DON'T COMPETE, CONSOLIDATE.

by Roger Pe

He loves to bring out the best in people.

He believes one can pick up something from everyone because everyone has an opinion.

He doesn’t like layers, his doors are always open, and most of all, he’s very collaborative.

What drives this unassuming man who always gives his 100% and wants to be the best that he can be?

In everything that he does, Miguel C. Ramos gives it his best shot, whether making a business pitch or simply trying to learn surfing with his kids during weekends.

From selling gasoline to being an accidental adman, Ramos, is reaping his rewards and is now in a bigger universe, not only as chairman of a creative ad agency but on top of a bigger realm of communications business. He, too, is chair of Aegis Media Group Philippines.

Formally launched to the industry last September 28, 2012, Aegis is a world leading media and digital communications group composed of five specialist global brands – Carat, iProspect, Isobar, Posterscope and Vizeum.

“We’ve integrated our key strengths. We are all one. Our consolidation will drive us to better returns because we don’t compete with each other unlike most media groups around,” he says.

Aegis came about when he and Lito ‘Boy’ Pangilinan, former Managing Director of MediaCom Philippines and General Manager of Campaigns & Grey, sat down for coffee one afternoon, a year ago to discuss possibilities.

“When I first heard the name Aegis, something totally different came to my mind. For those who are young (or mature enough) to remember, the name Aegis was first attributed to a pinoy rock band that started out as AGSoundtrippers.

They made waves in the late 90’s with some memorable hits like “Luha”, “Halik” and my personal favorite “Basang Basa Sa Ulan”, very descriptive song titles. I am sure many people in the industry will all agree,“ he reminisces.

Ramos’ Aegis was the result of his unrelenting search for excellence, looking for partners with the same commonality: intense desire to make their businesses grow.

With the changing advertising landscape, Ramos is never undaunted but describes it even as “never been this dynamic.”

The former 4A’s president who was very active in many industry-building efforts for many years also randomly tells Business Friday in an interview:

“Awards are still relevant as they are concrete measures of our effectivity.” He believes in relationship business, nurturing the partnership because at the end of the day, you get a better deal.
Getting to know Ramos’ newest baby is getting to know what makes Philippine media even more exciting, like the 5 global brands under its umbrella:
Carat is Aegis’ flagship and the world’s largest independent media communications company. It is present in 82 countries and employing 4,700 people.
Carat is redefining the media agency, not just offering media savings but delivering greater business value. Among its clients globally are General Motors Co, Diageo and Disney.
iProspect is a leading, global digital performance agency, focused on delivering digital performance on a global scale.
It helps many of the world's most successful brands maximize their online marketing ROI through paid search, social media strategy, search engine optimization, display media, conversion optimization, mobile marketing and other related services.
It has offices in 35 countries and employs 1,200 people, with major global clients, such as Procter & Gamble, HSBC and Sony.
Isobar is the world’s first global digital network and one of the largest. Its core competence is to connect brands by creating irresistible ideas that combine creative, planning, technology and data.
It was established in 2003 and has offices in 32 countries, with a staff of 2,400 people worldwide. Kellogg’s, Adidas and Nokia are some of its major clients.
Posterscope is the world’s leading Out-of-Home communications agency. Want to know how consumers behave when they are out-of-home? Talk to Posterscope and understand the connection between out-of-home, mobile and digital technologies.
Vizeum was created for the new era of media. It does not start with an ad, nor start with media. It starts from a different touch point – the way people make decisions about brands today.
It is present in 37 countries and employs 1,100 people worldwide with Coca-Cola, Panasonic and Total among its major clients.
THE NEW AGE: AEGIS

At the launching of Aegis, Ramos said: “traditional approaches are now obsolete and one hundred years of marketing ideas are gone.”

He said the old ways and tools don’t work as well as they used to now. He asked people to observe the following:

A 5-year old viewing a shampoo commercial of one of the largest and most sophisticated marketers in the world, a 4-year old niece navigating an Ipad intuitively and with greater skills than her 40-year old uncle.

A teenager connected simultaneously to three screens, TV, iPhone, Laptop on YM, while doing her homework”, and “a grandmother connecting to friends and relatives all over the world, creating and sharing content with ease.

“Observe all these, and you’ll know the world has changed,” he says.

RETHINK

Ramos’ Aegis puts media demographics and aperture expertly under the microscope. Aware that “brands and mass audiences now stand on equal footing,” marketers should rethink the way they should talk to consumers, he says.

He notes that crowd-power, the largest companies, even governments now know what’s happening to new media.

He cites being exposed 24/7 to multi-channels and conversations that spread at lightning speed, for example. “Marketers should all the more rethink the way they should talk to their targets,” he reiterates.

REDEFINE

Ramos stresses the need for marketers to expand from traditional media.

“Where advertising is now a small part of a much wider and wilder media ecosystem, where the 30-second TV commercial may not always be the silver bullet as it has always been in the past, Aegis, he says, creates tremendous opportunities to engage and converse with audiences.”

REINVENT

To connect and engage the consumers unceasingly, Ramos offers the Aegis Solution. He recommends the following:

1. Start with zero based planning principles with no defined media executions to start from.

2. Develop creative ideas that seamlessly flow through varied media channels online and offline.

3. Leverage the strategic tools and consumer insights on hand that are most apt for multiple brands and audiences.

4. Provide accountability for marketing investments and the results delivered by these resources.

“More than ever before, clients now want more accountability. The more we are accountable, the more we become better,” Ramos says.

Media used to be just numbers but Ramos says: “Media is now about putting creativity is many consumer touch points.”

