adobo magazine | May-June 2008 by Sanserif, Inc.

Issue #15 May-June 2008

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THE ISSUE THAT GOES TO CANNES

SAATCHI & SAATCHI SINGAPORE

Asia’s No.1 Creative Agency THE ADFEST SPECIAL Earth Hour Honored by Spikes 2008 Special World Press Awards Recap by Neil French PROFILE Andy Greenaway Hit Productions Roger Makak & Asia’s Creative Rankings ONLINE MEDIA REPORT The Power of Blogs The Filipino Web Diaspora Creative Review by Toby Talbot, DDB NZ FAREWELL Paul Arden BANG FOR THE BUCK by Prasoon Joshi Was a monkey the key to their success?

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Issue #15 May - June 2008

CONTENTS

04 06 11 12 14

TOP STORIES

Philippines Leads Radio in ADFEST Philippines Gets 3 in Clio Shortlist BBDO GO Wins a Bronze Pencil in One Show Design Roger Makak Monkeys with the Creative Rankings BBDO GO & JWT Top Philippines’ Creative Rankings TNBT & The Law Firm: Open-Source Creativity One Ad Mother: The Advertising Standards Council

48 THE ADFEST SPECIAL REGIONAL/GLOBAL COVERAGE 38 Got Milk+Co? 39 Go Goafest! 42 MEDIA Spikes 2008

70 World Press Awards

PROFILE 08 Andy Greenaway: The Monkey’s Uncle 80 Hit Productions: Circle of Trust

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

ANGEL GUERRERO

EDITOR CYNTHIA

DAYCO

74 ENTERTAINMENT REVIEWS

by Shu Manalo

by Toby Talbot

76 CREATIVE REVIEW

COLUMNISTS WILLY ARCILLA NANETTE FRANCO-DIYCO

EXCLUSIVES 29 Online Media Report

SENIOR CORRESPONDENT HARRY MOSQUERA

96 PRIVATE VIEW Cents & Values by Nanette Franco-Diyco

BONG OSORIO CID REYES

WRITERS BUDJIT

TESORO DANZ HOLANDEZ CRYSTAL REBUCAS BARNY RIVERA AYE UBALDO

ART DIRECTOR

JERRY MANALILI

LAYOUT ARTIST

LECH VELASCO

COVER PHOTOGRAPHY

JONATHAN TAY

BUSINESS ASSISTANT

MAFEL HEBULAN

MARKETING & SALES EXECUTIVES

AILEEN MARIANO AYE UBALDO

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100

Logic & Magic by Bong Osorio The Bigger Picture by Cid Reyes Market Mentor by Willy Arcilla

106 Cannes Lions 2008 Primer

REGULAR FEATURES

adobo Ads of the Month The adobo Centerfold Ambush Bang for the Buck Creative Showcase / Philippines Creative Showcase / Regional Mad about Irresponsible Programming Nielsen’s Top 20 PhD’s Tubetalk Truth in Advertising

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PHILIPPINES LEAD IN RADIO AT ASIA ADFEST After scoring Philippines’ first Cannes Gold in radio for the Lotus Spa last year, JWT Manila landed one Gold, two Silvers and a Bronze for the same ads at the recent Asia Pacific Advertising Festival, ADFEST, held in Pattaya in Thailand. The agency emerged the biggest winner in the Radio category by winning the most medals against all the Asian contenders. Although the Best of Show for radio went to Y&R Malaysia’s “Brush” for Colgate, two more Philippine agencies scored in the category. DDB DM9 JaymeSyfu won a Bronze for the Vandol

“Siren” radio spot and was a finalist for the Drixine “Beatles” radio commercial. BBDO Guerrero Ortega managed a finalist for the ChildHope public service radio spot called “Good Kids”. Another big winner for the Philippines, with two Silvers and a Bronze in Print, was the print campaign for Soroptimist Philippines, a women’s movement. The excellently crafted Soroptimist “Bullet” ad—basically a timeline of the various innovations in guns by men, which ends with the invention, by a woman, of the bulletproof vest—also captured a Gold Clio award in the US last year. TBWA\Santiago Mangada Puno won a Bronze in Print and a finalist in Poster for the Philippine Star Newspaper “Palawan”

ad. In Direct Marketing, Lowe Philippines won a Bronze for the Kuff ‘n Kollar “Collar/Belt” while Bayantel’s “Downloading” billboard by BBDO made finalist in Outdoor. Team Philippines for the Young Lotus competition—Tina Araneta and Aidon Panlaqui from Lowe Philippines—emerged as one of the top three finalists against the under-30 talents from 13 cities. The team from Hakuhodo Tokyo won the top prize for their film “Serial Killer”. Filipino director Marla Ancheta of Industria was selected to be among the Fabulous 4+ directors who showcased their films at the well-attended festival. The inaugural Agency of the Year award, which was awarded to the agency

that won the most awards, went to Saatchi & Saatchi Singapore. The Network of the Year was JWT and the Advertiser of the Year went to adidas. The ADFEST invited leading creative directors from all over the world to judge the over 5,1000 entries from more than 33 cities. On jury duty from the Philippines were David Guerrero as Radio jury president, Leigh Reyes in the Press & Poster Lotus jury and Joel Limchoc in the Print Craft and Design Lotus jury. The four-day advertising festival hosted Asia’s largest gathering of admen from the region, with topnotch guest speakers like Donald Gunn of the Gunn Report, revered designer Stefan Sagmeister, and Tony Davidson of Wieden+Kennedy.

Another big winner for the Philippines, with two Silvers and a Bronze in Print, was the print campaign for Soroptimist Philippines...

JWT’s Dave Ferrer with Lotus Radio jury head David Guerrero

Philippines Gets 3 Into Clio Shortlist After Filipino creatives proved last year that the Clio is indeed within their reach, three more Manila agencies have high hopes of bringing home this elusive award. The organizers of the Clio Awards 2008 released their shortlists, and among the hundreds of ads that made it are JWT Manila’s “Are we there yet?” radio spot for Shell Better Mileage Gasoline; TBWA\ Santiago Mangada Puno’s “Sarah,” another radio ad, for Unicef Foundation, and DDB DM9 JaymeSyfu’s “Clogged Nose — Cat ” poster for Drixine. This is JWT Manila’s second shot at the Clio. It already has a Bronze Clio for its Greenpeace “Trees” print ad from last year. This is TBWA\SMP’s and DM9 JaymeSyfu’s first outing in the Clio’s final round. The winners of the 49th Annual Clio Awards will be presented during the 2008 Clio Festival, May 14-17 at the Gansevoort South Hotel in South Beach. Each year, Clio receives more than 20,000 entries

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from 65 countries. Fewer than 10 percent reach the Shortlist, from which 115 jury members made up of creative leaders from 25 countries, re-evaluate the work to determine Gold, Silver and Bronze Clio winners. Of these, less than three percent of entries receive a Clio statue and less than one percent receive a coveted Gold Clio. Fortunately for the Philippines, Y&R’s Soroptomist “Bullet ” poster was in that top percentile last year. The Clio Awards is arguably the world’s most recognized awards competition for advertising, design and interactive. To this day, Clio’s iconic statute is the most widely recognized symbol of the industry ’s creative accomplishments, appearing in movies and T V shows about advertising. The Clio Awards is owned by the Nielsen Company. For the complete shortlist and more information about the 49th Annual Clio Awards and Festival, please visit www.clioawards.com.

newsline ABC 5 TEAMS UP WITH MPB PRIMEDIA

The third largest network in the country, ABC 5, signed a content partnership with MPB Primedia Inc. This company is a supported by Media Prime Berhad of Malaysia, a leading media group with interests in television, radio, print and content creation. “This deal will ensure a steady flow of innovative programming that will differentiate ABC 5 from the other networks, and at the same time, guarantee that ABC 5 earns a healthy profit from its airtime,” ABC-5 President Tonyboy Cojuangco said. The details of the new programming will be announced in the coming months. Both parties are also looking at other potential business opportunities within the region that will pave the way for local artists and talents to gain exposure in the Asian market.

YOLY ONG ASKS BUSINESS: DO THE RIGHT THING

Addressing the Philippine Marketing Association, Campaigns and Grey’s Group Chairman Yoly Ong gave an impassioned pitch for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). “Companies have to atone for what they have brought about to their surroundings, those around Manila Bay and the Pasig River,” states Ong, with serious mirth. “Consumers now are not just buying your products and services—they are buying the company behind the products and services.” Maintaining that it is okay to have selfinterest in incorporating CSR in marketing strategy, Ong goes on to say that good CSR efforts are actually good for society and therefore good for business. “It’s not just a good deed; it’s a good deal.”

MANILA JOINS PECHA KUCHA

Manila launches its first Pecha Kucha Night on June 13 at MAG:NET on Bonifacio High Street. Devised by Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham of Klein Dytham architecture, it was conceived in 2003 as a place for young designers to meet, network, and show their work in public. Pecha Kucha (Japanese for the sound of conversation) offers a forum for creative work without having to rent a gallery or chat up a magazine editor. This is a demand that seems to be global, as Pecha Kucha Night, without any pushing, has spread virally to over 100 cities across the world.

IMMAP SLATES 2ND ANNUAL CONFERENCE

The Internet and Mobile Marketing Association of the Philippines holds its second conference on August 13 to 15 at the Hotel Intercontinental. It’s All Geek To Me highlights the use of technology in brand building, retention and loyalty programs and its use in customer acquisition and conversion. Digital marketing, online and mobile industry experts will share current practices and trends, the latest techniques, a number of successful case studies, plus a few insights. IMMAP is the premier marketing association for internet and mobile organizations. It spearheads the use of the internet and mobile technology as marketing media.

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Bronze Pencil: BBDO GO’s “Glowing Sticker” for W WF

ONE SHOW DESIGN:

A Bronze Pencil for WWF Philippines

On the second day of the One Show Festival Week, the Philippines bagged a Bronze pencil at The One Show Design competition. BBDO Guerrero Ortega created the winning entry, “Glowing Sticker” for WWF, to remind people to turn off room lights. David Guerrero, chairman and chief creative officer of BBDO Guerrero Ortega, was quite pleased. “A One Show pencil is one of the highest honors on the creative awards show circuit. So we are very happy to have picked up our third one in two years.” For Best in Show, the design competition gave the honor to HBO’s “Voyeur” installation. Created by BBDO New York, the work was a five-minute film projected onto the side of a New York City building that “peels off” the exterior wall to reveal the sordid goingson in the apartments. The same agency also won a Gold pencil for its BBC Cables campaign. BBDO’s total haul included eight Gold, Silver and Bronze pencils, more than any other global network. Leo Burnett claimed six awards, including Gold for Indesit—a shopping bag with a “washing machine” window—by its Milan office; Oliver, Patrick & Glenn Grocers’ corporate identity from Singapore, and the Luxor Highlighters poster campaign from Mumbai.

Ogilvy took away six Gold, Silver and Bronze pencils, with a Gold for its Mumbai agency for “Plant More Lives” WWF campaign and to Frankfurt for the Mattel “Young Drivers” in-store campaign. Ogilvy Frankfurt took more awards than any other O&M shop with five total. Of the Asian offices, Japan took home the most metals at five. Singapore, Malaysia and India won three pencils each; China

seum in New York City. “We are delighted to be leading the way in recognizing the crucial design elements that go into good advertising,” said Mary Warlick, chief executive officer of The One Club. “The standards we’ve upheld for our Pencil recipients have been unparalleled over the last 33 years and the same is true in our design categories. Winners should be thrilled about what this honor says of their talents, careers and potential.”

Best in Show: BBDO New York, HBO “ Voyuer”

got two, while Korea and the Philippines won one apiece. Part of the One Show since 2001, this marks the second year the One Show Design awards has been conducted as a separate ceremony, reflecting a growing emphasis on good design in the consumer marketplace and an overwhelming increase in entries in design categories. This year’s ceremony took place at the Chelsea Art Mu-

The One Show Design is one of three annual awards programs that make up the One Show Festival Week held from May 5-9. This year, One Show Design received 3,880 entries from around the world. The major categories Pencils are awarded in include: Advertising Design, Corporate Identity, Environmental Design, Publication Design, Direct Mail and Package Design.

topstories

Roger Makak

Monkeys with Campaign Brief Asia’s Creative Rankings

by Angel Guerrero

Given the importance of the Creative Rankings, the preampaign Brief Asia, the regional creative vailing question is “WHO IS ROGER MAKAK?” advertising magazine, unleashed a monster According to the latest charts, he is the No.1 creative with its Creative Rankings. Asia’s creatives, in Asia (moving up from 19th last year)! Roger even gained no matter if they claim otherwise, crave for proof of their creative prowess (or lack kingship in THE WORK 07’s Honour Board and was named thereof) and to see where they stand among Creative of the Year. “Who’s Hot! Who’s Not!” Creative directors, Based on the credits on his ads, he is a copywriter in Saatchi art directors, copywriters drooled over the Campaign Brief & Saatchi Singapore, and from his photo in the publication, he Asia’s 10th annual Creative Ranking issue, released in February looks to be a young man with a monkey on his shoulder. (By the way, Makak, is an Indonesian name, and it means “monkey”!) 2008. Because of this mysterious Roger Makak, last year’s No. 1 The Creative Rankings masturbate creative egos. But it creative, Thirasak Thanapatanakul of Creative Juice\G1 Thaiis also a genuine and statistical picture of how each creative land, slid to the No. 2 slot. individual (CDs, AD and copywriter) and each agency fares No one outside of Saatchi cared to in major international and regional award ask who Roger Makak was until he topped shows within a two-year period. Someone inside the rankings. There seems to be a genuine need for Saatchi Singapore Campaign Brief Asia’s Kim Shaw these rankings. Agencies and creatives use told adobo, Roger never met Roger Makak, despite covering it for self-reflection, for bragging rights (e.g., the Asian creative scene for ten years. “the No. 1 Creative in Campaign Brief’s Rank- Makak was created ing”) for headhunting and for fostering wellfour years ago and is He visited the Saatchi Singapore office to meet the man but was told intoned competition. Moreover, while The actually the agency’s recently “he is on holiday.” Gunn Report covers the world, Campaign monkey mascot! But someone inside Saatchi Singapore Brief Asia’s Creative Rankings is focused on told adobo, Roger Makak was created four Asia. Well done, Campaign Brief Asia! years ago and is actually the agency’s monkey mascot! And not There is a world out there that says it does not care about even a live animal, but a stuff toy in the Singapore office. awards or rankings, but interestingly, their network bosses The slow and painful reveal finally happened at ADFEST evaluate majority of creative directors against their perforin Pattaya, when someone told Kim Shaw of the possibility that mance in creative awards. his No. 1 man was a stuffed baboon. These popular rankings are laboriously put together by CamDid Andy Greenaway, regional executive creative director paign Brief Asia’s editor, well-loved and good-natured, Kim Shaw. of Saatchi Asia and Singapore intend to discredit and comproThe Creative Rankings count wins at Cannes, The One Show, Clio, mise Campaign Brief Asia’s precious Creative Rankings? Was ADFEST, Asian Advertising Awards (Spikes), AWARD Awards it a game for him, to see if a fictional homo sapien could top the (Australia) and The Work (a compilation of ads by published by rankings, just for laughs? Well, whether it was planned or not, Campaign Brief Asia). If you win in any of these shows, you will Saatchi’s monkey is King Kong of the charts! get a name check in the rankings, starting from No. 1 to 1,155.

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topstories

If Roger Makak was not a real When confronted in Pattaya, Andy person, this would mean that Creative Greenaway denied it and even told Juice\G1 Bangkok’s Thirasak Tanaadobo, “You can email him. He has an patanakul, who came second in the email address.” Creative Rankings, was cheated out of Kim wished he were in on the the No. 1 spot. joke. His disgruntled publishers wrote But Andy Greenaway is also a complaint to the Saatchi bosses, who named and ranked in the 210th spot prevailed on Andy to come clean with this statement: in the Creative “Let me Rankings. If put the record Andy and Roger straight once are one and and for all. the same, can a This started off person appear as an internal twice in the same thing and then ranking? That somewhat is for Kim Shaw overtook us. It to answer. wasn’t part of a Here is grand scheme Andy’s story. to undermine “I have been Campaign Brief If Roger Makak was not heavily involved and its rankings. a real person, this would with the Singamean that Creative Juice\ The campaign pore office since wasn’t designed, G1 Bangkok’s Thirasak I joined. As you it was stumbled know, the agency Tanapatanakul, who came upon. Which is had slipped to second in the Creative why we haven’t something like Rankings, was cheated out managed it as 12 in the Creative of the No. 1 spot. well as we could Rankings, and have—and I’m sorry for that.” it was a priority for me to get it back Andy Greenaway said that HE up to a respectable position. As such, is Roger Makak! “So to reassure you I have been involved in every award[Kim], Roger Makak is based on a real winning campaign in that office in person: me.” some way or other for the last three years. As you probably know, I am not one to steal the limelight from any Andy Greenaway shares a joke team that produces a campaign. I see with Saatchi Singapore’s Andrew Petch myself and my job as that of a menand Richard Copping tor, facilitator and empowerer to the people that work for me. However, there has been a tradition in Saatchi that anyone that has been involved in a campaign, no matter how large or small, gets a credit. We call it ‘One team, one dream.’ “At the beginning, when the team put my name down on campaigns, I instructed them to take it off. Their way of getting around the issue (something they felt passiontely about) was to create a pseudonym for me. My nickname in the Bangkok office is King Kong, hence the monkey connotations that exist in the name Roger Makak.” Campaign Brief Asia said they were relieved to hear that Roger Makak is a real person in Andy Greenaway. But Thirasak is probably skeptical, and he is not alone. Since then, Roger Makak, as the mascot, has been seen and photographed hard at work in the Saatchi office. An amusing sight! Moreover, he will appear yet again in a forthcoming recruitment campaign by Saatchi Singapore. “This campaign might even win a Titanium!” Andy said half-jokingly. Andy, adobo believes, deserves a Photo by Jonathan Tay spanking for the spoiling the rankings.

Kim Shaw and Andy Greenaway: all seems forgiven— or is it?

From the loyal fans of Roger Makak Yes, we know. You have your nose to the grindstone 24/7; you have no time to think about Roger Makak: who he is, what he is, how he became Asia’s No.1 Creative, why he is or isn’t Andy Greenaway, and what should be done with him. Someone who does think about it—and often—is Campaign Brief Asia’s Kim Shaw. To his amusement, he found a message in his inbox, signed by the “Concerned Supporters of Saatchi Singapore.” This group, who can’t decide whether they are “we” or “I,” wrote: We firmly believe that Saatchi has been unfairly labelled as the biggest offender in Singapore for producing the so-called “scam” ad. We would like to make it plain that many businesses are highly supportive and appreciative of what Saatchi Singapore has done for them. For a leading agency like Saatchi to produce countless ads for small business like Blush Lingerie, GBC Shredders and Silverfish Books, to name but three, is absolutely marvelous! And for them to do so without charging a single cent for all their hard work is generosity indeed!! What is more the agency is even kind enough to then pay for all these ads to run in the highly respected ‘Think’ magazine. With regards to the “Roger is Andy, only furrier” claim, Saatchi’s supposed fanbase says: We are also saddened by the whole Roger Makak witchhunt, this is both unfair and unfounded. For advertising professionals in other agencies to claim that Andy Greenaway is NOT Roger Makak is outrageous. Mr. Greenaway has made it abundantly clear that he is responsible for every single ad that has ever won an award for Saatchi. This includes, I believe that famous one for British Airways where people run around and then form a smiley face.” Hey, we remember that ad from 1989. Considering that Andy was employed by Ogilvy at the time, that is an achievement!

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Photo by Jonathan Tay

PROFILE The Monkey’s Uncle

Andy Greenaway by Angel Guerrero

Campaign Brief Asia’s Agency of the Year 2007, Saatchi & Saatchi Singapore is the roost of Andy Greenaway. But despite his achievements as the office’s regional creative director, now he is more famous for his alter ego Roger Makak. Campaign Brief Asia published in its “2007 Asia Creative Rankings” issue, “Senior copywriter Roger Makak is Asia’s most awarded creative in 2007.” Andy Greenaway has since admitted that Roger Makak is him, “a real person” and not the monkey that Saatchi Singapore created. “It went too far and we did not expect that to happen,” said Andy of his alter ego’s appearance at the top of the revered rankings. “And we are sorry if people have been offended.” SA ATCHI’S SOUNDING BOARD Andy’s creative reputation is solid. Ogilvy Singapore, his previous agency, had a five-year reign on top of the creative rankings during his tenure. At the time, Andy was ECD of Ogilvy Advertising in Singapore. He eventually became chairman of Ogilvy Group Singapore. But three years ago, he jumped ship and moved to Saatchi Asia as its regional creative director. Now, he is based in Bangkok, although he spends chunks of time in the Singapore office. As he sees it, Andy’s creative directors— Richard Copping and Jagdish Ramakrishnan (now with BBDO Singapore)—are the “architects” of the agency’s much-lauded work. Andy is their sounding board. Scan through the 2007 winners gallery in Clio, Cannes, One Show, ADFEST and Spikes, and you will see Saatchi Singapore’s work for Lego, Thai SPCA, AWARE and the Penguin Books Campaign. That year, Saatchi won in all eight international and regional awards shows that count towards a Campaign Brief Asia ranking. Andy Greenaway, now Saatchi’s regional creative director for Asia, says, “I’ve been in the business 21 years. In that time, I’ve worked in some great agencies, but this is probably the best of the lot. The talent is astounding, the work ethic is incredible and the atmosphere is electric. Saatchi & Saatchi Singapore proves that advertising is still the

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“Saatchi & Saatchi Singapore proves that advertising is still the best fun you can have without taking your clothes off.”

AWARE “Monster” Print

best fun you can have without taking your clothes off.” Being a hands-on leader, Andy helped boost the performance of the Saatchi creative flagship in Singapore and moved it up the creative ranking to No. 1 in Asia Pacific. Three years ago, Saatchi Singapore was down the creative rankings at No. 12. Saatchi Singapore established their prowess further by also topping the CCA in 2006, and being named Agency of the Year by Marketing Magazine, Advertising Institute of Singapore and AdAsia. However Micheal Rebelo, CEO of the Singapore office, comments, “The Campaign Brief Asia rankings are the ones to win, as they measure creativity, and that has always been our focus, not the money. Produce astonishing world-class work, and the money follows. We have proven that in Singapore.” LEGO “Fire station”

THE ROAD TO SINGAPORE Andy studied in Bath Lane Art College in Newcastle, which he claimed, produced advertising thoroughbreds like Steve Dunn, Dave Cook— “And myself,” he says laughing. Then at age 19, he found a job as a junior art director and consequently stumbled into Direct Marketing. In 1990, he was supposed to go to Ogilvy Taiwan on a threemonth exchange. But five board members of O&M Direct in London resigned, and he had to stay behind to help provide cover. A year later, he asked his worldwide creative director, Drayton Bird, if there were any opportunities abroad. He was sent to Singapore on a two-year contract.

Craig Davis, when he brought together the During this time, he met Sally Foo best from each market. who married him and now raises their two “I do it differently,” says Andy. “I girls Haley, 11, and Kimberley, 12. train the local market with the regional “Singapore is an amazing place! Amazhit squad which consists of me, Joel and ing lifestyle, people, food, weather, so I regional planner Sean Boyle (now in Austradecided to stay.” lia) armed with real client briefs.” Fifteen years later, he is still convinced The system proved to be much more that “Asia is the most exciting place in powerful, conducive to very inspiring sesthe world at the moment for advertising.” sions that kept creatives high. England has become a “very strange place,” By the end of Cannes Lions 2006, which he tries to visit once a year. By 1999, he had propelled Ogilvy Singa- Saatchi had the record number of finalists from Asia, with 50 finalists, 44 of them compore to the top spot in Campaign Brief Asia. ing from the Singapore office. He helped the agency stay there for “But conversion to metal was low. One four years. But listening to his inner early Gold (from Bangkok), one Silver and three adopter, he left Ogilvy to start his own Bronze Lions”, he admits, mobile content business. but it was a start. “The actual “When I resigned from work was done by Juggi and Ogilvy, they tried to keep me in Richard…I just help the spirit the network with all sorts of jobs.” and set the environment.” Miles Young, the network’s One factor that helps him Asia Chairman, took interest in set the right tone and pace the mobile content business that for Saatchi is a good set of Andy was setting up. suits. All the CEOs that he has “Let’s do a joint venture,” worked within the network Andy recalls Miles saying. firmly believe that creativity is At the same time, Craig "CD on the Wall" the focal point of the agency. Davis was leaving Saatchi for “When Kevin Roberts has a worldwide JWT. Bob Isherwood asked Andy to take board meeting, the first thing they talk about Craig’s place as regional CD of Saatchi. is creative. Then they talk about the money. There was still the matter of the joint I do not know of any other network who venture with Ogilvy. Andy agreed to it in principle, on condition that Ogilvy keep WPP does that.” Andy adds, “Saatchi is a creative player and prides itself in being a top player out of the picture. in the awards.” However, just as the contract was about Today, the 100-strong Saatchi Singato be signed, the finance director said, “We pore office sits on top of Hooters Bar in the have to get this past WPP!” trendy Clark Quay. With its creative reputaHis lawyer negotiated with WPP for six months until the negotiations came to grinding halt. The mobile content business moved Andy with partner-inon, and eventually flourished under his wife’s crime Joel Clement management. (She still leads it, to this day.) But Andy resurfaced in 2004, as Saatchi & Saatchi’s regional creative director for Southeast Asia. TRIBAL LEADER Working from the regional hub in Bangkok with Pat Brett, Andy set out to inspire the Saatchi offices in Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, India and Singapore. The Singapore office was in a creative slump, in part because former ECD Graham Kelly was pushing it towards the interactive media. “It was hard to manage, Campaign Brief Asia did not take into account interactive work in the rankings, so the advertising side went off the boil. Graham did a great job injecting new-world thinking into the place, but it was a space that Saatchi wasn’t ready for at the time.” He also said that Singapore had a problem with consistency, after a quick succession of short-term ECDs—Graham Kelly, Brett Wilde and before that, Scott Wilson. Within six months, Andy realized the biggest problem was the art direction. He began a search for a regional head of art, “an essential role to fill, to move Saatchi on.” Fortunately, he received an email from Joel Clement, who was working in Results Bangkok with Jureeporn Thaidumrong. The two men hit it off and began their The Yellow Man tandem leadership of the Saatchi “tribe”. The Tribe was a global concept introduced by may-june 08

topstories tion, they are able to attract the biggest talents in the world and attract a fair number of appreciative clients. “When HP, which was 60 percent of our business, went to Publicis,” Andy proudly claims, “we were able to replace the revenue in a very short period of time!” Part of the secret is the psychology of pitching, Andy emphasizes. “We should not just think of doing a great campaign, but understanding the client, understanding where they are coming from, what their needs are and how we can fill those needs creatively and strategically.” Another is creative leadership, which Andy quickly says is not a job for everyone. The responsibility of managing people can be emotional and stressful. Especially when one is hiring…and firing. That’s why a great creative is not necessarily a great creative director. Andy uses the football analogy. “Ferguson was a donkey on the field but he is a great manager.” Andy was fortunate to

Is it simple? Is it brilliantly executed? Is it a global brand? Another tool he is developing with the regional IT squad is a Saatchi training book on art direction, in which they demonstrate the creation of an awardwinning ad from the initial idea to layout, to photography.

“The whole process,” says Andy. “The beginning to the end of award-winning ads.” It will serve as a short cut to mentoring. Ask Andy if creative awards are the end-all and beall, and he offers a pragmatic answer. “Creative awards are just one gauge…the financial aspect and happiness of staff is equally important.” But agencies are only as good as their people, and awards are a key aspect of attracting the best people. A FONDNESS FOR CREATURES Outside of his advertising accomplishments, Andy Greenaway has just written a book on some interesting characters called Ragworts. The characters were inspired by a Virgin Cola pitch— which they lost. He also creates animated mobile content. His flagship brand is called Love Andy’s Ragwort Bugs (not the computer virus), a mobile cupid have the world’s best creatives that sends a message of love. as mentors. For many years, It’s popular down in Australia, Neil French mentored him and where it has been in the top five taught him to do Print. Bob downloads every single month Isherwood has taught him an for the past two years. awful lot about TV. By doing things beyond Now that Andy himself is advertising, he says, “you approaching cult status, he has become a better advertising come up with his own tradeperson.” He creates cartoons mark tool. Called “CD on the for his company The Yellow wall”, it’s nothing more than a Man, written and directed post-it that contains a checklist comedy for the Internet with a of what makes an award-winning ad. It’s a rough guide that’s group of called Hairymole. But Andy has yet to be idenused by Juggi and Richard all tified with the Yellow Man or the time. the Hairymole. He’s more likely The CD on the wall asks: to be called “King Kong,” a pet Is it original? name given by Saatchi Bangkok. Is it memorable? From King Kong to Roger Is it relevant? Makak, it’s not a stretch, is it? Is it irreverent?

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CAMPAIGN BRIEF ASIA’S 2007 PHILIPPINE CREATIVE RANKINGS RANK 2007 (PHILS)

RANK 2007 (ASIA)

1 2

NAME

AGENCY

TOTAL POINTS

David Guerrero

BBDO-GO

496

Joel Limchoc

BBDO-GO

466

Simon Welsh

BBDO-GO

387

Dave Ferrer

JWT Manila

359

Joni Caparas

BBDO-GO

256

107

Joey Ong

JimenezBasic

229

112

Leigh Reyes

Y&R Manila

216

136

Trisha Uy

Y&R Manila

194

142

Lito Gemora

O&M Manila

176

181

Mike Sicam

O&M Manila

144

198

Pia Roxas

O&M Manila

129

245

Tin Sanchez

Lowe Vietnam

251

Alnair Langkay

O&M Manila

258

Melvin Mangada

TBWA\SMP

260

Manny Del Rosario

O&M Manila

260

Sarah Ko

O&M Manila

267

Brandie Tan

Lowe Vietnam

301

Tiffany King

BBDO GO

353

Mitch Uy

BBDO_GO

362

Gary Amante

BBDO-GO

371

Tanke Tankeko

Creative Juice Manila

417

Joe Dy

JWT Manila

429

Jatinder Sandhu

JWT Manila

429

Roger Pe

(no agency named)

524

Louie Sotto

DM9 JaymeSyfu

553

Evans Sotto

TBWA\SMP

559

Raoul Panes

Leo Burnett

652

Carol Ong

BBH Shanghai

652

Dorky Mallari

formerly O&M Manila

652

Lizanne Sarmiento

JWT Manila

652

Richie Perez

JWT Manila

652

Rosene Santos

OgilvyOne Manila

709

Tony Sarmiento

BBDO-GO

722

Derrick Periodico

Y&R Manila

722

Jay Santiago

Y&R Manila

722

Marco Dimaano

Y&R Manila

745

Allan Almedia

Lowe Manila

745

Farlet Vale

Leo Burnett Manila

745

Gabby Alcazaren

Lowe Manila

745

Noel Bermejo

McCann Philippines

745

Ray Villacarlos

Lowe Manila

811

Dindo Villaester

BBDO-GO

821

Angela Arches

TBWA\SMP

821

Angelo Lico

JWT Manila

821

Elvin Bueno

TBWA\SMP

942

Badong Abesamis

TBWA\SMP

942

Bogey Bernardo

BBDO-GO

942

Bonny Doroy

BBDO-GO

942

Carl Urgino

JWT Manila

942

Herbet Hernandez

DM9 JaymeSyfu

942

JP Cuison

Leo Burnett Manila

942

Lizelle Contreras

O&M Manila

942

Marci Reyes

TBWA\SMP

942

Mel Aguinaldo

TBWA\SMP

942

Mela Advincula

Leo Burnett Manila

942

Michelle Uy

BBDO-GO

942

Tracy Montinola

TBWA\SMP

942

Windel Uy

TBWA\SMP

1102

Third Domingo

JimenezBasic

*Rankings are based on citations at international and regional awards across a two-year period in Cannes, D&AD, Clio, One Show, ADFEST, Spikes, AWARD and The Work. Only art directors and copywriters who are credited on the winning work are considered in this ranking.

Campaign Brief Asiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Agency of the Year is awarded solely on creative performance in the Creative Rankings over the last two year period. (2006/2007).

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ISSUE #42 2008

BBDO GO & JWT Top Creative Rankings Y&R and Ogilvy Creative Teams Catapult to 1st Tier

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This year, the Campaign Brief Asia Creative Rankings hit the decade mark, and its latest release generated a lot of press, thanks to the Roger Makak controversy. (For the full story, turn to page 6.) Manila creatives who have been elevated in the Asia Rankings will benefit from the boost in the buzz. Malaysian Gavin Simpson, former ECD of O&M Manila, would have been Philippineâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s No.1 creative person again this year, had he not moved to the O&M Hong Kong office. Sitting at No. 27 in the Asia ranking, Gavin would have, hypothetically, been ahead of David Guerrero of BBDO Guerrero Ortega, who is currently No. 1 in the Philippines and No. 35 in Asia. Gavinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s brief stint in the Manila office brought in a creative renaissance. The agency had big wins for the Pondâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;Poreâ&#x20AC;? billboard campaign and the Philippine Daily Inquirer â&#x20AC;&#x153;Volcanic Ashâ&#x20AC;? print campaign. The wins pushed O&Mâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Lito Gemora (9)

and Mike Sicam (10) up and into the Circle of 10. BBDO Guerrero Ortega has been ranked No. 1 in the Philippines for three consecutive years, an achievement unmatched by any other Philippine agency. Four of their creative talents fall in the Top Ten in the country: David Guerrero (1), Joel Limchoc (2), Simon Welsh (3) and Joni Caparas (5). The agency won Cannes Lions for their Childhope â&#x20AC;&#x153;Chalkâ&#x20AC;?, WWF â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thermometerâ&#x20AC;?, Pizza Hut â&#x20AC;&#x153;Bikers,â&#x20AC;? and FedEx â&#x20AC;&#x153;Deliveryâ&#x20AC;? campaigns. A consistent award-winner at major shows, Dave Ferrer of JWT Manila moved one slot down to No. 4 (55th in Asia) after being in the Top Three last year. His work for the ADFEST Gold winner, Greenpeace â&#x20AC;&#x153;Treesâ&#x20AC;? print and poster campaign and the Cannes Gold winner â&#x20AC;&#x153;Lotus Spaâ&#x20AC;? radio campaign, kept Dave in the top ranks. The agencyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s latest product should keep Dave and JWT in upper end next year. His former creatives directors, Tin Sanchez (12) and Brandie Tan (16) remain in the Top 20. They are currently coECDs in Lowe Vietnam. Joey Ong, who moved to JimenezBasic from JWT (as of the Rankingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s release date), gained the 6th slot with credit from the Greenpeace â&#x20AC;&#x153;Treesâ&#x20AC;? campaign.

