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Constant Learning Through Marketing

noreply@blogger.com (Trisha) — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 03:23:00 +0000

The year 2010 has truly proven to have changed the digital landscape. Only a few years ago, the term “mobile application” was infrequently used and bizarre to the average person. Now, however, mobile applications, more commonly referred to as “Apps”, has become a household term. These Apps not only provide mobile users with games and other forms of entertainment, they also enable users to access the Internet from anywhere! With this appification and mobilization of the web, as well as with group buying start-ups sprouting here and there, marketers of today are definitely faced with new challenges. We can no longer rely on the marketing tools and efforts which may have worked in the years past—with the way technology is advancing at a rapid pace. Marketers should therefore learn how to use these changes to their advantage—and this web marketing philosophy blog helps by aptly stating what marketers should learn in this digital era.

Live Chat with Jeremiah Owyang, IMMAP

noreply@blogger.com (Trisha) — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 06:46:00 +0000

When Music Videos Are No Longer Enough

noreply@blogger.com (Trisha) — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 01:31:00 +0000

Music has always been a huge part of people’s lives. Just a quick walk out on the city streets will reveal a good number of people with earphones glued to their ears and feet happily tapping to some beat. Everyday, it seems, newer songs are being composed and created—and what better way is there to promote a new song than by video?

In the 1980s, back when the television set was the most popular tool for entertainment, MTV was born, and music videos became a big hit. These videos certainly helped promote whatever song they were being accompanied with. Even at present, with the Internet taking over other forms of media (including the TV), music videos still find their way to a big audience. A quick search for the most viewed videos on YouTube (the most popular video-hosting website) will return mostly music videos from different artists. However, at the end of the day, music videos, no matter how creative or unique they may be, are still really just videos accompanied by music. With the fast-paced change in technology these days, it won’t be long until we find music videos to be just a thing of the past.

The band Arcade Fire seems to have noticed this. In promoting their new song entitled “We Used to Wait,” they decided to take their music video to another level. Working with Google (which also took this chance to promote Google Chrome and Google Maps), the song was made to accompany not only just one music video, but an interactive series of videos designed to trigger the viewer’s memories of his/her own past.

It starts off with the website asking for the address of the hometown you grew up in. A browser will pop up and the video starts off with a person running down a street. Moments later, another browser will appear with the image of the streets of your own hometown, and a small figure running down it—the person running earlier is now you. Other browsers pop up with images of birds flying and close-ups of your street, all these playing in time with the song. The highlight of the video comes later, when a browser appears asking you to write a letter to your younger self. The letter then becomes animated and becomes part of the video, turning everything more personal.

Songs are most often liked because people can relate to them. Now, this particular song by Arcade Fire may not appeal to other people because the lyrics may not be of any significance to them. This interactive video, however, literally takes images and memories of the viewer’s past to make it something of significance to every person who sees it. In the end, the song and the video only reminds yourself of who you were, and it becomes something of personal importance to you. The song, then, becomes your song—and this inevitably makes a good number of people want to purchase the song, merely because it triggers this emotional memory in them.

An Opportunity to Engage with Jeremiah Owyang, IMMAP Keynote Speaker 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Nannah Tobias) — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 07:40:00 +0000

Start Right, Start White, Start Online

noreply@blogger.com (Patricia Lazatin) — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 05:21:00 +0000

Celebrity. Everyone wants to be one, even if it's just for a little bit. And with the Internet, everyone is practically a mini-celebrity in their own right. So when you offer little girls Php 100,000 and a chance ot be Myx Celebrity VJ, get ready to watch a deluge of singing 12 year old girls in front of their webcams.

This was what happened in Skinwhite Teens 'Search for the Next Sam' campaign. Targetting girls aged 9-14 years old who happen to love to sing or at least have the guts to belt out a tune, these girls were tasked to record themselves singing (or lipsynching) the Skinwhite theme song, "Start Right, Start White" and to upload their videos to www.brandnewme.ph

Knowing these girls are online all the time (on Facebook, Twitter or just surfing the web), it wasn't surprising that the campaign received over 150 videos ranging from the simple girl in front of a webcam, to the more production heavy ones (where you would find amazing editing and change of location!).

And who knew there were so many ways to use the Skinwhite Teens bottle in the video?! There were those that simply had the bottle in the same shot, but then there was the Skinwhite bottle-as-a-microphone or shots of girls applying lotion to their arms in between verses. Leave it to the girls to get creative!

Though there was an on-ground audition, the online auditions were still beneficial to those from farflung provinces in Mindanao like Surigao and up north to the Cagayan Valley! Those who couldn't audition in real life made up for it with their sweeping locations (imagine a litle girl singing in a rice field) and multiple costume changes.

