Is56 adobomagazine women issue

Issue 56 march-april 2015 Philippines PHP 195 Indonesia IDR 100k Malaysia MYR 15 Singapore SGD 10 Hong Kong HKD 60 Thailand THB 250

Women of Influence 2015 For our 9th anniversary, adobo magazine debuts a new look with a salute to the industry’s award-winning creative

talent, designers, marketers, production chiefs, media titans, movers and shakers to mark International Women’s Day.

Check out our inaugural Women of Influence list, featuring Philippine and overseas talent on pg. 55

i s s u e

56 march-april

2015

THE TIMES, THEY ARE A CHANGIN’ The more things change, the more they stay the same

M

uch is said (habitually, almost) when “reality” obfuscates truth. Essentially, true humanity is sacrificed for personality, and sensationalism substituted for fact. Such is the manner in which far too many of this country’s institutions choose to carry themselves, and such is the manner that adobo, from the very beginning has chosen not to.

Over the last nine years, this publication has had the privilege of a front row seat for the local industry’s highs, lows, and, perhaps most importantly, growth. In all that time, adobo has been a cheerleader, an historian, a drinking buddy, and, yes, a friend. From Philippine advertising’s tentative steps into a larger world to its current status as one of the region’s greatest success stories, adobo has been there every, step of the way.

Of course, any brand that chooses to position itself as ‘The Word on Creativity’, must itself be on the cutting edge of what that word truly

means. adobo magazine was created to chronicle creativity, and it was with this in mind that ‘Project Refresh’ was undertaken.

Simply put, the price of indolence is to accept obsolescence. Our world has reached the point of being so small and interconnected that to slacken one’s pace or passion at the wrong moment is tantamount to professional suicide, and our commitment to the industry we service is embodied by the magazine you now hold in your hands.

‘Project Refresh’ is just the latest in a journey yet ongoing. As the Philippines continues to make strides in the larger creative landscape we now live in, one thing is for sure: whatever shape or form that creativity will take in the days, months and years ahead, adobo will be there.

That’s what being The Word on Creativity is all about.

Angel V. Guerrero Founder, Publisher & Editor-in-Chief

Staffb x President & Editor-In-Chief Angel V. Guerrero

Vice President & Chief Operating Officer Janelle Barretto Squires

Editorial Editorial Consultant Managing Editor Sharon Desker Shaw Mikhail Lecaros Multimedia Journalist Marj Casal

Editorial Coordinator & Writer Charisma Felix

Art Creative Director Multimedia Artist Victor Garcia Ricardo Malit Graphic Artist & Illustrator Joshua Gonzales Marketing & Events Sales and Marketing Head Senior Account Manager Cha Clarino Caren Flores Business Development & Circulation Officer Rea Gierran

Account Managers Tricia Amarilla Nicole Songco

Finance & Admin Finance Consultant Finance Officers Jeffrey Cuenca Elsa Galamgam Mia Mangaran Hr & Admin Officer Romina Claros Liaison Officers Michael Barcelon Alan Agcoili

Telephone +632.845.0218 / +632.886.5351 For advertising, sales, subscription, editorial and general inquiries, please get in touch.

Issue 56 march-aprIl 2015 philippines Indonesia malaysia singapore hong Kong Thailand

php 195 IDr 100k mYr 15 sGD 10 hKD 60 ThB 250

Women of Influence 2015 For our 9th anniversary, adobo magazine debuts a new look with a salute to the industry’s award-winning creative

talent, designers, marketers, production chiefs, media titans, movers and shakers to mark International Women’s Day.

Check out our inaugural Women of Influence 2015 list, featuring Philippine and overseas talent on pg. 55.

Craft Design John Ed de Vera

editorial@adobomagazine.com sales@adobomagazine.com subscriptions@adobomagazine.com events@adobomagazine.com books@adobomagazine.com info@adobomagazine.com www.adobomagazine.com

Fax +632.845.0217 adobo magazine Unit 203, Bldg 1, OPVI Center 2295 Pasong Tamo Extension, Makati City 1231, Philippines Follow us on Twitter @adobomagazine Like us on Facebook www.facebook.com/adobomagazine

Cover photo Shampoo Padilla

adobo magazine is published bi-monthly by Sanserif Inc. © 2014 Sanserif Inc. All rights reserved. Printed on recycled paper.

No part of the magazine may be reproduced or transmitted by any means without prior permission of the publisher. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information in this publication, the publisher and the editor assume no responsibility for errors of omissions or any circumstance of reliance of information in this publication. The opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent the views of the publisher and the editor. Advertisements are the sole responsibility of the advertisers.

YOUR GUIDE TO THE METRO’S HIPPEST AND HOTTEST

SEASON 5 Hosted by Karen Pamintuan Walter Demesa PREMIERES 24 MARCH 2015 TUESDAYS, 9:00PM ENCORE TELECAST SUNDAYS, 10:30PM

SKY CABLE CHANNEL 52

ALSO AVAILABLE ON DESTINY DIGITAL CABLE

facebook.com/LifestyleNetwork

twitter.com/Lifestyle52

instagram/LifestyleNetwork

ntribut rs

Johann Bona Photographer Von Buenconsejo Photographer

Cynthia Arre Illustrator Dominic Calalo Graphic/Layout Artist

AJ Omandac Illustrator Rian Gonzales Illustrator

Robert Alejandro Illustrator Raxene Maniquis Illustrator

Tony Ahn Columnist Jamie Tolentino Columnist

Teppai Pascual Author, Krokis

Donald Lim Guest Columnist Julian Tanner Guest Columnist

Matthew Arcilla Writer Deng Tee Guest Columnist

Meneer Marcelo Illustrator

SĂŠverine Charbon Guest Columnist

Joaquin Valdes Writer Amanda Lago Writer

Danielle Austria Writer

March – April 2015 Table of Contents

55

Up Front

Digital 16

Digital Gallery

App and Ad Engagement

Cover Story Women of Influence

Severine Charbon,

128 Feature

Opinion Julian Tanner, Cohn & Wolfe

26 Opinion Donald Lim, ABS-CBN 28 Opinion Tony Ahn

trendspotting

centerfold

108

110

The Line it is Drawn

30 Snapshot ABS-CBN’s

126 Opinion ZenithOptimedia Group

22 Opinion Jamie Tolentino 24

The Firm

Badong Abesamis, Y&R

Kinetic Worldwide

132 Feature

Aspac Advertising

Downtime 138 Book Review

The Art of Social Media, How to tips from social

Digital Switch

media’s Jack Bauer The Work

People

34 Deconstructing

100 Profile

creativity

Philippine Mental Health Act Campaign

36 Opinion Denise Tee,

Ace Saatchi & Saatchi

38 Bang for the Buck Suntory 3D on the rocks 40 Then and Now

Ford Mustang

42 Snapshot

140 Movie Review 112 In the Bag

Birdman

Edmund Choe, TBWA\

Sarah Tolentino,

(The Unexpected Virtue

Singapore

Procter & Gamble Asia

of a Film Stunt)

and Southeast Asia

104 Creative Corner

114 Sidedish

142 App Review

Martha Sazon,

Globe Telecom

144 App Review

All-Star Gaming

Kat Limchoc,

Blackpencil Manila

114 Getting to Know

Clash of Clans,

106 adobo Exhibit

A tale of Myths

117 Young Blood

and Marketing

Chris Lee, Asylum Singapore

Jane Walker, HOOQ

146 Watering Hole

Sweet Ecstacy: X marks the sweet, sweet spot

Stuck in Dad Mode?

44 Festival Coverage

148 In the Kitchen

Kidlat Awards 2015

Joey Ong’s

52

Competition

Layers of Goodness

adobo University

150 adobo out & about

9 years calls for a #PerfectCoke Happy Anniversary

“COCA-COLA”, COKE and the design of the Contour Bottle are registered trademarks of The Coca-Cola Company. ©2015 The Coca-Cola Company

Celebrate Philippine Airlines’ 74th anniversary and be part of our all-new milestone, New York Flights!

As low as USD 1,174 / PHP 52,830 Roundtrip All-in Fare MANILA

to

NEW YORK

PR126 Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday Departure: 11:50PM Arrival: 7:00AM (next day) Selling Period: Until March 31, 2015 Travel Period: Starting March 15, 2015 FARE CONDITIONS: Subject to seat availability. Fare is equal to base fare + government taxes and fees + ticketing service fee. Fare includes terminal fee. Fares are subject to change due to currency conversion rate. Fare is non-refundable. No-show fee is USD 75.00. Change fee is USD 200.00 per transaction. Philippine Travel Tax is applicable to Philippine passport holders, foreigners holding a Philippine resident visa, and foreign tourists or expatriates who have stayed in the Philippines for more than 1 year. Ticket is non-transferrable.

Ticketing Service Fee is not applicable in web purchase. Fare is refundable when application for visa is denied; subject to a fee. Passenger must show proof of application and denial at any PAL ticket office. Flight reservation must be cancelled upon passenger's receipt of visa denial or 7 days prior to departure, whichever is earlier. For visa denial within 7 days prior to departure date, PAL will collect a No-Show fee unless booking is cancelled 24 hours before departure date. Infant fare is 10% of adult fare. Child fare is 75% of adult fare.

50% mileage accrual. Quoted fares are rounded off to the nearest whole number. Other travel conditions apply.

BAGGAGE ALLOWANCE: Fare is inclusive of 7-kg handcarry baggage. Free check-in baggage is 2pcs at 50 lbs each.

CAB Approval No. 897-09-25, S2014

Book your flight now.

Visit philippineairlines.com Like us on facebook.com/flyPAL

Call (632) 855-8888 Follow us on twitter.com/flyPAL

Contact your local travel agent

advertorial

Pal flies to New York iN March 2015 Philippine Airlines is flying to the Big Apple, New York City, on March 15, 2015, marking the carrier’s much-awaited network expansion to the US east coast.

In announcing the New York service, PAL Chairman & Chief Executive Officer Lucio C. Tan said, “This auspicious start of regular flights to New York will coincide with PAL’s 74th founding anniversary.”

The four-times-a-week service – Manila-Vancouver-New York – will operate at Terminal 1 of New York’s JFK International Airport. PAL will have full traffic rights between Vancouver and New York.

The addition of New York will bring to five the total US destinations, following Los Angeles, San Francisco, Honolulu and Guam.

The flight to New York – distance of 14,501 kilometers or approximately 16.5 total flying hours – will be PAL’s longest route.

Flight PR 126 departs Manila every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday at 11:50 p.m. Arrival in Vancouver is 8:50 p.m. on the same day. After a two-hour transit stop, the service continues on to New York at 10:50 p.m., touching down at Terminal 1 of JFK International at 7:00 a.m. the following day.

The return service, PR 127, departs New York at 11:00 a.m. every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, arriving in Vancouver at 1:50 p.m. It departs the Canadian city at 3:20 p.m. and lands back in Manila at 8:35 p.m. the following day.

PAL will utilize the Airbus A340300 jets, which seats 36 passengers in business class and 218 in economy.

On board, passengers can expect to be pampered with PAL’s signature “at home” in-flight service, which features business class seats that convert to full-flat beds; in-flight entertainment system such as audio-video on demand in business, and gourmet cuisine designed by top international guest chefs.

The New York service will have the added benefit of boosting PAL’s Canadian operation. From March 15, 2015, the current daily service between Manila and Vancouver will spike to 11 flights weekly with three departure times from Manila

– mid-afternoon, early evening and late evening – providing wider schedule choices to passengers.

Manila-Toronto will add a fourth weekly frequency, increasing capacity on this long-haul route in time for the peak summer travel period out of Manila.

PAL’s return has been keenly anticipated by the huge Filipino-American communities along the U.S. eastern seaboard ever since the flag carrier pulled out of the region in 1997. About half a million ethnic Filipinos reside on the East Coast, with over 253,000 in the New YorkNew Jersey metropolitan area, 90,000 in Virginia, 75,000 in Washington, D.C. and environs, and 31,000 in the Philadelphia metro area. Overall, Filipinos on the East Coast account for 15% of the estimated 3.4-million-strong Filipino population in the U.S., comprising a natural base market for PAL. JFK Airport is located at Queens Borough, 15 miles to midtown Manhattan, with convenient connection to the New York subway train system (MTA).

for reservatioNs

+632 855 8888 www.philippineairlines.com

upfront

Pinoys apart

The economy’s rising but it’s a tale of two worlds. One the one hand, Nielsen’s Consumer Confidence Index found Filipinos saved and delayed big-ticket purchases in 2014. MasterCard’s bi-annual survey, on the other hand, found high-end retailers have never had it better with the rise of affordable luxury purchasing in the Philippines.

10

Nielsen

80% Nielsen 80% of consumers adjusted spending in 2014

62% reduced expenses, cutting back on clothing, utilities, switched to cheaper grocery brands or delayed tech upgrades

Master Card

96%

2014 2015 Filipinos plan to spend 71,000 pesos on luxury items in 2015 compared to 53,000 pesos in 2014.

adobo magazine | March - April 2015

4%

4% said they would spend more in 2015 than they did in 2014, according to the Consumer Purchasing Priorities Report, which polled 403 Metro Manila residents

79% of Filipinos were bullish about their expenses over the next 12 months

upfront

YouTube at 10 YouTube registered its domain name on February 14, 2005, making it 10 years this year.

12

300

1Billion More than 1 billion users

$400BN $200BN

300 hours of video uploaded every minute.

YouTube estimates the video viewing market is worth between $200bn to $400bn, big enough for more players

Getting on Twitter Simply Measured’s Twitter Benchmark Report for Q4 2014 found that Interbrand’s Top 100 Brands were growing audience size and engagement levels on Twitter, increasing posting by 11% YOY.

@

#

@ @

55%

@

#

#

#

##

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@ Photos drive the most engagement

Photos made up 55% of sent tweets, but accounted for 57% of all engagement • Links accounted for 31% of sent tweets, but were only responsible for 26% of @ replies, retweets, and favorites from brands, indicating greater engagement with visual content than standalone links.

adobo magazine | March - April 2015

Brands interact more with users

The Interbrand 100 posted 145,828 tweets in Q4 2014, up 25% over Q4 2013 • @Replies accounted for 68% of brand tweets • 48% of brands replied to at least one tweet per day • 91% of brands replied to users at least once during Q4 2014

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Hashtags drive engagement

• 82,127 tweets included hashtags in Q4 2014, up 58% from Q4 2013, when only 52,741 tweets included hashtags • 30% of tweets have one or more hashtags, down from 34% in Q4 2013 • Tweets with hashtags averaged 184 @ replies, retweets and favorites each, while tweets with no hashtag only averaged 146 total per tweet, indicating greater sophistication in how brands put together Twitter content.

#

upfront 14

A mobile life

We Are Social provided a digital snapshot of the Philippines as part of its global Digital, Mobile & Social in 2015 Report. As its data showed, Filipinos are living increasingly mobile lives, wedded to their handsets and total mobile subscriptions surpassing the population size.

jan 2015 time spent with media

Pinoys are shopping online

Visa eCommerce Monitor 2014 found Filipinos turning to online shopping due to convenience, prices and deals.

jan 2015 mobile phones

jan 2015 mobile activities

adobo magazine | March - April 2015

digital

d i g i t a l

15

Digital Gallery 16 App and Ad Engagement Opinion 22 Jamie Tolentino 24 Julian Tanner, Cohn & Wolfe 26 Donald Lim, ABS-CBN 28 Tony Ahn Snapshot 30 ABS-CBN’s Digital Switch

March - April 2015 | adobo magazine

digital gallery

digital

engagement factor A look at some of the best of digital creativity from airline gaming apps to a self-healing billboard to drive donations

16

Work ‘Upgrade Challenge’ Client Air France Agency Fred & Farid, Shanghai Air France gave economy passengers a chance to pit their digital gaming skills against fellow fliers for a chance to score a free upgrade to business class as a way of building buzz for the relaunched section. In an initial Asia rollout, boarding gates at Singapore’s Changi and Osaka’s Kansai Airport were transformed into a gaming arena where passengers could compete against 200 others each time while waiting for their flight. With the game downloaded to gadgets, competitors sliced through clouds and saw their scores flash on large scoreboards during each intense 15-minute bout. Top scorers were instantly upgraded. The competition was later expanded to a regional level where passengers flying from various airports in Asia could compete against each other.

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Work Take Off Mode Client ANA Airlines Agency firstborn NY The Japanese carrier took a new stab at making flying more enjoyable, capitalizing on airports lifting take-off and landing restrictions on the use of electronic devices. Its app takes the anxiety out of flying for nervous travelers, who can now play a game to take their minds off take-off. With the accelerometer use, the game even responds to the plane taking off in real time.

Soothing sounds of the app also help promote relaxation.

adobo magazine | March - April 2015

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digital

digital digital gallery gallery

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Work ‘Blind Spot iPad Ad’ Client Volkswagen Agency AlmapBBDO, Brazil This CSR ad for the iPad has been created around motorcycle riders and cleverly showcases the automotive brand’s Side Assist Technology, which warns drivers when there is a vehicle in their blind spot. The content appears like a typical iPad ad leading unsuspecting users to think they will unlock the brand experience with the next swipe. Instead, they get a motorbike speeding past in their blind spot, expertly driving home the message that drivers never know what is happening in their car’s blind spot. Or, for that matter, the blind spot of the ad itself.

Submit Submit

Work Look At Me Client Samsung Agency Cheil Worldwide, Korea Looking to make a difference in the lives of millions, Samsung’s new app helps autistic kids locked in their seemingly impenetrable world make eye contact and work on their social skills. Dubbed the world’s first interactive camera, autistic kids are engaged in photographing those around them and, in doing so, end up looking at their loved ones while focusing on the image. It’s about making contact through the camera’s eye and eventually giving the kids the confidence to make actual contact.

March - April 2015 | adobo magazine

digital gallery

digital 18

Work ‘Allergic Alice’ Client Johnson & Johnson Agency JWT, Digit and Universal McCann, Philippines Radio was used to launch a Twitter campaign, the main driver of engagement, which was fronted by central character ‘Allergic Alice’ asking users to finish the sentence, #AllergicAkoSa, and tweet about their pet peeves whether it was loud, singing neighbors or bad grammar. Based on an extensive list of allergy-related keywords such as ‘achoo’, ‘sneezing’ and ‘allergies’, Promoted Tweets in Timelines @AllergicAlice shared a series of entertaining music videos to reveal that allergies were the real causes of annoyance. The collection of funny videos also provided conversation fodder the target market of young professionals would find relatable and shareable to further educate about allergies and drive brand engagement. #AllergicAkoSa trended at #1 in the Philippines for the first day of the campaign and Promoted Tweets delivered an engagement rate of 5% for the first two weeks. Over 1.7 million combined views for the two music videos exceeded the campaign’s 1 million views KPI by 77%.

adobo magazine | March - April 2015

Work HSBC 150 Mobile Client HSBC Agency Cherrypicks Alpha Giving collectible banknotes a novel spin, the banking giant introduced its new HK$150 note with an accompanying augmented reality app to mark its 150th anniversary.

Users download the app to their mobile and, on scanning the note, will be transported on a virtual journey of Hong Kong to see how the cityscape evolved over the past 150 years. Users also get an audio recording of various HSBC elements on scanning graphics at the back of the note, such as the familiar lion sculpture.

digital gallery

digital 20

Work ‘Taste of Joy’ Smile Detection App Client Unilever Indonesia Agency KRDS Singapore and Arcade Realizing that Indonesians love spreading their joyous moments on social media, the FMCG giant stepped in to lend a hand with what is touted as the first Facebook app featuring smile detection technology.

Indonesians were encouraged to use this Joy Counter technology to capture these moments for upload on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook with the #TasteJoy hashtag. The app will then create a special video – based on the number of smiles on users’ photographs – for them to share across their online network.

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Work ‘The Healing Billboard’ Client Women’s Aid, UK Agency WCRS This anti-domestic violence PSA used facial recognition technology for this amazing digital billboard in which a domestic abuse victim’s cuts and bruises heal as pedestrians look at the ad. Timed for March’s International Women’s Day, the ad makes the charity’s point that people should not turn a blind eye to the problem. The technology captured images of people looking at the ad and displayed them in a live feed panel at the bottom of the billboard, while a supporting mobile campaign sent out a call-to-donate text message to those near the billboard.

adobo magazine | March - April 2015

opinion

digital

Jamie Tolentino works as a digital marketer at a global asset management firm. She writes for TNW (The Next Web) and blogs on the Huffington Post UK.

22

Breaking the glass ceiling Climb digital ladder by being valuable to your company

P

eople would think that in this modern day and age, the glass ceiling is nonexistent. However, the truth is most people just choose to ignore its presence.

Although women do manage to get to the top, it’s just not at par with the numbers of the men who are on top. This means that at this rate, it will take women extra awareness and effort to make that happen.

In light of this, here are a few things that you can do to make sure that you do manage to climb the digital ladder effectively.

Make yourself valuable to your company Try to find your niche and add value to your company. By doing this, it will be easier to get a raise or find another job if you do choose to leave. Ideally, this should be something that other people in your team aren’t that good at so there isn’t any internal competition. You can also develop areas of skill set that you think might be valuable to the company later on. I figured out that I was good at spotting startups that our company

could work with for new digital initiatives.

