White Space

It strikes you first as a museum of modern art, contained by all-white surroundings, high ceilings, minimalist yet imposing furnishings and wide glass windows. As you enter, you are greeted by a security guard, clad in military fatigues, a beret, and a black shirt that sports the signature backslash sign. Inside, you’re greeted by more white rooms with contrasts of bright yellow and red tables, choice furniture and chairs of different designs that are hard to ignore. The receiving area has original Aarne Saarinen Tulip chairs.

In the office proper, there are more interesting pieces– chairs bought from the old Japanese embassy, mostly from 1940s-50s; lounging chairs made of heavy metal, straight from the 1970s; chairs by Knoll, all reupholstered to blend well with the white interiors. All these pieces were sourced from design stores, flea markets, provinces and friends.

Right away, you know that it’s not your usual advertising agency.

Usual is the last thing TBWA wants to be – and take note, the name comes with a backslash.

TBWA is a global advertising agency that originated in Europe. It arrived in Manila in 2001 to join forces with partners Jimmy Santiago, Melvin Mangada and Tong Puno for a local base. The company is small with only 39 employees yet their client roster is fast expanding and so are the awards. In 1999, it broke all records in Ad Congress delegate registration for its C U in Cebu campaign, winning the platinum and a double gold in the Araw Awards competition. Barely a year after, the agency dominated the radio category in the 4As Creative Guild Ad of the Year award, one of its winners being the Miriam radio ad (the one that says "I lied!" followed by sinister laughter). More memorable ads are those they did for the last Ad Congress which shows a TV ad with Joey Mead and her fishballs and a print ad spoof of Gloria Macapagal, and who can forget that Ayala Center ad (Astrud Gilberto’s "A stick, a stone...").

The backslash sign in the company name is symbolic of their bid for disruption. The agency goes by the philosophy that advertising doesn’t invent anything; it only reveals what is hidden and is merely redefined through changing the rules, going against the norm, creating a "disruption," so to speak.

I spent a day in this "disruptive" work place. I got a behind-the-scenes view of the world of advertising and found out that disruption doesn’t necessarily have to mean stress and cut-throat competition, that is stereotypical of an advertising agency.

The location of their offices goes consistently with the disruption concept. It is found in the periphery of Makati, not in the heart of the city, but away from the business centers and the cosmopolitan ambience, which veers away from the standard corporate work place. In the work area itself, there are some artists hunched over their Macintoshes, furiously working with their mouses, even after having spent all night beating the deadline for their latest project. On another side of the room are three oval tables where people from the creative group are hard at work, and a discussion table where a brainstorming session is going on. There is cigarette smoke, the smell of coffee, all of which is overpowered by a spirited debate that shows no sign that creative juices have stopped despite exhaustion.

Interior designer Alvin Matias says of his design of the TBWA offices, "The emphasis is visual, which is ironically nothing. Creating spare volumes for an ad agency such as TBWA is a liberation. It is a means to create an environment conducive to creative thinking. The possibilities are limitless when staring at a blank wall like a canvas."

Melvin Mangada, TBWA managing partner, adds that Matias’ "design principles come from a book I gave him a long time ago, Minimum by John Pawson, who started the spare designs of Calvin Klein boutiques, which in turn, started a whole new movement in the retail look. The same principle is used ‘as a means for ordering and defining the everyday rituals and necessities of existence, minimalism as the pursuit of simplicity, as a way of thinking and exploring the possibilities that it offers for working creatively.’"

He says of the work environment, "We don’t have any divisions between account management and creative because we think that in our business, everything should be free-flow because this is all about generating ideas for our clients. We broke down the walls, we do not have creative partitions or spaces that are exclusive to a certain department, precisely because we want people to interact more with each other."

