MANILA, PHILIPPINES — Filipino communications consultancy firm WSP Inc. scored two highly coveted Stevie® awards in the 2022 International Business Awards® (IBA), winning Gold for Riot Games, Inc. in the PR Campaign of the Year – Gaming & Virtual Reality category, and Bronze for the Yuchengco Group of Companies (YGC) in the Brand & Experiences – Thought Leadership category.
The International Business Awards is the world’s premier business awards program. All individuals and organizations worldwide – public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small – are eligible to submit nominations. The 2022 IBAs received entries from organizations in 67 nations and territories.
Stevie Award winners were determined by the average scores of more than 300 executives worldwide who participated in the judging process in June and July.
WSP President Diana V. Lesaca commended her team’s resilient efforts in producing world-class quality work despite the limitations caused by Covid-19 restrictions.
“I’m proud of the WSP team that went all out with their creativity and inspired storytelling to come up with these award-worthy campaigns for our clients at a time when everyone was pivoting operations to adjust to the pandemic situation,” Diana said. “We are grateful to have clients who trust our ideas to represent their brands.”
WSP Inc. will be celebrating its third year in October as a communications consultancy firm specializing in public relations. Majority of its team members came from the former Weber Shandwick Philippines, giving the company collective experience and expertise that they can leverage to strengthen WSP’s international relations and widening network.
“Our company recognizes the vast opportunities in having partners who have specialized interests and expertise in global markets. With this flexibility, we can assure our growing clientele that we can meet their constantly evolving needs in markets where they are present,” she added.
Agent Neon: Philippines, represent!
Riot Games, Inc. recognizes the depth of impact and influence of gaming in the global stage of esports. The VALORANT Agent Neon Project was launched to drive inclusivity that transcends race, culture, geography, socio-economic class, gender, and age.
Agent Neon is the first ever character of Filipino and Southeast Asian descent introduced in Riot Games’ tactical shooter game VALORANT. Through this character, the brand was able to connect with its potential, new, and existing players while introducing Filipino culture to the global VALORANT community.
“We are immensely grateful for this Gold recognition from the IBA Stevie Awards as it is a validation that we are heading in the right direction with building culturally resonant and memorable moments for gamers across the region,” said Riot Games APAC Head of Communications & Channels Jem Loh.
“Here at Riot Games, we strive to become the most player-focused game company in the world and we understand gaming’s impact on the global community as it truly transcends age, gender, race, cultures. As a playable in-game agent, Neon is truly a love letter to our amazing Filipino players and also a kudos to our Asia Pacific communities in the name of inclusivity, diversity, and representation. This award inspires us to continue to honor and uphold the various amazing cultures in our region,” Jem added.
WSP leveraged Agent Neon’s Filipino roots as a major storyline in PR materials, which included publicity and exclusive interviews provided to top-tier mainstream and digital media in the Philippines. The agency also highlighted the Filipino talents behind the creation of Agent Neon in the story angles. The team is composed of Gabby Llanillo and Filipino-American Ryan Cousart as lead game designers; Vanille Velasquez as voice artist; and Filipino-Australian Ylona Garcia, the 88rising singer behind Neon’s theme song.
Overall, the VALORANT Agent Neon Project’s successful campaign impressed the judges with its creativity, effectivity, and diversity. One judge commended WSP’s work as it “convinces on every level and is an intelligently thought-out and brilliantly executed campaign to bring this important cultural and social breakthrough to an audience of many millions.”
United front from leaders during the pandemic
As the country faced uncertainties at the height of the pandemic in 2020, the CEOs and executive heads of the Yuchengco Group of Companies (YGC) – one of the Philippines’ largest conglomerates – agreed to go online for a virtual conversation with its stakeholders.
The message: YGC is prepared for any eventuality with its ability to be of value and remain relevant to its stakeholders regardless of changing situations, circumstances, and environment.
It was the first time in the Philippines that CEOs and executive leaders of a conglomerate came together, albeit virtually, to stand united and provide a single reassuring voice amidst the collective fear brought by COVID-19. This was around the time when vaccines have yet to enter the country.
The virtual forum was also an opportunity for YGC to launch its corporate campaign, “YGC: the future-proof visionary.”
“WSP helped us reach out to our stakeholders amidst uncertainties brought by the pandemic. Through this forum, we were able to communicate and build awareness on the conglomerate’s future-proofing efforts and best practices in a way that best resonated with our stakeholders. We’re happy that the Stevie Awards recognized this effort,” said Ces F. Natividad, the chief marketing officer of RCBC. RCBC is the flagship company under YGC.
WSP guided all six executives to focus their messaging solely on pandemic-related concerns and what respective stakeholders needed to hear as assurances. The agency leveraged its relationship with mainstream and digital media to gather positive support for its corresponding story outputs.
Judges of the award-giving body acknowledged WSP’s conversational concept and execution that eliminated the dreaded “zoom fatigue,” which remains to be the pervading feeling to this day. “Well done, well written, interesting, creative, well supported, great metrics and achievements,” one judge pointed out.