He says Aegis Media was built for this perfect storm of globalization, convergence and digitization of the country’s online and offline lives.

Ramos says the agency is fully armed, having put in place the best possible tools for strategic media planning, buying and mounted what is currently the Philippines’ most comprehensive consumer insight research study and planning tool, CSS (Consumer Connection System).

The other key members of the Aegis Media Philippines team:

Carat Philippines – Mr. Boy Pangilinan CEO and Ms. Gladys Basinillo General Manager/COO

Mediaforce Vizeum – Mr. Tom Banguis Jr. – Chairman/CEO and Ms. Tonton Santiago - General Manager

iProspect – Ms. Shayne Garcia - Business Director

Isobar – Mr. Benson Lim - Digital Manager

Posterscope – Mr. Bing Kimpo - Business Director

WRITING THE LYRICS OF BRAND SUCCESS

by Roger Pe

There are many anecdotes and great moments in Philippine advertising, you can write volumes of books about them.

One of them is this nerve-wracking story.

When the Concepcion family OF RFM bought a moribund softdrink company in the late 80s, three of its brands went up for an advertising bid.

You may call it the most high profile pitch then, and Basic Advertising, under the watchful eyes of its drillmaster Minyong Ordonez, went for the kill.

Nonoy Gallardo was one of the agency’s five creative directors determined to give the big boys a scare. He was tasked to conceptualize the agency’s pitch material for a cola market dominated for a long time by two warring giants, Coke and Pepsi.

Can a local company fight the multinational behemoths, each with strong presence across the country?

Pepsi had Michael Jackson, incredibly popular during that time with his “Billy Jean” anthem. To say the brand was very aggressive was an understatement. It churned out tv commercials, one after the other on the airwaves.

Coke, the number one cola, on the other hand, was always on alert for every move by competition. Its promos were big time and you can hear them any time. “Coke is it”, the brand’s thematic campaign, was cool with the young, a great tagline, perfect to solidify market leadership.

And so, the cola war was on, and a newcomer was about to join the fray.

Gallardo did his homework. “There were no consumer research back then, it was all based on gut feel but we made sure we zeroed in on the pulse of our target, a thing many marketers take for granted,” he reveals.

With an analytical mind and innate gift for music, his team readied the presentation, a precursor of many of Basic’s “pulse of the market” campaigns.

Gallardo brought along Ryan Cayabyab, the prime mover behind Filipino OPM (Original Pilipino Music) who translated his battlecry lyrics into a hair-raising acapella masterpiece.

As soon as Cayabyab began pounding on the keyboards, the panel had goosebumps. Everyone was mesmerized. The scene was reminiscent of Cayabyab’s Metro-Manila Pop Music Festival gig, where he won the Grand Prize for “Kay Ganda ng Ating Musika”.

After Cayabyab’s number, the whole agency team was asked to leave the room and linger a while at the lounge area while clients deliberated. Soon after, the conference door opened and handed in the verdict.

Basic was it. Pop, Sarsi and Cheers, the brands that were put on the block had a new agency and new music.

“Ang Bagong Tunog, Ang Bagong Pinoy” was born. Ordonez, Gallardo and his Basic team gave birth to “Angat sa Iba” and reminded us all that a Pinoy brand can be as good, if not better than imported brands.

Th relaunch of Cosmos brands after the first People Power was spectacular, even with inventory ‘shortage’ because of heavy demands from consumers.

More than twenty years after the commercials were launched on major Philippine tv stations at precedent making simulcast airing (roadblock), they still look as impeccable and exquisite as they made their first splash.

They could also easily upstage a tv ad in its category today.

“People thought we had a huge budget for that production but no, we didn’t. We relied on the wizardry of two young directors, Jeric Soriano and Jun Reyes whose eyes for visual design rewarded us with a good campaign,” he says.

“Ang Bagong Tunog” and “Angat sa Iba” now belong to the archives of Adboard (Advertising Board of the Philippines), predecessor of ASC (Ads Standards Council) as among Philippine advertising classics.

Gallardo and Ordonez were also partners for Basic’s high-recall tv campaign: Duty-Free’s “Babalik Ka Rin”. He was the same man behind the lyrics of “Saranggola ni Pepe”, “Tuliro” and Gaano Kita Kamahal?”

His wife is the iconic Celeste Legaspi, daughter of National Artist Cesar Legaspi. Celeste appeared in many Lino Brocka films, a successful recording artist who won many music awards and sang her way to gold and platinum charts.

“Pagdating Mo”, the husband and wife team’s entry to the very first Metro Pop Festival placed second to “Kay Ganda Ng Ating Musika” (music and lyrics by Ryan Cayabyab, interpreted by Hajji Alejandro). Not many people know, Gallardo also wrote the libretto of the original Filipino musical, “Sino Ka Ba, Jose Rizal?”

The man who learned advertising by religiously listening to the masters as they talked in regular industry gatherings would eventually put up his own agency.

Gallardo hired some of the best creative people in the industry in the early 90s: Mario Monteagudo, Dudu Ulep and Jim Paredes (of Apo Hiking Society fame). He called it Creative Partners.

“I had to reinvent myself,” he narrates. The reinvention earned Gallardo many hard-to-win trophies from Creative Guild, the award-giving body of the 4A’s.

While his baby earned a creative reputation, his feet were on the ground, never losing sight on the most important thing why he put up the shop: Help your clients’ business grow. “Kawawa naman sila if your priorities are different,” he says.

Monteagudo, his prize-catch from Ace-Saatchi and who gave his team a big creative boost had this to say:

“When you say "Nonoy Gallardo", the first thing that comes to mind is he doesn't believe in creativity for creativity's sake, he despises scam ads.”

