PR Matters
By Abigail Ho-Torres
“This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.
I know the world is bruised and bleeding, and though it is important not to ignore its pain, it is also critical to refuse to succumb to its malevolence. Like failure, chaos contains information that can lead to knowledge—even wisdom. Like art.”
–Toni Morrison
WHEN writer and Nobel Prize awardee Toni Morrison wrote those lines in an article titled “No Place for Self-Pity, No Room for Fear” on The Nation in 2015, the world was not in a crisis as it is now. But those words from half a decade ago still ring true today. We are in the midst of a global pandemic. We are all uncertain of what the future holds. These are the times when creativity is needed the most: to help the world’s people settle into the so-called new normal.
For the first time in our lives, those of us who are not frontliners have been forced to stay at home, in an effort to slow the spread of the virus. Social beings that we are, finding ourselves suddenly quarantined has had different effects on us, good and bad: some got bored, others got anxious; some got productive, finally getting around to doing that thing that they really wanted to do, but had no time for; and there are also those who thrived in isolation.
Whatever the case may be, I think it is safe to say that we all looked for things to do—to keep our bodies and minds busy so we won’t need to dwell on the bad news. Thank heavens for the Internet, and for artists and brands that ramped up their creativity to help us keep our sanity.
The show must go on
Performers were among those displaced by this pandemic, but those who can were among the first to offer help to others. A series of online concerts started airing on Facebook in March, at the start of the quarantine season, in an effort to raise funds for food, protection kits, and barangay quarantine spaces for frontliners and marginalized Filipinos.
Bayanihan Musikahan has since raised over P90 million in donations, providing aid to more than 90,000 families all over the country. And it all started from simple exchanges on Facebook walls—the right people asking each other “what can we do to help?”
According to National Artist for Music Ryan Cayabyab, who also happens to be the face of the campaign, the four people who started the ball rolling—multi-awarded songwriter Trina Belamide, art critic and curator Marian Pastor Roces, events and production company head Jay Adlao Block, and educator Dan Songco—all have “that pusong dalisay [pure heart] to sincerely put time and effort to help our most vulnerable brothers and sisters.”
“I am just so lucky, and very happy that I got into this project. My role is to give the project a face, and to help mobilize the performing artists’ community. If it weren’t for the artists’ gung-ho attitude, we would not have pushed ourselves this far. And if it weren’t for all those companies who donated and the individuals who dug deep into their pockets, we clearly would have not pushed ourselves, again, this far. It was the civilian action doing its thing, and the wheel rotated so fast that we almost could not catch our breath. It was breathtaking and exhilarating, seeing all the people coming together for this focused cause,” Cayabyab related.
Bayanihan Musikahan had its last show on May 30, capping weeks of performances from more than 200 artists. Aside from frontliners and marginalized Pinoys, the campaign also gave back to members of the live performance industry who suddenly found themselves jobless. But more than the donations raised, what Bayanihan Musikahan did for the thousands of people who watched the performances, myself included, was provide a sense of hope and some semblance of normalcy.
Art therapy
Another form of art that has taken over the Internet these past several weeks is the visual kind. Award-winning artist and Papemelroti co-owner Robert Alejandro has been hosting art sessions on his Facebook page since the start of the lockdown. Although no stranger to teaching art, having hosted children’s TV art show Art Is-Kool close to two decades ago, he admitted to being very nervous at the onset, as this was his first time to hold art classes online.
“I just saw a post from a foreign artist on Instagram giving a live online art class, and I thought it was a great idea. I was very nervous the first time I did it,” he related. “As corny as it may sound, my classes are an expression of love, gratefulness, and care. I started the very first day of the lockdown, and we’ve done so much art already.”
His art classes have attracted children and adults alike, with grateful mothers even posting about how the classes have helped their children cope with boredom and uncertainty.
“The parents and children are so appreciative of the classes. I think having fun, a bit of learning, and a routine are very important in these strange, anxious times. The classes give a sense of stability and happiness, too,” he said.
