‘Outlier’ Comm&Sense earns Quill Agency of the Year nomination

MANILA, Philippines — The Quill is one of the most prestigious awards coveted by known public relations and marketing practitioners in the country.

Once a year, the biggest names from various sectors and industries, local and multinational companies, gather to recognize brands and agencies who have excelled in their respective fields of expertise.

The Quill hands out two honorable distinctions: the Award of Excellence and the Award of Merit to companies whose communications initiatives have contributed greatly to the promotion and development of the marketing practice in the country.

While the goal is to win both, most brands and companies ardently contend for the sought after Agency of the Year or Company of the Year title.

As expected, seasoned and known brands and companies are among the nominees, but this year, the battle for the Agency of the Year saw a new name — an outlier.

The newcomer did not only surprise the other Quill-hopefuls but also turned a lot of curious heads. Most heard the resounding announcement that an agency, “Common Sense” was also vying for Agency of the Year title.

Either misheard or haven’t-heard, Comm&Sense may be the most important agency you have to get to know.

Empowering emerging brands

In getting the Agency of the Year nomination, the 14-year-old agency managed to enter emerging brands to the competition, which eventually won six distinctions.

What is impressive is that the winning entries were communications campaigns that did not involve multi-million budgets that known local and established brands have.

Comm&Sense banked on the smart use of content by allowing these brands to talk to the right audience, using the right content, on the right platform.

Among the winners of this year’s Quill is Westlake Medical Center, a community hospital in Laguna. Westlake created “Sabi ni Doc” videos featuring their doctors, that allowed the viewers to have free online consultation regarding their health concerns.

The topics were carefully considered by looking at the search histories of the target audience. As a result, Westlake’s online videos have garnered millions of views and were shared organically by their online community.

WCC Aviation, an aviation school in Binalonan, Pangasinan, created articles and videos that answer the pressing queries of those who are interested in pursuing their dream of becoming a pilot or of becoming part of the aviation industry. To this day, the school’s website is the most widely read online aviation magazine in the country.

ManilaMed, another partner hospital of Comm&Sense, sparked the conversation on Urban Health both in traditional and online media. Being in the heart of Manila, ManilaMed wants to address the health concerns arising from city living.

Through ManilaMed Healthline, ManilaMed’s Facebook Live program, doctors engage their patients online by answering their health queries and concerns. The efforts did not only gain them media attention, but it also helped them establish strong and highly-engaged online followers.

PhilCare, a pioneering Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) in the country, launched the PhilCare Wellness Index that provided information on the general perspectives and attitudes of Filipinos when it comes to their health and wellness.

The national survey, the first and only study of its kind in the country, also served as a listening tool for PhilCare to develop a new product category in the HMO industry — the sachet-type, prepaid health plans.

Comm&Sense claims that these brands didn’t need to shell out big bucks for glossy videos, big events, or expensive advertisements to talk to their audience. In partnership with Comm&Sense, what these brands did was simple and straightforward: they talked about the things that matter to you and reached you right where you are.

What Comm&Sense did was to allow its partners to be as real as they can be when they engage you. It’s straight to the point, no-frills approach to communicating only necessitated one thing from Comm&Sense to be effective — a carefully thought of strategy.

Reshaping brand marketing

Comm&Sense introduced a shift in how brands relate to their customers through Brand Publishing. More than just talking about how good and useful their products and services are, Brand Publishing makes brands focus more on creating communities around shared beliefs and values.

Comm&Sense Communication Director Toteng Tanglao highlights the difference of brand publishing from other marketing methods.

“Brands take on the role of an educator or a partner when they become publishers. When communicating, they don’t primary sell. They empower. Brand publishing takes on the discipline of any publication where relevance, objectivity, and truthfulness of information becomes top priority. With brand publishing, your brand only becomes as important as your audience,” Tanglao said.

Brand Publishing makes the audience the priority of brands when they communicate. The audience now has the power to tell brands what they need and want to know, what form and when they want to see it.

“Brands should accept that marketing is more than just getting attention. Audiences today must become part of the brand’s community and the ‘shock and awe’ of advertising is no longer enough. Editorial content is more engaging and addictive than the usual viral content. This is where Comm&Sense is good at — creating content that is more of a commitment than a campaign,” Toteng explained.

Charlotte Fabian-Reyes, managing director of Comm&Sense, sees Brand Publishing as an opportunity for emerging brands to compete alongside established local and international brands.

“Brand Publishing levels the playing field for all brands. It doesn’t always have to involve big marketing budgets or high-value marketing executions to engage your audience. It’s all about responding to the needs of your audience and providing them what’s relevant for them. It’s about finding that sweet spot where your brand’s values intersect with your target market’s. That’s what Brand Publishing is all about,” Fabian-Reyes said.

Brand Publishing is the principle behind Comm&Sense’s communications campaigns that were recognized in the recent Quill Awards.

Looking closely at the company, you would notice that Comm&Sense is primarily composed of journalists and creative writers who work side by side video and creative producers, far from the usual marketing agency setup.

Asked as to the rationale behind it, Comm&Sense President Jaeger Tanco shared: “Looking at people’s changing behavior towards interacting with brands and consuming information, we see that there's a need for us to be more adaptive and responsive. Brand publishing is the way to go and our company composition just reflects how committed we are in pushing for this principle.”

“Our award this year affirms how our novel approach to communicating and our brand of creatives has been effective. We have been heralding Brand Publishing for several years and I am happy that it is gaining the recognition it deserves. More than benefiting brands, it benefits our audience and our consumers. Comm&Sense’s nomination for the Agency of the Year only speaks of the fact that we’re bringing something new to the table,” Jaeger added.