Aspac creative agency is now part of global leader Dentsu Aegis

"I think we're playing in the big leagues already and we (came) prepared," said Miguel Ramos, chair of Aspac Creative Communications Inc. (Aspac) and CEO Dentsu Aegis Network Philippines (Dentsu Aegis).

Global advertising and communications company Dentsu Aegis announced its acquisition of Aspac recently after almost three years of "no-commitment" relationship. The two agencies have been working closely together since 2012 and the acquisition seemed inevitable given the success of the projects they have embarked on. However, Aspac will still be working independently from Dentsu Aegis.

Aspac is a Filipino-founded creative agency that boasts of 40 years of experience. It was established by Ramos' father, Max, in 1975. When the older Ramos passed away in 1996, his son had to take over--at 26 years old. The Association of Accredited Advertising Agencies of the Philippines named Aspac as Independent Agency of the Year in 2010 and 2013.

"Like any partnership, you have to work on understanding each other, each other's culture, find commonality, and shared values," Ramos said. "We went through the right process of getting to know each other before we 'tied the knot.'"

"It's a pleasure to officially welcome Aspac to the Dentsu Aegis Network family," said Dick van Motman chairman and CEO of Dentsu Aegis Network Southeast Asia, in a statement. "We've seen great potential for our business in the Philippines to expand on our creative talent and services. This acquisition is a strategic investment to further grow our footprint in the local scene and to continue to strengthen our presence in the sixth largest advertising market in Asia Pacific."

In the same statement, Hiroaki Charlie Sano, executive officer of Dentsu Inc. and CEO of Dentsu branded agencies within Dentsu Aegis Network said: "Aspac is a very welcome addition to our operations in the Philippines. It will provide a broader range of services with further opportunities for development. The strong team at Aspac has already added significant value in the three years we have been working together, and I'm confident they will continue to do so."

Susan Dimacali, CEO of Aspac, said the acquisition gives them access to Dentsu Aegis' resources, which will give them the edge over other agencies.

"Dentsu Aegis has a wealth of innovation and technology," she said. "They are leaders in the world and they are now accessible to us. They have research that they fund and do every year, which we can now tap into as part of Aspac Dentsu Network."

Ramos sees this development as a channel for them to compete globally.

"Creativity can come from anywhere," he said. "Like in the past, we had ideas locally that have been used in other markets. It's not far-fetched to think that we can actually have clients beyond the Philippine shores."

Ramos recalls how simple the industry was when he took the helm of the company. The complexity of the landscape coupled with a diverse demographics, advertising has become an almost new field for them.

Dimacali said Aspac has survived the entry of multinational companies (MNC) or agencies in the country "by living the entrepreneurial spirit." Instead of easily giving in to the call of partnerships--or acquisition--which might have been a lot easier, Ramos chose to band together with other companies and build to compete with these big MNCs.

"Things were much simpler before much like life was much simpler before," he said. "Now, everything is not as clear as it was. You have to be digital but you also have a grasp of traditional."

But he and Dimacali see this as a challenge to that's "very scary and at the same time very exciting."

To be able to standout from the jungle of creative industry, Ramos and Dimacali think the acquisition came just at the right time.

"I assume that anybody who's heading an agency is already intelligent and knows what's happening," Ramos said. "You can see where the opportunities are and where the challenges are. If you look at the different networks, they are talking about the same thing. The difference is in two things: structure and execution. One way is to structure yourself so that you have less challenges to execute. The next one is to execute like a startup. You have to execute so fast, quickly, rapidly, and innovate as you go along. There is a concept of lean startup, which is it doesn't take six months to find out the customer hates the product.

"It's okay to make mistakes," Dimacali said. "It doesn't cost that much now to make mistakes now because you modify processes as you go along the way and not after the project is finished."

Ramos believes the wealth of talent at Aspac and the resources of Dentsu Aegis will give them the extra edge over the others.

"We have to start making noise," said Dimacali, who confessed that "I don't like big announcements. I think we have established the fact that we are an agency to contend with and they will be hearing more from us."