CHAMPION CIGARETTES:
A partnership with Convey over the years

You mark how long Champion Cigarettes has been around in the market and you peg our age too. In fact, Champion Cigarettes was launched only a few months behind our inception into the advertising industry back in the late 60's. And we have been faithful partners ever since.

Remember the line “ Champion Sa Lasa, Champion Sa Halaga, Champion Talaga!” or its shorter, more succinct version, “Champion Talaga!” ? It was the same snappy, seminal themeline that we churned up back in 1968. Apparently, it has proven quite enduring in terms of brand recall because it is still being used to this day.

While critics may say Champion's advertising concepts are formulaic, antiquated and repetitive, sales figures are significant enough to prove their comments irrelevant. After all, who can argue with Champion's consistent showing as the country's largest selling cigarette brand throughout its 30-plus-year history?

Indeed, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. Longevity and sales performance make Champion's brand of advertising—like the brand itself—truly classic.

Over the years, we likewise have handled advertising for other Lucio-Tan-owned businesses, namely Boss Menthol/Filter Kings, Allied Bank, Foremost Farms, Inc. and Grains Handlers Philippines, Inc.

MARCA PIÑA SOY SAUCE:
Antiquated ads? truncated slogan? nonetheless a Superbrand!

We started the “Piñakamasarap” campaign years ago and up to this day, the Marca Piña brand is still showcased by the word. It's on its label, its packaging, its advertising materials. When that precocious little boy uttered the line “Piñarap!” (a truncated version of the official “Piñakamasarap!” tagline) in that old, but now classic, TV spot, Marca Piña virtually had it in the bag. Thus the interjection went down in history as one of the most unforgettable taglines in local advertising.

Piñakamasarap Corporation has since expanded its business here and abroad as that little boy grew up (he now holds the CEO post of the company). And so did our accounts with them. We have helped them launch a number of other Marca Piña products such as Sukang Puti, Cane Vinegar, Oyster Sauce and just recently, Marca Piña's sibling brand, Kubo Sukang Paombong, all bearing that distinctly Filipino “Piñakamasarap” quality.

So successful is the Marca Piña brand that more than 50 years after its founding, it's still a major player in the condiment market—quite deserving of the prestigious title of Superbrand and, more importantly, the patronage of millions of Filipinos worldwide.

QUES-O CHEESE FOOD:
A moment of Eureka ! born of sheer common sense

“It's cheese! Why not call it queso ?!” exclaimed our creative director at the eleventh hour of our branding process for New Zealand Creamery's newest cheese product back in the 80's. And we couldn't help but agree. Further refinements of the name led to the “O” getting more emphasized and finally, “Ques-O” became the name.

So the art boys proceeded to visualizing the new name while keeping in mind the Mexican-Spanish feel it seemed to evoke. Further inspired by our art director's “chicano” features, they have created a Mexican-looking character in wide-rimmed hat as the name's complementary visual icon. Thus was born Ques-O's distinctive dichotomous brand identity. Through time, these two elements—the name and the icon—became synonymous with each other, and reinforced each other's recall value among consumers.

Soon after Ques-O was launched, prominent practitioners of the trade in the Philippine Advertising Congress cited it as an example of excellent branding. Prophetic was their compliment that decades later, to this day, Ques-O remains a strong presence and top performer in the local cheese market.