Hello.

My advertising career started in the Philippines, where I was born and raised. A small, independent ad agency hired me as an account executive despite my zero experience in the industry. I spent months learning the trade, playing the role of a barely functioning AE, and somewhere along the way I convinced myself that I could make up for all of it by being extra useful to the creative team. I made the coffee runs, kept them company during long brainstorming sessions and even pitched a lame idea or two. 

Suddenly I was the guy pretending to be an AE pretending to be Creative, until one day the ECD suggested I try copywriting full time instead. So I did, and under his generous mentorship, I grew from a copywriter in training into Creative Group Head in a multinational ad agency in just under three years. 

Then in 2004, I migrated to the United States, and like most immigrants, I had to start all over.

I got my first break at Safeway as a freelance copywriter in 2005. My former boss said I had to earn the full time position by proving my mastery of the English vernacular, which was fair, of course. But thanks to Murphy Brown, Perfect Strangers and a few clever headlines about meat and produce, I was able to persuade him and he offered me the permanent gig after a couple weeks. I stayed at Safeway for three years, and as the only in-house copywriter, I was involved in virtually all their product and retail marketing across the US and Canada.

In 2008, I moved to AAA, another iconic brand, as Senior Copywriter. There I developed integrated marketing campaigns for AAA Emergency Roadside Service, AAA Insurance and AAA Travel, which are, in fact, three different products that belong to three different industries. I took part in the company’s rebrand and its early stages of digital transformation with the launch of the AAA App, uDrive, AAA Auto Buying Service and AAA Premier Membership.

After five years at AAA, I went to Epsilon Agency (now Razorfish after getting acquired by Publicis Groupe in 2019), where I was offered an ACD position to lead a newly formed 3-person creative team dedicated to growing the Google account. “Growing” in this case meant scrambling and scraping for every opportunity we could find at a time when Google (the company) was just beginning to take product marketing a little more seriously. Since then, Google has become one of the largest accounts in the agency bringing in more than $23M in annual revenue, supported by a global team of writers and designers across the US, London and Dublin.

I still work on Google to this day, but as VP Group Creative Director, I also oversee a diverse portfolio of brands, such as Sparkling Ice, FedEx, San Diego Zoo, Delta, Brookdale, Gemological Institute of America and Valvoline. I’m quite involved in new business as well and helped developed pitch-winning campaigns for Texas Capital Bank, Talking Rain, TaxAct and Universal Studios Rewards Visa Card.

Indeed I’ve been fortunate to have had the opportunity to work on a variety of projects for a wide range of brands, which reflects a rich experience, versatility and open-mindedness. But I like to think that my job, ultimately, has been, is and will always be to solve problems, keep things simple, do more with less, make lemonades out of lemons, zig while everyone else zags and inspire others to do the same.

Thank you for your time. — AA