ADVERTISING materials carrying the new country brand, “We give the world our best. The Philippines,” will also be placed in key regional markets.
In a statement, Secretary Paul Soriano of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Creative Communications told the BusinessMirror, the transit ad in London “was intended to be in the UK in time for the Coronation [of King Charles III], where the world leaders are gathered. It was the perfect opportunity to reach them. The ads will also be shown in the United Sates and the Middle East.”
On the question of whether a bidding was conducted for the development of the country brand, he said, “The team who worked on the campaign’s thinking and creatives volunteered to be part of this country branding campaign. This is a top priority of PBBM [President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.] that our countrymen can be proud to call ourselves Filipinos anywhere in the world. There’s a long-term plan behind this campaign.”
Industry sources revealed that advertising agency DDB Group Philippines played no part in the development of the country brand, and was merely contracted to place the ads for OPACC. Soriano has yet to comment on the largely negative reaction from the public and a lawmaker that the ad appears to be “commodifying our people.” (See, “No tourism slogan yet—DOT,” in the BusinessMirror, May 11, 2023.)
As this developed, Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco defended the new country brand, saying that is how Filipinos behave especially when welcoming guests to their homes or the country. “Nowhere in the world will you meet a family, a Filipino, who is willing to give you the shirt on his back just so you will be comfortable in your journey, who’s willing to welcome you into his home to bring out the best silver, the best cutlery. They won’t eat the lechon until the visitor arrives, even if their children are hungry. ‘We give the world our best.’ That is a fact.”
She added, “What I can promise you, our tourism stakeholders and partners, in moving forward…we will make sure, before the DOT releases any placements, ads, videos and the like, you will be consulted.” She made the statement at the first raffle for the Bisita Be My Guest program.
On Wednesday, a DOT official said ‘the best’ tagline, is still not the tourism slogan. The agency, however, has long dropped the “It’s More Fun in the Philippines” slogan from its promotion materials.
Meanwhile, speaking on Net 25 earlier, Tourism Congress of the Philippines Roberto Zozobrado reiterated the group’s stand to keep the “fun” slogan, which was developed under former DOT chief Ramon Jimenez Jr., a veteran in the advertising industry. “It did very well for us. A lot of my friends in the industry and members of the TCP said they were very happy with the ‘fun’ campaign because it bought in a lot of visitor arrivals. In fact, from 2012 when it was started, we had 4.3 million arrivals. At the end of 2019 before the start of the pandemic, that ad campaign brought us 8.3 million arrivals. So we were doing very well. And it’s nice to portray the country as a fun destination.”
Image credits: May Parsons