SUBIC BAY FREEPORT— Anselmo Ramos, one of the world’s most-awarded advertising creative directors today, told industry practitioners here at the Ad Summit Pilipinas 2018 to trust their intuition or gut feel in creating outstanding advertising campaigns.
Ramos, who is the creative wiz behind some of the most famous ad campaigns, like “Proud Whopper” for Burger King, “Pass the Heinz” for Heinz, and “Real Beauty Sketches” for Dove, was the keynote speaker at the opening of the country’s biggest advertising convention at the Subic Bay Exhibition and Convention Center on Thursday.
“Listen to your gut. Always start with your brand’s values, and then say it in the most compelling, gutsy way possible,” Ramos advised.
“Look everything through the client’s lenses. Be obsessed with your work,” he added.
Ramos, who is the cofounder and chief creative officer of David, a Miami-based agency recognized for its daring and innovation, is credited for winning over 195 awards from prestigious competitions like the Cannes Lions Festival.
In his talk, titled “Return on Ideas,” Ramos shared lessons on how ideas can transform brands into powerful market game changers, and how marketing campaigns can blend business objectives and creative ambitions to produce outstanding results. “It’s all about trusting your guts,” Ramos said, as he listed down nine steps for success in the advertising world.
He counseled an ad creative to: become an ad nerd, and know everything in the industry; dream big; write one-line briefs for clients; research; know the limitations of the client’s resources; and, of course, to be daring in imagination and innovation. How gutsy can advertising get, especially when there is some political overture? According to Ramos, “If you don’t have to talk to your lawyer, [your ad] probably isn’t gutsy enough.”
However, he cautioned that daring must be within the bounds of the brand’s values. “Don’t jump into the bandwagon if your brand doesn’t agree with it,” Ramos said.
Ramos’s presentation was the first of a series of lectures to be given by experts in the advertising field in the four-day Ad Summit being held here until Saturday. Other speakers include YouTube creator Will Dasovich, who will speak on “Return on Influence;” Jollibee Global Brand Manager Francis Flores, who will tackle “Return on Intuition;” and Secret Code founder Mara Binudin Lecocq, whose topic is “Return on Independence.”
Ad Summit Pilipinas, which is billed as the country’s biggest advertising and marketing event, is organized by the Association of Accredited Advertising Agencies (4As) as a biennial festival.
This year’s event, which has the theme “DIY your ROI,” is focused on new paradigms and innovative creative solutions to effect financial, as well as social impact on the advertising industry.
Ad Summit 2018 Chairman Norman Agatep, who formally declared the opening of the summit, said that while some advertising firms are obsessed with return on investment, ad practitioners should endeavor to search for metrics other than profit.
Meanwhile, Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma welcomed the delegates to the convention and spoke of how Subic survived despite the Pinatubo eruption that blanketed the area with volcanic ash in 1991 and the pullout of the American bases the following year.“We volunteered. We did it ourselves. That was our own DIY,” Eisma said, harping on the Ad Summit theme.