Sitting at No. 27 in the Asia ranking, Gavin would have, hypothetically, been ahead of David Guerrero of BBDO Guerrero Ortega, who is currently No. 1 in the Philippines and No. 35 in Asia.

Coming from down south, the Y&R babes Leigh Reyes and Trish Uy, who were the creatives behind the Soroptimist Malaysia â&#x20AC;&#x153;Bullets/Ships/ Crossesâ&#x20AC;? print and poster campaign, rose up to for the 7 th and 8th slots. ECD Melvin Mangada of TBWA\ Santiago Mangada Puno landed at No. 14, with Creative Juice (TBWA)â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Tanke Tankeko landing at No. 20. In total, 36 made it in this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Campaign Brief Asiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Creative Ranking. The hottest ad agencies in Manila are BBDO Guerrero Ortega, JWT Manila and Ogilvy Manila. They are followed by TBWA \ Santiago Mangada Puno (4), Y&R from nowhere at (5) and with relative newcomer DM9 JayMeSyfu Manila making it to 6th place.

may-june 08

topstories

TNBT & The Law Firm Team up for Open-Source Creativity

TNBT’s CEO Palani Pillai and Chief Creative Kelvin Pereira with Andy Law

he long arm of The Law Firm has finally reached Singapore. TNBT South East Asia Pte. Ltd., a regional communications agency established in Singapore, formed an unconventional partnership of creative exchange with the Londonbased global nodal network founded by Andy Law. It is the first and only agency in Singapore to be part of this indie network. For the Law Firm Group, tying up with TNBT means expanding their footprint in Asia, specifically, Southeast Asia. Currently, The Law Firm Group only has affiliate offices in Tokyo, Taipei and Manila (in the form of ASPAC-Law). Partnering up with TNBT gives it an instant presence in key markets in Southeast Asia, namely, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, and Indonesia. On the other hand, for

Anytime you have the chance to partner up with one of the most respected creative minds in the advertising and communications world, you grab that opportunity.

TNBT, the tie-up means having access to key markets around the world. The tie-up essentially empowers TNBT to handle any local client who wants to expand globally. According to the CEO of TNBT, Palani Pillai, “Anytime you have the chance to partner up with one of the

may-june 08

most respected creative minds in the advertising and communications world, you grab that opportunity… Aligning with The Law Firm Group opens up global opportunities for us. With more than 20 offices in six continents, The Law Firm Group provides TNBT access to some of the most creative minds in the world. This is the beginning of a new era for TNBT. We are excited to get the ball rolling.” The Law Firm’s Chairman Andy Law added, “There is no doubt in my mind that in the global economy today, one region stands out among the rest—Asia. Indeed, it would seem that all the action is happening in this part of the world…We see Asia, particularly Southeast Asia as a vital hub in the expansion of the The Law Firm Group. And who can be a better partner in Southeast Asia than TNBT—the only homegrown regional marketing communications network. Needless to say, we are thrilled to be partnering up with TNBT.” With this partnership, local businesses can now utilize a global nodal network that offers the creative breadth and strategic insights of award-winning creatives from its network of over 80 countries. Interestingly, the alliance gives the Law Firm two offices in Manila. It already has ASPAC-Law, run by Miguel Ramos. With TNBT, it gains CRUSH Philippines, managed by Marco Nieto. The potential overlap does not worry either Law or Pallani, as Aspac-Law’s expertise is in Digital while CRUSH is being groomed for mainstream work.

This early into its Philippine entry, “CRUSH Advertising is in a position to please and attract future clients,” says Rod Nepomuceno, regional vicepresident and executive creative director as well. CRUSH, “the first Asian multinational ad network,” started in Singapore in 2001 and is sixth in agency ranking. It is a member of TNBT International (The Next Big Thing) along with similar companies with catchy names, i.e. Bang PR, Boom Events Management, Reap Interactive, Rage (Respond Against Generic Existence) Branding Consultancy, and Cult Out-of-Home Media. Already with offices in Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei, the company plans to setup in Bangkok next.

CRUSH Advertising Enters with a Bang and Boom

Nepomuceno relates CRUSH’s success as a case of David against Goliath. “We are here to share ideas. (Nobody has) the monopoly of great ideas,

“(Nobody has) the monopoly of great ideas, if there is a brief, it is fed throughout the world. Big ad agencies do not confer even with their regional counterparts.” if there is a brief, it is fed throughout the world. Big ad agencies do not confer even with their regional counterparts.” Half events and half creative agency, and with a client list that includes McDonald’s, Nestlé, Philippine Stock Exchange, Acuvue, St. Luke’s, Seair, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, and Maxicare, it seems Crush can do to the competition exactly what its name says it will.

*Good to know

In the March-April 2008 issue of adobo, we overlooked a few important details that we must bring to your attention. * For example, on page 22, the nickname of Creative Guild’s secretary-treasurer, Kat Gomez-Limchoc, is actually short for Katrice. * On page 41, while the first name of Mr. Tan, co-creator of Ang Mundo ni Andong Agimat, sounds like “budget,” he spells it B-u-d-j-e-t-t-e. We also want to pick a few nits in the Production Suppliers Showcase. * In the Table of Contents, Ms. Cheryl Rivera- Guillas was listed, instead of her employer, Out of the Box, which is managed by President Manny Tirona and Managing Partner Nato Caluag. * On page 5, Ms. Telly Arce’s real email address is tellyarce@mac.com. * On page 15, Sound Design’s Audio Posting and Sound-for-Picture Studios are equipped with PROTOOLS, not PROTOCOLS.

may-june 08

topstories

ONE AD MOTHER

by Danz Holandez

The Advertising Standards Council streamlines the review of Philippine ads

Gie Gatchalian

e may not strike you as the traditional protagonist of change, but beneath the affable exterior lies the heart of a revolutionary. Meet Gie Gatchalian, former general manager of JWT, expresident of Campaigns & Grey and now, along with Audie Orleans from Saatchi & Saatchi and client-side veteran Mars Aaron, one of the three permanent advertising screeners of the Advertising Standards Council (ASC), a newly created organization affiliated with the KBP (Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster sa Pilipinas) which took over the reviewing duties of the Advertising Board of the Philppines last March 31. So how much different is the new guard from the old? “Pretty much in the last years of the AdBoard, the executive director was the one doing the advertising pre-screening,” explains Gatchalian. “Theoretically, he had the authority to approve stuff on his own, but that was hardly ever done, and everything ended up getting passed on to the panels. Now with the ASC, there are three individual screeners who can exercise that authority.” “We individually look at the TV, radio and out-of-home stuff for review,” he adds, “and if there are some issues, we tell the presenter right then and there. If they’re willing to revise on the spot, we can come to an agreement and clear them for production. Once OK’d, the finished material is compared to what was approved. If all is well, then it airs.” Of course, ask any AE who’s been tasked to present before an AdBoard panel and he or she will tell you how many hours they’ve wasted just waiting for their turn. So much so that the agencies resorted to just dropping off the particular material and pick it up later. In an attempt to expedite matters, the AdBoard panel would then conduct their

review sans agency—the drawback being that should said material be disapproved, the agencies would not immediately know why. Not so with the ASC. “That can still happen,” cites Gatchalian. “For those in a hurry, they can still wait. But I’ve seen people waiting…and it’s too much for my comfort. We’re not interested in bogging the system but to make it more efficient” To this end, one significant step was to augment the number of screeners available— at least two screeners available per day. Also, with revisions now allowed right then and there, a lot of the account people may make a habit of bringing along their creative coworkers to the reviews.

“I’m really concerned with making the system more efficient so that agencies and advertisers don’t have to wait too damn long, clearances are made quickly and easily.” In addition, the ASC has adopted the Code of Ethics of professional organizations like the Philippine Medical Association, specifically the ruling which states that individual doctors are not allowed to make endorsements. “We take those [codes] seriously,” Gatchalian stresses, “and annexed their rules to the ASC’s. Also, in the old Code of Ethics, there was no comparative advertising. Now, certain areas are allowed, as long as the facts that are to be compared are easily verifiable. Like cars and appliances where everyone publishes their own specifications.” You won’t be seeing the major companies go head-to-head in their TVCs anytime

soon, of course. There are still limits, yes, but that doesn’t mean no one’s trying. “I don’t know to what extent creativity has been curtailed in the past,” opines Gatchalian. “But I see more attempts to curtail the rules via certain wordings which do not make the ad more effective. Probably the agency or advertiser thinks the ad will be more effective. That irritates me. It’s stupid.” Even professional screeners have their limits, too, it seems. So what’s been his biggest challenge to date? ”Having patience,” Gatchalian declares without hesitation. “I’m really concerned with making the system more efficient so that agencies and advertisers don’t have to wait too damn long, clearances are made quickly and easily, and differences can be discussed and resolved in an intelligent manner.” That’s straight talk from one advertising mofo you don’t want to mess with.

HP Unveils 1st Artist Edition Notebook HP received a total of 8,500 entries from young designers around the globe, aged 16 to 24, for their contest aptly dubbed “Take Action. Make Art.” It was a joint collaboration with MTV, the world’s largest music channel and one of the greatest influences to the youth. Contest entrants were encouraged to draw inspiration from subjects they are passionate about thus giving a view of what it is that really matters to the children of today. The winning design was selected by a panel consisting of Shaun White, snowboarding Olympic gold medal winner and one of the “achievers” featured in HP’s “The Computer is Personal Again” marketing campaign; HP in house designers; members of the MTV creative team, and Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, advertising experts. The masterpiece of João of Portugal, hints at a wide range of cultural influences–from Chinese dragons to Japanese samurai–with mandala-like swirls and crisp radiant line art that spread across the surface in a wave of playfully subdued colors. João’s design was ultimately chosen to be specially laser-etched and protected through HP’s exclusive inlaid molding process onto the HP Pavilion DV2809TU Artist Edition Notebook PC. The works by the other regional finalists from Europe, Asia Pacific-Japan, North America, and Latin America will be made available as custom replaceable skins for portable devices. To know more details about the winning entries and purchase information, log on to http://www.mtv-tama.com/

may-june 08

PUBLICIS WANTS TO BE CATCHY

Strategy-driven agency ties up with London School of Economics and Contagious

hat do YouTube, the iPod and “American Idol” have in common? They’re all contagious ideas. Contagion is what Matthew Godfrey, Publicis Asia chief executive officer, is trying to achieve as he goes from office to office. He wants to spread the new philosophy of this Paris-born network, “Contagious Ideas,” and seed irresistible ideas so that clients’ businesses can grow a bumper crop of profit and fame. The star of Publicis Groupe SA, the world’s fourth largest communications conglomerate, Publicis is the fastest growing network in Asia with 22 offices around the region and combined billings of $900 million over the last two years. It is consistently placed as number one in the industry’s “new business league.” Publicis’s strength has always been strategic planning, but with technology revolutionizing the way people consume media and brands, change was inevitable. “Because of technology—the power of connectivity—brands have been liberated. If there’s social networking, there’s brand networking,” says Godfrey, a jovial man with a mean business sense. “Brands are empowered by people, so what you think of a brand

Calvin Soh & Matt Godfrey

matters more than ever.” Of course, Godfrey still believes in getting consumers insights so that clients’ money isn’t wasted on campaigns that don’t work. Perhaps that’s why he brought Partha Sinha, strategic planning director for Asia with him. For them, effective advertising generates positive responses from people who matter most—the ones who buy the product. “We’re pushing our creativity towards ideas that are built within the community or a network, and allow the market to co-create the brand. If your brand ideas are contagious, if there are more conversations about you in the community, does that help the brand grow, the sale grow?” Apparently, the answer is yes. Publicis spent more than half the year testing its

theory, with the help of London School of Economics and Contagious magazine. Building case studies that are both numbers-solid and freshly executed, the network decided it had a viral approach on its hands. Now, Godfrey and Sinha tell advertisers and ad agencies alike, “It’s not enough to be a good idea, it must be contagious. No longer ‘Will you like it?’ But ‘Will you tell someone about it?’ ‘Would you pass it on?’ ‘Would you put it on your Facebook?’ “When you get positive conversation about your advertising, you double the brand value, and this ultimately rebounds to profits. We put the consumer at the heart of every campaign development,” says Godfrey. To put “Contagious Ideas” to a realworld test, Godfrey brought onboard Calvin Soh, regional executive creative director, and Kitti Chaiyaporn, Publicis Thailand executive creative director (who is famous for his refreshing “Worms” for Unif tea), to propel Publicis in business and in awards shows. In fact, Publicis has decided to make a “project” out its client Nestlé. If Coke, McDonald’s, Volkswagen and P&G can make it to Cannes, then it’s “a strong signal, that Publicis belongs to the world’s hottest creative brands,” says Godfrey.

HOW PUBLICIS MAKES IDEAS CONTAGIOUS THE LUMIX BATTLE Panasonic released two Lumix digital cameras, the FX55 and the FX33, simultaneously. Problem was they looked virtually identical. So Publicis Thailand wrapped one camera model in blue and the other in red. Then they devised a campaign that pitted them against each other. Imagine a jologs gang war, straight out of “City of God”, fought with Lumix cameras instead of guns and knives. Aimed at teens and young adults, the campaign began with a viral drive to get consumers to take sides in the “Lumix battle”. A series of TVCs, online and outdoor events touted the cameras’ distinct features

(which, aside from the blue or red wrap, didn’t amount to much) and invited audiences to try them out. The TV ads featured popular young actors mouthing off and preparing their teams in comical training routines. The teams square off in the streets and “shoot” each other to gain points. By the campaign’s end, both the blue and red camera sold out in Thailand, which helped slow down the sale of grey-market cameras, despite the higher retail price of the color-wrapped models. This impressed the client so much that it retained Publicis to produce the next campaign for its plasma television sets.

“Blue” vs. “Red”: In the end, Lumix wins.

may-june 08

Speight’s Ale House, destination: London

THE GREAT SPEIGHT’S DELIVERY What San Miguel beer is to Filipinos, Speight is to New Zealanders. Instead of Manny Pacquiao, though, the brand has The Southern Man, a dyed-in-thewool Kiwi, through and through. Over the years, Speight had lost some of its sparkle, and Publicis was called to bring it back.

Inspired by a letter from a homesick New Zealander in London, the agency suggested that a $300,000 Speight’s Ale House be delivered by ship to the thirsty expatriate. The journey took around 70 days, with the ship going via Samoa, Panama, the Bahamas and New York on its way to London. For every day of the voyage, the bar was open from 6pm to 8pm. The idea of Speights shipping an entire pub caught the imagination of the public. It generated six times the paid media value in PR as well as an hour-long TV documentary . In the end, it pushed Speights back to the No. 1 spot in New Zealand.

movers

ASAP Goes Full Throttle on its 30th Anniversary

ASAP President, Rick Hawthorne

No, it’s not the noontime TV show. The Advertising Suppliers Association of the Philippines (ASAP) is busy preparing to commemorate 30 years of servicing the advertising industry. Steering ASAP on course is its current president Rick Hawthorne, also the managing director for Industry Relations of Roadrunner Network, Inc. Hawthorne, a long-time of-

ficer and board member, is up to the task. “Number 1 on the agenda is the reshaping of all sectors,” Hawthorne says. “Through the sector heads, we are strengthening the membership and growing interest in ASAP as a unified group.” Already in stable alliances with other organizations in the advertising community, next on its list are partnerships with new groups on the industry’s periphery. The Events sector under Allen Velez, who also serves as vice president-External, is negotiating alignments with the hotel and venue groups. The success of this undertaking raises the credibility of ASAP with the likes of the Philippine Association of National Advertisers (PANA). New industry alliances help cut red tape and documentation and even act as surety for any project, allowing ease of transaction. Every two years, ASAP holds a mid-year conference, and this 30th anniversary

edition will be “meaty, with crucial speakers and more substance to accommodate the changes in the advertising industry,” says Hawthorne. “As early as now, the invited speakers have already been giving their inputs to the conference. Yes, we need sponsors for the conference, but the sponsors know we can provide them direct contact to a select collective audience. In turn ASAP can disseminate useful information in support of the industry,” adds Velez. At the end of the day, Hawthorne and the rest of the ASAP Board want to reinforce and preserve the new organization, providing the best benefits to its members—easy access to info, supplies, resources, exposure through the ASAP directory, valuable networks, etc. Stable membership becomes the organization’s strength. And that is the pursuit of the Advertising Suppliers Association of the Philippines.

TONY SARMIENTO, one of the hottest young creatives in the Philippines signed up with Ace Saatchi & Saatchi to fill the new role of VP, Integration. He left his position as Executive Creative Director at Proximity Philippines after two successful, award-winning years. Prior to this, he was working as a Regional Creative Director at Grey Worldwide in Malaysia. Sarmiento’s arrival signals the first major new appointment since Matt Seddon returned to Saatchi with a brief to revitalize the long-established Manila operation which next year will be celebrating 60 years in the Philippines. KODAK has located to its new Philippines headquarters located in Makati City. Their new office will be at 2901 88 Corporate Center, Valero corner Sedeno Streets, Salcedo Village, Makati City, Philippines 1227. Telephone no: (632) 810 0331. BrandLab announced the appointment of VICKY ORTEGA as the Chief Executive Officer effective April 16, 2008. Vicky is one of the true-blue strategic planners in the industry, having single-handedly set up what was then the Lintas (now Lowe) Strategic Planning Department. Vicky and her team were instrumental in unearthing the insights that led to the highly successful Surf “Wais” campaign, which remains to be a gold standard in planning circles today. She is the Chief Insights Officer at BrandLab—a strategic consultancy firm dedicated to brand transformation from the organizational level. Jos Ortega stays on as Chairman of BrandLab, expanding the company’s consultancy offerings through strategic partnerships with international specialists.

adalike

VISA “Commonwealth Games – “Gymnast” by Clemenger BBDO Sydney, 2006

BBDO Guerrero Ortega promoted JOEL LIMCHOC and SIMON WELSH to joint Executive Creative Directors. Limchoc has been Creative Director and Head of Art for BBDO Guerrero Ortega for the past four and a half years. He is ranked number 2 in the Philippines according to Campaign Brief Asia. For the past two and a half years, Welsh has been Creative Director and Head of Copy for BBDO Guerrero Ortega. His work has been recognized by D&AD, Cannes, One Show, Adfest and other local and international award shows. Limchoc and Welsh continue to report to David Guerrero, Chief Creative Officer. Guerrero is taking on an expanded role that covers Proximity Philippines and a number of regional responsibilities.

adidas ”Olympic Launch – Hu Jia” by TBWA\China, Shanghai 2007

ZenithOptimedia appointed SUSAN DAR SANTOS as Managing Director of ZenithOptimedia Philippines. Susan comes with more than 20 years in media and advertising experience at FCB, JWT, Aviacom to name a few. She reports to KIRAN VASWANI, the new CEO of Zenith Optimedia Philippines beginning May 15th. Vaswani, who has vice president and director for Strategic Planning at JWT Manila for nearly a decade, joined the media agency—sources say—after its former president and CEO, Oz Trinidad, abruptly left after a disagreement with her boss. may-june 08

movers TNBT’s CRUSH Philippines appointed DAFFY MAY JONSON as new Executive Creative Director. In her new role, Daffy will drive new business and also gain agency recognition for creative and advertising campaigns. Previously, Daffy was Regional Creative Director at Saatchi & Saatchi Asia, Australia and India (AAI). Based in Bangkok, Daffy handled clients such as Procter & Gamble’s Head & Shoulders, Pampers and Mead Johnson. BBDO Guerrero Ortega promoted FRANCINE KAHNGONZALEZ to Client Service Director. Kahn-Gonzalez was Group Account Director for the agency’s largest account, Pepsico International. She has over ten years experience and has previously worked for JWT Manila where she led the business for Ford, Nestlé and Unilever Best Foods. Kahn-Gonzalez’s appointment to the role of Client Service Director of BBDO Guerrero Ortega is in response to the increasing scope of the agency’s operations. Mitos Camahort, president of IMAGE DIMENSIONS ADVERTISING announced their office move, “we have transferred to a new office space a block away from where we were before.” It is located at Room 502-A, 5th Floor Cattleya Bldg., 235 Salcedo St., Legaspi Village, Makati City.

Arc Worldwide Singapore added three senior staff members from Singapore’s interactive community: NAZIMA SALLEH, JAMES ROBBINS AND JOANNE GOH, a strategic move to back the agency’s sustained new business growth. Nazima Salleh returns to Arc Worldwide from XM, where she led the Tiger Airways and SAP account. James Robbins joins as Associate Business Director, responsible for Hewlett Packard. Previously of OgilvyOne, James was the agency’s mobile specialist lead. Joanne Goh, previously of Earth9, joins as Account Director, Joanne will be looking after the interactive requirements of UOB, an account the agency won in a competitive pitch at the end of 2007. OgilvyOne China strengthened its creative leadership in China with the promotion of JOHAN VAKIDIS to National Creative Director, Digital, where he will help to elevate OgilvyOne’s digital services and drive new business initiatives throughout China. OgilvyOne has also appointed LAIFONG SIEW to Creative Director in Shanghai. These hires prepare OgilvyOne China for future growth and help strengthen the senior digital leadership, reflecting increased client demand for highlevel, strategic digital services. In his new role, Vakidis will work on select 360° briefs with Nils Andersson, Ogilvy China’s Group ECD, and will also partner with Tom Wan, VP of OgilvyOne China, in driving initiatives for the Digital Innovation Lab.

may-june 08

Clear’s Black is Golden in 2008 UNILEVER IBC Awards

Unilever IBC 2008 jury: March Ventosa (ABS-CBN), Varun Berry (PepsiCo), Angel Guerrero (adobo) and jury head Fernando Fernandez, Unilever Philippines’ new chairman

In Unilever Philippines’ Integrated Brand Communication (IBC) Awards last April, its newest star brand, Clear Anti-Dandruff haircare, swept nearly every category—Digital, In-store Merchandise, PR, Print, Radio and the coveted 360° Award—leaving only the Best in TV to Knorr Seasoning. Launched in the country last year, its celebrity-endorsed multimedia juggernaut blanketed the city in black, even during Valentine weekend, which is traditionally a red-letter event. In the process, Clear neatly scalped Procter & Gamble’s Head & Shoulders in the dandruff shampoo category. So it was

no surprise when the brand handed nearly the same fate to other Unilever brands in the IBC Awards. The only exception was Knorr Seasonings’ “Makulay ang Buhay” (Life is colorful) TV campaign, which was a phenomenon in its own right. Targeting a markedly different audience—middleclass moms of vegetableaverse children—its catchy tune and happy, dancing tots laid waste to other seasoning brands and ad critics alike. The IBC Awards is Unilever’s version of the creative award shows, although the emphasis is more on effective branded communications. Most

of the categories are prejudged by the Philippine board of directors, while the biggest plum, the Best 360° Communication Award, is chosen by the audience and a panel of guest jurors. Led by ULI Philippines’ suave new chairman, Argentinean Fernando Fernandez, the jury included Pepsi Co.’s Varun Berry, ABS-CBN’s March Ventosa and adobo’s own Angel Guerrero. Clear’s success is credited to the brand and merchandising teams, as well as its creative agencies, Lowe Inc. and DYLL, while Knorr’s goes to its brand team and Lowe Spank.

88 Storey Films' boy wonder, Sid Maderazo, and his lady love, Katrina Delgado, became man and wife last April 24. Foregoing his signature dye job and a fancy cabriolet, Sid opted to fly the woman of his dreams to Rome where they were married in the Chapel of the Choir, St. Peter's Basilica. Typical early adopter that he is, Sid immediately shared the happy day with friends and colleagues via Facebook. Best wishes to the lovely couple!

may-june 08

McDonald’s “Burger! Burger!” Cheese be with you

etting its grip as the next catch phrase is “Burger! Burger!” Created by DDB, the TVC for McDonald’s cheeseburgers features three teenage friends doing what teenager normally do, which is nothing. Three versions have sprung from this concept. In “Japorms”, Teenager no. 1 enters a room wearing a tucked shirt. His friends notice and…“Burger! Burger!” In “Bangs”, teenager no. 2, female, joins her two male friends inside a car, a hot red VW Beetle. Friends notice her new haircut and “Burger! Burger!” Version 3 is “LFS” (last full show); the three friends leave the cinema discussing the movie. Teenager no. 3 uses an English adjec-

tive, uncharacteristically—“Burger! Burger!” Created by the team of Teeny Gonzales—who has a knack for capitalizing on teen speak—and directed by Carlo Directo, the ad concept reflects teenage… ennui? The “wala lang” (whatever) generation is depicted so crisply; the copy says it all “kahit anong dahilan na lang, basta ma araw-araw lang ang ultimate cheeseburger ng McDo…” (whatever the reason, as long as you get McDonald’s cheeseburgers daily). While some senior creatives bemoan the whatever-ness of the idea, the series is obviously a hit with the young market. Comments on YouTube range from a snarky “benta!” (sell-out!), to eager anticipation

HAVAIANAS THONGS INFLATE IN BORACAY!

he world’s most popular flip-flops saw action again in Philippines’ most popular beach, Boracay! The Brazilian Havaianas flip-flop brand converted their 100percent rubber slippers into giant plastic inflatables and gave them out to trendy looking people of any age, so long as they were caught wearing Havaianas. The promotion had a lot going for it: • People wanted the giant inflatables. Some even bought a new pair of Havaiannas and paraded along the beach, in hopes of being caught! • The Havaianas branding was everywhere. People were walking advertisements for the brand! • The flip-flop brand was unmistakable, since the inflatables were giant replicas. • The inflatables actually float! Nothing like a practical and instantly usable giveaway. • The Havainas booths along the beachfront had long queues of fans and created a buzz. At the end of the day, hundreds of beachlovers were floating atop the giant slippers or smugly carrying the replicas over their shoulders. Happy, thong-carrying people dotted the four-kilometer stretch of Boracay.

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“dapat sunud-sunod” (you should see them one after the other). Spoofs, whether on YouTube or on SMS, abound. This is, after all, the age where identification is so important. Seeing their reflection mirrored by the ad always strikes a chord with the teenage market. Moreover, this generation is reared on soap opera. Tune in next week! With the demand for the next “Burger! Burger!” installment, one wonders if the cheeseburgers are selling like…hotcakes.

movers Adrian Tecson, Underground Logic’s Director for Post Production has just announced the upgrade of all four of its Alias Maya 6.5 licenses. Autodesk® Maya® software, is an integrated 3D modeling, animation and rendering solutions for film and tele-

preview a smoothed mesh while editing the mesh cage. Maya 2008’s quicker and sharper viewport is entirely “what you see is what you get,” with interactive previews made available in less steps. The Maya 2008 supports layered textures, multiple UV sets, negative lighting

Underground Logic Introduces the Autodesk® Maya® 2008 Create breathtaking �D.

Autodesk Maya

Leo Burnett Kreasindo, Indonesia announces the appointment of BRIAN CAPEL as Executive Creative Director, a strategic move to replace Peter Gausis, who decided to return to the UK after a two-year stint. With 17 years of agency experience, Capel has handled a broad range of accounts from different industries including FMCG, Banking, Airlines, Services and Telecommunications. A highly-regarded creative talent, Capel has won for himself many accolades in a number of international award shows such as One Show, Kancil, AdFest, AWARD, Cannes and Clio.

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vision, game development, design and even educational modules. UGL now uses the latest Maya 2008 software that is not only faster, it is more efficient. Maya 2008 is equipped with tools and workflows to create thrilling high-resolution characters and environments that are already soughtafter by die-hard fans of games, high-tech 3D cinema-goers, and interactive televisions. The Maya Mesh Smooth workflow, responsible for the ease and efficiency, is dramatically streamlined, and 3D artists can now

and object space normal maps. The Maya 2008 features the Maya nCloth that has Wind Features, Enhanced Wind Model and Fast-Moving Object. This functionality allows the manipulation of wind movements, rendering believable billowing cloth movements, shadows, rendering of speeding objects, etc. Underground Logic set up these awardwinning upgrades in anticipation of the demand for the latest, fastest and most efficient in post-production services.

SM Names Universal McCann and MindShare Its Main AORs After seven months of deliberation, Philippine shopping giant SM Retail finally decided on two Agencies of Record (AOR). Beginning April 1, Universal McCann is AOR on the department store and SM Advantage Card, while MindShare Philippines handles the its non-department store business. Between them, these media agencies manage a projected adspend of Php130 Million (US$3.2 Million). According to Marketing Director Rudy Villar, this represents the bulk of SM Retail’s business. However, he pointed out that the balance is still managed

Leo Burnett (LB) Arc announced the strategic changes of its senior Shanghai office team, to further enhance its positioning in China. Advertising veteran SUSAN GONCALVES, previously LB Korea’s Account Management Director for McDonald’s, has joined LB Arc Shanghai as Management Supervisor; while LOU KNOWLES has been promoted from Group Brand Director to Client Services Director. Susan joins LB Shanghai to replace David Moore as Management Supervisor for the McDonald’s account in China.

and serviced by a number of creative shops and their partner media agencies. MindShare General Manager Bunny Aguilar said that the SM realized the benefits of consolidating its media budgets in return for greater value and called for a pitch among three media agencies—Dentsu, MindShare and Universal McCann—last September. One of the biggest advertisers in Philippine print, SM Retail already wielded amazing clout with

the print media and negotiated for the lowest rates in the business. To win over this retail king, MindShare offered its skills in portfolio management and promised greater media values and better clash management among its many stores. One of the two divisions under the media independent Group M, MindShare now controls the media spending for SM’s affiliate stores. This includes SM Appliance Center, ACE Hardware, Toy Kingdom, Our Home, Homeworld, kultura, Sports Central, Supplies Station, Surplus Shop and Baby & Co.

Leo Burnett announced the hiring of ANDY DILALLO and JAY BENJAMIN as Executive Creative Directors for the agency’s Sydney office, after a five-month global talent hunt. Andy and Jay are two of the top and most awarded creative directors in the country. They rank in the top 10 in the region and their work has been continually recognized at Cannes, One Show, D&AD, Clio, AWARD, Adfest and Young Guns. NICK BELL joins DDB Worldwide as the International Creative Director on the Unilever’s Lipton brand and is based in the DDB Europe offices in London. Unilever formally consolidated the Lipton account into DDB Worldwide in 2007. Bell has worked previously as Creative Director at JWT and Leo Burnett in London. Bob Scarpelli, Chairman and Chief Creative Officer, DDB Worldwide, said, “It’s great to have Nick join us. He’s a passionate guy who has done great work over the years for Unilever and all his clients. I’m glad he’s with us. BBDO Taiwan has announced the appointment of WINNIE CHANG as Creative Director. Chang joins BBDO Taiwan with 12 years creative experience and numerous local awards such as Times Advertising Awards, Times International Chinese Advertising Awards and the LongXi Awards. Chang joins BBDO Taiwan from Toplan Marketing Communication, where she has been Creative Director for the past three and a half years. OMPONG REMIGIO, Executive Creative Director of JWT Vietnam, resigned her post after less than a year in the agency. Prior to this assignment, she was Executive Creative Director of Neuron. Sources said that this member of the Creative Guild’s Hall of Fame returned to Manila because of an illness in the family. She was also reported to be coming back to Neuron’s mother company, Campaigns & Grey, which is currently negotiating a buyout with WPP.

may-june 08

DLSU Senior Wins PMA 2008 Agora Youth Awards

THE AGORA YOUTH AWARDS NIGHT: The Awardees, Finalists, Associations & PMA Committees

A joint project of the Philippine Marketing Association, the Association of Marketing Educators and the Philippine Junior Marketing Association, the Agora Youth Awards is a yearly competition in search of the top marketing students, as well as the student marketing association across the Philippines. The Awards exposes marketing students to apply and test theory onto actual practice, an initiation into the corporate world. Rachel Mae Pining Manabat, a senior at the De La Salle University-Manila bested the rest of the tough competition to emerge the batch valedictorian. Tasked to develop and defend a marketing plan for Chowking to target young professionals, students and overseas workers, Manabat’s selection over the other finalists could be a ticket to employment with the event’s major sponsor. This year’s competition yielded 21 contestants. Fifteen finalists made it to the formal ceremony held at Philippine Stock Exchange Auditorium, where the judges’ comments—good and bad—were read aloud for the finalists to assimilate. The event marks the debut of modern technology that encouraged external par-

ticipation to show support for their fellow students from Asia Pacific College, Ateneo de Manila University, De La Salle University-Manila and -Lipa, New Era University, the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, and the University of the Philippines in Diliman and in Iloilo, as well as the Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology. The finalists for Junior Marketing Association included Angeles University Foundation, De La Salle University Manila, New Era University and the University of the Philippines-Iloilo. The TEXTVOTE winners for Texter’s Choice Agora Youth Award were Roy Betita from UP Visayas-Iloilo and the Junior Marketing Association of UP-Iloilo, both recipients of Smart Communications prizes. The ten final winners include Stephanie Isis Lim, Magdaleine Dy Chang, Rexmond Fang, Mark Anthony Lim, and Mark Andrew Suntay from De La Salle University; Queen Alandy Dy and Adriann Eusebio from the Ateneo de Manila University, and Delbert Ty and Mark Anthony Eslana from UP Diliman and Iloilo, respectively.

