22nd Ad Congress ends in flourish of ‘coopetition’

THE NAME OF THE GAME. Inquirer president and Ad Congress chairperson Sandy Prieto-Romualdez, AdBoard president Andre Kahn and Camarines Sur Gov. LRay Villafuerte are all psyched up at the start of Ad Congress22. JIM GUIAO PUNZALAN

NAGA CITY, Philippines—Having pulled off a gathering of more than 2,000 in a place where no convention of that size had ever been held before, the organizers of the 22nd Philippine Ad Congress (AdCongress22) were moved to declare this year’s edition of the ad congress as “the most successful” so far.

Andre Kahn, the chair of the Advertising Board of the Philippines (AdBoard), said they all learned a lot from the biennial gathering that ended here on Saturday, and which had even inspired him to coin the word “coopetition” to describe the spirit that should prevail among rival agencies.

“‘Coopetition’ means that even though we compete within the industry we can cooperate for the common good of our members, like what we have done here,” he said.

AdCongress22 chair Alexandra Prieto-Romualdez said what was distinctive about this year’s congress was that the organizers were able to come together to promote the local tourism industry.

Kahn said competing industries are cooperating in the goal of pushing tourism in the country.

He said their experience in Camarines Sur has left a lasting legacy to the province and the Philippines as the benefits would accrue to many.

Romualdez noted the spirit of volunteerism among the ad congress members and the partnership with Camarines Sur Gov. Luis Raymund Villafuerte for making the event a success.

She cited the dedication of the team that put the event together and their faith in their capacity to create change.

“They did everything they could to make things happen,” she said.

Casual and chic

According to Kahn, the AdBoard had made the bold move to hold the 22nd Ad Congress in the CamSur Watersports Complex (CWC) outdoor sports facility. Here several structures had to be built to meet the “casual and chic” format of the biggest gathering of advertising industry players from Nov. 16 to 19.

In this sense, he said, the congress achieved its purpose of wanting to deviate from past congresses, which were formal gatherings inside plush hotels.

“The challenges that we faced in this particular congress only showed us that the members of the advertising industry put their faith in the leadership of this congress,” Kahn said.

“When they say it takes a village to raise a child, I say it takes 12 villages to raise this baby called AdCongress22,” Romualdez added.

Romualdez said there was a high level of participation from the host, the provincial government of Camarines Sur, and support from the Naga City government, which partnered to help the ad congress realize its goal.

“We embrace and love the idea that the ad congress could start the next phase that the provincial government has planned (which is) to attract tourists through conventions,” Romualdez said.

Villafuerte declared that “CamSur will continue to surpass expectations” and “will continue to stay on top of our game.”

Many firsts

The governor said this year’s ad congress boasted many firsts.

Where previous congresses were held in hotels or large, single structures like convention centers, this year it was held in a complex with separate areas for the various activities that had been lined up—the plenary presentations; product exhibits and merchandising; social events such as lunches, cocktails and dinners; nightly entertainment; and lots of after-hours parties.

The country’s top providers of consumer products and services even put up their own structures, each of them offering unique come-ons to the delegates.

Overall, the four-day event was a heady brew for the participants, as they happily soaked in the mélange of sights and sounds and the swirl of nonstop activities.

Another historic first for the ad congress was that it was able to bring together the leaders of the country’s three largest television networks—Eugenio Lopez III of ABS-CBN, Felipe Gozon of GMA 7 and Manny Pangilinan of TV5.

“They were there not so much as competitors but as partners in pushing for the Philippine broadcast industry in particular, and the media and advertising industry in general to greater heights in the era of globalization,” Villafuerte said.

He said his province’s hosting of the event was “nothing like anything we’ve seen before. It was festive, people were enjoying themselves so much and the energy level was really high.”

Villafuerte said hosting the event has boosted the reputation of Camarines Sur as a world-class tourism and leisure destination.

He said this would spur them to pursue their vision of being the premier destination for meetings, incentive travel conferences, conventions and exhibitions, or “MICE.”

Embracing new media

Geoff Tan, who spoke on “Print Media: A Valuable Component in Any Engagement Strategy Especially with a Multiplatform Approach,” said there is a similar advertising event every year in his native Singapore.

As in the Philippines, the gathering of advertisers in Singapore aims at getting everyone in the same industry to come together as one body to listen to speakers who can help them move the business in a positive way.

Tan said that thinking out of the box was the right way and pointed to the necessity of embracing new media. “The offline and online media must come together to form a total solution for the advertisers,” he said.

Tan said “multiple touch point” and “multimedia referencing and integration” were today’s buzz words in the industry.

He said organizations needed to come together and recognize the people’s desire to be caught in a different way during the course of the day before a consumer’s decision is made to buy.