Tag: Philippines

Singapore – The global convenience store chain 7- Eleven has just been added on food delivery app Foodpanda, where users from Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Taiwan are now able to obtain their quick essentials from the store within the app. Foodpanda said about 2,500 7-Eleven stores across the said countries have been partnered for the new addition.

Foodpanda brings to customers hundreds of 7-Eleven items including hot food, ready-to-eat insta-meals, snacks and alcohol, and even pre-paid mobile phone cards.

In the beta phase for the store’s integration into the Foodpanda “shops” feature, the number of 7-Eleven orders grew by 50% month-on-month over the past six months.

7-Eleven stores on the app offer over 1,000 unique items on average across the four markets. In the Philippines, the largest variety available from a 7-Eleven store via Foodpanda is almost 1,600 unique items. In Taiwan, consumers have a preference for post-dinner orders from 8pm to midnight, especially for snacks.

Industry watchers like IGD have predicted growth in online grocery retail with more brick-and-mortar retailers partnering with delivery and technology companies to grow their online footprint, even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. This is in line with the rise of the ‘convenience economy’ over the past few years, as consumers get accustomed to food and grocery deliveries.

The company said in a statement, “[This] partnership underscores Foodpanda’s dual focus on growing its core food delivery business as well as its q-commerce offerings.”

Manila, Philippines – Local telecommunications company Globe, through its SME arm myBusiness, is launching its annual #GiftLocal campaign to encourage local support from micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME).

The campaign further encourages that Filipino consumers should buy gifts from local MSMEs, especially with the forthcoming holiday seasons this year. This is accompanied by Globe myBusiness’ partnership with e-commerce platform Lazada to host a three-Day e-Bazaar that will feature partner MSMEs such as Bayongciaga, Punta Riviera Resort, Old World Food Enterprise, and Robi & Peach RTW clothing.

“This year’s Gift Local campaign will serve an even greater purpose, as we feature the products of our SME partners that will delight Filipino customers for their gift giving celebration, while supporting our local SMEs bounce back in these challenging times,” Maridol Ylanan, Globe myBusiness strategy and marketing head stated.

In addition to online presence, Globe myBusiness will also feature products from their partner MSMEs to partner malls such as Ayala Malls and SM Premier Malls.

The annual #GiftLocal campaign coincides with the government’s “Ingat Angat Tayong Lahat” advocacy that pushes private corporations and SMEs to build consumer confidence to rebuild the Philippine economy.

Manila, Philippines – Local-based telecommunications company PLDT has recently partnered up with e-commerce Shopee’s payment platform ShopeePay to bring convenience to payment gateways for services provided by the local telco.

The recent partnership aims at providing more payment service options for PLDT customers in settling their payments for postpaid plans, WiFi, and other bills.

Users can pay through ShopeePay in the Shopee app, under the “Load, Bills & eServices” option.

Accompanying the recent partnership is a chance for PLDT Home subscribers to receive rewards just by paying through the ShopeePay platform. Users may enjoy Shopee coin cashbacks for the following promos:

  • 300 Shopee coins cashback when users pay every Monday, Thursday, and on November 11 by using the voucher code PLDTBILL300.
  • 250 Shopee coins cashback every Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday with the voucher code PLDTBILL250
  • 200 and 150 Shopee coins cashback respectively when they pay their bills with PLDTBILL200 and PLDTBILL150 voucher codes

“As more consumers are turning to our platform to stay connected and fulfill their daily needs, we are committed to providing them easy access to digital payment services such as ShopeePay for seamless payment,” said Martin Yu, associate director at Shopee Philippines.

Sydney, Australia – The Philippine Trade and Investment Center, based out of Sydney, announced the launch of the ‘Food Philippines’ movement in order to promote Filipino food to the Australian mainstream market.

The movement is made possible by two collectives aimed at promoting Filipino cuisine to a much larger consumer base. The first is Entree.pinays, a collective of Filipina entrepreneurs that educated the Australian public on Filipino produce value, while the second one is Filipino Food Movement, Inc., a group of Filipino individuals aiming to put Filipino cuisine on the global scene.

Originally started out as a B2B partnership with Australian buyers and Filipino exporters, the Food Philippines movement started running in September and will end in December this year.

Some of the featured products include the following: Mama Sita’s Sinamak and Suka’t Sili vinegar, Jimalie’s organic coconut milk, Roaster Juan’s Premium Coffee, Miki’s Purple Yam Powder, Soyuz Calamansi, and Mama Sita’s Barbeque sauce.

The movement is also supported by the Export Marketing Bureau, the Department of Trade and Industry’s export management arm in the Philippines.

