At the Kidlat Awards night, The Creative Guild inducted JWT executive creative director Dave Ferrer into its Hall of Fame. He was the fourth and youngest member of this elite group, after TBWA’s Melvin Mangada, BBDO GO’s David Guerrero and JWT Vietnam’s Ompong Remigio.
The Guild elevates Manila’s high profile, executive creatives into the Hall of Fames, based on his or her personal haul of local and international metals.
Ferrer’s collection of international awards—which include a Gold Lion for Lotus Spa “Traffic Therapy/Corporitual” radio campaign, a Silver Lion for UNICEF/Consuelo “Bunso” TVC, The One Show Silver Pencil and a Bronze Clio for “Greenpeace” print and outdoor—more than qualified him for a place within the circle.
Dave Ferrer began his two decades in advertising at Ace Saatchi & Saatchi as an art director who drummed up brilliant concepts but couldn’t draw to save his life. After building a reputation for being a serious associate creative director, dedicated to his craft, he moved to BBDO Guerrero Ortega, where he became David Guerrero’s heir apparent.
It was in BBDO GO where he won his first Lion, and where he caught the eye of JWT’s global CCO Craig Davis. With a mandate to raise JWT Manila’s creative profile, Ferrer quietly revamped the creative department, and the rest of the office with it. Two years later, his hard work paid off, and from almost nowhere, the agency is now a consistent no. 2 in the awards rankings.
In tribute to Ferrer, his colleagues assembled a hilarious video of his years in each former agency. It featured a Guy Smiley muppet (that in truth was a Ferrer effigy) that narrated the mockumentary, raced JWT General Manager Raul Villegas to the finish line and dove into a smackdown with Ferrer’s old partner in love/hate and work, Tanke Tankeko (now ECD of Creative Juice Manila).
Ferrer accepted the honor with a hastily improvised speech, in which he thanked The Creative Guild and offered a few wry comments about his former co-workers. On a very sweet note, he thanked his wife Reese for supporting and understanding him.
