Jeremy Jauncey Visits the Philippines, Promotes Tourism

Last Friday, May 20 2016, Jeremy Jauncey of Beautiful Destinations held a small event to discuss his recent vacation in the Philippines and to answer questions on how to engage on social media.

The event was hosted at the Lucky Rainbow Chinese restaurant located at the corner of Chino Roces Avenue and Don Bosco Street in Makati, where amidst an offering of delicious Chinese food Jeremy introduced his team to the room full of bloggers and PR professionals, and answered questions about both his recent trip and what his plans are.

When asked what stood out about the Philippines:

"Amazing, really kind people who made us feel really welcome and amazing destinations."

On why Filipinos stand out on social media:

"Filipinos have been posting on Beautiful Destinations since 2 years ago, before we even visited the Philippines. They made the country look really good."

On his thoughts about sustainable tourism:

"It's about telling stories. Be responsible when traveling."

What his top 5 destinations are, in no particular order:

"1. Philippines.
2. Tokyo
3. New York City
4. Santorini
5. Cape Town"

If he's currently traveling with a special someone:

"Right now, I'm single."


What's the mission of Beautiful Destinations

"To inspire people."

There were other, more personal questions that provided hilarity in the discussion with the man named by the UK's MailOnline as "Instagram's Hottest Male Traveler", but we're not going to post them here.

To see Jeremy's photos of his trip to the Philippines, visit Beautiful Destinations on Instagram.

Applying the 5Cs in Philippine Elections

Applying the 5Cs in Philippine Elections

By:  Josiah Go

The National election is coming in few days, and everyone has their own opinion on who deserves to be in the top national leadership positions of our country. There have been many talks about converting knowledge to action and that one presidential candidate in our May 9, 2016 election positioned himself as one good in execution (no pun intended). I respectfully disagree. Consider the 5 Cs of execution on getting things done:

1)      Clarity of strategy – Execution comes after strategy; a strategy entails understanding complex interactions of many variables and understanding the bigger picture as well. For a country, it involves not just peace and order but equally important factors like the economy and foreign policy. An important aspect of execution is knowing what strategy to execute. The Philippine economy has grown tremendously with each president building on the gains of their predecessors, successfully getting out from being the “sick man of Asia” when Marcos left the country in 1986 to being Asia’s brightest economy under the term of President Noynoy Aquino.
Today, the Philippines is the 29th biggest economy in the world in gross national product (GDP) and we cannot afford to lose what we have gained through the years. A single-minded focus on crime needs a doable strategy – – what exactly is the doable strategy to suppress crime within 3-6 months on a national scope? Having nationwide death squads is not legal. An example of a clear strategy is the Oplan Lambat-Sibat of the Aquino government, resulting in arresting 716 of the 946 most wanted, high profile criminals in the country. A clear strategy, with attention to details, weekly follow through meetings and accountable metrics becomes sustainable.

2)      Communication – The president of a country is the role model of the nation and chief diplomat worldwide. He or she must be clear and inspiring yet tactful and respectable. One cannot keep saying one thing today and changing to another tomorrow. One communicates to gain allies, not alienate different segments of society on a weekly basis — foreign customers last week, rape victim this week, disabled people next week. For sure, good communication is not about using foul language and tasteless jokes. If it is the new norm, we should all be concerned about the implication to national culture. The machismo communication style may be needed and effective for Mayor Duterte in Davao in Mindanao but certainly not necessarily nationwide. LP candidate Mar Roxas and running mate Leni Robredo have their platform – “Kalayaan sa Gutom, Kalayaan sa Takot, Kalayaan Mangarap“ (Freedom from Hunger, Freedom from Fear, Freedom to Dream) translating the vision to clear projects to gain Philippines momentum if they win the election.

3)      Coordination – Getting things done is not just an executive prerogative, it entails coordinating and convincing other equal parts of the government — the legislative and judiciary. A president belonging to PDP-Laban and legislative belonging to Liberal Party may be harder to coordinate, as there is still the need to cross party lines to get things done. A look at some countries like Indonesia will reveal barriers to get things done if the president is different from the ruling party in congress. The government may have the best of intentions, but it needs the cooperation of others to form a team, even harder if a president is elected as a minority president. Think of the scenario if on May 9, 2016, over 70% of the ‘masa’ and over 60% of those belonging to ABC are not in favor of the new president. It is important that after the elections, the success rate of the President and VP will be based on how he or she manages to coordinate the 3 branches of government, and engaging the constituents to support his or her administration.

Existing coordination barriers need to be removed. In the 3rd and final presidential debate, it was Mar Roxas who identified specific coordination issues such as the merger of DPWH and DOTC, an advantage from one who has been part of the team that helped in implementing laws resulting to the highest growth rate of the Philippines, yet, seeing areas of improvement not available immediately to neophyte without national executive experience in governance.

4)      Commitment –  It is about starting and staying in a relationship. It is about a promise, in fact, a covenant for an election. One cannot make a stand only to keep changing. A leader must say what it means and mean what it says and not allow its followers to end up being its apologists. Reality check is that on short-term, it may be possible but on long-term, it may be hard for a leader to sustain the commitment of competent people if he or she does not show consistent commitment to a promise. We have seen the declining rating of another presidential candidate, Senator Grace Poe, on ground that she pledged alliance to the United States before and until recently, her husband was an American citizen. Even countries like Myanmar disallowed anyone to become president unless the immediate family and their spouses are natural born citizens of the country, a signal of consistent commitment.

5)      Competencies – Different people have different strengths. Competencies in good governance is doing what matters. For example, the BPO industry’s turning point came about when tax incentive previously given to product sector in EPZA was extended to service by virtue of amending Republic Act 7916 so that buildings or floors in buildings could register as an eco-zone. This simple insight under the time Mar Roxas as secretary of trade and industry convincing congress to amend the law resulted to a US$25 billion industry with over 1.3 million jobs, 78% being male, 61% married, 57% not college graduate given another chance in life, trickling down to the poor sector with over US$6.7 billion in salaries and benefits, creating new growth opportunities for other industries. It is noteworthy to mention that Manila has overtaken Mumbai as the world’s no. 2 BPO destination and contributes to some 6% of the country’s GDP.

While these 5 C’s of Execution seem to stand alone, these are interdependent and interact with each other. For example, a good commitment will reflect an effective communication approach. A clear strategy if not communicated properly can lead to mistakes in coordination. It is impossible for a leader to have successful execution overnight, while experience and track record in the government can surely make a leader qualified to lead the country.

(I write this article voluntarily for the undecided voters. I have no intent to convert Duterte die-hard fans. Like many of you, Duterte was in my shortlist but pattern I have observed have convinced me to vote for Mar-Leni in the May 9, 2016 election. If you need a basis for electing the next president and vice president, please allow me to share this 10-Point Test http://josiahgo.com/10-point-test-to-elect-the-next-president-and-vice-president-by-josiah-go/)

Source: http://josiahgo.com/applying-the-5cs-of-execution-to-philippine-election-by-josiah-go/

Liham Kay Lt. SG Antonio Trillanes IV is still fun to read after all these years

Back in the days when there was still no Facebook, jokes circulated via SMS on your Nokia 3310 or 8210.   The best ones though were forwarded via email.  A great example would be "Liham kay Lt. SG Antonio Trillanes IV",  which was written over the weekend of the Oakwood Mutiny.