And so the brainstorming session ensues, with the account manager giving her suggestions to the media plan and someone from creative drawing up a strategy. Some people from the media group come in and check out the creative material to make sure it complements the plans for their execution. They start an animated chatter about doing block buys, tie-ups with radio, a bar tour and a flurry of other activities. The creatives come up with one outrageous idea after another, while the account managers keep their excitement at bay, reminding them to stick to the strategy. For the seasoned agency guy, he will be quick to notice that it isn’t a usual practice to have everyone from different departments freely contribute something outside of his field and be taken seriously for it.

Billy Samson is one of TBWA’s associate creative directors. He came from a bigger agency before this, and he notes the difference in the culture. "Where I came from, they really have a system, protocols, levels. Here, since it’s small, we want to really implement the idea of ‘disruption.’ It really happens especially since we have to think fast and there are only a few of us." This is seen especially with the creative department, which is encouraged to get out of their chairs and go anywhere – play in the pool area, walk around, sometimes even go out and watch a movie, in order to catch their muse.

Billy explains, "Sometimes the simplest thing can trigger a concept and an idea which you cannot find in your office, but you’ll find outside. It’s hard work being in creative because you’re always thinking, and sometimes you just need to relax. It should be fun because it’s hard if you’re forced, then what comes out won’t be good. But if you’re having fun, you’re more open, that’s part of making things light, making things fun."

A fun attitude is definitely needed in a job as rigid as this one. The brainstorming has just ended, with the creative team coming up with 10 presentations. They break up for a while as the ACD goes over the proposals to see if they meet the standards and are consistent with the strategy before turning them over to the executive creative director for the final say. With one print ad, it is normal to deliver 10 presentations. If all are approved, then they will present 10 times to the client. If not, they just have to start from scratch. Billy recognizes how critical these client presentations are. "They are picking an agency, more than the ideas. The basis of choosing is the ability of the agency, ang galing ng agency...Companies really look for agencies that they want to work with."

Clients have indeed become more demanding, cutting lead times of agencies. Billy points out, "If before you had two minutes to think about something, now you only have half of it. It depends on how big a project is. As much as possible, we try not delay or eat so much time."

Advertising is definitely not a typical 9 to 5 job. By the looks of things, there is the lifestyle of pressure, stress and deadlines. You would also have to let your job take full control of your time. But the tradeoff is that you will also be in for a life filled with excitement.

Billy says, "You’ll meet a lot of exciting people, personalities, it’s not boring. Also with advertising is travel. You get to go anywhere, like for example, there’s a meeting in Singapore, or a shoot in Bangkok, you get exposed. In terms of money, you can hit it big in advertising. It’s on the basis of your skills ... it’s either you have it or you don’t. For creatives, there is no book, you can only get inspiration. If you’re in an agency then there’s someone there really good that he wins an award, he makes good in the accounts they handle, so you pirate the person."

After the brainstorming, Billy and Nej Villavert, one of the copywriters, go off to a production house nearby, where another project is being completed. Suddenly, everyone is running around again. It’s just the pace that they have grown accustomed to in their job of being human think tanks, where they are expected to generate nonstop ideas and make sure that they don’t go too far off in the clouds with it.

TBWA is still a small agency but the numbers have done little to hamper output. It is easy to see that a good working environment is practiced, despite the given pressure. Billy echoes the sentiment, "When before, if I come up with a full ad and it gets recognized, I already feel fulfilled, it’s a nice feeling. But here in this agency, regardless of how small or how big your contribution is, it’s very significant because it helps the agency to be more successful, the agency gets known. Anything good that happens to the agency, I know I have had a significant contribution. We’re getting there. We only started at the end of the first quarter of last year and it’s always nice to think that when this agency hits it big, even if I’m no longer here, I was part of the success."

For a company that self-promotes itself as a "disruptive" agency, such positivism, almost a sense of tranquillity, is shared by the group. The lightness could be because of the all-white positive feel of their environment, or it could also be because of the stress-free chairs, but it’s probably because it’s what the world of advertising ought to really be.

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Check out their website at www.tbwa-smp.com.