Business Mirror
January 20, 2018 issue
Print was one of two
of the most loved media up to the last days of 2005. Because we handled a
telecom account, doing a print ad excited us no end. For one, the waiting time
of seeing the fruits of our hardwork was short. It would surely come out on the
coming weekend, and whoah, humongous – no less than full page or centerspread.
The cycle went on and
on, especially when the battle of telco giants raged like wildfire and reached
its peak. Media agencies got rich, while we, creators, happy enough to see our
masterpieces come out in its full glory. Along with the fast pace of handling
an account that required you to churn out ideas just as fast, we also worked on
ad agency initiative ads fit to compete in awards shows. Bread and butter clients.
Soul and spirit assignments. You’ve go to be on your toes round-the-clock, even
at home. Frenetic? Yes. Exhausting? No. We loved our work.
Naturally, we needed
more brains. Instead of hiring from other ad agencies, we thought training
people straight out of college would be the best thing to do. And so, one morning
of a fine day, I was greeted with the news that a new graduate from Ateneo
would drop by the office, and train in my department.
Noah Valdez wanted to
be an Art Director. “If that was the case, I will make you think visually
rather than draw figures literally,” my advice to him when we first met.
I gave him a deathly 'boring' assignment every single day for one month: Restructure a tagline and allow
him to craft his own based on that sentence. That was all he needed to do every
morning and come up with the same batch in the afternoon. Sounded crazy but the
idea was for him to turn boring moments into day-altering mindful exercises,
and allow his mind to wonder. I thought, it was not very often that one gets
the chance to sit and relax, and I believed, that when people are given tasks
that give them a chance to daydream, they're more likely to be creative.
Noah turned the
mundane tasks of many days into magical moments writing copy. He made himself
productive. We immersed him into the Bill Bernbach culture and exposed him to
bunch of reels from our New York Madison Avenue office. We brought him to
pre-production meetings and shoots. Our senior art directors took turns in
handling him, working on Apple computer softwares.
We had our weekly
“Ads from all over the world” viewing and internal Cannes competitions. Soon,
the young man became adept at great layouts, clean, uncluttered, minimalist, ads
without copy and headlines – ads I had hoped he would do. He eventually became
part of our daily grind.
A few more months, and
he was part of my New York Festivals world medal winning ad, “Stamp”, and
countless more. As I wrote on my last day in the office before taking on a
Malaysia assignment, “he would be one of the great boys of the Philippine ad
industry.” True enough, he is on his way.
Noah moved to Bates
141 in 2008, handled by other award-winning creative directors. He returned to
Tribal DDB after four years then rejoined Bates CHI and Partners as Creative
Director on same year. In 2015, he reached the top and was appointed Executive
Creative Director, handling Wyeth, NBA, Pizza Hut, among others.
Noah and his team
were responsible for the successes of Wyeth’s growing-up milk brand, Bonakid
Pre-School. Musically inclined (it runs in the family), he helped develop a
catchy tune that grew into a viral hit. The campaign eventually spawned many
dance videos, parodies and spoofed by a well-known local tv show.
Tireless, passionate,
eager, and most of all, always strategic, Noah was in the team that won the
Pizza Hut business in the Philippines. If you see those all those Pizza Hut
commercials on tv, he had a direct hand creating them. He’s gone a long way and
attended a number of regional ad conferences and built a career through sheer
hardwork.
How is he doing these
days? Let’s take a closer look at the millennial hotshot who is rocking his
agency and steering it to more successes.
BUSINESS
MIRROR: You have been in advertising for quite some time, what made you stick?
NOAH
VALDEZ: I’ve always considered myself an Adman by accident and I’ve been very
lucky to have great mentors all these years. I guess what really made me stick
to Advertising is the opportunity to learn from new people every day. I also
love the excitement and rush that you constantly get with the chance to handle
different types of brands both local and international.
To
be successful in advertising, what do you think people should have and
cultivate?
It’s
really about patience, persistence, excitement and an undying passion to learn
and create. Without these traits, you’ll never make it.
What
is creativity to you?
Creativity
doesn’t just pop out of nowhere in fact, it takes a lot of work to be Creative.
I believe that when it comes to ideas, you can only contribute what you’ve
exposed yourself to. So yeah, before you ‘become Creative’, you have to love
being inspired first.
What
do you look for in a person who wants to work in your department?
I’m
always on the lookout for someone who can bring something new to the team.
Someone with a different point-of-view, a different background, a different
writing or art style - someone I can mentor but someone I can learn from as
well.
People
say advertising is not what it used to be, let’s focus on Pitching or acquiring
new business. If you agree or disagree, why and why not?
I
think it’s more competitive now when it comes to pitches. There are a lot of
smaller and younger shops that are definitely capable of nabbing new business
wins against more established, multinational agencies.
What
is your style of creative management?
I
always try to make sure that creativity isn’t forced. True, our daily lives are
filled with deadlines but as much as possible, I want my team to always be
inspired to create great work. So I constantly share tidbits of amazing work
ranging from the best of the industry to the best of what people are doing to change
the world. Thank God for Facebook Groups.
How
do you begin your day in the office?
I
love coming to work before everyone else. The calm and quiet relaxes me and
prepares me for the day ahead. I usually start off with a cup of coffee and a
light snack, preparing my game plan for the day as I engage in a staring
contest with my Calendar.
Describe
yourself in a few words:
Alone,
at home and at work.
The
5 things you like in advertising?
1.
The competitive nature of the industry
2.
It’s constantly changing and never boring
3.
Working with different types of talented people
4.
The opportunity to handle great brands
5.
Being exposed to inspiring work from all over the world
The
5 things you hate about it.
Just
2. 1. The late nights (of course) 2. Stress eating
Traditional
or Digital? We’ve heard so many discussions about the two, your views?
I’m
all for the discipline of Traditional Advertising but I’m absolutely excited
about the potential of Digital Advertising.
What
medium do you think will give a client much value for his marketing money?
Broadcast
TV is still king but it also requires a king-sized budget. I feel that, if done
correctly, Social and Digital can give clients so much value for their money
because of all the specific parameters you can set.
What’s
your favorite medium?
Print!
Although it’s a medium that’s slowly dying, I love the challenge of having to
figure out how to best capture your target audience with one strong piece of
communication without you getting the chance of presenting. It’s all or nothing
when it comes to print.
Do
you get intimated when faced with big names in the industry, let’s say during a
pitch?
I
find myself excited with the challenge of going up against people I look up to
and respect.
What
do you think industry people should do more to keep it more vibrant, relevant
and attuned with the times?
I
think the industry should continue educating and inspiring the next generation
of Admen. A lot of the best in the industry have invested time in teaching in
Universities, which is absolutely admirable. These people are keeping our
industry relevant. Hats off to them.
How
did you start your advertising career?
I
started my career not knowing much about Advertising or Art Direction so I’ll
always be grateful for than one person who gave me a shot - my first boss. So I
basically learned everything on the job; from using Adobe Photoshop and
Macromedia Freehand back in the day to understanding what it took to win new
business and awards. And I’m proud to say that I learned how to source stock
photos the hard way by scanning images from Gettyimages Books. Yes. There was
no website back in 2003. You young Art Directors are so damn lucky. Cherish it.
Your
greatest achievement?
Marrying
the one that got away, of course.