The target market's affinity with online social networks helped the girls in promoting their videos too. On Skinwhite Teens' Facebook Like Page, one would find links to their videos asking people to watch and 'like' their entries. The result? Over 25,000+ likes on the girls videos.

From the many entries, four winners were selected including one grand winner Gabriella Louise Lopez who just got herself a sting on Myx and is not Php 100,00 richer. Watch out, this 12 year old girl may be a household name soon.

The Jeepney Company Culture

noreply@blogger.com (Jurgen Estanislao) — Tue, 04 May 2010 04:13:00 +0000

Simple SEO, Social Media, Design, and Usability Philosophy

Last week, I've launched my personal blog at SEO Taoist--an Internet marketing philosophy blog that deals with SEO (Search Engine Optimization), Social Media Marketing, User Experience, and all those other stuff that goes with the package.

I recently posted an article about how bad company cultures hinder overall growth and success of businesses and their employees. Sadly, employees are the majority of all companies, and they themselves contribute to this counterintuitive company culture I call the Jeepney Company Culture.

Do you work for one? Or worse, maybe you're running one?

Read the entire article at here.

Interactive TV FTW! Ever catch Sarah Geronimo's Hair Is Your Moment Microseries?

noreply@blogger.com (Nannah Tobias) — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 08:52:00 +0000

A number of weeks back, Sunsilk launched it’s first ever interactive microseries entitled “Hair is Your Moment” starring Sarah Geronimo, Mark Bautista, and Guji Lorenzana. The weekly two-minute episodes are first shown on ASAP on Sundays and they are made available online minutes after. You can catch them here which features your typical rags to riches, unknown to pop princess story. What’s not typical, though, is how the next microsodes play out. After each microsode, the viewers are presented with two choices of what events would unfold in the next one.

This creates for a compelling storyline that fans couldn’t help but fall head over heels for. Clearly, Sunsilk's strategy directed the fans to purchase the product on panic-mode in order to vote for the chosen ending with a sense of urgency! Voting became a weekly ritual to Sarah Geronimo fans and other enthusiasts who simply found the microseries extremely funny!

In this sense, by putting the fate of the series in the viewers’ hands, the brand was able to create an emotional attachment with their target market. Having them win instant prizes by participating helped as well. The fact that Sunsilk Sachets were sold out EVERYWHERE serves as a testament to the success of the campaign.

Highlights from Sunsilk's Hair Is Your Moment Microseries Campaign:

The microsite has over 65,000 pageviews (now running on eight weeks) with almost 30,000 unique visitors with a good number of minutes per user spent on the site
Facebook is the microsite’s number one referrer, mostly because of the engagement that Jenny Raymundo (Sarah Geronimo’s character) has with her fans on her FB fan pag e
Some entries on Jenny Raymundo’s Diary had around 60 comments on them! To think that this is not exactly a social networking site.
Youtube views for all microsodes reaching 150,000, amplifying the YouTube hairisyourmoment Channel even more.
3,155 fans on Facebook and counting!
Fan interaction on all platforms (Microsite, Blog, Facebook, YouTube, Friendster, Twitter) just proves to be EPIC! Fans are constantly talking to Sarah, Mark and Guji’s characters and the conversations are fun, flirty, cute, genuine, angry, indeed a total mix of strong emotions! These fans are enthusiastically (more like borderline-crazily) following the Hair Is Your Moment Microseries on extreme 24/7 mode- no sleeping required!
An influx of fan art occupies the Photos section of Jenny Raymundo's Facebook Fan Page! Fans would send in artwork and fellow fans would comment in the quirkiest way possible. Our friends from Sunsilk did not let this pass without selecting 2 deserving ones and giving them autographed hard bound images of Sarah Geronimo.

We may have seen the future of Philippine Television. It will not come as a surprise if a full teleserye takes this very interactive route one of these days, don't you think?

Up Next: Pinoy Big Brother Teen Clash of 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 08:39:00 +0000

So ends another season of Pinoy Big Brother. And what a season it was! We saw the emergence of one of the weirdest love teams in Melason and their meteoric rise from obscurity to global recognition. Moreover, we saw the emergence and success of PBB ang Globe’s partnership in bringing exclusive content to Globe Tattoo’s subscribers. The campaign was a definite success as online monthly hits exceeded expectations by 1,600 % and mobile hits almost reached the 20,000 mark… all these considering the project ran for just a number of weeks. Pretty awesome figures, definitely.

