Anatomy of a failed tourism brand http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/home/marketing/4259-anat...

Anatomy of a failed tourism brand

Sunday, 28 November 2010 18:56 Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo / Special to the BusinessMirror

Four hours before Tourism Undersecretary for Planning and

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

Several executives of the advertising giant were having a planning

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

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

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

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

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

If you’re going to a new market, meron “insight mining” from the

consumers. Although Asians, for example, have a lot of universal
truths, siyempre me differentiations rin. It takes quite a while.

Of course, not everybody can afford that kind of process.

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Sometimes we do shortcut it, but always, always, always, before

you produce, before you spend one centavo on any production
before airing, you test. That is something we will never violate.
Even on a 90-day political campaign, ite-test muna namin ’yan
kahit pano.

Testing will come from your end or from their end?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

So you made a proposal for P500,000?

Villapando: Basta early September, ’yun ang first siyempre, a proper proposal. So we made a
proposal, did a quote, with the understanding na friendly-friendly ang rate. And then [we] sent it na
and he said he’ll find a way to have it approved.

Ong: Medyo matagal, in fact, before we could even do anything about that. Tapos biglang kailangan
naman nila ng initial “exploratory concept.” Now throughout this, meron naman na pala. Medyo may
friction na between the Tourism Congress and them [DOT], and we knew about them only lately. Kasi
may feeling yata ang Tourism Congress, they should be the one to spearhead the market. Of course,
sina Enteng naman, “Ano?”

I think that may be the reason why suddenly from a strategic approach biglang naging “exploratory
concept” ang hinihingi sa amin. In fact, ang bilis, bilis, bilis ng deadline. Umalis ako, October 27;
bumalik ako sa Philippines, November 11. November 15 launch. When, in fact, nung umalis ako,
akala ko hindi tuloy.

Villapando: Wala pang final, final approval….

Ong: At saka napaka-tentative lahat! Nagulat nga ako na mayroon ng launch, at saka wow! ang
bongga ng dating with fireworks.

With matching dancing girls!

Ong: Umalis na kami nun. I was telling Marilyn nga, al fresco [’yung venue], “Sino ’yung mga
naka-hot pants?” Akala ko usherettes!

So anyway, exploratory concepts. Kung minsan kung nagmamadali ka at ’di ka pwede gumawa ng
step-by-step strategy, puwede ka namang gumawa ng “adcepts” or “advertising concepts” and you can
use that to catalyze and get reactions, and then from there refine, although I would have preferred the
long route. Kasi nga it’s so important.

Tapos bigla nalang naging kailangan na nila…to this day I don’t know what was the magic of
November 15, bakit ba kayo nagmamadali? ’Di ko talaga alam kung ano ’yun! And then ang reason
was there were a lot of industry events na magko-call ng branding, like the [Pinoy] homecoming, ’di
namin nga alam kung ano’ng reason. I left October 27, I was gone for 13 days.

So Marilyn was in charge of talking to Enteng all the time?

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Ong: But never naman sinabi sa kanya kung ano’ng gagawin on the event itself.

Villapando: Our only area talaga was to get a logo, get that done.

Ong: The “adcepts”….

Villapando: And the event was somebody else.

Ong: 3D was somebody else…

So when you were talking, did you ask Enteng, “Teka, sir, magkano mo naman kami
babayaran?”

Ong: Wala na nga, kasi nagmamadali.

Villapando: Parang tulungan niyo nalang kami, tapos ang kwento.

Ong: Tulungan nyo nalang kami and we’ll fix it after.

Villapando: Saka nalang tayo mag-usap. Basta he only said, “Basta ’di naman ito libre, we will make
sure that something....” There was no more talk about money because at that time…

Ong: Parang panic time na. Siya [Enteng] ang nagpa-panic. We tried our best naman, that’s why we
came up with five [adcepts] from different groups namin. Initially our primary market was North
America. And the initial was gawan muna ng exploratory concept for North America, and later we
will do one for the rest [of the markets]. But I knew they only had P200 million for advertising….

Again, please you have to explain that the P200 million will not go to the advertising agency! That
includes production and media placements, and ’yun ang pinaka-mahal!

