Youli Hooi
Groupe Client Lead APAC & Head of Solutions SEA
Publicis Groupe
Singapore
In nutrition, turmeric is potent on its own, but when paired with black pepper, its absorption skyrockets twenty-fold. Known for her "black pepper effect," Youli Hooi is the catalytic force that activates potential in people and precision in systems.
With twenty-plus years spanning brand roles at Nike, Fitness First, and AVEVA, and agency roles at Publicis Groupe, Hooi's career is built on the intersection of commercial reality and cultural empathy. A defining milestone came when she led the pitch for the Singapore Government's inaugural tender to consolidate media billings under a single master media agency. She shaped the strategy that secured Singapore's first S$80 million consolidated AOR assignment. Starcom remains the master media agency today.
In 2020, she launched SEA's first Spark Foundry office in Singapore, building it from a six-person team into a regional powerhouse. During this period, the agency achieved remarkable growth while defying the industry’s much higher attrition rates. As client lead for Abbott APAC, she doubled regional value creation and implemented automation that eliminated 1,600-plus hours of manual work, delivering strong growth and rising revenues over the past three years.
Hooi's legacy lies in her ability to institutionalise progress. Her ‘Tested & Proven’ platform consolidates case studies to help teams scale proven approaches. Through agency performance scorecards, she embedded shared KPI definitions and stronger governance across markets.
Yet her most lasting impact is human. She has repeatedly created stretch moments that move people from competence to leadership, developing people who go on to develop others.
To Quote: "Youli represents a leadership archetype the industry doesn't celebrate often enough … a force multiplier, she sharpens the thinking of everyone around her.” - Ian Loon, Singapore CEO, media & digital and SEA chief transformation officer, Publicis Groupe
