Peepo David, A Global Advertiser

As I have moved and lived in so many different places, I was automatically drawn to Peepo David’s story and how his background has shaped him into the creative advertiser that he is today.

For some background, Peepo has now been in the advertising industry for more than a decade with experiences all over the world. He started out as an art director in the Philippines where after working a couple years, he decided to move to Malaysia and do some contract work there. While in Malaysia, is where he found the importance of finding a good mentor. His mentor, Eric Cruz, worked with him on a project for Samsung at SIDLEE and helped guide him to realize what he really wanted to do within advertising.

Peepo then left Malaysia and got a life changing opportunity to work at AKQA Shanghai, where he worked mainly with Nike, and more specifically, their basketball brands (Jordan, LeBrons, etc.) With basketball being one of the most popular sports in Shanghai, Peepo found an interesting way to connect and relate with the people there, NBA2K. Through this video game, Peepo was able to help form creative ideas and advertising strategies that helped boost Nike sales throughout the city. After catching the eye of AKQA’s top heads, he had the honor to move to LA and open up AKQA LA’s branch, right here in Santa Monica. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19 many of their employees have since moved on, including Peepo who now works at Wunderman Thompson and is handling many of Samsung’s social media accounts.

When asked about his likes and dislikes within the industry, he talks about his passion for coming up with solutions. He talks about how “despite the rigor and cut through-ness of the industry, I love to come up with solutions to problems.” He mentions how, especially now, the world is very subjective and everyone has their own opinions. The key is trying to find that recipe that’s just right, one where everyone can universally understand and relate to, despite all the differences that people may have. He stressed the importance of not being stuck on one idea or “recipe” and that it’s best to always have a fresh perspective on your problem.

Yet to find this ideal “recipe”, Peepo talked about the importance of doing a deep dive into the brand you’re trying to sell. Knowing everything about them, and even forming some sort of personal connection to them can be a big advantage in forming the right solution to the problem at hand.

And lastly, I was taken aback with the wise advice he added: the importance of having that “north star” that you can follow, staying true to yourself in a world where everyone will try to lay their opinions and beliefs on you. And concluding with the words “In order to leave your mark, especially now, you have to be gutsy. Be bold, don’t try to catch up or latch on to trends, but make your brand a new trend.”