MANILA, PHILIPPINES — Creative agency GIGIL Philippines celebrated its fifth anniversary with announcements of further growth.
Coming a long way since its founding in 2017, the independent Filipino ad agency is now expanding its operations to major cities in North America, such as Toronto, Los Angeles, and New York, and into the metaverse, with the launch of its new division, Metama.
“It’s been an amazing five-year journey and I’m proud of what we have accomplished,” said GIGIL Managing Partner Jake Yrastorza. “We’re a young agency that has grown a lot in terms of business as well as creative recognition. And we’re definitely looking forward to conquering even greater heights.”
“We hope to be one of the top 10 advertising agencies in the world in the next five years,” added Jake. “We believe in the Filipino talent and see that it is gaining global recognition.”
What started out as a small agency five years ago, GIGIL is now ready for a huge, two-pronged expansion move. Jake added that the company is venturing into the metaverse and along with it, taking Filipino advertising creativity to cities around the world, beginning in Toronto, Los Angeles, and New York.
“We’re venturing into the metaverse with Metama. It’s a new division under GIGIL that will help clients break into the metaverse and reach young audiences,” said Jake. “Metama sounds a lot like the Pinoy slang may tama, which means wacky or kooky, which incidentally is the perfect material for an ad campaign.”
Metama already has ongoing projects. This includes its work with telco giant Smart for the Fiba World Cup, and its collaboration with WeeWillDoodle, Kool Pals, Divine Architech, and Punk Zappa for various NFT-related projects.
A success story in its own right, GIGIL Philippines has consistently won international recognition through the years, proving that Filipino talent and hard work can compete with the best in the world. In 2021, GIGIL was named by global industry publication Ad Age as International Small Agency of the Year. The agency has also won back-to-back in Cannes, the Oscars of the advertising industry, in 2021 and 2022. Most importantly, GIGIL has also been honored for the marketing effectiveness of its advertising ideas in the Asia Pacific Effie Awards in 2020, 2021, and 2022.
