The new line that sells tourism in the Philippines is written in the native tongue, and the logo that goes with it includes a smiling coconut tree, a tarsier, the sun, and blue waves. It even has a pronunciation guide and a direct translation of the slogan for foreigners.
But those who conceived the “Pilipinas Kay Ganda” slogan at the Department of Tourism should have also included the “?” mark at the end, going by the initial reactions of those who have seen the DOT website and its rebranded campaign replacing the eight-year-old “WOW Philippines”.
What was meant to elicit curious questions from foreign tourists to ultimately get them interested enough to visit the country, as explained by DOT Undersecretary Vicente Romano III, has roused an equal number of criticisms, especially from netizens. Here are a few reactions from the various online news media.
Jocelyn Uy’s story at inquirer.net quotes Arnold Romero’s tweet: “Why do I expect Ricky Reyes to suddenly appear in the new tourism website?” Hazel Hung also tweets, “The slogan makes me want to go to a salon and have my hair permed.”
A report at gmanews.tv headlines the DOT’s Pilipinas Kay Ganda campaign “not so pretty”. In the report, a Facebook user writes that “the slogan lacks oomph”.
The story also reported that popular tour guide Carlos Celdran’s Facebook post of live updates of the campaign launch was also met with a “barrage of criticism.”
“Carlos, why is the new slogan in Tagalog? How are we going to target the international market? I kinda prefer the WOW Philippines,” commented another Facebook user. Still another Facebook user’s comments were quoted as such: “The graphics are beautiful but the content is sorely lacking. It gives me the impression that the DOT people do not know their own country. We have more beautiful places to see which were not even mentioned,” said another.
Mayen Jaymalin’s “Tourism industry unimpressed with new DOT slogan” in www.philstar.com quotes Alejandra Clemente, president of the Federation of Tourism Industries of the Philippines Inc (FTIP) in chiding the DOT for not coming up with a “catchier phrase” to catch international attention.
“The slogan did not ignite much excitement. Maybe they rushed in coming out with a new brand. But what we need is something that would create a great impact,” it quoted Clemente.
Apparently overwhelmed by the not-so-positive feedback, the BeautifulPilipinas.com website was taken down for an overhaul barely a day after the new campaign launch.
Anton Diaz of ourawesomeplanet.com provided suggestions on “how we can improve the overall campaign, especially online.”
– “Please avoid subliminal messages of Pilipinas Kay Ganda = Sexy Filipinas. It does not help that Beautiful Pilipinas is a double-edge branding that promotes the natural beauty of the Philippines but also insinuates we have Beautiful Filipinas (which is a porn site if you look online).”
– “Use the latest technology to launch the new brand of the Philippines. There is no room for mediocre executions.
– Use PilipinasKayGanda.com to be consistent with overall branding. I’m happy that they did not launch BeautifulPilipinas.com…because it is a totally different type of branding, and it has a porn site connotation.”
Noemi Lardizabal-Dado, in her online article “Country branding the Philippines” in the Philippine Online Chronicles, cited the findings of a benchmarking study on country slogans and logos presented during the 8th International Conference on Management, Enterprise and Benchmarking held early this June at Budapest, Hungary.
The article revealed that a good country slogan, according to the study, “address both locals and visitors, investors and people who buy products from that country.”
Lardizabal-Dado then compares DOT’s new campaign slogan and logo with those of other countries, and observes, “Our logo differs from the rest of the other country logos because it falls under three categories: nature-animal, nature-sun, and nature-water.
“Although the beauty of the Philippines’ natural resources is consistent with the branding campaign, the main question is do ‘both foreigners and locals like and can connect to these verbal and visual elements?’ The Budapest findings conclude that ‘even the most brilliant logo and slogan is powerless if it is not backed up by a comprehensive branding system…Creating a slogan and logo is only a small, although important part of this process.’”
Among Lardizabal-Dado’s suggestions for improving the slogan include:
Scrapping the phrase “Pilipinas Kay Ganda”
– Use English words and limit to two-word slogans for impact
– Retain “Wow Philippines”, and back it up with a comprehensive branding system.
– The logo has too many elements that clutter it. Keep it simple. Perhaps, emphasize the water element with the sun in the foreground.
– Consider having a slogan contest, and follow through with focus group discussions before the implementation of the new brand.
‘Work in progress’
In his speech at the launch of the new tourism brand campaign this Monday, Lim said the new Philippine brand “is the result of intensive market research and a rigorous branding process done by one of the large agencies in the country. And I think it is a compelling brand, both in form and substance. But I must quickly add that it is not complete, in the sense that we have yet to develop the campaigns. Nor is it final. We still have to do market testing and FGDs to refine the brand. At best, it is a work in progress.”
The large agency Lim refers to is widely believed to be Campaigns & Grey chaired by Yoly Ong, whose team also spearheaded the “branding” of President Noynoy Aquino during the 2010 elections.
However, Ong clarified with adobo that the involvement of the agency is “purely advisory” and declined to comment further as she has "very little knowledge of the inner goings-on".
A check with other DOT offices leads to Undersecretary Vicente Romano III as perhaps the only one who knows exactly who are behind the new slogan and logo, with sources in the department hinting that BCD Pinpoint and Animation1 are part of the creative team. Romano is in the United States until December 10.
Of the need to change the “WOW Philippines” campaign, Lim says, “The answer is quite simple. At a time when every nation, big or small, is either creating a new brand or repackaging their current ones, would you rather rehash an eight-year-old brand? Besides, a new brand always generates a buzz that translates to more media mileage for the same promotional budget.
“This is a good opportunity for us to express in a fresh manner the hope and optimism that the Aquino administration represents.
“Finally, let me just say that a brand, by itself – no matter how solid the concept is, no matter how stunning the visuals are and how compelling the slogan is, no matter how big the budget is – cannot guarantee success.”
The DOT is set to roll out the final version of the new Brand Philippines by February 2011. Those behind the new logo and slogan, it seems, will have more time to decide if President Noynoy Aquino’s personal touches on the logo—the smiling coconut tree and the tarsier embracing the first “i” of “Pilipinas”—stays.
