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Graduating from Miriam College (formerly Maryknoll College) with a degree in business administration, Maria Theresa Villanueva, or Matec to people close to her, never thought she would make it big someday.

An average student, she said she would just work hard to get things done.  She never really had a plan for her future. Unlike most people who map out their lives in their early twenties, she said she would just go with the flow and make sure that she enjoys her learning process.

But because of her innate advertising skills, she has become one of the most respected people in the industry. Starting as an account executive, she had risen from the ranks and had become chair and chief executive officer of Publicis Manila.

“I got into advertising by accident,” Villanueva said. “When I found it, I just loved it so much, I did not shift careers anymore.”

According to Villanueva, she did not seek a job in advertising. She worked as a teacher, then for a travel agency and later on for the government.

The doors in advertising opened for her when the special projects firm owned by Tony Mercado, where she was working for, closed down. Mercado  wanted to keep her so he asked Villanueva if she wanted to join Basic Advertising as account executive. Without so much hesitation, she said yes.

Although her background was business administration, Villanueva did not really have a hard time adjusting herself to the advertising world. However, her foundation would later on prove to play a dominant side on her.

While others would look on the aesthetics as the basis of a good commercial, she would be firm on waiting for the business effect to prove that her campaign was effective.

“Commercials aren’t great if it doesn’t meet the business results desired,” Villanueva said. “I am just lucky to be part of a team where the business results are just excellent.”

However, Villanueva noticed that the problem with Filipinos is that they expect advertising agencies to come out with the boldest and the bravest concepts, but when they were presented cutting-edge ideas, they become adamant to put their money at stake by doing something that is totally unfamiliar to consumers. They want to play it safe so they stick to the traditional.

“History can only tell you that only those who are brave enough to take risks are the only ones who end up unlocking the marketing code,” Villanueva said.

Sometimes, though, businessmen who were once bold enough to embrace an out-of-the-box concept would later on go back to their “conservative” way of marketing. Perhaps, this is because they are afraid to lose their grounding so they just maintain whatever concept they have.

“This is why the best advertising agency for me is that which can strike a balance between something fresh and something familiar,” Villanueva added.

Because of her encompassing experience, she was invited by the Philippine Marketing Association, the country’s premier marketing organization, to speak on the recently concluded National Marketing Conference at the Hotel Sofitel Philippine Plaza, Pasay City. With the theme, “Unlocking the Marketing Code,” Matec Villanueva along other marketing experts coming from different fields spoke on how both budding and established marketing professionals may be able to decode the secrets in marketing and help break grounds for their respective companies.