Presenting the winners for the Rayban Rockstar Promo as presented by Maurice Arcache in his column, Without Batting an Eyelash at the Philippine Daily Inquirer, June 11 17, 2008:

Chris Lomotan, Cosmopolitan Hunk 2007
James Younghusband, international football sensation
Bianca de los Santos, De La Salle University freshman
Pooyan Hasan Poor, Iranian cutie from Dumaguete
Filipino-French model Valerie Bariou

Wow! Makes you wonder if there was any contest at all. Can SGV please audit the results? Something smells terribly fishy. In this time and age where reality shows are such a hit that even if you just place a hunk on air while pumping iron daily would still merit commendable ratings, reality contests are the next-best-thing.

Aside from the questionable, at least from my point of view, promotion by Branded Lifestyles, Inc., there are also other 2 similar contests that deserves my keen attention:

Sony I Am Vaio Contest. I wasn’t really aware of this until the results for the finalists came out. After reading the mechanics and the way the finalists are presented made me realize that people from Sony, or at least their advertising agency, does not seem to understand their own mechanics. To quote:

Participant simply has to show why and how he/she absolutely embodies spirit of VAIO and any of the New VAIO C Series colors (Black, Blue, Pink, Red and White) in either of the following ways:

As you may probably notice, they merely posted the pictures of the participants on-line with no reference whatsoever on who they are, what they do, and oh, how they embody the spirit of Sony Vaio. In fact, why not show their entries to begin with? That way, people would realize that “Yeah, she/he/it really deserves to be there because she/he/it really does embody the Vaio spirit”. But no, only pictures? Something feels like tuna here.

(Update 7/14/2008: Kudos to Sony peeps who finally followed acted on now have modified their website the way it should have been in the first place. Uhm, I prefer though if there was some sort of public apology or any form of explanation about the color-switching.)

And oh, I was informed that the finalists as reflected did not actually apply for the color they are considered now for. Take for example Caroline Marie Ruegg for white Vaio. She originally applied for black. Or Christine Angela Dolendo for pink. She originally applied for pink red. Or Joshua Ylaya for blue. He originally applied for black. Why do I know that? You want proof?

Now, why would Sony or Y&R do that? The mechanics never said they have the option to put an applicant to another color if it suits them? Or is it supposed to be taken as is because they didn’t explicitly state that fact? If that’s the case, the contest is dumb a scam to begin with. Who knows now if they merely planted their own preferred models at the start just to make something PR-worthy.

And yeah, the on-line voting thing. They don’t even require registration. IP tracking to prevent multiple votes? Haven’t you guys heard of internet cafes? Duh. It’s either you guys are stupid or you think the rest of the world is. Too bad, we’re not. Shame on you!

Colgate Fresh Confidence. Among all the contests, this one could be the biggest fish because it promises the winner a TVC. Now, if you are an aspiring model, you’d kill for this chance for fame. Unfortunately, the voting session they had before was very faulty. You can continuously vote for a particular entry just by refreshing a page. How do I know that? The votes for a particular video is higher than the page views. How in the world would an entry having 100,000 page views gather 1,000,000 votes? Did the 900,000 utilize SMS or use some special URL technique that allows them to vote without viewing the entry page? Jeez.

(Update 7/14/2008: Congratulations to ALPHONSE BENEDICT MANIPIS for winning the Colgate Fresh Confidence contest.)

Similar to the Rayban sham, the Sony Vaio scam, this Colgate joke is in dire need of authentic auditing. Shame on all of you. We marketers (and those retards from advertising) have all been accused of cheating, lying, manipulating facts. This is an undeniable evidence that we some of us really are that low. I wish DTI will do something about this. If the government will not impose any sanctions, I hope the consumers will. If your lies touch your promotions, what’s stopping you all for doing something so much worse?

I received this link from a friend today, which states the real reason behind Chikka’s powerplay recently:

Chikka Holdings CEO Chito Bustamante tells me in a recent e-mail that he has been instructed by his company’s board to make clear to everyone that it believes firmly in former CEO Dennis Mendiola’s integrity and sense of fiduciary responsibility. As a member of Chikka’s audit committee, Chito stresses that Chikka’s transactions and use of resources are in accord with its core business and corporate purposes.

