“Pilipinas Kay Ganda” fiasco – how to tie a rope around your neck and pull it

we are printing here a very good article on what happened to the whole “Pilipinas Kay Ganda” branding exercise by the  DOT. this is an interview with Yolly Ong and Marlene Villapando who are the top officers of Campaigns & Gray. the article gives an excellent view of what happened behind the scenes and how the much maligned lined came to be and not to be.

on a separate post, we will be giving our opinion on this one,.

in the meantime, together with the article were logo studies done by Campaigns & Gray on the “Pilipinas Kay Ganda” concept. we are giving our point of view on them.

here are our views on the logo studies:

• we would have not chosen the top one, the one the DOT went with. while that logo showed some character, we think it was not unified and appears  too flighty. we think it’s a weak logo.
• the biggest reason why we are not choosing it is that it is too close to the Poland logo. to us, it is an violation of intellectual property rights of the Poland logo.
• however we do like the images of the tarsier and the coconut tree in there. the tarsier in particular we think is the strongest of all the elements.
• we would have chosen anyone of these two logos – logo on the lower left side and the logo at the bottom.
• we think these logos are very unified and speaks very well of the “islands” in the country. going to the “islands” we think is one of the key reasons tourists go to a country to visit.
• we just have a slight suggestion on the choices we made – revise the rendition of the island to remove the possibility of it being seen an image of a face on its back.

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Anatomy of a failed tourism brand

SUNDAY, 28 NOVEMBER 2010 18:56 MA. STELLA F. ARNALDO

Four hours before Tourism Undersecretary for Planning and Promotions Vicente “Enteng” Romano III irrevocably resigned on November 23 from his post, accepting responsibility for the heavily criticized “Pilipinas Kay Ganda” brand/slogan, I was interviewing Yolanda “Yoly” Villanueva-Ong, group chairman of the much-maligned Campaigns & Grey at the Edsa Shangri-La Hotel, on the background of the branding effort.

Several executives of the advertising giant were having a planning seminar at the hotel, and, in fact, I jokingly asked if one of the conclusions from their seminar was, “Therefore, we resolve to never propose a project or have anything to do with the DOT again!” She tittered at this, seemingly unaffected by the storm that she and her agency got caught up in, all because, as she later explains, shortcuts were made, and there was lack of research.

As everyone knows, it was Campaigns & Grey which proposed the “Pilipinas Kay Ganda” slogan—along with four other choices mostly in English—but it was the one in Filipino that struck a chord with Romano and, ultimately, with Tourism Secretary Alberto “Bertie” Lim.

Here Yoly and Campaigns & Grey chief of corporate affairs Marilyn Villapando explain what went on in the making of the failed tourism brand, the reason for the use of Filipino in the slogan, and why they don’t consider the logo plagiarized.

So tell me, what usually is the process in creating a new brand, and how long does it usually take?

Ong: Depende rin ’yan kung sino cliente ha. Ang Procter & Gamble ang whole concept can be a year. In fact, planning can take one to two years kasi fiscal year sila. Palagay mo na, second half of the fiscal year, they start doing the planning and this is coming from a long-term three years…mahaba talaga ang vision nila for the brand. And as it comes closer, they flesh it out with programs and then everything, nothing airs without testing.

If you’re going to a new market, meron “insight mining” from the consumers. Although Asians, for example, have a lot of universal truths, siyempre me differentiations rin. It takes quite a while.

Of course, not everybody can afford that kind of process. Sometimes we do shortcut it, but always, always, always, before you produce, before you spend one centavo on any production before airing, you test. That is something we will never violate. Even on a 90-day political campaign, ite-test muna namin ’yan kahit pano.

Testing will come from your end or from their end?

Ong: We recommend the methodology. Sometimes we give guideline questions. In our case, we call a bid from among the capable research agencies depending on the scope. They provide a bid in addition to the guides, then we all agree on the final test questions, and in fact, we agree on the format kung ano’ng unang question. In an FDG (focus group discussion), for example, there is a rotation [of questions] if you’re testing several concepts. We agree what kind of definitions the panels will be—age, socioeconomic classes. In this particular case [DOT], ang recommendation namin is one group na nakapunta na sa Pilipinas at isang group na ’di pa nakakapunta sa Pilipinas. So that we will see talaga which concepts will resonate with them.

But beyond the logo and theme line, no production has been made whatsoever because the understanding is ipe-preview nila, tapos after the preview, ite-test market. ’Yun ang next step. In fact, we sent them the guide questions and we gave a recommendation na tawagin ’yung three international research agencies because the test will be in North America, our “low-lying fruit”—ang tawag nila dyan—Korea, Japan, China, ’yan ang main markets.

