m25 the global premium network proudly presents our Global Creative Series, to highlight international creativity and the impact of local cultures and technological advancements on creative production throughout the region. This series features interviews with key and exceptional regional creatives, illustrating how individual endeavours, when combined with cultural understanding and team building, shape successful advertising campaigns and real purpose.

In this episode we are pleased to feature Jerry C. Hizon. Jerry is currently the chief creative officer of Dentsu Creative Philippines and Dentsu Creative Manila. He has turned his knowledge of comic books, video games, NBA and love for street food into a 30-year advertising career, where he picked up a few shiny metals along the way. A trailblazer in the advertising industry, Jerry is celebrated for his profound impact on the creative landscape, marked by his pioneering work in neurodivergent creativity and his leadership in ground breaking campaigns. His journey offers invaluable insights into navigating an ever-evolving industry, demonstrating how cultural understanding and innovative thinking drive impactful advertising.

Q> Can you tell us about your journey to becoming a CCO, what inspired you to pursue this career, what challenges you faced while carving your niche in an ever-changing creative landscape, and which project stands out as the most memorable for its impact on your market or region?

Jerry> I entered the industry in the mid-90s and I practically stumbled into it. I originally wanted to be a part of a local sports network, covering professional basketball games but couldn’t make the cut. So jobless after university and with nothing to do, I played PC games the whole day until my mother asked me when I am going to look for a job. So I took a look at the newspaper classifieds and saw a nicely-laid out want ad looking for a copywriter. I sent my application because it seems remotely connected to my college course of Broadcasting so I applied to what turned out to be a local ad agency (a Bates affiliate at that time) and fortunately got in.

Though my first job was rough, as 90% of what I’m doing weren’t taught in our school, I saw that the industry gave me a chance to create ideas across different media, like TV, Radio and Print/Outdoor, unlike if I pushed through with my original plan where probably I would be writing TV scripts about basketball till it’s coming out of my nose.

After that first job, I got to work with LINTAS (now MullenLowe), Saatchi, Ogilvy, DDB DM9 Jayme Syfu until it was acquired by Dentsu in 2016, which I am part of until now. Throughout those years, I saw the industry change and evolve several times – I entered pre-Internet and the art directors were just learning Photoshop, which is quite similar to how traditional creatives were struggling with social media with its vertical format, branding within three seconds mantra, fast beats perfect dictum, and all the other “rules”, to now when we are trying to understand and harness AI.

As you have said, the industry is ever-changing. I guess the only way to survive and thrive is to continuously evolve. Have that mindset that what worked before does not necessarily work again, and not to fall in love with ‘Best Practices’ as Best Practices mean it’s already been done and it’s a formula to being generic, amidst an ocean of competing messages. You’re only as good as your last work rings through as rules are being rewritten at a breakneck pace. Scary, but it’s also an opportunity to be a part of those who write the ‘rules’ since nothing is set in stone yet.

As for the most memorable work, I still believe DM9 Jayme Syfu’s Smart Textbooks by the team led by Biboy Royong, Aste Gutierrez and Buboy Paguio is still the benchmark for Philippine work. It brought the country’s first Grand Prix, which has not been replicated up to this day. It showed that great and transformative ideas can come from anywhere, even if you do not have the multi-million advertising dollars, even if you do not have the latest tech and tools. All it takes is a simple idea and a desire to help society.

Industry Evolution and Global Impact 

Q> How has the Philippines advertising market transformed over the past decade, and what factors have driven this change?

Jerry> When I entered the industry in the ’90s, Philippine advertising helped shape Philippine pop culture, where commercial jingles became popular songs, taglines become movie titles (not as part of a campaign but simply because they were part of the language already), gag show spoof commercials on a regular basis, commercial talents become movie stars (and use the name they had in the TVCs!). Maybe because creating campaigns back then were sort of punk rock, anything goes as long as it’s ‘kwela’ (funny) or resonant with the audience’s emotions. There were no KPIs, metrics or adherence to best practices that made the work generic or templated. This is a hot take but before, multinational FMCG brands were the ones setting the trends with iconic campaigns, but now, ‘best practices’ seem to make current campaigns functional but not fresh. They are now the ones following pop culture, which make them derivative. Maybe because of all those webinars during the pandemic? Or is it because every performance evaluations are now KPI based? I don’t know.

Another fascinating transformation is the Philippines’ embrace of mobile and social media. The country used to be a strong TV market, and probably would continue if politics didn’t cut short the country’s largest TV network. Still, the industry was resilient and able to pivot, creating interesting work in various platforms, from memes to viral video content that go beyond the ‘first three-second rule’. I’d like to take this opportunity to showcase Dentsu’s work on Maya #GetBanked and Foundation for Media Alternatives Face of Courage as examples. Maya’s campaign for their digital bank became viral in social media platforms despite being a looong, almost 3.5 minute video, because it’s content the target wants to see. FMA’s Face of Courage is an example of using emerging technology in different platforms for good. Face of Courage used Tiktok’s Symphony generative AI to generate life-like Filipina AI avatars to help be the face of domestic abuse survivors so they can tell their stories and encourage people in similar circumstances to report and stop the abuse.