For those who remember the most expensive bull session in the country which catapulted Alvin Elchico into national TV, this is still a fun read.




    Liham kay Lt. SG Antonio Trillanes IV

    Mahal kong Lt. SG Antonio Trillanes IV,
   
Magandang umaga. Nawa'y maigi ang iyong kalagayan d'yan sa stockade. Magpahinga ka muna bago ka humarap sa court martial. Hindi bale nang litisin ka, nakapag-stay sa naman sa Oakwood, samantalang kami, pinaasa mong walang pasok ngayon. KJ ka talaga.
   
Sinulat ko ang liham na ito para puriin ka sa iyong kagitingan na ipaalam sa buong sambayanang Pilipino ang kabulukang nangyayari sa ating gobyerno. Mabuhay ka.
   
Ang problema nga lang, alam na namin lahat iyon, Kapitan Trillanes.
   
Hindi na ninyo kailangan pang magtanim ng bomba at magpapogi sa inyong mga fatigues para lang ipaalam sa buong madla na may mga katiwalian sa gobyerno.
   
Hindi tuloy ako nakapanood ng Terminator 3, eh malapit nang mawala sa sine 'yon. Okay sana kung nagbakbakan kayo ng mga sundalo ng gobyerno. Mala-THE ROCK saka DIE HARD sana ang nangyari. Kaso, nagsisisigaw lamang kayo sa lobby ng Oakwood. Para ano pa ang inyong mga armband?
   
Sabagay pwede na kayong magtayo ng boutique na ang brand name ay Magdalo. Pwde kayong magtinda ng mga armbands, fatigue-inspired pants, caps at shades. Ipwesto nyo dyan sa Oakwood para strategic ang location at may sentimental value pa. Bebenta kayo, promise.
   
Sa launch ng inyong boutique, pwede kayong maglagay ng mga bomba sa parking lot tapos magpaparty kayo doon. Masaya di ba?
   
Mabalik tayo sa layunin ng liham na ito. Yung sinasabi mong nagbebenta si Secretary Reyes ng bala sa mga rebelde, aba, lumang balita na 'yan. Alam na naming mga ordinaryong tao yan. Bakit?
   
Kaugalian na nating mga Pilipino ang mag-sideline di ba? Sa opisina nga namin may nagtitinda ng tsinelas, beads, tocino, tapa, muffins saka bags.
   
Eh hayaan mo nang magbenta si Secretary Reyes ng bala sa kanila, baka gawang Taiwan lang naman yung mga bala na 'yon. Mahirap buhay eh, magkano lang naman sweldo ni Secretary Reyes. Malamang lumilihis yung mga bala o kaya puro supot.
   
Yun namang sinasabi mong si GMA ang nag-utos ng pambobomba sa Davao, alam na rin naming mga Pilipino 'yon. Kaw naman, Kapitan Trillanes, sa pagka-tsismoso nating mga Pilipino, sino ba naman hindi nakakaalam na gobyerno gumagawa ng mga kalokohang 'yon?
   
Plaza Miranda, Jabidah Massacre, pagpatay kay Ninoy, Rizal Day bombings, at kung anu-ano pang kababalaghan, alam na naming gobyerno gumagawa. Hindi naman kami istupido noh! Sabi nga ng mga taga-Assumption, "We're not like tanga naman..."
   
Ang drama-drama mo masyado, eh kami namang mga ordinaryong tao tinatawanan na lang mga katiwalian sa gobyerno. May linya ka pang "we're ready to die for our principles."
   
Huuu...if I know, gusto mo lang magpa-spa sa Oakwood kasi sira na ang iyong kutis dahil sa kagat ng lamok sa Basilan. Dapat sinabi mo na lang sa akin, may murang spa dyan sa Quezon Avenue, may "extra" pa.
   
Ayan tuloy, nagsara Glorietta ng isang isang araw. Lagot ka, milyon nalugi sa mga Ayala. Baka pabayaran lahat sa 'yo yan. At saka naman Kapitan Trillanes, next time kayo magta-take over ng anumang lugar, 'wag naman sa mall. Hindi bagay sa inyong mga fatigues and armbands. Sino ba scriptwriter ninyo? Tsugiin! Mali ang location ng action! Ni walang symbolic o strategic meaning ang Oakwood.
   
Hindi kayo nanood ng THE ROCK ano?
   
Hay nako, may pasok tuloy ngayon. Nabitin kami. Pogi points ka pa sa mga girls kasi ang guapo mo sa fatigue. Yun nga lang, you didn't die for your principles. May paiyak-iyak and hug pa kayo.
   
Kaya kayo tinatawanan ng Abu Sayyaf, malalambot ang puso ninyo, madrama kayo masyado. Ganyan ba kayo sa Basilan? 'Pag rat-ratan na, nagyayakapan na lang kayo at umiiyak? God, it's so nakakahiya naman to the enemy.
   
Hay nako, Kapitan Trillanes, mag-direct ka na lang ng pelikula ha? Tingin ko mas magaling ka pa kay Ang Lee kasi militar ka talaga. Maganda yung mga subplots na naisip mo. Maganda rin yung mga dialogue mo.
   
'Pag nag-direct ka na ng movie, make sure may bakbakang matindi sa huli. Yung tipong mawawarak yung buong building. Yun, mas exciting, hindi yung katulad kahapon.

   
Nagmamahal,
   
Ang iyong tagahanga




    ---

Christie Celebrates Ten Years of Environmental Initiatives

Environmental programs includes major projects to reduce waste, energy consumption

CYPRESS, Calif. – (April 22, 2016) – Christie®, a leader in creating and sharing the world's best visual and audio experiences, is proudly celebrating the 10-year anniversary of its Environmental Management System (EMS). The system, based on ISO 14001, focuses on building and continually improving Christie’s environmental performance.


The EMS encompasses numerous environmental programs including waste reduction, recycling, water and electricity reduction, facility and operational improvements, with a significant net CO2 reduction.

Chairman, president and CEO Jack Kline said, “We’ve introduced numerous programs to reduce our carbon footprint. These initiatives are an investment in the future and, what is unquestionable, is the ultimate impact on the environment. I want Christie to set an example for other companies; we take this seriously and don’t intend on slowing down.”

Initiatives include the installation of 2,190 solar panel modules on the Ushio (Christie’s parent company) and Christie office buildings in Cypress, California. The panels produce 833,000 kWh annually, reducing CO2 emissions by 814,807 pounds and power consumption by up to 28 percent. Christie MicroTiles® installations in the lobbies of Ushio and Christie (Camden Drive) display the amount of energy that the solar panels produce in real-time.

At Christie’s manufacturing headquarters in Kitchener, Ontario, a 35,000 square foot warehouse was converted to office space using environmentally conscious techniques aligned with LEED Gold. The space includes daylight harvesting, energy conserving lighting with high-efficiency HVAC automation, sound masking and carefully selected interior materials. Overall, environmental related projects in Christie’s Kitchener facility resulted in a 47 percent decrease in natural gas consumption and a 27 percent decrease in water consumption between 2004 and 2015. The facility also boasted a 60 percent waste diversion improvement over the 10-year period.


