Stakeholders to DOT: Let’s keep ‘It’s More Fun…’ tourism slogan

By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo / Special to the BusinessMirror

THE Department of Tourism’s (DOT) plan to change the Philippines’s tourism brand and campaign slogan was met with a barrage of negative reactions from tourism industry stakeholders, with netizens even giving their own “fun” spins and possible new slogans.

Cesar Cruz, president of the Philippine Tour Operators Association (Philtoa), told the BusinessMirror that the “It’s More Fun in the Philippines” brand and campaign slogan launched in 2012 “should not be changed yet. It has not really reached its maximum potential.”

Being a tourism industry veteran, he said, “I think the country slogan shouldn’t be changed every administration; it takes time for the brand or the campaign slogan to achieve its maximum potential. It’s only now that ‘It’s More Fun in the Philippines’ has gained acceptability here and abroad. Maganda ang dating nya satourists.”

Cruz’s view was echoed by Aileen Clemente, executive vice president of the Tourism Congress of the Philippines, saying, “Large brands in the private sector do not change slogans in short periods of time because, more than an expense, it is an investment. I would rather see that we continue the momentum and enhance what needs to make it better.”

For his part, Arthur M. Lopez, president of the Philippine Hotel Owners Association, also opined that the DOT should keep the “Fun” brand and campaign for the Philippines. “On a commercial point of view, for advertising recall and for continuity, it pays to stay with the current slogan.”

He believes that “it takes time for a new slogan to take effect.”



The “It’s More Fun in the Philippines” marketing campaign was conceived by advertising agency BBDO Guerrero, and launched in January 2012 under then-Tourism  Secretary Ramon R. Jimenez Jr., who is an advertising veteran, as well.

Initial conception for the slogan itself amounted to P5.6 million, but the subsequent media placements and advertising campaign have run into billions of pesos since its launch in 2012. These include advertising placements on buses and taxicabs in London, ad placements in major newspapers in key markets and window ads in New York.

DOT insiders say the agency and its marketing arm, the Tourism Promotions Board, spent approximately $61 million (about P3 billion) spread over four-and-a-half years for developing the campaign and media placements.

Current Tourism Secretary  Wanda Corazon T. Teo announced in Cebu recently that the DOT is now soliciting new proposals from advertising agencies for a new brand and campaign slogan for the country.

She said it was “normal” for every administration to change tourism marketing slogans, and that the new one, to be launched in mid-2017, would reflect the change and reforms being instituted by the Duterte administration.

Taking inspiration from the DOT’s direction, netizens actively took to their keyboards to create memes of possible new slogans for the DOT from "Come to the Philippines and have a killing good time," to reflect the over 2000 extrajudicial killings that have happened since Duterte took office, to “(expletive), ang ganda ng Pilipinas!” to reflect the President's colorful language.

Meanwhile, Philtoa’s Cruz pointed out that even the “Wow! Philippines,” marketing campaign conceived under the administration of former Tourism Secretary Richard  J. Gordon in 2002, “became very effective not even during the time of Gordon, but because we continued the campaign. So the impact of the slogan was sustained when other Cabinet secretaries, like Durano, etc., came in.”

Cruz also stressed that in other countries, they have kept their slogans and country branding for a long time. “For Thailand, for example, they made some tweaks but their slogan continues to be ‘Amazing Thailand.’ For India, it’s still ‘Incredible India’, and so on. If we change our slogan again, how long will it take until it reaches its acceptability?”

Cruz added: “Let’s be honest, it’s only now that the ‘Fun’ campaign is really reaching its potential, and after the country branding, now the campaign has been tweaked to promote the provincial destinations. It takes time to develop, but we have yet to explore [other dimensions] of the campaign.”

Aside from the length of time that a brand attains a certain level of acceptability, Cruz said there are other priorities that have to be attended that could boost visitor arrivals, such as infrastructure, air-traffic congestion, etc. “It’s expensive [to develop and launch a tourism campaign]. With the very limited budget that we have for our investment, we will have to spend so much, which is money we can use for other things that need to be prioritized, like marketing, promotion, infrastructure, etc.”

Clemente, who is also president of Rajah Travel Corp., said, “When you change a slogan, it is effectively changing the branding. The consequences of doing so have a larger impact than one may originally think of. Since branding not only distinguishes us from that of another, it is critical that the adoption of the brand by all stakeholders is considered.”

She added that there needs to be an independent assessment using quantitative and qualitative metrics to show whether a brand or campaign slogan has been effective, which will determine the need to change the brand or slogan, or to keep it.

(This piece was originally published in the BusinessMirror, Sept. 15, 2016.) 

BBDO wins bid to craft new PH tourism slogan

The Department of Tourism has chosen BBDO Guerrero | Proximity Philippines as the winning bidder in its P5.6-million "Philippine Brand Campaign focusing on Tourism" project.

However, no new tourism slogan was announced by the DOT, adding in a press statement that "further development of BBDO Guerrero's concept is underway, and the first iterations of the new campaign will emerge in the course of the first half of 2012."

A source at the DOT said Secretary Ramon Jimenez Jr. decided to defer the launch of the new slogan due to the calamity wrought by Typhoon Sendong.