A lot of things could be attributed to the success of this endeavor. Content is king definitely, and the promise of exclusive, behind the scenes content proved to be too tempting for eligible users to pass up on… and they definitely weren’t disappointed. The content proved to be very interesting to the point that for those who were able to view the exclusive content, they spent more time on the Globe Tattoo microsite than on the Pinoy Big Brother’s main site. Another element that definitely helped would be the Facebook Connect feature, allowing the visitors to share their thoughts on the site and reflect it on their Facebook accounts. Juicy information sent through the spy texts were also received with much rave, as it gave the vibe of being in the loop no matter where they were ala-Gossip Girl. Hardcore fans were also in for a treat when it was revealed that the subscribers’ votes on who to evict or save from big brother’s house would be counted as six. These privileges were indeed received with arms wide open by Globe Tattoo subscribers. The project’s success, I believe, will continue with the upcoming Pinoy Big Brother Teen Clash of 2010. What surprises does Pinoy Big Brother's teen edition hold for us?

Catching Up: Not Just Banner Ads Web Wednesdays #1

noreply@blogger.com (Jurgen Estanislao) — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 08:33:00 +0000

Image From RD.com

Due to the after-Christmas wave of workload, it's been around three months (or so) since we've last updated our blog.

In any case, I'm more than glad to say: we're back! For those who frequent our blog or for those who've just dropped by, you might often think or wonder what exactly do we do here in this blog. Just a tip, look to your right and read our brief about us snippet or scroll all the way down and read our mission vision.

Moving on, I just wanted to take this opportunity, not so summarize three months' worth of online buzz and news, but to share with you our team's first ever Web Wednesday (last week). To cut it short, we sit down as a team, order pizza, and talk about big ideas.

It's basically similar to what I had before with Thousand Minds Social Media where we called our sessions Monday's Innovative Breakfasts and Paulo's Big Idea Wednesdays back at Arc Worldwide (a BTL ad agency) where he used to work. I also used to write about Thousand Minds' MIB sessions at the Thousand Minds blog.

Sad to say, our first Web Wednesday wasn't as technical or as spectacular as Steve Jobs' Keynote presentations, but it's more than worthwhile to share.

Key Topics

1. Jim Collins: Good To Great

2. Tapping Influencers To Create Efficient Buzz

3. Chat Roulette

Basically these exercises aim to keep everyone on the team inspired and on top of great ideas. We would probably share a more detailed summary of our discussions as we go along. Meanwhile, go ahead and Google these topics and see for yourselves why they were the key highlights of our sessions.

Pinoy Big Brother: a successful Filipino online story driving the fans to demand more content not seen on TV

noreply@blogger.com (Nannah Tobias) — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 09:39:00 +0000

PBB is legendary in the history of Filipino television — it turns nobodies into instant celebrities and endorsers. Thanks to the number of fans and followers who cover the description “die-hard” in its true essence and form. The increasing number of conversations and communities online is quite overwhelming. Number of fan pages on Facebook? Twenty. Number of groups on Facebook? Twenty-eight. Combining all the fans would equal to around 150,000 nationwide. There are so many blogs about the PBB fever and most of the important bits and information about this season is all in its Multiply page. And I haven’t even started about the Twitter buzz it’s getting.

This season’s Double Up fans have demanded more from the show and Globe happened to stumble upon the need for something more that PBB can offer to viewers.

Globe Tattoo is rewarding its subscribers with exclusive Nomination Night videos NOT SEEN ON TV and is getting the right amount of Filipino viral push for it. Just launched last Saturday, there are already 10 uncut versions of the housemates' confessions. You also get to stay in touch with your friends within the site because of Facebook Connect. You may read the 4th Angel's Spy Blog who is Globe Tattoo's resident PBB Spy blogger committed to bringing you the biggest breaks on everything that happens inside Kuya's House! Just like Gossip Girl, you may subscribe to 4th Angel's juicy texts.

Globe Tattoo is cooking up more firsts in the Filipino advertising landscape. Synergy for TV, web, and mobile will definitely open a gateway for more Filipino online success stories for Globe. I sure hope other brands will give us a full on experience
such as this and deliver more online marketing strategies relevant to what Filipinos are talking about. Globe will totally emerge to be stronger in building powerful engagements with their customers in relevant touchpoints (not just TV!).

Listening to the people's demands pays off and you can't mess with PBB being a Filipino online favorite!

Converse: Standing Out in a World of Replicas

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 07:19:00 +0000

In a world dominated by mass production as a key defining feature of the modern and post-modern era, duplication seems to be way to go. The market is proliferated with goods and services that seem to just be different variations of each other. Pirated shoes, bags, watches, clothes, electronics and what not have taken over, much like the piracy of music and movies that are available in retail outlets everywhere for a dime a dozen. The idea behind everything is that the lower the price of each individual item (which can be achieved through said mass production), the happier consumers are. The more happy consumers there are, the more happy suppliers there are. What’s happening is the propagation of a culture of piracy, with originality no longer a defining value of today’s society. But contrary to what is perceived, in this day and age of cloning and copycats, never has there been a higher premium for innovation than before. And Converse, a leading proprietor for footwear that rebel against the dictates of the status quo, has taken the fight against mediocrity to the interactive world.

