Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy sh*t we don't need. We're the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War's a spiritual war... our Great Depression is our lives. We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won't. And we're slowly learning that fact. And we're very, very p*****d off.

http://www.adobomagazine.com/global/module.php?LM=news.level1&id=1270678960498

Let me know what you think. ;-)

As we draw closer to the date of the very 1st Philippine Forum on Digital Out-Of-Home Media, we see on the registration list, the usual names in out-of-home media as well as the media agencies.  What we seem to be missing are the names from the creative agencies.

We need to see the creative people there for the simple reason that these are the minds who will craft the content to engage consumers and lead them to the path to purchase.  No,  we do not want to see anymore of the 30 second TVCs edited down to 10s simply to fit the LED or LCD screen where it will be played.  We need the creative content crafted to fit this breakthrough medium which happens to be the convergence point of three media – TV, Outdoor, and Mobile/SMS.

For this reason, ads on LEDs or LCDs, digital OOH networks as a whole should be “Re-purposed” and not just edited down.   “Re-purposing” ads for digital out-of-home (DOOH) can be effective if executed properly and basic rules of creative development for digital OOH are followed. Today’s consumer is savvier to advertising quality and wants more than ever to feel special when being “pitched” to by advertising, making the case for original creative developed just for DOOH to produce better ROI results.  The same consumer is also savvy in shutting out unwanted advertising messages hence the need for agency people to create DOOH material that would be more engaging.

This could never happen though if the creative minds are not familiar with the nuances of the medium.  Yes, in a way DOOH as a medium is half TV and half billboard.  However, just as a mule is a hybrid between two different species, it surely has its own unique DNA.  So it is with DOOH.  In order to maximize the potential of DOOH, creatives have to understand the systems and technical backbone driving the medium.

At the end of it all, what is shown on a digital OOH screen will be measured against these criteria:
1. Whether or not the content delivered the intended message,
2. Overall production quality, and
3. Creativity in the use of new or unique content elements and/or technology.

Obviously, channel content in DOOH is extremely important. The more engaging the content, the more valuable and credible the advertising opportunity becomes.  As creative agencies are challenged in more ways than one to be the key holders for brands they handle, understanding DOOH through the Forum will help them in their tasks of developing creative strategy, meeting objectives and defining critical points of engagement.

If this is where we are heading for, pushing the envelope in terms of DOOH content development, then it will be little wonder if in the next Araw Awards, there would be a category to recognize creative work on Digital Out-Of-Home Media.

The concept of full retirement is really a thing of the past.  Let me end the suspense to what this blog is all about.  Blindsided is about planning your retirement.  Nevertheless, the concept of retirement should be viewed through the lenses of the Information Age and not the Age of Industrialization (where its inception can be traced).

One can still keep on going way past the point where one has technically "retired".  My example for today is Meckoy Quioge.  He is on his fourth retirement.  I want to finish this way.

The story below shows us that one can be technically retired three times over and yet far from being 'self-actualized' by way of Maslow's heirarchy of needs.

Here's the write-up (with credits to Adobo Magazine)

I'm reflecting on how I was verbally abused the other day by the client.  I'm thinking, "How could I actually have taken all of that with hardly any retort from my end?".  Then I remembered and said to myself, "Of course that is your style!  You are always the disciple of Ambassador Alfonso Yuchengco when it comes to these matters". 

So I went back to my old blogpost dated November 8, 2009.  Read it and smiled. 

I'm very much on track. :-)

It was a good day yesterday having had a nice lunch at the bank CEO's place (that's another story) save for this one event. 

In all of my stint in advertising, I have not encountered a client like this one.  In a nutshell she was bawling me out because of the high cost of an EDSA billboard site.  She was rabid.  But while she was at it, my mind was switching to "interesting case study" mode.  At least not to be affected.

Just awhile ago I wrote an email to her outlining next steps and decided not to fight fire with fire.  I am confident, I can win this client over.  While I know my team and I can walk away from yesterday's incident and give the billboard to another client and do better business-wise,  I am challenged.  Can I win this client over and actually make her my fave client despite having started off on the wrong foot?

I keep reminding myself, "Ang pikon, talo"  .  :)

Once in awhile we do hear some sensible patriotic statements from politicians.

In my industry, we have tracked that the single largest growing category spending money on outdoor advertising is "Personal Care".  The growth comes not from a single multinational spender but a conglomeration of all the small players in the "whitening" industry.

read on...

Brown is beautiful; Binay slams cosmetics firms over whiteners
By Niña Calleja
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 02:13:00 02/27/2010

MANILA, Philippines—“Love your color,” said Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay. “Don’t use whitening products.”

