I have reason to believe the workload at Publicis JimenezBasic, my new agency in which I am blessed to have been given the title of Executive Creative Director, is heavier than most Philippine Agencies'. Five creatives per team, delivering work for at least 12 accounts. Twelve accounts divided amongst five creatives. Basically par for the course here. And yet, each team delivers so much in so little time. To witness this every single day is amazing.
Twelve accounts divided amongst five creatives also means hardly any time to work on competition briefs. Like this one given by the local creative Kidlat (Lightning) awards show, challenging us to come up with an idea on how to promote Filipino Fine Art in a land where Boom Panes rules music and Praybeyt Benjamin is the standard for film.
And yet, one Friday night, a handful of creatives decided to hunker down and give this one a go.
Off we went to this tiny restaurant downstairs called Chubby's. Over bottles of beer and plates of ribs, all sorts of ideas found themselves on the menu. Turning cabbies into art evangelists, in an idea we amusedly called 'Art Evangelista'. A beauty contest of 'Miss Earth' caliber, called 'Miss Art'. Mini Art Museums made from container vans. It was how brainstorming sessions should always be - fruitful and incredibly fun.
By the end of the session, we had narrowed the ideas down to our top four picks. And by Sunday night, we had narrowed it down some more to our top three. And am proud to say this was my best bet, so it came as no surprise when the Creative Guild announced that it had made it to the shortlist.
The team was flown to Boracay to present the idea in person, to a panel of judges. The eve of the presentation, we spent the entire night holed up in my hotel room, revising and re-revising, tweaking and re-tweaking the idea, making sure all holes were covered and all possible questions could be answered. And the final, most important tweak we made at 4AM came from a suggestion given by a good friend who also came to the hotel on an invitation to try Discovery Shores' amazing Bon Ton Fried Chicken - make the prize money of $10,000, THE lottery prize. I was to be told later on, that even as the idea itself was a hands-down winner even at first screening, it was that part of the presentation, that clinched the deal.
When it was announced that we had won the grand prize, the team was not around to go up onstage to receive it. In their exhaustion, they had fallen asleep.
The job isn't easy, but I continue to be blessed with stories such as this, that remind me of why I love doing what I do.
Fried Chicken at 4AM
Slept through the awarding, but made it to the photo op
Trike riding after victory dining
Boat ride to the airport after a mission well accomplished
