Eugene Cheong, former Chief Creative Officer of Ogilvy Asia Pacific and DDB Asia, and Jasper Cajilig, former Associate Creative Director of GIGIL Manila, have launched eugene+jasper, an independent creative partnership that works directly with CCOs, enlightened CEOs and agency founders on one kind of problem: work that’s good, but should, dammit, be great.
eugene+jasper is not an agency. There are no account teams, no timesheets, no process decks. There are two creatives: one with a place among D&AD’s 50 greatest copywriters and some 250 Cannes Lions (he stopped counting); one who contributed in making GIGIL Manila the most celebrated independent agency in Asia. They are hired directly by the people who run creative companies: when the brief is juicy and the client is as hungry as they are.
Agencies retain the pair openly. e+j’s involvement is something to tell the client, not something to hide.
Cheong works with Anselmo Ramos and the GUT creative department on some of the world’s most exacting and discerning global brands, openly and directly.
“At GUT, we believe great work comes from great collaboration. If someone can make the work better, we want them in the room. Eugene is one of those people.” said Ramos.
“The agencies that hire us are the last ones that need to. And that’s the whole point,” said Cheong. “David Ogilvy tells us that if you hire people bigger than you are, you become a company of giants. Anselmo runs one of the best creative companies on earth. And he still hires bigger.”
Cajilig added: “There’s work the industry bubble loves, and then there’s work your mom, your neighbor, the person scrolling on the train actually gives a damn about. We want both. Anything less is almost great. And almost great is the most dangerous place an idea can be.”
The pair work with creative leaders at every scale, from global networks to independent shops, on one condition: the ambition to make work that outlives the quarter.
“I watched two very different creative minds complement each other perfectly. Eugene has the wisdom to distill an idea to its simplest, most powerful form, and Jasper has the hunger to push ideas into places people can’t ignore. It’s an unlikely pairing that just works,” said Badong Abesamis, Partner and CCO of GIGIL.
Herbert Hernandez, Partner and CCO of Gigil added: “Bravery has always been the starting point of Eugene & Jasper. Seeing them come together is exciting. I have no doubt their partnership will be one of those partnerships the industry will be watching very closely.”
e+j will take on standing relationships sparingly: never with two agencies chasing the same account.
About Eugene Cheong
Eugene Cheong is one of D&AD’s 50 greatest copywriters and among the most awarded creatives in the history of Asian advertising. He spent 22 years at Ogilvy, culminating as Chief Creative Officer of Ogilvy Asia Pacific, and later served as Chief Creative Officer of DDB Asia. He pioneered the Asian Creative Revolution of the 1990s and is the author of Cowards Don’t Go to Heaven (Victionary, 2026).
About Jasper Cajilig
Jasper Cajilig is an art director, writer, and former Associate Creative Director of GIGIL Manila. He has been recognized by D&AD, The One Club, MAD Stars, New York Festivals, AWARD, and more, while a number of his campaigns have gone viral, and reached different parts of the world.
