Tag: Philippines

Manila, Philippines – In a bid to ascertain a data-driven approach in the Philippine out-of-home (OOH) industry, programmatic OOH company Moving Walls and the Out of Home Advertising Association of the Philippines (OHAAP) had recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU), entailing OHAAP to utilize Moving Walls’ platform to step up measurement, transparency, and accountability for OOH.

The agreement will enable OHAAP member companies owning billboard panels, LED screens, and other outdoor advertising platforms to have a valuable and easily accessible audience measurement, which makes planning static and digital sites easier, and provide the weight necessary to justify OOH ad spends.

Furthermore, members will be able to plan static and digital OOH (DOOH) campaigns more holistically while adopting a data-first approach to its programmatic campaigns with advanced capabilities such as dynamic ad-content serving, audience retargeting, use of various triggers such as weather and time-belting.

“Having a common currency makes the medium more responsible. Advertisers know exactly what they are spending for and this helps to generate trust. Location Intelligence strengthens the OOH media platform as an effective media channel, which aligns it to other measured media such as TV, Radio, Print, and Digital. This agreement ushers in the era of digital and uplift the profile of the OOH industry and deliver substantial value to clients of various revenue sizes,” according to Alex Montanez, chairman at OHAAP.

The development is also seen as a positive reinforcement of the goal of the Media Specialists Association of the Philippines (MSAP), establishing a common OOH currency using the ad-tech company’s data. Previously, Moving Walls had also teamed up with MSAP for OOH measurement solutions.

OHAAP President Ramil Gutierrez comments, “The OHAAP Board is delighted to partner with Moving Walls Philippines to provide OHAAP members with transparency, accountability, and measurability to its campaigns through the use of location intelligence. It’s about time our members level up the playing field and experience the full potential of planning and buying OOH media.”

By connecting to Moving Walls network of 35,000 global connected sites, member companies will be able to plan Outernet campaigns in an automated manner as the platform enables the collection of location intelligence data for both static and digital outdoor media sites.

“We are moving forward into digital transformation and we at Moving Walls commit to further support OHAAP and its members not just with data but also with advanced capabilities needed to future-proof itself,” said Norman Davadilla, CEO of Moving Walls Philippines. “Our next step in planning is to onboard OHAAP members, equip and enable them to understand and utilize the Moving Walls tech stack,” Gutierrez adds.

Manila, Philippines – Allenie Caccam, the head of marketing of AirAsia in the Philippines, is adding podcast hosting to her list of credentials. Caccam just launched her own podcast ‘The Middle Manager Show’ which tackles real-life challenges of being a middle manager.

“Before we become CEOs, we are middle managers after all,” said the podcast’s ‘About’ on Spotify. 

The show is already three episodes in, with the pilot podcast launching on 23 August. For its latest episode, Caccam conversed with top corporate consultant in the Philippines and Apprentice Asia winner, Jonathan Yabut. 

When asked why focus on management instead of marketing in the podcast, Caccam shared to MARKETECH APAC, “There are tons of books and articles that talk about marketing, but there’s not a lot on middle management. While training my team [at AirAsia], especially those who just got promoted to manager, I realized there are certain skills that I thought were natural, but apparently were not and when I dug deeper, I realized managing in the middle is more complex than it looks.” 

Admittedly an introvert, Caccam shared that more than the medium appealing to her natural strength as a person, she chose podcast because she believes a podcast is able to create the environment “where you are listening to a friend speaking over the phone,” and that in that way, it seems more personal and intimate.

Caccam adds, “I want to create that space where the show sounds like your usual pantry session where you exchange [pieces of] advice with your workmates.” 

Caccam entered AirAsia in 2014, and prior to landing her marketing head role in the airline, she assumed the position marketing manager and senior manager for international marketing.

She shared that topics she discusses in the podcast are actually topics she has already touched base with her team in AirAsia first. 

“They are willing guinea pigs and I am so grateful to them. Because we have a direct relationship, aside from the topics discussed in the show, I do have one-on-ones with them so the mentoring is still personalized,” shared Caccam.

Each episode of the podcast is less than 30 minutes in order to, Caccam said, cater to the fast-paced schedule of managers. The topics are picked based on information gathered from an initial survey of new managers, and those who are already head of departments which range from discussing the basics of the middle manager’s dilemma to navigating the first six months as a new manager. 

