Brand · IP · Merchandising · AI — Creative & Commercial Leadership, Kuala Lumpur
I make brands people want to own. The story, the mark, the thing in their hands — and the production, the protection and the numbers that keep it standing up. Eighteen years of it, across Malaysia, the US, the UK, Europe, Japan and Korea.
Most people own one piece of this. I've run all of it — the brief, the mark, the sample, the launch, the P&L — which is why I know what a decision made in week one costs in month twelve.
Positioning, go-to-market and channel strategy, pricing and promotion architecture, campaign planning and post-campaign analysis.
Enrico #1 in region · 200+ campaignsStory universes, creature lore and drawn mascot casts — characters built to carry a brand across products, banners and campaigns.
12 chapters · Verrati · SUKIM mascotsLogos, marks, colour and type systems, key visuals and the standards that hold them together across every channel.
NEO Creative · SUKIM V · VerratiApparel, accessories, packaging and launch assets — designed to be wanted, made and sold, not just drawn.
37 products · VerratiSourcing, sampling and production direction inside real cost and feasibility limits, with final say on what ships.
75-person networkRegistering, protecting and governing brand assets across markets, ready for licensing and partnerships.
42 countries · VerratiFinding, pitching and running partner programmes, and keeping brand standards intact across licensees and vendors.
#1 channel · The Naked GrouseActivations, events, launches and retail moments that turn a brand into something people show up for.
200+ campaigns · HideoutDirect-to-consumer storefronts, paid and organic acquisition, CRM, social operations and pre-order launches — run across markets, currencies and languages.
1,000 units, zero ad spend · 30 currencies · ShopifyAI agents and automated workflows for research, insight, campaign planning and content, with human review built in.
n8n · Lyzr · Midjourney · RunwayAdvising on digital platforms, automation and applied AI, from web systems and data workflows to agent architectures with human oversight.
Red Rock World · UT Austin AI/MLTaking a business from one site to many: P&L ownership, hiring and team structure, supplier and vendor systems, and the standards that keep quality consistent as volume grows.
1 → 9 venues · 150 staff · 8-figure revenue
A premium fashion and lifestyle IP built story-first, where every product is a chapter, and every market it enters is one the trademark was cleared in first.
A 12-chapter story led by Verath, the black tiger of the burning sky. Each chapter gives a drop its reason to exist and its reason to be collected.
A proprietary dual-read V emblem that works three ways: as logo, as graphic device, and as a physical product detail.
37 apparel and accessory products, from the heavyweight signature tee with 3D embossed print to a convertible bag, with packaging and launch assets.
Trademark registration and governance across 42 countries, so the IP can be licensed, partnered and sold without exposure.
The first chapter launched through the signature tee: heavyweight black cotton carrying the V emblem in 3D embossed print, released with a cinematic film rather than a product photo.
Drops run through Verrati Vault, a limited-edition pre-order model shaped by Gen Z consumer and competitor research, so demand is proven before production is committed. www.verrati.com sits behind a countdown and a signal list, so the audience is built before the doors open.
The hoodie sold 1,000 units on community alone — a Telegram group, no paid advertising, no influencer budget. Demand was built before a ringgit went to media.
Every sample passes a creative check before release, and nothing leaves the line until it clears that standard.
Not mockups. Apparel, headwear and accessories manufactured to spec and shot for campaign: 3D embossed prints, custom-woven branded webbing, printed interior linings, moulded hardware and a shoe compartment built into the duffel. I directed the design, the sampling, the production standards and the photography.
Twelve chapters, released in order. The story is about being counted out and coming back inevitable — written in second person, so the person wearing it is the one it happens to. Each drop belongs to a chapter and closes with it, which makes the scarcity part of the story rather than a tactic.
Manage Verrati's IP and trademark portfolio across 42 countries, keeping the brand protected and consistent for licensing and partnerships.
Localised the brand across 30 currencies and market languages for entry into the US, UK, Europe, Japan and Korea.
Direct the network across sourcing, sampling, packaging, production and QC, with creative sign-off at every sampling stage.
Cost, feasibility and lead time are settled alongside the design, so what gets approved can actually be made at the price it has to sell at.
Built AI agents and automations (n8n, Lyzr, Zapier) with human review that turn feedback, research and product updates into insight, campaign plans and content.
An AI-assisted visual pipeline produces key visuals and films like Chapter I at speed, on brand.
A brand and AI venture built for Dr Baskaran Kosthi: positioning and brand architecture on one side, applied AI and practical automation on the other. I led it identity-first — the mark, the character, the website and the course platform.
Red Rock World has a face as well as a mark: an elder carved from the mountain itself, built to host the courses, narrate the lessons and carry the brand across site, social and video.
A character gives a brand something a logo can't — someone to speak, teach and be recognised.
The badge doesn't just sit on a page. It's introduced through the landscape it's named for, so the mark and the world arrive together — the same story-first approach I use on product brands.
Produced in-house with an AI-assisted pipeline, from key visual to finished film.
A night out is a product. It gets designed, priced, marketed and sold — then it has to be done again next weekend, better. Hideout Club was the flagship; Hideout Group was the business around it, including a shareholding in Rebel Penang and concept venues such as Rabbit's Tale. I ran brand, campaigns and commercial operations from one venue to nine, through 200+ campaigns and partnerships with Heineken and The Naked Grouse.
Led the launch, positioning and ongoing channel strategy for the blended malt in Penang: pricing and package design, staff training, activation nights and a programme that kept the brand visible between campaigns.
Result: Hideout became the brand's highest-selling channel in the market, ahead of its own retail and online channels, for the duration of the partnership.
Built before the software made any of this easy. Every mark here was drawn by hand and then carried across stationery, collateral, livery, signage and screen — the only real test being whether it still held at the size of a business card and at the size of an aircraft tail.
A million-ringgit agency year — 70+ brand, design and digital projects for clients including Intel, Maxis, B&O Play and Zensorium. That work funded the move into hospitality: Hideout Club opened on the back of it.
A composited world of winged tigers, desert fire and water that carried the brand across web, print and pitch materials.
One hand across all of it: dimensional marks, hero-scale key visuals, and identities taken from a business card to an aircraft tail.
Presentation note: the designs, marks, mascots and collateral shown here are my original work from this period. The showcase boards were rebuilt with AI from the original files and presentation boards, so decade-old material is staged to current standards. Original source files available on request.
A selection only. Much of the work from this period sits in client archives or was lost with older systems, and some remains under client confidentiality.
Brand and IP world-building, 42-country IP and trademark management, merchandise design and production, and AI workflows.
Grew from one venue to 9 with 150 staff and eight-figure revenue. Delivered 200+ campaigns and consumer experiences, and made Hideout The Naked Grouse's highest-selling channel.
A million-ringgit agency year across 70+ branding, design and communication projects. Brand activation that took Enrico to #1 in northern Malaysia. That work funded the move into hospitality.
Digital brand, content and user-experience work on entertainment, sports and technology accounts.