I am waiting for Miriam Santiago's next privilege speech.  Last 2006, after Typhoon Milenyo toppled many billboards in the metropolis, the feisty lady senator lashed out against the outdoor advertising industry with such rage as Typhoon Milenyo itself.  Her premise was that more billboards will kill people on the street.

I am now waiting for her next privilege speech to see if she has ever come to grips with the fact that no other single industry in the Philippines has claimed more innocent lives than the shipping industry.  In the same depth and breadth as her Anti-Billboard Blight bill, Sen. Miriam Santiago should write a senate bill to prohibit the addition of new ferries to ply the sea lanes of the archipelago because it is by far the deadliest industry of all.

Pullout of Edu Manzano’s LBC ad sought
By Fernan Gianan
Inquirer Southern Luzon
First Posted 17:16:00 05/10/2009

VIRAC, Catanduanes -- The provincial board of this province has passed a resolution calling on the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Movie and Television Classification and Review Board (MTRCB) to cause the correction or pullout of what it said was a “misleading” and “improper” television advertisement of a remittance company.

In his privilege speech during the regular session last week, Board Member Ariel Molina said the LBC commercial, in which game show host Edu Manzano asked the boy to spell the word "remittance" and the boy answered “LBC,” was not a good example for children.

“The education department, particularly Secretary Jesli Lapus, should immediately take steps to correct the wrong message of the ad,” Molina said.

His colleague, Joseph Mendoza, Liga ng mga Barangay (League of Villages) Federation president, called on the MTRCB to ban the TV advertisement outright by ordering TV stations to stop the airing of the commercial.

Board Member Shirley Araojo-Abundo also supported the move, saying the alarming LBC spot was similar to a powdered laundry soap ad in which a mother said that one was greater than two.

“Hindi po ito maiintindihan ng mga bata [Children will not understand this],” she said.

Board Member Edwin Tanael, acting vice governor, warned that the advertisement, which have been aired on prime time, would corrupt the minds of thousands of children usually watching at these hours.

I wonder why the dailies today had to run the headline that President Obama called President GMA.  That's old news.  They were already seen together a few months ago in a TVC.

Click here for the "full conversation" :  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s--_zRBBmSw

There is a reputation which precedes me and amusingly, it isn't mine.

I say this in hindsight after the other day's event at the Asian Institute of Management Conference Center where the management of advertising agency, Adformatix, held a half day seminar to update their clients on media given these perilous times.

Honestly, I felt numb the rest of the day just thinking of the micro-events which took place within the media seminar.

The first occurrence which hit me was akin to a deja vu.  As it was around 27 years ago, I remember being a high school sophomore studying away from my family in Negros.  Every now and then, my dad would come to Manila to visit me at the dormitory in QC and, on occasions where there was no class on a weekday, I would tag-along with him to the various ad agencies he was servicing then as a media supplier.  On this one day, after doing some agency visits, we proceeded to the AIM where a marketing and advertising seminar was being held.  In ages long before powerpoints, the presentations were made through 35mm carousel slides! There was an open forum after the seminar and to this day, I still remember one of the questions posed by an attendee.  While I did absorb some of the stuff being lectured on, a career in advertising in marketing was the farthest thing on my mind.  My lifelong dream was to be an architect.

And so it hit me yesterday like a ton of bricks that here I was, back at the AIM Conference Center, in perhaps a similar advertising seminar, 27 years later, astounded by the fact that I was now in front sharing information.

Occurrence number 2.  I was sitting at the stage next to Meckoy Quioge, CEO of GMA Marketing and Productions, and he leans over to ask a question which I have heard over and over from seasoned advertising people.  "How are you related to Larry Tronco?".  Time and again, I would answer this question with a sense of pride knowing that the person being referred to was my father.  Meckoy continues to say that long before he became President of J. Walter Thompson, the first time he joined the agency, my dad was already there as an established art director, chums with the Thompson bigshots, Lenny Hontiveros and J.J. Calero.

Occurrence number 3.  After the seminar, the usual thanks and shaking of hands with organizers and co-speakers.  Adformatix Chairman, Willy Garcia, asks me a question.  No big surprise really.  It was still the same question Meckoy asked.  Small talk ensues about the old days of advertising in the Philippines and the reputation of the man.

Most of my dad's ex-colleagues are not aware that he passed away in 1985.  Quite a long time ago. 

As it is, I can only humbly say, "Thanks Dad. ....thanks for the training...thanks for leading the way...thanks for the legacy".

Today at the AIM Conference Center.

Speakers:

Jay Bautista - Executive Director
Nielsen Media Research

Meckoy Quioge - CEO
GMA Marketing and Production, Inc.