In Cypress, Christie renovated its Network Operation Center (NOC) with refurbished data center equipment, including computer room cooling units and battery backup and flooring from renewable resources, which also helps maintain a low-static environment.

Employee engagement with Christie’s environmental programs has been and continues to be a critical success factor. “There is always a tendency to believe that the efforts of individuals are insignificant, but working together with everyone engaged creates a meaningful result,” says CEO Jack Kline.

In 2014, Christie employees initiated a project to reduce the amount of LDPE#4 foam sent out as waste. Staff worked with the primary packaging supplier to pick-up foam used in raw material packaging from Christie for processing back into a raw material form. This allowed Christie to be among the first manufacturing companies in the region to remove this product from its waste stream.

“When it comes to the environment, we only have one planet and it’s up to all of us to take care of it,” says Kline. “Ten years ago, when we started our environmental management program, we took this very seriously; we wanted all of our employees to be a part of it. To do so, we had to create a vision, and that was to constantly improve what we’re doing to preserve the environment.”

Find out more about Christie’s environmental initiatives.


About Christie®

Christie Digital Systems USA, Inc. is a global visual and audio technologies company and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ushio, Inc., Japan, (JP:6925). Consistently setting the standards by being the first to market some of the world’s most advanced projectors and complete system displays, Christie is recognized as one of the most innovative visual technology companies in the world. From retail displays to Hollywood, mission critical command centers to classrooms and training simulators, Christie display solutions and projectors capture the attention of audiences around the world with dynamic and stunning images. Visit www.christiedigital.com.


“Christie” is a trademark of Christie Digital Systems USA, Inc., registered in the United States of America and certain other countries. DLP® is a registered trademark of Texas Instruments.

IMMAP Launches the Power of X

IMMAP announced it's 10th internet and mobile marketing summit during it's general membership meeting at Diamond Residences, Makati on April 19, 2016 (Wednesday). The event will take place on October 10-12, 2016 at the PICC.

According to IMMAP, every corporation, start up companies, and digital marketers must not miss out on this prestigious event. But what makes this event so special?

The main message of the general membership meeting is focused on digital news and updates, pointing out how crucial the change and growth in digital media and marketing is, and why every digital marketer must innovate and adapt to this trend.

The meeting was jumpstarted with an introduction speech was made by Eduardo Mapa Jr. He is the Chief Innovation Officer of Havas Media China, and has over 25 years of experience in advertising and marketing. The main message of his speech is that the growth of digital media is a trend that no one can stop. Digital is already mainstream, and it is at the heart of everything. From consumer behavior to business operations, digital will affect it.

Donald Lim, who was the second speaker and also the founding president of IMMAP, casted the vision that every business must change Be disrupt or get disrupted by the exponential advancement of technology in this digital age. He communicated this powerful message by showing a video of a first world traditional advertising agency who stopped operating all because they choose to ignore what is happening around them.

The final speaker was Sandiya, a digital marketing practitioner from Facebook. Sandiya showed statistical data's of the consumer behavior in southeast Asia. Her message revolved around the following:

1. Mobile Moves People

- Teenagers spend their on mobile.

- Average time spent: 3 hours per day on mobile in the Philippines.

2. When it comes to time on mobile, apps rule.

- 56% of all time spent on

3. 8 out of 10 people in southeast Asia check their mobile phone while watching TV.

What these data means to brands and marketing is that businesses and digital marketers must build their strategy on mobile.

With all these news and updates, IMMAP aims to cover the height and breadth of the digital marketing landscape through its biggest digital conference: The Power of X: 10th Internet and Mobile Marketing Summit.

This Digital Congress will tackle 10 key tracks of Digital Marketing - from research and measurement to content and distribution, featuring 100+ speakers from Facebook, Google, Twitter, Spotify, Waze, Comscore, Havas, TBWA, Near, and more.

Caveat on So Called “Scientific Methodology” on Surveys

Surveys are not only used during elections. Surveys are used daily by most marketing and advertising departments of large corporations and conglomerates. Branding is based on preferences by customers or brands are created according to the needs of the market.

In this 2016 election season, there are surveys that tout their “methodologies”. These may sound authoritative but once dissected they cannot stand up to close scrutiny.

This observation and insight by a Statistics graduate of the University of the Philippines deserves careful perusal and analysis.

Days are numbered for the much awaited 2016 National and Local Election. Surveys are here and there saying that this are the result of the surveys they made, etc. And so, after delivering the results to the people, many were just contented with the result while there are some who reacts and disagree and point out their reasons.

This is why David Yap, a statistician, and graduate from the University of the Philippines School of Statistics, became viral after stating his points about the 'Bilang Pilipino SWS Mobile Survey'.

As per this guy,

I am a statistician. I am a graduate of the University of the Philippines School of Statistics. I do not approve of the methodology of the Bilang Pilipino SWS Mobile Survey. More importantly, I detest their use of Statistical methodologies to lend credence to their obviously flawed methodology. It obfuscates its lack of credibility by invoking Statistical methodologies that are not easily understood by many Filipinos. In my opinion, it is a blatant and deplorable misuse of the Science of Statistics.

(Hear more from him by reading his entire Facebook post below about the issue)

Few hours after he posted his message on his Facebook wall, it went viral and as of the moment, it now reached 1000 shares and still counting.

This is what David Yap posted on his Facebook wall about the 'Bilang Pilipino SWS Mobile Survey'. Kindly read.
I am a statistician. I am a graduate of the University of the Philippines School of Statistics. I do not approve of the methodology of the Bilang Pilipino SWS Mobile Survey. More importantly, I detest their use of Statistical methodologies to lend credence to their obviously flawed methodology. It obfuscates its lack of credibility by invoking Statistical methodologies that are not easily understood by many Filipinos. In my opinion, it is a blatant and deplorable misuse of the Science of Statistics.

The Bilang Pilipino SWS Mobile Survey claims that it has a margin of error of +/- 3%. The implication here is that the results of the survey are off by at most three percentage points. People are led to believe that the survey has accurately estimated the lower bound and upper bound of the vote share of each candidate. Given their latest results this would suggest that Sen. Poe has a range of 31% to 37% and Mayor Duterte has a range of 28% to 34%. Here is an explanation as to why I find it absurd.

Students of Statistics know that the margin of error in sampling is often computed as the reciprocal of the square root of the sample size. The Bilang Pilipino SWS Mobile Survey had a grand total of 1,200 possible respondents. SWS has not divulged the number of actual respondents of their latest survey so let us use the sample size in the March 22 survey - 806. If you take the reciprocal of the square root of 806 you'll get 3.52% (Right of the bat SWS rounded their margin of error down - but let us not quibble over relatively trivial details such as this). Notice that the margin of error does not use the size of the population as a variable (It does not matter if the voting population is 1 million of 50 million). It may come as a surprise to many of you that this isn't the crux of the issue.

The crux of the issue is that the validity of the aforementioned margin of error depends on the sampling methodology. The margin of error will only hold if the survey is conducted using an unbiased methodology. Put simply, the margin of error will only hold if the survey results are generated from an unbiased sample. What exactly is an unbiased sample? An unbiased sample is one wherein every element of the population has an equal chance of being selected. I repeat: An unbiased sample is one wherein every element of the population has an equal chance of being selected.