He never promised that in the bidding for the later advertising execution you will get
preferential treatment?

Both: Ahhh no!

Ong: At saka di kami sasali sa bidding kasi you know why? Halimbawa lang, if anyone passed [or
approved] the concept, then we would have created a storyboard, and then magtatawag ng production
houses, ’di hindi na kami kasali dun. Production houses to execute the storyboard that we made, if it
pushed through. And then the media portion, which is 85 percent of the budget, is again to be bidded
among media agencies, eh hindi naman kami media agency! In reality, yung P200 million, walang
mapupunta sa amin doon kasi ’yung amin [concept], ’yun lang, ’di pa nga namin na-peg.

Villapando: ’Di pa namin napag-usapan and ’yun namang “brand architecture,” just disappeared.
Nawala na ’yun. Kasi nagpa-panic na silang lahat.

Ong: Biglang exploratory concepts na. I kept saying, “Bakit ba tayo nagmamadali?!”

So it should be brand architecture first, before exploratory concepts?

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Ong: Always! That’s to mine insights also. Kasi nga pwede namang i-short cut, that’s dangerous and I
wouldn’t advise it. Pero pwede din namang gamitin mo ’yung concepts to trigger…ayan na nga,
violent reactions. Pero dapat ’yun sa market na kinukuha (e.g., North America), hindi dito. Isa pa ’yun
eh. Kasi ang kausap, ’di naman tayo eh. We didn’t really know [what North America’s reaction would
be].

Palagay mo na, ang appeal diyan sa Tagalog [slogan] eh kapwa Pilipino. If we go by that argument,
last year, there was a little over 3 million visitors. Of the 3 million visitors, 580,000 came from North
America, followed by Korea, and I’m not sure if it was China or Japan [ang kasunod]. So ang tawag
nila dyan, “low-lying fruit.” Do you know how many Fil-migs there are? Almost 10 million! So if we
just got the 10 million to come, just once, we would have a 300-percent increase [in tourist arrivals]!
And we would be No. 2 [in Asia] kamukha ng Singapore. Because by their numbers ha, 23 million
[arrivals in] Malaysia…. No. 2 was Singapore at 9 million, No. 3 Thailand, No. 4 was Indonesia, No.
5 was Vietnam! Only 700,000 tourists more than us last year!

Kaya ang gusto talaga ni Enteng, and again tama, he wanted the “low-lying fruit,” and kasi nagka-
Luneta fiasco. Sabi nga namin, “Sige, baka nga dapat ’yung malayo ang i-target natin.” He really
made a lot of sense. Kasi nga, I said we can’t afford a segmented campaign katulad ng ginawa nung
time ni Ace [Durano]. Alam mo nung time ni Ace, wala naman WOW Philippines sa lahat eh. They
used WOW Philippines in the markets that responded to WOW Philippines. And they changed it for
the markets that were not, which makes a lot of sense! But again, research-based ’yun, ’di ’yun
ginagawa from the hip.

So what about the PKG brand?

Ong: Which is why naman, we chose five [concepts]. Kasi normally naman, ang ginagawa namin, we
try to go to the closest to where they came from, and close to what is generally expected of a tourism
campaign, which is the “adjective campaign”—“Amazing,” “Incredible,” “Charming,” whatever,
“Truly Asia.”

So mayroon kaming ganoon, and it was going wilder and wilder. Last one nga was really a trial.
“What if we created a campaign that had primarily a Tagalog word?” Kasi nga, we don’t have
research. We were only using our own insights. Kasi ang Black Eyed Peas, one of their two monster
hits….

Was the one of apl.de.ap…

Ong: Was Tagalog! (“Bebot”). And that Pacman wins. So feeling namin, there was a curiosity about
the Philippines and maybe “Kay Ganda” would become like “Aloha.”

Maybe it should be “Mabuhay.”

Ong: Except that “mabuhay,” ang exact translation is ‘live long and prosper.” Pero samantalang,
magandang umaga, magandang hapon…. “Magandang umaga” means “beautiful morning,” so we
said, why not try?

So the PKG came from you!

