Since the 21st Philippine Ad Congress’s initial launch, much ado has been made over its theme of Perspectives. It would offer Spectrum, the biggest trade exhibit in AdCon history. It would also give marketing, advertising and media practitioners a chance to view and discuss the economic downturn and recovery from all sides.
Alas, Mother Nature decided it could not wait for the AdCon. It changed everyone’s perspectives, overnight.
Last September 26, typhoon Ondoy flooded Mega Manila with 13 inches of rain. North Luzon soon followed, drowning under typhoons Pepeng’s and Ramil’s wrath. Although Baguio City was barely affected, Pepeng devastated Pangasinan, through which roads to Baguio passed.
Road rehabilitation would take months. With threat of approaching storms, the safety and wellbeing of thousands delegates and exhibitors became the prime concern. Less than two months to go before the congress, the AdBoard voted to relocate to Subic.
“Action leads to change, to something productive. No action just leads to nothing. The point was to show a strong, united industry that can make a difference, and can move forward,” Overall Chairperson MargotTorres said.
So while “Perspectives: Ano sa Tingin Mo?” remains, delegates to the 21st AdCon will see their work with eyes clear as the morning sky after a storm. While still grounded in marketing, media and advertising, they’ll discuss topics relevant to new concerns: reconstruction, corporate social responsibility, global warming and other environmental issues.
If Torres has her way, this AdCon may well be a summit that ends with the ratification of Brand Aid. The brainchild of David Guerrero, BBDO Guerrero/Proximity’s chairman, it asks clients, ad agencies and media networks to unite in pulling the nation back onto its cold, soaked feet. There are proposals for meaningful short- and long-term action, to encourage participation from the small- to global-scale companies. The Philippine industry has never seen anything like this before, but they may just buy into it, because nothing like Ondoy, et al has ever happened to us before.
When the 21st AdCon was launched, organizers promised a refreshed, multi-faceted incarnation of the AdCon.
By looking adversity squarely in the eye, it now offers the industry something greater than new perspectives—a shot at reinvention, and perhaps, redemption.
