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PANA fetes companies promoting Filipino values through ads

TUESDAY, 28 FEBRUARY 2012 19:55 MARIANNE T. ESCANILLA / SPECIAL FEATURES WRITER

FILIPINOS are believed to have the most influential values among all nationalities, with the upbringing of every Filipino centered on basic values such as strong family ties, respect for the elders, and bayanihan among others. Most of these values revolve on the we attitude or the group environment. Today, in business, Filipino values are seen and considered fundamental as a theme among advertising campaigns. More and more institutions and corporations have incorporated these values within their advertisements, which are believed to have created a big impact on the culture of Filipinos today. Incorporating the different Filipino values in todays world of advertising has created a different venue of learning for the public. Though this kind of advertising has been a theme for years now, it is only now that we see its influence and the impact of these campaigns through different award-giving bodies in the country. One of the institutions citing companies that incorporate Filipino values in their advertising campaigns is the Philippine Association of National Advertisers (PANA) PANAta Awards. Now on its third year, the PANAta awards have again recognized the biggest advertisers for their outstanding marketing communication materials or campaigns that promote positive Filipino values. PANA, through the PANAta awards, aims to recognize member-companies who have effectively communicated their brand by promoting exemplary Filipino values and further enhance the advocacy of PANA: Truth in Advertising. It is also their goal to champion traditional Filipino values that include love of family, respect for elders, prayerfulness, philanthropy or generosity, volunteerism, hard work or industry, prudence, love of country or nationalism, heroism, adaptability, flexibility or resilience, humility, obedience, loyalty, reliability, and honesty or integrity expressed in marketing or advertising communications. Some of the big winners of the recently concluded PANAta awards shared their thoughts and insights on todays trend in advertising and why they included Filipino values on their campaigns. Sandra Puno, director of communication of Nestl Philippines, said that they ensure their advertising to be truthful and aligned with their principles and does not promote what is not good or what could cause harm, such as violence, greed and sex. We see to it that our campaigns are appropriate and able to bring to life what is good in our heritage and culture, she noted.
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Nestl Philippines has been a longtime advocate of Filipino values, with most of its campaigns focusing on promoting love and respect for the family. Over the span of a century, Nestl has maintained a continuous presence in the Philippines, in the process becoming an integral part of the daily lives of every Filipino family. We firmly believe that the family is the foundation of a nation. It is thus our mission to nurture generations of Filipino families in the next 100 years, as we have done in the past 100 years, Puno added. With this in mind, Nestl came out with their centennial campaign, Kasambuhay, Habambuhay (Companion in Life, for Life), which indeed has created an exceptional effect through all market sectors, proving that values advertising really sell. We never expected the impact we had created with our short films, which featured love and respect of family, good parenting, concern for elders and more. This only shows how hungry people are for communication that is positive and that celebrates the joy of being Filipino, Puno said. Golden Arches Development Corp.s Vice President for Marketing and Communication Margot Torres said the campaigns McDonalds launched translated what it is as a brand. At the heart of McDonalds is family and children. As a family restaurant, the brand realizes the importance of family in raising children to be good people, she said. Torres described advertising as a slice of lifeit reflects anything and everything about people, how they live, what they need, what they aspire to be, in a creative way. Advertising, a major way for companies to communicate to the public, is being used as a medium to influence people to what every campaign portrays. It is also a form of communication and therefore can be used as a medium to portray values that we as a society believe in or would like to foster, Torres said. Over the past years, McDonalds has launched several campaigns believed to have played a major part in influencing every Filipino. One of their campaigns that really made a mark in the hearts of Filipinos is their Karen-Gina TV spot in 2001 that showed the love of a granddaughter to her lolo. In 2010, we launched Cheeseburger for a Cause, a campaign that encouraged customers to buy a cheeseburger and in doing so, they donated P1 to help a child read. Torres said. Another recipient of the PANAta awards, BPI Family Auto Loan incorporated Filipino values within its campaigns to achieve its mission of making it easy for the Filipinos. Its slogan tells that BPI only wants what is best for the public and what it is trying to do. The focal point of any campaign of BPI has always been values. Those are the things that we highlight in our campaigns, the value of serving our customers efficiently, the value of being there for our clients. I think it is also embodied in our slogan, we want to help all Filipinos to making it easy, and our corporate values are all behind those ads to help make it easy for them, BPI Family Auto Loans Senior Manager Michael Anthony Mendoza told the BusinessMirror. Mendoza said that BPI does not only put their ideas in words but also they practice what they preach.

We do not only talk about our values; we practice them. By practicing them everyone would see them in all our ads, which displays our products and services. It is very important to us that we are very consistent. Not just talking about our values but also showing them that through our products, we live our values, he said. With its mission of bringing effective, truthful and responsible marketing communications essential to the sustained success of their organization and their member advertisers, PANA has continuously recognized the different advertisers that consistently incorporate Filipino values in their campaigns. And these advertisers are very thankful for the recognition the institution makes on their consistent efforts.