According to Caccam, the show would probably be less than 20 episodes for the first season, but the idea is that topics will also mature with the audience with the assumption that they are also growing in their role.

“Possibly the topics can tackle more complicated [or] complex situations in the future! Right now, it’s testing the market. It’s a new podcast, barely a month in, but what I really love is it has an average of 80% retention, so those who are listening are really interested!” shared Caccam.

In January this year, MARKETECH APAC sat down for a virtual interview with Caccam on MARKETECH Mondays to get to know her career journey in marketing. 

In the interview, she shared her philosophy in leadership, “I always make it a point to be more self-aware [because of that perspective]. For example, if your team is not doing well, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re not good, but also because maybe, it’s your style of leading them, and maybe there’s something more that you need to do from your end so they could do better.”

Manila, Philippines – Dating app Bumble, the disruptor in the dating scene founded in 2014, has released its first-ever campaign for the Philippines. The app currently has presence globally in 150 countries, where in Southeast Asia, it’s present in markets such as Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. The campaign titled ‘Make the First Move’ is the first-ever communications of the brand in the country.

With the emergence of the internet, dating apps, in recent years, have become increasingly popular among young people, embracing it as a go-to opportunity to meet and mingle with other people.

Bumble, the women-first dating and networking app, has just released its first brand campaign for the Philippines, which seeks to empower women to take charge of their dating lives.

Bumble enables women to send the first message to start a conversation with a match, setting the tone for ‘kind’ and more ‘respectful’ communication and relationships.

The new campaign, which was created in collaboration with integrated marketing agency MullenLowe Singapore, aims to showcase Bumble’s mission to challenge traditional gender norms by encouraging women to make the first move.

The ‘Make the First Move’ film highlights how taking charge in dating can be exciting, empowering, and fun for women. Staying true to its mission for women, the production for the campaign was also women-led, shot by a crew with over 70% women representation.

Lucille McCart, Bumble’s director for APAC, believes that equitable relationships are key to a happy and healthy life. 

“This campaign shows that while putting yourself out there to make the first move can be taking yourself out of your comfort zone, it can also lead to feeling more empowered, more confident, and making meaningful connections that can lead to lasting relationships,” said McCart.

Bumble believes the campaign comes at a time when Filipinos are leaning into virtual dating, given the impact of the pandemic and strict lockdowns. According to the platform, about 30% of people on Bumble in the Philippines said they want to date virtually only, while a further 42% said they are open to socially distanced dating, with just 25% still preferring to date in real life. 

The film will run across Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, as well as TikTok, and local OTT platforms throughout September 2021.

Manila, Philippines – B2B tech platform Zilingo which offers commerce solutions to businesses and retailers, has launched Zilingo Digitize in the Philippines. The new solution is a cloud-based SaaS to help brands & distributors digitize their distribution needs. 

Zilingo Digitize adds to the line of product offerings of the tech platform which includes, among others, Zilingo Trade, which aims to bring a seamless process in the bulk-buying and -selling of ready-made (RMG) and made-to-order (MTO) goods as well as Zilingo Factory, an MES software for the garment industry that helps factories increase efficiency and reduce waste.

Shiela Mauricio, the platform’s country manager in the Philippines, said that Zilingo is reimagining the entire supply chain and is aggregating all parties within the same platform by offering services and software that can help businesses do better. 

“This has been the brand’s focus since day one,” Mauricio said.

Meanwhile, Dhruv Kapoor, the co-founder & CTPO of Zilingo, said that the company remains committed to bringing new tools, technology, and innovation that will unleash the entrepreneurial spirit in the Philippines, boost exports from the country and build greater supply chain transparency to reduce cost and wastage.

“With the internet and technology becoming an integral part of our lives, we see a massive opportunity to empower MSMEs across the country and Zilingo is dedicated to being a catalyst for progress and innovation,” said Kapoor. 

The platform further comments that with its direct access to raw material suppliers, manufacturers, and brands, it is able to offer MSMEs the means to achieve product quality, quantity, and availability, and better pricing models.