Seeing that this was a valuable skill that no other team member really took on board, I always offered to help find new startups or partners when the opportunity arose.

Get a mentor and don’t be afraid to ask for advice Whether official or unofficial, having a mentor can only be a good thing. My mentor has helped me put my career in check and pointed out areas that I could improve in.

It also helps having someone to bounce off some ideas when I am not quite sure how to handle a situation. Appreciating that it can be hard to find a mentor, you can also ask people for advice when you have a specific problem or situation. When I had a technical issue at work that I wasn’t quite sure how to solve during the time when my boss was away on holiday, I called a friend of mine knowledgeable in that field for confirmation.

Think long term Sometimes it might be tempting to go for an opportunity that provides a higher short term return of investment. This may come in the form of a higher salary, shorter hours, longer holidays, etc. However, it would be better to put in the hours and develop yourself professionally while you still don’t have any dependents. You might need to ask for flexible working hours or work shorter hours when you have kids in the future.

Always be professional No matter what happens at work, act professionally. In the digital space, things usually have a fast turnaround time and developers or clients may cause you grief.

However, people who keep calm and rational in troubled times are the ones who will stand out in a good way.

illustration

adobo magazine | March - April 2015

Joshua Gonzales

opinion

digital

Julian Tanner is Global Technology Leader, Cohn & Wolfe

24

the tech treat to brand value Smart brands are opening new ways to engage customers

adobo magazine | March - April 2015

O

ne thing beyond doubt is that during the past decade the volatility of brand value has increased inexorably. And a primary cause is the effect of technology in both undermining and building brands.

In an unconnected world, a buying decision would be based on the law of best evidence; if I wanted to buy a new TV, did I buy a household brand name or a no-name alternative? The answer was simple – I bought the brand name because it came with brand reassurance.

In the connected world it is not that simple; brand value can be overturned and reversed by influencer articles on social media. Who in 2015 would buy a new TV without checking out the online reviews and Amazon recommendations?

We live in an age where buying decisions require independent validation rather than brand awareness and the result has been tough on companies who relied heavily on brand differentiation to sell themselves. Particularly vulnerable to the increased volatility of brands have been social sites such as MySpace and Second Life, which have come and gone in a flash of pixels.

In a bid to protect themselves from this volatility, brands have increasingly turned to social engagement through digital channels, but many of the efforts have fallen short as mail campaigns just look like spam, the Twitter feeds of brands have become excruciatingly boring and free games on a brand’s Facebook site are just not that engaging.

Consumers are wising up with

technology tools of their own. Customer complaints are now at record highs as Twitter and other digital channels enable the public to voice their frustration.

Increasingly consumers are gaining control over what they receive with tools such as unrollme.com, providing a one-click control over our inboxes.

To overcome these technology challenges, smart brands are turning to new technologies and opening new ways of engaging with consumers. NTT DoCoMo has worked with 3D mapping company eeGeo to create incredible cityscapes in Japan that really help people navigate and locate services, while Eveready has turned its website from shop front to a means of assisting consumers who want to recycle batteries. These are not the same old exercises in brand vanity, but a move to create a deeper, more persistent and stickier relationship with consumers.

illustration

Joshua Gonzales

opinion

digital

Donald Lim is Chief Digital Officer of ABS-CBN

26

Don’t feed the trolls A fact of digital life but trolls can be managed

adobo magazine | March - April 2015

A

s more and more brands venture into the digital space, the reality of the digital world has started to set in. It is no different from the real world, where it can be a good place for brands to engage in an honest conversation with their customers. But it can also be a harsh place where people will invade brands’ space, going as far as to malign the credibility of brands, which have invested time and money in building up their turf. This reality is that in digital – due to the prevalence of social media platforms and message boards – has given rise to a new digital habit: Trolling.

Trolls in digital terminology refer to people who go online and start arguments or fights, create negative impressions or animosity, provoke brands or other people on the platform to disrupt the normal flow of discussion. In the Philippines, I am sure most branded social pages have been subjected to trolling one time or another.

Being the social media capital of the world, our brands enjoy acquiring massive fan bases at a faster clip than our foreign

counterparts. However, that advantage also has one major drawback – fans or followers who are trolls are ready to disrupt the flow of discussion or bring negative conversions to the brand page. You have a troll on your social media pages if you have people consistently posting irrelevant messages, or trying to put down the page by spouting negative things about the brand. This is normal for brands starting up, but as the fan base grows, brands should be able to establish themselves in a way that trolls have no place in their system.

There are various ways to minimize trolling on your pages. Firstly subscribe to the saying “do not feed the trolls”. When trolls invade a page, they are looking for feedback and attention. Pay them no attention and hopefully they will go away.

Another is to use the technical features of the website or social media page to ban trolls. Once you are sure that the profile is trolling your social media account, you can ban them from entering the space. They could of course create a new profile to get around the “ban” or “kick out” functions.

Finally, for the long term, set up ambassador programs where you reward active fans and followers and make them in charge of your platform. Once the community is strong enough, trolls will find it hard to penetrate the system, and will be booted out. While trolls are tech-minded and anonymous at times, there is still a person behind it and they will leave if they know they are not welcome.

Brands should accept the reality of trolls in digital. Like any place, the good and the bad go side by side. It is all about how to manage the internet’s negative side in order to fully appreciate and optimize the positives since digital is essential to every brand today.

opinion

digital

Tony Ahn is credited with bringing reputation management to the country after opening the first reputation management consultancy in Manila, which has grown into full-service digital public relations agency Tony Ahn & Co. He does training/consulting for brands such as Unilab, PLDT and Singapore Medical Group.

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judging the judges Awards should be given for work that advance the profession

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any professional associations give out awards, and the fields of public relations and marketing are no different in that regard. What is different is that, unlike many professions, there is top-down pressure to win awards, because awards (or lack thereof) can affect how much business an agency pulls in the following year, both on the digital and traditional side. I’ve been invited to judge the digital categories of a number of awards in the Philippines; they are an imprecise affair.

Judges are given several categories in which to award points, but it is often unclear as to how many points should be awarded.

If I only award full points in ‘creativity’ to one or two entries, but another judge awards full points to 10 entries because she’s more liberal with what she considers “excellent”, then we have what scientists call “low interrater reliability”. This affects standards.

Awards are also imprecise because there generally isn’t time to vet the reported results (and entries aren’t pre-vetted before being delivered to the judges), which

means that we have to take the word of the entrants. If you say your viral ad was viewed 20 million times, as a judge I have to take your word for it. Anyone can see why that would be problematic.

Ever wonder what judges are thinking when they look over your entry? First of all, we’re pressed for time. I want to find the most important information quickly.

I generally don’t have time to view what’s on your CD or your USB drive, especially if I’m judging on-site instead of being able to go through the materials at home.

Most importantly, I want to know why your entry deserves an award. I say that specifically because the majority of entries I am given are good campaigns that achieved great results for their brands…but simply meeting or exceeding your goals isn’t grounds for an award.

Awards should be given for things that advance the profession.

What falls in that category?

Firsts: The first campaign to do something might be award-worthy, whether that’s use of a new technology to successfully market or employ a new tactic, strategy, or tool Similar to a first, doing something new that influences the industry, doing something trendsetting, or coming from a new perspective may be award-worthy Wows. If you can make marketers experienced enough to be judging industry awards say “wow,” that might be worth an award. I know for me, if I learn something new about marketing or PR as a result of reading your entry, my scores for your entry will be higher.

illustration

adobo magazine | March - April 2015

Joshua Gonzales

digital 29

March - April 2015 | adobo magazine

snapshot

digital 30

ABS-CBN’s BIG SWITCH Launches with initial 6 free-to-air digital channels

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BS-CBN has sharpened its digital game, becoming the first local broadcaster to launch digital terrestrial television (DTT) service, a move agencies hope will pave the way for a single source for viewership data.

The broadcaster launched with six free-to-air digital channels with the ABS-CBN TVplus black box, available for a one-time charge of 2,500 pesos with no monthly fee.

On top of ABS-CBN and ABSCBN Sports+Action, the initial launch features four exclusive channels – dzMM Teleradyo, offering live broadcast of all-day news, kids’ channel Yey, Knowledge Channel, offering curriculumbased content for students, and CineMo, an all-day movie offer.

“Our TVplus channels portfolio already caters to different audiences as we have a channel for each member of the Filipino family. That being said, we are always on the look out to offer relevant program choices for our Kapamilya,” said an ABS-CBN spokesman.

Media agencies said the move would help the broadcaster address signal issues in parts of Luzon, delivering sharper picture and sound quality to improve the overall TV viewing experience. “I predict it will help strengthen the network’s position especially in Mega Manila which happens to be the stronghold of its biggest rival.

During the week of February 7 to 21 this year, GMA posted an audience share of 38.6% in Mega Manila versus 27.9% of ABS-CBN,” Maxus’ trading head Bernadette Morco said, citing Nielsen data used by GMA. “Data collection is now easier with digital TV. If advertisers and

adobo magazine | March - April 2015

media agencies currently rely on a third-party’s audience panel or a sample to understand the viewing behavior of Filipinos, culling data straight from the digital boxes is possible,” Morco added. “Besides the convenience and more extensive information, this set-up provides much more stable data as it diminishes potential sampling error with the information coming straight from the TV viewers themselves.

And who knows, this might even result in a single data source – with the networks’ collaboration – similar to Australia’s OzTAM.” Morco added: “The natural progression of things is dynamic content. This is the result of what we do with the enhanced

Pricing change

illustration

Joshua Gonzales

data. Digital TV will help pave the way to personalized content and more targeted marketing communications, adding to the richer experience of the viewers. I cannot wait for programmatic TV buying.”

An ABS-CBN spokesman said early sales results for TVplus had shown “robust sales momentum” since launch. The broadcaster has a sales target of 1 million TVplus units for 2015.

“While this is far from reaching a critical mass to have any significant impact on viewership, the immensely improved viewer experience without the recurring monthly subscription fee can encourage a move among cable

TV households particularly in broad C market,” Morco noted.

OMD Philippines general manager Carla Cifra also believed the initial channel offer will likely reshape viewing patterns.

Speaking of the kids’ channel, Cifra said: “This could possibly change the viewing landscape of ‘free TV’ (similar) to how kids took over the TV sets of pay-TV households. Kids’ channels are one of the top channels on payTV and having it readily available with ABS-CBN’s latest offering may create a new viewing habit.”

Cifra was similarly confident CineMo would also contribute to changes or shifts in viewing habits.

“We’d like to see variety in terms of genre, programming – a new ‘free TV’ where all channels will be made available with the shift to digital transmission. Now the playing field for all networks will become more competitive, fun and exciting. There will be more and better content thus providing better pricing for all advertisers.”

ABS-CBN has yet to sell its digital TV offer to advertisers, its spokesman said, noting that the broadcaster was evaluating opportunities for convergence across different digital platforms such as mobile telephony in optimizing consumer communication.

“Advertising can travel across screens, improve how advertising narratives can be communicated and linked across different platforms. We are also looking at future content offers that will offer value added services to our TVplus user base,” said the spokesman.

ABS-CBN is transitioning to a new Cost Per Individual Rating Point (CPIRP) pricing model, which will be based on two months of rolling data from its researcher Kantar Media.

“CPIRP builds our accountability to advertisers on quality programming and therefore efficiency in media buying, as pricing is based on our shows’ performance,” said Oz Trinidad, head of Ch2 Sales and sales strategic planning.

As in other regional markets, CPIRP is expected to simplif y planning and buying for media agencies, minimizing if not removing the complex negotiation process involved in arriving at the final best deal for clients. Pricing will also be based on a client’s volume buy, tying them to specific price tiers.

In the interim phase, buyers refer to ratings from a two months rolling cycle, moving to an actualized model – that is, costings based on real-time ratings as a program is aired. Testing of actualized pricing is expected in the second half of 2015.

Client reaction to CPIRP has been mixed. Some are willing to proceed this year, while others are more cautious. “There are agencies and their clients who still want to see and understand the impact for the full year before we do a deep dive in,” said a media agency.

If the regional experience is any guide, the shift to CPIRP will hold vast implications on the back-end and operations for advertiser, media owner and media agency, with the model involving finance teams of the three parties.

Trinidad said the broadcaster had been doing agency and advertiser road shows and “constant alignment in terms of creating processes and mechanics to make the transition easier for them”.

March - April 2015 | adobo magazine

digital

snapshot

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ASIA-PACIFIC Social good marketing that delivers results.

OVERALL EXECUTIVE JURY

CREATIVE EXECUTIVE JURY Deadline Extended to April 8, 2015 Awards Night June 9, 2015 VISIT US AT

tambuliawards.asia

w o r k

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t h e

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The Kidlat 2015 Jury: Fierce. Photo by Ricardo Malit

Deconstructing creativity 34 Philippine Mental Health Act Campaign Opinion 36 Denise Tee, Ace Saatchi & Saatchi Bang for the Buck 38 Suntory 3D on the rocks Then and Now 40 Playing both sides of the fence with the Ford Mustang Snapshot 42 Stuck in Dad Mode?

Festival Coverage 44 Kidlat Awards 2015 Competition 52 adobo University March - April 2015 | adobo magazine

Deconstructing creativity

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FRom public to senate Getting the Philippines its Mental Health Act words Sharon desker shaw

‘Inside’ BTS...

Talent (below) readies for shot in a cubicled office set up in the lobby of 88 Storey Films

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Campaign Philippine Mental Health Agency Dentsu Philippines Brief The Philippines is one of the few countries without laws protecting the mentally ill. Looking to bring the country’s first ever Mental Health Act to protect the mentally ill to the Senate, the Philippine Psychiatric Association (PPA) backed an education campaign to galvanize the public to sign an online petition to get the Act before the legislature.

Dentsu received an open brief, which was liberating and daunting at the same time, senior copywriter Jacque Rufener told adobo.

Strategy The open brief prompted a series of back and forth discussions, with Dentsu pitching and at times shooting down ideas in pursuit of better concepts.

Dentsu eventually distilled the issue to two basic truths in focusing the public’s attention – a startling 1 in 5 people suffer from mental health problems and the difficulty in identifying mental suffering.

The messages were communicated through online videos and radio spots and will be expanded to cinema and print. As the agency was not dealing with a brand in a traditional sense and given the issue’s complexity and PPA’s need to cast its net as wide as possible to deepen the conversation and drive sign-ups at the petition site, there

adobo magazine | March - April 2015

was no risk to breaking brand rules of focusing on a single message.

“That’s what we wanted to clarify with the client – don’t stick to one idea because the message is rich enough to merit many ideas, many approaches,” said ECD Rey Tiempo.

Execution Two online videos and three radio ads were produced to lead to the online petition site. Kickoff video ‘Numbers’ was aimed at the general populace. Launched in October 2014, it showed that mental health problems do in fact lie as close as home with the final 1 in 5 statistic super on a visual of a family dining at home to make the point quietly but powerfully. The film was supported with a radio spot.

The follow-up ‘Inside’ video was set in an office to target the working demographic, depicting how easy it is to overlook mental problems because of the absence of visible symptoms. Radio spots ‘Cancer’ and ‘Heart Attack’ conveyed the experience of suffering in silence.

Digital was key to disseminating the content: “Ultimately, it was a drive to site campaign and digital is closer to where we want the consumer to be – the petition site,” said Rufener.

English was used for all materials because of the topic and the nature of the script. “Despite Filipino being the national language, when

On air...an acting workshop to help talent communicate sufferers’ pain

‘Numbers’... going from the most impersonal gatherings of EDSA traffic to the most intimate around a dinner table

it comes to medical terms, English is more frequently heard and used when using medical jargon. The same applies to using numbers and statistics,” she added.

Work in progress... storyboard artists at work crafting scenes such as the barong factory (second row, center) for ‘Numbers’

Director Raffy Francisco...time for “a shameless selfie” at the barong factory

Production For the ‘Numbers’ shoot, director Raffy Francisco from 88 Storey Films went from wide to increasingly intimate shots in making this a very personal story for viewers.

“We represented the largest number (500,000 suffers per 2.4 million people) with the densest yet most impersonal gatherings of humans – the traffic jam on EDSA – where we are packed like sardines, yet have no real interaction with each other, whether between vehicles or within them,” he said.

As the numbers got smaller so too did the scenes – a Quaipo street where people are “literally rubbing elbows with each other yet have no real interaction beyond these casual brushes”. Next up, a barong factory – “where people do know each other more intimately, yet the company structure still sets boundaries, between departments, management and labor, and between production lines”.

Finally, a family of five at dinner, conveying arguably the highest level of intimacy, where it was still possible to overlook the disease, Francisco added.

The scenes dictated the type of equipment used for the shoot. “In the crowded urban areas, we wanted to preserve the natural activity by shooting incognito, using small mirrorless cameras,” he explained.

“But when we shot the family, we took out the Red Epic… to get more detail, more intimacy between the subjects and the camera. Instead of hiring actors, we hired a real family to sit for the scene because we wanted to capture nuances of their familiarity with each other that actors who have just met could never replicate. I believe authenticity is key when shooting life as it happens.”

Images for ‘Numbers’ were also de-saturated and background audio muted when the final statistic appeared to ensure the series of supers stood out so viewers would read them, according to Rufener.

With the second film, ‘Inside’, Francisco used a “locked camera match cut that employed both shooting and editing methods to visually establish a seamless transition between the wheelchair bound man and the ambulant office worker” in order to convince viewers that he was one and the same person.

For the radio spots, director Tony Hertz held numerous conversations with Dentsu’s creative team on scripts and intentions. From this came the decision to take a stripped down approach that eschewed music or sound effects.

Strong scripting and actors to communicate sufferers’ stories in a compelling manner helped carry the radio spots.

“I rarely cast ‘voices’ per se but rather actors to play characters.

It was particularly important this time because, as listeners, we had to believe that the sufferers were real people in pain,” he said. “I chose talented local actors who I knew could dig into themselves to deliver compelling performances.”

Results In drilling down to the essential truths surrounding the issue, the campaign has made headway in bringing the matter to the attention of the public and Senators whose support is crucial to the Act’s passage.

According to Tiempo, the launch film had an immediate effect – Senators discussing the issue at a meeting instantly looked at each other after seeing the final statistic in ‘Numbers’.

At last count, a little over 5,000 people had signed the petition, and the Act is now with the Senate.

March - April 2015 | adobo magazine

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Deconstructing creativity

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opinion

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Art vs. Design

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adobo magazine | March - April 2015

Denise Tee is creative director in Ace Saatchi & Saatchi

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March - April 2015 | adobo magazine

bang for the buck

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‘3D On The Rocks’

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Client Suntory Holdings Agency TBWA\Hakuhodo Award wins Metal haul in 2014 included Gold at the ISAAC Awards and Ad Stars, Silver Spikes and the Best Branding prize at the Code Awards. ‘3D’ has also been shortlisted in the global AME competition.

What is it? Japan’s staid whisky category needed a shake-up. Drinkers were getting older, while younger ones viewed whisky as a boring beverage, particularly as the category clung to its past glory. The challenge was to draw in younger drinkers to create a new golden age for whisky. The agency turned to 3D technology to create a service innovation for the bar scene in the form of intricately milled ice creations for the ‘3D on the Rocks’ promotion.

To get consumers to participate, a special app allowed drinkers to scan a design in 3D form. The scanned design details were then sent to the brand’s website and a specially designed drill would shave an ice cube with incredible precision to form intricate creations that were displayed on the site’s gallery.

The milled creations were nothing short of stunning, ranging from the Statue of Liberty to the Sphinx, Buddha or Batman heads, a guitar, stiletto shoe or a shark cutting through the surface of the beverage.

CNN raved that these were the “the most incredible ice cubes you will ever see”.

The experience was then brought to drinkers through a pop-up bar, serving the adobo magazine | March - April 2015

beverage with customers’ very own milled creations, while the brand’s site helped spread the word well beyond Japan.

Results Media jumped on the story, which was covered by major broadcasters such as CNN and ABC and by local, global and trends sites. Over 5 million tweets from 47 countries were also produced within 2 weeks of launch. Awe-struck tweeters posted along these lines: “Mind-blowing stuff. Cooler than ice balls and better than neat.” More than 200 requests were also received to offer ‘3D on the Rocks’ service at bars. Buoyed by the success, Suntory is now working with high-end fashion brands such as Chanel and the music industry to offer the service at parties and events.

then & now

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Playing both sides of the fence with the Ford Mustang words mikhail lecaros

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Farrah Fawcett as Charlie’s Angels’ Jill Munroe, posing with the infamous 1976 Form Mustang Cobra II used in the show

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hat do the lead characters in Bullitt, Gone in Sixty Seconds, Tokyo Drift, and The Princess Diaries have in common? They all drive Mustangs. Now, we admit that the last film on that list may sound a bit off, but most people would be surprised to know that it is entirely in keeping with the branding set forth by the manufacturer in the line’s early years.

For many, the Ford Mustang – one of only three nameplate lines manufactured continuously for over 50 years – is the ultimate expression of the American male’s love affair with raw, unbridled horsepower on the open road. From Steve McQueen’s action classic Bullitt, which cemented the car’s cinematic immortality, to more recent fare like the Fast & the Furious series, there is no denying the Mustang’s appeal as the vehicle of choice among macho men the world over.

Of course, this wasn’t always the case.