Here's the rub: in order for the margin of error to be credible, the underlying sample has to represent the entire Philippines. How could it represent the entire Philippines when millions upon millions of validated voters were not given a chance to be selected?

Herein lies the test as to whether or not the SWS Bilang Pilipino Mobile Survey should be believed. Herein is a simple question that would tell us whether or not we should lend credence to the results being promoted by this survey: Was every validated Filipino voter given an equal chance of being selected?

According to the SWS Bilang Pilipino primer the survey uses a 'nationally representative sample of 1,200 validated voters'. The question here becomes: Did SWS draw its 1,200-strong sample from the entire roster of validated voters? After all, each and every validated voter has to be given an equal chance of selection. There is no indication, at all,that SWS sampled from the entire voter registry (As a segue ask yourselves: would COMELEC have given SWS, a private entity, free reign over the ENTIRE voter registry? Hmm.).

This suggests that SWS did NOT give all validated voters a chance to be selected. If this is indeed the case then the SWS Bilang Pilipino survey should not be trumpeted as a credible survey with a very small margin of error - because the sample was BIASED.

It gets better (worse), SWS generates its samples according to strata - or groupings. For the SWS Bilang Pilipino Mobile Survey it used four strata - NCR, Balance of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. There is nothing wrong with using strata and employing stratified random sampling. There is, however, something very wrong about giving these strata equal weights. For its Bilang Pilipino sample, SWS gave NCR, Balance of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao 300 samples each. This distribution means that NCR, Balance of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao are all given equal weights. The problem here is that the distribution of the Filipino population - and consequently the Filipino voting population is not spread equally across the four strata! Here are approximate values: Balance of Luzon has 44%-45%, Visayas has 20%, Mindanao has 23%-24%, and NCR has the remainder. Putting all of these together we see that Balance of Luzon is severely under-weighted and under-represented and NCR is severely over-weighted and over-represented. BIAS.

The choice of the level of stratification is also dubious given that geography plays a key role in determining the outcome of national elections. National politicians often have home provinces and regions that would lend them tremendous amounts of support during elections. Choosing our island groups as the stratification level ignores the highly nuanced dynamics of local Philippine politics. You do not need to be a political scientist of statistician to realize that this is a poor way of distributing your sample. It is, for example, distinctly possible to generate a Balance of Luzon sample without Ilocos Norte. It is distinctly possible to generate a Balance of Luzon sample without Camarines Norte/Sur. It is distinctly possible to generate a Visayas sample without Capiz. It is distinctly possible to generate a Mindanao sample without Davao del Sur. The choice of stratification assumes that voting preferences within each island group are largely homogeneous. It assumes that there is little to no heterogeneity within each island group.

But wait, there's more!

The SWS Bilang Pilipino Mobile survey is an opt-in survey. As I indicated earlier, the actual sample could be smaller than the indicated sample. The people who were given mobile phones to respond to text prompts could choose NOT to answer the text prompts. Given the nature of the survey they cannot re-sample to fill-up the desired or indicated sample size! This is obviously another source of bias!

It is also of note that respondents can only respond from 7:00 am to 12:00 noon. If you fail to respond during that window you are excluded from the actual sample. If you forgot to charge the phone, if you could not get a signal, if you were busy at work, if you were sick, it doesn't matter - you are excluded. Bias, bias, bias!

The survey serves no discernible function. It provides no discernible benefit. One can even make a compelling argument that the SWS Bilang Pilipino Mobile survey is designed to condition the minds of voters and establish trends that would legitimize or sanitize fraudulent election outcomes. I urge you: Do not lend this survey any ounce of credibility.

Voters should not choose their candidates on the basis of who is 'winnable' and who is 'not winnable'. Your choices should not be about who can or cannot win. Elections should be about visions, platforms, and track records. Do NOT reduce the elections into a popularity contest wherein the winners are not chosen based on their capacity to govern - but rather by their perceived popularity. Do NOT cheapen our democracy.

Do yourself and the Philippine democracy a favor: Do not let this survey affect your choices. Think for yourself.
Source: http://www.allthingspinoy.com/2016/04/up-graduate-statistician-shares-insights-about-bilang-pilipino-sws-mobile-survey.html

Repositioning Presidential Candidates

Repositioning Presidential Candidates

By. Josiah Go

I wrote about the phenomenal come-from-behind win of Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay as Vice President of the Philippines in my book “Fundamentals of Marketing in the Philippine Setting (2nd Edition, with Chiqui Escareal-Go, 2012). His message that he will do to the Philippines what he did in Makati resonated to the public as it positioned him as a public servant with solid track record in public service. A heartbeat away from the presidency, he became the instant man to beat in the 2016 Presidential elections, thanks to his high brand awareness and conversion rate then.

If there is an exception to the first mover advantage, it is in politics, as VP Binay became the subject of alleged corruption charges while performing as Makati Mayor with evidence presented by no less than his former vice mayor and the Commission of Audit (COA). He was also accused of political dynasty when his wife and his son succeeded him as mayor, and his other children winning as senator, congresswoman and councilor. He was branded a traditional politician, ironically something he was fighting for against the Marcos regime decades back.  His first presidential debate in Cagayan de Oro was not impressive to most; his answer to the question about how he inherited his wealth from his parents left more questions, as he has always claimed his parents were poor. On the second presidential debate, he avoided a direct answer when given the chance by Mar Roxas to answer corruption charges he has been avoiding, preferring to state that the court will decide. Of course, cases can only be filed after his term as VP and assuming he will not win the presidency.

With accusations left and right, some of his positive share of mind turned into a negative brand association, with the words “corrupt and liar” as top feedback given by voters who disliked him, including in social media. Left unaddressed, the noise created will affect, and has in fact affected, his voters’ share of heart or believability score, his lower likability upsetting his brand preference score which will further affect his voters’ intent to vote score. The 14.6 million votes he got previously as vice president, may no longer be repeated in 2016 1) if voters will believe corruption accusations against Binay; 2) if voters will demand accountability of the promises made by Binay to be elected as VP; 3) if voters will find more viable candidates like Rody Duterte, Grace Poe, Mar Roxas or Miriam Santiago; 4) if voters start believing the PNoy administration did well and want continuity; 5) if voters will not believe or trust his P30,000 monthly income tax exemption in his new TV ad; or 6) if voters who failed to vote for Mar Roxas in the 2010 election may decide to give him a chance in 2016 remembering that he was defeated with the second-narrowest margin in the history of Philippine election with an electoral protest after he sacrificed his presidential ambition to President Noynoy Aquino (PNoy). Yet Binay remains to be the choice of many Filipinos experiencing poverty, as he always claims that he is from a poor family. They sympathize with Binay, who among all candidates can say that he truly knows what every Filipino need to get out of poverty. If he capitalizes on being the choice of “masang Pilipino”, he might get a huge percentage of votes from that segment of voters.

