Long Truong: Co-Founder and Creative Director at Bettermade Agency

I'm Long, a father of two, a tennis enthusiast, and a problem finder based in Australia. I started my career in digital advertising after my efforts in representing Australia in long jump fell a little short of expectations. I'm building businesses, helping people understand the importance of a brand, and trying to get my kids to represent Australia at the 2032 Olympics. I have worked at JWT, BBDO, Mccann, Holler, M&C Saatchi, DDB and recently R/GA along with my mentors Jerker Fagerström, Marcus Tesoriero, Craig Brooks, Bob Mckintosh, Ashadi Hopper and Cyril Louis.

During my career as a digital art director, I've picked up back-back-to-back Australian Young Lions awards and represented Australia at the Spikes Asia digital competition, and have been featured at Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, Clio Awards, The One Club for Creativity, The Effie Awards, New York Festivals, and the Webby Awards.

A specialist in advertising and a problem finder, he is on a mission to make a big positive impact in the world.

What Honors & awards have you received?

Cannes Lions: Shortlist x1
Clios: Silver x1
One Show: Merit x2, Shortlist x3
Effies: Silver x3, Bronze x1
New York Festival: Gold x1, Silver x1, Bronze x1, Finalists x5
Midas: Gold x1
ADFEST: Gold x1, Silver x2, Bronze x3
Webby Awards: People's Voice Winner x1, Nominee x3
Spikes Asia: Silver x1, Bronze x1, Shortlist x4
Tangrams: Silver x1
Epica Awards: Finalist x1
AMY Awards: Gold x1
IAB Creative Showcase 10.3: Runner Up
Best ads: Interactive x1
FWA: FOTD x1, Shortlist x1
Awwwards: People Voice x1, Honorable mention x2
IPMG Talent Award: Winner
Young Glory: Bronze x2, Finalist x3
Young Spikes Digital Competition: Finalist
Young Lions Digital Competition: Runner up
Young Lions Cyber Competition: Finalist
AWARD School for Advertising: Top 20

What clients and projecsts have you worked on?

Working with talented individuals on successful campaigns has been one of the highlights of my advertising career. I've had the opportunity to work with some of the most creative and innovative minds in the industry, and it has been an incredible learning experience.

Audi "R8 Blink"

The problem faced by most Australian supercar enthusiasts is that they have never driven one and cannot imagine or feel the top speed of 330km/h of the Audi R8. To bring this speed to life, the agency found a unique solution. They tracked the viewer's blinking while they watched the R8 race across a 1000m straight and turned blinks into a 'personal unit of velocity.' As the viewer blinked, they missed more and more of the race with an average of 194m missed. After the race, the missed meters were replayed in slow-motion to allow viewers to appreciate the details of the R8. The R8 Blink experience generated an average dwell time of 8.16 minutes and directly generated a 390% return on campaign investment in the first month alone.

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Mastercard "Tap For Your Town"

Mastercard launched their contactless tap transaction technology in New Zealand in 2013, but 76% of New Zealanders still preferred card-inserting PIN punching. To change this behavior, the agency created Tap For Your Town, a game of tap rugby between former All Blacks captain Richie McCaw's team and the local team of the town with the most taps. The game was broadcast to 480k New Zealanders on Facebook Live, generating over 13.24 million taps in just 10 weeks and delivering NZD$212 million of value to Mastercard

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Cathay Pacific "Parfumes De Voyage"

Cathay Pacific faced the challenge of creating a stronger connection between the airline and the city of Hong Kong, as despite nearly 600,000 Australians visiting the city each year, few chose to fly with the airline. To address this, the agency created Parfums de Voyage, a sensory souvenir that uses data and fragrance analysis to create a 'return journey through scent.' By combining tourism metadata and digital footprints, the agency created a bespoke perfume to evoke the specific memories of Hong Kong for each traveler. Over 10,000 bottles of Parfums de Voyage were made available to Cathay Pacific passengers, partners, and travel agents, offering Australians a unique way to vividly capture and re-live their travel memories

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NRL New World Champs

The National Rugby League in Australia faced a crisis in 2018 with player controversy dominating the off-season and eight triple-centurions retiring after the Grand Final. The NRL needed to show their fans that there was still something to be proud of in their game and their clubs. The solution was a game-changing platform that ushered in the New Era of rugby league. During the pre-season, the agency crowned their own World Champions and turned three billboards into 35 million media impressions, creating a buzz among Australian sports fans and building excitement for the upcoming NRL season.

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Blackmores Mindful Ocean

Blackmores faced the challenge of promoting the connection between a healthy mind and body, but the intangibility of mindfulness made it difficult to measure. Their solution was 'The Mindful Ocean,' which translated brain waves into ocean waves to create a real-time display of cognitive well-being. Wearable EEG sensors detected the emotional state of the wearer and converted the data into a real-time ocean visualization. The wearer played a meditation game attempting to calm an ocean storm using only their mind. 'The Mindful Ocean' increased in-store dwell time by 130%, with a quarter of people who experienced it buying one or more Blackmores' brain health products immediately.