Gigil

Gigil (stylized as GIGIL) is a Philippine advertising agency based in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig, Philippines.

Background
Gigil was founded by Badong Abesamis, Herbert Hernandez, and Isabel Prollamante. The group considered naming their agency "No Plan B" or "Toyo" but decided to adopt Abesamis' proposal "Gigil" to reflect the agency's vision of "passion" or hard work. Gigil was officially launched in October 2017.

After Prollamante left for abroad, Gigil appointed Jake Yrastorza as Managing Partner.

Gigil has commissioned works for numerous brands such as 7-Eleven, AirAsia, Globe, Jollibee, Levi's, Netflix, Procter & Gamble, RC Cola, Unilever, and Vivo, among others.

In January 2023, Gigil announced its expansion to the U.S. and Canada by opening offices in Los Angeles, New York, and Toronto.

Industry recognition
Gigil was named by Campaign as the Philippines Independent Agency of the Year and the Philippines Creative Agency of the Year for 2020.

Gigil was named by Ad Age as International Small Agency of the Year for 2021.

In 2023, the Philippine Daily Inquirer named Gigil the No. 2 Philippine Growth Champion, as it placed second among 25 Philippine companies that achieved the highest percentage growth in revenues between 2018 and 2021. The UK's Financial Times named Gigil as one of the High-Growth Companies in Asia Pacific. Gigil was the highest-placing ad agency on the list, making it the fastest-growing ad agency in the Asia-Pacific. Campaign Brief Asia named Gigil as the No. 1 ad agency in the Philippines, No. 2 in Asia, and No. 3 in the Asia-Pacific. Badong Abesamis and Herbert Hernandez were also declared the Philippines' Most Awarded Creative Directors. The Association of Accredited Advertising Agencies of the Philippines proclaimed Gigil as Independent Agency of the Year in its Agency of the Year Awards. Gigil also won Best in Media Creativity, Independent Agency of the Year for Best in Market Performance, Independent Agency of the Year for Best in Management of Business, and Independent Agency of the Year for Best in Creative. The Asia Pacific Effie Awards, Gigil was named the Top 2 Independent Agency in the APAC region. In the Digital Marketing Association of the Philippines' Boomerang Awards, Gigil was declared Agency of the Year, having won 1 gold, 3 silver, and 1 bronze award collectively. Gigil won the Philippines Independent Agency of the Year silver in the Southeast Asia Campaign Agency of the Year awards. Gigil was also awarded the Southeast Asia Agency Marketer Partnership of the Year bronze with Netflix.

In 2024, Gigil was awarded by the Philippine Marketing Association's Agora Awards as Marketing Agency of the Year. Gigil was also named for the second consecutive year as a Philippine Growth Champion by The Philippine Daily Inquirer and Statista, having achieved the highest percentage growth in revenue among Filipino companies between 2019 and 2022. Gigil was also named for the second consecutive year by the Financial Times as among Asia-Pacific's fastest growing businesses on its list of High-Growth Companies Asia-Pacific 2024.

Notable campaigns
Gigil's Shop2Give campaign in 2018 for Unilever was awarded by Lazada as the Best Marketing Innovation 2018 and also won an award for Best Campaign Execution at the Lazada Philippines Lazada Awards. It also won a gold award for Advocacy and a silver award for Responsible Citizenship at the 2019 Tambuli Awards and a bronze award for the E-commerce category at the 2019 ADFEST Awards. Within the same year, Gigil's Dr. Internet campaign in for Konsulta MD won a bronze award for the Healthcare category at the 2018 Spikes Asia Awards and a bronze award for the Digital Craft category at the 2018 Boomerang Awards. It also won two gold awards for Creative Storytelling and for Film Craft: Best Copywriting, and a bronze for Creative Effectiveness: Film at the 2019 Kidlat Awards.

Gigil's Studs campaign in 2019 for Levi's Philippines won a silver award for Fashion & Beauty at the 2019 Clio Awards. It also won a bronze award for Creative Effectiveness at the 2019 Kidlat Awards, two bronze awards for Brand Storytelling and Seasons Celebration at the Asia Pacific Tambuli Awards, two silver awards for Effectiveness at the 2019 Boomerang Awards, and a gold award for the Retail category at the 2020 Asia Pacific Effie Awards, making Gigil the first independent agency from the Philippines to win an Effie gold.

Gigil's Basta campaign in 2020 for RC Cola, which featured a boy confronting his mother if he is adopted due to glasses embedded on his back, won a bronze award for Film at the Cannes Lion 2021. It also won a bronze award at the 2021 Asia Pacific Effie Awards for the Youth Marketing category, a silver award at the 2022 Asia Pacific Effie Awards for the Beverages, Non-Alcohol category and the Short Video Marketing category, and a bronze award for Film at the 2022 Clio Awards.

Gigil did a marketing campaign for the Singaporean Netflix animated series Trese in 2021.

Gigil's Party campaign in 2022 for Cheers, won a bronze award for Film at the Cannes Lions 2022. Gigil also won silver awards from the London International Awards (LIA) in 2022 for their Cheers Party and Orocan Pail campaigns.

The Clio Entertainment Awards also awarded Gigil two silver awards for their Netflix Literal Money Heist and Netflix Jaywalking campaigns, and a bronze award for their Netflix Reel to Real campaign in 2022.

Gigil turned the SM Mall of Asia Globe into a colossal basketball for Smart Communications, to promote its sponsorship of the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup happening in the Philippines. The campaign won a bronze in the Clio Sports awards.

In 2023, Gigil launched the campaign Stress Drilon for CoCo Fresh Tea & Juice that took the Internet by storm.

Gigil won a silver for its Delivery Man campaign for Grab under the New Product or Service – Line Extension category and a bronze for its Globe campaign under the Carpe Diem – Services category at the 2023 Asia Pacific Effie Awards.

Gigil won a silver in the Clio Entertainment awards for a billboard campaign for Netflix's title Glass Onion in 2023. The agency also won another silver in the Clio Entertainment for The KoolPals ''Thanks, Haters! NFT,'' in which online hate for the group was turned into money, in the same year.

Ben&Ben, the most-streamed Filipino artist on Spotify, collaborated with Gigil in 2023 on the band's music video for Courage — a song calling the young to cling to hope, despite the mental anguish they may be experiencing.

In 2024, Gigil was handpicked by The ONE Asia Creative Awards of The One Show New York to conceptualize and execute its call-for-entries campaign.

Gigil won a gold for its 4Dish Pot campaign for Netflix under the Outdoor Lotus category and a bronze for its Bag campaign for Mandaue Foam under the Film Lotus category in the ADFEST 2024 Lotus Awards.

Gigil's Summer campaign in 2024 for Grab, won a silver award for Film at the Cannes Lions 2024.

Controversy
In 2021, Gigil released the Pandemic Effect campaign for the Belo Medical Group. The ad featured a woman gaining weight, growing body hair, and getting acne while watching a stream of bad news amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The ad received negative reception, which led to the pull-out of the ad and a one-year suspension of Gigil's membership from The Association of Accredited Advertising Agencies of the Philippines. Gigil and the Belo Medical Group promptly issued an apology and vowed to be more sensitive and inclusive in their advertising practices moving forward.