Stories of logic and magic

What is an Agency of the Year (AOY) winner made of? A differentiated and distinctive mark of creativity that generated critical acclaim, both locally and internationally, coupled with the capability to build market shares and sales for the brands handled. Great market performance that grew clients’ business. Efficient overall agency management that created strong stakeholder values. Industry leadership and community service admired by peers.

TBWA Santiago Mangada Puno (SMP), a maverick bunch of lateral thinkers whose work philosophy is "disruption," scored high in said evaluation criteria and was named 4AsP’s Agency of the Year for 2004, besting four other formidable contenders – BBDO Guerrero Ortega, Campaigns & Grey, Jimenez Basic and McCann Erickson. TBWA/SMP had a back-to-back finish having won the 2003 derby. McCann received the coveted crown five times in the eight-year-old competition. The only other past winner is Ace Saatchi, who was dearly missed in the last race.

The AOY competition was chaired by Ricki Arches, president of McCann Erickson, who enthused, "The quality of entries was notably higher this year and therefore tougher to judge." He further adds, "The standards of excellence in the advertising industry just get better and better each year."

The finalists and winners indeed played a different ballgame against a background of shifting paradigms. They showcased their abilities to escape or to run towards the avalanche of changes that have occurred and continue to occur in the past, morphing the advertising landscape. Here are overviews of the celebrated campaigns. For sure you will be able to pick up nuggets of logic and magic in their stories.

Creative Disruption

The topnotch honor of Best in Creative was awarded to TBWA/SMP on the basis of its excellent multi-media mix of ad executions for various accounts – fast food (KFC), apparel (Oxygen), retail (Adidas), industrial (Boysen) and quirky creative exercise (Cinemanila). They are not particularly mega brands that have enjoyed extensive exposure across different types of media, but they comprise an interesting mix that showcase TBWA/SPM’s versatility. All of these entries have also been recognized in other local or international ad festivals.

Great Market Performance

TBWA/SMP led the pack in market performance as well with two successful campaigns – the launch of KFC’s Chick ‘n Fillet sandwich and Ayala Commercial Center’s market leadership enhancement program.

KFC created a product cheaper than a P30 cell phone load: Chick ‘n Fillet, the first premium sandwich with real chicken made in KFC’s original recipe marinade, with pepper, mayo and lettuce in a sesame seed bun. The aim was to drive teens to the stores because the sandwich is worth giving up a cell phone load by disrupting the psyche that "cheap cannot have great quality" through the authenticity of the sandwich with real chicken for only P29.

Using humor as a hook, the campaign played on the insight, "Kapag favorite mong fried chicken, you wouldn’t want to share it, even with your best friend." The launch was one of the most successful in KFC’s history. Negative sales were reversed, actual sales were above projections without affecting the sales of other product offerings.

The Lov’eMall campaign for Ayala Mall strengthened customer loyalty to increase frequency of visits by establishing an indelible connection with consumers through the primary motivator in all human action – emotion. The emotional connection made consumers fall and stay in love with Ayala malls and build relationships beyond mere transactions, equating such relationships to love affairs that blossom over time day after day after day.

Creating Strong Values

McCann Erickson lorded it over in the Best in Management of Business category. Cognizant of the increasing difficult business environment and the imperative to achieve sustained growth and market leadership, McCann strengthened its capabilities to adapt to the morphing industry landscape while enhancing its role in building clients’ businesses.

The agency refocused its mission towards creating demand for clients’ brands by providing media neutral, business-building solutions, applying a full suite of marketing communications disciplines, integrated seamlessly to achieve maximum business growth. It trained its people in the new "Demand Chain" process and tool, and upgraded its local capabilities to deliver "best in class" service to clients in various specialized, non-advertising disciplines.

To maintain the agency’s competitive edge, McCann continued to invest in its people and enhance its operating efficiency and customer service quality. These thrusts enabled McCann to achieve marked growth in revenue.

