Ferdinand L. Bondoy, Group Chief Executive Director and Lead Strategic Communications Counsel / Partner and Co-Founder of COMCO Mundo League of Enterprises, shared with Telum the agency's strategic approach to PR, their award-winning mentorship program and the firm's upcoming plan.

You've spent over two decades in comms, working in various in-house and agency roles before founding COMCO. How do you think the communications industry in the Philippines has evolved, and what continues to excite you?
The industry has evolved in many ways, but the most noticeable changes came with the overlapping of disciplines, the behavioural shift of our audiences, and the emergence of new and game-changing platforms. Brands and agencies these days have a wide variety of options for amplifying their messages, whether through broadcast, print, OOH (out-of-home), digital, and social - the list goes on and on.

At COMCO Mundo, we practise the modern and global discipline of New PR, a strategy-based, content-driven, and channel-agnostic way of doing PR. By defining our audiences and stakeholders first before developing our strategy and crafting our content, we can identify the best platforms and executions that can best reach and engage them. And with the exponential growth of technology, emerging platforms are popping up left and right, showing us just how quickly the landscape can shift and change.

In New PR, which the agency adopted and further developed since its creation, we are no longer restricted by traditional tools, channels, and executions. As long as it benefits our key function in storytelling and empowers us to connect to our audience, we can go beyond the traditional methods and use a variety of platforms that can help us communicate effectively. That could mean a mix of experiential events or outdoor executions or digital videos or creative media executions or even community activations. With this, we have become limitless, borderless, transformative, and more effective as communications practitioners.

There are still a lot of changes happening right now, which is always the challenge for any communications practitioner. For me and our agency, the excitement comes not from how we can adapt to these changes but how we can take the lead, break rules, create new ones, and help establish the new norm. It’s an endless but exciting cycle of going innovative and disruptive to create impact, engage the public, and influence change.

Meaningful storytelling is at the core of COMCO's approach. What do you consider to be the most crucial elements of storytelling that resonate with audiences?
Storytelling approaches can differ depending on who the audience is, which touchpoints they can be reached at, and what the brand’s overall objectives are, but at the end of the day, we are here to share compelling stories that matter and have social impact.

To do this, we need to drill down into our target audience and find out how to relate to and engage them. We need to know who they are, what they value, their concerns, and where we can come in. As we tell our stories and our partners’ stories, we need to ensure that we provide more value to our publics by being a force for good and contributing to society’s growth.

COMCO's mentorship program was recently recognised with the Gold and Silver Quill Awards of Excellence from IABC Asia Pacific. What motivated you to establish the program at your agency and what vision did you have for it?
Undergoing internships or apprenticeships is a critical stage for any student or recent graduate. It’s a make-or-break moment for them to jumpstart their journey in the industry. We wanted to create a program that will equip learners to thrive in the profession.

The goal was to develop the best training programme that covers all the necessary knowledge and skills that young talents need to be ready for the workplace. The Camp COMCO Mentorship Program includes a wide breadth of courses and activities in its curriculum, from mentoring sessions about various industry-related topics, to day-to-day work immersion and industry assimilation, to the culminating activity - the Camp COMCO House Wars - where apprentices from the Camp’s different mentorship houses or teams compete to present and pitch the best communications plan to an actual brand or real client.

It is truly an honour that the Camp COMCO Mentorship Program was recognised by the IABC’s global Gold Quill Awards and Asia-Pacific Silver Quill), as I consider this another life’s work, not just of myself but of the entire agency.

With Camp COMCO, we wanted to pay our passion and purpose forward by passing the torch of learning to the next generation, giving them the opportunity to experience what working at an agency entails and how to adapt from a school setting to a professional one, helping them find their voice and purpose using their gifts and skills. We want to inspire positive change among the youth, light the path for them; to let them learn; and be among the new breed of communications practitioners.

What skills will be most critical for communicators, especially in the Philippines, in the next five years?
A communicator needs to be a storyteller. A storyteller needs to have the passion, commitment, and skills for them to be able to thrive in this industry. And how do you become a good storyteller? I believe creativity, strategy, and humanity are the most crucial factors.

A strategic and creative mindset and approach to communications will help you be truly effective in what you do and stand out with a unique voice that cuts through the noise. It also helps to augment your knowledge with emerging technologies and platforms, as communicators should be at the forefront of change - exploring new media and ways of communicating. A clear understanding of humanity is also needed to create campaigns and projects that matter to society.

What is the next big thing from COMCO we should keep an eye out for?
We recently opened Cycle 22 of our Camp COMCO Mentorship Program - our first global cycle, which is on the lookout for applicants from Southeast Asia to the Middle East and Africa and beyond.

We’re also preparing for a special edition of Camp COMCO for another sector that you should keep an eye out for, as well as this year’s homecoming event for the Camp COMCO graduates, who are now members of the Camp COMCO Alumni Society, reinforcing the alumni culture in our growing community.

We also launched COMCO School of Communications, the communication training, professional development, and continuing education arm of COMCO Mundo, and SEA Wave & Spice Multimedia Content Studio, our creative media and content publishing and production arm. To add to this, we are reinforcing our practise in the interregional arena with several plans down the pipeline. COMCO Mundo’s #Mission2024 is not over yet, so stay tuned to our website and social assets to see what else we have in store.