Nicha Witayapaisitsan: Cooking with creativity

SOUR Bangkok copywriter Nicha Witayapaisitsan picked up an ADFEST Young Lotus win with Watch Like Me, a YouTube idea that lets users temporarily experience the platform through someone else’s algorithm. 

Here, she speaks to Jamie Madge about locking into Gen Z behaviour, the methodology behind Thai advertising and how Thailand’s creative ingredients only add to the flavour.

What was your route into advertising, and when did you start to feel like you had something distinct to say creatively?

I grew up with Thai commercials, so I think I was already into advertising without really realising it. But the moment I became seriously interested was when I took an advertising film class at university. I suddenly realised that the fun ads I liked actually had a lot of creativity, strategy and problem-solving behind them. And once I got to try making ideas myself, I found out that I didn’t just enjoy watching ads, but I also really enjoyed making them.

That’s what made me want to become a copywriter. I applied to SOUR Bangkok, an agency known for its strong purpose-driven work for women, and whose campaigns I’d admired since I was a student. And I’ve been working there ever since.

Watch Like Me was built around Gen Z behaviour, privacy, creator culture and the way people actually use YouTube. How do you turn everyday digital habits into a creative idea?

The brief was to make Gen Z love and use YouTube more. Luckily, we were the target ourselves, so we started with a simple question: “What do we actually want from the platform?”

One thing we noticed was that YouTube’s algorithm is almost too good. It keeps showing us exactly what we’re interested in, but after a while, our feed starts to feel repetitive. Meanwhile, whenever we looked at a friend’s YouTube, it always felt more interesting. And then we started wondering, “What does a superstar like Thai rapper and singer Lisa actually watch on YouTube?”

Once I got to try making ideas myself, I found out that I didn’t just enjoy watching ads, but I also really enjoyed making them.

That’s when we realised people are naturally curious about what other people watch, and honestly, people also enjoy showing what they’re into. That insight led to Watch Like Me, a feature that lets you temporarily experience YouTube through someone else’s algorithm, while still controlling privacy and what you want to share.

So, when we think about platform-based ideas, sometimes the platform stops being just a media placement and starts becoming part of the strategy, or even part of the idea itself.

We chose this idea because it felt bigger than just a campaign. We saw it becoming a new Gen Z behaviour.

Above: Nicha Witayapaisitsan with fellow ADFEST Young Lotus creatives, including her creative partner Thirawat Prasertsang, whose collaboration helped shape the award-winning Watch Like Me.

Thai advertising is admired internationally for its humour, emotion and willingness to take unexpected turns. Do you think the rest of the world understands how Thai creative work is actually built, or does it sometimes just see the eccentricity on the surface?

The thing we keep hearing from foreigners watching Thai ads isn’t, “How did they come up with that idea?” It’s, “How the hell did that get approved?” I think that’s because sometimes they only see the eccentricity of it, like the weirdness, the awkwardness, the chaos. But underneath, Thai advertising is actually built on something almost opposite to weird: human truth.

It’s built on human truths that every Thai grows up with: family pressure, kreng jai [deference], sabai-sabai [life is good], the old café comedy where they smack each other on the head with a tray, and the way we laugh at our own bad luck.

And then we just put a little exaggeration on those truths, like a costume. So, when people call it “crazy”, we take it as a compliment to the outfit. Underneath, Thai ads are strategic, deeply audience-sensitive and very human.

Do you think there is a particular methodology behind Thai advertising, whether in the way ideas are found, developed, stretched or sold?

I think the system itself is the same as anywhere in the world. It starts exactly where it starts everywhere: data, analysis, research, strategy, basically all the serious stuff.

Thai advertising is actually built on something almost opposite to weird: human truth.

But once it comes to storytelling, that’s where the Thai flavour kicks in. There are so many ingredients we can cook with. For example, real news that’s somehow more surreal than fiction, awkward family moments, the things people secretly relate to but never say out loud. And boom, you know you’ve sold it the moment the client laughs.

When Thai work travels internationally, are there nuances that can get lost, or does the specificity actually help it connect more strongly?

Both happen, honestly. Some nuances definitely get lost, especially wordplay. Thai people love puns, double meanings and playful language, and sometimes those jokes are hard to fully translate. Thai audiences can laugh at just one look, one pause or one passive-aggressive sentence.

But, interestingly, I think specificity is also what helps Thai work travel. Even if international audiences don’t catch every cultural detail, they can still feel the emotional truth behind it: the awkwardness, the chaos, the embarrassment, the love, the kindness, the humanity. Those are universal.