Sailing without a compass: Why brand purpose is the new north star for sentimental storytelling

According to neuroscience, the human brain can register an emotional stimulus in as little as 100 milliseconds—often before we are consciously aware of what we are seeing. Long before logic kicks in, the amygdala has already signalled whether something feels joyful, threatening, nostalgic, or moving.

In other words, we feel first. We understand later.

This is why emotionally charged stories, whether in songs, films, or even a 3-minute branded short ad, have the power to linger. 

For years, Filipino advertising mastered this instinct.

When Jollibee released its 2017 short film ‘Vow,’ timelines flooded with tears and think pieces. Vicks’ ‘Just A Boy’ became a cultural conversation. Nido’s tribute to grandmothers resonated across generations. These were not just ads; they were emotional events. They were watched, rewatched, and shared not because audiences analyzed them, but because they felt them. And yet, in today’s landscape dominated by performance metrics, six-second cutdowns, and scroll-speed attention spans, sentimental storytelling seems less visible.

So the question lingers: Where did all the sentimental ads go?

In this MARKETECH APAC exclusive, Havas Ortega executive creative director Angie Tijam-Tohid and Passionade Creative founders Julia Dela Rosa and Nikki Golez weigh in on whether emotional advertising has truly faded—or simply evolved.

The Filipino appetite for storytelling

Right off the bat, Angie, Julia, and Nikki countered that sentimental ads have neither lost touch, impact, nor faded. This solidifies that sentimental ads are somewhere, not too deep, but also, less visible at the time being. Angie also shared that there was no shift between emotional storytelling and humorous takes. Rather, she argued that ‘there’s enough space where both can coexist’.

“People experience different emotions every day, and they naturally connect with the kind of stories they need in that moment. When the world feels tense, humor offers escape; when things feel more hopeful, audiences become more open to emotional narratives,” said Angie.

This was echoed by Julia and Nikki, “There are more than 100 million Filipinos out there, spread out across more than 7,000 islands. We can’t treat them as a monolith. There are younger Filipinos and older Filipinos, more conservative and more modern ones, and so on. Not everyone is active online or seeing the big cities’ major outdoor ads in the same way, so the instant gratification that brands are looking for in terms of online sharing and interaction about these ads isn’t exactly reflective of consumer sentiment.”

In simpler terms, it is a case-by-case basis where ads are made depending on the message and the audience. Hence, humorous and emotional storytelling are approaches that brands can strategically use, because, as Julia and Nikki shared, ‘humor and entertainment have always been part of Filipino culture’.

“We have over-the-top festivals, humor in show business, even humor in the way we speak. But fun is just one emotion. And that’s a better way of looking at what works for Filipinos, we feel. Create things with emotion. We love to laugh because it helps us live with the everyday realities of life in the Philippines. We love to cry because it allows us not to have to be strong all the time. Different things for different moments and occasions, and different parts of the country, and different age groups, and different people,” they emphasised.

Angie also affirmed this, “Filipinos strongly resonate with stories about family, romance, and everyday struggle, but we also love to laugh. We laugh in the midst of challenges. It’s a way of survival for us. Humor is honesty cloaked in jokes. In fact, YouGov data shows that 55% of Filipino viewers prefer comedy genres, especially younger audiences, while sentimental storytelling tends to resonate more with women and older audiences.”

This is why it is important to discern, according to Julia and Nikki, that humorous content feels big right now because ‘there are big brands that are starting to go that way for their ads online’. Accordingly, this is also why short-form content is the way to go, because that is what social media platforms suggest.

“But those are some ways. Not the only way. There’s a Filipino appetite for all sorts of things. Simply put, people will care about the brands and the ads if they’re good advertising,” they elaborated. 

By good advertising, they meant advertising that ‘actually makes people remember’ what their brand is all about.

“The challenge is just how to stand out in a way that hooks people, which is why we’ve seen the rise of humorous ads in the Philippines, because we’re not as used to seeing brands be rowdy. But if you’re a brand, you really need to think of your identity and what people will remember about you – will they even remember your brand and message, or will they just see it as fun content?” they remarked.

All these sentiments point to one thing: sentimental ads were simply overpowered. To resurface, according to Angie, it needs to work harder to be seen in the current landscape.

“The Philippines is still among the heaviest social media users globally. Platforms have become our third place where we celebrate, connect, get information, and find entertainment. And in this environment, attention is won or lost in two seconds. So it makes sense that humorous content performs well. It’s a low-effort, high-reward way to connect,” explained Angie.

