Branding & Storytelling
Long before I was building corporate ecosystems, I was building my own. IISJONG was my first real venture into the world of brand building and the creator economy, where I grew a personal lifestyle platform into an award-winning brand, built an audience, and secured brand partnerships, well before the term “content creator" was even a recognized career path.
Those five years were the training ground for everything I do today. I managed the end-to-end strategy on my own, covering everything from creative direction, content production, brand partnerships, and monetization, without relying on agencies. It taught me how to turn digital presence into something commercially viable, and gave me the hands-on foundation in storytelling, audience growth, and brand strategy that continues to define how I approach my work today.
The Challenge
In a crowded landscape of lifestyle bloggers, the biggest hurdle was differentiation. Everyone was broadly doing the same thing, so I had to develop a distinct voice, a consistent point of view, and content that felt useful or entertaining. At the same time, I had to learn how to package that creative identity into brand partnerships without being overly promotional.
Building an audience meant figuring everything out through trial and error: the content strategy, the brand voice, the partnership pitches, the negotiations, and the production. If something was not working, it was on me to figure out why and fix it.
The Process
Content Strategy & Voice: Developed a clear and consistent editorial voice across written and video formats. Taught myself SEO, audience analytics, and video production through trial and error, adjusting the content mix based on what resonated with the audience.
Audience Engagement & Growth: Built strategies to engage followers across social platforms through a combination of consistent publishing, collaborations, and community interaction.
Brand Partnerships & Monetization: Wrote and pitched partnership proposals, negotiated terms directly with brands, and delivered sponsored content that felt integrated into the audience experience. Managed the full lifecycle of every partnership from creative brief to final reporting, building and maintaining brand relationships entirely independently.
The Results
IISJONG grew into an award-winning lifestyle platform with over 300,000 YouTube views and more than 100 brand partnerships, all built and managed independently. The content resonated well enough to be recognized as a Top 50 Blog in Singapore and win the Singapore Blog Awards' Best Y-Bloggist, along with multiple other awards and recognitions.
300,000+
YouTube Views
100+
Brand Partnerships
Failures & Lessons
In the early days, I once accepted a sponsored content partnership without fully understanding the brand’s background or what they were trying to achieve. What I had in mind for the campaign did not align with what they were looking for, and I had to redo the work from scratch. It was a frustrating and entirely avoidable experience that cost me time and affected my credibility with the partner.
Instead of guessing what the client wanted, I built a process for every partnership, requesting a brief and background document before agreeing to the campaign. I started asking about expectations, tone, and success metrics, and shared my plan before starting work. This change made subsequent partnerships smoother, reduced revision rounds, and built stronger trust with brands. This experience became the foundation of how I manage projects: alignment before execution is everything.
Conclusion
Building IISJONG taught me the most fundamental truth about marketing: people do not follow you because you ask them to, but because you give them a reason to keep coming back. In the same way, brands do not partner with you because of vanity metrics alone, but because of the identity you have built that they want to be associated with.
Looking back, this was my first real lesson in brand building and storytelling. It showed me that people do not just buy products, they buy stories. Those instincts continue to influence how I approach branding and partnerships today.
Branding & Storytelling
Long before I was building corporate ecosystems, I was building my own. IISJONG was my first real venture into the world of brand building and the creator economy, where I grew a personal lifestyle platform into an award-winning brand, built an audience, and secured brand partnerships, well before the term “content creator" was even a recognized career path.
Those five years were the training ground for everything I do today. I managed the end-to-end strategy on my own, covering everything from creative direction, content production, brand partnerships, and monetization, without relying on agencies. It taught me how to turn digital presence into something commercially viable, and gave me the hands-on foundation in storytelling, audience growth, and brand strategy that continues to define how I approach my work today.
Headquarters
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Founded
2006
Industry
E-commerce
Revenue
$1.578 billion (2019)
Company size
5,000+
The Challenge
In a crowded landscape of lifestyle bloggers, the biggest hurdle was differentiation. Everyone was broadly doing the same thing, so I had to develop a distinct voice, a consistent point of view, and content that felt useful or entertaining. At the same time, I had to learn how to package that creative identity into brand partnerships without being overly promotional.
