Koto Opens Singapore Studio, Joining Creative Agency Migration to APAC Hub

Global creative studio Koto has opened its seventh studio in Singapore, making it the firm's second location in Asia-Pacific. The announcement came alongside the appointment of Mark Teal as Growth Director for APAC, the studio's first Singapore hire.

The move is part of a deliberate two-step APAC strategy. Koto entered the region with a Sydney studio in 2023, winning clients like Riot Games and Singapore fintech Coda before committing to a physical Singapore presence. The new studio positions the city as the launchpad for a broader Southeast Asia push targeting Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

What makes the timing notable is the company it keeps. Koto is not the only agency betting on Singapore right now.

Singapore Is Becoming the Default APAC Headquarters for Creative Firms

The same week Koto announced its studio, TEAM LEWIS opened a new production space at Orchard Gateway complete with a large LED wall and a Pacific Creative Hub team. French studio CREAM Paris launched CREAM Asia. UK experiential agency Verve opened a Singapore outpost. Four separate agencies, one city, one month.

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This is not a coincidence. Singapore hosts more than 4,000 regional headquarters and over 30 unicorns. Its digital economy is valued at US$128 billion, and advertising spend across the market is forecast to reach SG$3.6 billion (approximately US$2.7 billion) in 2025. Digital marketing alone is growing at 10.7% per year.

For a creative studio, the math is straightforward. The brands making brand decisions for all of Southeast Asia are concentrated in one city. If you want those briefs, you need to be there.

Who Koto Is Going After

Koto's client list includes Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Netflix, and WhatsApp. The Singapore studio is not aiming at that same tier initially. The firm has identified fintech startups and VC-backed companies as priority targets, alongside consumer goods brands. That is a deliberate fit with Singapore's startup density.

Mark Teal, the new Growth Director, is a credible choice for that market. He spent over 20 years working with Singtel, Standard Chartered, and Prudential before serving as CMO at VCCP Singapore and a client growth lead at Wunderman Thompson. He knows the enterprise buyer side as well as the agency side.

"With over 4,000 regional headquarters and over 30 unicorns, a digital economy worth US$128 billion, Singapore isn't just a market; it's where the most ambitious companies make their brand decisions for Southeast Asia," Teal said. "These companies need a partner that can handle the full picture, brand, digital experience and campaigns, not just one piece of it."

The Pitch Disadvantage Is Real

Koto is framing its three-pillar service (brand strategy, digital experience, and campaigns) as a differentiator. CEO James Greenfield made the point plainly: few studios in Singapore can credibly offer all three under one roof.

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That framing also signals a broader industry reality. As multinationals centralize their APAC strategy in Singapore, the agencies they work with need a local presence to stay competitive. A studio pitching regional work from Sydney or London faces a structural disadvantage. Clients making multi-market decisions for Southeast Asia want a partner who is actually in the room.

Koto has been building toward this. It delivered the full brand identity for the League of Legends Championship Pacific from Sydney before the Singapore studio existed. It rebranded Coda, a gaming fintech operating in 50 markets globally. The Singapore studio is the logical next step, not a speculative bet.

Founded in 2015, Koto has grown from three people in London to more than 160 across seven studios in a decade. Singapore is studio number seven. It probably will not be the last.