If only the tone would cut it, Netflix's hype machine GIGIL would've summoned KMJS' paranormal investigator Ed Caluag to communicate with Manila's spirits for the Trese campaign, the agency said.
Caluag, GMA Network's resident spiritistic field expert, could've used his knack for the otherwordly in a reaction video. That idea was one of the "most obvious" to get gunned down by the streaming giant, GIGIL told Summit Media journalists.
"Actually, one of the most obvious was we’d use Ed Caluag to communicate with the spirits and show them the first episode and ask for their reaction. So, it was a reaction video using Ed Caluag," copywriter Zion dela Pena said.
During their first pitch to Netflix, the agency had brought a lot of ideas to the table, courtesy of enthusiastic Trese fans within the team. Netflix found some of the ideas cool while some were not exactly what the streaming giant was looking for in terms of tone. So they had to go back to the drawing board.
In another rejected idea, GIGIL had wanted manananggals and tikbalangs to endorse famous products in fake TVCs. They also thought of getting an aswang to eat body parts for a mukbang video as an ode to the Youtube generation.
"I think ito yung may pinakamaraming rejections, in terms of the initial presentation," said Jeano Cruz, GIGIL creative director and head of socials. But instead of letting that overwhelm them, the agency took it as motivation to deliver what now is their biggest campaign to date.
