Retailing: Getting to be more fun in the Philippines

"In the future, advertising will be waged 

not on TV or print but in Retail."  

-- So said my professor back in college.  It was a taunt, a scare, that what we were learning from his class (Visuals for Advertising) in college will most probably be obsolete by the time we have the chance to practice them in our careers.  But no one got scared.  Or nobody listened; maybe no one except me.  Because I did feel a little twitch in my heart, hurting on the thought that my expensive college education will be spent learning obsolete ideas.  So I disagreed in my head about the idea that the future wont be about advertising on ATL and decidedly forget that thought throughout my college years majoring in Advertising.  

But of course my professor was right.  Working abroad, I surmise that he had seen the future of marketing, advertising and retail in a more advanced economy and how it will soon spread to the Philippines.  And so, 10 years after college, 2 internships, 2 ad agency jobs both as a suit and as a writer, more than a year in digital marketing and 4 years doing brand activations, here I am doing RETAIL for a multinational.  Yep, retail, as in in-store.  Partly Shopper Marketing, partly merchandising, partly Activations.  In short, very much Retail.  

This is not my brand.  I think it's even competitive.  But this just shows how retail can be, or is, as captivating as a TVC.  Plus it's closer to purchase.  

The Marketing & Sales industry calls it now "Shopper Marketing."  Or as my official title says - "Field Activations."  Ramble:  Technically they're different but I find them the same.  Shopper Marketing is the thinking part and Field Activations is the execution part.  

And rambling further:  Activations is a very, very, very misunderstood, misjudged and under-recognized part of the IMC mix. Many people just don't get it that while its main output is execution, it's 80% lies in strategy and planning, whether the execution is a promo, merchandising or an event.  Well that's just my number, please don't quote me on that, but yea, that's the amount of time I spent doing these things.  

Anyway, the point is, I think that "Shopper Marketing" is still the plain old 4P's but with zoom-in focus in-store - from the market, now called the shopper, to the promotions.  No?  Let's not debate on this and move on.

So I've spent the past few months scanning and learning the retail landscape and I must say that I'm getting impressed with the quality of work we are doing on retail in the Philippines.  Especially with department stores in malls, they are really focusing now on Shopping Experience.  

I mean, fine, the store ladies in the country's malls have ever been helpful and courteous and pretty since the time the only SM I knew was in Cubao; but even brands' placements on ordinary store shelves have improved displays now versus the old-style, firing range displays.  

Just look at that topshelf above - this is at SM Department Store's Personal Care / Health and Beauty section managed by Watsons.  Lighted glass glorifier, asymmetric acrylic holder, a look book (a look book!), name plates and the actual products themselves are so well put.  They're like a fashion collection in Rustans!  Kidding.  They're like a fashion collection in a branded store!  It's so - Cherie Gil-sosyal!  In SM!  Not even Aura!  In SM Bicutan!  Joke again.  This is in Mega Mall!  :)

I haven't seen advertising from Toni&Guy locally and here is this brand, competing in-store, convincing me to buy a P450 (I think) Pomade versus a P100 Gatsby gel.  And I bought it, (mabuhay)!  Amazing.  Simply amazing how this is so possible now!  This is the Starbucks strategy of Experience and Engagement happening along department store aisles.  

This is from Etude.  Or as they call it, the "House of Etude."  And on display are not toys, but bottles of lotion and hand creams.  If they don't get your attention, you must have had a sad childhood.  Or you're a straight guy.

Foreign brands are entering the Philippines.  International retailers are coming whether with their own brands (Watsons and Wellcome), or through partnerships with local retailers.  Foreign consumer brands are coming in too.  Some US-based brands have long been staples in Philippine stores but other international sellers are also setting up shop like Etude of Korea - bringing with them fresh ways of promoting their products in-store, in the absence of ATL budgets.  Of course all of these, thanks to the growing Philippine economy.  

Given these shifts, I wonder how and why other locally-managed brands still stick to their old promotions formulae.  Some even treat Digital as TV advertising - measuring eyeballs and clicks (sooo 2008).  And whether we call promotions in-store as Retail Marketing or Shopper Marketing or Demo Marketing or Promo Marketing or CRM or whut-ever, the way consumers (in shopper mode) experience and interact with brands and products on store shelves are becoming a key factor in winning the war for the Filipino customers' trial, preference and loyalty.  Truly, and as always, it's time for change.

God is a DJ

I had a very good and long chat with my friend Vince today who I got to know when I was doing Activations at Globe.  He started out as a radio DJ at NU then continued doing events in an events and activations agency which he now heads.

One thing interesting he said was that God is a DJ.  That sometimes, music comes to you at the right moment as if heaven-sent.  And that moment when your situation jives perfectly with the music that you were hearing at that time, whether from your iPhone or from the taxi's radio, as if on cue, as if you're in an MTV, is a gift specially made for you.

Mine was during my trip to Rome about exactly two years ago.  It was late afternoon and the sun was still high in the Italian sky when I entered the Foro Romano or the Roman Forum.  As a lover of history, walking on the Via Sacra was very thrilling as if I've gone back hundreds of years ago; as if I stepped inside a book and was walking on its pages.