Note however that while our analysis is based on logic, voters may not be as logical. A review of 2010 Presidential elections revealed that President Erap Estrada who made a comeback almost got reelected if not with the entry of PNoy, who won the presidency based partly on strong positive emotions after the demise of his mother, the well-loved president Cory Aquino. Then, Erap Estrada still got 9.5 million votes, despite being indicted for corruption and pardoned by his successor, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Erap then returned to public service by getting himself elected no less than the Mayor of Manila, a prestigious position in the government. This recent election result is an indicator that election in the Philippines have not been fought by issues alone but by personalities as well.

Many candidates have pluses and minuses on their side. There seem to be no perfect candidate, even my family members are split among three presidential candidates. Here are some of the top positive words associated with each candidate:

Binay: Makati, Performance
Duterte: Doer, Anti-Crime, Anti-Drugs
Poe: Fresh change, no. 1 senator by virtue of being daughter of actor FPJ
Roxas: Continuity, BPO catalyst, “Disente”
Santiago: Experience, Intelligent

Here are some of the top negative words associated with each candidate. The stigma will be carried with them at least in the first few months of the office assuming they win.

Binay: Corrupt, Political dynasty
Duterte: Morality, Vigilante group
Poe: Lack of experience, once a US citizenship with husband and children still American citizens
Roxas: Issues related to his performance as a cabinet secretary
Santiago: Health issues, BongBong Marcos as her VP

Ultimately, two situations will have to be met: 1) the positive traits should be strong enough to neutralize the negative; and 2) the existence of game-changing strategy that can be created to make voters change their perceptions about each candidate that their negatives may no longer be relevant. For instance, towards the election date, the following examples may happen that can add to the positive traits of the candidates, thereby winning the undecided voters as well as from those without definite commitment to their votes.

Binay: Endorsement of Iglesia ni Cristo reversing a declining base
Duterte: Being a peace maker and adding God-fearing image reversing “vigilante” image, withdrawal and endorsement of Miriam or when a heinous crime (God forbids) is committed that highlights the need for toughness vs. criminals (so long as not in Davao)
Poe: Evidence of strong executive decision reversing inexperience tag
Roxas: Arrival of new MRT trains that can remove traffic congestion in Metro Manila reversing being blamed for traffic woes, or endorsement of credible celebrities and political heavy weights with loyal following, as well as a solid official campaign among workers of the fast-growing BPO industry
Santiago: Sudden burst of energy reversing alleged health issues

Towards the election date, the following hypothetical examples can add to the negative perception of each of the candidates, this time losing the emotional connection of the undecided voters as well as from those without definite commitment to their votes.

Binay: What if the alleged lying or corruption are effectively communicated as to how it has deprived the poor?
Duterte: What if there is abusive human rights violation? or a major crime in Davao?
Poe: What if there is a surge of nationalism? (affecting both Poe, who pledged her loyalty to the US once, and Bongbong Marcos, being a recipient of the ill-gotten wealth of the former President Marcos)
Roxas: What if news about Mar’s personal life has not been ‘Daan Matuwid-like’ comes out? or a major traffic nightmare will occur just before election?
Santiago:  What if she is suddenly hospitalized?

Brand awareness is a function of media weight, including the indispensable social media factors since ownership of smart phones has reached 40% as per Kantar Millward Brown Philippines. The undecided voters will closely listen to what they read and hear in the “advertising copy” in mass media, social media and during debates, the message will not just have to be relevant but memorable.

Remember when candidate Mar Roxas repositioned top three candidates Binay, Duterte and Poe during the first presidential debate? Mar Roxas reclassified Makati into two: the rich Makati developed by the Ayalas and the poor Makati governed by the Binays; Roxas also repositioned Duterte’s Davao as a source of drugs and in his opening remark, used hiring of family driver as an example: not to hire those with corrupt cases (Binay), short-tempered (Duterte) or inexperience (Poe). This is an example of repositioning competition. To narrow the gap between him and those scoring higher than him, he had to logically create doubts and change the minds of the voters of his opponents.  Of course, he was criticized for bringing down his opponents, which appeared to be a deliberate and calculated move, hoping more undecided voters will take it in his favor than against him. To be fair, it is not just Mar Roxas repositioned opponents but fellow candidates as well, citing Roxas record as DOTC and DILG secretary and the one tasked by president Pinoy to be in charge of Yolanda typhoon victims and the Zamboanga seige, accusations he straightened out during the second presidential debate where he introduced the word ‘disente’ or having a respectable, moral fiber as a must-have characteristic of a president.
Here is another factor to consider. Millennials, composed of 35 million people in the Philippines, are more open to consider possibilities and take a chance at change with leaders who can capture their imagination.  You will be surprised at their ability to take risk! This segment may end up deciding who the next president and vice president will be, after all, they will have a bigger and longer stake who the next leader will be. Candidates are imperfect and they have to choose whoever is the ‘least of all evils’ so to speak.

Candidates have been repositioning each other so will the voters settle for an ‘inexperience’ but fresh leader, a ‘vigilante’ straight talking leader, a performing but alleged ‘corrupt’ leader, a decent leader accused of being pretentious by some or even a sick leader absent in the second debate? Who do you think the millennials will ultimately vote for?

Josiah L. Go was awarded as one of The Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) of the Philippines for 2001 and one of the Ten Outstanding Young Persons (TOYP) of the world for 2002 by Jaycees International for (business education).
An author of 10 bestselling marketing books, he won the AGORA Award for excellence in Marketing Education in 1994. A former adjunct marketing professor at the De La Salle University and the Ateneo de Manila University, he took advance marketing programs at the Kellogg Graduate School of Northwestern University and the Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania and is the first and only Filipino to complete Blue Ocean Strategy qualification course in INSEAD, France in 2006. 

He is a much sought after speaker and consultant in marketing. He has conducted over 450 in-house and public seminars to diverse clientele like Panasonic, URC, Monde Nissin, San Miguel Foods, Unilab, Globe Telecom, Splash Corporation, PLDT, Smart Telecommunication, Security Bank, HBC. Innove Communications, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Unilever Philippines and Sanofi-Aventis, among others.

Is The OOH Media Industry Ready For A Tech Disruptor?

Over the past year, we have seen how technology has disrupted various industries.  Time and again in various conferences involving digital marketing and tech startups, we have heard this line stated repeatedly : "Uber, the world’s largest taxi company, owns no vehicles. Facebook, the world’s most popular media owner, creates no content. Alibaba, the most valuable retailer, has no inventory. And Airbnb, the world’s largest accommodation provider, owns no real estate. Something interesting is happening.

In the industry of transportation, a shakeup has been obvious given the popularity of Uber and Grab Taxi, way down to a point that traditional taxi operators could not help but run to the LTFRB for relief.  The game has obviously changed and old paradigns are left with no choice but to bend its knee to those who offer a better service option.  Can this be true also in the world of out-of-home media - where regulation is hardly in place in comparison to radio, TV and print?

There have been several attempts to replicate the success of Uber and AirBnb into the space of OOH media but none have been truly successful.  One attempt by an APAC based tech startup even involved investment of close to half a million US dollars.  The startup online marketplace for billboards and posters is no longer running and the founders have moved on to other tech startups.

Not too long ago, I was also called in to help out with a group which tried to resell a sophisticated mapping system which could provide street views as well as record vital information pertaining to the OOH medium.  The platform is still there but it is not being utilized.  The proponents have simply given up.