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Ong: But always with a translation incorporated in the logo ha. In fact, if we were to do a storyboard,
it would have included Pacquiao, Lea [Salonga], Arnel [Pineda], Charice…interspersed with sceneries
with Koreans saying “Kay Ganda” in their funny accents. Tapos ’di naman ever na-produce, kasi nga
’yung logo na ’yun…

Villapando: …ni-launch.

So how many did you submit?

Ong: Five. Four in English….

Wonder full Philippines, Visit Philippines…

Ong: No, not “Visit Philippines”…“World’s warmest welcome.” “Luv Ya Phil!”

Parang TV show!

Ong: Gusto nga natin iba ang dating. Kasi nga, wala tayong pera eh, so you need to break from the
traditional told. We cannot compete! But like I said, you can be wild naman in exploratory concepts
because you know eventually….

Villapando: Ite-test.

Still, many thought, world-class advertising firm, ba’t ganun lang ang output? “Luv Ya Phil!”
Then Manny Pacquiao…“now we know where inspiration comes from”?

Ong: Well kasi nga, unang-una, we didn’t have too much time eh. Admittedly, it was very rushed. But
beyond that, kasi nga, when you explore, that means you know mag-e-evolve pa ’yan. These are
really…you need to catalyze…. ’Di ’yun you will end up with that. It could be many, many steps
away pa. In the first place nga, if we had better research data, it wouldn’t be such a guesswork. Ito,
you’re just guessing and throwing certain ideas and hoping ’yung reactions nila will guide you to a
clearer and better crafted message.

So after you submitted the concepts, what went into the discussion of finalizing PKG?

Ong: DOT liked the Tagalog. Marami kaming binigay na logo. We actually liked a lot of the initial
output. Pinakita sa ’min ’yung Maldives, Italia, España, Polska, and they said nga, “Ito ang trend,
playful, light, etc.” So kami naman, ’yung teams namin ginawa ’yung interpretation namin based on
the general direction. Eh ayaw naman nya [Enteng], ’di nya type. Ang daming balik-balik. He even
gave us his own logo study, parang ’yung eto ’yung iniisip nya.

Ba’t sya napako sa Polska na ’yun?

Ong: Kasi maganda eh. Professionally, I liked it.

But you cannot say it was just inspired because it really looks copied!

Ong: Alam mo, in fairness again, the only thing the same there was the font.

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But that was the most recognizable part.

Ong: But the font is common. The colors are different. “Polska” is all red. “Pilipinas” is in different
colors—may red, blue, in fact, I never even saw it before I left, kasi [the design was being sent] back
and forth [from us to DOT], back and forth, hanggang nakaalis na ako. In fact, that was the first thing
I asked when I returned and got to the office, “Pwede ba makita ’yung papakita mamayang gabi?
Titignan ko kung magtatago ako sa ilalim ng silya.” So nung lumabas, mayroon nang tarsier, may
smiling coconut, mayroong sun. [Kay P-Noy] ’yung tarsier and smiling coconut. Totoo ’yung sinabi
ni Bertie [Lim].

’Yung binigay naming guide for research, you test three to five concepts—meaning mayroon kahit
theme line and key visual. And we were proposing you will test also, all their best lines na binigay sa
kanila ng mga volunteers—“Your best friend in Asia,” that’s Boy Abunda. Kay Carlos [Celdran]
“Philippines…It’s all about you.” May nag-propose ng “Philippines…Latin Asia,” mayroon
nag-submit “Peace-loving Philippines.”

Ah so this was after the fiasco na…

Ong: Whether or not there was a fiasco, that was really the next step. And we were going to
benchmark it with WOW Philippines. And that’s a way a proper marketing slogan is done.

In fairness to them, they agreed exploratory nga eh. The premise was it was going to be tested.
Naniniwala nga sila na ite-test dapat.

So nagkamali lang sila sa launch?

Ong: Tinanong nga ako [ng reporter], “Ano’ng lesson?” That it was premature and the scale was a
little too big for a preview.

So based on the time period to come up with the concept, that was the best you could offer?