Created in direct response to the tastes of the generation immediately following the post-World War II ‘Baby Boom’, the Mustang was designed as a vehicle with the

adobo magazine | March - April 2015

decidedly fairer of the species in mind. Launched in 1964, part of the line’s initial promotional campaign included print ads in the women’s section of 2,600 American newspapers in a single day.

In fact, the first person to actually own a production model Mustang was a young woman named Gail Brown, who actually still owns the unit. Having purchased the vehicle from a dealer nearly 48 hours before it was officially launched, Brown’s place in history is usually credited to the first (male) who happened to buy one of the pre-production promotional models (that was never intended for sale).

While we’re not denying that Ford marketed the car to men

Steve McQueen’s classic turn as Det. Frank Bullitt made a legend of the 1968 Ford Mustang GT.

as much as it did to women, it’s amusing to see vintage TVCs informing “single girls” that the car is “all you could ask for on a secretary’s salary” and would be sure to help them find a husband. And it wasn’t just single women either, as one print ad declared, “Life was just one diaper after another until Sarah got her new Mustang”.

Presented here are some examples of the multitude of print ads that helped sell the famed automobile in the years before Ford realized the inherent value of essentially rebranding their tough little “pony car” as testosterone on wheels.

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March - April 2015 | adobo magazine

snapshot

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Stuck in dad mode?

Brands struggling to redefine masculinity today

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words sharon desker shaw

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uch has been made about this year’s Super Bowl campaigns that celebrated dads, a case of going zag when others zig.

Here on the world’s biggest sporting stage celebrating physical feats, the likes of Dove Men, Toyota and Nissan tamped down the testosterone and ditched traditional stereotypes of masculinity. Judging by social media reaction, the game plan delivered a home run.

Dads in the ads appeared as caring and present rather than the bumbling and clueless foil that showed moms in the best light. In Dove’s ‘Real Strength’ spot, fathers were portrayed being there for their kids in a series of everyday situations, building up to the message that ‘Care Makes a Man Strong’. Nissan’s ‘With Dad’ and Toyota Camry’s ‘To Be a Dad’ tugged at viewers’ heartstrings with touching portrayals of fatherhood. Even when growing up at a distance in Nissan’s spot.

Maybe new ground for the Super Bowl but odes to fatherhood have been done earlier elsewhere. Lego’s ‘Let’s Build’ UK Christmas spot from 2013 brilliantly portrayed father and son bonding. The touching ‘Baby’ ad for Thai telco DTAC and the gripping ‘My Father is a Liar’ for MetLife Hong Kong also stand as shining tributes to men as dads.

“As a dad, I am aware of a spate of work out there celebrating fatherhood,” said Ogilvy & Mather adobo magazine | March - April 2015

Group Philippines executive creative director Richmond Walker. “The Dove example stands out; as does Cherrios’ #Howtodad. I think any work that seeks to portray men or women as something more than a two-dimensional demographic is a great thing,” Walker added. “From time to time, advertising has generally made an appeal to men’s softer side.”

While the fatherhood theme is certainly progress it also speaks of advertisers’ struggle in coming up with a coherent definition of masculinity.

“At best, there are new portraits of men in advertising and marketing, although they are currently limited to presenting the more emotional aspects of fatherhood – a kind of ‘safe zone’,” said Gino Borromeo, vice president and chief strategy officer of McCann Worldgroup. “There’s nothing yet as brave or as a breakthrough in its conviction as #likeagirl for Always or ‘Real Beauty’ for Dove.”

Borromeo believes advertisers may be hesitant to broaden their scope for three reasons. “The rise of socio-cultural trends has challenged what it means to be a man – for example, the metrosexual movement, hipsterism, the herbivore man trend in Japan, the sensitive man, among many others.”

Then there is the mainstreaming of gay culture, fashion and language, especially in the Philippines. “As the lines that

Male makeover...

Dove Men’s ‘Real Strength’ and Toyota’s ‘To Be a Dad’

define gay men versus straight men increasingly become blurred, the definition of masculinity is similarly becoming blurred.”

Even the growing empowerment of women in media, popular culture and advertising – an-always positive if belated development – has produced one unintended consequence: “The increased emasculation of men,” said Borromeo. “Suddenly, men are more tentative about asserting their masculinity or are more conscious that they are being ‘disrespectful’ of female empowerment. In a world where it is fashionable to highlight female empowerment,

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43 Bonding with dad... Lego’s charming ‘Let’s Build’ 2013 Christmas UK campaign

it is no longer as easy to define what masculinity is about.”

Reasons that perhaps explain why marketing to men have not produced the same dramatic shifts as marketing to women.

Where does the Philippines stand on the curve?

It depends on the categories.

“FMCG brands will almost always speak with the mothers, especially in the Philippines. Mothers usually still do the grocery shopping,” said Publicis JimenezBasic ECD Brandie Tan. “There are brands that will speak to men – tech brands especially. Then there are brands targeting women through emotional stories starring their husbands or boyfriends.”

Tan though believes change is in the air: “This will happen more because there may be clients who have started to realize that advertising does not necessarily have to show the target audience in the ad for them to know the commercial is for them.”

Which may account for the agency shaking things up a little in its latest Lucky M Instant Mami Spicy Hot Beef spot, ‘Spice Up’. “It features middle-aged men dancing like boy band members. This ad is doing two things – it’s showing older men, while speaking with younger men and women at the same time,” said Tan. “A really cool trivia about this material is those old men used to be popular dancers in their time.”

Borromeo, on the other hand, believes the shift will happen more rapidly in the world of entertainment and popular culture than marketing and advertising.

“The first reason is perceived risk to brands. An entertainment business like ABS-CBN, GMA or Star Cinema is more confident in presenting new portraits of men or new ways of connecting with men – witness content such as My Husband’s Lover, Dream Dad or Two Wives – because should there be backlash, it is largely directed to the show or movie itself, and

Father as saint...

Hong Kong’s ‘My Dad is a Liar’ for MetLife’s had a surprising twist

less at their mother brand.

“Brand owners, on the other hand, generally believe that backlash against a brand’s marketing activity is directed largely at the brand – not merely at the campaign or the execution. This is especially concerning amidst a landscape where one perceived mistake of a brand can be magnified a thousand-fold thanks to the combined power of social media and the aggressive mob mentality of consumers on the internet.

“This reality makes brand owners more hesitant to pursue new approaches to marketing to men or pursue new portrayals of men in their marketing. Brand owners can be so cautious to avoid making a mistake that they inadvertently end up trying to be inoffensive than to be memorable in their marketing to men.”

Moreover, advertisers are more comfortable in amplifying culture rather than shaping it. “This is a more predictable, less risky marketing model because it is simply taking ‘what is already there’.

“The model where brands drive or shape the prevailing popular culture is less predictable and therefore comes with greater risk, but potentially greater rewards,” said Borromeo. “This is an approach that is not always easy or convenient to see through.

Hence, the apprehension of many brand owners to approach their marketing this way.”

March - April 2015 | adobo magazine

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SUN, SAND, AND A WORLD’S FIRST AT KIDLAT 2015 Back to the Beach for a Brand New Show words mikhail lecaros &

A

marj casal |

photography ricardo malit

gainst the backdrop of one of the most beautiful island vacation spots in the world, some of the greatest creative minds in the country had gathered, pooling their not inconsiderable talents towards a common goal: Judging the best of the best. But this return to Boracay wasn’t merely a geographical relocation for the venerable Kidlat Awards – this year, industry insiders and clients alike would be giving the festival their full attention. This year’s Kidlat promised to be something entirely different.

A WORLD’S FIRST “The biggest challenge for a creative show like Kidlat has always been relevance to our clients. It has always been a show for creatives, by creatives,” shared Creative Guild of the Philippines Chair and DM9JaymeSyfu Chairmom Merlee Jayme. “At some point… the client should have a buy-in to creativity.”

Determined to build on this notion, Jayme conferred with TBWA\SMP’s Chief Creative Officer Melvin Mangada and BBDO Guerrero’s Chairman and Chief Creative Officer David Guerrero to discuss how best to go about making this particular award show more relevant to clients. Their solution: While traditional craft categories would not be affected, Kidlat would be the first show in the world where entries were categorized and judged based on the products being advertised, a radical departure from the traditional model of conferring awards to campaigns based almost solely on media or creative components.

In this way, Jayme reasoned, Kidlat 2015 would “recognize work that is more for the adobo magazine | March - April 2015

brand, over the medium” and “recognize the best idea in a product category.”

With the overriding principle of ‘Brand over Medium’, conventional categories such as “Digital” or “Print” were out, replaced by the likes of “Food Products”, “Consumer Electronics”, and “Corporate Image”.

On the new categories, Kidlat 2015 Jury President Leigh Reyes weighed in: “This is different for us because the categories aren’t something we are used to. I likened it to sitting in the office and working on the brief with your creative team, and they’re coming to you with all sorts of creative ideas that aren’t (necessarily) channel-specific.”

“You have to detach yourself from the medium that’s used and look at it like, “Is this a great idea for food? Is this fresh and unexpected for telecoms? It’s a totally different lens through which to work.”

At the end of the day, “It’s good to value the work,” said Reyes, “not through one channel or what medium it appeared in, but (to) value the idea that inspired it.”

The Kidlat 2015 Jury...(L-R) ABSCBN Digital’s Donald Lim, Y&R Malaysia’s Gigi Lee, Lowe Inc.’s Leigh Reyes, Dentsu Philippines Rei Tiempo, Ogilvy’s Richmond Walker, BBDO Guerrero’s David Guerrero, TBWA Southeast Asia’s Edmund Choe, Publicis JimenezBasic’s Brandie Tan, Leo Burnett’s Raoul Panes, IdeasXMachina’s Third Domingo, FCB’s James Bernardo and J. Walter. Thompson’s Dave Ferrer

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Big Finish... BBDO Guerrero’s David Guerrero leads his team on stage for a bow

BBDO Guerrero Scores Grand Kidlat, Agency of the Year THE WINNERS BBDO Guerrero finished big as the Kidlat Agency of the Year with 2 Golds, 4 Silvers, 3 Bronzes and 3 Finalists, as presented at the Kidlat 2015 awards night held at Boracay’s Henann Garden. The agency’s campaign, ‘#PHThankYou’, supported by the Department of Tourism (DOT) to thank the foreign nations for the help they have given to the victims of Typhoon Haiyan bagged the Grand Kidlat Award. Consequently, DOT took home the Advertiser of the Year award.

“It’s fantastic, and very humbling to have people thinking your work is ok – it feels really good!” said BBDO Guerrero chief David Guerrero.

Lowe Philippines followed BBDO in the metal tally with 1 Gold for its ‘SM Eco Bag campaign’, 4 Silvers, 3 Bronzes, and 1 finalist while the third top agency was TBWA/SMP with 1 Silver, 6 Bronzes, and 6 finalists.

Di9it DM9 JaymeSyfu also got a Gold

for its Anmum ‘9 Month Date — 1st, 2nd, 3rd Trimester’ campaign because for the jury, “it was like nothing they have ever seen in the category of dairy products”.

Also scoring Gold was Leo Burnett Manila, for ‘McDelivery Princess Dad’. According to Jury President Leigh Reyes, the campaign was Gold-worthy because it didn’t need words to exude emotions, the TV spot spoke for itself.

Cignal TV’s ‘Nag Campaign’ by DM9 JaymeSyfu was awarded Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas’ Ad of the Year for its exceptional use of the radio medium.

Meanwhile, with a whopping 6 Golds, 4 Bronzes and 8 Finalists, Film Pabrika was awarded Production House of the Year.

Special awards handed out that night included Gallardo and Associates Founder and CEO Nonoy Gallardo, who was given the Creative Guild Lifetime Achievement award, while Lowe Inc. Creative Chief Officer Leigh Reyes was this year’s Hall of Fame Awardee.

March - April 2015 | adobo magazine

Festival coverage

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Leigh Reyes Inducted into Creative Guild Hall of Fame

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part from serving as the Kidlat Awards 2015 Jury President this year, Lowe Philippines’ President and Chief Creative Officer Leigh Reyes (pictured right) just entered the Creative Guild Hall of Fame.

Getting into advertising wasn’t really Reyes’ original plan. She recalled just having been invited to try it out while she was still waiting for a response from The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).

Several years and awards after, Reyes has gone a long way since trying advertising out but NEDA still hasn’t called, “Thank you, NEDA for not responding to my application,” she joked.

Reyes won the country’s first gold Clio, and has been awarded and recognized at Cannes, D&AD, One Show, Spikes, AdFest, LIA, New York Festivals, AME, Tambuli, DMA, and much more. She has also served as a member of the jury of Cannes Lions, LIA, AdFest and Spikes.

She is also a founding member of MobileMonday Manila, an open community platform that brings together mobile visionaries, developers and enthusiasts.

In a heartwarming speech, Reyes shared a cheat sheet on how to be a Hall of Famer and stay human at the same time: Let others shine Pasikatin n’yo ang iba. (Make others famous.) Be generous with your ideas, thoughts, and time, no matter what age you are or what title you have. When you make others shine, that light shines on all of us.

Flearn Flearn is a term I picked up from my start-up friends. It means to learn by failing. For every gold out there, there are a thousand that didn’t make it to the shortlist. That’s all flearning. Every gold stands on the ashes of non-shortlists.

Get angry If people tell you your work isn’t good enough, prove them wrong.

Never let a good idea die Good ideas will live regardless of your agency, your career path, or even your clients. If you know they’re good ideas, hold on to them. Keep them burning and keep them alive.

adobo magazine | March - April 2015

pjb duo wins inaugural E. Zobel Diwa Award

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merging triumphant from a pool of finalists that included FCB Manila and Leo Burnett Manila, the Publicis JimenezBasic duo of associate creative directors Raymund Sison and Ryder Aquino took home the very first E. Zobel Diwa trophy for their ‘Art Lottery’ concept.

“I am very happy that a platform for creativity that helps solve important issues in the society has been created by the Creative Guild,” says Sison.

“I am even happier that this year, the issue is something I myself am very passionate about.”

Aquino added, “I think ‘Art Lottery’ will help in making more Filipinos conscious of different forms of art — from literature, dance, visual arts, theater, film, and music. Art consciousness, I think, is the first step towards art appreciation.”

E. Zobel’s daughter Mercedes ‘Dedes’ Zobel (pictured) herself was on hand to present the team with their trophy, along with US $10,000 in cash to turn their concept into a reality that will encourage the general public to promote and appreciate Philippine art and culture Introduced in 1997, Mercedes Zobel and the Creative Guild of the Philippines have advocated the Diwa Awards, recognizing the best in Public Service advertising. This year, it has been renamed as the E. Zobel Diwa Awards, after the late businessman and philanthropist, Enrique Jacobo Emilio Olgado Zobel. The aim is to gather the best ideas from the country’s top creative talents to solve any number of issues the Philippines is facing.

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When news broke last year of how Kidlat 2015 would be conducted spread, agencies were forced to rethink not just how their work would be judged, but even the manner in which they would be submitted. Indeed, with Kidlat’s newfound focus on brands over medium, creatives could now concern themselves with presenting which of their ideas worked best for their respective clients. This year’s competition saw 573 entries, compared to last year’s 633, and 563 in 2013.

Grand Kidlat/gold

Work ‘#PHThankYou’ Client Department of Tourism Agency BBDO Guerrero

Gold

Work ‘Noli Me Tangere’ Client Guerrero Publishing Agency BBDO Guerrero adobo magazine | March - April 2015

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Gold

Work ‘Ecobag’ Client SM Agency Lowe

Gold

Work ‘McDelivery Princess Dad’ Client McDonald’s Agency Leo Burnett Manila March - April 2015 | adobo magazine

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Gold

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Work ‘Trimester’ series Client Anmum Materna Agency DM9JaymeSyfu

Gold

Work ‘Teresa’ Client Mondelez Philippines Agency Film Pabrika

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competition

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CLASS IS IN SESSION Calling under-30s to design cover for new adobo University

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dobo magazine is taking the Word on Creativity to the college campus with the launch of adobo University for advertising and marketing students in the Philippines. adobo University will be published twice a year, launching with a mid-year edition and the next at year-end. It aims to help college students prepare for a career in the exciting world of product development, marketing, advertising and design.

As part of the launch, adobo is calling on all creatives under 30 and art/design and advertising students to design our inaugural cover.

The brief is simple, requiring you to simply let your imagination do the heavy lifting based on a theme that fittingly describes adobo’s ethos and

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principal subject matter: Creativity.

Drop the clichés, the familiar and bust out of the box to give us your interpretation of Creativity in Everyday Life adobo’s editorial team, in conjunction with the industry’s leading creative talents, will be looking for a strong, original idea that will make for a stand-out, impactful cover for the launch edition.

So get started and send your digital entries to editorial@adobomagazine. com marked as adobo University Design Competition by no later than April 30, 2015.

The winner stands to win an internship and mentoring by leading agency creatives, in addition to having their winning work featured on the cover of adobo University’s inaugural issue along with a profile of the winner.

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R O GU E MEDIA

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sharon desker shaw & Mikhail Lecaros

Fine, fresh, fierce. adobo magazine is proud to present its first ever list of the most influential female industry personalities, here and across the region.

56 Amina Aranaz-Alunan 58 Leah Besa-Jimenez 60 Leah Caringal 62 Joanna Chan-Mojica 64 Anne Curtis 66 Lisa Gokongwei 68 Merlee Jayme 70 Monique Lhuillier 72 Jean Lin 74 Bebot Ngo 76 Masako Okamura 78 Lou dela Pe単a 80 Charo Santos-Concio 82 Tessie Sy-Coson 84 Lorna Tabuena 86 Madonna Tarrayo 88 Jureeporn Thaidumrong 90 Margot Torres 92 Susana Tsui 94 Jasmin Vinculado

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Amina AranazAlunan

Designer and Founding Partner/Executive Director, SoFA Design Institute

Number of Years in your industry Model, columnist and entrepreneur, Amina Aranaz-Alunan, graduated 11 years ago with honors from Milan’s InstitutoMarangoni. In the past decade, the style icon and mother of three has made it her mission to promote Filipino design creativity with a social bent, beginning with Aranaz, a Philippine-based handbag and fashion accessories label run with her mother and sister. With her eco-friendly design aesthetic, Aranaz-Alunan has fashioned bags from coconut shells, a wood-carved bag and totes respectively inspired by the pineapple and bamboo baskets used to carry fruits. AminaAranaz has also collaborated with Rags2Riches, which helps empower women with a vision to make entrepreneurship more inclusive. In 2007, she co-founded the SoFA (School of Fashion & the Arts) Design Institute.

Biggest professional achievement Giving the country’s young and talented designers a head-start in business naturally ranks at the top of this socially-conscious entrepreneur’s list of accomplishments. “Co-founding the SoFA Design Institute, which we aim to be a place that promotes design as a positive force in the economy and the lives of our students. We believe it has opened the doors to consider design education more seriously in the country,” she says of the venture.

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Biggest personal achievement “Raising a family while managing two companies at the same time,” she says. SoFA’s multi-tasking cofounder is a scheduling whizz and this ensures there’s quality family time with her three kids and husband. passion project “Everything I do is fueled by passion. Perhaps one of my pet projects at SoFA is our comprehensive accessories design program. It is the first in the country because even if fashion accessories is a big sector in our

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manufacturing and export industry there is no educational program to support it,” she says.

What experiences have helped shape you into the woman you are today?

“Listen to your dreams and passions. They were planted in your heart for a reason.

Sometimes you can be fueled completely by passion – at times even throwing logic out the window – and completely fail or completely succeed. It is a risk worth taking.”

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Leah Besa-Jimenez First Vice President, Group Head for Media Convergence, Smart Communications

Number of Years in your industry Leah Besa-Jimenez has nearly two decades worth of marketing, CRM and digital experience spanning FMCG, technology, telecommunications (Smart Communications and Globe Telecoms), healthcare (Pfizer) and agencies. She has held senior roles at Ogilvy Group agencies, Proximity and Netbooster (since rebranded as Movent). Her scope of work has spanned strategic brand planning, brand management, marketing communications, digital marketing and CRM, focusing on data analytics, datawarehouse and loyalty and retention.

Biggest professional achievement A key theme of Besa-Jimenez’s career revolves around “building”. As Globe’s CRM head, she worked on building and expanding its data warehouse to include prepaid and VAS, consumer analytics capabilities and developing strategies through analytics, statistical models and implementation processes to control churn, build loyalty and increase usage. At Proximity Philippines, she was behind the agency’s rebuilding to deliver digital and CRM and making it the most awarded digital agency at that time. More recently, Besa-Jimenez has been building the Smart Advertising Ecosystem and expanding its product/service portfolio.

Her CRM, digital and mobile credentials make this member of Mobile Marketing’s APAC Board, the Internet and Mobile Marketing Association of the Philippines (IMMAP) and I-COM Program Board a sought-after speaker at local and regional conferences.

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Biggest personal achievement Son Jose is her “work in progress and biggest personal achievement”. Besa-Jimenez was spurred into action after Jose was diagnosed within the low-mid of the autism spectrum on turning two. “Immediately after I researched heavily and we overhauled his diet to exclude gluten and casein,” she said. “He does several hours of therapy a week, has a progressive biomedical regime and medical partner, attends progressive and inclusive schools, and has extracurricular activities – swimming, gym, drums, etc. He’s highly functional, speaks more, loves music and does laps in the pool at least three times a week. More importantly and even before he was always, always a happy child.” passion project While she wouldn’t be drawn in on the topic, it’s to be expected that Besa-Jimenez’ passion projects revolve around data, measurement and tech.