Converse, famous for the all-time great “Chuck Taylor All-Stars” that has served as a symbol of rebellion and uniqueness for numerous decades now, recently came out with the promo “What’s your Favorite Pair?” which enticed Converse shoe lovers to come up with their own UGC and send them through the shoe company’s promo site. The promo aimed to make the most creative photos, videos and artworks out of the Converse community, reinforcing the brand’s identity as an advocate of originality. No longer was the story being told by the brand managers and creative directors of the company, but by the Converse users themselves. Creativity was no longer trapped inside the four corners of an ad agency. It transgressed the hearts, minds and souls of those who truly believed in the product. The promo ran from May to August of 2009, becoming an instant hit to the members of the Converse community. The site had almost 2,000 members and almost160 entries, all wanting not just to get hold of the prizes that Converse was giving away weekly but to showcase their talents and make people take notice. In order to promote the site further, the site was advertised through the Abs-Cbn website as well as through Multiply Leaderboard ads. It was also cross-promoted through Yeng Constantino’s site, as her followers were seen as the same stand-up-and-take-notice-while-we-rock people that would most likely be Converse-lovers. These marketing endeavors definitely helped out in getting more than 41 thousand views for the site in the few months of the promo’s duration. This is quite a success story in a world dominated by patronage to reproducibility. And they haven't stopped there, as Converse is doing another UGC project aimed at tapping into music aficionados. This has all the makings of another successful endeavor.

Originality has never gone out of style, and thanks to brands like Converse, it never will.

Tiangges in Multiply: a successful online Filipino story

noreply@blogger.com (Nannah Tobias) — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 04:46:00 +0000

“Sis, how much if I buy 3 items? Pwede discount?”

I never expected to get so many sisters in a span of 1 month. About a year and a half ago, I got together with some friends and we attended the fourth and final book launch at Power Books wearing our own Twilight-inspired shirts. We wanted to feel the whole Comic-Con vibe and when we got there, the girls started going crazy. Girls asking for our numbers? Check. Girls asking to see more designs? Uncheck. Girls asking for pictures of more shirts? Uncheck. So that’s when we decided to create our own Multiply store and discovered so many other Multiply stores creating good business online.

I’m sure Multiply didn’t intend for their site to be the biggest shopping haven for Filipinos online. If you haven’t heard, they finally made it official for anyone to sell.

Talk about an influx of tiangges from Greenhills and Tiendesitas turning their stores into Multiply stores. Even people who never had tiangges could easily set up one in a snap.

The formula to success in creating a Multiply store lies in the managing and moderating of the page. The secret to keeping your store healthy is being friends with your customers. Take a picture with them after a meet-up. Ask them why they like your stuff. If they can’t find anything in your store, ask them what they want. Personal touch is key. Always reply.

You are your own brand so get yourself out there! Join the bazaars. Join other social media networks and forums. Make more and more friends and best of all, don’t be a spammer. Happy selling!

Our "Viral" Pet Hamster and SPAMguard!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 03:29:00 +0000

Hi Guys! We have an announcement! Whilst most webmasters are busy keeping their websites secure and free of unnecessary clutter by using verifications and CAPTCHA codes, we decided to keep our blog as clean by using a different means. we got ourselves a pet to guard our site of spammers and spam in general! Thanks to aBowman, we now have a cute little hamster to keep all of us safe!

We'll place him on the right side of our blog to watch over all our visitors including you. Don't worry, he doesn't bite! Just make sure you feed him and play with him from time to time. Oh by the way, we don't doesn't have a name for him yet, but we're thinking of naming him "BANNER". What do you think? In any case, be nice to him...he might pee on you!

How is this related to our blog about Philippine Success Stories!? We'll you can treat our pet hamster as an online case study of an attempt to make something viral! Again many thanks to aBowman!

The FailBlog: A Filipino Online Favorite

noreply@blogger.com (Jurgen Estanislao) — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 02:35:00 +0000

Failure is a part of life. No one has never experienced failing because those who even tried not to fail, failed to fail (double negative? yeah just to press on my point) Take the most successful names for example: Bill Gates, Michael Jordan, and Oprah Winfrey. I'm sure they all had their low points before they started to experience the successes they are now enjoying. It is, after all, through several failures that we find out the benevolent path towards victory - from grander stages of career, fame, fortune, love and whatnot, to everyday mundane situations that may seem insignificant. Failure is not always about hardships and moping around and feeling sorry for oneself. There is constantly a lighter side to it, and the FAILblog has been successful (irony!) in encapsulating this.

