AdvertisingAgency Visit

Athira Shynne Nanda KumarMaria Anne Almodiel

Remy Jean Lingon

Located at 26/F Tower 2, The Enterprise Center, 6766 Ayala Avenue corner Paseo de Roxas, Makati City 1226

The Company’sPurpose SMG is the Human Experience Company. People and experiences are our purpose and the heart of our business.

Dream Live to grow our clients’ businesses by transforming behavior through uplifting, meaningful Human Experiences.

Ranked one of the largest brand communications groups in the world. Starcom MediaVest Group encompasses an integrated network of human experience strategists, media investment specialists, content creators and digital experts.

Brands under Starcom MediaVest Group

Starcom Philippines wasestablished in 2000

Who we are:

Craft the most inventive, effective, inspiring human experiences for some of the globe’s biggest marketers empowered by a unique proprietary approach to creating the Space for Ideas.

Views

• Believes that the problem any client faces is not the lack of ideas but the abundance of it.

• There are many ideas in the world trying to fill a finite space that they find it difficult to breath and stay strong for any period of time.

• That is why they create the Space for Ideas: for nurturing ideas to improve the clients’ businesses.

• To do this, they believe in investing in people who are:

• Direct, honest and genuine in their approach to each other, the clients and the world

• Restless, spontaneous and curious to create the freshest thinking

• Brave, astute and entrepreneurial to make ideas live in the real world in the smartest way

• Empathetic, communal and caring, to create the space for people to be their best

The Client’s

Universal Rufina Corporation (URC): C2, Chippy, Payless, Great taste, and others…

The Interview with Paolo Santiago

• From senior Media Planner, promoted to Media Planning Manager of Starcom Philippines

• Six years in the business

What’s with Starcom and MediaVest?

“Starcom before was only Starcom and then syempre business is good so lumalaki sya. Nagkaroon ng panibagong media agency which is MediaVest pero they are all under one company kase..”

“It’s under one company lang din yung Starcom and MediaVest. Actually, here we have three, so we have Starcom, we have MediaVest and we have Starlink. Starlink is under din namin sya.”

“Under one company which is Starcom MediaVest Group Philippines. So that’s the structure of Starcom.”

What about Media Planning? What do you do? How does that position work?

“Ok, siguro in a nutshell we’re like brokers. Staff brokers, what they do is.. I have this money, san ko ilalagay? So in media, that’s what they do. Like for example, our client asked me, ‘Oh, Pao I have this hundred million pesos, what am I gonna do with this to promote my brand?” So basically lalabas parang, ‘oh come for this, sir for your target market, we’re going to place in TV, radio, print, parang ganun. Billboard. So basically, like, it’s more of recommending to clients, what is the best medium to use to promote your brand.”

“Well, yeah. We do a lot or researches. Basically for what we do, we do a lot of researches about the target market, kung saan ba sila pupunta, nag MRT ba sila, andun dapat yung brand mo. Things like that.”

Do you do a lot of research?

How do you choose where to you place your ad?

“So basically, may mga tools naman kami to help kung saan ka maglalagay, pero syempre at the end of the day, discretion nung media planner kung saan siya maglalagay.”

Do you get blamed for putting your Ads at the wrong place?

“Well, yeah. Pero syempre, more of.. medyo advanced na ‘to ah ― client management, so you explain to them bakit ganito yung nangyare, and then you’ll explain to clients kung ano yung ma-eexpect mo, parang ganun. I tell clients what to expect if dito tayo gumalaw more or less ganito ang mangyayare saten so they know what to do.”

“Well, number one, we’re in the communication business, so dapat articulate tayo, dapat we are, parang we’ll be expressed, dapat clear. Yung writing, in presenting, dapat clear yan. Yan yung number one. For me ha, actually for me lang ‘to. I’m not speaking for the whole media industry ha. Number two, alam ko ayaw natin neto eh kaso mga AB tayo eh ― numbers. Kahit ayaw natin neto, if you’re going to, if you have plans in going to media, numbers talaga. Pero hindi sya hard as I thought it were. Kase.. alam nyo ba yung MDAS? Media is like that. Dagdag bawas, dapat balanse. So yun lang.”

Do you have special qualities that you need for the job?

What do you think about Advertising? Does it help? What does it do?