Manila, Philippines – Security Bank Corporation’s consumer finance arm, SB Finance Corporation (SBF), has partnered with Grab Philippines to offer personal loans to Grab users, driver-partners, and merchant-partners through Grab’s superapp.

The partnership will enable Grab users to apply for an SB Finance personal loan of up to ₱2M with payment terms of up to 36 months. It aims to support Grab’s diverse ecosystem and provide more value-added products for a targeted market segment while growing its loan portfolio. 

The loan application will be through an online process and applicants can expect funds to be released in five days.

“Our strategic partnership with Grab Philippines aims to assist Filipinos by conveniently extending personal loans for their needs. We’re optimistic that Grab users, driver, delivery, and merchant-partners will be able to experience a holistic digital lending experience as we navigate the new normal,” said Abbie Casanova, SB Finance’s CEO and president.

Meanwhile, Erwin Yamsuan, Grab’s head of financial services for the Philippines, shared that the superapp has strived to provide value to consumers and stakeholders and empower them by leveraging its technology and offering its suite of reliable and convenient products and services. 

“The partnership with SB Finance will give our users more access to much-needed financing which they can use to pursue business plans, do home improvement, or pay for health emergencies, among others. We hope that through these loans, consumers can sustain or improve their quality of life, especially during this pandemic,” said Yamsuan.

Grab said that through its Grab Financial Group, it will be offering several financial products to its driver, delivery, and merchant partners. These include offline and online loans, purchase financing, and postpaid fuel cards for driver-partners. It will also offer working capital loans for merchants. 

On the consumer side, Grab also has its PayLater service that allows consumers to pay for Grab services a month later, in one monthly bill, while GrabPay will also be giving its users a more rewarding experience as consumers earn GrabRewards points for their purchases using the service. These points can then be used to avail of discounts, and deals on Grab-related services and other merchant partners.

Manila, Philippines – The lockdown restrictions resulted in less opportunity to engage with food lovers, and with this, Kraft Heinz has decided to partner with the local Filipino burger chain Sweet Ecstasy for a unique giveaway last July. 

The partnership aims to continually raise the bar for its food products, including its Heinz Seriously Good Mayonnaise. With the vision ‘Let’s make life delicious’ and its mission to create unique and out-of-this-world food pairings, Kraft Heinz wanted to step in to unite both food enthusiasts and restaurants.

Following this endeavor, Kraft Heinz has created a new campaign to provide a unique opportunity to create further taste connections with its fans. 

Called, ’The Seriously Good Burger’, the campaign was made by the Heinz Mayonnaise team and creative agency VMLY&R. It is a limited-edition burger that generated buzz through a digital-first campaign.

Andita Rasyid, Kraft Heinz’s head of marketing for Asia Trading, shared that they wanted to find a partner to help bring a burger experience that can once again energize the public’s interest in good restaurant food after the difficulties that the pandemic has posed on the industry. 

“This felt like a perfect way to bring our vision of ‘Let’s make life delicious’ to life,” said Rasyid.

Meanwhile, Jorge Thauby, the executive creative director at VMLY&R, commented, “We are excited that together with Heinz, we will be bringing consumers not only anticipation but a tangible and delightful experience from online to offline.”

The limited-edition burger was made available last 9 July 2021, where it attracted 850 participants, making it one of the most successful Southeast Asian campaigns for Heinz Seriously Good Mayonnaise.

Manila, Philippines – The integrated marketing communications agency in the Philippines, MullenLowe TREYNA, has announced its acquisition of a controlling interest at UX and UI company Quiddity Usability Labs. The new joint venture from this new move will be called Qairos, Inc.

Under the binding terms of the agreement, Quiddity will be winding down in September 2021 as Qairos will be scheduled to formally begin operations by October 2021.

The recent development adds UX/UI expertise to complement MullenLowe TREYNA’s hyper bundled business solutions, which has rapidly grown in recent years with similar expansions in PR and digital communications. 

Moreover, the two companies will be combining their roster of clients, which includes brands across several industries like FMCGs, finance, e-commerce, and pharmaceuticals, as well as travel, and telecommunications, among others.

Mike Trillana, MullenLowe TREYNA’s CEO and chairman, commented that the move is their biggest M&A activity to date, and they could not be any more excited with this partnership.

