PR campaign key to Diva2Diva hit

Filling up a plush hotel ballroom with 4,000 Cebuanos on a Monday three days before payday proved to be a challenging task when organizers of the Cebu hit Diva2Diva concert began selling tickets during the long 2008 Christmas vacation.

To recall, both Christmas Day and New Year’s Day fell on a Thursday. Considering that the Philippines celebrated Jose Rizal Day – to commemorate the death of the national hero – on December 30, 2008, the whole country experienced the longest Christmas holiday in years. Filipinos came back for work only on January 5, 2009.

The concert was set on December 12, 2009 – the Monday right before Cebu’s grand Santo Niño feast and Sinulog festival the next weekend. Competing for attention was another concert at the same venue on a Friday featuring a comedienne Pokwang of a popular television noontime show that appealed to a wider audience.

Two contrasting feedbacks immediately met PRWorks Inc. Managing Director Doris Mongaya on December 29, 2008, the Monday after Christmas. The agency handled sales and marketing for this grand pre-Sinulog event.

Cebu socialites, business executives and top government officials who stayed in Cebu during the long Christmas vacation were excited to learn that three Philippine divas – Kuh Ledesma, Pops Fernandez and Zsa-Zsa Padilla along with popular male singers Erik Santos and Jed Madela – would perform in a pre-Sinulog concert at the Grand Pacific Ballroom of the Cebu City Waterfront Hotel and Casino on January 12, 2009.

They began buying tickets for choice seats in bulk. After New Year’s Day, practically all the choice seats in the first five rows were filled up.

However, tickets in public outlets in Cebu City’s top malls – Ayala Commercial Center and SM City – were not selling fast as expected during the long vacation. Many prominent Cebuanos were out of town while others complained that a Monday several days before payday was not a good day for the difficult Cebuano market. The middle class meanwhile preferred to buy tickets for the Pokwang show.

With most of the Diva2Diva tickets pegged at P2,500 and P2,000, the initial feedback from ticket outlets was negative in the sense that Cebuanos are accustomed to less expensive concerts in the past. Moreover, the neophyte producer refused to invest in full-page newspaper ads but instead focused on posters placed in malls, call center officers, restaurants, and Cebu nightlife hangouts.

With only eight days to sell tickets starting on the day people begin going back for work, PRWorks Inc. was presented with a dilemma. Would it push for a slashing of the ticket prices to respond to the feedback received from ticket outlets? Or would it persevere in the set pricing scheme but focus on specific niches to fill up the rest of the plush Waterfront ballroom?

After assessing the situation, PRWorks Inc. decided to push through with the pricing scheme.

However, the agency also launched a public relations campaign designed to reach out a non-traditional concert market. According to Doris Mongaya of PRWorks Inc., “We set out to reach out people who have money to spend and don’t rely on the 15^th day paycheck but have yet not decided on what entertainment fare they intend to enjoy during the pre-Sinulog days.

To achieve this, the agency pushed for the putting up of a big billboard befitting a grand pre-Sinulog extravaganza at the busy Gen. Maxilom Avenue. Then, instructions were issued to place the remaining posters at luxury dining destinations around Metro Cebu.

This was followed by press releases positioning the concert as the grandest pre-Sinulog event with a special focus on the Cebuano glitterati falling over each other seeking choice front seats. The subliminal message sent was: “This is THE pre-Sinulog concert. One has to be there or you’re not ‘in.’”

On December 8, 2009, PRWORKS Inc. conducted a press conference at the plush Chinese cuisine destination The Ching Palace that featured phone patch interviews with the divas. An excited local entertainment media responded with prominent features about the Diva2Diva show that week until weekend.

These moves worked like magic on the target audience. Ticket sales grew exponentially especially the premium P2,500 tickets as well as the pang-masa and middle class P300, P700 and P1,000 tickets.

Known socialites who came home from their extended vacations outside Cebu started calling the different ticket outlets reserving what choice seats were left.

Hours before show time, Cebu’s well-heeled high society crowd came in their party’s best quite early to settle in their reserve seats. The hundreds who came to buy at the last minute had to settle for the remaining seats worth P2,000. The other categories were already sold out.