When the Creative Guild gave Monteagudo the Lifetime Achievement Award, he thanked Gallado in his speech. Here are some excepts:

"Thank you to Nonoy Gallardo for giving me the opportunity to put up our own ad agency, Creative Partners and appointing me as Chief Creative Officer. Thank you for reminding me that great ads are created to build brands, not just our own personal portfolio, that we should use our creativity to boost sales, not our ego. And that no matter what happens, we should never, never, never make an ad for the sole purpose of winning an award."

The man who loved to reinvent himself each time he changed agencies is now the founder and CEO of Gasso (Gallardo and Associates), with surprisingly, a number of blue chip accounts and digital savvy.

At Gasso, Gallardo is reinventing himself once again, realizing the power of social media. Like the “Bagong Tunog” of Sarsi that he blazed, he is focusing on “Bagong Dugo” - helping new breed of advertising people help politicians do transformational rather than transactional acts.

No doubt, Gallardo’s longevity in the business is the sum total of his mindset when writing the lyrics of a song. “Know your destination and you’ll know where you’re going.”

IS YOUR AD APPALLING, CLICHE AND NOT COMPETITIVE FOR AWARD SHOWS?

by Roger Pe


Call him Mr. Burger. Tag him as Mr. Telecom, or simply address him as Mr. Nice Guy, that fits as well.

When McDonald’s shifted creative duties from McCann to Leo Burnett because of global alignment, the same marketing team had no qualms in welcoming him back.

More than a decade of tender, loving management care earned him today a place in the sun, a position many of his batchmates only achieved halfway.

Meet Raymund Arrastia, Leo Burnett Manila’s Group Managing Director, the guy on top of an agency conclave voted by the Philippine 4A’s as Best in Business Management this year.

The agency groups Leo Burnett Advertising, Black Pencil and Arc Digital Worldwide together.

Arrastia and former Executive Creative Director and Managing Directors Richard Irvine and March Ventosa) brought McDonald’s closer to Filipino homes.

The closer they got, the closer the agency also became an award-winning machine. Remember Karen, the granddaughter whom his ‘lolo’ (grandfather) kept referring to as Gina in that landmark 2001 tv commercial?

That was not only a mass audience success, it shoved the Philippines to the elite circle of Gold winners in Spike Asia, one of Asia’s two category 1 award shows.

Before that, the country had languished in the cellar, seeing the yearly results gave local industry observers anguish. The “Lolo” win was a major coup. It finally broke the long lingering spell where the country had never before won in a mainstream medium.

Arrastia was part of that dawning of new triumphant era, that also saw BenGay, Pacific Internet, Tide, Perla and other ‘quiet’ Burnett brands rose one after the other in blaze of glory.

The secret formula: Leo Burnett’s GPC (Group Product Committee) Rating System that the agency rigorously implements till today.

The GPC is an elite group of country creative directors tasked to evaluate ads prior to competing in award competitions. They are graded based on the following points:

1 - Appalling
2 - Destructive
3 - Not Competitive
4 - Cliche
5 - Innovative Strategy
6 - Fresh Idea
7 - Excellence in Craft
8 - New standard in the category
9 - New standard in advertising
10 - Best in the world, bar none

At the end of screening, ads that garner 8 points or better are good enough to compete.

Multi-Brand Master

Has anyone handled three major telecom accounts in his career? If you look at Arrastia’s track record as agency partner in helping build strong brands, those were just appetizers.

In one of his agency forays, Arrastia was like a sword, cast in iron, sharpened by fire and faced different market oddities.

Arrastia gamely faced one tough-brand-to-crack and which everyone feared to handle because of long hours, mind-altering deadlines and a client who didn’t mince words.

“I took the challenge because it was character building and being on it was a test of character,” he smiles recollecting his saga in that tumult-fraught episode of his career.

As Assistant Vice President for Philippine operations of Colgate Center of Excellence at Young & Rubicam, Arrastia was already showing the tough brand builder he was turning into.

He was a steadfast steward of strategies at BBDO-Guerrero. As a Business Unit Director for Pepsi, he moved to greater challenges in a more progressive environment, his hands full, helping balance creativity with strong strategic weight.

“Understanding your local market, making sure that advertising connects to your target and doing your homework pay big time,” Arrastia says.

Marketers who do not have much budget to support a brand campaign could learn a lot from Arrastia.

“You don’t need a big tranche of money to get awareness. “Choose the right medium, he says.”

He cites “Twister Fries” - a new addition to McDonald’s potato cuisine, a proudly Philippine-made product concept that is on the verge of making it to mainstream and, perhaps, on global McDonald’s menu.

Using “It’s time to get twisted again” campaign on social media, Burnett’s digital prowess is helping Twister Fries experience big clamor beyond its expectations.

Arrastia is proud of Burnett’s digital advantage. “We are strong, we are competitive, we have the support, applications and technology created by our developers in-house unlike any other shops,” he stresses.

“You may call Leo Burnett Manila’s Arc Worldwide Digital as kind of a technological hub which even offshore clients run after,” he points out.

For Arrastia, the key to success is hiring the right people in the right places. That is perhaps the reason why the agency is going further the distance on the growth charts.

Creative Powerhouse

Leo Burnett Worldwide won a record-breaking total of 55 Cannes Lions last June.

The network’s worldwide Chief Creative Officer Mark Tutssel, whom Business Friday interviewed prior to Ad Congress in Camsur last year, said in an announcement:

"Setting a new network record is a testament to our relentless focus on creativity and bringing to life ideas that resonate with a global audience."