TRUTH IN ADVERTISING? FLOGGING BY BLOGGING, Part 3 A well-established ad firm hired a new executive manager, with plans of grooming him for the top. The man sported impeccable references, expensively tailored suits and a killer charm. But the natives sensed something was amiss. Soon, they found what they had been looking for. Someone from this man’s past opened a blog, a la Brian Gorrell. Publishing purported documents that allegedly prove that this executive’s credentials were fabricated and his designer wardrobe, paid with outstanding loans. With utter glee, McDreamy’s detractors printed and pasted the blog entries on the office walls. Even better (or worse, depending on whose side you are on), visitors to the blog added fuel, with shocking insider information. One particularly incendiary item was how this executive supposedly tried to talk a senior creative into running off with the agency’s key accounts, so they could start their own creative boutique. Appalled, the creative immediately reported

the man’s schemes to the chairman. Instead of firing McDreamy, however, the old man allegedly turned a deaf ear to his warnings. What’s more, he instructed other managers to do the same. Why? McDreamy was rumored to have connections in high places, so high even the chairman feared him. With such juicy bits of gossip, the scandal now has the industry buzzing, and no one knows how it will end. Last we heard, the agency’s lawyers were suiting up. Well, we hope the agency has been following the Brian Gorrell case. That is the perfect example in how not to fight a blogger.

Heard any good tsismis lately? Want to start one? Send it to: rumors@adobomagazine.com

Dance Heads Be a Star, No Talent Required If the last Ad Congress trade exhibit were to gauge the success of Dance Heads, it would undoubtedly rate it a sure winner. Persuading ad people to patiently wait for hours was a feat in itself. Using patent-technology interactive entertainment, the device centers on end-user experience while creating a viral corporate branding tool. Keeping users of all ages interested, engaged and returning for more is what any endeavor strives for. And Dance Heads provides that gizmo. With the subjects cloaked in green cloth with only their heads uncovered, high-tech wizardry superimposes the exposed heads on a graphic module. The effect is a human head atop a cartoon character singing along and dancing to pop music in an animation video. Monitors showing the interaction entertain the crowd. After gyrating and lip-syncing for a few minutes, the users get a CD copy of their brief affair at pop superstardom. At 10 feet wide by 15 feet deep, plus additional space for crowds and queues, and with no special electrical outlet requirements, Dance Heads is not elaborate or complicated to stage. The setup can accommodate 30 to 50 individuals per hour. Outdoor settings can be contained in a 10 by 20 tent. The Dance Heads experience amuses and provides good clean fun. With the CD, the party never stops, continuing from venue to venue with new viewers every time. This may be mobile advertising of another kind. may-june 08

MANIKAKO Y&R LEARNS FROM CHILD’S PLAY by Leigh Reyes

elcome to the post 2.0 world, where consumers have the tools to create, and the world’s online population as an audience. One-way advertising, no matter how insightful and creatively executed, seems as retro as a 2400 baud modem. Take fund-raising for charity, where agencies have traditionally excelled in creating cut-through, emotionally powerful work. I’ve done my share of these appeals to people’s consciences and pockets. But does the phrase “please donate” engage people today? Enter ARTHOC. In 2007, we got a chance to work with ARTHOC and young Filipino artists committed to empowerment through art. Prof. May Datuin and student volunteers ran free doll-making workshops for children. They gave each child a blank doll, which the child made into her very own using needle and thread, ribbons, buttons, yarn and fabric scraps. For many, this was the first real doll they had. The workshops encouraged the children to be creative, in spite of their circumstances. To reach more children, ARTHOC needed to raise funds and bring in more volunteers. With so many charities and causes needing help, we realized that people were quite possibly tired of giving. But what if we could engage them by giving them something, too? We ended up not creating advertising that asked for charity, but creating a brand and a product: Manikako. Manikako (“manika” + “ko” = my doll) was designed to appeal to young adults and teenagers who like plush toys. Inspired by the workshops, each Manikako is a blank doll in a signature shape. It comes with an assortment of ribbons and fabric and other notions. The materials for each Manikako kit are all recycled from donations, and each Manikako is assembled and packaged by hand. One hundred percent of the sales of the Manikako kits go to fund ARTHOC’s workshops. Manikakos sold out in fairs and bazaars. Manikako had the only charity booth at the National Toy Convention last year, and it drew hundreds of toy-crazy teens. Manikako was also invited to MAAD Singapore, a collective of artists. In true 2.0 spirit, much of the publicity around Manikako is generated by young people who blog about how they customize the Manikakos they bought. Aside from the official site (manikako.

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com), there is also an online community (manikamanila. livejournal.com). Online word-of-mouth has spread quickly. Today, google Manikako, and you’ll find around 6,000 entries. Many are blog entries by people who were surprised that charity could actually be fun. To keep up with the growing demand for Manikakos, Retaso Mo, Manikako launched in early 2008. This donation drive featured posters recycled from donated clothes, with hand-sewn copy. Manikako’s ...much of the publicity biggest event to date around Manikako is gen- has been Manikako, Ko!, a weekerated by young people Future long charity auction who blog about how they and exhibit that ran at customize the Manikakos The Podium in February. One hundred and they bought... twelve artists, including Mauro Malang-Santos, Abdulmari Imao and Napoleon Abueva, donated their own Manikakos to a fund-raising auction. The auction was led by the respected artist and art critic Cid Reyes. During the week-long exhibit, mallgoers could buy Manikakos, have them customized by volunteers, and participate in doll-making workshops. The Greenbelt and Ayala Museum Manikako workshop ran in March. Coming up is a workshop in partnership with the Philippine Marketing Association in the Glorietta Activity Center. Without the client spending a single peso, Manikako on its own has generated hundreds of thousands of pesos’ worth of free publicity. It’s been featured on shows like “Mel & Joey”, “Umagang Kay Ganda”, “Mornings at ANC” and “The Sweet Life with Lucy Torres”. Coverage in major newspapers and online portals has also been a big help. Manikako has now raised enough money to run at least 40 doll-making workshops, for over a thousand children. Soon, people will be able to buy their Manikakos online. Manikako will also be an additional source of income to hundreds of mothers living below the poverty line. By sewing Manikakos, they can earn extra pesos which go to their children’s daily needs. It’s not advertising as we know it. It’s engagement, it’s co-creation, it’s something we’ve never done before and can only hope to learn from along the way. Just like Manikakos, we are doing this stitch by stitch. We know this tiny doll can make a big difference. LEIGH REYES is the executive creative director of Y&R Philippines. If you’d like to be an Ate or Kuya at a forthcoming Manikako workshop, or buy Manikakos to help support the next workshop, please email givehope@manikako.com.

newbiz/pitches

Greetings from the Easter AE

n digital video parlance, an easter egg is not an egg at all, but a bonus treat, squirreled away in the recesses of its directory. But last Easter, JimenezBasic sent out what must be the first call report with its own easter egg. The advertising company emailed a call report for client Rabbit Corporation on brand Sundae for Projects Hunt, Egg and Candy, marked “confidential.” When the recipient moves his mouse over the memo, the page explodes into life with tiny winged H-characters that bob and and flit about the text. With the reader still mesmerized, the characters align and synchronize to create an easter egg. Barely registering the transformation, the process repeats, et voila, another egg design! It is an unblinking visual delight and a programming wonder. To those who treasure such simple marvels, this egg may just have the worth of a Fabergé.

Aside from SM Department Stores, Universal McCann won the AOR appointment of Media Prima (over Starcom and MindShare) and all remaining Globe businesses (from PHD). JimenezBasic celebrated their acquisition of the M.Y. San Skyflakes account. Bebot Ngo, co-CEO of JmenezBasic confirmed that Lowe and incumbent agency Gasso also participated in the pitch. M.Y. San brands include Skyflakes, Fita and Graham Crackers.

Strategic Edge, Inc. (SEI) was appointed public relations agency for CNN and Cartoon Network in the Philippines. Strategic Edge, Inc. took over press communications of these channels. Jinny Jacaria and Marge Palma were assigned to the business. BBDO Guerrero Ortega won the Ayala Land Corporate brief in a pitch against McCann Erickson. Lowe Philippines after a very active new business drive in Quarter 1 2008, announced three new business wins: Holcin Cement against GASSO, Nutrilin Vitamins versus Saatchi and Campaigns & Grey, and Federaland versus J. Romero. Mariles Gustilo, president of Lowe Philippines, expects a great year for the agency. Bates 141 has indeed won the Nissan pitch against AB Com, Magnum and Image Dimension, according to Cats Guerrero, managing director of Bates 141 in Manila. John Amon, founding partner of newly formed agency AMP/Amon-Maneze, said “ We have just been named the new agency for Magnolia Health Tea and Magnolia Fruit Drinks after a pitch.”

Kodak’s New Vision Kodak recently introduced color negative film VISION 500T 5219 for 35mm and 7219 for 16mm. Motion picture films that promise to push boundaries from their precedent versions. Exploring every possible expansion capability, 5219 and 7219 retain the qualities of VISION2 but with a whole lot of improvements advantageous at every phase of filmmaking. From capture through postproduction, whether in digital or traditional functions, VISION3 500T delivers. Kodak’s advanced Dye Layering Technology (DLT) results in less grain in low light. The technology allows extended highlight latitude, degree of over- or underexposure that light-sensitive material can accommodate and still provide an acceptable image, for greater scope when lighting in extreme

conditions. The Kodak VISION3 500T 5219 and 7219 films have already impressed a number of cinematographers and colorist for its versatility and dynamic range, and the ability to shoot a great amount of contrast. Reduced granularity enables greater amounts of detail and improvement in shadows. The versatility of VISION3 results in crisper intensity in color and sharper rendition. VISION3 is capable of smooth transition from normal filmic look to commercial or music video output without losing color, highlight and texture. Cinematographers normally test all new film stock to discover its boundaries, to discover what to gain or give up from a previous version. So far, Kodak VISION3 has not compromised a thing.

Neuron/Campaigns & Grey won the Drypers account after a three-way pitch with BBDO and Crush. The client said they immediately knew that Campaigns was the right choice before the pitch ended. Singapore – Award-winning interactive agency 8RewardsRoad appointed Grayling Global to manage its public relations and media programmes. 8RewardsRoad founder and CEO Lee Kuok Ming said: “We feel this is the perfect time to start building our profile through PR. Our Singapore office is going from strength to strength and our Shanghai team is building an impressive client roster. We are confident that Grayling’s expertise in this sector can help take our business to the next level.” Hong Kong – Leo Burnett Guangzhou is the new creative agency for the South China region of Asia’s leading premium copy paper brand, Double A, manufactured by Advance Agro Public Company Limited. “We chose to partner with Leo Burnett because of their strategic and creative strength,” said Thirawit Leetavorn, Double A senior executive vice president.

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Lights Out Last March 29, the Philippines joined 35 countries in a concerted effort to switch off global warming. To supplement WWF’s PR and event efforts, Leo Burnett Manila ran an ad campaign on TV, radio and outof-home. (Check out the TV ad in our Creative Showcase.) The last was particularly ingenious. The agency installed a graphic rendition of the Makati skyline in the central business district’s busier buildings. Up close, passersby realized that the lit windows in the buildings were, in fact, post-it notes that announced Earth Hour. As people took note after note, the city’s “lights” went out. On the night of Earth Hour, thousands

of supporters converged at the Cultural Center of the Philippines to initiate lights-off. At exactly 8:00pm, three of Metro Manila’s mayors simultaneously and ceremoniously plunged the city in darkness. In total, WWF reported that Metro Manila malls lowered their light usage to 50 percent. Some billboards in Quezon City pulled their plugs and hid in the night. In Makati City, over 1,000 streetlights were switched off, while buildings reduced their lighting by 75 percent. Out of 30 million people tipped to switch off lights and televisions worldwide, an estimated one million Filipinos in 50 cities and towns participated. “Public response was

simply amazing,” says WWF Climate Change and Energy Programme Head Yeb Saño. “Filipinos truly showed the world that we stand together against climate change. As one, government, civil society, businesses and millions of individuals made Earth Hour in the Philippines an overwhelming success.” March 29, 8:00 PM Switch off your lights for one hour to help reduce global warming

1ST WORLD MARKETING CONFERENCE WANTS TO ROCK THE WORLD

n behalf of the Asia Marketing Federation, the Philippine Marketing Association (PMA) is “Rocking the World” with Asiannovation: First World Marketing Conference, to be held on June 1920 at the SMX Convention Center in Manila. Asiannovation showcases Asian companies, products, services, brands and marketing personalities that have earned international stature with highly creative marketing, and to spotlight Asia as the fastest-rising economy in the world. After all, Bill Gates did say that Asia was the new prime source of major innovations and breakthroughs. Tom Banguis, who is the overall chair-

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man, says “With the network capability of the PMA, AMF and other trade organizations, we were able to attract an elite group of resource persons and speakers on a variety of subjects which may be classified into three segments: Asian Success Stories; Innovative Strategic Marketing; and “What’s New in the World!” These speakers are coming from the US, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and of course, the Philippines.” The Asian success stories features a guest from India, the hotbed for IT; Singapore, the setting of many outstanding global success stories; emerging economies such as Malaysia, Thailand and Sri Lanka which have their own global brands; Japan and of

course, the Philippines, home of Globe Telecom. The Innovative Strategic Marketing is headlined by Josiah Go, the only Filipino accredited to conduct seminars on “Blue Ocean” strategy; Jovel Cipriano, a young Filipino IT professional who has won international award for e-business and who will talk about going global via on-line; and Evette Cordy of TNS who will talk about Mobile Trends worldwide and its strategic implications to marketers and advertisers. What’s New in the World focuses on new ideas and developments, to be discussed by Steve Garton “Research in the Digital Age” and by Yahoo through “Lifechanging Innovations” among others. The SMX Convention Center is the venue of what organizers predict to be the biggest trade exhibition by the PMA, featuring innovative Asian products and services. A thousand delegates are expected to attend, coming from many AMF member countries—China, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Japan, and India—but mostly from the Philippines, the host country. Banguis assures that that no effort is spared to ensure that its success. “We are obviously very excited. Sharing this excitement with us are our very generous sponsors which include the Department of Tourism. They will be hosting a luncheon with Secretary Ace Durano as speaker on ‘Travel Care’, while ABS-CBN who will be hosting a cocktail party for the delegates,” he adds.

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exclusiveONLINEMEDIA by Aye Ubaldo

Yahoo! Eyeballs Consumers and Advertisers in SE Asia

SINGAPORE, MALAYSIA AND THE PHILIPPINES ARE KEY TARGETS

y serving locally relevant content to Asians as early as 1995, and planting its logo on seven regional shores, Yahoo! has become No. 1 in Internet use in Asia. Now, it wants to be first in the minds of Southeast Asian advertisers, by offering them integration and direct links to consumers’ personal preferences. So last April, Yahoo! gathered the region’s media for an unprecedented “eyeball” and unveiled Yahoo! Sponsored Search in Singapore. Launched as Panama in the United States in 2006, Sponsored Search is a form of search engine marketing that enables advertisers to place ads that appear in search results. Through display advertising, marketers can build their brand, connect with more customers, allow transactions and gain info through personalized messages directly to interested consumers. The service is a keyword-based “pay per click” or “sponsored result” Internet advertising service. To help advertisers access online consumers—53 million in SE Asia and 500 million worldwide—Yahoo! collaborated with 19 major mobile service providers in Asia, including Globe Telecoms. The result is a host of features that can bring brands and consumers together on Yahoo! Web Search, a key starting point for consumers to locate, use, share and expand knowledge online, but much more targetspecific. A typical search for designer goods on other engines may feature ads for designer sites in New York and Paris. On Web Search, the Philippine consumer is offered ads from online merchants in Manila and Makati.

Ken Mandel, Yahoo! Southeast Asia Managing DIrector

Social Search, through Yahoo! Answers, the largest knowledge-sharing community on the web with more than 90 million users worldwide. Mobile Search, through oneSearch™, which allows users access to specific search results on their cellphones. Studies show that 15 to 18 percent of target audience goes online. Yet, currently, only three to four percent of total advertising budgets goes to online advertising. Yahoo! hopes its strategy will finally convince Internet-shy advertisers—like those in the Philippines—to think of Yahoo! as a mustbuy. More advertisers, more online shoppers. In Sponsored Search, advertising rates are determined at cost per click, and the advertiser can control his budget and the frequency of his placement. Yahoo!’s portal allows a wide range of metrics where online marketing reach and effectiveness can be measured. Accurate up-to-the-minute

information allows the advertiser to closely monitor their placements and the corresponding hits so they can directly assess their advertising efforts, and can easily rectify or revise as necessary. Moreover, because the Internet has no concept of primetime, even when the advertiser does not get any clicks, the ad is still shown online. However, Yahoo! must hurdle a few challenges. One is the cost of rights ownership investments, which threatens to delay the company’s expansion in the region. Second is the logistical nightmare of global integration. Third is the increasing dependence of Southeast Asians on their mobile phones. While more people still go online through PC/laptop rather than through mobile phones, trends indicate an eventual reversal. Online advertising, though not new, is only recently being acknowledged and may seem complex to advertisers. In the meantime, Yahoo! is banking on Sponsored Search, with its integration of display, search and mobile crossover functionalities, to stem the tide. “Fifty-three million come to Yahoo!” says Yahoo! SE Asia Managing Director Ken Mandel. “Advertisers come not for the number alone, but the number of engagements. We “Advertisers come not for the number alone, are here to provide but the number of engagements. We are the most relevant content and here to provide the most relevant content and services to help services to help simplify lives.” simplify lives.” may-june 08

exclusiveONLINEMEDIA

MindShare Launches Digital Capabilities One of the five biggest media agencies in the country, MindShare Philippines, finally put its money where its mouse is. Beginning May, it offers digital services on top of traditional media planning and buying. Part of the impetus in adding digital expertise to its portfolio is the rapid penetration of digital media in the country. Based on its research, this media specialist dares to say that Internet is so pervasive in the Philippines that it already ranks second to Television as a mass medium. “We recognize that there’s a silent revolution happening among consumers who are consuming less traditional media

and we embed these people in the heart of our business,” Apart from extending its media planning, buying and optimization expertise online, MindShare now provides digital strategy, community, search and mobile advertising. It boasts alliances with partners like DoubleClick to help with online campaign optimization and is integrating the search capabilities of recently acquired 24/7 Real Media into the organization. Brian Stoller, MindShare’s regional business director in Asia Pacific, shares, “We’ve established regional centers of expertise on key digital trends like search, mobile and communities. We’ve done fantastic work across the region from social networking campaigns to viral marketing, clearly a step-up from merely using digital media as a place to stick ads. We are taking the same expertise locally and making sure our clients have access to these centers of expertise through our local MindShare team.” All announcements were

made at a launch event in Makati, which highlighted MindShare’s digital capabilities. The most impressive of these was its landmark local research initiative called MindTrack, a tracking software installed in select Internet cafes. “In the absence of a local net rating system, MindShare devel-

“Our vision for MindShare is to help bridge that gap and help marketers make the most out of digital media to connect with consumers...” —Bunny Aguilar, MindShare GM oped a web monitoring system that taps the Internet cafes. We picked Internet cafes since most Filipinos access the net through this channel. In the future, we can use this for consumer panels suited to our client’s needs and

not just limited to Internet cafes,” says April Yap, Mindshare Insights director. The launch also presented MindShare’s technological partners like Eyeblaster for rich media advertising, and top Internet sites like Yahoo!, Inquirer.net, GMA New Media, ABS-CBN Interactive, BusinessWorld Online, Philippine Star, and Summit Digital, while wireless Internet access was provided by Smart. It also gave guests a sneak peak into emerging technology for mobile advertising like MobiTMS. As guests found clues put on shirts designed by T-Shirt Project, by texting in codes through their phones. Thank-you notes were sent through Bluetooth casting done by partners from WIGO. Even those who weren’t at the venue were still able to participate through a live blog that was advertised in the top sites during the day of the launch. Crisela Magpayo, its new director for Digital Practice, said, “We wanted to use the event as a venue for Clients to experience the power of digital media that goes beyond just sticking ads online. Our belief is that digital media can create valuable experiences for consumers in a way that traditional media can’t. It’s important for marketers to consider it as part of their current media mix.”

THE PHILIPPINE ONLINE DIASPORA MindShare’s Crisela Magpayo & Bunny Aguilar

as more of them go online and become more selective of what media they consume. Locally, there’s still a huge gap between marketers’ understanding and adoption of digital media and the high consumption of digital media among consumers. Our vision for MindShare is to help bridge that gap and help marketers make the most out of digital media to connect with consumers,” says Bunny Aguilar, general manager of MindShare. From the Asia Pacific office, CEO Ashutosh Srivastava adds, “We are in the business of marketing programs for our clients which help deliver growth and competitive advantage so instead of creating separate digital companies, our approach has always been to bring in people who understand technology, data, interaction marketing,

may-june 08

According to data collected by Universal McCann, the Filipino emigration no longer seems to be limited to other countries; it now extends to the universe called the Internet.

Of the 475 million people worldwide who regularly go online three times a week, 3.7 million Filipinos are active users China

61M Hong Kong India

17.8M

1.8M

South Japan Korea 29.8M

13.7M Taiwan

5.4M

Philippines

3.7M

Favorite activities of Filipino netizens: 90.3%

Read blogs

65.8%

Write blogs

Join social networks (Friendster, etc.)

86%

Upload photos

60.5%

Upload videos

98.6%

Watch videos Download podcasts Subscribe to RSS

Australia

83%

61.8%

45.2%

5.1M

Source: Universal McCann’s “ Wave.3,” Power to the People Social Media Tracker, March 2008

newbiz/pitches

BEYOND THE BANNER MindShare builds the case for online media

DOVE CALMING NIGHT BODY WASH

Desperate No More To get mothers to change their nightly beauty regimen and take showers instead, Dove embarked on a massive integrated campaign to launch Calming Night body wash. Solution: The campaign created three branded mini-movies starring “Desperate Housewives”’ Felicity Huffman and directed by Penny Marshall. Huffman’s character, refreshed by Calming Night, goes to bed and has marvelous dreams where she interacts with famous moms from classic American TV shows. The campaign, using custom-branded videos accessible only via its interactive

website, was the first such effort for a packaged goods company. To juxtapose Huffman with previous generation TV mothers, Dove obtained the right to revise scenes and create new storylines. Cross-media information drive including a 60-second TVC on national TV, and movie-style trailers drew viewers to the website. Partnerships with AOL as a distribution channel, homepage roadblocks on AOL, MSN and Yahoo! were created. A three-page gatefold in People magazine figured in the campaign. Huffman made TV appearances; viral email was sent to over 50 thousand target consumers; Wal-Mart had Dove beauty advisers and played the Calming Night TVC in-store. The PR component included national newspapers, entertainment news and daytime talk shows. Results : The launch triggered turnover of more than 46,000 hours of online viewing. A record five million page views of all the

Dove Calming Night content and sponsored areas. One million product samples were requested and delivered. More than 100 million PR and 965 million media impressions achieved. MOTOROLA A732

Turning Fear into Fun Complicated as the Chinese characters are to write, they are an ordeal to key in SMS. To eliminate the burden of keystrokes, the Motorola A732 presented touch technology that allowed characters to

be sketched onto the screen using the thumb. Initially, users were wary of the new style and process. Solution: Motorola launched an online campaign to educate users on the key-in system. Using animation and comic-book graphic style, the website created Thumb Boy, a cheeky, cool animated image model to introduce the new and fast texting method. Competitions encouraged consumers to create their own thumbboys for online voting. The Motorola A732 introduced an online paint function, online games and eCards. Results: The online campaign gained overwhelming participation in its activities. It broke records in China by garnering 10 million online votes. A total of 89 million eCards were sent. And the Motorola A732 sold out in just one month. NORTHWEST AIRLINES

Getting Quick Responses

Japan leads the world in high-tech gadgetry and gizmos. Consumer electronics in Japan is by far the most advanced than in any international market. Every

one in Japan has a mobile phone—and is obsessed with it. Northwest, the largest foreign airline in Japan, wanted to establish itself as a technology leader, and to increase its target market database. With the many advanced mobile phone functions available, Northwest needed one most useful to drive consumers to its website. Solution: The Quick Response (QR) digital barcode. When mobile phone cameras are trained on a QR code (usually found at the bottom of a print ad), it directly leads the user to the corresponding website. Northwest Airlines made its website QR code icon the main focus of its online campaign by mounting monumental versions of it in highprofile areas across Tokyo,

including eye-level posters in busy subway stations and on public transportation, even in travel magazines. With catchy ad copy written in haikustyle, consumers flocked to enter online contests for free flights and other prizes. Results: For the first time since the introduction of the QR codes, consumers were visiting the website from outside their homes. All over Tokyo, people were snapping away at billboards, posters and pillars to access the website garnering 16 thousand hits, 35 percent above target. During the campaign period, it acquired free print and TV media coverage valued at over US$3 million. Free media coverage extended beyond the campaign period. Northwest Airlines received branding was deemed the coolest campaign, the company clearly positioned as an innovative technology leader.

Seoul – BBDO Korea announced the win of Amore Pacific’s Laneige business, which they officially took on last April. Laneige is one of Amore Pacific’s biggest brands and is the largest cosmetics company in Korea. Laneige, a French word meaning “snow” is extremely popular among Asian women in their late teens to mid-thirties. The Laneige business was handed to BBDO Korea this month without a pitch and is valued at approximately 8 billion Korean Won (KRW) billings. Shanghai – Leo Burnett China was re-appointed as the advertising agency for the world’s largest telco, China Mobile, in the Shanghai region. Working with Zhe Jaing Mobile, the telco giant’s local subsidiary, the agency will launch an Olympic-themed brand campaign aiming to reinforce the No. 1 position of China Mobile’s Gotone Brand via above-the-line radio, TV and print advertising. Burnett won the account, following a four-way pitch that included Saatchi & Saatchi, McCann Erickson and Lowe. London - Fresh Retail Ventures has appointed Saatchi & Saatchi as the creative agency for Jamie Oliver’s food range. Their first brief is the launch of the celebrity chef’s new pesto sauces. The collection of six pesto sauces is the latest addition to his food range and part of his bid to establish a leading food brand in the UK. Manila – Publicis Philippines was recently awarded the Durex account. The brand, which is serviced by McCann Erickson in other countries, was pitched early this year. The first round of presentations led to a second one, this time a shootout between Y&R Philippines and Publicis Philippines. Shanghai - Saatchi & Saatchi was appointed by Suntory to launch a new draught beer, “Fresh”, in Shanghai after a pitch that included key Suntory agency Dentsu. The appointment marked the first time if has broken away from Dentsu in the market. The creative task is to rejuvenate and reposition Suntory as an aspirational brand in China, and give it greater appeal to younger drinkers. Seoul – BBDO Korea announced the return of the Levi Strauss & Co business to the agency. BBDO Korea will manage the business from 1 June 2008. BBDO Korea pitched for the Levi’s business against Lee and DDB earlier this month. The incumbent agency TBWA\ Korea has held the business for the past eighteen months. Mr So Hee Kim, Brand Leader, Levi Strauss & Co, said, “We were impressed at the outset with BBDO Korea’s creative and activation ideas. They demonstrated a comprehensive understanding about fashion and our consumers, which ultimately led us to this decision.” may-june 08

exclusiveONLINEMEDIA

By Andy Maluche

Pay DJ, Will Ya? The mob is ready to storm the Bastille. Or in this case, Embassy, the center of Filipino party-high society. It all started months ago, with a lover’s quarrel. Nothing special, it happens every day. Brian is a 30-something, gay Australian who fell for the charms of the Philippines. Again, nothing unusual here. He joined the Gucci Gang, Embassy’s party royale, and was smitten by one of its ringleaders, DJ Montano, who is so deep into the scene that he has a column dedicated to it in the Philippine Star. After months of partying, DJ apparently convinced Brian to invest his life savings into a business. Supposedly, DJ took the money and, thank you, invested it into big juicy lines of cocaine. Now, it gets interesting. In Brian’s opinion, DJ owes him US$70,000, and he wants it back. So Brian sets up a blog from the safety of Australia and pours his heart out. Much to his surprise, he finds an audience in the Philippines. Encouraged by their blood lust and disgust for high society, he posts more damning tales about DJ. Anonymous: I feel for you, Brian. I’m just ashamed that someone did this

him and even threatening him, but Brian filters them out of his comment section. But hundreds of others are so convinced that Brian has been wronged that they actually donate money via PayPal. Anonymous: I feel for you Brian.... It’s just so sad that the last image you have of the Philippines is a cheat. My heart goes out to you. When Brian talks about rampant drug use in those circles, anonymous contributors even rat out their own coke dealers just to raise the heat. (Guys, I know the blow that they are selling is bad, but think about it, where will you get it now?) What has the whole thing to do with advertising and marketing? The key word is “viral”. How did Brian get from zero to hundreds of thousands of eyeballs on his website in such a short period, without promoting himself or the website? If you could do that for a soft drink or deodorant, your brand manager would personally carve you a Cannes Lion out of chocolate. What is the formula of viral? Well, just like award-winning ads, there is neither formula nor guarantee. But there are pointers. The most common element of success seems to be: be genuine. Brian’s pain and his prose seem real (that is not to say that his claims necessarily are), and we all love a real-life drama. Another tip is to hit a sore spot, something that gets people passionate. This blog is basically a tool for Filipinos to vent all that hostility against the rich upper class. Anonymous: Why don’t you spill the beans on what you really know about Filipino rich and/or politicians sordid corrupt past and present practices? Most of us here in the Philippines are too afraid to do it, especially, the Philippine media who are mostly paid or owned by rich political families. Flame on, mate! to you. All I can say is: DOWN WITH Of course, another big part of the “HIGH SOCIETY” TRASH. success is celebrities. Genuine emotion, Soon, the lynch mob wants more. passion for a common cause (or enemy) Brian—and much more so, the commenta- and celebrities. There you go, here is your tors on his website—deliver. formula, but until we figure out how to Having been reproduce this The most common element of an insider, Brian for our brands, has dirt on every- success seems to be: be genuine. I hope Brian one. The crowd somehow gets Brian’s pain and his prose seem can’t get enough, his money back. real (that is not to say that his so they even add Get it fast, claims necessarily are), and we their own grievBrian, because ances, tales and we Pinoys have all love a real-life drama. fantasies. You end a very short up with a digital lynch mob ready to tar attention span. One month from now, it and feather anybody who ever set foot might be all forgotten (unless, of course, into Embassy or had the misfortune to you happen to find a porn flick involving be mentioned in any of the Gucci Gang’s your former friends). harmless and irrelevant society columns. As for the Gucci Gang, remember His blog has hundreds of thousands of Paris Hilton and Britney Spears—any visitors and hundreds of bloodthirsty com- publicity is good publicity. mentators, enough to generate real income Anonymous: More dirt pls Brian... through Google Ads and PayPal donations. keep it comin’...bwahahahahaha! The irony here is that Filipinos usually react violently, almost hysterically, Aside from being Leo Burnett Manila’s director for TAP, ANDY MALUCHE every time a foreigner dares to criticize is a photographer and a former them. Not in this case. Sure, some dissociety columnist. agree with Brian, scolding him, insulting may-june 08

exclusiveONLINEMEDIA

The Brilliant Brian Gorrell

by Rey Leuterio

Why Use Print When You Can Click “Publish”? “floggers”). Such a thing happened with “WalMarting Across America” and “AllIWantForXmasIsaPsp.com” in 2006. Print is oligarchic. Blogs are democratic. You don’t have to be well connected or famous to be able to give your opinion or spin the news to your favor. Did anyone even know who Brian was before this whole thing blew up? Enough said.