Before anything else, why is it a Filipino online favorite?! Basically because all of you out there, Filipinos, from the Philippines, can't help but love blogs like these, just like the now "defunct" but oh so hilarious Hay! Men! Ang Blog ng mga Tunay na Lalake! (all of us who go to work everyday know that the FAILblog is a good way to kill time *winks*).

NOW, the FAILblog is just a weblog filled with pictures and videos of stupid signs, stupid designs that fail their very purpose, extremely dumb puns, major wipeouts, mind-boggling feats of idiocy, discreet and not-so-discreet signs and images that have sexual connotations, bad engineering and unfortunate situations, you will never again look at failure the same way. Enjoy a showcase of extreme lapse of judgments, some bordering on morbidity (but is sure to squeeze out some chuckles from you) while some bank on their sexual innuendo (warning, some may be nsfw). A big caption that says “FAIL” or a variation of it makes the failure all the more glaring. It’s not all about failing, though, as FAILblog posts the occasional "WIN" for extremely witty signs, write-ups or captions or extremely lucky situations.

The FAILblog has been so successful here in the Philippines and in the WWW that it provides a good chunk of the 5.5 million clicks a day to the Pet Holdings Empire (responsible for other novelty sites such as Once Upon a Win, Engrish Funny, GraphJam and I Can Has Cheezburger) to which it belongs to. It won in the 2009 Webby Awards in both the ”Weird” and “Funny” categories, making failures out of other more popular sites like Southpark and The Onion. There are even merchandize available now for FAILblog addicts. They have a section named “LOLmart”, a brilliantly named online store that captures the spirit of the site and sells items such as shirts, stamps, toys, magnets and buttons. It has even spawned a book that brought "failure" from the blogosphere to the printing press.

To add to the "success" side of failing, the FAILblog capitalizes on it's amused readers who are given the power to share on the blog their own fail findings making the site a unique and powerful crowdsourcing case study.

The irony of FAILblog's success is truly phenomenal. Who would’ve ever thought that so much failure can bring about so much success? So go ahead, visit FAILblog and be inspired to fail... Or laugh in the face of failure.. or, you know, something like that (FAIL.)

Hitman Breaker of the Eye - A Funny Philippine Online Success Story

noreply@blogger.com (Jurgen Estanislao) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 03:28:00 +0000

I've been hearing mad raves about this youngster called Nick Dreamer or a.k.a. "Hitman Breaker of The Eye" over at Youtube gaining massive popularity over the past weeks, but since I'm not exactly one to watch random individuals belting out tunes over Youtube, I didn't pay that much attention. But because online reviews, blogs, and links shared over messengers started piling up. I decided to drop by his Youtube page to see if it truly does live up the hype.

On his channel, you'll see a featured video entitled: "Happy Birthday to You", which I believe rocketed him to online stardom.

So the video starts with him setting up whatever it is he needs to set up for a couple of seconds before doing these, very, very, very strange and outrageous hand gesticulations. I think I let out a giggle, mostly because, really, who'd have enough balls to deliberately record himself on video while doing something so embarrassing?

Then he starts singing. The voice is grating and atrocious and out-of-tune and just, really, all sorts of horrible, it's like a cacophony of three tone-deaf vagabonds attempting to sing Soprano, remixed with the sound of some stray female cat on an alleyway having sexy time with another stray male cat, who is coincidentally being ass-raped by mountain lions. Doesn't paint a happy picture right? But the idea itself is funny? Well, basically, that was another reason for me finishing the entire video because, I wanted to see just how far this guy was planning on extending the embarrassment.

Then it made me think, "Is he aware that he can't really belt out a tune?"

Maybe but not bloody likely. Of course he knows! And instead of capitalizing on his good looks and talents--because, obviously, between you and me, I don't think that's possible--he's doing something smarter and doing something that's not for the faint of heart. Insert drum rolls, he's actually capitalizing on his non-existent good looks and talents--which is something very very unique online.

Why do people watch his videos then, you ask? One, it's obviously very funny--but a lot of other things are funny, why are people gravitating towards this poorly produced, non-sensical video? Well, fact is, human beings are both sadists and masochists. Human beings enjoy watching tortured souls, enjoy watching people embarrassing themselves, and being able to pat their own back for not being crazy enough to upload a video of themselves singing in the shower stall (because God knows, 80% of us can't so much as match Hitmanbreakeroftheeye's singing prowess). At the same time, we're masochists--we want to cringe and feel embarrassed for the boy, but remain so fascinated, we can't stop ourselves--like a plane crash, it's impossible to look away! So basically, yes, human psyches apart, Nick Dreamer or Hitman Breaker of the Eye is plainly for laughs and giggles AND a couple of thousands of faves, likes, shares, and link-backs.

