Creative Minds: Chanikarn Sitthiaree was a rebel in school

In Creative Minds, we ask APAC creatives a long list of questions, from serious to silly, and ask them to pick 11 to answer. (Why 11? Just because.) Want to be featured?

Name: Chanikarn Sitthiaree

Origin: Bangkok, Thailand

Places where you've lived and worked: Bangkok, Thailand

Pronouns: She/Her

CV:

• BBDO Bangkok, creative director, 2022-now
• Wunderman Thompson, creative group head, 2019–2022
• GreynJUnited, copywriter/senior copywriter/creative group head, 2013–2019

1. How did you end up being a creative?

After graduating college, I was contemplating a career in advertising when I met a friend who worked at nudeJEH BKK, now GreynJUnited. She offered me a chance to work there, and after experiencing it, I never questioned if advertising was the right career choice for me again.

2. What's your favourite piece of work in your portfolio?

My latest work at BBDO Bangkok is The Cleft Choir for Listerine campaign. While there are already many great campaigns for raising money for clefts, we were excited to receive this brief. We aimed to showcase how cleft conditions affect a child's daily life beyond physical appearance, but we didn't want to approach it sympathetically. Instead, we sought an empowering direction to highlight the positive effects of a healthy mouth.

We highlighted how clefts affect overall health, especially breathing, and how only surgery can fix this. To raise funds and awareness, we formed a choir of children who had received proper surgery called "The Cleft Choir." In addition, we used a Thai love song, "You're My Breath," to convey a message of love from cleft children.

To recruit consumers for fundraising and singing on TikTok, we launched a recruitment ad as part of the campaign. We then incorporated the footage of these consumers into the final music video.

Through this campaign, cleft kids and consumers became empowered, and the kids inspired us to do our best every day.

3. What's your favourite piece of work created by someone else?

While I love a lot of excellent advertising work, if I had to pick one, it would be "It's a Tide Ad." It's simply brilliant!

4. What career did you think you'd have when you were a kid?

From the time I was a kid, I wanted to be a creative in advertising. (maybe it’s the curse of being born in the 1989s).

5. What kind of student were you?

I was not an excellent student, and I hardly studied. I skipped numerous classes and broke almost every school rule. However, I was incredibly passionate about theatre, and it taught me how to understand different perspectives on humans. I believe this has prepared me well for a career in advertising.

6. What really motivates you?

Great creativity from creative spirits.

7. What’s your favorite music / film / TV show / book / other of the past year, and why?

My favourite movie from 2022 is Aftersun because I appreciate how it simply portrays the depth of human nature.

8. What makes you really angry?

Not getting enough sleep.

9. What makes you really happy?

Seven hours of sleep.

10. Cat person or dog person?

I have four cats in my apartment, but I love dogs too.

11. Early riser or night owl?

Night Owl.