MANILA – With over 60 entries from 22 agencies in the Philippines, two entries emerged as winners at the adobo LIA 2014 Copywriting Contest.
Barny Rivera of DigitalFCB topped the contest for his ‘Bawal ang Tanga’ entry, while Rayna Vihuela Reyes of Aspac Advertising placed second for her entry ‘Lost and Found’.
The contest’s brief was to create a long copy ad for the Filipinas Heritage Library to promote reading to Filipinos with the idea that if more people read more books, they would better understand our country.
Judged based on originality, relevance and persuasiveness, the entries were scored by Leigh Reyes of Lowe Philippines, Mariles Gustillo of Ayala Foundation, Teeny Gonzales of Seven A.D., Joey Tiempo of TBWA\SantiagoMangadaPuno, Richmond Walker of Ogilvy & Mather Philippines, David Guerrero of BBDO Guerrero and direct and scriptwriter Chris Martinez. PWC Isla Lipana audited and tabulated the results.
Commenting on the winning entries, jury head Reyes said “The first winner, matulis siya and it landed swiftly in the end. The second one is sincere like a young adult story.”
While some judges were pleased at the entries, the general opinion among them was that the entries had much to improve on.
“What a relief to find eloquent Filipino writers in the fold! They are a rare breed, and I’m glad that the winner’s entry is written in Filipino,” Tiempo said.
“Not too amused by the repeated reference to social media habits, though it tells us what the young copywriters are obsessed with now. I just hope they don’t mistake the Buzzfeed articles as literature,” she added. “I wish there were more insights or approaches to the subject than presuming no one reads. In fact, the two winners are different takes on the same insight.”
Meanwhile, Gonzales added, “I think we were able to get a good range of ideas and writing styles. There were definitely some gems but there is much room for improvement when it comes to crafting. The ability to express the concepts succinctly but in an engaging manner is a skill that still needs to be honed. Some were too long and wordy and others too little and lazy. There were those though that did it just right.”
Chris Martinez said, “The low scores were too demonstrative, didactic and lacked style. The higher scores got me engaged, entertained and made me read from start to finish. For a non-reader like me that says a lot about those I gave 8 and 9 points.”
For Walker, most of the entries read like essays. “They were precise and informed, but turgid. And in some cases absent of genuine creative thought.”
Walker said that his top picks met three criteria: “Firstly they had an idea. Copy ads abide by the same rule as every other ad. Those without an idea don’t make it past first base.”
“Secondly, they had to intrigue. A large block of copy is challenging, especially when you know you’re being sold to. So give me a bloody good reason not to do something else. Make me laugh. Make me think. Insult me. Just don’t bore me. And make sure the first line packs a punch,” he continued.
“Lastly, and I think this is where only a tiny minority succeeded, everyone wrote, but few really communicated. When you read great copy, you can hear it. The words lift off the page. It is brilliant in thought, but simple in language. It’s doesn’t strive to sound complex or verbose. It embraces the language of everyday conversation. It’s one of the very hardest skills to master in any form of writing, not just advertising. Ask a playwright or anyone in TV. But it’s what all young writers should strive for.”
Walker offered advice to young copywriters: “The best examples live in The Copy Book. My best advice for a young copywriter? Buy. Read. Emulate.”
The winners of the adobo LIA 2014 Copywriting Contest will go to the London International Awards Creative Conversations in October courtesy of the London International Awards and adobo magazine. They will also be part of a full-spread photo feature in the September-October 2014 issue of adobo magazine.
Read the winning entries below:
‘Bawal ang tanga’ by Barny Rivera
‘Lost and Found’ by Rayna Vihuela Reyes
