After a month or so I still miss the usual good mornings from everyone...as well as the smell of the coffee brewing on the second floor,that's how my day starts as Mar Com handling the image of the brand and all its communications and media per se. I remember how my relationship with Star-Cell started way back when i was still working for Red Dot and we were chosen to be one of its agency to handle its commercial launch to the Cambodian market. Thus my love affair with this brand started on my 27th birthday :)
Star-Cell was my first biggest account second to VISA International, i was still then a rookie to the advertising world, i am still learning its twists and turns and by God! I fucked up a lot of times! Thank God i have a boss who doesn't let you pay when you need to redo an entire printing production or there’s a misspelled word in a finished product brochure, or messing up an entire campaign budget! You get scolded and really scrubbed from top to bottom but they make sure that we all should learn form that mistake…I went through a lot of like that with Star-Cell, a lot of late nights going home, a lot of pressure from the client as well as a lot of late night calls just to tell you that they changed their mind about something in the plan etc!!! Due to that, it made me closer to the brand and love it more...actually more than the relationship i had then…which caused it to fail in the end, because the only relationship i am having then was with my job.
Aside from the brand, i also have this some kind of "high school crush" with the then head of marketing which makes things a lot of interesting but at the same time difficult.You cant involve feelings in the line of work because it can sidetrack you and at the same time it really messes up your business decisions which i have to admit did, so my boss then really talked to me and pointed this things out. After that said talk i really tried to be as professional as I can be and really separate my personal and my professional life. It was hard! He was really cute! hahahaha still is ... there might even be a chance that he would read this but that was a long time ago...:)) anyways setting that aside, the brand and the company itself was going through its own changes thus the JV between TeliaSonera and Visor happened October of 2008
The change was felt right away…a very popular promo was terminated when 2009 came…we were not sure if we are still their agency and the then CEO stepped down. And in that fateful night of February i got the offer of a lifetime that excited me but at the same time scared me. I was excited because i was burned out with the agency work, im getting tired of it all, the passion that i once felt for it was slowly fading…scared because i know in my heart im going for it and ill be out there on my own…Red Dot was a safe haven for me, im comfortable there, and i love the people that i work with, they have become my friends and my family as well...they are one of the reasons why i stayed that long…but like all things, deciding didn't come easily…everything was formalized more than a month after and i barely have time to say goodbye to old colleagues before i find myself saying hello to not so new ones because i am a familiar face in that building, the only difference now is, i am a part of them completely.
My honeymoon with Star-Cell as its Marketing Communications and Media Manager was short lived…It was really hard the toughest if i may say…I was going through something personal at the same time being overwhelmed by this electrifying, exciting and yet terrifying new world….my first 3 months was countless late nights just to be able to keep up..i was like a sponge absorbing everything anyone would teach me, from Technical to IT, to CURE to Roaming, to Warehouse to Finance, everything! and slowly i found my footing, started to find my voice as well in a crowd of men whom i admire for their brilliance in their respective fields and how unselfish they were in sharing what they know…
Mistakes, failures, disappointing and disappointments i have many in my work. I am quite surprised that i still have my job then with the countless that i did hahahaha i give credit to a boss who is very considerate but an ass at times hahahaha but an ally at all times… our relationship is that of partners. the others downfall is both our downfall… i also have colleagues that works hard but mind you knows how to play just as hard and i learned that from them...that life is not just all about work and reports and budgets... that i can stop and breathe if i want to.... we all have come a long way in regards to growth as individuals and as a team in the marketing department. we have weathered a lot of storms together and i’m glad that the motivation to strive harder and to grow better in our respective fields is still there despite and inspite of...and saying goodbye was the hardest...we all know that we will part ways one day but we weren't expecting it to be that soon...but like what i was told that's how it is...and that we just have to move on and wish each other the best...
i miss that building...i miss running up and down those stairs on heels...i miss gossiping via skype hihihi...i miss being greeted with the smile of the sales team guys or the drivers downstairs...i miss walking through that white and blue halls when i need to think...the moment i came home and all i have with this bag full of scraps and folders of all sorts, after settling everything i felt like i had parents that had gotten divorced and my family name i couldn't carry anymore...i felt like a kid from a broken family and that there is no way that we can ever be whole again…i have been grieving for quite sometime...there was even a time of denial...still hoping for the best for everyone but was always told to expect the worst...i don't know if we all got what we deserve...all i know is that we all wish we can all go back to that building and to that family....
I am faithful in so many ways…I know that i can never love another brand as much as i have loved Star-Cell…i have seen it evolve into so many things and in so many ways until i see no longer....but every time i see a former colleague or someone telling a story about what we used to be, i cant help but smile because it made me realize that we all have the company and the brand in our hearts and that's where it will live from now on....
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