Arrastia further tells us: “The network doesn’t believe in just creating ads. It has a creative mantra: "Acts Not Ads", a philosophy about a brand’s purpose, what it cares about and what it believes in. It is all about an act that can contribute to society at large or to a single life.”

Example work of the agency’s ideology was the humongously successful “Earth Hour” which the Burnett Sydney office developed supporting not-for-profit organizations.

A couple of years back, D&AD, the toughest awards show in the world, honored Leo Burnett Manila for its “Counting Sheep” tv ad for McDonald’s.

The ad was one of only few Filipino ads to be included in D&AD’s prestigious annual, heralding the agency’s creative team: Richard Irvine, Raoul Panes (now the agency’s Chief Creative Officer), Alvin Tecson, Mela Advincula).

Last May 4, Leo Burnett Manila lorded it over the rest of field at the Creative Guild of the Philippines’ “Kidlat Awards” with 19 metals, 5 of them golds. The agency also won a World Bronze Medal at New York Festivals.

Jarek Ziebinski, president of Leo Burnett Asia Pacific, whom Business Friday also interviewed last year said: “Leo Burnett is poised to be the fastest growing network in the region amid a climate of anemic advertising budgets.”

Ziebinski is famous for his “growth for freedom” proponent: "If a managing director gives me growth in the market, he gets the freedom to hire, to raise salaries and to expand.”

With Arrastia’s brand management style, the stars can be reached and agency’s goals shouldn’t be far-fetched.

THE COPYWRITER WHO WROTE HER TICKET TO SUCCESS

by Roger Pe

If David Ogilvy were alive today, he would be tweeting as much as he would be posting memes on Facebook.

Chances are, your followers will also be retweeting his nuggets of wisdom and your mutual friends, sharing his posts twice over.

Last year, the advertising industry celebrated the 100th birthday of a man regarded as the Father of Advertising, likewise, acclaimed author of two of the industry’s most influential books: “Ogilvy on Advertising” and “Confessions of an Advertising Man.”

At the end of the longest red carpet ever rolled in Cannes’ Palais des Festivals, a big billboard was mounted with this copy: “On this day, 100 years ago, David was born to inspire.”

On to the next 100 years. Would Ogilvy’s words be as relevant as it was inspiring when he mouthed them?

Universal truths and immortal teachings cannot be quantified by mathematical equations, especially if you have a believer as “codified” as Peachy Pacquing, newly appointed Country Head and CEO of Ogilvy Manila.

Pacquing was barely two days old in her new post during the interview. Interestingly, her appointment came on her third reincarnation in Ogilvy, an undeniable fact that she really was destined to head one of the country’s dynamic ad agencies.

Pacquing immediately strikes her audience with characteristics similar to strong Filipino women of the industry: Emily Abrera and Yoly Villanueva-Ong.

On her acceptance of the challenge, David Mayo, Ogilvy & Mather ASEAN President said:

“Pacquing has proven herself to be a collaborator, a business builder, a brand expert and in the new digital age, a leader beyond compare.”

“Why do creative people end up managing today’s business?” she begins, not with a tone of dismay, but with a tone of a serious businesswoman ready to roll the punches and face the battle.

“I never dreamt of being a CEO. I just watched how people, like Miniong Ordonez (former chairman of Basic), did it. I just fell in love with the industry and invested in something that was very gratifying,” she recollects on her journey.

To Pacquing, gratification is putting a lot of discipline in everything she does, whether doing a campaign, strategy planning, or now, managing an entire agency.

She lived out of a suitcase before, hopping from one airport to another, visiting thriving market hubs to manage a best-selling shampoo as a regional creative director, business building like no other.

The multi-disciplined creative who has literally and figurativelly gone places, intends to immediately pull together a formidable team in each of Ogilvy’s value-oriented department to deliver a long-term pool of robust talents.

“I want to come up with work that Filipinos and consumers can be proud of and relate to,” she says.

“I am looking forward to setting the course for Ogilvy with a series of moves that will put the agency ahead of the competition and connect us more closely with the emergent new Philippine consumer,” she said in an announcement.

Before she became Ogilvy’s CEO, Pacquing’s portfolio is volume-thick with awards garnered from the world’s most prestigious award-giving bodies, name them, she has them.

She dotes on the agency and admits that she is lucky to be in an organization that constantly asks you to do better.

Regionally and globally, the Ogilvy network is at the totem pole of creative rankings. It is redundant to mention that it is 2012’s Cannes Network of the Year, a dizzying achievement that rattled the usual suspects in the world’s biggest advertising festival.

In the Philippines, the agency is a vibrantly creative company with five companies under its roof, each doing a full-range of communications services.

OgilvyOne won Digital Agency of the Year and Red Works, was picked as the Print Production Agency of the Year in last year’s 4A’s Agency of the Year annual awards.

Saying it with true grit, Pacquing is proud of the fact that Ogilvy is aligned with her own values. “That’s the reason why I keep coming back to the agency.”

She tells people there is genuine respect in what people do in Ogilvy. She seems right on target and determined to steer Ogilvy to new heights based on her vision.

“You want to understand where it is headed. That’s what keeps me up at night. It’s sobering when you have something to look forward to when you wake up in the morning,” she intimates with circumspect.

David Ogilvy’s quotes are like precious gems in a jewelry box, which among them would she pick as her favorite?

Pacquing can’t be caught flat-footed. The staunch keeper and fierce advocate of Ogilvy’s doctrines answers with a mark of a true leader:

"If you always hire people who are smaller than you are, we shall become a company of dwarfs. If, on the other hand, you always hire people who are bigger than you are, we shall become a company of giants."

