In an industry that thrives on fresh perspectives and bold ideas, internships are essential for bringing new creative talent into advertising. To really broaden perspective and champion cross-cultural collaboration, DDB Hong Kong welcomed four students from across the world to immerse themselves in Hong Kong’s multicultural environment.
“This internship has been as much about what our interns discovered in Hong Kong as it has been about what we learned from them,” shares ECD Alejandro Canciobello. “Each brought with them four nationalities, three different Miami Ad School campuses, and countless perspectives. For them, it was a chance to see that Hong Kong is still a true multicultural hub and global creative centre. For us at DDB, it was a chance to be challenged, enriched, and reminded that building a regional team is not about speaking many languages – it’s about understanding cultural nuances and learning to navigate different worldviews. That’s how you create ideas with a truly global resonance.”
“I originally graduated in Law, with a Master’s degree in Criminology and Restorative Justice,” says Amanda Castro Machado, who joined DDB Hong Kong’s internship programme from Brazil. “While working in creative roles, I realised I wanted to dive deeper into art direction which led me to Miami Ad School. What excited me most was the school’s international programme. Competing against students from all over the world, I set my sights on DDB Hong Kong as my first choice. I’d seen ECD Alejandro Canciobello speak about creativity, mentorship, and craft, and I knew I wanted to learn under him. Being selected felt like a long shot that somehow worked out – an absolute gift for my career.”
“I’ve always been drawn to the emotional storytelling DDB is known for,” adds Phan Tịnh Nhi, a student from Vietnam. “Maybe it’s the Pisces in me but I’m highly empathetic and connect easily with work that moves people. So joining DDB felt like a dream, and doing it in Hong Kong was even more special. After almost two years in Europe, I wanted to reconnect with my Asian roots while working at one of the best agencies in the region.”
Joining Amanda and Phan were Thais Nasser, who grew up in Switzerland and found her way to advertising from academia to broaden her “general knowledge for something more practical”, and Polina Galina, originally from Moscow but who has also called Cyprus, Canada and Madrid home.
Working closely with the DDB HK team, the interns gained hands-on experience in strategic thinking, idea generation, cultural storytelling, and client presentation, being given the opportunity to deliver high-level presentations to major clients, including HSBC’s marketing team and CEO Luanne Lim, as well as UBS leadership led by chair, Amy Lo.
“Presenting to two of Hong Kong’s biggest financial institutions was surreal,” Amanda recalls. “What stood out to me most was the strong female leadership within both HSBC and UBS – something I didn’t expect in such traditionally conservative sectors. It was inspiring, and it reminded me that as creatives, we need to approach every client with fresh eyes, free from assumptions. Every client, every brand, has a story worth falling in love with.”
“Getting to talk to two different teams comprised of literal girl bosses showed me that I shouldn’t be putting myself in any boxes,” adds Polina. “The opportunities and possibilities are right there; it’s just about connecting with the right people to get to them. It was very inspiring to see how far they have come, how much they have built. It made me want to do the same one day.”
On what their biggest takeaways from the internship were, they all cite “perspective” as number one. “Every conversation opened my eyes to new ways of thinking, because people approached problems from such different cultural angles,” Phan shares. “It pushed me to sharpen my own ideas, but also to be more open and collaborative.”
“Every conversation had the potential to spark an idea I never would have reached on my own,” Thais says. “At the same time, the challenge was learning to adapt our ways of communicating, since what feels direct in one culture can feel blunt or vague in another. In the end, those differences became part of the creativity itself, pushing me to listen better and express myself more clearly.”
Beyond building skills, the initiative fostered a two-way exchange – offering interns an authentic view of Hong Kong’s creative landscape while enriching DDB Hong Kong’s global perspective through diverse insights and ideas.
On the ground in Hong Kong, Amanda says she was struck by how many things are universal: “every good campaign still comes down to understanding people and context. If I had to name one difference, I’d say the local work balances a touch more conservatism with a wonderfully playful, almost whimsical cultural layer.”
For Phan, Hong Kong felt “more international and cosmopolitan, with a sharper business edge.” Vietnam, by contrast, is “more community-focused, where relationships and flexibility play a bigger role,” she says. “Experiencing both helped me see how advertising needs to adapt to different cultural priorities.”
And for Polina, who had been travelling Asia for six weeks prior to the internship, Hong Kong felt very familiar. “In comparison to Tokyo, or Seoul, Hong Kong definitely felt the most international – at least by the level of English and tourists. It felt like a mix of Toronto and Cyprus, perhaps the common factor of being an ex-British colony helped. Tall skyscrapers just like in Toronto, but not as overwhelming as the city is broken up with smaller, older buildings, as if it’s a coastal tourist town in Cyprus.”
“The cultural exchange added a sense of adventure, as we could offer fresh perspectives on topics that might feel ordinary to those experiencing them every day,” Thais says. “What I’m taking with me is the value of always being attentive and curious to my environment, when it’s new to me but also when it’s my every day.”
As Phan puts it, “Good creativity doesn’t happen in isolation, it thrives when nice people come together and listen to each other.”