What experiences have helped shape you into the woman you are today?

“I don’t think you can isolate a defining lesson or experience; we are shaped by a collection of our experiences and choices. And people who teach us the lesson and/or provides us a choice. I’ve been quite lucky to have met the people who believed in me, pushed me, got me mad prompting me to focus more and ultimately shaped me into the person I am today.

“But if I must pick one, that would be death. I think witnessing illness and death early on makes you see life through a different lens. It strengthens your resolve and makes quite deliberate. I don’t waste time and dwell. I focus on things that are more important – family, friends, my own spirit and faith. Always always have faith.”

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Leah Caringal Managing Director, GreenBulb PR

Number of Years in your industry More than 20 years in the PR business that spanned the hotel sector to high-end brands during respective stints at the former Westin Philippine Plaza and Mondragon International. In that time, the Ateneo graduate worked with “the best in the field” – Annie Ringor and Toni Gregory – who would go on to partner with Caringal in launching award-winning PR agency, Bridges@Com. Returning after a stint with Burson-Marsteller in Singapore on a regional HP assignment, the consummate professional launched her boutique PR agency, GreenBulb.

Biggest professional achievement “Setting up a successful PR agency – twice – with Bridges@Com and Greenbulb PR,” says Caringal of her career achievements. Both shops went on to amass a portfolio of blue-chip clients and awards.

“Starting up from scratch literally makes one hungry and that passion fueled the work we did for clients like Unilever, Nissan, Apple, Nokia, Philippine Airlines, Absolut, Chivas Regal and brands too many to recall,” she says of her time at Bridges@Com. That hunger clearly had a similar effect on Caringal in her second act – GreenBulb founded back in 2009. “Our roster of clients is a mix of corporate and consumer brands that include P&G, Coca-Cola, Western Union, Ayala Land Inc, Ortigas & Company, Xurpas, Adidas and Wyeth.”

Add to that, GreenBulb has an array of metal from local and international shows on its mantle, including two Gold prizes from the prestigious Stevie Awards.

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Biggest personal achievement As it turns out, the vibrant and spirited Caringal – with two successful businesses on her CV – is not only an inspiration to wannabe entrepreneurs. By “f_cking kicking breast cancer”, says this feisty survivor, who stands as a shining example for those similarly afflicted.

Passion project Even in this industry of 24/7 demands, Caringal makes time to feed her spirit. On weekdays, this “wannabe triathlete” devotes time to honing her body for this rigorous calling, and as an aspiring chef, she spends weekends sharpening her culinary skills.

What experiences have helped shape you into the woman you are today?

For Caringal, it’s about a lifetime of experiences that have shaped her. “Can a life,” she asked, “be defined by one experience.”

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Joanna chan-Mojica

CEO, Starcom MediaVest Group Philippines

Number of Years in your industry Two decades that began in 1992 in what was then the media department of JWT. After the landmark creative-media divorce of the late 90s, she decamped to MindShare and later Maximize (since renamed Maxus). In between, she did a short stint with the former Dentsu Young & Rubicam in Hong Kong as well as Coca-Cola Philippines before returning to the GroupM family. Chan-Mojica eventually left in 2008 for Starcom MediaVest, where she rose to the leadership role following a series of rapid promotions.

At adobo’s press-time, Chan-Mojica was due to step down as CEO after five years to focus on her health.

Biggest professional achievement Keeping the 15-year-old shop in pole position could easily count as a major achievement. After all, it’s never easy staying number 1 when you’re the industry Goliath. Yet Chan-Mojica continued her predecessor’s legacy to keep the agency at the top of Recma’s rankings for an unprecedented decade with sizeable growth percentages. “I have been thinking – is it being the number 1 agency and doing my darndest to make it grow each year? Then it dawned on me that why I do all these things comes from a sincere sense of accomplishment is seeing the people I’ve worked with and mentored getting better than me,” she said. “That’s more (satisfying) than having the Recma numbers…I have watched them becoming better talent, becoming future leaders and growing to love the industry as I do.”

Biggest personal achievement Chan-Mojica will step down in April to focus on her health, a decision spurred by deep introspection but hardly an easy one to make for this hard-charging executive who is never known to do things in half measures. She has thrived on the unpredictability of agency life – “no single day is alike in this business” – and acknowledges that the line between her professional and the personal lives have

blurred – “I can’t not pick up the phone no matter the time when my staff call for help”. “To have the courage to walk into a new unknown,” she said of her decision to take a pause while still at the top of her game as her biggest personal achievement. passion project Chan-Mojica had never been involved in a big way, save for ways and means-type roles, in industry associations until last year. Nominated to the Media Specialists Association of the Philippines’ (MSAP) board, she is now throwing her energies into getting the second MSAP Media Congress launched in April. “My role with MSAP has been from zero to the top and I am glad to do the Congress before taking a pause,” she said of the opportunity given to get to know industry players, including competitors, better. “When I leave the industry, I will be cheering from the sidelines because with AFTA (ASEAN Free Trade Agreement) and the Philippines at the forefront, there is no where to go but up.”

What experiences have helped shape you into the woman you are today?

Using mistakes to teach a lesson while avoiding the blame game. “We’re all human, so I tell my staff that it is OK to make a mistake so long as you don’t make the same mistake twice.”

Accordingly, Chan-Mojica has often shared with staff the mistakes that have been made, turning an error into a learning moment for the team.

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Anne Curtis Actress, Product Endorser, Recording Artist, and VJ

Number of Years in your industry Her story has become the stuff of Philippine entertainment legend: “Discovered” at the age of 12 while visiting relatives in the Philippines, the girl with the multi-megawatt smile would grow up over the next 16 years to become one of the biggest names on or off the screen; with blockbuster movies, endorsements galore, acting awards, frequent appearances on ‘Most Beautiful’ lists, and 5 million followers on Twitter, Anne Curtis has earned her distinction as the ‘Princess of All Media’.

Biggest professional achievement For everyone who’s accused Curtis of being little more than a pretty face, she proved her acting chops by winning the coveted FAMAS Best Actress trophy on her second nomination in 2012 for her role in the 278-million pesos grossing No Other Woman. Curtis described the win as giving her a “sense of achievement”. “It wasn’t an easy way up,” she said. “I mean, it took me 15 years…

That’s why I appreciate it more, because it wasn’t something that was just handed to me. I had to do all these roles before I earned a lead role.”

Biggest personal achievement Regardless of what one might think of her singing voice, Curtis fulfilled a lifelong dream by packing in the crowds with not one, but two extravagant concert shows at the Araneta Big Dome. The overwhelmingly positive reception by the public was a reflection of the star’s decision not to take herself

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too seriously. By declaring upfront that she wasn’t making herself out to be the next big singing sensation, Curtis was able to concentrate on her main goal of entertaining and making her audience laugh. passion project Curtis is currently active in a number of initiatives to benefit the lives of underprivileged children, including the Department of Education’s ‘Adopt-ASchool’ project and serving as a recently-appointed UNICEF Celebrity Advocate for Children. In addition to attending a recent recovery project in typhoonstricken Tacloban, the star also revealed she is taking online teaching courses in her spare time.

What experiences have helped shape you into the woman you are today?

“I’m really enjoying it while I can,” said Curtis, in a 2013 interview with Philippine Star. “It was a really, really long climb to get where I am now. It didn’t come easily for me. I’ve been in the industry, going on 16 years, so right now I’m just enjoying it. Because at any time, you know, the seasons will change. As my dad always says, ‘There’s always someone younger than you, young lady, so if I were you enjoy it while you can’.”

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Meneer Marcelo

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lisa gokongwei President, Summit Media

Number of Years in your industry The third of taipan John Gokongwei’s six children, Summit Media President Lisa Gokongwei was raised to know the value of hard work and perseverance.

Beginning her work experience on the ground level in the family retail business and a stint at the Manila Times, Gokongwei would go on to earn her master’s degree in Journalism at New York’s Columbia University. Following graduation, she returned home to establish Summit Media in 1995.

Biggest professional achievement After diving headfirst into the world of publishing with the launch of Preview, Gokongwei’s Summit Media has expanded into a veritable empire, encompassing nearly two dozen magazine titles (including industry mainstays Preview, Cosmopolitan and FHM), branded online content (reaching a combined audience of of roughly 10 million readers monthly), e-commerce (online retailer Buqo), and events. Having introduced numerous industry-standard practices in print quality and practice, Summit Media is finding new success with book publishing across a number of genres, with their titles reaching bestseller lists and being produced into major motion pictures.

Biggest personal achievement As Gokongwei herself chronicled in Smart Parenting, perhaps her greatest challenge was conceiving a child due to a condition wherein she had no trouble conceiving, but in maintaining the pregnancy. In

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the piece, she shared how she and her husband spent years trying out a variety of costly medical procedures and medications before they stumbled on a traditional Chinese medicine acupuncture treatment that did the trick. Today, Gokongwei and her husband are the proud parents of two boys.

Passion project So what’s left for the woman who elevated the Philippine magazine publishing industry to international standards? As recounted to the Philippine Star in 2013, Gokongwei said, “I’ve always wanted to own a bookstore. I would’ve wanted to own a very tiny bookstore; it would just be my choice of books. But I’m just too busy.”

What experiences have helped shape you into the woman you are today?

One that will strike anyone about the Gokongwei family is their down-to-earth nature, and this is an attribute that the print magnate is working to instill in her own children. “I think that is the big balancing act,” she told the Philippine Star. “How do you not spoil them? It’s just so difficult. Kasi you see it makes them so happy. We do try to tell them, and show them, that there is another kind of world.”

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Merlee Jayme

Chairmom and CCO, DM9JaymeSyfu

Number of Years in your industry With 25 years’ experience to her name, Merlee Jayme is one of the top names in the Philippine advertising community. Beginning her career at Ace Saatchi & Saatchi as a copywriter before working her way up to Vice President and Executive Creative Director, Jayme would later distinguish herself as Executive Creative Director at BDDO Guerrero before setting up her own shop, DM9JaymeSyfu.

Biggest professional achievement While “(being) Chairmom to my DM9ners and creating the most successful home for them in the country”, is an achievement that speaks volumes about Jayme’s tenacity and drive (they call her “relentless” in the office for a reason!), no write-up would be complete without mention of Jayme’s role in earning for her agency the Philippines’ first-ever Grand Prix at the biggest stage of them all, the Cannes International Festival of Creativity with Smart ‘TXTBKS’. Since then, the work has been recognized as the 26th mostawarded ‘All Guns Blazing’ campaign in the 2014 Gunn Report, powered by (among others) Grand Prix metal at Spikes Asia, Ad Stars, Global AME, Clio, New York Fest, and a D&AD Yellow Pencil.

passion project “Creating beautiful campaigns that help uplift the lives of women” has long been something of a mission statement with Jayme, and she’s got the awards to prove it. To wit, Jayme has had a hand in crafting multiple award-winning advocacies, campaigns and initiatives for clients such as Gabriela (‘Scandal’), Anmum (‘Trimester’) and Modess (‘#StopTheBulong’) What experiences have helped shape you into the woman you are today?

“Every time someone puts me down because I’m just a fresh grad, or I’m just a junior writer or worse, I’m just a woman, makes me angry enough to push myself so hard to prove to them that I actually have a great creative mind.”

Biggest personal achievement “Being a wife to Timmy for 24 years and being a mom to Issel, Inez, Sofia and Sabine,” says Jayme, justifiably proud of her family who, to this day, remain her top priority (and achievement). “No success can compensate for failure in the home. I have to remind myself everyday that the mom role is 100 times bigger and more important than the creative director role.”

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Monique Lhuillier Fashion Designer

Number of Years in your industry Since launching her first fashion collection in 1996, Monique Lhuillier has become one of the foremost names in the world of international fashion. “My mother was my greatest fashion inspiration growing up,” says Lhuillier. “She was very elegant and had fabulous personal style. Fashion was engrained in me at a young age and I would often dream of becoming a designer.”

Biggest professional achievement Opening her first retail store in Los Angeles in 2001 with her husband as her business partner was just the first step, and the fashion world was quick to take notice.

Style experts praised Lhuillier’s imaginative uses of fabric, texture and silhouette to create altogether unique designs that looked good whether one was gracing a red carpet or walking down the aisle. Today, Lhuillier counts Hollywood A-listers like Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Lopez, and Gwyneth Paltrow among her clients, as well as pop stars like Britney Spears and Katy Perry.

Biggest personal achievement “The balancing act of being a designer, mother and wife is a hard one,” Lhuillier told The Zoe Report in 2014, acknowledging the difficulty in maintaining her professional and personal lives. “But the one thing I know is that you can always reschedule a meeting, but you never get a do-over with your kids. The trick I continue to work on is being present. I work hard when I am in the office, but when I am home with my family the phone is put away and I try to be 100% present for them. This technique allows me to feel less of that tug-of-war between work and personal life.”

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Passion project Growing up in a wealthy family, Lhuillier credits her upbringing for instilling in her the perspective that, “giving back is an easy way to show how thankful you are for the things that you have. I know I am very blessed and I want to pass my blessings to people less fortunate.” Recently, Lhuillier organized a “chore-a-thon” at her son’s school to raise funds for Typhoon Yolanda survivors. Other organizations she supports are Operation Smile, which performs free cleft lip operations, and the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, the latter of which she dedicated a portion of the proceeds from a specially-created collection to.

What experiences have helped shape you into the woman you are today?

“The best career advice I’ve received is to ‘find your own balance’,” said Lhuillier, before adding that she was fortunate to have a partner in her husband who handled the business aspect of things while she concentrated on her designs. “Balance is a very individual thing and everyone has their own barometer of what they can or cannot handle.”

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Raxene Maniquis

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Jean Lin Global CEO, Isobar

Number of Years in your industry Since founding wwwins Consulting in Taiwan in 1999 and expanding to China in 2002, Lin has enjoyed a remarkable career arc that has seen her smash through the digital glass ceiling in spectacular fashion. Lin’s association with Aegis dates back to 2004 when the global network acquired wwwins, rebranded the shop as Isobar and relocated her to Shanghai as Greater China CEO, a role she held until her 2010 promotion to Asia Pacific CEO. Last year, the Dentsu-Aegis-owned digital marketing company elevated Lin, who was also global strategy officer, to global CEO, based out of Shanghai.

This makes her one of a small number of CEOs running a global company out of China. Leading one of the world’s fastest growing, full service digital agency networks in the world, Lin manages over 4,000 digital marketing pioneers across 70 locations in 43 markets worldwide, with adidas, Coca-Cola, General Motors, Google, Kellogg’s and Procter & Gamble as clients.

Biggest professional achievement Lin was one of the early proponents of digital and stayed the course even after the dotcom bust left many leery about the sector. “Despite the risks and challenges along the way, I was determined to persist, recognizing the huge potential of digital and in doing so built one of the most well respected digital agencies in China and Asia-Pacific, which last year culminated in being appointed one of the few global CEOs based in China and Cyber Jury President at this year’s Cannes Lions.”

passion project Championing women and young people. It’s Lin’s way of paying it forward having enjoyed a successful career and people who believed in her. “I’m a member of Dentsu Aegis Network’s Global Diversity project to maximize the potential of female talent, which includes working with industry groups such as She Says where possible, to help inspire the next generation of talent. In Taiwan I am working with the AAMA and Business Next Magazine to share my entrepreneurial experience to mentor young startups. Outside of the industry, it’s Pearl for Hope, a project which helps some of the poorest but brightest students in regional China stay in high school, so they have the opportunity to go to college and then return to their hometown to make a difference.”

What experiences have helped shape you into the woman you are today?

Life lessons from her father. “My father used to say to me, it’s better to focus on being a better person than a smarter woman’. When I started my own business I finally understood what he meant. He meant that it was better to let the stereotypes of what it meant to be a woman running a business in those days fall away, and focus my energy on being the best person for the job I could be.”

Biggest personal achievement Her two children. “They are my best work, my best friends, and my best production to date,” says the proud mom.

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bebot ngo Co-CEO, Publicis JimenezBasic

Number of Years in your industry Two decades that began at Basic Advertising right through to its JimenezBasic days and its current iteration as Publicis JimenezBasic. Starting at Basic Adschool, which, in her books, was one of the industry’s premier training institutions, Bebot Ngo would spend half of her career handling strategy, assuming the head of strategic planning role in 2004 and rising to her current role in 2007.

Biggest professional achievement Impressive as it may be that Ngo made Publicis JimenezBasic’s co-CEO at age 35, making her Publicis Groupe’s youngest CEO in the region at the time, but it’s what she has done since that is all the more remarkable. When Ngo took over the reins from power couple Ramon and Abby Jimenez, PJB was the year’s Agency of the Year winner and arguably the country’s largest with a blue-chip client roster.

“Since I assumed the role of joint CEO, PJB has grown way beyond its strong past. We have led the agency’s transformation into a more vibrant, youthful and dynamic shop. Today, we continue to lead the agency and our clients as partners, into the future, where digital plays an integral role,” said Ngo. The shop also added to its AOY metal count with 2010’s Best in Market Performance and Business Management prize.

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Biggest personal achievement Without any doubt, it’s her young family. “My passion project would be none other than raising my daughter. She’s a toddler, so I do have a long way to go,” laughed Ngo. What experiences have helped shape you into the woman you are today?

Ngo offered her take of what works in driving her further: “Just keep at it. Stay focused. Take one strong step. Then take another.

“See the big picture. But chew on one chunk at a time.

“Don’t let the big daunt you. Let the small ‘everydays’ build towards an unstoppable momentum.

“Inertia has turned out to be a really good friend.” cheerful disposition brings happiness in every situation, has a good ear for music and has a good singing voice and has also shown some talent in video production,” she adds.

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Masako Okamura

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Executive Creative Director, Dentsu Vietnam

Number of Years in your industry Masako Okamura laughs (“Ha!”) when she tells adobo that she’s stopped counting how long she’s been in advertising. It’s not hard to see why: With 20 years (and counting!) to her name, this award-winning creative is currently going strong as Executive Creative Director of Dentsu Vietnam, the first woman in the history of the network to hold such a post overseas.

Biggest professional achievement On her biggest professional achievement, Okamura lists ‘Meet’ for client Toyota as taking pride of place, a project she beat out 40 teams for the chance to craft.

Describing her winning team as “diverse”, ‘Meet’ involved producers from the UK, a shoot carried out by award-winning Australian cinematographer Christopher Doyle (Chungking Express) in the Czech Republic, and post-production conducted in Los Angeles. All told, the team traveled from Tokyo to London to Prague to Frankfurt to Los Angeles, and back to Tokyo in 14 days. “It (this kind of collaboration) might sound normal to you guys, but it was rare for Japanese creatives (back) in 2006. I really appreciated this opportunity and still keep in touch with some of team.”

passion project “To make Vietnamese advertising industry powerful and famous.” We would expect nothing less!

What experiences have helped shape you into the woman you are today?

In 2004, Okamura was invited to be a judge for the Young Guns International Advertising Awards and got the chance to chat and bond with creative stars such as Alex Bogusky and Nick Worthington over “tasty Australian wine”. At that same festival, Okamura delivered her first English speech, ‘KawaiiJapanese Culture’, that the Australian and New Zealand audience “seemed to like”. Since then, Okamura has been invited to judge and speak at a variety of regional and international festivals. “In total, I (have) made speeches in 13 countries!”

Biggest personal achievement “I’ve never thought about it,” says Okamura, before sharing that she is proud of the charity initiatives she undertook for recovering sake breweries (“as a sake sommelier”) in the wake of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan, and is now seeking export opportunities for those businesses.

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LOU DELA PEÑA Ceo, Publicis Singapore

Number of Years in your industry “The future belongs to the brave,” shares Publicis Singapore CEO Lou Dela Peña, and she should know. Beginning her career on the client side of the industry fence, Dela Peña switched gears and entered advertising with her own homegrown shop before deciding she wanted to learn from the best to be the best. Fifteen years on, the effort paid off when Publicis Groupe CEO Arthur Sadoun and Publicis Worldwide’s international creative director Erik Vervroegen approached the then-TBWA\Singapore General Manager to head up their Singapore office.

Biggest professional achievement Currently, in Dela Peña’s own words, she is in the process of “leading the change for Publicis Singapore and turning it around in every aspect: From building better client relationships to achieving significant growth, creating a collaborative and entrepreneurial culture, attracting world-class talent and growing digital expertise quickly”.

passion project “I really believe in inspiring young talent to fall in love with creativity and ideas and to do something about it.

Unfortunately, they currently view our world as, ‘high burn out, with little return’. It’s getting increasingly hard to attract and retain the best and brightest who are passionate about what we do... there is a lot to be said about illustrating how truly rewarding our work can be.

That the work we create can truly change the world.”

What experiences have helped shape you into the woman you are today?

“When I moved to Singapore 11 years ago, it was largely driven by personal reasons…but it quickly turned into the biggest opportunity of my career.”

Biggest personal achievement “When I was 30, I learned that you have to really love yourself,” says Dela Peña, on being able to strike the right balance between her professional and personal life. “Turning 40, you realize something more important – you have to love and like yourself. I have managed to do both…and that makes me feel deeply happy.”