He says that the company is not down on its knees, although it is correct that Chikka is looking at a loss in 2007, which he emphasizes coincides with a period of investment towards reinventing the company and making it bigger beyond the success of its original Chikka Text Messenger service.

Chito also said Dennis was not removed as CEO as earlier reported but in fact resigned in February 2008 to focus on his main passion which is product development for Chikka. He clarified that it was the board which insisted that Dennis remain active in the management team as “chief imagination officer.”

He admits that there was a general downsizing earlier this year in reaction to a slowdown in the local mobile content service industry. This slowdown, he said, is part of the reason why Chikka has to think out of the box and dream bigger beyond Philippine shores.

Lastly, Chito emphasizes that he stands by Dennis and has always placed his personal trust in the former CEO’s competence, intellectual and creative ability, and unusual style with which he inspires Chikka to dream big.

Now, my friends, this is what we call a press release. (On the same note, did Bill Gates actually want to become just the Chief Software Architect schnitzel over the Anti-Trust Case against Microsoft years ago?)

According to ever-reliable Wikipedia, a press (or news) release is as follows:

The use of news releases is common in the field of public relations, the aim of which is to attract favorable media attention to the PR firm’s client, and publicity, the aim of which is to attract favorable media attention for products marketed by the clients.

I commend Chikka’s PR manager, agency, marketing hotshot, etc., for such a punctual story. Whether this is the real deal or not is subject to your interpretation. It’s rather weird though that Mr. Mendiola’s LinkedIn account just suddenly went private.

Surprise of all surprises, the Philippine Government is now bidding war against Pinoy tycoons! First, it was against the Lopezes. Now, in one grand shebang, GMA is after the Ayalas, the Gokongweis, and Manny Pangilinan. After all, the government is now calling for making SMS free for Pinoys. Hmmm, is this electioneering? Or another way to keep the public’s mind off Lozada? But then again, who’s Lozada nowadays after what the great GMA has done with the Rice Shortage and the Fare Hike?

At any rate, I just think that this is rather an act. You know why? Because someone from Globe informed me that their company is now pursuing Sun’s strategy and that means unlimited SMS and calls for subscribers within their network. I don’t know about Smart, but we all know how these telcos play the game.

And so, if this unlimited thing is already in the pipeline, why make such a fuss about this move to make texting almost free? It’s nice to know that at this time and age where money reigns supreme, our beloved government is still putting the welfare of the majority first against those of the elite few. Not.

Globe is already planning to make their services unlimited. You guys are just going with the flow and trying to earn a good name out of it. Tsk, tsk, tsk.

I was able to read in today’s papers that Unionbank is keen on buying UCPB. After all, having that insane (or is it sane?) dream to become one of the Top Three Universal Banks in the Philippines during this post BDO-EPCI takeover merger, the only way any bank can boost their standing is buy out other banks. It’s the same thing with PNB and Allied Bank albeit they say, plans for the merger of Lucio Tan’s banks has been planned way, way, way before.

Now, frankly, these are interesting times for the Philippine Banking Industry. After all, bankers, or should I say, banking has long been synonymous with boring. After all, with the omnipresent Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas breathing down their necks, what else is there to do for a bank other than to comply?

But lo and behold! Thanks to BDO, we can now see a lot of action among local banks these days. True, the arrival of Citibank and HSBC has sent warning signs from Metrobank to some rural bank somewhere in Mindanao. Yes, BDO can sometimes be stupid, but generally, it is this bank and the very aggressive lady called Teresita Sy-Coson who made all of the Presidents and CEOs of banks spin in their ridiculously expensive executive chairs.

Now, this is what I would like to call as The BDO Effect. Look at Security Bank now. Look at Unionbank now. Look at Metrobank now. All of them spiced up their branding to match up to the undeniable classiness of BDO’s spunky logo. Sure, a logo is just a logo. And in contrast to FMCGs, a logo or mere packaging can’t take you very far in this technology- and service-driven industry. But that’s exactly the point. Marketing has always been a support group for banks. A mere support group.