Sparking Cannes-Mania

McCann was likewise recognized for industry leadership because of its effort to recognize and uplift the Filipino advertising creative talent to global standards. It shared its strategic prowess, creativity and event management expertise with the Philippine Daily Inquirer (the country’s official Cannes festival representative) in a campaign that promoted the Cannes culture in Pinoy advertising land.

The initiative inspired agencies and clients alike to strive to be ready for the world by letting them see, touch and taste the prestige and distinction of achieving a Cannes Lion, a much-coveted advertising recognition. To create buzz and excitement for this major industry event, McCann mobilized its creative armies to develop communications support materials. The number of Philippine entries to the succeeding Cannes Festival increased by 70 percent, while the Philippine delegation posted its biggest attendance to date.

Getting The Beat & Moving With The Groove

Universal McCann and Starcom Philippines, two leading media independents tied for the Media Excellence award. McCann won for two media entries, Coca-Cola’s Beat Game and Jollibee’s Bee Starstruck campaigns, while Starcom got it for Rejoice Shampoo’s Sunod sa Galaw music marketing salvo and McDonald’s Sound Signature effort.

The whole media idea on Coca-Cola’s Beat Game was to get everyone, in all sorts of settings and situations, do the trademark chant and moves – clapping, snapping and wanting to get that "Aaahhh, Coca-Cola! The Coca-Cola Beat." It’s all about creating another Filipino pop culture. The core idea was communicated using the integrated approach – activations, PR, interactive vehicles, promotions and on-ground activities. The diverse and pervasive "Coke Beat" contact points worked together to create a cumulative and synergistic effect on Filipino teen consumers. The Coke media event was also one of top two finalists in the Integrated Marketing Communications category at the Coca-Cola Worldwide Marketing Excellence Awards held in Buenos Aires.

The Jollibee Bee Starstruck was based on the insight that "teens closely identify with ordinary teens who become big stars," Jollibee had an extensive tie-up with GMA Channel 7’s Starstruck, the most popular reality-TV talent search program during its run. The idea was to create a sales-generating sponsorship using the market’s heavily-patronized media: SMS and the Jollibee Store.

Going beyond mere program association, Jollibee incorporated an SMS promo component that allowed customers to convert their food purchases into equivalent votes for their favorite Starstruck contestant. The alliance allowed teens to actively participate in choosing their next idol. Jollibee outlets became off-studio extensions of the TV show. It gave the No. 1 fast food chain access to the millions of teenagers that form its fan base, as it gave the millions of fans a special chance to participate in the show.

The Sunod sa Galaw event used various "advertainment" tools – a full song, a music video, dance contests and concerts, a CD which turned gold, and downloadable ring tones. The campaign scored two shortlists at Cannes and gold in the regional awards. The McDonald’s Sound Signature project used American Idol finalist Jasmine Trias singing the Love ko ‘to jingle, with its exposure optimized through an integrated multi-platform implementation.

Advertising that looks good and sounds good can be credited to the craftsmanship and technology applied by partner production houses. The TV Production House of the Year was awarded to Production Village based on its impressive reel of TV commercials, while the Radio Production House of the Year honor was given to Hit Productions, a technologically-advanced shop that can provide digital software and hardware supports that match Hollywood standards. Femar, a first-time entrant in the competition, was revered as the Print Production House of the Year.

Advertising people are known to think differently, question the way things are, challenge what has been done and seen before, and reject the conventional. They refuse to just sit around. They move forward and beyond with a clear vision and boundless energy. They are creatures of disruption who will continue to give birth to new ideas and approaches that can give clients’ brands the big bang and the big bucks. Next year’s AOY will surely be another awaited spectacle of "why didn’t I think of that?" possibilities.

* * *

E-mail bongo@vasia.com or bongo@campaignsandgrey.net for comments, questions or suggestions. Thank you for communicating.