By Henry Empeño
SUBIC BAY FREEPORT—A more provocative lineup of topics, a more engaging schedule of activities, and a bigger field of global icons and local experts as speakers will bring next year’s Ad Summit Pilipinas here to a new level of creative innovation, organizers said during the program launch recently.
“We promise you more,” said Jenny Wieneke, president of the Association of Accredited Advertising Agencies of the Philippines (4A), which also organized the first Ad Summit here in May 2014.
She added that the coming event promises to take the challenge of innovative and creative development, which also promotes closer bonding among people behind the industry: the marketers, advertisers and
the media.
4A officials have scheduled the next Ad Summit from March 9 to 12 at the Subic Bay Exhibition and Convention Center (SBECC) with the theme “Come Out and Play.”
The summit will also involve the staging of the “Kidlat Awards” of the Creative Guild of the Philippines, which is the country’s most prestigious creative advertising competition.
Organizers said the bigger vision for the 2016 event was dictated by the need to transcend the successes of the previous summit and to help advertising and marketing practitioners stay inspired, brimming with ideas and extremely hopeful about the industry.
“Play allows one to view possibilities where there was none before. It sees no obligations—just a wealth of opportunities,” Ad Summit 2016 Chairman Alex Syfu said.
He explained that the theme encapsulates the constant need to shake the advertising community out of its comfort zone, and to keep it from falling into the trap of focusing on the trials that seem to plague the industry these days.
“Ad Summit Pilipinas 2016 is an invitation for marketing practitioners to see the brighter side of things—to spot opportunities amid industry challenges in order to propel brands into the future,” Syfu added. “If you are not willing to take the challenge, then you might as well settle yourself for the ordinary setup.”
Meanwhile, Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Chairman Roberto Garcia gave the assurance that the 2016 Ad Summit Pilipinas will see “a lot to play in Subic.”
The SBMA executive announced that the Subic Bay Freeport community is also preparing for the summit, with both the SBMA and local businesses upgrading their facilities for tourism and recreation.
Garcia added that SBMA alone will be spending from P20 million to P30 million for the renovation of SBECC to make the Ad Summit venue more suitable and comfortable for the participants.
The amount, he clarified, is just part of the agency’s P800-million capital-expenditure fund for the repair of service roads and purchase of new vehicles, among others, this year.
In the same occasion, Syfu also noted that leaders of the advertising and marketing industry were satisfied with the staging of the 2014 Ad Summit event in Subic Bay.
“And because of that, because more people are clamoring for it, the most prestigious advertising gathering in the country is going to Subic again,” Syfu added.