by Rea Gierran
MANILA – Ginebra San Miguel, Inc. (GSMI) has consolidated its creative duties across its portfolio to independent creative agency Aspac Creative Communications, following a review last August.
The 180 year-old brand previously worked with multiple agencies before the move. GSMI has worked with Lowe Philippines for Ginebra San Miguel, the gin market leader and GSM Blue, a variant for a younger market; and AMP (local agency) for Primera Brandy.
Aspac, headed by CEO Susan Dimacali, will be tasked to look after brand communication strategies, content creation and executions to value-added offerings such as digital asset development and management, shopper marketing and public relations across all the products under the GSMI portfolio. This also includes ranging from Ginebra Premium Gin, Primera Light Brandy and Vino Kulafu among others.
Angel Antonio, Aspac President and General Manager, shares with adobo in a party held at Director’s Club at SM Aura, that the talks started last year, when the agency was invited to pitch but failed to win a Ginebra brand.
However, during the second quarter of 2015, Aspac received another invitation for an all or nothing pitch. “We went on and asked what do they mean by an all or nothing pitch, they said they’re technically giving us the chance to win everything that they have, not only above the line properties but also digital,” she said.
GSMI is noted to be one of the biggest advertisers in the Philippines. A Q3 ad spending report from Nielsen this year ranked Ginebra at the 42 spot, with an ad spend of over Php 406 million and growing.
“2016 will be a massive year for the brand with huge plans for GSMI as we continue on our growth trajectory. This partnership, the largest for ASPAC to date, will help us to take these plans to the next level and land some really ground-breaking, famously effective work. When it comes to brands looking to innovate and deepen their creative footprint, we couldn’t be more excited to work on a gem such as Ginebra San Miguel.” Dimacali commented.
Founded originally in February 1975, ASPAC was awarded the Independent Agency of the Year in 2010 and 2013 by the Association of Accredited Advertising Agencies of the Philippines (4As). The agency has a current staff strength of 62 across the group.
