Publicis Singapore launches digital, design consultancy Nurun

In Singapore, Nurun will be “embedded and working closely” with Publicis Singapore. Jonathan Ng, creative partner, will lead creative strategy and innovation and Joanne Theseira, general manager, will lead business development and operations.

Before joining Nurun, Ng was former creative lead of Ogilvy Asia Pacific's innovation unit K1ND, where he led business and brand innovation projects for clients like Huggies, Burberry and Mondelez from both Singapore and Beijing.

Theseira joined Publicis in July 2014 after 11 years with TBWA, where she helped launch the agency’s Digital Arts Network offering in 2012.

Following Publicis Groupe’s acquisition of Nurun last year and its integration with Razorfish Global and Publicis Worldwide, Nurun has since operated from 14 countries. Clients include Accor, AXA, Bradesco, Carrefour, Cartier, Citi, Coca Cola, GM, Google, Kingfisher, L’Oréal, LVMH, Nestle, Orange, P&G, Pernod Ricard, Renault, Sanofi, and Tesla Motors.

While design consultancies such as IDEO and Frog Design specialise in “human-centred design” much like Nurun, Ng believes what stands out about the consultancy is the fact that it’s now combined with Publicis.

Nurun's process for human-centred design

“It gives us a unique perspective,” said Ng. “It allows us to bring together design, technology and an understanding of brand behaviour to create differentiated products, services and platforms for our clients.” 

According to Theseira, the need to have product and service design capabilities has never been more important, as the line between integrated agencies and digital agencies continues to fade.  

“Our client's problems are becoming more complex and are increasingly beyond the ability of 'communications' to solve,” said Theseira. “I think Nurun views client briefs and opportunities differently as well and has a strategic lens focusing first on human behaviour.”

Finding and sourcing the right “hybrid” talent has been a top priority for Nurun and Publicis Singapore.

“We didn’t want engineers,” said Ng, noting the difficulty of finding T-shaped talent with strong brand, tech and design thinking skills. “We wanted people who had come up from a branding background and then when into tech.”

While having a team of “hybrids” has been a key strategy for integrating Nurun’s design thinking focus with Publics’s own creative, operations and planning teams, the agencies are also “fully integrated” via a single P&L, CEO and a “flat working structure”.

The agencies will work collaboratively. For example, if it's a Nurun-led business, teams will work with Publicis to collectively deliver the project. On the other hand, if the brief is led by Publicis, Nurun experts will work as consultants alongside Publicis teams.  

Some of Nurun’s recent work has included Tesla, where Nurun designed a new sales experience in the way cars are sold.