SUBIC BAY FREEPORT – The Subic Bay Freeport will host the Ad Summit Pilipinas 2018, the biggest advertising and marketing convention in the country, for the third consecutive time.
The agreement was signed Tuesday, February 13, by Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) chairman and CEO lawyer Wilma Eisma, Ad Summit Pilipinas 2018 chairman Norman Agatep, 4As Philippines chairman Bong Pacia and 4As president Sue Ann Nolido in a simple ceremony held at Mansion Garden Hotel here.
Organized by the Association of Accredited Advertising Agencies of the Philippines (4A’s), Ad Summit Pilipinas, a biennial gathering of industry professionals, is scheduled from March 7 to 10 at the Subic Bay Exhibition and Convention Center here.
“The event will boost Subic’s position as a destination for all of us,” Eisma said.
The summit will bring to Subic 4,000 to 5,000 participants who have the money to spend on shopping, dining and more spending that will benefit the local economy.
She said that although SBMA will provide the venue, utilize its security and tourism personnel during the event to help the 4As, the return of investment for Subic will make it the best destination for various MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and events) activities.
“That is what we are targeting and this is very much in line with what we are trying to position Subic as the next cruise ship playground,” Eisma said, adding that the advertising community could help advertise the potential and beauty of Subic worldwide.
With a theme “DIY Your ROI” (or Do-it-yourself your return of investment), Ad Summit Pilipinas 2018 is said to challenge current mindsets on the way marketing campaigns are being evaluated and to explore new ways of determining brand success beyond the return of investment (ROI).
“What we hope to accomplish in Ad Summit Pilipinas 2018 is to open our eyes and minds to see the different ROIs that can helps us sharpen our measure of returns of our brands,” said Agatep, who will be the event over-all chairperson.
The event aims to examine ROIs through the lens of clever customization, where a brand’s performance is measured against objectives that go beyond commercial success and cross over to such returns as brand love, behavioral change, social good, environmental impact, and pop culture influence.
“The world has changed today, it is not only the opportunity of measuring money, there are lots of forms of return of investment to consider,” Agatep explained.
“If we look at a hammer, we only see a nail. But if we look closer, we will see ideas or innovations, or influence,” he said.
Return of investment could be redefined as return of insights, return of intelligence or return of impact, he noted.
Among the speakers invited to the Summit include Lionel Carreon, who will be delivering a talk on “Return on Identity,” is a Global Director of Creative Recruiting at R/GA; Mara Binudin Lecocq, who talks on “Return on Inclusion”, has worked for agencies AKQA,Tribal DDB, with her latest achievement being her founding Secret Code New York; Josy Paul, the brain behind agencies such as David and BBDO India, and currently holds the position of chairman and chief creative officer of BBDO India; and many more.
Aside from the talks and other activities, the most awaited among advertising community is the Creative Guild’s Kidlat Awards, which is intended to institutionalized “Kidlat” as the country’s most prestigious creative advertising competition.
Meanwhile, Agatep is considering making Subic as the official home of Ad Summit Pilipinas.
He said, “Considering the last two, and hopefully the third this year, successful Ad Summit held Subic, it is very likely that Subic is the official home of Ad Summit.” (Ric Sapnu/SunStar Pampanga)