For other industries, from cellphones to real estate to that candy in your pocket, marketing always reign supreme. Marketing is the frontrunner, marketing is king. But no, not in the banking industry, or at least, not yet!

I know, it’s still a long way to go before local banks - BDO included - to become as big as their counterparts in the rest of the world. But for banks to budge and spend money on branding is a positive sign that finally, the power of marketing is finally being recognized. Let’s just hope though that as real marketers plow through the markets with their crazy tactics, the back-office supports of these banks can also ride on with the wave. After all, actions speak louder than words. It’s just a matter of time before we can truly see which of these banks are going to survive.

I recently received unedited pictures showing the casualties of the grim RCBC robbery last May 18, 2008. You may download the images HERE at your own risk. Already corrected the link.

MAY THESE IMAGES HAUNT THE PEOPLE RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS. YOU WERE SOPHISTICATED ENOUGH TO PULL SUCH A STUNT. I BET MY ASS YOU GUYS HAVE A PC (OR A MAC) AND AN INTERNET CONNECTION. SOONER OR LATER, THIS IS GONNA BE FORWARDED TO YOU. I DON’T KNOW IF YOU GUYS HAVE A CONSCIENCE, BUT PERHAPS THIS CAN SERVE AS A DEADLY REMINDER.

MEMORIES ARE SUCH A PAIN IN THE ARSE.

It’s been quite some time since my last post. After all, having received a lot of hate mails and a ton of things to do for my new job, one would say enough to criticizing other people’s stupidity and just focus on the good stuff.

Recently, I’ve just been trying to unwind. Aside from the usual beach outing, weekend gimmicks, and fiestas, one of the things I wanted to do this year is to watch the 2008 World Pyro Olympics at SM Mall of Asia. Unfortunately, as you might or might not know, it sucked.

I don’t know how much gunpowder the organizers for the event have inhaled, but darn they are just so stupid. I mean, promotion-wise, they already have a big fat zero. The only reason I know about it beforehand is because I’ve been on the prowl for this since missing out last year’s better version, and as an avid newspaper-reader, I do really really really read and get to notice the dumbest of all ads printed.

One thing that really irked me is the moving of the date from the perfect Holiday season to May. It’s a stupid month. It’s not summer, or at least end of summer, and it’s at the borderline of the very-exciting Philippine rainy season. Unfortunately for them, typhoons are in Japanese-mode this year (read as “early”) and so the weekly match-off has been postponed and has been postponed and has been postpones until God-knows-when.

It does not take a meteorologist to know when is a bad time to hold a fireworks competition. You just have to be a resident of Metro Manila. If you’re not, it does not take a genius to know that the way to get the info is to ask a resident of Metro Manila. The bad thing is, the organizers did not seem to get it and so they had the event lined up for the entire month of May. We’ve had a couple of typhoons now, right? And successions of thunderstorms that could outshine any firework made by man.

And even without the rain, this kind of event is really suited for the holidays. During this time, people are in the right mood to watch grandiose aerial chemical reactions (which leads to air pollution by the way) and in the right mood to spend for those darned tickets. So right now, I don’t know what’s gonna happen next year. Are the participants still going to join amidst this years’ fiasco?

I know this is a great tourism opportunity, which is really a great work by the Department of Tourism led by Sec. Ace Durano. But come to think of it, if the aim is tourism, it only supports my claim (and that of million others) that the best time to launch those rockets in the sky is the same time you hear Jose Mari Chan singing about those lanterns in the streets. Christmas shopping is good enough to attract. Add some fireworks, and you’re gonna have a blast (no pun intended). So please, learn from this mistake and hold the 2009 World Pyro Olympics come Christmas Season that year. But that is, assuming, something like this would still exist.

P.S. The branding sucks big time. Why not call it Manila Pyro Olympics instead? World Pyro is just a bit too generic and plebian. But then again, what can you expect from the same foul ups who loved May.

If you are an avid 7-Eleven customer, you would be pretty familiar with their on-going Peel-a-Million promo. For every P50 purchase (excluding loads, bills payments) you get 1 card. You open the card, and, voila: A VERY COMPLICATED PROMO.

