Obituary: Eugene Umali Demata, 51, celebrated Filipino creative

Eugenio Umali Demata, a loving son, brother, friend and colleague and known as one of the influential voices in the creative industry, sadly passed away on Tuesday, June 9th at the age of 51. He died from complications resulting from a stroke he suffered on Sunday.

Born on January 8, 1969, Eugene, or Euge as he was fondly known, received his degree in fine arts from the prestigious University of the Philippines. From the get-go, Demata showed great flair and passion for conceptualizing and bringing ideas to life.  In 1991 he joined Saatchi & Saatchi where he would serve as creative director for the next 14 years before moving on to ECD positions with DM9JaymeSyfu and Tribal Worldwide.

He won awards at major local and international advertising festivals that included Cannes, Clio, NYF, LIA, D&AD, One Show, WEBBY, The Andy, Spikes, ADFEST, Philippine Ad Congress and KIDLAT, to name a few, placing him amongst one of Asia’s and Philippines’ most successful creatives.

Demata was the first creative to win the Philippines a Cannes Grand Prix Lion and the first D&AD Yellow Pencil for the ‘Smart TXTBKS’ campaign as well as the first Cannes Media Lion for the Gabriela ‘Duct Tape’ campaign while at DM9 JaymeSyfu.

In 2011, Demata was inducted into the Creative Guild of the Philippines Hall of Fame for his outstanding contribution and creative achievements in the advertising industry. In 2014, he was ranked the number one executive creative director by the Big Won creative rankings.

At the time of his passing, Demata was the chief creative officer of Grey Manila.

“It’s a sad day for us all here at Grey,” said John Lucas, CEO of Grey Manila. “We lost a dear brother, a wonderful mentor and a talented creative today. Eugene will be greatly missed by all those that knew him, Please remember him in your thoughts and prayers.”

He is survived by his father Justino, mother Marta, and siblings Elenita and Gloria.