Is55 adobomagazine space issue

FRED & FARID’S

ASTERIO GUTIÉRREZ

CAN’T STOP

OUTLOOK 2015 The Year Ahead THE FIRM IdeasXMachina PEOPLE Kenneth Lingan Google PH Country Manager

Casey Neistat Filmmaker ISSUE 55 JANUARY - FEBRUARY 2015 Philippines Indonesia Malaysia Singapore Hong Kong Thailand

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DESIGN Craft MNL Robert Alejandro

E D I TO R ’ S N OT E January-February 2015, Issue 55

(WATCH THIS SPACE) For most, the onset of a new year is a time for declarations of intention, making promises no one really expects you to keep (“resolutions”), and/or the season for general housekeeping. As stewards of the Word on Creativity, it’s pretty much in our job descriptions to be clued in on the current state of the art.

As such, it is my privilege to inform you, dear reader, that change is in the wind for the Philippines’ premier advertising publication.

But we’re getting ahead of ourselves.

On this issue’s cover, we have Fred and Farid’s new creative director Asterio Gutierrez, in his first full-length interview (pg 52) since accepting the role, sharing lessons from taking on the world. Also profiled are Google Philippines’ new country manager Kenneth Lingan (page 64), on his plans for the country’s digital future, and maverick filmmaker Casey Neistat, who tells us what it was like to spend Nike’s online marketing budget to fly himself around the world (page 68).

Looking forward at the year ahead, our Outlook 2015 special report (page 97) features the world’s top creative minds and agency heads putting in their two cents’ worth of prognostications on what they expect to see in the next 12 months, as well as a look back at the highs and lows of the recent Campaign Agency of the Year (page 81).

Newly-minted McCann Wourldgroup ECD Joe Dy channels his inner Hannibal in the Centerfold (page 60), while our Trendspotting (page 62) tackles the family ties that make our little industry even smaller. Over in Design, we’ve got the works of backpacking artist Robert Alejandro (page 46), and a piece on the fine folks over at CraftMNL (page 44).

For The Firm, we shine a light on the inner workings of last year’s 4As Philippine AOY Independent Agency of the Year, IdeasXMachina (page 72).

As far as swan songs go, this issue is chock full of the good stuff that’s become adobo’s trademark, and we’re not done yet. We have many surprises for you in the coming months, and the only spoiler I’ll give you by way of preface is to say that you won’t be disappointed by what we’re cooking up.

Watch this space!

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

STAFFBOX President & Editor-in-Chief Angel V. Guerrero

Vice-President & Chief Operating Officer Janelle Barretto Squires

FRED & FARID’S

ASTERIO GUTIÉRREZ

CAN’T STOP

OUTLOOK 2015 The Year Ahead

EDITORIAL

THE FIRM IdeasXMachina

Consultant Editor Sharon Desker Shaw

PEOPLE Kenneth Lingan Google PH Country Manager

Casey Neistat Filmmaker

Managing Editor Mikhail Lecaros Senior Multimedia Journalist Amanda Lago

Editorial Coordinator & Writer Charisma Felix

ISSUE 55 JANUARY - FEBRUARY 2015 Philippines Indonesia

PHP 195 IDR 100k

Malaysia Singapore Hong Kong Thailand

MYR 15 SGD 10 HKD 60 THB 250

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DESIGN Craft MNL Robert Alejandro

Cover photo Alvelyn Alko of amanacliq

ART Creative Director Victor Garcia Multimedia Artist Ricardo Malit

Graphic Artist & Illustrator Joshua Gonzales

MARKETING & EVENTS Sales and Marketing Head Cha Clarino Account Managers Tricia Amarilla Nicole Songco Marketing & Events Coordinator Kriss Luciano Business Development & Circulation Officer Rea Gierran

For advertising, sales, subscription, editorial and general inquiries, please get in touch. editorial@adobomagazine.com sales@adobomagazine.com subscriptions@adobomagazine.com events@adobomagazine.com books@adobomagazine.com info@adobomagazine.com www.adobomagazine.com Telephone +632.845.0218 / +632.886.5351 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

ADMIN & FINANCE Finance Consultant Ellen Gonzaga Jeffrey Cuenca Finance Officer Elsa Galamgam

Like us on Facebook www.facebook.com/adobomagazine

HR & Admin Officer Romina Claros

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.

CO N T R I B U TO RS January-February 2015, Issue 55

Wesley Villarica Photographer

Ryan Sulit Photographer

Jamie Tolentino Columnist

Tony Ahn Columnist

Toby Guggenheimer Guest Columnist

Rina Malonzo Guest Columnist

Cheuk Chiang Writer

Donald Lim Writer

Jos Ortega Writer

Carmela Lapena Writer

Clint Catalan Stylist/Production Designer

Florence Vergara Makeup Artist

Ralph Dela Cruz Makeup Artist

Edz Vargas Makeup Artist

Teppai Pascual Author, Krokis

72

Can’t Stop Asterio Gutierrez, Fred & Farid

68 Renegade Casey Neistat:

AOY 81 Agency

of the

Year

2014

Campaign AOY 2014

82 SHOW OF STREGNTH 83 WINNERS 86 THE OGILVY JUGGERNAUT 88 NEWCOMER TRIUMPHS 89 BACK ON TOP 90 PHD STRIKES GOLD 91 MRM HAT TRICK 94 PHILIPPINES IN BACK-TO-BACK SEA CREATIVE HEAD TRIUMPH

TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S January-February 2015, Issue 55 Cover Story 52

Can’t Stop: Asterio Gutierrez, Fred & Farid

Philippine News 06 07 08

10

11 12 14

Ace Saatchi & Saatchi is top Philippine agency in Big Won rankings Timmy Jayme to launch Ripple 8 Saatchi veteran Matt Seddon launches start-up Silver Machine Philippine agencies score at Campaign agency adobo Design Awards returns New Wins Bring on the drama

Global News 15 16 18

19 20 23

Philippines rank 23rd in Gunn 2014 Thomas Kim leaves Cheil Steadman leads M&C Saatchi’s mobile shop Ogilvy appoints AP chief talent office New Wins Game on for the Super Bowl

Digital 24 28 29

Digital strategists weigh in Tolentino’s Take: Jamie Tolentino Ones and Zeroes: Tony Ahn

The Work 32

36

37 40 42

Creative Review: Joseph Bihag, Y&R LabStore adobo Ad of the Month: November – December 2014 Creative Showcase Bang for the Buck: British Heart Foundation, ‘You’ve Been Vinnied’ Creative Corner: Valerie Cheng, JWT Singapore

Design 44 Making magic with Craft MNL 46 adobo Exhibit: Sketching the world with Robert Alejandro 48 Design Trends:

Rina Malonzo, PortfolioMNL 50 Design Thinking for Design Communities:

Toby Guggenheimer, School of Fashion

and the Arts

Centerfold 60

Joe Dy, McCann Worldgroup Philippines

Trendspotting 62

Family Ties

People 64 68

Kenneth Ligan: The Man from Google Casey Neistat: Renegade

The Firm 72

Coming of Age: IdeasXMachina

Marketing 78 76 76

Hear them roar: female e-fluencer adobo Sidedish: Arlene Torres, Sky Cable In The Bag: Paolo Raymundo, Turner Philippines Inc.

Special Report 81 97

Campaign Agency of the Year Awards 2014 Outlook 2015

Regular Sections 126 Logic & Magic: Bong Osorio 128 Downtime

6

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Ace Saatchi & Saatchi is top Philippine agency in Big Won rankings ‘ZZZ Radio’, ‘Re-Meet’ wins power agency to top spot THE BIG WON RANKINGS 2014’S TOP PHILIPPINE AGENCIES RANK

1

MANILA Reflecting last year’s triumphs in the adobo Creative Rankings and 2014 Kidlat Awards, Ace Saatchi & Saatchi has once again emerged as the top Philippine agency in the Big Won rankings, which were released on January 20.

DM9JaymeSyfu, whose 2014 haul included a D&AD Yellow Pencil and Campaign Asia-Pacific’s Philippine Agency of the Year plate came in second place, followed

by Lowe Philippines in third place.

BBDO Guerrero emerged as the fourth top agency in the Philippines, TBWA\Santiago Mangada Puno ranked fifth, and McCann

Worldgroup and Leo Burnett Manila tied for the sixth ranking. Y&R Philippines was named the eighth top agency in the Philippines, Ogilvy & Mather come in ninth, and Campaigns & Grey Makati rounded out the top 10.

Fred and Farid’s newly-minted creative director Aste Gutierrez, meanwhile, was counted among the Won rankings’ top 50 Copywriters in the world, ranking #31 for his work with DM9JaymeSyfu and BBDO Guerrero. Gutierrez shared the spot with Alok Mohan of Impact BBDO Dubai and Mehdi Lamloum of Memac Ogilvy Tunisia.

AGENCY

PTS

2013 RANK

87

2

Ace Saatchi & Saatchi

2

DM9JaymeSyfu

79

1

3

Lowe

68

9

4

BBDO Guerrero

50

3

5

TBWA\SMP

18

5

6

Leo Burnett

13

8

7

McCann Worldgroup

13

7

8

Y&R

8

4

9

Ogilvy & Mather

4

9

10

Campaigns & Grey

2

11

DM9JaymeSyfu associate creative director Biboy Royong, who worked on DM9’s historic Grand Prix Lion-winning Smart ‘TXTBKS’ campaign, was among the top 100 Art Directors. At the same time, DM9JaymeSyfu head Merlee Jayme and BBDO Guerrero chief David Guerrero were named as being among the top 100 Chief Creative Officers in the world.

Overall, the Philippines came in 30th overall, based on a ranking of 32 international awards shows and wins by 1667 agencies for 5138 pieces of work.

THE BIG WON RANKINGS 2014’S TOP CAMPAIGNS ACROSS ALL MEDIA IN THE PHILIPPINES RANK

CAMPAIGN

POINTS

CLIENT

AGENCY

1

‘TXTBKS’

57

Smart Communications

DM9JaymeSyfu

2

‘ZZZ Radio’

54

Pampers

Ace Saatchi & Saatchi

3

‘Plastic Dudes, Kids, Grandma’ press campaign

41

SM Prime Holdings

Lowe

4

‘Unselfie’

26

Typhoon Appeal

BBDO Guerrero

5

‘Family Remeet’

18

Cebuana Lhuillier

Ace Saatchi & Saatchi

6

‘Pocket Fire Extinguisher’

15

City of Las Piñas

DM9JaymeSyfu

7

‘Aid Couture’

13

P&G Ariel

Leo Burnett

8

‘Labels Against Women’

10

P&G Pantene

BBDO Guerrero

9

‘Dengue Bottle’

8

Maynilad Water Services

Y&R Philippines

10

‘Press’

7

PCSI Philippines

McCann Worldgroup

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January-February 2015

T HE PH IL IPPIN E S

7

Timmy Jayme to launch Ripple 8 DDB Group Philippines sets sights on digital public relations MANILA DDB Group managing director Timmy Jayme is poised to introduce a new digital public relations agency to the country, Ripple 8. Since 2011, Jayme has served as managing director and chief operations officer for DDB Philippines.

Speaking with adobo, Jayme revealed that the establishment of Ripple 8 is keeping in line with the network directive to provide multi-disciplinary and integrated creative business solutions for clients.

“DDB has gone through a lot of challenges in the last two to three years, and it is now poised to diversify,” Jayme told adobo. “My focus will be in helping this new company, or where PR will now be a lead in developing different kinds of clients.

DDB has grown through the years and the whole group has been very good at integrating and winning awards. It’s really good to see how DDB continues to grow.

Each business unit will be able to embark on new platforms as we enter 2015.”

Having begun his accounts service career with Ace Saatchi & Saatchi working on brands such as Nestlé and San Miguel Corporation, Jayme moved to McCann Erickson, where he handled one of the agency’s most important brands, La Tondeña. He later joined Kodak Philippines Ltd, where he was promoted to different marketing positions in the consumer imaging division, both in local and regional levels. He has also worked with American Standard Philippines as marketing manager. He pursued executive education finishing the Management Development Program of the Asian Institute of Management.

Google Philippines appoints new country manager Former Unilever exec takes top job at search giant MANILA Google Philippines has appointed Kenneth Lingan as country manager for the Philippines. Lingan joins Google from Unilever, where he was vice-president for Deodorants, Southeast Asia and ANZ, based out of Singapore. Prior to that, he was marketing director for Unilever Home and Personal Care in the Gulf Region.

“Ken’s 16 years of experience in marketing and brand development will be a real asset as we continue to grow our business from the Manila office,” said Julian Persaud, Google’s managing director for Southeast Asia.

“The Philippines is fast digitizing, and I

am very much inspired by the possibilities that Google can bring our users, advertisers, and publishers here. I’m delighted to be part of Google’s journey in the Philippines, helping to bring tools and products that make a meaningful impact in people’s lives and enabling businesses to make the most of the Internet to grow their enterprise,” said Lingan.

A graduate of the Ateneo de Manila University with a degree in Management Engineering, Lingan is the

January-February 2015

Corey Cruz moves to DigitasLBi as regional CD SINGAPORE Corey Cruz has moved to DigitasLBi in Singapore to take on the role of regional creative director. Prior to the move, Cruz was creative director at BBDO Guerrero/Proximity, where she won awards for campaigns such as ‘Liter of Light’, ‘Unselfie’, and ‘It’s More Fun in the Philippines’.

“I liked the vision of the agency and how it functions as a network, pulling in resources from all across Asia,” Cruz told adobo.

second to assume the country manager role in the country, following in the footsteps of Narciso Reyes, who served in the position from Google Philippines’ launch in 2013 until his departure in January of last year to pursue other opportunities.

The appointment comes at a time when Google is actively expanding its operations in the country, as shared by Persaud; “From a marketing perspective and from an investor’s perspective, Google is very bullish on the Philippines, (and) that’s why we continue hiring people,” he said. “We’re very pleased with the progress, and we’re excited about the opportunities in the Philippines because we know it’s an important market for the region.” (For more on Lingan, turn to page 64)

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T HE P H I L I P PI NES

Jake Tesoro moves to Ace Saatchi MAKATI After 11 awardwinning years with TBWA\ SMP, Jake Tesoro has made the move to serve as creative director at Ace Saatchi & Saatchi — the agency where he began his career as an art director. “‘Tito’ Jake, as he is fondly called, is not only fun to work with but a great talent as well,” TBWA\ SMP managing partner and CCO Melvin Mangada said. “We are sending him off with only good thoughts and best wishes.”

“To our balikbayan, Jake, welcome back to Saatchi House!” said Ace Saatchi & Saatchi CCO Mio Chongson, on the appointment.

Saatchi veteran Matt Seddon launches start-up Silver Machine Indie agency with ideas for change MANILA After a successful career at the helm of several network agencies – Matt Seddon has founded his own agency, Silver Machine Digital Communications. With Manila serving as its creative base, the independent agency promises to change the traditional ad agency model with its focus on ideas.

“We’re not looking to be everything. Our single-minded focus is ideas,” Seddon told adobo. That’s what we do. So everyone who comes into the company, [their] single-minded focus is delivering big, business-building, shareable ideas.”

“The second thing we do is delivering engagement plans. We say, ‘here’s your idea, we have your business, and here is the engagement plan, here is how we will take it above-the-line, digital, shopper marketing, PR, whatever it may be,” he added.

City of Dreams ad with DiCaprio, De Niro, and Scorsese Hollywood giants meet in cheeky spot

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Seddon sits as Silver Machine vice chairman, while his partner, P&G veteran Erwin Elechicon sits as chairman.

“This place is rocking. The fastest growing economy in Asia in 2013. 54 consecutive quarters of growth. Why wouldn’t you invest in the Philippines?”

Seddon, who is known as a Saatchi veteran after having led the network’s Malaysia, Vietnam, Philippines, and India offices, shared that while he doesn’t intend on taking anything from Saatchi–not even the people– he does intend on bringing in the spirit of Saatchi’s “rock and roll” culture into his new agency.

“It’s about great work, it’s about ‘nothing is impossible’, them against us, David vs.

Goliath, pirates vs. the Navy. All that sort of stuff. The irreverent, ‘Up yours, we’re game for it, we don’t give a stuff,’ which I think is really cool.”

MANILA Asian netizens were abuzz over ‘The Audition’, an ad for the soon-to-launch City of Dreams, starring Hollywood giants Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, and Martin Scorsese.

Curiously, the video was set to ‘private’ on YouTube, but not before excited Pinoys gushed over it online, sharing and re-uploading it across assorted social media.

Produced by Rush Hour and X-Men 3 director Brett Ratner, the 60-second spot is edited to resemble a trailer for a major motion picture, opening with the legendary Scorsese welcoming his two most famous leading men to the new resort entertainment complex and delivering the awkward news that they will be competing for the same role in his upcoming project.

According to entertainment publication Vanity Fair, and numerous sources online, the series of ads had an allotted budget of US$ 70 million, with each of the three talents receiving upwards of US$ 10 million. A variant of the spot was also posted online for City of Dreams Macau (upon which the Manila facility took its inspiration), featuring a cameo by Brad Pitt.

With its soft opening in December of last year that has already welcomed over half a million Filipinos, the City of Dreams Manila resort and casino includes three award-winning hotels: Crown Towers, Nobu and Hyatt. The complex sits on a 6.2-hectare site along the Roxas Boulevard and is going to be part of the Entertainment City being developed by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation.

The grand launch is set for February 2.

January-February 2015

10

T HE P H I L I P PI NES

Philippine agencies score at Campaign agency BBDO Guerrero, Starcom and MRM lead the pack SINGAPORE BBDO Guerrero was the top Philippine creative agency at the Campaign Asia-Pacific Agency of the Year awards 2014, taking the Gold from DM9JaymeSyfu, which had won the award for the past two years. The award caps off a winning year for the agency, whose ‘Labels Against Women’ campaign for Pantene earned awards such as a Bronze Spike and a Cannes Cyber Lion, and whose ‘Unselfie’ campaign for Typhoon Haiyan relief bagged a Bronze Lion and a Bronze Spike, to name a few. BBDO Guerrero chairman and chief creative officer David Guerrero was also named Southeast Asia Creative of the Year.

Taking the Silver in the Philippine creative agency category was DM9JaymeSyfu, while Leo Burnett Manila snapped up a Bronze. Also that evening, MRM/McCann was named Southeast Asia

Digital Agency of the Year. DM9’s digital arm, Digit snapped up the Silver award, while Ogilvy & Mather Philippines won Bronze.

On the media side, Starcom MediaVest Group Philippines took Gold while ZenithOptimedia Philippines was awarded the Silver, and OMD Philippines netted Bronze.

Starcom MediaVest’s Veron Agustin was a runner-up as Account Person of the Year alongside Jian Yang of OMD Singapore, with the title going to Grey Group Singapore’s Tom Evans.

DDB Group Philippines president and CEO Gil G. Chua was a runner-up for Agency Head of the Year, with the award being won by Ogilvy & Mather Singapore’s Fiona Gordon.

DM9’s Merlee Jayme, along with partners Alex Syfu and Ronald Barreiro, were runnersup for the Southeast Asia Talent Management

Team of the Year. The winning team was made up of Tang Seok Hian, Kausern Hieu, Mitch Dauz, Ovidia Wang, and Marenna Theresia of Starcom MediaVest Group.

The winners of the Campaign Asia-Pacific Agency of the Year awards were revealed on December 10 at an awards dinner at Singapore Ritz Carlton Millenia. (For more on the Campaign AOY, turn to page 81)

Creative Guild returns Kidlat to Boracay Adopt ‘Innovative, Creative’ for March show MANILA For 2015, the Kidlat Awards have adopted the theme ‘Innovative, Creative’, celebrating ideas that transcend medium, provide solutions, and push social change. With adjustments in the rules this year, the

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competition will be the first in the world to judge work according to the product category it is in, regardless of the medium used.

Speaking on the rule change, Creative Guild of the Philippines Chair Merlee Jayme said the

January-February 2015

decision to celebrate medium was centered around making “idea” the king, and letting brands take the spotlight, with wins based on, say, ‘Best Campaign for Cosmetics’, rather than any specific portion of the campaign.

Jayme explained that a large part of the rationale was the ongoing global blurring of lines separating traditional categories, such as those between Ambient and Outdoor, or Print and Banner ads.

Among the top international creatives invited to participate in the judging are DDB Worldwide chief creative officer Amir Kassaei and Y&R Malaysia executive creative director Gigi Lee.

Kidlat will also be celebrating its 15-year partnership with philanthropist Mercedes E.Zobel by updating its public service award, the Diwa, to the E.Zobel Diwa Award, in honor of the Zobel family foundation.

This year, the E.Zobel Diwa Award will be awarded to the idea that can solve a current brief, provided by Zobel. The brief is open to any agency, company, or individual. Diwa award entries will follow a template, and will be shortlisted in Manila, while finalists will be released in March.

The Kidlat Awards will be held from March 4 to 6 in Boracay, Caticlan. Entries that have first aired, gone live, been posted online, or made available for public download between January 1, 2014 up to January 13, 2015 qualify for the awards.

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11

adobo Design Awards returns Sixth show sets ‘Design for the Future’ theme in call for Open category entries

27 FEB

FRIDAY DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION OF ENTRIES

24 MAR TUESDAY DESIGN SERIES

MANILA Now open for entries, the adobo Design Awards is back to recognize and honor the brightest and best talents in contemporary creativity. For 2015, the competition is set to surpass last year’s record-breaking edition to highlight state-of-the-art works in print, publishing and advertising.

This year, New York-based American Institute of Graphic Art Medal winner Lucille Tenazas returns as jury president, overseeing a panel of industry notables and luminaries in judging the entries across 14 Professional categories. In addition to founding Tenazas Design and her status as an award-winning creative, Tenazas is the Henry Wolf Professor and Associate Dean of the School of Art, Media and Technology (AMT) at Parsons The New School of Design. Her emphasis is on the intersection of design, craft and technology, working with students on hybrid and cross-platform ways of communication design practice.

A special prize, the Lucille Tenazas Design Excellence Award was introduced in the artist’s honor in 2014, with the winner selected by Tenazas from among the Gold winners under the Professional and Open/ Theme Categories.

Joining Tenazas in the judging will be a jury comprised of industry luminaries and creative leaders, including Dave Ferrer (JWT), Robert Alejandro (RAA Design), Jowee Alviar (Team Manila), Ivan Despi (Acid House Post), AJ Dimarucot (Love and Madness Clothing

Corp.), Baby Imperial (B+C Design), Rina Malonzo (PortfolioMNL), Dan Matutina (Plus63 Design), Andrew Petch (Ace Saatchi & Saatchi), Nico Puertollano (Flux Design Lab), Russel Vergara (Vgrafiks Design + Branding), and Barcelona-based designer Lady San Pedro.

Open to professionals, freelancers and students, the Open category, under the theme of ‘Design for the Future’ calls for design ideas that are simple, creative solutions to social issues. They must be socially relevant, environmentally friendly, sustainable, use locally-sourced materials and reflect Filipino sensibilities. Design professionals and freelancers entering new work in the Professional Division will be judged separately from those entered in the Student Division. Some inspiring examples of past winners in the Open category include DM9JaymeSyfu’s Smart ‘TXTBKS’, which turns old phones and unused SIM cards into educational materials; Y&R Philippines and Maynilad’s ‘Dengue Bottle’, a do-it-yourself mosquito trap; ‘Rags2Riches’, a social enterprise which creates eco-ethical fashion and home accessories out of up cycled scrap cloth; and MyShelter Foundation’s ‘A Liter of Light’, which turns plastic bottles into makeshift solar lamps.

A series of design workshops by members of the jury and a master class by Tenazas herself to be held the week of the awards night are expected to be announced shortly.

January-February 2015

27 MAR FRIDAY AWARDS NIGHT

Lucille Tenazas Master Class set for March 26 In addition to serving as the adobo Design Awards 2015 jury president, AIGA Medal winner and design guru Lucille Tenazas will be holding a oneday Master Class covering advanced creative methodology and techniques.

For more information on this and other related events, please visit www.adobomagazine.com/masterclass

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T HE P H I L I P PI NES

R3 NEW BUSINESS LEAGUE

NEW WINS CAMPAIGNS & GREY WINS AIR ASIA ACCOUNT Campaigns & Grey’s Cebu office will handle the launch of Air Asia’s new flights from Cebu. The win includes above the line, below the line, out of home and launch events for new routes in the Visayas and Mindanao.

“This is a prestigious win and honor for the Cebu office and we are excited to be working with a regional carrier like Air Asia,” said Boboy Consunji, CEO of Campaigns & Grey.

Voted “World’s Best Low Cost Carrier” for six consecutive years, Air Asia serves multiple domestic and international destinations.

AMP/AMON+MANEZE WINS PRIMERA LIGHT BRANDY AMP/amon+maneze rang in the New Year with a new business win, after being awarded duties for Ginebra San Miguel’s Primera Light Brandy brand.

The pitch, held in December 2014, was between AMP, PC&V, Aspac, and Brand Ideas. AMP was awarded the account a couple of days before the New Year.

“What’s interesting is that this is the first time that San Miguel’s brandy line has been awarded to the same agency that handles their gin products,” AMP managing partner and chief creative officer John Amon said.

AMP also handles San Miguel brands GSM Blue and GSM Premium Gin.

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Nov 2014 Philippines Top 10 wins Creative Agency

Month

Account

Area

Saatchi & Saatchi

Mar

Toyota Motor (Yaris)

Philippines

DDB

Aug

Ayala Corporation Project

Philippines

Ogilvy

May

BPI Project

Philippines

Leo Burnett

Sep

Samsung

Philippines

BBDO

Apr

Department of Tourism Project

Philippines

BBDO

Aug

Board of Investments Project

Philippines

BBDO

Aug

Manila Bulletin Project

Philippines

BBDO

Oct

SM Supermalls Project

Philippines

TBWA

Jan

Converge ICT

Philippines

McCann

July

Globe Digital

Philippines

Month

Account

Area

ZenithOptimedia

Media Agency

Feb

Nestlé

Philippines

Starcom

Oct

Coca-Cola(Digital)

Philippines

Starcom

Mar

Smart Telecom (Digital)

Philippines

Carat

Mar

Mondelez

Philippines

Starcom

Sep

Samsung

Philippines

ZenithOptimedia

Feb

Wyeth

Philippines

Vizeum

Jan

Reckitt Benckiser

Philippines

Starcom

April

Shang Properties

Philippines

Starcom

Nov

Unilab (Myra & Ph Care)

Philippines

Universal McCann

Feb

H&M

Philippines

Y&R | Labstore nabs 2GO group AOR Unified messaging for legacy brand 2GO Group, the Philippines’ oldest, largest, and premier logistics provider, has named Y&R | LabStore Philippines as agency of record for all its creative requirements. The partnership covers all of 2GO’s brands, including 2GO Travel, 2GO Express, 2GO Freight, and 2GO Logistics.

“We have always believed that the breadth of 2GO Group’s experience, our legacy, and our unparalleled service speak volumes about our commitment to providing end-to-end

January-February 2015

logistics services for Filipinos – whether for personal, travel, or business use. This partnership with Y&R | LabStore allows the group and our other brands to speak in a unified voice that cuts across all our services.”

Mary Buenaventura, president/CEO of Y&R Philippines, said the excitement to work with a local legacy brand, “2GO allowed Y&R | LabStore Philippines to fully immerse ourselves in their culture”.

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T HE P H I L I P PI NES

Bring on the drama Brands connect with consumers via these emotionally-charged ads

Biogesic

Modess

Alaska

Campaign ‘Heartwritten’ Client Biogesic Agency McCann Worldgroup

Campaign ‘Stop the Bulong’ Client Modess Agency DM9JaymeSyfu

Campaign ‘Ginang Beauty Queen’ Client Alaska Milk Corporation Agency Lowe Philippines

The Work The brand tries to bridge the gap between digital natives and their analog parents by showing the value of handwritten letters in a reality show-type ad that plays up the emotion by including a lot of touching confessions and crying mothers.

The Work Encouraging young girls to silence their inner doubts and be more confident, the ad hits its target market right where it matters. Instead of telling a farfetched story, the ad sticks to common challenges teen girls face everyday, showing how, with a little bit of confidence, they can be overcome.

The Work The mini-documentary follows Jessica Sabordo, a mother of nine and a contestant on Ginang Alaska, a beauty pageant for mothers. Jessica’s sincerity shines through the screen as the camera follows her journey as a first-time beauty queen.

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January-February 2015

G L O B AL

15

Philippines ranks 23rd in Gunn 2014 Makes second Top 25 appearance but drops 3 spots from 2013

LONDON The Philippines was ranked as the 23rd most-awarded country in the world in the 2014 Gunn Report, the global index for creative excellence in advertising.

The Gunn Report encapsulates the overall performance of the advertising world from January to December 2014, based on the results of 45 global, regional and national creative award contests.

This is the second time the Philippines has appeared in Gunn Report’s top 25 Most Awarded Countries list, sliding three spots down from its #20 ranking in 2013.

The Philippines shares the #23 spot with Norway, as the USA dominated the list at #1.

At the same time, DM9JaymeSyfu landed in the top 25 most awarded digital ads, ranking 20th for its ’TXTBKS’ campaign for

Smart Public Affairs.

The Digital list was topped by Dentsu Tokyo for its ’Sound of Honda-Ayrton Senna 1989’ for Honda Internavi.

Meanwhile, Ace Saatchi & Saatchi landed on the list of most awarded Print/OOH ads and campaigns, ranking 50th for its ‘Family Remeet’ campaign for Cebuana Lhuillier.

Leo Burnett Tailor Made (Sao Paolo) topped the Print/OOH list for its ‘Letters’ campaign for Fiat/Don’t Text and Drive, alongside BBDO Proximity Singapore for ‘Un-Cinq’ for Guinness.

Joining Gunn Report founder Donald Gunn for the 2014 edition as guest editor is Malcolm Poynton, newly appointed global chief creative officer of Cheil Worldwide.

Poynton, who has contributed his own personal commentary on the report and awards tables as well as being involved in the selection for The Showreel of the Year, commented: “The Gunn Report brings all the chaos and confusion of the seemingly endless award show calendar into sharp focus to give us the bigger picture of what’s hot and who’s behind it. Here you will find the best ideas made for clients that know the worth of a well-executed creative idea.”

McCann Hong Kong becomes McCann & Spencer Hong Kong AOY Agency of the Year 2014 rebrands HONG KONG McCann Hong Kong CEO chief creative officer Spencer Wong’s name has been added to the agency’s, now kown as McCann & Spencer.

Charles Cadell, president, McCann Worldgroup Asia Pacific said: “Spencer has been a key driver in transforming the Hong Kong office to be recognized globally for its creative prowess. Spencer’s reputation and connections also lends itself to attracting not only the best talent in Hong Kong, but Asia and beyond...Creative leadership across our network and the quality of delivery is a major focus for our business. As a network we’re very

excited by the direction taking place in Hong Kong,” he said.

Wong joined McCann Hong Kong in early 2006 as executive creative director for Greater China, and was soon promoted to managing director Hong Kong. Under his leadership, McCann Hong Kong continues to be the most creatively awarded agency in Hong Kong, a title it has held proudly since 2007, along with helping China win their first Grand Prix in Cannes in 2009.

January-February 2015

Award recognition has come to clients such as Coca-Cola, Nike, Wellcome, Café de Coral and HMV. McCann Hong Kong has been recognized as ‘Agency of the Year Hong Kong’ in 2012 and 2014.

Continued Wong: “With many client loyalties remaining with the people rather than just the agencies, making the change to McCann & Spencer gives confidence to prospects and existing clients that we will place the best of Hong Kong’s talent on their business.”

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G L O BA L

Commonwealth// McCann names Jonathan Disegi as EVP, global director of strategy and research DETROIT Lowe New York and Publicis veteran Jonathan Disegi has assumed the post of executive VP, global director of strategy and research at Commonwealth//McCann.

Disegi will be leading the agency’s strategic operations in support of the General Motors Chevrolet account. Disegi previously served as global planning director at JWT New York.

Disegi has extensive international brand-building knowledge and more than 17 years of experience in brand strategy, creative development and innovation.

Thomas Kim leaves Cheil Korea’s first Titanium, GP winner exits after 20 years SEOUL South Korean advertising icon Thomas Hong-tack Kim has resigned from his post as executive creative director at Cheil Worldwide, effective end-February 2015.

Kim is starting his own project, a consortium of agencies from various fields.

“Even though I enjoyed my time at Cheil, I thought it was time for me to start my own project. Instead of being an individual player of a big company, I wanted to build the playground itself. What I mean by playground here is a platform where a variety of ideas and actions converge and create fun,” Kim told adobo.

“I’m planning to form a consortium of leading agencies from various fields, ranging from content development and brand consulting to web marketing and even robotics and data visualization. My vision is to create a new communication ecosystem through this consortium,” he said. “And my book, Digital Playground, is being translated into Chinese and English, and will be published next year. A lot of the ideas that served as the basis for my new adventure are

DigitasLBi North America taps BBDO’s Ronald Ng Veteran is latest big hire for award-winning shop

NEW YORK DigitasLBi, has appointed Ronald Ng as chief creative officer for North America. Ng joins the agency from BBDO & Proximity Singapore, where he served as chief creative officer for that office, as well as head of the network’s Asia Creative Council. At DigitasLBi, Ng will lead creative teams across all six offices in North America – the agency’s largest region. Ng will be based in New York, and will report to Tony Weisman, CEO of DigitasLBi North America. He

will work alongside Chris Clarke, chief creative officer for DigitasLBi International.