Q> In what ways is Philippines positioning itself on the global advertising stage, and what unique strengths does it offer that resonate with international brands?

Jerry> Though the Philippines is a predominantly domestic market, it has a lot of global-level advertising talent. A lot of DM9/Dentsu JaymeSyfu alumni are now doing great work, leading teams not just in APAC but in North America and EMEA as well. Perhaps it’s the ability to create great ideas despite the lack of time, resources, technology and budget? Or perhaps it’s their skills which were honed by impossible deadlines that enabled them to do their 10,000 hours in half the time? Or perhaps the innate empathy as a people that enables us to spot really human insights? I still don’t know. But one thing the Philippines can hinge on is as the industry moves towards more AI-enhanced tools and programmatic metrics, Filipinos’ connection with emotions and people can make the work more human.

Maybe APAC brands are seeing this as Dentsu Creative Philippines and Dentsu Creative Manila have been assigned to do APAC work for big brands like Glico plus several more I can’t divulge yet. Some of our teams are also working on global campaigns for global brands that are part of the Dentsu network, specifically because they want a Philippine perspective. Maybe as the Filipino diaspora grows larger, it is emerging as a significant market globally.

Q> How do local cultural values and creative storytelling influence advertising strategies in Philippines?

Jerry> Very much. A lot of classic Filipino campaigns centre on traditional cultural values like respect for the elders, tolerance, love for family, etc. In fact, there’s even an award show for that here in the Philippines. At Dentsu Creative here, we always focus on unique Filipino insights especially if it’s for the local market, to make it relevant and rise above the sea of content. One example of that is Dentsu Creative Philippines’ Pocky Sabi. The team noticed that Filipinos are naturally shy especially when saying they like a person. They’d rather have a bridge or a go-between to say it (Paki-sabi or please tell), so as not to lose face. So the Pocky team used the product itself to cover the face of the person who wanted to express his feelings. This interactive narrative hinged on a unique Filipino insight to the delight of the Filipino youth.

Influence of Technology and Innovation

Q> With the rapid adoption of digital tools and AI, how is technology reshaping creative processes and outcomes in Philippines’s advertising industry?

Jerry> As mentioned earlier, technology is always reshaping the industry, not just the Philippines. It is up to us to adapt like the art directors in the ’90s who were forced to learn Photoshop to stay relevant, to reframing how campaigns are done in the social media era, to utilising AI today and moving forward.

Technology can democratise content creation, making it ‘snackable’ and ultimately disposable. But for ideas that create impact and leaves a legacy, it takes a deep understanding of the human psyche and empathy to make it happen.

Technology is just a means to make great ideas happen. What’s important is the idea behind it, which humans do not have a shortage of, and make it connect emotionally, which is something AI is feeling its way around.

Q> What role does social media play in the advertising strategies of companies in Philippines, and how are these strategies evolving to meet global trends?

Jerry> As the world’s biggest social media consumer, social platforms in the Philippines play a big role as they are now the primary source of information and entertainment, replacing television with the exit of ABS-CBN. There are now a lot of KOL-led campaigns that enable Filipino content creators to have their followers engage with the brand, which is generally with the global trend. Though I feel the world should study what’s happening here in the Philippines as we have one of the world’s largest social media engagement, and considered as the world’s vlogging capital in terms of creation and consumption.

Data is important in determining insights, who to tap, and what topics resonate, but we should take note of the different personalities and the different ways on how to tell the story. The Philippines have a lot of content creators with their own narrative styles, and since Filipinos are always online for most of the day (3.5 hours a day!), it is important to still delight and surprise them with fresh approaches.

Inspiring the Next Generation 

Q> What advice would you give to young talent aspiring to enter the advertising industry in Philippines and the region?

Jerry> Never stop learning. A lot of (ahem) younger creatives have asked me how I managed to stay in the industry for decades. There’s always something new to learn in this industry – be it the industry where your assigned brand is, new skills, new technology, new markets, everything is an opportunity to learn something new. The advertising industry is an excellent way to learn about stuff beyond your experience. I won’t experience to be a mother, but I now have a deep empathy for moms because of the learnings I had working on different products. I am not really a social person but I do have to learn about social networks from Friendster to Multiply to Facebook to Instagram to Tiktok and more. And those learnings made me stay for almost 20 years in my current agency and its different iterations – from a creative start up churning out 100 TVCs a year, to being one of the early digital agencies in the country to being a part of Dentsu working on Japanese brands, and now, working with clients beyond Philippine borders as part of the Dentsu network.

