by Paul Benedict Pascual
MANILA, PHILIPPINES — Aiming to provide student participants deeper insight about the in-sync collaboration between advertising clients and agencies in today’s dynamic industry, BAPR S1NAGTALA conducted “Ready, Set, Row!: Staying In Sync For Bigger Waves and Bigger Wins” as one of the seminars held under the 21st AdCongress on February 4, Tuesday, at Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) Bulwagang Balagtas.
The seminar featured two esteemed speakers: Ms. Jenifer Sario-Perey, Marketing Communications Senior Supervisor at Yamaha Motor Philippines, and Mr. Wacky Torres, Creative Director at Dentsu Creative Philippines. Their discussions explored the complex yet significant collaboration between brands and agencies in establishing impactful campaigns.
Ms. Jenifer Sario-Perey emphasized the importance of alignment between clients and agencies to achieve successful marketing campaigns. She tackled how a client-agency relationship requires trust, transparency, clear communication, and well-defined objectives. Moreover, she also stressed the importance of a well-structured creative brief, which serves as a foundation for any successful advertising project and acts like a roadmap that ensures clarity in objectives, target audience, and overall direction for the creative team. Ms. Sario-Perey ended her talk with a reminder that “Great campaigns don’t happen in isolation. When clients and agencies share a vision, they create not just results, but lasting success.”
Mr. Wacky Torres presented an unconventional yet thought-provoking talk on how embracing the “boring” aspects of work has the capability to bring creative success. He explained that the more mundane a task seems, the greater the opportunity to make it engaging and unexpected. He proved his point by setting the PayMaya tutorial as an example that transformed from an ordinary instructional video into an engaging campaign by shifting the focus to scammers instead of merchants. Mr. Torres also addressed the importance of taking ownership of a client’s challenges, even if they are not necessarily within one’s direct responsibility. He shared how his team responded to a viral meme about a conditioner which resulted in a creative and appealing opportunity that helped win over a new client.
After Mr. Wacky Torres’ discussion, the seminar conducted an insightful panel discussion where both speakers entertained more questions and clarifications from the participants. This final segment emphasized the reality that disagreements between clients and agencies are a natural part of the creative process. While differences in ideas and visions may arise, both sides work toward alignment to ensure they are on the same page. By communicating well, they can ultimately create campaigns that are not only effective but also true to the brand’s identity and goals.
The seminar gathered a remarkable 342 attendees, which included students from different universities, organizations, and members of the media, all thrilled to gain industry insights from distinguished professionals from the client and agency side. The “Ready, Set, Row!” seminar exhibited that strong partnership between client and agency, creative thinking, and attention to detail are the instruments needed to trigger waves in the ever-evolving advertising landscape.
