Bryan Choo gets excited by executing great digital campaigns for his clients.
What’s your story?
Inspired by TripAdvisor and then later Buzzfeed, I created a hyper-local portal in Singapore 4 years ago. TheSmartLocal.com now reaches over half the population each month and we have over 100 employees.
What excites you most about your industry?
There’s a certain thrill that goes along with content creation because results are sometimes impossible to predict. Those with strong ideation skills tend to do well and on digital media. How well your campaign did is known to everyone through the public engagements the posts get. So executing great campaigns for brands brings me a lot of satisfaction.
What’s your connection to Asia?
I was born and bred in Singapore; a very modern country that offers the best of both worlds. In Singapore, we have access to the latest in technology and very competitive prices. We can tap into skilled labour such as IT from Myanmar and design/videography from the Philippines. Should we venture into production or E-comm, we have access to extremely cheap raw materials. We’re just a 5 hour flight away from China.
Favourite city in Asia for business and why?
Singapore! Most APAC regional offices are located here, making it easier to get approval since we deal directly with the decision makers.
What’s the best piece of advice you ever received?
To think of ourselves more as a publisher and not a review website.
Who inspires you?
Oliver Emberton, Mark Manson, Charlie Houpert and Tim Urban. They are all amazing content creators.
What have you just learnt recently that blew you away?
I discovered a franchise that used an amazing way of growing content regionally through user-generated content and hashtags.
If you had your time again, what would you do differently?
To focus on content geared to social audiences from day one. The biggest mistake of most traditional players is just focusing on SEO-driven content, which does not do well on Facebook. We started off like that but we adapted quickly and that’s when our business took off.
How do you unwind?
I used to play computer games, now I exercise and get lots of satisfaction looking at my fitbit results.
Favourite Asian destination for relaxation? Why?
South Korea. I love the food and weather there.
Everyone in business should read this book:
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini
Shameless plug for your business:
Apart from TSL, we also run three other websites. MustShareNews.com which focuses on news, Eatbook.sg which focuses on food and Zula.sg which focuses on female-centric content.
How can people connect with you?
Drop me an email at [email protected]
Twitter handle?
@thesmartlocal
—
This interview is part of the ‘Callum Connect’ series of more than 500 interviews
Callum Laing is an entrepreneur and investor based in Singapore. He has previously started, built and sold half a dozen businesses and is now a Partner at Unity-Group Private Equity and Co-Founder of The Marketing Group PLC. He is the author two best selling books ‘Progressive Partnerships’ and ‘Agglomerate’.
Connect with Callum here:
twitter.com/laingcallum
linkedin.com/in/callumlaing
Download free copies of his books here: www.callumlaing.com
