The ad world’s new Crush

If in retail and real estate, the oft-heard clarion call is "location, location, location," the advertising world’s unfailing two-step program is one, "get noticed," and two, "keep it simple." And when you talk of keeping the message attention-grabbing and simple, you can’t get more basic than utilizing onomatopoeia.

Crush, bang, boom! Say it again: crush, bang, boom! Three simple words that make noise leap off the page, and out of your mouth. And for the global advertising community, those same three words are now pregnant with notable achievement and endless possibility.

Crush is the advertising agency that started its course in 2001, the idea having percolated a few months earlier in a Singapore coffee shop. The brainchild of Palani Pillai, Kelvin Pereira, and Rajesh Mulani, Crush quickly made its mark, with its campaigns for Keppelcard, Compass Point and Audi gaining notice and awards at the Singapore Creative Circle Awards and the 2002 Asia Pacific Advertising Festival. By November 2003, Crush begat Bang, a public relations agency, headed by media veteran PN Balji. And in no time at all (January 2004), Boom! Boom is the events management group that turned Crush, Bang, and Boom into one of the more potent communications groups working out of the region.

Unlike most of the big successful players that operate as subsidiaries or local offices of Western-based agencies and communication groups, Crush, Bang and Boom (now the three major pieces of the holding company TNBT) rightfully stake their claim as being three of the more successful (if not the most successful) independents working in the region. With Crush offices in Malaysia and Indonesia, is it any wonder that TNBT would eventually set their eyes on Manila? This is a communications group on the move, having fast-tracked its way onto the radar of most major advertisers in the region. A scant five years ago, Crush didn’t even exist, and now, it’s a firmly entrenched regional network.

You talk "fast-track," "on the move," and it’s motoring metaphors and references in your face. So just to keep it thematic, TNBT graciously obliged and found their own "hot rod" to take the agency down the Philippine "road." In a major shift professionally from what had become familiarity without contempt, i.e., one of those MTV Pilipinas faces we were always happy to see and talk shop with, Rod Nepomuceno has now become the face of Crush here in the Philippines.

"It was an offer straight from heaven," says Rod. "There has always been a creative side to me that has been itching to find expression. With MTV, I was strictly into marketing, and there would be meetings when, if content was to be discussed, I would be called in only at the end, when it was time to discuss how to sell the concept. Now, at this point of the game, with Crush still in its formative stages, I have to stick my fingers into all aspects of developing the business here for my Singapore partners. This can include conceptualizing events from scratch, filtering for the Philippine context the pitches and ideas Singapore creates from the briefs I send them, and proposing PR strategies to whoever requests them. I’ve told Singapore that until committed business is set in place, I refuse to hire a full staff and create unnecessary overheads. Fortunately for me, the response has been very positive, and I’m confident we will be creating that niche for Crush, (with Bang and Boom to follow?) very soon, and then, who knows? I can’t stop saying how exciting this has all been from a personal-goals-and-achievement perspective."

So positive that come June, Crush will already be at the forefront of bringing a fresh event concept, christened Jab Fair, to various malls. A logical development of the growing interest in boxing, thanks to Manny Pacquiao, Jab Fair will attempt to strengthen and mainstream boxing as a fitness craze with a lifestyle aura. Mike Ochosa’s Punch-Out Gym spearheads this event, and as of writing, committed support from the likes of McDonald’s, Ayala Malls, and various media sponsors are already in place. This may be a baptism of fire for Crush, but thanks to Rod’s longtime and established record in the business, one can be assured of his events-management professionalism and efficiency. Crush may not know this yet, but unless things go crazy, it’ll be a walk in the park for Rod and a great startup event for Crush here in the Philippines.

One could legitimately ask what Crush and Rod bring to the table. One could say there are more multinational ad agencies and independents than there are chairs for the table. And given the Philippine context, the question often pondered is whether there is a level playing field for all these agencies. Networking, tried-and-tested relationships, loyalties: these all play their part in making up the aforementioned context.

The lesson to be learned can perhaps be gleaned from Crush’s own provenance in Singapore. Described as a "breakaway team" from Lowe Lintas, Crush began business during the height (or would it be depths?) of Singapore’s recession. And yet, successfully courting both local and international brands, Crush amassed more than 8 million Singapore dollars in revenues in its first six months of operation. Within 18 months of operation, aside from Keppelcard, the Compass Point Mall and Audi, the start-up agency could also boast of clients such as Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, Olympus Cameras, Thomson Washing Machines, the Singapore Zoo, Merck Sharp & Dohme, and the Grand Hyatt.

Crush in Singapore also gained favored mileage and notice for creatively handling information campaigns of such public service accounts such as the Ministry of Information and the Arts, the Singapore Environment Council, and the National Council Against Drug Abuse. Their very unique multi-medium approach in handling these campaigns succinctly demonstrates just how "out of the box" and fresh Crush’s approach can be.

"It’s this Asian perspective that can be what Crush provides as a fresh outlook on how to advertise one’s product," Rod says. "Whether we like it or not, the European and American firms may not always be sensitive to this Asian mind-set. What works in, say, India or Indonesia can be more appropriate to our market than what has worked in Belgium or Canada. Crush has also taken pride in its maverick image – that as an independent that is fast-growing in the region, we can more effectively blend the science and art that make up effective advertising."

From lawyer to newscaster, from SGV to ACCRA, Gift Gate, Next Media, IMG and MTV, there is something of a road well-traveled for Rod Nepomuceno. If this is the last stop on his own path of blending that creative streak of his to the more commercial and professional facets of making a career, then both Crush and Rod can count themselves lucky for having found each other. It may be a mutual crush right now, but things will surely develop!