Don't get me wrong, this is in no way a means to bash or say bad things about Nick Dreamer, who I just added on to my list of Facebook friends, but an honest insight as to why he's a Philippine Online Success Story.

One thing that makes his secret recipe to success, aside from his superb cross posting skills, looks, and funny original content, is his ability to be himself, look you straight in the eye, and tell you "Hhhheeeeyyy Durrr! I'hmmmm Vhhhhiiiraaallll!".

Cheers!

Clicking is Saving

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 02:11:00 +0000

Ever dreaded receiving your monthly electric bill from fears of seeing how much all those hours on the internet, watching television, using the microwave, leaving the lights on while you sleep, singing on your videoke, and charging both your cellphones will set you back? Ever blamed Meralco for the big difference in your bank account before and after paying your bill? Feeling hopeless and alone? Nothing else to do on the internet while downloading the latest episode of Gossip Girl or Glee?

Meralco has just the thing to help you out. The Meralco Appliance Calculator – or MAC – lets you compute the energy consumption cost of your appliances so you can better manage your electric bills. Found on Meralco ’s official website, MAC is an accessible but extremely useful tool for those wanting to see which appliances cost the most to operate or how much you can save by cutting down on a certain number of hours on certain electrical devices… or for those who just don’t have anything useful to do with their time on the internet.

So how exactly does MAC work? First, go to the Meralco website and click on the MAC icon. A separate window would pop up and certain information would be asked from you - such as your average monthly bill and type of appliance you wish to calculate the cost of. The list of appliances in MAC is quite comprehensive, giving you options like “Refrigerator (6 cu. Ft.)” or “TV Set (color 21”)”. Make sure to click on the correct type of appliance to make the calculations more accurate. Input the number of hours, days and weeks used per month and PRESTO! You now know how much that particular appliance cost per hour, day, week and month. Want to see how much you can save by cutting back on its usage? Click on a lower value for the “number of hours/days/weeks used” drop-down boxes and see how much the difference is. Click on the “add to my appliance list button” to see what percentage that particular appliance is taking up on your monthly bill and go on computing for other electrical devices found in your home. There’s even a button for you to read some energy saving tips for each appliance.

Do take note that the data provided by MAC is not the actual amount you have to pay Meralco and serve only as an estimation to help you manage your bills better. Still, this is quite the online innovation that Meralco has provided for us. How else would I have known that I would be able to save more than a thousand pesos by changing all our incandescent light bulbs at home to CFLs? Or that by using the timer on my air conditioner and using it for just 4 hours every night instead of 8, I would be able to save enough to subscribe to a plan 500 postpaid cellphone service (and get a phone for free!) Meralco, indeed, has found a way to help out its customers manage their finances better, something that we all need to do now more than ever.

Saving is just one click away.

Pacquiao + Paparazzi = Pacmarazzi!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 13:25:00 +0000

Has the Philippines finally caught on with the paparazzi craze?

From getting our weekly scoop of celebrity gossip from shows like the Buzz to following them daily thanks to SNN, we Filipinos have moved on to the next level.

Just like the many obsessed fans around the globe we just cannot get enough of what is happening in the lives of our favorite celebrities that we restlessly fidget using other media sources. We now get hour-feeds from the internet thanks to hardworking paparazzi, bloggers and of course, even ordinary people like us who happen to have a cellphone when they come across stars.

Let's use the current hot topic of last week for instance--Manny Pacquiao and mystery woman caught on video after guesting on the Jimmy Kimmel Live show. Just days before the news of his alleged liaison spread, he was celebrating his victory over Cotto and through someone's clicking of the send button, people soon forgot about the legendary battle...I'm sure all of you know the juicy details by now, so I'll lay off the gossip. It's just interesting to know that our country's latest scandal has just been caused by the Youtube phenomenon. Seeing this topic on the news feels like watching a TMZ show that runs 100% on paparazzi footage.

Of course we are not talking about the same paparazzi exposure that Brangelina, Robsten and the rest of the cast of New Moon, and Lindsay Lohan get; but who knows what can become of the lives of our local celebs in the coming days through the power of our fingers! Local celebrities will soon have to find places to hide off to.

So what do you think of Manny's new image to date?

Even Bella Swan Googles

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 03:24:00 +0000


It's called an adrenaline rush, you can google It	[Lion and Lamb Love]

How exactly does one sum up just how influential the Internet has been on The Twilight Saga? The answer is you can't.