Manila, Philippines – The Dove brand in the Philippines, together with the Filipino arm of global creative agency Ogilvy, didn’t pass up on the world’s celebration of mental health in October, leveraging its brand on women empowerment to cook up an inspirational ad on Instagram stories.

The Instagram story mimics peoples’ usual scrolling on a Facebook feed showing posts from different women. The ad pauses mid-story to simply show a black screen, allowing for the viewer’s face to reflect on her phone.

An encouraging voice in the background says, “Take this time to take a look at yourself.”

“To appreciate your eyes, your nose, and lips; every detail you may have overlooked,” it would continue.

Ogilvy said over three million came across the story. Marketing Director for Dove Ann Esteves also shared that the Blackout Mirror initiative registered an ad recall lift of 6.59%, exceeding benchmarks of both manufacturer Unilever Philippines and the local industry.

“It served as a powerful reminder to look at yourself with care. The people behind the brand is determined to continue its efforts to help address self-esteem issues with education and tools for parents, mentors, and youth leaders,” said Esteves.

Manila, Philippines – The 11.11 Christmas sale of e-commerce platform Shopee is undoubtedly around the corner, and the Philippine leg of the brand has bolstered its marketing efforts to build on its momentum, giving shoppers in the region a chance to win ₱1M.

Called “Shopee Milyonaryo,” with the word milyonaryo meaning millionaire, the raffle draw has started 25 October, with succeeding draws up until 11 November. In order to join, Shopee users need to claim their code within the mobile app for a chance to participate in a televised game to win the cash prize.

The claiming is not perpetually opened and is only activated from 6:30pm each day until 4pm the next day. With this, Shopee has created a “remind me” feature to help users remember to participate. 

Ever since its 8.8 sale event in August, Shopee PH has partnered with popular afternoon variety show Wowowin, implementing different branded activities to engage its Filipino shoppers. The daily winner of the milyonaryo raffle is similarly announced on the show every 5:55pm, where the chosen user, through a phone call, plays a game where he or she is asked to choose from a number of boxes, with one of them containing the one million peso cash prize. 

What Shopee’s main placement has been on the show is a simple phone call engagement where host Willie Revillame chooses from a list of submitted contact info from its Facebook page, and calls the person for him or her to simply say “Salamat Shopee” or “Thank you Shopee,” in exchange for a ₱20K cash prize.

Just recently, the e-commerce platform has also revealed one of its newest endorsers ahead of 11.11, the country’s Queen of All Media Kris Aquino. An ad of Aquino and her digital banners have already been rolled out across channels.

Singapore – Following the company’s expansion to the Philippine market, Singapore-based proptech company Ohmyhome is extending its cross-border transaction solution to the country. 

The recent company ensures property buyers and investors from Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines to conduct property deals, while ensuring local agents will work on their parts in these deals. Such cross-border transaction solutions enable foreign investors to rely on trusted local agents to transact on the deal, unlike on the traditional way of hiring third-party agents which may pose trust issues on transacting a property deal.

“The problems in cross-border real estate transactions have been around for a long time. We saw an opportunity to bring value to our customers in this overlooked area of the market by leveraging on our unique strengths as a regional proptech company. Having knowledgeable agents on both sides present at the same time and working together in the customer’s best interest provides a reliable and hassle-free experience for our cross-border customers’ real estate journey,” Rhonda Wong, CEO of Ohmyhome stated.

She also added that Singaporeans have always inquired about Philippine property investments, and since then the company has dealt regularly with Singaporean customers in regards to property deals.

“With Ohmyhome’s unique agency model where every agent works as a full-time professional and not as a freelancer, customers can be assured that no effort is spared in getting the best investment for their cross-border property deals,” Wong said.

Manila, Philippines – Netizens on Tuesday Morning complained about the inaccessibility of the Philippine broadcasting giant’s two YouTube news channels – ABS-CBN News and ANC 24/7.

In a screenshot by Rappler, a message is displayed on previously posted videos of both channels which read, “The video is no longer available because the YouTube account associated with this video has been terminated”.

The network has already released a statement, saying that they are “aware of the problem.”

“We are currently investigating this and working closely with YouTube to resolve the problem,” said the network.

The network also urged its audiences to turn to its radio channel TeleRadyo’s YouTube channel for the meantime in order to receive news live streams and reports.

According to parent firm Google, termination of a YouTube account could result from several reasons such as repeated violations of its community guidelines and terms of service, a single case of severe abuse such as predatory behavior, spam, or pornography, and when an account delivers any content that violates YouTube’s policies such as hate speech, harassment, or impersonation. It is also possible for accounts to be mistakenly flagged, with Google allowing accounts to submit an appeal.

