Adobo magazine sets Philippine Quill record

MANILA, Philippines - Adobo magazine set a Philippine Quill record, earning its third Top Award in Communication Skills at the Awards Night on Nov. 11.

Presented by the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Philippines, The Philippine Quill Awards — prestigious annual business communication awards — honors excellence in communication by organizations and students nationwide. This year attracted record entries, drawing almost 500 entries across four divisions and 42 categories, from many of the countries’ largest corporations and university students vying for Quills.

Adobo had its first taste of success at the Quill Awards in 2010, winning the top award in Communication Skills for Adobo Digital, followed by another top award — this time for the Communication Creative category — for its entry, Adobo magazine, in 2011.

This year, Sanserif Inc. won the highest honors for “Adobo magazine: Project Reinvention,” entered in the Publication Design category. Other contenders for the top award were “Rescue 5 Activity Book” (ABC Development Corporation/TV5), “Women on Top: Meralco Pioneers Linewomen Training in PH” (Meralco), “Jesuits in Mindanao: The Mission” (Media Wise Communication Inc/Muse Books), and “Dispatch-Explore. Teach. Inspire” (Primer Group of Companies). The top award goes to the entry with the highest score in the category.

Apart from the top award, Adobo magazine also won a Merit prize for its entry, “Making Adobo the must-read industry title,” and an Excellence Award for “Adobo magazine: Project Reinvention.”

Adobo, the Philippines’ premier publication on advertising, marketing and brand communications, overhauled its already successful package with a content and aesthetic makeover to stay relevant to the industry it serves, which has been evolving at a rapid clip.

“Content is king, but publication design is the roadmap that defines its reign,” said Angel Guerrero, Adobo’s founder, publisher and editor-in-chief. “It is for this reason that we updated and simplified Adobo magazine’s design to make it easier for time-pressed readers to navigate the clearly defined sections. We understand that in the industry we serve, our readers value form as much as substance.”

Coinciding with the magazine’s seventh anniversary in April 2013, the top-to-bottom revamp was thematically unified by Adobo’s revised tagline, “The Word on Creativity,” to reflect the expanded scope and diversity of the industry.

Guerrero said the team was delighted to win the awards. “Reinvention is very important for Adobo magazine. I believe that content is king. That, together with good design, makes a complete package.”

Guerrero added, “I want to future-proof the magazine so we are bringing digital into the magazine to make it a more dynamic read. We’ve added QR codes, augmented reality and will soon be adding videos, which will give print new relevance in the digital age.”

Meanwhile, Smart Communications Inc. won its second straight top award in Communication Management for its groundbreaking campaign “Jump In,” which exceeded its target SIM activations, and cemented the company’s niche as a youth-friendly wireless provider, by enjoining the Filipino youth to “jump in” to new life experiences.

University of Santo Tomas was also a big winner for its entry “Balik USTe,” which bagged the Student Quill Top Award. Balik USTe is a back-to-school initiative, carried out on social media and on the university TV channel, The Tomasian Cable TV (TOMCAT).

The IABC Philippines, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, is the first chapter outside the United States of the international IABC, a global network of around 15,500 business communicators in 80 countries. The IABC presents the Gold Quill Awards, considered as the global standard in business communication.