“Ronald is a seasoned leader and a creative force to be reckoned with,” said Weisman. “You can see his ingenuity and passion in every piece of work that he does. He’s been rightly recognized by the industry numerous times for driving innovative, cross-channel programs, and his creative leadership inspires both teams and clients. We’re thrilled to have him onboard.”

Ng’s appointment comes on the heels of several other big hires and

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January-February 2015

summed up in this book.”

Kim joined Cheil in 1995. A multiawarded creative, he has won metals from numerous international shows including Cannes, D&AD, the One Show, Clio, Spikes Asia, and AdFest. Winning campaigns include ‘Homeplus Virtual Store’, which scored the Grand Prix in Media at the Cannes International Festival of Creativity in 2011, and Samsung’s ‘Bridge of Life’, which won a Titanium Lion in 2013.

In an interview in adobo’s May-June 2013 issue, Kim talked about the industry moving towards social good – a trend apparent in the campaigns that he has worked on and won awards with.

“From the time I first started my career in advertising, I knew it was more than just delivering a message to get sales,” Kim told adobo.

I think advertising can make society happier and create values.

That is my philosophy.

I’m always trying to make something new, something valuable to society and its people.”

creative wins for the agency. In December, DigitasLBi brought on Universal McCann’s Scott Donaton as the agency’s first ever chief content officer. And earlier this fall, DigitasLBi elevated Andrew Carlson as its first ever national head of experience design, and hired Jennifer Striegel as brand strategy lead for Chicago and San Francisco. In 2014, DigitasLBi was named the IAB MIXX’s Most Awarded Agency of the Decade, and was honored with other top campaign awards from Adweek, Cannes Lions, the CLIO Awards, the Effies, the Mobile Marketing Association, New York Design Awards, the One Show, and more.

“I’m excited to join the immensely collaborative team at DigitasLBi,” said Ng. “I’m inspired by the agency’s integration of data, technology, and storytelling, and I look forward to partnering with their clients to create inspiring brand stories that come from big ideas.”

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G L O BA L

Steadman leads M&C mobile shop Huge opportunity leveraging the world’s ‘mobile-first’ region

Ogilvy appoints Runne for strategy

SINGAPORE M&C Saatchi Mobile has launched in Asia Pacific, setting up shop as the first specialist global mobile media agency in the region, led by highly regarded mobile veteran Chris Steedman. Based in Singapore, Steedman and his team will service the entire APAC region, specifically working with existing clients in the Japan, South Korea, China, Southeast Asia, India, and Australian markets.

“Asia-Pacific is a truly mobile-first region so there’s unquestionably a huge opportunity here,” Steedman said.“Brands are living in a mobile-first world that needs best-in-class mobile media consultation and services.”

Widely regarded as the world’s pre-eminent full-service mobile media agency, M&C Saatchi Mobile has just won the Best Agency for Mobile title at the iMedia Agency Awards and the highly regarded The Drum Mobile Agency of the Year. In September the business’ CEO James Hilton topped the influential The Drum Mobile Top 50 Mobile list.

M&C Saatchi

SHANGHAI Ogilvy & Mather China has appointed its first chief strategy officer to drive transformation for the group and its clients. In this new role, Alex Runne will focus on uniting Ogilvy Group’s strategic offerings to create innovative and holistic client solutions. Based in Shanghai, where he will focus his initial work, Runne will also continue to develop the overall strategic and digital offerings of O&M Group.

Mobile’s unique end-to-end suite of capabilities focuses on mobile and digital media strategy; planning and buying; creative, branding and rich media; App SEO; search and social.

“Many agencies pay lip service to offering mobile media but in reality it’s a bolt-on to their core competency. We are mobile media specialists who have lived and breathed the space since before the first smart phone rolled off the production line,” Steedman said.

M&C Saatchi Asia CEO Chris Jacques said: “The arrival of M&C Saatchi Mobile in our region is extremely exciting.

It’s a business unrivalled anywhere in the world for its mobile IP, smarts and experience. We’re thrilled to be able to both leverage this for our clients and provide network support to enable Chris and his team to provide their expertise to other brands wanting to grow via the media device people have on them 24/7.”

Warc: Global adspend growth forecast to slow Downturn expected, despite expected growth GLOBAL The latest Consensus Ad Forecast from Warc, indicates that growth in global advertising expenditure will slow to 5.1% this year, following an estimated rise of 5.3% in 2014. A further rise in adspend, of 6.0%, is expected in 2016.

Warc’s Consensus Ad Forecast is based on a weighted average of adspend predictions at current prices from ad agencies, media monitoring companies, analysts, Warc’s own team and other industry bodies.

Of the 13 markets covered in the report, 12 are forecast net growth in adspend in 2015. However, this rate of growth has been revised downwards for nine countries since our previous forecast in July 2014. It should be noted that total forecast global adspend for the year has been raised 0.1% since the last report.

All media, barring newspapers and magazines, are predicted to record year-onyear growth in 2015, with internet seeing the greatest increase, up 16.0%. TV has seen the largest downgrade – by 2.7% – with growth this year now expected to come in behind Cinema (4.0%) and Out of home (3.9%).

James McDonald, research analyst at Warc, said: “The global economic outlook is more uncertain than six months ago, with Eurozone stagnation, Russian sanctions and a slowdown in Asia all threatening growth. It is therefore unsurprising that many marketwatchers, including us, have revised down expectations. “Despite the uncertainty, we should still see growth in global advertising expenditure of between 5-6% this year and next.”

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Ogilvy appoints AP chief talent office Brand Union CEOAlan Couldrey takes on regional Ogilvy task ASIA PACIFIC Alan Couldrey has been appointed chief talent office for Ogilvy & Mather Asia Pacific. A WPP veteran with experience in advertising, branding, and marketing, Couldrey will also continue in his role as CEO of Brand Union Asia Pacific, which he has held for five years.

In his new role, Couldrey’s main responsibilities will include recruiting top talent to Ogilvy, employee development and training, as well as overseeing the company’s HR function. He will report directly to Paul Heath, chairman and CEO, Ogilvy & Mather Asia Pacific.

Prior to his role at The Brand Union, a

sister company of Ogilvy, he has been CEO of various Ogilvy & Mather offices in the region including four years in Thailand, three in Vietnam and 12 in Indonesia. He started his career with Ogilvy & Mather in Hong Kong as a copywriter before moving to Jakarta as creative director.

Commenting on the issue of talent in Asia, Couldrey said, “The key to success for an organization like Ogilvy is its ability to attract the right talent, to find the right mix of talent for today and the near and coming future, and to challenge, train, stimulate and reward those people with an exciting career that once you pick up you simply can’t put down.”

Electrolux boosts brand with new visual identity New ID responds to digital, retail changes STOCKHOLM Electrolux introduced a new visual identity for the company brand.

Refreshing the iconic logotype and setting new distinctive standards for imagery and colors, the design is created to have more stopping power and stand out from the crowd wherever consumers meet Electrolux.

“Electrolux is on a journey to become a world-class consumer marketing company, with a clear focus on consumer driven innovation and strong brands,” said MaryKay Kopf, chief marketing officer of the Electrolux Group. “A key ingredient of this is to create an exciting and differentiating brand experience that is consistent across every consumer touch point. Our new visual identity will help us

achieve that, in a digital and retail landscape that has changed dramatically over the past years.”

The new logotype introduces the company name in a new font, exclusive for Electrolux, and puts greater emphasis on Electrolux’s timeless symbol, first used in 1962.

“With such a distinctive symbol at the forefront, it communicates modern and innovative while maintaining the associations of trust and quality that consumers have come to expect from our brand,” Kopf said.

“A visual identity is much more than a change of logo and color palette. It represents a new sense of Electrolux as a brand, what we and our products and services stand for and how we want to be perceived,” Kopf said.

“The new visual identity will build greater recognition by engaging people in a positive and emotional way; helping to inspire them, identify key benefits and find what they are looking for.”

The new visual identity will be seen everywhere where consumers meet Electrolux – in-store, online, on packaging and through mobile devices. The roll-out, scheduled to be introduced in phases, began on January 14.

January-February 2015

Andrew Lang joins The Sweet Shop The Sweet Shop announced the signing of director Andrew Lang to its roster of directors.

With a background in documentary filmmaking, Lang’s awardwinning work has been praised for both its gritty authenticity and bold stylistic flourishes.

“The roster is small enough for there to be a strong relationship between the management and the directors, but there’s also a global reach through their network of offices,” says Lang of his decision to join the company. I’m thrilled to be joining.”

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G L O BA L

R3 NEW BUSINESS LEAGUE

NEW WINS

Nov 2014 Asia Pacific Top 10 wins Creative Agency Ogilvy

PERFECT FOOLS TAPS LUMENE Finnish Cosmetics brand Lumene has appointed Hasan & Partners Group’s digital agency Perfect Fools to lead its global expansion.

The win represents a joint success for hasan & partners and Perfect Fools, who joined forces in Spring 2014.

Together the two agencies will help Lumene expand its digital presence in key markets such as US, Russia and Asia, kick-starting a vibrant conversation with consumers. The initial brief is to develop a digital platform that highlights both the Lumene brand and its cosmetics and skin care products.

DDB MUDRAMAX WINS WILDCRAFT AOR The outdoor and adventure gear company Wildcraft, has appointed DDB Mudramax as its media agency on record.

The appointment was made in January after a multi-agency pitch involving several leading agencies.

This is a first for Wildcraft, a brand that has focused little on communications until now. The agency will be responsible for all media – mass media, including digital activities, planning, buying and implementation.

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Month

Account

Area

Nov

Indosat

Indonesia

Lowe

Nov

Remy Martin

China

SapientNitro

Nov

OMO

China

SapientNitro

Nov

Scotts

Singapore

Grey

Nov

Reach Mobile

India

Y&R

Nov

Autohome.com.cn Project

China

Lowe

Nov

Freecharge

India

SapientNitro

Nov

Dove men Project

Singapore

Lowe

Nov

North Star Apartments

India

Lowe

Nov

Serendipity Infolabs (Taxi4Sure) Project

India

Month

Account

Area

PHD

Nov

Bayer

China

Media Agency Mindshare

Nov

Wyeth Nutrition

China

Starcom MediaVest

Nov

Cerebos

Malaysia

Mindshare

Nov

Garuda Indonesia Airlines

Indonesia

Mindshare

Nov

Foxtel

Australia

MediaCom

Nov

AirAsia

Thailand

MediaCom

Nov

Volkswagen

Taiwan

Starcom MediaVest

Nov

Tourism Authority of Thailand

Thailand

Starcom MediaVest

Nov

EGAT

Thailand

Vizeum

Nov

Singtel

India

Airbus Group appoints Publicis for AP Aeronautics manufacturer partners to promote new group SINGAPORE Airbus Group has appointed Bangkok based agency of Publicis APAC, as the new creative agency in charge of Airbus Group marketing and communication strategies in Asia-Pacific.

Airbus Group is the new company created earlier this year, uniting around the Airbus name, all the activities previously under the EADS holding; the divisions for development and marketing of civil and military aircraft, as well as communications systems, missiles, space rockets, helicopters, satellites, and related systems.

“We are proud with all our network partners to take part into Airbus

January-February 2015

Group’s new marketing and communication journey,” said Louis-Sebastien OHL, CEO, Publicis Thailand.

Upon the recent appointment, Thorsten Moellmann, head of international communications, Airbus Group Communications, expressed his anticipation to work with Publicis Thailand and APAC towards increasing the image and reputation of Airbus Group in the region.

The appointment follows a pitch, which involved several network agencies, based in Thailand where Airbus Group maintains its regional headquarters. For Publicis Thailand, this win is a confirmation of the agency’s fast expansion through several other new business wins.

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Aki Kubo, Todd Krugman to lead Ogilvy & Mather Japan Duo to oversee growth TOKYO Ogilvy & Mather Japan (Ogilvy) has appointed Aki Kubo as Chairman, with Todd Krugman succeeding him as President, effective immediately.

These leadership moves represent an exciting time and new direction for Ogilvy Japan. Kubo replaces outgoing Chairman, Kent Wertime, who will remain a part of the Ogilvy Asia regional management team. As Chairman, Kubo will continue to grow the company’s profile and client relationships, as well as oversee Ogilvy PR. During his time as President, Aki was instrumental to the successful launch of Geometry Global Japan and helped to turn the agency into one of the leading engines of the region.

Commenting on his new role, Kubo said, “Kent has been an outstanding leader and mentor, transforming Ogilvy Japan into the leading creative agency it is today. I am excited by succeeding him as Chairman and ready to take the business to a new level.”

As President, Krugman will manage the day-to-day operations of the company, overseeing various

disciplines and leading the company’s growth plan. Todd brings a wealth of experience to the role having worked at Ogilvy across various markets worldwide, including Asia Pacific, for a number of years.

Krugman said, “I am excited to have the opportunity to work with Aki and the rest of the senior management team to shape the future of the agency. Our aim will be to build on the creativity and effectiveness of our teams and client relationships. At the same time, identifying new opportunities and continuing to evolve its offer to lead international agencies in Japan – particularly in offering more content, data and social services.”

On the new appointments, Wertime said, “During their time at Ogilvy Japan, both Aki and Todd have made significant contributions to the growth of the business and demonstrated their leadership abilities. These changes mark an exciting time for Ogilvy Japan – under Aki and Todd’s leadership the agency will continue to go from strength-tostrength.”

Leo Burnett India appoints Aman Mannan as Group Executive Creative Director Former DDB Mudra ECD accepts key role MUMBAI Leo Burnett India has announced the appointment of Aman Mannan as Group Executive Creative Director. Aman will be based at Leo Burnett India‟s head office in Mumbai and will work closely with RajDeepak Das towards creating work that strongly reflects the agency’s HumanKind philosophy.

Speaking on his appointment, Raj Deepak Das, Chief Creative Officer, Leo Burnett India, said, “I am really excited about Aman joining us as this further strengthens our creative team that is not only young but also extremely talented.

Aman brings with him a lot of positive energy and newer storytelling ways that will help us find the right solutions to our clients‟ problems.”

Aman Mannan commented on his joining, “This really is an exciting time to be part of Leo

Burnett India. I look forward to working with both Raj Deepak and Saurabh to create a wave of new age integrated work.”

Aman joins from DDB Mudra where he was Executive Creative Director. Prior to DDB Mudra, he has had stints with McCann Erickson and Interface Communications. In a career that spans more than a decade, he has worked across categories on brands such as Union Bank of India, Future Group, Godrej No. 1, Lipton, HBO, ICICI Lombard, Saffola, Parachute, Onida, Nerolac, Radio Mirchi, Tata Indicom, NDTV, Mahindra and Mahindra (Scorpio, Bolero, Maxx), Nerolac and Blue Star to name a few.

Aman’s work has won him accolades in both international and national circuits including the prestigious Cannes, Emvies, London International Awards, Abbys and Mirchi Kaan Awards.

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Prasanth Kumar is appointed Mindshare South Asia CEO ASIA PACIFIC Effective March 1, Prasanth Kumar will assume the role of South Asia CEO. The announcement was made following the news that the current CEO, Ravi Rao will be transitioning into a new role within GroupM, the details of which will be announced shortly.

Currently Head of GroupM’s Central Trading Group and a member of GroupM’s South Asia Executive Committee, PK will report into both CVL Srinivas - CEO GroupM South Asia and Gowthaman Ragothaman, COO of Mindshare Asia Pacific.

Gowthaman Ragothaman, COO of Mindshare Asia Pacific, commented on the appointment. ‘Ravi has done a fantastic job in growing our business in India in the last 3 years.

India is at the inflexion point on digital, content, analytics, e-commerce and measurement and in Prasanth we have a seasoned veteran to lead Mindshare to the next level.”

On the appointment, GroupM CVL South Asia CEO Srinivas added: “Prasanth was a unanimous choice for this role. He is a very dynamic leader always full of ideas and a true organisation man...I’d like to thank Ravi Rao for his contribution and wish him the very best in his new role within the network.’

G L O B AL

23

Game on for the Super Bowl Brands buy into year’s biggest advertising and sports event.

Budweiser

Snickers

Newcastle et al

T-Mobile

Campaign ‘Lost Dog’ Client Budweiser Agency Anomaly

Campaign ‘The Brady Bunch’ Client Snickers Agency BBDO New York

Campaign ‘Band of Brands’ Client Newcastle Agency Droga5

Campaign ‘Save the Data’ Client T-Mobile Agency Publicis Seattle

The Work A puppy-horse friendship has clearly worked for Budweiser, whose Big Game ad this year brought back the brand’s famous Clydesdale and the adorable Labrador puppy that became its BFF in last year’s ad. This year, the puppy gets lost, and gets into trouble with a fierce wolf, with the Clydesdales coming to its rescue in the nick of time.

The Work In what is perhaps the most epic appropriation of its “you’re not you when you’re hungry” tagline to date, the spot is basically an episode of the Brady Bunch, with Steve Buscemi and Danny Trejo in their most challenging roles yet.

The Work A small marketing budget didn’t stop Newcastle from breaking into the most expensive advertising event of the year. Before the Super Bowl, Newcastle called on other brands by way of Aubrey Plaza’s deadpan delivery to join them and share the cost of prime big game airtime. The finished product? A whirlwind of an ad that delivers a whopping 37 brands and subtle advertising mockery in the span of 60 seconds.

The Work This PSA-style ad has Kim Kardashian, all-around famous person, making fun of herself and her selfies as she calls on consumers to save their unused data, lest they miss out on her selfies and OOTDs.

January-February 2015

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24

DIGITAL

E DGAR PAG UIO

DIGITAL STRATEGISTS WEIGH IN

Edgar ‘Buboy’ Paguio Digital Associate Creative Director Leo Burnett, Kuala Lumpur

WHAT IS THE BIGGEST MISCONCEPTION ABOUT DOING DIGITAL CAMPAIGNS?

Digital campaigns go beyond banners, social media and blasting out spam to everyone.

It is and always a medium, but compared to traditional advertising, the space is endless!

WHAT DO YOU LOOK FOR IN HIRING NEW BLOOD FOR DIGITAL WORK?

Passionate creatives with diverse skill sets.

HOW DID YOU FIRST COME TO WORK IN DIGITAL AND WHAT DID THE LEARNING CURVE (IF ANY) ENTAIL?

Illustration Joshua Gonzales

Started work 14 years back doing banners and websites for a small agency called Bloat&Ogle.

Did some IT jobs on the side and electronics as a hobby. Didn’t think I ‘d use it some day!

HOW DO YOU KEEP YOUR SKILLS/ KNOWLEDGE CURRENT, AND WHAT SUPPORT DOES THE AGENCY GIVE YOU, IF ANY, IN THAT REGARD (TRAINING, ETC)?

Look for small but meaningful innovations (don’t have to be high-tech) and then break it down to find out how it works and how you can use it. You never know when you’ll need it! Eric (Cruz) and the team are always excited about doing digital beyond traditional.

We even got a lab to tinker with stuff!

IS IT DIFFICULT RECONCILING CREATIVE CONCEPTS WITH DIGITAL EXECUTIONS?

That’s the challenge. If you don’t find an existing solution, make one.

Crack it and you have cool shit.

WHAT WAS IT LIKE TO WIN YOUR FIRST AWARD? DOES IT EVER GET EASIER?

Couldn’t sleep! Focus on doing great work. Awards come after.

WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVORITE DIGITAL CAMPAIGNS THAT WE CAN LEARN FROM? (NOT NECESSARILY YOUR OWN, LOCAL, FOREIGN)

‘Subservient Chicken’, ‘Whopper Sacrifice’, ‘Uniqlock’, and ‘Museum of Me’

HOW DIFFERENT IS THE WORK (EITHER IN CONCEPTION OR EXECUTION) FROM THAT OF ATL?

HOW DOES THE PHILIPPINES RANK IN DIGITAL AGAINST OTHER COUNTRIES IN THE REGION?

Digital can be fully interactive, which ATL cannot do.

We rank pretty high up, but in terms of craft we have to push more.

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Q UAD D E LA PAZ

D IG IT AL

25

DIGITAL STRATEGISTS WEIGH IN

Quad De La Paz Digital Director Starcom MediaVest

WHAT IS THE BIGGEST MISCONCEPTION ABOUT DOING DIGITAL CAMPAIGNS?

Illustration Joshua Gonzales

The biggest misconception is that digital is still an “add-on” to the media mix. Even if most agencies are already saying that it’s a part of traditional media at this point, we see companies who have teams doing radio, print, etc, but a separate guy doing digital, so the misconception that those two are totally separate things is the biggest one. By not understanding the whole ecosystem, there are a lot of missed opportunities between the different mediums. They’re not really afraid, but they don’t want to embrace it as much as other media.

HOW DID YOU FIRST COME TO WORK IN DIGITAL AND WHAT DID THE LEARNING CURVE (IF ANY) ENTAIL?

I’ve always been interested in computers, but I didn’t graduate from a computer course – it was always something I did on the side. After college, I took computer courses, any I could find, and eventually I found a couple of my schoolmates who found jobs in web development. At the time, it was still an IT thing, not a marketing thing, so we basically worked at a BPO that did websites. That was back in the late 90s.

My biggest adjustment was when it became part of marketing and advertising. I never really saw myself as an advertising guy.

I always thought of myself as more of a back-end guy. But when websites became more of a marketing responsibility than a marketing responsibility, I adapted along the way. I saw how marketing worked. It was an adjustment from a more technical standpoint to a more frontline standpoint, as opposed to most people today who come from a marketing standpoint, then learn digital.

HOW DO YOU KEEP YOUR SKILLS/ KNOWLEDGE CURRENT, AND WHAT SUPPORT DOES THE AGENCY GIVE YOU, IF ANY, IN THAT REGARD (TRAINING, ETC)?

I have a natural interest for it, so if you give me 10 articles, I would probably end up reading the more “techie” ones. When I see something that interests me, it feeds what I need to know

in what I do. We also get a lot of regional support in the form of newsletters, magazines, online support groups, and workshops that we can join. These are some of my sources, and that’s how I keep myself updated.

IS IT DIFFICULT RECONCILING CREATIVE CONCEPTS WITH DIGITAL EXECUTIONS?

For me, it wasn’t that difficult, but maybe that’s just me. When I started, I saw myself more as a translator between the IT guys and the marketing guys. It’s one of the reasons that it was easier for me to move to a marketing job, I think. When I was McCann, I was more on the strategy side, but now I’m on the media side, so in a way, I’m still learning my way.

WHAT WAS IT LIKE TO WIN YOUR FIRST AWARD? DOES IT EVER GET EASIER?

Great! I mean, the reason I’ve been reacting the way that I have is that I never really went for awards, but when we finally won when I was at McCann before, ang sarap pala (it felt good)! We were just doing what we needed to do and, to be honest, we never really entered – there were just too many things on our plate – but McCann was very

January-February 2015

much into participating in awards shows, and eventually we won! It’s a great feeling.

WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVORITE DIGITAL CAMPAIGNS THAT WE CAN LEARN FROM? (NOT NECESSARILY YOUR OWN, LOCAL, FOREIGN)

My long-standing campaign favorite is ‘Nike Plus’. It was one of the first executions I saw of traditional meeting digital. That’s still my unbeaten champion up to this point.

HOW DOES THE PHILIPPINES RANK IN DIGITAL AGAINST OTHER COUNTRIES IN THE REGION?

I think we’re catching up really fast; the advent of social media has really levelled the playing field in terms of what can be done. Unlike before, the reason we wouldn’t enter awards was that we didn’t have enough bandwidth, we didn’t have enough technology, or enough investment in technology (to do effective campaigns) to really great work.

But now, with everything on social, people are now able to join us and come up with great work. In addition, the world is more open, we get regional support, and it’s great for the industry and the country.

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26

DIGITAL

PATRICIA LEE

DIGITAL STRATEGISTS WEIGH IN

Patricia Lee Digital Media Manager Ace Saatchi & Saatchi

WHAT IS THE BIGGEST MISCONCEPTION ABOUT DOING DIGITAL CAMPAIGNS?

The common misconception about doing digital campaigns is that in order for it to become successful, you need to use or ride on a certain trend or technology – whether the social media site of the moment, having a video that should be made “viral”, having an app etc.

Especially since there are so many cool stuff that one can do online, it’s so easy to get fixated on a channel or an execution.

Your consumers may remember that your brand was present on a specific network, your consumers may remember that your brand did something cool awhile back but did that encourage any specific action?

What message did your brand leave?

As with any campaign, whether digital or not, we should always go back to the brief. What behavior or perception do you want to change with your campaign?

How does your brand address this?

Then you can already think how digital can help get this message across.

WHAT DO YOU LOOK FOR IN HIRING NEW BLOOD FOR DIGITAL WORK?

No experience hiring anyone but should I be, I would be looking for someone who is passionately curious.

HOW DID YOU FIRST COME TO WORK IN DIGITAL AND WHAT DID THE

LEARNING CURVE (IF ANY) ENTAIL?

I have been a suit for several years, and to be honest, never thought I would be working in digital. It was during a time when being in accounts wasn’t an option anymore but I was still open to working in an agency. Saatchi at that time was expanding to having digital media offerings so decided to try it out. I was planning to just stay for three months because I was almost sure I wouldn’t enjoy the job but I am now towards my third year!

Any learning curve? Learning the technicalities. I wasn’t a techie person before so I had to learn everything from almost zero.

HOW DO YOU KEEP YOUR SKILLS/ KNOWLEDGE CURRENT, AND WHAT SUPPORT DOES THE AGENCY GIVE YOU, IF ANY, IN THAT REGARD (TRAINING, ETC)?

By constantly reading and researching.

Also, having constant chats with online publishers and networks kept me updated and discerning regarding new trends.

Saatchi also sent me to certain International Institute of Digital Marketing seminars and courses.

I was blessed to be mentored by two awesome people in the industry – Shiela Tiongco and Gen Lizares.

We used to have Activation Academy led by our head of activations Gen Lizares – wherein accounts, creatives and members of the activations team met once a week to learn about each channel and also the different aspects of an integrated campaign. This enhanced my understanding, not just of digital, but also channel planning and integrated campaigns.

IS IT DIFFICULT RECONCILING CREATIVE CONCEPTS WITH DIGITAL EXECUTIONS?

I don’t think that it should be seen as difficult but as a fun challenge. There is no

set formula or strategy when it comes to translating concepts to digital executions since the digital space is constantly changing and evolving. Also, what worked for one brand may not work for another. The fun of it all is to look for that specific spot but still being grounded to your objectives.

But what we have learned is that you have to be transparent upfront regarding what is feasible and what is not. But be ready to look for a workaround. You may not execute the exact thing you were thinking of, but the execution grounds the concept.

HOW DIFFERENT IS THE WORK (EITHER IN CONCEPTION OR EXECUTION) FROM THAT OF ATL?

Digital allows your audience to be part of the story wherever they may be. So that alone makes a whole lot of difference.

It entails more effort and education to sell and review digital campaigns.

Clients must see the value why they are investing in the channel.

What’s good about it is that digital is a good way to get audience response real-time. If you are not getting what you are aiming for, you can easily fine-tune your strategy.

WHAT WAS IT LIKE TO WIN YOUR FIRST AWARD? DOES IT EVER GET EASIER?

Personally, it was encouraging.

Professionally, there is no exact digital campaign. So challenges can be different.

WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVORITE DIGITAL CAMPAIGNS THAT WE CAN LEARN FROM? (NOT NECESSARILY YOUR OWN, LOCAL, FOREIGN)

Biases aside, the ‘PLDT Screen Age Love Story’. It kept the audience following a story and gave the audience a chance to be part of the story – online and on-ground. But what was clear all throughout is the messaging that the clearest connections are at home.

‘Dumb Ways to Die’ by Metro Trains is also a favorite.

Illustration Joshua Gonzales

HOW DOES THE PHILIPPINES RANK IN DIGITAL AGAINST OTHER COUNTRIES IN THE REGION?

The Philippines has already a receptive audience given that internet and mobile penetration is fast rising. There are many opportunities now for brands and agencies to keep them engaged online – so it’s up to them to take that opportunity.

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DIGITAL

T O LENT I NO ’S T AKE

TOLENTINO’S TAKE

Ten tips to hitting the digital big time Since digital is a bona fide part of the marketing mix now, here are 10 things that you can do to make sure that you are at the top of your game Words JAMIE TOLENTINO

KNOW THE BASICS OF DIGITAL MARKETING

KNOW HOW DIGITAL FITS INTO THE FULL MARKETING STRATEGY

Some areas of digital marketing may be more popular or easier to understand than others.

However, it is important to understand how the digital marketing world all fits together.

This means reading up on more technical stuff like search engine optimisation, analytics and the basics of web development.

Since digital is only one medium for marketing, you need to be aware of the full marketing strategy to know how digital fits in that context. Also, if you have a groundbreaking innovative digital idea, it will more likely be approved if you frame it in the context of the wider marketing strategy.

READ UP ON TECHNOLOGY NEWS THAT WILL IMPACT CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

You want to position yourself as a digital guru, so this means reading up on the latest technology available to potential customers. User experience is an important area to consider when deploying digital marketing campaigns so you want to know what your customers are exposed to in the digisphere.

KNOW HOW TO EXPLAIN TECHNICAL JARGON AND CONCEPTS IN SIMPLE TERMS

Most of the people that you work with will not have a clue about digital. Thus, this is your chance to shine. However, you must know how to convey the digital jargon and concepts in simple terms so that other people understand what you are talking about.

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MAKE SURE YOU DON’T LOSE TRACK OF THE COMMERCIAL ASPECTS OF YOUR JOB

There are a wide variety of things that you can do in the world of digital, especially fun and creative ideas. However, you must always think in terms of the return on investment of the brand. Never forget that this is all about business.

GO TO INDUSTRY NETWORKING EVENTS AND TALKS

To stay at the top of your game, it would be beneficial to be in the company of the smartest and most passionate digital people. Industry networking and talks are an easy way to get knowledge on the latest things.

KEEP THE PASSION ALIVE

Digital marketing can be frustrating at times, especially when you encounter technical difficulties or miscommunication of concepts. Therefore, it is important to seek inspiration outside your normal day job to keep the passion alive.

LEARN HTML

HTML is not that hard but it will pretty much teach you basic frameworks of a website. This skill will be very useful if your WYSIWYG editor is not working properly as you will still be able to use HTML to update the contents of your site. This is has saved me on numerous occasions.

ALWAYS TRY TO PUSH THE BOUNDARIES

To really kick ass as a digital marketer, you have to be innovative. Therefore, you should always strive to push the boundaries, even if it’s just a little bit outside of your comfort zone.

CULTIVATE A NICHE

While it is important to have a good grounding on all things digital, you will be more valuable if you have one special thing that you’re especially good at. Once you find that special thing, cultivate and develop your craft in that area so you can be the best at it.

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Jamie Tolentino works as a digital marketer at a global asset management firm. She was previously an innovation strategist at Quirk London.

She writes for TNW (The Next Web) and blogs on the Huffington Post UK.

D IG IT AL

ONES & ZER O S

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ONES & ZEROS

PHILIPPINE PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS:

Why I’m not a member Words TONY AHN

Illustration Joshua Gonzales

There are several professional associations applicable to public relations and marketing. I’m not a member of any of them. This isn’t because I’m not a “joiner”, as I’ve been a member of more than one. I attend meetings and functions semi-regularly, and derive great value from them, but not enough to join. Here’s why: MEMBERSHIP ONLY PROVIDES BENEFITS TO SOME MEMBERS.

The Internet and Mobile Marketing Association dues are (according to their website) currently 8,000 pesos. The primary benefits are (1) free attendance to their quarterly general membership meeting with dinner, which, when I spoke at one, was 500 pesos; (2) 15% off the Mobile Marketing Conference and the IMMAP Summit, which was 16,000 pesos and 13,500 pesos, respectively; and (3) the right to vote and be elected to the IMMAP board.

Doing the math, if I’m planning to send only one person to all the above mentioned events, paying full price will cost less than membership. If I’m sending two people, membership provides a benefit.

But the data shows that most members don’t attend all the above events. If I’m only interested in attending the IMMAP summit, it is cheaper to pay full price for three people than to be a member.

The Public Relations Society of the Philippines’ fees and member discounts also add up in a similar way, although I won’t go through the math here. If I’m sending four or more people to the annual conference, membership makes good financial sense, but if I’m sending two, the member discounts are not a benefit of membership to me.

WHY BUY THE COW WHEN YOU CAN GET THE MILK FOR FREE?

When I was a member of IMMAP I enjoyed attending the mixers they held. Partly because I got to see all my industry friends, and partly because there was an open bar (hey, let’s be honest, they provide one because it boosts attendance). Then I found out the

general public was invited at no charge, so it wasn’t a benefit of membership. That was the moment I started examining whether or not membership was worth the price of admission...since admission to a lot of things was free, but membership was 8k a year. The professional associations’ Facebook groups are public, so their use as an industry-insider forum is compromised.

