AdSpeak ’08: Sending the Right Signals

AdSpeak ’08, a student convention on values advertising, will be held in Colegio de San Juan de Letran on February 8.  The confab seeks to instill the importance of values advertising and to get insights from outstanding advertising practitioners.

AdSpeak began in 2001 as an annual seminar for the Communication Arts students of Letran.  In 2003, it was opened to various colleges and universities in Metro Manila.  In the succeeding years, student delegates benefited from the talks given by the ad industry’s best.  Among them were Emily Abrera, Chairperson of McCann Worldgroup Asia-Pacific; Minyong Ordonez, Founder and former Chairman of Basic Advertising; Yoly Ong, Group Chairperson of Campaigns and Grey and Jimmy Santiago, Managing Partner of TBWA/Santiago Mangada Puno.

In 2007, the Advertising Board of the Philippines (AdBoard) became Letran’s partner in mounting AdSpeak.  The joint effort resulted in two additional activities: a values advertising competition among students and the screening of the Araw Values Awards.  The event drew around 500 student delegates from different schools.

This year’s AdSpeak is being co-presented by the Advertising Foundation of the Philippines, since both entities are advocates of values promotion and social responsibility.  Johnson’s Pure Essentials, Enervon Multivitamins, Drysdale Juice Drink, Coffee House Iced Coffee, Adobo Magazine, Radio Veritas and Casting Library are sponsoring the event.

AdSpeak ’08 will revolve on the theme: Sending the Right Signals.  It aims to impart the following messages: STOP - Don’t promote the negative.  CAUTION - Consider advertising’s huge influence on the audience.  GO – Create ads with good values.

Advertising experts will share their insights during the whole-day affair.  Among them are Jay Jay Calero, Chairman Emeritus of JWT; David Guerrero, Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of BBDO Guerrero Ortega; Grace Chong, former Executive Vice President of Dentsu Young & Rubicam and Raul Castro, EVP and Chief Creative Officer of McCann Worldgroup Philippines.