Some awards recognize a campaign, while others describe the creative force behind the work.
For VML London Associate Creative Director Ria Ocampo, the latter applies.
Ria has been named D&AD Creative Director of the Year, adding one of advertising’s most closely watched individual distinctions to a career that has moved from Manila to Singapore and, most recently, London. The recognition arrives after a defining run of work, including “Vaseline Verified,” the Ogilvy Singapore-led platform that turned the internet’s chaotic beauty-hack culture into a system of scientific verification and earned Southeast Asia’s first Titanium Lion at Cannes Lions 2025.
In a LinkedIn post, Ria described the D&AD recognition as “pretty special,” admitting that it was difficult for her to believe she was receiving her own D&AD amid “so many outstanding creative leaders.”
“I feel incredibly lucky to receive one of the creative industry’s greatest honours,” she wrote, thanking the teams at Ogilvy Singapore and VML London, as well as Unilever, for allowing her to be part of their creative ambitions.
She also explained why the D&AD recognition felt particularly personal and meaningful to her in an exclusive interview with adobo Magazine.
“This recognition is extra special—not only because D&AD is arguably the toughest show to win at, but because it was the only award show I was able to attend. When the campaign was winning at Cannes and other festivals, I was in the middle of relocating, so I experienced some real FOMO not being on stage or in the photos with the team. Having my name called that night felt like a moment truly meant just for me. It was the best way to bring this chapter to a close,” she said.
Likewise, Ria reflects a sense of humility, perspective, and continued ambition despite receiving this major recognition. While the award feels surreal because it is given only to a select group of highly talented individuals, the recognition does not change Ria’s sense of self or approach to their career. Instead of treating the award as a peak or an endpoint, she see it as confirmation that she are moving in the right direction.
“I know I have so much to do, and there’s still plenty of room to grow into the kind of leader I want to be. This award simply validates that I’m on the right track, so I’ll keep pushing forward for as long as the world lets me.”
D&AD exists to celebrate and encourage excellence in design and commercial creativity, with its Awards historically serving as one of the industry’s most exacting benchmarks for creative craft and ideas. Its coveted Pencils are not simply markers of visibility. They recognize work that demonstrates a level of conceptual clarity, execution, originality, and creative ambition that can stand up to some of the strongest work produced globally.
A creative education built across markets
Ria’s creative trajectory began in Manila.
After graduating from the University of Asia and the Pacific in 2007, she joined Ogilvy Manila as a junior art director. Within a year, she was promoted to art director, working on beauty and wellness campaigns for global names like Vaseline, and other Unilever brands.
She later moved to Publicis Manila as senior art director, where her work expanded across major household names including Nestlé and Procter & Gamble.
Ria then moved to JWT Singapore, before returning to the Ogilvy network in Singapore. Over the next nine years, she progressed from senior art director to head of art and associate creative director, building a body of work across increasingly complex briefs and markets.
The movement between cities became part of her creative education.
“Creativity grows when you step out of your comfort zone,” Ria told adobo Magazine in a previous interview.
“Moving between places is challenging, but it makes you more adaptable, curious, and intentional in how you connect with people. The more you understand experiences and connections beyond your own world, the more it can fuel creative thinking,” she added.
It is a philosophy that traces back to her work. Rather than treating cultural understanding as a layer added after the idea, Ria has approached it as part of the strategic and creative process itself. For her, connection is not simply a communications objective; it is where the idea starts.
“It’s not really about changing my approach to a brief every time I move—it’s about learning how to listen intently: to the brand, and to the audience. In every new market, especially as an outsider, you have to be hyper-conscious of tone and nuance. Moving from place to place taught me how to decode local insights, respect cultural context, and translate those subtle human truths into ideas that actually resonate,” Ria underscored.
Beyond the trophy
Ria’s latest chapter began with a move to VML London, a transition she had previously described as an opportunity to take on a new creative challenge.
“If I could try to replicate the same success and keep going at it, as long as it stays fun, with a win or without. Just keep doing good, creative work I’ll be proud of.”
That sentiment now reads differently with a D&AD Creative Director of the Year recognition attached to it because the most interesting part of Ria’s story is not simply the accumulation of trophies. It is the creative trajectory behind them, such as how a junior art director from Manila who kept moving, learning, collaborating, and pushing the scale of her ambitions until her work began making history on the global stage.
Nonetheless, her own creative mantra remains remarkably direct.
“You have to trust that all your experiences have prepared you to be where you are. Pursue the way you believe it can be done — not by simply following others.”
At D&AD, where creative excellence is measured against work from across the world, Ria’s latest recognition places that philosophy in a new frame.
The Pencil is the visible artifact, but behind it is the harder-to-measure body of work including years of craft, the courage to move markets, the patience to build ideas over time, the ability to turn cultural observation into creative strategy, and the leadership required to drive others the ambition.
“Not every project will be like a dream, but you’ve got to stay positive to someone somehow. So when a team member tells me I made them feel good about the work they do while I’m still pushing them, that feels good to know,” she noted.
A Filipino perspective in global creativity
The evolution of Ria’s career is also a sequential outline of what it means to be a creative. Her early years were grounded in the fundamentals of art direction: composition, visual storytelling, craft, and the ability to translate a strategy into something people can see and feel.
As her remit expanded, so did the nature of her work.
Creative direction demands the ability to hold multiple layers of a brief at once, such as the brand problem, the cultural context, the consumer behavior, the business ambition, the craft, and the people responsible for bringing the idea to life. Ria’s work suggests a creative philosophy built around that intersection. Her definition of connection extends beyond audiences. It includes clients, strategists, creators, scientists, makers, and the creative teams themselves.
“Surround yourself with the right people — the ones who share your drive and passion for craft,” she said in a previous interview. “If you want to create meaningful work that stands out, being on a team without that same ambition will only hold you back. No one does this alone.”
Moreover, Ria’s journey from Manila to Singapore and now London has also meant carrying a distinctly Southeast Asian perspective into increasingly global creative rooms. She has previously spoken about how her Filipino background informs the way she thinks, even unconsciously.
“Us Pinoys, we know struggle, we’re great problem solvers, and we’re very good at bringing out emotions. We’re very empathetic and we also love our sense of humor. These are natural traits that just come out.”
That perspective matters in an industry increasingly interested in global ideas that do not flatten cultural differences. The most effective global work is often not culturally neutral. It understands the specific human behavior, tension, humor, aspiration, or contradiction that can make an idea resonate beyond its original context.
Ultimately, Ria’s career reflects that movement, drawing from a Philippine creative foundation, through Singapore’s increasingly influential creative ecosystem, and now into the international creative landscape of London. When asked what she hoped Filipino and Southeast Asian creatives see when they look at her creative journey, Ria expressed a message of global confidence, opportunity, and pride in Filipino talent.
“I hope it proves that our talent belongs everywhere, and that hard work can take you anywhere. You can venture out and go abroad—it’s exciting and fulfilling—or you can stay, use your drive and talent to actively strengthen the local scene, and create work that’s right up there with the biggest global agencies. There’s nothing more rewarding than being able to represent your country from wherever you are.”
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