The indisputable bottom line is this: If you don’t have to be a member to have access, then access isn’t a benefit of membership.

PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS ARE OFTEN EXPLICITLY INCLUSIVE, BUT IMPLICITLY EXCLUSIVE

Here’s where I feature the Public Relations Society of the Philippines. Many of their most active members have been members for 10 years or more. This isn’t a bad thing; in fact, those members are some of the association’s greatest assets. But if you look at their Facebook group (which is secret, with 123 members, including me, although my membership lapsed years ago), you see several announcements regarding a recent board election, some inspirational quotes, a lot of pictures of and commentary on the papal visit, an infographic a member shared that showed digital trends for 2015, and a picture of somebody’s breakfast (I’m not kidding). 48 posts and comments were by just 8 people.

My point is that there is a familiarity between many of those members that is palpable, which can be difficult for a newcomer to penetrate. It is great that a newcomer is invited to all the events and a couple of people

January-February 2015

do say hello when they arrive, but if all the conversations are between old friends and workmates, it’s hard to feel like one belongs.

In the end, when someone considers joining a professional association, they ask themselves, “What’s in it for my company, and is that commensurate or greater than the cost of membership?”

Philippine professional associations would do well to remember that (1) benefits must outweigh both time and financial costs of membership, and membership is benefit-driven; (2) The organization must be extremely welcoming and open to new members, not only in attitude, but in action; and (3) The primary assets of an organization are the aggregated wisdom of its members and their connections.

With the current state of affairs, my costbenefit analysis tells me that by paying full price at events, I can enjoy all the privileges of membership that matter to me for less money than it would cost me to be a member.

When that changes, sign me up.

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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Passion without compromise In the Philippines, it is an industry truism that if you asked five different people what a producer does, you’d probably end up getting five different answers. The funny thing is, chances are that every single one of those answers would be correct.

Speaking with Slingshot, the obvious enthusiasm possessed by a team at the top of their game is so pervasive as to be infectious. Resembling nothing so much as mismatched siblings, the group’s relaxed and irreverent camaraderie belies the tenacity and fortitude needed to see productions “That’s the nature of the business,” says Parulan’s mentor through from start to finish. and partner, Steven Vesagas. “The work and the output are continuous, but for those who have a passion for it, it’s very Indeed, the lack of hierarchical structure, shares Vesagas, rewarding.” The man knows what he’s talking about – with stems from each member’s ability to bring the benefit of two decades’ and innumerable campaigns to establish his their previous experiences to the table, allowing for a true impeccable work ethic and exacting standards, Vesagas collaborative flow where everyone is responsible for their is an established presence in the production community. share of the work. Above all, there is no room for ego. Indeed, Now, with 2015 kicking into gear, Vesagas and a group of his though the younger parners may have originally honed their longtime collaborators are pooling their considerable talents sklls under their mentor’s watchful eye, everyone on the to introduce something new to an industry notorious for its Slingshot team has become a veteran producer in their own lone wolves: a team. right.

Comprised of Vesagas and a hand-picked group of former protégés Bon Bonus, Lei Hosseinzadeh Ang, Lester Parulan, and Gabs Santos, Slingshot Manila is poised to change the face of Philippine production.

“It just made sense,” says Vesagas. “Over the years, the business had grown and the pace has become faster, so instead of our simple set-up where I just divide the work, there was a need to formalize the organization to sort of tighten up the servicing. After all, we’re here because of the clients, so we wanted to make sure the quality of service is good, the output is great, and we have a sense of command responsibility.”

“We’re all equals here,” says Ang, clarifying any unspoken questions on seniority. “We want to take our service to a higher level, and our becoming partners makes the servicing more efficient and more focused on the agencies that we work with.”

“You have to love what you do,” says Vesagas. “The driving force cannot be money. At the end of the day, you have to love what you’re doing. If money’s your reason for coming in, you won’t last. You need passion.”

It goes without saying that passion is a quality any client would be happy to have on their side. Of course, with the commitment to quality that Slingshot Manila’s team members have delivered on time and again, it’s more than a promise – it’s a truism.

ADVERTORIAL

Opposite page: Slingshot Manila’s BLK TNK-designed logo takes aim for greatness This page: The producers of Slingshot Manila, (L-R) Lester Parulan, Bon Bonus, Steve Vesagas, Lei Hosseinzadeh Ang, Gabs Santos (Photo by Xander Angeles/Edge of Light)

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CRE ATIV E R EV IEW

JOSEPH BIHAG

Creative Review a.k.a. Jobi, Y&R LabStore Dubai’s executive creative director has been at Y&R for more than a decade. Jobi’s work for multinational clients such as Land Rover, HP, Kit-Kat, Coca-Cola, Colgate-Palmolive, 3M, Harvey Nichols, and Gulf News have been honored at Andy, Cannes Lions, D&AD, One Show, Clio, London International Advertising Awards, New York Festivals, Ad Fest, Epica, Effie, Dubai Lynx, Cresta, Webby, Graphis and Wolda. He was also part of the team responsible for Y&R Dubai winning the Agency of the Year three times in a row at Dubai Lynx.

‘Masterplan’ Camella Blackpencil Manila Online Tried and tested formula. Ticks all the client briefs. Safe.

‘MammoMe’ Philippine Foundation for Breast Care and Human Nature Blackpencil Manila Activation This idea is oddly interesting in the way they tried to approach the issue, but people buy personal hygiene products according to their body type and needs – not to remind them to do breast exams. This idea would have worked and could have been bigger if they could have tied up with all popular body wash brands and rebrand their packaging during the month of October.

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THE WORK

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‘Princess Dad’ McDonald’s Everyday McSavers Leo Burnett Manila TVC Charming.

‘Epic’ McDonald’s Everyday McSavers Leo Burnett Manila TVC Does the job. Nothing special.

‘Bunk Bed’ Vista Land Corporation Leo Burnett Manila TVC I enjoyed watching this. It’s funny, (has a) nice tune and drives home the message very well.

January-February 2015

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CRE ATIVE R EV I EW

‘Mamang’ Eden Cheese JWT Manila TVC Heartwarming. I like this one. After watching it, though, it left me a little bit confused. Was this shot as a TVC or a dramatization from a real-life hero? Within the YouTube description, they claim that this was a story of Teresa from a local orphanage. Google tells me she doesn’t exist.

Then why tell me her name in the first place?

‘Mishu’ Selecta Pinipig Lowe Inc TVC Most irreverent ads are funny and memorable enough. This ain’t one of them.

‘Heaven’ Mang Tomas Lowe Inc TVC This made me hungry. But I’m biased to pork.

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THE WORK

CR EAT I V E R EV IEW

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‘Sari-Saring Happiness’ Coca-Cola OgilvyOne TVC Coke in recent years has done great real-life branded content. It was more raw and definitely demonstrated what ‘open happiness’ was all about. A complete opposite for what I felt about this TVC.

‘I am Everywhere, In the Red, Eyes in the Dark’ PLDT DM9JaymeSyfu TVC Clear examples on why scare tactics don’t work.

‘We Deliver’ The Philippine Star IdeasXMachina Print I’m not sure what I’m looking at, is this the released ad or an agency scribble? I’d go with the latter.

January-February 2015

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AD OF THE MO NT H

Ad of the Month

NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER 2014 IXM and BBDO have bets in for 2014 Ad of the Year

NOVEMBER ‘Stain Was Here’ Speed Babad IdeasXMachina Print Executive Creative Director Third Domingo Associate Creative Director Jasper Ilagan Copywriters Third Domingo, Jasper Ilagan, Dojo Daluz Art Directors 1 Manalo, Dojo Daluz Accounts Max Javier, Jedd Ilagan, Kate Alconga

DECEMBER Cloud Philippine Department of Tourism BBDO Guerrero TVC

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Chief Creative Officer David Guerrero Exec. Creative Director Dale Lopez Assoc. Creative Director Nikki Golez Art Director Isai Martinez Director Of Marketing Ombet Traspe Account Director Dalla Sucgang Account Manager Monica Muyot Producer Idda Aguilar, Ino Magno Production House Film Pabrika Director Lyle Sacris Cinematographer Carlos Mauricio Underwater Cinematographer Kyron Rathbone Drone Operator Patrick Ostrea Production Designer Richard Somes

January-February 2015

Executive Producer Ana Fe Manuel Line Producer Cheska Ramos Production Manager Liza Apuyan Location Manager Robert Cuevas Production Assistant Dexter Paragas Talent Caster Charmaine Betudio, Bhey Candaza Executive Producer Menchu Pastor Producer Naomi Prochina, Joreen Evangelista Online/CG/VFX Artists Dolps Fernando Color Grading And Online Facilities Post Manila Offline Editor Jay Halili Audio Post House Loudbox Sound Engineer Ian Umali Original Music Composer Sach Castillo

CR EAT I V E SHO W CASE

THE WORK

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Creative Showcase

‘Zoom’ Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp JWT Manila TVC Chief Executive Officer Meli Crucillo Executive Creative Director Dave Ferrer Associate Creative Directors Mark Ibaviosa, Apol Sta Maria, Maan Bautista Director for Client Service Golda Roldan Group Account Director Cha Agcaoili Account Manager Guica Eroles Planning Director Pam Garcia

‘Umbrella, Bag, Stiletto’ Preview Publicis JimenezBasic Integrated campaign Chief Executive Officer Meli Crucillo Executive Creative Director Dave Ferrer Associate Creative Directors Mark Ibaviosa, Apol Sta Maria, Maan Bautista Director for Client Service Golda Roldan Group Account Director Cha Agcaoili Account Manager Guica Eroles Planning Director Pam Garcia

January-February 2015

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‘Palawan Sing’ Philippine Department of Tourism BBDO Guerrero TVC

CRE ATIVE SHO WCASE

Chief Creative Officer David Guerrero Exec. Creative Director Dale Lopez Assoc. Creative Director Nikki Golez Art Director Isai Martinez Director Of Marketing Ombet Traspe Account Director Dalla Sucgang Account Manager Monica Muyot Producer Idda Aguilar, Ino Magno Production House Film Pabrika Director Lyle Sacris Cinematographer Carlos Mauricio Drone Operator Patrick Ostrea Production Designer Richard Somes Executive Producer Ana Fe Manuel

Line Producer Cheska Ramos Production Manager Liza Apuyan Location Manager Robert Cuevas Production Assistant Dexter Paragas Executive Producer Menchu Pastor Producer Naomi Prochina, Joreen Evangelista Online/CG/VFXArtists Dolps Fernando Color Grading And Online Facilities : Post Manila Post Format : HD Offline Editor Ronald Banawa Offline Suite Post Manila Audio Post House Loudbox Sound Engineer Ian Umali Original Music Composer Malek Lopez

‘Ginang Beauty Queen’ Alaska Lowe Inc Documentary Chief Creative Officer Leigh Reyes Executive Creative Director Abi Aquino Creative Director Roman Carlo Olivarez Copywriters Leigh Reyes, Roman Carlo Olivarez, Owel Alvero, Sanya Coo Art Directors Margarita Salvador, Roman Carlo Olivarez Managing Director Alan Fontanilla Project Manager Sam Tarroza Project Supervisor Rainier Manese Senior Account Manager Raffy Bariso Account Manager April Anne Garcia Production House Open Philippines Director Roman Carlo Olivarez Editor Roman Carlo Olivarez Producers Alan Fontanilla, Rainier Manese, Roman Carlo Olivarez

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THE WORK

CR EAT I V E SHO W CASE

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‘Simbang Gabi’ Selecta Ice Cream Lowe Inc Activation Chief Creative Officer Leigh Reyes Executive Creative Director Abi Aquino Copywriter Abi Aquino Senior Art Director Gabie Osorio Client Services Director Mylene Rayala Account Director Mel Tomas Account Manager Daphne General Agency Producer Nelson Naungayan Production Company Straight Shooters, Inc. Director Gian Mawo Cinematographer/D.O.P Tom Redoble Gaffer Randall Gonzales Editor Angeli Rosanne Laparan Executive Production Producer Ruth Colacion Production Producer Nelson Naungayan Production Manager Pette Tantoco Production Assistant Denice Javier Sound Production Company Noisy Neighbors Inc. Music Arranger Roy del Valle Sound Designer Jun Orlina Sound Production Producer Nelson Naungayan

‘Dahil sobrang sulit ni Luis, may isa pa siyang McDo Commercial’ McDonald’s Leo Burnett Manila TVC

January-February 2015

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B ANG FOR T HE BUCK

Bang for the Buck A CASE FOR EFFECTIVENESS

British Heart Foundation ‘You’ve Been Vinnied’ Client British Heart Foundation Agency Grey London

AWARD WINS While Vinnie Jones isn’t the sort of person most people would want to imagine in life or death situations, there’s no denying that Grey London scored big with this 2012 campaign, winning four Cannes Lions (including Gold in Direct), a Gold at the Campaign Big Awards, a Public Service Advertising gong at the British Arrow Awards, and a Creative Circle Gold. It was so well conceived, produced and executed that even its sequel, ‘Mini Vinnie’ (built around the same basic premise, but with kids) bagged a Gold Clio (and a Silver, and a Bronze) the year after. In 2014, the spot helped pick up two Gold Lions for PHD UK when they included a Lego version of it for an ad break promoting last year’s Lego Movie. The campaign would go on to power Grey London to an Effectiveness Company of the Year win at the 2014 IPA Effectiveness Awards.

WHAT IS IT? The ingenious campaign featured footballer-turned-film-actor Vinnie Jones

demonstrating how to perform CPR** in a public service announcement that took more than a little inspiration from your average Guy Ritchie gangster flick.

Basically, it turned what could have been a run-of-the-mill public service announcement and turned it on its head in wickedly entertaining fashion.

The video depicts Jones riffing on his tough-guy persona showing – with the help of two henchmen and a corpse prepared just for this purpose – viewers how to administer CPR to the beat of the Bee Gees’ disco standard, Stayin Alive.

On Jones’ somewhat unorthodox (yet spot-on) casting, Grey London planning director Matt Butrick said, “We had researched a number of creative routes in qualitative research and Vinnie emerged as a clear winner with the public. He captured people’s imagination.”

According to British Heart Foundation program director for marketing and communications Nick Radmore , “We knew

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January-February 2015

it had struck a chord with people within a few hours of launch, when it trended organically five times on Twitter.”

RESULTS Within five days of release, the video had notched up a million views. According to the award-winning case study submitted to the IPA, “the campaign achieved 86% recognition in four weeks, increased people’s likelihood to perform ‘Hands-only CPR’ from 54% to 71%” WHY IT WORKED Put simply? You really don’t see many CPR tutorials featuring 70s disco music, a big screen tough guy, and a corpse. By delivering a relevant message in a tongue-in-cheek fashion, viewers were entertained no end by Jones’ tough-guy persona and, in the process, picked up skills that could potentially save lives. Not bad for a PSA. * Institute of Practitioners in Advertising **cardiopulmonary resuscitation

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4 The older I get, the more proud I am to be Chinese. Our roots are important.

There’s always room for champagne. Will be popped when we catch the next big idea.

Love letters from the other man in my life. My 12 yr old.

5

3

Images of my 2-year-old sweetheart.

Instant perkme-ups.

1 6

My kind of Barbie – Wonder Woman. There’s one in every girl.

Ink Award Poster, starring myself.

Didn’t know I could look like that.

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2

One of my favourite movies – The Exorcist. A horror masterpiece.

Best momento received for judging at Ad Stars.

A model of me.

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Creative Corner

Pizza Hut Appreciation Award from our client.

Always a nice reminder that our hard work will be appreciated.

A recent present from a very familiar, wonderful family. A great inspiration.

adobo crashed the creative workspace of JWT Singapore’s chief creative officer, Valerie Cheng.

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Aromatherapy to help de-stress. Can’t say that it’s working.

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Always must have a to-do list. Creatives are naturally messy and disorganized.

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CRAFT MNL

Making magic with Craft MNL How handmade creativity is finding its niche Words CARMELA LAPENA | Photography RICARDO MALIT

In 2004, a sheep named Shrek was found after seven years of hiding in caves on its farm. Having missed his annual shearing during all of that time, Shrek was covered in 60 pounds of fleece – the wool was enough to make 20 suits. “He was so heavy, he could hardly walk!”

Crochet by the Gantsilyo Guru’s Trey Ajusto tells her Yarns 101 class.

Runaway sheep and wool aren’t everyday conversation topics, but then again, Yarns 101 isn’t your everyday kind of class. Unless you’re at Craft MNL, where you can learn all sorts of unusual things, from rubber cut printmaking to cold process soap making. Recent workshops have included terrarium building by photographer Wawi Navarozza, home scents by Lala de Leon of Simoy ng Haraya, and origami tessellations by visual artist Christina Dy.

The workshops are attended by crafters young and old, and often, attract people who are just looking for something to do, as Ajusto puts it. “It gives them a sense of accomplishment, whatever craft it is.

It’s like crochet - when you finish a scarf, there’s a sense of fulfillment,” she says, adding that a lot of those who attend her workshops are working people who just want something to do during the weekend.

“It’s more of a stress reliever,” she says.

Antonette Mendoza, who attended the terrarium workshop, says Craft MNL is a good idea for “people with a passion to continue learning and creating, and those interested to meet people like that”. “People seeking to build their attention spans (what with this modern age and all) should go, too, since crafting is a largely manual procedure,” adds Mendoza, a brand manager by day and crafter

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January-February 2015

by night. At Craft MNL, people put their gadgets away for a few hours and get their craft on. Apart from the experience of learning and meeting new people, there is the lovely feeling of ending up with something you won’t find anywhere else. Indeed, according to Mendoza, Craft MNL is the sort of thing that should be avoided by “people who don’t have the patience to sit, listen, learn, and make.”

In Mendoza’s case, she decided to join the terrarium workshop because of her desire to add a low-maintenance plant to her living space. “It was complete with theory and practice, and the actual terrarium-making was quite fun,” Mendoza shared with adobo. “And, despite being surrounded by strangers, there’s like an immediate community when you’re making stuff with other people, even if you’re all working on your own thing,” she says.

The brainchild of Marielle Nadal-Reyes, Craft MNL was borne of a social enterprise class she attended a few years ago, along with other women entrepreneurs from all over the Philippines. “As a designer, I saw a lot of potential in the different handicrafts they came up with, and figured that by putting together entrepreneurs who have access to trends and market, designers, culture-bearing artisans who are knowledgeable in traditional craft, local materials suppliers and growing handmade businesses (plus a lot of other fun folks), we’d have an interesting, thriving community.”

Apart from Nadal-Reyes, the people

CR AFT MNL

behind Craft MNL are her partner and husband Alexander Reyers, workshop manager Nikki Abelardo, and Gladys Jose, who provides support during events and for some admin work. According to Nadal-Reyes, the three components to Craft MNL are: Community, Knowledge, and Enterprise.

“We share a vision of what we hope to be a society of makers and doers, propelled by the ability to create, which is basically where we start with Craft MNL’s workshops and activities,” says Nadal-Reyes. We’ve got a lot of work cut out for us in terms of day-to-day business and operational concerns – figuring out how to make things more organized and efficient – that’s something we’re definitely working on. The whole Craft MNL project is a work-in-progress.”

As of press time, Craft MNL was in the process of moving from their original location at The Collective in Makati to their new space along Arnaiz, a short walk from

Greenbelt. They also have plans to branch out regionally, make more products, beef up their retail aspects, work on a modest materials library, and update their forums.

Like other similar businesses, Craft MNL faces its share of challenges. “Passionfueled businesses need extra care in the administrative and operational side of things, so that’s one aspect we’re constantly trying to balance out with all of these endeavors we’re reaching out into,” Nadal-Reyes says.

Currently, the largest and most visible components of Craft MNL are its workshops, which began with screenprinting sessions with Hocus Screen Prints. Since they launched two-and-a-half years ago, they’ve had bookbinding, resin projects, wedding crafts, beer brewing, pottery, leather crafting, modular origami, basic watercolor, and calligraphy. They also hold business-related workshops such as ‘How to Get Your Craft Business Online’

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and ‘Financial Planning for Crafters’.

“Usually we think of what would be fun to do, and then we think of the folks who can teach. Following that would be convincing some other folks to give teaching a try, but that’s another story. There are also times when we meet folks who just have these amazing skills, and we just have to ask them if they’re open to sharing,” Nadal-Reyes says. This is how the idea for crochet workshops began, at a craft party in 2012 where Craft MNL invited crafters to showcase their hobbies. “I happened to showcase crochet as a hobby, and they told me, ‘Maybe you can teach’,” Ajusto says.

Nadal-Reyes estimates that, after their first year, Craft MNL had about 70 workshops attended by over 200 people. Part of the challenge is working with so many different people, which she says is, “indeed exciting and inspiring, but at the same time you need to put more effort and thought into the way you do things – extraordinarily more so than what you would do with a regular business, as at the same time you’re building a community.”

While she still has to sit down to come up with their updated stats, Nadal-Reyes notes that the volume of participants as well as the diversity of workshops continues to grow. “Growing the team slowly but surely is always a milestone, as with our annual events, and activities like craft parties, Maker Holidays (craft getaways), the Maker’s Market, and collaborating with different individuals and companies. What with moving to our new space soon – that’s another milestone to look forward to!”

Craft MNL is located at Unit 302, Pasay Road Condominium, 926 Arnaiz Avenue, Makati City.

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ADOB O EXHIBIT

Sketching the world with Robert Alejandro Tales of the Sketching Backpacker Words AMANDA LAGO

Imagine Paris, the Eiffel Tower.

Picture the tourist hoards angling their smartphones just-so, trying to fit the famous landmark into an Instagram-ready frame. Now picture a figure with a backpack just outside the crowd, seemingly ignoring the tower’s magnitude as he sits beside a lamppost whose likeness he has been trying to capture in watercolor.

That figure would be Robert Alejandro, perhaps the one true pilgrim in the throng of tourists, a man whose artistic sensibilities have elevated even the most mundane places to the status of sacred. When he’s not working his day job helping out with his family

business (specialty gift shop Papemelroti), Alejandro can – and has been known to – spend entire days sitting in a single spot, studying every detail of a lamp post, or a bird, or a congregation of tuktuk drivers in his quest to capture their images on paper.

As it turns out, Alejandro did eventually get around to sketching the Eiffel Tower, but it was only one among many that filled an entire sketchbook over the course of a month in Paris. His subjects are plentiful, his media random. Open one sketchbook and inside you may find a quick black-and-white scribble of a woman crossing the street, alongside sketches drawn around an Evian bottle label. This madcap quality seems

Samples of Alejandro’s sketches from his time in Berlin.

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January-February 2015

rather on point coming from a man who calls himself the sketching backpacker.

Today, Alejandro has sketchbooks filled with scenes from all over the world, from Budapest to Beijing, Madrid to Macau, Barcelona to Bali, Cambodia to the Czech Republic, and everywhere in between.

The illustrator and graphic designer traces the start of his travel sketching to seven years ago, but reveals that it had been going on long before that, when he was younger and he would be drawing everything in sight during family trips.

And then in 2007, after quitting his well-paying job to go on a three-month backpacking sojourn across Southeast

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Asia, Alejandro started sketching.

“That was a pivotal point because I learned how to backpack,” Alejandro said.

“It taught me to go to the cheapest places, the fleabag backpacker stuff. I love those places.”

“So that’s when I made a book, while backpacking, with more than 200 drawings,” he shared.

Learning how to travel inexpensively only fueled Alejandro’s wanderlust even more, but unlike most travelers, Alejandro isn’t dead set on taking a million photos and covering as much ground as possible.

Hardly taking any photographs at all – except to show his artwork against the scenes that inspired them – Alejandro draws from life, chronicling scenes as they happen. Taking photographs and finishing the drawings when he gets home is out of the question.

“The thing is, when I get to Manila there is so much work that I can’t draw, I don’t have the luxury of just drawing for the sake of drawing,” he shared.

THE LUXURY OF TIME

Favoring slowness and solitude, he spends entire months in one city, allowing himself to spend hours on end in one spot, drawing one thing.

“When I travel, I travel slow,” he said, sharing how one of his regular travel companions, a photographer, covered 30 cities in the one month that Alejandro stayed in Berlin. I don’t mind if I don’t see 30 cities.”

Drawing, Alejandro explained, is his way of truly experiencing a place. “I realize,

that when I’m with other people, you know, going here and there, I don’t get to draw, and I don’t really get to relish that time when I travel. I only take it in when I’m sitting in one place, drawing. Then I really get to feel the best of that travel.”

He describes sketching as his greatest indulgence, without costing any money at all.

“I remember my friend and I were at the Eiffel Tower, and I was just water color painting, at the bottom of the tower, and my friend was sleeping on a bench. I thought, wow, how much more luxurious can you be? You’re at the Eiffel Tower, and you’re sleeping, and I’m doing watercolor, and we don’t have to rush here or there,” he recalled. “I said, this is the ultimate luxury more than a hotel or whatever. It’s the time.”

Indulging in that luxury, he shared, helps him with work – albeit indirectly.

After dealing with clients and helping out with the family business, drawing while backpacking provides Alejandro with a happy place and an escape where he can recharge and do something for himself.

“It’s a very selfish time. For my real job, I do things for clients and do things for the business, do things for other people, but sketching is for me. It’s very selfish, and that’s really good. I deserve it,” he said. “When I’m here in Manila, I work like a dog, and so I travel.”

“It doesn’t affect my work directly, but it’s more of my happy place,” he shared. “I realized it’s what makes me happy: To sit on a curb, and just draw.”

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And while drawing all day sounds rather stationary and uneventful, it has earned Alejandro his fair share of stories to tell. For instance, while sketching in Luang Prabang in Laos, he drew the attention of the tuktuk drivers who had been watching him sketch all day, apparently, very intently, because when one driver blocked Alejandro’s view, the rest of them scolded the rogue driver and yelled at him to get out of the way.

On a 36-hour train ride from Beijing to Mongolia, he decided to teach his friends how to paint. One of his friends was so inspired that when they got to Mongolia, they went straight to an art supply store to buy materials so that he could continue painting. The friend eventually held his own exhibits, and sold paintings for huge sums of money.

In Budapest – Alejandro’s favorite city – he was so compelled to draw that he filled an entire sketchbook with art – only to lose the entire thing shortly after.

“Isn’t that amazing?” Alejandro said, “It must be somewhere. It could be an urban legend or something...It’s kind of romantic, you know what I mean? Who knows, years from now, it will emerge.”

Evidently, traveling the way he does has worked out immensely in Alejandro’s favor.

Recalling another interesting conversation he had while drawing on the road, Alejandro shared: “In Greece someone asked me, ‘Are you doing this for a living, or is this your hobby?’

I told him, ‘I can’t tell the difference,’ and he said, “Oh, you must be living a good life.”

Indeed.

El Calle Mayor, Barcelona

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RINA MALO NZO

DESIGN COLUMN

Design trends Hankering to show your clients something new? Here’s a list to get your brain going Words RINA MALONZO, PORTFOLIOMNL

TYPOGRAPHY COLOR

Marsala From its muddy origins in clay and earthy wines, Color of the Year Marsala (Pantone 18-1438) projects lofty aspirations in 2015 as it proposes to ‘enrich [the] mind, body and soul’ of many a designer.

Pair it with cedar green, deep turquoise, or navy; or go feminine with peachy pink, metallic gold, or coral.

Personally, we’d stick with chicken.

PANTONE 18-1438

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Collisions make headlines Objects intersecting with type are trending with typographers. An uppercase letter caressed by a gorgeous model, a headline intertwined in flowers, or letters positioned to give a subject depth are fast becoming editorial’s natural selection.

Take the challenge and give your layouts the ol’ collage try.

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PHOTOGRAPHY

Mutants, Naturally “As our relationship with the natural world becomes increasingly uneasy, photographers are exploring ways to challenge our ideas of its inherent power and mystery.” – The Creative Focus By Getty Images This year, we’ll see nature take a new course, Mutant Nature: Fish flying like butterflies in a grassy field. A platter full of animorphs. Vast landscapes in supernatural and psychedelic colors. Unusual juxtapositions that test the limits of what is ‘natural’.

Become a Photoshop mutant ninja and take it to another dimension.

WEB & APP DESIGN

The Digital World is Flat For some time, Apple products’ sexy, glimmering titanium influenced much of web design. Depth, shine and sheen were fairy dust for buttons, nav bars, dropdown menus and emoticons. Skeumorphism (the act of making things resemble their physical counterparts) and rich design were king.

This year it’s “back to flat”. It’s the original minimalism reembraced, set in the context of full bleed and responsive images.

Feeling flat is too flat? Give your page a splash of retro typography and you’ve become the ultimate hipster designer.

INDUSTRIAL DESIGN

On Demand Humankind has finally taken molecular matter into its own hands: And it’s called the 3D printer. Scientists are calling its advent the ‘Second Industrial Revolution’ – a tool that changes everything.

Sure, seeing doodles come to life is awesome, but think beyond pixels: Printable weapons, the recreation of fossils and organs, food printing, and bridging earth and space. Thousands of objects are ready to be printed on demand, from hearing aids to custom sex toys.

Plans for 3D printing applications are scaling by the second, and with them, the printers themselves. Contour Crafting of California is designing a 3D printer so large it will deposit cement to gradually build up houses – and even entire apartment blocks.

Not since the computer has a gadget ‘democratized innovation and unleashed human creativity’.

So lift your designs off the page and blast it off into space.

Rina Malonzo is the CEO and co-founder of PortfolioMNL Inc. She has over 20 years of experience in branding and creative management, heading creative teams at Donna Karan New York and as Vice President at Edelman Worldwide.

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TOB IAS G UGG ENHEIMER

DESIGN COLUMN

Design Thinking for Design Communities How influences evolved creativity Words TOBIAS GUGGENHEIMER, DEAN, SCHOOL OF FASHION AND THE ARTS (SOFA) DESIGN INSTITUTE

Design is a process whose significance can be dramatically enhanced when viewed as an intellectual discipline.

As Dean of the SoFA Design Institute, I am responsible for the values underpinning our educational process.

We are particularly keen on developing professionals who are as comfortable expressing social, ethical and personal values through design – what we refer to as design thinking, as they are in creating tangible, client-based solutions… and in suggesting there should be no conflict between these objectives.

Like art, design often begins in the abstract, as a representation of an idea, emotion or narrative. But unlike art, designers move quickly from the abstract to the tangible

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– making necessary compromises that build upon a conceptual superstructure to insure compliance with project goals. By viewing design as a creative yet systematic process akin to scientific research – the quest for design solutions becomes an endeavor which can predictably yield successful results.

Design thinking begins with the recognition that design has many constituents – each playing a unique role within the evolving drama framing our creative lives. Designers play a leading role, of course, but they are continuously nourished by an educational infrastructure of students and teachers without whom their ranks would whither. Education, therefore, should be considered the foundation of the modern design universe.

Clients, who ultimately make our work possible and to whom we owe a continuous debt of gratitude, are, of course, key to supporting our field. Just like designers themselves, however, design clients must strive to understand, sympathize and support design values - what design can and should do – and what it cannot and should not do.

The design world is impacted, directly or otherwise, by regulators responsible for simultaneously protecting the general welfare while promoting the health of our professions – objectives that in a perfect world bear no contradiction. In fields like architecture and interior design their influence is overt – even to the extent of controlling entry to the profession. In communication fields, the subtle regulatory footprint exercises a lighter, yet equally profound mandate to insure accountability and integrity.

Critics and their media play an often underappreciated, yet critical role in design.

To understand why, it is necessary to appreciate the purpose of criticism. When properly performed, criticism does no less than help the media consumer understand design values and indicates how and whether

January-February 2015

a particular piece of design is or is not successful. As such, criticism is a powerful weapon which can enhance or stymie a career – and is not to be lightly deployed – especially by someone without a profound understanding of the complexity of design.

Finally, the public, which ultimately bears the brunt – or enjoys the fruits – of our exertions. Even without being consciously aware of the vast impact design plays in our lives, the public is completely immersed in a designed environment from the moment of birth onwards. For this reason, people everywhere should be concerned with what design is and what designers do.

These stakeholders, who inhabit wildly divergent perspectives, each maintain a profound relationship with design. The ubiquity and universality of design in the modern world means that they have, we all have, inherited a responsibility to promote design as a tool by which to enhance human civilization.

One of the characteristics making the design professions so challenging and rewarding is the necessity of piecing together into a coherent whole the many pieces of the puzzle which comprise design: telling a story, mastering technologies, adhering to legal and ethical standards, expressing cultural values and satisfying client preferences, to name but a few. The glue binding these disparate objectives together forms the basis of that most invaluable ingredient- design thinking – which leads, inevitably, to design action and success.

Architect Tobias Guggenheimer is principal of Tobias Guggenheimer Architect, PC. He is aslo currently the dean of SoFA Design Institute in Manila where his Asian design office is located.

COVER

STORY

CAN’T ST P ASTERIO GUTIÉRREZ

Words MIKHAIL LECAROS | Cover Photography ALVELYN ALKO OF AMANACLIQ

By any measure, it takes a certain level of talent (and more than a little gumption) to announce to all the world that you are your country’s mostdecorated creative. Of course, when you can lay claim to having scored the country’s first-ever Cannes Grand Prix, first-ever Grand Clio, and first-ever Yellow Pencil, it can be reasonably argued that you’re pretty much allowed to say whatever the hell you want.