Ed Mapa - Managing Director
Media Contacts

Lloyd Tronco - Executive Director
Philippine Center for Out-Of-Home Media Research and Science

For the very first time, a public report on the 10 Out-Of-Home media advertisers on EDSA for this month of December 2008.

Click:  http://philcourse.net .  Click on Available Data

Taken from the philCOuRSe website...


 
The Philippine Center for Out-Of-Home Media Research and Science was born exactly two years after Typhoon Milenyo struck Metro Manila, leaving in its wake fallen billboards and an outraged public which did not fully understand the vital importance of Out-Of-Home Media.

Filipinos are highly dependent on visuals as a means of communication.  It is for this reason that in recent years, Out-Of-Home media, or OOH as it is more commonly known, has been rising steadily as a favored medium to communicate new brands, products, and services.  Ironically, while OOH is the oldest advertising medium as well as the most promising in terms of year-on-year growth, there is hardly any data available to marketers, ad agencies, and OOH media vendors to validate their decisions to move and allocate media money to this medium.

philCOuRSe aims to fill this need.  To be the central repository of data pertaining to Out-Of-Home media making such information available to advertisers, advertising agencies, outdoor advertising suppliers and vendors, and the academe.

philCOuRSe is located at:

2115 Cityland 10 Tower I
156 H.V. de la Costa St.,
Salcedo Village, Makati City
Telephone : (02) 701-2882

web :  http://philcourse.net

While waiting for a transaction at the bank today, I picked up the bank's copy of the Asian Wall Street Journal to read all about the 50 billion dollar swindle by Bernard Madoff.

I couldn't help but gasp at what I was reading.  There are other articles on the internet ( click: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28226910 ) about the fiasco which gives us an idea of what kind of tragedy this has brought especially to the charities and other foundations who also sunk money into Madoff's operation.  To some degree, a lack of sympathy may be felt towards the well-heeled, greedy folk who fed on the exclusivity and so-called privilege they were entitled to because they threw in as much as 95% of their portfolio to Madoff.  But heartstrings are easily tugged when one realizes that the hard earned money of charities and foundations across the globe went down in Madoff's whirlpool, accentuated by the gurgling sound of a toilet flush.

Allow me to quote what was written in the AWSJ if this will not shock you. 

....The alleged fraud has "swept up some of the most prominent and wealthy Americans, along with the many people who thought they were embarking on a comfortable retirement and have now been left destitute".

What further amazed me was the way Madoff had built an exclusive network among the most elite country clubs and propagating the idea that entrance into his fund was predominantly "by invitation".  An investor was quoted as saying, "If you were eating lunch at the club or golfing, everyone was always talking about how Madoff was making them all this money"...."Everyone just wanted to sign up", he added.

Once investors were at the threshold of pouring in their money, the amazing Madoff would pull back by telling his agents, "They don't have to invest that much.  They can start with smaller amounts first and see the initial returns".

As an advertising person, I could only say, "Bernard Madoff, you should have been on Madison Avenue and not in Wall Street!".  This guy simply knew how to use the very principles of "snob appeal" in marketing.

As if it weren't enough to hear so much about America in recession, more people got a double whammy over the weekend when they realized the scale of Madoff's lie.  It was bad enough to project a grim 2009, and it was even worse to find out that the hard earned money which would have provided a semblance of refuge in these troubling times wasn't actually there anymore.

As I put down the paper I was reading, only one thing was ringing in my mind.  Nothing else but the words of Jesus Christ could be "truer than true":

Matthew 6:19-21 :

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:

But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:

For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

For some strange reason, it has become a habit to take a vacation in the early part of Q4.  By the time I return to Manila, it is time to start attending to the requirements of the agencies and clients.  These requirements usually consist of last minute year-end OOH media buys in order to spend the remaining 2008 ad budgets, or "rush-rush" one month placements in time for the Christmas season, or...OOH media plans for the following year.

Altogether, my inner workings have adjusted well to working heavily at this time of year such that I view this period as the virtual start of the following year.

As it is, firecrackers are going off in my mind signaling, "Happy New Year 2009!" .

An email was circulated from a media agency among outdoor advertising suppliers with subject:

Do you have sites in Manila and EDSA site at 100 to 200k/mo. cost?

Email content:

Hi Guys!

I know that you'd laugh at the subject but I truly need a a cost
efficient and magandang site in Manila and EDSA which is available this
November 1 onwards.


My comment...dapat naglakas loob na lang ang taga-ahensya para tarayan yung cliente to say:

Boss naman...possible pa ba'ng umupa ng bahay sa Forbes Park at 5,000 a month?

