Merlee Cruz-Jayme, an advertising icon with 34 years of experience in the field, has launched her latest book, Ten Talks, Ten Cities.
The book compiles ten of her talks delivered in ten cities worldwide and focuses on global advertising secrets and lessons.
“In this book, I chose only ten cities with talks that are very relevant today: developing brilliant work, connecting and understanding target audiences, and creating a 2.o version of ourselves,” Cruz-Jayme wrote in her introduction.
The talks covered topics such as the art of clientology, heart sell vs. hard sell, creative growth as business growth, and repackaging yourself. They were delivered in cities like Bangkok, Busan, Cannes, Las Vegas, Tokyo, and Warsaw.
While the book heavily features advertising secrets and lessons, there are several that can apply to those outside the field. In “The Glass Ceiling,” delivered in Rovinj, Croatia, Cruz-Jayme talked about women’s challenges, not just in advertising.
She wrote, “Being a woman, plus being Asian, in this global corporate world is the bias that is the most challenging glass to crack. For some people, not just us women, there’s a transparent barrier that lets us only gaze at the sky but never reach it.”
Breaking the glass ceiling
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Cruz-Jayme is the first Filipino to be awarded the Creative of the Year for Southeast Asia in the Campaign Asia Pacific Agency of the Year. Based on the Drum global ranking in 2019, she is also one of only eight women among the 100 best Chief Creative Officers in the world.
She is “Chairmom” and the former Chief Creative Officer of Dentsu Creative Asia and Pacific, Global President of Dentsu Mcgarrybowen, executive sponsor for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion APAC, and CEO/Chief Creative Officer of Dentsu Jayme Syfu, Dentsu One Manila. As reported by Campaign Brief Asia, she is the only woman among the 20 top creative directors in Asia.
Ten Talks, Ten Cities: Global Advertising Secrets and Lessons from a Creative Icon is published by Anvil. It is available for P299 on Anvil’s Lazada and Shopee pages, as well as on the National Book Store’s website and Shopee page.
