A campaign made by four School of New Media Arts (SNMA) alumni for financial services company Sun Life Philippines bagged an Award of Merit in the prestigious 2024 IABC Gold Quill Awards on June 25 at the Hyatt Regency Chicago in Illinois, USA.
With a total of 378 entries from 17 countries, the Philippines distinguished itself by excelling in 10 categories at this year's Gold Quill Awards, surpassing those from different expert communicators around the globe. The 14 entries from the Philippines included Sun Life Philippines’ campaign “Freedom to Live Brighter: A Next Gen Financial Literacy Advocacy” who were made by a production team which included four Benildean alumni namely, Bea Aguilera (Para Sa Akin), Casey Borja (Kulay), JC Manzano (Ngayon at Bukas), and Mei Solis (Sinag). One of their Supervising Producers, Lex Murillo, is also a product of the College.
“To be recognized for telling our story, well, really gives us a sense of pride. We were able to craft our story in a way that people really appreciated it, [because of] the fact that we are here in the Gold Quill Awards” Ila Cruz-Lucmayon, Digital Marketing and Advertising Head of Sun Life Philippines, said in an interview with The Benildean.
“Just keep telling your stories that will inspire not just the Filipinos, but the world.” she added, after personally receiving the recognition together with Sun Life Philippines Brand Strategy and Management Head, Don Peji.
Also present at the event is Ramoncito Cruz, CEO and Executive Creative Director of Media Wise Communications, Inc, whose name was especially recognized as an appreciation for his 8th Gold Quill Award. Media Wise won in this year’s Gold Quill Awards for the coffee table book “Playing the Course: 25 Years of the Riviera Golf Lifestyle.”
The awarding was held in conjunction with this year’s IABC World Conference, which gathered communicators all over the world for a four-day learning experience from global industry experts.
The Gold Quill Awards is the recognition event of the IABC that has been recognizing quality communication-related entries from around the world in the last 40 years. The winners in the current edition of the annual event were evaluated at nine global sites by the evaluators from the different participating countries. The recipients of the Award of Merit must have a score of 5.25 to 5.74 out of 7, while the Award of Excellence recipients must have an evaluation score 5.75 out of 7.
Its counterpart in the Philippines is the Philippine Quill Awards for professionals, and the Student Quill Awards—which De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde has won back-to-back as School of the Year.
The next edition of the IABC World Conference will be held in June 2025 in Vancouver, Canada.
