Following large new business growth Dentsu Jayme Syfu Philippines announces eight internal promotions

With 2019’s aggressive business wins, Dentsu Jayme Syfu Philippines has named eight new promotions within the agency. Over 2019 the agency has gained the total Shell Philippines business, plus regional and digital brands like Hooq, Carousell, Klook and Samsung.

On the creative front, Allan Montayre has been promoted to Creative Director.

Chairmom and Chief Creative Officer Merlee Jayme said clients like Smart, Uniqlo, Villar projects, Meralco, Cignal, Shell, and Toyota all loved Montayre’s chill demeanor, experience, and professionalism when it comes to their visual work.

Montayre has won numerous awards – most notably a Cannes Silver Lion for Mini Cooper and a Cannes Bronze Lion for Smart Department of Tourism. This year, he was chosen to be part of team Toyota creating new campaigns with global creative leaders in the Los Angeles office.

Benci Vidanes has been elevated to Associate Creative Director. Vidanes has a penchant of winning competitions. Last year, he was part of the winning team at the Cannes Amazon Hackathon, besting 6 global teams. In 2017, he and his group topped other Japanese and APAC teams to win the 5th Young Innovators Workshop in Tokyo. In 2013, he and Josh Galvez bested all Philippine Young Creatives to be the country’s representative in the Young Lions competition. It is also in the same year that he beat all Cannes delegates to win PHD’s contest within the Festival.

Maik Alturas is promoted to Business Development Director. Alturas was responsible in leading one of the agency’s top accounts: Uniqlo. He spearheaded the successful launches of new campaigns, press previews, opening of the biggest flagship store in Southeast Asia, Uniqlo Manila & the First Roadside Store in the Philippines at Westgate Alabang.

Promoted to Business Development Director is Lieza Punsalan. Instrumental in growing businesses for Belo and Nutriasia, she was on top of key accounts like Thunder Supersoda, Smart, Sun, and Ascof. For the past 3 years, Punsalan was actively involved in newbiz pitch wins for Coke, Sun, and PLDT. On top of this, she also helped the creative teams develop and implement award-winning work for Belo and PLDT-Smart.

Two newly promoted Account Directors are Agatha Barretto, and Chello Caliwan. Barretto has successfully led key assignments that resulted to both financial growth and creative accolades. Her experience in handling a diverse set of accounts like Breeze, Cerelac, Coke, Jollibee, Wyeth and National Bookstore has given her a much stronger foundation in account management and client-servicing.

Caliwan, on the other hand, primarily handled Japanese accounts such as Ajinomoto, Yamaha, Panasonic, and Kobayashi Pharmaceutical. She was instrumental in building a strong Agency-Client relationship and her thoroughness and deep knowledge of the brands also led her to deliver successful campaigns.

Representing the very competitive young leaders in the agency are Anika Castillo and Nikka Marcelino.

Castillo was promoted to Social Media Manager. She joined the agency in 2016 as a newbie in advertising. Since then, she helped grow the digital accounts of well-loved Filipino brand Jollibee, and led the agency’s biggest client, Ajinomoto, to venture and grow into social media with the brand page, Cookmunity.

Marcelino, on the other hand, has moved up to Account Manager. She started her advertising career as a fresh graduate from De La Salle University. Over the last 2 years, she managed to juggle a variety of brands efficiently – from Sun Postpaid/Prepaid, Nutriasia, Belo, Anlene, Anmum, to Thunder Supersoda.

The Management celebrated their teams’ career growth with excitement and much enthusiasm. Merlee Jayme had high praises for the group: “Everyday, I feel blessed and thankful to be with this super talented team. Their dedication to the work despite the impossible load, their cool demeanor at the height of stress, and their unique ways of bringing the agency together simply inspire me. I know that there are naysayers about millennials, but I’d rather work with these guys than with older ones who refuse and who are afraid of change”.

“This round of promotions signals the coming of age of our next batch of leaders at Dentsu. They’re driven, passionate and full of positive energy. This is what the we need given the new challenges agencies face in this digital world. I’m elated that they’re gung-ho about the future and we look forward to more great work from this group of achievers.” says Ronald Barreiro Managing Partner & General Manager.

Alex Syfu, Dentsu Jayme Syfu’s Managing Partner and Chief Client Officer added: “Recognizing the passion, dedication and perseverance of these deserving individuals is something that we always prioritize. Their relentless approach to work, without forgetting that work also can be fun and fulfilling, fairly demonstrates the culture of the agency. These are the people that make me always look forward to enjoyable workdays at the office.”