While there is no issue with how entertaining and humorous advertising is front and centre in the current landscape, this also raises challenges for how the market could diversify its offerings by touching on not exactly a foreign place, but an unvisited scene in the form of sentimental ads. 

Earning two seconds

To put into perspective, Angie highlighted that innately, Filipino audiences still crave stories that feel real, personal, and meaningful. 

“If you don’t connect instantly, then that’s a problem. Yes, we’re highly digital, but we’re also deeply emotional. What makes us stop, heart, and share isn’t just entertainment but connection. When we see our values, our humor, our struggles, our culture, our own stories reflected back at us, that’s when it sticks,” she added. 

Narrowing this down, Angie reflected that the challenge here is not about consumers not wanting to see sentimental ads, but rather, it’s that brands have to work harder to earn those ‘two seconds’.

For Julia and Nikki, the challenge lies in how, sometimes, brands tap into emotions that are not entirely aligned with their own messaging.

“When that happens, the message feels off, and the resonance is weak. That’s why it’s so important for brands to clearly know who they are and what they stand for. When they do, they can show up and advertise in a way that feels authentic to their persona,” they explained.

Angie also emphasised the same sentiment, that consumers nowadays can spot ‘when an ad is trying too hard to be sentimental’, quoting today’s audiences as ‘sophisticated’.

“Emotional storytelling needs time to unfold and asks for more emotional investment from viewers, which can be challenging in short-form spaces. But I don’t believe viral content has totally replaced sentimental ones. I think it comes down to who you’re talking to and where they are,” expounded Angie. 

This is why ads in general should fit both the audience and the platform, needing only the right context to connect. Both Julia and Nikki also argued that ads are not competing against ads. Hence, ads are competing with ‘pop culture and life for people’s attention’.

“That’s why some marketers have shifted to short form to get into the online economy. But that’s also why it’s important to take shock virality with a grain of salt. Trends will spike from time to time, but it’s relevant stories – those that genuinely go for emotions (whether it’s an emotion that’s fun or a sentimental emotion) and come from a human place – that will be remembered longer by audiences.”

Adding to this, Angie stated, “Everything today has to be entertaining. That doesn’t mean it has to be funny, but it has to move you. I’ve seen many campaigns successfully combine sentiment and entertainment. Take BLKJ Havas’ JBL Quantum Guideplay — it lives in the gaming space, which is naturally immersive and exciting, but it’s still rooted in emotional messaging.”

She also explained how the latest Philippine Airlines’ Safetynovela video transformed a routine safety briefing into a telenovela-style film, and how the KITA Initiative by SPARK! Philippines told stories of women small business owners.

This proves the point that a blend of humour and sentimentality is amongst the lineup of options, and how this could respond to different kinds of emotions, at the same time.

“It’s no longer one-size-fits-all. How we tell these stories matters just as much as what we’re saying. With how rich and layered media is today, the medium only works if the message is strong,” explained Julia and Nikki. 

So a new question now lingers: what’s stopping brands from pushing for more sentimental ads?

Sailing without a compass

For Julia and Nikki, it all goes back to storytelling that makes people passionate for the right reasons.

“Brands without a clear foundation – a strong purpose, vision, and values – often struggle to really connect with their audience. Especially in the digital space, it’s easy for brands to jump on trends that come and go. The problem is, once the trend fades, the connection fades with it. It’s like sailing without a compass,” they shared.

Hence, both shared that moving forward, trends will also surely shift. 

“But emotional storytelling done the right way, for the right brands, won’t go away. Filipinos have always been emotionally expressive. We’re open about love, joy, sadness, fear, anxiety, excitement – because that’s how we process life, honor shared memories, and connect with each other. Humor is one part of that. Sentimentalism is too,” they continued.

For Angie, it can be simply put that emotional storytelling isn’t optional. For her, it is a critical element of how brands can connect to their consumers.

“With the insights and tools we have today, there’s no reason we can’t understand our audiences better and craft stories that actually move them to embrace brands into their lives,” emphasised Angie.

Because emotional storytelling, echoed by Julia and Nikki, will always play a big role in building a brand.

“It helps brands stay in tune with real people, and makes the business feel more human – not just transactional. People are becoming more open to listening, engaging, and having real conversations — and that openness can create deeper, more meaningful connections between brands and audiences,” they remarked.

This narrative goes to show that while the current landscape favors the punchy over the profound, appetites still change. In fact, it remains as vast as the 7,000 islands in the Philippines. In retrospect, sentimentalism, more than an unvisited scene, is more of a home base. 

As brands compete at the speed of a scroll, it is crucial that in those first milliseconds, a choice can be made: to be a fleeting watch or to be a story worth the sentiment.