MANILA – FCB Manila has bounced back from a management hole last April with two new leaders and a game plan to bring the 15-year old agency to greater prominence in the local advertising scene.
Ellen Samano (left) returns to Manila after a seven-year stint in Dubai to lead FCB Manila as General Manager. She brings to the table experience from Saatchi X Dubai/MENA, Venture Communications and Sparks of the World, a training and publishing company she founded to teach entrepreneurial and leadership skills to OFWs in Dubai.
Joining her is Sonny Bautista (right) as Group Executive Creative Director, tasked to oversee the creative teams of both FCB Manila and its digital arm DigitalFCB. He comes from Publicis Manila, where he was lead Creative for most of the agency’s non-Nestle business.
Samano and Bautista replace Tom Eugenio and James Bernardo, who have moved on to join Keyframe, a new creative boutique based in Makati, and Havas Media Ortega, respectively.
The two new leaders will be working on strengthening FCB Manila’s portfolio of big local brands, which Samano sees as their strength. Having worked in FCB in the early 2000’s, she’s amazed to see that up to 80% of their clients are homegrown, with brands such as Smart Communications, PLDT, the SM Group and Asia Brewery still on board.
“FCB hasn’t been aggressive or known to be a high-profile agency. Despite this, the agency has been here for years which says a lot about its staying power,” she said.
Not just about awards
Samano believes that FCB Manila has been so low-key that its consistency and stability never got the attention that they deserve. However, Bautista said that it’s not just about chasing awards. “Creative goals in the industry typically are about winning as many awards as you can but we want to fix the smaller cogs of the FCB machine first. If we instill a certain work ethic focused on serving clients then awards will be come along.”
Samano agrees, “We will not be blinded by industry pressure to bring in gongs. We must cover our bases first before setting out to claim awards. That will be a fleeting achievement. Authentic work is important but an authentic relationship with clients is even more important.”
The duo will start by aligning the FCB Manila team. In addition to new management, the IPG-owned agency has a fresh team of around 80 experienced industry professionals from the likes of J. Walter Thompson, McCann and Publicis. Also onboard are new clients like non-alcoholic brands of ABI, brands of Emperador distillers, and Marco Polo Hotel.
“FCB wasn’t really a go-getter in terms of creative. It was a business partner to clients, and that’s why they have stayed with us for a long time. It granted us stability but we want to shake things up to grow,” Samano said.