To get me into the mood, I was playing classical music on my iPhone.  And as I walked upward toward the Capitoline rise, I heard a track that was unfamiliar to me.  It was dark and heavy, as if voices under the earth were murmuring a message while a constant drumbeat played in the background in a mood of suspense.  I thought of moving forward through the playlist but I was distracted with the emerging beauty I was seeing.  The view of the whole Forum slowly emerged from atop.

Then as I reached the peak of the rise, I saw it, the whole Forum.  And as if on cue, I heard that the track had a glorious rise in its melody.  The dark tone reached a peaceful height and plateaued.  Then angelic voices in a triumphant chorus continued onto a peaceful melody.  As I watched the glory of Ancient Rome.  A wild fantasy come true, unexpected and unplanned.    

I walked again down the road and took note of the ruins of the ancient Roman Empire, the Roman Senate, buildings and basilicas.  The music was still playing on my iPhone until I reached the House of the Vestal Virgins.  And there the melody settled in a peaceful harmony of instruments and voices.

After the track, I looked at my iPhone and read the name of the song.  It was Requiem Aeternam by Rutter.  And after reading the name of the track, as I climbed the old stairs going up the Palatine Hill, I felt in an instant -- that moment was given as a gift only for me, most specially for me.  Now I acknowledge that at that moment,  God certainly was my DJ.

Salamat Globe, kita tayong muli. :)

Hello.

(Pakinggan ang “Iisang bangka” ng The Dawn habang binabasa for full effect.  Ito po ang link)



I just want to say express again my deepest and sincerest gratitude to everyone I’ve worked with during my stay here in Globe, especially during my Brand Activation/Event days.  Thank you, from the deepest most unfathomable reaches of my heart, thank you.  Hindi sapat ang mga salita upang mapasalamatan ko kayong lahat, sa inyong tulong at suporta, tiwala at pakiki-isa, sa inyong pagod at talino, sa ating mga pinagsaluhang katuwaan, katatawanan, at kaligayan, sa ating pag-sulong. 

At higit sa lahat, salamat sa pagkakabigan.  Kahit na may mga hindi tayo mapag-kasunduan, salamat sa pakikinig.  Kahit na may iba-iba tayong dahilan at nais patunguhan, salamat sa pag-iintindi.  At kahit na may iba-iba tayong mga pakay at pag-uugali, madalas tayong kumikilos ng sabay-sabay at magkasama, nagkaka-isa.  Truly in the direst and hardest situations we see each other’s grace and become friends.  And that’s what I will never forget in Globe.  Na nagkaroon ako ng mga kaibigan sa buong Pilipinas. 

Sa pagkaka-kilala ko sa inyo, at pag-sama sa inyo, mula sa pag-kain ng puki-puki at pigar-pigar, Cebu boneless lechon, Durian ice cream, at kung ano-anong uri ng Pancit, at sa ating pagharang ng mga batang frat sa Pampanga (kung saan naitatag ang samahang Alpha Phi Chupapi), at pagpapalipad ng daan-daang mga kabataan sa kung saan-saang bahagi ng Pilipinas para sa Campus Connect Super Showdown (sayang, hindi ako sumikat), nakita at naranasan ko ang ganda ng Pilipinas at sarap ng pagiging Pilipino.  Talaga palang it’s more fun, lalo na ‘pag may boss na napagke-kwentuhan.  Joke.

So, muli, salamat.  Sana muli tayong magka-kita-kita at magka-ulayaw sa hinaharap.  Reminder, please, bayaran niyo ang mga mahal (mahal meaning “beloved,” at hindi “pricey”) nating suppliers.  Naka-PR po ang lahat ng  events ko at may karampatang Waiver of Competition (may kopya po si Ms. Mal ng lahat ng iyon).  Mabuhay po kayo, at lagi, sulong sa liwanag.   

"Amidst everything, we put up a gallant fight not just sometimes, but all the time, for our business, for the lives of the people we serve and for the people who work to serve them."

Sa huling pagkakataon,


Ian
Ian Francis Velasco
Brand Events - Globe Prepaid
Consumer Marketing
Globe Telecom

0927 889 4152 (Naka-GoSAKTO po ako)
ianvelasco.manila@gmail.com
vthefantastic.blogspot.com
twitter.com/vthefantastic

How I understand Brand Activation to be

"If you don't manage your career, someone else will" -- a thought I read from one of the LinkedIn articles which I found to be true in an instant.  And how timely, as I myself have been struggling these past few months with the thought of where I'd want to lead my career to.  Opportunities abound, mentors have different advice coming from different perspective but as I review my past performance, what's clear is that I've always been passionate about commercial communication and I've found my joy in Brand Activations.  The ability to create and leave experiences is, for me, the most exciting and effective way to communicate messages and leave branded memories.  And all advertising is truly that - a memory, which companies hope you bring with you at the grocery.  But people don't just remember images and sounds from a TV screen.  They also remember it through their other senses, how their senses interact with their surroundings and how they experience human interaction.  These are also very strong memories that TV can't capture - that Brand Activations can.  And that's why I think I'll choose to stay in Brand Activations.  Because orchestrating full human experiences to deliver messages is still something many have yet to believe in. 

A career in Brand Activations from Ian Francis Velasco