Questions have risen, however, about just how fast the new brand campaign can be rolled out due to the limited funds of the DOT, which has an annual budget of only P2 billion. (For the rest, click InterAksyon.)

DOT to decide new slogan this week (UPDATED)

THE Department of Tourism is currently weighing the proposals of eight short-listed advertising agencies that submitted bids for the P5.6-million Philippines brand campaign project.

The agency’s Special Bids and Awards Committee (SBAC) has until Wednesday to decide on the winning slogan and brand campaign from those proposed by eight of the country’s leading advertising agencies, according to Tourism Assistant Secretary Domingo Ramon Enerio III. Enerio oversees the branding campaign project, and is a member of the five-man SBAC.

The eight agencies—Dentsu Philippines Inc., J. Romero & Associates Inc., Lowe Inc., BBDO Guerrero Proximity Philippines Inc., DDB Philipines Inc., WPP/J. Walter Thompson, Young & Rubicam Philippines Inc., and Aspac Advertising Inc.—made their advertising pitches to the SBAC on November 21 and 22, according to agency sources. They were earlier shortlisted from 13 agencies which had indicated their interest to participate in the bid.

In a text message, Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez Jr., who sat in the presentations of the eight ad agencies, told the BusinessMirror that the proposed slogans and advertising concepts were all excellent.

“Magaganda lahat. They were all rooted in solid strategy and showed the hard work everyone put in,” he said. “We are now in a difficult process of selecting a winner.”

In previous media interviews, the DOT chief promised to announce a new tourism slogan before Christmas.

Asked how the SBAC will be choosing the new tourism slogan and brand campaign, Enerio explained that it will be “a collegial decision with major directions coming from the secretary.” He declined to reveal any more details of the pitches made by the advertising agencies due to the “confidentiality undertaking” he had signed, but promised that “all will soon be revealed.”

Unlike the “Pilipinas Kay Ganda” slogan prematurely launched during the tenure of Tourism Secretary Alberto Lim, and which was later scrapped due to a major industry outcry, the new slogan would be tested, and consultations held with industry stakeholders, Enerio said.

“Consultations are essential to success, acceptance, and ownership of the brand by all stakeholders. For sure, the [new] brand will be vetted extensively before being announced,” he said.

A separate bidding will be conducted for the supplier of the advertising materials such as television commercials, brochures, posters, and other collateral materials. It will probably take a year before the new advertising campaign will be finalized and rolled out to the target markets.

The P5.6-million “Philippine Branding Campaign focusing on Tourism” is the DOT’s third try at creating a new tourism slogan for the country, which for years, has been using the “Wow Philippines” campaign crafted by BBDO Guerrero in 2007.

The Philippines, with its lackluster manufacturing sector and sluggish agricultural performance, has set its sights on the tourism industry as a new engineer of economic growth. At present, the sector accounts for less than six percent of the gross domestic product, unlike other countries such as Spain, Thailand, Singapore, etc., whose tourism sectors represent over 40 percent of GDP.

Visitor arrivals from January to September this year jumped 12 percent to 2.89 million from 2.58 million in the same period last year. Jimenez has announced a 4-million target for tourist arrivals in 2012.

The Philippines hopes to attract 6 million tourist arrivals by 2016, or when President Aquino steps down from office.

However, a meager tourism promotions budget, lack of adequate infrastructure and facilities, and conflicting government policies could stand in the way of achieving those numbers.

The DOT for instance, has had to make do with an annual budget of P2 billion allocated by Congress.

The Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia), the gateway to the country, is old and decrepit, with a runway too small to accommodate the growing number of flights in and out of Manila. Some of its passenger terminals such as Naia 1, for instance, have been dubbed the “worst in the world” by international media outfits and travel bloggers.

And while the Aquino administration has just implemented a “pocket open skies” policy to encourage more international carriers to come to the Philippines, the government continues to charge taxes and fees on foreign airlines which unnecessarily increases the latter’s operating expenses. Only recently, Air France-KLM announced it would be dropping its direct flights to the Philippines due to the continued imposition of these taxes.

(My story was published in the BusinessMirror, Nov. 28, 2011.)

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(UPDATE) Checked with Asec. Enerio just today, Dec. 2, and he said "deliberations are ongoing. Sec. [Jimenez] is out of town, so we continue to evaluate up to next week."

'Gusto ko happy ka!'

ONE of the catchiest slogans the electoral campaign season has burped up is probably old man Juan Ponce Enrile’s, “Gusto ko happy ka!”

My friends and I have gotten into the joking habit of using his line every chance we get, not because we’re voting for the geezer (really, we’re not), but just to make a point when we want everything to run smoothly and everyone is satisfied with either their food, purchases or whatnot.

And truly, I may not remember any of the old coot’s sponsored legislation or his privileged speeches given over the years—and, really, hasn’t he been around like forever?—but I will absolutely never forget Manong Johnny’s campaign slogan until the day I die. (Don’t get me wrong, I love old people It’s just that they kinda don’t know when to let go and hand over the reins of the horse to a younger new jockey. Why don’t you travel with a hot new babe, or enjoy your grandkids or something?) (Click Something Like Life for the rest. Photo from Vernon Go's blog)