The local comics community, through Komiket, has also been offering various creative classes to help people feel better during these trying times. Komiket is the country’s biggest local comics and art market, and has been mounting Comic Book Creator’s Workshops since 2015.
According to author, filmmaker, and Komiket cofounder Paolo Herras, these free online classes are also a first for Komiket. Classes that have been offered so far range from the technical to the process-driven. Some workshops, like Creativity for Healing and Art Tambays: Comics as Journal Therapy, are geared more toward mental and emotional health.
“As we were all locked down with our worries, fears, frustrations, and anxieties, Komiket wanted to contribute mental and emotional support by offering free creative workshops. Through these small acts of sharing, we wanted to make the world feel a little bit better,” he said.
Keep movin’
For those who want a little more movement, prima ballerina and Ballet Manila artistic director Lisa Macuja-Elizalde holds online classes via Facebook, both for a minimal fee and in support of various fundraisers. Most of her classes are for her school, The Lisa Macuja School of Ballet.
“The idea came about when I started teaching the company three times a week in order to keep everyone in shape and keep morale high. We advertised online that you could take classes with the company for a small fee. We had many enrollees, so we decided to offer it to students of all capabilities and training levels as well,” she said.
What’s good with taking online ballet classes thrice a week, she said, was the structure it provided a person’s day.
“I think it’s important to have some form of schedule or structure to your day. Attending an online ballet class three times a week gives you some sort of schedule to look forward to. It also helps you move and get the endorphin rush of moving and dancing to music. And it’s also a form of social interaction with a teacher and ballet classmates, even if it is through a screen. We are all learning together,” she related.
While these online classes were spurred by the lockdown, she said that because of the public’s good reception, these would continue even after the lifting of the quarantine. This is also seen helping stoke people’s interest in ballet.
“That’s one of the reasons we are doing the online classes: it builds a larger community for ballet, whether as dance students, or audience members, or supporters of the performing arts. The reach of online classes is helping, for sure,” she said.
If ballet is not your thing, you can opt to join online exercise classes. Health-care service provider PhilCare, through its Wellness from Home campaign, seeks to redefine the concept of working from home by throwing fun workouts into the mix.
PhilCare President and Chief Executive Officer Jaeger Tanco related that even before the imposition of the quarantine, the company had already established various programs to help ensure that its clients lived healthy lives. Among these initiatives were yoga lessons, cooking demos, personality development classes, and health lectures—all of which were conducted in clients’ offices.
But when the quarantine made doing all of those impossible, he said PhilCare had to think outside the box if it wanted to continue serving the health and wellness needs of its customers.
“We decided to concentrate on fitness and exercise videos because of the feedback we’ve been getting from our members. We also know how regular exercise releases endorphins, or the happy hormones, which everybody can benefit from, especially now,” he said, adding that some of PhilCare’s workout videos had reached as many as 40,000 views.
Citing Google Trends data from March 1 to 31, iSentia Head of Insights and Innovation in Asia Prashant Saxena shared in a recent webinar that demand for how-to fitness videos for adults and kids were on the rise, with search for “exercises at home” being led by the Philippines.
“Consumers are looking at this period of isolation to reset, reboot, and emerge stronger,” he shared during the webinar What’s On Media: Adapt & Respond—Changes in Consumer Behavior.
Way forward
We all have our own ways of dealing with this crisis. Whichever way you choose to go, always be in touch with your creative side and try to incorporate some physical movements in your daily routine. Not only will you be boosting your immunity, you’ll also be increasing your chances of holding on to your sanity.
If you’re an individual or brand who wants to stay relevant to your customers, now is the time to step up your game. Be authentic. Be creative. We all need a bright spot in our lives right now.
PR Matters is a roundtable column by members of the local chapter of the United Kingdom-based International Public Relations Association (Ipra), the world’s premier organization for PR professionals around the world. Abigail L. Ho-Torres is AVP and head of Advocacy and Marketing of Maynilad Water Services Inc. She spent more than a decade as a business journalist before making the leap to the corporate world.
We are devoting a special column each month to answer our readers’ questions about public relations. Please send your questions or comments to askipraphil@gmail.com.