The year 1997 was the worst of times, but one of the best of times for Philippine creative advertising.

Many people still remember 1997 as the year when the Philippines climbed and inched nearer the world’s advertising apex: “The Hardwares.”

For ad-industry insiders, that year ushered a new era of “statues” and provided closure to several chapters devoted to lofty finalist-certificate achievements.

Ogilvy Manila brought us to the metal age for the first time with two bronze statues each from the Clio and New York Festivals, all mined from its Anvil and Pepsi campaigns. Mind-blowing. Awesome. Headline-making. Those were the feelings we experienced back then. Even if they came years later than Singapore, Thailand and Japan did, the effect was sensational.

The Philippines’ truly hardcore-metal era has begun, warming our hearts from severe trophy winter drought. More statues in varying shapes came after that bonanza, and BBDO—the reinvented agency with David Guerrero, the man responsible for all those 1997 Ogilvy ores—delivered soon after with two gold statues from the London International Advertising Awards—also another first for the Philippines—for its agency self-promotion ad (a bald man pointing a hairdryer to his head) and Bayfresh (a flower Photoshopped to look like spokes of an electric fan).

By 2002 the Philippines continued to dazzle the world, this time with yet another silver and three bronze Clios. They came from Ogilvy (“Door Key,” The Economist) and BBDO (“Dining Out,” Visa).

We got our first Asia Adfest Lotus gold on the same year courtesy of Leo Burnett’s “Lolo” TV commercial for McDonald’s, where previously the same agency had won a couple of bronzes from its Bengay TV spots.

McCann-Erickson also figured in the New York Festivals with a gold and silver. Jimenez-Basic, Lowe and Campaigns and Grey also metalled within that period. DDB Philippines, during the time of this author, struck world silver and bronze statues to gain entry to this august company of Philippine international winners.

One of four most coveted awards in the world, the One Show, has been netted by two Manila agencies—JWT Manila (“Trees,” Greenpeace) and TBWA-Santiago, Mangada and Puno (a public-service radio spot for Philippine General Hospital). JWT’s “Trees” is perhaps the most statue-awarded Filipino piece of advertising to this day, also tucking a Clio and Cannes Bronze Lion under its belt.

No agency has come close to TBWA SMP’s total gold, silver and bronze total haul in the New York Festivals. The agency that has won the Philippine 4A’s Agency of the Year plum three times in a row, a Creative Guild Ad of the Year behemoth year in and year out is also a major force in the Philippines Asia Adfest and Cannes rankings.

BBDO’s Silver Lion win for a heart-rending TV ad edited from an award-winning documentary to separate minors from adult jails was the highlight of the Philippine campaign in Cannes in 2005. Another London International Advertising Awards gold by Young and Rubicam in 2006 for photography excellence upped the country’s total tally to three. And a landmark gold and silver win by JWT (“Trees”) in Asia Adfest in 2006 was a dizzying year for the Philippines.

Ten years after 1997 the Philippines has finally arrived and tamed an animal ferociously hunted by everyone—the Gold Lion in Cannes last year, won by JWT Manila for a Lotus Spa radio campaign. It was also a year of gold avalanche at the Clio and the Neil French-organized World Press Awards, won by a Philippine-Malaysia Young & Rubicam agency tandem for Soroptomist of Malaysia.

D&AD, the world’s toughest awards competition, is the last remaining major advertising award the Filipino has not yet conquered.

A different path

Doing infrastructure projects in a developing country like the Philippines requires a different strategy to ensure the affected stakeholders can absorb the impact. Contractors have to walk the extra mile and be innovative in their approach to minimize the impact of the project and ultimately develop a win-win situation for both parties.

Full-metal hardcore

The year 1997 was the worst of times, but one of the best of times for Philippine creative advertising.

Winning: Managing the Risks of Rogues

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Homecourt advantage

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Faithful but creative

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Task, Not Time: Profile of a Gen Y Job

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How to Set Expectations with Young Talent

When I received my first project assignment as a new hire at Gemini Consulting (now Capgemini), I was quite unhappy. My peers were assigned to the high-profile financial services and telecommunications industries, whereas I was “stuck” with a client in publishing.

How Asian ad agencies are reinventing themselves

Before the Asian financial meltdown in 1997, when marketers were generous and clients made ostentatious display of advertising wealth, we heard so much about phrases like “paradigm shift,” “consumer insight,” “gut-feel,” “brand persona” and many others.

Winning: In business and politics, leadership is key

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Rising China forcing powers to review capitalist models

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The book of slaughter–and forgetting

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Rise and Fall

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Creating and sustaining a winning culture

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The value of a broader product portfolio

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Early retirement

WHEN news spread about the impending retirement of Chinatrust Philippines president Joey A. Bermudez, he was besieged by text messages and calls from the media.

Winning: Poll employees effectively

Q: My company runs an annual employee survey in the name of “continuous improvement,” but nothing ever really changes. Now, my boss has asked me to come up with a better way.

Dreams a-crashing to the ground

A WEEK into the New Year, Tourism Secretary Ace Durano was up in the clouds, presiding at a news conference to confirm what the sector had known: the country had breached its target, finally, of 3 million tourist arrivals for 2007, and all indications showed to even better performance in 2008.

Making performance reviews less stressful–for everyone

Few people relish having their professional performances judged by others. Yet the dread can cut both ways; many managers view the process as a task fraught with the possibility of miscommunication.

Beware of old technologies’ last gasps

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Partner in building

Idle cranes in abandoned construction projects had become a potent symbol for the devastation caused by the Asian financial crisis a decade ago.

Winning: Don’t fear foreign investment

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Copy This

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Download Uproar

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International man of peace

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Manage like an entrepreneur

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THE BEST ADVICE I EVER GOT

Good advice often comes in the form of deeds, not words. The best advice I ever got came not by listening, but by observing one of my colleagues—by watching his behavior, coming to understand his philosophy and then adapting it to my own style.