This cult series of books penned by Stephenie Meyer has sold one million copies in just two years, the first film grossing over $380 million worldwide and has spawned a global phenomenon that has a core fanbase you can find online.

Twi-hards, Twi-moms and the average Twilight fan converge online in blogs, communities, forums, fan fiction sites etc. Whether they're gathering members for Team Edward vs. Team Jacob, complaining about the re-casting of the movie, looking for the latest Twilight merchandise, following their favorite actor's tweets, or even giving back to a good cause, they do this online.

What makes this fandom so active, is not just the fans who blog and refresh their browesrs waiting for anything new on the saga; even the haters and the naysayers of this fandom have helped make it larger than life! While the haters hate, the die hard fans defend, and so perpetuates a cycle of more page views and more viral content.

The online fandom has gotten so huge, MySpace and UStream took notice and hosted the recent live stream of the Twilight Saga: New Moon Premiere. They weren't disappointed either. The livestream broke records with 3 million total viewers! With this success, it won't be a surprise if next year, other outfits decide to take a bite out of this franchise.

Though it's unsure if these 3 million total views online can translate to actual ticket sales at the box office, the fan following online is astoundingly large that it's hard to ignore this captive audience online. An audience that isn't restricted to tweeners with no income, but to young adults and yuppies (and even moms) with a disposable income, ready and raring to purchase.

With two more books to turn into movies and many more fans to convert, there's still so much to look forward to when it comes to this fandom. So whether you're mourning the loss of your significant other to the sparkly vampire or eagerly lining up for tickets to multiple screenings of New Moon, you can't deny the mark it's made online. And before you know it, you'll be dazzled too by this franchise.

Boto Mo Ipatrol Mo changing the face of the Philippine Elections 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 09:01:00 +0000

The Philippine elections, a telenovela?

No other event in the country brings as much drama to the public eye as the 2010 Philippine electorate's exercise of their constitutionally given right to choose the leaders of the pact. Held every three years, these elections have been known to be the source of plots and story lines that can almost be too surreal, much like our favorite Filipino telenovelas. And, in as much as the public want to believe that this is the time when it should be all about them, that is sadly not the case.

The Philippine Elections have historically been an avenue for megalomaniac politicians to gain and hold on to power. Certain tactics were used to pelt with hopelessness and despair what is a legitimate exercise of freedom. Some of the headlines that you would see dominate the news would involve more and more of the following as Election Day nears: Vote-buying, ballot-switching, threats of physical injuries or death, elimination of the competition in its most literal sense, and what not. The power seemed to have slipped away from the people, dying in the slimy tentacles of a rotten political system.

In response to this vicious cycle, ABS-CBN’s Boto Mo Ipatrol Mo has given the voice back to those who have seemingly lost it. Preparation for the elections has never been this massive. Halalan 2010 should prove to be a season for the books, as local and national posts will be hotly contested by qualified and not-so-qualified personalities giving their all to secure a seat in the government.

Anyone can become a Boto Patroller. They can report suspicious and malignant election-linked activities and voice out election-related concerns and opinions. Boto Patrollers obviously get a voice. They also have the chance to see their reports aired on TV.

A bold venture to begin with, the project has proved to be quite a successful one. More than 4 million registered online alone. Indeed, this is a reflection of how Filipinos value their votes, that they want their opinions counted and their howls heard. The political paradigm is shifting once again… this time the plane of power tilting towards the people as should have been the case to begin with. Boto Mo Ipatrol Mo - staying true to its theme "Ako ang Simula" - is its way of helping the people make the coming election theirs again.

It's a good feeling to share the same ideals with the rest of the Filipinos. But when you have a moment to think about how you can really tell yourself "Ako nga talaga ang simula," then can you truly embrace the change and act accordingly.

May 2010 Elections isn't so far away.

Watch the new "Ako ang Simula Video"
ABS-CBN News Executives Maria Ressa, Charie Villa and Glenda Gloria joined Ebe Dancel of Sugarfree, Bituin Escalante, Barbie Almabis, Bayang Barrios, Vin Dancel of Peryodiko, Kat Agarado of Sinosikat, Teddy Corpus of Rocksteddy, and rapper Pachoy Lab...og and called on the youth to be vigilant about their votes in the 2010 polls in a new MTV directed by Paolo Villaluna.

Wrestling is as real as reality TV

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 09:49:00 +0000

Wrestling has and still is a big part of pop culture.

From the days of the Ultimate Warrior and Hulk Hogan to today with big stars like Triple H, The Undertaker and John Cena, these larger than life personalities have never failed to capture our imagination. I’m sure not a few of us dreamt of coming out to a dazzling display of pyrotechnics and an arena full of cheering fans, executing elbow drops, body slams and punches to the face of opponents… all before performing a finishing move or two to the approval of thousands of adorers. If only!