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Charo Santos-Concio President and CEO, ABS-CBN Corporation

Number of Years in your industry From her time as a production assistant before making the transition to award-winning actress and producer to her current role as the head of the largest entertainment corporation in the country, there is no denying that Charo Santos-Concio has worked hard over the last four decades to establish herself as one of the most influential women in the country.

Biggest professional achievement Assuming the post of ABS-CBN CEO – in addition to her role as the first female President of the media conglomerate and the Lopez Group of Companies – two years ago, Santos-Concio declared her mission to be one of “sustaining the corporate growth and leadership momentum that EL3 (ABS-CBN chairman Eugenio Lopez III) has started, and continuing to create worldclass content that can be applied in various platforms.”

Biggest personal achievement The child of a government doctor father and teacher mother, Santos-Concio grew up with a service-oriented upbringing, a mindset she brought to the fore in her leadership roles at ABS-CBN. “I am extremely thankful to have the chance to lead a company whose core is to provide service,” shared Santos. “In the words of Kapitan (former ABS-CBN chairman emeritus Eujenio Lopez, Jr.): It is an opportunity to render public service without being in public office.”

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passion project Using the example set forth by Eugenio ‘Kapitan’ Lopez, Jr., Santos-Concio has made it her guiding principle to serve the Filipino people through the resources afforded her by the corporation she manages. “ABS-CBN is in business to serve our public. Impeccable service is our corporate philosophy. It may be altered, dimensionalized and expressed in varying consumer-oriented communications executions, but it must remain oriented toward the very public that supports and sustains us.”

What experiences have helped shape you into the woman you are today?

Santos-Concio has cited civil rights activist Harriet Tubman, who said, “Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.”

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Teresita Sy-Coson Vice-Chair, SM Investment Corporation (SMIC)

Number of Years in your industry The 63-year-old mother of three joined the family business straight out of college in her early 20s, going on to help her father Henry Sy, the Philippines’ foremost magnate, build SMIC’s retail, real estate, portfolio investments and banking empire. She is the eldest of Sy’s five children and is largely seen as the heir apparent.

Biggest professional achievement Sy-Coson built not just one but two booming businesses for SMIC. Opening her first SM department store at just 22 years, she would in two decades at the helm turn the retail operation into the country’s market leader with a nation-wide presence of 50 super-sized malls and more than 100 super- and hypermarkets. Through Sy-Coson’s hardnosed entrepreneurial approach and incisive understanding of her customers, the “malling culture” her father is credited with creating in the Philippines is now an entrenched part of the local lifestyle.

Next, she set about transforming the group’s then 13th ranked retail and savings bank Banco de Oro into a powerhouse institution by focusing on the mass-market. What makes her stellar success all the more remarkable is that she led the business at a still young age while effortlessly crossing the gender divide that exists with many FilipinoChinese family businesses. Understandably, Sy-Coson’s achievements have been widely recognized. Forbes magazine – after calculating her net worth at US$12 billon in 2013 – named her to its list of Asia’s 50 Most Powerful Businesswoman, while Fortune has repeatedly featured her in its 50 Most Powerful Women in the World report.

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Biggest personal achievement A no-frills, no-fuss person, Sy-Coson has always kept commercial rivalry strictly for the business battlefield, behavior worthy of an exemplary corporate titan. Take for instance the fierce competition that exists between SM and the Ayala group.

In an interview with the Inquirer, she spoke of interacting warmly with her rivals outside of work. passion project Sy-Coson is a member of the ASEAN Business Advisory Council of the Philippines, which provides private sector feedback to the regional bloc’s efforts to move towards economic integration and identify priority areas for consideration by ASEAN leaders.

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What experiences have helped shape you into the woman you are today?

Sy-Coson’s first brush with the family’s then-modest shoe-selling store and banking as a child followed by working at her father’s school of hard knocks after college would cement the drive and determination necessary in creating a business empire. “My father always told us to observe a lot. Whether we are here or abroad, we use our eyes,” she said in an interview with Forbes magazine.

“We dissect it, and we look at what the opportunities are.”

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Lorna Tabuena

Co-owner, Film Pabrika

Number of Years in your industry “Thirty-five years and counting,” says Lorna Tabuena when asked about her time in the business. She should know what she’s talking about; having worked every aspect of the production world – in addition to maintaining a respectable golf handicap – Tabuena is a pillar in an industry known for its high rate of burnout and turnover. Case in point: Tabuena’s Film Pabrika didn’t win Production House of the Year at the recently-concluded Kidlat Awards for nothing.

What is your biggest professional achievement Of her accomplishments, this mother of five says, “The achievement is on two levels. I think that it has been the ability to meet the demands of my profession and still fulfill and relish every moment of my personal life; to successfully blend and yet keep independent one from the other, my professional and personal lives; and to adjust to and survive through the ups and downs of the advertising industry.”

passion project On her passion project, Tabuena is coy: “I do have a dream project but I would rather wait for the right time to talk about it.” Of course, if her previous track record is anything to go by, she definitely has our attention.

What experiences have helped shape you into the woman you are today?

“I can’t think of one in particular that isn’t connected with several others. It has definitely been a chain of many significant experiences that have helped me and molded me into the person I am today. This is an ongoing process. I have not stopped evolving. Nor do I want to. It is amazing and exciting to discover how much I can still learn from people I meet, places I visit and from experiences that unfold every day.”

Biggest personal achievement “I believe that if I can dream it, I can do it,” says Tabuena, somewhat philosophically. “At the same time I also understand my priorities and my purpose, and am able to balance my professional and personal lives with minimum conflict.”

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MADONNA TARRAYO

President/Group COO, Unitel Productions, Inc. and Straight Shooters Media, Inc.

Number of Years in your industry Two decades is a long stretch for anyone to be in an industry, but for President and Group COO of Unitel Productions, Inc and Straight Shooters Media, Inc. Maria ‘Madonna’ Tarrayo, the past 21 years have obviously been time well spent.

Biggest professional achievement Known for her exacting standards and ability to make magic in the topsyturvy world of production, Tarrayo cites her building up of Straight Shooters Media and its subsequent integration with parent company Unitel in 2012 as something she counts among her greatest accomplishments.

Biggest personal achievement “Raising a 26-year old daughter single-handedly,” says Tarrayo, without hesitation, when asked on her greatest accomplishment outside of work.

Indeed, running two major production houses (and winning awards along the way, including the coveted Production House of the Year plate at the Philippine 4As Agency of the Year in 2013 and 2014) is a tall order, but at the end of the day, Tarrayo is one exec who knows what her priorities are.

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passion project Under Tarrayo’s lead, consolidation and division of labor and projects took place between Unitel and Straight Shooters, combining what she describes as “the best practices of both” to create a whole entirely-stronger-than-its-component parts. Also counted among Tarrayo’s passions are the numerous industry CSR projects that her companies have taken part in and contributed to.

Rian Gonzales

What experiences have helped shape you into the woman you are today?

“Resilience. I never dwell on failure. I always fight back,” says Tarrayo. Of course, she adds, one must have the humility to admit that, “You are never too old to learn,” and “You become a great leader when you let other people shine and become their best in what they do.”

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Jureeporn Thaidamrong Creative Chair, nudeJEH

Number of Years in your industry One of Asia’s most-awarded creative talents, Jureeporn is an advertising wunderkind. At age six, she would have guests to her home play a game of guess the next commercial on TV. She always won, she told Agency.Asia: “I watched TV all day and I knew the sequences.” No surprise then that after studying finance and economics, she switched course, launching her 25-year advertising career as junior copywriter at Amex&Grey. Stints at 4A multinational offices followed – Far East DDB, Ogilvy & Mather’s Results Advertising and Saatchi & Saatchi – as she rose up the creative ladder and amassed a collection of metal. She was ECD of Saatchi from 2001 to 2004, leaving to launch boutique agency JEH United, which forged a joint-venture with branding agency NUDE Communication and was renamed nudeJEH in 2011.

Biggest professional achievement Launching hot shop JEH in 2005 is easily the most challenging thing Jureeporn has embarked on in her professional career. After years of producing groundbreaking and award-winning campaigns – winning Cannes Gold and Thailand’s first D&AD Pencil – Jureeporn wanted to strike out on her own. Creating work in the finest tradition of Thai advertising, her ‘Smooth-E’ TV series for a skincare brand struck gold at Cannes and other major shows on the circuit, becoming the world’s 7th most awarded TVC in the world in 2006, propelling Jureeporn to the top of two lists of Asia’s hottest creative talents while putting JEH on the map as the 18th most awarded agency in the Gunn Report. “I had never given a shit about money. I hate numbers,” she explained of her solo venture. “I never knew how to please clients apart from making great meaningful work as much as possible. To be able to run a profitable company seemed impossible for me. But, my company has always been profitable since day one.”

Biggest personal achievement JEH’s launch also stands as her biggest personal achievement in that it allowed her to use her talent for the nation. “I could make work that would have great benefit to the society such as the King’s self-sufficiency economic theory campaign in 2007-08, the ‘Sorry Thailand’ TVC (a spot to unite Thais after the political crisis but was eventually banned though it) went viral in 2011.” When she’s not working, Jureeporn is out and about rescuing dogs and cats to give them a better life.

Passion project For this, she seamlessly blends her professional and personal talents and passions: “To produce film and other media with the goal of rescuing animals, people and the rain forests.”

What experiences have helped shape you into the woman you are today?

“There was one defining moment when I was about 7-8 years old when I came across a mud puddle on a country road that was full of baby frogs, tadpoles. I realized that I had the power to rescue them before the puddle dried; moving them to a nearby pond.

That action is a reflection for the rest of my life.”

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Margot Torres

Senior Vice President, Marketing and Communications, Golden Arches Philippines (McDonald’s Philippines)

Number of Years in your industry Twenty-eight years spanning FMCG (Unilever and Pepsi), consumer healthcare (Wyeth Consumer), telecoms (Pocketbell, Extelcom, Edsamail and Smart) and the last 11 years in fastfood with McDonald’s Philippines.

Biggest professional achievement Originally enrolled in Ateneo’s Management Engineering course – it was as she was told the best place to find a “decent boyfriend” – Margot Torres was an accidental marketer and modest when asked about her biggest professional achievements.

“Fortunately, I have been recognized for somethings that I seem to have done right,” she offered.

Indeed, recognition for Torres extends beyond the Philippines. In 2010 McDonald’s Asia Pacific, Africa and Middle East Women’s Leadership Network named her Brand Ambassador. That same year she also won the Agora Award for Excellence in Marketing Management and followed by Tambuli’s first Chief Marketing Officer of the Year honor in 2011. In her Tambuli speech, Torres served up inspiration to the

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industry juniors and seniors alike: “I also used to see marketing as a job whose only goal was to make a brand earn a profit. Now, I have come to realize that there is more to marketing; something more powerful, deeper…

“What never ceases to amaze me, something that we in the industry at times forget, is just how powerful this tool really is. Marketing has the ability to reflect who and where we are as individuals, as Filipinos, as a country.”

To industry seniors, Torres noted: “I used to think a marketing person’s career ends when they turn 40 since the perception is, it is a profession suited for the young—keeping up with the latest trends, technology etc. I discovered the opposite. The longer you stay in the marketing profession, the better you get.”

Biggest personal achievement Her two kids, who have been recipients of her ‘reverse mentoring’ and have shown interest in the production side of the business. Son Diego’s 18 years, has an entrepreneurial spirit and is driven to succeed in business where he will be able to help the poor. Diego has also shown an interest in film production, Torres says. “My 15-year-old daughter, Isabel, whose cheerful

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disposition brings happiness to every situation, has a good ear for music and has a good singing voice and has also shown some talent in video production,” she adds. passion project True to her belief that Filipino talent can stand with the best in the world, Torres walks the talk by encouraging young marketers to pit their skills in Cannes’ Young Marketers competition. In 2010, the first year the Philippines fielded a team, PANA Brand Camp champs bagged a Silver Lion and the next team returned with Gold the following year. No surprise from a marketer who is never ever satisfied with “pwede na”.

Robert Alejandro

What experiences have helped shape you into the woman you are today?

The exposure she has had in 10 jobs across 6 industries, handling at least 9 functional areas in the last 28 years. “The exposure to numerous disciplines and company cultures and management styles have taught me that nothing and no one is in a vacuum. It taught me to question and to find connections every time I look at anything. It taught me that no situation is ever perfect. What is important is how you respond to the situation to make it perfectly work for you.”

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CEO, PHD Asia Pacific

Number of Years in your industry Tenacious Tsui began her advertising journey in the heady days of internet start-ups at Space Asia Media, then Hong Kong’s first online ad broker start-up, in the 90s. She has also held senior roles at other digital marketing shops – XM Asia Pacific and Modem Media and digital adnetwork Engage Technologies. Joining Ogilvy Group in 2006 as regional managing director of Neo@Ogilvy, Tsui brought media back into the creative agency group, and later moved to OgilvyOne as COO/ regional VP Asia Pacific with responsibility for mergers and acquisitions, partnerships, new business models, digital and emerging markets. In 2013, Tsui joined PHD as its regionl CEO, bringing 12 years of creative, media and digital agency experience to the role.

Passion project Tsui has energy to burn and channels this into pet projects. A firm believer in giving back to the industry through mentorship, especially for the next generation of women leaders in Asia, she is actively involved in talent programs such as MediaWorks, and in PHD internal talent management schemes. “I find it very fulfilling to watch and cheer them on as they grow into successful human beings whatever their career choice may be,” she says. If work is about keeping her head above water, outside the office it’s about staying underwater – scuba diving. “This has led to my interest in marine conservation. I work on a number of programs designed to educate and create awareness on saving precious life, underwater.”

Biggest professional achievement Less than a year after taking PDH’s regional reins, Tsui led the team in turning 2014 into a milestone year before this year’s landmark 25th anniversary celebration.

The network landed a series of big wins and doubled its size in China, India and Indonesia to reap an 18% year-on-year gain. Then there were the awards – the only regional agency to pick up 3 Gold Media Lions in Cannes, land the most-awarded network accolade at AME and Cristal and Media Network of the Year honors at Spikes and Campaign’s Agency of the Year.

On top of that, ‘Kan Khajura Tesan’ developed by PHD India alongside ad agency Lowe Lintas for Hindustan Unilever was ranked as the world’s best marketing campaign while PHD Mumbai, the office behind the campaign, was ranked #2 media agency in the world.

What experiences have helped shape you into the woman you are today?

Having control over her destiny. “There has been two points in my career where I was made to feel that I did not have what it takes to achieve career progression and success. I am thankful for those occasions as it just propelled me to take charge of my career and channel the energy into positive outcomes. My stints at XM, Ogilvy and now at PHD are a result of that determination and positivity, which defines me as a person every day.”

Biggest personal achievement In an industry where 24/7 work demands and corporate burnout are par for the course, Tsui is a poster girl for the undeniable power of positivity. “I consciously enforce a negativity filter that compels me to look at the positives of any situation. This has made a huge difference to my life, positively.”

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Jasmin Vinculado

Marketing Director, Coca-Cola Philippines

Number of Years in your industry 18 years is a long time to be doing something that you just fell into by accident, but then again, life has a funny way of working out. Just ask Jasmin Vinculado, who was recruited right out of university (where she studied business administration and accounting) into the ranks of Procter & Gamble, where she would work her way up over the next decade to handling 8 brands across 8 countries as associate marketing director.

Biggest professional achievement Vinculado went on to join Coca-Cola Far East Limited in Singapore before making the move to Australia in 2010 to serve as Operational Marketing of Coke South Pacific. It was while in Australia that Vinculado became a part of the team that developed the original ‘Share-aCoke’ campaign to boost brand awareness Down Under that would go on to become a global phenomenon.

Biggest personal achievement “I wanted to work on a Top 10 market, and the Philippines happens to be one of them. The Philippines is a big market and, from a professional perspective, I realized I couldn’t not touch the Philippine business and still be Filipino; it didn’t make sense. Coming home was something I felt I had to do. After 12 years away, I felt it was the right thing to do, both professionally and personally.”

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Passion project Today, Vinculado’s passion for her work shines through.

A self-avowed fan of Coke’s “icon-icity”, working on the brand is a marketer’s dream come true. “There’s just a difference in terms of the affinity, and you feel that you have a bit of responsibility to take care of an icon.”

What experiences have helped shape you into the woman you are today?

“I learned I could do things alone,” says Vinculado of a gap year she took. “Just part of growing up, I suppose, and I became more comfortable with myself, unlike when you’re in your twenties when you’re poor and insecure. It’s not about the cliché of finding myself, I just needed to build my confidence.”

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The Force is strong with this one. Photo by Von Buenconsejo

Profile 100 Edmund Choe, TBWA\Singapore and Southeast Asia Creative Corner 104 Kat Limchoc, Blackpencil Manila adobo Exhibit 106 Chris Lee, Asylum Singapore In the Bag 112 Sarah Tolentino, Procter & Gamble Asia Sidedish 114 Martha Sazon, Globe Telecom Getting to Know 114 Jane Walker, HOOQ 117 Young Blood

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A MAN

As many a creative will readily attest, the road to success in the advertising business is long and winding. For TBWA\ Singapore and Southeast Asia chief creative officer Edmund Choe, the journey was no different. Though as the jovial Peranakan shared with adobo, it was a journey entirely different from the one he’d originally planned.

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Look magazine ‘Beauty’ won a Silver in print at Cannes Lions 2003

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stumbled upon it,” Choe laughs when asked about his beginnings in the advertising industry. “I always wanted to be a vet when I was in school.

And then, I somehow or other didn’t pull through, but I’ve always been good in art and design, and that’s what I studied in the UK. When I came back, I just needed to find a job fast, because studying in the UK is expensive!”

Finding work as a designer by writing letters to every company he could think of (and a few he found in the Yellow Pages), it didn’t take long to discover that being a designer wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. On the suggestion of a friend, he applied to and was accepted to an advertising agency.

“At the time, I had no idea what advertising was – but I knew what design was. For my first six months in the industry, I was stuck in the studio. No one wanted to give me any jobs. I spent my time cleaning airbrushes and cowgum residue.…no one wanted to teach me the basics, I was basically

like a kitchen hand washing dishes and cutting vegetables.

And then one day, the studio director noticed I could draw”.

That chance observation, and a shot at drawing a storyboard were all the opportunity the budding creative needed. It wasn’t long before Choe was elevated to visualizer (“I had a desk!”).

“So that went on for a while, and then one day, the art director was absent for whatever reason, so I had to present the storyboards to the creative director. Somehow, he liked my input, my ideas, and before I knew it, I was involved in more projects...I rose through the ranks, art director, then three years later, group head, creative director, and here I am!”

Modesty aside, those first steps into an industry he knew nothing about were the beginning of a career that now spans nearly three decades, including a remarkable 23-year stint with Saatchi & Saatchi, where he racked up an amazing 18 Lions. Spending his first nine years in Saatchi Singapore, the agency

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won Ad Age’s ‘Agency of the Year’ award in 1997, having produced work for the likes of Toyota, Procter & Gamble, Hewlett Packard, Sony, VISA and the Singapore Navy. In 2000, while in the the network’s Kuala Lumpur office, the agency won ‘Agency of the Year’ four times. In 2005, Choe was made ECD of the Indonesia office as well, which subsequently won Indonesia’s ‘Agency of the Year.’

Today, in his fourth year as TBWA’s creative chief for Singapore and Southeast Asia, Choe is one of the region’s most respected figures in advertising.

Of the time he spent working his way through the ranks, Choe is characteristically down-to-earth.

“If you don’t work through the ranks,” says Choe, “it is very difficult to mentor people or teach people – unless you have done it yourself, you can’t appreciate it or give proper guidance to young creatives.”

Having been in the business

Breast Cancer Welfare Association ‘How to Remove’ won a Silver in press and Bronze in outdoor at Cannes Lions 2007

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for nearly 30 years’, Choe has had a front-row seat for how the industry has evolved. As he has come to discover, though, whether at TBWA or at Saatchi, some things never change.

“We have a mantra, everything that we do, ‘make it smart, make it beautiful, have fun’…and I believe in that. I believe in the ‘smart’ bit because it will make us think and do things differently, and ‘beautiful’ because there’s no use having a good idea if you’re going to package it badly. A good idea becomes an even better idea if it’s beautifully packaged. A lot of ideas these days try too hard, but they’re not really relevant or based on a true insight.”

“The medium will always change; five years from now, there’ll be something else, something new, but the idea will still be the most important thing. If I see a new technology or gizmo that comes up that we can use for a project, I get excited, too. But I’m also very

Mc Donald’s ‘Real. Good’

quick to remind myself that it’s just progress in technology. And how we use that technology is the most important thing. Technology wants to be creative – it is not creativity.

We have to make it creative in how we use it. My advice to the young guys is, look, we all get excited, but you cannot let that take over an idea.

“It’s a lot like a chef who got used to cooking in a certain way, and then someone introduces him to a microwave. It is new technology, new science, new medium, but at the end of the day, it’s still about the recipe.”

Today, Choe is in charge of creatives across the region. When asked on how his training has prepared him for handling artists and writers a fraction of his age, Choe says that this is an area where the means by which he learned his trade have proven invaluable.