Imagine if, instead of blogging, Brian Gorrell had taken out a full-page print ad in, say the Philippine Star, to publish his claims and demands? Would he have gotten what he set out to achieve? No way. True, he hasn’t achieved his goal of getting his money back—but he’s managed to do much better. In starting his blog, he ignited a wildfire of e-mails and SMS messages that brought a world of voracious voyeurs to his online journal. After that, print media and TV eventually caught on, but they were already late to the deliciously scandalous party. Brilliant, Brian! By choosing to blog, you managed to prove that the Blog is in many ways superior to Print. Here’s why: Unlike Print, Blogs are free, and we mean “free” in several senses of the word. Free as in “costs you nothing.” An Internet connection and a decent computer gets you on your way to getting your

may-june 08

message out. No lessons required—other than a basic understanding of word processing. With popular platforms like Wordpress and Blogger being so user-friendly, anyone in the world who’s ever had to use a program like Microsoft Word is now potentially capable of

the publication. Because he is the editor, marketing department, president and writer all at the same time. Which brings us to... Free as in “liberated.” With no one to answer to or for, the blogger is God. At least to himself and his blog. Although there are instances when

Print used to be all-powerful in shaping public opinion. Bloggers today can be just as powerful. a blogger has been, let’s getting their message out to the world. Result: everyone now has a rostrum from which to stand and speak their opinions. Free as in “self-governing.” The blogger is, in most cases, the ultimate arbiter of what sees the light of day. Not an editor, not the marketing department, not the president of

say, less than objective or less than forthright about his intentions, on the whole, I would guess that most bloggers have tried to be honest and authentic, because readers expect bloggers to be so. Otherwise they lose readers and get a public castigation and shaming for being fake bloggers (or

Print sells day-old bread. Blogs serve news fresh from the oven. While Print, at its fastest, comes out a day after something happens, blogs can truly give you the news as it happens. Whether it’s short bits and pieces shot out via a microblogging platform like Twitter or via a conventional blogging platform like Blogger, and whether it’s about a nascent political upheaval, an impending new fashion item (Marc Jacobs’ BB Bag), the latest tech gadget to launch (the MacBook Air) blogs are often the first source of information available, simply because there’s no lag between printing and getting to the newsstand. Print is a destination. Blogs are take-off points. Print, while it may pique your interest in a topic and drive you to want to learn more, is a dead end. To pursue the topic, you have to go somewhere else. Typically, to another resource that you might not have—and you have to figure it all out on your own. Blog posts, on the other hand, normally are hyperlinked by their writers to other places on the web, so that you can get further information by clicking on them. Say, for example,

you read about a service on the CNN website that lets you order a shirt with a current headline on it (http://www.psfk. com/2008/04/cnnheadline-t-shirts.html). It says it was designed by the Barbarian Group. Let’s say you don’t know about the Barbarian Group but are piqued by the idea and the company—so how do you find out more through print? You can’t. And so you probably won’t ever find out more about the Barbarian Group. End of story. But if it was in a blog.... Print can be delivered to your home. Blogs can be delivered to wherever you are. It’s true. You CAN get your fix virtually anywhere you are via an Internet-enabled device and an RSS reader like Mobile Google Reader. Plus if you enable your cellphone, you can use a service like Twitter to get updates from people and sites you follow. Thus, you can get tips for online apps from Steve Rubel of Micropersuasion.com (twitter.com/ steverubel), updates on tech developments from CNET (twitter.com/ CNETnews), and even the random thoughts of Christine Gambito; i.e. Happyslip (twitter.com/ happyslip). Print just can’t match that kind of deep integration into a person’s daily life. Print is one-way. Blogs are interactive. Assuming that the blogger opens up his comments section, any reader can give the writer feedback. As anyone who’s checked out Brian Gorrell’s site, the comments section can often be as interesting and as meaty (if not more) than the blog post itself. What on print would have been a letter to the editor that hardly

anyone reads can become the beginning of a conversation, or even a long-running debate. Where Print is by nature one-way, blogs are social media. Print lives as long as paper will. Blogs can live forever—and can be found forever. Alright, maybe we exaggerate. You can save Print on microfiche or scan it and put it on the web. But can you imagine how tedious that would be to search through? Blogs—and anything online for that matter—have a life of their own once they’re on the Net. Jessica Cutler, a former US Congressional staff assistant who wrote “The Washingtonienne”, a blog about her sexual

v3/news.php?id=324062)” It didn’t help that the major newspapers were perceived to be biased for the government. And in another, more marketing-oriented example, Jeff Jarvis (Buzzmachine.com) wrote about Dell Computer’s refusal to fix or replace his broken computer in 2005. He called it “Dell Hell.” This set off a torrent of similar complaints from his readers. (Note: at the time, he received around 5,000 or so readers a day.) What could have been a horrible story passed on by word of mouth in the real world, was magnified and amplified a hundred-fold into a full-blown scandal by technology. But there was a happy ending: Dell eventually

...Jeff Jarvis (Buzzmachine.com) wrote about Dell Computer’s refusal to fix or replace his broken computer in 2005. He called it “Dell Hell...” Dell eventually came around and began...taking the advice of its customers. adventures, was outed, and she deleted it. Too late. It lived on after another blog copied all its contents and reposted them. In other words, the stuff you’d rather hide and forget can keep coming back to haunt you. But the same thing applies for the good things that people online say about you. (What do bloggers say about your brand? Quick, do a Google search.) Print used to be allpowerful in shaping public opinion. Bloggers today can be just as powerful. There was a time when newspapers could influence how the public voted. Not anymore. In 2008, the outcome of the Malaysian General Election was influenced in large part by pro-opposition bloggers. In a study conducted shortly after the polls, University Malaya (UM)’s Media Studies Department lecturer Dr. Abu Hassan reported that “70 per cent of the results were influenced by the new media, especially blogs. (http://www. bernama.com/bernama/

came around and became a company that listened, and in fact, actually began taking the advice of its customers. Check out Dell’s Ideastorm.com site to see it in action. It’s Dell’s way of soliciting ideas and getting consumers to help it make decisions on products and services. Amazing. In summary, blogs, because of all the above reasons, are superior to Print. (I see the irony of this piece on blogs being served to you on print, I do.) They’re simply more engaging, relevant, interesting and useful to an ordinary reader. Sure, you can read the newspapers and get a more balanced, more analytical view but that’s no guarantee. And, yes, you can get the same thing from respected bloggers. The one thing in which blogs can be inferior to print is perhaps in terms of reach. Quite obviously, most bloggers do not have readership to rival even a small-town newspaper. Then, of course, there’s the case of Brian Gorrell.

REY LEUTERIO is a senior brand planner at Aspac-Law and a master of My-Tube.

BLOGS THAT REFUSE TO BE IGNORED

Beyond Manila’s shores, the power of blogs also weighed heavily on many minds, including the editors of two international weeklies—Time Magazine and The Observer. Last March, both published a list of what each considered the best and most powerful sites on the blogosphere. The US edition of Time released its First Annual Blog Index, compiling 25 digital pundits. On the other side of the Atlantic, The Observer found choosing only 25 much too difficult and gawker.com expanded their list to 50. Well, we don’t know if you have the time or the inclination to check out every single site; we know we don’t. So we narrowed the set to the Top 10, the blogs that were good enough to impress both Time and The Observer. If Donald Gunn once referred to his eponymous index of multiaward-winning ads as “The Worldbeaters,” then let’s call this adobo’s “Worldbloggers”.

treehugger.com

andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com

thesartorialist.blogspot.com

techcrunch.com

beppegrillo.it

gigazine.com

engadget.com

huffingtonpost.com

boingboing.net

may-june 08

Got Milk+Co? DDBI Does a Daring Reset

he concept of extended families is ingrained in every Asian culture. But what’s a creative agency to do in Asia (or anywhere else) when it co-exists with step-sibling agencies in a multinational network? As if that weren’t hard enough, what does it do when it shares a name with a bigger, more famous stepsister? It asks for emancipation. Such was the case with DDBI Kuala Lumpur, which for seven years worked in the shadow of Naga DDB. The former not only stepped away, it dropped the family initials altogether. Last April, it became Milk+Co. Neal Estavillo, its managing director of less than a year, explained, “Consumers are becoming more demanding and discerning. The change was happening, but we might not have been responding well enough, and the clients were getting impatient. “There have been a major slew of new business opportunities for the past year or so, and more often than not, DDBI was not in the shortlist. It didn’t help that our sister company Naga DDB is bigger, with brighter people, which shows in their creative and effectiveness achievements. So whenever we said DDBI, people would always say Naga DDB.” Inevitably, the name change begs the question, “and what of DDB?” Well, Milk+Co is still part of the DDB global network, and the Malaysian owners (which include head of Malaysia’s 4As, Datuk Vincent Lee) remain the same. The name is new and so far, is not yet to be adapted elsewhere in DDB, a network which already includes names like Rapp Collins, Tribal DDB, Whack Films, Beyond Events and Vizeum. In fact, “Milk+Co” is a local creation. “One of a long list of forgotten name

studies,” said Estavillo “It’s so old, no one knows who wrote it anymore.” Asked if DDB minded having its name taken off the door, he shook his head. “There were already two DDBs in this country, and we needed to be a different DDB…Do we disregard our DDB heritage? Absolutely not. We’re proud to be part of it because it is famous for the right reasons.” “DDB, as a global organization, builds its work on two things: creativity and humanity. We want to deserve the fame by creating a good organization. So it’s not just a name change. It’s also an infusion of new talent.” Of course, the cynics wondered how much a name change can accomplish. But Estavillo said re-branding itself is just the beginning . He promises that Milk+Co will be about “creative business solutions to grow brands and the people behind them” and a “fuel for collective sustenance.”

Managing Director Neal Estavillo and Planning Director Tarina Rallan ECD Yap Pow Hoong

“Our promise is creative business solutions. Fame with creative awards is great, but that will come as a natural consequence. First things first.” With him and other new people on board (including Planning Director Tarina Rallan, ECD Yap Pow Hoong and about 10 creative hires) it would work with advertisers and business partners to make the brands self-sustaining. As DDBI, the agency won several Asian Marketing Effectiveness Awards but creativity was not its strongest suit. “The fact that we changed our name, are investing in senior talent across the board and are already showing that we can do more now than we can in the past,” he countered. “The vision, the promise, the

culture and the values are all words for me at present. But we have to make it happen—I have to make it work—I have 60 people and 15 brands that need to become famous.” Then Estavillo checked himself. “Our promise is creative business solutions. Fame with creative awards is great, but that will come as a natural consequence. First things first.”

OUR MAN IN MALAYSIA He’s either very professional or very modest, but it takes Neal Estavillo a while to acknowledge his success in Kuala Lumpur. At least, not before he rattles off names of other highly placed Filipinos in KL, adding, “we Filipinos are pretty much represented here.” Milk + Co.’s managing director credits Tere Filipinia and Chiqui Lara, former mavens at FCB Basic Advertising, for bringing him to Malaysia. While working in FCB Manila in 1993, Estavillo was cross-posted to Kuala Lumpur. His first threemonth stint became six months. Soon the months became 15 years—and counting. Playing ad agency hopscotch—FCB, Grey, JWT.

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Grey again. JWT again. Then Milk+Co—provided Estavillo with valuable insight on diverse cultures and values systems clearly crucial to his management approach. “But I get into trouble a lot of times because I can be blunt. I work with staff with intact culture and value systems that I was disrupting, to make sure that everyone brings something to the table…I assumed if I can take [bluntness], so can anyone else. It is a terrible speculation that is not true.” By any standards, he is not a typical boss. With colleagues and staff, he is very collaborative, working as a team player. Estavillo always downplays his position, a de-

meanor he credits to JWT. “As in any organization, the moment you put in a title there is a respect that comes with it. But for me, it is a false kind of respect. You cannot be respected on the basis of what is on your name card. You have to be respected on the basis of what you do.” Of Malaysians and Filipinos, Estavillo is blunt. “Malaysians are more quiet, calmer and more modest. Filipinos are very loud and Spanish-influenced, so much fun. We [Filipinos] have overflowing talent, not just in advertising, but what the Malaysians have done…is look outward. The competition is not within one market. The competition is the world.”

GO GOAFEST! With seminars, debates and interactive sessions with world’s marketing experts, an attendance reaching 3,000 and the gorgeous Cavelossim beach, Goafest 2008 was an amazing event that surpassed expectations. The Grand Prix at Goafest 2008 were awarded to the following agencies: JWT India for Nike Cricket (“Traffic”) under Film Single category and for brand The Times of India (“Lead India Poised”) under Integrated Advertising, Leo Burnett for Luxor Highlights (“Che/ Charlie/Hitler”) under Print Single and Out-of-Home and Mudra Communications for Cycle Pure Agarbathies (“Jai Dev Jai Dev”). Production house Nirvana Films also won a Grand Prix for Neo Sports (“Gas”) under Film Craft Direction category. Ogilvy & Mather (O&M) won the highest number of medals, 58 (five gold, 14 silver, 39 bronze) across different categories, Grand Prix winner JWT bagged 28 medals ( five gold, six silver, 17 bronze) while Leo Burnett took home 35 medals ( two gold, one silver, four bronze). Another notable was Contract Advertising, with 29 medals (one gold, 10 silver and 18 bronze). Agnello Dias, chief creative officer for JWT India, said, “We were very happy with the work we did for Nike Cricket and so was our client. This campaign had established Nike cricket gear in

regionalnewsbriefs M-ZONE GOES 360° IN “TEAM UP TO CHEER” OLYMPICS CAMPAIGN

Beijing – China Mobile kicked-off M-Zone’s Olympic activities with the just released “Team Up to Cheer” campaign, created by Ogilvy & Mather Beijing. Built around a music platform, the 360° campaign arouses youth interest and calls for participation in the 2008 Games. The campaign included a series of TVCs, print ads, a mini-site, concerts and other activities that will continue throughout the summer to keep Chinese fans connected to the Olympic Games. Launched April 1 and airing throughout China, the TVCs feature M-Zone’s top brand ambassadors: Jay Chou, Will Pam and SHE. At the online mini-site, http://m-zone.youku. com/, visitors can upload their own videos as well as access, vote and comment on other videos. The website also provides information about M-Zone sponsored popconcerts throughout China. The campaign runs until mid-September.

LEO BURNETT’S INNOVATIVE ONLINE CAMPAIGN FOR WOTIF.COM

Grand Prix in Print - Luxor Highlights “Che”

India within a year, a process which otherwise takes three to four years.” This year, Goafest received 3,836 entries for creative awards and 470 for media. But the Abbys lost some of its luster due to speculations about some of the winners, an ill-timed leak of the shortlist, as well as Lowe’s and McCann’s abstention from the creative awards. According to Jagdip Bakshi, chairman of the Goafest Committee, the main purpose of the festival was not to grade the agencies but to celebrate their creative excellence. With 3,000 delegates from in and outside India, organizers claimed that the young ad festival runs second only to Cannes in attendance. (They must not have heard about the 20th Philippine AdCon’s 3,500 delegates.) Aside from the Abbys, delegates came for the speakers. Scott Goodson, founder & CEO, StrawberryFrog, spoke on how business had changed in advertising. John Wilkins of Naked Communications Grand Prix in TV held forth on the imporNike Cricket “Traffic” TVC tance of big but simple ideas

that could be taken on viral media. Kevin Swanepoel, president of One Club, took the audience through the best pieces of work produced for the Internet in both viral and banner advertising. Steven Gatfield, CEO, Lowe Worldwide, explained how brands behaved differently with ideas that had made them successful. Shiela Byfield, global director-Insights, Mindshare Worldwide, talked about the “Bluring Effect” of the media landscape as a trend happening across the world. Generosity, good communication and free love weighed heavily on Craig Davis’s mind, Chief Creative Officer, JWT Worldwide. Last not the least, Donald Gunn unveiled his latest Gunn Report. Goafest generated a great deal of buzz outside of India with its very entertaining ad campaign, which poked fun at the ad industry and their peculiar ways. Of the festival, JWT’s Craig Davis said, ”The festival was lively with so many young creative coming together and celebrating exuberance and energy in one place.”

Hong Kong – Leo Burnett Melbourne just produced a new online campaign for accommodation business, wotif.com. The campaign was one of the first in Australia to utilize synchronized banners, where two banners on a page interact with each other, and gave viewers a new and innovative way to interact with the brand. The ads featured a bored office employee in the top leaderboard banner taking a break by bomb-diving from his desk into a hotel pool, in what initially looks like a separate island banner further down the page. The use of embedded video to allow two banners to interact on the same page deftly makes wotif.com stand out from the clutter of holiday advertising. The online work followed on from a national television and outdoor campaign launched in March, forming part of Leo Burnett Melbourne’s first brand campaign for this client since they won the business six months ago.

SINGAPORE 4AS ANNOUNCE NEW EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 2008/2009

Singapore – The Association of Accredited Advertising Agents Singapore (4As) announced that Anthony Kang, president of Dentsu Singapore, was re-elected for a third time as the 4As president. Gan Boon Guan, CEO of Starcom Media Worldwide, was elected first vice president while Angus Fraser, managing director of JWT Singapore was elected to assume Gan’s previous position as second vice president. Faith Gay of Mediatron Advertising and Vincent Hoe of AG Advertising were elected as honorary treasurer and honorary secretary, respectively. The Executive Committee also welcomed Subba Raju, CEO of Grey Global Group Singapore; Theodore Choo, CEO of Gosh Advertising; and Mark Wong, managing director of Ogilvy & Mather Singapore. The Executive Committee now makes up a 14-member team comprising representatives from local and international agencies. All members serve a two-year term.

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regionalnewsbriefs Leo Burnett Chris Chiu Chairs Creative Circle Awards

Singapore – An awardwinning creative, Chris Chiu, executive creative director of Leo Burnett Singapore will be chairing this year’s Creative Circle Awards (CCA). Chiu is no stranger to the forefront of the advertising and marketing sector, having been around in the creative line since 1992. He currently sits on the Leo Burnett Global Creative Board. Chiu is upbeat about CCA, “It’s indeed a privilege to chair CCA 2008. There has never been a more exciting time to be a part of the fast-changing advertising world, and as the industry changes, so will CCA continue to evolve. We are committed to keeping CCA truly relevant,” said Chiu. The CCA’s or The Gongs is the premier creative awards show in Singapore and has been organized by the Singapore 4As for the past 27 years.

Time Out Hong Kong Magazine Launches Integrated Campaign

Hong Kong – The first Time Out Hong Kong Magazine hits the shelves on April 23. Award-winning agency Leo Burnett created a unique integrated campaign, “Keep Fresh”, to create buzz around the launch, consisting of website, viral clips, outdoor, and in-store, and culminating in a launch party on the evening of the 23rd. Unusual viral clips that lead to a “Keep Fresh” website (www.keepfresh.com.hk), draw visitors to Time Out Hong Kong’s official website (www.timeout.com.hk).“We want to create real buzz for the magazine launch, reflecting Time Out’s true edge with the work” said Victor Manggunio, group creative director at Leo Burnett Hong Kong.

TAN HONG MING IS IN LOVE And so are we Leo Burnett Kuala Lumpur, through the efforts of its creative diva Yasmin Ahmad, has had a long and fruitful partnership with advertiser Petronas. On its major holidays, from Independence Day to all the ethnic New Year celebrations, the two have, without fail, come up with heartwarming and awardwinning ads. This Independence Day is no exception. While it isn’t grand like its epic predecessors, “Tan Hong Ming” is just a joy to watch. An interview of two children, an ethic Chinese boy and a Malay girl, its magic rests solely on the wonderful performances, if “performances” is indeed the right word. According to Ahmad, who is both executive creative director of Leo Burnett and a highly respected feature-film director, she had to cast and shoot 60 pairs of real-life best friends. She promised Petronas that if she could not capture the moment, she would not charge her client of 14 years a single ringgit. Ahmad said in an interview, “It’s was as though we were watching God at work as he

The Launch

Product : 50th Merdeka Celebrations / Agency: Leo Burnett, Kuala Lumpur / Executive Creative Director: Yasmin Ahmad / Creative Director: Tan Yew Leong / Copywriter: Yasmin Ahmad / Art Director: Tan Yew Leong / Agency Producer: Sheikh Munasar @ Moon / Production Company: MHZ Films, Kuala Lumpur / Director: Yasmin Ahmad / Producer: Rosnah Kassim / DP: Low Soon Keong / Editor: Effendi @ Mirage

directed the children. Their answers came honestly. Our children are so innocent and their answers so pure, it’s a reminder to us that we should be like them, without prejudice, without judgement.” Sources tell us that while the sentiment of the spot—that differences in race (and implicitly, religion and political beliefs) should have no bearing in society—seems like a motherhood statement, it is a bold one for Malaysian media. The undercurrents in Malaysian society (which rests on the uneasy peace between the Malay bumi and the ethnic Chinese and Indian communities) are very strong and potentially dangerous. Only Petronas’s stature and its long-standing tradition of extolling peace and brotherhood prevent “Tan Hong Ming” from falling between the cracks. For her troubles, Ahmad and Leo Burnett walked away with the Best in Show at the Spikes, a D&AD silver nomination and (we predict) so much more.

By Leo Burnett

MyClick Partners With Pepsi In China With Innovative Mobile Marketing

Shanghai – Pepsi is tapping into China’s Generation Wow in innovative new ways by partnering with pioneering phone snap and click marketer, MyClick. Pepsi-Cola launched its third Pepsi Creative Challenge as part of a marketing campaign that will be supported across China on various traditional media, online, and via a breakthrough mobile marketing campaign using MyClick software. They challenged consumers to upload their photos along with their basic personal data on any of the six major portals, 163.com, xiaonei.com, taobao.com and 51.com, Poco.cn and iPartment. Winners will become the coveted PEPSI CREATIVE CHALLENGE STAR on all of Pepsi’s packaging to be featured during the Olympics on Pepsi cans. To facilitate voting, consumers are encouraged to download MyClick application on the link provided at these portals so that they can access easy voting, blogging and status updates on their submissions. “MyClick is revolutionizing the way advertisers interact with consumers. While SMS may be a way for person-to-person mobile marketing,” said Mr. Justin Tsang, Chief Technical Officer, MyClick Media.

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TRUTH IN ADVERTISING? The Most Daring Scam of All

When an unpopular creative director resigned from the agency, her harried managing director heaved a sigh of relief. “Good riddance!” she said. But as the crew cleaned up the mess the diva left behind, they discovered a disturbing document: an unpaid bill from a regional trade rag for 15 full-page ad placements, in which the woman published (without approval from the Excom) her scam ads to make them eligible for competition. The managing director was livid, but the damage was done. Painfully, she paid for those 15 self-serving ads. Around the same time, another publication invited the agency to a creative showcase. Grabbing the opportunity to build a genuine reputation, the managing editor burned a disc of its best work for its biggest clients and sent it off to the magazine. Three weeks later, the showcase arrived. Eagerly tearing it out of the plastic, she opened the magazine. To her horror, the ads that appeared in it were not the agency’s! Scanning the credits of the

bogus ads, she realized that her miscreant of a former CD got her hands on the agency’s official entries and replaced them with her own scam ads. What cunning! What balls! What malice! How the ex-CD pulled it off is still a mystery, but the agency network swears it’ll be a cold day in hell before they let her stray within city limits again.

Heard any good tsismis lately? Want to start one? Send it to: rumors@adobomagazine.com

may-june 08

SPIKES 2008 The Platinum Spikes Goes to Leo Burnett Sydney’s Earth Hour Jeff Goodby Leads Jury in Bali

by Angel Guerrero

ow on its 22nd year, the Asian Advertising Awards is the region’s most established regional awards show. More popularly known as the Spikes, it gets its name from the its eponymous trophy. For the second year in a row, the high-powered conference sessions and equally high-powered judging were held at the six-star Ritz Carlton Bali resort. The awards night was staged at sunset in the famous Ku De Ta resort. This year, the organizers displayed the Gallery of Top 500 finalists in a white air-conditioned tent at the Ritz Carlton grounds for all to see. All from April 16th to 18th. The Spikes is definitely the most prestigious awards show in the region, and proof is the impressive number of entries for the awards, an enviable selection of jurors headed by Jeff Goodby, and close to 200 of Asia’s leading ad men and women who mingled at the event. On the awards front, the Platinum Spikes went to Leo Burnett Sydney’s Earth Hour interactive campaign. The energy conservation campaign that encourages cities to turn off their lights simultaneously in a show of

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A ponytailed and relaxed jury president, Jeff Goodby took in the Asian scene for the first time. Having won every major advertising award possible, he observed that in Asia, “the biggest problem you have is a weird combination of the big-budget stuff that doesn’t need to be great in an idea sense, so they rely on the money to carry the day. At the other end, you have really small budget stuff that you have to be really ingenious with the idea.” Goodby was impressed with Asia’s strong art direction and craft. He remarked that Asia had “very strong art directions and a lot of effort in craft, whereas in the US, we tend to spoon-feed everything!” Goodby was also amazed by the level of Photoshop capaLeo Burnett Sydney winner for Earth Hour bility and “ the ingenuity with imagery is great! I call them solidarity, also scored a Titanium puzzle ads, they have a slow Lion at Cannes last year. build kind of cycle, compared to The Gold Spike in TV went ads that have massive and sudto Leo Burnett’s Petronas spot den impact.” titled “Tan Hong Ming” by Leo WWF “Tree”, Ogilvy & Burnett Advertising Malaysia. Mather Thailand’s excellently Antonio Navas, worldwide crafted print work, won the sole creative director of Ogilvy & Gold in Print. Eight Silvers were Mather, applauded this charmawarded in Print, exemplifying ing commercial and said, “ It Asia’s strength in this category. tackles racism between MalayThe Platinum winner and sia’s different ethnic groups,” the Gold Spike winners in Inand described it as a “gem, teractive, TV and in Print were because it was legit—it captures all public service ads that either the truth.” promoted social values or enviYasmin Ahmad, who wrote and directed the commercial said, “We interviewed 60 children, and if it hadn’t work we would have given client their money back.” A notable TV spot is the Silver winner, “Non-Blinking Woman” by Dentsu Tokyo. It was wonderfully funny and so Gold - Colenso BBDO Deadline Courier “Self Destruct” hard to forget.

ronmental protection. A good sign for an industry that, at one time, thought public service ads had an unfair advantage over the regular work. The Outdoor Gold Spike saw a billboard in Auckland literally exploding to raise the profile of Deadline Courier service. The billboard featured a digital timer that self-destructed when hit zero. Over a million people viewed the event on national news. Colenso BBDO in New Zealand was the brains behind this low-budget campaign. Japan lorded the Digital category with Hakuhodo’s “Color Japan” for Sony Bravia, when it won the Gold Spike. (This also scored at the recent ADFEST.) TBWA\Asia’s Creative-AtLarge John Merrifield won the Gold Spike for Direct Mail for the TBWA\Asia 10th Anniversary Commemorative Book. The book offered a different level of interactivity with each turn of the page and a most entertaining way to show the agency’s best work. ADFEST’s Best of Show in Radio was also the Spike’s biggest winner in Radio, but it only managed a Silver, Y&R’s Colgate “Brushing” radio commercial. The lineup of big-name jury members included Antonio Navas, worldwide creative director of Ogilvy & Mather; Jonathan Harries, worldwide chief creative officer of Draft-

FCB; Jonathan Kneebone of The Glue Society Australia; Prasoon Joshi, regional creative director of McCann Erickson South and Southeast Asia; David Guerrero of BBDO Guerrero Ortega Philippines; Masako Okamura of Dentsu Japan; Gary Caulfield of Ogilvy & Mather Jakarta; Calvin Soh of Publicis Asia,; Adrian Miller of Saatchi & Saatchi Malaysia, and Andy Blood of TBWA\Whybin New Zealand. A total of six Golds, 39 Silvers and 64 Bronzes were handed out. Thai and Singaporean contenders received the highest overall number of awards—20 and 18 respectively, while Ogilvy emerged as the most highly awarded agency, receiving a total of 17 Spikes (one Gold, five Silver, and 11 Bronze). The inaugural Young Spikes, led by Merrifield, saw a total of seven two-person teams participate. They were from McCann Erickson India, Dentsu Malaysia, JWT Indonesia, Grey Singapore, TBWA Australia, BBDO Thailand and a collaboration between BBH Singapore and DDB Indonesia. The teams were given 36 hours to develop a campaign on water scarcity and to promote the TapWater conservation project (inspired by Droga5’s Tap Project in New York) in Bali, an island where “tap water doesn’t exist”. This involved the re-branding of filtered water as Bali Tap Water for restaurants, and the promotion of Bali seawater as a souvenir, with proceeds going to the improvement of local water sanitation. The winners of the Young Spike for the Bali Tap Water Project were the collaborative team of BBH/DBB. The Spikes was started by Media Magazine founder and published Ken McKenzie in Hong Kong. The judging and the awards ceremonies were held in the city for nearly two decades. When leading publisher Haymarket took over Media Magazine, the show found in Bali “a new home, one that would be inspirational, aspirational and motivational,” said Atifa Hargrave-Silk, group editor of Media. Next year’s Spikes will be staged in Bali between 22 to 24 of April, 2009.

Cutesy Carol Lam accepts the prize for TBWA Shanghai for the adidas Olympic campaign

Philippine judge David Guerrero takes a break

Leo Burnett Asia’s early birds get the Balinese welcome!

Goodby Silverstein & Partners’, Jeff Goodby honors Asia at the Spikes

Smiling in Bali, DM9 JaymeSyfu’s Alex Syfu and Louie Sotto

With kids are judges Adrian Miller of Saatchi Malaysia and Gavin Simpson of O&M Hong Kong

Talking about How To Motivate A Creative, Andy Greenaway, Antonio Navas and Calvin Soh Tim Waldron, MD, Haymarket Asia with Media’s group editor Atifa Hargrave-Silk, and Martin Duhram, UK-based chairman of Haymarket’s business titles

Spike Judges - TV Gold winner director Yasmin Ahmad of Leo Burnett Malaysia with fellow female TV Silver winner Masako Okamura of Dentsu Japan

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exclusive

SURVIVING SHANGHAI by

Carol Ong

hen the clock strikes 12, hell is empty. All the demons are in Shanghai.” This was the first advice I got. My new friend, jaded after five years in le ‘Hai, was referring to the wild nightlife and to the Grey’s Anatomy-esque dating scene, brought about by the many white expats who consider Shanghai a transient city. But when the sun comes out, Shanghai turns to heaven…shoe heaven, bag heaven, business heaven. Everyone believes they can make it big; even my friend’s maid quit to become an entrepreneur! This isn’t surprising for a land where foreign investors pumped in some $1bn every week, in 2004 alone. Of the estimated $29bn growth in global advertising in 2008, China will contribute 24 percent of this growth, taking over America’s traditional leading role. By the time the Beijing Olympics is held in August of 2008, China will be the world’s 2nd largest advertising market. China’s TV adspend alone will grow by 20 percent this year and 30 percent next year to be worth some $22.3bn—about

KTV is a national pastime. We get packed lunches in supot (plastic) and styropore, but they’re delivered in an LV bag. two-thirds of the entire predicted spending for western Europe. When BBH called, I packed my bags (including the plansta, radyo, and buko bags). The agency had a policy of hiring only the very good and very nice. For the Shanghai launch, they gathered talents worldwide,

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from our CEO who drove the WK Tokyo Lab and Nike biz in Japan, to the planner who launched iPod in Europe. How I—a nobody who couldn’t even speak Mandarin—got invited was a matter of sheer palakasan (lobbying). Palakasan ng prayers. I find Bartle Bogle Hegarty unique because our six offices worldwide act as one agency. It’s not uncommon to find suits and accounts planners from London and New York, engagement planners (for new media) and producers from Singapore brainstorming in one room with creatives from Shanghai and Tokyo. Everyone is so good that everyday during my first months I thought, “This is the day I get deported.” HEAR NO EVIL I was forewarned that it was ten times harder to produce good work in China. Many also advised that consumers needed everything spelled out; clients were tough; censorship, harsh and humor wouldn’t work. Good thing that my Mandarin was so bad; I couldn’t listen to them! When we launched Mentos Gum, we broke so many “rules” that we became suki (preferred customer) at the censorship board. The ads got rejected again and again, on the grounds ranging from office violence to the music sounding unpatriotic. When the campaign finally aired (a tear fell), it became a big hit, debunking many myths about the Chinese consumer. Better yet, when it won Best in Show at the China 4As, I was able to shout “Mabuhay!” on national TV. LIVING LARGE China fascinates me. Do you know that for every five persons in the planet, there’s one mainland Chinese? (Perhaps this is the safest place to get away from terrorist bombings, for who would want to enrage 1.3 billion people?) China’s version of “American Idol”, called “Super Girl”, drew 400 million viewers on its first grand finals, roughly equivalent to every man, woman and child in US and Britain. I also find it interesting that so many designer goods are made in China, yet this is the most expensive place to buy them. Incidentally, these high-end shops are just one giant cartwheel away from the Calven Kleins. (Maybe that’s where the infamous Malu Fernandez got her Mark Jacobs and Anik Goutard.)

Street Vendor (photo by Xiaoi Tan)

Ipod Shanghai style (photo by Tai Chitayat)

Skyscraper window cleaners. Why get expensive machines when you can get cheap labor? (photo by Jean-Michel Wu)

SAME SAME BUT DIFFERENT Life in Shanghai is not too different from Manila. KTV is a national pastime. We get packed lunches in supot (plastic) and styropore, but they’re delivered in an LV bag. Young locals are fond of celebrating Western festivities like Valentine’s. Halloween isn’t as popular, but for some reason, locals love wearing glowing devil horns on most holidays, including Christmas Eve. We have our share of peeing on the streets too, but spitting is preferred. (If aliens land here, they’d deduce spitting is a form of greeting.) Even Mrs. Salta, a wellloved book merchant in Manila’s ad industry, has a Chinese counterpart that delivers advertising annuals on his bike! Shanghai is a tension of opposites. Either you love it or you hate it. Beijingers often scoff that this rival city worships money. It does indeed get very commercialized. Wherever you turn there are blimps, floating billboards, elevator TV and taxi media, selling everything from xiao long bao dumplings to instant breast enhancement. For us in advertising, isn’t that great? CAROL ONG has been listed as one of Asia’s hottest creatives three years in a row by Campaign Brief Asia. Her latest achievement is adding a watering can and a guitar to her weird bag collection.

regionalnewsbriefs JWT APAC Continues To Shine At Awards Shows

Singapore – After winning “Network Agency of the Year” at both ADFEST and Goafest, JWT continues to pick up medals in regional award shows. While the Media Spikes Asia Pacific Advertising Awards Show in Bali was extremely competitive, JWT picked up several awards including the new Green Award, given to those demonstrating outstanding creativity in raising environmental issues. Other JWT offices including Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Manila and Singapore helped contribute to the overall medal tally. Kuala Lumpur’s already heavily awarded Scott Paper Towel series picked up several more medals including three Silvers. “JWT Asia Pacific has really demonstrated its breadth and depth of creativity across the region in this round of award shows from ADFEST in Pattaya to Consumer Connect in Bangalore to Goafest in Goa and the Spikes in Bali,” said Michael Maedel, president, JWT. “Almost every office has been awarded and I am proud of everyone who has contributed to this amazing success.” “Over the past three years, we have strategically hired new creative talent in some of our quieter offices and I believe we are now reaping the benefits,” said Tay Guan Hin, regional executive creative director, Southeast Asia. “Moreover, our internal training and mentoring has had a huge impact on developing our junior and mid-level staff.”