Pag-nangarap kang tumira ka sa Forbes, dapat Forbes din ang budget, hindi Fairview :-)

Just a quick post to relieve my mind of the pressure I used to experience when I was working with the agency.  I've experienced that same pressure more often these days since my partner and I started mediaVisibility.  I'm not complaining though.  In fact, I miss the grind.  I guess it's a strange and twisted sense of therapy.  I'd have to say, I crave this kind of intellectual stimulation...or is it adrenalin I'm wanting?

I'm glad to be back in the saddle again.

O tama na ang cyberslack.

Back to my media plan :-)









^^ from where I'm taking a break, I can see the corner of the old office bldg. where I used to work

5 hurt as billboards fall along E.D.S.A.

Agencies point fingers

By Abigail Kwok
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 15:52:00 10/13/2008

MANILA, Philippines -- (UPDATE 2) Three billboards on the south- and northbound lanes of EDSA fell when a small cyclone swept through the highway during a downpour Monday afternoon, injuring five people and snarling traffic, authorities said.

The victims, who were rushed to the East Avenue Medical Center, were identified as Allan Madrelejos, Gerry Alano, Mercy Alano, Diane Inopya, and Mary Joy Orosco. Orosco initially refused to go to the hospital but agreed after reportedly feeling numbness in her arms.

All victims suffered injuries ranging from fractures to minor scratches.

Miguel Melgar, a village councilor of West Crame, who was at the scene of the incident, which happened around 2:20 a.m. said a Jollibee billboard fell on the St. Jude bus terminal, hitting a Bicol-bound bus but injuring none of the passengers.

“Biglang buhos ng ulan sabay malakas na hangin. Tapos maya-maya pa narinig na namin parang may bumabagsak sa itaas [There was sudden rain then strong winds. Then we heard something falling from above],” bus driver Lito Loria said. “Kung hindi pa ako nakatakbo sa loob ng bus, eh di natamaan din ako [If I hadn’t run inside the bus, I would have been hit, too].”

The roof of the bus caved in as the entire 80-by-90-foot Jollibee billboard fell on top of the bus terminal. It also hit a store and smashed a plastic table inside the terminal.

Loria said passengers inside the terminal panicked and either rushed out of the terminal into the streets or into waiting buses.

The billboard also hit the electricity transformer in the area, shutting down power to a number of homes.

Two more billboards also fell along EDSA, said Roberto Esquivel, head of the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) sidewalk clearing operations.

A Purefoods billboard fell on top of the abandoned Auto Avenue car repair shop, reportedly owned by former senator Franklin Drilon, said Emmanuel Cantupay, executive director of the Department of Public Works and Highways National Building Code Development Office.

Another billboard, on top of Top Guy's establishment in EDSA northbound lane along P. Tuazon Boulevard in Cubao, also fell but its fabric was folded back immediately, preventing any damage, Cantupay said.

The MMDA’s Esquivel pinned the blame for the falling billboards on the DPWH, the Quezon City Engineer's Office, and advertising agencies. He said the Jollibee and Purefoods billboards were illegal.

He said the billboards were too close to the road, adding they would request the DPWH to review the giant billboards on EDSA to check whether some might not be following standards.

However, Cantupay said the owners of the two billboards were “fly-by-night” and not members of the Association of Outdoor Advertisers of the Philippines. He added they were not granted any clearance to set up the billboards.

Cantupay also blamed the Quezon City government for issuing permits for the two billboards.

Esquivel said the two billboards were “too big,” especially since these were on top of weak structures. The MMDA will use pictures of the billboards as evidence in cases they plan to file against the owners.

He also urged commuters and those injured to file charges against the advertising agency that owns the fallen structures.

Cantupay said they are now working closely with AOAP to come up with stricter guidelines to outdoor advertisements.

“That's why we are now limiting the sizes [of billboards]. We are now drafting the additional rules and regulations. So for areas [that are] newly-developed, it’s okay that the billboards are large. But in highly developed areas, the size should be 40-feet-by-60 feet. But these [fallen billboards] are 80-feet-by-90 feet already. So we are recommending these for demolition. These are prohibited,” he said.

Passengers stranded when the billboard hit the bus will be provided an alternate vehicle, St. Jude Transit general manager Alex Nuñez said.

ADGenDA 2008

at the Megatrade Hall Conference Center tomorrow.

Quick description : AdCongress simulation for students and advertising wannabes

Speakers:

  The Creative Process by David Guerrero (BBDO/Guerrero)

Non-Trad Approaches to Traditional Media by Alec Pang (OMD)   Out of Mind with Out-Of-Home Media by Lloyd Tronco (PhilCOuRSe)   Online and Interactive Media by Miguel Quesada (NewMedia)

 Ethical Advertising by Atty. Rudolph Jularbal (MBC)