Riding the waves of advertising boom

Meyrick and Perl

CEBU, Philippines — It was in the early 90s when Cebu’s economic rise started to take shape, a time when new businesses were established and the city's skyline started to see the mushrooming of high-rise buildings.

It was at that time when the advertising business, although very young then, also boomed when demand rose from businesses seeking to reach their target markets through advertising.

Creative Meyrick Jacalan was right when he saw the promising opportunity in advertising at that time.

In 1994, he started a graphic design studio with only two artists and one computer.

Meyrick, together with his wife Perl, had grown the business into one of Cebu's well-known advertising and event management firms, ASAP (Advertising Services and Promotions).

"I saw a gap in the advertising industry," Meyrick shared to The FREEMAN in an interview as he recalled how the company started. "I took that small window of opportunity to set up my own business."

While the industry "was very young and lacking" at the time, Meyrick had this strong belief that it was bound to grow, seeing the need for companies to embrace advertising.

"Most advertising agencies were manual. The big companies here with across the country distribution hired Manila agencies to implement their requirements," said.

Positive about the prospects of the business then, Meyrick also saw the economic boom in Cebu as a strong driver.

"In the early 90s, Cebu was booming. 'CEBOOM' was everywhere. I was confident and very sure that the services we offered were vital at that time. There was a need. We provided the solution," he said.

Couple Meyrick and Perl are at the helm of ASAP's operations for 25 years now, both jiving together with their respective expertise.

Perl has been into the marketing side of things while Meyrick is inclined more to the creative aspect. Essentially, marketing and creativity are two things deemed very vital in the advertising world.

For over two decades, the company has worked with big companies such as PLDT, Smart, Toyota Motors, Lexus, Accenture, Microsoft, Sykes, JP Morgan, 7-Eleven, Aboitiz, Aboitizland, Nissan, Megaworld, Ayala Land, Shell Philippines, SKYCable, Rustan’s Marketplace, and Shopwise, among others.

Tell us how ASAP started?

Meyrick: ASAP started as a graphic design studio in 1994, with two artists and one computer. We were the first to be fully computerized. During that time, most competitors were using manual lay-outing. Client presentations were done using illustration boards. Revisions were very difficult as we had to design again from scratch.

With computerization, we were able to grow as clients were amazed that we had a quick turnaround. In just a day we were able to implement their revisions, compared with other agencies that were still doing things manually.

Moreover, during our early years we also undertook Backward Integration, which was an opposing strategy for ad agencies at that time. We set-up our own production house with an off-set printing press, photography and audio-video recording equipment. We pursued this strategy in order to increase our competitiveness and streamline our operations and have full control over production.

How did the company grow to where it is now?

Perl: One of our first clients was SKYCable. After 25 years, we are still servicing them. This is how we grew to where we are now. We considered our clients as our partners. Majority of our clients have been with us for years. For example, our first project with Toyota was in 1998,  20 years thereafter, Toyota is still one of our biggest clients. We started with SuperCat, an Aboitiz Company, in 1999 and then worked on projects for other Aboitiz companies such as Aboitizland, 2GO and SuperFerry, our biggest client for so many years.

Diversification of services to service our clients’ needs. We also adapted with the changing times and their ever-evolving requirements. We once focused on advertising campaigns through traditional media, mostly Above the Line projects. Later on, we went full-on to handling Below the line media. Currently, with the changing advertising landscape, we have also been moving into social media.

We see the mushrooming of new companies in Cebu in recent years, how does this benefit the advertising business?

Perl: In recent years there has been a rise in companies in Cebu and the Visayas and Mindanao, which is our core operating area. VisMin has been the source of growth of most companies as they seek to expand their businesses. However, even if there are thousands of advertisers, only a very small percentage of local companies are willing to use advertising as part of their marketing mix. For sure they know the importance of advertising but most likely the high cost of mainstream media is a barrier. Nowadays however, with the changing technological landscape and the rise of social networking sites, companies have cheaper alternatives in executing their advertising plans. Also, even locally based big manufacturers hire Manila agencies to service their needs, which is a bane to the growth of the local advertising industry.

Over the years, how has the advertising industry evolved and how has ASAP for one coped up with these changes?

Perl: The advertising industry in Cebu has persisted through the years but it's been very challenging over-all especially in the past few years with the changing technological landscape. It’s been said over and over, “Traditional marketing and advertising is not dying, it is dead.” Well, yes, in a way, it's true but not entirely. With the digitization of “everything” and the meteoric rise of social media, people, consumers have more viable options. Everybody now has more choices, with just one click. And more than ever, advertising is now affordable. Good for advertisers and ultimately, for the consumers, but a bane for ad agencies. Despite all this, however, we have thrived, mainly because we have retained our core clients and at the same time, our business model has evolved as well.

Since about 15 years or so now, our source of business revenue has shifted; but not yet in a major way. Advertising campaigns and the mainstream media such as print and radio is still our main source of revenue but our events unit has been catching up in leaps and bounds, specifically on management of international conferences and conventions and corporate launches.

Moving forward, how do you see the advertising business in Cebu and how does ASAP position itself into the future?

Perl: Well, with the rising population and with the exponential progress that Cebu and nearby VisMin cities have been experiencing, there could be no other way to go but up for advertising industry. Surprisingly however that’s not the case especially here in Cebu. Many of our contemporaries have closed shop or have down-sized or just like us, scaled down the manpower to counter heavy overhead and operational costs. The proliferation of in-house creative departments by many companies as well as the direct competition from local publications and media networks dealing directly with clients have contributed to the downturn of the local advertising industry.

Add to the equation the many freelancers selling their services at rock-bottom fees and them accepting barter deals. It’s not going to be rosy for the ad industry not just here in Cebu, but throughout the country, and the world even.

In these changing and challenging times, we continue to adapt and evolve. But more importantly, we also sustain and nurture our clients, we continue to be responsive to their needs and help them with their requirements. (FREEMAN)