Klook grows up: From travel app to experiences brand, and now, IPO-bound

Campaign: How has the response been so far? Did the campaign meet your expectations, particularly in terms of increasing bookings and enhancing brand storytelling across the APAC region?

Yong: Fundamentally, ‘The Best You’ was never meant to be a sales campaign. It was always a brand play to showcase leadership in this space. With TSLA, we wanted to tap into a human truth that travel and experiences can be truly transformational. When people travel, they often seek personal transformation through different activities.

When measuring success, we look at three levels: campaign engagement metrics like view time and quiz completions; quarterly brand tracking; and finally, the year-on-year increase in brand-led revenue.

Tan: A big part of this campaign was taking creative risks like intentionally working with an influencer who’s perhaps not the hottest or most fashionable anymore, but whose story genuinely connects with Klook’s idea of transformation.

Marie Kondo’s story of rediscovering herself through travel and Klook’s experiences perfectly embodied that. That’s where I think we succeeded in storytelling and in being brave enough to take that leap.

Campaign: How did the campaign idea and name come about? What was the process like working with your agency and partners?

Tan: It started from the idea that we travel to become the best version of ourselves. That led us to elevate beyond the ‘experience economy’ into the ‘transformation economy’. The campaign name came from that simple truth ‘The Best You’. We wanted something universally understood and easy to translate across cultures and languages. After all, the reason people travel is to find the best version of themselves.

Yong: For an agency to co-create strategy across more than 10 markets—from ideation to production to localisation—is something I’m incredibly proud of. We needed to get this right because this was our first global brand campaign, launched just after our 10th anniversary. So the stakes were high. 

Marcus Yong (Klook) and Eunice Tan (TSLA)

Campaign: Were there any specific challenges or memorable moments during production?

Tan: Ensuring the campaign worked across all 13 markets was one of the biggest challenges. We held multiple workshops with local teams to understand their needs, challenges, and cultural nuances. There were several rounds of strategy and creative discussions to ensure the idea resonated authentically before we even finalised the script.

That co-creation model was crucial and it’s also what led us to choose Marie Kondo. And, of course, filming with her was a joy. Post-production was another big focus and making sure it looked and felt right across every market.

Campaign: Which markets or audiences are you most excited about reaching? How does Mainland China fit into this strategy?

Yong: One of our key challenges and achievements was balancing global ideas with local execution. Asia is incredibly diverse; a celebrity in one market might be unknown in another. And ‘The Best You’ had to work not only across Asia but also in Western markets like the US.

In China, for example, we’ve evolved from WeChat and Weibo to Zhihu, and now focus on Xiaohongshu. We recently won the Annual E-commerce Closed-Loop Brand Award at the 2025 Xiaohongshu WILL Business Conference — alongside Nike, Mercedes-Benz, and KFC.

The campaign was deeply localised there and features Chinese creators alongside Marie Kondo on screens in Shanghai Tower, Lujiazui, and Shenzhen. We also hosted creator events in Shanghai and soon in Shenzhen, bringing the campaign to life locally.

Campaign: Looking back, what were the most challenging and most rewarding moments for Klook?

Yong: Covid was the toughest. Revenue literally dropped to zero. That's terrifying for any company but it was especially terrying being in the travel company space then. We had to pivot fast, focus on domestic and virtual experiences, like livestreams and things people could do at home.

Last year, 2024, was a highlight... our 10th anniversary. Reaching that milestone felt like a coming-of-age moment. 90% of startups don’t make it past the first year, so to become an Asian market leader after a decade means a lot.

We launched Money Can’t Buy Experiences, from snowboarding with world champion Gian Simmen in Switzerland to moonlit dives with whale sharks in the Maldives. We also released our first Socio-Economic Impact Report with Oxford Economics and hosted the inaugural Kreatorverse event in Singapore, cementing our creator community and social commerce focus.

Campaign: As Klook expands into 13 global markets, how do you adapt and differentiate? How are shifting behaviours shaping your marketing strategy?

Yong: We now offer over 40 local payment options and that reflects how diverse Asia really is. Our first principle is to be Asia-first. As we grow globally, we stay true to our values, focusing on experiences and not just travel experiences, but customer experiences.

We’ve also evolved into experience bundles like selling concert tickets for Coldplay, Lady Gaga, and G-Dragon alongside hotels or activities. It’s about merging entertainment and travel.

Finally, we leverage our global marketing capabilities through content, brand, and our creator programme. As we look ahead, we’re asking: what’s the next evolution of ‘The Best You’? How do we keep it fresh for our core audience—young, mobile, social media–savvy Gen Z and millennials?

Campaign: Travel remains a crowded market. Are you concerned about competition, especially around experience and concert packaging?

Yong: The travel pie is big enough for everyone and competition keeps us sharp. We’re all improving the online, mobile customer experience. Concerts and events complement our main business, but we’re selective and we won’t sell every ticket under the sun. That’s not our core.

Tan: Which is why having a clear brand vision matters. ‘The Best You’ positions Klook as a catalyst for personal transformation. Whether you’re travelling abroad or discovering something closer to home, those experiences foster self-discovery and growth. That’s the heart of the brand.

Campaign: Over the years, Klook has evolved from a startup to a global player. How have your perspectives on creativity and management changed?

Yong: The biggest shift is mindset. We no longer think of ourselves as a young startup. We see ourselves as a market leader with a responsibility to shape the experiences category from Asia to the world. We talk a lot about value now, not just discounts, but deeper value in what we create, whether through brand, product, or customer experience. We’re much more deliberate about how we bring that to life.

Tan: When we started The Secret Little Agency 20 years ago, there were just four of us in a home office. Back then, the goal was simply to crack great ideas. Today, our job as leaders is to create an environment where creativity thrives sustainably. Our industry has a reputation for burnout and turnover; my role is to make creativity sustainable.

We’ve also evolved from a small Singapore boutique to a global player. Now, we want to show the world that Asia can lead in solving global creative challenges.