Linda Locke has been described as one of Asia’s most celebrated women in advertising. In 1984, she made local advertising industry history when, with just seven years of advertising experience, she became managing director of Saatchi & Saatchi in Singapore. She was the first Singaporean woman to head the local operations of an international advertising agency.

Linda joined Saatchi & Saatchi in 1983 as creative director. The next year she was made managing director and executive creative director. This was a time when it was rare to find women in senior management at the international advertising agencies. It was also rare for someone to be both the creative director and the managing director. Linda was at Saatchi & Saatchi for 13 years and during this time its annual local billings grew from $6.5 million to $125 million.

In her nearly 40 years in advertising and marketing, Linda garnered more than 300 creative awards. In 2008, at the Singapore Advertising Hall of Fame Awards, Linda received the ‘Newsweek Lifetime Achievement Award’ in recognition of her three decades of service to the Singapore Advertising Industry. She was the first woman to achieve the award.

Linda was born in Singapore to a Welsh father and a Portuguese-Armenian mother. A century earlier, her mother’s Armenian family had produced another accomplished woman. Her great-grand aunt was Agnes Joaquim, the first woman in the world to breed a hybrid orchid, Vanda Miss Joaquim. The orchid was chosen in 1981 as Singapore’s national flower. Agnes Joaquim was inducted into the Singapore Women’s Hall of Fame in 2015.

When she was 11, Linda was sent to boarding school in the United Kingdom. The experience taught her to be independent and gave her confidence. After school she initially studied hotel management. She soon realised it was not a field that interested her, so she switched to graphic design.

Armed with a degree in graphic design and communication, Linda worked as a graphic designer for Hardy Amies in London for a couple of years. This exposed her to fashion, public relations, advertising, and marketing, and gave her an appetite for creative and strategic work: “A career in advertising seemed the right move for me. I have a high boredom threshold so having different problems to solve; products and services to sell daily, in a very fast paced industry, was just the challenge I relished.”

Linda returned to Singapore in 1978 and became an art director at Batey Ads, then joined Leo Burnett as a senior art director before the move to Saatchi & Saatchi.

It was while she was at Saatchi & Saatchi that Linda produced the advertisement that she is proudest of. This was in 1985 when Singapore was in a recession for the first time in its history. The Economic Development Board wanted an ad in the Wall Street Journal to make the point that Singapore was still a prime investment destination despite the recession.

Linda came up with a bold idea – a full page ad that said, ‘Who would be mad enough to invest in Singapore in a recession?’, with the signatures of the heads of nine global MNCs saying ‘We are!’ It played a key role in reassuring investors.

In April 1996, Linda left Saatchi & Saatchi because she wanted, for the first time in her career, to take a break and focus on a new role for her – becoming a mother. Several months later, she resurfaced as the chair and executive creative director of Leo Burnett. In 1998 her role was expanded when she became the agency’s regional creative director for the Asia Pacific region.

Linda left Leo Burnet in 2007 and started a consultancy, Godmother Pte Ltd. She was appointed as marketing director of luxury fashion distributor Club 21 and SuperNature in 2008. In 2013 Linda assumed the additional position of General manager, Club21 Online. She stepped down as consultant to Club 21 and SuperNature in 2015. Some years later she embarked on a new career – as an author of children’s books, a move sparked by her efforts to protect the legacy of her great-grand aunt Agnes Joaquim.

On a visit to the Singapore Botanic Gardens Linda was astonished to find inaccuracies in the description of the origins of Singapore’s national flower, Vanda Miss Joaquim. Building on her mother Hazel Locke’s earlier efforts and the research of historian Nadia Wright and Harold Johnson, co-authors of Vanda Miss Joaquim: Singapore’s National Flower: The Legacy of Agnes & Ridley, Linda mounted a campaign for Agnes Joaquim to be properly credited as the creator of the hybrid orchid.

Official recognition of this came in 2016, and in 2018 Linda co-authored a children’s book titled “Agnes and Her Amazing Orchid” to ensure that future generations of Singaporeans would know the true story of Agnes Joaquim.

She has since written a series of six books titled Jack Is Curious. Another of her books, titled The Boy Who Talked All Day, was shortlisted for the Book Council Hedwig Anuar Children’s Book Award 2022. A new book series will be published in March 2024 tiled Lyna Lankylegs and The Bright Hill Gang.

