott and Drago hang their aprons and ladles for the year, they sit down to stir the pot one last time in 2021. The two hosts discuss their favourite parts of the conversations they've had throughout the year with Katie Dreke, Ambrish Chaudhry, Charlotte Wilkinson, Ajay Jilka, Jocelyn Tse, Simon Chadwick, Vasuki Shastry and Peter Smyth. Among other things, they're discussing... - If Asia's not overhyped, then what is it? ...and some words of caution about the future of Asia in a diges...

Hear the full feast of our conversation with Peter Smyth, a man of many talents, analogies and stories! We follow his cycle from Toronto to Hong Kong, onwards to Tokyo – and now back. Where his career has spanned both big agency life (BBDO) and the world of luxury marketing with Louis Vuitton and latterly Van Cleef & Arpels. We lift the lid on Asia and particularly Japan via his deft tips for navigating Japanese culture (it’s all about finding your role in the play), the Darwinian approac...

In the third and final part of our conversation with Peter Smyth, we have the usual conversation for this segment around three main areas: Flavour of the Month, where we travel back in time to Honda motorbike's entry into the US in 1962. In Brand Bullshit, Pete takes on the linearity of decision making in business and marketing strategy. Fortunate Failures draws the curtain on Pete's experience as a young account exec carrying boards for the BBDO creatives in Toronto and how that experienc...

In Part 2 - ‘Hacking Humans’, we fold in the next layer of our conversation with Peter Smyth. This time, Drago and I enjoy hearing his modus operandi for understanding people and culture… · ‘Thinking in bets’, and how life is far more poker than chess · How great insight boils down to great people illuminating the opportunity ahead… · Balancing gut instinct vs. ‘what the data is saying’, both-ism and the art of inte...

Drago and Scott are stirring the pot - with Peter Smyth, Head of Marketing & Comms at Van Cleef & Arpels Japan. A strategy legend in Japan, Peter is with BBDO for 16 years - in Toronto, HK and Tokyo. He then moves to client side to become VP of Comms and Marketing at Louis Vuitton Japan before joining Van Cleef. Peter has been in Japan for 16 years until his recent move to Toronto with his family. In part 1 Lifting the Lid on Asia you can hear: - How far Pete can take a ...

Settle down to hear the full feast of our conversation with Vasuki Shastry, author of 'Has Asia Lost It? Dynamic Past, Turbulent Future'. Vasuki is an inspiring writer, thinker and leader; formerly of the IMF and Standard Chartered Bank, building on his earlier experience in journalism and academia. Today he’s an Associate Asia Pacific Fellow at the thinktank Chatham House, and Senior Fellow for the US Chamber of Commerce. We discuss his book through our usual three segments... ...

From Dante's inferno, to Brand Burns...rounding off our conversation with Vasuki is our quickfire segment... Flavour(s) of the month: on a lighter note, we touch on the eclectic range of literature that’s on his summer reading list, and how fiction can play an important part in grasping cultural realities. Brand bullshit: how the decoupling of the US and China markets is far from inevitable, and why the related talk of conflict is thrown around with too much abandon. Fortunate failure: ...

A 20-minute ride through Mumbai with an auto rickshaw driver, two contrasting realities, and a sudden epiphany for our author. In part 2, Vasuki discusses how human stories helped him anchor the heavy hitting challenges facing developing Asia today. We zoom in on two of the eight ‘circles of hell’ discussed in the book: 1) The Middle Class Trap: how the path towards an aspirational and vibrant middle class in developing Asia is filled with obstacles, including: - Massification of educat...

Drago & Scott are stirring the pot - with Vasuki Shastry, author of Has Asia Lost It? Dynamic Past, Turbulent Future. He starts his career in journalism with Business India and India Today in Mumbai, then works with the Business Times in Jakarta and Singapore. After that Vasuki is in the press centre of the IMF, acting as their Asia Pacific spokesperson during the Asia financial crisis. Vasuki then becomes Head of Public Affairs for the IMF and Standard Chartered Bank in Lond...

As we enter a poignant summer of sport, we have a timely conversation with Professor Simon Chadwick, Global Professor of Eurasian Sport at Emlyon Business School (based in Paris & Shanghai). As a writer, academic, consultant and speaker in the global sport industry, Simon has particular expertise working at the intersection of sport, business, politics and technology, especially in a Eurasian context. We stir the pot with Simon on a range of topics, including: - What fascinat...

Top-down to Bottom-up; this full feast episode cover all 3 parts of our conversation with strategist Jocelyn Tse. Through the lens of a career that has spanned the big creative agency world in China and Hong Kong, and most recently as the founder of the independent collective MMSN, we get Joceyln's take on: - How both an outside-in and human-centred approach has brought her success - Creativity in a Chinese context, and how it differs from Western markets - The rise of the collective a...

Drago & Scott are stirring the pot - with Jocelyn Tse, Founder & Lead Strategist, MMSN. Multi-award-winning strategist, Jocelyn brings a rich insider's perspective on strategy and the industry as a whole from her work with all major comms holding companies across Hong Kong & Shanghai: TBWA, Ogilvy, JWT & digital experience agency Isobar, to name a few... Tune in for part 3 of our convo for a quick-fire round: Flavour of the Month: on Jocelyn's fave recent brands o...