In the meantime, settling with watching our favorite superstars do the dirty work isn’t so bad, right? And in this day and age, we are not just limited to seeing our favorite wrestlers on television (btw, not having that 2 month delay to catch the latest episode of WWE is just fantastic, isn’t it?). We see them in movies (some in starring roles like John Cena in The Marine, some in smaller parts like Triple H in Blade Trinity) in magazines and other publications, and, of course, on the information superhighway. Whatever production you’re into, whether it be World Wrestling Entertainment, Total Non-Stop Action (don’t you just miss the old Monday night wars between WWF and WCW?) or some other indie productions like Ring of Honor, the world wide web now gives you access to information that wasn’t available before.

However, it is not the official websites of these productions that have made the heads of hardcore wrestling fans turn. Rather, they are the independent news wrestling sites that seem to be the rave to those who really want to be in the loop. One particular site, Wrestling News World, stands out. Unlike the official websites of WWE, TNA or ROH that provides information only for their particular production, Wrestling News World is a wrestling information one-stop-shop where results for all productions can be found. Not only that, it offers honest commentaries from people who are not employed by any of the aforementioned productions but still know what they are talking about. You would definitely not see an article saying “today’s episode of WWE's Monday Night Raw sucked” on WWE website. Rumors and spoilers are also given, features that you’re sure not to find in any official webpage as they, of course, would like to maintain the illusion of wrestling’s legitimacy (What?? Wrestling is fake?? Are you serious??).

So even if sites like WWE or TNA provide higher resolution pictures and better page layouts, websites such as Wrestling News World provide better content. So go ahead, be in the know. Visit Wrestling News World and know what’s really happening on the scenes and behind them.

Blogging + Ukay-Ukay = Tourism?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:45:00 +0000

The man behind the camera and the blog, Scott Schuman is called by Ask.men, "The most powerful man in fashion -- without being a designer, model or formally trained photographer -- Scott Schuman has put fashion trends back in the hands of everyday people by photographing them on the street and posting their images on his site."

The Sartorialist blog is totally the best thing to ever hit the web for me. I don't think I have ever felt this way about any other blog before. The feeling is a clear tie when I'm out ukay ukay shopping so it's pretty intense.

So when I found out about The Sartorialist visiting Australia--- I googled and googled. I learned that Tourism Australia has been exploring new ways to attract tourists. In fact, Tourism Australia started the year right with The Best Job in the World viral search. Did you apply? I did. Fail. Hehe. See the results? Compelling results right? It was timely for Tourism Australia to massively use social media to attract and engage potential visitors at the height of this buzz. To date, Tourism Australia's Facebook page gets 1,000 fans every day. Tweets influenced by his fashion features are quite interesting too. And now, to be invited to visit Australia to take photos of ordinary Australians? Solid. Simple and solid. And it must have worked for sure, and it still is. The Sartorialist has a growing number of followers in countries all over the world and with just a click of his camera and an upload of one single photo--KABOOM! I'm in awe just imagining how much motivation that action can translate to a regular blog visitor like me to book for a ticket to Melbourne.

Three months ago, I bought his blog-turned-book which is still making its rounds at the office. Get it, blog-turned-book and not the other way around. That is clearly a demand that is growing thanks to these oh so passionate bloggers. I salute you all.

There are no case studies to support the success of The Sartorialist conquering Australia right now. But it doesn't take a genius to know how much impact his visit has had for Tourism Australia. I know Apl.de.ap from The Black Eyed Peas is the new Philippines Tourism endorser. I like the vibrancy of the video Take me to the Philippines but a music video these days is nothing new, right? And I am not just pertaining to the tourism industry.

Again, I am inviting you to sit back and relax on your chair. Breathe slowly then type in www.thesartorialist.com on your browser and maybe you may be inspired with what you might wear tomorrow and the day after. Change is good =)

Just Try It Out!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:15:00 +0000

How do you start on anything new? On something you know very little or nothing about? Like the first time you rode your bicycle or that awkward moment before your first kiss? Or the first time you had to carry your first-born? Or in this case, our very first blog entry. Well, as in most cases, you just try.

And that is exactly what this blog is about. To celebrate ‘trying things out’ in the digital space. Not all of the stories will be successful, but hopefully all of us will learn something from each. Finallly, this is to celebrate the bravery of clients, advertisers, account executives, web designers, web developers and programmers, project managers, etc etc, all the nameless faces who contributed to making digital campaigns happen, for people who decided to go when everyone said no.