THE PHILIPPINES, FEBRUARY 12, 2012: “How do you sell values on a product like noodles?”
Tere Filipina, former president of Basic Advertising, said that while values advertising is not always pro-bono work, selling the idea to clients may prove to be the harder challenge over making actual profits. “You have to make the values relevant to the product,” she emphasized.
An estimated 800 students convened at the SC Auditorium of Colegio de San Juan de Letran in Intramuros, Manila to gain insight from industry practitioners, including Filipina, on values advertising.
“Usually, in advertising, they (clients) don’t like to discuss or use politics, religion, or sex,” said Filipina. However, with creative execution, strategy, and cinematography, fast food giant Jollibee and Monde Nissin’s highly popular Lucky Me noodles managed to include the values of prayerfulness and gratitude (Jollibee’s “Novena” in 2003) and highlight the importance of having family meals together as a channel for more open communication (Lucky Me’s “Pregnant Pause” in 2010).
Being an “observer of life” is a good way of finding out which values resonate with your target audience, according to Filipina. Still, she noted that while values is quite a serious topic, advertising with them should not be clinical or cerebral in approach. “Don’t be too rational. You’re still creative people. Connect with emotions,” she advised.
Meanwhile, one of Lowe Philippines’ creative directors Abi Aquino shared that initiative is the best approach in creating values-laden advertising. “You don’t have to wait for your client to give you a brief to create an ad with values,” she said. Bravery is also an important element, especially if you really believe in your idea. “To create the advertising that espouses the values that we love most, we have to be shameless. You have to be brave, you have to be hopeful.”
Aquino also cited how the digital scape has changed the path of purchase, from just buying and enjoying or using the product, to buying, using, and sharing about the experience, whether good or bad, online. There are also great possibilities of putting fun elements into values advertising, said Aquino. She gave as an example the award-winning Selecta Cornetto “Bouncer” ad, illustrating affordable indulgence.
With Filipina and Aquino in the roster of speakers are Angelito Pangilinan of Carat Philippines who discussed corporate social responsibility and how a “good deed can be a good deal”; Gina Lopez of the ABS-CBN Foundation, who walked the students through her advocacy of protecting biodiversity by opposing mining in key biodiversity areas; and John Rojo of Bayan Telecommunications and the Philippines Association of National Advertisers (PANA) Foundation who talked about the thrust of PANA in values advertising and how different moods can be used in conveying values. Jun Nicdao, representing the Ad Standards Council (ASC) of the Philippines, also elaborated the newest provisions to the existing ASC guidelines by showing advertisements that have been aired or published before but will not be approved for broadcast or print with the revised code.
AdSpeak is now on its 12th year of providing an avenue for students to learn about and campaign for values advertising. Student delegates this year included representatives from the University of Asia and the Pacific, Ateneo de Manila University, University of the East, University of the Philippines, St. Scholastica’s College, De La Sall University (Taft, Dasmarinas, and Lipa), and Colegio San Agustin Binan.
