Bassam Abdel Rahman — RevoU Instructor | Director at 72andSunny
Bass Profile
Bass was born to Sudanese parents, in Italy and lived around London, LA, Singapore (twice) and Amsterdam.
He started his career at TBWA London with the launch of the PSP, PS3 and loads of software titles followed by 11 years working for international agencies such as BBH Asia Pacific, Agency.com, and Media Arts Lab partnering with Nike, Google, British Airways and Apple.
He joined the 72andSunny Singapore team in September 2018 after spending two years as Global Group Brand Director at 72andSunny Amsterdam where he led the global Adidas account and Samsung . He played an integral role in the 2018 Adidas World Cup campaign, “Creativity is the Answer.”
More on Bassam:
Question & Answers
Explain in just a couple of lines what a Creative Company such as 72andSunny does?
There are many different kinds of “agencies” and each with their own process and deliverables, but in our particular case we partner with companies/brands and apply creative thinking to solve their business problems, developing ideas that help drive their business growth.
Biggest myths and misconceptions about your job?
Most people think that a creative company is just about advertising or media (e.g. TV commercials, billboards), but actually brand thinking can be executed in all aspects of the business beyond marketing; from the sign-up email all the way through to the packaging and even companies internal HR processes.
Your proudest professional achievement at 72andSunny?
I am very proud of our team becoming the partner of choice for SEA’s modern companies. This gave us the opportunity to work with industry-defining companies like Grab, Carousell, AirAsia and One Championship as well as some of the fastest growing and most promising brands such as Hmlet or Zenyum.
Best books on Branding & Storytelling to recommend to our students?
Funnily enough, there isn’t one great book I would recommend as, even though I agree with 70%-80% of the lessons they teach, I often disagree with the “one size fits all” approach they tend to use, particularly given the uniqueness of a market like ours here in Southeast Asia.
But it you put a gun to my head I’d say:
- ‘How Brands Grow’ by Bryon Sharp
- ‘Building a StoryBrand’ by Donald Miller
Things you wish you could have learned earlier in your career?
To follow my instinct more and then use research/testing to get live and real feedback. I used to waste so much time calculating all possible outcomes before making a decision. I later realised that there is nothing better that immediate feedback from real humans in the marketplace that you can immediately react to and optimise against.
What distinguishes the goods from the greats in your field?
Simplicity. Our industry attracts incredibly smart people but sometimes, they are just “too clever”. I know it sounds weird to say… Yes, being clever is great (and something we all look for) but it’s useless if no one understands what you are trying to say. I think the greatest and smartest people in our field are those to take complex problems and resolve them with simple, clear solutions.
Learn from Bassam and other great instructors by applying to RevoU Digital Marketing program
Looking to kickstart your career in Digital Marketing but don’t know where to start? Apply to RevoU 15-weeks Digital Marketing Program
How RevoU works:
✓ Live daily interactive online classes for 15 weeks (6–9pm WIB)
✓ Learn from the best instructors in the industry (such as Bassam)
✓ Personalised career coaching with 1:1 mentorship sessions
✓ If you are looking for a job and don’t get one at the end of the Program, the entire course is FREE
