PMA 3rd General Membership Meeting | May 28, 2025 – VS Hotel Convention Center, Quezon City

What happens to creativity when machines start writing, designing, and ideating alongside us?

Amrei Dizon, CCO and Managing Partner of VCS; Faye Arellano, CEO of AQA Advertising and PMA Executive Vice President & Director, National Marketing Conference; Cristina Oreta, PMA President & CEO; Yayu Javier, CEO and Chairperson of Avanza, Inc.; Angela Totanes; Kim Lato, Founder of Kimstore; Jungie Gumiran, Founder of Juju; Sy Bryan Lato, VP for Sales Strategy and Marketing, Sol Manpower Services Inc.; Sheilla Marie Apostol, Our Lady of Fatima University; and Marco Antonio, Vice President & Director, Agora Awards. Special thanks to Fisher Farms for the yummy frozen seafood goodies!

At the Philippine Marketing Association’s 3rd General Membership Meeting, that question was front and center. Titled “Smart Tools, Smarter Hearts,” the event gathered marketing leaders to examine how AI is influencing the way we build brands, tell stories, and reach audiences. Speakers included Angela Totanes (Robinsons Supermarket), Jungie Gumiran (JUJU), Kim Lato (Kimstore), and panelists Sy Bryan Lato (SMSI, CORA), Amrei Dizon (Vitalstrats Creative Solutions, Introspeck), and Yayu Javier (Avanza Philippines).

Leading AI with Purpose and Intention

Vitalstrats CCO and Introspeck Co-Founder Amrei Dizon opened her session with a clear message: the rise of AI calls for more creativity, not less. “AI has made content creation easier — not necessarily better,” she emphasized. The promise of speed is meaningless, she argued, without clear thinking behind it.

VCS's Amrei Dizon delivering a presentation at the PMA event

The Death of the Default
Dizon highlighted a growing pattern in marketing: sameness. As AI-generated content becomes widespread, many outputs feel templated and predictable. “The tools are getting sharper, but the thinking has gotten lazier,” she said. “What we’re seeing is volume — not distinction.”

For brands to stand out, Dizon stressed the need for strategic creativity — the ability to connect dots differently, ask sharper questions, and bring clarity to the brief before anything is made.

From Prompt to Power
“What does AI need from me to create better work?”

Dizon reminded the audience that every prompt is a creative decision. The tools are powerful, but without direction, they produce noise. “You don’t need prompts. You need a perspective,” she said. “That’s what the machine responds to.”

The Future Brand Thinks Like a Brain
In a fast-moving landscape, Dizon urged marketers to stop treating branding as output management and start thinking in systems. “The best brands operate like living systems — tuned to listen, adapt, and respond,” she said. AI can surface patterns, but the marketer’s job is to make sense of them.

Modern strategists ask: "What patterns are emerging? What stories resonate? What should we amplify or release?"

Slowness Is Strategy
Dizon also challenged the assumption that speed is always better. “Moving quickly is useful. But moving with intention — at the right moment — is powerful. It’s about being right for the moment,” she said. Strategic creativity, she argued, requires moments of pause — not to stall, but to think clearly.

“Slowness, in this context, isn’t inefficiency—it’s intention. Speed is everywhere, but value lives in timing.”

Filipino Ingenuity as Future Intelligence
As global markets become more automated, Dizon sees a unique opportunity for Filipino creatives. Deep understanding of rhythm, empathy, and nuance — often hard to quantify — is a strength we already have. “When used right, AI can help us work smarter. But what makes the work worth making — that still comes from people.”

Inside the Experience: VCS Perspectives on the Event

As part of VCS’s commitment to staying curious and future-ready, team members Carmel Cruz and Alyana Quilantang joined the event and shared reflections on how AI, when used thoughtfully, supports creativity, strategy, and intention.

#TeamVCS attending the PMA event (from left to right: Carmel Cruz, Amrei Dizon, Alyana Quilantang)

AI as a Creative Partner

AI accelerates idea generation and content creation; however, human direction and storytelling remain central.

Hyper-Personalization

AI enables highly tailored content and predicts customer needs, leading to deeper market understanding and individualized campaign execution.

Creativity and Data Can Work Together

As Alyana shared, “Creativity and data can work hand in hand. We don’t have to choose between insight and instinct. AI actually helps us bring both together.”

Ethical AI Use

The team emphasized the importance of responsible AI usage, including proper data handling and adherence to ethical standards.

The Human Element's Enduring Relevance

Despite AI's analytical power, campaigns that show raw, honest, or emotional touches continue to spark stronger engagement.

Marketer as the "Driver"

“AI could be a beneficial part of the team in figuring out what makes campaigns marketable, profitable, and efficient, it’s a business partner. However, the marketer should know how to ‘drive’, be able to steer, slow down, and even brake on its use.” – Carmel, Account Executive

Tools for Enhanced Workflow

Specific AI tools have helped streamline internal processes, shape client presentations faster, and bring earlier ideas to life. But the role of the marketer remains essential: to shape, question, and refine.

#TeamVCS — From left to right: Alyana Quilantang, Business Development Executive; Amrei Dizon, Chief Creative Officer; and Carmel Cruz, Accounts Executive.

Marketers Who Think > Marketers Who Prompt and Produce Content Fast

At the PMA’s 3rd GMM, one takeaway stood out: AI isn’t here to replace marketers — it’s here to challenge us to think better.

Not faster. Not louder. Better.

It reminded us at Vitalstrats that the real edge isn’t in mastering prompts — it’s in asking the right questions, seeing the big picture, and choosing what not to automate.

AI can assist. But the thinking? The strategic judgment? The sense-making? That’s still on us.

And honestly, that’s where the magic is.

Beyond the Prompt: VCS CCO Amrei Dizon on Strategic Creativity in AI-Driven Marketing

Leading AI with Purpose and Intention

Inside the Experience: VCS Perspectives on the Event

Marketers Who Think > Marketers Who Prompt and Produce Content Fast