Linda Locke has been described as one of Asia’s most celebrated women in advertising. In 1984, she made local advertising industry history when, with just seven years of advertising experience, she became managing director of Saatchi & Saatchi in Singapore. She was the first Singaporean woman to head the local operations of an international advertising agency.

Linda joined Saatchi & Saatchi in 1983 as creative director. The next year she was made managing director and executive creative director. This was a time when it was rare to find women in senior management at the international advertising agencies. It was also rare for someone to be both the creative director and the managing director. Linda was at Saatchi & Saatchi for 13 years and during this time its annual local billings grew from $6.5 million to $125 million.

In her nearly 40 years in advertising and marketing, Linda garnered more than 300 creative awards. In 2008, at the Singapore Advertising Hall of Fame Awards, Linda received the ‘Newsweek Lifetime Achievement Award’ in recognition of her three decades of service to the Singapore Advertising Industry. She was the first woman to achieve the award.

Linda was born in Singapore to a Welsh father and a Portuguese-Armenian mother. A century earlier, her mother’s Armenian family had produced another accomplished woman. Her great-grand aunt was Agnes Joaquim, the first woman in the world to breed a hybrid orchid, Vanda Miss Joaquim. The orchid was chosen in 1981 as Singapore’s national flower. Agnes Joaquim was inducted into the Singapore Women’s Hall of Fame in 2015.

When she was 11, Linda was sent to boarding school in the United Kingdom. The experience taught her to be independent and gave her confidence. After school she initially studied hotel management. She soon realised it was not a field that interested her, so she switched to graphic design.

Armed with a degree in graphic design and communication, Linda worked as a graphic designer for Hardy Amies in London for a couple of years. This exposed her to fashion, public relations, advertising, and marketing, and gave her an appetite for creative and strategic work: “A career in advertising seemed the right move for me. I have a high boredom threshold so having different problems to solve; products and services to sell daily, in a very fast paced industry, was just the challenge I relished.”

Linda returned to Singapore in 1978 and became an art director at Batey Ads, then joined Leo Burnett as a senior art director before the move to Saatchi & Saatchi.

It was while she was at Saatchi & Saatchi that Linda produced the advertisement that she is proudest of. This was in 1985 when Singapore was in a recession for the first time in its history. The Economic Development Board wanted an ad in the Wall Street Journal to make the point that Singapore was still a prime investment destination despite the recession.

Linda came up with a bold idea – a full page ad that said, ‘Who would be mad enough to invest in Singapore in a recession?’, with the signatures of the heads of nine global MNCs saying ‘We are!’ It played a key role in reassuring investors.

In April 1996, Linda left Saatchi & Saatchi because she wanted, for the first time in her career, to take a break and focus on a new role for her – becoming a mother. Several months later, she resurfaced as the chair and executive creative director of Leo Burnett. In 1998 her role was expanded when she became the agency’s regional creative director for the Asia Pacific region.

Linda left Leo Burnet in 2007 and started a consultancy, Godmother Pte Ltd. She was appointed as marketing director of luxury fashion distributor Club 21 and SuperNature in 2008. In 2013 Linda assumed the additional position of General manager, Club21 Online. She stepped down as consultant to Club 21 and SuperNature in 2015. Some years later she embarked on a new career – as an author of children’s books, a move sparked by her efforts to protect the legacy of her great-grand aunt Agnes Joaquim.

On a visit to the Singapore Botanic Gardens Linda was astonished to find inaccuracies in the description of the origins of Singapore’s national flower, Vanda Miss Joaquim. Building on her mother Hazel Locke’s earlier efforts and the research of historian Nadia Wright and Harold Johnson, co-authors of Vanda Miss Joaquim: Singapore’s National Flower: The Legacy of Agnes & Ridley, Linda mounted a campaign for Agnes Joaquim to be properly credited as the creator of the hybrid orchid.

Official recognition of this came in 2016, and in 2018 Linda co-authored a children’s book titled “Agnes and Her Amazing Orchid” to ensure that future generations of Singaporeans would know the true story of Agnes Joaquim.

She has since written a series of six books titled Jack Is Curious. Another of her books, titled The Boy Who Talked All Day, was shortlisted for the Book Council Hedwig Anuar Children’s Book Award 2022. A new book series will be published in March 2024 tiled Lyna Lankylegs and The Bright Hill Gang.