‘Ligo’ bags Advertiser of the Year award

CEBU CITY — The maker of Ligo sardines and other canned goods won the "Advertiser of the Year" award at the 19th Philippine Advertising Congress that wrapped up over the weekend in this southern city.

A. Tungchingco Trading’s "Tagalog Campaign" for Ligo sardines, a radio spot created by Campaigns and Grey, won the "Grand Araw" award.

None from the television, print, outdoor and interactive categories won the Grand Araw, which is the "best of golds" in the awards.

The "Araw Awards," considered the most prestigious in the local advertising scene, recognizes the most creative ads.

The 19th Philippine Advertising Congress was a tremendous success, according to Meryl Graham-Schlachterman, the overall chairman of the event that concluded on Saturday night.

A few of the entries that made it to the awards finals were already recognized internationally, like Childhope Asia’s "Bunso" TV commercial created by BBDO/Guerrero Ortega, which won the first silver award for the country in the Cannes Lion advertising festival in France last June.

Although the Bunso ad did not win an "Araw," other entries created by BBDO/Guerrero Ortega like the "Chalk" ad of Childhope Asia won the gold trophy for Best Copy and the "Rain" ad for FedEx won the silver for Best Art Direction.

Other entries that won the gold for TV category are BPI’s "Images" created by Hit Productions Inc. and Joy Ultra’s "Joy MTV" created by Big Idea (Best in Musical Score), Pond’s "Marrying Up" created by Unitel Productions (Best in Production Design), Chowking’s "Downpour" created by Filmex (Best in Cinematography) and Chippy’s "Rehearsal" created by Filmex (Best Direction).

"Downpour" also won the Kodak’s Vision’s Best in Cinematography Engineering award given before the Araw awards were handed out.

Surf’s "Hanapbuhay" created by Lowe, Inc. and Halls’ "Wrapper" created by JimenezBasic both won the gold for Best Copy.

For print ads, Gatsby’s "Brian and Rocio" created by TBWA/Santiago Mangada Puno and Childhope Asia’s "Chalk Series" created by BBDO/Guerrero Ortega won the gold for Best Art Director.

For radio, Samsung’s "Championship Belt" created by Sound Designs Production, the 19th PAC’s "Per DTI" created by Adfarm, Perla’s "Touching Moments" created by Soundesign and Globe’s "Wish" created by Adfarm won the gold for Best Sound Design.

Perla’s "Daughter" created by Leo Burnett Manila, Ligo’s "Chugs," "Haller," "Tagalog" and "Manash" all created by Campaigns and Grey, KFC’s "Demo" created by TBWA/Santiago Mangada Puno, the 19th PAC’s "Per DTI" created by Adfarm, and AMA’s "WRSS WRGS" created by Campaigns and Grey won the gold for Best Copy. Leo’s "Birth" created by Arc Worldwide won the gold for Design and Interactive category.

According to Lilit Reyes, the 19th PAC’s creative committee co-chairman, there were 2,740 entries screened but only 347, or 13 percent, made it to the finals.

Unlike in previous congresses where top government officials were conspicuously present at the awards, this year’s Araw was attended mainly by people in the advertising industry. There were hardly any celebrities except for Bamboo, who kicked off the awards night with a mini-concert.

The awards also featured a "Top of the World Parade," where different advertising agencies presented the advertising capitals of the world. Y&R Philippines representing Mumbai, India grabbed the Best in Costume award during the parade.

This year’s Araw Awards were hosted by the Veronica Pedrosa, Filipino CNN correspondent and news reader.

Meanwhile, Schlachterman said that the 19th PAC was the most successful in the history of the congress as the number of delegates exceeded initial estimates by the organizing committee.

She added that the participation and attendance of people from the advertising business in the plenary sessions were also very impressive.

"The congress was so successful. We have the record number of delegates, who are not here just to bring the name of their companies but who are also participating in the sessions," Schlachterman explained.

She said there were around 3,000 delegates who participated, especially on the last day of plenary sessions last Friday at the Waterfront Hotel and Casino.