Whoever said that it’s good to be king obviously never met Matec Villanueva. With the indomitable Publicis Manila CEO (and this publication) entering historic seventh years, adobo sits with Villanueva to learn how she stays on top of the game.
words: Mikhail Lecaros
photography: Mark Nicdao
Whoever said that it’s good to be king obviously never met Matec Villanueva. With the indomitable Publicis Manila CEO (and this publication) entering historic seventh years, adobo sits with Villanueva to learn how she stays on top of the game.
ADOBO You’re an avid golfer. Much like advertising, that’s traditionally been an old boy’s club. How did you assert yourself that you were someone to be taken seriously?
VILLANUEVA I kept working and working, and my bosses recognized the work, so I didn’t have to assert that much. When McCann asked me to join them, they asked how much I wanted for my salary, and I asked them, “How much do you think I’m worth?” I told them that there was a value there and, after some time, I would appreciate being rewarded for that. The same thing happened when I came back to Basic. I did not see my salary or what the package was until I signed the contract. Same thing when I joined Publicis. They said, “Matec, would you take over?” I said, “Ok! I just have two requests, ‘Can you carry over my tenure, and, I want my EA,’” – my EA was at Jimenez then.
I just believe that…I don’t like getting ahead of myself. I’ll do what I do, and let my peers or my bosses give value to it, as it should be. It’s when I feel that my value isn’t appreciated, that’s when I would go. That’s how I always work things out.
ADOBO Did you always want to be in advertising?
VILLANUEVA No. It’s the biggest accident in my life. I actually gave a talk to Ateneo kids last week – they wanted me to talk about a career in advertising, and I told them it was the best accident that ever happened in my life.
ADOBO How was it an accident?
VILLANUEVA Because I never thought of it as a career. Because it was never on my radar. Because I found it while I was working for a semi-government agency where Tony Mercado was doing a project with the agency and we met up and he said, “Do you want to work for me? I’m putting up this company,” so I said, “OK!” without really knowing what I was doing. So I joined. I learned. I enjoyed it! When it didn’t work out for being too ahead of its time – a typical Tony Mercado creation, he was such a visionary that some of the things he did were too soon for their time – he moved me to one of his other agencies. I learned, and when I was about to leave because I felt that I wasn’t growing anymore, he tapped me again and said, “Come, join Basic.”
So one thing led to another, and I was like, “Ha! May career pala doon?! (Ha! There’s a career there?!)” I always thought that advertising was for creative people! I never thought of it as what it became for me. I’m a business major! I knew that I didn’t want to go into banking…
ADOBO Too much of a headache?
VILLANUEVA Too boring! Not really a headache, I enjoyed finance, I enjoyed marketing, but I didn’t know what I wanted. I knew after college that I wanted to teach – but not as a career, and now I understand why it’s a vocation – so I was just looking and looking. I did a travel agency, I worked for the government…while waiting, I did my MBA, but when I did advertising, I never completed my MBA. I’m seven units and a thesis short, would you believe? And I always tell people that, “Not bad for someone who didn’t finish her MBA!”
ADOBO How has the advertising business changed since you first started working in the industry?
VILLANUEVA The kids. The new generation of practitioners have changed, both on the clients’ side and on the agency side. A lot has changed in the way clients and agencies work, but Marlon Rivera, the agency’s president and chief creative officer and I weren’t affected so much because we were weird to begin with, being brought up (in the industry) in a way wherein we concerned ourselves with the business of the clients. So it’s not so hard for us to dive in now; what was hard before was convincing the clients to let us in and be part of it! So there we were, trained to be pakialamero (meddlesome), and the clients would be, “Get out!” [laughs]. But it’s not like that so much anymore.
The kids now are very task-oriented, and they’re nowhere near as hungry (to succeed) as we were back then, partially because they have so many choices now. We were like savage dogs before! Back then, we had hopes of becoming a partner. Now, with international business being what it is, you kind of just work. But other things, getting into it, drive and ambition…I don’t think the kids who come in now even think about staying long in any one place. I mean, we have one of the lower turnovers around, but in the past year, it’s increased.
ADOBO How much of that has to do with the proliferation of instant gratification?
VILLANUEVA That has everything to do with it! And that’s something I try and teach my students (because I teach), back in college, we never went around asking, “How much do you think they pay in advertising?” It was more, [looks panicked] “Is there a job? Is it fun?” [laughs]
Now, it’s all about how much money they’ll be making, when they’ll be promoted, when they can move on. In our time, we never asked. Bastos (rude), you’ll get it when you get it! It’s like being in school and asking, “How do I get top grades?” Excuse me? Don’t you want to be asking, “What do I get to learn?”
Another thing is, procurement has taken over marketing [laughs]. They’re always asking for growth, but more and more, they’re not willing to take the risk.
ADOBO Are you talking about the bottom line?
VILLANUEVA It’s not just the bottom line, but between moving forward and standing still, a lot of the time, they would rather stand still. The thing is, it’s not so much about throwing in bigger money, it’s more about bigger trust that the big ideas will come in.
