TAKING THE PULSE with Marly Dichter and Shirley Xu Wang

This award-winning Young Blood creative duo, Marly Dichter and Shirley Xu Wang have history. Both are graduates of Miami Ad School; together, they earned a Student award in 2020 for their Nike Minus print ad. Moreover, they were part of the team behind john st.’s 20th Anniversary campaign and Haulin’ State of Mind for No Frills, Loblaw Companies Ltd. Since then, they’ve moved on to Citizen Relations , where they continue to rack up awards, earning them five wins in the 2023 Advertising Awards competition for their integrated campaign Cheetle in Cheadle. Meet the creative duo behind this successful campaign.

What is your creative process?

Shmarly: Our favourite part about being creative is that there is no process. There’s no method to the madness, no rhythm or rules, no guideline or guidebook. Our creative process is the lack of a process. The best way to describe it is that it is like one of those Food Network shows where you are given or have to grab different ingredients and make something from them. Words and images are our ingredients. We jot down random words, scour Google, search for fun facts, scroll for memes, and pour it all in a doc. Then, we hop on the line, combine everything, half-bake them, mix, mash, stir, blend, slow cook, and then boil them down. At this point, the rest of the team and client do a taste test and tell us which are too sweet, too salty, too raw, too spicy, etc. Finally, we balance the flavours, cook it as perfectly as possible, and serve it to the world. 

What is the most difficult piece you worked on? What were the challenges?

Shmarly: The first project we ever worked on was probably the most difficult. It was our second day of our first real job, the CCO called us directly and said: “Here’s the deal. You have one day to write this spot.” The adrenaline kicked in, we called each other and were like “uhhh is this like an initiation or something?!” Anyway, we were up all night because we had no idea what we were doing or where to begin. We put together a few script options and showed the CCO the next morning. We blacked out for the rest of the process, and suddenly, it was on TV. Although scary and difficult, it was the best dive into our careers that we could’ve been given. 

What is the project you are most proud of? What was your creative process? 

Shmarly: Alright, we’re going to keep going with this cooking analogy. If everyone has their specialty/trademark dish, ours will hands-down be our Cheetle in Cheadle. We can cook up a million ideas, but think that will always be one that sticks with us and others for a long time. The creative process was: cook. Scrap. Start from scratch. Marinate. Repeat. In the end, the sweet victory it brought us was worth every ounce we put in. We definitely have lots of cooks in the kitchen to thank for it. 

How has winning Applied Arts Awards impacted your business?

Shmarly: Winning Applied Arts has given our agency momentum and helped establish Citizen's evolution into a creatively-driven communications agency. Our offerings have changed the recipe to how our clients think about PR partnerships. We’re redefining expectations and winning with Applied Arts is the icing on the cake (wow, we really can’t help ourselves with these cooking analogies, clearly it’s not just awards we’re hungry for). 

Who is your creative hero?

Shirley: Donald Glover. He’s an actor, comedian, singer, rapper, writer, director, and producer. Every time I see a piece of his work in any of those roles, I have to remind myself that it's Troy from Community and I think that’s crazy. He’s able to show so many different sides of himself through his creative endeavors and he does such a great job at it. And Marly, of course!!

Marly: Shirley! Shirley is the most open-minded, least judgmental, most empathetic, and most creative person I know. She has taught me not to be afraid to say something, write anything, and ask everything. And also Donald Glover. Because that’s Shirley’s creative hero, so by proxy, he is mine too. 

How do you stay inspired?

Marly: If words are my ingredients, testing out new flavours is my inspiration. For any brief, there are a million different outcomes. Sometimes you stick to the tips and tricks you know, but sometimes you have to take risks and try new methods to stand out. If you always think the same, your thoughts are always going to be the same. So, I stay inspired by finding new ways of thinking. In the end, you hope whatever you cook up works out, but someone is always going to hate it. And that’s okay.  

Shirley: We’re so attached to technology these days and although my FYP is a great place to consume content, I really find the most inspiration through analog living. It’s the moments where I’m just going about my day, whether it’s at a coffee shop, an art gallery, or even just talking to my friends —  they always know what’s up. 

We hands down agree, Donald Glover is a creative marvel! We might just have to watch the entire Community series again while snacking on some Cheetos... Congratulations to both Marly and Shirley on their wins!