I'm lucky enough to occasionally get invites to events and even more so, to get invites to events I'm actually interested in. That said, I'm not immune to non-niche invites which I humbly decline.

When friends from Ogilvy sent me a L'Oreal Brandstorm invite, I wasn't sure I would go. It's not a product-centric event and I wasn't sure I would enjoy it enough to write about it. I didn't even participate in my own batch's brandstorm so I'm simply working off the vague idea that it is a marketing competition!

Early Birds: Celline (R) and I (L)!

That said, it pays to step out of your comfort zone. I had fun with my buddies of the night (Celline, Shen and Kumi,) experienced something new and witnessed the best talent of this generation! It's simply inspiring how good they all were. Some people might feel embittered or jealous by the potential of such young people but I think we should all take note and let it challenge us, right?

The Gist: The L'Oreal Brandstorm is a marketing competition open to college students. It started in 1992, exploded in 2009 and currently picks two teams each from three universities (Ateneo de Manila University, De La Salle University and University of the Philippines) to compete. This year, L'Oreal opened a wild card slot, which was won by University of Asia and Pacific.


The prize is a trip to Paris to compete in the International Finals and EUR 1000. Of course, everyone wins because this competition also serves as a recruitment pool for new members of the L'Oreal Marketing team. Many of them are in fact, Brandstorm alumni!


The 2015 Challenge: Every year, students are tasked a marketing challenge for a selected L'Oreal brand. This year's challenge was to create an unforgettable Travel Retail experience for Lancome customers.

L'Oreal Makeover Booth

Last March 26, the L'Oreal chose Team Storm Surge  (Peter Avila, Mirella Galang and Caitlin Gregorio)  from UP Diliman  to represent the Philippines in the Brandstorm International Finals this June. I didn't get to their presentation as I left early but if they won over the ones I saw, then I am beyond impressed.


Do follow the Official Brandstorm channels and support Team Surge!

You may visit the website brandstorm.loreal.com;
follow them on Facebook, L'Oreal Brandstorm (Official), and
Twitter, @bstormofficial


I was invited to the L'Oreal Brandstorm 2015 Philippine Nationals last March 26 at Sky Lounge BGC. Competing students presented their entries to the L'Oreal team and several media attendants. Press kits with L'Oreal samples were provided but not shown on this post.