Dentsu and ROBOT Communications Announce Launch of “TsuiTsui” Mobile Advergame Service

Tokyo – Dentsu President and COO Tatsuyoshi Takashima and ROBOT Communications President Shuji Abe will jointly launch a new service for advertisers called “TsuiTsui”—specializing in games for mobile phones that feature corporate or product brands. The new service will include the planning and development of mobile advergames, and distribution of the games to consumers, free of charge, through a cooperative media network. Game planning and development will be carried out in collaboration with ROBOT Communications, a creative company with a strong track record in the production of casual games for mobile phones. iZOOKEPER is an official mobile site specializing in casual mobile games.

Proximity Live Launches In China

Shanghai – BBDO China announced the launch of Proximity Live to meet the needs of its rapidly expanding client list in the luxury brand market. Proximity Live provides expert communication insights, ideas and creative marketing initiatives for China’s fast growing luxury brand market. It delivers strategic marketing campaigns for luxury clients, including the production of high-profile events, celebrity and VIP management, new media initiatives, and public relations for this up market sector. Joint luxury specialists and managing partners Jude Robert and Angelito Tan head Proximity Live. Combined, Robert and Tan have 20 years experience marketing luxury and fashion brands in the China market. Its clients include Fendi, Moët Hennessey of the LVMH Group, Montblanc, Mulberry, Diesel, Calvin Klein, and the Amore Pacific Group.

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Selected by adobo’s editorial board and some of the countr y ’s top creative directors

March 2008 Nestlé ALL-PURPOSE Cream “The Offering” TVC Ad Title: “The Offering” / Agency: McCann Worldgroup Advertiser: Nestle / Executive Creative Director: Raul Castro / Creative Director: Noel Bermejo Copy writer: Aris Marquez, Henry Gonzales / Art Director: Gabby Alcazaren, Gian Mawo, NJ Mijares / Agency Producer: Chona Bustamante, Netnet Valencia / Account Supervisor: Cecile Velez, Laura Doroteo, Mutch Wright / Advertiser’s Supervisor: Pedro ‘Noy ’ Dy-Liacco, Maria Lourdes Puno, Afnan Ahsan / Director: Henry Frejas / D.O.P./Lighting/Cameraman: Dindo Martinez / Editor: Wacky Trinidad / Music: Artist/Tile: Arnold Buena / Sound Design/Arrangement: Hit Productions, Ramir Tiamzon, Corin de San Jose / Post Production: Underground Logic / Animation: Underground Logic / Other Credits: Mila Tanteco, Marjay Maghirang, Cathy Javier, Omar Mendoza, Owen Mariano

Special Bulletin from Provill Nap Jamir, DOP

Cineforce’s Fai Tsang

Steve Vesagas, Producer

Optima’s Marc Ambat

Leo Abaya, Production Designer

Manolo Abaya, Director

30 attendees 6 speakers 8 hours 1 after-party

What do you get when you have some of the industry's best players in one room? One April Saturday in Alabang, Provill gathered six veterans in advertising to impart their knowledge and expertise with the company's sales and production team. Provill had Director Manolo Abaya, Producer Steve Vesagas, DOP Nap Jamir, Production Designer Leo Abaya, Cineforce's Fai Tsang and Optima's Marc Ambat onboard to share their expectations of a production house, from their respective standpoints as leaders in their given fields. Manolo Abaya, more fondly known as “Bossing”, led the team in a refresher course on the entire production process, laying out each step from pre-production to breakdate, in one streamlined flowchart. Leo Abaya offered a production designer's take on the workflow, presenting areas in improving systematization and efficiency where construction materials, wardrobe props and storage issues were concerned. On the technical side, Nap Jamir, Fai Tsang and Marc Ambat outlined their respective standards for principal photography and post-production, giving technical tips on lighting setups, equipment cost calculations and post-prod processes. Producer Steve Vesagas also shared his expectations by giving the team a look into a producer's life, pressures and

stresses. He capped off his slot with the dreaded “Laos Ka Kung” List, the top 5 excuses he hates to hear from his production team (readers, be warned): Laos ka kung: 5. “Di ko alam” 4. Nambobola ka 3. “Sabi kasi ni Kuya Sabi kasi ni Ate...” 2. Late kasi trafik 1. “Miscomm lang po” Eight hours and six Q&A's later, the annual Provill production seminar successfully concluded with an intimate pool and barbeque celebration at the residence of the Joint CEOs, Luigi and Lorna Tabuena. “I'm so happy with what has transpired today,” Lorna Tabuena shares. “I am so grateful that our friends in the industry shared themselves with us. Provill will continue to work and grow in excellence, because we are really all about serving this industry well and striving to be better at it every time.” Provill recently announced its latest camera equipment acquisition from Germany, the Magnum Dolly System, famous for its enormous shooting flexibility. Magnum Dolly System

may-june 08

ADFEST 2008 JWT is ADFEST Network of the Year! Saatchi & Saatchi Singapore tops the agency league by Angel Guerrero

Led by Tay Guan Hin and Sheung Yan Lo, JWT finally rules ADFEST.

DFEST brought in an exceptionally strong line-up of jury members and speakers. An impressive line up of jurors, at par with the premiere Cannes advertising festival in France. Big names like Tony Davidson of Wieden+Kennedy London; Stefan Sagmeister of Seigmeister New York; Alex Burnard of Crispin Porter+Bogusky Miami; Tom Eslinger of Saatchi & Saatchi London; Jureeporn Thaidumrong of JEH United Thailand; Emma Hill of Clemenger BBDO Melbourne; Sonal Dabral, Bates 141; Andy Greenaway of Saatchi & Saatchi; Tay Guan Hin of JWT; John Merrifield, TBWA\Asia; David Guerrero of BBDO Guerrero Ortega and Danny Searle of BBDO Singapore. There is a level of maturity at ADFEST as it celebrated its 11th year. But after some controversy over scam ads, some delegate dissatisfaction over the Pattaya beach bars and aggressive competition from other regional award shows, President Jimmy Lam and his team are expected to reinvent the festival. Appropriately, this year’s theme, REINVENT, offered a full four-day festival program for the 1,611 delegates who came from 77 cities. It was an eye-opener for delegates from Cambodia, Italy, Russian Federation and Sweden who attended for the first time. This year’s show attracted 5,148 pieces of work from 33 cities in the region, which all vied for the honor of being the best of Asian advertising. Contenders for Network of the Year were JWT, Ogilvy & Mather and Saatchi & Saatchi. TBWA and BBDO, did not fare as well as expected at this year’s show with only a splatter of wins.

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TBWA’s client adidas, however, gained enough points to be declared Advertiser of the Year. At the awards gala on March 29th in Pattaya, JWT Asia Pacific was honored as Network Agency of the Year with regional creative directors, Tay Guan Hin (JWT Southeast Asia) and Sheung Yan Lo, (JWT North Asia) at the helm. Michael Maedel, JWT president, said, “I

Appropriately, this year’s theme, REINVENT, offered a full four-day festival program for the 1,611 delegates who came from 77 cities. It was an eye-opener for delegates from Cambodia, Italy, Russian Federation and Sweden who attended for the first time. am incredibly proud of the whole APAC team,” and adds, “This win broadcasts our ability to build successful brands that connect with today’s consumers around the globe.” JWT collected one “Best of Show” award, seven Golds, 11 Silvers, 12 Bronzes and 18 finalists. Thirteen JWT offices in Asia contributed to the wins. The Best in Press went to JWT Kuala Lumpur for the Scott Kitchen Towel “Oil” ad. The network’s Kitkat, Gibson and Lotus Spa clients also scored Gold Lotuses. Saatchi & Saatchi Singapore, headed by Andy Greenaway and his pool of talents, including Roger Makak—Campaign Brief’s No.

1 creative in Asia—were solid winners for the plum Agency of the Year award. The agency amassed many awards at the show for the Thai SPCA “Pet Adoption” that won two Golds and Best of Show. The agency also won two further Gold awards for its work on Wonderbra 3D and for the Penguin Books print campaign. Progressive and technologically sophisticated Tokyo led Asia in the TV, 360 Lotus and the Cyber categories. ADK Tokyo won Gold for its Maxell DVD TV campaign “For ever and ever” and Dentsu Tokyo won the Gold in TV for Rikunavi “Ms. Yuko Yumada Looks for her First Job”. GT Inc. Tokyo won the Best of Cyber and a Gold for the Sony Walkman “Rec You” in the Integrated Cyber Campaign category. The other two Gold awards were picked up by 777interactive from Tokyo for Sony Bravia “Color Tokyo!” Other big wins went to Hakuhodo Inc. Tokyo for Tyrant Habanero “The Desperate Entry Exam”. Bangkok picked up the bulk of the rest of the TV Lotus metals, winning seven Silvers and five Bronze awards. Creative Juice/G1 (TBWA) won three Silvers for its work on D7 Coffee. Ongoing Bangkok was awarded two Silvers and one Bronze. JEH United picked up a Silver award for its work on Smooth E White Babyface Scrub. BBDO Bangkok received two Bronzes for HomePro Sale. JWT Bangkok, and two Bronze trophies for its work on Muang Thai Card in the financial category. Colombo, Sri Lanka won their first Lotus at ADFEST with Leo Burnett Solutions Colombo winning Silver for the “Harry Potter Magic Cup” campaign for Odel Books and Trad Advertising Colombo “Make Up” campaign

THE BEST OF ADFEST Network Agency of the Year JWT Advertiser of the Year adidas Advertising Agency of the Year Saatchi & Saatchi Singapore/Singapore Interactive Agency of the Year Bascule Inc/Tokyo Direct Agency of the Year Leo Burnett/Sydney Film Production Company of the Year Phenomena Co Ltd/Bangkok TV LOTUS Best of TV – No winner Gold Lotus Dentsu TK Rikunavi “For Her First Job” ADK TK, Maxell DVD “Campaign I/II/III/IV”

Gold Lotus - JW T Kuala Lumpur, Scott Kitchen Towl “Coffee”

taking a Bronze Lotus. JWT Philippines won the only Gold in the radio category for the much-enjoyed Lotus Spa radio campaign, but fell behind Y&R Malaysia’s Colgate “Brushing” radio spot which was named the Best of Radio. This year’s ADFEST results, benchmarked against the 2007 Gunn Report, presented by Donald Gunn, drew some parallels and great hope for Asian creativity, within the worldwide creative ranking. Japan was one of most awarded countries in the world, in 5th ranking, Thailand in 8th and Singapore closely behind in 10th place. ADFEST’s Best in Print winner last year,

“Clima Bicycle Lock” by Leo Burnett Bangkok, was the most awarded print ad in the world in 2007! TV commercial director, Thanonchai Sornsrivichai from Phenomena kept his crown from 2006 and was also the most awarded director in the world in 2007. For networks, the most awarded agency networks in the world in 2007 were: in first place, BBDO Worldwide, followed by Saatchi &Saatchi, DDB Worldwide, TBWA and Ogilvy & Mather. Although some foreign jurors say Asia’s work this year are not expected to go far in the international awards shows, ad wisdom does tell us, Asia always surprises.

Agency of the Year, Saatchi & Saatchi Singapore here without Roger Makak!

PRESS LOTUS Best in Press JWT KL, Scott Kitchen Towl “Oil” Gold Lotus JWT KL, Scott Kitchen Towel “Oil, Wine Coffee” Saatchi & Saatchi SIN, Penguin Books “Train” Saatchi & Saatchi SIN, Penguin Books “Bus Stop/ Train/Airport” JWT SIN, Gibson “Making Out” Saatchi & Saatchi SIN, Thai SPCA “Couch” Saatchi & Saatchi SIN, Thai SPCA “Couch, Walkies,Sticks” O&M Bangkok, WWF “Tree” POSTER LOTUS Best of Poster Saatchi & Saatchi SIN, Thai SPCA “Couch,Walkies, Sticks” Gold Lotus TBWA\China, adidas Olympic Launch “Hu Jia” Saatchi & Saatchi SIN, Wonderbra 3D “Boardroom;” Saatchi & Saatchi SIN, Wonderbra 3D “Lounge, Boardroom, Street” Dentsu THA,Canon IXUS 75 “Cheetah” JWT SIN, Gibson “Making Out” Saatchi & Saatchi SIN, Thai SPCA “Couch” O&M TH, WWF “Tree” OUTDOOR LOTUS Gold Lotus DDB Syd, Hubba Bubba Gum “Gum by Numbers -Marilyn” JWT SIN, Kitkat “Home” JWT SIN, Kitkat “Office/Home/School” Saatchi & Saatchi SIN, Wonderbra 3-D “Boardroom” Saatchi & Saatchi SIN, Wonderbra 3-D “Lounge, Boardroom, Street” may-june 08

ADFEST 2008 OUTDOOR LOTUS Gold Lotus TBWA\China, adidas Olympic Launch “Hu Jia” Saatchi & Saatchi SIN, Wonderbra 3D “Boardroom;” Saatchi & Saatchi SIN , Wonderbra 3D “Lounge, Boardroom, Street” Dentsu THA, Canon IXUS 75 “Cheetah” JWT SIN, Gibson ‘ Making Out” Saatchi & Saatchi SIN, Thai SPCA “Couch” O&M THA, WWF “Tree” Best of Direct -Saatchi & Saatchi SIN, Thai SPCA “Couch”

Best in Press - JW T Kuala Lumpur, Scott Kitchen Towl “Oil”

RADIO LOTUS Best of Radio Y&R ML, Colgate “Brushing” Gold Lotus JWT MLA,“Traffic Therapy” DIRECT LOTUS Best of Direct Leo Burnett SYD, “Earth Hour” Gold Lotus JWT SIN, Crown Relocations “Fragile” CYBER LOTUS Best of Cyber Lotus (Integrated Cyber Campaign) GT Inc, Sony Walkman “Rec You “ Gold Lotus 777Ineractive TK, Sony Bravia “Color Tokyo!”; (Online game) Hakuhodo TK, Tyrant Habanero “The Desperate Entry Exam” 360 LOTUS 360 Lotus Drill Inc. Tokyo Yurakucho Marui New Department Store “Fashion Therapy;Graphics/Capsule Vendor’; Tablet Leaflet/Candy Restaurant/Building Makeover/Desktop Therapy; TBWA\Whybin Auckland, adidas All Blacks Apparel for Rugby World Cup 2007 “Billboards” ground TK, Nissin Cup Noodle “Freedom Project”

Best of Poster -Saatchi & Saatchi SIN, Thai SPCA “Sticks”

INNOVA LOTUS Innova Lotus Grande ground TK, Nissin Cup Noodle “Freedom Project” Innova Lotus Hakuhodo Kettle/Hakuhodo TK, Sony Bravia “Color Tokyo!” Leo Burnett SYD, “Earth Hour” Projector Inc. TK, Casual Wear “Uniqlock: website/ Blog Wedget/Screensaver/Shop Installation” DESIGN LOTUS Lotus Gold Publicis SIN, Sports “Stadium Gold Lotus (Poster) - Saatchi & Saatchi SIN, Wonderbra 3D “Boardroom”

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“Hate Something Change Something” Tony Davidson of Wieden & Kennedy listens to Guan talk about real work.

Some agencies do look for opportunities with these clients. Guan said the organizers should be responsible for validating the legitimacy of the entries for the judges. Real Ads that Affect Real Culture

by Angel Guerrero

Tony Davidson and Alex Burnard come from creative agencies that consistently create spectacular, breakthrough advertising for their clients that have gone on to dominate in global awards shows. Think of the Cannes Grand Prix winner Honda “Grr”. Nike, MINI Cooper, IKEA, and ESPN SportsCenter. Who wouldn’t want to be in an industry that moves the game, creating advertising that “is real, affecting real culture,” in the words of Davidson. He cited the Smooth E campaign from Thailand by JEH United as a brilliant campaign coming out of Asia. “It was one of the freshest thing done in advertising in terms of new thinking. Love it! You knew the ad was for the Smooth E baby face foam, and it was done in a difficult category. “In the business of creativity, we can actually play with culture…and you forget about awards a bit. I would suggest clients are involved more in the process.” Alex Burnard is excited about Asia’s hard working and entrepreneurial environment and sees it as an opportunity, “that is all you need.” He asks that we stop doing scrappy work and go on to make a difference. As the underdog, he believes that we can do work that is amazing. “You guys have the opportunity with clients that need change and put them in a better place. And you have technology that may not be in the US.” At Crispin, he talked about dominant brands like Coca-Cola and Nike that they made more famous. “We rode the coat tails of gutsy clients that want to succeed. The results we achieve come from our desire to be responsible and make them successful.”

ARE ASIA’S BEST WORKS SCAM? Tony Davidson & Alex Burnard Offer Advice

ieden+Kennedy London’s ECD Tony Davidson, who led the TV jury at ADFEST and the 2007 D&AD as president, sent a strong message to the ADFEST organizers and to the creative community when he spoke against the proliferation of scam ads in the show. “Looking at TV and press, it was not a strong year. I worry this may be the wrong thing to say, but I worry about award shows and what they create. They create monsters that want to win awards and don’t want to help businesses to move forward. I have never seen as many scam ads in a show as I saw here,” Davidson remarked. Although Davidson did not refer to any ad in particular, but he did mention that he saw a lot of torch, glue and condom advertising, saying “I don’t believe it!” Davidson goes on to say the he is not sure if the awards they gave out were scams or not. Best Radio goes to Y&R Malaysia for Colgate “Brushing”

While he did say it happens in every awards show, he admonished the Asian ad community “you have to sort it out.” Alex Burnard, creative director of Crispin Porter + Bogusky, jury for Innova Lotus concurred, "I had never seen so many scam ads in an awards festival like in Pattaya. It is really worrying.” At the same press conference, JWT Asia’s Tay Guan Hin said, “I sympathize and agree about the situation, but at the same time, I have been in juries where we get into a debate, and we do not even look at the work. I told my jury members, we are not witch hunters. We are supposed to be gold miners. If we talk about what has run and what has not run, it will take about five days before we talk about the work.” Guan goes on to explain, “Coming from Asia’s perspective, there is a lot of struggle to come up lot of brand work. From where we are coming from, the clients are quite retail driven.’ Thailand’s Anuchai wins for Design and Print Craft!

O&M Singapore’s ECD Todd McCracken takes the prize!

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ADFEST 2008

loved that button. The committee of the 2005 Araw competition gave one to every judge. It was an outlook I brought to Pattaya last March, when I spent three days as a member of the Press and Poster jury. The Press and Poster categories used to be separate; upon the recommendation of last year’s juries, AdFest decided to put them together. Jimmy Lam warned us, with a mad grin, that we would go through more than 2,000 entries. That was why we began judging on Easter Sunday, ahead of the other juries. I couldn’t help but think I was a bunny hunting down the best eggs in the garden. A bunny armed with an iPaq, clicking out, out, out, in, out, in. After the first round, around 10 percent of the entries got through. After calling back a few and dropping a few, we made it to the deliberation stage and chose the Lotuses per category. The

finalists got to stay on the tables and lord over the dropped ads, which stayed on the floor. Here are my top ten reasons why your ad brought home a Lotus. 1. It caught the eye. 2. It wasn’t too small. 3. It didn’t make the judges struggle for understanding. 4. It didn’t trigger a chorus of “I know I’ve seen that somewhere before.…” 5. It had a refreshing take on a commonplace promise. 6. It made surprising sense. 7. It was a striking idea wrapped in a wickedly crafted package. 8. It was great work in a bland category. 9. It had a lot of heart. 10. It was actually funny.

PRINT & POSTER “Judge, Not Executioner” by Leigh Reyes Member, Radio Jury

PRINT CRAFT The Art of Deconstruction by Joel Limchoc Member, Print Craft Jury

f there’s anything I observed in judging the print crafts category in ADFEST, the desired response should be: “How the F*^% did they do that?” The Snake Lawnmower ad won a Gold in retouching, because it not only stood out in its glorious grossness. It really made the jurors ask, “Did they really slice the snake?!!!” The Adidas China campaign was hyperrealistic pencil illustration at its best. We just couldn’t imagine how much time they were given to finish this ad. That’s why it won Silver. Print is Asia’s strongest medium. And it’s getting better and better every year. Last year in Cannes, O&M Singapore bagged third place as Agency of the Year all because of Print and Outdoor. The way they crafted their work played a big role in this. This year, there was still a lot of good work coming from around the region. But it was really those with a fresh look that popped out. Too many of the entries were still prints ads and posters with the typical layout with big visual and itsy-bitsy copy. The Print Craft category—which included subcategories like best in art direction, illustration, photography and retouching—was dominated by the Thais, for retouching and photography; the Singaporeans, for the freshness of their executions, and the Malaysians

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for their amazing illustrations. It’s actually interesting to note that Malaysia has already caught up with Singapore and Thailand as a dominant force in the print category. The Philippine entries have a lot of strong ideas. Unfortunately, they fall short in the crafting. We definitely need to spend more time crafting our ads so that the idea is brought to life in more extraordinary and flawless executions. So for next time around, here are some tips: • Jurors look for flaws in the ad, and the technical aspects of your ad is the most obvious place to start with. • A well-crafted ad is an ad that doesn’t look like it was done with Photoshop. • Give Helvetica and Arial a much-needed break. Experiment with other fonts or better yet, make your own. • A well-crafted ad makes you want to keep looking at an ad. • Oh, and yes, spend more money in better- quality proofs. When it comes to winning in Print Craft, we have to remember the copy of a muchawarded print ad: “Nothing great comes easy.”

e’ve heard it and had it flashed in our faces several times over: How we should embrace the digital platform because “it’s the future” and that advertising is dying a slow death? But is it, really? Has the change been that radical? To shun our

By Jason Drilon

Checking The Work 3.0

BBDO’s Crhis Thomas talks about THE WORK 3.0

beloved press ads, posters and 30-second spots and shift everything towards the bits and bytes of the digital world? This was the focus of Chris Thomas, BBDO Asia Pacific chairman and Simon Bond, regional managing director of Proximity Asia Pacific in their ADFEST talk The Work 3.0: Everything has changed, nothing has changed. Using analogue references like pen pals and mixtapes, they illustrated that things really haven’t changed that much—we just have new ways of doing them. Pen pals have gone the way of e-mail and SMS, mixtapes? We have iTunes and podcasts for that. Diaries have turned into blogs. Photo albums? Let’s not forget Flickr, Multiply and a dozen other photo sharing sites. The difference is that this time around, we don’t actually share with just our friends, family and officemates anymore. Now, we have the entire world as an audience. The ability to broadcast your ideas to the world is a powerful thing. This signals a massive turnaround in the traditional spoonfed advertising model. Control is now in the hands of the consumer, leaving advertisers scrambling to adapt to this new paradigm.

A good case was the hugely successful (and hilarious) Mentos/Diet Coke viral that appeared on YouTube last year. This homebrew video spawned hundreds of copycats and was viewed millions of times on the web. Mentos saw this as a unique opportunity and partnered with YouTube to make a special channel that encouraged people to record and broadcast their experiments. Coke simply issued a statement that said they would rather consumers drink their product than play with it. And did consumers listen? Of course not. Perhaps the most interesting point of the talk was when they broke down the role of advertising over the years. First there was Interruption, when ads were all about USPs and brand awareness. Then came Invitation, where we engaged consumers in a more personal, customized environment. These days we co-habit with them in Inclusion—a world where they create, participate and engage not just in one-on-one conversations. This dynamic new reality actually serves to enhance traditional advertising. Digital platforms don’t overtake tried and tested channels but enhance them. The shift to interactive platforms accelerates consumer behavior, enabling them to become media producers, changing and evolving brands in ways that both client and agency could never imagine. So can we shift our thinking to include digital channels in our campaigns? We’ve been saying “Yes” for quite some time now. Will we implement them? That remains to be seen. JASON DRILON is a Senior Creative at Ogilvy & Mather Philippines.

What’s in the Philippines’ Loot bag Gold Lotus JWT Manila, Lotus Spa “Traffic Therapy” Radio Silver JWT Manila, Lotus Spa “Corporitual” Radio Y&R Philippines, “Soroptomist” Print ad Bronze Lowe Philippines, Kuff & Collar “Collar/Belt” direct mail TBWA\SMP, Philippine Star “Palawan” Print ad Finalist BBDO Guerrero Ortega, Bayantel “Downloading” Billboard Bronze Lotus - Lowe Philippines, Kuff & Collar “Collar”direct mail Silver Lotus - Y&R Philippines, “Soroptimist” Print ad

Bronze - TBWA\SMP, Philippine Star “Palawan” Print ad Finalist - BBDO Guerrero Ortega, Bayantel “Downloading” billboard

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ADFEST 2008

YOUNG LOTUS Patayan sa Pattaya

Team Philippines’ Tina and Aidon

istory has a penchant for repeating itself. For the second consecutive year, Japan took home the Young Lotus, with Team Philippines nipping their heels. But the experience, as Lowe’s Tina Araneta and Aidon Palanqui found out, was different in many ways, and this time the pressure was killer! adobo: How did you and your competitors tackle the brief? TINA: The brief was about banning plastic bags. Our first course of action was to think of insights and ideas. While we had quite a number that we thought would be nice on a storyboard/ concept level, they wouldn’t be feasible to shoot. By the time we ventured the streets to start shooting, we had less than 22 hours to finish shooting and editing. We decided to go for the simplest execution among all our ideas—a child is engrossed in playing and his playtime gets cut short by someone who, from behind, bags his head. Using plastic bags makes you a killer—of nature, of biodiversity, of the planet, of the human race. AIDON: It was horrifying to hear how the plastic bags continue to destroy our lives. I felt guilty and immediately thought of my one year old baby’s future—which broke my heart upon envisioning him being killed by the plastic bag. We all tackled the brief on different executions. Malaysia put a bit of humor into theirs; India gave a futuristic handle, although most of them were on the serious side.

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adobo: What was your biggest obstacle? TINA: In our case, it was finding our talent. We were the only team who used a child. One, the language barrier prevented us from properly communication our idea with the children we wanted to use, as well as their parents. Two, when the parents found out that we were going to bag their childrens’ heads, they feared for their safety. AIDON: When we finally saw a child whose parents allowed us to shoot him, we encountered our biggest obstacle: seeing another team shooting the same device as ours! We thought of changing our ad, but we felt strongly about our material that we thought we still had a chance. adobo: How do you suppose you got into the Top 3? TINA: We were thrilled that, despite our no-vignettes, no-voiceover, no-soundtrack, one-take approach, our ad stood out. We wanted it to be simple. Clarity was what we were after, not fancy editing and production appeal. Moreover, the mere sight of a child’s head being bagged probably provided a new insight into the consequences of plastic bag use. AIDON: As one of the judges said, ours has the simplest yet harshest message. It was shocking, thought provoking, impactful, and highly emotional. adobo: Why do the Japanese continue to dominate the Young Lotus? TINA: They’re great at playing with sounds and visuals. In the case of this year’s Young

Lotus team from Tokyo, their sound device (the sound of popping plastic bags with visuals of people being shot) immediately piqued people’s interest from the get-go. AIDON: I honestly don’t know. Maybe It’s because of their sushi. adobo: Given the chance to relive the experience, would you do anything differently? TINA: Thankfully, we don’t regret anything we did. As long as we were able to shock people and make them seriously think, we’re happy. AIDON: Maybe we could’ve gotten an ambient sound from the sponsor who provided audio clips, instead of not using them at all. I honestly think we had a chance, hearing the applause of the whole auditorium even before our ad ended, tells us that it was really effective. adobo: Any parting words for the next Team Philippines and the PDI Young Lions? TINA: First, to let instinct take over, to go with your gut. Second, to keep things as simple as possible. Since there are a lot of limitations (i.e. time and resources), it pays to prioritize clarity. Third, to try and analyze how the competitors would possibly attack the ad. The less predictable your ad is, the better. Last but not the least, to pray for guidance. In our case, prayer helped us a lot, not just in our decisionmaking but throughout the rest of the competition. AIDON: Oh, and beat Japan.

DDB HOSTS ADFEST YOUNG LOTUS Tokyo Young Creatives Bag the Prize

equipped with the multi-function Nokia N95 mobile phones. The Tokyo team—Kentaro Harano and So Yamada from Hakuhodo Inc.—won again this year. Following closely were Team Manila from Lowe, art director Aidon Panlaqui and copywriter Tina Araneta of Lowe Manila, and Team Hong Kong from Leo Burnett. Neil Dawson explained the final decision: “We chose the winning team because of its creativity, its insight and for its potential TalkValue—the amount of interest and awareness it could achieve amongst the community.”

our DDB honchos—Neil Dawson, global CD of DDB London; James Lou, marketing director of Strategy in DDB Chicago; Steve Jackson, SVP of DDB Chicago, and David Tang, CEO of DDB Singapore—led 26 creatives under the age of 30 for ADFEST’s 5th Young Lotus competition, a 24-hour race to crack the brief and produce a viral spot. Armed with the Flip camcorder, the teams were tasked to draw up their storyboards, look for talents in the Pattaya area (language barrier notwithstanding) shoot, produce then present their ad to the jury, and oh yes, win the Young Lotus award. Twentysix young creatives from 13 cities including

Bangkok, Beijing, Colombo, Dhaka, Ho Chi Minh, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Mumbai, Seoul, Taipei and Tokyo. The campaign idea was “Ban the bag”. The plastic shopping bag was a universal problem that affects the environment adversely, DDB elders explained. Steve Jackson pitched the Flip camcorder, a product of DDB San Francisco’s client, and said it is a very simple camcorder with good resolution and designed for the Internet, for YouTube. Very basic no zoom, a view finder, a built-in USB, with the hard drive built-in and costs around US$100. Last year, the Young Lotus participants were

The Young Loti Flip

for the latest videocam, designed especially for online video enthusiasts.

Fab Four + Filipina A

Partying at the Kodak Party, Industria’s Nina Castro and Filipina Fab+4 director Marla Ancheta.

nnually, ADFEST showcases four young Asian directors. Except this year. This year, the organizers saw a glint of promise in one director, a Filipina named Marla Ancheta, and decided that if the world had room for a Fab Four and a Fab Five, then Marla was a definite plus. Initially, she would not even have made it to the deadline—even with the help of Industria, Mandy Reyes’s production house. “But fortunately, the deadline was pushed back. Two weeks later, I received a text message informing me of an ‘exciting’ email. I ran to my PC and there it was, the congratulatory remark from ADFEST. They were able to add one more entry and therefore renamed the category of Fabulous Four to Fabulous Four +. I was further elated when my Executive Producer Niña Castro mentioned that I was the only Filipino and everyone else was Japanese.” On the day itself, “the other Japanese directors…very nice and yet also very nervous. It was the first session of the day and the last day of the convention. I figured there wouldn’t be much of an audience because there was a big party the night before. But when Jimmy Lam, President

of ADFEST, started calling our names, I cringed upon realizing that the function room was full. It was my first time to screen a short film to an unfamiliar foreign audience. And a huge one at that.” Marla’s film was third in the program. The middle is always the worst place to be. “I was so tense that I only said a few words to introduce my film, “Hi, I’m Marla. I’m very nervous. Hope you enjoy my film.” As the video played, a strange and very cold feeling came over me. I couldn’t stop fidgeting onstage. When it was done, the audience applauded with gusto. Unfortunately, I still had to say something about the creative process. In my nervousness I just said we didn’t have much of a budget and thanked everyone for not walking out. They laughed and after the session a lot of them approached me and congratulated me. Quite a number actually said they liked my film.” Certainly, being part of the Fab Four+ is great for her CV, but there’s an added bonus (no pun intended). “As a director, it is inspiring to meet these brilliant minds who share my passion for filmmaking. Although it is uncertain when, I’m sure our paths will cross again. And hopefully then we’ll have even more to share.” may-june 08

ADFEST 2008

Royal Peach convention center in Pattaya houses ADFEST Filipino jury head David Guerrero at the Judges Forum

Adobo fans, NAGA DDB’s Ted Lim, Cooch’s Ron Samuel and Mun from BBDO KL

Relaxed at ADFEST, Dentsu Tokyo’s Akira Kagami, Bates 141 Asia’s Sonal Dabral and India’s leading director Prasoon Pandey

Reunion at ADFEST - Maricel Arenas of Harrison Communications and Thomas Mok of McCann China

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King creatives, Suthisak of BBDO Thailand and JWT Asia’s Tay Guan Hin

P&G Asia’s Sarah Tolentino with Simon Bond of Proximity Asia and BBDO Asia Director Chris Thomas

Asia’s bigtime creatives

Pinoy Judges Y&R’s Leigh Reyes and BBDO’s Joel Limchoc chill out after jury duty

Kodak queen bees Jane Albito, Karen Eastmure, Ingrid Goodyear

Asia’s premiere lensman and multi-Cannes and ADFEST winners Anuchai of Remix with daughter.

Pinoy creatives in the hall! TBWA\SMP’s Bryan Siy with Campaign Brief’s Kim Shaw

Management of JWT Bangkok Pinit Chantaprateep and Bob Hekkelman

A beaming Steve Clay with Young Lotus duo Tina and Aidon of Lowe Philippines

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STEFAN SAGMEISTER It’s All in the Cards by Lito Gemora

hree days of listening to ADFEST speakers can be both inspiring and exhausting. Most people talk about winning ads, inspiring ads, results of ads, “been done” ads, people behind the ads, egos and more ads. Which brings me to the conclusion that basically, advertising people talk about their ads and themselves. That’s why it’s refreshing when someone outside advertising talks about us. And this is exactly what Stefan Sagmeister, world-renowned graphic designer, typographer and maverick visual artist, did.

