By: Patricia Yap
More than three months in the making, House Wars 2020, the culminating activity of ComCo Southeast Asia’s Camp ComCo Mentorship Program has been finally concluded!
Under the supervision of the men and women behind the trailblazing and globally award-winning communications agency ComCo Southeast Asia, the budding talents of Camp ComCo Cycles 12 and 13 strived long and hard to showcase their talent for this final moment.
House Wars has always been a tradition for the Camp ComCo Mentorship Program. In 2018, the Camp, together with their advisors from ComCo Southeast Asia, has presented their plans to Unilab Foundation. The result is the 1st Play Advocacy Week, a campaign they helped implement and has been awarded an IABC Quill Award of Merit by the International Association of Business Communicators last 2019 and the Gold Anvil Award by the Public Relations Society of the Philippines last 2020.
In three months, the 1st virtual run of Camp ComCo Mentorship Program was able to conduct rigid trainings and workshops about New PR and Smart Social, PR Writing and Content Creation, Media Engagement, Content Planning, Strategic Communications, Brand Marketing, and Presenting Techniques, as well as specialization elective on Crisis Communications. The apprentices were also immersed in the actual communications practice by working alongside their mentors in the day-to-day operations of the Agency.
As part of the program conclusion, ComCo Southeast Asia partnered with Starbucks Philippines to be part of the Camp’s pool of mentors and provide the culminating project for the House Wars 2020. When the Camp apprentices found out they were going to present their Strategic Communications Plans to Starbucks Philippines, their excitement shot through their Zoom screens, and their passion for marketing and PR set even further ablaze.
In preparation for the competition, Cycles 12 and 13 were graced by the presence of Starbucks Philippines Media and Corporate Affairs Assistant Manager Denise Barrameda. Two weeks before the competition, Ms. Barrameda gave an exclusive talk on igniting brand love through marketing communications to root and solidify the members in their perspective and planning. By the time of the competition, every house was ready.
House Whaleshark
House Whaleshark is composed of members Ricca Sy from Ateneo de Manila University, Joenald Dycaico from Saint Louis University, Shaina Semaña, and Camp ComCo alumni Janela Bufi as Advisor and Jerica Jimenez as Co-Advisor.
House Flyingfox
Members of House Flyingfox include Kitty Topacio from Ateneo de Manila University, Godfreyna Canja from Trinity University of Asia, Carlos Sevilla from the University of Santo Tomas, and Camp ComCo alumni Queenie Resmundo as Advisor and Eli Dailo as Co-Advisor.
House Hawksbill
House Hawksbill on the other hand are Alec Concejero from Ateneo de Manila University, Dickson Florita from College of Saint Benilde, Choco Nery from University of the Philippines – Diliman, and Camp ComCo alumni AC Recio as Advisor, and Patricia Rana and Enki San Jose as Co-Advisors.
House Bearcat
Last but certainly not least, House Bearcat is composed of Patricia Yap from Ateneo de Manila University, Frankie Franco from Mapua Institute of Technology, Matthew Escosia, May Mercado, and Camp ComCo Alumni Harvey Llamosa as Advisor and Bleu Gutierrez as Co-Advisor.
House Whaleshark is cited for its presentation, Flyingfox for its thought process and ideation, Hawksbill for its content and digital execution, and Bearcat for its PR, event, and integrated execution. While it’s a tight fight with all the great ideas presented, a decision has to be made. After long deliberation, House Hawksbill was declared as the Grand Champion for its cohesive content and maximization of digital amid the pandemic.
