MANILA – In its first foray into advertisements, cosmetics brand Human Nature has chosen a unique medium: a jeepney.
For its campaign, ‘Goodness Riding,’ Human Nature has partnered with Global Electric Transportation (GET) Philippines to place their messaging on GET Philippines’ COMET (City Optimized Managed Electric Transport), a mass transport vehicle powered by lithium ion batteries.
“It’s basically a partnership for transport ads, but what’s unique about it is, Human Nature is known for not doing advertising at all, because we had a hard time finding a medium that fit our advocacy,” said Human Nature Corporate Communications & PR manager Tish Martinez – Castillo.
“Siyempre, if you’re pro-Philippines, pro-poor, pro-environment, you have to stick to that. For the longest time, we couldn’t find anything that really stuck to us, that stuck to that advocacy,” she told adobo.
Human Nature’s partnership with get will initially run for three months, but as Castillo shared, they are open to extending the deal.
Like a regular jeepney, the COMET seats 20 passengers, but its battery power eliminates emissions and belching. Improving upon the safety of commuters, the COMET also comes equipped with a CCTV camera, GPS, and a cashless “Tap In Tap Out” system, where passengers pay using a special card. The vehicle also has designated stops and terminals.
Currently, there are five COMETs that ply the North-EDSA – Katipunan route, but GET Philippines is aiming to 35,000 public utility jeeps with COMETs in the next five to seven years.
Beyond that, the group has also partnered with jeepney drivers associations and a transport group so that COMET drivers will receive a monthly salary, health care, and social security, making the COMET an appropriate vehicle for Human Nature’s social advocacy.
“It’s about celebrating the gains in Philippine transport, and social enterprise like Human Nature scaling up,” Castillo said.
Castillo shared that the brand has eschewed doing advertising for the past six years since its launch in 2008 because they have chosen to invest their money in other things that are more aligned to the brand’s philosophy.
“Advertising is very expensive and its not something that we usually find equitable because when we think about it, we would rather invest the money back to our farmer communities, the people that we partner with, than advertise,” she said.
Dylan Wilk, Vice President of Human Nature added, “Human Nature was born because we believe that the Philippines can not only catch up, but can lead the world in many fields one day, even in science and technology. The COMET has the potential to transform Manila’s roads from noisy, polluted thoroughfares into peaceful, sleek 21st century streets of the future. They are a natural match for us.”
“The COMET brings our pro-Philippines, pro-poor and pro-environment vision closer in every way, since even the drivers have guaranteed income and can earn far more than in a regular jeepney with COMET,” he said.
At the same time, GET Philippines Freddie Tinga expressed his enthusiasm for the partnership with the brand, speaking of the match between GET and Human Nature’s business approach: “We are very excited with this partnership with Human Nature because we share the same business approach: the triple bottom line — People and Planet while maintaining enough Profit to ensure that the business continues to deliver good value to the community.”
