Chris Chiu to leave Leo Burnett Singapore to form consultancy; CEO John Kyriakou taking on the additional role of chief creative officer

Following eleven years with Leo Burnett across Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore, group executive creative director Chris Chiu has resigned to focus on his new creative consultancy. John Kyriakou, CEO, Leo Burnett Singapore will be taking on the additional role of chief creative officer while Chiu (left), will continue to support as continue to support Kyriakou and Leo Burnett Singapore as a creative consultant on selected accounts and projects throughout the year.

“With Chris, we have talked about his need for some time and have happily come to a way that suits us both. I have known Chris for well over twenty years since the day I gave him his first opportunity in the industry. He has done extraordinarily well, and has contributed significantly to the creative development and successes to the agencies he has worked at including Leo Burnett Singapore where he led the team over the past five years. Under his leadership, the agency’s creative performance has been consistently strong, winning awards from leading international and regional award shows including Cannes Lions, One Show, Spikes Asia, AdFest and EFFIES. I want to thank him for the fantastic legacy he has left us with,” said Kyriakou.

Continued Kyriakou (pictured left), “We have built a strong creative department with senior teams that are fully involved with each and every client. Between Chris and me, the creative leadership will continue with minimal impact on the day to day operations for the year ahead. Concurrently, we are also shortlisting world-class candidates for the full time role of chief creative officer to lead the office in the long run.”

Chiu said: “It’s been an amazing 11 years to say the least. In this industry, one doesn’t usually stay with a network for that long unless you respect what the brand stands for. At the same time, this agency has more than repaid in kind with the way they’ve treated me across my time here. Being a member of the Leo Burnett Global Creative Board and helping Jarek with the creative supervision of South-East Asia has been a tremendous experience. Nonetheless, after doing this for some twenty plus years, there is only one thing left that I’ve been itching to do and that’s to start something on my own. In the meanwhile, I will continue to assist Leo Burnett as much as necessary wherever and whenever I can.”

Jarek Ziebinski, President, Leo Burnett Asia Pacific said: “Chris has been a valuable member of the Leo Burnett family for the past eleven years with a very solid track record. His role as the Southeast Asia Creative leader on our Internal Product Committees sessions across five markets should not go unmentioned and has led us to scale greater creative heights in the past two years. I want to thank Chris and wish him the best in his new future.”