In the case of Asterio “Aste” Enrico Gutiérrez, those who know him will readily attest to the fact that self-expression has never been one of his weak points.

And who can blame him? Currently, the Won report has Gutiérrez listed as the Philippines’ top copywriter, and 31st overall in the world. To wit, his advertising work has won over 20 Grand Prix honors at festivals and award shows around the world, while his literary efforts have made

him a two-time Palanca award winner (the first of which he bagged while still in college).

With a career trajectory best described as meteoric, Gutiérrez has worked on innovative campaigns such as the groundbreaking Smart ‘TXTBKS’, Budweiser ‘We Speak Music’, and ‘#unselfie’ for agencies such as Ace Saatchi & Saatchi, DM9JaymeSyfu, BBDO Guerrero, AKQA Shanghai, PARTY Tokyo, and Leo Burnett Malaysia. By the time this issue sees print, the seeminglyindefatigable Gutiérrez will have begun work at legendary indie shop Fred and Farid’s Shanghai office. Sharing the top creative role with renowned Fred and Farid mainstay Feng Huang, Gutiérrez will cohead the agency’s creative department.

In this in-depth interview, the Shanghaibased creative opens up to adobo on everything from his love of music to his frustrations with art directors, and, for the first time, shares with us why he chose China.

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ADOBO You strike us as the sort of guy who can do pretty much anything he wants. What did you want to be while you were growing up?

GUTIÉRREZ A musician and teacher.

Music was my first love. I was studying classical guitar performance while doing my English degree. After graduating, my first job was teaching guitar. It remains one of the most rewarding jobs of my life.

ADOBO How did you come to pick up the guitar?

GUTIÉRREZ I picked it up when I was in high school. After my brother, I took up serious instruction from a lot of great classical guitarists. And while I was doing my English degree, I would drive to AILM

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(Asian Institute for Liturgical Music) to attend guitar classes with legendary guitarist Phil Valdez. I also took serious lessons in jazz harmony. Of course, I did bands and all that, but classical and jazz were always my core interests.

I love writing literature, (and) I still do it, I still publish stories from time to time.

ADOBO Seeing as you were already teaching, what made you decide not to pursue music professionally?

GUTIÉRREZ They’ve always been very supportive.

GUTIÉRREZ In college, I really got into writing, Literary writing. I did the whole path: Attend writer’s workshops, Get stories published in Free Press, etc., and then (go on to) win Palancas. I think I knew that music was always going to be passion but not a livelihood. Writing was something easier to parlay into a job. But of course,

ADOBO Fantastic! Pity about the music though. What did your parents think about your choice in career?

ADOBO Ok, tell us about your first agency experience, and how you came to be there.

GUTIÉRREZ It was at Blue Bottle – it was all I could get at the time (laughs)! To be frank, I didn’t want to, but a friend got me in and I didn’t really shop around. I was worried because I had no degree in advertising; all I really had was that Palanca.

Naturally, it (the experience) was horrible.

ADOBO Do you still remember the first campaign you ever worked on? Tell us about it, and what it took to get it done.

ASTE ON AWARDS ADOBO With a Grand Prix, Clio, Yellow Pencil, etc., under your belt, how do you maintain perspective?

GUTIÉRREZ Knowing a ton of others have heaps more. So I did Smart ‘TXTBKS’, so I have the country’s first Yellow Pencil and Cannes Grand Prix – so what? I have friends who have three, four, five! And this is the one perspective I’ve always held: That you are the competition you keep. This is why I’ve never taken local as my competition and never been much for age-bracketed contests.

ADOBO What else did you handle in those early days, besides the fried rice mix?

ADOBO Is there a difference to the feeling you get winning a Grand Prix, as opposed to say, a Palanca?

GUTIÉRREZ I guess they work together, ego-wise (laughs). Winning Palanca Awards sort of legitimizes you as a writer-writer. Then winning the Yellow Pencil and Grand Prix sort of legitimizes the legitimacy of being a writer-writer.

Like, “See, proper writer-writers know what they’re doing!” That said, I am unapologetically addicted to winning. I’d try earning a BET (Black Entertainment Television) award if they let me.

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GUTIÉRREZ It was a film campaign for an instant fried rice mix with the great art director/ACD Mike Calvan. His idea was, “Gugustuhin mong agahan ang agahan.” I did one of the three storylines. It was the first TV production I was ever involved in. What I remember the most was just marveling at how amazing Mike was. His storyboards were gorgeous. His sense of design was impeccable. His thoughts were clear and simple. And good god, his work ethic. He never mailed it in, never made excuses, never missed a deadline. I was fortunate to have worked with a guy of that caliber so early on.

Gutiérrez holds two Palanca Awards for writing, and contributed to the Philippines’ first-ever Grand Prix at Cannes

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GUTIÉRREZ I did almost nothing besides that. But it was like a Steve Jobs “connect-the-dots” experience; because the ECD didn’t give me any work, I ended up hanging out a lot in the FA (final art) studio, where I learned Photoshop. And if there’s one thing that’s helped me in my career, it’s that. I have done so many of my own layouts, because I generally work too fast and am too prolific for whichever art director I am assigned to – and I have absolutely no patience. So, many times, I just do the damn thing myself, like award presentation boards, and storyboards, etc.

I do, like, 99% of the ideas, (I) always have. At least (to the best of my Photoshop

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Title SMART ‘TXTBKS’ Agency DM9JaymeSyfu Client Smart Communications

TXTBKS: I remember the day I came up with it, I had this uncertain feeling, swinging between “holy damn this can be huge” and “is this actually any good?” I’ve since learned to love the uncertainty some ideas give you.

ability) I can execute it the way I want it and, because it’s really my idea, I will often know it best and (therefore), I am more excited.

I think there are more art directors who really just want to do press ads and, unless it’s that, they’re not really interested. To be honest, I think that the shift away from scam print has made many art directors pretty much expendable. So there’s a need to really break out of old habits and inclinations.

There was such a stark difference when I worked with international art directors, even the young juniors! They were really doing art direction for the digital age, (with) much more sophisticated design.

A lot of Pinoy art directors design sites and other online experiences like print ads, (and) it’s crazy. I really don’t mean to sound “anti-where-I-came-from”, but the art direction, I think, is what’s holding us back.

Or more to the point: Art Directors. The best we have are still obsessed with doing ads like (Erik) Vervroegen, from way back when.

ADOBO Why do you reckon that is?

GUTIÉRREZ I think this whole “madiskarte ang pinoy” mentality is getting in the way, where art directors think they can draw well, so they’ll just do the illustration, or they think they Photoshop well, so they’ll do the DI (digital imaging). Or, God forbid, they think they take pictures well, and do it themselves. That’s something at AKQA I learned: Don’t do the best you can. Do what’s best for the project.

(Because) the best you can do will probably be shit, if you’re not a specialist.

ADOBO Asians are (unfortunately) usually pegged as subservient, submissive, and afraid to rock the boat. Anyone who’s met you knows that those descriptors in no way apply to you. To what do you credit your take-charge attitude, and has it ever gotten you into trouble in the workplace?

GUTIÉRREZ I lucked out and worked with (Ace Saatchi & Saatchi ECD) Andrew Petch, my mentor. You know how creative directors have that one mentor they always cite – Paul Arden, John Jay – well mine is Andrew. He taught me to measure myself by only one thing: The work you’ve pushed out into market. In the Philippines, pushing work out means you need to absolutely own and do everything by yourself. The inertia is staggering, even within the creative department. You need to be ready to cajole, confront, coerce, cuss out, cut out. It’s a painful process, people say nasty things, you lose friends, but in the end, you’re the one with the fame and money, versus the one saying nasty things about the people with fame and money.

ADOBO Be that as it may, how did you go about motivating your art people before you went abroad? Because you did get good work done even before you left the country.

GUTIÉRREZ Oh well. To be honest, I think it was an anomaly that I did good work. I lucked out, situation-wise. I had the raw will to work hard, then worked under Andrew, then went to a place that generally let me do my thing.

ADOBO DM9?

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GUTIÉRREZ Yes. When I left Saatchi, I wanted to do, well, like a more modern version of the stuff that Saatchi & Saatchi under Andrew was doing: Something more digital and innovative, but also within the whole “Titanium Lion” kind of approach.

At DM9, I was given enough leeway to do that. They let me pursue my ideas while they kept to their print ads and posters.

(It) wasn’t super easy, though. Like, for example, ‘TXTBKS’ was entered into just two categories, not entered into Titanium.

ADOBO That’s too bad. But from what I understand, DM9 is run to be a tight ship, with everyone accountable for everything they have their names on. The way it was explained to me has always been: No layers, no hiding – everybody pulls their weight.

GUTIÉRREZ Let’s just say that, I think you get more concerned with credits when you’ve stopped doing things and actually just run companies and manage. Because the only real mark you will have on the work (at that point) is your name in the credits and, well, let’s face it, hardly anyone who’s pushing 50 or 60 can still write towards a more modern audience (which isn’t wrong). I mean, by 50, you should indeed be distant from the work, but when I joined that place, I really did commit to myself that I would take it to places it had never been. Agency of the Year, Digital Work, win beyond bronzes, etc. I owed them that much. I owe any place that takes me on. That’s why I got so much work out.

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ADOBO We’ve never actually gone on the record about it before, but could you tell us, in your own words, about your exit from DM9? So many stories have gone around as to what really happened, we’d like to get your account to set the record straight.

GUTIÉRREZ Haha, anyone who wants to hear the real story (though I wouldn’t know why) can buy me coffee. Ha! ADOBO Do we really need to buy you a cup of coffee in Shanghai to know what went down in your last days in DM9?

All we’re interested in is the truth.

GUTIÉRREZ (Laughs) Well, it’s very simple.

I made it crystal clear that I’d done that bit of copy for Saatchi, but it was never used.

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They said, “Yeah, sure.” I mean, everyone recycled. Then, when Saatchi pulled what they did, of course laglagan na. Really that simple, and no real hard feelings about it. I mean, it’s their company, they can do what they want and, well, Filipinos – especially of a certain age – will be Filipinos.

ADOBO How did the prospect of working in Shanghai come up, and was it a hard sell to get you to make the move?

GUTIÉRREZ After you win something like a Cannes Grand Prix, you get calls from all around the world. It gets really, really crazy. The names suddenly getting in touch will blow your mind. So after Cannes, I was in talks with a number of very exciting places. And I really wanted

This poem, originally published in the Online Literary Journal, was subsequently nominated for publication to “Best of the Net”, where a guest judge selected it for inclusion over thousands of submissions. In the final publication, Gutiérrez’s poem would find itself rubbing literary shoulders with, among others, recipients of a US Book Award and a Pulitzer Prize.

DEATH POEM EXERCISE 64 I propose that everyone replace the word “died” with “wore red skintight leather pants” in all personal essays.

So lead-ins like On this day last year, Munying, my cat, my best friend, accidentally ate a dead frog. 24 hours later she wore red skintight leather pants, would now sound silly for the right reasons, while the recollection of how When grandfather wore red skintight leather pants I smiled, knowing he was finally in heaven, would be heart breaking but no longer in a sad way. Now it must be considered that people who do wear red skintight leather pants don’t need any more grief. That’s why I also propose the exchange go both ways, and so we read that when Jon died at his coming out party, everyone cried and cheered him on, which is much happier, in a much happier way.

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to move abroad and start working with the world’s best already. In fact I’d started already. I did a stint with Eric Cruz, a hero of mine, in Malaysia. I got to work with Tim Green, the only Titanium Lion winner in Singapore before he moved back to Oz. Then I worked with my favorite agency in the world, PARTY, with their NY office, learning a ton from Masashi (Kawamura), Qanta (Shimizu), and Tom (Galle). Then (AKQA’s) Rei (Inamoto) and I spoke, and it just felt fitting to join AKQA. As for Shanghai, I’ve always been in love with Shanghai – or at least the idea of it. And it’s exceeded expectations. What a marvelous city.

ADOBO We’ve heard it said that doing advertising in Shanghai is a little like being in the Wild West. What is it like being a Filipino in Shanghai, and what was the acclimatization process like?

GUTIÉRREZ There was no struggle at all. Much the opposite. The pool of talent is truly world class, both local and foreign. You can have lunch with multiple Yellow Pencil winners whenever you like. The budgets are scary huge.

Working with people like Rhizomatiks and North Kingdom isn’t a pipe dream.

And of course, the sheer scale of the work you get to do. Clients here get it.

They wanna do cool, brilliant work. So I’m a kid in a candy store. Culture-wise, I love Shanghai. It’s a gorgeous, magical city. The people are kind and have great hearts. I recommend it as a city to work in to every creative, if they want to do huge, world-class work, while still staying in Asia.

ADOBO As your first real work experience in China, how did it compared to the houses you’d worked in previously?

GUTIÉRREZ The talent and skill level is insane. The young guys on my team were from all over the world, and studied art and design in places like London and such and can do software and hardware. And it’s very, very different working with a company that’s bona fide born-and-madefor-the-digital-age versus a traditional agency trying to do digital. Every one really knows what they’re doing. And the work you can do is amazing. Like recently, we created this online engine that can turn whatever you type into a professional-grade song, with full vocals and instrumentation.

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Title ‘Pocket Fire Extinguisher’ Agency DM9JaymeSyfu Client City of Las Piñas

POCKET FIRE EXTINGUISHER : My very first “invention”, if you will. I was inspired by these “magic bomb” toys I saw in school.

It’s mind-blowing. Also, the level of craft is on a completely different level.

ADOBO We were looking at the list of creative icons you lined up as speakers for the ‘Inspiration Sessions’ you would host for your AKQA team and, to be honest, it is ridiculous in its awesomeness. Could you tell us how these came about?

GUTIÉRREZ When I was a very young creative, I was sent to AdFest. And meeting legends like Suthi (Sucharittanonta) face-to-face was the most inspiring thing ever. That they were actually deigning to speak with you for five minutes just ignited something — made you want to do more, do better. So that maybe next time, maybe they’ll give you more than five minutes.

I wanted the same for my team. So I created the ‘Inspiration Sessions’. I’d write these legends asking if they would speak to my team. Just simple, earnest emails.

The response has been staggering. The fact that they replied – and more than that, their sheer generosity – has been mind blowing. We have very exciting sessions coming up. I’ve gotten yes’s from Dan Wieden, Paula Scher, and Rich Silverstein.

Needless to say, the team is super stoked.

ADOBO What are some of the more interesting responses you got from the legends when you contacted them out of the blue?

GUTIÉRREZ Some didn’t have time, but then suggested other legends, and even wrote introductions.

ADOBO Given your young age, how does it feel to have yourself in the position to inspire young(er) creatives?

GUTIÉRREZ I’m just happy I didn’t need to be old before I started giving back. I have some personal advocacies towards creative people. One is helping creatives get to the places they want to work and to meet the people they want to meet (and might not be able to otherwise). And I am passionate about this because one guy did the same for me, and all he asked in return was that I pay it forward. I also enjoy giving talks and lectures, and work hard on my presentations.

It’s funny; many old people in the Philippine industry are rather antediluvian in their ways — fencing people out of circles, downplaying competitors’ achievements, not regularizing people because of personalities.

But the most decorated people I’ve ever had the honor of meeting – John Hegarty, Rei Inamoto, Graham Fink, Masa and Qanta – are all so generous and kind-hearted and un-petty, especially to young people.

ADOBO And now you’re about to start working with Fred and Farid, whose stellar track record speaks for itself.

What made you decide to hang your hat with an independent shop?

GUTIÉRREZ The chance to work with legitimate legends like Fred (Raillard) and Farid (Mokart). The work they’ve done themselves — not just tacked their name on the credits—is amazing. Even outside advertising, like the BAFTAwinning music video for Rock DJ.

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Also, the Shanghai office is not an outpost. Fred lives here. No one else is committed to Shanghai like that. And it’s the hottest agency in Asia right now. I get to be in the same room with not just one, but a ton of truly great people who’ve already won heaps — Cannes Grands Prix, Lions, D&AD, Clio, Pencils. But I think most of all, it’s a place about nothing but the best creative possible. It’s fully aware that clients come to you because of great work, and not processes, or proprietary tools, or department integration, or your connections to other client, or any of that mumbo jumbo. Just great work. It was just too difficult to pass up.

ADOBO Sounds like some high standards, but then, that’s precisely what you signed on for.

GUTIÉRREZ Yeah! I mean, what’s next, right?

ADOBO Is there any sense of nervousness involved, or are you going in with both guns blazing?

GUTIÉRREZ Very excited! There are a lot of highly awarded guys there. A writer from Kinetic — the top digital and design shop in Singapore — for example.

ADOBO When do you start, and have you met your team yet?

GUTIÉRREZ I start early February, and I already met some of them. The people I’ll be working with are already brilliant, muchawarded guys who know what they’re doing.

It’s not some turn-around job or anything

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like that. Case in point: One of the guys there was ranked in the Top 50 in both the copy and art rankings of the recent Big Won list.

It’s a great agency doing already great things.

It’s just an honor and a pleasure to be there.

ADOBO Given the level of talent at Fred and Farid, do you still see yourself assuming a “mentor” role?

GUTIÉRREZ I will be whatever the company needs me to be! I will try to be the creative that F&F deserves, as well as the one they need. (laughs) ADOBO Well, we look forward to seeing what comes of the new job. In the meantime, let’s talk shop. As pervasive and all-encompassing as digital has become, what are some of its limitations?

GUTIÉRREZ The same as any other medium: You have nothing if you have no idea. A KOL (key opinion leader) is not an idea.

Also, many think that as long as it’s useful, it’s fantastic. But truth is, it’s boring, it’s still crap. There will always be something equally useful, but 100 times more magical.

Never, ever underestimate magic.

ADOBO What is the biggest misconception about doing digital work?

GUTIÉRREZ It’s often approached as this genre of creative or a broadcast medium. But digital is an age.

Everything we do exists within and has ramifications in this digital age.

AS TE RIO G UT IÉR R EZ

ADOBO What are some of your favorite digital campaigns that we can learn from – not necessarily your own, local, foreign?

GUTIÉRREZ The Nike ‘LED Basketball Court’ by AKQA Shanghai and London.

Especially since basketball is very close to my heart (in fact my second Palanca First Prize was a story about basketball). I love the MTV for ‘Golden Chains’ from France.

I adore ‘World Under Water’, which won the FWA Cutting Edge Project of the Year. But my favorite is still ‘Pay With a Tweet’. That changed my entire approach to everything.

ADOBO Now that you’ve had time in NYC, Malaysia, Shanghai, etc, how does the Philippines rank in digital against other countries in the region?

GUTIÉRREZ Oh wow. To be honest, pretty far behind. But progress should be on its way.

ADOBO What about in overall creativity?

GUTIÉRREZ Oh really far. Seriously man, the work I was seeing being done at PARTY is so far ahead, and even at AKQA. But once the younger Andrew (Petch-type) creatives start heading up their own shops and become CDs, then more good thinking will be on the way. But before anything else, the art needs to catch up, it’s really far behind.

You look at stuff from Kinetic Singapore, from any Tokyo office, from Shanghai, I mean, it’s so far away, it’s not even funny!

ADOBO Sounds kind of sad, actually.

GUTIÉRREZ And I think that will start once we kill this obsession with scam print.

Even the work Eric Yeo did in Thailand, that was all his art direction. It’s something that the Philippines has never approached, and, well, to be honest, CDs abroad don’t look too kindly on Philippine art direction.

The thinking is great, but art-wise, we’re in that lump together with Indonesia and Vietnam and Taiwan and all those places you don’t think of when you think great art ADOBO On that note, are there any Philippine campaigns that you do like, besides your own?

GUTIÉRREZ I like the Pantene ‘Labels Against Women’ work, it feels legitimately like a global work, ‘It’s More Fun’, and early Andrew work was great, like Tiger ‘Energy Playground’, and ‘ZZZ Radio’.

ADOBO Ok, you said that KOL (key opinion leaders) is not an idea. Can you expound on that a little?

GUTIÉRREZ I mean, same as endorsers.

Anne Curtis is not an idea. Derek Ramsey is not an idea, though a ton of brands seem to think they are.

ADOBO Some would say that those are what the Philippine public expects of its advertising.

GUTIÉRREZ Which is wrong to say. Giving people what they expect is the exact thing you don’t want to do. It doesn’t have to be edgy or funny or clever all the time (if at all), which is a mistake a lot of people make:

WE SPEAK MUSIC : Huge piece of work. Got to work with the legendary Rhizomatiks.

Title ‘We Speak Music’ Agency AKQA Shanghai Client Budwieser

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AST ER IO G UT IÉR R EZ

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Title ‘Unselfie’ Agency BBDO Guerrero Client Typhoon Yolanda Appeal

‘UNSELFIE’ More of my super-simple phase.

My time in BBDO was super short, but I absolutely loved every minute of it. What a fantastic place.

Thinking that a great idea needs to be shocking and irreverent (and all that). But beautiful stories can’t be simple and still mother and son miniatures without being expected. Like the Pantene ad (‘Labels Against Women’) was unexpected, while still being everything the brand stood for.

ADOBO Is there a middle ground, though? I mean, seeing as people are so used to “traditional” ads.

GUTIÉRREZ I think we need traditional ads, to be honest, just so the different stuff has something to contrast itself against (laughs)!

But, to your point, no, I think finding a middle ground defeats the purpose. Again, we can’t settle. And again, I think great work has a stigma against it. The impression is “offbrand” and “edgy”, when you can be on-brand while being unexpected and powerful. In fact, you can only be truly powerful if it’s so powerfully on-brand and coming from an authentic place, like ‘Beauty Sketches’.

ADOBO Exactly! And not something like Dove ‘Beauty Patches’.

GUTIÉRREZ (laughs) yeah.

ADOBO In the research for this story, we came across a number of your literary works. What sort of stories do you enjoy telling and, on that note, what do you look for in a story for you to be entertained?

GUTIÉRREZ When writing fiction, I like scale. The bigness you got from early Butch Dalisay. The grandness of a novel

distilled into a short story. When I (am trying to) write poetry, I like humor. But not cute Billy Collins, more Ron Padgett.

Whom everyone should read. Now. ADOBO Earlier, you mentioned your basketball story, which has its roots in Philippine mythology. Do creative works that come from our country have to include (for lack of a better word) “ethnic” elements to be inherently Filipino?

GUTIÉRREZ Oh not really but the thing is, if you really want to solve problems, they have to be your problems Not so much ethnic as in local color with vintas and Bohol pictures and shit. But more of authentic local problems and insights I mean, I don’t think the Thais consciously put in that Thai touch when they were doing their stretch of greatness – It’s more of, “it was real”.

ADOBO How does one go about adapting his problems and insights when working in a foreign market?

GUTIÉRREZ Again, it’s not about you.

Go for what your market needs, don’t think of yourself as a foreigner.

ADOBO How different is the Asterio Gutiérrez who first entered the industry when compared to the Asterio Gutiérrez answering these questions?

GUTIÉRREZ Not much. Still wide-eyed, idealistic, headstrong, snarky, hot-tempered, emotional. Just more picky with whom to work with, I guess. And maybe a bit

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harder to impress. But even more impressed when I do get impressed.

ADOBO And what does it take to impress you?

GUTIÉRREZ Work-wise, I get impressed by brilliant problem-solving, but still with that magic, that un-definable element that just gives it a ton of emotional resonance.

AKQA is very great at that, the magic part.

People-wise, I get impressed by talent now more than hard work, because, for example, in my team, everyone works insanely hard.

World-class talent is what gets me now: True greatness in people, whether as thinkers or craftspeople. Very, very, very few have greatness in them; for 99%, Bronze is really them at their best, (and) they will never win a Gold on their own. It’s just beyond them. But some are bound for Gold.

ADOBO What keeps you hungry, what drives you forward?

GUTIÉRREZ I’m blessed that I’m in an industry where success depends on the exact two things I love more than anything (except wife and family): Making interesting things and winning.

ADOBO How far do you see yourself going?

GUTIÉRREZ I want to lead an agency that becomes one of those historical shops. Like Vervroegen-era TBWA\Paris.

Bogusky-era CP+B. Early Droga5. Saatchi & Saatchi-era Saatchi & Saatchi. It can be done. It can be goddamn done.

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EFFECT THE CAUSE JOE DY MCCANN WORLDGROUP PHILIPPINES ECD

Most everyone has heard of the butterfly effect — a term coined by mathematician Edward Lorenz. But for the sake of the uninitiated, it can be encapsulated within a simplistic phrase.

One which postulates that something as minute as the faint fluttering of a butterfly’s wings could set off a chain reaction that ultimately results in a massive hurricane, half a world away.

It leads some to think that nothing is ever of no consequence, immediate or otherwise.

And therein lies opportunity. Every single action, even inaction, can be directed towards a desired reaction. Every question, towards a response. Every setback, towards a learning.

Every decision, towards an eventual outcome.

Every means, towards a cumulative end.

In the midst of chaos, one can trace a line of order and purpose. If you look hard enough, you might find that, even in the maddest of madness, there is method.

And Joe Dy is just the man to string it together.

CENTERFOLD

Photography Ryan Sulit Production Design Clint Catalan of Clintworm Art Direction Victor Garcia Final Art Ricardo Malit

Family Ties Words Mikhail Lecaros Photography Wesley Villarica of Parallax Studios Art Direction Victor Garcia, Joshua Gonzales, Ricardo Malit Make up and Hair Florence Vergara, Ralph Dela Cruz, Edz Vargas Stylist Clint Catalan of Clintworm

When it comes to the importance of familial relations, you won’t get any argument out of anyone at adobo that blood is indeed thicker than water. However, when it comes to questions regarding the choices different family members make in pursuit of their career dreams and aspirations – that’s where the answers start to diverge somewhat. The world of advertising is no different, where bearers of similar genomes have been known to undertake any number of paths on their respective roads to fame, fortune, and award-winning success. Case in point: the fine folks in the photos featured here. Whether they’re in creative agencies, media agencies, public relations firms, marketing, or production, what binds these individuals (aside from some of their last names) is their collective pursuit of excellence.

And that’s something we can all agree on.

RANDY TIEMPO Creative Director McCann Worldgroup Philippines

ANGELA M. TIEMPO Ex-Copywriter, Dentsuindio & Ex-VP for Sales & Marketing/ Post Producer, Red Door Post

JOEY DAVID-TIEMPO Executive Creative Director for Digital TBWA Santiago Mangada Puno

REY TIEMPO Executive Creative Director Dentsu Philippines

TRENDSPOT TING

BRANDIE TAN Executive Creative Director Publicis JimenezBasic

BUDJETTE TAN Deputy Executive Creative Director MRM Manila

MIKE ALCAZAREN Director Film Armada

ISSEL JAYME Copywriter Y&R Philippines

CHINO JAYME Creative Director TBWA\Santiago Mangada Puno

MERLEE JAYME Chairmom/Chief Creative Officer DM9JaymeSyfu

TIMMY JAYME Managing Director DDB Philippines

LIZANNE ALCAZAREN Freelance Advertising Producer

GABBY ALCAZAREN Art Director McCann Worldgroup Philippines

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KE NNE TH LI NGAN

Interview ANGEL GUERRERO & MIKHAIL LECAROS | Words MIKHAIL LECAROS | Photography RICARDO MALIT

A lot has been written about how ubiquitous and pervasive a role the internet plays in our daily lives, and it’s not hard to see why: every day, more and more people are discovering ways in which going online has made our everyday existence a little bit easier.

Over the years, an undeniably indispensible part of that is Google.

Introduced as an alternative to search engines that merely aggregated websites, Google’s approach to sorting content by topic helped it to become one of the world’s biggest companies.

Today worth upwards of US$ 380 billion, Google offers a plethora

of online products and services (including Gmail and YouTube) to fulfill their mission statement of organizing the world’s information (in order to make out lives easier).

In December of last year, it was announced that former Unilever exec Kenneth Lingan had been appointed country manager of Google’s Philippine office. Previously, the post had been vacant for nearly a year following the exit of Narciso Reyes, who had been country manager when Google Philippines launched in January 2013.

“It’s an amazing company,” says Lingan, on what attracted him to the role, “with an inspiring mission to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible, and I was surprised by the amount of great work they’re doing all over the world, in the Philippines, and other developing countries, in education and crisis response – I found an opportunity where I could make a difference for my country in this role. That’s what really excited me, what made me choose to go to Google.

Of course, while good intentions and a working knowledge of current tech consumer trends are all good and well, Lingan does admit that he understands questions over his appointment by those who believe that a background in FMCG is still some ways off from qualifying one to work with the world’s most famous tech company.

“Marketing is still marketing when you try and engage advertisers, and the fact that I can straddle two worlds – technology and marketing – gives me a lot of insight on how best to partner with businesses.

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A big part of what we do (at Google) is helping businesses and advertisers make the most out of the web and, being a marketer myself, I think it gives me a lot of empathy for how an advertiser thinks. At the end of the day, they’re not so hot on “per click” or the latest technology. At the end of the day, it’s, ‘How does the web help my business? How does the web help me build my brand?” So having my experience growing and unlocking categories in emerging markets – while looking at partnering with businesses – are my two key strengths in taking on this leadership role.”

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DIGITIZING THE PHILIPPINES Kenneth Lingan is on a quest to move the country forward using Google and its various tools and platforms.

Examples of previous works by the company for the country include (above)“Sari-jeepney”, by Kim Patrick Saren, which won the the 2014 ‘Doodle for Google’ art contest over 51,000 (with the theme, ‘What can I do for the Philippines?’) and (right) a glimpse of Googe’s real-time crisis information service to help citizens in critical areas stay informed of the latest disaster updates

According to Lingan, getting more Filipinos to get online is just the beginning, citing his belief in Google’s commitment to the people who use their offerings, rather than just technology for technology’s sake. Especially, he says, given the somewhat lacking state of internet infrastructure in the country.

“We ourselves, like all Filipinos would want to have faster internet speeds, I think it was an NTC study that said if we could our providers could even double internet speeds, it would have a huge driver for the country’s GDP. It’s central to any country’s economic infrastructure to get the right internet speed in order to open ideas.”

Lingan told adobo that one of his priorities in pursuing the role of country manager was the opportunity to leverage Google’s massive online platform to effect positive change in the lives of his countrymen.

“There are about 700,000 to a million micro-SMEs in the country, and less than one percent have a website, so they’re not making the most out of the web. My role in the FMCG industry was really looking at emerging markets, looking at Asia, the Middle East, even Africa, and the Philippines is really also in that space: It’s young, it’s growing, with enormous room for growth.

So one of my agendas is really, ‘How do we unlock the massive potential of this digital

ecosystem here in the Philippines?’

That being said, the traditional notion of someone sitting in front of a computer to log on to an internet server is one that is increasingly antiquated, as Filipinos are increasingly getting their first taste of the web via smartphones, and this is an area which Lingan thinks Google is definitely in the position to assist in.

“The fact is that audiences are changing their behavior rapidly, and we’re really seeing this in the Philippines over the past four years as internet penetration has resulted in almost 10 million Filipinos going online,” says Lingan. “Businesses aren’t really catching up, and I think Google has an opportunity to help them really grapple with the change, because we recognize that the next billion internet users will come from emerging markets. We are constantly looking for ways to make your online experience with our products faster, even at reduced internet speeds, whether you’re doing a search or watching a video on (Google’s own) YouTube, even an improvement of one or two seconds makes a difference.”

And what of the potential competition,

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given Filipinos’ well-documented affinity for social media?

“Obviously there are others looking at the digital space, but it’s honestly so nascent that I actually welcome them, because it’s good for the total digital ecosystem. I use G+, I use Facebook – I don’t think we shouldn’t embrace what the Filipino consumers are using, or be so naïve as to only use our own products.”

At the end of the day, Lingan is pragmatic about his ability to steer the company through the year ahead.

“It (Google) is a totally different industry, and it’s a different skill set that takes effort to pick up, but I believe the best marketers are the ones who can navigate both technology and insight. If people have an insight but don’t use technology, they’re missing out.

Equally, if your company is just pure digital, lacking insight, you won’t make meaningful change. It won’t have a meaningful impact on the brand or the business. As a marketer, I am in the position to know what brands and consumers think, to know how to engage them, and know what really matters to them in a language that they understand, and that’s where the magic will come in.”

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CASE Y NEI ST AT

CASEY NEISTAT:

Renegade How a dishwasher from Connecticut became the most famous director you probably never heard of Interview and photography RICARDO MALIT | Words MIKHAIL LECAROS

Upfront and unfiltered, yet laid back to the point of chill, Casey Neistat is an independent filmmaker who doesn’t conform to the mold of your typical 21st century creative. Nor is he the sort of hipster poseur his critics would make him out to be. With over 100 films to his credit, a hit HBO series, online ad work for some of the biggest clients around, and devoted fans across the world, Neistat is probably the most famous director you never heard of.

Hailing from New London, Connecticut, Casey Owen Neistat spent much of his youth getting in and out of trouble. An average student at best, Neistat became notorious in his secondary school years as Ledyard High’s most successful marijuana dealer. A new high school in a new town brought with it a fresh start for Neistat, who began washing dishes to earn money while distinguishing himself academically for the first time in his life.

