A set of advertising manuals has been launched in the Philippines,
providing the first locally-produced and relevant text for the country's
mass communications undergraduates.
Respected industry practitioners contributed to the Art and Advertising
and The Science of Advertising - "a who's who of the industry",
according to Campaigns & Grey group chairman Yolanda Villanueva-Ong, who
edited and pushed through the project, first mooted in the late
'70s.
Contributors include Pedro Dy-Liacco Jr, Nestle Philippines senior
vice-president and director of communications; former J Walter Thompson
president and CEO Ernesto Gatchalian, now president-CEO of Campaigns &
Grey; McCann-Erickson president and CEO Emily Abrera; as well as Mon and
Abby Jimenez, who founded Jimenez & Partners (now Jimenez D'Arcy).
Described as a "how to guide", The Science of Advertising takes care of
every aspect of the business except the creative part, which Art &
Advertising covers.
The Science of Advertising tackles research, the various methodologies
used by marketing teams to develop strategies, positioning, pricing,
distribution, account planning, media planning and buying, the role of
PR and advocacy in the future, and DM.
Art and Advertising, edited by Campaigns & Grey ECD Butch Uy, provides
an insider's view and a basic map of the creative and production
processes.
Both books are intended to give the student a working knowledge of how
advertising fits in the marketing mix, because rarely does a marketer
'shoot from the hip'," Ms Villanueva-Ong explained in her preface.
"In the new millennium, advertising has not only become respectable, in
fact, it has become accountable," she said, recounting the attitude
shift from the '70s, when she was often asked, "What's a nice girl like
you doing in advertising?".
But by the '80s, the business started gaining a patina of legitimacy,
with Philippine universities offering advertising as a major in mass
communication courses, alongside journalism, broadcasting and
communications research programmes.
"All examples are local ones, which makes the books locally-relevant to
mass-com students. In the past, we were using US-based text," said Ms
Villanueva-Ong, who was tapped to revive the project which took almost
three decades in the making.
"The prime movers came and went, but they never got around to getting
the contributions."
Through "nagging, persuasion and cajoling", she tapped her peers in the
industry to contribute.
Contributors have agreed to forego royalties, which will be used to
develop a video version of the book for distribution to provincial
universities.