“The UX/UI capabilities of Quiddity are the best-in-its class in the country. Denise Haak, Vanessa Julian, and the team are kindred spirits, and we all buy into The Challenger Mentality as a way of life. This brings us one step closer to our vision of being our client’s preferred Creative Business Solutions partner,” said Trillana. 

Meanwhile, Denise Haak, the president and CEO at Qairos Inc, believes that partnering with MullenLowe TREYNA will surely propel them to a larger world of users, helping make things better, one usable product at a time, and they cannot be more excited for this partnership. 

Leigh Reyes, MullenLowe TREYNA’s chairman emeritus, said, “As technology becomes even more present in our daily lives, creativity and innovation are key to humanizing not only communication but even business vision and strategy and product development. I am thrilled to be part of this new adventure.”

MullenLowe TREYNA said that Qairos Inc’s new board will include Mike Trillana as the chairman, Mehrdad Jamshidi as the chief financial officer, and Leigh Reyes.

In October 2020, MullenLowe was rebranded to MullenLowe TREYNA, which came after Interpublic Group of Company’s (IPG) local shareholders bought shares in Mullenlowe Philippines’ holding company Treyna Holdings Inc.

Philippines – There’s no doubt that more than just being what used to be an exciting past-time and a convenient solution, online food deliveries have now become the crucial element this pandemic for both consumers and business owners, with strict national protocols enforcing everyone to stay within the premises of their own home.

Grab, the top ride-hailing app in Southeast Asia, that soon grew into a superapp has released its first-ever ‘Food Trends Report’ in the Philippines, drawing insights from its food delivery business GrabFood for the period of 2019-2021. 

For starters, the study shows that during this period, food delivery has also served to be Filipinos’ go-to solution in battling traffic and road problems. Pre-pandemic, these were already in Filipinos’ top dilemmas, and even now that times have changed, Filipinos are dealing with them the same even amid less opportunities for cars to roam freely in the streets. 

In the study which was conducted by NielsenIQ, it shows that among the top reasons Filipinos order food delivery in 2020 is so that they don’t need to worry about traffic or parking. This is together with Filipnos’ desire to satisfy cravings for food they can’t cook, and due to simply not having the time to cook. 

Grab Philippines_Filipinos
Infographic from Grab Philippines

Due to the demands of family that has been augmented by the ongoing pandemic, the report found that it is families who have children that order the most from food delivery, with 65% of them belonging to the 25-44 year-old bracket. 

With Filipinos looking to delivery as a save from the rigorous preparations of their favorite dishes; pizza, cake, and pasta were found to be some of the favorite food items that Filipinos like to search on the Grab app. In fact, pizza was searched 6 million times on GrabFood in 2020. 

Grab Philippines_Filipinos
Infographic from Grab Philippines

What’s more, despite it being a staple only for celebrations, Filipinos’ orders for cake also grew by 2.6 times in the year 2020 compared to the previous year. 

In terms of the time of the day, it seems that it is immaterial for Filipino foodies on what time they’d prefer to put in their orders, where most orders were made for dinner, lunch, and ‘merienda’ or afternoon time. However, in 2020, Filipinos were shown to spend more on breakfast with a 35% increase in basket size for the said part of the day. 

On top of Filipinos’ delivery behavior, the average Filipino consumer is trying approximately 2-3 different restaurants in a month in 2020, with ‘variety of food’ and ‘value for money’ as their main considerations. 

Grab Philippines_Filipinos
Infographic from Grab Philippines

With Grab’s report originally dedicated to bring commercial awareness to F&B merchants, the report reveals that most of all, more F&B brands are giving food delivery a shot, with the number of monthly active merchants in GrabFood increasing by 60% in 2020. 

Aside from research insights, the report by Grab also includes content on the state of the food delivery business as a whole in the country as well as tips on digital marketing for F&B businesses. 

Statistics were derived from Grab’s internal database between 2019–2020. The research conducted also includes interviews with food industry professionals, restaurateurs, consumer surveys, and focus groups.

Manila, Philippines – Filipinos have long been known to repurpose things, including the commonly-practiced repurposing old ice cream tubs as tupperwares to store various items, including food items. This has led to hilarious instances where one would assume that the ice cream tub contains ice cream, but in fact contains other food items.