“I was trained by art directors who would say they want to see 10

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or 20 versions of something. Back then, we didn’t have Photoshop, so if the ECD wanted to see a layout, I had to draw it 10 or 20 times.

But, in that process, I learned what worked and what didn’t. It helped me then, and it helps me in terms of giving guidance now. With the talent being exposed to so much more these days, you really have to prove yourself (as the senior).

You’re not better than them, but you can help them. Somehow you have to prove that. They have to realize that you are helping them and contributing because you want to make things better, and you can’t tell them that, you have to prove it. You have to tell them ‘why’. If you can be objective and tell why something they are doing isn’t necessarily good, and how they can make it better, it means something to them, and they will respect you.

All those years of rising through the ranks gives me substance.”

Being a member of juries at festivals and awards shows around the world has given Choe a unique perspective on just what it takes to win and score big at such competitions.

“I believe that a lot of success is based on risk and trial and error. It is very hard to say ‘I am very sure this is going to work’. We see a lot of exciting stuff on YouTube, on the internet, every day I see great things that never crossed my mind.

I think that is a gift we have in this day and age: Tomorrow, when I get on the internet, there will be three things that I’ve never seen before.”

At the end of the day, however, Choe is pragmatic on the importance of awards to the creative work his agency undertakes: “Awards are important, but they aren’t everything. But of course, clients like to go to award-winning agencies because they get to brag about you. If I was the managing director or CEO (of a client or brand), I know I would want to go with an agency whose work I know is good, and highly awarded, because it would make me look good. And if you’re an awardwinning agency, you will attract

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good talent, but it’s a fine line.

If the culture of the agency is all about winning awards, that’s not good. There’s a difference about doing work that wins awards, and doing work just to win awards.”

And what of the people who apply for jobs, touting however many metals they’ve won as their credentials?

“Well, I’ve seen people come in and say, “I’ve won three Lions and say to me, ‘I want this amount of money,’ but they’ve never experienced working on a big brand before, (so) you know they’re not ready, and they want to be a creative director! Now, the work they’ve done for those awards may be good, but there might not be any reality attached to it. I’m not saying they made scams, but they have to know the stress of designing the work, selling the work, getting it rejected, altering it, selling it again, altering it, selling it again – the whole process is missing from their experience.

And when they get a real job, doing real work, they are shocked by the reality, and they don’t know where to start! They want total freedom, no client telling them what to do or discussing strategy and budgets or even discussing a style, they’re not used to working within barriers. That’s my biggest fear in this industry, because there are so many like that already.

“Ok, fine, you’re an awardwinning creative, but that doesn’t mean you’re automatically a creative director. You can’t (be).

If you get all caught up with this glamour of award-winning, rankings in magazines, seeing their photographs…you can do that, but if you want to lead one day, you’ll be in for a rude shock.

“You have to go through the shit, and then you can lead.

Your 10 Cannes Lions will not make you a better creative director. The pain that you go through in being rejected, in getting hammered, in sometimes doing shit work, will make you a better creative director.”

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Kat Limchoc Executive Creative Director Blackpencil Manila

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HAPPY CORNER. I take my job seriously but it’s important to me to keep the spirit of play and fun alive.

My room reminds me of that.

1. Big box of crayons. Because ideas seem to come out more when I write them in different colors.

2. My husband gave me many of these toys. Love how we are both not quite grown up.

3. Always pen and paper first. A cool notebook always helps.

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4. A gator I got from a regional training. It reminds me to always look at the big picture. (Long story!)

5. Kurt Cobain. Because when I am stressed, 90’s rock will make the world feel better again.

6. Amigurumi by my daughter, & 9. Snow and an artwork by my 5-year old, Liv. My kids are a constant source of inspiration.

7. Chewy is a gift from a Padawan.

Press his tummy and he roars.

8. My Darth Vaders. There is happiness in geekiness.

10. I love to buy books and to share the delight with our team.

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Call him crazy At a shop called Asylum, a little insanity is expected words amanda lago

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f it is true that creative genius cannot exist without a touch of madness, then no other group perhaps understands this better than Chris Lee of Singapore-based design studio and workshop, Asylum.

His choice of agency name alone suggests Lee and his team happily skip over the fine line separating genius and madness on a daily basis. As it turns out, they do. Described on its website as an “ideas company”, Asylum has designed pretty much everything for brands, from spaces, to packaging, to products.

There’s nothing run-of-the-mill in the portfolio – using adhesive tape to create a DIY house structure to inspire people to create playful architecture or creating a series of animal silhouettes as a core design language for a salad bar, pitching salad as a hearty meal for “herbivores, carnivores and everything else in between”.

Indeed, it must have involved some degree of crazy – and certainly copious amounts of genius – for this multi-awarded adman to leave his post as regional design head of a big network agency to build a small boutique studio from the ground up. But that’s exactly what Asylum’s chief madman, founder and creative director did in 1999.

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A launch that came two years after the great Asian financial flu sent regional economies into a tailspin.

Before founding Asylum, Lee led the design division for agencies such as Bartle Bogle Hegarty Asia Pacific, and Ogilvy & Mather Singapore, where he gathered metal at top shows, including D&AD and the One Show.

Come to think of it, Lee owes his design career to one crazy decision. An electrical engineering drop-out, he threw caution to the wind, logic out the window and applied to design school with barely a portfolio in hand.

As it turned out, more stroke of genius than insanity. Asylum’s reputation and profile belies its boutique size, extending beyond its home base thanks to its diverse and stunning portfolio.

It takes a certain amount of crazy, albeit, inspired madness, to create liquid visual displays to showcase Johnnie Walker whisky, a hundred different packaging designs for a beer can, a Rorschachesque wine label for a brand called M.A.D. or non-alcohol related work such as notebooks with pseudointellectual titles on the spine, contradicting popular perception that designers don’t read enough.

Then there’s the left field move in an increasingly digital world to

Pop-up store for Hublot in Singapore... eye-candy too sweet for Instagrammers to resist

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107 A-plus... Asylum’s trophies for the APPIES in Singapore feature three solid bars that reveal an A from any angle

focus on spatial design, work that cannot — or rather, categorically does not — exist in virtual reality, work that needs to be seen and touched to be truly appreciated.

Only 10% of Asylum’s work is digital since projects typically involve branding through spatial design. “The reason why we don’t do so much digital is because I’m really old school,” Lee told the 2015 Graphika Manila audience.

That’s not to say that the work hasn’t made a splash in the digital world. Today’s Insta-crazy selfiesnapping young adore the quirky and the inspired behind Asylum’s brand of design and creativity.

A pop-up store the agency created for luxury watch brand Hublot was exactly the kind of eye-candy no self-respecting Instagrammer could resist: A space in one of Singapore’s premier shopping malls bedecked in 30,000 black crystal-like folded paper shapes suspended in the air. The effect of falling crystals was simply ethereal.

“We basically gave them the idea that your pop-up space should be a shop, a gallery and an installation at the same time,” Lee said. “It went up on Instagram, and it went crazy viral.”

With quirky, delightful designs like the Hublot store a staple in its portfolio, it’s no surprise Asylum’s

Johnnie Walker House, Seoul... infusing subtle whisky education through spatial design

reputation has catapulted beyond the city’s borders. “We used to think that we are based in Singapore, and we do our work in Singapore, but jobs are coming from different places. And designers are coming from different places to go to the office so definitely jobs should not be just locally-centric,” he said.

“We started out with graphic design obviously and I think it has moved to a space that we really like doing which is more spatial and architecture. And obviously, we can’t do everything.

No one is invincible, so we always collaborate with different designers and artists, and that’s always a good thing for us,” he added.

Of course, as with every design studio that pushes boundaries, Asylum’s work has not always been well-received. Asylum’s branding for the National Gallery Singapore in particular sparked plenty of debate. The gallery’s

new logo, which took Asylum three months to create, consists of two red blocks of different sizes placed side by side, with the name of the gallery below. Some have praised the simplicity of the design, while others called it simplistic.

Lee takes the criticisms in stride, saying “sometimes I guess you can’t please everybody”.

“We design pictures that nobody can see and nobody can read. It’s an opportunity for you to let go,” he said.

It may seem like a succession of random acts of madness got Lee to where he is today, but the designer insists it was simply a matter of following his passion.

“I’m a graphic designer by training but today I look at floor plans more than I look at illustrations and typography,” he said. “A lot of things, you don’t know where it will take you, but passion took me somewhere.”

March - April 2015 | adobo magazine

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THE LINE IT IS DRAWN Words Mikhail Lecaros

Concept Victor Garcia

Final Art Dominic Calalo

In the creative industry, self-expression isn’t so much a rarity in the workplace, it’s the norm. Whether it’s a never-ending supply of white star t-shirts, collections that would put toy shops to shame, or just a propensity for three-piece suits in tropical weather, advertising folk aren’t shy about letting their colors fly. On this page, we’re showcasing those whose art tends to do most of the talking. From doodles to calligraphy, our speciallyselected creatives may not necessarily be the quietest bunch in person, but there’s no denying that the magic they create speaks volumes.

Oliver Sarmiento Digital Creative Director Leo Burnett Manila

Apol Sta. Maria Associate Creative Director Dentsu Philippines

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Lance Yumul Art Director TBWA\SantiagoMangadaPuno

Shiela Tiongco Freelance Digital Consultant

JP Cuison Associate Creative Director Publicis JimenezBasic

Brent Sabas Art Director Publicis Manila

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MAN OF WORDS

Words are wondrous things. Depending on the one wielding them, they have the ability to do everything from warming the heart to toppling governments. In advertising, the situation is no different. A single word, properly placed, can make or break a campaign.

Badong Abesamis knows this. Bespectacled and contemplative, Abesamis looks every bit the young teacher he began his working life as. Since then, he has parlayed his gift for word craft into an award-winning advertising career. As Chief Creative Officer of Y&R Philippines, Abesamis is the driving force behind many a lauded campaign, including the multiCannes-Lion-winning ‘Dengue Bottle’.

Abesamis shares a laugh with adobo when asked about his oft-professed love of words, dismissing any notions of magic formulas or secrets to success. “It still basically comes down to braving that blank sheet of paper and trying to eke out ideas,” he says. “It’s hard work, but you won’t come up with anything exceptional until you put everything down on that sheet of paper. It’s getting up and doing your spade work, and seeing it to the finish.”

Now those are words to live by.

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Sarah Tolentino Integrated Production Manager Procter & Gamble Asia

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P&G’s Singapore-based frequent traveler packs for another business trip 1. My Security Pillow. I’ve had it since Grade 5. Smells like HOME to me.

2. Lucas Papaw Ointment. Say sayonara to dry/chapped lips.

3. Extra Strength Excedrin. To shoo migraines away.

4. Ilog Maria Honey Propolis Throat Spray. Because travel equates to marathon meetings and talkathons.

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5. Ilog Maria Propolis Sanitizer. Goodbye germs.

6. Mini iPad. To catch up on my magazine reading.

7. SKII mask, essence, toner and cream. The best, full stop.

8. Clothes/shoes packed in different utility bags.

9. Bath and Body Lavender Vanilla room candle. Antistress aromatherapy.

10. Passport. Two more years validity, but running out of pages!

11. Rayban. Instant cool look for the jet-lagged.

12. Charger/cables /pens/ thumb drive case. My attempt to be more organized.

13. Undies case. Cue Helen Reddy: “I am woman!”

14. PowerPac adaptor. Road warrior, charge!

15. Toiletries bag. Not a fan of hotel toiletries.

16. Lancel XXL bag. For shopping ‘emergencies’.

17. Luggage weighing tool.

See number 16.

18. Prada make-up bag. Gurl power!

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Any skill you faked 'til you made it?

Cooking. I’d wing it in the kitchen and would dish out my culinary creations to family and friends. Now I have a killer chilli crab recipe and then some.

Senior Vice President for Small & Medium Business Group Globe Telecom

Why marketing as a career?

The fact that I get to create new trends and be part of people’s lives inspires and motivates me to be better at what I do. It is a humbling opportunity to be able to immerse myself in the lives of our customers by way of the products that we offer them. Some may not realize it but in a lot of cases, it is marketing’s hand at work when you see that your customers find enjoyment and satisfaction in our brand’s services. I

Jane Walker Describe your role In rolling out HOOQ – a disruptive video-on-demand service – across SingTel’s footprint in Asia, the Philippines is a pilot market.

My role is to work closely with our partner, Globe, and in looking at more acquisitions in other areas as well.

What was the one thing that surprised you in your new role?

HOOQ is owned by big names such as SingTel, Warner Bros and Sony Pictures, but what surprised me is that it’s a start-up. I have been with start ups, but HOOQ is different.

Here, you have to roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty.

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Country Manager, Philippines HOOQ

There’s a lot of DIY; the decisions are made fast. There’s no red tape – so unlike big corporations where decisions go through different layers. It’s very entrepreneurial, makes us all fully accountable.

Biggest learning curve on the job.

I’m sort of like a hybrid – I have the telco experience with broadband and of course content because I was with TV5 during the latter part but I guess the biggest learning curve is being able to wear those two hats and making sure we can seamlessly integrate HOOQ into Globe’s contracts and platform to bring consumers the best experience.

make it my mission to continue to make customers happy and provide them with the most wonderful experience. And once that’s done, everything else follows.

What talent would you most like to have?

I wish to have the ability to be graceful and effortless in dancing and while engaging in physical sports.

Your favorite brands, excluding your company’s?

Apple – innovative, game changer; Uniqlo – trendy and comfortable, yet affordable; Tiffany – every woman wants it and McDonald’s French Fries – needs no explanation!

Who is your favorite fictional hero?

Darna...because I admire empowered Pinoys.

What do you consider the most overrated and under-rated quality?

Over-rated – new and improved; under-rated – consistency

getting to know

Is there a skill you wish you had before taking up the role?

It’s important to learn from people who are experts at certain skills and certain fields and you let them help you. That’s my way to educate myself. You also need to determine what is needed in the company, it may not be core to the company but you need it, then you turn to an expert.

Jane Walker is responsible for HOOQ’s overall operations in the Philippines and has a decade’s worth of experience in the digital and entertainment industry, including PLDT and TV5.

ADVERTORIAL

Create tension to connect with your audience Y&R Pulse, the research & strategy team of Y&R Philippines propagates the use of tension in humanizing brands

Counterintuitive as it may seem, Y&R believes in embracing the imperfection of brands as a perfect way to connect. This method of brand building is referred to as Tensity.

Derived from 20 years of analyzing BrandAsset Valuator (BAV), Y&R’s proprietary brand management tool and global database of consumer perceptions of brands, Tensity is more than just making a brand stand out by giving it an interesting twist. It is about understanding a brand beyond the surface, capturing its vulnerabilities and absurdities.

Tensity is depth of character.

“We all know that Filipinos are nonconfrontational and always strive for harmony,” says Riza Santos-Lanot, Y&R Pulse Sr. Research Supervisor. “This is manifested in our cultural values and practices such as pakikisama (camaraderie), and in how we are ready to sacrifice our needs for others.”

“Based on our eXploring—a Y&R proprietary research technique that encourages moving beyond traditional research methods to better understand whom we are talking to, how they feel and what they really do without an observation bias—we see that, culturally, opposing forces captivate us. From teleseryes (Philippine drama serials) to our involvement in politics, and even how we consume entertainment or live our digital lives, we enjoy contradictions. Why not apply these seemingly contradictory findings as we decode the dimensions of a brand?”

While this all seems abstract and theoretical, the Y&R team gave a few examples from pop culture and contemporary events to drive the point home: On teleserye bidas (protagonists in domestic TV dramas) – we all remember the typical protagonist and antagonist we grew up with.

They were one-dimensional characters that either made you love them or hate them. But while today’s bidas (protagonists) still have a good cry when they are confronted, they swiftly pick themselves up and bravely stand up to the kontrabida (antagonist) rather than wait to be defended. They are able to carry out their own brand of unassuming vengeance.

On the new type of politician – politicians of old are the definition of suave. They know exactly what to say when making promises and they know exactly what to do when caught red-handed. However, as a people, we are sick of these traditional politicians. Rather, we see ourselves drawn to a particular politician who is brutally honest and comically serious in dishing out her opinions on anything from national issues to love and dating.

On #hugot films (heartbreaking films) – while Filipinos have always loved romcoms, gone are the days where we are drawn to perfect love stories and happily-ever-after films. These days we flock to the cinemas and post our favorite #hugot moments from stories that are amusingly miserable.

On things we share online – while brands continue to search for the key ingredient that makes a story, a video, a campaign go viral, Filipinos, the self-proclaimed social media fiends, continue to show that the key to getting shares is a story, a video, a campaign that is unintentionally candid.

“Perfection is boring,” says Sr. Strategic Planner Angela Thakur. “Tensity breaks down facades and shows a brand for what it truly is, flaws and all. This ultimately allows us to humanize a brand and move away from typical, product-focused, one-dimensional descriptions. You wouldn’t expect a person to be one-dimensional, would you? A guy who is into sports could also be a social entrepreneur, or even a bona fide momma’s boy. It’s that

combination of quirks that would make him unique and interesting.”

“Similarly, when it comes to branding, why would you expect a brand to be about just one thing? When working with our branding team, Y&R Brand Brew, Tensity can show our clients what their brand is in a completely different light; they actually have that ‘aha!’ moment when they see the humanity of their brand.”

Y&R Philippines’ Chief Creative Officer, Badong Abesamis, stresses that it’s not merely about finding two polarizing words. “The tensity of your brand should be authentic to be able to bring out seemingly contradictory dimensions and uncover the paradoxical energy that will make the difference in creative development.“ In positioning brands, Tensity helps us veer away from linear functionality and move towards the purpose of our brand.

This then pervades across elements such as the basic facets of marketing to all relevant communication touchpoints.

Still afraid of tension?

About Y&R Y&R is one of the world’s leading global marketing communications companies. The agency’s works spans the communications spectrum and reflects the transformation that digital has driven across all media. We bring together the most experienced and most passionate leaders in strategic planning, channel planning, digital proficiency, and creative to create exceptional storytelling campaigns that build strong connections between our clients and their customers all around the globe.

About Y&R Asia The Y&R Asia network is headquartered in Singapore and has offices in China, Hong Kong, Japan, the Philippines, Korea, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, India and Malaysia.

Y oung B loo d Mikhail Lecaros | photography Ricardo Malit interviews mikhail lecaros & charisma felix

words

the teams: TWO MEMBERS PER TEAM the brief: CREATE A CAMPAIGN. the time: 24 HOURS. the prize: THE WORLD.

These are the young creatives who will be representing the Philippines on the global stage. The old guard’s time is passing. Long live the Young Blood.

Judging for the Inquirer: Road to Cannes and Young Lotus representative competitions were undertaken by members of the 4A’s Creative Guild of the Philipines.

The Philipine Daily Inquirer has been the official country representative to the Cannes Lions since 2004, and a sponsor of the country’s Young Lions competitors. Philippine participation produced Silver and Gold winners in the Young Marketers competition category in 2010 and 2011.

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Young Lions Marketers Golden Arches Corpor ation

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Ada Almendras Senior Product Manager

“This is a complete surprise,” says Golden Arches Corporation’s Ada Almendras.

Her partner, Ashley Santillan, shares the sentiment, “I knew about the ‘Inquirer: Road to Cannes’ competition – I just didn’t know we were already in it...I thought it was a workshop!”

Working off a brief to “futureproof” the Inquirer brand, Almenadobo magazine | March - April 2015

Ashley SantilLan Product Manger

dras’ and Santillan’s presentation for their entry, ‘I am Inquirer’, saw the pair come out on top against 13 other teams. “Our idea was that this (the digital age) isn’t the death of paper, because we live in the age of inquiry, which is what the brand stands for,” shared Almendras.

Having won, the pair is now very much aware of the stakes,

and absolutely excited for the chance to prove themselves.

“Of course”, notes Almendras, “there’s added pressure knowing that the Philippines has already won at the Young Lions competition in the past.”

“It’s about telling a great story,” said Santillan, “and telling it in five minutes, and making it very engaging.”

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Toby Fournier Associate Art Director

Amanda Cruz Senior Copywriter

“We ate!” laughs Publicis Manila’s Toby Fournier, on the winning insight he and partner Amanda Cruz came up with. “It was really simple…it’s like the old practice of vandalizing posters of people we don’t like, and taking that online, giving people the chance to share their opinions on real stories and issues online.”

“And when people share their

opinions, says Cruz, you achieve the traffic, readers, and metrics that were required by the brief.”

With the idea in place, the pair was able to submit their entry in record time, with enough left over to actually attend the seminars on the Kidlat program!

“One of the best pieces of advice we got was from our boss, Alvin Tecson, says Cruz. “He told us to

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manage our time and give ourselves a deadline in terms of coming up with the idea…set a deadline so you can really work on (crafting) it.”

All told, the pair beat out 23 teams from 16 agencies to win the Inquirer’s ‘Road to Cannes’ competition.

“We just wanted to have fun and do something we could be proud of, even if we didn’t win.”

March - April 2015 | adobo magazine

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Young spikes Marketers Nestlé philippines

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Raymond Lagdameo Assistant Vice President Consumer Marketing Manager

Samantha Huang Corporate Wellness Specialist

Tasked with increasing the Inquirer’s prominence in a digital age, the Nestlé duo of Raymond Lagdameo and Samantha Huang attacked their brief from the perspective of who tomorrow’s consumers of news would be. “The idea stemmed from the insight that people shouldn’t repeat the mistakes of the past, and the Inquirer could be a good carrier of adobo magazine | March - April 2015

that message,” said Lagdameo, on their winning entry.

