Boysen “Flowers” Power TBWASantiago Mangada Puno and Pacific Paint to the top of Araw Awards

At the climax of the biennial 21st Philippine Advertising Congress last November 21 in Subic, the evening was marked by change, illusion and surprise at every turn.

CREATIVITY THAT WORKS

In a departure from a celebration of pure creativity, this Araw Awards   introduces a modified recognition and judging of the best work in the industry, from purely creative criteria to an incorporation of insight and marketplace results. Judged by creative directors, advertisers, strategic planners and media specialists, the show recognized  that the best creative idea is one that works.

TBWASantiago Mangada Puno won the Araw Creative Agency Award, while its client Pacific Paints received the Araw Advertiser Award.

The Araw Advertiser Award, the Araw Agency Award, the Araw Production House Award are given to the entrants that garner the highest scores based on the a system that gives corresponding points for finalists and winners of Bronze, Silver, Gold and Best of Medium.

For TBWASantiago Mangada Puno, Araw Creative Agency Award is the final proof  that it has regained creative leadership in Philippine advertising. “Flower Power” has already won a number of metals, including a Bronze Lion and several Spikes. Supported by its Absolut “Hugs” TVC, which TBWASMP conceived for other European and American markets, its ingenious canvas bags, the agency collected 12 Golds, 13 Silvers, 15 Bronzes and 23 finalists, with a total equivalent of 217 points.

Its client Pacific Paints had  9 Golds, 10 Silvers, 3 Bronzes and 3 finalists to its name.

“We knew we’d do well in Print, but we didn’t know if we’d do well for Integrated… and we didn’t do well in Digital,” said Melvin Mangada, managing partner and chief creative officer.

Of their client Jackie Ongking in Pacific Paints, he said, “We have a very a strong professional partnership and a strong personal relationship. So selling creative work becomes easy and that’s something everyone, especially creatives should learn, how not to be afraid of clients. Rather they should build a strong professional relationship through respect and forge a strong bond with clients.”

Boysen marketing executive Chariline Meridores accepted the Araw Advertiser Award on behalf of Pacific Paints. “We’re really thankful for this. We’re committed to excellence in creativity, and with our partner agency, we were happy to receive this award with them.”

For the Araw Advertiser Award, all categories may be included in the tally, including Media Araw and Craftsmanship Award, which explains why Pacific Paints scored a total of 125 points, versus Procter & Gamble, which was a distant second at 85 points.

Almost all juries declined to name a Best in Medium, save for BBDO Guerrero/Proximity’s “Gaming" for its "Lola Techie" for Bayan Communications.

 However the win did not push the score of BBDO Guerrero/Proximity, last year’s recipient of the Araw Agency Award,  past TBWASMP in the rankings. It ended the evening the second most awarded among creative agencies, with 1 Best of Medium, 8 Golds, 10 Silvers, 19 Bronzes and 24 finalists for a total equivalent of 197 points.

Other agencies that did well were Leo Burnett, Ace Saatchi & Saatchi, Campaigns & Grey, JWT, DDB Philippines and DM9 JaymeSyfu, in that order.

THE ARAW MEDIA AGENCY AWARD

The digital agency Media Contacts, Inc., was made the first recipient of the Araw Media Agency  Award.

Ed Mapa, managing director, said that the victory was “awesome. In all honesty, we weren’t expecting it at all. We wanted to show the industry that we were a maverick agency. We only submitted only four entries. Nothing fancy, so when we won, we were surprised.”

The yearling, an affiliate of the Havas network, won on the strength of their Awesome Philippines site and viral campaign.

Two of its employees, Micheline Rama and Patricia Lavandelo, also won the grand prize at the Nokia Cinemaiksi competition, for their split-screen interpretation of a child’s imagination. For their trouble, they were given Nokia 97 phones, PhP50,000 and an all expense-paid trip to the Hong Kong Independent Short Film and Video Awards.

ARAW PRODUCTION HOUSE AWARD

For the Araw Production House Award, only entries made in the Craftsmanship Awards, except for Best Copy and Best Art Direction, may be included.

For the second Ad Congress in a row, Hit Productions was given the Araw Production House Award. Managing Director Vic Icasas said that they, too, did not expect to win a second time, given the number of finalists from suppliers from different sectors. In fact, it was a close race between Hit Productions and Revolver Studios, a film production house. But once it racked up a Gold, two Silvers , two Bronzes and two finalists, their hopes rose.

“When they called our name, we were in shock for a second, a second and a half, before we stood up. That’s how much we weren’t expecting it,” Icasas said.  “But now, we feel good. So there.”

Now, for a bit of a plug. The Araw Awards would like to give thanks to:

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