Such quirky part of the modern Filipino culture has led soft drink brand Pepsi in the Philippines to launch a new campaign called ‘tubAWARE’ which advocates against being shortchanged to whatever they want to consume or buy for themselves.

The campaign, created by creative agency BBDO Guerrero, stemmed from a scene in a prior Pepsi Philippine video commercial that showed various instances of being faced with shortchanges, such as small dresses, a low-class luxury bag, or a cold bowl of soup.

In the said video campaign, Pepsi shows that their product ‘Pepsi Go’ has extra 30mL on their bottle for added value for their customers.

Through the ‘tubAWARE’ campaign, online users can play around with customizing a digital ice-cream tub by uploading their food photos to the site, and add quirky lines to avoid the tub being assumed to have ice cream inside.

“It started out as a scene in the video. But it resonated so well we decided to give people the tools to create the customizable labels that would stop the feeling of being shortchanged” says David Guerrero, creative chairman at BBDO Guerrero.

Since its launch, tubAWARE’s announcement earned organic engagement roughly 30% higher than the average post, with more and more people sharing it on Facebook, Twitter, TikTok and other social media platforms.

Clicks to the website have been 9 times more effective at 1.8% clickthrough rate (CTR) compared to the usual 0.2%, while a visit lasted 300% longer than the average showing, like the product, just how much of a hit this idea is proving to be.

“Pepsi is not here to tell you off. Instead, we’re here to turn those frustrations into fun,” shares Gutzee Segura, CSD marketing manager at Pepsi Philippines. She added that Pepsi wants to make its connection to the younger audience stronger and having executions that are relevant to their truths can help make the brand more relatable to this emerging audience.

Pepsi Philippines has succeeded in the past in tapping with the younger audience with their product. Just recently, they launched an augmented reality (AR) campaign where they encouraged online users to use their limited Pepsi X BLACKPINK cans to be transformed digitally as lightsticks.

Manila, Philippines – Digital talent and media company Gushcloud in the Philippines has recently signed Jason Magbanua, a celebrated local videographer known for his videography stints at well-known celebrity weddings in the country, as well as his own visual storyteller stints.

In an exclusive deal, the digital talent and marketing agency will be working closely with the esteemed videographer to represent and manage key brand deals, and to provide channel management support. Said deal is aimed at bolstering as well the talent’s digital presence and thought leadership.

With over 20 years of experience, a slew of international awards, and a strong roster of clients, Magbanua is known as well for capturing captivating video content for corporate clients and brands.

Speaking about this endeavor, Magbanua mentioned that the past year has been really challenging, to say the least, adding that events had to be put on hold and wedding shoots had to be cancelled. However, he mentioned that his passion to create was the one thing that didn’t stop him. 

“I shot and edited, and learned to master my craft – which is why I’m very excited to be in this new partnership with Gushcloud Philippines. I’ve received a ton of emails and direct messages about partnerships and representation and while all these messages were courteous and polite, none approached it the way the Gushcloud team did,” Magbanua said.

He added, “They were not only very nice people, but patient, thorough, forward thinking, and transparent. Inking the agreement was a process of relationship building and not once did I feel obliged or pressured. I’m eager to learn and create, and I’m looking forward to partnering with brands and exerting influence not just to sell but for the greater good.”

As part of the deal, Gushcloud Philippines will co-manage his personal YouTube channel where he shares his creative process, including reviews, tips, and tutorials. Magbanua also has over 314,000 subscribers on his second YouTube channel where he shares wedding films of celebrities and other couples. Apart from this, he also has over 113,000 Instagram followers and over 250,000 Facebook followers. 

“At Gushcloud, our goals have always been to create a sustainable ecosystem where brands, influencers, and content creators grow together. We’re thrilled to have Jason Magbanua onboard, to collaborate and strengthen his digital presence. Excited for him to impart his expertise, and continue to create a strong positive influence in our collective industry,” said Jamie Paraso, country director at Gushcloud Philippines. 

Aside from Jason Magbanua, Gushcloud has also signed gaming creator Yuka Kuroyanagi, celebrities Bangs Garcia, Ciara Sotto, Bettinna Carlos, Michelle Madrigal, and Patrick Garcia and family for channel management.