Imagination and Creativity

Last November, Cecile and I attended our second Phil. Advertising Congress together, since we had returned from Vietnam.

For three days, 3,200 plus advertising and marketing communications practitioners gathered at the new Subic Bay Exhibition and Convention Center for the 20th Philippine Advertising Congress (PAC).

The most anticipated speaker of the Ad Congress was Neil Gaiman! His talked about “Imagination and Creativity in the Contemporary World.” He is listed in the Dictionary of Literary Biography as one of the top ten living post-modern writers. Neil had written for movies like “Stardust” with Robert de Niro and “Beowulf” with Anthony Hopkins and Angelina Jolie. He is also the writer/creator of the cult DC Comics series Sandman. The Sandman issue “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” won in the 1991 World Fantasy Award for best short story, thus making it the first comics script to be awarded a literary award. Did you know that he wrote a book about the biography of the band Duran Duran back in 1984?

He said that people should see things taken for granted with new eyes. “Before there were chairs, poems, and fields they were imagined,” Gaiman said. The England-born 47-year old novelist praised the potential of young Filipino artists and writers. “The Philippines has the coolest folklores in the world.”

I believe that with creativity also comes accountability. People in advertising are still brand custodians and thus, remain accountable together with client to the success or failure of their brands.

But with the digital revolution, hopefully, there are brighter chances of success and thus, marketing communications professionals find innovative ways and means to engage consumers. Photo shows Cecile with McCann Erickson delegates.