THE NEW CREATIVE ECONOMY

Digital content creator HEPMIL Media Group, comic artist Sean Lam, digital art advocates Spang & Lei and architect Yong Sy Lyng demonstrate that not only is Singapore a creative, innovation-based economy, but that its creators are more closely connected with their audiences than ever before.

ALL SERIOUS ABOUT HUMOUR

How HEPMIL’s Karl Mak and Adrian Ang turned a Facebook page into a social content juggernaut.

text RACHEL GENEVIEVE CHIA

You’re going to pay us to make fun of you?”

That one realisation during a collaboration with Scoot — shortly after poking fun at the budget airline for promoting flights to Seoul amid inter-Korean tensions — arguably launched the digital content empire of Adrian Ang and Karl Mak.

The schoolmates and co-founders of SGAG began their careers unremarkably enough by creating “ugly but funny” Facebook memes behind the lecture theatres of Singapore Management University in 2012.

“I thought it'd be a good idea to start one for Singapore, because I was a big fan,” says Ang, referring to the explosive popularity of meme pages a decade back. “It was meant to be a hobby, never a career.”

That Scoot meeting, however, opened the door to converting this pastime into a legitimate business. Seven years and a Forbes 30 under 30 award ceremony later, Ang and Mak own HEPMIL Media Group, the parent company of SGAG and its offshoots in Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia (upcoming), plus a creator network and e-sports arm.

A 150-strong team serves clients such as Disney, Google, Starbucks, and Unilever, and their channels reach a combined figure of nearly 40 million. Besides Facebook memes, there are also Instagram videos, YouTube reality series, and TikTok clips.

ONE BIG PIVOT