In honor of businesses and brands that champion creativity, purpose, and effectiveness, the 2023 Asia Pacific Tambuli Award winners were unveiled on June 6, with the Philippines emerging as an undisputed standout.
Founded in 2005 by the School of Communication of the University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P), the Tambuli Awards seeks to acknowledge and reinforce the impact of growing businesses and brands in the lives of the masses and the growth of society.
This year, they organized the system into three new clusters. First, the Champions for Humanity cluster for brands focused on the growth of human persons. Second, the Builders of Society award is given to those who work to build better and more harmonious societies. And finally, Leaders for Sustainability and Corporate Purpose for brands that lead the charge towards sustainable transformation of their workplace, culture, communities, and countries.
Under each new cluster are a number of categories that award specific achievements.
The Philippines snagged Grand Prix recognitions for two of the three clusters. EDC: Greening a Regenerative Future of Energy, a campaign by the Energy Development Corporation, won the Grand Prix award under the Care for the Environment category, which is part of the Sustainability and Corporate Purpose cluster. Meanwhile, Nestlé Philippines, Inc.’s Bear Brand Hidalgo Purpose Campaign won them the Grand Prix recognition for Building Character/Integrated Media categories under the Champions for Humanity division.
Nestlé also won three other awards. They secured the Silver in the same cluster, the Bronze and the Gold in the Leaders for Sustainability and Corporate Purpose cluster, which makes them one of the most decorated companies of the night.
While not as coveted as the Grand Prix slot, the Gold, Silver, and Bronze tier awards are just as commendable. Philippine campaigns completely eclipsed their competition in the Leaders for Sustainability categories, winning every award tier in said cluster. Additionally, the other clusters were dominated by Philippine campaigns as well, though campaigns from Australia, Korea, Indonesia, and Vietnam were also granted their due.
During the event, Philippine organizations, agencies, and personalities also emerged as winners under the Special Awards, with Advertiser of the Year going to the Commission on Human Rights, the Agency of the Year going to Wunderman Thompson Philippines, and the Chief Marketing Officer of the Year and Young Marketing Leader of the Year awards going to Procter & Gamble personnel Kristine Tang Chan and Ralph Paulo Morales, respectively.
The Commission on Human Rights and Wunderman Thompson Philippines jointly claimed a total of four recognitions: two Silvers under Champions for Humanity cluster and two Silvers under the Builders of Society cluster. This is all for the very same campaign, Right the Ride: Jeepneys Against Misogyny, a collaborative effort between the two organizations.
See the full and detailed list of winners on the Tambuli website.
The Tambuli Awards, at their core, seek to incentivize brands and businesses to find their sense of purpose for the betterment of humanity. “Instead of focusing on the latest text stack or the latest social media platform,” says Dean Aragón, CEO & Vice Chairman of Shell Brands and Tambuli Grand Executive Jury President, “brands should obsess instead about the humans at the heart of its business.”
Any campaign from Asia Pacific, Australia, New Zealand, and the Middle East is eligible for entry, and it could have run at any point during the year previous. With this in mind, take the Philippines’ outstanding showing among such a diverse and competitive slate as both a remarkable feat and an auspicious sign of the nation’s development if each brand and business live up to their promises.
After all, the Tambuli was chosen for a reason. A pre-colonial carabao horn with many purposes—such as warning the tribe of oncoming danger or summoning them for official and social gatherings—it is a symbol of togetherness for the common good of the tribe.