Next week, I’m giving a talk about “Branding Strategy on a Budget” [laughs]. It took me about two months to figure it out! But as usual, the way we always do it, we’ll try it and then say, this is the wrong question! The thing is, when it comes to strategy, the core of it has to be your ambition. Determine that ambition, and we’ll determine your level of effort, called, “strategy”, and then we can determine the budget!
Things have changed. The question now isn’t anymore how to grow your existing business, but what other businesses we can move into.
But I still love the work, I still love the dynamic; the fascination never ends, and that’s what I love about this industry. I tell that to the kids, the fascination never ends, it only ends when the world ends and there’s no one left around to buy or listen to us [laughs]!
ADOBO So what’s the secret to longevity?
VILLANUEVA I partner up with the right people. Some consciously, some by fate. It just happens. Most of the time, I’d like to think I was lucky; When Tony Mercado and Minyong Ordoñez were at the height of their careers, I was there, watching and they said, “Come, I’ll teach you.” At the height of Emily Abrera, I had the chance to work with her and was again fortunate enough to learn. Before Mon J and Abby (Jimenez) finally did other things, I was fortunate to be there. All through these years, Marlon and I have always had this connection, since we met in the 80’s and I don’t want to call it strange, but no one would ever call us super best friends. We were evil! [laughs].
I always thought he was easy to work with, and he hates dumb people, so that’s another reason we got along. I knew he was good, and, consciously or otherwise, I like working with smart people, because it brings results. So we got along well, and when I went to McCann, and even when I got back, we always worked well together.
Some people don’t understand, so I always tell them we’re like a couple. If I’m angry, he shuts up. If he’s angry, I shut up. [laughs]. And the kids here can tell you, they’ve never heard us yell at each other. And that’s because we trust each other.
Some people might be panicking if they hear one of us doesn’t know what the other is doing, but then we say, “Chill. I know he can do it.” Then, at some point, we talk and find out what the other’s up to. But we don’t need to constantly be consulting and updating each other.
ADOBO And what of when you disagree?
VILLANUEVA Oh, we discuss. And we muddle it through. That’s something we learned from the Mercados. We talk, we’ll sit and talk about it, get to lunch then continue talking about it and don’t get out of the room until it’s done. We try to convince each other, but we don’t fight.
ADOBO You’re like an old married couple that doesn’t go to bed angry.
VILLANUEVA So we’re not BFF’s, but work-wise? Excellent. Before coming into Publicis seven years ago, I had dinner with him and told him I needed him. I was going to start in September and he told me he was leaving for New York in January! I said, “You can’t leave me, the only reason I accepted this job is because you’re the creative head! Stay, and I’ll let you go to all the fashion shows in the world [laughs] and do whatever side projects you like!
ADOBO How important are awards?
VILLANUEVA Well, we’ve always been very categorical about our point of view on awards. Awards are nice to have, but we’re in the business of making money for clients, so first and foremost the material should be effective. If it’s effective, it’s creative, in that order. But to be creative first and go, “bahala na si Batman” (leave it to chance), is not acceptable. But there’s no such thing as effective and not creative, or it may be creative in a sense, but not be award-winning creative.
And it’s actually paid off. Awards are nice, of course, and kids love it. It can motivate – because there are some kids who are made for it and some who are not – but it’s paid off in the sense that, in the minds of our potential business, our potential partners, there’s a clear positioning for us. We get calls, Nestlé continues to grow, etc. We think it’s a good positioning, one of the reasons we’ve been able to grow this big, so no regrets about that.
ADOBO Is it true that Publicis Manila is less about chasing new clients than it is about taking care and growing the ones it already has.
VILLANUEVA Yes, because we believe in giving service, but at the same time, not everyone deserves it. It’s not about being judgmental or whatever, but sometimes, if we have to turn someone away, it’s because the chemistry just isn’t there. There has to be a good fit between the agency and the client. You know it’s a day-to-day thing, why would I subject people to that pain?
ADOBO Are you referring to the would-be client or your people?
VILLANUEVA Both. But more for my people. I think at some point, you learn to discern…not to be a snob or anything, but it also comes down to what you’re capable of. I’ve had my share of Purgatory clients.
ADOBO How would you describe your management style?
VILLANUEVA I’m a mom, a mom who runs a tight ship. So I will be very caring, I will provide, if I can, I will dote, but I have expectations. I will feed you, whatever, but I don’t want the room messy, you know? I’m a no-nonsense mom. Actually they call me…my moniker here is mom! So that would be my style. I will constantly try to…another reason I don’t want to stop learning is because I know there will be days when they will come to me, and my greatest fear is that I will not be able to help. So I am constantly trying to learn, not to outdo them, not to compete, but primarily to be of value. If they no longer come to me for that… (shrugs) time to go!
ADOBO Or find something else to do?
VILLANUEVA Exactly! Next generation na! (It’s the next generation’s turn!) So that’s my “style”.
ADOBO Well, you seem to be quite a ways off from that.
VILLANUEVA Well, I’m not thinking about it, I just want to keep busy. I have very high expectations.
This article originally appeared in adobo magazine issue #44 (March – April 2013)
