OVER 100 top homegrown businesses signified their support to Brand Pilipinas—a new movement aimed at bringing Filipino products and services to new heights—during its launch at the Green Sun Hotel in Makati City on Thursday.
Brand Pilipinas Coconvener Brad Geiser said most Filipino brands are challenged by the long-standing perception on the mediocrity of Philippine-made products.
“It’s time we had a paradigm-shift because this kind of mentality not only hurts local businesses, but the economic reputation of the Philippines as a whole,” he said. While there may be a handful of homegrown businesses that has already penetrated the international market, the movement’s originator admitted there’s still no strong Filipino brand that is globally revered. He attributed this to the country’s being a colony of different countries for a long time.
“If you’re a colonizer, what is it that you want from your colony? You want cheap labor and cheap resources to make products. But are those products cheap? No,” he said. Branding them, he continued, could result to margins and profits. These could be achieved by teaching the colony about marketing and selling foreign brands.
“But the one thing you never ever teach your colony is how to create a global brand. Because if you do, then they’re not a colony anymore. They’re your competitor,” he said.
“So part of the purpose behind the Brand Pilipinas movement is the Philippines should be creating not just great local brands, but great global brands, as well. That means adjusting the culture a little bit so that we see what we produce and what we consume in a different way.”
Since the Philippines is richly blessed with vast natural resources, talented people, rich culture, and heritage, IPG Mediabrands CEO Venus Navalta noted this country has to also help create a truly Filipino brand.
“We should start with that, and then shape the reputation part because that is something we can do right now. The ones that we have, strike with it. And then start creating the brand,” she said, while citing also the importance of city or place branding.
For instance, she said Mindanao can be the center for food technology, Cebu for furniture, Palawan for environmental consciousness, and Manila for culture and heritage.
“There are many things we can do. I’m hopeful we are at the right place right now to do that. Start with what we have and move on and sell ourselves to the world,” Navalta said.
For the Brand Pilipinas to work, it has to tell a truthful story. Through technology, the message could be brought to different types of people or nationality.
“We tend to look outside and copy other peoples’ [work]. I think that’s a huge disservice to Filipino talents [considering that] right now, we see a lot more people listening to stories that are homegrown,” Group of Five Creative Concepts Founder and CEO George Royeca said. “Make it pure. You don’t have to put any fancy effect or fancy anything… At the end of the day, content is content.”
Brand Pilipinas hopes to influence local talent to adopt a “Filipino-first” mentality by choosing homegrown brands over the more popular and highly commercial international brands.
“I hope this movement will make us proud of our products and services. Our products are among the best out there,” said Danny Lim, president of United Neon Advertising (UNA).
Agreeing with Lim UNA COO Freddie Arlantico, who said “it starts from loving your own. It’s about time that we all start building our own. Be proud of everything that’s Pilipinas.”
For David Lim, founder of Brown & Proud Movement, it is high time for Filipino brands to take center stage at the global market, reminding them to “make sure the soul of the Filipino is in it.”
Brand Pililpinas Movement Co-Convener, Actor and Founder of Liwanag ng Kapayapaan Foundation Robin Padilla said in Filipino, “Now is the time to show the world that Filipinos are brave, creative, nationalistic, qualities embodied by Brand Pilipinas.”
The Brand Pilipinas Conference was organized and supported by Brown & Proud Movement, GeiserMaclang Marketing Communications, Group of Five Creative Concepts, IPG Mediabrands, Liwanag ng Kapayaan Foundation, United Neon Advertising, and Vidanes Celebrity Management.