Interview Sharon Desker Shaw
At first glance, Raul Castro’s office looks like a typical C- suite – corner, spacious and lined with big picture windows offering views of Fort Bonifacio’s rapidly changing cityscape. But along with a few well-chosen creative flourishes, this is an office designed for comfort – not just for its occupant but also staff and others regularly asked to meetings Castro presides over in his usual inimitable style
In this oasis, Castro is known to flit from person to person, putting all at ease with seemingly random questions, sometimes singing, even rolling on the floor to make a point, for instance, about how a sandwich should be rolled.
For McCann Worldgroup Philippines’ irrepressible chairman and CEO since 2012, and the youngest-ever recipient of Kidlat’s Lifetime Achievement Award, it’s just another day at the office. There is of course a method to the “madness”. “Raul uses humor a lot to make his creative staff understand why some of their ideas just aren’t good enough. The theatrics help. He’s not afraid to make himself look ridiculous just to drive the point home,” says Mariles Gustilo, a former colleague during his 19-year stint at Lowe Philippines, and now Ayala Foundation’s senior director of arts and culture.
For Castro, it’s all good when it’s in the service of client brands because it creates a virtuous cycle: Strong client brands allow agencies to grow their business and become stable employers.
“If through my works, I have changed even for a wee bit one person’s life positively then I think I have achieved something. Only then would I think I deserve this,” Castro said in his acceptance speech at Kidlat of a belief that has guided his actions and decisions.
He has found that, without the inhibitions a job title can sometimes create, ideas pop up fresher and faster. For staff outside the creative department, the satisfaction of knowing that the agency leadership values their contribution, no matter how small, can only add to their pride in their work and the agency.
Which is where Castro’s wit, whimsy and comfortable office set-up come in, helping him create a safe and secure space where staff feel free to talk and participate in discussions even in front of the CEO. “People must understand (the business) – especially those who are not involved in the process, who are not art directors, in account management, the creative side,” he says before plunging headlong into recreating a conversation that probably takes place at family get-togethers across the country, if not the world.
“Because when (a staff) goes to a family reunion, he’s asked, ‘Where do you work?’ McCann Worldgroup. ‘Oh it’s advertising’. You know how excited people get. ‘What ads do you do?’ Oh we do Coca-Cola, Nestlé, Jollibee, Unilab… ‘Oh like the one with John Lloyd? And everybody gets excited. Of course the next question is, ‘What’s it like in a shoot?’
“But they have no idea. Isn’t that the saddest thing?”
These days, he makes it a point to accommodate staff outside the creative departments in shoots wherever possible.
Castro’s ideas were formed and validated by more than two decades in advertising that began when this Fine Arts graduate with a TV-ready personality began casting about for an alternative career after broadcasting failed to live up to its billing. “All my classmates (after the EDSA revolution) were going into broadcasting. I tried (but) didn’t like my internship – they asked me to make coffee!”
With his exceptionally curious mind, constantly digging to figure out what makes people tick, advertising was the logical choice. Lately, he’s been pondering why women buy pricey it bags – those large, leather-made carry-alls, trimmed with heavy chains, locks and other accouterment – only to have their other half cart them around.
This penchant to observe, to immerse himself in the lives of consumers, watching how they cook or do their laundry for instance, has helped him craft some of his finest campaigns such as Unilever’s long-running, telenovela-style ‘Lumen’ series for Surf (01).
“I believe everyone in the business should never ever forget the value of truths, of being insightful and getting to the mind and heart of the consumer,” he says. “That will never change, however much the experiences changes, however much the format, tools and platforms (change) as long as you’re talking to consumers.”
For the full story, grab a copy of adobo magazine’s May/June issue.