Now nevermind that they expect you to keep your cards and track its contents in a very mind-boggling way. What bothers me is how exaggerated their sales team are in greeting each customer that drops by.

GOOD MORNING IN A MILLION!

GOOD AFTERNOON IN A MILLION!

THANKS IN A MILLION!

COME AGAIN IN A MILLION!

I know I have no Masters in English, but aren’t the above statements…. awful? It’s like cursing me to a life of misery.

GOOD MORNING (once) IN A MILLION (mornings?)!

GOOD AFTERNOON (once) IN A MILLION (afternoons?)!

THANKS (once) IN A MILLION (occassions?)!

If that’s the case:

COME AGAIN (once) IN A MILLION (instances you wanna buy from a convenience store?)!

The Philippines used to be investor-friendly having one of the most affordable high-quality labor in the world whole of Southeast Asia. Unfortunately, due to the usual catalysts such as our weird sense of democracy, globalization westernization, and the omnipresent Kilusang Mayo Uno (not that I hate them), our country and its work force is no longer considered as best buy by the likes of Intel, IBM, and soon enough, all of P&G.

So what happened? Think collective bargaining agreement. Think endless and perhaps senseless protests. Think about workers going on strike. Fast forward to year 2008 and we only have a handful of big multinational companies left manufacturing their goods in the Islands Philippines.

Now, what is left in our country that still churn out money like there’s no tomorrow is a vast ocean of call centers and BPOs. Call centers after call centers continue to emerge out of nowhere. In fact, the once lonely stretch along Commonwealth Avenue may soon become a deserving competitor to Eastwood City, at the very least.

However, in my own honest opinion, the days of sunshine for these agents are numbered. Never mind the US recession and the never-ending turmoil in the Philippine political arena. What matters, what really matters, is the fact that our call center agents here are beginning to have egos bigger than their bodies can contain. Now, I am not generalizing. Sure, there are a lot of humble and down-to-earth agents left out there. But as a marketer, I am trending, and honestly, this is what I have to say.

If you don’t know there is a certain practice that some call center agents are doing right now to speed up their so called appreciation as an employee. For example, an agent, say, from Convergys, gets a higher basic pay than a staff from a local bank. If you’re a fresh graduate and basically have zero working experience, you’d opt for the former because – hey – money talks.

For some reason, while they’re inside working for a call center, they began to hear talks over yosi Lucky Me Starbucks that the newly opened Dell (assuming it still is) offers 30% higher basic pay. So with the misguided belief that 6 months working at Convergys is a bankable work experience, they apply at Dell and demand for a basic pay that is 40% higher than what they are currently receiving.

But then again, Dell (in theory) is desperate for a headcount, so they still give in. After all, the applicants are not a Manny Pacquiao with the English language and even at that rate; they are still earning less than the hombre from NY. And so, this cycle goes on and on as new and newer call centers arrive and as older and, perhaps, stronger call centers vie for retention and acquisition of those so-called quality agents.

Now, lemme ask. Why did these companies (Accenture, Convergys, People Support, etc.) even decided to put up their businesses here? Unlike real estate, it is not location, location, location. The quick answer is SAVINGS. We Pinoys are cheap. Some agents may feel sophisticated and all each time they splurge their take-home cash at Italiannis but at the end of every day, they are still not living the lives of their American counterpart.

So can you just imagine what would happen to the call center industry should these agents fail to comprehend that their practice of milking out the call center cow would sooner or later equate the Opex of the local subsidiaries at the same level as doing so in the States?

The quick answer is GOODBYE. They may have a recession there, baby, but they surely don’t elect actors as Presidents. They surely don’t have renegade soldiers with egos that can outsize a hot-air balloon. And they, especially the big bosses, don’t have to live far away from home.

So go ahead, don’t learn from the past. Don’t learn from this post. Sooner or later, the jobs you so love the most will vanish before your very eyes. These investors are like customers to, if they don’t like your service, if they don’t feel contented with your service, they can just simply call to cancel. Now, that wouldn’t be too nice, huh?