“I was working washing dishes, and that’s when Apple came out with the

first iMac, the blue funny-looking one,” Neistat shared with adobo. “It was the first consumer marketed computer that you could edit video on, so I bought one and learned how to use iMovie, and that was my first kind of foray into filmmaking.”

Neistat’s education would take a backseat when, at the age of 17, he found himself a father. Living in a trailer park on welfare and struggling to make ends meet, the former rabble-rouser nevertheless continued to develop the skills that would make him internationally famous. “I was really poor back then, and I had a baby, a young son. So while his mother was at work all day, and I would be at work all night, I would spend my days making movies with my kid. So all my early movies are, like, me and my baby.”

In June of 2001, Neistat made the decision to move to New York City with his brother Van to pursue their dream of becoming filmmakers. Finding work as a bike messenger, Neistat and his brother would eventually collaborate with artist

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“It’s like that line from the Beastie Boys’ song, ‘It’s a great place to visit, but a better place to rob’.”

– CASEY NEISTAT on advertising

January-February 2015

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CAS E Y NEI ST AT

CASEY NEISTAT, 20TH CENTURY FOX, AND TYPHOON HAIYAN In 2013, following the strongest typhoon in recorded history, filmmaker Casey Neistat, charged with creating an online video campaign for the then-upcoming release of 20th Century Fox’s The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, decided to utilize his $25,000 production budget for Tacloban disaster relief.

Naturally, he video-documented the process, with the resulting film going viral following posting online.

“I made that video about it because that was my end of the deal, I was obligated to, but the fallout was, I think, a renewed enthusiasm around something that wasn’t (yet) getting a lot of attention, which was the help that was needed in the Philippines.

Regardless of how that video came to be, the outcome was something that was really positive.”

“I don’t need justification, there’s nothing nefarious with how

Viral philanthropy: Casey Neistat in shots from What would you do with $25,000?, a film he made using the promotional video budget of 20th Century Fox’s The Secret Life of Walter Mitty to help the survivors of Typhoon Haiyan

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it came to be, I just think whenever you’re sort of muddling commerce or capitalism with philanthropy, there are a lot of question marks.

For me, if you look past the politics, at the end of the day, a lot of people really benefited from that endeavor.”

“A lot of people gave me shit for that movie, saying, ‘Yes, it’s philanthropy, and it’s doing something good, but it’s benefiting a huge corporation: 20th Century Fox’ and I think that’s entirely fair criticism. My response to that was, ‘Look, we were able to distribute 10,000 meals’ – 10,000 people got to eat because of that, along with medicine, and all these other things we were able to do with $25,000, so at the end of it all, who gives a shit who benefitted on the other end or how it came to be or how it manifested? We were able to do something great!”

Scan the QR code to watch What Would You Do With $25,000?

January-February 2015

Tom Sachs to document his works. Experience notwithstanding, it was hardly the sort of “break” that show-biz fairy tales are built on.

“I think breaks are always wildly over-credited with any kind of success,” says Neistat, matter-offactly. “I think there are breaks, and they do help, but it’s always a long, kind of arduous path to go from beginning to finding success in this world.

Certainly, for me, you know, I’ve been making movies for 15 years now, so it’s tough for me to attribute it to any one break, but I can point to pivot points in my career: Moving to New York City in 2001 was just sort of the first gigantic step. I moved to New York and I was a bike messenger – I didn’t move to New York and find work making films, I would make movies in my free time.”

The terrorist attacks of 2001 (which, coincidentally, destroyed his apartment building when it was struck with debris) came close to convincing Neistat to give up on his directorial dreams, but he would persevere, making his first significant creative culture radar blip in 2003, with the release of iPod’s Dirty Secret. Co-created with Van, the online film centered around the Neistats’ frustrations with Apple’s (then-) policy that forced consumers to purchase new iPods by pricing their replacement batteries to be more expensive than the music players themselves.

Practically overnight, the film went viral, scoring over a million views in six days and garnering no end of mainstream media attention. In an age when social media was in its infancy, Casey and his brother were now cyber-celebrities.

“That was 11 years ago now, but that movie was seen by a lot of people and they started looking in my direction. And I’ve made other work that I’ve shared, and people liked – it’s really the aggregate of a sort of relentless creating and sharing that has yielded this career that I find myself enveloped in now.”

With the success of iPod’s Dirty Secret, Neistat now had an audience, and it was an opportunity he was quick to capitalize on, releasing film after film online, featuring everything from bicycle theft to offbeat science experiments performed by himself and his brother. In 2008, Casey and Van were contracted to create their own (ultimately short-lived) “day in the life” television series, The Neistat Brothers.

By 2010, Neistat had established himself as one of YouTube’s premier original content creators, drawing millions of followers to his work, which he continuously promotes via social media. Boasting an almost-improvised, hand-made aesthetic, and an overall offbeat tone, Neistat’s works are the products of a work ethic that has, to date, seen him create and release over 100 films on a variety of subjects. In recent years, while Neistat has opened himself to freelance work for

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major brands and corporations, he has lost none of the irreverence or gleeful disregard for authority that made him famous.

“My priority is and has always been my own personal work. I don’t typically pursue advertising work, it’s always been more of if a great opportunity comes my way, I enthusiastically embrace it. But pursuing work in advertising is not something I’ve done in a long time, and the best work I’ve created in advertising is always something that looks like a collaboration between my brand and the client’s brand (rather) than it is a work-for-hire style of relationship.

I always think of advertising like that line from the Beastie Boys song, “it’s a great place to visit, but a better place to rob”. I think advertising, for me, has been a fantastic opportunity to experiment, both stylistically and technically — production-wise ­— in aspects of filmmaking that I otherwise would never have access to. I mean, what other sort of

For Mercedes-Benz, Neistat applied his irreverent narrative style and homemade aesthetic to create The Mercedes CLA Project that had him skateboarding through New York behind one of the new automobiles as it was driven by a bikini-clad model.

manifestation of filmmaking are you given a sizeable budget where the end goal is a 30-second spot or a two-minute video?”

Case in point: Neistat made headlines in 2012 when, instead of making an online video campaign for sportswear giant Nike, he decided to use his entire allotted budget to see how far he could travel around the world (at their expense). Shooting video to document the entire trip, the resultant film, Make it Count became the most-viewed video in Nike’s history (with 13 million views to date).

“It’s just something I always wanted to do,” says a bemused Neistat. “The idea wasn’t connected to advertising, it was just something I personally wanted to do – the idea was never connected to advertising. The campaign was called ‘Make it Count’, and it was about getting out there and doing it.

You know, when I sat down with Nike, the brief wasn’t, “Help us sell these electronic bracelets”, it was, “Help us promote Nike’s

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values”, which is like, getting off your ass, getting out there, and making every moment count, and that is something I hold very dear to me. So when I thought of sharing that idea, ‘how would I make that opportunity count?’ My answer was to realize something I wanted to do.”

Today, Neistat has an international following that sees him speaking at (and participating in) numerous film and creative festivals around the world, from SXSW and Sundance, to Cannes Lions. Indeed, with fans across the planet hanging on to his words and monitoring his every move (to the point of camping out at Singapore’s Changi Airport when Neistat flew in for last year’s ‘DDB Presents…’ seminar at Spikes Asia), it’s safe to say that the filmmaker has come a long way from the days of his trailer-park dwelling, government handout-dependent youth.

Speaking from hard-earned experience, Neistat is quick to point out that a lack of resources is never an excuse for a lack of creativity, much less a lack of success.

“I’m a high school dropout, I never went to Film School, I was never taught. I used the tutorial in iMovie 1 to learn how to edit.

I mean, you hand someone a bucket of paint, a brush and a canvas, they’re going to start painting. With enough energy, enough time and effort, you can learn to paint well.”

Scan the QR code to watch the video

January-February 2015

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T HE F I RM

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IDE ASX MACHINA

January-February 2015

T H E F IR M

I D EASXMACHI NA

COMING OF AGE

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At barely half a decade old, indie agency IXM is gunning to be the top local shop Words AMANDA LAGO

Right now, the proverbial iron is red hot for independent agency IdeasXMachina (IXM), and it is prepared to strike.

2014 was a big year for the little agency, seeing the house win an avalanche of new business and awards, one after the other, including the coveted Independent Agency of the Year at the 4As-Philippines’ AOYs. In the succeeding few months, the agency – whose name, interestingly enough, references Deus Ex Machina, a literary plot device in which insurmountable problems are suddenly resolved – competed against (and won!) bigger, more established agencies to add five new accounts to its roster.

A little later, the agency brought home a generous haul at the Araw Values Awards and made it as the only Philippine company on the shortlist for the Southeast Asia independent agency title at the Campaign Asia-Pacific AOYs. Though the regional win eventually went to VLT Malaysia, the finalist title was itself a victory for an agency that clocks in at barely half-a-decade-old, with a team that feels almost impossibly young – 25 years old in average.

IXM’s founder and CEO Third Domingo is himself a wunderkind, launching the agency at age 30, after a creative director stint at

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IDE ASX MACHINA

Among IXM’s high profile clients is The Philippine Star.

This piece makes a case for responsible ownership with a cute main visual.

Publicis JimenezBasic. As Domingo shared, IXM has proved to be his ‘baptism of fire.’

“This agency is a baptism of fire for me.

I am trying to start a revolution…that’s the idea,” Domingo told adobo, explaining that youth – his and the team’s – has in fact worked in their favor thus far, despite traditional clients’ tendency to expect older creatives. “I really believe it; we always need new blood in advertising…the infusion of new blood is always very important to me…Funny thing is, now I have to hire senior ones.”

“We take advantage of the fact that we’re young and we don’t know things. I think that’s our style,” he shared. “Sometimes the more senior creatives, the more senior accounts people, when they come in, they have this air of expertise, of confidence. Us, [we’re] just, ‘Okay, so this is what we think, what do you think?’ I think clients like that.”

Established in 2009, the team has grown from a one-man show without any investors, to a four-man band, to a lean 23-person team, all housed in one of the few office buildings in the middle of a Pasig residential area.

The agency’s office betrays its youthfulness. The small (but roomy) space is, to put it plainly, cool. A quirky charm underlies the office’s masculine, industrialstyle feel. For instance: at the time of adobo’s visit, they still had their Christmas “tree” up: basically, a ladder strung up with lights and shiny paper stars, with a belen (Nativity scene) consisting of plastic toy animals at its base.

Work and play are well entwined at IXM, as evidenced by a ping pong table smack

This tongue-in-cheek ad is a prime example of the agency’s “creative stamina”.

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“ This agency is a baptism of fire for me. I am trying to start a revolution… that’s the idea.”

- THIRD DOMINGO, IXM ECD

dab in the center of the workstations, and walls plastered in paper covered in doodles.

Clearly, the agency prides itself in its energy and, as Domingo puts it, “creative stamina.”

“Creative stamina is one very important thing because in our business, you always get rejected, [you always have to] think of another one,” Domingo shared. “So you have to have that energy, and we have a lot of energy, that’s one thing going for us. We never get bogged down by, ‘oh you have to think of another idea again.’”

True enough, everything from the agency’s in-house gym, to the avenues dedicated to play – even to the rotation system that keeps the desk arrangements changing every few months – seems geared towards keeping up that creative stamina. Of course, it’s not all fun and games for IXM. The agency dives as deep into preparations as it does into play.

“You still have to prepare, you have to be good at what you do. It’s just the start to be a risk-taker. To be brave is always a good start but bravery sometimes will lead you to your death so you still have to be very good at what you do,” Domingo said. He believes that one thing that gives IXM an edge when it comes to pitching against the bigger agencies is its focus group discussion, which they do for almost every campaign they present.

“If you’re a smaller player, you have to be better prepared. Especially when it comes to pitches. We do have a very good batting average when it comes to pitches,” he said, “I’d like to believe that has a lot to do with the fact that we make a recommendation

that we’ve already tested. In our office, we have an FGD facility so that when we make a recommendation it is a strong recommendation, that we have tested it.

Clients appreciate that very much.”

“In our business a lot of factors come in.

The credibility, strategy, the way you present, your connections, all of these things come into play and the clients look at that,” he continued.

Ultimately, the goal for IXM, according to Domingo, is to become the top-billing agency in the country in the next seven years.

“The goal is for this agency to be famous in the Philippines. To be the top one. That is the goal,” he said. “You have to understand, we as a group, we’re still trying to build the culture.

The culture that I want to build is ambition.

We have to be better. We have to be the best.”

This culture of being the best is one of the ways he keeps his creatives on board.

“You give them awards, they’ll stay.

Especially if they know that a major part of the reason why they won is because of that agency. They want to keep winning. What makes people stay is a culture of winning… but really, it’s the free lunch,” he quipped.

At the rate IXM is going, it is on the right track. And while the next seven years are bound to be filled with challenges, difficult clients, and impossible briefs, the agency’s tireless energy and youthful vibe show no signs of waning any time soon.

“I want to tell these guys, look, we are the underdog, we are young. People are looking down on us, but we can do it. See? We won! So let’s keep at it,” says Domingo.

January-February 2015

It’s about playing and working hard to fulfill Domingo’s directive to be the best.

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M A RK E T I N G

ADOBO SIDEDISH

ADOB O SID ED ISH

IN THE BAG

Paolo Raymundo Senior Manager Integrated Ad Sales Solutions and Strategic Sales Planning Turner Philippines, Inc.

Arlene Torres

Head of Marketing Division Sky Cable Corporation Any skill you faked till you made it? Cooking!

If not marketing what would you have done as a career?

Talk show host.

Best advice you ever received? Do not worry about things you have no control of.

Worst advice you ever received? I am surrounded by fantastic friends. They are all kind to me so no bad advice from them so far.

TYPICAL WEEKDAY 5:30am Wake up time 5:30am - 6am Quiet time 6am - 7am Preparation for work 7am - 8:30am Travel time to work 8:30am - 9am Morning coffee at Starbucks 9am Email!

12pm Lunch at my desk 1pm - 3pm Meetings 4pm Regional calls 5-6pm Email!

7-9pm Gym 10pm Sleep time TYPICAL WEEKEND 6:30am Wake up time 6:30am - 7am Quiet time 7am - 8am Preparation for church 9am - 10:30am- Church service 10:30 - 2pm Brunch/ mall time 4pm Gym time 6pm onwards Dinner/movies

Favorite campaign of all time you didn’t work on. Coca-cola ‘Where will Happiness Strike Next: The OFW Project’.

Favorite campaign of all time you did work on. Sky’s ‘The Piano’. It is about a little girl who is taught how to play the piano by her father who is overseas through a telephone call.

1

Parking Ticket Keep ‘em or you pay!

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USB Cord It’s a lifeline.

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Key Can’t leave home without it!

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Louis Vuitton Naviglio Damier Messenger Bag Functional, perfect size, durable, classic.

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Hard Drive Contains that big presentation, creative executions and other brand assets.

Pen It’s from the East Hotel in Hong Kong – one of my favorite places to stay for business travel.

Valda Pastilles So old school and still so good. #sootheyourself

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8

Driver’s License Absolutely essential for a life always on the road!

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Turner ID Proud to be part of the Turner Broadcasting family.

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Car Key with Jake keychain Can’t drive without it right?

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Warner TV Business Card Holder I can’t go to a meeting without one.

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F/P Homme Perfume Unique, sweet scent.

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Adventure Time Notebook Taking notes during meetings is a lot more fun with Finn and Jake.

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Louis Vuitton James Monogram Wallet – LV leather is pretty indestructible and it’s a classic.

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iPhone – IOS. Enough said.

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If you had to create a tagline for your personal brand what would it be? Super Woman!!

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Hear them Roar How female e-fluencers are changing the face of online marketing Words AMANDA LAGO

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FEMALE

With social media being a decidedly femaledominated realm, it’s no surprise that the top online influencers in the country are women.

“The gender split [with e-fluencers] skews strongly towards women,” said Tony Ahn, director and founder of social media and digital marketing agency Tony Ahn & Co., of female users dominating social media for personal brand locally. Top Filipino personal brands are dominated by female users.

On Twitter, Ahn’s agency is currently tracking 61 Filipino personal brands with more than one million followers. Of these, he said that over 60% are women, with the first man ranked at #8.

According to Ahn, “This makes sense as our research shows almost twice as many women use Twitter as men in the Philippines.”

On Facebook, the numbers are similar: “Out of 35 Filipino personal brands with more than one million followers, over 57% are women, with the first man ranked at #10,” Ahn shared.

A study conducted by Ahn’s agency revealed a gender difference when it comes to Filipino technosocial behavior.

According to the study, men tend to be creators that is, write blogs, run websites, and generate audio and video content; Women, on the other hand, tend to be micro-creators, posting on social networks such as Facebook and Twitter.

The industries where the top online influencers come from are diverse. “There are e-fluencers for every interest under the sun,” Ahn said, noting that, to him, social media doesn’t create diversity so much as it broadcasts it.

Apart from the actresses whose online popularity is a reflection of their offline influence, social media also amplifies the voices of professionals from TV, publishing, fashion, politics, sports, and the blogosphere.

“I agree that online influencers are more diverse, and I think that’s because netizen’s interests are diverse. You have ‘general interest’ e-fluencers who have a broad base, and these are often on-screen personalities, while you also have people who influence very specific niches,” Ahn said. Social media, he added can be a tool to help retire stereotypes of women and changing the way they are portrayed in media.

“I think the information being shared in social media is breaking female stereotypes, with very powerful memes and blog posts being shared.”

“The high level of engagement of female internet users and the vast network of ‘friends’ that they keep, elevate women as major influencers in the digital space,” said Nielsen Philippines managing director Stuart Jamieson, citing a recent Pinoy Netizen report.

“Brand marketers and advertisers should ways craft messages and devise ways that talk to women. Keeping them involved with your brand will result in powerful and influential allies in women.”

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BIANCA GONZALEZ Host, magazine editor, model Twitter followers: @iamsuperbianca 3.8M Blog: iamsuperbianca.com Starting out as a model and then going behind-the-scenes to do production work, Gonzalez’s beauty-and-brains image has earned her hosting gigs for programs that are both youthoriented and socially-relevant.

Boosting her success with a wellmaintained blog, a persistent Twitter feed, a column for Philippine Star, and an editorial gig at Meg Magazine, Gonzalez is a multimedia darling, earning her place among actresses and movie stars as Twitter’s most followed in the Philippines.

6 DIVINE LEE Socialite, fashion designer, LGBT champion Twitter followers: @DivinemLee 321K Blog: divinemlee.com

FLU EN CERS

Lee’s life may be shrouded in controversy —­her father, businessman Delfin Lee, was recently arrested after years in hiding for an alleged housing scam which the younger Lee is now being accused of having a hand in — but the society darling has kept her head above the troubles, winning over legions of fans (and product endorsements in the process) for her glamorous personal style, irreverent humor, and dedication to the LGBT cause.

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KAREN DAVILA ABS-CBN News Channel anchor Twitter followers: @Karen_Davila 1.5M

MIRIAM SANTIAGO Senator Twitter followers: @senmiriam 1.2M

As host of ANC’s morning newscast Headstart, Davila is already asking newsmakers hard-hitting questions even before the rest of the country has had their morning coffee.

Her Twitter feed, apparently controlled by Davila herself, is peppered with personal thoughts as well as socially relevant, public interest tweets, which is perhaps why Davila has the biggest Twitter following among local journalists.

Winning the youth over with her famous pickup lines and witticisms — many of them shared on her Twitter account — and claws-out interrogations of alleged plunderers, Santiago, who was arguably not as popular with previous generations, is now being seen as potentially fierce competition in the 2016 presidential race.

Her most recent momentous announcement — her battle with stage four lung cancer — has even spawned a hashtag #MiriamFight, as netizens poured out their support for the indomitable politician.

7 GARLIC GARCIA ABS-CBN Entertainment Creative Consultant Twitter followers: @bigbadbawang 249K With a group of friends that includes celebrities (and Twitter queens) Anne Curtis and Lea Salonga, Garcia has earned a sizeable following of her own with tweets and photos of behind-the-scenes action from TV Shows such as The Voice Philippines and ASAP, for which she is head writer.

8 MARIA RESSA Journalist and Rappler CEO Twitter followers: @maria_ressa 236K After a two-decade long stint at CNN (during which she intrepidly reported on terrorism in Southeast Asia) and a shorter one as head of ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs, Ressa went on to start Rappler, an online news website with a distinctive social media component. Its distinguishing feature, The Mood Meter that allows users to rate how a piece of news makes them feel, has won an IMMAP Boomerang award, testament to Ressa’s on point instincts when it comes to digital and mobile.

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4 LAUREEN UY Fashion and travel blogger Twitter followers: @laureenmuy 487K Blog: www.breakmystyle.com Having an older sibling who is a celebrity in the same field one is trying to break into is certainly a challenge for anyone, and not unexpectedly for Uy, who is the youngest sister of stylist to the stars, Liz. Like most young people (many of whom are on this list), Uy turned to the internet to make a name for herself, starting with a blog and a Lookbook account. Now a fashion maven in her own right, Uy is a regular in fashion editorials and ads, both in front of and behind the camera.

9 TRICIA GOSINGTIAN Fashion blogger, photographer, stylist Twitter followers: @tgosingtian 40.4K Blog: blog.triciagosingtian.com Since the launch of her blog in 2009, Gosingtian has built an online empire on a personal style she has dubbed “sophisti-cute,” landing countless endorsement deals from fashion and beauty brands and even bringing her popularity offline as with several magazine covers and features, a book, and recently, a Style Blogger of the Year title at the 2014 Tatt Awards.

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5 ALODIA GOSIENGFIAO Cosplayer Twitter followers: @AlodiaAlmira 378K Blog: alodiaalmira.tumblr.com As the preeminent cosplay queen of the country, Gosengfiao, who has been cosplaying since 2003, is the go-to endorser not only for the beauty brands expected of female endorsers, but also for a variety of local and regional brands that play to geek sensibilities such as gaming companies like Level-Up and toy distributors like Maxi Collector.

10 ASHLEY RIVERA a.k.a PETRA MAHALIMUYAK Comedian, YouTube star YouTube subscribers: ashleyslips 116,445 Blog: www.youtube.com/user/ ashleyslips (109,798 subscribers) Now something of a celebrity with endorsement deals and magazine covers (most notably, FHM’s April 2014 issue), Rivera is living her dream. The comedian has been trying to break into show business since she was 13 years old and finally managed to do so through the power of the internet, with a makeup tutorial video starring her alter-ego, Petra Mahalimuyak, who speaks in a distinct (if not exaggerated) Filipino accent.

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AOY Agency

of the

Year

2014 82 SHOW OF STREGNTH 83 WINNERS 86 THE OGILVY JUGGERNAUT 88 NEWCOMER TRIUMPHS 89 BACK ON TOP 90 PHD STRIKES GOLD 91 MRM HAT TRICK 94 PHILIPPINES IN BACK-TO-BACK SEA CREATIVE HEAD TRIUMPH

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AGE NCY O F T HE YEAR

Show of strength Omnicom and WPP shops may rule on opposite sides of the region but rival holding groups are quietly making headway

Ogilvy & Mather regional creative director Eugene Cheong with the Asia Pacific team named Campaign's Agency Network of the Year

ASIA PACIFIC WPP and Omnicom were by far the biggest winners in Campaign’s 2014 series of Agency of the Year competitions, retaining their geographic strengths from the year before.

Results from five sub-regional competitions announced at the end of 2014 showed Australia/New Zealand and Japan/Korea sub-regions remaining firmly in Omnicom’s column, while WPP enjoyed a distinct edge in Greater China, Southeast Asia and South Asia.

Omnicom agencies in Australia and New Zealand delivered 6 Golds and 7 runner-up medals. Performing stronger in New Zealand, the group’s shops dominated the Creative, Media and Digital agency races. DDB Group

took Gold and Colenso BBDO/Proximity Auckland netted Silver in the Creative Agency bout; OMD and PHD respectively held the top 2 Media Agency positions.

Digital Agency Gold went to Colenso BBDO/ Proximity and Silver to DDB Group.

Out of Australia, Clemenger BBDO and OMD emerged as runners-up in their respective agency races.

Omnicom talent also shone in this region’s People competitions: OMD Australia’s Peter Horgan won the Agency Head crown, DDB Group Australia’s Nicole Taylor nabbed the Account Person title, while a three-person OMD Australia team struck gold in the Talent Management shootout.

M&C Saatchi meanwhile outgunned

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January-February 2015

network rivals to take Australia’s Creative Agency prize, the result of a greater focus and investment in driving an innovation mindset across the organization. The strategy saw it establish a dedicated innovation team called Tricky Jigsaw, which enjoyed acclaim within its launch year with the breakthrough ‘Clever Buoy’ project, a shark detection technology innovation to protect beachgoers from the fearsome predators.

‘Clever Buoy’ helped drive positive sentiment for the Optus brand and picked up Grand Prix at Spikes’ inaugural Innovation race and Warc’s Global Prize for 2014.

Interpublic Group snapped up 6 awards, 5 of which were won by agencies under the McCann Worldgroup umbrella. Universal

SP EC IAL R E PO R T

AGENCY O F T HE YEAR

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Yuki Fuse of the Dentsu Young & Rubicam joint-venture was crowned Creative of the Year

McCann, which won the Media Agency title at Festival of Media’s Asia and global outings for a social media campaign to call out inappropriate online behavior, claimed the Media Agency crown for Australia. Pat Baron, credited with McCann Australia’s renaissance, won the sub-region’s Creative of the Year crown after following up on 2013 global sensations ‘Dumb Ways to Die’ for Metro Trains and V/Line’s ‘Guilt Trips’ with big and successful campaigns such as the 100-day Challenge’ to help gamblers quit the habit, and a ‘Dumb Ways’ smartphone app. Its third Gold was awarded to a UM talent in the Young Achiever race.

Omnicom shops also delivered a commanding performance in Japan/Korea, outshining even Dentsu on its home turf.

The TBWA\Hakuhodo joint-venture was instrumental in the group’s impressive performance, delivering Golds in Japan’s Creative Agency shootout as well as 5 Golds in the sub-region’s People races – Agency Head, New Business Development Team, Planner, Talent Management and Young Achiever of the Year. BBDO shops, including I&S BBDO and Proximity, as well as Targis Group added to Omnicom’s haul in Japan.

Dentsu’s profile in both markets came largely from its 2013 purchase of Aegis brands – Vizeum was Korea’s Media Agency of the Year while Isobar won Japan’s Digital Agency crown. Carat netted Bronze in both markets’ Media Agency races.

WPP amassed 4 Golds in critical races – Mindshare led Japan’s Media Agency

CATEGORY

AWARD

AGENCY/NAME

Creative Network of the Year

Winner

Ogilvy & Mather Asia-Pacific

Media Network of the Year

Winner

PHD Asia-Pacific

Digital Network of the Year

Winner

Isobar Asia-Pacific

Account Person of the Year

Winner

Anthony Wong, Ogilvy & Mather Asia-Pacific

Agency Head of the Year

Winner

Chris Thomas, BBDO Asia-Pacific

CorporateCommunicationsTeam of the Year

Winner

Adam O'Conor, Greg Carton, Natalie Lyall, Sarah Edwards, Ogilvy & Mather Asia-Pacific

Specialist Network of the Year

Winner

Geometry Global Asia-Pacific

New Business Development Team of the Year

Winner

Richard Newman, Ashley Farr, Lita Natanagara, Tricia Camarillo, RobDoswell,ArpusaraSongkavijit,Michael Constantine,SJKim,GaryChi,MasashiNakai, Dip Sengupta, Jesse Lin, Nick Handel, Dan Dimmock,CiaHatzi,GraemeRead,McCann Worldgroup Asia-Pacific

Planner of the Year

Winner

Benoit Wiesser, Ogilvy & Mather Asia-Pacific

Winner

CraigLonnee,IreneTsui,RitaVerma,Karen Sew Hoy, Michelle Filo, Soo-Hyun Park, Anna Norbert, ShirleyYang,VickiWang,CharlesYurn,DDB Group Asia-Pacific

TalentManagementPerson/Team of the Year

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S P E C I AL REPORT

AGE NCY O F T HE YEAR

CAMPAIGN AGENCY OF THE YEAR 2014 AWARD

GREATER CHINA

JAPAN/KOREA

SOUTH ASIA

SOUTHEAST ASIA

CREATIVE AGENCY OF THE YEAR

Winner

Ogilvy & Mather

Ogilvy & Mather

Y&R

MEDIA AGENCY OF THE YEAR

Winner

Mindshare

Mindshare

Carat

DIGITAL AGENCY OF THE YEAR

Winner

Mindshare Bangladesh, Ogilvy One Worldwide India, Symmetry Digital Pakistan

Ogilvy & Mather

MRM//McCann

PR AGENCY OF THE YEAR

Gold

Weber Shandwick China

SynergyHill+KnowltonStrategies Korea

Adfactors PR India

Leo Burnett Malaysia

Silver

Ogilvy Public Relations China

Edelman Japan

Edelman India

Edelman Malaysia

BBDO Live China

Edelamn Korea

Leo Burnett/Arc Worldwide Sri Lanka

Cohn & Wolfe Singapore, Edelman Indonesia

Bronze

SPECIALIST AGENCY OF THE YEAR

Gold

FUSE China

McCann Health Japan

Geometry Global India

iProspect Singapore

Silver

Red Fuse Communications China

TARGIS GROUP Japan

DDB MudraMax India

Leo Burnett/Arc Worldwide Malaysia

Social@Ogilvy Hong Kong

Geometry Global Japan

ibs India

Geometry Global Malaysia

Bronze

INDEPENDENT AGENCY OF THE YEAR

Gold

arkr GROUP China

Wieden+Kennedy Tokyo

VLY Malaysia

SIlver

Red Bridge Communications China

COSMO Public Relations Corporation Japan

The Secret Little Agency Singapore

Bronze

Hylink Digital Solutions China

Phiobious Vietnam

ACCOUNT PERSON OF THE YEAR

Winner

Calvin Fu, FUSE China

Young Chang, Social@Ogilvy Korea

Vinay Vinayak, Lowe Lintas+Partners, India

Tom Evans, Grey Group Singapore

Runner-up

Gregoire Chalopin, Fred & Farid Shanghai

Taro Sato, TBWA\HAKUHODO

Ajay Mehta, Ogilvy & Mather Mumbai

Jian Yang, OMD Singapore and Veron Agustin, Starcom MediaVest Group Philippines

AGENCY HEAD OF THE YEAR

Winner

Amrita Randhawa, Mindshare China

Ichiro Zama, TBWA\HAKUHODO

Prasoon Joshi, McCann Worldgroup India

Fiona Gordon, Ogilvy & Mather Singapore

Runner-up

Jesse Lin, McCann Worldgroup

Linda Lee, Mindshare Japan

GV Krishnan, Lowe Lintas + Partners India

Gil Chua, DDB Group Philippines

CREATIVE OF THE YEAR

Winner

Nils Andersson, Y&R China

Yuki Fuse, Dentsu Young & Rubicam Inc.

Deepa Geethakrishnan, Lowe Lintas+ Partners, India

David Guerrero, BBDO Guerrero

Runner-up

Kit Koh, BBDO China

Tomoki Harada, TBWA\HAKUHODO

Rajesh Ramaswamy, Lowe Lintas+ Partners, India

Neil Johnson, DDB Group Singapore

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SP EC IAL R E PO R T

AGENCY O F T HE YEAR

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CAMPAIGN AGENCY OF THE YEAR 2014 AWARD

GREATER CHINA

JAPAN/KOREA

SOUTH ASIA

SOUTHEAST ASIA

NEW BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT TEAM OF THE YEAR

Winner

Richard Tan, Jit Hoong Ng, Twelve Tong, Jason Wu, Tim Cheng, Raymond Man, Roger Zhu, DDB Group Shanghai

TBWA\HAKUHODO\QUANTUM, TBWA\HAKUHODO

Business Development Team, Ogilvy & Mather Mumbai

Lou Dela Pena, Joanne Theseira, Jae Soh, Kelvin Koo, Sharon Tan, Sidheash Subrah, Lian Ju Han, Kathryn Jenkins & Ajay Vikram, Publicis Singapore

Runner-up

Philip Tsang, Karen Lo, McCann Worldgroup Hong Kong Ltd.

HS Jeong and Team, Y&R Korea

Vikas Mehta & Strategic Growth team, Lowe Lintas+Partners, India

Jean-Paul Burge, Joe Braithwaite, David tay, BBDO Singapore

PLANNER OF THE YEAR

Winner

Tracy Zhang, ZenithOptimedia

Runner-up

Silver Sun, BBDO China

Takuro Amada, TBWA\HAKUHODO

S. Subramanyeswar, Lowe Lintas+Partners, India

Bryan Goh, BBDO and Proximity Singapore

Preeti Jadhav, MediaCom India

Sean Matthews, Dentsu Singapore

TALENT MANAGEMENT PERSON/TEAM OF THE YEAR

Winner

Yuki Qi, Saatchi & Saatchi Greater China

Runner-up

Jason King & Team (Uming Tong & Oni Zhang), BBDO China

Eiji Takahashi, TBWA\Hakuhodo

Rita Verma, Chidambaram Arul, Srinivas Chandar, Sujata Bhardwaj, Kritika Nagpal, priyanka Agrawal, Navdeep Nijjar, Ameya joshi, Daksha Dixit, DDB Mudra Group

Tang Seok Hian, Kausern Hieu, Mitch Dauz, Ovidia Wang, Marenna Theresia, Starcom MediaVest Group

Sushma Rana/Talent Team, MSLGROUP

Merlee Jayme, Alex Syfu, Ronald Barreiro, DDB DM9 JaymeSyfu

YOUNG ACHIEVER OF THE YEAR

Winner

Sam Holt, ZenithOptimedia

Rosa Uchima, TBW\HAKUHODO

Sithum Walter Perera, Leo Burnett Sri Lanka

Q Akashah, Ogilvy Public Relations Singapore

Runner-up

Koyi Wu, Airwave Hong Kong

Brandon K. Lee, iProspect Korea

Indrasish Mukherjee, lowe Lintas+Partner, India

Emir Shafri, Y&R Singapore

derby ahead of Dentsu Inc and Carat; Synergy Hill & Knowlton Strategies won in PR, Social@Ogilvy’s Young Chang’s Account Person win, and Yuki Fuse of the Dentsu Young & Rubicam joint-venture was crowned Creative of the Year.

