Bright young Brandtastic minds

MANILA, Philippines - The future of marketing looks bright. Unilever’s university-level competition, The Brandstastic Marketing Competition finally crowned its winner on Nov. 16 at Opus in Resorts World Manila. Out of the 120 teams from University of the Philippines-Diliman, Ateneo de Manila University, De la Salle University, and University of Asia and the Pacific, eight teams were picked to compete in the finals round. Two teams of three represented each participating school. In Unilever’s Brandtastic, teams were tasked to create an innovative campaign for one of Unilever’s brands. This year, the university kids had to create a campaign that would make young adults switch from their old toothpaste to Close-up.

After months of prepping, it all boiled down to Nov. 16, the final pitch and the announcing of the winners. The eight teams spent the earlier half of that day pitching their final plans to a panel of judges at the Marriot Hotel. Then, the competitors anxiously awaited the final decision during the culminating night on that same day.

To calm their nerves down just a bit, the competitors were entertained by Never the Strangers who sang the Close-up theme song, Moving Closer. Their performance was then followed by a collaboration of beat boxers who represented each of their schools.

After the sprightly performances, hosts Apples Aberin, PR head of Unilever Phlippines for personal care, and Gino Quillamor of RX 93.1 brought to the stage the panel of judges who handpicked the winners of this year’s Brandtastic. The second runners-up, Team Berlake from Ateneo, won P30,000; first runners-up, Team Synergy from DLSU took home P50,000; while Brandtastic’s 2012 champions, Team By Design from UP, won the grand prize of P100,000. Aside from the money, Team By Design will represent the Philippines in the global finals of Unilever’s Brandtastic, going head-to-head other countries in Singapore in February 2013.

Team By Design members Erika Uy, Hannah Yu, and Princes Angeles crafted “Close Up Good Times,” the winning campaign that brings friends closer through the good times that they share.

The all-girl group from UP flashed their Close-up smiles as they accepted their award as well as their responsibility to represent the country in the international round. Congratulations, Team By Design, and good luck!