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MANILA – Publicis JimenezBasic’s Kulas Abrenilla and Jace Burayag were chosen from among 21 teams to become this year’s Philippine representatives to the Cannes Young Lions competition. The Creative Guild of the Philippines announced the winners on March 20, after holding its first ever live judging on the same day.
The winning duo shared their experience with adobo:
Could you tell us how you and Jace approached the brief and please describe the work you presented?
JACE: Given the limited time, we wanted to generate as many ideas as possible and just narrow it down as we got closer to the deadline. The target was to come up with 50 ideas within a given time, sleep on it, then start narrowing it down. We knew from the start that we wanted something simple but effective so we threw out the ideas that seemed to have too many layers.
We ended up with two routes and it was kind of a coin-toss moment that made us choose the one we entered. It was a visual of two aerial shots of Tacloban, before and after the disaster, but we flipped the shots around and wrote lines around the idea of “Open for business.” based on what Tacloban has to offer: real estate, manpower, and competitiveness.
KULAS: It was funny because sleeping on the idea actually works. We got the initial idea half-way through brainstorming, then said that if it still looks good by the morning, we proceed with it. We were actually hesitating on the idea because the judges might think of it as too simple, though it seems it was part of its charm.
Why do you think your ad won over the other entries?
JACE: Since it was a live judging, we got to see how the judges deliberated over the submitted work. Although we didn’t get to hear too many comments about our work, I think what worked was the simplicity of the ad and that we were as true to the brief as possible. Making sure we checked all the boxes from the brief was part of our process.
KULAS: There was the temptation to do a beautifully crafted ad, whether a tableau or visual gymnastics type of print ad. However, the limited time actually helped us in doing a simple but subtle visual and crisply written copy.
How will you and Jace prepare for the competition?
JACE: There are a couple of workshops lined up for us which will be incredibly helpful especially to a freshman copywriter like me. Raw School’s coming up as well. It’s important for me to consume as many insights, forms of media, literature, and experiences as possible from now until June. The more stock we have, the better our chances of pulling out an outrageous idea.
KULAS: Unlike before we really squeezed our brains every waking moment, this time we should ought to be more relaxed!
Are you optimistic about your chances in the Young Lions competition? We won a silver some years back.
JACE: Of course! But I try not to think too much about competing. I don’t want to take myself too seriously. I just want to head out, have a good time, and learn as many things as I can. I think that’s a win in itself. If we land in the top 3, then that’s a bonus.
KULAS: They say as long as you’re in it, then you should think that you will win it. I am very lucky to represent the country again, so hopefully I won’t waste the 4As money this time! And since it’s print, we think there’s a lot of room to play in coming up with a metal-winning ad.