“I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to become an apprentice in ComCo Southeast Asia. I have learned more about the PR industry than I ever thought I would, and it will definitely help me as I continue to develop my marketing and PR expertise. Overall, it was a very fun, in-depth, and hands-on experience that will stick with me forever. I really enjoyed working with everyone on the team and learning from them. Not only did I learn a lot, but it also made me realize that it is truly the career path that I want to pursue,” said Katrina Beatrice Topacio of House Flying Fox
“I am very thankful for the company for letting me join Camp ComCo. I felt like my internship was worth it. Our supervisors never left out the interns; they let us experience what real work is like in the professional world. They included us in various meetings for different brands. My personal favorite was our last project –– the House Wars, where each team created a campaign for Starbucks. I was assigned to do the visual content for our team, and it was exciting. I enjoyed working on the designs,” shared Katrina Franco of House Bearcat
“I am thankful for the experience ComCo has given me this year. I learned a lot of new skills and made new friends in the process. From having to wake up every morning to do monitoring work to looking for influencers to pitching a marketing campaign to Starbucks, every moment I worked in ComCo allowed me to figure out my calling in life,” said Ricca Sy of House Whaleshark.
“Everyone went home as winners with the intense training, mentoring, and one of a kind experience they got from this unique, industry-recognized, and award-winning mentorship program created by ComCo Southeast Asia. They were able to produce impactful and winnable campaigns for this project. And this experience is something that they can bring and will help them as they grow in their craft,” said Mr. Ferdinand Bondoy, Regional Integration and Chief Executive Director of ComCo SEA and creator of Camp ComCo Mentorship Program.
“I would like to thank the participants of this year’s Camp ComCo House Wars for taking the time and effort to conceptualize creative concepts about Starbucks. It’s not easy to think of ideas given the barriers from the challenging situation we are facing today. Congratulations and hats off to everyone,” said Ms. Denise Barrameda, Media and Corporate Affairs Assistant Manager of Starbucks Philippines.
Mr. Bondoy added, “ComCo SEA is proud of you ComCowans (apprentices) as well as select Camp ComColumni (graduates) and ComCoys (current ComCo Squadron) who served as Advisors and Co-Advisors of their respective mentorship houses! Thank you, Starbucks for being part of this wonderful project for our young and next in line communications practitioners!”
The ComCowans of Camp ComCo’s Cycle 12 and 13 officially join the Camp ComCo Alumni Society, an association of the elite graduates or alumni of the mentorship program. Alongside their fellow ComCowans from the previous cycles, they will also be participating soon in the much-anticipated Camp ComCo Alumni Society Unity Games.
Season 14 is now open!
With the epic conclusion of Camp ComCo Cycle 13, the mentorship program is now looking for the next set of creative rebels who will form its 14th cycle.
If you think you have what it takes to be among the communication industry trailblazers and if you’re ready to make a difference in people’s lives, then this program is for you! Send your applications to commandcenter@comco-hq.com
About Camp ComCo Mentorship Program
Built by the Agency’s pool of experts, Camp ComCo Mentorship Program is an intensive and comprehensive talent incubation initiative, industry linkage course, and apprenticeship program designed to transform communication, marketing, and multimedia arts students and fresh graduates into revolutionary practitioners of the industry. House Wars is the culminating activity of the Camp ComCo Mentorship Program. In 2018, the Camp’s four houses, House Bearcat, Flying Fox, Hawksbill, and Whaleshark, competed and pitched its respective proposals to Unilab Foundation. The result is the 1st Play Advocacy Week, a campaign co-managed by ComCo Southeast Asia, including some of the Camp ComCo Alumni who have become part of the Agency and the rest who volunteered to participate in the culminating event. It has been awarded the prestigious Quill Award by the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) in 2019 and the Gold Anvil Award by the Public Relations Society of the Philippines (PRSP) last 2020.
About ComCo Southeast Asia
ComCo Southeast Asia is a trailblazing and globally award-winning integrated communications agency powered by the coalition of premier brand architects and communication trailblazers in the region. Based in the Philippines and dedicated to the Southeast Asia market, ComCo SEA takes the lead in the innovation of premier brands and growth of up and coming businesses through the emerging global disciplines of New PR – a strategy based, content-driven, and channel-agnostic way of doing PR, and Smart Social – a holistic, authentic and integrated approach in the maximization of digital and social channels, to effectively reach and engage audiences and help influence change.
To know more about ComCo Southeast Asia, visit www.comco-hq.com. Follow them on social media: facebook.com/comco.southeastasia on Facebook, linkedin.com/company/comco-hq, and @comco_sea on both Instagram and Twitter.