Ong: I don’t remember if we had a week or so, that is really pretty fast even for a regular campaign,
given two weeks, we had half the time. Problem with judging a very raw concept is precisely that. If
the intention was to create the campaign, I would never have agreed to do something like that. But if
the intention was to test it and to use it as a catalyst, then it would have worked very, very well.
Because it would have covered being close to WOW Philippines to something radical like PKG. And
I think if we had followed it without the launch effect, we would have gotten genuine insights from
the different markets [DOT was targeting] and we would have been able to craft the message that is
the right one.

Ang hindi ko maintindihan dun sa mga passionate, ba’t galit na galit sa Tagalog? Palagay mo 20
percent roughly ng Fil-migs nakakaintindi [ng Tagalog]. Koreans, Japanese and Chinese do not
understand English either! I could put a curse there, they wouldn’t know what it means and they
wouldn’t care less!

Okay, I admit that’s a good point.

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Ong: Nakalagay dun [sa mga writeups] we were the agency of Noy. Alam mo ’yung contribution lang
namin to the final election material is the line “Kung walang corrupt, walang mahirap” and the dove
logo. All the TV materials did not come from us! We were supposed to be paid a retainer [but there
were problems financially and some internal disagreements on the advertising campaign direction].
We were supposed to do the Noy-Mar campaign.

Kasi wala ako actually. When I came back, end-March na. That’s why I resigned. In fact, I told Noy, I
had a global conference ng Grey [Group]. ’Di naman pwede ’di ako pumunta. I was gonna be gone
for 21 days. So I resigned. It was inaccurate to say we were the agency [of the campaign]. ’Yung linya
lang sa amin.

So how much does DOT still owe you for the medical tourism campaign?

Ong: Sa PCVC? It was a bid.

Villapando: P600 million na lang.

Ong: The total budget for the medical tourism campaign was P4 million. ’Yun ang natatandaan ko.
Pero maraming material ito ’yung AVP, TV 30-seconder, may brochures, madami ’yun.

Where was it used? Was it sent abroad, the materials?

Ong: ’Di na namin alam e. Basta na-turnover na namin. Completed project.

So you’ve spoken to Enteng since this blew up?

Ong: Through text and e-mail. You know, I think it’s so sad, people say nilaglag namin sya. But we
have to protect naman [our company], pati Grey Global CEO [James R. Heekin III] muntik ng
ma-heart attack nung makita ’yung e-mail [someone complaining about the supposed plagiarism].

And what happened?

Ong: Naintindahan naman nya na collateral damage kami. May tama kami. Bugbog-sarado. Sabi nya,
kahit anong pakita namin, it would have gotten the same reaction. Kasi nga, it was a short cut
[process].

So you told Enteng?

Ong: ’Yun nga, that the Grey Global CEO along with the Grey head of our legal [department] asked
about the plagiarism issue. In effect I told him, kailangan na talaga kami sumagot. And we told Bertie.
Naintindihan naman nila. Go ahead and answer it [they said]. Enteng naman did right by us. In fact,
he wrote an e-mail that basically corroborates our statement, and he sent it to my principal para
ma-kalma.

And what about Bertie?

Ong: He really liked the interactive [concept behind the slogan], na magtuturo ng isang word. Pero, in
fairness, wala syang involvement sa pag-gawa ng logo.

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What did your legal guy say about the plagiarism issue?

Ong: Sabi ng aming legal counsel hindi [plagiarism].

I don’t think plagiarism is even the correct term. IPR violation? Trademark infringement?

Ong: In fact, dapat Polska ang mag-rereklamo. Ang layo [sa original], not [plagiarism] at all, he said.

****

Ong and her friends founded Campaigns Inc., a locally-owned Filipino advertising company, in 1986.
It was bought by international agency Grey Global Inc. in 1993. It has since expanded into public
relations, set up a corporate social responsibility arm, established a Cebu branch to handle Visayas
and Mindanao operations, as well as an affiliate to champion local Filipino brands. It has reaped a
number of advertising awards over the years, and currently its major clients include Procter &
Gamble, Digitel, Universal Robina, Happee Toothpaste, San Miguel Corp. GlaxoSmithKline, SM,
Nissin and Sun Cellular.

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