The Tamesis
Asia’s 30 Under 30: Social Media, Marketing and Advertising list of content creators is inspiring others to pursue their passions and demystifying complex topics for a Gen Z audience.
timeo Tag Indonesian National airline Garuda commissions local artists and influencers for 80th Independence Day in August 2025 Erica Richardo Paint a mural on a Boeing 737 aircraft. Richardo, who said it took several months to sell the idea to the airline, produced a piece incorporating elements of batik depicting 16 ethnic groups from across the archipelago. Her video documenting the process went viral, racking up thousands of views on social media. Using art as a tool to tell stories and create social impact, Richardo has earned over 18 million followers on TikTok. She is one of Indonesia’s outstanding creators on the platform, having won the award for three consecutive years starting in 2022.
Richardo is one of this year’s content creators Forbes Asia 30 Under 30: Social Media, Marketing and Advertising List She uses social media to share her passion and inspire others to pursue theirs.
Richardo showed her creativity as a child, later entering art competitions and receiving small commissions. Although her parents wanted her to join the family’s jewelry business, Richardo continued to pursue her passion by painting household items such as doors and wardrobes and posting them online while studying business at Prasetiya Mulya University in Tangerang, near Jakarta.
She became an online sensation in 2021 when she painted an image of a Balinese barong, a mysterious lion-like creature, on a friend’s Porsche. Together with her boyfriend, sustainability influencer Jerhemy Owen, she founded Rumah Mimpi Indonesia, a nonprofit that raised 1.7 billion rupees ($100,000) to build schools in remote areas of Indonesia and provide art supplies to children. Richardo said she is seeking to “inspire young people to experiment, to try new things, and to encourage those who are highly creative and love art to become artists.”
Parth Bajaj is another on the list who uses social media to share his passion for cooking. The self-taught Indian baker and digital creator has built a rapidly growing culinary brand with baking videos on Instagram, Tiktok and YouTube. Known for demystifying pastries and desserts for aspiring home cooks, Bajaj started creating cooking content in 2017 and currently has over 1.5 million followers on the social media platform. The industrial engineering graduate started a family bakery called Plated by Parth during the pandemic. Last year he published his first cookbook, Pars Plating: Stir, Bake, EnjoyIn partnership with Penguin Random House, fusion desserts combine classic techniques with Indian flavours.
Bringing science to the masses
Astrophysicist and content creator Kirsten Banks.
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Generation Z scholars also use social platforms to demystify complex science and make science accessible and enjoyable to the general public.
Kirsten BanksAstroKirsten, known as AstroKirsten to hundreds of thousands of followers on social media, is an Australian astrophysicist who makes the wonders of the universe (black holes, cosmic discoveries, the search for life beyond Earth) easier to understand. She draws on her Wiradjuri heritage to incorporate Aboriginal teachings about the stars. Banks is a brand ambassador for Samsung’s Solve for Tomorrow program and a lecturer at Swinburne University of Technology.
In Thailand, Nathanon Dunsunane is the co-founder and editor-in-chief of Spaceth.co, an online media platform that inspires young Thais to explore space and pursue STEM. Since 2017, Spaceth has covered a wide range of topics on its website, podcasts and social media, with hundreds of thousands of subscribers and millions of viewers. Dungsunenarn also speaks at astronomy-related events and seminars.
Aiming to defuse discussions about intimacy, Australian sexuality historian, author and digital creator Esme James launched her kinky history The TikTok and podcast series currently has over 3 million followers. In 2023, she published the best-selling book Abnormal History: Stories of Our Intimate Lives, Then and Now. The second season of her documentary mini-series SexTistics, which looks at modern intimacy through data, will air this year. Her Ph.D. Authors from the University of Melbourne explore erotic aesthetics in 18th-century literature.
current events
In addition to science communication, several honorees use their platforms to break down complex global news and current affairs topics, helping their followers navigate an increasingly complex world.
New Zealand Lucy Blakiston Yes Co-Founder Things you should care aboutan online media platform that makes global issues accessible to young audiences. The platform launched as a blog in 2018 and has nearly 4 million followers, primarily on Instagram, including high-profile fans such as Bella Hadid and Madonna. It also has more than 600,000 newsletter subscribers and has expanded into a podcast series and a book called “Make It Make Sense.”
Lucy Blakiston, co-founder of Shit You Should Care About.
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In Australia, Hannah Ferguson co-founded Chick Mediaa news commentary media platform that discusses important topics. Outside of Cheek Media, Ferguson is the co-host of the news and pop culture podcast Big Small Talk and the author of two books on feminist issues, bite back and taboo. She holds a Bachelor of Laws and a Masters of Writing, Editing and Publishing from the University of Queensland.
Marketing and Advertising Achievers
This year’s list features top young talent in marketing and advertising, proving that even as automated AI tools reshape the digital landscape, human creativity can still shine.
Headquartered in India Makarand Narka is a visual artist and co-founder boomlang studiothe company created a 13-second animation for Coldplay’s song “Good Feelings” in 2024. Boomranng strives to break stereotypes about India through stories produced for global brands. Last year, Narkar was a finalist in The One Club for Creativity’s Young Guns, which honors emerging creative professionals aged 30 or younger. It created animations for the 2024 Paralympic Games and a Google Doodle for India’s 79th Independence Day.
Makarand Narkar, co-founder of Boomranng Studio.
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Leon Bristol is the Artistic Director of Colenso BBDO in Auckland, part of the global BBDO network. Bristow, who is of Maori, Samoan and Dutch descent, was named the world’s fourth best artistic director in the 2023 Cannes Lions talent rankings. Additionally, Bristow is the founder of BEINGS, a casting platform dedicated to diverse talent, including people of color and people with disabilities.
malaysian Daniel Woodruff is the co-founder of Pandan Social, a boutique digital marketing and creative agency based in Kuala Lumpur established in 2018. In 2023, the company was acquired by New York-based communications consulting firm Ruder Finn for an undisclosed amount, with Woodroof remaining as CEO.
Read our full Social media, marketing and advertising list here – And be sure to check out our full content Forbes Asia 30 Under 30 2026 Coverage here.