Pacquing runs that in her head every time she interviews people. She makes it a point to probe and ask: “Will the probable candidate make me insecure?”

Pacquing is Ogilvy-personified so intense we caught her garbed in some shades of red, the Ogilvy corporate color.

“In everything we do, the Ogilvy creative culture is always at the forefront of our business, our creativity as fluid and seamlessly integrated,” she says.

For Pacquing, growing the business should be done with a strategy likened to that of winning a war, do it intelligently.

“The world is pitch-crazy these days,” she hollers. “While we want our business to grow every year, we want to do it the better way – done smartly.”

How does she inspire people?

“I lead by example. If people are working on it, I am working on it. I don’t hesitate to ask people, if you need me, ask me.”

Nothing is beneath Pacquing. She still carries the values many Philippine advertising greats taught her.

She values honesty and people who do their work passionately.

She treats everyone in Ogilvy as an extension of her family – nurturing and trying to bring out the best in people, sharing what she had learned throughout her colorful, illustrious career.

Giving something back for Pacquing is an obligation, it’s no surprise you’ll find her teaching Visual Communications at UP College of Fine Arts every Saturday.

She has previously held Advertising, Direct and Interactive Creative Director positions and as Ogilvy's Regional Creative Director for Kimberly Clark Asia Pacific, Grey Worldwide's Regional Creative Director for Pantene and JWT's Regional CD for Knorr Asia. Multi-faceted.

She came back to Ogilvy Manila in March 2008 as 360 Planning Director and also was Talent Leader.

Today, the copywriter who wrote her own ticket to her newly found destination has arrived.

The passionate observant who has partnered with many brilliant Filipino creatives and worked under the scrutiny of legendary Neil French has gone full circle.

Now, that’s inspiration beyond words.

IS YOUR BRAND A CELEBRITY?

by Roger Pe

Sporting greats. Movie stars. Intellectual achievers. Beauty queens. Entertainment, and other famous personalities - when they’re hot, they’re hot and who else could be chasing them?

Brands who want to have a measure of their glow to help them get into people’s homes and consciousness, and hopefully, their wallets.

Celebrities are like honeycombs ("pinuputakte") swarmed by bees, in Pinoy street language, when they step into a mall.

Fans and curious onlookers gravitate towards them, creating a commotion, and in some cases, pandemonium.

Smart advertisers strike while the iron is hot, knocking on their doors, cashing in on their popularity.

As these demi-gods turn into big crowd magnets and everyone is going gaga over them, companies are scrambling to catch a proverbial star.

Based on AC Nielsen’s latest study covering from January to June 11 last year, the Top 5 Celebrity Endorsers in the Philippines are:

1. Kris Aquino (10 endorsements), 2. John Lloyd Cruz (8 endorsements) 3. Carmina Villaroel, Zoren Legaspi, Ryan Agoncillo, Sarah Geronimo and Vic Sotto (7 endorsements) 4. Anne Curtis, 5. Marie Lozano, Michael V and Sharon Cuneta (6 endorsements) 5. Judy Ann Santos and Kim Chiu (5 endorsements)

Last April, Rappler published BIR’s top celebrity taxpayers for the year 2010 as follows:

1.Kris Aquino: P32.3M Income Tax, P101.08M Income

2. Sarah Geronimo: P14.8M Income Tax, P46.5M Income

3. Piolo Pascual: P13.05M Income Tax, P40.9M Income

4. Marian Rivera: P11.89M Income Tax, P37.27M Income

5. John Lloyd Cruz: P10.93M Income Tax,
P34.25M Income

Filipino and global boxing icon Manny Pacquiao is in a league of his own.

For the first time last year, Pacman barged into Forbes’ yearly list of the 20 Highest-Paid Celebrities, ranking 16th with $67 million in earnings inspite of his controversial loss to Timothy Bradley.

Manny Pacquiao’s global endorsements include Nike, Technomarine, Hewlett-Packard, Hennessy, among others making him ahead of Dr. Phil McGraw ($64 million), business mogul Donald Trump ($63 million), Ryan Seacrest ($59 million), and Britney Spears and Tiger Woods (both with $58 million).

So you’ve signed big celebrity up as endorser because your brand isn’t moving up an inch the sales charts, and your bottom line is nearing rock bottom.

Is dear celebrity the last resort?

Before spending or see your precious money go down the drain, ask yourself if you did your homework.

Do you have a good strategy? Are you delivering the right message? How’s your advertising? Does it stand out from the media clutter? Or worst, are you selling a turkey?

There’s more to using glamour, prestige, and fame lent by celebrities to your advertising than meets the eye.

YOUR PRODUCT, THE CELEBRITY

“The product, the product, the product.” Many advertising greats have repeatedly said this line.

Everything boils down, as we all know, to a good product, one that delivers what it says, one that makes the competition scringe with envy and, in the long run, has no option but to improve his.

A good product is a star in its own right.

A great product is a celebrity. It will sell on its own merits. Its performance is its own testimonial. Extremely satisfied consumers are its free endorsers.

Advertising a bad product, even if endorsed by Superman or the sexiest girl or man in the world, will not do the trick. It will only hasten its demise. People will eventually know and word-of-mouth is often fatal.

A good product with a celebrity endorser won’t do just as much either.

Remember what your marketing mentors taught you before? Learn from consumers, the very people who buy and use your product. Know what goes on their minds.

Probe, ask, talk, be one of them. What precious insights have you picked from being one of them?

Many marketers oftentimes fall into this trap: Using celebrity endorsers mouthing manufactured words blindly.

