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MANILA, Philippines – Thousands of delegates attended the Ad Summit Pilipinas 2016 (ASP), which was held from March 9 to 12 at the Subic Bay Exhibition and Convention Center in Subic, Zambales.
This is by far the country’s largest advertising and marketing event organized by the Association of Accredited Advertising Agencies of the Philippines (4As).
ASP 2016 formally opened with “Heneral Luna” himself, John Arcilla. He delivered the introduction to 4As chairman Norman Agatep, who welcomed delegates to the event with a speech about the connections between nostalgia, childhood, and play. He asked, “When was the last time you played?” in relation to the summit’s theme for this year, “Come Out and Play.”
Messages from 4As president Golda Roldan, Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority director Raul Marcelo, and Ad Summit Pilipinas chairman Alex Syfu followed shortly after.
The opening ceremonies were culminated by MediaQuest president and CEO Noel Lorenzana, whose speech centered on how learning to play is vital to adapting to today’s rapidly-changing world.
Following the speeches of the executives was a light but very insightful speech by multi-awarded writer and director Jose Javier Reyes. He reminded the delegates that happiness is a matter of personal choice, and not defined through the idea of success set by others.
Javier Reyes said: “It is never about how much you have but how you get them. It is never how much you accumulated, but how you get that. You can be the biggest box-office success, you can be the most promising artist in media – but then, when that moment comes, it is not how far you have come but what you have become to get there.”
Going with the changing times
Kicking off day one was Twitter’s vice president for online sales Aliza Knox, sharing with the audience the story of how Twitter has evolved from what started out as a “glorified SMS service” into the headline-making digital tool it is today.
“The AlDub tweets,” Knox said, referring to the social media buzz from the sold-out #AlDubTamangPanahon charity concert, “are 6 times what Twitter got for the Super Bowl. That’s pretty amazing, coming together about something cultural.”
Crowd favorite Takahiro Hosoda and Kazuaki Hashida of Japanese agencies TBWAHakuhodo and Hakuhodo Kettle talked about how innovation could be achieved through “No Way!” ideas, which aimed to challenge people’s perceptions instead of winning their approval.
“Revolutionary campaigns and ideas usually get a ‘NO WAY!’ response from the staff, but it redefines products and creates a new way for a better outcome,” they said, emphasizing the importance of taking the impossible and making it possible. One striking example they cited was how Quiksilver innovated the business suit that doubles as a wet suit for surfing.
The 3rd speaker was Coca-Cola’s integrated marketing communications director, Jesus Ferreira. He gave a heart-tugging talk about how brand purpose can help to make a positive difference in the world.
“We play a special purpose, and that special purpose is how we distribute the values of our company to our consumers,” Ferreira said, emphasizing the role of advertising and marketing in spreading positive values to the public.
Ending the first day was India Rajan Anandan, vice president and managing director for Google Southeast Asia, who, through Google subsidiary YouTube, talked about how being “unskippable” through irresistible content is key to getting brand messages across.
“The Internet is about consumer choice. When online, customers choose when and where to take in content, a far cry from the days of having to wait hours in the living room for one’s favorite TV show. YouTube is in fact ‘primetime, all the time,’” Anandan explained, citing how market dynamics for a medium such as YouTube defied the conventions people used for television channels and the like.
The power of innovation
Day two opened with MullenLowe Creative Council president Jose Miguel Sokoloff’s message about “soft power:” using brands to communicate messages that truly touch the hearts and minds of customers, bringing about profound personal, and sometimes, social change in the process, and the significance of advertising ideas in making this happen.
He was followed by Havas Media’s digital director for APAC Todd Martin, who delivered a talk on how today’s technology allows advertisers to translate enduring ideas into the digital space, resulting in holistic user experiences previously unheard of.
“The cool thing about digital is that just about everything you want or need is already out there,” he shared, emphasizing the need of today’s innovators to have the idea and not worry about the technology required to pull it off.
Next came Vikas Gulati, managing director for Asia for Opera Mediaworks, who talked about how recent advancements in digital and mobile video could translate to innovations in advertising.
“Mobile has the power of sound, sight, and motion. Consumption is different. The usage is different. You should think of how to deliver your message,” Gulati said.
Jude Turcuato, senior vice president and general manager for Fox International Channels Philippines, also talked about the changing role of television in today’s media landscape.
“There’s a lot of love for TV from consumers, content creators, and advertisers. Thus, even with all these developments in technology, TV is here to stay,” he said.
Ending day two was AKQA Shanghai creative director Eric Cruz, who talked about the power of free thinking and integrating multiple channels into a creative concept in order to convey and communicate compelling stories infused with brand values and messages.
“The world we were born in is different from the world we live in today. We are now living in possibly the most creative moment in the history of human kind,” he said.
YouTube stars and secrets to innovation
Day 3 opened with a panel discussion, moderated by PublicisJimenezBasic joint CEO JR Ramos and consisting of YouTube personalities Say Tioco Artillero, Mikey Bustos, and Jako de Leon. The group discussed content creation and utilizing digital video channels such as YouTube for brand-building.
This was followed by an information-rich closing keynote from famed global expert, speaker, and consultant Tom Oliver, on the nature of true innovation, why it was more important to today’s customer demographics than ever before, and how some of the most successful companies of today arrive at it.
“The old advertising and communication, where you just sell a product? That’s gone. You have to tell the story of a brand with a vision and a purpose,” Oliver said.
All these engaging discussions from local and global luminaries drive home one lesson: straight-up, serious, hard-selling does not cut it anymore for today’s critical and tech-savvy consumers.
Consumers are now seeking ideas that are fun and fresh. And in order to get at these ideas, one would have to learn come out and play. – Rappler.com
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