By then, all I could think of was, Aray! (Ouch!) A rude awakening that was long overdue. For the argument went beyond the bits of cardboard we hand out at awards shows. With a diverse portfolio that spans album covers of artists like Lou Reed and the Rolling Stones, product design and art installations, Sagmeister talked about the least advertisingrelated topic in ADFEST. What I’ve Learned In My Life So Far began as a simple list when Sagmeister took a oneyear sabbatical. This grew into a full-fledged book and stunning visual journal that compiled personal truths like “everyone who is honest is interesting,” “trying to look good limits my life,” and “being truthful works against me.” These statements were expressed in beautiful, often cryptic-looking outdoor installations (inflatable white monkeys! Furniture on fire!) which were photographed and filmed. Anyway, in the middle of his talk, he stopped. From his pocket, he took out calling

ensational, funny and almost unacceptable, at times sexual and sinister— these are words that often describe Sagmeister’s work. His technique is often simple to the point of banality: from slashing D-I-Y text into his own skin for an iconic 90’s poster, to spelling out words with roughly cut strips of white cloth for a brochure. Sagmeister’s strength lies in his ability to produce powerful, original yet stunningly appropriate ideas.

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cards from different ad agencies that he collected the night before. First, he took out “Grey”. I was thinking ha-ha, sino ba kilala ko sa

“You call yourselves creative professionals. So why are you presenting yourselves as bankers?” Grey (who do I know from Grey)? Are they here? Will he mention the name? Will he— ”So why are they orange?” he continued and then shook his head. Everyone laughed. And he goes on to an Ogilvy business card…“You have your founder’s signature on a red background. That’s fucking lame.” On Bates: “You have an EYE in your logo! If one of my students came up to me and had an eye as a solution to a problem…(rolls eyes).” On BBDO: “You write your logo downwards like some Chinese thing.” On TBWA\: “TBWA…at least, these guys put their ads on the back of their cards.” He examines them further. “And they’re good ads. So I’ll let them pass.” His point? “You call yourselves creative professionals. So why are you presenting yourselves as bankers?” By then, all I could think of was, Aray! (Ouch!) A rude awakening that was long overdue. For the argument went beyond the bits of cardboard we hand out at awards shows. It took an industry outsider to make me see that, much like combing your hair in front of a mirror, you may be pleased with what you see what’s in front of you, but be totally unaware that your bald spot shows from behind. LITO GEMORA is the executive art director at Ogilvy & Mather Philippines.

erhaps, there was not much to know about Japanese women. The pages of the Encyclopedia of Japanese Women distributed at ADFEST were, weirdly, blank. Honestly, I was hoping, it was a handout for the “Japanese Women” seminar by Planet Japan the next day. It would be in Engrish. Not very easy to understand. Until 1868, Japanese women did not legally exist. Today, women in Japan are power-

women who embrace their domestic roles as well. The Yoru Arai, a hybrid of a workaholic man and a housewife is really a woman who has a promising career, children to take care of and a laundry to do, too. In the bento box, she is a futomaki, all rolled into one. Because of her busy schedule, she can only do the laundry at night. This is recognized by Style Fit Liquid Laundry Detergent. Clothes smell fresh even if washed at night and dried indoors. Product sampling is con-

spending as much as 75.5 minutes a day texting and 19.8 minutes calling. Not to be missed is the Kawaii, the beautiful garnish. Never edible, it exists for sheer visual appeal. “Kawaii” literally means cute, in Japanese. She is always dolled up and likes anything cute. A car company in Japan targeting Kawaii girls usually offers unusual car accessories like stuffed toys, car upholstery with bright anime print and anything remotely mature.

Bento Box of Japanese Women by Bryan Siy

An Encyclopedia of Japan Women session moderated by Chris Kyme with Ayu Sasaki, Mariya Yasunami and Noriko Natsume.

ful shohisho or consumer, who can afford US$4,000 handbags, among other things. Not mere housewives, they are productive members of the workforce. Marriage and family are options, but staying happily single is, too. They assert their presence from parlors to offices, from businesses to politics. A lot of brands want to talk, to understand and know what makes them happy and ultimately, what makes them spend. Ayu Sasaki of Dentsu, Mariya Yasunami of Hakuhodo and Noriko Natsume of ADK Japan, respected brand planners in Japan, shared what they know about Japanese women. All kinds of them. Imagine a bento box. In each compartment, you’ll find a unique kind of Japanese woman. In the first compartment, you’ll find the OL or the Office Lady. An unmarried female office worker in Japan. She may be a permanent staff, but her employment is really temporary. With little opportunity for promotion, her mission is to find the best guy in the office or in group blind dating called gokon. Then, to be a housewife. The OL’s influence and power in the office is not to be undermined. She is the quiet girl in one corner, making coffee, who seems to know everything. The gossip session amongst OLs is really an elaborate focus group discussion, where office secrets are swapped and still-available men are discussed. The OL, like wasabi, is definitely not negligible. Specially to SoyJoy, a snack bar, a convenient way of taking soy nutrients during an OL’s busy working day or in a relaxing gossip session. Currently, many Japanese women assume conflicting roles. They may be career

ducted where the Yoru Arai often goes. Like the neighborhood video rental store. Style Fit makes her laundry time her opportunity to relax and spend time with her children. For the Ohi Tori-Sama, relaxing time means time alone, drinking in a bar or in a luxury hotel. She is not married, nor does she have kids. And perhaps, with enough money to send her dirty designer jeans to the nearest laundromat. She is a career woman who delays marriage to prioritize her dreams. She works hard, enjoys traveling and takes good care of herself. She is seared tuna, with beluga caviar, alone in one corner of the bento box. In many of her conversations with herself, (she’s alone and nobody to talk to anyway), “things might not come her way, even if she waited. So she has to move on.” But before she could turn schizo, a clothing brand in Japan assures her that she isn’t alone. Many of their TV commercials echoed the Ohi Tori Sama sentiments. Such assurances can only be received by one woman from another, a feeling a Mama Tomo is very familiar with—yet another kind of woman. To be exact, a mother who enjoys being with other mothers. Happy Lawson, a kid-friendly convenience store, created a playroom where moms can socialize. Socialize meaning, to gossip. After all, they may be former OLs. In the bento box, she is the warm, soothing miso soup with help. Far away is the woman called Joshikosei or the high school girl. A piece of modern sesame-encrusted sashimi in the universe of tradition. She is 16 to 18 years old, wears her socks high (a trend she started), enjoying friends from her many communities, both virtual and real. But her cellphone is her ultimate best friend,

Today, women in Japan are powerful shohisho or consumer, who can afford US$4,000 handbags, among other things. Not mere housewives, they are productive members of the workforce. Currently, there is an emerging Japanese woman. The woman with natural beauty. She is the gohan or the cooked rice. Basic, down-to-earth, with no embellishment and devoid of anything unreal, this woman is just being herself. Beautiful and elegant, the way she really is. The current Miss Universe, Riyo Mori, typifies this new kind of Japanese woman. The Tsubaki hair care of Shisheido was created for her. With traditional Tsubaki oil, it brings out the natural beauty of a woman’s hair. Six different kinds of Japanese women. Each kind is unique. But, in keeping with the rather boring analogy of bento box, one kind of woman will find herself spilling into other compartments. A Kawaii can also be a Mama Tomo. And with the steady progress of women in Japanese Society, it will not be surprising, if in the future, the bento box of Japanese women will have more compartments. But still without room for geishas and dutiful housewives. BRYAN SIY is an associate creative director at TBWA\Santiago Mangada Puno.

may-june 08

BANG FOR THE BUCK

Happydent

cultural psyche. The category of chewing gums is an impulse purchase. Add the fact that whilst “whitening” is perceived as a desired consumer benefit. If you actually understand the Indian consumer, it is not a serious do-or-die aspect. The cultural context here is by Prasoon Joshi, important. Eating betel nuts is McCann Worldgroup India & Asia-Pacific an age-old phenomenon in India and deep-seated in tradition and culture. Betel nut actually THE BRAND: ter’s figure of 2005) stains the teeth reddish and per HAPPYDENT WHITE Increase the total awarese, it is acceptable. This is not to by Perfetti Van Melle India ness of the brand by at least 40 be confused with oral hygiene, percent (over the last quarter’s as Indians are very mindful of THE MARKET SITUATION figure of 2005). cleansing. But having pearly In 2001, Perfetti Van Melle Grow national volumes whites is not an obsession. India introduced the functional by a minimum of 15 percent This understanding gave gum category to India by way (over the previous year 2005). me a completely new take. The of Happydent White, a chewAchieve a market share different hue can to be given ing gum containing ingredients of 8 percent in the chewing to whiteness. I could take the (baking soda) that provides gum segment liberty of dramatizing whiteness the benefit of keeping teeth to a degree of unbelievable, a naturally white. CONSUMER INSIGHT In this category, Happy“Chewing gums served func- fantastical exaggeration. Thus was borne the bizarre dent competed with strongly tional benefits, and advertising idea of a human bulb—a man entrenched brands with high all looked the same.” who is a professional bulb(!) awareness and big spends. “Today’s youth are intersince his teeth are so white. The brand was sailing along ested in fun and attitude rather but could not really shake the than the rational side of life.” THE EXECUTION competitors. In early 2006, Orbit In Advertising, exaggeration White (Wrigley’s) stepped up, CREATIVE STRATEGY with marketing inputs. It was The strategy in 2006 was to is an often-used tool, but this was an ad that best exemplified seen as serious potential threat leverage the consumer. exaggeration coated with reality. to Happydent White. The fun and innovative expression was pivotal to the im- On the first couple of viewings, the target group is amazed by THE CHALLENGE pact of the brand’s promise and How do we make Happydent differentiation from the compet- the overt concept of humans being used as bulbs to emanate an exciting, edgy brand for young ing brand Orbit White. light. Since their teeth shine so adults (age group 15-24 years)? brightly, it’s a visual spectacle The specific marketing objectives THE IDEA and completely mesmerizes you. for the year were: The big idea actually came But what makes this ad from a deeper understanding of Increase the spontaneous unique is the intricate layering of the product category and more brand recall measure by at least the narrative. The erstwhile coloimportantly Indian customer’s 30 percent (over the last quar-

Lots to Smile About

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THE MARKET RESULTS: Spontaneous recall more than doubled to 16 percent, from the previous 8 percent in 2005 Market share which simply doubled and trebled Total brand awareness scores of HAPPYDENT doubled and grew dramatically to reach the 90 percent level Gross national volume grew by 102 percent over 2005 figures. THE AWARDS: The communication was acclaimed by consumers, trade partners and the advertising fraternity alike Top 10 most awarded commercial in the world in The Gunn Report Two Cannes Lions ADFEST Gold Lotus in TV At Goafest, Gold in its category and a Grand Prix across categories D&AD 2007 In-Book Voted as the No1. commercial ever in the history of Indian Advertising!

Case Studies of Effective Creativity

EVENTS CALENDAR 49th Annual Clio Awards May 14 17, 2008 Gansevoort South Hotel & Jackie Gleason Theater South Beach, FL Email: rherman@clioawards.com www.clioawards.com Midas Awards New York City, NY Tel: 212 643 4800 Fax: 212 643 0170 Email: info@midasawards.com www.midasawards.com TV Commercial Directing Workshop May 19 29, 2008 Wide Angle Digital Post Makati City, Philippines Tel: +63 2 818 6246/818 1568 mobile: +63 917 796 3664 Email: cris _ mojica@yahoo.com Social Networking & eBusiness Conference Philippines May 20 21, 2008 Hotel Intercontinental Grand Ballroom Makati City, Philippines Tel: +63 2 896 0639/896 0637 Fax: +63 2 890 2101 Email: fiera@info.com.ph

nial feudalistic culture that India has in its 200 years of foreign rule is portrayed here. The times when the maximum was squeezed out of the Indian peasantry, and men were used to do all kinds of menial jobs, even employed as fan operators—whose sole jobs, for 12 to 14 hours, were to pull by hand a rope attached to a contraption of wood and cloth on the calling, so that the master sitting underneath would get fanned with cool air! This feudalistic concept has been used in a fable-like setting, without compromising the wonderment of the idea and actually imparting depth to this concept, which a few discerning minds catch on and marvel at. Add to it the use of Sufi music. Sufism originates in India as a moderate from of Islam. It uses music extensively as means of communicating to God and is a beautiful musical and cultural heritage of India. I specifically wrote the Sufi style lyrics that always have a two-fold meaning. While on the surface, the Sufi composition used words like “my beloved”, it actually implies God as the beloved. Similarly, the words in the jingle talk about brightness, not just of the teeth but of the soul. It’s an ad soaked in the Indian tradition narrative and feel, and like our culture, it is both entertaining and intense at the same time. And despite being so Indian still being able to appeal internationally. Shooting the ad with specialized maalakb artists (who are

trained for special kind of acrobatics on poles, underwater, etc.) was an experience that translated wonderfully on screen. THE MARKET RESULTS: We had a full 360° launch planned for it. The usual bouquet of press outdoor...but the unprecedented response caught everyone off guard. Within a week of airing the TVC, it created such a humongous buzz in the market that the product flew off the shelves. It was the Power of One that shone forth. The effect of the communication campaign was phenomenal. Perfetti Van Melle had to go into fresh production for the product. We had to put the next schedule of the ad on hold, to ward off demand for which they needed time to manufacture fresh batches of the product. Even before Press and Outdoor broke, the TV ad found its way through unprecedented viral into consumers’ computer screens. Ultimately, the client doubled its production capacity of the base product and launched sub-brands and flavors under its umbrella. CREDITS:

Agency: McCann Erickson Mumbai, India Ad Director/Creative Director/ Copywriter: Prasoon Joshi Art director: Anirban Sen Producer, Equinox: Ram Madhwani, Manoj Shroff Creative Executive, AV: Benny Alexander Music: Shantanu Moitra and Prasoon Joshi Lyrics: Prasoon Joshi Brand Leader: Prianka Sihota

KBP Radio Advertising Awards & Joint KBP & Creative Guild Seminar May 22 & 26, 2008 (tentative) Dusit Hotel Makati City, Philippines Tel: +63 2 815 1990 to 92 Meetings & Special Events Summit (MASE) 2008 June 3-4, 2008 PICC Forum, CCP Complex Pasay City, Philippines Tel: +63 2 913 0044/437 3823 Email: firsteventsasia@gmail.com www.firsteventsasia.com 13th Graphic Expo 2008 June 4-7, 2008 Philippine Trade & Training Center Pasay City, Philippines Tel: +63 2 896 0639, 896 0637 Fax: +63 2 890 2101 Email: fiera@info.com.ph Pecha Kucha Night Design, Advertising & Modern Art Exhibit June 13, 2008 Mag:Net Café, Bonifacio High Street Taguig City Tel: +63 2 436 8864 Fax: +63 917 804 0553 Email: hello@ideals _ creatives.com 55th Cannes Lions 2008 June 15-21, 2008 Cannes, France Now open for registration www.canneslions.com World Marketing Conference Asiannovation June 19-20, 2008 SMX Convention Center Pasay City, Philippines Tel: +63 2 634 4890, 634 5722 Fax: +63 2 636 1451, 634 5664 Email: philmarketing@pldtdsl.net sarahpv@pldtdsl.net New York Festivals 2008 Advertising & Marketing Effectiveness Competition June 9, 2008 New York Tel: 212 643 4800 Fax: 212 643 0170 Email: info@newyorkfestivals.com www.newyorkfestivals.com

Tel: 212 643 4800 Fax: 212 643 0170 Email: info@newyorkfestivals.com www.newyorkfestivals.com New York Festivals 2008 Int’l Advertising Awards June 30, 2008 New World Stages, New York Tel: 212 643 4800 Fax: 212 643 0170 Email: info@newyorkfestivals.com www.newyorkfestivals.com 2nd Internet & Mobile Marketing Association of the Philippines (IMMAP) Conference August 13-15, 2008 Hotel Intercontinental Manila Makati City, Philippines Tel: 632 896 0639, 8960637 Email: fiera@info.com.ph www.fmi.com.ph Asian Publishing Convention August 14-15, 2008 Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel Singapore www.publishingconvention.com Advertising Suppliers Association of the Philippines ASAP Conference & 30th Anniversary Celebration August 28-29, 2008 Hotel Intercontinental Makati City, Philippines Tel: +63 2 893 0738, 8930564 Fax: +63 2 8930404 Email: asap@pldtdsl.com www.asapmanila.org.ph Association of Accredited Advertising Agencies of the Philippines (4As P) Agency of the Year Awards September 2008 (tentative) Tel: +63 2 8134397, 8931205 Fax: +63 2 7573892 KBP & the European Commission Media & Good Governance Seminar 2008 September 2008 Manila, Philippines Tel: +63 2 815 1990 to 92 Email: info@kbp.org.ph www.kbp.org.ph Marcommasia 2008 Int’l Marketing Communication & Advertising Exhibition September 17-19, 2008 World Trade Center Manila, Philippines Tel: +63 2 818 6828, 8101389 Fax: +63 2 81 1594 leverage@leverageInt’l.com MORES Sixth Nat’l Research Congress October 2-4, 2008 Holiday Inn Resort, Clark Field Pampanga Philippines Tel: +63 2 533 6653 Fax: +63 2 531 5204 Email: mores@i manila.com.ph 1st Busan Int’l Advertising Festival AD Stars Festival October 21-24, 2008 Paradise Hotel Busan & Haeundae Beach, Korea Entry: http://www.adstarsfestival.org London Int’l Awards November 10, 2008 Hippodrome Leicester Square, London Email: info@liaawards.com www.liaawards.com

New York Festivals 2008 Radio Broadcasting Awards June 19, 2008 Tribeca Rooftop Downtown Manhattan, NY

may-june 08

Fa r e w e l l

The Unforgettable

PAUL ARDEN

Photo by Graham Cornthwaite

1940 - 2008

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orld-class eccentric and revered advertising creative maverick Paul Arden, whose larger-than-life persona captured the imagination of a whole generation of young advertising practitioners and ensured his advertising immortality, died recently of a heart attack after a lingering illness. After graduation from a small art college, Paul worked at a succession of the U.K.’s leading agencies, including Doyle Dane Bernbach and Ogilvy & Mather, and got fired from most of them. Then he found his way to Saatchi & Saatchi. There, as executive creative director for 14 years from the 1980’s through the 1990’s, Paul was responsible for some of the great British advertising work of the period, including British Rail, British Airways, Toyota, The Independent Newspaper and the longrunning Silk Cut cigarette campaign. His work for Silk Cut was literally cutting edge for that slice in time. Executionally, the campaign played on variations on a piece of slashed, or cut, purple silk, and it was one of the few campaigns that Charles Saatchi was personally involved in. Paul was pleased with the simple way the campaign’s daring concept was approved back in 1983; Charles simply sold the idea directly to the chairman of the Gallaher Group, the manufacturer of Silk Cut. For years, readers were visually teased by print ads with cat’s claws tearing through a piece of silk and synchronized scissors high kicking in front of a silk curtain. Everyone knew what the ads represented, but

British Airways T VC

bravely there was no copy nor cigarette imagery—just the right strategy in the face of the newly-applied restrictions on tobacco advertising. The campaign helped make Silk Cut the number one cigarette brand in the United Kingdom, but it was not without some controversy. Its very success led to complaints by anti-cigarette activists about alleged subliminal and manipulative techniques employed in the campaign.

He was scornful of those who looked down on advertising. “We are all advertising, all of the time,” he insisted. “Even the priest is advertising God.” His work for British Airways’ “World’s Favourite Airline” campaign was just as memorable. The grandness of scale and sheer cinematic ambition involved in filming hundreds of people coming together from around the globe to make a giant smiling face underscored the premier status of British Airways among the world’s airlines during that time. And it launched into mass consciousness the modern operatic-style “Aria” anthem of Malcolm McLaren, as arranged by the Greek composer Yanni.

But Paul will perhaps be remembered more for his highly distinctive eccentricities, described by a British publication as “inspiring and insulting in equal measure.” One anecdote on Paul described how he did not play football because “the color of the grass isn’t the right green.” When he heard about the story, he was reportedly pleased with it and encouraged it to be passed on. “Paul Arden was one of the most exceptional creative directors I’ve known, with an individualism and passion for perfection that resulted in some of the best advertising of the 80’s and 90’s,” said Anthony Simonds Gooding, chairman of UK awards show D&AD, in a statement. “His idiosyncrasies made him unforgettable and his generosity and encouragement to students and young creatives is an example to all.” Another advertising colleague, Tim Mellors, described Paul as “the madman in the double-breasted suit,” in reference to his sartorial preference for the Terrence Donovan-Magritte style. Paul had a fearsome reputation as a perfectionist. He was often maddeningly over budget in his projects, insisting that the smallest details be perfect, like searching for a specific pair of wildly expensive eyeglasses to achieve just the right look on a face that would be seen only for a few seconds in passing in a television commercial. This extravagant commitment to detail, and his sharp eye for photography, got Paul’s work noticed and put him at the forefront of the shift to a more visual style of advertising. Always on the lookout for new and surprising ideas, Paul was known for refusing to give clients what they wanted, believing that only the unexpected would stand out. “There is no distinctive style here,” he said. “If there was, we would have to put a stop to it immediately.” He was scornful of those who looked down on advertising. “We are all advertising, all of the time,” he insisted. “Even the priest is advertising God.” Paul’s management style, unconventional to say the least, was the stuff of advertising legend. Notoriously difficult to work with, Paul was intolerant of substandard work and gave his opinion in direct, sometimes physical,

Silk Cut Campaign

may-june 08

ways. In fact, when a print ad layout failed to meet his exacting standards, he expressed his displeasure by jumping up and down on it. Yet the majority of those who worked with him admit to being inspired by his great passion and unyielding perfectionism. Even after retiring from his full-time agency career, Paul continued to spend some time to helping students and young creatives. In 1993, Paul set up a film production company, and later, a photography gallery. And despite his confession that “I’m not a writer, I’m afraid of words,” he evolved an alternative career as a writer. A weekly column in The Independent was followed by his first book, It’s Not How Good You Are, It’s How Good You Want To Be, which sold over 500,000 copies. This was followed by two more titles, Whatever You Think, Think The Opposite in 2006 and, last year, God Explained In A Taxi Ride.

He was also a much-sought-after industry speaker. In fact, his public appearances were just as legendary as his work and work style–oftentimes bordering on spectacle and scandal, but definitely calculated to create buzz all over town. In one industry talk, he stood silently next to a woman playing the cello. In yet another, he gave a speech with a naked man onstage, demonstrating that a person is a blank canvas. He even hired on one occasion an actor to babble onstage while he displayed meaningless charts. His point? Although no one in the audience knew what was going on, they would never forget it. They certainly never did—and they will also never forget the genius of Paul Arden. - Harry Mosquerra

may-june 08

Paul Arden and Jimmy Lam of ADFEST.

Jimmy Lam

Remembers Everyone who knew Paul is deeply shocked by the news. Jimmy Lam, president of ADFEST, in particularly still can’t accept that Paul has left us. “Last June, I visited Paul and his wife Toni in his gallery in Petworth, a lovely old village, less than two hours drive from London. I tried to invite Paul to come to Pattaya to be our speaker. However, Toni told me that Paul’s health condition wouldn’t allow him to travel. “Paul told me he was working on this third book, and we were discussing the idea of having a camera crew coming to his gallery to video tape his talk, to do a virtual speaker session for ADFEST. I can still remember that Paul said he would rather show more photos and film clips relating to the content of this book than him talking to the camera. I can still He said he would need remember some time to prepare that Paul said material for the he would rather the virtual speaker session. show more That day, we photos and film had very nice and clips relating memorable time over to the content cups of afternoon of this book We talked about than him talking tea. creativity in Asia to the camera. Pacific and Paul was amazed with the finely crafted print ads in our region. We enjoyed the time we had and I took photos with him before I left. “Not wanting to push Paul for what he had promised, I have only written a few mails to Paul after I returned to Hong Kong.

In the past few months, I didn’t receive his reply, and I knew that his health condition must be deteriorating. “Paul is a true creative leader and I know that he also wanted to share his wisdom and knowledge with ADFEST delegates. It’s a pity that I am not able to complete this mission and that and I will miss Paul and his passion on creativity. My heart goes out to Paul’s wife Toni.”

Paul Arden in his gallery in Petworth.

Restless My mind just can’t rest. I’m always thinking, always writing in some giveaway notebook, jotting down everything that fascinates me and makes me think...and think again. It’s just me—not to let go of a thought until I’ve written it down, whether or not it’s irrelevant, impractical, or even impossible. Many times, people brush off all their “bad ideas,” choosing to ignore them. But many don’t realize that with just one more secret ingredient, a “bad idea” can transform into something magical. My agimat, my secret to surviving, is that I have learned to never give up on my ideas. Instead, I let an idea seize me and take hold of me, until it brings me to new and uncharted territory. Sticking to what’s already been done, following a routine—that is not my way of doing things. I’m just too restless to let things be! That is the way my mind works, and that is the way I want the minds of people around me to work. I want them to be as restless as me! Fascinated with films, gaming and with Philippine graphic novels, I thought why not make a video game based on Arnold Arre’s graphic novel, Ang Mundo Ni Andong Agimat? Maybe even work on a television weekly series or a feature film? I was encouraged by the reaction of a local game developer when I brought up the idea. They were very excited and were willing to work with us to make it a reality. Will it work, why not, what if...I don’t know, I just know we have to try it! That’s how I like to work. I initiate change, and I relish new ideas. An idea can take you anywhere, and it can take you everywhere— to all the places you’ve never been. So you see, there’s no time to rest. My mind’s just too excited!

TONY GLORIA Founder & President Unitel Productions Optima Digital Unitel Pictures Engine Room Straight Shooters Media and more to come

Make up artist: Norma Irinco / Photographer : Lito Sy / Stylist : Dennis de Castro / Illustrator: Arnold Arre

adobocenterfold

IMMORTALIZING A DECADE OF DISRUPTION A book is a book is a book. Or so you think. Here’s one book that celebrates what should never have happened. What is inconceivable. What defies the norm. Ten years of disruptive noise. What we’ve never heard of, until TBWA\.

Every interactive page shouts defiance. Daring. Teasing. And you’ll find yourself totally absorbed in things never accomplished before in a book. 3D is taken into a whole new dimension. Cheers blare from one of the pages. Now, THAT’S disruption. The network’s creative at large, John Merrifield, says they set out to put out all the stops for this book. Breast-beating was farthest from their minds, “The

“[the book] should be about things that should have never happened.”

Just Because It Hasn’t Been Done Doesn’t Mean It Can’t Be Done. Those words on the box set the edgy tone and look of TBWA’s The Book. But if you think those words add zing to every box, think again. That line is just one of five different fiery lines. Each oozes attitude, talking to distinctive target readers: industry practitioners, current clients, new-business clients and creatives. A die-cut NO shrieks from the cover, which, remarkably, is made of the same track material used in Hong Kong’s Impossible Sprint. No two covers are alike.

may-june 08

book is all about setting some standards. Tim Chai and I, plus the rest of the team, decided it’s not about giving ourselves a pat on the back for a job well done. It’s about celebrating what we, and our clients, have accomplished in the past ten years. It’s about setting a yardstick for the region. More than anything, it is a motivational tool for us. But, as you can see, this book is a potential business tool as well. Clients are simply blown away! Kudos to the production people who pulled it off!” A labor of love, the book took eight months to produce. “How do we bring things to life?” That was the question that started it all. The team gathered the best work from each office and identified which were commendable or not. The criteria? “Anything with a hint of a scam in it is a no-no. That’s not what we want

and the Advil banner featuring a man with the piercing headache magnified by a pole sticking out of the head, was certainly impactful. It was like Ogilvy’s Pores. It warrants a reaction. And it’s a legitimate piece of work done according to the specifications of a brief,” Merrifield elucidates. The team was floored by the craftsmanship and passion of Singapore-based Domini press. “The guys loved the project so much that they kept to the original quotation regardless of the changes we made. The book is not just about good ideas. It’s about making them happen.” Noticeably non-interactive is the book’s centerfold featuring Creative Juice’s works. It’s something you merely look at, and Merrifield explains this was intentional. “Creative Juice is our sister company. TBWA\ is an agency designed for conflicts. While Creative Juice is designed to do the best work. These pages were

designed to blow the horn of the Creative Juice brand. And this achieves that in a fun way!” To say that the book has definitely lived up to The Book is an understatement. How many other books actually have a cover you can literally step on?

to promote. The work has to stand for who we are. It has to be something highly unusual. Disruptive. To quote Tracy Fox from our New Zealand office, `it should be about things that should have never happened.’ I mean, when I was in Manila, I was walking in Greenbelt,

Interview by ANGEL GUERRERO written by BUDJIT TESORO

Samsung Showroom Rules at 2008 NY Festivals Innovative Advertising Awards

“Milk Get the Glass Site,” Goodby, Silverstein, and Partners

oodby, Silverstein, and Partners in San Francisco came home with Grand in the 2008 New York Festivals (NYF) Innovative Advertising Awards at the Samsung Experience showroom in Time Warner Center. Their entry “Milk Get the Glass Site” produced for California Fluid Milk Processors Advisory Board also won gold for Best Microsite. Lowe Brindfors of Stockholm, Sweden, took home the

most Gold, with an impressive eight wins for Guerilla Marketing: Outdoor, Corporate Information, Best Integrated Campaign, Best Consumer-Targeted Website, and Best Design for work they created for Stella Artois. With award categories ranging from guerrilla, viral, and ambient marketing, to advergame, pop-up and webisode advertising, this innovative show for interactive work was a must-see survey of the best international

new media advertising and marketing. All Gold winning work was showcased at the ceremony, with a special gallery of select award winners, organized by Executive Director Joel Goodman, set up for viewing during the cocktail hour. Although the Philippines won no metals, two of its entries did make it as finalists, “Peel off” and “Clock” from DM9 JaymeSyfu. This year the NYF Innovative Advertising Awards received entries from 44 countries. For 16 years, this competition has recognized the most innovative and creative digital, interactive and emerging advertising and marketing the world has to offer. Entries were reviewed by an international panel comprised of industry executives, creative directors and producers. Judging criteria included ability of the entry to communicate its message, idea or appeal; design; structure and ease of navigation; interactivity and functionality; originality of the creative/com-

municative approach; creative concept; marketing impact; and overall user experience. Winning entries will be showcased at www.newyorkfestivals.com and promoted by NYF representatives in 62 countries. “Peel Off,” DM9 JaymeSyfu

“Clock,” DM9 JaymeSyfu

n keeping with our avowed intent to treat our audience with respect, and never to resort to platitudes or bullshit, here is the bottom line, as it were… This year’s Annual is not as astounding as last year’s. The best work is great, but frankly there’s not enough of it. This year, the number of entrants was up by about 15 percent, and the number of entries was down by about the same. Which suggests that more people now want to be judged by the best in the business, but correctly recognize that these are an unforgiving bunch! (Certainly there was a marked drop in any judge holding up of any piece of work, eyebrows aquiver, with the exasperated comment, “When they entered this, what the hell were they thinking?”) In truth, it was some small mark of honour to survive the first cull. The problem for the judges was then how high to set the bar; in the event they decided that to lower that bar from last year’s level would be an insult to past winners as well as being condescending to this year’s. It may be that in the intervening twelve months various factors have contributed to a general drop in balls-out breakthrough thinking: of these, the heads-under-theparapet economic climate may be the most telling. Clients being more cautious, suits

being even more so, and awards-budgets feeling the pinch are, I know from hands-on experience, major factors that have had to be faced and survived. It’s easy to trot out the old quote “in times like these, the most dangerous thing you can do is safe advertising”, but somehow at the critical moment the bottom line seems to be screaming at you to be careful. The fact remains that to get a Ball in the World Press Awards is a remarkable feat. And to get a Finalist Certificate is far more difficult than getting any Puddy-tats in that selfcongratulatory orgy on the French Riviera. We set out to reflect only the very best, and we’ve done that. In a recent survey*, Newspapers were shown to be a far more effective medium than on-line advertising and TV, despite the current vogue for the former and the on-going glamour of the latter. And setting-aside the generally woeful standards of press barons in marketing their own product, it behoves us, as cold-eyed and level-headed professionals, to insist that clients get maximum bang for their buck. That means no more than producing cut-the-clutter work. End of story. In golf, there’s a saying that a putt that doesn’t reach the hole rarely goes in; in advertising, any ad that isn’t noticed will not work. Our only job is to put the product in front of the public. All other factors are secondary. We are rarely responsible for pricing, distribution, or packaging, and we have no control at all over what the competition may do. Let the dog see the damn rabbit, that’s all. And make the rabbit as cute and fluffy and appetizing as possible! Rant almost over. Out of adversity may come effort. I hope so, because business ain’t gonna get any easier for a year or two. I love this racket, and the people who emerge from the daily battle, bloody but unbowed. I once asked Sir Martin Sorrell why, in his opinion, Australia kept beating England at cricket. “Because they wanted it more”, he said. So….you can be great if you want it enough. But you’ve got to really, really want it. Finally, a word about the judges: I can’t thank them enough for taking the trouble to come all that way for a start. Also, listening to them dissect the work was, as ever, an “This year’s invaluable further education. Annual is not as But possibly most telling of all astounding as last was the fact that despite their willingly (almost aggressively) year’s. The best abstaining from judging on so work is great, but much of the contending work, frankly there’s not the best agencies last year were also, in the main, the best enough of it.” agencies this year. To a man, they felt that this might reflect adversely on them and the show. All volunteered to forego the judging next year if it would help convince our public of our shared principles and our wish to be “above” the unedifying scramble for yet more recognition. Certainly one answer would be to keep the jury intact, but prevent them from entering. Which would be spectacularly silly. It’s not our calling to find out who produces the secondbest work in the world. (“Hamlet” without not only the Prince but all the other main characters as well just might not have the majesty of the original?) So…with a certain amount of regrets on my part, it’ll be allchange next time. We were, in one way, lucky that Tony Granger was at the last moment prevented from joining us this year, due to some bizarre bureaucracy in The States. So he gets (and has accepted) the first invitation in 2009. I’m negotiating with some monster names as you read this to fill the other chairs, and as soon as that’s done, we’ll announce those names on the website. I can only guarantee that they’ll be just as tough as their predecessors. NEIL FRENCH is one of the world’s most famous ad gurus, having shaped The Ball Partnership, Ogilv y & Mather and eventually, the other WPP agencies. *Fournaise Marketing Group Survey 2007

may-june 08

THE 2008 WORLD PRESS AWARDS GOLD: Newspaper Art Direction Campaign GOLD: Newspaper Home Products Campaign TITLE: ‘Soy Sauce’ CLIENT: Procter & Gamble PRODUCT: Tide Ultra AGENCY: Saatchi & Saatchi New York