Letting endorsers memorize lines like robots without the heart and soul of a consumer is a waste of time and money. Today’s consumers are intelligent, they’ll know.

Ad campaigns that portray celebrities as consumers of the brand they are advertising are more credible.

A commercial that uses a celebrity as part of the story to dramatize a brand’s unique selling proposition leaves a good impression. It elicits audience empathy.

An ad that makes a celebrity just pose and smile infront of camera is cold and invites sarcasm. People tend to say, “So?”

Advertising that makes celebrities as mere decorations or props make people turn to the next page of a newspaper or change channels as in television.

The worst thing that could happen is, people remember the celebrities, not the brand.

Commercials using celebrities with a sense of purpose are best remembered and talked about.

When celebrities are depicted like normal human beings, people can always relate.

So the next time you do an ad using a celebrity, review your idea.

Scrutinize if he/she is going to be relevant to the story. Want to connect meaningfully to your audience? Attach celebrities to the concept - not coldly detached from consumers’ hearts and minds. Consumerizing a celebrity attracts throngs of consumers.

CHOOSING A CELEBRITY

Now that you have a product that will be swarmed by “bees” and in a situation that you have to use a celebrity, some tips to consider:

Do research on the celebrity’s likability.

Just because someone is popular, pretty or good-looking doesn’t mean she or he will fit the role.

You may find that there are skeletons rattling in the celebrity’s closet, things that could hurt your brand image later on.

Marketing guru Willy Arcilla who has worked around the region and the greater China market handling a number of multinational brands, says:

“Choose someone who best personifies your brand’s imagery, character and values, someone who can dramatize your brand’s rational and emotional benefits, and most of all, someone who genuinely loves your brand, uses your product or patronizes your service. Credibility is key.”

“It is like choosing a suit for your wedding day, says Raymund Sison, BBDO-Guerrero copywriter.

“It should fit perfectly or a disaster totally. The celebrity’s image should be right for the brand’s personality in the same manner as the role of the brand should be appropriate to the endorser’s lifestyle,” he says.

Sison also tells us that that the brand ambassador should likewise appeal to the market and the market should be able to identify with the celebrity.

Veteran tv commercial director Sockie Fernandez who has done many celebrity endorser ads, says that aside from popularity, one should “choose a celebrity that reflects the character and values of the brand you are selling.”

“Credibility is the most important thing. Afterall, your brand’s credibility is at stake. Does the product match the celebrity’s lifestyle? There should be truth in advertising,” says TV commercial Producer Desiree Pe-Beasley.

Rolly Halagao, one of advertising’s most in-demand casting directors, says: “Choose your celebrity endorser not only on popularity but also on credibility, adaptability and willingness to endorse your brand.”

Halagao explains: “A celebrity must be a hot-item to ignite your target. The willingness to do the project is a big factor because you may have an endorser who’ll just do it for the money.”

USING CELEBRITIES, THE UPSIDE

A brand looks real when a celebrity endorses it. It shows that it exists.

People are generally impressionable and would readily identify with the brands celebrities endorse.

“Many people believe that if they buy what celebrities are endorsing, they, too, can be just like them and have a piece of that “better” life,” says Arcilla.

Make hay while the sun shines and strike while the iron is hot. 16-year-old Gabby Douglas was everyone’s darling after she became the first Afro-American to win an Olympic gymnastics gold.

Procter & Gamble took advantage and offered her with a multi-million dollar endorsement deals. So did Kellogg’s.

Olympic champions Usain Bolt, Jessica Ennis, Mo Farrah are now enjoying fat celebrity endorsement fees because of their vastly immense pulling power.

THE BIGGER RISK

What happens when endorsers figure in scandals and not-so palatable situations?

When the endorser is ‘tainted’ the chain-reaction follows.

After winning eight gold medals at the Beijing Olympics, Michael Phelps earned numerous endorsement contracts. When photos of him surfaced on the net holding a marijuana pipe, AT&T cancelled his endorsement deals.

Tiger Woods had juicy contracts with Nike until he got into a smoldering domestic scandal. Relentless bad press rocked his otherwise wholesome persona affecting his image and Nike’s as well.

Woods lost major endorsement deals with Gillette, Gatorade and Tag Heuer.
Accenture also severed all ties with him, confirming he is "no longer the right representative."

A British actress told the world she rarely wears make-up while at the same time endorsing a cosmetics brand.

In 1988, actor Alan Alda was IBM spokesman but was caught buying a Toshiba.

Anheuser-Busch, Oakley, and Nike announced however said that it was sticking with Lance Armstrong despite the doping allegations hurled on the cyclist.

In a statement, Oakley said: "It supports athletes who respect and honor the ethics of sports until proven otherwise."

But even with these brands standing by Armstrong, Ad Age reported: “his popularity is going on a spiral downhill.”

So thinking of using an endorser? The payoffs are great, the risks even greater, but the greatest thing to do is invest on your product first and the rest, including celebrities, will follow.

PUTTING THE ZEN IN MANILA ADVERTISING: ONE-ON-ONE INTERVIEW WITH NONNA NANAGAS, PRESIDENT OF DENTSU PHILIPPINES

By Roger Pe

If you know an excellent sushi you must know this network.

If you know Toyota, Sony, Honda and other top Japanese brands, you must know Dentsu.

Not many people know, this Japanese ad conglomerate is one of the world’s largest. So big in fact, it can give the big guns, McCann, BBDO, Leo Burnett, Saatchi & Saatchi, Ogilvy and the rest a run for their money.