Never having worked together, the duo quickly learned to pool their unique skills. “We each have our own ways of working, our own thought processes,” said Huang, “but our differences were able to complement each other. We also brought our ability to stay up late and work without sleep to the table (laughs)!”

“Spikes is the biggest in Asia, so it will be fun and a learning experience to see best practices from around the region,” says Lagdameo.

On the prospect of the multiple seminars, workshops, parties and exhibits that comprise Spikes Asia, Huang assured adobo that, “We’ll try to finish all our work so we can actually appreciate it all!”

Young spikes creatives Ace Saatchi and Saatchi

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marielle 'Auti' Nones Art Director

Rod Marmol Copywriter

For all the grief that many young creatives ascribe to the 24-hour competition time limit, it’s no secret that some of their best ideas have been arrived at the last possible minute – desperation breeds creativity (or so they say).

But then, you can catch lightning in a bottle, as proven by Ace Saatchi & Saatchi’s Rod Marmol and Marielle ‘Auti’ Nones, who hit upon their lauded insight within the first hour.

According to Marmol, “We thought of the idea in the first hour, so we spent the next two hours until lunch trying to see if we could come up with something better.”

The idea was simplicity in itself, to say nothing of relevant: “News is significant to young people, especially now,” says Nones.

“We live in a country filled with corruption; it’s a socio-political

climate that’s unstable. We felt that the client (the Inquirer) could solve these deeper problems by informing the people.”

The civic-minded approach was a success, as it wasn’t just good for the client, it was good for the country, and, come September, Marmol and Nones will have the chance to test their talents on a regional stage.

March - April 2015 | adobo magazine

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Young lotus Lowe inc.

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Gari Salvador Art Director

Working off a brief to benefit the orphaned children of soldiers under the care of the Hero Foundation, Lowe Philippines’ Gari Salvador and Abi Montana had to operate outside their comfort zone.

Their solution was to make donating an experience, by which ordinary citizens could sign up for a simulated army camp experience where they worked their way adobo magazine | March - April 2015

Abi Montana Art Director

towards meeting the families they were helping, literally seeing where their money was going.

On the somewhat unorthodox pairing (they are both art directors), Montana says, “We just stayed open.”

“In our line of work you have to have more than one skill set, says Salvador. “There will be occasions where you need to write, so we got

to see how flexible we were.”

At AdFest, the duo certainly got their chance, beating out 12 other teams with their ‘Futureception’ concept to sell themselves to their dream ECD by sending a message from the future. #TeamGariMonts also won the Young Popular Vote Award, as voted upon by the delegates in attendance.

Congratulations, guys!

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EXPERIENCE COLOR LIKE NEVER BEFORE.

N A T U R I S T

Naturist hues make the perfect backdrop for a sunny, woodsy feel – an all-natural warmth that is at once down-to-earth and soft with bursts of tropical sunshine.

Think of this palette as everything we love about the outdoors.

And more.

Kinetic’s kaleidoscope of tangerine is anything but mild and mellow.

It is live-out-loud and always on-the-go.

Its movement is dance and its heart is passion.

Matching the vibe of a cosmopolitan globe trotter, it fuels to excite, to enliven and to energize.

Avant-Garde pulsates with unapologetic and unshakable confidence.

With every stroke and splatter, it follows the trailblazing path of those who prefer to take rainbow leaps and forego the color compass.

P E R F E C T I O N I S T

A lesson in tone — this is what Perfectionist is all about.

The scheme soothes while underscoring a hint of wit and refinement and an overtone that is always graceful, classy and timeless.

In its subtlety, it underscores not just elegance.

It reveals simple perfection.

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Opinion 126 Severine Charbon, ZenithOptimedia Group Feature 128 Kinetic Worldwide 132 Aspac Advertising

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Séverine Charbon is Global Talent Officer and Transformation Officer, ZenithOptimedia Group

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Keeping the brightest ‘in the bus’ Even when there is a change in direction and driver

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hen I joined ZenithOptimedia as the first-ever Global Chief Talent Officer, our CEO Steve King, quoted Jim Collins from Good to Great, and told me my job would be to ‘make sure we get the right people in the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and the right people in the right seats’.

I liked the simple truth of it.

However, Jim Collins missed something crucial, which is to ‘keep’ the right people in the bus, even with a change in direction, speed, and driver during the journey.

Media and advertising agencies have always suffered from high churn, typically 20% to 30. We have learnt to manage churn.

What is new, however, is the global expansion of the Silicon Valley big players, and the rise of small entrepreneurial start-ups, all adobo magazine | March - April 2015

competing directly with us on talent.

In addition, our industry has changed dramatically, and the complexity of this environment requires new types of people; really strategic business leaders, and highly skilled specialists, who can anticipate changes in consumer behaviour, and support marketers facing the challenges of a digital world.

First, we need to understand why these talents are joining us, what is it that they truly value in our proposition? Secondly, we need to find out the real reason why they are leaving us. It’s never ‘just about the compensation’.

I find that the brightest talent join our agency and others because of the cultural fit, shared values and the great ‘chemistry’ with its leaders. Possibly, more importantly, because they see the opportunity

to make a critical contribution, and space to grow. These stars leave when they get bored, when they end up being limited in their action and development, or when they are not provided the right support for success.

So, our challenge is to make sure we give talent enough support to create an impact, and space to grow. At minimum, we need innovative talent programs, offering experiential learning, solid recognition and rewards, building a learning-base environment and a high performance culture.

We need to remove the barriers preventing people from contributing beyond their day jobs. We need to liberate our structures, simplify the hierarchy and empower collaboration. Of course we need discipline, KPIs and framework for people to create value.

This is a total shift in the way that agencies currently operate, and we need to educate our managers to be daring, and not ‘put people in boxes’ but encourage them to get outside of their comfort zones.

They should look at talent not for what they deliver today but what they can deliver tomorrow.

In this increasingly demanding agency world, it is our responsibility to create environments where today’s top talents can thrive.

We need to push the limits – move to ‘open-air double-decker buses’. This is how we will keep the brightest in the bus.

Publicis JimenezBasic

Your next post about art could be your ticket to a fortune. #artlottery coming soon

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KINETIC WORLD From drones to wearables, WPP’s outdoor specialist is testing technology to transform the out-of-home space words sharon desker shaw

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igital has been more friend than foe to the outof-home (OOH) sector and its impact in spurring innovation in this traditional medium is only just beginning.

Outdoor media specialists such as Kinetic Worldwide are leveraging technology – from interactive screens to motion sensors, beacons and drones – to fuel OOH innovation.

That Kinetic, one of a handful of companies that make up WPP’s performance marketing division, tenthavenue, is pushing the tech angle comes as no surprise. The WPP holding group has been acquiring technology companies across the world, including e-commerce firms, combining marketing, technology, big data and distribution under tenthavenue’s umbrella.

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Kinetic’s new global CEO Mauricio Sabogal is also no stranger to marrying OOH and technology.

While still at MindShare years ago, Sabogal helped develop one of the world’s first GPS-based outdoor measurement systems.

Since joining Kinetic in mid-2014 from a similar role at IPG Mediabrands’ BPN group, the New York-based chief has been crisscrossing the global network, reshuffling senior management and territory structures to speed up growth.

On a visit to Manila in early March, he spoke in bullish terms about OOH’s potential and an array of technologies Kinetic is piloting in different markets.

One such venture involves a global partnership with Syscom to install cellphone antennas on the back of outdoor posters. The

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Manila pow-wow... Mauricio Sabogal (fourth from left, front row) with Asia Pacific head King Lai (third from left) and Philippine head Roland Dallarte (second from left)

poster antennas could in effect provide a secondary network for communications carriers.

According to Sabogal, the Philippines would make a perfect market for such a service. “Think about how many posters there are in Manila and the possibility that all the cellphone towers can be replaced by small antennas behind posters.

“That gives us the possibility to provide services to carriers in partnership with media vendors, to generate data from that link between the cell phone, the carrier and the consumer, and provide the possibility in the future to make the traditional poster interact with the cellphone.”

Another technology will make every single poster unique depending on the mobile user, based on hidden codes, though this would differ from the decade-old QR

codes. “Each cellphone when placed in front of a poster will recognize it in a different way,” he says.

Drones, which appear to have captured the industry’s imagination, have similarly attracted Kinetic’s attention. The company is testing the use of small drones in markets such as China, offering brands the potential to advertise across buildings or on the road in front of red lights to point passengers to restaurants and malls, for instance.

Another technology being tested would function much like an emergency button in cars – but in this instance, drivers could place take-out orders before they arrive at a drive-through.

“We are also testing wearables and how wearables are connecting with posters, providing interaction with the consumer and tracking the consumer journey around the

March - April 2015 | adobo magazine

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city. All these technologies are not that complex to implement in markets like the Philippines.”

Aside from the potential for more interactive and customized posters, the technologies could deliver sizeable revenue contributions to the media vendor. “The company installing the antennas behind posters to provide cellphone signals will charge the carriers and they will also pay to lease space from media vendors. This is a good alternative for media vendors to increase the profitability of their poster space without increasing advertising rates,” says Sabogal.

While digital’s role in OOH’s growth story is all too evident, it is not the only source of growth for Kinetic. Traditional OOH is growing at a respectable clip while its Aviator or airport/travel division is also on the up and up,

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Multi-sensory engagement in the UK ... Unilever’s Comfort Ozone bus stop featured a fully-branded six-sheet zone emitting the scent of fresh laundry, while Land Rover’s pedal triggered audio panel conveyed the acceleration and exhilaration of the new supercharged sports model

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fuelled by the ongoing boom in the development for domestic and international airports and the multiple touchpoints travel affords to engage a largely captive audience.

Explaining that consumer profiles show that an overwhelming segment travels, Sabogal notes: “It’s a perfect match for those categories where you approach travelers not just in one airport but then in another city and then hotel and then through traveler television (programming) for instance. It’s the perfect match for a very effective media plan and also in combination with inflight advertising that we are working with our sister company managing inflight entertainment.”

That said, OOH nevertheless suffers from an immense amount of clutter, a challenge Sabogal insists can be met head-on with a focus on creativity. It’s fair to say

he is looking to replicate BPN’s success at Kinetic. Under his stewardship, the media network won more than 15 trophies, including two Cannes Gold Lions and a Grand Prix at the Internationalist, in its first year alone.

To raise the agency’s creative output, Kinetic employs a team of creatives, strategists, developers and project managers from different disciplines for its in-house creative and production unit, Kinetic Active.

“They bring their collective skills to each project, challenging each other to make every campaign as unique and customized as possible.

The team works closely with clients and our agency partners early on in the planning process to design the best strategy using fresh ideas and the latest technology to inspire a meaningful consumer experience,” says Sabogal.

Ripe for growth Kinetic global CEO Mauricio Sabogal sees the Philippines as a market ripe for further investment in outof-home advertising.

Head-turner...

Giant Oreo cookies ready for a dunking and a steaming bowl of soup to cut through Manila’s cluttered outdoor space

Local expenditure in the medium comes in at around 4% of total media spend, well below global averages of 8% to 10%.

K in etic th o u gh i s m ak in g headway with major advertisers such as Mondelēz and Unilever. For Mondelēz best-selling cookie brand Oreo, its execution using lamp posts to show a cookie about to be dunked in a glass of milk to catch busy parents in transit during rush hour, created plenty of buzz for the brand, according to Roland Dallarte, Kinetic Philippines managing director.

Last year-end, the agency expanded Kinetic Active to Southeast Asia, China and India following launches in the US and the UK. The Southeast Asia operation is headquartered out of Singapore to serve the region, with the Philippines’ grand launch set for this year. Offering creative services, production, digital, experiential and special builds plus mobile activation and social engagement, the hub will support innovations in OOH creativity, made possible by the ongoing digital and outdoor convergence.

This convergence has seen Kinetic deploy bus shelter panels that emit the fresh scent of newly laundered clothes for Unilever Comfort and panels with pedaltriggered audio to convey a real sense of the acceleration produced behind the wheel of Land Rover’s new sports model in the UK; or

steam rising out of a casserole for Unilever’s Knorr in time for the Philippines’ rainy season.

“As out-of-home continues to converge with mobile and social, we see a huge opportunity for the space to become more central to the overall media plan,” Sabogal says of a medium tipped to produce global advertising revenues in excess of US$44 billion by 2018, according to PWC. “When you see trends worldwide, out-of-home is growing not just from the development of digital out-of-home but also in traditional out-of-home because of the different formats we now have access to and the link with big data, technology and creativity.”

“Mondelēz Philippines was not a (big) believer of OOH media; this campaign basically opened up their mind about OOH placements and actually gave Kinetic more business from their other products in the latter part of the year.”

A campaign for Unilever showed steam seemingly rising from a fresh-from-the-stove soup dish, reminding road users that hot soup is perfect for the rainy season.

“The challenge in the Philippines is clutter but that is an opportunity…

Creativity is key when you are in an environment like Manila, especially the center, which is full of outof-home. It’s different in cities where it is well distributed across the geography. Here it is ver y concentrated,” said Sabogal.

“You need to b creative, not just use special activation or effects (to overcome) the clutter. More than technology at the moment, we have to bring more innovation to creativity.”

March - April 2015 | adobo magazine

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Aspac Rising Indie operator hits its stride, evolving into a group and beyond advertising ahead of milestone year words sharon desker shaw

adobo magazine | March - April 2015

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ASPAC advertising

Aspac’s dream team... (from left) Joey Ong, Angel Antonio, Miguel Ramos and Susan Dimacali

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I

n business, as in life, the lead-up to a milestone tends to spur some introspection, reflecting on the road ahead.

A case of ‘what next’? Indie agency Aspac started charting its ‘what next’ roadmap long before hitting the big 4-0, driven in large part by knowing the perils that come from standing still.

Aspac has always been a story of change since the enterprising Max B. Ramos Jr. launched the agency in 1975. Over the next four decades, the agency would enter into long-standing alliances and return to its indie roots. Its first alliance came in the form of an equity partnership with Grey International in 1985, allowing it to capitalize on multinational alignments such as Procter & Gamble. With the leadership baton passing to son Miguel Ramos, Grey’s stake was bought out and Aspac returned to being an all-Filipino agency.

By 2005, Aspac was ready for another global alliance, this

time with the world’s first global agency network start-up led by the UK’s creative maverick of St. Luke’s fame – Andy Law. An entrepreneur at heart, Ramos, with four other agencies, also launched Mediaforce as an independent media agency to compete against multinational networks. “A lot of our competition over the years have not been able to keep pace with change and are no longer around. Looking back, Aspac re-invents itself every 10 years. 2015 is another landmark year,” said Ramos.

In leading the indie shop, Ramos held his own against the industry’s veterans. “We were the first Jollibee agency back in the ’70s. We were a Procter agency, launching Pantene in the market.

We had the bulk of Unilab; brands like Alaxan, Revicon, Diatabs. As an indie agency back in 2001, we won a Platinum at the Araw Awards and the 4As first Independent Agency of the Year Award in 2011.

Founder...

Max B. Ramos, Jr launched Aspac, jokingly referred to as A Superior PAC after his former agency PAC for Philippines Advertising Councelors

March - April 2015 | adobo magazine

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We repeated this last feat in 2013.”

By 2011, Ramos was readying to take the helm of the then — Aegis Media Group to expand the global network’s Philippine footprint. This prompted the search for a management team that would not only oversee Aspac’s operations, but would take the agency to the next level.

Ramos is all too aware of the dangers of standing still. “According to the World Economic Forum, 40% of the world’s top 300 enterprises will no longer exist in 10 years’ time. Our clients’ businesses are challenged and being disrupted constantly by the increasing speed of change. Not step change but evolutionary world changing, category killing change that wipes away old business models and makes way for a start-up to take on the established industry leader and wrestle the leadership position from them. It happens so rapidly and it sweeps away the unaware and the unready. Think of a dinosaur-killing

adobo magazine | March - April 2015

asteroid type of change,” he said.

Accordingly, he set out to assemble a dream team of passionate senior talent with varied experiences and capabilities to evolve Aspac. Angel Antonio came on board in 2012 as President and General Manager. “She was and is a firebrand who went about challenging the status quo of our team and pushing all of us to be better at what we do. With a long

Nokia...work from Aspac’s recent past

list of experience in advertising, activation, shopper marketing, CRM and strategic planning she brought a wind of change throughout the agency,” he said.

Antonio came with two decades worth of experience at WPP shops – JWT, Ogilvy Action and Bates 141, where she was CEO for a little over three years. She liked what she saw – an agency bursting with potential and a solid roster of established brands such as local logistics company LBC, Honda and fast-food chain Wendy’s. An agency with pedigree if not profile.

At the same time, a coalition Ramos forged with other indie shops helped set the stage for Aspac’s next chapter – to expand beyond advertising to compete more effectively against multinational agencies. The coalition included partners in PR, brand consulting and organizational development and Aspac’s digital arm, Republika.

With plans to evolve the agency’s offering, Ramos responded to the mid-2013 loss of the agency’s largest pillar account, LBC, with a counter-intuitive move – he recruited other high profile industry talent with a solid track record for pioneering in new fields and creating new businesses.

“We were able to convince one of the most talented and experienced leaders of the industry, Susan Dimacali, to take on the Group CEO role,” he said. Formerly EVP of McCann, CEO of BBDO and Vice Chairman of DDB Group, Dimacali was tapped to lead the

charge for business development and the transformation of the agency into a group of companies with specialist services as she had done for other multinationals. “I was lured out of retirement by the ambitious vision of Miguel and an entrepreneurial drive so robust in this indie agency. It was time to give back and help one of our own in the battle against Goliath multinationals,” said Dimacali.

Another senior talent, Joey Ong, was brought into Aspac as Chief Creative Officer. The move allowed Ong, who was then DDB Philippines ECD, to realize his entrepreneurial ambitions. He launched DoJo, a design specialist that focuses on strategic branding and design services, marrying science with design aesthetics.

“We found ourselves working more and more with clients beyond their marketing communication needs – developing product and brand concepts, naming and brand positioning,” Ong said of DoJo. With the new units and talent on board, Aspac was evolving into “an integrated group offering to provide tailor-fit solutions powered by its collaboration with the Dentsu Aegis Network”.

Under the banner of The Aspac Group, the business provides content creation, digital solutions, brand development and design, and shopper marketing as core offerings.

At its core, Aspac sits as the group’s creative agency, creating content, which its new business units deliver to engage and drive the consumer along the purchase journey.

Indeed as Ramos, who was promoted in 2014 as CEO of Dentsu Aegis Network’s Philippine operation, told adobo: “Our vision now is that we are in the business of transforming businesses. We are no longer just advertising. We can now go into brand and product consultancy, and design to technology to build platforms for clients.”

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ASPAC advertising

Going the distance...

Aspac’s work for client Honda (top) and Globe MyBusiness’ ‘Inspiring Success’ campaign

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The Aspac Group continues to reinforce its offer with the addition of seasoned practitioners in shopper marketing and digital.

Ben Reyes, who was Leo Burnett’s group account and shopper marketing director for the past 10 years, joined Aspac in March.

Bigger plans are also in store for Republika to expand beyond its mainstay of web and Facebook campaign management work.

“We want to evolve into a digital agency that is about consumer engagement and community building,” Antonio said.

To do so, Aspac is looking to gain access to cutting edge ad technology and plans on rolling out an incubator unit. Ramos recently returned from Tel Aviv, the Middle East’s equivalent of Silicon Valley. “We are looking at

bringing back technology that we can offer to our clients and represent (the developers) not just in the Philippines but also Southeast Asia,” he said.

Evolving into a group has been good for the bottom-line. Last year, the group grew a staggering 52%, the result of an aggressive new business drive that landed the sizeable Globe MyBusiness agencyof-record assignment, Pocari Sweat, Gatsby and significant earnings from its new business units kicking in.

“The world does not need another ad agency,” said Ramos.

“It needs companies that bring solutions to large, complex, difficult challenges and seemingly impossible to solve problems. We aspire to be that type of company. We dream of doing this for our partners, our stakeholders, and ourselves.”