Given all these unfortunate occurences, I wish to answer the question posed in this title : Is The OOH Media Industry Ready For A Tech Disruptor?  Well, it's gonna be some time until a tech disruptor comes along because OOH is a complicated business.  It's not just as easy as placing all the available billboard inventory in one online selling platform.  At the onset, it looks like a simple real estate transaction.  Nevertheless, for those who are familiar, there are many intricacies involved.  I've studied what the intricacies are.  I've sounded like a "contrabida" always to those who have intended to create an online marketplace for all OOH media but, the fact that there is nothing really working even in more developed markets only proves that it is not that easy to pull off.

That doesn't mean it's impossible to do though.  Nevertheless, when the kinks are sorted out and the tech disruptor arrives, I'll tell you, the OOH Media industry will not know what it is. The balance between agency, advertiser, and vendor will definitely be upset.  And that is why it is called disruption.

Lloyd Tronco is a Certified Digital Marketer and Out-Of-Home Media Strategist.  He was one of the pioneers in agency-managed OOH media. He currently does marketing consultancy for tech startups.

Insighting by Issa Baron of Good Thinking Research, Inc.

Insighting is creating a link between the consumer and a brand and the link generates strong emotions that leads the targeted consumer to identify with the brand, and or see it as the solution to a need that has up to by that time remained unarticulated.

Like in constructing a complete sentence, before discussing the subject, the predicate must first be laid. So a narrative is created that leads to a denuoument wherein the consumer finds the answers to his questions represented by a product or service.

According to Issa Baron, Managing Director of Good Thinking Research, Inc. the most exciting insights she had come across includes Lactum’s Panatag si Mommy. Before that, Lactum’s were all on the mental development of children but there is also the insight on filling up or meeting the nutritional requirements of picky eaters, thus, the thrust on addressing this all to common a problem among parents.

There is also BPI’s  Bank Anywhere. There was a study wherein it was discovered that closure of existing accounts were due to migration of clients. BPI introduced a system wherein a client can bank anywhere there is a BPI branch that eliminates interbank charges for deposits and withdrawals.

Steps in generating good insights.

1.    Listen when interviewing consumers. Allow the consumer tro define the questions that need to be addressed.
2.    Have a “Consumer Wall” wherein notes can be posted  about the concerns of the target market.
3.    Find similarities among observations and come up with a theme. Find a value that the action reflects.
4.    Find out how your brand can answer can resolve a conflict in its own unique way.

 Source: Readings from josiahgo.com

Casino Billboard Proves That With OOH, The Medium Is The Message

One of the things easily forgotten by marketers is that in the case of out-of-home media, the medium is the message.  For the past decade, outdoor advertising has simply grown in terms of number of advertisers using the medium.  Once an optional medium to some brands, there is hardly any launch these days which doesn't have an OOH component.

Marketers or agencies must be reminded though that the uniqueness of OOH media comes with its intrinsic value whereby location, size, and position, can communicate a different message altogether.

Case in point is this billboard of a casino based in the MOA area.  For the size of its operation and for the bigness of itself as a brand, the size and position of the panel hardly communicates a celebration as stated in its layout.

Let's dissect this.  Design shows a celebration of a first year anniversary for a World Class Destination (stated below logo).
Location - Malibay which is the halfway point between Magallanes and Taft.  Position - lower panel of two.  Size - smaller than the top panel.

With this, the picture may communicate more than what words could do.  

Bottom line in selecting OOH, especially for EDSA billboards, is to choose properly and not just get one for the sake of having an EDSA billboard.

Marketing Innovation and Lessons from Vick’s Vap-O-Rub

In every industry, it is innovation and creativity that is the key to productivity, revenue generation and institutional longevity. Nobody is aware that Vick’s Vap-O-Rub was created during the Flu Pandemic of 1918 and was supposed to be a cure for the Flu and we all know that the Flu is viral and to date there is still no cure for viruses and yet Vick’s Vap-O-Rub is still on sale worldwide. There are various ways of creating innovation, the following are the 3 main types:

Product – iPod, iPhone and the iPad revolutionized the mobile phone and gadget industry

Process – Online retail and wholsale

Marketing Mix – The iPhone and iPod and IPad had iTunes and other services

As for the  Marketing Mix here are some examples:

A)    Project Pie – A mix between marketing and product by making your own pizza.
B)    Price innovation – Recession Coffee in Eastwood allow buyers to pay what they want for different types of coffee.
C)    The use of Social Media in brand or product awareness.
D)    Service Innovation – Hooters. Enough said
E)    Physical Environment – One of the oldest in the country. Barrio Fiesta wherein the mood inside and the ambience is akin to a never ending town fiesta.

Sourced and derived from readings in http://josiahgo.com/marketing-innovation-by-josiah-go/

(Attend Josiah Go’s Marketing Innovation executive workout on April 14-15, 2016. Email info@mansmith.net for details)

New Creative Agency for Seven Brands of Unilever Philippines

Dantsu JaymeSyfu has been appointed by Unilever Philippines for seven of its brands and for an additional six brands as its digital agency. 

The agency ended its relationship with DDB after selling its majority stake to Dentsu Aegis Network last December 2015.

The pitch was announced just after the acquisition was completed and involved a list of 'club agencies' and several local digital agencies. All in all, there were two pitches: an above-the-line pitch and a digital one.

To show ints intedgration, Dentsu JaymeSyfu pitched as a single unit to show its integration.

"Our strength in integration is key in working successfully with all the brands," said Merlee Cruz-Jayme, CEO and chairmom at Dentsu JaymeSyfu, crediting the agency's merger.

In the second quarter of 2016 Dentsu JaymeSyfu will take over creative duties for the following brands:  Creamsilk, Surf, Breeze, Domex, Sunlight, Cif, and the homecare portal Cleanipedia.

Dentsu Digit, led by managing director Carlo Ople, won digital AOR for all the brands listed above and an additional six brands: Master, Axe, Eskinol, Block and White, Selecta ice cream, and Magnum.

Dennis Perez, head of media at Unilever Philippines, cited the quality of creative thinking, original insights and innovative execution.

Dentsu has decided to strategically invest in the Phillippines, said Takaki Hibino, APAC CEO for Dentsu brand agencies and Dentsu media Asia-Pacific (excluding Japan). "To see these strategies come to life and materialize into significant wins is the perfect example of the good innovation that we aim for.”

Dentsu JaymeSyfu declined to disclose the incumbent agencies working on the brands.

Efficascent Oil and Shoestring Budget Marketing

Many of us by now know what is Efficascent Oil and Omega Pain Killer, brands that are not even Manila-based but we never knew about it nor did not even care where they were made. All we know is that they come with top of mind recall whenever such products against aches and pains are needed by us or by family members.

For example, Efficascent Oil has been around for 60 years. The writer cannot recall the last time he has seen a billboard, heard a radio commercial and can only recall a TV spot more than 10 years ago. But why has Efficascent Oil managed to hold on to its market position for so long on a Marketing and Advertising “Non-Strategy”?

Mr. Stanley Uang , VP-Marketing of International Pharmaceutical thus answers,  “The most central to this philosophy of allocating a shoestring budget is to make every peso count. Whether it is in negotiating with media networks in providing more spots or to include creative executions in addition to the spots, or making those few spots count with good marketing content or an endorser who fits the positioning of your product or your communication, or to be very strategic in your communication in terms of target audience. All these will make your advertising pesos go a long way.”

