More than 600 advertisers, creatives from various agencies and students of allied studies came in full force to celebrate the power of innovation, ideas, and creativity at CreativeFest 2019 last April 25 and 26 at the Makati Shangri-La Manila.
The event, spearheaded by the Association of Accredited Advertising Agencies of the Philippines (4As) and the Creative Guild of the Philippines, brought together some of the biggest names in the field of advertising to discuss the most pressing topics in the industry today with the goal to inspire practitioners and prove to the world that CREATIVITY RULES.
“It is important that the leading creative agencies take the responsibility to demonstrate how best advertising can be done. We do that by bringing together people who understand behavior, people who can listen to and advise brand owners, and people who can create ideas and bring it all to life,” 4As Chairman and BBDO Guerrero Chairman and Chief Creative Officer David Guerrero said during his welcome address.
The first day of the CreativeFest was headlined by Fernando Machado, chief marketing officer of Burger King and one of the world’s most awarded marketers. Machado discussed how a brand and an agency can work hand-in-hand to create effective ideas that can help elevate the experience of consumers. This was followed by a panel discussion among the executives of some of the country’s leading ad agencies and some of their top clients on how the two parties can bridge the gap between them and build better partnerships that promote creativity.
Ted Lim of Dentsu Asia Pacific espoused the value of looking at data and trusting your gut to create some life-changing creative work. This was then followed by a discussion among some of the leading women in the industry today. The panel zeroed in on the inspiring journey of some of advertising’s lady bosses as they climbed the ladder of success.
Jollibee’s Francis Flores and Raul Castro of McCann Worldgroup Philippines did a back-to-back talk on the invaluable partnership between the client and the creative. And to cap off the first day, Jury Heads of the Kidlat Awards sat together to discuss some of their favorite entries this year.
To wind down the day, participants were treated to a night of partying and merry-making through the Pob-Crawl, where they enjoyed drinks and food at four of the top pubs in Makati’s Poblacion district.
The second day started with a talk from Google Design Lead and creator of Facebook’s Safety Check Carla Echevarria, who delivered the keynote on Creative Technology. This was followed by a panel discussion among the country’s digital gurus about the important role of creativity in the digital world.
Another highlight was the talk of Lego Group Creative Director Budjette Tan, author of award-winning comics and soon-to-be Netflix series Trese, wherein he imparted lessons on Creative Storytelling. His was followed by Facebook China’s Kitty Lun, with her talk about putting “People First.”
In one of the most powerful moments of the CreativeFest, ad industry icon and former Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez, Jr. delivered a stirring speech about Creative Purpose. “Where do you draw the line between fact and fiction? Creativity and exaggeration? There is a great temptation to go on cheat mode when there is a financial implication,” Jimenez said in his speech. “The truth does not sell itself; you must sell it to the people.”
Meanwhile, Dentsu Tokyo’s Ryosuke Sakaki and Takashi Koyama discussed Project Open Meals, an innovative concept which sees the digitization of food to make it possible to consume it whenever and wherever we want–even in space. The second day of talks was closed with a panel discussion about the future of storytelling, where some of the country’s most innovative production houses, directors, and content creators came together to chart the path of Filipino storytelling.
Creative Guild of the Philippines President and Dentsu Jayme Syfu Chairmom Merlee Jayme concluded the event by recapping some of the highlights of CreativeFest 2019 and praised the organizing committee for their hard work.
“These two days have proven that, undoubtedly, creativity rules,” Jayme said. “But aside from that, we have seen the power of creativity and how it can help transform the lives of more people. The past two days forced us to consider some important things, including how we can shape the future through creative thought and how we impact the world through our creative power. I believe that we successfully accomplished what we sought to do with the CreativeFest; we inspired people and made them think, and after everything that’s all we can ask for.”
For more information about what took place during the CreativeFest 2019, please visit https://www.facebook.com/4AsPhilippines and www.creativeguildph.com.
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