SILVER: Newspaper Technique Single Art Direction SILVER: Newspaper Product Single Public Service Social Welfare TITLE: ‘Tree’ CLIENT: W WF AGENCY: Ogilv y & Mather Thailand

may-june 08

THE 2008 WORLD PRESS AWARDS Asian Winners AWARD

BRAND / TITLE

AGENCY / COUNTRY

CATEGORY

Panadol Extra / Drum

Ogilv y / Singapore

Magazine Product Single / Pharmacueticals

Max Bright / Zombie, Vampire, Ghoul

Ogilv y & Mather / China

Magazine Product Campaign Personal / Gift Items

Softlan Fabric Softener / Rugby

Y&R / Malaysia

Newspaper Product Single Home Products

W WF / Tree

Ogillv y & Mather / Thailand

Newspaper Product Single Public Service / Social Welfare

Anti Smkoing Message / Cats - Impotence

Ogillv y / Malaysia

Newspaper Product Single Public Service / Social Welfare

UHU Glue / Best Use

Y&R / Singapore

Magazine Technique Single Copy writing

W WF / Tree

Ogilv y & Mather / Thailand

Newspaper Technique Single Art Direction

The Economist / Helicopter View

Ogilv y / Singapore

Magazine Technique Single Illustration

The Economist / Helicopter View

Ogilv y / Singapore

Magazine Technique Single Art Direction

FHM / Lingerie

Ogilv y / Singapore

Magazine Technique Single Art Direction

FHM / Lingerie

Ogilv y / Singapore

Magazine Product Single / Media Promotion

Finalist: Newspaper Media Promotion Single TITLE: ‘Palawan’ / CLIENT: The Philippine Star PRODUCT: The Philippine Star / AGENCY: TBWA\Santiago Mangada Puno

BRONZE: Newspaper Home Products Single TITLE: ‘Rugby ’ / CLIENT: Colgate-Palmolive Marketing Sdn Bhd PRODUCT: Softlan Fabric Softener / AGENCY: Y&R Malaysia

may-june 08

SILVER: Magazine Illustration Campaign SILVER: Magazine Apparel Campaign TITLE: ‘Flowers, but they should be...’ / CLIENT: São Paulo Alpargatas PRODUCT: Havaianas / AGENCY: AlmapBBDO, Brazil

SILVER: Magazine Technique Single Illustration SILVER: Magazine Technique Single Art Direction TITLE: Helicopter View’ / CLIENT: The Economist / AGENCY: Ogilv y, Singapore

globalroundup the most out of any single jury this year. Environmental Design led the design categories with 14 nominations, including two for Mario Kogan Architect in Brazil and two for Art+Com in Germany. The Product Design Jury awarded nine nominations—one each to Vitra, Samsung, Taxi Canada and Adiri, and the remaining five went to Apple. The Viral Factory, Motion Blur, Cutwater and EVB were among eight nominees in Viral. UK ad agencies lead the way with total work In-Book—AMV.BBDO at the top with 27 entries, including two nominations in TV & Cinema Crafts for `Tipping Point’ for Guinness. Twenty-three entries from DDB London went In-Book, including COUNTRY NOMINATIONS IN-BOOK two nominations for `Wonderful Life’ JAPAN 6 10 for luxury retailer Harvey Nichols. BBH SINGAPORE 3 23 London was awarded five nominations for MALAYSIA 1 5 its work for children’s charity Bernardo’s, CHINA 1 4 men’s deodorant Lynx and mobile network THAILAND 1 2 Vodafone along with 14 other pieces going INDIA 0 10 In-Book. Asian ad agencies did not do so badly D&AD announced the interim results either, with Japan and Singapore contributing of Awards 2008 judging April. This year, most to the tally of nominations. 694 entries from 35 countries have been Black Pencil Judging takes place on 1 recognized as representing the best creative and 2 May in London. The jury will consists work in advertising and design. Of those, of the Foremen and one judge 143 have been nominated from each original Jury. This for a Yellow Pencil, which is Asian ad group decides if any work is awarded to work that sets agencies did truly groundbreaking. Previous new benchmarks in creative not do so badly winners include Nikeplus.com excellence. Winners will be either, with Japan by R/GA and The Guardian announced at the D&AD and Singapore newspaper redesign. Awards Ceremony in London contributing most Nominated work can be on 15 May. to the tally of viewed online from 6 May at: The TV & Cinema Crafts www.dandad.org/awards08. Jury awarded 23 nominations— nominations.

But are they Pencils?

D&AD NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED

LEO BURNETT ARGENTINA: THE MOST GOLD-WINNING AGENCY AT FIAP

Argentina – Leo Burnett Argentina had an outstanding performance at FIAP, the IBERO American advertising festival 2008, this year winning four Golds, one Silver and three Bronzes, and ranking third overall. The agency led by Fernando Bellotti, with Seto Oliveri and Pablo Capara as creative directors, received a Gold for Bev’s Leffe “Wolves” and for Red Cross Argentina. The piece “Melfed – Global Warming” received the highest distinction in Direct Marketing and Media Innovation categories. The print and outdoor piece “Flooded Home” was awarded a Gold and a Bronze in Innovation Media. Leo Burnett Argentina was also one of the most renowned agencies of the Festival and one of the few to collect awards on most categories.

RALPH STEADMAN LINES UP FOR SECOND ANNUAL SAATCHI & SAATCHI HERO SHOW

New York – Ralph Steadman, the provocative artist who treats subjects with a caustic mixture of extreme irreverence, brutality and unwincing candor and imagination, will star at the second annual Saatchi & Saatchi Hero Show at the Clio Festival, which will take place May 14-17, 2008 in South Beach. The first Saatchi Hero Show in 2007, with renowned photographer Oliviero Toscani, was a major success, attracting a full house.

WHAT’S IN THE STARS FOR THE GOLDEN DRUM FESTIVAL

AMV.BBDO, Guinness “Tipping Point”

Ljubljana – The 15th Golden Drum and Media Meeting will take place from the 5th to the 10th of October 2008 in the Bernardin Hotel complex. The starry skies of Portorož will be the celestial stage for the grand game of the 2008 Golden Drum. The Golden Drum is presenting itself with a new “Celestial game” look, conceived and designed by the Slovenian advertising agency Mayer McCann.

SIR JOHN HEGARTY SNAPPED PICKING UP DODGY PENCILS!

The famous pencil stall proves irresistible for BHH’s Sir John Hegarty. Some of the most renowned creative minds have proven that D&AD Pencils are a must-have. At any price. Sir John Hegarty admitted: “short of producing great work, it’s the only way to satisfy my cravings.” D&AD said: “Dodgy DVDs, knock-off nick-nacks, and fake fags. D&AD is the only thing you can’t buy on the sly, it’s an award you earn for excellence and nothing less.” DDB London, Harvey Nichols “Wonderful Life” may-june 08

bookreview

Living Things Not a book review by

Shu Manalo

t’s a cardboard science chart. The illustrations are captioned in Filipino: aso, langgam, halamang dagat (dog, ant, marine plant)…and curiously, an opened avocado with the word buto under. I get it that a living seed is alive. Still, I found the half-eaten fruit an awkward example of the living. Living things…buto? What am I doing, critiquing a chart? I would rather review the Filipino version of Baby Einstein, mind you. But alas, I can’t find it. Gone to the biggest bookstore in Makati with the singular task of finding a suitable, Filipino language baby book that would keep my one-year-old entertained, I didn’t think, was an exercise in futility. After all, books like such are abundant in English. But the saleslady looked at me with confusion. What would you need a Filipino baby book for? Talk to him! He’ll learn. Except it’s not that simple. Let me tell you how I got to the chart. We decided from the start that our son Alexis was going to be, at the very minimum, tri-lingual. His father, a Frenchman, would speak to him exclusively in French, I would take on the English language, yaya (nanny) and the household help would speak in Filipino. The tools of the trade came in the buyer’s language. The French books ar-

may-june 08

rived by balikbayan (literally, homecoming) box straight from FNAC. The English books came from the well-meaning godmothers and good old National Bookstore and Fully Booked. They came in varying shapes, textures, colors, and with a minimum paper stock thickness of a fold-coat 18 grams bound to chip board, just to keep it drool-proof. Every new mother is aware that babies do not distinguish their books from their toys. They throw them, chew their edges out and bang them on the walls. The medium is the message. Be it French or English, the words are from nursery rhymes, or simply things to count or read in alphabetical order. What keeps a baby’s attention are the things that pop up, the die-cut holes they poke their fingers through, even the texture of the paper. Alexis’ French books are especially special. Owe that perhaps to his papa’s distance from the nearest French-bookstore; he chooses the most inventive, most inter-active books, if to compete for playtime with the more abundant Baby Einstein. Une Souris Verte (A Green Mouse), by Denis Cauqueteax, has a cardboard mouse on a string that jumps over scientists, into a vat of oil (real oil in a blister pack on the page) and a pot of water, ends up in someone’s briefs and poops in it “trois petites crottes”. Three little poops actually come out from the giggling mouse when you pull on the cardboard arrow. Les Contraires, by Robert Crowther, is an interactive book that shows “En Haute” (Up) and “En Bas” (Down) when you turn the little roller-coaster car. In the same arrowpulling/turning/tugging fashion, it shows “few and many” with bugs appearing and disappearing on a page. Bon Appetit, by Benoit Marchon and Soledad Bravi, has a die-cut hole in the shape of a boy’s face in the middle of the book. As you turn each page, the face becomes papa’s, mom’s, a fly’s, a superhero’s. Each page is captioned “This spoon is for…papa, maman, la mouche, la maitre de l’univers.” Welcome help during feeding time. His English books are no less fun. His Osh Kosh b’Gosh “Learn how to dress up” have

pages in fabric, with each page teaching him to tie his shoelaces, buckle his belt and zip up his jacket. Of course, leave it to Dr. Seuss and His Circus McGurkus to be in full interactive form, with the drum-tummied snum sporting an extendable drumstick with beads inside that make a maracas-sounding noise and trapeze artists on opposite flaps on separate pages that meet in the middle and attach by Velcro. His Soft Shapes series of foam books by Innovative Kids have cut-out shapes of fish to be counted and fitted into their same shaped holes, and different shaped animals with little else written but the sounds they make. Simple. Interactive. Chewy. Honestly, I didn’t feel the need to get Filipino pre-school books at first. But my son

Maybe, the saleslady was right...Filipino is a language of practical use, not of learning. That’s why we leave the education to talk and TV. started enjoying his books as much as his Mega-blocks, started handing them to his yaya, and asking to be read to. To my abject horror, I saw the poor woman struggle to read “Les Fruits”, and say “Seven apples up on top,” properly. I went running to National Bookstore for help. And was handed the “Living Things” chart. I could buy him the paperbacks beautifully written by Palanca winners and illustrated by Shell Awardees, and watch them torn to pieces in one tantrum. Also, my boy’s too young to stay glued to the stories; my yaya, too old to read small print. I’d really be happy with a limerick like “Isa, dalawa, tatlo, ang tatay mong kalbo…on pop-up. Perhaps there’s something somewhere in a small artsy and “nationalistic” bookstore. Still, it behooves me that the clamor for it hasn’t reached critical mass to land a shelf in National. Maybe, the saleslady was right. It’s too pompous a need. Filipino is a language of practical use, not of learning. That’s why we leave the education to talk and TV. Or sadly, there’s little else we care to teach a one-year-old in Filipino other than that buto is a living thing.

SHU MANALO is the executive creative director and creative consultant of J. Romero Advertising.

Selected by adobo’s editorial board and some of the countr y ’s top creative directors

April 2008

Coca-Cola “Angel” TVC

Ad Title: Coca-Cola “Angel” TVC 30s / Agency: McCann Worldgroup Philippines Advertiser: The Coca-Cola Export Company / Creative Director: Raul Castro, Dino Jalandoni, Noel Bermejo / Art Director: Jasper Cosco / Copywriter: Gerry Cacanindin, Gail Riofrio Director: Adrian Van de Velde / Production House: Greatguns Bangkok Co. Ltd. Producer: Chona Bustamante / Post Production: Fame Post Bangkok Sound Production: Hit Productions, Song Zu Singapore

CREATIVE REVIEW by Toby Talbot Executive Creative Director, DDB New Zealand

Toby Talbot has been executive creative director at DDB New Zealand since February 2007. The agency has just been voted Campaign Brief’s New Zealand Agency of the Year and has been shortlisted at The One Show, D&AD, the Clios, Spikes and ADFEST. He’s not a native New Zealander. He is what’s locally known as a “Pom”. He trained at Chelsea School of Art in London and by accident fell into advertising in the early ‘90s. He soon got bored and disillusioned with the business in the UK so moved to New Zealand with his young family in 1996. After working at Colenso BBDO in Auckland for eight years, Toby moved to Saatchi & Saatchi. Both agencies have won multiple Agency of the Year accolades and Colenso BBDO was ranked at number 16 in the 2004 Gunn Report. Toby’s personal award highlights are two Golds, one Silver and six Bronze Lions, a Gold Pencil from The One Show and a Silver Nomination at D&AD. In the last few years, he has been asked to be on the juries of D&AD, the Clios, New York Festivals, ADFEST and Spikes. Last, year he chaired AWARD in Sydney. He is ranked second in Campaign Brief Australasian ranking of creative directors and last year, shots included Toby in their listing of 100 top creative minds. His mum was very proud.

may-june 08

Pizza Hut “10ish” is quite funny. Don’t know if it ’ll get up at the Palais next month, but the fact that it plays off a funny insight that Filipinos aren’t exactly punctual I like a lot. The connection to Pizza Hut could have been better, but I think the idea is quite cool. Only problem is that it ’ll only compound the problem if you use it to tell the time. Pizza Hut “10-ish” billboard BBDO Guerrero Ortego

CREATIVEREVIEW

Toby Talbot, Executive Creative Director, DDB New Zealand

Greenpeace. Nice recycling message. Very simple. Very nice. Greenpeace “Pad” Insertion Lowe Philippines copy: Save trees. Use recylced paper. GREENPEACE

It ’s one of those banner ads where you scroll over what looks like a traditional banner ad and the car basically comes to life. It crashes through other spoof ads until it ends up at the bottom of the web page. It ’s nicely done, but this is a technique that I’ve seen a lot of times before and there lies the problem with banner ads right now. Someone needs to do something different. This isn’t different. Ford “No Boundaries” Web Banner JWT Manila may-june 08

CREATIVEREVIEW

Toby Talbot, Executive Creative Director, DDB New Zealand

Kuff ‘n Kollar. Nice simple idea. Best use of ‘embossed postcard’ category. Good product demonstration. Not a huge idea but probably quite effective if you got one in the post. Kuff & Kollar Direct Mail Lowe Philippines

Sunsilk “Measuring T-Shirt ” feels a little…um…contrived. And a bit scammy too. That Pizza Hut billboard I just critiqued gets 4 million looking at it every day. That T-shirt would get considerably less I’d say. One maybe? The guy with the camera. Sunslik “Measuring Tape” T-shirt JWT Manila Copy: For longer, beautiful hair.

Healthy Options. Let ’s start at the end. “Eat good. Live bad longer.” What? Parking the serious lack of logic in that endline, the ad is quite funny. The music – “she’ll be coming round the mountains” – made me laugh. Just one thing though. If I looked like that woman, I wouldn’t have a mirror over my head. I’d have a paper bag. Healthy Options “Mirror” T VC Ogilvy & Mather Philippines

may-june 08

CREATIVEREVIEW

Toby Talbot, Executive Creative Director, DDB New Zealand

Union Bank “Burglars” also feels a tad contrived. It ’s a great brief. You can do something really thought-provoking on the subject of internet fraud. But not this ad. A burglar breaks in and steals a whole load of random numbers. Why? It ’s a metaphor, silly. Stolen numbers, geddit? Lame. Union Bank “Burglar” T VC PCV Communications

Segunda Mana. I know enough about your country to realize that poverty and homelessness are big issues. Would this motivate someone to do something to help? Possibly. I like the line “For those who need the things you don’t.” The execution that really worked for me is the shoes in the closet one. The others I struggle with. A box of old toys doesn’t work the same way, no matter how cute/tragic the kid looks. And the child asleep in the bottom drawer of the chest of drawers, what ’s that saying exactly? “Don’t throw away your chest of drawers it ’ll make a great home for someone.” The shoes execution, however, is powerful and understated. Segunda Mana “Clothes/Shoes/Toys” Poster DM9 JaymeSyfu

may-june 08

PROFILE

“D

his commencement exercise. They were on’t go into good friends from college, and Brian was business eager to get him on board. At first, he limwith friends.” ited his involvement to music arrangement, It’s an but he soon impressed the partners with adage that his business acumen, management skills exists for good and passion for his craft. reason: Great It was the halcyon days of Hit. They friendships often do not make for great business partnerships. ingeniously marketed the company by regularly producing demo reels of its best In many cases, both bonds end up in tatters. work. They threw block parties that borHowever there are exceptions, and when dered on legendthey do happen, it’s a boon for one and all. ary, eclipsed Take for example four friends who took a only by chance on one another and a dream the called Hit Productions. An extremely prolific outfit, Hit Productions created the soundtracks of 70 percent of the Philippines’ Araw winners from the last two years, an achievement for which it was honored the first Araw Production House award. Among these ads were the country’s first winners of the Gold Lion (Lotus Spa “Corporitual” and “Traffic Therapy”) and Bronze Lion for radio by Cynthia Dayco (FedEx “The Delivery”). More impressively, the 4As-Philippines named Hit Productions its Audio Production amazHouse of the Year seven times— ing sandquite a feat when you consider that this wiches they honor has only been awarded 10 times. served in the studio The production house began in 1991, lounge. More importantly, they changed the sprung from the minds of four friends: Dennis Cham, Brian Cua, Salito Malca, and Philippine paradigm of an audio production house. Charles Rappaport. How they got together In the Nineties, the music house is a case study in social networking, albeit created jingles and soundtracks; the audio years before the concept found a home on post house did the recording, dubbing, the Internet. sound editing and mixing—and never the Brian was a young musician and twain should meet. composer fresh out of De La Salle But Dennis and Salito asked “why the University who met Dennis through a hell not?” So heavily investing in new audio parent of a schoolmate. Fortuitously, post-editing equipment and adding six more Dennis’s family owned a recording studio, studios to their initial two, Hit Productions in which Charles, a music producer and set out to prove the industry wrong. talent manager, often worked. In turn, It was a gamble that would pay in Charles knew Salito, a businessman and spades. Demand for Hit’s services grew, finance guy. and by 1997, they became 4As-Philippine’s “But it was through the recording first Audio Production House of the Year. studio that we all met,” says the youthful Ana Agtarap-Palillo, vice president Brian languidly, flashing his Cheshire Cat and senior producer of Hit, says of the smile. “Our first project was Del Monte team, “They always want to innovate and [Pineapple Juice] ‘540 Sunrises’.” be the first. They don’t like it when they’re Because Brian, Hit’s creative director, was the youngest of the original partners, he told ‘you can’t do that’.” was initially the sound designer, musician, editor and occasionally, the delivery boy. n 1999, Charles decided it was time Charles was the producer; Dennis, the to strike out on his own. He sold his recording engineer and all-around tech shares to the others who, in turn, made whiz, while Salito was the finance manager. Vic the fourth partner (and years later, Each partner had a job to do at Hit. the president). But shortly thereafter, The startup quickly became known Charles was hired by a group that as the coño production house, because of wanted a Hit of their very own. Charles’ and Salito’s burly Caucasian looks. Brian says, “So this group pirated half The racial profiling didn’t hurt. In fact, it of our personnel—including the canteen did so well that after a year, they took on a girl—and stole our booking notebook, businew music arranger, Vic Icasas. ness forms, library of voice talents—” Like Brian, Vic stepped in fresh from “Even our signature tuna melt,”

HIT PRODUCTIONS

The Circle of Trust

may-june 08

chimes in Dennis. Brian continues, “It was very trying time for us. We had to start all over again.” Perhaps it was just as well, because the setback forced Hit Productions to try a new tack. “As with all bad times, you tend to reinvent yourself,” says Dennis. Like his partners, Dennis knows a bit about reinvention. Although his boyish looks say otherwise, Hit’s technical director actually went to recording school in the US and apprenticed with the Record Plant and “all the big 70’s names” in the American music industry. Brian adds, “Dennis may come from the old school, but he always keeps up with the latest. It’s a hobby and a passion for him.” Dennis tosses the admiration back to Brian. “Just like Brian. He may be the oldest of our arrangers, but he’s got the youngest sound.” Clearly, all four understood the art of reinvention. With that, they rebuilt Hit Productions. First on the list was a proper staff, starting with Ana Agtarap-Palillo, then a seasoned producer from JWT. She came on board to professionalize the system, the processes and to ensure the company was filled with people with different skill sets. That meant hiring sound engineers that they could train from the ground up; composers and arrangers who weren’t just proficient in one genre but jazz, rock, folk, orchestral, pop and dance; ex-agency coordinators who knew the urgency, the odd hours and the perfectionism demanded by advertising production. To keep their talents sharp, Dennis began his annual pilgrimage to NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants show). The partners gave him carte blanche to choose what’s hot in soundcards, software, loops, sampling libraries, and to bring them all back to Hit.

“Every year we win, it’s a reminder that we’re doing a good job. Every year that we don’t, it’s a reminder to stay humble and to keep trying harder because you’re not going to win them all.” Vic goes further. “In addition to tools, we encouraged our people to listen to current trends in music and deconstruct the sound, [because] chances are an agency’s gonna ask for that as a peg sooner or later.” Next was the upgrading of Hit’s facilities. In time, it had 16 studios—eight composer suites, seven music suites, with one more on the way—all wired to a network, a capacity that is still unequaled in the Philippines. Then they focused on client service. Realizing that the agency’s and client’s choice of a post house could be both complex and shallow, they made Hit the foolproof option. “Hit makes life very easy, providing DVDs and mpeg videos on request, saving the agency the trouble of having to pull out

their files of Hit to return it to their production house for conversion,” explains Vic. Brian adds, “We’re the first ones to put up a client lounge and wi-fi. Now, we even have a producer’s lounge and a conference room. We don’t make money off that, but we give it as part of our client service.” “But you’ll notice our sandwiches are Php400 each,” jokes Vic. Of course, Hit can’t please everyone, but at least, it pleases the some of the best in the business. Take Chona Bustamante and Steve Vesagas, two of the industry’s top producers. Steve knows exactly why he prefers Hit. “Their comprehensive set up is designed to cater to almost anything a producer dishes out, thus allowing quicker turnaround time. They constantly seek to modify, improve and upgrade

it becomes the fuel and the lubricant for reinvention. “We don’t get in each other’s way to get the job done. I’m a creative, so they trust me to make the creative decisions. I trust Salito to handle the financials; Dennis, all the technical stuff and setting up the studio.” “The barriers to putting up a studio are less now,” says Vic of the new pressures on their business. “The technology is cheaper. No one splices tape anymore. Nobody needs to invest in reel-to-reel machines or u-matic machines. “And anybody can buy a laptop. A lot of

Dennis Cham Vic Icasas

what they have. This naturally raises the bar in soundtrack production. “Their creative force is ever evolving, the support base is strong and the servicing is always sensitive to the needs of its clients, no matter how difficult or irrational at times.” Brian sums it up neatly. “Dapat balanced. Talented ka, pero accommodating ka.” Now, a balancing act like that is only possible when every partner does his job and does it well. The element of trust becomes more important than ever. In fact,

what you hear on air now can be done on a laptop at home, so the quality of the person running the laptop becomes the issue.” So if you trust in the talent of the people around you, the challenge of adapting to the market’s demands becomes just a little more manageable. And if your client trusts you to do the best job, then you’re halfway there.

Vic puts it this way. “Composing for TV is like a black art, because you can get one of the country’s top musicians in the business and put him up against one of our guys. And nine times out of ten, the guy from Hit will win, because he knows what’s involved, where to highlight, what the agency is looking for in the ending, and how to make it tell a story in 30 seconds. It’s entirely different class of music altogether.” Not bad for a production outfit that lost nearly everything, and survived only through reinvention. “Reinvent is too big a word for what we did,” says Vic. “Adapt is more accurate. We came from any era where everything was recorded on tape, and music was done live. No synthesizers. Then we did the whole media thing, and now people find media too sterile, so now we’re coming back to live band feel, the live instrument feel. “I mean it’s always changing, Salito Malca but if you pull back and look at Brian Cua the big picture, Hit is built on a business model that is tied in purely to TV and radio advertising—which may not be around 20 years from now. So it’s all a matter of adapting and changing so we can respond as best as possible.” As usual, Brian encapsulates it. “The medium may change, but they will still need their music.” So what’s next for Hit Production? How does its tight circle of trust plan on being Audio Production House of the Year for an eighth time? While it’s obviously on their minds, they try not to think too hard about it. “Every year we win, it’s a reminder that

“The medium may change, but they will still need their music.”

we’re doing a good job. Every year that we don’t, it’s a reminder to stay humble and to keep trying harder because you’re not going to win them all.”

may-june 08

PROFILE The new control room at Hit’s latest studio, featuring a Pro Tools HD 6 and ICON mixing surface

STUDIO H -ow many?

As if Hit Productions didn’t have enough studios, the partners have gone off and built another. To be completed by June 2008, it is their most impressive one yet and is dubbed “Studio H.” Dennis Cham, the group’s technical expert, explains, “Many artists work with corporate sponsors like Coke, Unilever and Nestlé to market their music though nonchannels. While It will allow the recording traditional local music studios can do of anything from a fiverecord label work, piece rock band to a live regular most are not built to serstring and horn section. vice the unique demands of Yes, agencies will once ad industry. So we felt again enjoy the luxury of the that it was time to build a soundtracks recorded by a music room group of musicians playing high-quality that meets the evolving together, not programmed needs of the music-forin a computer. advertising market.” Designed by American acoustician Rod Gervais, the new room was inspired by the design of New York’s legendary Power Station Studios (birthplace of landmark albums by Chic, David Bowie, Bon Jovi, Bruce Springsteen, Norah Jones, John Meyer, Herbie Hancock and countless others). It will allow the recording of anything from a fivepiece rock band to a live string and horn section. Yes, agencies will once again enjoy the luxury of soundtracks recorded by a group of musicians playing together, not programmed in a computer. On the equipment side, the studio will have the largest Pro Tools HD workstation in the country and include a 24-fader ICON D-Command mixing surface. Technically, this room will be at par with of any top ad music house in the US or Europe, and will exceed many in Asia. This being Hit Productions, Dennis has not forgotten the “extras” that are important to its agency client base. “In addition to an accessible Makati location, we also

may-june 08

took extra measures to insure the confidentiality for highprofile work. The studio is in a totally separate unit, with its own secured entry. Included with the studio is a private client lounge with its own kitchen, rest room, dining and conference areas—the same comforts and services as any world class music house in NY, Chicago or London.” Despite being only 90 percent finished (as of press time), Studio H is already booked solid by a production music company from Munich, and several producers are eagerly waiting to do projects in the new space. Looks like the H in Studio H stands for instant Hit.

Hit’s technical director, Dennis Cham, at the new Power Station Studios in Waterford CT, the facility which inspired the design of Hit’s new Studio H.

may-june 08

mediascape NIELSEN TO ACQUIRE IAG RESEARCH The Nielsen Company has signed a definitive agreement to acquire IAG Research, Inc. for the price of $225 million. The acquisition is expected to be completed by the second quarter of this year. In line with this, the executive team of IAG has agreed to join Nielsen following the merger. IAG Research conducts research with viewers to measure the effectiveness of advertising and program engagement across television and the Internet. “IAG will add a new dimension to Nielsen’s media business and will be the cornerstone for a new analytics practice that will provide our clients with even greater insights and clarity,” said David L. Calhoun, chairman and CEO of The Nielsen Company.

Who is really No.1?

BALLS CHANNEL BRINGS IN UFC STAR Filipino-Italian mixed martial arts fighter Brandon Michael “The Truth” Vera charmed the very excited crowd in Trinoma Mall, by speaking in fluent Tagalog and performing drills, grappling and boxing moves that included a special demonstration featuring Angel Aquino of the Studio 23 lifestyle show “Us Girls”. Vera’s visit to Manila is primarily to promote the UFC matches aired exclusively on Balls, Channel 34 on Sky Cable.

DZMM TELERADYO KEEPS N. AMERICA PINOYS’ EARS AND EYES ON THE GROUND

With DZMM TeleRadyo’s roll-out in North America, Filipinos in the US and Canada, can access the latest political and entertainment news from DZMM, a popular Philippine radio station, albeit on TV. ABS-CBN Broadcasting VP for Manila Radio Division Peter Musngi said DZMM TeleRadyo has now been made available on TFCko; a video on demand service that provides subscribers a personalized TV viewing experience different from traditional TV. “Radio must evolve for it to attract all potential audience and listeners, specially the ‘millenials’ worldwide,” he said. “DZMM’s reach via radio is limited to Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. By going into TeleRadyo, DZMM is now able to reach Filipinos who are residing outside of the Philippines.” TFCko is now available in the US, Canada, and Japan.

INQUIRER SUPPORTS YOUNG PUBLISHING COMPANY

Hinge Inquirer Publications (HIP) is very lucky to have the backing of one of the top dailies in the country. The Philippine Daily Inquirer is said to be the mostly widely circulated broadsheet, and the fast rising titles of HIP will soon be in that league with PDI’s backing. Some of the popular titles from HIP are Gold Digest, F&B World Magazine, Burn Magazine and a number of other publications with niche markets.

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at the head of the Top 10 local broadsheets, ear reader, here we present based on expenditure. Philippine Star is big two advertisements. Both are on giving out complimentary copies to estabfull-page. Both were placed lishments like hotels and coffee shops, makby a major Philippine daily. ing them very visible and accessible. They Both claim leadership in the are also very aggressive in currying the favor broadsheet category. But both of advertisers and ad agencies, making them were placed by a two different newspapers, the partner of choice by advertisers in implethe Philippine Daily Inquirer and the menting not so traditional marketing tactics. Philippine Star. So it seems there’s more than one way to Who to believe? Meeny-meeny-miney-mo. skin a No.1 claim. When you claim you’re No. 1, it is manThe Philippine print media has been datory to show proof because, as they say, suffering a decline in the readership for some there can only be one No. 1. To settle this time, but an ongoing battle issue, we sought the help may just spice things up. of AC Nielsen whose The Philippine print As the Inquirer works surveys were used by both media has been on getting more money Philippine Daily Inquirer suffering a decline from the advertisers, by and Philippine Star to claim nearly the in the readership for showing that their brilliant marketing ideas makes same thing. some time, but an them the better choice for Here are the facts. ongoing battle may campaigns, Star is looking Philippine Daily Inquirer is No. 1 just spice things up. at investing in machinery outside Metro Manila to nationwide in terms keep up with their rival’s distribution. of readership. Their superiority in Mega There is drama on the editorial front as Manila, Visayas and Mindanao, as reflected well, with well-known columnists switching in the wide margin of statistics, can be loyalties. Even the titles of their lifestyle secattributed to machinery and earlier efforts tions are going head-to-head. And now that to establish the brand. The company has a certain controversial blog has incriminated printing facilities in Cebu and Davao, which some of Philippine Star’s staff, Philippine is a great support to their circulation. Daily Inquirer wastes no time in turning Their presence in areas outside Metro their competitor’s misfortune into fodder. Manila, established long before competition Dear reader, this may turn out to be penetrated these key cities, gave them a more exciting than the network wars. chance to secure a loyal reader base. On the other hand, Philippine Star is the most widely read in Metro Manila, and is

FocusMedia

his summer, the world-famous shores of Boracay experienced a unique information blitz as only FocusMedia can provide. FocusMedia extended its reach this summer to cover the captivating island. Starting March to mid-June, FocusMedia TVs are placed in strategic locations throughout the Island. The TV sets welcome travelers upon reaching the ports of Caticlan and Cagban, there present at the busy Dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Mall, to Club Paraw at Station 1 and even at Boracay Tourist Center at Station 2. In partnership with SMART Communications, FocusMedia worked with the local government of Malay, Aklan to promote tourism in Boracay through infusion of infomercials. An angle on environmental awareness is present in the loop, courtesy of the Boracay Foundation, Inc. With the integration of value-added services to the basic airtime, the Company widened its scope of servicing to its partners. For Boracay, merchandising projects were arranged for SMART, Del Monte Fit â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;n Right, Durex and others.

in Boracay

Selling booths, TV wrap, ambulant vendors, boat sails, billboard, etc. were among the marketing avenues explored. This demonstrates the capability of FocusMedia to be the ideal complementary and cost-efficient medium in places where it matters most. FocusMedia, the largest non-traditional audiovisual advertising network in the Philippines, sees the potential and opportunity in embracing the future. Indeed, being able to reach out to as many people as possible in the most original ways has become the name of the game in non-traditional advertising. With its target-oriented and unique approach to setting a variety of marketing

Units 151-152, 15th floor, The Columbia Tower Ortigas Avenue, Mandaluyong City Metro Manila, Philippines 1550 Customer Hotline: (632) 722-7722 Website: www.focusmedia.com.ph

ABS-CBN NAMES NEW PRESIDENT Charo Santos Concio was appointed ABS-CBN’s fifth president after 20 years of producing (and occasionally appearing in) TV shows and films that inspire and bring out the best in Filipinos. Concio started off as a consultant but jumped on the fast track as director for Programs in 1989, VP of Production Operations in 1991, senior vice president of TV Production in 1996 and upon taking full responsibility of overseeing all the entertainment content of the network, was promoted to executive vice president. Her stint as head for Channel 2, effective April 1, 2006, brought greater synergy between Sales, Marketing, and Production and achieved remarkable business results. She also successfully completed the Advanced Management Program in Harvard Business School last year. She succeeds Gabby Lopez, son of ABS-CBN founder Geny Lopez. He led the network for several years, both before and after former network head Cito Alejandro.