Then meron silang “missionary” markets—Europe and maybe Israel. Pero ang top [markets] based on last year’s number of tourists are Fil-migs [Filipino migrants] and Fil-Ams. Then Korea, China, Japan. So proposal namin, we will test the concepts in those markets. Not we ourselves ha, but by a proper research team. Ang recommendation nga namin is to ask a bid from TNS, kasi may international network sila, Milward Brown and AG Nielsen. After we give the guidelines, our suggestion was tawagin nyo yung tatlo para mag-bid.

You did that because they basically didn’t have a budget to pay you to do it?

Ong: We would have bid it out ourselves. ’Di kami gumawa ng research. Also because their [DOT] bidding process requires COA [approval].

So what did you really undertake for DOT? Branding? Marketing? Advertising? Ano ba talaga?

Ong: August ba tayo tinawag? (turns to Villapando) August tinawag kami and they were asking—si Enteng [was asking]—if we can do what we call a “brand architecture.” If they’re going to do a new brand to replace “WOW Philippines,” what is the process and what is the strategic approach they can use to arrive at a new brand. So ’yan ang initial request sa amin. So kami naman, ‘Enteng ’di pa nga kami binabayaran eh (referring to a P4-million medical tourism campaign Campaigns & Grey did in 2009 for the Philippine Visitors Convention Corp.).

So it was a friendly call na “huy, tulu ngan nyo naman ako…”?

Ong: Oo. In fairness, he asked us naman to try and write out a TOR [terms of reference]. Kasi ang sinasabi nya, after much haggling, the allocation for that exercise, was…(looks to Marilyn).

Villapando: The total proposal is P550,000 plus VAT. That’s the process. And the end of that is directional.

Ong: Kasi I was very conscious of the bidding process, kasi alam namin ’yan. Mahirap na, dapat i-bid out, ’pag executional already. And then somewhere along the way….

Grand Lotto Nov 24 draw, P633M prize – no winner; next draw – P685M prize

Still no winner for P633-M Grand Lotto jackpot
By Tina Santos
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 22:14:00 11/24/2010

MANILA, Philippines—No one won the over P633-million jackpot in the 6/55 grand lotto draw on Wednesday night, the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) said.

PCSO Assistant General Manager Liza Gabuyo said bettors missed the 04-41-40-55-42-45 combination, which would have guaranteed them a share in the P633,911,065.20 million jackpot, the biggest in PCSO history.

Wednesday night was the 84th draw without anyone winning the jackpot.

But there’s always a next time—the 85th draw in particular on Saturday night, which is expected to build a P685-million in jackpot.

The PSCO said the pot grew by an average of P30 million per day leading up to the draw.

The previous record was in February 2009, when the pot for the 6/49 Super Lotto game reached P347 million. Two lucky bettors picked the same combination to win the top prize and split it even.

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PCSO’s Grand Lotto as of  last night still had no winner. prize last night was P584.8M for 17-19-22-25-37-50.

the expected prize for the next draw, on Wednesday will be at P620M!

at that prize, you can be a sure winner by buying ALL number combination which is placed at 29 million number combination, with a guranteed win of at least P620M, you earn P40M! that is a +6.7% profit! easy!

total number of number combination is placed at 29M. at P20 per number combination, you will need to spend P580M (29M combination x P20 = P580M) to buy all the numbers.

here is the catch -  if another bettor hits the same winning number combination, you will need to half the total prize with that other bettor. you will win only P310M and that will translate to a loss of P270M for you, or a -46% loss.

anyone who has P580M for a P40M profit?

—

some data or tips if you like to call it that:

• the number that has appeared the most as one of the winning combination is the number 42, it has appeared a total of 17 times
• the number that has appeared the least number of times as one of the winning combination is the number 1, it has appeared only 4 times

want more? let me know, make a comment.

“Pilipinas Kay Ganda” logo plagiarized from Poland?

source of Poland’s logo: http://www.poland.travel/en

the similarity between the two logos are just too close to ignore.

• the fonts are identical – look at the letters “P” and “a”
• the letter “l” as a tree is exactly the same idea and a very close rendition
• both have waves at about the same location
• same use of bright colors
• brand character is identical

aside from having the same executional elements between the two logos, the design concept is exactly the same.

there is so much talk, mostly criticism of  the new ad campaign for the country’s tourism brand, this will surely add fuel to the fire.

the line was supposed to be the work of Campaigns & Grey Advertising. is the logo also made by them?

it’s amazing how a graphics designer can copy  something so closely for a brand that is within the same category – country tourism and country branding. countries are competitive brands, it is rare that one competitor copies the logo of another in almost exactly the same way.   uniqueness is one of the most revered principles of advertising. almost a twin to that is originality. originality and uniqueness were obviously lost on the logo they did  for the philippines.

branding is supposed to set one brand from the other. this logo goes the opposite way. how in the world did the ad or design agency think it is okay to present these logo designs to their clients?

the other part of country advertising is it is supposed to inspire pride  among its citizens. this one does not do that. rather than pride the logo inspires embarrassment.

clearly, this is the ad or design agency’s fault. the agency either copied the logo intentionally or they did not do enough research before presenting the design to the client.  unfortunately, it is the client, the DOT who is taking all the flak for their errors.

tv ad in memory of maguindanao massacre – we should not forget

TV ads in memory of Maguindanao massacre out

INQUIRER.net
First Posted 15:52:00 11/16/2010

MANILA, Philippines—Five television commercials produced pro bono by industry experts to remind the public of the Maguindanao massacre that took the lives of 58 people one year ago were launched Tuesday.