WPP’s strengths were evident in Greater China, Southeast and South Asia.

Networks belonging to the group bagged 19 awards in Greater China, including the sub-region’s overall Creative, Media and Digital Agency awards as well as 3 significant People prizes.

WPP shops again dominated the South Asia races, claiming individual market awards as well as the overall Creative, Media, Digital and Specialist Agency and Business Development Team prizes.

The holding group’s agencies bagged 21 awards in the Southeast Asia derby, including the overall Creative Agency prize, which went to Y&R, while three

of its agencies did a clean sweep of Indonesia’s Digital Agency competition.

Ogilvy & Mather was again WPP’s standout network, amassing 31 awards as well as the prestigious Creative Network of the Year award for Asia Pacific and Specialist Network for newcomer Geometry Global.

Omnicom shops netted the next highest haul in Southeast Asia. Its agencies scooped about 16 awards in the Southeast Asia tilt, dominating the Creative of the Year race (BBDO Guerrero’s David Guerrero won the award while DDB Group Singapore’s Neil Johnson was runner-up) and winning the Planner of the Year prize, which went to BBDO/Proximity Singapore’s Bryan Goh. The group’s talent also emerged as runner-up in 3 other categories. The Agency Head of the Year runner-up award went to DDB Group Philippines’ Gil Chua, Talent Management Person/Team to Merlee Jayme and Team from DDB/DM9JaymeSyfu and New Business

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Development Team to Jean-Paul Burge and Team from BBDO Singapore.

Interpublic shops provided some competition to the WPP juggernaut in South Asia – mainly from Lowe Lintas, which enjoyed a stellar year on the awards front with its free mobile radio initiative ‘Kan Khajura Tesan’ for Hindustan Lever, and McCann India. Talent from the two Interpublic agencies went on to win Gold in a handful of People categories, dominating in categories such as Creative of the Year. Lowe Lintas’s Deepa Geethakrishnan and Rajesh Ramaswamy both took Gold in this category, while McCann’s Prasoon Joshi was the Gold winner in the Agency Head of the Year race and Lowe Lintas Bangalore’s G V Krishnan the runner-up. Lowe Lintas’ Vinay Vinayak claimed the Account Person prize while talent from the agency emerged runner-up in 2 other categories.

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The Ogilvy juggernaut The network took the overall Creative of the Year crown for the second time since returning to the competition

SINGAPORE Ogilvy & Mather was again the standout network in Campaign’s Agency of the Year race, taking home 31 awards across the region, including the coveted Creative Network crown while newcomer Geometry Global claimed the Specialist Network prize.

It outgunned 6 competitors – BBDO, DDB, TBWA, Leo Burnett and WPP stable mates JWT and Y&R – for the Creative honors – in its second year of returning to the regional competition.

Ogilvy claimed 8 awards each in Greater China and South Asia, 7 in Southeast Asia, 2 in Korea/Japan and 1 in Australia/New Zealand.

The awards included the top prizes for a number of sub-regions – Gold in Greater China’s Creative and Digital races, South Asia’s Creative, Digital and Specialist agency competitions and in a number of People categories (see chart) “The wins highlight the breadth of our expertise across Asia as the creative and effective weapon of choice for brands in the region,” said Paul Heath, Ogilvy & Mather Asia Pacific chairman and CEO. “In our business, change is the only constant. And when you’re fortunate to be recognized as an industry leader, it means you have a responsibility to push the boundaries further – not maintain it.

“And this was our strategy in 2014.

We wanted to put to work all we have built, grown and invested in our business to truly be relentless in our pursuit of creative and effective excellence.”

Accordingly, the plan focused on 6 key objectives: • The drive to innovate saw the network deliver new services, including social and consulting. It launched an online customer engagement planning tool called DAVE (Datainspired, Always-on, Valuable Experiences), a global investment with US$300,000 spent

on the region alone. The agency credited DAVE with helping it win new engagements worth more than $3.5 million across the region with new clients such as Ralph Lauren and existing clients such as Nestlé. It also launched a dedicated Social Care in response to customer service going social, which has help grow existing engagements with the likes of Vodafone and Kimberly Clark and new clients such as Merck by more than 32%. The network also launched its Behavioral Sciences Practice, offering the latest in cognitive and

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social psychology and behavioral economics that help influence purchase behavior.

Invested 700,000 hours in staff training in its drive to attract, develop and retain the best talent, which help cut churn by 14%.

To move up the food chain by becoming “order makers, not takers” through 3 strategic partnerships that delivered more than $4 million in incremental revenues. It began collaborating with IBM to translate big data for relevant and actionable insights; partnered with Adobe to leverage Marketing Cloud to seamlessly deliver client content and messaging across an ever-growing array of channels, devices and media; and is working with KPMG in bringing the joint expertise to help organizations in making the transformational shift to becoming truly customer-centric white netting greater efficiencies.

Deliver “great work that works”, which netted a 35% increase in award show wins, demonstrating that creative and effective work are the weapons of choice for brands in the region.

Fueled network growth with

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acquisitions and joint-ventures that were complementary to the network in areas such as digital, activation, advertising and innovation partnerships for revenues of more than $31 million.

These included acquisitions or partnerships with the likes of Verticurl and K1ND Singapore, Bullseye Digital in Australia and XMKT Group in China.

To do well by doing good, which saw the network support and invest in communities by delivering more than 21,670 pro bono hours for 22 campaigns across 8 markets.

Heath credited the strategy with delivering one of the agency’s biggest years for new business across the region, winning new assignments from non-aligned clients such as the global Standard Chartered social account and Huawei’s integrated task and Tiffany & Co’s integrated Asia Pacific business.

At the same time, the network ensured minimal change to its client roster, with flagship client Unilever on the books for 60 years in multiple markets and relative newcomer SC Johnson being serviced in 7 markets for the past 3 years.

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OGILVY'S SCORE CARD ASIA PACIFIC CREATIVE NETWORK OF THE YEAR: Ogilvy & Mather, Asia Pacific SPECIALIST NETWORK OF THE YEAR: Geometry Global, Asia Pacific ACCOUNT PERSON OF THE YEAR: Anthony Wong PLANNER OF THE YEAR: Benoit Wiesser CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS TEAM OF THE YEAR: Adam O'Conor, Greg Carton, Natalie Lyall, Sarah Edwards GREATER CHINA GREATER CHINA CREATIVE AGENCY OF THE YEAR: Ogilvy & Mather GREATER CHINA DIGITAL AGENCY OF THE YEAR: Ogilvy & Mather GOLD - CREATIVE AGENCY OF THE YEAR: Taiwan GOLD - DIGITAL AGENCY OF THE YEAR: Hong Kong GOLD - DIGITAL AGENCY OF THE YEAR: China SILVER - PUBLIC RELATIONS AGENCY OF THE YEAR: China BRONZE - SPECIALIST AGENCY OF THE YEAR: Social@Ogilvy Hong Kong GREATER CHINA CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS TEAM OF THE YEAR: Greg Carton, Sarah Edwards, Anna Mugglestone, Natalie Lyall SOUTH ASIA SOUTH ASIA CREATIVE AGENCY OF THE YEAR: Ogilvy & Mather SOUTH ASIA DIGITAL AGENCY OF THE YEAR: OgilvyOne Worldwide SOUTH ASIA SPECIALIST AGENCY OF THE YEAR: Geometry Global GOLD - CREATIVE AGENCY OF THE YEAR: Mumbai GOLD - CREATIVE AGENCY OF THE YEAR: Pakistan GOLD - DIGITAL AGENCY OF THE YEAR: OgilvyOne India SILVER - REST OF SOUTH ASIA CREATIVE AGENCY OF THE YEAR: Bangladesh SOUTH ASIA NEW BUSINESS TEAM OF THE YEAR: Ogilvy & Mather Mumbai SOUTHEAST ASIA GOLD - CREATIVE AGENCY OF THE YEAR: Singapore GOLD - DIGITAL AGENCY OF THE YEAR: OgilvyOne Vietnam SILVER - DIGITAL AGENCY OF THE YEAR: Singapore BRONZE - DIGITAL AGENCY OF THE YEAR: Philippines BRONZE - SOUTHEAST AGENCY SPECIALIST AGENCY OF THE YEAR: Geometry Global, Malaysia SOUTHEAST ASIA AGENCY HEAD OF THE YEAR: Fiona Gordon, O&M Singapore SOUTHEAST ASIA YOUNG ACHIEVER OF THE YEAR: Q Akashah, OPR Singapore AUSTRALIA / NEW ZEALAND SILVER - PR AGENCY OF THE YEAR: Pulse Communications KOREA/ JAPAN BRONZE - SPECIALIST AGENCY OF THE YEAR: Geometry Global Japan JAPAN/KOREA ACCOUNT PERSON OF THE YEAR: Young Chang, Social@Ogilvy Korea

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Newcomer triumphs Year-old Geometry Global wins Specialist Network

Industry newcomer Geometry Global Asia Pacific scooped the Specialist Network prize in a category where they were no other shortlisted rivals to contend with.

Along with the regional award, the network also scored Gold in the South Asia race and took Bronze in Japan/ Korea while its Malaysia office placed third in the Southeast Asia competition.

Regional director John Goodman credited Geometry’s heritage and its drive to redefine activation as reasons behind the early success of the year-old network.

“It helps that we were formed out of the merger of the two largest established rivals in the activation scene –OgilvyAction and G2. Therefore we started with immediate scale and coverage. Our geographic coverage in Asia is far stronger than our direct competitors – nobody else has put together this kind of offer in our discipline.

“However I think our unique standout factor is that we are the first agency trying to take activation and redefine it in a way which is both scientific, driven by data, and at the same time with top quality creative product and people.”

The network recognized that clients wanted professional solutions to shopper marketing and activation even as brands were looking for network solutions to advertising, digital and PR. Accordingly, it launched Leonardo, a planning process that allows it to map how people shop and buy while helping client brands reach consumers accurately along the shopper journey.

“We say we are redefining activation, using proprietary tools like Leonardo and the Purchase Decision Journey to actively map the key points in consumer decision-making in order to measure, evaluate and then get leverage at unique points of contact, in a

highly involving way. In a very confusing shopping environment, the ability to find the right points of leverage and then use them disproportionately gives us a key benefit for our clients,” said Goodman.

“We don’t tend to work on one-off launches that much, preferring to get involved with both sales and retail to change purchase behavior on a continual basis. That doesn’t mean we don’t create ideas that make our clients famous though. Work for Lifebuoy in India, Omo regionally, Cadbury in Malaysia and Cebu Pacific in Hong Kong spring to mind.”

Its first year in business has been a rewarding one. “We won major regional/ global assignments from Unilever, GSK and BAT. We also had significant country wins with Lego (Singapore), Telkomsat (Indonesia) and Sony Pictures (Japan).”

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Specialist Network of the Year Geometry Global Asia Pacific

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Back on top Isobar retakes crown as Digital Network

SINGAPORE Isobar returned to the top of the rostrum, beating two other contenders to reclaim the Asia Pacific Digital Network of the Year trophy, its third win in four years having carried the title in 2011 and 2012.

The network also netted four sub-region awards, winning Gold in Japan, Silver in India and Bronze in Australia and Hong Kong.

Isobar China also picked up the inaugural Agency-Marketer Award for its 10-year partnership with Coca-Cola.

Following 2013’s “year of change” when the network doubled its regional talent base and rebranded all 22 of its offices as Isobar, the company made its 2014 agenda about producing ‘Ideas Without Limits’ to deliver strong business results to clients.

“At Isobar we really believe that digital has gone beyond being just another communications channel; it is a tool, a weapon, an enabler for creating enhanced experiences, business models and processes,” explained Jean Lin, Isobar‘s global CEO of the company’s direction.

“It is the fundamental that empowers brands to strive for sustainable growth and stay relevant for their changing customers and we strive daily to deliver what we call ‘Ideas Without Limits’ to our clients. Additionally, our strong regional footprint across 23 cities and 14 markets in APAC helps our clients to create an impact in a locally relevant way.”

Guided by the strategy, the agency produced work such as ‘Lyric Coke’, which used music to encourage consumers to share a Coke. The catchiest lyrics from 50 of China’s chart-toppers were put on 1 billion Coke bottles to allow consumers to express their feelings in song with what the agency dubbed as music-cons. QR labels on bottles also allowed consumers to grab the music clip to share on their social network.

Ranked as a Top 10 innovation by US publication Mobile Marketer Magazine, the work received global attention, said Lin. Another award-winning campaign that also came from China office was

Oreo’s ‘Play Together’ emoji campaign, partnering the advertiser with the one of China’s biggest mobile platforms to help parents connect and boost interaction with a custom emoji app. The campaign generated 1.9 billion impressions across leading social networks and went on to win.

The Australian office brought traditional football collectors’ cards to life in the digital age for client Select. “Our Australian office went on to be named one of BRW’s Top 50 Innovative Australian companies for 2014,” said Lin. “Innovation has always been the key part of Isobar’s DNA and since 2011 we consistently support Isobar’s NowLab, our global innovation accelerator, to create impact and influence, in our internal organization as well as for our client’s business.”

Runner-up: Ogilvy & Mather Asia Pacific

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Isobar global CEO (left) Jean Lin leads the team to third win in four years

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PHD strikes Gold Beats crowded field to take Media prize

Omnicom Media Group's Asia Pacific CEO Cheuk Chiang and a boisterous team celebrate PHD's Media Network of the Year victory

SINGAPORE PHD outgunned five other shortlisted contenders to take the regional Media Network of the Year title, its fourth win in the last 6 years.

The network also enjoyed success across the region, claiming Gold in Hong Kong’s media agency race, Silver in Singapore and New Zealand, Bronze in the Southeast Asia competition and two Bronze awards in South Asia, including one in the digital category.

Asia Pacific CEO Susana Tsui said the network enjoyed an excellent 2014, lifted by its thought leadership and drive to build a consistent and inspirational culture that helped produce an “outstanding new business performance” and “great work that works”.

In this respect, PHD followed up on its 2013 launch of its operating system Source that allowed its 3,000 planners to ideate and compete globally.

“We walked the talk by fully implementing our gamified, real-time, mass multi-player operating system, Source, across all

markets in APAC. The uptake has been phenomenal as more than half of the Top 10 countries on our global Source leaderboard is from APAC,” said Tsui.

“As other networks play catch up to digital, we have decided to not single-out digital as a separate initiative. Instead, we decided to push the boundaries and challenged ourselves to find better ways to inject innovation – all innovation not limited to digital – in everything we do.

“We already have a mature search offering, integrated social offering and Accuen, which is our programmatic buying offer. We worked extremely hard this year in integrating these into our core media offer. Our 2 big investments, besides the standard digital functions) have been in mobile and content. Every piece of award winning work we deliver is driven by a substantial content and/or mobile idea.”

The network, Tsui added, had also invested more time and effort into building its planning culture. “Our philosophy has

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always been to follow a strategy-led approach to communications planning. All our APAC offices also heavily emphasize integrating our philosophy with creativity and innovation.

This is reflected by the output of our work, our physical working environment, which encourages communication, interaction and engagement amongst out team members.

“This leads me to the most important part of the PHD culture, which is to value and inspire our people. We always nurture, not just train, our people.”

Which in turn has led to great work that saw regional offices pick up 3 Gold Cannes Media Lions along with metal at other shows and helped persuade clients to shift business its way.

Tsui said the network won more than US$500 million in billings in 2014, which included Bank of Communications China, SAP, Bayer, PSA DS Citreon, Carrefour among others.

Runner-up: Carat Asia Pacific

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Philippines in back-to-back SEA Creative Head triumph David Guerrero wins 2014 prize after Merlee Jayme in 2013

SINGAPORE BBDO Guerrero’s chairman and chief creative officer David Guerrero claimed the Southeast Asia Creative of the Year title in a year when three other Philippine agency talent emerged as runners-up in the regionallevel competition.

Guerrero was behind two campaigns last year that brought home plenty of metal for the agency. The ‘Whip It’ campaign to re-assert Pantene in the market by tackling gender stereotypes became a global viral blockbuster and earned a shout-out from Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg. The antithesis to social media’s selfie obsession, the ‘Unselfie’ campaign to mobilize support for victims

BBDO Guerrero's David Guerrero named Creative Person of the Year

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of a devastating typhoon with a call for netizens to donate to charity organizations was another awards show favorite.

Guerrero beat 4 other shortlisted contenders.

This is the second consecutive year a Philippine talent has triumphed in the sub-region’s creative category after Merlee Jayme, chair and chief creative officer of DDB DM9JaymeSyfu took the 2013 prize.

Also appearing on the Southeast Asia rostrum as runners-up were Starcom MediaVest’s Verson Agustin in the Account Person tilt, DDB Group’s Gil Ghua in the Agency Head race and Jayme and team in the Talent Management Person/Team category, the same number of category appearances

by Philippine talent and agencies as 2013.

As with 2013, Chua, president and CEO of DDB Group Philippines, took second place – this time to Ogilvy & Mather Group Singapore chair Fiona Gordon – against 5 other shortlisted contenders.

Gordon won, having been credited with engineering a major shift in the flagship office’s traditional way of working and restructuring the entire organization into client- rather than discipline-based units.

Jayme faced off against 4 other shortlisted contenders in the Talent Management category. The winner, Tang Seok Hian and Team, came from the Starcom MediaVest Group, which oversees talent management initiatives for 5 markets in Southeast Asia.

Agustin meanwhile battled 4 other rivals in a category won by Grey Group Singapore’s EVP regional client services director Tom Evans, who has led GSK in Asia Pacific for the past 8 years, including the transformational year of 2014. Last year, the agency shifted

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SOUTHEAST ASIA'S WINNING SHOPS VTL Malaysia won the subregion’s Independent Agency award after expanding its service offering. It set up VTL Digital, created VTL Labs, a start-up and studio accelerator, launched VTL Community as an ecosystem builder. As a result, the agency’s headcount grew over 50% to 80, while it won clients in new categories and took an equity stake in five start-ups. It also established a partnership with the Malaysian Government on an apprenticeship programme to develop local designers and developers.

Publicis Singapore’s business development team won the New Business Development Team prize. Under new leadership, the agency had developed a sales force to drive growth. The driving principle of a large sales force meant that Publicis could break into smaller independent units – bespoke SWAT units – for agility, speed and match in skill sets. The aim wasn’t to win the biggest pitches – it was to win the best brands that fitted the agency’s offering and culture.

Bryan Goh, who is responsible for BBDO and Proximity’s digital and social campaign effectiveness and strategic output for key clients across Asia Pacific, claimed the Planner of the Year award. Goh has been dubbed pivotal in the agencies’ integration and business, bridging the shops’ expertise with his blend of rich consumer insights uncovered through big data, and innovative technology-enabled branded communications and user experiences.

Ogilvy Public Relations Singapore’s Q Akashah was awarded the Young Achiever prize, having joined the agency 7 years ago and rising from graduate intern to senior account lead. In that time, she helped establish OgilvyNoor, the world’s first specialist consultancy for building brands with Muslim consumers in Singapore.

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Southeast Asia Account Person of the Year, Tom Evans of Grey Group Singapore.

Starcom Mediavest Group scooped the Southeast Asia Talent Management Person/ Team of the Year

from managing GSK’s regional business to becoming 1 of 3 global origination centers after the marketer shifted leadership for Panadol from New York to Singapore since the brand’s largest market is in Asia.

Y&R went on to claim the overall Southeast Asia Creative Agency crown with contributing wins for Y&R Advertising in Thailand and Indonesia, where it took Gold, and Yangon, where it earned Silver.

The Southeast Asia wins followed a strong showing for the network in China, where it also struck Gold in the Creative Agency race while creative officer Nils Andersson walked away with the Greater China Creative the Year award.

In all, the network won 14 trophies.

“These 14 awards are testament to the strength and breadth of our wonderful Y&R family, with wins for 13 different offices in 9 countries and across our amazing agency brands – Y&R Advertising, VML and Red Fuse Communications. Our individual winners are representative of the wonderful talent and proof that people are indeed our most important asset,” said Y&R Asia president Matthew Godfrey.

Carat was named Southeast Asia Media Agency after topping the category in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, delivering 3 of the 8 Golds netted by the Dentsu Group Companies across the region. Carat Asia Pacific was also a runner-up for the Asia Pacific Media Network of the Year prize.

Dentsu picked up 22 awards – including 4 Silver and 8 Bronze prizes – across the Greater China, South Asia and Southeast Asia leg of the competition.

Dentsu Group’s iProspect Singapore office also scooped Gold in the Southeast

Asia Specialist Agency race, beating 4 other shortlisted contenders. The office had expanded its service offering from 5 to 10 products to deliver additional performance marketing solutions to drive leads and acquisitions for clients. As of October 2014, the shop reported revenue growth was a record 200% higher than 2013, with 50% of its revenue base coming from SEO, analytics, conversion rate optimization, affiliate marketing and paid social.

MRM/McCann claimed the coveted Digital Agency of the Year prize for Southeast Asia with contributing Gold wins from Singapore and the Philippines, which set a new record after 3 back-to-back wins of this prize, beating 4 other shortlisted competitors The Singapore office collected Gold by focusing on the total customer journey and experiences through a team of ‘conceptors ’ and technologists to deliver ROI, which helped it win more than 10 new client relationships, achieving a pitch success rate of 70%.

Southeast Asia’s PR Agency prize went Leo Burnett Malaysia, which beat a shortlist field of dedicated PR plays for the title. The agency took Gold, while Silver went to Edelman Malaysia and Bronze was shared

by Cohn & Wolfe Singapore and Edelman Indonesia. Burnett had restructured its business to create the agency of the future by integrating its creative, PR, social media offerings. New business revenue shot up more than 50%, boosting net profit by 20%.

The agency credited its move to boosting its integrated offer by adding PR into the mix for “the unprecedented organic business growth of 693%” in 2014.

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MRM hat trick Third Digital Agency crown for MRM/McCann SINGAPORE MRM/McCann hit a hattrick in the Philippine portion of Campaign’s Agency of the Year competition, while BBDO Guerrero put in an outstanding performance at the market and sub-region level.

PHILIPPINE DIGITAL AGENCY MRM/McCann In a field of 5 shortlisted contenders, MRM/McCann stamped its leadership in the digital space by winning the award for the third consecutive time. Victory never tasted better for the agency in a field defined by heightened competition in various aspects of digital craft.

“Whereas the previous wins proved the critical role of digital in business and marketing solutions, and showcased the power of innovative digital products, MRM//McCann’s latest win is about strategically linking up digital-led multichannel solutions. This is achieved through a further rewire of products and processes, as well as creation of the right platforms for deeper customer engagement, superior content creation, and effective performance measurement,” said Manny Fernando, managing director, MRM//McCann Philippines.

Initiatives to support its strategy included a 360 Command Center, expanding real-time marketing benefits to entire integrated solutions, and the set up of its Multi-

Silver DDB DM9JaymeSyfu The agency credited its strategy to transform its entire creative team into digital creative powerhouses and investments to hire specialists, including technologists, social media experts and strategists for achieving profits in its first year and doubling of revenues in 2014.

Growth came from a string of digital account wins from Johnson & Johnson, Google, Fonterra Brands, Resorts World Manila and Samsung against bigger and established multinational rivals.

Bronze Ogilvy & Mather Philippines Ogilvy credited the fostering of talent for its double-digit growth, improved profitability, and ability to innovate and produce market-leading work for clients.

It innovated by launching its e-commerce practice, while growing Social@Ogilvy and Social CRM. It also rolled out its online customer engagementplanning tool, Dave, which helped it win business from Ralph Lauren and Nestlé. In terms of new business, it expanded its portfolio of top clients’ brands to handle brands across nearly all categories for Unilever.

screen Experience Platform, as well as a cross media measurement framework.

By doing so, the agency said its growth outpaced the industry average growth by 32%, while MRM/McCann’s revenue grew by 25% in 2014 while helping contibute to MRM/McCann taking the overall Southeast Asia Digital Agency crown.

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PHILIPPINE CREATIVE AGENCY BBDO Guerrero The agency enjoyed acclaim at both the local and sub-regional level, nabbing the top creative award, while chairman and chief creative officer David Guerrero claimed the Southeast Asia Creative Head of the Year crown.

Beating three other shortlisted rivals for the title, the win represents a bounce-back for the shop, which failed to make the cut in the 2013 competition.

Following a strong new business run in 2014, the agency rose to the challenge of maintaining the growth momentum by putting in place programs to ensure client satisfaction remained high. This led to deeper client relationships and new opportunities within clients’ wider organizations, resulting in an increase in assignments. It went on to again secure the Department of Tourism contract for phase two of its ‘It’s More Fun’ campaign, while its creative power helped secure Wrigley, FedEx and Quaker businesses.

At the same time, the agency took a more selective stance towards pitching and training at department level, with an average of two training sessions per month, as part of its talent investment drive.

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Silver DDB DM9JaymeSyfu The category winner in 2013, the agency enjoyed a stellar year on the festival circuit with ‘TXTBKS’ delivering many firsts for the Philippine advertising industry, including Grand Prix at Clio and New York Fest last year. The agency continued its path to growth, setting up its own digital team, expanding the client portfolio to include multinationals such as Johnson & Johnson, Fonterra and Resorts World. Despite business growing, it continued operating with a small head count (33) and kept a flat structure, ensuring productivity per employee remained high. Every individual in the agency has multiple roles – a copywriter is also an online trend watcher, or an account director doubles as a social director.

Bronze Leo Burnett Manila The agency’s second, back-to-back Bronze award came through a series of initiatives that helped it surmount what had been projected as a tough year for the office.

Philip Morris and McDonald’s, which contributed over 60% of the agency’s revenue in 2013, were expected to cut spend by 20%, prompting the agency to leverage its ability to offer total marketing communication and proactively helped clients surpass their marketing objectives. Through this effort, Burnett surpassed targets for its two key clients by 25%, while new business grew nearly 340% over the previous year with wins such as the Pfizer Consumer Healthcare portfolio and the social media assignment for the Bank of the Philippine Islands.

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PHILIPPINE MEDIA AGENCY Starcom MediaVest The undisputed market leader in media vaulted from Bronze in 2013 to category winner by continuing to grow at impressive rates. By building further on its specialized and branded capabilities, the agency achieved 49% growth in digital and 800% growth in content and activation to claim the award against 5 other shortlisted rivals. New business contributed to 7% of its revenue, while organic growth from its top 20 clients produced a 13% contribution. The agency also made headway on the creative front, winning Bronze at Festival of Media Global for client United Home Products’ ‘First Steps to Livelihood’ campaign.

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Silver ZenithOptimedia

Bronze OMD

2013’s category winner focused on delivering fully integrated digital teams for its clients – hiring the top talent and integrating them into the account teams. It cross-trained staff for offline and online. The strategy supported its new business drive, delivering on its 20% revenue growth target, achieving this by not only by not only winning Nestlé and Wyeth, but numerous other clients. The strategy also helped deliver the network’s Live ROI promise to existing clients. In the process, it became the lead agency partner for clients in navigating the paid, owned and earned space.

The office also grew its Performics and Ninah brands to deliver across clients’ business needs, and focused on providing clients with new insights, research tools and studies.

A Silver recipient in 2013, the agency stayed in the Top 3 through a new internal positioning built around the notion of OMD as the ‘ER agency’ – Enriching and Revitalizing. Its objective centered on being defined not as the biggest but the best. Accordingly, the office addressed key areas such as client satisfaction, internal process quality, employee satisfaction, financial performance and winning attitude. The agency credited this change to helping land 12 new business accounts worth US$13.3 million in new billings and its 95% client retention rate.

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98 ASIA OPTIMISM 102 YEAR OF ORGANIZATIONAL EXPERIMENTATION 103 THE KEY TO THE FUTURE LIES IN TECHNOLOGY 104 WHEN VIDEOS GO DIGITAL 106 BOUYANT PROSPECTS 110 BIOMETRICS AND THE NEW MALE SHOPPER 112 EXPERIENTIAL, DARK AND INTELLIGENT 116 CREATIVE DIRECTIONS 124 ASIA'S EVOLVING MINDSET

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2015 OUT LO O K

Asia optimism Networks see region defying growth odds

Tougher times lie ahead for the global economy, going by the World Bank and the International Monetary Foundation’s (IMF) move to shave 2015 growth forecast.

By the World Bank’s reckoning, global growth will come in at 3%, 0.5% less than its previous forecast, while the IMF sliced its estimates to 3.5%.

Oil prices may have fallen – down by half its former high – but so to has global demand in a world where a recovering US and emerging Asia are the only bright spots driving growth, while economic malaise grips Europe, Japan, China and Russia.

Needless to say, the global advertising economy will feel the pinch. Three major media groups had earlier revised their 2015 global adspend forecast downwards.

Magna Global and ZenithOptimedia, which had earlier projected adspend growth of more than 5%, have chopped their projections to 4.8% and 4.9% respectively.

A variety of factors are crimping growth, from Russia’s tanking economy to sluggish

Eurozone growth and slower than-expected US ad growth without the benefit of 2014’s political spending or big sports events.

“The world remains short of demand and uncomfortably short of inflation. However, two stabilizing forces are the falling price of oil, which transfers spending power to the world’s consumers, and shrinking trade surpluses, especially China’s,” noted Adam Smith, GroupM future’s director and report editor of This Year, Next Year.

“Smaller surpluses help aggregate demand.

The Eurozone’s large surplus now makes it the biggest drag on world demand, and it remains the main headwind to ad growth.”

Asia will not escape the slowdown unscathed. The World Bank has predicted softer regional growth – China’s previously red-hot economy is expected to deliver its slowest growth in more than two decades, the result of a carefully managed slowdown, while Japan is stuck in another economic rut.

However, the bank also saw bright spots for “emerging Asia” through turns

in the investment cycle (Indonesia), subsiding political unrest (Thailand), integration in global value chains (Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia) and a recovering US economy.

Warc in its growth consensus forecast for the year predicted that Asia’s 2 biggest economies – India and China – would drive global adspend growth with double-digit expansion of 11.6% and 10.3% respectively.

Buoying this view, adobo’s poll of seven of the region’s network heads for the 2015 Outlook report found a majority expecting their organizations to perform better than 2014.

More than 50% of respondents saw organic growth driving network expansion this year, while a little over 40% projected growth would come from new business.

Respondents were evenly split between Greater China and Southeast Asia as regions that would provide the strongest growth and client opportunities for their networks. Lowe & Partners was the sole network betting on South Asia.

50%

More than of respondents saw organic growth driving network expansion this year, while a little over

40% projected

growth would come from new business.

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MOBILE FUELS GROWTH Print on losing end

“The world remains short of demand and uncomfortably short of inflation.

However, two stabilizing forces are the falling price of oil, which transfers spending power to the world’s consumers, and shrinking trade surpluses, especially China’s,” noted Adam Smith, GroupM future’s director

“I believe the number one concern is actually our clients and the role of procurement. This is an industry issue. As we live in the consumer age, creativity is one of the only differentiators for businesses – agencies can play a major role here – but many marketers don’t seem to realize this...”

DDB Group's John Zeigler explained.

Advertising was the biggest client service area for the networks in 2014 and, for the bulk of respondents, it will remain the same this year, save for Dentsu Aegis, which pointed to digital.

Digital though is within the Top 3 growth areas for the bulk of respondents along with activation, content marketing and consultancy services.

In terms of pressure points, the majority of respondents pointed to talent management – both acquisition and retention – as the biggest worry for their network and the industry at large this year.

For JWT Asia Pacific CEO Tom Doctoroff, talent acquisition and retention is “by far the biggest challenge” followed by rising staff cost and getting staff reskilled quickly for disruptive technologies.

Networks cited the issue after half of respondents reported losing as many staff last year as the previous year, while one lost more in 2014 than the year before.

A third of respondents also reported being unable to fill between 1 and 5 senior positions as of the poll, while another struggled to fill between 5 and 10 senior jobs.

A third of respondents pointed to competition from tech companies for their staff woes, while another third cited competition from other networks

and agencies. One network pointed to competition from client companies.

For John Zeigler, chairman and CEO, DDB Group Asia Pacific/India/ Japan, there is another pressure point that surpasses talent management, which he cited within his Top 5 pick of challenges.