Google also explained on its guidelines, “If your channel or account is terminated, you may be unable to use, own, or create any other YouTube channels/accounts.”

This isn’t the first time the network has encountered a problem in its digital news avenue following its franchise denial in July. In September, its news website news.abs-cbn.com has also been temporarily inaccessible.

In the latest development, the network has announced Tuesday evening that its news channels on YouTube are now up and running.

“After working closely with YouTube, the ABS-CBN News and ANC 24/7 channels have been restored at 3:58 p.m. today,” it said in a statement.

It revealed that the temporary suspension was due to a hacking incident. The network said it will continue its investigation to prevent a similar occurrence in the future.

Manila Philippines – GrabPay, Grab’s e-wallet cashless solution, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Region 2, and fast-growing agri-eCommerce platform, Mayani has announced its tripartite partnership to create broader market access and seamless e-payments solutions to farming communities and agripreneurs across Region 2, or the Cagayan Valley Region of the Philippines.

With the transport of fresh produce being a key challenge throughout the pandemic, farming communities and agripreneurs across the region were left unable to market and sell their fresh produce to a wider customer base, causing an oversupply. Through this partnership, the three parties will work together to promote a safe, seamless, and cashless farm-to-table e-commerce experience to more Filipinos to help boost rural incomes among thousands of farmers, farming communities, and agripreneurs across the Cagayan Valley Region.

With the partnership, Mayani will consolidate and activate a whole range of produce from 4,761 farmers in Region 2 and manage orders through its e-commerce platform with GrabPay as its digital payments solution. Likewise, GrabPay will also be providing wider market access to Mayani’s farming communities through a five-day campaign on the Grab app starting November 5, 2020, and users can also earn GrabRewards points whenever they use GrabPay to shop for fresh produce on-site.

In order to ensure broad inclusivity within the farming communities, DTI Region 2 will facilitate region-wide linkage of Cagayan Valley Region’s farmers cooperatives and agri-MSMEs to the Mayani platform.

“Even in these uncertain times, our mission in Mayani has stayed the same; help thousands of smallholder farmers lead better lives by changing how people buy their food through e-commerce. This partnership is another step in our efforts to bridge the gap between our own agro-entrepreneurs and potential customers in Metro Manila and eventually, all around the nation,” said JT Solis, co-founder, and CEO of Mayani.

Serving as the conduit for facilitating private sector relations with farmer cooperatives, DTI Region 2 will continue to provide the necessary support for tech-enabled, multi-stakeholder initiatives in agro-entrepreneurship. 

“Region 2 has always been known as one of the country’s top food providers, playing an integral role in the food supply chain of millions of Filipinos. Creating better access to quality produce from all around the country continues to be our priority, and we hope to expand our service by replicating the partnership we’ve established here in more areas,” said Leah Pulido Ocampo, DTI Region 2 regional director. 

Meanwhile, Head of GrabPay Philippines Jonny Bates said that the birth of the partnership comes at a time when many MSMEs are looking to digital means to recover economically.

“Our partnership with DTI Region 2 and Mayani is a wonderful example of how GrabPay can help farmers and farming communities recover from the crisis, and grow sustainably. We’re thankful to have this opportunity to work alongside Mayani and DTI Region 2, and we encourage more farmers,  farming communities, and agripreneurs to continue to embrace digitalization and cashless payments to better serve our kababayans,” said Bates. 

Manila, Philippines – Fast food chain Jollibee in the Philippines has made a big announcement Friday – its stuffed, hundred percent pure beef, and one-third pound patty Champ burger has been brought back to its menu.

The signature burger of the restaurant is well-loved by Filipinos, and fans were greatly upset when Jollibee announced its phase-out in January of this year. 

The return was revealed on its Facebook. Although offered only on “selected” stores, its availability still spans nationwide with at least 16 stores for every region, including that of the country’s metro location.

The Champ consists of beef patty, tomato, lettuce, and cheese. Tagging along the comeback is also two new introductions, Bacon Champ which has two strips of bacon, and the new Amazing Aloha Champ with honey mustard dressing and two pineapple rings.

The jumbo variant of the Jollibee classic Burger Steak, which was similarly phased out in January, has also been re-added to the menu. The Ultimate Burger Steak consists of garlic rice, a thick burger steak, mushroom gravy, fries, and a fried egg. 

The original Champ is priced at P150 for the ala carte version, while the Bacon and Aloha selections can be ordered at P185 and P199, respectively. Meanwhile, the burger steak’s price starts at P150.

All items are available starting October 30, with the re-added burger steak slated to roll-out in the Visayas and Mindanao region by November 18.