 |
| Nov2015 Ad on Town & Country Magazine |
There are days that something will just surprise you…
Imagine my reaction when I read emails, SMS and hearing the
same thing from a short call - asking if I can be part of some big brand
campaign. I just came in from a 2-week trip and not
bothering to turn on my roaming, or check my email or FB messages (it was a
vacation after all) – I didn’t realize there were ‘urgent’ calls.
The first reaction was – “really?” not even fully understanding
the scale or scope of the engagement or campaign. As I realize that it was global in nature, I
started asking myself “why me”; and later on progressing to “why not”.
I recognize that I have limited brand campaign tie-ups and
relatively new to such things. But at
the same time, imagine the excitement knowing that this is the first-ever Pinoy
involvement in such a big campaign for the brand. And more excitement when I finally saw the
script showing names of celebrities from all around the world. Of course – there’s that occasional ‘why am I
part of this, again’ thought more driven by awe and respect to big names than
self-doubt.
As preparation continued, I realize that I genuinely like
the campaign - the MESSAGE that it wants
to spread across. And I just see myself
as one of the messengers. I see that there
are millions who live and breathe the concept, but nonetheless – I thought I
can do my little part in sending the message across.
And if you ask about the brand – yes I do like Johnnie
Walker scotch whisky. And in my sphere, perhaps the
better question is – who wouldn’t? ;) So
it was a good fit actually in many ways.
 |
| Some of the personalities involved in this campaign. I'm very flattered (to be part of this) but humbled at the same time... |
Walk With Joy
I realized early on in my professional career that life is
not about ‘burning your life’ (or others) just for the sake of winning or
becoming ‘successful’. Even popular
corporate trainings like Steven Covey’s 7 Habits clearly talked about balance in
life or about not 'killing the goose the lays the golden egg', among other
things. And being in a corporate world
for a long time, I’ve seen happy people, sad people, others successful-but-sad or something in between. And I saw who were genuinely happy and
progressing in life, or who were living his/her ‘happy path’. We know of course that life is about working
and striving for a better life. Which most of the time means hard work. And for many, that works just fine.
 |
| With Jon Good (Diageo Philippines GM) and Saab Magalona (co-influencer) during the launch event. |
Johnnie Walker’s enhanced campaign ‘Joy Will Take You
Further’ is actually an old concept that many people already know, or lived.
Today, we see a lot of them –look at the big, successful people who simply
pursued their passion – their ‘happy path’ (ex. developing a helpful application
that turned into a billion$ brand).
This concept is somehow backed by more recent studies about
positive thinking. And it observed that people who have joy in what they do
actually progress better. And it’s very
logical, easy-to-swallow concept.
 |
| Enjoying a quick caipirinha (on a windy rooftop) with our liaison-host and the band manager of OK Go, before the shoot. |
In my mountaineering career, I’ve seen how it worked. Climbing mountains of course is challenging
for the most part, it’s difficult and you put a lot of hard work to be on
top. But, we’re not talking about one mountain
only. There has to be a grand reason why
I, and other mountaineers keep climbing.
And the simple reason is that – we found joy! Perhaps similar to other activities or sports
when one got ‘stoked’, or felt genuine happiness, or just had a great
experience that one wanted to repeat.
In my case, those ‘happy moments’, the good memories and the
(what I call) “undefined fulfillment” drove me to climb more, to climb higher –
which eventually helped me climb all the highest mountain in all continents
(called “Seven Summits”).
So this joyful journey sustains us, it propels us to do
more…
Progress can also be ‘horizontal’. I’ve observed that when I do certain projects
or activities (advocacy, sports, etc) that I enjoyed, it connects me to
something outside my known realm which consequentially expands my world. I’m proud that I can pursue paddling, biking,
scuba diving, photography, traveling, advocacy work and hundred other things. These seemingly unconnected experiences collectively enrich my life in many ways than one.
Translating the concept to how we live our daily lives might be
different, but the message is a good, constant reminder nonetheless to always
keep in mind that having joy in what we do helps us get further.
We hear ‘seize the day’, I’ll add ‘happily
seize this day, every day forward!” Imagine a life full of smiles and less
stress, it’s communicable and spreads like an angelic virus. And it can even make this world a better
place. :)
Oh, have you seen the video ad?
 |
| Checking out the wall, pre-shoot. Yep, that's a climber up there. |
1 comment:
Congrats Sir Romy! You are truly a pinoy pride. Seeing this campaign ad makes me smile knowing that my name is included in it. :) -joy
Post a Comment