“I believe the number one concern is actually our clients and the role of procurement. This is an industry issue. As we live in the consumer age, creativity is one of the only differentiators for businesses – agencies can play a major role here – but many marketers don’t seem to realize this. The value of creativity is diminishing. Procurement is partly to blame as their objective is to cut costs; they fail to realize that the role should be to create growth. An investment in creativity can get a brand there,” Zeigler explained.

Network heads were evenly split on pressure points facing clients this year – a third saw reskilling staff and customer acquisition and retention while another third pointed to commoditization.

Dentsu Aegis Network Southeast Asia chairman and CEO Dick Van Motman saw data – from the tracking, analyzing and leveraging – as the biggest pressure point for clients followed by disruptive technologies changing consumer behavior and e- and m-commerce.

January-February 2015

Even as they chopped global adspend forecasts for 2015 amid continuing global uncertainties, a trio of media networks, unsurprisingly, pointed to digital as the industry’s growth engine.

Magna Global anticipates digital revenues hitting 30% market share globally in 2015 (growing by 15.1% to US$163 billion) on the back of 2014’s 17.2% expansion to $142 billion, driven by mobile campaigns (+72%) and social formats (+64%). “Based on our long-term forecasts, digital media will catch up with television in 2019, when both account for 38% of global advertising revenues,” said the group, which ranked digital media as #1 in 14 of the 73 markets it analyzed.

ZenithOptimedia mobile advertising also tipped as the main driver of global adspend growth. “We forecast mobile to contribute 51% of all the extra adspend between 2014 and 2017 (excluding markets where we don’t have a breakdown by medium). Desktop internet is the second largest contributor (accounting for 25% of new ad expenditure), followed by television (24%).

“Mobile advertising has now truly taken off and is growing six times faster than desktop internet. We forecast mobile advertising to grow by an average of 38.3% a year between 2014 and 2017, driven by the rapid spread of devices and improvements in user experiences.”

From a projected US$25.8 billion in 2014 global adspend, ZenithOptimedia anticipated mobile’s share rising to US$68.2 billion in 2017, which will be 36.8% of internet expenditure and 11.3% of all expenditure. “This means mobile will leapfrog radio, magazines and outdoor Cont. page 103

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What new service areas will your network launch in 2015?

How will you tackle the talent management challenge in 2015?

Single piece of advice to clients in 2015?

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2015 OUT LO O K

CHRIS THOMAS Chairman/CEO, BBDO Asia, Middle East/Africa, chairman, Proximity Worldwide

JOHN ZEIGLER Chairman & CEO, DDB Group Asia Pacific, India, Japan

DICK VAN MOTMAN Chairman & CEO, Dentsu Aegis Network Southeast Asia

Two areas we recently invested in and will be expanding are planning and insights and content development and production.

Under planning and insights, we established Asia Voices, a youth-based survey that is a proprietary insights tool in China, the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia in partnership with a big data expert. We have developed BBDO Pulse as a new way of developing content for the social world, fronted by multi-screen, physical newsrooms, Pulse is able to manage, track and respond to multiple social feeds for our clients’ brands. We have developed a new content model for clients who are looking for high-quality, high-frequency, low cost content.

We introduced a new strategic framework – Engaging Creativity for Growth.

It gets to the heart of a business problem – assessing the health of the business and then using creative business solutions to create differentiation in the market. Part of our long-term strategy is to build new agency models – products that deliver revenue beyond the traditional ad box. It’s a new partnership model that uses creative business solutions – not just ads – to build real business growth for clients.

Three important key areas of growth are mobile, video and data. We will keep investing heavily in our capabilities in order to retain our networks’ leading position.

We share knowledge with institutions to ensure we are up to date on the latest developments in this field. We leverage the good relationship that our brands have with video distribution platforms to ensure that we can target in a meaningful way. We create our own global data-platforms to ensure that our clients, teams and individual employees have access to the full, up to date, picture.

Traditionally Dentsu has been strong in content – an area in which we strongly differentiate ourselves from other networks.

We expect to launch many new initiatives in content. Our investment in WorkPoint (a television producer in Thailand) will give us many more opportunities to innovate the way brands are built.

Some steps we are taking to tackle the talent and skills shortage is to ensure all our offices carry out a survey to gather employee feedback and ensure suggestions are taken on board by senior management; identify and nominate top performers to take part in regional/global training courses to ensure they feel valued and allow for the development of talent through the ranks, focus our training around the changing landscape of marketing/advertsing e.g. social, content, digital innovation and selling; and develop a more thorough induction program to increase productivity and reduce short term staff turnover.

Focus: In a world where we are overwhelmed by choice – media choice, content choice and difficult choices around budgets – we need to do a fewer things better.

Lots of small stuff makes a very small difference. Strategy is the art of sacrifice.

Sacrifice the right things and focus on a few things that can make a big difference to your brand.

We have focused our approach for hiring and retaining talent on the cutting edge of culture and tech. The new entity Dentsu Aegis Network (DAN) has made implementing an updated vision and the accompanying values a priority. In Southeast Asia, where we have a young, tech savvy workforce, DAN has used modern HR tech to implement a company culture. We rolled out an internal collaboration platform based on social media services that our staff already uses. This platform allows people to connect, collaborate and create, while using gamification elements to keep them engaged. It tears down structures of hierarchy and makes people approachable.

It rewards talent and allows people to take credit for their work.

My advice to clients, particularly if they are looking at a new agency, is to only ask two questions: Is the agency doing great work for a client. And I am not talking just ads, innovative award winning effective work. If they aren’t there’s really no point in hiring them. How much of the agency’s senior management will be working on the business. So much emphasis is placed on FTEs and how much you can get for less. To attain growth, marketers need experienced people working on the business and that comes at a price. Placing greater value on creativity will lead to better business results.

January-February 2015

Done is better than perfect. In a world that is in a constant state of flux and everything is disrupted, clients have to be aware that sometimes it’s more important to try and get things done instead of endlessly trying to design a perfect solution.

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GLOBAL ADSPEND 2015 forecasts

TOM DOCTOROFF CEO, JWT Asia Pacific

LORIS NOLD CEO, Publicis Asia Pacific

RUPEN DESAI Regional President, Lowe + Partner, Asia Pacific

Premium design and sourcing, digital ecosystem planning, digital asset development.

Publicis 133 was launched in both Hong Kong and Singapore last year. In addition, Nurun has been embedded within the Publicis brand. The full impact of these, together with the acquisition of Arcade, will be felt in 2015.

Greater integration with Lowe Profero across the region (and globe) as well as geographic expansion of Lowe Open, our shopper + activation offering.

$536bn to $545bn

The range of projections by Magna Global, GroupM and ZenithOptimedia after the trio trimmed 2015 forecast

cont. Mobile fuels growth

We need to enhance staff productivity through objective assessment of who is invaluable and who is not. And pay fewer people more money, keeping costs the same.

We will foster mobility within the network and we will nurture our own talent to lead the change for their clients and their respective agencies.

Digital is a “fat” word.

Agencies need to pick a piece of the digital universe and develop competence.

We believe in leading the change before change leads you.

Advice is too strong a word and I have none. I do, however have a belief to share: Without a big idea, everything is our business is motion, not progress.

January-February 2015

to become the world’s fourth‐largest medium by the end of our forecast period, and will be very close to overtaking newspapers.

“The gains made by outdoor, radio and cinema will be cancelled out by the continued decline of newspapers and magazines, which we expect to shrink by a combined $8 billion over the forecast period.

In its This Year, Next Year global marketing report, GroupM pointed to “digital’s growing appropriation of ad budgets”.

“For the first time, our forecasts are hinting that traditional TV’s share might be falling ever so slightly, riding a peak of around 43% for the long period 2010-2014, but now forecast to drop a point to 41.8% in 2015.

It’s important to note, however, that this is heavily influenced by China’s rapid ad migration from TV to digital and is not representative of markets worldwide. It is therefore too soon to call a more general structural change, particularly as legacy TV incumbents are generally accomplished at retrieving revenues online.”

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Year of organizational experimentation Winner is one that aligns closest to consumers’ attitudes, behavior Words JOS ORTEGA

will try to resolve their relationships with their creative counterparts and how they can operate on the same level.

The litmus test is to come up with client presentations that are truly integrated and not just consolidated, as most are today.

The agency that will win this game is the one that aligns itself closest to the attitude and behavior of the consumers.

Today’s consumers have blurred the offline and online worlds. Progressive screening is their norm. They are meshing, stacking or shifting with their television, desktop, laptop, tablet, and mobile screens.

Meshing happens when the consumer watches a telenovela on TV and simultaneously joins the conversation on the same show on their mobile phone via Twitter.

Stacking is when the consumer engages on two different screens simultaneously, but on two independent topics. The student can be watching a YouTube video on his desktop screen while he is texting about the UAAP

Illustration Joshua Gonzales

“What do we do with digital?” has been a nagging question inside advertising agency boardrooms.

In the past three years, two leading creative agencies bought medium-sized digital shops and another created a start-up with a blogger. An aggressive media agency group bought one of the largest digital agencies in town. Another launched a digital product specialist group. And a new media agency joined the fray with an integrated media proposition with digital-at-its-core.

The other agencies have added mostly social media community managers as their digital participation. Or a digital consultant.

2015 will be a year of organizational experimentation for many agencies.

The creative agencies will discover that digital is not just about big ideas. They will realize the necessity of a digital infrastructure, data and analytics, and the inseparable role of digital media.

On the other hand, the media agencies

game with his classmate. Shifting is when a person moves from one screen to another, like when a mother watches a noontime show on TV then moves to her desktop to check on her emails after the show.

The key question now is: The consumers have clearly blurred the lines, but why are the agencies still operating in silos?

This progressive screening is also evident when consumers watch TV commercials and online video assets. To the consumer, there is no difference in the consumption of video in the two mediums. But a careful look at most existing media agency structures will show that different people are planning and buying for offline TV and online video. Again, the consumers have blurred the lines, but why are the agencies still operating in silos?

In the future, the bet is that digital will cease to be a department in agency organizations and will be a skill set that will be ingrained in all the employees of the agency.

The most dramatic impact of digital on agency organizations will be felt when clients demand even more accountability from digital programs. This will force agencies to welcome math men into their exclusive territories.

Imagine technology, data science, content and media seamlessly operating in one unit.

It will be like merging the world of Silicon Valley, the heart of technology and data, with the world of Hollywood, the center of creativity and media. Some industry leaders fondly call this the birth of Siliwood.

Jos Ortega is Chairman and CEO of Havas Media Ortega

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The key to the future lies in technology Data helps to join the dots for brands, agencies to be anticipatory

Illustration Joshua Gonzales

Words CHEUK CHIANG

The world of media and communications is now in a new era.

It’s a world that is far more digitized, far more connected and far more socialized.

This means the rate of influence is now faster than ever.

In the past, we would air a TV commercial, do testing a month later and then make improvements if required. Today, that change needs to occur in real-time as brands now live or die with the click of a mouse.

The key to consumer connection will be through driving innovation that connects and the greatest influence on advertiser performance will continue to be the idea.

This will mean that, almost an antidote to automation, we will begin to see a resurgence in creativity driven by content creation.

Media agencies will slowly but surely morph into full service content agencies as well and an increasing amount of innovation is expected in this area. This involves not just playing with formats but also business models.

Clickable content is a whole new standard in content development, linked to e-commerce platforms. For example, a viewer can click on a handbag that a character is holding to find

out more, ‘like’ it and buy it there and then.

It is increasingly resulting in a way of life where technology enables us to deeply access the world in the moment.

There is a ‘small data’ story unfolding simultaneously as a result of technology-led innovation. Data is helping the industry understand consumer mindsets as well as drive creativity. Connecting small packets of data generated by individual consumers held by non-traditional data owners is allowing us to “join the dots” and be anticipatory and serendipitous.

So, where is all this going? Close to 80% of all media interactions today are screenbased. And that number will only increase.

Gradually, the industry is moving towards a scenario, where innovation will be managed by both the creative and communications agency. The new role of creative technologist will work with creative teams and /or with channel planners. Their role will be to bring creative thinking in a new digital eco-system that puts the consumer at the core.

It must be said here, that the future is hard to predict. It is very easy for us to make predictions on where the future of

January-February 2015

communications is going to be. The reality is that most companies tend to get such predictions wrong all the time. The truth is that we have to keep finding relevant trends that are going to affect consumers.

So, rather than trying to predict where the future is going to be, we would like focus on the line of causality, in other words – what the consequences of one thing affecting another are. Technology affects the way consumers interact with each other and this consequently has an effect on communication.

Ultimately, the best place to start when you think about what is going to impact the future is to look at the changes in technology.

The key to the future lies in technology.

Cheuk Chiang is CEO, APAC, Omnicom Media Group.

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2015 OUT LO O K

When videos go digital How will brands leverage Filipino sensations pulling in YouTube views?

Words DONALD LIM

videos focus on the pair unboxing toys, and with a purely English format, has opened their content up to global consumption.

Another up-and-coming YouTube star is Lloyd Cadena, whose videos focus on parodies and funny executions. Averaging a few thousand views for each video, Lloyd’s facial expressions and gay lingo brings an extremely humorous twist to video comedy. He has also dabbled in branded content by subtly playing on using, for example, a detergent brand in a comedy act while doing the laundry.

We can only expect more Filipino YouTube creators to proliferate, as the next generation of digital natives find themselves being at home on YouTube to express themselves. As Filipinos are known around the world for our acting, dancing and singing skills, it is only a matter of time before YouTube becomes a home for Filipinos videos making their mark in the global community. The big question to brands and agencies would be: How can we all maximize this emerging trend?

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Illustration Joshua Gonzales

There was a time when talking about video executions in marketing meant either a television commercial, or at most, an AVP. With the rise in YouTube use, brands and agencies became “digital” by putting their TVCs on the channel. However, this backfired when after the end of the year, television commercials placed on YouTube would end up with small view counts. The rise of Facebook and other social media platforms in the past three years led brands to neglect YouTube for some time, as they focused on putting their promotions on Facebook and mobile apps.

2015 is going to be a very different year for digital marketing as the prevalence of the YouTube audience cannot be ignored anymore. While digital media agencies are now recommending more ads on the YouTube ad network, 2015 will also be the year when Filipinos are expected to break out into the YouTube space with original creative content. While the forerunners of YouTube sensations like Happy Slip, Mikey Bustos and Moymoy Palaboy helped in priming Filipinos to “YouTube watching”, the next generation of digital natives have already invaded YouTube to express themselves and create their own content.

The biggest to hit the YouTube creator scene would be sisters Laurice and Faye, whose videos are now at a total 500 million views and counting. Filmed by their father Sanny, who was previously an elementary public school math teacher, their YouTube channel now claims more views coming outside the Philippines, making them easily a global sensation. Their number one video notched 50 million views. I cannot even recall if any brand or agency person in the Philippines has been able to create a single video to match that feat. Yet their

Donald Lim is Chief Digital Officer of ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation

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Buoyant prospects Local chiefs tip rise in client investment

Rising global uncertainty is expected to dampen global growth opportunities but how big a drag this will be on the Philippines is unclear for now.

On the one hand, the Asian Development Bank lowered its growth forecast for the market to 6.2% against an earlier forecast 6.7%, citing unexpectedly low government spending and higher inflation in a region that stands to gain from lower oil prices and a recovering US economy but also take a hit if China’s slowdown becomes protracted.

However, the country has long been buoyed by growing remittances from overseas workers and lately by the expansion of the business process outsourcing sector and the rapid urbanization of the countryside, which could cushion the impact of a regional slowdown.

“Financial institutions are predicting continued robust economic growth for the Philippines. Consumer spending is on the uptrend. The inflation rate remains low and stable. The market is also benefitting from reforms in investments, infrastructure and job creation. All that augurs well for us,” says Boboy Consunji, co-CEO of Campaigns & Grey.

Which may account for local agency heads’ bullish outlook. Six local agency heads polled for adobo’s 2015 Outlook report all projected clients to grow marketing investment this year.

Half the number projected client spending rising 10% over 2014, a third by 5% while one agency head anticipated clients upping investment by more than 15%.

“2014 was a stellar year for Y&R and, based on my discussions with our client partners and potential partners, 2015 will be an exciting year for the business. Innovation in services and integration will be key to the growth of the agency,” notes Mary Bunaventura, president and CEO of Y&R Philippines.

Others tempered optimism with caution. “I would imagine another year of growth but still a little guarded even with the election around the corner,” says BBDO CEO Tony Harris. “I think the events surrounding the end of 2013 still live on in the memory of most marketers – with the subsequent thought that it could always happen again – so investment will continue

but will be managed with a longer-term view rather than “making hay while the sun shines”.

Ronald Barreiro, managing director of DM9JaymeSyfu, adds: “It won’t be a walk in the park – that’s for sure. The challenge for any agency is to continue to add value to the client, whether it’s about creative output or the ability to offer other parts of the communication mix (digital, events, PR, etc.).

“What’s most obvious is the desire of most clients to explore and understand how digital can drive their business further. They’re curious and they're setting aside money for it.”

Even so, advertising leads the ranking of areas where clients are expected to invest in this year, placing ahead of digital, activation, design and sponsorship, according to all the respondents.

Digital, however, emerged as the next sector to command client investment – half

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AT&T

of respondents reported a noticeable increase in spend on digital, while the other half predicted same spending levels as 2014.

Within digital, mobile languishes near the bottom of the totem pole even as the sector cements its status as a global adspend growth driver.

Surprising at a time when smartphone penetration is growing at a robust rate and the gadget is taking up more screen time than TV or desktop, according to Millward Brown’s global AdReaction study. Mobext’s latest report on advertiser attitudes to the medium offers some clues to the market’s slow adoption of mobile. According to Mobext, marketers perceive mobile as a complex medium or are unable to differentiate mobile’s uniqueness from desk- and laptops.

Social, unsurprisingly in a market setting global records for social penetration, will command the highest share of digital spend for half the respondents, while the other half pointed to display.

Accordingly, Grey anticipates clients going online will invest primarily on social followed by search, branded content and finally on mobile, while Y&R’s list is topped by display and branded content followed by social and search/mobile.

AT&T

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What has your agency done to become a better partner to your clients?

Challenges and growth opportunities for clients in 2015?

Single piece of advice for clients in 2015?

What is your agency doing to retain the best talent ahead of AFTA’s launch?

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BOBOY CONSUNJI CEO, Campaigns & Grey

MARY BUENAVENTURA President/CEO, Y&R Philippines

MATEC VILLANUEVA President & CEO, Publicis Manila

We’ve fine-tuned the management structure and creative leadership to be more responsive to the needs of our expanding portfolio; continued to invest in specialized business units like shopper marketing, digital, and healthcare/CSR to address the evolving consumer and there is heightened and regular interaction and sharing of resources with our New York and APAC partners in creative, digital and strategic planning.

Launched shopper marketing, Lab Store, and 100% growth in interactive staff numbers.

Strengthened our digital capabilities, globally, regionally and locally and restructure the creative and planning teams

Understand a key target demographic – millennials – who care more about experiences, who need to be always actively engaged; creating fabulous digital content that will yield brand loyalty or produce business results; (work on how) to stay current and ahead of competition and on integrating all these platforms in order to create real value for the consumer. The world of communications seems to be getting complicated. The challenge is how to keep things simple, powerful.

Media clutter: This is why relevant and ‘Resist the Usual’ content and strategies is the focus. Insight-based product innovations are also something to look forward to in 2015.

Digital will continue to be both the opportunity and challenge. Opportunity to optimize its use and making it actually happen (as conceptualized) is the challenge.

Go online a lot.

Demand integration from all your agency partners to create effective campaigns.

Media, PR, creative, and BTL agencies tend to work in silos. Marketers must encourage co-creation.

First, the obvious — we try to make the pay scales competitive, benefits, training, foreign travel, etc. And more importantly, we encourage personal growth and continuous learning. The people that we hire want to find purpose in what they do. W give them that.

Publicis Manila’s clients’ digital investments are expected to grow mainly on social followed by branded content, mobile and search, while DM9 clients were putting their spend on social followed by branded content, search, display and mobile.

On the back of business growth, twothirds of agencies will be hiring this year to cater to the expected growth of client spend, while a third will recruit to fill new roles created by agency restructuring to meet the market’s new demands or fill vacated roles.

Grey for instance will be hiring in creative and client services – to meet the demands of its growing Procter & Gamble and local business, including new acquisitions – and for specialized PR talent.

Break the rules.

Career path strategies for talent within agency, cross-country training and exposure and Y&R Online University for expanded education.

The ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (AFTA), while seen as an opportunity by more than 80% of respondents, could prove a headache in the years ahead for agency HR chiefs.

Promising the free flow of goods, services as well as labor within a framework that unites 10 countries with more than 600 million people, AFTA will only be implemented this year-end.

“We’re feeling the effects of this (talent relocating) already on the digital front. The problem with having very good local talent is they’re attracted by better pay in other markets in Southeast Asia. This drives up the cost of luring them to or retaining them in your company,” notes DM9’s Barreiro.

January-February 2015

On the flip side, BBDO’s Harris sees AFTA presenting “a tremendous opportunity for the Philippines marketing community to be acknowledged on a wider stage. “Asean integration will open up more cross-territory opportunities and, because of the energy, enthusiasm and commitment of the talent available – combined with a sympathetic cost structure , the Philippines could find themselves taking on more and more hub opportunities.

“It will require a broader outlook and perhaps even more inventiveness and imagination but there is every indication that the position of communication leadership could land here more often than it has in the past.”

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2015 OUT LO O K

TONY HARRIS CEO, BBDO Guerrero

RONALD BARREIRO Managing Director, DM9JaymeSyfu

LEIGH REYES President & Chief Creative Officer, Lowe Manila

What has your agency done to become a better partner to your clients?

We continue to keep our teams integrated rather than separated. Digital ideas and traditional ideas cannot be developed in isolation. Long may this continue.

However, the importance in awareness of the changing world of technology, has led to our appointment of Anna Bigornia as innovations director, whose role is to keep up to speed with the latest capabilities – not just digital but across the range of technical opportunities in areas such as activation. If we know what’s possible, our creative ideas should be able to fly in ways previously unimaginable.

We jumped into digital two years ago.

This was a need that we saw, and we invested in it by hiring the best people, by training everyone in the agency to understand digital, by maintaining our strict standards on creativity and effectiveness.

We’ve reorganized to make sure our client have access to a deeper bench of people. We also did Lowe Rambol in 2014 to train our younger creative, accounts and planning people.

Challenges and growth opportunities for clients in 2015?

The challenges never change – improving the creative product, keeping a greater percentage of the best talent and increasing profits – they just become more challenging each year! However, it is the first around the creative product that unlocks everything else. Great creative work attracts the best people both as employees and clients and with that, hopefully, the financial rewards. This is however, an ever more competitive market no longer just limited by national borders and the need for more impactful work grows exponentially

The market has never been this diverse (in terms of media touchpoints target market profile). The rise of the millennials has further complicated the way we do business. Baby Boomers, Gen Xers, Millennials – different mindsets, divergent value systems., polarized priorities. Good luck to us!

Opportunities: Regional markets for local brands, thanks to AFTA and continuing consumer confidence means this could be a good year to launch new products or new categories Challenges: AFTA means regional brands can become bigger players and thus present more competition and technology is still evolving faster than marketing manuals – marketers at all levels need to play a lot of catch-up just to understand all the tools they can now access, like influence marketing, content marketing, big data.

Single piece of advice for clients in 2015?

Continue to build partnerships with agencies. Pitching might be exciting but if every project goes out to tender then it is virtually impossible for your agency to give best advice with only partial sight of business. It is also time-consuming and expensive. The best work comes from the most transparent relationships and these are built over time as an agency can prove its value to a business through foresight and insight. Too often communication momentum is lost because a pitch takes place or a larger roster than is necessary is engaged.

What is your agency doing to retain the best talent ahead of AFTA’s launch?

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The objective is to carve out better creative opportunities. With it will come greater rewards for agencies and individuals alike. We are fortunate at BBDO Guerrero that we have a network that has already shown faith in using us as a lead agency not just for the region but the world at large. Accordingly, we have no shortage of tremendous creative opportunities to keep our talent interested.

Invest in your marketing people.

As corny as it might sound, we simply strive for excellence beyond local standards.

By doing this, we make ourselves attractive to potential talents hungry to prove themselves to the world and we manage to inspire our people to do better, to do more for themselves and for their clients. Over the years, we managed to develop this culture of personal accountability and responsibility. It’s tough. It’s not for everyone. But this type of culture works for us and we plan on sticking with it in the long-run.

January-February 2015

Through career path and performance management, re-examining our benefits program, training our leaders and exploring cross-posting across offices.

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Biometrics and the new male shopper

their contribution and not asking too much of consumers – other than to buy the product.

Havas on trends shaping consumer behavior

Brands will “become the studios and the labels of tomorrow, acting as co-producers of content”, according to Havas Sports & Entertainment (HS&E) in its 2015 trends report.

Lucien Boyer, president and CEO of the sports and entertainment group, believed the continued collision of entertainment, marketing and communications – where brands source all their communications content from people’s passion, from music to sports, gaming, entertainment and culture – would reshape the industry.

“Consumers today are not just fans but connected fans through the multiplicity of platforms…as such as there is a growing need for compelling content to nourish these different devices and satisfy people’s essential need for great, entertaining and unique content when and where they want it,” Boyer said.

Here are top trends picked from the agency’s 2015 report…

with consumers and to create more personal and responsive experiences, is appealing for both marketers and consumers”.

E-Sports win crowds Starting as a niche segment, e-sports has become a big part of the video gaming culture across the world, with a growing community of players, fans and makers. Digital games research firms estimated the global e-sports audience at more than 70 million in 2013, a growth of 800%, according to HS&E brand director Valéria Herzer. “Even if the audience is growing faster that sports events, e-sports is still in its infancy with regards to sponsorship…brands have the opportunity to shape the landscape through broadcast, digital activation and experiential activities during live events…”

The rise of biometric marketing Sensors are increasingly being embedded into everyday objects and wearable technology is growing rapidly, which will transform the way consumers experience and interact with daily life. Moving forward beyond typing, clicking and swiping, it predicted new forms of interaction through voice, facial expression or gestures. Best Buy has been using voice-activated ads to provide real-time mobile customer support, while eye-tracking and 3D hand-gesture recognition is becoming standard in new cars, according to Rori DuBoff, global head of strategy at Havas Digital/Havas Media Group. “The possibility to have frictionless engagement

Marketing for people Brands are responding to the increasing social consciousness of consumers, going beyond environmental sustainability to issues such as eradicating extreme poverty or providing access to clean drinking water, according to Josh Gallagher, Havas Media Group regional strategy director. “A shift in focus has begun in Asia from marketing to people to marketing with people and, in 2015, marketing for people.

This type of marketing puts people and their needs first.” To do so, brands must be authentic in their approach if they are to get consumer buy-in. They will need to keep their messages and actions simple, showing

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New man, new shopper The contemporary man is changing rapidly with needs less focused on the functional but in step with the socio-cultural context. His guiding values are time, space, science and freedom.

Luxury brands are intercepting this emerging trend by focusing on innovation, exceptional materials and craftsmanship and, above all, curating his needs in a more personal way. “…the customer experience for today’s man will be less focused on brand communication and much more on using the advantages of today’s technology that allows customers to be better known by brands and to save time during purchase,” forecast Isabelle Harve-Watt, head of Havas Media’s LuxHub group.

Editorial’s reinvention Magazine editorial will start becoming the new digital shop front, forecast Tammy Smulders, global executive director and managing partner UK of LuxHub. In place of the current format of consumers getting ideas from magazine editorial, advertising and social media and then going to online or physical stores for purchase, Smulders predicted consumers heading from editorial spreads to digital magazines to buy their product, everything from make-up to a luxury handbag to home furnishings.

Predicting this trend building over the next 3-5 years, Smulders pointed to Conde Nast’s investments in fashion e-tailers Moda Operandi and Far-Fetch, while pure-play e-tailers such as Net-a-Porter’s launch of its international title Porter.

“As editorial reinvents itself, success of editorial, television shows and supporting media will become less about how many people read it and more about how many items did that article or episode sell.”

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Experiential, dark and intelligent JWTIntelligence on what’s in store for 2015

In its annual Trends and Change to Watch in 2015, JWTIntelligence pointed to the ongoing proliferation of smartphones and the ubiquity of the web in driving further shifts in consumer mindsets.

“As a given, not a bonus, brands are expected to deliver experiences, be hypertransparent and achieve sustainability.

They’re expected to produce beautifully designed products and environments. And they are also increasingly expected to be societal leaders, benefactors, innovators and philanthropists,” Lucie Green, worldwide director, JWTIntellignce, said of trends indentified in its The Future 100 Report.

Universal Intelligent Design Consumers with open access to sophisticated lifestyle press and blogs are increasingly expecting intelligent design, even from entry-level products, functional products and massmarket services. On cue, sectors from mass-market food retailers to pharmacies to budget hotels are being reimagined – consider Radisson Blu’s collaboration with avantgarde designer Jaime Hayon, McDonald’s partnership with Patrick Norguet or the chic graphics in Norway’s new passports.

Why it’s interesting Like ethical behavior and sustainability, consumers increasingly take good design as a given, particularly millennials.

Here are 10 key trends from the report: The Year of the Sequel As movie theater attendance slides, studios are returning to old favorites, reimagined classics and sequels to attract audiences. In 2015, Twentieth Century Fox is releasing Taken 3 as well as The Fantastic Four, there is the fourth Jurassic Park from Universal Studios. Walt Disney Studios is releasing Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron, as well as a souped-up 2015 version of Cinderella. Paramount Pictures has the sixth Paranormal Activity and Lionsgate will release the final Hunger Games and second Divergent.

Why it’s interesting Aside from studios playing it safe, on the consumer front, this could be an indication that tumultuous times of global protest and economic stagnation are lending familiar classics greater appeal. The other common thread is fantasy: Are consumers seeking escapism as a result of austerity fatigue?

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Experiential Public Spaces Creatives are bringing new multisensory experiences that augment nature and public spaces to consumers. Moment Factory’s Foresta Lumina in Quebec’s Parc de la Gorge de Coaticook turned a nighttime trail into an immersive experience that included mythical creatures, illuminated trees and a soundtrack. Living Symphonies, a project staged at Thetford Forest in the UK, created music out of real-time recordings from the forest, which played through speakers placed around the area. A Dutch artist has created a solar-powered bike trail that looks like Van Gogh’s Starry Night after dark.

And activewear brand Lucy installed a Light Forest in Boston, with 10,000 solarpowered lights and a soundtrack to match.

Why it’s interesting Increasingly, the streetscape is becoming a rich palette not only for interactive retail and location-sensitive games but experiences too. Clever brands such as Lucy use wonder and experience — and offer a public service — to integrate themselves into consumers’ everyday activities.

Avant-Garde Dance Vanguard Musicians, brands and tech giants are using dance in new, artistic, conceptual and creative ways to create viral media: FKA Twigs’ collaboration with Google Glass accompanies a reimagined score of her songs Video Girl and Glass & Patron; Sia’s video for Chandelier features dancer Maddie Zeigler; The Nowness, owned by LVMH, recently teamed with dancers from London’s Sadler’s Wells to create a shoppable film, Mine, with items by La Perla, Kenzo and Louis Vuitton; Abteen Bagheri, music video creator, collaborated with Nike Women, Pedro Lourenço and the Nowness to create a dance video set in Morocco’s Atlas Mountains to showcase a new sports collection. The list goes on.

Why it’s interesting Brands have relied on music and comedy for viral content. Now dance, especially dance from the high-culture world, is being employed as a new shareable medium.

Broadcast Gaming Twitch, a destination for the live broadcast of consumer video gaming, has 55 million unique visitors and a million participating broadcasters.

Amazon bought it this year for $970 million.

Why it’s interesting Increasingly, all entertainment, from books to music to video to advertising and content, is becoming grassroots-led and putting consumers center stage.

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Intellectual Artistic Gaming There is an emerging new wave of intellectual, artistic and poetic video games. These focus on learning, self-actualizing and experience over punching out soldiers. 'Nothing of This Is Ours' by Alex Myers, for example, is an experiential art piece-meets-installation of “infinite, surrealistic worlds with creatures”.

'Morphopolis' is a poetic hand-animated game involving exploration of a surreal insect world and metamorphosis. Land’s End is a new virtual reality computer game with dreamy landscapes and architectural puzzles, created by digital agency UsTwo for the Samsung Gear VR headset.

Why it’s interesting Gaming is evolving in many directions for new audiences – women, for example, now make up nearly half of gamers. Gaming mechanics are also being applied to everything from music videos to retail.

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Me Brands A clutch of new platforms invites consumers to create personalized and local “brands” in their own image – recognizing the sharing economy’s growing desire for personalization, collaboration and consumer entrepreneurship. Pernod Ricard’s Our/ Vodka invites customers to create their own local version of its brand in a business partnership. It opened micro-distilleries in several cities in partnership with local stakeholders, who receive 20% of the profit in exchange for investing their time and managing the distillery as well as marketing and events. Pernod Ricard invested the capital and supplied a global recipe, which is adjusted to include local ingredients.