Q> How does Philippines encourage innovation compared to more traditional markets?

Jerry> Filipinos eagerly take to new platforms, as long as it’s free and there’s a potential to earn money. So I would say we are open to new things. And as a country, I think it’s our DNA as our culture is a mish-mash of different influences – Malay, Spanish, Hokkien Chinese, Indian, American, Japanese, and probably more. We assimilate cultures easily and it is evident in our language, food and pop culture.

Our relative lack of resources like budget, long lead times, and tools enable us to hack existing systems or platforms and ultimately innovate (like Smart Txtbks).

And as the world becomes more globally connected and homogenised, it is important for young creatives not to forget their culture – celebrate it, champion it. It will be your calling card. In an industry where freshness is celebrated, what may be routine for you may be fascinating to a different market and vice versa. And the more you interact with the world, the more you’ll notice that no matter how different we are, we are still similar in a lot of things because we are all humans. And those common values and emotions like laughter and love are what would make one’s work globally relevant.

Q> Can you describe an early moment in your career where a pivotal experience or mentor changed your perspective on advertising?

Jerry> For me, it was an experience. I have been fortunate to be a part of a Creative Exchange program where we were assigned to a DDB office in Amsterdam for three months. It may be short but being in a different market and culture made me realise how insular I am when it comes to ideas. In the Philippines, we tend to scale down our ideas to make it feasible, making it smaller in scope. In Amsterdam, we were exposed to how to think big and without borders – like using Space X for a KLM promo, tapping global celebrities, access to latest and emerging tech, and choosing almost any location in the world for the setting, whereas back home our choice was if it’s workable in a studio or a nearby Metro Manila location. Of course, this has a lot to do with the budgets and the long timelines of projects in Europe (we were doing a Winter campaign in the month of March).

Given this, I also realised that despite my background living in the Philippines most of my life, great insightful ideas can come from anywhere and can resonate on a global level. All it takes is to make it relevant to the brief you are working with.

This experience was very pivotal for me and I would want to wish everybody had this kind of exposure. As mentioned earlier, the Philippines is a predominantly domestic market as most of our campaigns are targeted towards the local audience, so not much opportunities for young creatives unlike other markets like Singapore or Bangkok. It is my goal with my teammates at Dentsu Creative Philippines and Dentsu Creative Manila to expose our young creatives, accounts, strat and digital people to working with different markets. Our team experienced this, working on Face of Courage where we partnered with CreativeFitting Shanghai to help us with Tiktok’s Symphony AI tech and our HBO Max teams that launched different activations across Manila, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur. Currently, we have campaigns for Glico and a few other brands that will be released or launched in different APAC markets. Our team members get to interact with other Dentsu markets like Tokyo, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and even New York, Rome and London.

We are also fortunate that Dentsu HQ is in Asia and our global CCO Yasuharu Sasaki, APAC creative council lead Alice Chou, global director for creative excellence Paola Motka and global creative excellence Lead Jayme Blasko are just an email away and can easily link us up to different Dentsu units across the world.

And of course, working with M25 also gives us this opportunity and we are very thankful for that.

Strategic and Operational Insights

Q> What are the key challenges that agencies face when expanding in Philippines, and how have they overcome them?

Jerry> The Philippines, despite its 116M population, is still considered a small market. Mostly because the bulk of the population have small purchasing power. As such, what is considered low budget in other markets, in the Philippines that budget is usually the high end already. So we need creative ways to sell (like tingi), communicate and execute ideas for brands.

Of course, this takes knowledge of the culture and creativity – in ideas, execution and implementation. One example of that is our Pocky Shapps campaign where we invented a word, utilised Filipino’s favorite platform (Tiktok) to generate buzz and insert the word into Filipino pop culture – with just a small budget.

Q> Looking to the future, what trends do you predict will shape the Philippines advertising industry in the next five to 10 years?

Jerry> At the rate it’s going, it’s hard to predict the next five to 10 years. Our Face of Courage campaign was ground breaking way back in early 2024, now the AI technology is being used by everyone for e-commerce to memes to political agendas. Technology is evolving very fast. AI can make everybody a creator, so agencies would have to elevate its craft. People have been sharing less personal stuff in social media, so perhaps there will be a revert to more curated content?

Industry-wise, agencies will evolve. Perhaps there will no longer be titles like copywriters and art directors, just creators, where each creative can utilise whatever tool he has to execute the idea – be it copy, art or code. We are actually seeing this now as
Our young creatives joining us are multi-skilled and eager to adapt to new tools. To survive, everybody should adapt the mantra of Never Stop Learning. And always remember that we are doing advertising for humans, so it pays to remember what makes us human when doing our ideas.