THE PHILIPPINES, JANUARY 6, 2012: Start them young! DM9 JaymeSyfu’s “aducation” effort dubbed “DMNi9ht: Fresh Meat” held December 21, 2011, invited 40 students from seven universities across the metro to present their portfolios for critique, with DM9 JaymeSyfu’s creative minds in the panel: Merlee Jayme, Eugene Demata, Louie Sotto, Jerry Hizon, Gogie Sinson, Herbert Hernandez, and Allan Montayre. Each student, who were in their third or fourth year in college, had five minutes with each panel member. An array of storyboards, scripts, print ads, and even artworks, were presented to the panel, who were impressed by the quality of work.
“You’d be surprised to see really good, promising work. Just add a little confidence, they’ll be good to go,” said DM9 JaymeSyfu’s Chief Creative Officer Merlee Jayme.
And that dose of confidence was provided by DM9 Chief Client Relations Alex Syfu, General Manager Ronald Barreiro, Planning Head Diday Alcudia, and the rest of DM9’s account team, as they gave tips to the students waiting for their turn with the creative panel.
“The purpose (of DMNi9ht) is for students to show us what they’ve got, their ideas and guts, and we’re there to prepare them for a future job in advertising through constructive criticism,” said Jayme. They also want to drive and inspire more students to take advertising in college.
Since DM9 JaymeSyfu’s initial efforts, it appears that more students are ready to have their work evaluated and receive advice. “Since we started teaching in Bulacan last year, it was nice to know that the number of enrollees had already doubled,” shared Demata, the agency’s executive creative director. The schools who attended this year’s DMNi9ht are Ateneo de Manila University (AdMU), Bulacan State University (BSU), De La Salle University-College of St. Benilde (DLSU-CSB), Lyceum of the Philippines University (LPU), University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P), University of the East (UE), University of the Philippines (UP), and University of Sto. Tomas (UST).
After reviewing the presented works, which included a series on drunk driving, advocacy and public service ads for the World Wildlife Fund and other animal rights groups, and an ad for a leading business daily, the creative panel chose Sie Macha of LPU as the DMNi9ht Fresh Meat Rookie of the Year. Liz Castaneda (UST), Kevin Mayuga (AdMU), Karl Nylander of Rain Creative Lab (fresh graduate and new hire), Sarah Jean Rivera (LPU), and Xavier Virata (AdMU) took home runner up honors.
DM9 JaymeSyfu is joined by production houses Provill and Abracadabra in this initiative, while welovepost served as the venue for the all-night event.
