“It’s more fun in the Philippines”: DoT campaign

Featuring a colorful logo of the Philippines in a banig (mat), the campaign by winning agency BBDO Guerrero / Proximity leverages the country’s people as its best tourism asset, a direction new Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez Jr, a veteran adman in another life, hinted as much in interviews prior to the launch.

 

“Finally the Philippines has a simple truthful answer to what has been a simple question: ‘Why do you want me to come to the Philippines?’. ‘It’s more fun in the Philippines.’ The new campaign created a new voice for Philippine tourism,” Jimenez said noting that this was probably the most unusual in Philippine campaign history. 

“Our strategy is simple: while other countries invite you to observe, Filipinos can promise a more heartfelt and interesting experience. Our campaign is to invite people to join in. We have to be competitive. It is the Filipino who completes the Philippine touristic experience. There are fun moments such as celebrations and fun places but what really matters is fun people and Filipino are fun people., says Jimenez. "Wherever you go, whatever you do in the country, it’s the Filipinos that will complete your vacation and will make your holiday unforgettable.”

 

Hand-in-hand with the international campaign, the DoT will spearhead a local initiative with the slogan “#1ForFUN to rally Filipinos to play their part. “The national line is a goal, a constant reminder to ourselves why we can tell travelers it’s more fun here than anywhere else,” says Jimenez. “It needs everyone’s support for it to stay true – we need to make sure people’s experiences in our country are positive, enjoyable, and most of all, fun.”

 

BBDO Guerrero headed by David Guerrero its chairman and chief creative officer added: “Pretty much what we presented in the pitch two months ago has found its way on the final presentation. The thing that was additionally developed was the national campaign to rally everyone behind the delivery of this promise that it’s more fun in the Philippines.”

 

Besides featuring strongly as a reason to visit the country, Filipinos are also expected to give the campaign legs, helping the DoT overcome its lack of marketing firepower. Social media will figure strongly in the campaign, leveraging Filipinos’ heavy use of the medium. 

In fact social media interest in the campaign began building days before today’s launch when Manila tour guide and artist Carlos Celdran cryptically tweeted: “Actually liked the new DOT campaign.” @DOTPhilippines added fresh fuel to the fire, whipping up anticipation further the night before today’s release when it tweeted the #1ForFUN hash tag. 

Jimenez said more investments would be put in  international markets, and cited the US, China, Japan, Korea and Australia as key markets. Among the early international executions are planned billboards such as one for a New York parking lot reading: “Parking. It is more fun in the Philippines”.

 

“A campaign such as this does not roll out. It is taking hold on the web as we speak. That is the nature of medium riding the waves of the social network. We are conserving our resources on the foreign markets. Propagate it locally and internationally. Identify key markets. Unconventional and traditional media,” says Jimenez.

His social media bet appears to be paying off: Filipinos have quickly taken up roles as ambassadors tweeting their generally positive reactions about the new campaign with the hash tag #itsmorefuninthephilippines trending worldwide on Twitter.

 

Since the release this morning, reactions and memes about the campaign have flooded social media networks, particularly Twitter.

Celdran tweeted early saying “Can I say “It’s More Fun in the Philippines” yet? :o) Because it is.”

Local graphic design studio and clothing store Team Manila also came up with several memes for the campaign. One of which is a photo of national hero Jose Rizal tagged with “Having fun since 1861”, and and a photo of the Bangui Windmills in Ilocos Norte tagged “Philippines Electric-FUN”.

 

Local reception is in marked contrast to DoT’s “Pilipinas Kay Ganda” campaign, which was supposed to replace the then eight-year-old “WOW Philippines”, also created by BBDO Guerrero for former DoT secretary Dick Gordon. That campaign was scrapped during its soft launch primarily because of numerous negative reviews. 

 

Today’s launch marks the first piece of work created by BBDO Guerrero / Proximity, which triumphed in a hard-fought, eight-way battle to win the agency of record role on the prestigious account. The agency outgunned Aspac, DDB, Dentsu, J. Romero, JWT, Lowe and Y&R for the 5.6 million peso account in a two-stage review headed by Jimenez.

 

The initial bidding process, started during the term of former DOT secretary Alberto Lim, was scrapped as only BBDO Guerrero qualified. The terms of reference were later revised under Jimenez.