Never Forget and Karahasan present media personalities making this call; Families (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSpS8zdpiDk ) features the orphaned and widowed relatives of the victims; Tutok is a montage of the gory massacre pictures juxtaposed with press freedom issues; and Saranggola contrasts the joys of kite-flying with the principle of a free press equals a free people.

The creative team was headed by directors Jim Libiran, veteran journalist and award-winning independent film maker, and TJ Besa III, publicist and former MTV creative & content head. Nap Jamir II, veteran TV and film director, and Luis Liwanag, of the Philippine Center for Photojournalism (PCP), were the directors of photography. Scriptwriters included Veronica Uy of INQUIRER.net, Sonny Fernandez of ABS-CBN2, Alwyn Alburo of GMA7, and TJ Besa III. Jing Garcia of The Manila Times provided the scoring.

Together with other media workers, production houses RSVP Film Production and Rentals, Unitel, and Underground Logic contributed their time, talent, and equipment to produce the five television commercials which will come out in the major networks.

Talents and personalities who came out in the ads included: Ed Lingao of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, Vergel Santos of the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, Inday Varona of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), Maria Ressa, formerly of ABS-CBN 2.

Nikko Dizon of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Cecille Lardizabal of Radyo Inquirer 990, Pat Evangelista of ANC, Kiri Dalena of ANC, Paolo Villaluna of ANC, Paolo Romero of Philippine Star, Luis Liwanag of PCP, Ces Drilon of ABS-CBN 2, Joel Salud of Philippine Graphic, Che Sarigumba of Dateline Philippines, Alma Anonas Carpio of Philippine Graphic, Weng Paraan of NUJP, and Alwyn Alburo of NUJP.

Cathy Nunez, mother of UNTV reporter Victor Nunez, Myrna Reblando, wife of Manila Bulletin reporter Bong Reblando, a daughter of UNTV media worker Daniel Tiamzon, and Grace Morales, sister of Marites Cablitas and wife of Rossel Morales, both of News Focus, also appeared in the television ads.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20101116-303564/TV-ads-in-memory-of-Maguindanao-massacre-out

pacquaio wins over margarito by unanimous decision, fight should have been stopped at the 11th round

manny pacquiao showed total class in his fight against margarito – weight, height and strength did not matter and was negated by speed, smarts, skills and excellent coaching and training.

every round was won by pacquiao and we thought the fight should have been stopped on the 11th round. pacquaio looked at the referee on that round, as if asking the referee to stop the fight. pacquaio simply beat margarito at will.

margarito‘s face was a mess with both sides bloodied and puffy. he  may have broken a bone on one of his cheeks.

with this win, pacquaio gets another title, his eight, something no other boxer in history has achieved.

poll results: fans think margarito will win by knockout over pacquiao. vote here

manny pacquaio vs antonio margarito

 

shalani soledad gives a mousey performance on Willing Willie tv show debut

last night, shalani soledad today’s most popular “ex” went on tv for the first as co-host of willie revillame’s “willing willie” tv show on abc5. don’t know about you, but we almost fell asleep every time shalani appeared on tv to “perform”. it took a lot of self-control for us not to click the remote control to change channel. we had to force ourselves not to change channels.

shalani’s performance as a tv host was, well a non-performance.  her whole performance was mousey, like a mouse squeaking away her lines making us wonder if something  was wrong with the volume control on  our tv or if they forgot to give shalani a microphone. we had to strain our ears to be able to hear what she was saying.

it was not just the volume, it was most of all her performance as a host. game show hosts are the loud and lively types. like a barker and as  pokwang of wowowee,  willie revillame’s co-host in the tv program where revillame came from.  they need “energy”.

the energy of a game show host was something shalani did not at all have. not having energy in a game show is a very dangerous thing. you can have everyone falling asleep and lose interest on what is happening on screen.

shalani was so mousey that we thought  it affected willie revillame. with a co-host delivering her lines almost in monotony and unnoticed, he had to dial down his own energy. it was not his usual performance and it made sense. if he continued his usual energetic hosting, the difference between him and shalani would have been magnified.

