GUIDED by its overarching program of sustainable tourism, the Department of Tourism (DOT) on Monday launched a refreshed Philippines brand campaign, but still anchored on the slogan “It’s More Fun in the Philippines.”
At the National Museum of Natural History, the old home of the DOT, Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat walked guests through the framework of the refreshed campaign, which intends to use photos and videos from tourists around the world of their visits around the Philippines. “It’s a 100-percent crowd-sourced campaign made entirely by people who have experienced firsthand why it’s more fun in the Philippines,” she said.
The refreshed campaign was inspired by the first one launched in 2012, where the public was encouraged to make their own memes using the It’s More Fun in the Philippines slogan, garnering over 4.3 million images to date.
The new campaign is grounded in sustainability — “zero commissioned footage equals a smaller carbon footprint,” explained Romulo Puyat. “By using 100-percent crowd-sourced material, everyone who took part has helped create the country’s most sustainable tourism campaign to date.”
At the heart of the refreshed campaign is an invitation for Filipinos and foreigners alike to “Be Part of the Fun.’” This call to action enjoins tourists to share more of their photos, videos and reasons they like the country with #ItsMoreFunInThePhilippines in hopes of getting featured in upcoming advertising materials.
To capture the spirit of participation, the DOT introduced a new design system rooted in traditional motifs and colors. A custom-made font called “Barabara” has been created—and made free-for-use—drawing on the Filipino style of hand-painted lettering. In an interview with the BusinessMirror, BBDO Guerrero Creative Director David Guerrero said, “This is really the first time we’ve had a font of our own. The previous one was not custom-made. This one is an individually made, custom-made for us [based on the Filipino’s style of handpainting signs]. This handpainting can be seen on the side of boats, painted on jeepneys, or sari-sari stores. This is branding the country with something unique,” he added.
BBDO Guerrero beat out four other advertising companies to land the P250-million contract to create the refreshed Philippines brand campaign for the DOT. The same agency also undertook the first campaign “It’s More Fun” campaign launched in 2012 under former Tourism Secretary Ramon J. Jimenez.
Supporting the new font is a new logo, inspired by local woven textiles. It is the core of a fresh graphic identity system that symbolizes a fun, contemporary and more sustainable tourism offering. In the original logo, there was a map of the Philippines within the colorful weaves of the banig. “We captured the essence of the banig” in the new logo, said Guerrero, but they had to remove the Philippine map because it couldn’t be distinguished especially when reproduced as a small pin.
Many of the guests, however, had expected an actual TV commercial or video ad to be previewed to the public. However, Guerrero averred the event was meant to just set the tone for the campaign. “Before traveling, what do people do? They read reviews first,” he noted, underscoring why it was important to get inputs from people who have traveled in and around the country.
“We’ve established the principles of the campaign, set out the intentions, the actual creation [of the ad will be] inspired by what’s there, how it will evolve. It’s untraditional [in the sense that] in the past, here’s one big ad. What we’re saying is we’re laying the platform for creating the physical content that we’ll roll out in a responsive and adaptive kind of way,” he stressed.
“There will be multiple versions, there will be customized versions, there will be tailored versions, so it’s a lot more that we will evolve. A lot of it will be data-inspired, data-responsive and it will be real in terms of what is shared,” Guerrero said.
In a related development, Romulo Puyat said they will be meeting with Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray when she arrives in Manila next week to see how she can help in promoting the Philippines.
At a press conference after the unveiling of the new Philippines brand campaign, the DOT chief said President Duterte had wanted to draft Gray as a “Philippines Tourism Ambassador,” to assist in encouraging more foreign tourists to visit the country. Duterte briefly met with Gray in January after she won her crown.
“Even before she became Miss Universe, Catriona was already promoting the Philippines as part of her advocacy,” said Romulo Puyat. Part of her introduction in the Miss Universe pageant included video clips in Intramuros and other key destinations of the Philippines.