MINDFUL OF
MATTER,
MIND FULL OF
MATTER
TBWA’s 29-years-old Associate Creative Director and
top young creative in adobo Creative Rankings answers
questions on creating a meaningful life.
interview
ANNA GAMBOA
A
scending the ranks at
TBWA isn’t an easy thing—
because it means standing
out in a group composed
of talented individuals who already
distinguish themselves as a class
apart from the rest. Nevertheless,
each person cooperatively pitches in
to collaborate on outstanding work.
But CJ de Silva-Ong has managed
this feat, not only by dint of her
talent, persistence and hard work—
but also because she isn’t afraid to
give more of her talent, persistence
and hard work to an industry she
fell in love with as a college junior
during a summer internship.
WHAT IS IT ABOUT ADVERTISING
THAT CONTINUES TO
CHALLENGE/INSPIRE YOU?
HOW DID YOU CHOOSE TBWA
AS YOUR HOME AGENCY
FOR THIS MANY YEARS?
I believe I was trained to always
search for new, fresh and creative
ways to solve a problem. It could
be a business problem, an image
problem, or a user-experience
problem. Disruption is what we call
it in TBWA. I guess fundamentally,
that’s what excites me the most —
finding creative and meaningful
solutions. Producing works that
touch humans. On a lighter note,
I kind of enjoy working around
limitations. It’s a great feeling
when you achieve your vision
in spite of compromises and
adjustments, quite a challenging
and humbling experience.
I had my internship at TBWA\
SMP when I was in third year
college. I consider it luck (kasi
napakaraming magaling talaga)
(there were many talented
applicants) that when I graduated,
TBWA had an opening for a
Junior Art Director. They were
so kind they called me in. After
almost eight years, I’m still with
them and I still feel very lucky.
TBWA\SMP is an agency that
fosters creativity. They invest not
just in great ideas but also in people.
The people in TBWA are passionate
with what they do. Iba yung level of
commitment. Everybody works —
the bosses actually work. And
you will really feel that everyone
doesn’t wait to let each other
down. Quite inspiring. It’s a great
motivation. Nakakahawa (it’s
contagious). You learn by example.
WITH THE CHANGES/
INNOVATIONS TAKING PLACE
IN THE INDUSTRY, HOW CAN
OUTSTANDING CREATIVE/
DISRUPTIVE WORK BE MORE
ABOUT THE “ARTIST” (THE
ARCHER) THAN THE “BRUSH”
(THE ARROW)?
It’s always about the artist. It’s
always about the human, not
the technology. If we give it
further thought, all changes and
innovations come from a human
insight, a human need, a human
problem. “Data-driven” has been
a buzzword lately. But we sort of
forget that data come from humans.
We shouldn’t be slaves to data. We
are the data. We interpret data. Tech
are very useful tools. But we wield
our tools. We are the craftsmen. I
constantly remind myself to not
be too obsessed with just the
technology and to always look
for the humanity in everything.
July - August 2016 | adobo magazine
THE WORK
RAW
105