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Independent studios now offer luxury clients creative direction at 30-40% below holding-company rates with equity-aligned fee structures.
2026
with an option for extension
40 percent
lower cost
2025
when We Were Here pitches its first new-business opportunity…
Bec McCall departed HERO to launch We Were Here, an independent creative studio based in Southeast Asia. The move follows at least two similar launches in the region since October, part of a structural shift in how luxury and premium brands access creative talent outside London and New York.
McCall spent seven years at HERO, most recently as executive creative director overseeing work for hospitality, fashion, and automotive clients across Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand. We Were Here opens with three full-time staff and no external capital. The studio already holds one retained engagement with a regional hotel group that previously worked with HERO on a project basis. McCall declined to name the client but confirmed the contract runs through mid-2026 with an option for extension.
The pattern matters because it reshapes how family offices and luxury developers buy creative services in Southeast Asia. Holding companies traditionally bundled media planning, production, and creative direction into single retainers valued at $500,000 to $2 million annually. Independent studios strip out media and production overhead, offering creative direction and campaign concepting at 30 to 40 percent lower cost. For a single-family office launching a private-label hospitality brand or a heritage house entering Vietnam, that delta funds an additional brand campaign or two seasonal activations.
The structural advantage extends beyond price. Equity ownership allows founding creatives to align compensation with long-term brand outcomes rather than quarterly holding-company margin targets. A studio working on a five-year hotel brand repositioning can structure fees around occupancy or ADR improvements, not just deliverable count. That matters when the client is a development principal who measures success in asset appreciation, not impressions. Holding companies rarely offer that flexibility because their own shareholders demand predictable revenue recognition.
Operators should watch whether We Were Here and similar studios can retain talent without the promotion infrastructure of a WPP or Publicis. The next twelve months will clarify whether independent shops can offer career progression competitive with holding-company creative director tracks. If they cannot, expect a second wave of consolidation as founders sell to mid-tier networks seeking APAC footholds. If they can, the model expands to Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Sydney by late 2026.
Also watch for joint ventures between independent studios and production houses. McCall's studio lacks in-house production, meaning it will need to partner or subcontract for any work beyond concepting. A partnership with a Singapore or Bangkok production outfit would create a vertically integrated alternative to holding companies at roughly half the cost structure. Two such partnerships are already in negotiation elsewhere in the region, according to principals familiar with the discussions.
The first test arrives in Q2 2025, when We Were Here pitches its first new-business opportunity against a holding-company incumbent. If the studio wins on creative merit and the client is a name-brand hotel group or luxury goods house, expect four to six more senior holding-company departures by year-end.
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