In the age of disparate information found both online and offline, one needs to have a knack for listening and a thirst for curiosity to effectively transform data into solid concepts and ideas. Such as the need for strategists in media agencies. However fancy the role may sound, being a strategist is never a walk in the clouds. One needs the right attitude and talents, equally backed with a company that has opportunities and tools to hone your analytical and creative skills.
PHD is a global communications planning and media buying agency network with almost 4,000 employees from more than 80 offices around the world. It has always helped brands in finding a better way to make their names stand strong in the ever-evolving and competitive market. Boasting its high-end strategic planning, PHD continues to shake the advertising world with the best planning innovations through the dedicated service of its strategists.
Winning pitches are never generated overnight. It draws on collaborative efforts and can only be realized if everyone is in tune with the brand. Thus, the creation of Source.
Finding solutions through Source
A game changing media planning operating system, Source has been constructed based from cutting edge marketing theory. From social sciences, behavioral economics and choice architecture to neuromarketing, and PHD’s proprietary FMRI research, taking in learnings from the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute for Marketing Science on the way, Source has been an effective intelligence that helped PHD create a process for strategy and idea generation.
Source allows every PHD offices to connect and interact with each other. It generates ideas to inspire and identify opportunities, rewards collaboration, and creates a single methodology which works globally and locally.
To date, the use of Source is making PHD win clients while allowing PHD employees to have fun at work in creating insights that has breadth and value to its clients.
In the Asia Pacific Region, one PHD satellite office is breaking grounds and hitting the global shore big time. Through Source, PHD Philippines is making a name in the industry as a media agency that houses the best pool of talents in strategic planning headed by Poma Malantic, 2016’s PHD APAC’s Person of the Year Awardee and Source’s number one player and grand prix winner.
From creatives to award-winning strategist
Stepping out from a global creative agency, Poma decided to continue his media and advertising career as Head of Strategy at PHD Philippines. A young man who never settles but always explores, he finds crafting strategies for brands both challenging and delightful.
When Source was introduced as a gamification platform to connect PHD employees worldwide, and have them collaborate for ideas and data in real-time, Poma was just one of those curious souls who enjoys communicating his concepts online; spending a thirty minutes every day, freely sharing his thoughts on the projects that come his way. Now that is Source is on mobile, everyone can join in the discussion even remotely.
“I have always believed that brilliant ideas are born out of all the other small ideas we came across with. There’s never really an odd concept, you should just have the guts to type it, say it, post it.”
This mindset has brought Poma to be globally recognized by the PHD network, which then led to his involvement as a panel member at the 2017 Mumbrella360 conference in Australia.
Speaking at the Mumbrella360, Poma shares his insights on the increasing role of strategists during the rise of AI. “The oldest marketing tool there is, is still going to work in the future, which is word of mouth. A lot of trust, a lot of brand trust that we consult with other people, it is still going to be there.” Because while data is readily available for everyone, creativity in strategy will always make your war plan different.
And since great talent will never go unnoticed, Poma has been invited to the PHD Headquarters in London last July, to collaborate on the future development of Source as well as to personally meet with the various global strategy units.
Out of the many things that he has learned in participating in PHD’s Source, it would be the collaborative solutions that everyone is sharing. This methodology helps shift your time in focusing to choosing the right solution than searching for an answer.
The path of being a great strategist requires you to stretch beyond routine thoughts, learn to listen while knowing the right person to listen to, connect with people who can help bring realization to your ideas, and believe that the plan you map out is the best route for your client. There are just no short cuts in creating a plan. And as what PHD has always imparted to its employees; have courage, be open, and stay curious.