But again, the strategy for Efficascent Oil is that on its first 20 years, it was marketed as medicine but using massage as the delivery system. Those who are averse to taking pills would rather use a non-invasive form of therapy. Also, by using this method, Efficascent Oil was able to widen its distribution. As mentioned above, it is not a Manila-based company. It is based in Cebu, the distribution phase using its “massage therapy” marketing came mostly by word of mouth from users to new customers. Now on its next 20 years, it has now gained a name brand of its own and is easily differentiated from other “me too” brands and it has 60 years of existence to fall back on.

It must also be noted that geographically, being based in Cebu makes IPI centrally located in the Philippines and that makes the company easier to distribute and market. Thus, a Shoestring Marketing Strategy is makes sense given the factors cited.

Digital Out-Of-Home Media : The Education Should Continue

Lloyd Tronco, Convenor of the Philippine Forum on
Digital Out Of Home Media

Despite the growing acceptance of outdoor media as a mainstream medium, OOH still has a long way to go in terms of reaching a status of reverence.

Almost everyone in the circle of advertising and media are familiar with the blatant absence of regulation in the medium brings about a Wild,Wild West mentality among vendors.  By saying so, placements are not controlled in terms of position, size, and execution.  Take that further into Digital Out-Of-Home and everything gets even more confusing.

It is not just the rates and variety of packages that clients and planners need to contend with, it is also the understanding of the nuances of the medium which practically everyone in the industry, including creatives, need to come to grips with.

It was for that reason that in the early days of digital signage, the Philippine Center for Out-Of-Home Media Research and Science spearheaded the First Philippine Forum on Digital Out-Of-Home Media.  That took place in 2010 and a clear 5 months before there was even a Digital Signage World Asia in Singapore! 

At the First Philippine Forum on Digital Out-Of-Home Media, we were greatly elated to have DOOH guru Manolo Almagro to be with us.  At that time, he was still residing in the country doing his consulting for Jollibee and Globe.  Year after that, we had DOOH 2 which again was a big hit having Ricky Baizas of Nestle and no less than Bob Michaels of the Digital Screen Media Association.

DOOH.2 with Bob Michaels, Ricky Baizas, and Christian Besler

On the third year, it just got bigger.  Thanks to Willy Soong who was the newly appointed distributor of Daktronics, the DOOH 3 took place at the Jaguar Lifestyle Center in BGC.  Ron Graham flew in to Manila, as did the folk from Christie, Julianna Tong and the gents from Daktronics.  Research guru Jay Bautista also weighed in.

From there, we somehow slid back.  There was a DOOH 4 but it was not of the scale as DOOH 1, 2, and 3.  Zeno Martinez and myself know the reasons why the momentum tapered off, but it is not for us to discuss here.  Nevertheless, young as it is, there has to be a constant stream of "Learning Series" to feed and fuel the proper use of digital signage.

As it is, all we see are display ads which hardly maximize the full potential of the LED and LCD screens.  Yes, the images are moving, but that is all there is to it.

So the education must continue.  As usual, Bing Kimpo and I by default are the voices crying out in the wilderness trying our best to advocate good use of Digital OOH.

It is my hope that this year, 2016, the stakeholders of Digital Signage and DOOH will rally behind further educational events.  After all, once the clients/advertisers see that DS/DOOH works, anything invested towards the educational events will pay off.

Then DOOH ads will no longer be the mere moving displays of re-purposed TVC edits as we are so used to seeing.

The Eat Bulaga Plateau and How They Can get Out of It

Background:

In July 2015, after 36 years in Philippine showbiz, Eat Bulaga ‘reinvented’ their TV show with the Aldub segment. Based on data provided by Kantar Media Philippines, Eat Bulaga was able to more than double the number of household viewers. From a base of 2.5 million households last July 2015, it went up to 6.2 million on October 24, 2015, with the additional 3.7 million households watching on Saturdays (the highest for the week). These are mostly new viewers from the unserved market, and this excludes people watching via appliance stores or neighborhood, as well as overseas Filipino workers.

There are about 20 million total households in the Philippines. With some 15.5 million households owning a TV set, the market potential for noontime TV show viewers is still relatively high as not everybody is watching TV during noontime.

History Flasback:

The last major brand that was able to almost double their number of followers within a 3-month period in the Philippines was Pepsi in 1992. Unfortunately, Pepsi wasn’t able to sustain their efforts, having been affected by human error. This led to the infamous 349 crisis. They could’ve gained more if they extended their Pepsi Number Fever promotions. Coke got lucky as Pepsi sustained a self-inflicted injury.

Back track even further to 1977 and 1978, way before Eat Bulaga was born – John Travolta was the next big thing in Hollywood, starring in now-iconic musicals such as ‘Saturday Night Fever’ and ‘Grease’. He was certainly a cut above the rest as he did more than just the typical Hollywood roles. When he branched out from his usual image and repositioned himself to do other roles, his movies ended up becoming financial disasters. It actually took him 16 years to be considered “cool” again, thanks to 1994’s ‘Pulp Fiction’. He was finally able to garner attention again, for a role that reminded people of who he was in his two early hit movies.

When success is phenomenal, brands and the people behind them may develop over confidence. There is a tendency to feel powerful and unbeatable, until a blunder or a roadblock happens and forces them to zoom out and look objectively from a different perspective. At the moment, people may still be gaga over Aldub, but marketing history (examples cited above) will reveal that they are not entirely invincible. Let me elaborate.

AlDub Decoded

Two past articles published by myself hypothesized that new viewers were mainly responsible for the rejuvenated Eat Bulaga that we are enjoying now. They were attracted because the show not just added the Aldub love team (albeit accidentally) within the ‘Juan for All, All for Juan’ segment, but values were also injected within the show via Lola Nidora’s antics. Eat Bulaga had defacto repositioned itself as an “entertainment + values” fusion category that became distinguishable from the purely noontime entertainment formula that other networks have been doing. Aldub attracted family-oriented households that felt like they shared the same values and sense of humor as Yaya Dub and Lola Nidora. It wasn’t hard to like because the segment showed familiar themes in Filipino culture. #SaTamangPanahon was popularized when Lola Nidora shared the importance of waiting for the right time to take the next steps in a relationship. It was a sure hook for households who wanted to stress the concept of proper “panliligaw”, something that is not so common in this day and age.

The many values of the Aldub segment not only differentiated Eat Bulaga from its peers, but more importantly, provided relevance versus pain points expressed by noncustomers — instead of going with the same deprecating humor demonstrated by other shows, Eat Bulaga went the opposite route and became a positive icon, beyond the usual ‘saya’ and ‘kilig.’ (Interestingly, Eat Bulaga also went the ‘trash talk’ route once and some of the hosts were even accused of more controversial issues. Imagine this case study as a 360 degree transformation.)