March - April 2015 | adobo magazine

Award Merit 2011 Philippine Quill Awards for Division 1– Communication Management – Rizal @150: The Sesquicentennial Birth Anniversary Celebration of Our National Hero, Dr. Jose Rizal

Winner 2013 International Public Relations Association Golden World Awards for Social Media for PR Agency Category - Colgate Optic White Philippines Launch

Silver Winner 2013 Tambuli Awards for Integrated Digital or Mobile Initiated Program – Multiply Origination

Gold Stevie Winner for Communications or PR Campaign of the Year: Consumer Products Colgate Optic White Philippines Launch - New Product Launch

Silver Winner 2013 Tambuli Awards for Integrated PR Led Program – Manila 2012: The Philippine Hosting of the 45th Asian Development Bank Annual Meeting of Board of Governors

Gold Stevie Winner for Communications or PR Campaign of the Year: Social Media Focused Colgate Optic While Philippines Launch

4F Magnitude 2 Bldg.186 E. Rodriguez Jr. Ave., Quezon City 1110 Philippines, 638-69-73, info@greenbulb.com www.greenbulbpr.com

d o w n t i m e

Rolling Pig a la Joey. Photo by Johann Bona

Book Review 138 The Art of Social Media, How to tips from social media’s Jack Bauer Movie Review 140 Birdman (The Unexpected Virtue of a Film Stunt) App Review 142 All-Star Gaming 144 Clash of Clans, A tale of Myths and Marketing Watering Hole 146 Sweet Ecstacy: X marks the sweet, sweet spot In the Kitchen 148 Joey Ong’s Layers of Goodness 150 adobo out & about 150 krokis

book review

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How to tips from social media’s Jack Bauer

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Guy Kawasaki and Peg Fitzpatrick directs with expertise from the trenches

Ed Mapa is Chief Executive Officer, TBWA\ Digital Arts Network Manila

words ED MAPA

I

The Art of Social Media

By Guy Kawasaki and Peg Fitzpatrick

adobo magazine | March - April 2015

’ve always been a believer that for one to command respect , one has to experience “life in the trenches”. Great generals are the ones who know what it takes to fight battles in the trenches.

Written by Guy Kawaski – the legendary former chief evanglist for Apple and one of the pioneers of business blogging, Tweeting, Facebooking and Tumbling – and Peg Fitzpatrick – a social media strategist and director of digital media for Kreussler Inc – The Art of Social Media is a 123-step guide book full of tactics and power tips to help you build your social media foundation, amass digital assets, go to market, optimize your profile, attract more followers, and effectively integrate social media and blogging.

Both authors live and breathe social media and they know their stuff. They are in the trenches of social media and this sets the tempo of what to expect from the book.

The no-frills, no-fuss tactics shared are not big moving strategies in social media often marketed by other authors. It’s about “how to’s”.

From the many links, it’s clear the book is designed for digital reading. So if one wants to deep-dive into the various topics, the electronic digital version is a must. However, the printed format has enough learning nuggets to get you going.

Among the many learning tips, “How To Perfect Your Posts” contains the most depth. They state

that it’s a must to have visuals in your social media posts – literally every single post – and should contain “eye candy” in the form of picture, graphic or video. It amplifies the point that visuals in social media are a powerful ingredient that must be given due diligence.

Along the way, you’ll also discover new words. In Tip 35, you are told, “Be a Mensch”. Like me, you’ll probably wonder, what is a “Mensch”? (Perhaps I should be spending more time in the trenches).

A Mensch is a kind and honorable person who does the right thing the right way. And in the context of internet entitlement syndrome, if you share the joy of helping others, that goodness will eventually flow on the karmic scoreboard. “Give to others without an agenda”, the tip declares.

Both Guy and Peg also argue against abdicating your social media to an agency (Tip 111) and delegating the job to an intern (Tip 112). Their message is clear – for one to become a rock star in social media, one must be willing to take that dive in the trenches.

The preface of the book describes Guy and Peg as the social media equivalent of Jack Bauer and Chloe O’Brian of 24 fame.

So, if you’re ready to elevate your game and can take kick-ass advise with no regard to policies, procedures and protocol from a Jack Bauer of social media and be fascinated by how his trusted Chloe directs where you should go and what to do, this book is for you.

Explore solutions with TAG and enjoy workless weekends!

#NoMoreSleeplessNights #TAGtheFuture

www.TheAspacGroup.com • solutions@theaspacgroup.com • W16 La Fuerza, 2241 Chino Roces Ave., Makati City, Philippines

movie review

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Birdman

The Unexpected Virtue of a Film Stunt words Joaquin Valdes

I

was discussing the wonders of ambiguity in film with my directing students and naturally Alejandro Inarritu’s Oscar success Birdman (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) came as an easy reference. I unfortunately missed the cinematic screening of the film since our movie houses chose to give it such a short run, so I was compelled to view it in the comforts of my own home. This proved to be a better option, since I could wear my tighty-whities and experience a mirror of Riggan’s emotional and psychological descent. At home I am able to watch, pause, re-watch and take more stock on what could be one of the finest pieces of cinematic art this generation has birthed.

Birdman is a character piece clothed in masterful filmmaking and seductive writing. Micheal Keaton plays Riggan Thomas, a washed out 50-something Hollywood superhero film star, who tries to attain artistic credibility by writing, directing, and starring in his own Broadway adaptation of Raymond Carver’s What We Talk About When We Talk About Love. With his entire bank account invested into this artistic salvo, and his producer (Zach Galiafianakis), daughter (Emma Stone), and co-actors (Naomi Watts, Andrea Riseborough and Edward Norton) adding to the already compounding pressure, Riggan begins to question the lengths he is willing to go to be considered relevant.

The immediate feature of this film is what cinephiles like noticing: adobo magazine | March - April 2015

How the entire story was shot in what seemed to be a single long take.

You don’t need to be a director or a filmmaker to realise that a stunt like this is no walk in the park. The famous ‘Old Spice: The Man Your Man Could Smell Like’ campaign with Isaiah Mustafa took months of preparation, hi-tech mechanical rigging and days of rehearsals and shooting trials before landing a decent take. That was a 30-second commercial. Alejandro Inarritu schooled us by making this stunt not only look so simple, but – more importantly – feel unnoticed. A second, third, and, in my case, a fourth viewing is more than enough

to realize exactly how complicated the sequences were designed. The main setting of the film is The St. James Theater which is located on one of the busiest streets of Broadway. 44th Street between 7th and 8th Avenue is known to be a prime lot attracting a lot of attention and traffic. The film was shot in this location for about a month which landed in scenes that had us follow characters going in, out and through the theater and its surrounding streets and bars.

Any filmmaker would tell you that Inarritu had his work cut out for him logistically and organizationally.

We haven’t even talked about

Joaquin Valdes is a commercial director and an all-around talent with experience in television, theater and films

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movie review

141 lighting this god-blessed stunt.

Taking home his award for cinematography is a personal hero, Emmanuel Lubezki, who was just as surgical as Inarritu in his process. It might seem logical to use practical lighting for takes that run as long as they did in the film, but the magic of Inarritu and Lubezki was not in the scenes where realism was key, but in the subtle and almost mystical cues that occured on the stage of the St. James Theater. Mixing a bevy of different stage lights and color, Lubezki served us the cinematic and artistic truth of the character and the play itself, simultaneously.

This is what blew me away. While it all felt absolutely necessary and natural to the occurences of the scenes, there was a grounded vision steering us as we fastened onto the ride that is Riggan’s descent.

Selecting Keaton to play Riggan Thompson was no accident. Keaton was almost too perfect to play the role of a forgotten actor best known for his portrayal of a superhero.

Since Tim Burton’s Batman, Keaton never outgrew the rubber suit, and, after a long hiatus, this comeback got him a Best Actor nomination.

Norton plays a wonderful foil to Keaton’s Riggan as the pedantic actor Mike. Norton was also attached to Marvel’s Incredible Hulk reboot for one major motion picture, but quickly squirmed his way out that. Rumor has it that Inarritu originally wanted to end with Johnny Depp in the very same position as Keaton opened the film with asking himself “How did we get here?” with a poster of Jack Sparrow watching him from the mirror. Galiafianakis, Stone, and Watts pepper this painful plot

with performances that all go to prove how controlled and precise Inarritu was in selecting this cast.

The literal and metaphorical Drum Solo played by actual musician and film scorer Antonio Sanchez completes the experience by keeping us glued and titillated almost pervertedly as we bite our lips watching Riggan die an artistic death. I love watching jazz improvisations and when you do get a chance to watch the pleasurable and painful expressions of a jazz drummer, you’d get a clearer picture of why this was the perfect score to the film.

It’s almost impossible to talk about Birdman without getting into a debate about the ending. Which leads me back to my discussion with my students. I told my class not to be wowed by the gimmicks of shallow work: The gimmicks that leave plots open-ended just for the sake of being controversial. The gimmicks that use long-take stunts and misplaced montages that confuse in the guise of profundity. The gimmicks of

being vague and not ambiguous.

With any wonderfully ambiguous film, Birdman allowed us to ask some questions, but without any pretense or contrivity. The film left us with enough anchoring to know that the questions we ask after can be answered if we followed the cues.

Throughout the film, and the very specific images chosen by Inarritu, we are taken on a cinematic, albeit poetic, journey of the ephemeral.

Choice images such as the falling of Icarus, the jelly fish on the shore, the colors on stage, the colors off stage, the constant allusion of text to death, the opening poem by Raymond Carver which contains the words on his epitaph, and, last, if not most important, is the position of the only CUT in Riggan’s story. All these lead the viewer to the answers Inarritu wants us to discover.

Beneath it all, Inarritu grounded his stunt on something extremely well-researched, well-planned, well-crafted, well-coordinated, and entirely well-deserved to be called this year’s Best Picture.

Perfectly cast as an actor who never completely left the shadow of his most famous role, Michael Keaton received a Best Actor Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Riggan.

March - April 2015 | adobo magazine

app review

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Matthew Arcilla is a freelance writer and an avid gamer.

He also loves cats.

ALL-STAR GAMING

Kardashian brand rings in millions in game sales words matthew arcilla

I

n the world of gaming, a powerful brand can move players just as much as a compelling theme or solid gameplay mechanics.

It’s how French multinational Ubisoft can move millions of units under the Assassin’s Creed name and Activision can make an annual event out of a brand like Call of Duty. In the mobile and tablet space, developers like King Games and Kairosoft have turned ‘Saga’ (as in Candy Crush Saga) and ‘Story’ (as in Game Dev Story) into names for accessible yet involving gaming experiences.

And yes, even the lure of a celebrity’s name can make for some powerful branding. This was made most apparent with Kim Kardashian: Hollywood which was unleashed by developer Glu Mobile on an unsuspecting market last year and generated $43.3 million in just three months. Polygon said that with its straightforward role-playing reward loop and wish fulfillment component there was “more to [the game’s] success than just a pretty face.”

I played the game over the past month – forever leaving a stain on whatever database Facebook has on me – and the game is a typical cycle of clicks and rewards.

In it, Kardashian encourages bald-faced materialism and social opportunism in your quest to ascend the social ladder.

Even the in-game loading message and tooltips exhort you to flaunt clothes, cars and homes to maximize your star power.

Of course, that’s just in keeping with the game’s theme. Nobody expects a game with Kim Kardashian’s name on it to be an existentialist look at choice and determinism or a deconstruction of post-War cultural values, let alone a self-aware examination of fame and celebrity in the social media age. Still, Kim Kardashian: Hollywood is no more offensive in design than most other casual games.

I kept tapping away to complete tasks that earn fame, adobo magazine | March - April 2015

money, and stars. What made the game tedious though is the fact that there’s very little sense of accomplishment. You earn your rewards by doing nothing other than sticking to the story and path set before you. It’s not the first mobile game guilty of this, but for people like me who play games with a bit more meat, it’s definitely a disappointment: Even Zynga’s Indiana Jones Adventure World had an exploration component to it.

And as a celebutante following in the footsteps of another celebutante, I was subjected to an odious narrative that makes fame its own reward.

Kim Kardashian: Hollywood is not the first time a celebrity has lent his or her name to a game. In the past, video game companies have licensed athletes names — some as part of their contracts with sports leagues — to bestow extra prestige to their sports games. But in many other cases, as in Shaq Fu or 50 Cent: Blood in the Sand, they can serve as vanity projects on a star’s checklist of fame to-do’s.

Kardashian’s success has paved the way for other celebrity branded games. As gaming platforms, mobile and tablet devices serve a mass market that is more receptive to novel gaming exper iences than are traditionally seen on dedicated gaming consoles. It also means that a celebrity’s brand holds greater leverage than other factors conventionally regarded to be important to gamers.

In the past month, we’ve already seen a slew of announcements indicating that other equally savvy celebrities (or at least their licensing people) have picked up on this success. Hong Kong-based Animoca Brands licensed Paris Hilton’s likeness from Paris Hilton Entertainment to develop a mobile game. Meanwhile, although Glu Mobile has updated Hollywood to feature Kylie and Kendall Jenner as in-game characters, they have also inked a deal with Katy Perry to feature her voice, likeness and personality in a similar game. Clearly, they’re not content to rest on their Kardashians.

app review

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CLASH OF CLANS A tale of Myths and Marketing words ricardo malit

I

Ricardo Malit is a multimedia artist.

He enjoys watching sunsets while walking on the beach

stumbled upon Clash of Clans on the Google Play Store Editor’s Choice list. Set in the time of Viking warriors and barbarians, the title was easy to learn and intuitive to pick up for those who have experience playing strategy games: You build a base, you upgrade structures and unlock new units.

The basic premise of the game is to build up your town with structures that defend your village from raiders while, at the same, time constructing structures that train units for your raids on other players’ villages. In the game, you have to spend (in-game) money to make (in-game); in order to build and train anything in the game you must have supplies of elixir and gold, which you can acquire through resource gathering structures or raiding other villages.

Attacking other players is fun and profitable, since you can potentially get a lot of resources from it and use those resources to build and train more units. As you progress, the difficulty varies in response to the player’s style of defense and his strategy of attack.

One of the game’s most popular features: The ability to join up with other players to form clans. Clans can help out by sending troops for your attacks or you can just keep them in the base for additional defense. The clans can also engage in wars with other clans, where members go head to head with other players, with the results posted on a point-based leaderboard.

The game will test your patience though. Units and buildings would take about a minute to prepare at first, but when you start progressing in the game, better units

adobo magazine | March - April 2015

and advanced building would take hours, even days to prepare. Not to mention buildings require builders and by default, you start off with only two of them, which means being able to only build two structures at a time.

Alternately, you can skip the waiting time, and cross the line from casual gaming to actually investing in your game, with the use of in-game gems that you can spend on special abilities, including options to skip the build/training time, get more builders, and gain resources without having to wait or raid other players’ towns. These gems are rare, but, as you will be reminded constantly throughout the game, they are available for (real-world) purchase from publisher Supercell.

Sadly, this trend of offering incentives and upgrades in exchange for real-world cash isn’t a feature that’s likely to go away anytime soon, as similar ‘free-to-play’ models are now found everywhere from Candy Crush Saga on your cell phone to the latest Playstation 4 releases.

This combo of gameplay and marketing is actually an accurate reflection of my entire experience with Clash of Clans. When I first got into the game a year ago, the phone I was using had a poor battery life and, since the game requires you to be online in order to play, I decided to uninstall it. I had no plans of playing the game again but when the Super Bowl ad starring Taken’s Liam Neeson was released earlier this year, I thought the ad was entertaining enough to pick up the game again, but this time on my iPad. I’m not sure if it’s because of new features, but the game seemed more fun that when I first tried it. I suppose it could have something to do with the fact that a lot of people at the office have been playing for months and were more than willing to help a returning player out.

One thing’s for sure, though: Somewhere, a bunch of barbarians and wizards is cheering and giving high fives to celebrate the advertising win.

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Danielle Austria is a community manager with Publicis Manila. The internet has given her delusions that she can do good by sharing what she had for lunch.

X marks the sweet, sweet spot

adobo magazine | March - April 2015

S

weet Ecstasy is a burger joint owned by Francesca Tobias (known to FM radio loyalists as DJ Monica Francesca), her partner Al Galang (owner and director of Sundar Bikram Yoga) and Diego Castillo (guitarist for rock band Sandwich).

Originally, Sweet X (as the cool kids would have it) was located in Cubao. Back then, they were known for their cookies but Fran says the menu expanded as Al got curiouser and curiouser in the kitchen. Now they’re serving burgers, wings and milkshakes at the quieter end of Jupiter in Makati, attracting a steady flow of customers eager to see what got Esquire to crown Sweet X’s Double Cheeseburger the best in 2014.

If you’re planning to make the trip, I must warn you: Waiting time is considerable. Better avoid coming “hangry” as the promise is food served right, not fast.

They make no exceptions, not even with your fries. Sweet X uses real potatoes—it’s easy to tell by the cut and the bits of skin left on for effect. Sweet Potato and Ecstasy Fries are the best-sellers.

Fantastic Fries sits on the safer side and is quite comparable to its mainstream fastfood brothers.

I’m not the biggest fan of onion rings, but I can appreciate how they make them at Sweet Ecstasy. Light and crispy, these deep fried slices of battered joy don’t overwhelm the taste buds as others tend to do, which makes them great to have on the side.

Sweet Ecstasy’s chicken wings are a must. Soy Honey is my favorite, despite being the most tame of all flavors. It could be less oily but other than that, it had the right mix of sweet and savory. The Buffalo had just enough kick to it, almost

a non-event if not paired with garlic aioli. Honey BBQ is sweeter than it is smoky, perfect for fans of the typical backyard barbecue.

But the one that really takes the cake is Sriracha Lime. Hot and zesty at the same time, there was what can only be referred to as an explosion of feelings in my mouth.

Then came the Cheeseburger.

It was easy to miss the “x” that literally marked the buns.

First impressions would have you wondering if the trip was worth it but, oh boy, do you get some sort of high after the first bite. What we have here is honest-to-goodness comfort food, y’all—no frills, only pure beef patty that’s grilled upon order and garnished with the basics (TLC) plus the Ecstasy sauce. I don’t see how you can go wrong with that.

And if, by Man vs Food standards, you find that the Double is still not enough, I dare you to go for the Triple. It’s not openly advertised but part of a “secret menu” that you can be familiar with through frequent visits.

Among all of Sweet Ecstasy offerings, their milkshake spread is the most extensive. Fran recommends Green Tea, but you can also have it in Red Velvet, Choco Cherry or Mud Pie to name a few. If you only live once, then you must get Nutella. And when you do, I hope for your world to end the second this concoction hits your tonsils the way it did for me. There’s also that booze-infused “Adult” selection that everyone’s talking about.

While that might have to wait til next time, I know where I’m getting my OT food tonight.

Find Sweet Ecstasy is at 10 Jupiter Street, Bel-Air, Makati, Metro Manila.

The restaurant opens at 10am to 12mn from Monday to Friday, 4pm to 12mn on Saturdays and Sundays.

in the kitchen

downtime

Charisma Felix is a frustrated writer who recently saw Star Wars for the first time. She hopes to marry Tyrion Lannister and/or Daryl Dixon some day.

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Joey Ong’s Layers of Goodness words Charisma Felix | photo Johann Bona

F

or a health-buff creative known for surfing and taking part in triathlons (not to mention his daily morning runs, even when out of town at advertising festivals!), one would think that consuming or cooking food rich in cholesterol would be forbidden. But for Joey Ong, chief creative officer of Aspac Advertising, and avid amateur cook, his version of porchetta, the Rolling Pig, isn’t just one of his favorite dishes – it’s his masterpiece.

“It started as a challenge,” says Ong, on the development of his rolled lechon. “A friend of mine was having a birthday party and I decided to give her something unique.” What began as an experiment soon became a success story, as word of Ong’s creation spread. Ever the entrepreneur, Ong began marketing his creation to his friends and co-workers, through informal samplings, social media posts and good old-fashioned word of mouth. Also, “Every year I give one to a special new friend.”

adobo magazine | March - April 2015

It wasn’t long before Ong began receiving requests, then orders, for the Rolling Pig. These days, he’s even begun receiving orders from outside Manila!

According to Ong, his Rolling Pig comes in original lemongrass or fennel flavours, but, like any real creative, he isn’t afraid to experiment with an established formula, coming up with new twists to his original recipe: “I have crazy flavors too; I make it sometimes stuffed with longganisa and laing!”

Each serving of Rolling Pig, which can feed about 4-5 people

While the Rolling Pig is baking in the oven, Ong prepares the sauces.

– or 2-3 if you are extremely hungry – comes with 3 sauces: Mango Chutney, Duck Liver Sauce and Cilantro Chilli. “I like mixing the Mango Chutney and the Cilantro Chili, try it,” he says.

Naturally, having heard so much about it, when Ong invited adobo to his personal kitchen to sample the Rolling Pig firsthand, we couldn’t resist.

Fresh from the oven, he laid the Rolling Pig on a wooden serving plate with the dips laid out beside it. The crispy skin cracked as he sliced the meat in portions of equal thickness. Between the slices, we could see the ingredients that had been stuffed into the rolled pork belly, its rich aroma wafting through the room.

To make a long story short: The Rolling Pig lived up to the hype. So crispy was the exterior, and so succulent the meat inside that we couldn’t help but go for seconds (and thirds). Even without rice, the combination of meat and spices was good enough to eat on its own. And true enough, as suggested by Ong, mixing 2 of the 3 sauces made it even more irresistible. This was, indeed, Joey Ong’s masterpiece.

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ADOBO OUT & ABOUT

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1. Hello, New York! Editor-in-Chief Angel Guerrero was in Singapore to bid a fond farewell to BBDO APAC chief Chris Thomas, who has been appointed the network’s Head of the Americas 2. #UGLBoracay Multimedia artist Ricardo Malit and managing editor Mikhail Lecaros edit videos with Underground Logic head honcho Aids Tecson in preparation for the Kidlat 2015 awards night. Tough work, but someone’s got to do it.

3. Drive Another Day Lecaros contemplates grand theft auto while admiring 007’s famed Aston Martin DB5 in the London Film Museum.

4. Size Matters Account manager Nicole Songco belittles Bangui’s enormous windmills 5. Free Spirit Writer Amanda Lago gets her inner goddess on in India.

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