“For me, advertising, kase I’m not saying na sobrang tagal ko na pero hindi ako tatagal ng six years kung hindi ko gusto yung ginagawa ko. So lahat na, tama yung sinabe nyo eh, toxic, daming ginagawa.”

Even the late hours of work?

“Oo, overtime. Pero at the end of the day kase, when you ask yourself, bat mo ginagawa? E kase gusto ko siya. Ako kase, personally, when I was young like, kayo, ganyan. Ginawa ko din ‘to, nag visit. So that day na nagpunta kami, I want to work in that advertising agency. So kayo sana, dito rin kayo. Di ako magsasalita ng.. glamorous, masaya sya, ganyan. Well, oo it’s fun ‘cause it keeps you young, it keeps you updated. Although kung mahirap, mahirap talaga. Pero it’s a challenge for you eh, kung kaya mo siya, di ba. So minsan nangyayari, more of, ginagawa mo siya hindi lang sa kliyente or the company, you do it for yourself. Kase once na may mga naimplement ka na na mga projects, you explore yourself eh. Para syang satisfying. Pag nakita mo yung commercial mo.”

So you love your work?

“Yeah, oo. Everytime na.. kwanyare kami naglabas kami ng campaign, isipin nyo na lang everytime na lumalabas yung TV commercial, it’s a part of you na nakikita ng ibang tao, na nakikita ng ibang viewers. In a way, medyo fulfilling.”

“Sorry ah. With regards to that issue. Kase nga from our industry, so media. So basically, as much as possible, in terms of content nung material, hindi kami nakikialam. Although we can suggest, per yun nga, the likes of nung sa “kinse anyos.”

What else do you think about commercials? About ethical concerns in some it, like the “kinse anyos?”

“Basically, we pick them. Like for example, the “kinse anyos” ad campaign. Most probably, the material, set na yun, nagawa na sya, so ipapasa samin yun and then we do the plan. We can put up a billboard, we can do print, we can doTV, radio, yun yung part namin. Pero yung, in terms of the communication, kung anong content, anong message.. hindi kami directly dun. Pero we can suggest. In terms of mind set. Oh, baka we can do it pero the end product should come from the creative. Di ba we have three departments sa advertising, we have Creative, the Account, and the Media. The Account usually and the Creative, magkasama yan. Tapos Media, medyo parang stand alone siya eh. So the Account, they usually have to face the client every day. Tapos the directives, ibibigay nila sa creative, then they do the material and then after ng material they pass it on us. Sa Media. Para kaming magdedecide sa right medium na gagamitin. Kung TV ba siya, or radio ba siya.”

Who choose the commercials? Do they give you, like, the write-up and you just do the advertisement and place them or you do everything?

Have it ever happened to you the controversial advertisements?

“Well, so far wala pa naman. Kase, like for example, for me ah, kase I’m handling URC na for the longest time eh, as in pagpasok ko dito URC na yung hinahandle ko, so I have to give credit siguro to my client. They’re really good kase when it comes to what to communicate so yung mga ganyan, yung mga controversial, before pa makarating sa amin yan, nascreen na ng client namin yan. Then they give us kung ano yung feeling nila is the right communication. So in terms nung mga “kinse anyos,” so far, sana hindi kami magkameron, wala kaming ganung problema. Kase yun nga, we have to give credit to our clients.”

You think is it necessary to have ad agency? Can’t the client just, be the one to do the advertisements, can’t they publish everything?

“For me, kelangan may advertising agency because advertising agency, from the name itself, we give support, we give help, we serve, di ba. Basically, agency.. what they’re selling, like from their ideas, it’s good service. So kunyare, if you’re a marketing person, medyo hassle kung ikaw pa gagawa nung print ad tapos ikaw rin magpopost sa publication, so syempre kapag may agency ka mas easier. Kase if you’re a brand person, you can’t do everything. Dapat i-delegate mo din yan. Kaya nga andito kame to help yung mga marketing people. Like for example, yung tumawag yung client ko, that client I think is 22? 24? Pero the way I talk to her, parang… Kase syempre the quality of service you give to them.. Ngayon, imagine if that client wala siya, wala ako. She directly coordinates with the publication, which is sobrang hassle sa kanya. Kung andito ako, ako lang yung kausap nya, parang ganun.”

Thank you!