Just a little bit of introduction:

Dentsu is the fifth biggest advertising agency network in the world, a 110-year old iconic brand in Japan counting Toyota, Nintendo, Panasonic, Ajinomoto, among others as one of its 6,000 global clients.

For two consecutive years, (2011 and 2012) Dentsu was named Agency of the Year in Cannes of Asia, Asia Adfest, where Philippine ad agencies consistently send entries.

After 50 years of trying, Dentsu is making waves in the US. Under Tim Andree, Dentsu McGarry Bowen recently was named Ad Age’s Agency of the Year twice in three years.

The agency is on globalization frenzy and has started creating an advertising empire, stretching across the world’s five continents: the Americas, Europe, Asia, Oceania, all the way to North Africa with over 100 offices scattered all over.

As the industry focuses on the big boys, Dentsu is building a new organization – the “Dentsu Network” to hasten its spread across the globe.

Today, Dentsu has established an enviable reputation - one of the most innovative communications companies with a staff of 20,000 worldwide and is recognized as the world’s biggest sports marketing company.

THE DENTSU WAY

Need to breakdown constraints to find the best solutions for your clients’ marketing problems?

Tired of solutions that didn’t work? Following the “Dentsu Way” might give you the upperhand.

From product development to product launch, Dentsu practices “yuzu mage,” meaning flexibility and freedom.

The everyday practice is a corporate culture at Dentsu, the cornerstone of its uniqueness as an agency, all contained in a book called "The Dentsu Way,” published by the company.

“We have a guiding principle in managing our business that’s been good to us over the last 10 years in the Philippines,“ says Nonna Nanagas, the bubbly President and CEO of Dentsu Philippines in her posh address in The Enterprise Ayala.

An industry veteran, Nanagas earned her brilliant stars and stripes from many years of experience handling a number of local and multinational brands.

She is proud of her agency that’s been running against American and British-owned networks with aplomb.

“We are a low-key ad agency but at the end of the day, it’s about the agency and the brand,” she says.

Well-said. In these difficult times, Dentsu flies high with a solid report card handling 80% percent of Toyota’s advertising business in the Philippines, aside from consistently making double-digit growth and a good measure of non-Japanese accounts.

What makes “The Dentsu Way” a bright path to take? These teachings bring them great results:

1. Initiate projects on your own instead of waiting for work to be assigned.
2. Take an active role in all your endeavors, not a passive one.
3. Search for large and complex challenges.
4. Welcome difficult assignments. Progress lies in accomplishing difficult work.
5. Once you begin a task, complete it. Never give up.
6. Lead and set an example for your fellow workers.
7. Set goals for to ensure a constant sense of purpose.
8. Move with confidence, it gives your work force and substance.
9. At all times, challenge yourself to think creatively and find new solutions.
10. When confrontation is necessary, don’t shy away from it. Confrontation is often necessary to achieve progress.

Nanagas started as copywriter at the formerly dominant AMA (Advertising and Marketing Associates) after becoming a sterling PANA (Philippine Association of National Advertisers) scholar.

She was mentored by Philippine advertising greats: the late Antonio de Joya, Greg Macabenta, Louie Morales, Tony Gloria and Nita Claravall, becoming what she is now: creative and operations- savvy.

Hardwork is a class act for Nanagas who also speaks it. That perhaps explains her longevity in the industry.

“I learned the discipline of hardwork from my mentors,” she mentions with a low-key voice but bursts into a hearty laughter in between the interview seeing how the industry continuously evolves.

Nanagas is a mentoring President in and out of Dentsu, with an innate desire to give something back. You may find her in Ateneo teaching on a weekend if her Dentsu schedules allow her.

She never forgets to tell her students and staff that: “In this business, everything must be anchored on consumer insight. Creators of advertising must see how consumers behave, probe on their attitudes, and everything around them to be able to do effective advertising.”

She stresses that advertising isn’t one’s “kathang isip” (imagined things) and that agencies should make an impactful difference on their clients’ bottom lines to become real partners.

And how is Nanagas as a Dentsu leader?

“She is a people-oriented person and you can easily feel it the moment you’re introduced. Even in the 4A’s (Association of Accredited Advertising Agencies of the Philippines) where she was president, Nanagas is always candid and pleasantly approachable to many,” confides an industry colleague.

Beyond the pleasantness, is a businesswoman with depth and whose focus is only on Dentsu and not on which agency is doing what.

She has eyes only for delivering income to the agency, empowering, giving opportunities and growth for others. “You cannot perpetuate yourself,” she says.

In the Philippines, Dentsu is a dynamic advertising agency with a 45-staff, providing value-added service to clients.

“We provide service the Dentsu way but we are not subservient,” she says.

Last June, the Dentsu network won Cannes’s most prestigious Lion, the Titanium and 4 Gold Lions. It also bagged Cannes’ Media Agency of the Year in 2009 and Asia Adfest Interactive Agency of the Year for two consecutive years (2009 and 2010).

For the first time also in the history of the Campaign Brief Asia Creative Rankings, a Japanese agency landed at the top in the 2009 - Dentsu Tokyo became the most awarded agency in Asia, and Campaign Brief Asia's Regional Agency of the Year.

With thousands of clients all over the world going “The Dentsu Way,” wouldn’t you also follow the line?

IF YOU DON'T MOVE, YOU DIE.

In today’s marketing war, where so many events have obliterated the advertising landscape, agencies must always be on the lookout. If you don’t move, you die and if you deliver late, you are in trouble.

That’s as far as Tony Harris, British Chief Executive of BBDO-Guerrero is concerned.