I used to do the following things years ago: 1.) work in a call center; 2.) take Stresstabs daily. Now, thanks to the current ad for the brand (that Call Center Stresstabs thingy), I swear to God myself that I will never tread that path ever again.

Seriously though, the ad is great. The promo is effective. By challenging call center agents and the likes in a somewhat win-win situatuion, it reflects that Stresstabs must be so effective that Wyeth is willing to gamble money for it (all promotional expenses require money at some level). Would Samsung ever challenge you pertaining to their phone’s durability? I don’t think so. You see my point?

Unfortunately, pointing out this particular niche alienates the rest of the world. We all know how much this so-called sunshine industry is being maligned to the most undesirable work of all: prostitution. Work all night, sleep all day, high probable per day income, lack of real benefits, no career growth, and best of all, a very tired mouth (or hand thanks to Carpal Syndrome) after a 9-hour shift. And so, do you really think other stressed-individuals (like moi) would want to be seen around taking Stresstabs? For me, taking Stresstabs right now is like saying “Look at me! I’m a call center agent!”

Now, there’s nothing wrong with being a BPO person. Heck, it’s a decent living. Unfortunately in the world of marketing where aspiration is a major catalyst of product movement, I am pretty sure that the snotty people from advertising agencies, stiff people from banks, to self-righteous media men, wouldn’t touch Stresstabs with a 10-feet pole (unless for free).

At any rate, I congratulate the Stresstabs team for focusing. Focus, these days, is the name of the game. I just hope and pray though that you intend to keep this on for years and years to come. What you did is a half-baked Catch-22 like what Monde Nissin did. There’s no turning back. It’s a call center multivitamin and a call center multivitamin all the way. If you let that go, you’d seem unfocused, and those agents might retaliate for you abandoning ship. I also don’t think the other professions would easily embrace you even with a multimillion campaign revamp sooner or later.

So, you marketing guys from Wyeth: ARE YOU UP FOR THE FOCUSED MARKETING CHALLENGE?

Just recently, someone posted a video at YouTube showing the purported scam being done by Willie Revillame for Wowowee. I’m not a film editor or something and so a lot of things could escape my 20/20 vision on-screen. However, should this indeed be a “modified” video created by malicious parties attempting to malign ABS-CBN with the lowest of the low (Do I already sound like a Kapamilya Spokesperson?), I must say the graphic artist or whatnot who did this produced a great job.

It looks real. It looks genuine. It looks convincing.

This so-called Wowowee scandal has already passed ever since Mr. Joey de Leon lambasted Willie at his own noontime show at GMA, Eat Bulaga! Now, with stronger evidence (are videos still admissible in courts?), just imagine the fiery words that would come out of Joey by noon tomorrow. This time around, a major percentage who were at Willie’s side (were there any?) will be backing you up.

ABS-CBN, you are already full of shit. Make your company less dirty and get rid of Willie Revillame. The notion that he is still hosting your shows (and getting paid to fool the poor) really dumbfounds me. Logic escapes me. Your newscasters at Bandila are so quick to question irregularities in the government yet your house sponsors the acts of Willie? How many other shows are there that caters to this kind of culture? Is your corporate social responsibility or plain old-time ethics all out of the window?

Should you not be genuinely concerned about what is right or wrong, well just pull-out Willie or the entire show for the sake of good marketing. I accept that sometimes, I am very totalitarian and the way I market things may not only be uncanny but ruthless at least, but I will not and refuse to stoop at Willie’s level.

Anyway, stop this foolishness once and for all. If you don’t care about the people you are fooling, then care about your ratings or your profits! Acting slow is not acting at all on this matter at hand. Think of all the other companies, even bigger than yours, that fell on their knees because they refused to accept defeat. Think about Tylenol in the USA or Union Carbide’s leaking gas disaster in 1984 (are you guys aware of these incidents?) and be reminded that refusing or ignoring little bush fires can end so much bigger.

Mr. Lopez, you are at the onset of becoming historic and classical examples of PR and marketing. Are you gonna be a failure or a victor of circumstance? It’s your call. But whichever path you take, rest assured that given the intensity and clamor these videos may produce (YouTube is YouTube), this is gonna be a great case study for years and years to come.