Building an audience meant figuring everything out through trial and error: the content strategy, the brand voice, the partnership pitches, the negotiations, and the production. If something was not working, it was on me to figure out why and fix it.
The app had a cluttered interface, making it difficult for users to navigate and find essential features. Users were facing issues with the onboarding process, which was affecting new user adoption rates. The app lacked personalization and customization options, making it less engaging and user-friendly.
The Process
Content Strategy & Voice: Developed a clear and consistent editorial voice across written and video formats. Taught myself SEO, audience analytics, and video production through trial and error, adjusting the content mix based on what resonated with the audience.
Audience Engagement & Growth: Built strategies to engage followers across social platforms through a combination of consistent publishing, collaborations, and community interaction.
Brand Partnerships & Monetization: Wrote and pitched partnership proposals, negotiated terms directly with brands, and delivered sponsored content that felt integrated into the audience experience. Managed the full lifecycle of every partnership from creative brief to final reporting, building and maintaining brand relationships entirely independently.
Research & Analysis: We conducted user interviews, surveys, and analyzed in-app analytics to understand the pain points and user needs. We also studied competitor apps and industry trends to gather insights
Information Architecture: Based on the research findings, we restructured the app's navigation and content, prioritizing features and information according to user needs.
Wireframing & Prototyping: We designed low-fidelity wireframes to visualize the new layout and navigation, iteratively refining them based on user feedback. Afterward, we built a high-fidelity, interactive prototype to test the design.
Usability Testing: We conducted usability tests with a diverse group of users to validate the design and identify areas for improvement. Based on the feedback, we made necessary adjustments to the design.
Visual Design & Style Guide: We developed a cohesive visual language, including color schemes, typography, and iconography, ensuring consistency throughout the app. We also created a style guide to maintain design consistency in future updates.
35%
Improved onboarding process
25%
Increase in user retention
84%
Increase in time spent on website
The Results
IISJONG grew into an award-winning lifestyle platform with over 300,000 YouTube views and more than 100 brand partnerships, all built and managed independently. The content resonated well enough to be recognized as a Top 50 Blog in Singapore and win the Singapore Blog Awards' Best Y-Bloggist, along with multiple other awards and recognitions.
300,000+
YouTube Views
100+
Brand Partnerships
6
Strategic Partnerships
The Results
The redesigned app features a clean, clutter-free interface, making it easier for users to navigate and access essential features.
The improved onboarding process resulted in a 35% increase in new user adoption rates.
The addition of personalization and customization options enhanced user engagement, leading to a 25% increase in user retention rates.
“ With our new visual branding and language in place, the new Shopify brand clearly captures the essence of our current and target customer base, our employees, and our values. ”
Tobias Lütke
CEO, Co-founder | Shopify
Failures & Lessons
In the early days, I once accepted a sponsored content partnership without fully understanding the brand’s background or what they were trying to achieve. What I had in mind for the campaign did not align with what they were looking for, and I had to redo the work from scratch. It was a frustrating and entirely avoidable experience that cost me time and affected my credibility with the partner.
Instead of guessing what the client wanted, I built a process for every partnership, requesting a brief and background document before agreeing to the campaign. I started asking about expectations, tone, and success metrics, and shared my plan before starting work. This change made subsequent partnerships smoother, reduced revision rounds, and built stronger trust with brands. This experience became the foundation of how I manage projects: alignment before execution is everything.
Conclusion
Building IISJONG taught me the most fundamental truth about marketing: people do not follow you because you ask them to, but because you give them a reason to keep coming back. In the same way, brands do not partner with you because of vanity metrics alone, but because of the identity you have built that they want to be associated with.
Looking back, this was my first real lesson in brand building and storytelling. It showed me that people do not just buy products, they buy stories. Those instincts continue to influence how I approach branding and partnerships today.
The StreamLine mobile banking app redesign successfully addressed the usability issues, resulting in a more intuitive and user-friendly experience. The improved UX/UI design led to increased user adoption, engagement, and satisfaction, demonstrating the value of a well-designed template for UX designers.