[caption id='attachment_780972' align='aligncenter' width='460'] MARIVIC GARCIAPresident, OMG Advertising[/caption]“Remember that while everyone is crying because of the crisis, someone is laughing all the way to the bank making money selling tissues.”Advertising veteran is defining leadership in the global workplaceThe magical setting was Paris, the City of Lights. The glittering event was the presentation of the 100 Most Influential Filipina Women in the World Award (Global FWN 100), a highlight of the 2019 Filipina Leadership Global Summit that honors women of Filipino ancestry who are defining the face of leadership in the global workplace.Marivic Garcia, president of OMG Advertising, was one of the evening’s awardees in the innovation and thought leader category. The year before, she was selected as Campaign Asia’s 40 Women to Watch in APAC (Asia-Pacific) marketing and communications, besides being shortlisted in the innovation category of its Women Leading Change Awards.Communication is keyGarcia has certainly come a long way since she graduated in 1988 with a communication arts degree from the University of Santo Tomas. Those were halcyon years, she recalls: “My life seems marked by tumultuous events. I was in college when [former senator Benigno] ‘Ninoy’ Aquino was assassinated in 1983 and the economy was in shambles. Fortunately, I had read Lee Iacocca’s An Autobiography and his words inspired me: ‘When times are hard, take liberal arts. At the end of the day, the battle out there is about communications.’”She followed the industrialist’s advice and pursued liberal arts, where she learned self-expression, critical thinking, philosophy and other subjects that prepared her for a career in advertising.Garcia entered the industry through DYR-Alcantara, where she rose from account management trainee to senior account manager in less than two years. She handled popular brands such Charmis Body Spray, Colgate toothpaste and Warner Lambert-Parke Davis. It was also there — serendipitously, along the staircase — that she met her husband, Ronald Garcia. Both claim that “one look was all it took, and we both knew we had found ‘the one.’” The couple married after a year and a half into the relationship.When Ronald accepted a position in Initiative Media Indonesia as an expat associate director, his wife went, as well, joining Lintas Jakarta, where she managed Johnson & Johnson, Isuzu and Bank Central Asia. “This was a defining moment in my career as I rose to the challenges of a tough work environment, a new culture, language barrier, expanded responsibilities and a growing family,” Garcia says. It was indeed a time of exponential growth — professionally, personally and financially — for her.That Jakarta stint, however, was cut short by the 1997 Asian financial crisis, which rocked the archipelago. Looking back on that “year of living dangerously,” Garcia muses: “Maybe we were meant to be there at that time because I learned many lessons [that] prepared me for this pandemic challenge.”The Garcias had to evacuate from Jakarta. The volatile political climate, marked by a series of protests that turned violent, made them feel insecure about leaving their two small daughters at home. “So with a heavy heart, my husband and I decided it was time to go back home,” Garcia says. Yet the optimist in her still sees the frightening experience as a blessing. “I learned so much during that time and have applied those lessons to my business. I will not forget what a good friend told us then: ‘Remember that while everyone is crying because of the crisis, someone is laughing all the way to the bank making money selling tissues,’” she adds.Upon returning to Manila in 1999, Garcia signed up with Ammirati Puris Lintas Manila as management supervisor for Unilever’s Surf account before she rejoined DYR-Alcantara, now renamed Young & Rubicam (Y&R). There, she supervised the Citibank account and later handled Colgate-Palmolive and Chevron. In 2001, Ronald started his own outdoor media advertising services firm from the comforts of his family attic.Garcia left Y&R in 2008 and joined the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) as associate vice president, performing various marketing roles. In 2013, she decided to add her expertise to her husband’s business, now rebranded OMG (Outdoor Media Group) Advertising, as president, with Ronald as chief executive officer. At the time, their older daughter Monina was studying in the US and their younger daughter Jem was preparing to follow, and since Garcia wanted to spend as much time as she could with them, the career adjustment was a no-brainer. “I was reluctant at first because it was not easy to give up a lucrative career in BPI. But in the end, my priority was clear: family first!” she says.Unparalleled serviceTwenty-six-year-old Monina is now OMG’s new business director while Jem, 22, recently graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles.Garcia may be petite in stature, but those who know her agree that she is a force of nature. “I like being in charge,” she says. “I like that I can make life better for the people around me.”The OMG team, made up mainly of female managers, reflects their boss’ belief in their capabilities. They’re not afraid of competition and have oftentimes successfully tackled bigger players when it comes to scoring business. OMG is focused on local communities and works with exclusive third-party partners spread across the country. “The woman who used to blow-dry my hair told me she wanted to return to her province,” Garcia recalls. “So we trained and made her a local coordinator. She is now the family breadwinner. Such stories of transformation keep me motivated.”“OMG’s goal is to help clients win in the market, one community at a time,” she says. “We want to future-proof our company by offering not just out-of-home [the new term for outdoor advertising], but also unparalleled service, digital platforms, technology and customer engagement.”Garcia has never been so ready to pursue that ambition. She recently finished the Columbia Business School’s Digital Business Leadership Program, a six-month experience that prepares global executives for the digital age. She also attended a boot camp on the Internet of Things at Stanford University.When Garcia accepted the Global FWN 100 Award in Paris, she looked out to the audience, which included her husband and Monina, as well as her extended network of aunts and uncles who had all flown in for the occasion. She thought then: “My family has always been my biggest supporters. They [have always] made me feel that I can do anything and everything!”With such whole-hearted encouragement, expect this feisty Filipina industry leader to keep reaching for the stars and more.* * *7 TIPS ON MANAGING IN CRISISThe scene in Jakarta could have been right out from the Peter Weir film, Year of Living Dangerously. Tires were lit on the streets as widespread rioting hit the capital as well as other key cities in the Indonesian archipelago. Businesses were closed, clients cancelled their bookings and people felt uncertain and afraid. All this happened when Marivic Garcia and her family were based in Jakarta in 1998. She says: “The lessons we learned [there] helped us adapt to the effects of the ECQ [enhanced community quarantine] to our company and clients.”• Plan ahead and have a Business Continuity Plan (BCP) in place. Marivic and Ronald Garcia thought that the best time to plan was when their company was performing well and growing at a very good pace. “We felt we have to plan for the scenario with an economic ‘down time.’ So, when the ECQ happened we didn’t panic and we knew what to do,” Marivic Garcia says.• Build your asset base and make good investments. OMG invested in office space in Bonifacio Global City and took advantage of pre-selling rates. “Today we didn’t have to worry about paying rent on empty offices,” says Garcia. They also developed their own proprietary software (OMG GeoGen) that automates selection of strategic locations based on big data. Their OMG Adtracker software serves as an online library of their clients’ OOH campaigns accessible by laptops or smart phones.• Take care of your people. Garcia holds regular meetings with her teams and their clients. “We sacrificed and took a pay cut so we could keep our team intact,” says Garcia. OMG is one of the few companies who didn’t cut staff salaries or reduce personnel.• Pivot or Perish. Garcia looked at new ways of reaching prospects and now OMG offers affordable OOH advertising packages in Lazada. “People are now online so we felt we should also be there as this enables SMEs (Small and Medium Size Enterprise) to continue promoting their services and brands in local communities with just a click.• Monitor the market changes. OMG has conducted online research to see how the pandemic has affected shopping habits. Results showed that people still go out to buy their essentials (food and medicines), but they shop within their communities. OMG’s exclusive local partners network all over the Philippines is a real advantage.• Life goes on in “community and social bubbles.” People adapted, but moved within their own community where access is not a problem (no public transport), where they can still have the comforts and familiarity of their own community. “Brands needed to be present in these local pockets via OOH,” says Garcia.• Understand your clients’ pain points and offer solutions. Business in the new normal means you have to offer effective yet efficient solutions. OMG saw the opportunity of reaching out to consumers within their own local surroundings. They offered their clients focused local communications to ensure that their brands continue to be part of their consumers’ lives even during the pandemic.
MARIVIC GARCIA
MARIVIC GARCIA