Eric Cruz

Eric Cruz living in South Korea, is a creative leader, director, designer and educator who brings with him 21+ years of industry experience. He is a ‘hybrid creative’ – fusing design, film, moving image, digital media, music, art, technology, and innovation to bring a unique perspective to storytelling and design transformation in the connected age.

With a broad international experience, Eric has held various leadership positions in agencies and studios worldwide, developing a creative model for the agency of the future, exploring how design and creativity can help invent tomorrow today.

Most recently as AKQA Shanghai’s ECD, Eric led the Greater China team – helping clients such as Nike, Jordan, Converse, Apple, Airbnb, Fendi, NBA, Diageo, Johnson&Johnson, GoreTex, Lycra, The City of Shanghai and Hong Kong create the future through innovative brand storytelling.

He was previously ECD at Leo Burnett Malaysia where he helped lead, evolve, and grow a traditional agency of 90 to a forward-thinking agency of 320.

Eric learned how not to do advertising at Wieden+Kennedy in Portland, Tokyo, and London for over 11 years. He was Co-Founder / Director of W+K Tokyo Lab, W+K Tokyo’s creative think tank and experimental music label.

To mentor the next generation of talent, Eric regularly delivers lectures and has taught Design, Advertising and Moving Media at the Center for Creative Studies Detroit, Temple University Tokyo, and The One Academy Kuala Lumpur.

He is a Founding Member of TEDx Shanghai, which aims to ignite China’s innovation renaissance through creative dialogue, idea exchange and transformative evolution.

His work has been recognized by the Tokyo ADC, Cannes Lions, ADC NY, One Show, D&AD, Spikes, AdFest, AdStars, The Webbys, The FWA, CSS Design Awards and Japan Media Arts Festival.

A Filipino-American ‘globalist’, Eric was born in the Philippines and raised in the US and Spain. He's currently a full-time father based between Seoul, Manila, Tokyo, USA.

(Source: Vimeo)