It’s a belief he’d already begun to see play out before he ever set foot in the Academy. At BEVI, Jean Thor Renzo Mutuc‘s portfolio spans the company’s full brand roster — from his work as one of the brand managers for Kojiesan, the family’s flagship brand that pioneered the commercial use of kojic acid in the Philippine market, to his role as client-side lead on Defensil Antibacterial Soap‘s “Germ Z” campaign.
Developed with GIGIL, “Germ Z” took home a Bronze in Creative Strategy at the 2025 AWARD Awards in Australia — one of only six metals given out in the category, the only one awarded to the Philippines, and BEVI’s first-ever international advertising award in its 20-year history. It was a preview of the value creativity could unlock — one the Academy experience would later put into sharper focus.
The six-day Academy program covered leadership and career development, the role of creativity in brand building, cultural intelligence, AI and the future of marketing, and campaign strategy craft, with sessions led by global CMOs, Netflix executives, P&G’s Chief Brand Officer.
Speaking exclusively to adobo Magazine, Renzo traces how that week reshaped his view of creativity — and what he’s bringing back to BEVI because of it.
adobo Magazine: What are the biggest lessons you’ll be bringing back to your work in the Philippines?
Renzo: One of the biggest lessons I’ll be bringing home is that creativity is a business advantage. The best companies make creativity part of the way they think, solve problems, and grow their brands and their people. It’s part of the culture. They create an environment where ideas can come from anywhere, helping them earn attention and drive long-term growth.
That’s the mindset I’ll be bringing back with me. I want creativity to shape the way we think, solve problems, and make decisions every day. Great brands are built through a series of thoughtful decisions over time, and creativity makes each one a little better and stronger.
adobo: What did being selected for the Academy mean to you?
Renzo: For me, it came down to three things: representation, responsibility, and relationships.
First was representation. It was an incredible honor to represent our company, the brands we’ve been building over the years, and the Philippines alongside 39 other marketers from around the world. Coming from a Filipino family business, I wanted to bring the perspective of building homegrown or challenger brands that often compete alongside much larger multinational companies.
Second was responsibility. Opportunities like this come with the responsibility to make the most of them and to bring something meaningful back home. My family built our business from the ground up, and I carry that story with me every day. I wanted to return not only with new ideas, but with better judgment, better questions, and a broader perspective that can help our brands, our business, and our people continue to grow.
Finally, it was about relationships. One of the greatest gifts of the Academy was the people. I met marketers from different industries and backgrounds, but we were all united by curiosity and a genuine desire to learn. I have no doubt this week was only the beginning. We’ll each return to different countries and different challenges, but I know we’ll continue learning from one another for many years to come. That’s a network I’ll always be grateful to be part of.
That sense of responsibility, it turns out, is what set up the shift in thinking that followed.
adobo: Before attending the Academy, what were you hoping to gain from the experience?
Renzo: I came to Cannes hoping to learn from some of the best marketers in the world. Hearing directly from global leaders was a rare opportunity, and I wanted to understand how they approached brand building, creativity, and leadership.
More than taking notes, I wanted to challenge the way I think. I hoped to unlearn old assumptions, discover what I didn’t know, and leave with ideas I could apply back home. Looking back, that’s exactly what happened, although probably in ways I never expected.
adobo: Looking back now, what surprised you the most about the experience?
Renzo: What surprised me most was how often the conversations went beyond the work itself. We talked about marketing, of course, but we also talked about leadership, AI, culture, and the responsibility that comes with building brands that matter.
Across every session, one idea kept resurfacing. The biggest lesson was not really about marketing. It was about the kind of marketer we’re choosing to become. Every speaker had a different story, but they all reminded us to be more thoughtful in how we lead, how we learn, and how we approach our work.
I also expected to learn from the speakers, but I didn’t expect the cohort itself to become one of the biggest highlights. We all brought different experiences, but we shared the same curiosity and ambition to become better marketers. That made every conversation as valuable as the sessions themselves. Even now, it still feels a little surreal. There were moments throughout the week when I’d pause, look around, and just take it all in.
adobo: What advice would you give to young marketers who hope to one day attend the Brand Marketer Academy?
Renzo: Say yes to opportunities that help you grow, even when they feel intimidating. Looking back, many of the opportunities that shaped my career started with taking a chance before I felt completely ready.
I also learned that opportunities like the Brand Marketing Academy are milestones, not destinations. What matters most is what you do after. That’s where the real learning begins. Stay curious. Read widely. Keep asking why. Learn from people outside your industry. Be willing to unlearn. When you focus on becoming a little better every day, opportunities have a way of finding you.
Notes from Cannes
The Academy was less a finish line than a checkpoint in a career Renzo has built on deliberately seeking out the sharpest rooms in the industry. He completed his MBA at the University of San Francisco’s School of Management, where he served as President of both the Graduate Student Board and the School of Management Pride Alliance and delivered his class’s commencement address. He went on to complete the inaugural LIONS Growth MBA Program in 2025 under Fernando Machado, former Global CMO of Burger King and Activision, and current CMO of Chipotle — with his acceptance into the 2026 Brand Marketing Academy marking the next deliberate step in that same pursuit.
But if there’s one idea Renzo is carrying back to Manila above the rest, it’s that creativity isn’t a department’s job to defend — it’s a business’s job to build in. For a family-owned brand already proving that case one award at a time, that’s not a new belief so much as a sharper one.