Data Review

A review of the latest total number of viewers watching Eat Bulaga, as audited by Kantar Media Philippines in November and December 2015 is disturbing, with a rapidly declining base of viewers. From a peak of 6.2 million households viewing last October 24, 2015, when Maine Mendoza, one-half of the Aldub love team, wished ‘sana di kayo magsawa,’ the number has deteriorated rapidly to only 4 million households viewing after a month on Nov 28, 2015; 3.5 million on Dec 6, 2015; 3.3 million on December 19, 2015 and finally at 2.65 million households viewing on Dec. 26, 2015. Eat Bulaga practically lost all incremental customers they gained, losing 3.55 million viewing households in two months while gaining only a measly 150,000 extra fans, despite the numerous product endorsements that aired during the same period.

Critical Changes

Most followers of Eat Bulaga may remember the two critical events that possibly explain the deterioration in the number of viewers — Maine Mendoza, then better known as Yaya Dub for her initial role as a caregiver (yaya) doing dubsmash, already met Alden Richards in their much publicized event of Oct 24 in the Philippine Arena. Prior to this event, Lola Nidora hindered them from meeting. Secondly, instead of doing only Dubsmash which she was originally known for before joining Eat Bulaga, Maine Mendoza stopped being mysterious, and is now using her own voice. She was transformed from an underdog, girl-next-door caregiver Yaya Dub to a more glamorous up-and-coming talent Maine Mendoza, the love interest of Alden Richards.

Aldub is still a formidable team to the segment they attract. They helped the ‘Pa Bebe Love: #Kilig Pa More’ movie to not just become a hit during the 41st Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF), but also get the biggest opening day gross for all Filipino films. Even the movie title was named after the famous ‘Pabebe Wave’ popularized by Yaya Dub during one of the earlier episodes.

Perspectives:
‘Pabebe Wave’ was a limited run movie in Eastwood, a likely hangout of one of the show’s new viewers. The author watched it in the early evening of Dec. 29, 2015, their 5th showing day, and noticed how the cinema was far from full, and actually very quiet throughout the duration of the movie (except for a few parts).

From the point of view of loyal fans, they will continue to be passionate as themselves / “Aldubnation”. However, from the perspective of new viewers attracted to the fusion category, making them stay will be difficult for they are still longing for the same drama as the highly quoted #SaTamangPanahon. At best, some may still remain as occasional viewers, who sadly, can also turn into lapsed, burnt-out customers.

Most new viewers who originally got into Eat Bulaga because of the fusion category/concept may not exactly be attracted to seeing selected people from a barangay getting prizes from advertisers and sponsors. This was a formula that was done by Eat Bulaga even before the Aldub love team was concocted. Perhaps it was the reason why these new viewers never watched Eat Bulaga in the first place. They may not be attracted to senatoriable Tito Sotto engaging the recipients of these prizes. They may not be attracted to Maine co-hosting part of the show or performing a character where she is not a role model or Dubsmash talent/comedian. They may not be interested in the number of “#weeksary” tweets, even if another tweet record can be established. They may not be interested in the number of likes and shares in Facebook. All these things simply please the existing fans. The new viewers may fall out of the fad because they’ll eventually realize that they became new customers mostly due to a different value proposition, which is now not as strong as before.

In recent episodes, Lola Nidora is seen trying to revert back to their older entertainment + values formula, but it seems like the focus is not entirely there yet. Perhaps an increased consistent effort and commitment will bring back lapsed and non-customers.

Lessons:

At least eight lessons can be learned about the sustainability of market-driving innovation in service, formerly seen in Eat Bulaga. As mentioned above, the numbers have switched — from at peak viewing households of 6.2 million to only 2.6 million. These lessons are:

1. Distinguish market-driven strategy versus market-driving strategy, the former responding to the needs of the existing customers while the latter shaping the needs of new customers. These two types of marketing strategy are not mutually exclusive and can happen at the same time. Embracing true learnings on why an accidental success is key in order not to keep losing millions of household viewers who tried watching but are no longer interested to continue watching Eat Bulaga.

2. New customers are attracted to new features (i.e. Explicit emphasis on forgotten values (like #SaTamangPanahon), role model, unpredictability, etc.) of an offer and will be lost if the priority features they got attracted to in the first place will cease to exist. Over a period of time, these motivators become satisfiers. The problem with that is that it may become a dissatisfier if you remove or change it. New customers, one of the nine different types of noncustomers, tend to behave differently compared to loyal and screaming fans who are less sensitive to changes.


3. Understand different goals. For market-driving strategy, it’s acquisition and market penetration as reflected in the number of new viewers, while for market-driven strategy, it’s satisfaction and loyalty as reflected in comparative ratings. Never fall in love with ratings (market share) alone where a superior rating can still be attained while bleeding millions of new viewers as in the case of Eat Bulaga.

4. Dialogue partners are key. In market-driven strategy, it’s the loyal fans. In market-driving strategy, it’s the noncustomers. This is a usual culprit when brand owners listen to existing customers and assume that what satisfies loyal and screaming fans will also be valid for noncustomers.

5. Market-driving strategy’s first of seven principles — that being better is the enemy of being different. Eat Bulaga has attracted noncustomers by being different and being non-traditional. As the voice of the screaming fans went up, they became more traditional, addicted to market-driven metrics (ratings, number of tweets, number of likes) instead of market penetration and values shared or quoted in market-driving strategy (read two articles ‘Marketing and Strategy Lessons From Eat Bulaga’s Aldub‘ and ‘The Market-Driving Strategy of #Aldub‘)

6. Innovation is about two elements — offering something new but being commercially successfully. Success is about sustainability, the stickiness factor — making people try, retry, and repeat their behavior until it becomes part of their lives. To make Maine Mendoza co-host or do out of character roles at Eat Bulaga is not being different, and for now, not even being better, beyond her new found popularity. Aldub will just become another love team if this keeps up. Unless Eat Bulaga acknowledges the white space in the fusion category of entertainment plus values, they will end up trying to be unique in the same way as competitors instead of being unique in a unique way, a fusion category of their own.

7. Adopt different lenses in marketing – market-driven vs. market-driving, growth marketing vs. defensive marketing, the latter should be anticipated as alert and progressive competitors may decide to pick up the white space abandoned by the innovator. Imagine that ABS-CBN has more resources and a greater market reach and they may fill in the values void within a new segment, after all over 3 million lapsed viewers will be hard to ignore as market potential, learning from three successive incorrect responses (three top love teams guesting, Coliseum event, Pastillas Girl) catering to needs of existing viewers instead of new viewers. Who knows, TV 5 may just get a headquarter mandate to jump in and tap the synergies of their sister companies in media, telecom and related businesses.

8. The right vision makes the difference. No doubt making fans happy is important, ensuring that the show is a stress reliever is a given but having dual vision entails humility to learn and a innovator’s paradigm — sharing more weekly forgotten values explicitly like #SaTamangPanahon to a country where close to half of its households have no parents at home because they are working elsewhere entails not just wanting commercial success but making a difference. A TV show, like or unlike Eat Bulaga, can be so powerful and effective to have the ability to address social issues and influence the mindsets and behavior of its citizens via entertainment. That’s the most exciting market-driving strategy in show business, a true fusion of entertainment and values. Di lang saya at kilig, but Saya, Kilig at Laman!

(For Josiah Go’s seminars in Market-Driving Strategy or Business Model Innovation, please visit www.mansmith.net)

Source: http://josiahgo.com/the-eat-bulaga-plateau-and-how-they-can-get-out-of-it/