On his second year as David Guerrero’s partner in running the Philippines’ most internationally awarded ad agency, Harris acts not like a CEO but always as a consumer.

“I am a consumer, first and foremost,” he says. “When you are a consumer, you are able to make insightful creative solutions for clients, not just offer a report,” he says with a tone speaking from twelve and a half years of experience working in UK’s tough ad agencies.

“Knowing how the consumer behaves gives you the edge. You get to know other brands, too, and you can talk about every category and the whole industry,” he says.

Harris was RKCR/Y&R (Rainey, Kelly, Campbell and Roalfe/Young & Rubicam) London Chief Operating Officer and Deputy Chairman prior to his Manila post.

He was part of the team that helped the agency become UK’s highest-ranking creative agency (Gunn Report) and won a number of Cannes Gold Lions during his tenure.

It is but no surpise the prestigious Campaign Magazine voted him as one of London’s Top 10 accounts men over the same period.

Harris joined Publicis as a trainee right after graduating from Lincoln College in Oxford.

Ripened by time, he became an Account Director at BMP DDB, one of London’s most creative agencies, handling Sony and FIFA, eventually being promoted to the board in 1995.

A lightning 72-hour visit to Manila last year made him decide to try something new: he joined BBDO-Guerrero as Chief Executive in July 2011.

“David Guerrero was interested because I was interested,” he beams with pride as he recalls his first trip to the Philippines.

Since then, the agency has never let up its winning ways, churning out award-winning campaigns one after the other and bagging important new business wins.

WORLD-CLASS AD AGENCY

Over the last decade, BBDO-Guerrero has never relinquished its position among the top three most awarded agencies in the country.

The fact that the Philippine 4A’s (Association of Accredited Advertising Agencies) has repeatedly voted BBDO-Guerrero as the Best Creative Agency in the Agency of the Year Awards over the last 10 years excites Harris no end.

BBDO-Guerrero was also IMMAP’s (Internet and Mobile Marketing Association of the Philippines) most awarded ad agency in its annual Boomerang Awards last year.

In the 22nd Advertising Congress, the agency was Agency of the Year for winning the most number of “Araw” Awards.

Together with Chairman and Chief Creative Officer David Guerrero, whom he describes as generous, with an unflinching commitment and a joy to work with, he led a team that won the high profile Department of Tourism business in January.

TALENTED FILIPINOS

Harris is profuse with sincere and kind words for his Filipino staff at BBDO-Guerrero.

He dotes on the agency’s bundle of pride, whom he describes as “faultless in their energy, have sense of purpose, drive and no sense of ego.”

“Advertising is the same, whether you are in Manila, Manchester or Moscow,” he says and “Filipinos are just as creative as anyone else in the world or even better,” he adds.

Harris says that at BBDO-Guerrero, everybody understands why the agency should work hard and why it should do great work.

“Nobody wants to do a mediocre ad in the agency,” he says. “If you don’t understand that, the agency isn’t for you,” he points out.

His most nerve-wracking experience was when he, DG and the agency’s DOT team were called to Malacanang Palace to present the now famous: “It’s More Fun In The Philippines” campaign.

“The agency galvanized together and the excitement was bursting all over. We were the last agency to pitch for the account and we were very positive to win that business starting from day one,” Harris exults.

Indeed, it happened because Harris believed BBDO is a fantastic agency and network to begin with.

He is proud of the agency’s creative discipline. Harris speaks with sadness about agencies where people do not know where they’re going. “We must know our purpose and that is to be always the agency of choice by marketers,” he says.

Harris enjoys advertising and doesn’t like hierarchy in the creative process. He puts premium to communication, values openness and admires people who share their ideas.

“People think advertising is easy but doing advertising well is difficult,” he says.

He believes his agency’s advantage over competition is intelligent creativity, a fact most of their clients believe. “We think of better creative solutions and making things happen,” he proudly says.

CREATIVITY AND EFFECTIVITY

The British guy who loves to tell people that he’s lucky to be working in the Philippines is proud of the agency’s culture of creativity and effectiveness.

“We are effective because we act like consumers, not as advertising practitioners,” Harris says.

As a consumer, he frequently flew on an airline account, rode on a SUV brand, binge on dairy brands he had worked with to feel, imbibe and experience the real thing.

To dramatize the “It’s more fun in the Philippines” idea, the whole agency, around 90 people all, flew to Davao, instead of the usual trip abroad, to get a first hand experience on how it is to be in one of the Philippines’ most exciting and fun places to visit.

At the end of trip, the agency had one unanimous verdict: It really was, indeed.

“Being a consumer allows you to do advertising better. You become real and credible to the audience you are talking to,” he says. Well said.

Harris believes that advertising should be fun and simple. He makes a potshot at those who make things complicated and indulge in ‘over-analysis paralysis’ process.

What about strategic thinking? Is the agency spending too much time being creative and forgetting the art and discipline of marketing warfare?

“The agency has good strategists, they are our catalysts for good creative products that are relevant to the market. We are creative because our strategists are our catalysts for work that are unexpected,” he proudly mentions in the interview.

How does he compare London’s advertising scene to Manila’s?

Harris admits that London is openly competitive, can be “parochially inclusive and almost ‘predatory”.

He describes Manila’s ad industry folks as welcoming, nice, warm and friendly. “Filipinos have that genuine desire to connect and express their collective congratulatory feelings, as typified by our recent wins in Cannes,” he says.

A very private person, Harris loves going around the city and has interesting collection of jukeboxes, complete with 45’ vinyl records.

With his limited spare time, he plays bass, guitar and keeps strange hours in an effort to keep up with his beloved Newcastle United playing in the English Premier League.