TBWA\SMP launches ‘Carefully, We Rise’ in Philippines’ largest-ever inter-brand campaign

The global pandemic has brought no shortage of surprises, but on October 9, 2020, Filipinos were treated to a sight none of them ever thought they would see, a film created via TBWA\Santiago Mangada Puno featuring many of the nation’s largest and often-competing brands, all working as one towards a common cause.

Through a series of vignettes featuring Filipinos of all walks of life, the film drove home that notion of banding together to restart the economy.

Launched under the tagline of “Ingat, Angat” (“Carefully, We Rise”), and broadcast simultaneously on all local channels, radio stations, and online platforms at 6.50pm sharp, the film delivered the powerful message of solidarity, cooperation, and bayanihan in these trying times.

While, “Having rival brands together in the scenes helped drive the message of unity,” says Melvin Mangada, whose TBWA\Santiago Mangada Puno executed the film and its overall campaign. “The challenge was to strike a delicate balance between safety and vigilance (Ingat) and optimism and consumer confidence (Angat).”

Produced by TBWA\SMP, the film was executed for client T3, a public-private task force with a stated mission to Teach, Trace, and Treat Filipinos during the ongoing pandemic. Having already provided and conducted over 3 million COVID-19 tests nationwide, T3 recognized the importance of informing the public about safety measures while rebuilding consumers’ trust and consumer that had been affected by the pandemic. TBWA’s job was find a way to effectively communicate the message.

While the Agency’s initial strategy and concepts were ready within a week, Mangada revealed that plans had to be run past members of Congress, as well as the entrepreneurs, broadcast, publishing, media and online vendors on whose platforms the material would be aired/posted. Furthermore, the agency worked on pitching the project to brands and corporations to secure their participation.

TBWA coordinated with dozens of companies representing hundreds of brands to craft the film, enlisting the services of acclaimed director Joel Limchoc to deliver the imagery and emotion needed to get across the film’s indelible message. Produced, shot, and edited with social distancing guidelines firmly in place, months of work paid off on October 9, as the film launched on every major Filipino platform on TV, radio, and online.

Almost immediately, online feedback came in the form of over nearly 2 million views within 4 days of launch, in addition to thousands of shares, likes, and related posts. While many were overwhelmed with seeing major competitors like Petron, Shell, Globe, Smart, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Jollibee and McDonald’s sharing screen time, many more were touched by the message being imparted. Comments were overwhelmingly positive, with Filipinos expressing surprise, delight, and, most importantly, inspiration, at the film.

Currently comprising 2 online films, 5 TVC’s, 6 radio ads, print ads, OOH, and a Viber community, Mangada shared that the succeeding phases of the campaign will see major tv and film personalities create their own unique chapters which will be released online.

Living in an unprecedented time called for an unprecedented campaign, and when the nation needed it, TBWA answered the call. Through “Ingat, Angat”, the Agency was able to show, just what can be accomplished when people unite to challenge the impossible.

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