BLU DETERGENT/BLU-STAR:
From out of the blue, into the blue, and back!

When we launched Blu Detergent some years ago, it created quite a stir in the local detergent market dominated by big multinational brands. From being a relatively obscure brand, it became an overnight sensation with its kind of advertising that employed celebrity endorsers en vogue at the time of the campaign. The likes of Rosanna Roces, Sunshine Cruz and Asi Taulava, graced Blu Detergent's advertising materials and created for Blu the desired marketing impact.

Soon, other brands were hard put in dealing with Blu's newly gained mileage and tried to engage it in a dispute over its “environmental friendliness”. Blu was able to brave through this and came out cleaner. DSS Productmakers, Inc., however, was also having difficulties with its foreign principal and so, as part of its eventual corporate strategy, had to take the huge step of pulling Blu out of the market.

DSS Productmakers, however, believed in Blu's brand image and market appeal, attributed in part to its advertising. And so, in 2003, we launched for them another brand that rode on Blu Detergent's popularity—Blu-Star Detergent. The campaign showcased yet another celebrity, this time a comedian—Ruby Rodriguez—and headlined the brand's star appeal with the tag “Star sa Puti, Star sa Bango!”. With its success came a brand extension, a dishwashing liquid, that run the battle-cry “Star sa Linis, Star sa Puti!”. Then, it became apparent that the Blu brand, in its evolved form, was finally back!

SUPERLUME ALUMINUM SHEETS :
Super-yero soaring high

Before we took on Superlume as a client, its advertising was no more than a motley of ads that spoke so little of a distinct and pronounced brand identity. Their main problem was how to make a unified advertising concept and make the brand stand out from the rest with only a miniscule budget limited to print advertising.

Keeping these briefs in mind, we devised a strategy that we thought would instantly connect with the target market, engross them in our ads in a way a tv or radio commercial would, while not forgetting to dish out technical info about aluminum sheets. Thus we created a campaign in the form of a comics series headlining a cartoon character. Thus was born Superlume, “Ang Super-yero ng Masa”, the ‘personification' of the product's super qualities—a superhero that moves and takes flight despite the limitation of the printed page on which it is found.

The comics series was a blast. The ads didn't look like ads but as storyboards that spoke directly to the market. End result: client attested to a significant sales growth a few months after the ads came out.

ALLIED BANK :
Banking on a logo of luck

Before Allied Bank became what it is today it started as a vision—a vision of luck and prosperity that was fittingly showcased in its corporate identity.

We created a logo for Allied Bank that was reminiscent of the letter “a”—a gold coin cuddled by a layer of three cursive lines. With the choice of colors red and gold, the design was undoubtedly Chinese and understandably fraught with Feng Sui meaning. Something that must have worked really well for Allied Bank as it became one of the country's top ten strongest banks today.