Personal Statement

ROHAN CARLO P. SUGAPONG

Part 1: The Hunger to be Great

Pursuing a master’s degree in my chosen field, whether it be in advertising or in marketing, has

always been part of the plan ever since I decided to become creative professional back in
college. I told myself that once I graduate, I’d get myself employed into a big advertising
agency, work hard and learn from them for two to three years, “make it big” in the Philippine
advertising industry, and then apply for a master’s degree abroad.

I graduated college arrogant, thinking that having a double degree, a fat resume, and an
employment with McCann was a giant career leap. Performing extremely well and getting
promoted to Art Director after two years just fuelled my ego, making me think that I was a step
closer to become a great creative. However, when I started facing the more challenging work,
and after failing to place to place twice in the Young Creatives Competition back in 2020 &
2021, I realised that I was far from great. In fact, I was still far from good, or what at least
thought was good. I got a wake up call that reminded me that being a great creative isn’t about
having a great resume. It’s about producing great work that matters; that makes an impact to
society whether it’s culture-changing, or it’s just simply memorable to a generation. That
realisation redefined my goals, and in turn, reignited my hunger to be great in my craft.

The first step I took to improve as a creative came in the form of learning from my creatively
superior colleagues while working with them. It may be one of the most practical ways to
expand my creative skills, but I think that it can only get me so far. This is why I’m finally taking
the next step, which is to pursue a Masters in Advertising in Boston University. I believe the
course and the school environment will greatly expand my capabilities in my craft, knowing that
I will be learning from both a great line-up of of lecturers from the faculty, and from an equally
great line-up of peers from the student body. On top of that, to be able to work in AdLab will
also further help me immediately put into practice the knowledge I’ll learn from from class,
while also giving me a global perspective on tackling problems that clients and agencies face
in Advertising.

As I mentioned above, I am a creative professional who seeks to further improve himself in his
craft, who is hungry to be an even greater creative than he ever has been. Whether I get to
practice in the Philippines or anywhere else in the world after finishing this course, Boston
University will surely help me achieve my goal.

For a reference of my work as an Art Director and a Graphic Designer, please refer to the links
to my portfolio below:

Rohan Sugapong_Portfolio2019

Rohan Sugapong_Portfolio2020Onwards
Part 2: The Fundamentals of Persuasion

“There are a lot of great technicians in advertising. And unfortunately, they talk the best game.
They know all the rules … but there’s one little rub. They forget that advertising is persuasion,
and persuasion is not a science, but an art. Advertising is the art of persuasion.”

– William Bernbach

Throughout time, the medium of advertising has continuously evolved. It started in the form
word-of-mouth advertising, then came the print ads, the radio ads, TV commercials, and now,
we have the ever so intricate medium of digital marketing. If it weren’t for these tools, we
wouldn’t enjoy the ads that we experience today. However, along with these tools come the
technicalities and standards that both make and, in my opinion, plague the advertising industry
today. As a result, the practice of advertising has become very complicated. It can be said that
in the pursuit of perfecting the craft of advertising with all these tools and technicalities has
brought upon the slow and painful death of the creativity that has made the advertising
industry the special art to practice.

One would think that William Bernbach is against an advertiser’s pursuit to go bigger with the
campaigns and ideas they churn out, but that was never his point. To reiterate the closing
statement in his quote, advertising is the art of persuasion. That means that first and foremost,
the objective of any advertising practitioner is to persuade their audience. Once they have
clearly nailed the message to persuade their audience, the tools and techniques that make
campaigns intricate follow.

William Bernbach’s objective was to remind advertisers to be careful not to get lost in all the
intricacies and technicalities of advertising without mastering and giving value to the
fundamentals of persuasion. This is what’s actually plaguing a lot of modern advertisers and
marketers- and admittedly, I am one of them.

Modern day advertising is so fascinating. We see all those award-winning campaigns and
commercials utilising all these kinds of technological toys, such as Burger King’s Burn that Ad
Campaign, and we get so fascinated by how innovative those campaigns were. We become so
fascinated that end up getting fixated on the technology used, and forget the ultimate point of
what we’re doing: TO PERSUADE.

This is not just applicable with the use of technological innovations in campaigns. It also
happens in the two basic discipline in advertising: copywriting and art direction. We have the
tendency to jump the board to become too clever with our one-liners and manifestos, and
being too intricate with our visuals without even having a clear idea on what exactly is the
message we want to say to our audience.
There is no exact parameter, or rules, or way to successfully practice the art of persuasion. The
goal is to persuade your audience, and how one’s method of achieving such goal is what
makes advertising an artistic craft. An audience is persuaded not through the fluff or the bells
and whistles of a campaign, but through the substance of the message it gives. When a
campaign’s message is substantial, it sticks into the minds of the audience because substance
is what makes it relatable to them. When people relate to the message, they can easily be
persuaded by it. The same thing applies between people. A person can easily persuaded by a
person who they could relate to because it is in this connection they develop a sense of trust.

With all of this being said, advertising may have evolved into its most intricate form to date. It
has become more gimmicky, more innovative, and in some sense, more fun. But regardless of
of how advanced or innovative the tools are, advertising has always been about one thing: the
persuasion of people.