SUBIC BAY FREEPORT—Ad Summit Pilipinas, the country’s biggest advertising and marketing event, will be staged at the Subic Bay Exhibition and Convention Center in this free port from March 7 to 10, marking the return here of this biennial gathering of industry practitioners.
Organizers from the Association of Accredited Advertising Agencies (4As) said the event is expected to be a jam-packed assembly, with speakers focusing on new paradigms and innovative-creative solutions to effect financial, as well as social, impact.
On Tuesday 4As Philippines Chairman Bong Pacia, 4As President Sue Ann Nolido, Ad Summit 2018 Chairman Norman Agatep and Wilma T. Eisma, chairman and administrator of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), signed an agreement for the hosting of the convention here.
Under the signed memorandum of agreement, SBMA will provide the venue and manpower needed to stage Ad Summit Pilipinas, with the agency’s Tourism, Media Production and Law Enforcement departments providing key support to the organizers.
This will be the third time for Subic to host Ad Summit Pilipinas. The advertising and marketing convention debuted here in May 2014 under the title “Age of Enlightenment.” Two years later, Subic again hosted the event with the theme “Come Out and Play.”
Eisma said the return of Ad Summit Pilipinas “again shows just how much the Subic Bay Freeport has become the top-of-mind location for the biggest event in the local advertising industry.”
She noted the 4As convention had historically brought a record-number of visitors to Subic. This year, the expected 5,000-strong convention attendees “are set to further push tourism figures in Subic this summer,” Eisma said.
“And we will be ready for this,” she added, pointing out that Freeport establishments could accommodate the expected number of delegates, as well as their families who might want to tour the Subic Bay Freeport Zone, while the summit is going on.
Agatep, Ad Summit Pilipinas 2018 overall chairman, said this year’s event, themed “DIY Your ROI,” takes a closer look at the various impacts of one’s creative work.
To keep within the ambit of the convention theme and to make a creative play of the original meaning of ROI, topics in this year’s Ad Summit were given titles like “Return on Ideas,” “Return on Innovation” and “Return on Impact.”
“We are gathering some of the most brilliant minds in the world to enlighten attendees on how best to measure brand success in the fast-evolving marketing communication industry,” Agatep said.
“Monetary profit is no longer the only relevant metric today. It’s time to DIY your ROI.”
The speakers will include Lionel Carreon, global director for creative recruiting at the digital agency R/GA, who will talk on “Return on Identity”; Francis Flores, global brand chief marketing officer for Jollibee Foods Corp., who will handle the topic “Return on Intuition”; and Mara Binuding Lecocq, who has worked for ad agencies like AKQA, 72andSunny, Tribal DDB and BETC, for “Return on Inclusion.”
Also, among the speakers are Girish Menon, currently aiming to make the digital-service suite [m]Platform operational and relevant for the Asia-Pacific region, “Return on Impact”; Katryna Mojica, CEO of Ogilvy and Mather Hong Kong, “Return on Initiative”; Josy Paul, chairman and chief creative officer of BBDO India, “Return on Inspiration”; and Anselmo Ramos, chief creative officer of David Miami, “Return on Ideas.”
Agatep said aside from the discussions, the Ad Summit will feature the Creative Guild’s Kidlat Awards, which the group is promoting to be the country’s most prestigious creative advertising competition.