How an ‘odd pair’ from Y&R Singapore won the inaugural Spikes Facebook Hackathon

Junior Art Director Cynthia Subrata (pictured right) and Junior Planner Jessica Chen (left) – both from Y&R Singapore – had the honour of winning the inaugural Spikes Asia Facebook Hackathon.

It was quite the achievement for the duo because, well, one is a creative and the other a planner. It was the first time for the unlikely pairing. But that didn’t stop them.

They had 24 hours to crack a brief from PhilDev, a non-profit organization, which aims to eradicate poverty and spark economic growth in the Philippines through education, innovation and entrepreneurship. Their winning campaign will now be executed in collaboration with Facebook.

This is how they came up with the idea.

How did you come up with the idea?

Cynthia: From the beginning we knew what it should NOT be ‘yet another campaign calling for donations to help the underprivileged’.

Jessica: We wanted the world to see a new Philippines through the progressive lens of PhilDev. We leveraged on tourism and young local trailblazers to showcase a different side of the country. So the next time when you think about The Philippines, you think of innovation and entrepreneurship instead of poverty.

What’s the secret to cracking a brief in 24 hours?

Jessica: Our Regional CCO Marcus Rebeschini once told us that you have to keep researching until the truth reveals itself. During the 24 hours, we really did whatever we could to understand the brand, culture, entrepreneurs and context.

Cynthia: With limited time, at first I threw random thoughts at Jess. Funnily enough, the thought that was killed at the very beginning became the final piece of puzzle that completed our idea.

Did anything interesting happen during the that time?

Jessica: We came up with an idea that we both thought had some potential. But we decided to kill it at 2am because it could have worked for any NGO. By 3am, I was sleepy, worried, and was thinking of an excuse to not turn up for the presentation. But, looking back, I’m very proud of that decision.

Cynthia: We had pork knuckles at a German bar that night, naively thinking good food would generate good ideas. Unfortunately, the portion was so big that I had a food coma thereafter. Now I know managing your diet is as important as managing your time for this kind of competition.

Did you learn anything new from your partner?

Jessica: I didn’t know Cynthia was actually an uptown girl. The pool at her flat has now become the sacred place where we come up with cool ideas. Another thing that surprised me about Cynthia is that she might look sweet and innocent but she’s actually very competitive in a good way.

Cynthia: Jess kept asking me “is this idea cool enough?” throughout the whole night, even right before the presentation. At work she is so cool, calm and collected but I’ve learnt that even she needs a bit of encouragement and assurance from time to time.

Did you learn anything new about yourself?

Jessica: I want to become a creative. No, just joking. Going from being a researcher to planner and now playing creative, I’ve realised that we shouldn’t limit ourselves. We should always think beyond our designation — think creative, think planner, think client.

Cynthia: During our brainstorming sessions, I told Jess our idea wasn’t “PhilDev” enough. Jess looked at me and said “you sound like a planner”. We killed that idea. I think my creative and strategic thinking have been sharpened by the experience.

Advertising legend Peter Soh once mentioned that the best creative partner he ever had was a planner. That’s us: an art director plus a planner, left brain and right brain.