YOCard Exhibit at Fully Booked, The Fort

Over 1,700 postcards adorned the walls of Fully Booked 4th level for the YOCard Exhibit last March 13 to 16, 2008. Advertisement free cards are now a global epidemic according to Kimmy Paulino, managing director of YOCard. Amazed was she by the number of postcard samples her team was able to amass for the exhibit. The cards came from all over—Singapore, France, Denmark, Italy, Germany, Taiwan, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, China, Russia, Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Japan and the Philippines. The idea is so simple and subtle, it is almost radical. Ads placed on postcards and given for free prove effective because they are taken voluntarily. Without force and without payment, the exchange is

may-june 08

easy. The consumer is introduced to the product or service as a matter of choice and therefore is more likely to be more receptive and attentive to the advertisement and the advertiser. The YOCard Exhibit targets collectors, graphic art designers and consumers, creative think tanks and pop art fans gathered at the opening. Advertisements are as diverse as Shu Qi for Espirit, Levi’s, Ballet Philippines, Broadway and Opera, Coca-Cola, and of course, the brand that is David Beckham. Credited as the pioneer of postcard pop culture, Xavier Baque Vielva started the Vanguardia in Barcelona 20 years ago. Today, YOCard is one of 300 freecard advertising companies in more than 50 countries around the world.

Everything’s Pushing Up Daisies Making its cable TV debut on Solar Entertainment’s 2nd Avenue is “Pushing Daisies,” a production of Warner Bros. Television, created by Bryan Fuller. This American fantasy-comedy-drama series was hit by the writers strike and completed less than half the episodes for its first season. Having aired incomplete, it has nonetheless garnered a Golden Globe nomination. “Pushing Daisies” “Pushing is an idiomatic Daisies” is expression that an idiomatic pertains to near-death. The series is about expression Ned, a pie maker gifted that pertains to near-death. with the mysterious ability to bring dead things back to life by touching them. Ned uses this gift to bring back to life his best girlfriend Chuck who has been murdered, to bring her killers to justice. In so doing, Ned eventually discovers his unique talent requires payback, and he has to suffer consequences to balance every life-returning act. Praised by Time magazine and landing in its top ten TV series of 2007, “Pushing Daisies” has the look and feel of a real-life storybook. Illustration and visuals are colorful and vibrant, a cross between the hit indie Amelie and a Tim Burton movie. In its debut year, it won best series from the Family TV Awards and best comedy or musical TV series from the Satellite Awards.

CLEAR CHANNELS

Off the Ground with Flying Colors

hile manning the booth of their construction equipment family business at the World Trade Center, Varick Ong, realized he had nothing to attract the attention of customers, unlike the other exhibitors. “When I saw the gimmicks of my competitors, I started to think—how can I compete?” The answer was up in the air. Literally. He noticed there was no competition in the air. The entrepreneur, then only 23 years old, surfed the net and entered the world of non-traditional marketing products from far away Switzerland. Clear Channels Inc. (CCI) was born. Studies showed that anything that flies attracts attention. After convincing clients of its strict safety and security standards, Clear Channels Inc. was raring to fly. Starting with remote-controlled airships, the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA)

Zeppelin was the company’s first product. That was in 2005. What would be the first of his many flying products, the PBA Zeppelin was launched and became a major hit. CCI’s initial investment of P4M was off the ground. Fresh from the airship’s success, CCI next introduced inflatables, also designed in Switzerland and Germany, manufactured in China and India. Inflatables produced the portable billboard. Being inflatable, transport would not be a problem air infusion could be done on site. Size did not pose a problem, nor did scaffolding and semi-permanent installation. Enter Globe Telecom, which adored the idea of an inflated round object very congruous to its name, and CCI’s balloons were in demand. Of course, the fact that the balloons could be lighted sealed the deal. Oh, and they float as well. Recently, Clear Channels Inc. was essen-

tial to the Coke Zero launch. Dressing up an E150 to mimic a Pinoy jeepney, the company used its Electro-Luminescent (EL) technology to jazz up the event. EL is a paper-thin product that allows the use of programmed light effects. As the Coke jeepney rolled in under total darkness, the EL product icon lit up on cue in an amazing light effects spectacle. Coca-Cola CEO & COO Muhtar Kent was in awe of the parade; he plans to bring the jeep to display in the Coke Museum in Atlanta. “What I really want is for people to know the products of Clear Channels, and not just as an extension of ad agencies,” says the youthful Ong. “Yes, it takes some time to convince clients, but CCI is honest with the technology. We see to it that the client maximizes its investment in our products and service,” he adds. In just three years, it’s clear blue skies for Clear Channels Inc.

JOLLIBEE is Now on TV For its 30th anniversary, Philippine fastfood giant Jollibee teams up with GMA 7 for a TV show for their younger patrons. “Jollitown” features the fun and insightful adventures of Jollibee and friends. The ubiquitous mascot is joined by Yum, Hetty, Popo and Twirlie for an interactive show sprinkled with stories and music for children. “We realize Jollibee’s influence on Filipino kids and how the characters can be so much more than just playmates or party mascots. We aim to help educate them in a way that’s classic Jollibee—learning through entertainment in a fun and friendly format,” says Gold Tantoco, Jollibee vice president for Corporate Marketing. This innovation has long been a dream of ours and it makes us very proud of how far our efforts for kids have come.” The Sunday mornings habit begins on April and goes on air for one full season.

may-june 08

Branding on the Race Track Formula 1 is one of the most popular sports in the world. Michael Schumacher is a brand name in itself, and his glory days with Ferrari will never be forgotten. For this reason, companies are willing to shell out big money to be sponsors of the sport. Teams are very secretive about how much brand exposure they get, but F1 Racing, the world’s bestselling grand prix magazine, dished out some figures from media monitoring agency Margaux Matrix. Scuderia Ferrari brought home the Driver’s Championship and the Constructors Trophy for 2007, but McLaren Mercedes got twice the amount of television brand exposure. How did this happen? It was the driver factor that spelled the difference between the silver and the red car. The magic of McLaren was in Lewis Hamilton. There was nothing like a sensational rookie to eclipse all the other drivers, even when your teammate is the reigning world champion. On the

other hand, it certainly didn’t help Ferrari that its newest star Kimi Raikkonen is known as the Iceman who rarely talks to media. Unsurprisingly, these two teams emerged way out in front because their drivers garnered the most podium finishes, proving that winning is still the best way to get noticed. But it was definitely not the only route. Behind them, BMWSauber finished ahead of Renault in the standings but their French Rivals beat them in terms of television exposure. Perhaps everyone was still on the look out as to how Renault will fare without Fernando Alonso, winner of the Drivers Trophy for 2006, who has moved to Mc Laren. Spyker did well to finish eighth in the TV exposure table, despite scoring just one point, while Honda’s generally uncompetitive performances meant they barely registered as a TV marketing force. This could be attributed to Spyker’s semi-dramatic early retire-

2007 FORMULA ONE BRAND EXPOSURE (total/ave) Source: Margaux Matrix McLaren

14:40:09s / 48:14s

Ferrari Renault BMW-Sauber Toyota Williams Red Bull Racing Spyker

7:39:30s / 27:02s 2:43:20s / 9:37s 2:34:10s / 9:04s 2:33:01s / 9:00s 2:33:01s / 9:00s 1:08:12s / 4:06s 47:08s / 2:46s

Scuderia Toro Rosso 28:05s / 1:39s Super Aguri 23:38s / 1:23s Honda 19:01s / 1:07s

Photo: Corbis ments and crashes, while Honda’s races were usually uneventful. Toyota is an entirely different story. As a marketing platform, F1 is right on the money for Toyota as resonated by its President and CEO Katsuaki, saying that the team’s future in the sport is not dependent on winning but rather “on the platform of F1, whether there is a technical challenge remaining, or if it is an interesting series.” The Japanese team

placed fifth in terms of exposure and oddly enough their highest exposure time (20 minutes and 19 seconds) came at the Turkish grand prix where they finished 12th and 16th, having qualified 9th and 16th. Richard Cole of Margaux Matrix explains further the dominance of the Toyota brand. “Their branding was strong,” he says. “Colors play a part, and theirs were mostly red and blue out of white. It ’s nice and easy for viewers to spot.” A source at

rival team described the Japanese marque’s livery as “clinically put together.” How a logo looks is also critical along with the positioning of that logo in the car and in the race suit. While these tricks can indeed help, there is still no substitute for success. With that, we leave you to imagine how Toyota’s brand exposure will immensely improve by the end of this year’s season if their main man Jarno Trulli continues his streak of decent finishes.

thebiggerpicture

Images of Women In Advertising

“T

by Cid Reyes

alking about the role of women: they are still portrayed in a stereotypical manner. They are placed in extremes—either they’ll be the beautiful, dutiful mothers and housewives or the seductive “other” women. In fact, with the varieties of beauty products entering the market, women are seen obsessed with their looks. However, we have examples where even the men are shedding their macho image and do not have any qualms in being fair and handsome. “One trend I have observed is that women in our ads are being increasingly portrayed as career-oriented. While this may be regarded as positive, often stereotypical images are also juxtaposed, giving a very mixed message. I suppose, though there is a trend towards portraying women in assertive roles, the break from the past is not complete. The superwoman concept—a woman who has a vibrant career but doubles up as a model housewife or a typical, fixated-on-looks youngster—persists.” If you had naturally presumed that the above statements were referring to the depiction of women in Philippine advertising, that would be understandable. But in fact those two statements were posted on the web, in reaction to an article entitled “Changing Sex Roles in Indian Advertisements’’. Indeed, the understandable hullaballoo about the subject does not only obtain in our country. Neither is just an Asian issue, but in fact, a worldwide—therefore, universal—problem, to which the right and proper solutions, or perspectives, have not been applied. This has even led to the point of exasperation, provoking the misogynist question: “But what do women really want ?!”

Serious studies are being done on this seemingly impossible situation. This article, therefore, is a necessary addendum to adobo’s last International Women’s Day issue. Willy Arcilla, in his Top Ten Wishes for the women in the world of marketing and showbiz, exhorted: “Practice the Golden Rule: Don’t do unto other women what you don’t want others to do to the women in your life.’’ Again, Franchellie Cadwell: “The mass of women has been revolutionized—only advertising to women hasn’t.” In the December 2005 issue of “Sex Roles: A Journal of Research” written by Kwangok Kim and Dennis T. Lowry, the researchers delved into “television commercials as a lagging social indicator: gender role stereotypes in Korean television advertising.” Hereunder is the gist of their findings (highly erudite, studded with footnotes!): The representation of people in the mass media has often

A comprehensive resource for information about how women are portrayed in advertising in the website of Scott A. Lukas, Ph.D. The website features over a thousand printed images, known as Lukas’ “gender ads project.” This is a breathtaking treasure trove of images, with specific analyses of the ads. To wit: Bodies Only is an analysis of the ways in which the advertising world shows women as being connected to their bodies, not their minds.

Politics is a page that looks at the ways in which progressive social movements, like feminism, have been misconstrued and distorted in the contemporary cultural scene. may-june 08

Roles addresses some of the common social roles that re-attributed to women in the world of advertising.

Violent shows women in violent poses or as displaying violent tendencies.

been negative (Taylor & Stern, 1997). The media often have enforced (if not created) images of negative (Taylor & Bang, 1997) or unrealistic (McArthur & Resko, 1975) stereotypes. Helpmann (1957) defined stereotypes as “preconceptions” that are “not a complete picture of the world but they are a picture of an impossible world to which we are adapted.” One social issue in advertising has been the distorted reflections of people in societies. (Pollay, 1986). Williamson (1978) argued that “advertisements must take into account not only the inherent realties and attributes of the products they are trying to sell, but also the way in which they can make those properties mean something to us.” Gender representations in advertising can easily reflect “fundamental features of the social structure,” such as values, beliefs, norms (Goffman, 1979, p.8). However, advertisements “signify’’ or “ represent” the desire of objects or “the self” by producing images (i.e., desired images) of others who are different from “the self’’ in most cases (Williamson, 1978). Advertisers tend to use a limited meaning of values or beliefs about gender roles in advertising by reinforcing the stereotypical images of gender roles, as if those images are desired by society (Pollay, 1986, Williamson, 1978). Advertising often builds only abstracts of certain groups of people (i.e. stereotypes) on “its own plane of reality , capitalist realism” (Schudson, 1984, p.214). In other words, as Goffman (1979) argued, advertising is a series of editions of social behaviors of a society. However, some researchers (Caballero, Lumpkin & Madden, 1989, Callcott & Phillips, 1996; Jaffe & Leger, 1994) have found that the use of stereotypes in advertising cannot always persuade consumers to buy products. Advertisers seek to communicate to a target audience with existing beliefs. Advertisers believe that the use of stereotypes makes it easier to communicate to a target audience and to sell their products than the use of multiple, realistic values and beliefs would. As Goffman (1979) and Schudson (1984) argued, advertisers use “reality” that is believed to sell their products reactively. For example, idealized (or desired) values and gender roles are often employed in advertising although they are only real in the advertising world. Why should we be concerned with stereotypical advertising? According to Berger and Luckmann (1966), subjective reality cannot be maintained without a central base and social processes. Subjective reality is continued by confirmation or alternating possibilities of reality. In other words, consistent media images of stereotypical gender roles have reinforced the public’s subjectivity, and those images remain in the public without portraying the actual “reality’’ of society. When advertisers use stereotypes in advertising, do they reflect the images and beliefs of the public? Or do they mold or shape stereotypes? Advertisers might use stereotypes to reflect peoples existing beliefs. However, although any society or culture can have multiple values and beliefs, all values are not employed in advertising. Williams (1993) argued that “the tragic system” of advertising, which inserts irrelevant values and meaning into advertisements, is the result of a failure in real meanings, values

and ideals. Thus, the use if stereotypes in advertising can become selective reinforcement. Goffman (1979) published one of the classic studies of advertising in gender role portrayals. He concentrated on images (i.e., positioning of hands, knees, eyes) rather than on words. Goffman classified the depiction of women into six categories. 1) Relative-size Women are shown as smaller or lower than men. 2) Feminine-touch Women are shown caressing objects or touching themselves. 3) Function-ranking Women are shown in occupational positions subordinate to men. 4) Family focus Women are portrayed as mothers and caretakers. 5) Ritualization of Subordination Women are shown in flirtations or childish poses. 6) Licensed withdrawal Women are shown as distracted or not involved in their surroundings. Goffman concluded that advertisements usually depict women as mothers, or as childlike, or as sex objects. Another interesting research paper, entitled “The Objectification of Women in Advertising: What are the Affects on Society?” explores the consequences of how advertising depicts women. “Some suggest that the objectification of women in advertising dehumanizes them, which may lead to violence being forced on them. Some actually depict violent scenes, even the death of women for the sake of a product, however conclusive evidence has not been found that this promotes actual physical attacks against women. “Predominantly female bodies are used to sell products, though the male body is increasingly displayed as just an object. The mainstream opinion everybody seems to agree on is ‘sex sells—pretty much anything’, and so one might say, it is simply a marketing tool and it has no impact on society. Most people don’t even look at the ads on TV, but use the frequent commercial interruptions to visit the fridge or the bathroom instead. Some might say that ads are simply fun if done well (or dull if not) and don’t really qualify as anything other than ‘entertainment’ in their lives. Other opinions, however, claim that these visuals have a direct impact on how to see woman in our society. “ Advertising is without a doubt exploiting and objectifying women, and to a lesser degree, men as well…In conclusion to my research , I would have to say that what the ad agencies present in their work is more if a reflection of an ill society, rather than the reason it. So when you ask yourself…look into the mirror, not into a magazine—and do some soul-searching.”

When advertisers use stereotypes in advertising, do they reflect the images and beliefs of the public? Or do they mold or shape stereotypes?

CID REYES recently retired from Ace Saatchi & Saatchi. The Creative Guild of the Philippines honored him with a Lifetime Achievement Award. He is now publisher of Larawan Books, specializing in coffee table books.

Stupid is a page that deals with the association of women with less than average intelligence.

Naggers portrays a common and unfortunate understanding of women as displaying nagging behavior.

Strippers is a category that was suggested by a viewer, and it considers the representations of women in a specific role, that of the stripper or dancer.

Feminine as Difficult is a trope that looks at how femininity is constructed as something to be overcome. may-june 08

privateview

cents and values

Looking Into The Innards of A Commercial by Nanette Franco-Diyco

O I

ver the weekend, I caught the newest TV commercial of Unilever’s Lady’s Choice Mayonnaise. For a change, it wasn’t one of those commercials using another celebrity endorser. Really and truly, no matter what anybody says, celebrity endorsements, especially on local television, are so numerous, seemingly coming one after the other, almost non-stop. It is reaching that stage when viewers

magine you’re the head of corporate communication for your company, and you are faced with this situation—a dissatisfied client (who, unfortunately, you found out just now), happens to be a distinguished blogger (if there is such a thing), writes a mocking post about your product or service offerings based on a recent encounter. Before you know it, bloggers from around the country, and unsurprisingly around the world, are connecting to the post and adding their own take on the issue. Maybe your company or your own person even becomes fodder for podcast babble and irreverent videos uploaded in popular sites like the YouTube. Of course your wish (and I am sure everybody else’s) is to get wind of such web-based coverage before it hits the pages of the major broadsheets, magazines and tabloids. Well, you hope so. But the speed by which people can get connected can truly dampen this hope. Without a doubt, a barrage of negative blogs can damage your corporate reputation, your market share price and your bond with stakeholders. A clear illustration of such damage is what is now the classic tale of Dell Computer and Jeff Jarvis (a Dell client), who wrote a piece in his blog grumbling about his Dell machine. His post sparked a discussion, and soon a horde of angry, dejected customers joined Jarvis in a cacophony of complaints. This event became known as “Dell Hell” and is celebrated in the so-called blogosphere.

“Bloggers and Internet pundits are exerting a ‘disproportionately large influence’ on society. Although ‘active’ web users make up only a small proportion of Europe’s online population, they are increasingly dominating public conversations and creating business trends.” “Bloggers and Internet pundits are exerting a ‘disproportionately large influence’ on society. Although ‘active’ web users make up only a small proportion of Europe’s online population, they are increasingly dominating public conversations and creating business trends,” said The Guardian. On the other hand, Carol Darr, the director of the Institute for Politics, Democracy and the Internet at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., was quoted in the TV newsmagazine

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may start perking up or paying more attention, ironically, when a product is sold by an ordinary everyday human being. Such is the case with the Lady’s Choice television commercial. The 30-seconder that was launched is beautifully simple and oh-sorelevant. Without any pretensions, it shows a young mother preparing sandwiches for her children to take out. Without needing any special equipment, she generously spreads slices of bread with Ladies Choice Mayonnaise as the base for a variety of sandwiches. This, she does as she talks directly to camera. Quite understated. Good casting and good copy here. The woman does look and sound like a knowledgeable housewife who’s familiar with the kitchen and is certainly used to preparing great things for the family. And so you stop, you look, and you listen. Quite a feat, considering the clutter of ads on TV trying to catch your attention and hold it. I’m told that the Unilever Lady’s Mayonnaise account has been recently realigned to advertising agency Ogilvy & Mather. Good job here. The commercial responsibly cautions everyone about eating street foods—obviously for hygienic reasons. And goodness gracious, might I add, especially during the summer where bacteria grows faster by leaps and bounds, ultra-hygienic preparations for eating are indeed called for. There’s no question that you’re playing with fire vis-à-vis street foods. But we should not forget: We also have to be very careful with dining out in restaurants. And, mind you, I’m not talking only of the honky-tonks. Some of you may be in need of some consumer education. Years ago, I spent a whole month in Kuala Lumpur doing a radio consumer workshop with British Broadcasting (BBC) under the sponsorship of the International Organization of Consumer Unions (IOCU). I distinctly recall the vigilant consumer lecturers emphasizing

logic and magic

Bloggers Are Here to Stay

by Bong Osorio

“CBS Sunday Morning” in July 2007 saying that: “Most of the people who read blogs are highly educated and earn high income. They tend to be trendsetters. So they are influential far out of proportion to what their numbers are.” For sure, if a research is done among Filipino bloggers and Filipinos who read blogs, you may be able to discover a number of parallels with American or European counterparts. Case stories on bloggers and “blogreads” (my concoction of people who read and track blogs) will tell you that they have consistently demonstrated their vast powers. They have negatively influenced large, internationally known companies and brands—WalMart, Kryptonite Locks, Land Rover, and Sony. Of course, smaller firms could suffer even more from the onslaught, like the tale of a New York camera retailer that went out of business. Indeed, the blogging phenomenon has made the corporate communicator’s job even more expanded and challenging. “Never underestimate the power of blogs”, says blogger and podcaster Donna Papacosta of Canada. “Web blogs”, she adds, “are no longer the domains of pajama-wearing folks who write screeds about what they ate for lunch.” Bloggers are now creating news that might have a direct impact on your organization’s reputation and they leave an online trail of archives that never goes away—thanks to the magic of web caches. Increasingly, blog posts are being picked up in mainstream media or are at least influencing the context of reporting.

Good casting and good copy here. The woman does look and sound like a knowledgeable housewife who’s familiar with the kitchen and is certainly used to preparing great things for the family. And so you stop, you look, and you listen. restaurants that facilitate the patrons’ easily looking into the innards of the kitchen. The rationale given: This practically signals maximum hygiene cum cooking skills, because the restaurant owners are fully aware that the customers’ eyes are on the chefs or cooks doing their thing, focusing at that stage mostly on hygiene. The parallel cited here is product packaging with a transparent window that allows the buyer a real peep into the product he is buying. Here, the consumer knows through the use of his own eyes

Most definitely, the majority of negative posts will not precipitate a cloud of restless, loudly complaining souls. Generally, a potentially harmful post won’t gain traction unless it’s a reasonable complaint from a credible source (like a respected blogger), and is based on an issue experienced by a number of people, not just a lone voice or an isolated case. Given the rapidly increasing weight of blogging, corporate communicators are urged to ask two critical questions. One, how can you possibly know what bloggers are saying about your organization? And two, what should you do if your organization’s name is being dragged through the mud? Papacosta offers some basic courses of actions.

Bloggers are now creating news that might have a direct impact on your organization’s reputation and they leave an online trail of archives that never goes away Set-up an in-house blog monitoring system. Your existing PR people should include blogs in its mediamonitoring deliverables (talk about more work for Filipino corporate communicators). They can be tasked to track blog posts about your company and its key leaders. They might not be an organized group as of yet in the Philippines, but in the USA, PR people use such sites as Blogbuzz, Feedster, Google Blog Search, PubSub and Technorati. And maybe as you consider doing this added function, your technologically savvy competitors are probably already monitoring your organization. Subscribe to industry blogs. That is, if there are any available. This will allow you to be aware of trends that affect your company. Also identifying and building relationships with relevant bloggers should be considered. This is a smart move, as it makes you part of a greater community and be plugged into its issues. This could be your version of online media nurturing. Keep an eye on employee bloggers. If your employees are blogging about the company, either in

what he is buying. He does not rely only on the illustrative claims on the packaging that oftentimes is cosmeticized. You watch the Lady’s Choice commercial, fully appreciating how easily the mom is able to make delicious-looking sandwiches at home. Then, you realize that the surest way that you can ascertain that your children and the family get only clean food is to prepare it yourself. As a matter of fact, O&M account manager Ian Panlilio revealed that the global campaign of Ladies Choice is coded “Real moms for real food.” Unilever Philippines opted to shorten this to “Choose Real.” It smacks of a good advocacy thrust. Mothers who view the commercial are bound to resolve to be more careful, building in some safety factors related to preparation of foods, specially outside the home. A mother leaves feeling inspired and energized in the performance of her all-important role as mom. That’s one long-lasting effect of good advertising. NANETTE FRANCO-DIYCO is a faculty member of the Ateneo de Manila University and the University of Asia & the Pacific. She also writes a weekly advertising column in the BusinessWorld and a bi-monthly marketing column in the Food & Beverage World Magazine.

blogs sanctioned by the organization or personal sites on their own time, you need to monitor what they’re saying. Make sure they are aware of the corporate policy on blogging. If there is none, write. After all, if any of your associates makes unrealistic claims about your products or bashes the competition, your reputation will suffer. Be wise in your responses. Don’t respond to every negative word uttered about your organization. Choose your battles and always use your judgment. If the blogger seems like a nut, ignore him or her for now, but monitor others’ links to his or her post. Sometimes it’s best to issue a news release to address the problem. Apple Computer did this when bloggers ranted about scratches on the screens of their iPod Nanos. If your company has a blog, you could discuss the issue there. Of course, if someone is making libelous statements, it may be time to call the lawyers. Apologize if you need to. Let’s assume your company is under fire for mistreating someone who called your customer-service line. If you honestly investigate the complaint, acknowledge the error of your ways and apologize if indeed the caller had been handled badly. You would make the customer feel better, and you’d probably satisfy the blogosphere, too. Bloggers use their online presence for good, not mischief, underscores Papacosta. It is advisable to take the time to cultivate relationships with bloggers in your industry now before trouble appears. You’ll gain much more than a bit of insurance. You’ll also be connected to what’s happening in your industry, and you may truly enhance your corporate reputation by contributing to conversations on the blogs and being seen as a thoughtful expert yourself. Bloggers are here to stay. Armed with tremendous power, they can either boost your ego and push your reputation to a higher level or bring it down to the pavement. They cannot be ignored. BONG OSORIO is an active marketing communications practitioner, a multi-awarded educator and writer rolled into one. He currently heads the Corporate Communication Division of ABS-CBN, and is a professor at the University of Santo Tomas, as well as a columnist in the Philippine Star.

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privateview

marketmentor

C2 RTD Tea: A Marketing Miracle in Vietnam

by Willy Arcilla

ven as advertising loses its luster to clutter, wrong positioning, off-strategy creative and mediocre executions, it may help to know of recent campaigns that are both entertaining and persuasive. One, in particular, even overcame failed attempts to relaunch a brand that had been written off as “double-dead”—indeed a marketing and advertising miracle.

Background Buoyed by C2’s success in the Philippines, a new and modern production line was installed in the URC Vietnam plant in 2005 to produce C2 RTD Tea for the local market. Chairman Emeritus John Gokongwei believed that C2 can also succeed in Vietnam because consumers drank traditional iced tea. C2 was launched in March 2006 using a different formulation, offering flavors better suited to the locals. A TVC was produced. C2 gained rapid distribution in Ho Chi Minh City, but after pipeline, off-take came in below expectations. This was attributed to the weak TVC that failed to generate awareness and trial, and a product that tasted too bitter. A second TVC using a local B-movie star was produced immediately to rectify the situation, but while it was better than the original, it still remained largely ineffective.

New Mandate Then URC International hired a regional marketing consultant to help revitalize C2 in Vietnam. The regional and local URC teams were already skeptical after two failed attempts and asked to ship the production line back to Cebu, but URC President and COO Lance Gokongwei prevailed, with a “mandate” for the consultant to take one last swing. The Product Applying the first and foremost rule in Marketing, the consultant went back to the Vietnamese consumers. He learned why the TVCs did not work. He also discovered the products were not acceptable and that the packaging lacked shelf-presence. Then the local team reformulated the product, redesigned the packaging and reworked the ads. The Agency Recognizing that TVCs are created by advertising agencies but approved for airing by clients, the consultant did not terminate the local Vietnam ad agency XPR Communications. Instead, he enjoined them to redeem themselves with a new TVC to revitalize C2. XPR’s intrepid CEO Van Anh agreed to do it—at half the price. New TVC Together, the team developed a new TVC featuring Johnny Tri Nguyen, a wushu expert and stuntman, director and actor. He was also a young, cool and good-looking Viet Qieu (Vietnamese raised overseas) from Hollywood–an ideal endorser for C2. The new TVC clearly established C2’s source-of-volume—carbonated softdrinks—since the RTD Green Tea market remained small and undeveloped. It leveraged a strong point-of-difference versus other green tea brands—that C2 brews tea leaves grown in the northern highlands of “Thai Nguyen,” renowned as the source of the best tea in Vietnam. The spot also strengthened C2’s brand by spelling out “Cool and Clean” in both English and Vietnamese and visually dramatized its physical and emotional benefits. It ended by announcing a lower price, as a limited trial offer. Speed, Speed, Speed The consultant met Johnny Tri Nguyen at a local coffee shop in October 2006, and the team shot a week later. The material was

The University of the East Rises In celebration of its 18th Communications Arts Week, the University of the East recently held a series of lectures entitled “Rise Up.” Guest speaker at the event was Maricel Pangilinan-Arenas, co-managing director of Harrison Communications, who delivered an informative talk on “May Ethics ba sa Advertising?” She introduced the students to the revised Code of Ethics in Advertising, tackling case studies on a number of ethical issues. Among the event’s highlights was a film showing of the CNN production “Live from Baghdad,” which provided the students an insight to the real world of news gathering and media production. Another aspect of mass media, voice talent Eloisa Cruz-Canlas, aka Lola Sela Bungangera, engaged students in an interactive exchange, trying out a wide range of exercises for radio voice-overs during her talk on “Being a Radio Talent.” Although the event was almost canned, student organizer Ralph Gregor Gurango and his team were relentless in their efforts to see the fruition of UE’s 18th Communications Arts Week.

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finished in post and dubbed ready for airing in seven days. Lesson: Nothing is impossible if you have a team determined to bring a brand “back from the brink.” Results C2’s sales jumped three-fold immediately, despite limiting the sales area to Ho Chi Minh City. In November 2006, HCMC televiewers voted the ad among the top 10 “Most Favorite TVCs.” The ad generated such strong consumer pull that it drove demand from the trade, improving availability and compensating for gaps in distribution. Visibility at point-of-sale drove awareness and trial further, sustaining its

Nothing is impossible if you have a team determined to bring a brand “back from the brink.” growth and unleashing a virtuous cycle. Moreover, the cost of production and media was only half of the old campaign, a good example of bang for the buck. Thus, despite two earlier strikes, C2’s third attempt to connect with consumers hit the ball out of the park. Importantly, it also demonstrated that teamwork and commitment delivers superior quality work in the shortest time possible and at the least possible cost. As the legendary John Gokongwei says,

PUP’S 17TH ADCLASH Held recently at the SM San Lazaro Entertainment Plaza was the 17th ADClash of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP). ADClash is held every year where seniors of PUP’s College of Business, Department of Advertising and Public Relations compete through a tri-media advertising campaign. Each senior section presented a comprehensive campaign for a chosen client, an existing market brand. The major sponsor-client for this year’s ADClash was Newborn Food Products, manufacturer of Lily’s Peanut Butter. Each of the five sections was allotted 40 minutes to present their integrated marketing communications campaigns that included production numbers beyond the tri-media presentations. Judges included director Sockie Fernandez, advertising

“Nothing is impossible if you are willing to pay the price to achieve your dreams.” April 2008 Update: C2’s sales have grown to the point where the previous sales volume per month has now become the sales volume per day, representing a 3,000 percent increase in sales after over a year, and turning Vietnam into “the new darling of URC.” Key Learnings: Produce and air only advertising that sells— memorable branding, compelling benefits (functional and emotional), a strong reason-to-believe, an engaging and entertaining story that may feature a credible endorser in an aspirational situation—using a passionate yet open-minded production house and post-production facility, led by a top commercial director, and guided by a top ad agency. Ads need not be expensive, but they must be creative and effective. As this writer often advises, “You can profit from your losses if you will learn from your mistakes.” This entails redefining the meaning of C2, from Cool & Clean to “Courage & Confidence”. Of course, any miracle—even in business—can only materialize with divine intercession. After re-relaunching C2 in Vietnam, WILLY E. ARCILLA set up a management consultancy firm, Business Mentors, Inc. He is also the Regional Director of ZMG Ward Howell, a leading provider of human capital solutions. Comments welcome at willyarcilla@yahoo.com.

photographer Dindo Villaester, Madeline Roldan, Ruby Bañares, Ron Arriola, Edgar Allan Caper, Dandee Javier, Nora Mendoza, Romano Canilao and Emmanuel Arriola. In order to generate maximum exposure, the event was held at the center of the mall during peak hours on a weekend as requested by Newborn Food Products. According to first-time organizer and college junior Ruselle Capillo, the students were previously allowed the use of the venue for free. However, learning that the event included product branding, SM San Lazaro charged the normal rental fee. Too late, Newborn Food Products did not agree to shoulder the additional cost. Despite the pending problem, and the chaos of payday Saturday afternoon at a mall, the PUP 17th ADClash was well-organized and the students’ campaigns worthy of their 40 minutes of limelight. As for Section 4-2D that named itself Top Advertising, well, they topped indeed, having emerged Champion by bagging Best Print Ad, Best TV Commercial and Best IMC Proposal. Venus Ver, also from 4-2D won Best Presenter. Best Radio Ad went to 4-1D, Yellow Brick.

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