shalani on screen as always was beautiful. but that was the only thing she brought to the screen, nothing more.  there was no chemistry with willie revillame and not real banter between them.  it felt like revillame was talking to himself. they could have removed shalani from the set and it would have not made any difference. in fact we think had revillame hosted by himself, the show would have been better.

we doubt if shalani has a future on tv. minus 3 stars on shalani soledad.

half filipino tim lincecum wins 2010 World Series for SF Giants. tim’s filipino family info here

game no. 5  of the 2010 world series played out as expected – a pitcher’s game between san francisco giants’ tim lincecum and the texas rangers’ cliff lee, it’s just that lincecum got the better score card and won it for the san francisco giants.  lincecum’s pitching and the amazing score of edgar renteria with the giants winning the world series at 3-1.

with lee and lincecum as pitchers, the 2010 world series was expected to be a battle of pitchers. that did not happen during game 1 when both pitchers gave way to hots, although lincecum in that one also got the better score as the giants won it.

the giants surged into a 3-1 lead when the championship went to texas and as the deciding 5th game was played for the last time in texas, a second battle of the pitchers was expected to ensue when lincecum and lee faced erach other again.

Timothy Leroy Lincecum (born 15 June 1984) is a Filipino-American professional baseball player in the United States. He currently plays as a starting pitcher for the San Francisco Giants, the 2010 World Series champions in Major League Baseball (MLB), the world’s most prominent baseball league.

Lincecum is considered the best pitcher in NL in the past three years and is popular for his awkward pitching form and “goofy apprearance”. [1] He is popularly nicknamed “The Freak.”

Lincecum was born in Bellevue, Washinton in the United States. His father is American Chris Lincecum, an airplane builder for aircraft company Boeing, while his mother is Filipina Rebecca Asis. His elder brother Sean is a former collegiate baseball player.

The elder Lincecum, who was a pitcher during his teenage days, taught Tim how to play baseball, particularly pitching. Tim said that he is a “version 2.0” of his father when it comes to playing baseball and that his father personally coached him even during his college days. Sports Illustrated writer Tom Verducci described Tim as being “unconventionally honed” by his father and “that delivery has produced the most fascinating ace of his generation.” [2]

Lincecum attended Liberty High School and pursued his college education at the University of Washington.

http://en.wikipilipinas.org/index.ph…e=TIm_Lincecum

baseball is not a popular sport in the philippines and nowhere near the popularity of basketball, billiards or in recent years boxing. with baseball not as popular, very few filipinos are aware of someone like tim lincecum being half fil;ipino.

lincecum’s credentials are impressive,  having had two Cy Youngs in his hands. inspute of having those awards the trail of success lincecum has been pacing in baseball, he is hardly known among filipinos.

perhaps with this world series win and the amount of praises being heaped on lincecum, more filipinos will know of lincecum.

Lincecum, next to Manny Pacquiao, is perhaps the most popular athlete in the US with Filipino lineage.

His mother is a Filipina and his father is an American.

ABS-CBN’s North American Bureau’s Gel Santos Relos tweeted: “Lincecum’s mom, Becky Asis, is a second-generation Filipino-American.

“Becky is one of Balleriano and Philomena Asis’ 10 children—eight girls, and two boys.

“Balleriano was born in Honolulu, Hawaii.

“His father Genaro Asis was born in Mindanao; his mother Alberta Alcoy was born in Cebu City.

“Philomena was born in Stockton, California. Her father was born in Batangas, while her mother was born in Siquijor.”

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/sports/10/28/10/fil-am-helps-sf-giants-win-first-game-world-series

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watch this video, towards the end, lincecum saying  he is filipino  and has filipino ancestry.  he also talks about being filipino.

Lincecum owes his development to his father Chris, a parts inventory employee at Boeing in Seattle. He learned the game at the age of five and developed his style from drills and hours of watching tape with his father.

Lincecum’s mother Rebecca (Becky) Asis is a full-blooded Filipina. Her father Balleriano was born in Honolulu and mother Philomena Marasigan in Stockton, California. Balleriano’s father Genaro was born somewhere in Mindanao and mother Albert Alcoy in Cebu. Philomena’s father Leoncio was born in Batangas and mother Anastasia Dominguez in Siquijor.

Lincecum inherited his strong sense of family ties from his mother. Writer Kevin Riley said a few days after Lincecum’s Filipino grandfather Balleriano Asis died in 2007, he was distraught and didn’t play up to par against the Chicago Cubs.

“It was my fault, I had a lot of stuff in my head,” said Lincecum, quoted by Riley. “Out there, I was thinking about my grandpa. I was thinking of past stuff as well as using him to help me. A lot of people do that, they look to God and relatives who have passed away. They look to them to help get though stuff. I guess I used him like that and it was great. It’s sad to see him go and it’s kind of tough to deal with but on the field, I’m just trying to be as focused on the game as possible.”

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=624576&publicationSubCategoryId=69

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