MANILA, PHILIPPINES– This pandemic has upended many lives, and forced the economy to grind to a halt. But in these uncertain times, one thing has been made apparent; even amid a once-in-a-century health crisis, stories don’t stop. This idea served as the inspiration behind this year’s iteration of CreativeFest, the Philippines’ largest gathering of creative professionals.
While the event is going online for the first time, the Association of Accredited Advertising Agencies in the Philippines (4As) and the Creative Guild of the Philippines (Creative Guild), an organization composed of the creative directors of 4As member-agencies, have assembled a formidable list of creative minds from all over the globe to share their stories of creativity during an unprecedented crisis as they stage CreativeFest NOW! with the theme: Stories Don’t Stop, from November 19 to 21.
“Though industries may stop, stories do not. Insights on the struggles, the fears, the hopes, and the recovery of people are always inspiration for stories to be told,” Melvin Mangada, Managing Partner and Chief Creative Officer of TBWA\ Santiago Mangada Puno and 4As Vice President and Creative Services Trustee, said during the online media launch of the event held October 21.
And as humanity faces an existential threat, the advertising industry is underscoring the importance of creativity in approaching a novel problem such as this health crisis.
“Creativity is all about finding solutions,” Rey Tiempo, Chief Creative Officer of VMLY&R and the President of the Creative Guild of the Philippines, said. “In stories we find solutions, and it’s important for us to hear stories from all over the world because there are a lot of ways to tackle a problem, a crisis. In creativity, we find ways and roads to take, options, possibilities, and each one of them can be valid solutions, so creativity is much welcome in this situation.”
David Guerrero, CCO of BBDO Guerrero and the Chairman of 4As, adds that we are seeing today, all around us the inherent creativity of Filipinos. Though things seem difficult, many brands and even small businesses find ways to go around the restrictive quarantine measures to continue reaching out to their audience. He said that through creative use of technology, businesses of all shapes and sizes continue to thrive because they dared to approach their situation by thinking outside the box.
“Creativity has never been more important. People and businesses of all kinds had to totally rethink how they go to market, how they distribute their products, how they reach people, how they communicate, and how they build new audiences online and create communities. There’s a huge shift which sparked off a lot of creativity and we’re all looking for new and creative solutions to do things. We’re there to help clients adapt, shift, take advantage of these changes. That’s why we value creativity so much,” Guerrero added.
Golda Roldan, CEO of Wunderman Thompson Philippines and President of the 4As, seconded this idea. She said that creativity is now in hyperdrive, and we’ll continue to see more brilliant solutions to some of the problems we face today.
“Innovation that took years, was done in six or seven months. You’re really forced to be more creative. It’s really about opening your mind to a lot of things that you can do,” Roldan further noted.
This spirit of innovation and creativity is something that 4As and the Creative Guild want to communicate to more people, so they made CreativeFest NOW! free for anyone who’s interested to hear some of the most brilliant creative minds talk about how they’re taking a bold new approach to life and their work.
The event will be headlined by some of the most important figures who are changing how we approach creativity. The keynote speakers of the event are: Merlee Jayme, one of the most celebrated women in advertising and the president of the newly formed global agency dentsumcgarrybowen; Audrey Tang, a former hacker and now Taiwan’s youngest cabinet member as Minister of Digital; and Morten Bonde, esteemed author, motivational speaker, and LEGO art director.
They are joined by other creative heavyweights, like Dumb Ways To Die creator John Mescall; the makers of culture-shaping and award-winning works from Libresse and AMV BBDO, Nadja Lossgott and Nicholas Hulley; one of Esquire’s Most Influential People of the 21st Century, John Maeda; internet sensation Macoy Dubs; Filipino-American storyboard artist and director, Jay Oliva; the man behind the Secret Base, Calvin Cuevas; and, many more.
“As a creative industry embracing innovation and change, we take inspiration from truly remarkable creators and makers of stories who have made their communities and the world sit up and listen,” Mangada said about the speakers of CreativeFest NOW!
“We are focusing on the work, the inspiration, and the sense of collective endeavor that could make the industry come together in a festival of the power of creativity and a shared experience that could both connect us, the 40+ inspirational speakers – in concentrated 15 minute presentations – and get us ready for 2021 when we can bounce back and make more things possible,” Guerrero added.
CreativeFest NOW! is presented by the 4As, the Creative Guild, and Smart. The event is sponsored by Nescafe, Cignal, ManuLife, Oishi, Dentsu JaymeSyfu, Grey Manila, Propel Manila, The Huddle Room, and Wunderman Thompson. It is held in partnership with Grupo Agatep, Adobo Magazine, Mesh Lab, and Google.
Aside from bringing together some exciting speakers for the event, CreativeFest NOW! also aims to directly impact the lives of daily-wage earners working in the industry who were affected by the pandemic by benefiting Aidvertising.
For more information about CreativeFest NOW! visit the event page by clicking this link. For more details please visit www.4asphilippines.com and like and follow 4As on Facebook at www.facebook.com/4asPhilippines.
adobo magazine is an official partner of CreativeFest NOW.
