The Perception of a Genius

We Advocates and other students of Advertising class got to meet one of the most awarded creative directors in the industry all thanks to Mr. Gil Velez we met Mr. Raoul Panes, the Chief Creative Officer (CCO) of Leo Burnett Manila.

         Mr. Raoul Panes has won recognition at about every major local and international creative award show. Under Mr. Panes’ creative leadership, Leo Burnett Manila has won multiple awards for both creativity and effectiveness in Global shows like AME Awards New York and listed in the Warc 100 Rankings.

       Raymond Arrastia, Leo Burnett Manila Managing Director, said: "Not only is Raoul a multi-awarded and seasoned creative director, he also firmly believes that creativity and efficacy joined together creates excellent advertising, and is passionate in guiding and nurturing young creative talents."

      On the 17th of October of this year we had the privilege and honor to meet the man himself in flesh, the man behind the many successes of Leo Burnett Manila in his office in Ayala Avenue, Makati City. When we reached the 24th floor of the building we were welcomed with one of Leo Burnett’s famous words written beautifully in the wall ‘Creative ideas flourish best in a shop which preserves some spirit of fun’, their lobby was stunning, glass walls surrounded the office, shiny wooden tiles made up the floor, and even had very comfortable round rattan chairs for the guests to sit, where we waited for a while before we were ushered to what looks like a meeting room.

    Mr. Panes is very kind and humble. He’s a very soft spoken person too, which made it even more relaxing and it broke the nervous walls we all had. He was all smiles and very generous to share all his knowledge and experiences in the industry. We were very fortunate to have had an uncapped interview with him, he entertained every question we had for him and answered it honestly and with so much passion,  he didn’t sugarcoat the industry of advertising.  He said that “… Advertising is an industry filled with frustrations.”, but it should be taken positively, one should be ready for rejections and failures because that is what will make you stronger.

   In Advertising it's important to understand the consumer and the market, all the human wants, needs and desires, always find creative ways to interact with the consumers and to have a nice and tight client relationship, the client must see you as a partner. A partner they can have open and constant communication with, because open and constant communication is vital in every company client relationship. It’s not enough to have communication, it needs to be an effective communication.

Mr. Panes even said that if we chose to walk the path in the industry of advertising we should be the one that the company is looking for. A person that sees things the way other people can’t see, because he is a keen observer. A person with a wide outlooks of life that thinks outside the box and stretches the boundaries of creativity. Always remember to brace yourself with a lot of rejections and failures but don't take it in a negative way, because in Advertising Everyday is a learning day. Don't limit yourself with one idea, go outside and widen your horizon.

You can watch the highlights here:

Raoul Panes at AdVocate