Why it’s interesting Consumers, particularly millennials, are increasingly starting to think of themselves as brands, curating their online image and monetizing it through social media clout, micro-retail platforms and YouTube. They’re also using new platforms to become microentrepreneurs. This is a way for brands to connect with this spirit and empower it.

Experiences go dark The latest wave to consumers demanding immersive and inspiring experiences? Dark, dystopian and sometimes uncomfortable experiences – Wolvesmouth, the invite-only supper club originally based in Los Angeles, dresses dishes like roadkill; Apocalypse Postponed, the Hong Kong art bar created by Nadim Abbas in collaboration with Absolut, is a cyberpunk concrete bunker with wall-to-wall sandbags and metal-framed windows. Then there’s the rising thread of immersive “escape game” experiences. Guests at Escape the Room, an interactive event staged in New York, are expected to figure out how to literally escape the room by finding hidden objects, answering clues and solving puzzles in 60 minutes – the final countdown inevitably ending in panic.

Why it’s interesting Not only do consumers want an experience that’s immersive and inspiring, they’re increasingly open to being tested and taken out of their comfort zone, for added bragging rights.

Mass Market Art-tail Luxury brands have long fostered close ties with the art world, but now mass-market brands are also seeking the cool points generated by aligning with cutting-edge creatives. Gap teamed with Frieze in London and New York to create concept stores with themed products, and H&M collaborated with Jeff Koons in 2014.

Why it’s interesting Fastfashion brands can no longer rely on simply being stylish and cheap; they now have to be smart too, reflecting a general rise in consumer sophistication and expectations from brands.

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The New Long Game Companies and brands, particularly the behemoths, are taking a dualistic approach to future-proofing by looking at both the long- and short-term games. They’re introducing innovation units to remain nimble, agile and in touch with change – everyone from Target and Coca-Cola to Levi’s and Marks & Spencer has introduced in-house labs and innovation units to keep abreast of new technology and test new concepts. Coupled with this, many are setting up long-view projects to analyze how macro shifts in the economy and consumer trends will affect them. Amazon’s Jeff Bezos is a famous advocate of long-term strategizing, defending Amazon’s lack of profit and reinvestment as key to capturing a greater part of the future of commerce. London-based trends consultancy The Future Laboratory has dubbed it the Age of the Long Near.

Why it’s interesting More companies appear to be taking not just a near-term but also a macro view of future business, which could have long-term implications for business models. When short-term gains are sacrificed in the interest of 50-year plans, how will publicly traded companies adjust?

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Creative directions Creatives across the world on what will matter to them, their offices and clients in 2015 DANNY SEARLE Chief Creative Officer and Vice Chairman, BBDO Asia

What is the one thing you will do in 2015 to… Improve your team? Set us up in a brand new, spacious, beautiful office. We’re moving in January to the new AKQA Tokyo and we have built the place to reshape the way we work.

Improve your creative skills? Use media platforms that I haven’t yet used. Improve your role as a creative head? Inspire creatives to fail a lot better in 2015.

What is the one thing you will do in 2015 to…Improve your team? Success in this industry depends on finding, attracting and retaining an unfair share of the best talent, but great talent is getting harder and harder to find. Despite an intense focus on technology lately, we are still a people business. So our focus will definitely be on improving our team both through training and acquisition.

What do you see as the biggest creative trend in branding in 2015? Unabashed sincerity and real-time usefulness.

What do you see as the biggest creative trend in branding in 2015?Brands taking a stand on social issues, brands that people can believe in. (In 2014) we saw a number of brands stating a belief.

We saw Dove do it again with ‘Placebo for Real Beauty’. We saw Pantene do it with ‘Whip It’ and get 60 million hits. We saw Apple do it with their support for the Pride Parade. Oreo’s

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CLAUDIA CRISTOVAO Group Creative Director, AKQA Tokyo

What image have you taken into 2015 as a source of inspiration?

Carel Fabritius’ Goldfinch – a snapshot taken in the 17th century, so powerful that it feels about to take flight.

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Rainbow. Nike with Greatness.

This is proving to be the best way to engage and bond with one’s consumers. Consumers seem to be saying: “Stand up for what you believe in and if we share that belief, we will believe in you.” (In 2015) every brand will want to do it. But beware; if it’s not authentic, those very same consumers will not stand for it.

What image have you taken into 2015 as a source of inspiration?

(2015) will hopefully be the year that someone does something really big on mobile. Not just clever, but big. So far most efforts have been disappointing. Clever, but disappointing. But scenes like these are witnessed every day.

On trains and buses. In schools and offices. At restaurants and in meetings. This is where you can reach people with time on their hands. This is where you can have a two-way conversation.

This is the goal for this year.

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TAY GUAN HIN Regional Executive Creative Director, JWT SEA What is the one thing you will do in 2015 to…

Improve your team?

Celebrate small victories.We always tend to celebrate the big wins. It’s important to acknowledge any individual who has contributed to any success no matter how small.

Recognizing and rewarding team players are the key to success in any organization. Improve your creative skills? Get innovative with social media. Finding new ways to harness this power of influence to generate creative solutions that engages.Improve your role as a creative head?

Decide on a clear plan of action and get everyone behind it.

Create accountability within the department to empower my team so that they will take better responsibility of their work.

What do you see as the biggest creative trend in branding in 2015? In the past, our clients were only allowed to pick one – do you want it fast, cheap or good? Today, it’s all three! The biggest challenge in our industry is whether we are able to reinvent ourselves fast enough to keep up with all the challenges the world is facing. There is a limited amount of time and money going around, so we need to be more agile, more resourceful to adapt to our client’s needs yet maintaining a certain quality that made us good in the first place.

What image have you taken into 2015 as a source of inspiration?

Whenever I doubt myself, this quote always inspires me to realize how much I have already achieved. It’s a good reminder to those who don’t see their true potential yet.

TED LIM Chief Creative Officer, Dentsu Asia What is the one thing you will do in 2015 to…

Improve your team?

We should not just take the brief, we should make the brief. We should take the time, take the trouble, do what it takes to make things happen. Improve your creative skills? Take up something totally unrelated to what we do for a living. Perhaps something related to what our clients do for a living. Only make it different and better. Improve your role as a creative head? I should not just take the brief, I should make the brief. I should take the time, take the trouble, do what it takes to make things happen.

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What do you see as the biggest creative trend in branding in 2015? It doesn’t matter if it’s 1915, 2015 or 2115. People don’t buy ads, they buy relevance. We may wear and use more digital devices, but they don’t make us any less human. The best ideas stem from human truths, real insights people can relate to. The best ad may not be an ad. Seek fresh ways to look at old things, simple surprises that engage and entertain. Stuff inspired by the questions, “What if?” and “What next?” Stuff that gets noticed, talked about and shared.

What image have you taken into 2015 as a source of inspiration?

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WAIN CHOI Global Vice President ECD, Cheil Worldwide

BOB GREENBERG Founder, Chairman and CEO, R/GA

innovations, we can continue to attract and retain the best and brightest in our industry.

What is the one thing you will do in 2015 to…

Improve your team, improve your creative skills and your role as a creative head? Most likely all of the above. We are going to improve through hiring new blood as well as reshuffling the core teams. Similar to NHL teams, line-up changes, promoting within and new hires. Investing in people who are smarter than myself. It’s a new season.

What is the one thing you will do in 2015 to…

Improve your team, your creative skills and role as a creative head? In the past year, we’ve put together a unique structure for New York, our largest office of about 800 people. We split the agency into 5 agencies, which are structured the same way as our office in London. Each group has leadership representing creative, technology, strategy and client services. This exciting change has given us a strong push into 2015 as people can also work inter-group, which enables us to curate the best talent aligned for new business or for client work. In addition, we've built out our capabilities to expand our offerings and integrate more services. At the same time, we have invested in a very substantial recruiting team which is familiar with each group’s needs and style. All of this enables us to attract and attain the very best talent at a time when we are competing with the tech companies for the best. Just in NYC alone, I see 10,000 job openings from tech companies that will be competing for talent.

Later this year, we are moving our New York headquarters to a new building in the Hudson Yards’ neighborhood. In a work environment fueled by the latest

What do you see as the biggest creative trend in branding in 2015? It’s crucial for creatives to take an integrated approach to branding. They can’t rely long term on solely offering one set of capabilities. At R/ GA, we’ve worked hard to diversify so we can offer dozens of capabilities to provide our clients with the strongest solutions in the connected age.

Our relationship with branding is influenced by the internet, mobile and social, allowing us to understand and work in an ever-evolving marketplace.

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What do you see as the biggest creative trend in branding in 2015? If you look at every year, the best work usually provokes one’s emotion. As well as breaking stereotypes.

I would have to say it’s based on “human truth”, ideas that move us regardless of where we live or what we do.

What image have you taken into 2015 as a source of inspiration?

I chose this image because it always gives me a fresh look on everything. Maybe it’s because I grew up in Toronto.

It reminds me of a clean sheet of ice. It’s the beginning of everything. “If I give you a clean sheet, what will you write?”

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What image have you taken into 2015 as a source of inspiration?

Partnering with Sir Norman Foster and his firm, Foster and Partners, we are creating the world’s most connected office. This artwork captures the vibe of our new space, which will incorporate digital innovations designed to enhance collaboration across R/GA’s global network. It will surround visitors and employees with a true representation of the company’s capabilities and work in the physical space. These new global headquarters, located in New York’s largest development since Rockefeller Center – Hudson Yards – will span two full floors and over 200,000 square feet.

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ALI SHABAZ Chief Creative Officer, Grey Group Singapore What is the one thing you will do in 2015 to…Improve your team? Hire creative talent from outside the industry to bring fresh thinking to the work. A writer from the world of television? A stand-up comedian? A graffiti artist? It’s time to open up and challenge our thinking. Improve your creative skills? Social media is defining our world in unexpected ways. I'm only beginning to understand it and there’s much for me to learn.

I would like to deep-dive into this world to understand how it can help shape our ideas better. Improve your role as a creative head? It’s no longer good enough to just do work that gets talked about. And it’s not enough to just do work that’s effective. The best work does both and it’s what I’ll be pushing for.

What do you see as the biggest creative trend in branding in 2015?

More brands will realise that they can connect better with consumers if they are seen as a force for good.

As a result “Causevertising” will become a big priority and the brands that do it well will have an edge over the others.

What image have you taken into 2015 as a source of inspiration?

Stephen Hawking is an inspirational human being in every sense of the word. For me he symbolizes progress and the need to stand for the truth against all odds.

ANDY GREENAWAY Regional ECD, Sapient Nitro Singapore What is the one thing you will do in 2015 to… improve your team?

We have a diverse to team of people who are brilliant at what they do: UX, IAs, technologists, front end developers, digital designers, art directors, copywriters and content. But our industry has trained people to work in their silos. Which means the left hand doesn’t know, or understand, what the other hand does. So, although I’ve encouraged our diverse group of people to work in teams – and collaborate closely, which has resulted in a cross fertilization of skills, I will be doing more training, and asking our experts to run workshops, so as a collective we can take a more holistic view of the creative solutions we need to produce in a complex world.

Improve your creative skills and role as a creative head?

My learning curve around technology, digital, platforms, ecommerce, content strategy, responsive design and user experience has been steep over the last two years. I think we’re now in a time where you have to continually learn in your day-today job. If you’re learning, you’re not moving forward. I’m lucky to

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have my brand experience (which is as important as ever). But applying it in a contemporary way is vital. And the knowledge you need to do that is evolving all the time. So, having an open mind and accepting I’m in a continuous learning mode is a key goal.

What do you see as the biggest creative trend in branding space in 2015? The explosion of ecommerce around the world.

Traditional agencies are just not in the game. For clients, building their ecommerce strategy is an imperative. When you see online sales for retailers like John Lewis now accounting for 35% of their overall profits, you can understand why.

What image have you taken into 2015 as a source of inspiration?

No matter how stressed you get.

Or how many times you want to throw in the towel, you have to remember we have one of the best jobs in the world. So this year, I’m going to wake up with a positive and optimistic attitude every day. And remember. It’s always important to have a partner in crime. A problem shared is a problem halved.

Greenway with his ‘partner in crime’ Bruce Matchett

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DAN MATUTINA Co-owner and Founder, Plus63 Design Co.

JOWEE ALVIAR Creative Director, TeamManila Graphic Design Studio Inc.

MERLEE JAYME Chief Creative Officer, DM9JaymeSyfu

What is the one thing you will do in 2015 to…

Improve your team? Organize more “field trips” to different offices, shops or studios. Preferably industries not related to graphic design or illustration.

Improve your creative skills?

I need to visit more local art exhibits. I do go to my friends’ exhibit openings, but I think I need to attend more. Improve your role as a creative head?

Let the other designers in the studio handle their own projects (evil laughter).

What is the one thing you will do in 2015 to…

Improve your team, your creative skills and role as a creative head? Figure out a way to keep the agency small while facing bigger and more demanding challenges.

What do you see as the biggest creative trend in branding in 2015? I can see small and independent businesses (like restaurants and shops) here in the Philippines investing in more creative identity design compared to their big, multinational counterparts.

What is the one thing you will do in 2015 to…

Improve your team? Expand the service of Team Manila Graphic Design Studio. We will open merchandise development and production for brands we work with.

Strategically partnering with a group that can fulfill the demand of the clients.

Improve your creative skills? We are open to more collaborations with creative people with different skill sets compared to our team. Constant learning through experience and working on new projects.

Improve your role as a creative head? I want to go back to more experimentation. We are starting to do that this year with our silkscreen gallery and workshop Suez and Zapote. Hope I get to inject the experiments we do in our workshop to client based projects.

What image have you taken into 2015 as a source of inspiration?

This “Weather Man” photo set

by Evgenia Arbugaeva (http:// www.newyorker.com/project/ portfolio/weather-man) is so inspiring. It’s haunting, sad and bad-ass at the same time.

What do you see as the biggest creative trend in branding in 2015? Design studios / creative agencies coming out with self initiated products. Self-published books. Merchandise. Apps, Digital content will extend the creative voice of design studios.

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What do you see as the biggest creative trend in branding in 2015? I’m not interested in “seeing possible trends” but rather excited in creating them.

What image have you taken into 2015 as a source of inspiration?

I drew this picture for a talk last year. I tell you, the ‘first jobbers" are totally different from our batch. I have a daughter who has joined the workforce. The way she looks at problems, fun, friendship and life in general baffles me and, at the same time, inspires me. How I wish I was just as fearless, reckless and big hearted! While I’m constantly trying to understand this group, I find myself secretly envying them.

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RIZZO TANGAN Executive Creative Director, Campaigns & Grey

BRANDIE TAN Executive Creative Director, Publicis JimenezBasic

BOBBY VITO Creative Director, DDB Philippines

What is the one thing you will do in 2015 to…

Improve your team?

Institutionalize a culture of creativity.

Improve your creative skills? Continuously expose everyone to new challenges, including those fielded by our regional creative head.

Improve your role as a creative head? Never give up.

What is the one thing you will do in 2015 to…

Improve your team, your creative skills and role as a creative head? 2015 will be my second year at PJB. Having experienced working with our clients last year — this year is a good time to continue pushing the work to be more share worthy.

What do you see as the biggest creative trend in branding in 2015? What is already happening, and we believe will keep happening, is more social experiments, more prankvertising, more consumer-as-star efforts, more leveraging of social media platforms. This is probably a result of most brands venturing more into the digital space where they have more than 15 seconds to capture the imagination and attention of target audiences.

What do you see as the biggest creative trend in branding in 2015? Most agencies are finally integrating with digital. More campaigns will hopefully now be experienced in multiple platforms. The more brands do it the more it will become normal.

Then it’s time to move forward.

What is the one thing you will do in 2015 to…Improve your team? Give them more opportunities to lead – whether it’s a pitch or a dance group. Improve your creative skills? Take a break from writing ads and write something else. Like a story for my kids. Or a song for my wife. Will have to craft that very carefully, don’t want her falling out of love with me after almost 20 years. Improve your role as a creative head? Set the example.

Get a life. Take more vacations.

What image have you taken into 2015 as a source of inspiration?

We have a primary inspiration in Tor Myhren, our global CCO, who strikes us with his gentle, positive, humble manner despite almost single-handedly turning around Grey’s creative reputation these past few years. A charismatic and encouraging leader, he recognizes the necessity of taking risks –and failing epically in the process. That’s why Grey even rewards glorious defeats with an award called the Heroic Failure.

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What image have you taken into 2015 as a source of inspiration?

This photo of a “before” group shot of what is a traditional PJB photo taken at every trip. I was testing the lighting with my camera and took this before the final shot. It’s chaotic. People are putting on their trip T-shirts.

Scrambling for a good position in the shot. Some are ready.

Some are not. The huge Mt. Fuji in the background – almost unnoticed. It was taken on my second week at work last year.

The trip was a culmination of a year’s hard work. And I’m looking forward to the fun, chaotic, ready or not, 2015.

What do you see as the biggest creative trend in the branding space in 2015? Faster invention/reinvention.

What image have you taken into 2015 as a source of inspiration?

I saw these series of photos showing different world leaders sitting on the toilet, from Obama to the Dalai Lama to the Pope himself. Pretty irreverent.

But it does remind me that all leaders are human, capable of doing both great and mundane things. Just like we are.

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TEENY GONZALES CEO, Seven A.D. What is the one thing you will do in 2015 to… Improve your team? Encourage them to take more risks. Improve your creative skills?

Declutter my mind from unnecessary distractions. Improve your role as a creative head? Let go more.

What do you see as the biggest creative trend in branding in 2015? I think people are going back to more personalzsed conversations and enjoying less of the very public venue of social media. Brands will probably be exploring more ways to intimately communicate with consumers whether it be in the medium they choose or the kinds of stories they tell.

What image have you taken into 2015 as a source of inspiration?

We hope to step out in faith and walk on water. Dare to do what we thought we couldn’t.

REY TIEMPO Executive Creative Director, Dentsu Philippines What is the one thing you will do in 2015 to… Improve your team? Whenever possible, send more people to more international shows.

Nothing beats stepping in the arena itself and breathing the air of intense competition to push you out of your own comfort zones. Improve your creative skills? Cultivate my own passions outside of advertising even more. As I have always stressed to the team, your interests serve as your bottomless reservoir of inspiration. They define who you are, so treasure them, learn to nurture them. And your work will all the more be richer, more alive, and ultimately more rewarding. To this day, I still hear comic book characters speaking when I write my scripts. Improve your role as a creative head?

Constantly seek that one thing that lights the fire in everyone’s bellies, not just in the creatives.

more about being pro-active and actually creating their own spaces, and not being limited to trends. What has always worked for me and Gary (Amante), my longtime creative partner, co-creative head, and good friend is expecting nothing, going with what feels right at a particular moment, and embracing the fast-paced, fleeting tastes and nature of this industry of ours.

What image have you taken into 2015 as a source of inspiration? Late last year, one of the more treasured and important successees of the team (well, at least to me) came in the form of winning the best band at the Dentsu Aegis Network Battle of the Bands!

In the picture, our little group is named after the office’s resident director of Dentsu Holdings, all-around nice guy Mr. Masaaki Kobayashi (seen in front, waving triumphantly.) It’s one of the things that will always remind me, that success takes whatever form life gives to you.

What do you see as the biggest creative trend in branding in 2015? I have always been very, very cautious about “trends”. Particularly because it somehow conveys, to me, about jumping on a bandwagon, often unnecessarily and without much understanding of the context of the situation. Following blindly, conforming. When in fact, I think brands should be

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ANDREW PETCH Executive Creative Director, Ace Saatchi & Saatchi What is the one thing you will do in 2015 to: Improve your team?

This one thing of course is making sure that we produce our best creative work in our agency’s history.

Each year we’ve bettered the year before. We have our strongest team yet with a mix of current and new stars, not to mention current and new clients, so I know we can and will. But I'm also looking to produce more branded content and co-created content for our clients - coming off launching our first social transmedia TV series last year. And ensuring that our most engaging ideas get the most effective paid and unpaid media/ PR plans. The biggest ideas deserve the biggest audiences.

What do you see as the biggest creative trend in the branding space in 2015? I’ve seen some great new technologies and trends this year that I want to utilize. (And naturally I’d like to create our own). Obviously as far as this next 12 months wearable technology is the big one. But in terms of the way we market to consumers, I think you’ll see more brands acting not as something you buy, but something you buy into.

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S P E C I AL REPORT

2015 OUT LO O K

Asia’s evolving mindset Trendwatching.com on innovation opportunities for brands

BETTER TOGETHER Various issues still riddle Asian societies, from corruption to food scares and more.

And their scale and complexity render most individuals powerless. At the same time, the proliferation of social media means there’s increasing demand for the voices of ordinary people to be heard and acted upon.

Building on last year’s Crowd Cracked trend – consumers creating crowd-powered solutions to shared problems – this trend evolves to see smart brands/ governments/ institutions facilitating and empowering crowd action that has power to effect concrete change. Could your platform, service or program help Asian consumers make things better together in 2015?

BARE ESSENTIALS There are still 733 million people in APAC who live on US$1.25 per day. 533 million are still affected by high levels of undernourishment, making up 63% of the world’s hungry people in 2013.

So creative solutions for people at the bottom of the pyramid (BOP) will continue to be in demand in 2015.

Ongoing awareness of BOP issues coupled with arising culture of creativity and innovation is resulting in unconventional solutions that cleverly embed essential functionality into affordable everyday items. Could you embed a BOP-relevant utility in your standard offering in 2015?

for 2015 is language localization. Indeed, consumers are already expecting brands to cater to them in their local languages: 73% of consumers in Vietnam and 76% in India expect brands to provide mobile content/ apps in a language they understand (Ovum, April 2014). In 2015, rising numbers will demand the same services available in the global English- speaking market.

So, with more intelligent learning platforms and the proliferation of crowdsourced language initiatives, it’s high time you innovated in order to cater to consumers in all corners of Asia in their own local languages.

MADE (CLASSY) IN CHINA Chinese luxury brands are starting to enter the global arena. 84% of Chinese luxury consumers agree that “In the future, Chinese luxury brands will be just as good as Western luxury brands.” (AddedValue, 2014). One key driver? Chinese consumers are building not just their bank accounts, but also their social and cultural capital. Now, those consumers are moving away from an obsession with (often foreign) luxury logos, and instead demanding local quality, authenticity, craftsmanship and heritage. Chinese brands are taking notice, and as a result, China – both brands and consumers – is gearing up to

LOCALIZED LANGUAGES If 2014 was all about ‘LocalizAsian’ – innovations by Asia for local Asian markets – then the big opportunity in this space

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be the next global capital of class.

The takeaway? If you want to reach the new Asian luxury consumer, think local, quality, and understatement. Do it yourself, or partner with the right local operation!

AUTHENTICITY AUDITS With the influx of global influences, many cities (and consumers!) across the region are experiencing a convergence in cultures, mindsets and more. One consequence? In 2015, consumers are ever-more eager to make sure their own cultures and traditions don’t get swept away in the avalanche of globalization.

And amid faux offerings and poor imitations, consumers will turn to new, innovative tools and services that allow them to know for sure that what they’re getting is authentic tradition – whether in clothes, food, art, culture and more.

So how can you help consumers preserve tradition in 2015? Last year, Thailand launched the Thai Delicious Committee to ensure Thai dishes adhere to the country’s culinary standards, but remember that authenticity audits can come in many forms, from digital services to in-store services to live experiences.

Illustration Joshua Gonzales

Trendwatching.com zeroes in on 10 trends spurring the continued evolution of consumer expectations across Asia.

Each trend points to innovation opportunities for brands to delight, surprise and build strong relationships with consumers.

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2 0 1 5 O UT LO O K

IN 2015, ASIAN CONSUMERS WILL DEMAND THAT DIGITAL DISCIPLINE In 2015, ever-more digital obsessed Asian consumers will reward brands that facilitate some discipline when it comes to using devices. Just a couple of stats on digital and device obsession: The number of mobile cellular subscriptions in APAC was predicted to hit 3.6 billion at the end of 2014, making up around 51% of the world’s total (ITU, May 2014).

Meanwhile, according to a September 2014 study by Tata Communications, 82% of Indians experience negative emotions when they do not have internet access, and on average Singaporeans say that they cannot survive more than 7.3 hours without internet.

In 2015 rising numbers of consumers will seek out services and tools to help them step (temporarily) away from their devices: for the sake of safety, social lives, sanity, and more!

PERFECT PAYMENTS In 2015, smartphone-fueled, tap-and-go payment options and mobile wallets will spread beyond a few ‘tech savvy’ destinations and hipster hangouts, and come to mainstream utilities such as transportation and major marketplaces. But (as with most trends!), the orgy of payment innovations around has only

accelerated. One indicator? Aided by mobile point-of-sale (mPOS) technology – which allows merchants to process cashless payments on their mobile phones or other wireless devices – the State Bank of Vietnam aims to increase the number of POS terminals to 250,000 by 2015 (MasterCard, June 2014).

TABOO BUSTERS In 2015, the ongoing reimagining of old social norms and traditional lifestyles will continue across Asia. Higher levels of education, urbanization and democratized access to information (thanks to online channels) are pushing rising numbers of Asian consumers to question long-established social norms and create their own value systems.

One example? Iran, a conservative society that used to view divorces as taboo, saw 155,369 divorces in 2013-14 period, up 40.6% from 2008-09 figure, and people are actually throwing divorce parties to celebrate!

In 2015, consumers will expect brands to reflect that new reality – and to push them and others to go further!

HERE/NOW 2015 is the year that will see on-demand services take off across Asia. And it’s not just about Uber expanding across the region. As

January-February 2015

Asian consumers have their expectations reframed by these developments and others, on-demand will be more in-demand than ever.

And that will be supercharged by the ongoing move away from permanent ownership to transient access, demanded (and delivered!) only when needed. Subsequently, Here/ Now services will localize and diversify: More local options encompassing more kinds of consumer desires in more markets – from on-demand laundry services, to on-demand TV, to on-demand luxury travel BRAND STANDS The world of consumerism is full of exaggerations and plain untruths. And in the past, most Asian consumers have simply accepted this.

But Asia is changing, thanks to growing tertiary education and rising rates of those studying abroad. This growing group of Asians is more critical and outspoken than ever. One instance? September 2014 saw two Korean students cross the Han River in Seoul with a raft made of 160 unopened bags of potato chips, to highlight how much air a bag of chips contains. Can you reach new consumers and build new relationships by taking a stand against consumerism’s many absurdities?

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L OGIC & MAGI C

LOGIC & MAGIC

Tell your best story The social power of telling stories Words BONG R. OSORIO

The challenge of communicators is how to get their messages to consistently cut through the clutter of information that characterizes today’s media landscape and, in the process, grow their brands or corporate identities into icons. Today, the “theater of brand war” has expanded, with all kinds of stories struggling to be heard amidst a universe of media din and shoutouts, with many messages and public pleas to support communication and advocacy programs die on the vine before they even touch their intended audiences.

There are a few survivors in the combat zone, though, and the only tool they used to survive, to shift minds, and to alter behaviors was to tell a great, compelling story. Today’s audiences are inexorably gaining control from mainstream media and are, in the process, paving the way for a fresh, digitally-empowered life.

Now, they don’t just gobble up and chew messages, they own them, share them, and choose which among them will continue to exist (and which will expire).

At the tops of their voices, they insist on telling stories that the human mind has always preferred — stories of encouragement and empowerment, of people realizing their maximum potential and participating in great efforts to build a better world.

Great PR stories make your communication sticky. In the words of PR consultant Robbie Vorhaus, “They are pure non-fiction — truth told in the precise same context as any other story form as movies, advertising and journalism.”

Malcolm Gladwell, author of The Tipping Point, referred to it as contagious messages that “catch on” as they’re passed from person to person. They become memorable because of their simplicity, becoming unforgettable creative executions of literal meanings and expressions.

Brilliant and catchy slogans turn bland messages into creative stories, where a central idea is focused on one person, an idea or a thing. They take your audience on a journey and make them enjoy the ride and the experience. In the end, whoever tells

the best story in a most convincing fashion gets the hearts and minds of people.

The book Winning the Story Wars: Why Those Who Tell — and Live — the Best Stories Will Rule the Future by Jonah Sachs shares helpful insights and simple tools any brand, individual or company can use to rise above the confusion of messages and executions, generate followers, empower your followers and grow your brand. Essentially, to win the story war you have to be interesting, you must tell the truth and you must live the truth.

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Telling the truth is living the truth. To achieve this you need three tactics — tell your more significant truth, emphasize the influence of your audience, and embrace the power of inspiration and empowerment.

The ‘Courage’ campaign of Nike, in which athletes tell their stories of perseverance and overcoming the odds, is a story about Nike’s audience — an overall tale about people that breathes life into the brand. It gave birth to the universally recognized tagline, “Just do it” — three simple words that have urged viewers to pursue achievement in whatever way they define it. The rousing message catapulted Nike to iconic status, not only in its industry but also in the wide, wild world of communication.

Barack Obama’s inspiring ‘Yes We Can’ political campaign carried Obama’s exaltation of optimism over fear, collective sacrifice over individual greed, and engaged citizenship over pre-packaged, convenient solutions,” Sachs wrote. He touched a nerve with an empowering message highlighting the American people’s boundless ability to mature and transcend.

Obama’s campaign story spread wildly through the digital landscape. People believed that yes, they could, and became joyful evangelists. The Obama campaign raised over half a billion dollars online alone. And, against all odds, Barack Obama became the President of the United States.

Steve Jobs would tell his biographer before his death, “The people who buy Apple products do think different. They are the creative spirits in this world,

and they’re out to change the world. We make tools for those kinds of people.”

Apple’s “Think Different” campaign made a difference. No doubt about it.

These empowerment stories instigated action by painting a picture of an imperfect world that can be fixed through novel stories and noble actions. And, most importantly, they create deep affinity by acknowledging that human beings can be cause-oriented advocates and value-laden individuals — something more than selfish machines seeking status, sex, comfort, and convenience.

Social media platforms are intensifying the power of positive stories. But it’s misleading to call it a trend. These stories have always been with you and have always been powerfully significant. And if you evaluate empowerment storytelling by its ability to create unforgettable, iconic

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campaigns, it reveals itself as the ultimate secret weapon for winning the story wars.

The core strategy of empowerment communication is about values and inspiration. A brand has an opportunity to promote higher values. To achieve this, you need to understand it and make a promise to it. You need to embed values into its story elements since it’s a powerful engagement point between the brand and its publics.

Some brands have values defined by who they are. BMW is ‘The Ultimate Driving Experience’, Discovery Channel is ‘Wide Eyed Wonder’, Greenpeace is about the environment and Amnesty International is about human rights. It just is who they are.

Stories are at risk because of “sins” that are being committed in the process of storytelling.

These sins include: “narcissism” — a story

becomes self-centered instead of being communal; “authority” — too factual and lacks emotional connection; “insincerity” — tries too hard to please and loses its core; “puffery” — a story with no substance falls flat; “gimmickry” — pursues “going viral,” but lends “falsity” to a story. These “sins” put your story in danger of losing its value and potential in engaging people.

To prevent a story from committing “sins,” it needs to pass the story test. For your story to get a passing mark it must be: “tangible” — people can “touch” and “feel” the story based on information shared; “relatable” — people learn something of value in the story; “memorable” — scenes and metaphors used make it easy for people to recall the core message; and “emotional” — it elevates others in what they feel or learn. When these elements are

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effectively used, the opportunity for the story to be powerful and engaging becomes powerful, and can stand the test of time.

People love a good story. Telling your story is an important but often-ignored task. Everyone should learn that skill to fight a good fight. As online marketing pioneer and bestselling author Brian Eisenberg pronounced, “Effective content marketing is about mastering the art of storytelling. Facts tell, but stories sell.”

BONG OSORIO is an active marketing and communications practitioner, educator, and writer. He currently heads ABS-CBN’s corporate communications department, and is a professor at the University of Santo Tomas, as well as a columnist at The Philippine Star.

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DOWNTIME

DOWNTIME

UDDER FAILURE Fairlife Milk

The Coca-Cola Company’s fledgling dairy division made headlines late last year when the campaign it was using to test-market a new lactose-free line, ‘Fairlife’, drew criticism for its, shall we say, raciness. Featuring copy inviting consumers to “Drink What She’s Wearing” and “Better Milk Looks Good on You”, the campaign depicted nude pinup models with nothing but splashed milk (we hope) to cover their modesty.

WHAT HAPPENED TO VEGAS? Sharper Image (USA)

This one would be funny if it wasn’t so ridiculous: A print campaign featuring Supermodel Heidi Klum for Sharper Image was banned in (of all places) Las Vegas in December for apparently being too racy.

According to Dari Marder, chief marketing officer for Iconix Brand Group, which created the original ads, “We believe the campaign is tasteful, beautiful, and while sexy, not inappropriate in any way.” Revised versions of the ads were eventually approved for display and, while Sharper Image didn’t release any statements, we’re guessing they were happy to be relevant for the first time in years.

CHARITY, THE WRONG WAY ‘ROUND Feed-A-Child (South Africa)

“The average domestic dog eats better than millions of children.” Sadly, a powerful final message doesn’t even begin to counter the almost elegant depiction of racism seen in this ad from South Africa’s (presumably) well-meaning ‘Feed-A-Child’ charity. Perhaps having a young child stand in for a household pet wasn’t the smartest idea in the world.

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January-February 2015