True to their reputation as Philippine divas, Kuh Ledesma, Pops Fernandez and Sza-Sza Padilla wowed Cebu’s high society crowd – which is admittedly a difficult audience to please – with a grand three-hour extravaganza that set the tone for the week’s Sinulog festivities.

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Links to Diva2Diva publicity that appeared online:

Ticket sales are up for ’showdown’ of divas

Diva2Diva: Kuh Ledesma, Zsa-Zsa Padilla, Pops Fernandez, Live in Cebu

Text bahin ni Cutie alang kang Pops nakapaukay sa media

Filed under: Case Studies , case study, Cebu, concert, Diva, Festival, music, Philippines, public relations, Santo Nino, Sinulog

Cebu Motorshow Benefits Vis-Min Entrepreneurs

Transport entrepreneurs in the Visayas and Mindanao are among many exhibitors who will benefit from the 8th Motorshow Cebu International at the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC) on October 16to 21, 2007.

Haydee Kwan, Motorshow Philippines International, Inc. Director, that is spearheading the only event of its kind and magnitude outside Metro Manila, revealed this

Over the years, small and medium-scale transport entrepreneurs in the countryside have survived and grown on their own merit. Now, we want to make sure that their industry and ingenuity will get the attention that they deserve, Kwan said.

Located away from major manufacturers of automotive and motorcycle accessories and parts, provincial Filipino entrepreneurs are known for their ability to produce alternative transport products often made from scrap materials.

In lieu of accessories and parts that are difficult to access in remote areas, these ingenious innovations often amaze even the more established manufacturers of auto and cycle parts, bodies and engines.

The Motorshow Cebu International will provide a good exposure for these small companies who fill a special niche in a rapidly expanding transport market. Throughout the six-day event, meet-and-match possibilities between buyers and sellers are endless, Kwan explained.

Filed under: Case Studies , Auto, Business, Cars, Cebu, Cebu International Convention Center, CICC, Commerce, Economy, Motoring, Motorshow, Philippines, Visayas

Launching a web resource for entrepreneurs in Cebu

The decision to re-launch SME.com.ph in Cebu, in central Philippines, shows PR savvy for Planters Development Bank marketing strategi

sts in reaching out to small and medium entrepreneurs in the Visayas and Mindanao.

The web site provides entrepreneurs with a wealth of resources and other support services online. “SME.com.ph connects you and your business to the world market the quick, easy and affordable way,” says bank officials.

Aiming to reach out to the growing number of SMEs in southern Philippines, Plantersbank demonstrate its commitment to be a relevant player in the development of the countryside.

Located some 500 kilometers south of Manila, Cebu is considered an engine of economic growth in the south largely fueled by small and medium enterprises in the export, import, IT and service industries.

Filed under: Case Studies , Business, Cebu, Commerce, Economy, Mindanao, Philippines, Plantersbank, Small and Medium Enterprises, SMEs, Visayas

SME Industrial Park

Plantersbank has, in effect, observed the principle “Act local, think global” when it contracted PRworks Inc. as its event and public relations partner in the unveiling of the 40-hectare SME Industrial Park at the 120-hectare Naga Township in Cantao-an, Naga town on July 11, 2007.

Prworks Inc. is more than an event organizer. As a public relations firm, it has close access to the local Cebu media as well as the local government leadership under Naga Mayor Valdemar Chiong. (Refer to our work for Salcon Power Corp., which included close coordination with the local government unit).

Filed under: Case Studies , Business, Cebu, Commerce, Economy, Naga, Philippines, Plantersbank, Prworks Inc, Small and Medium Enterprises, SME Industrial Park, SMEs, Visayas

Senatorial Election Campaign in Southern Philippines

The public relations handlers of senatoriables like Loren Legarda, Panfilo Lacson, Gringo Honasan, Edgardo Angara and Mike Defensor conducted parallel public relations campaigns nationwide with the help of local contacts.

In Cebu, they tapped confidential media operatives and media networks connected with PRworks Inc.

The services rendered ranged from arranging live media interviews, the distribution of press releases, the conduct of press conferences, and live coverage of local sorties.

The resulting publicity pushed these senatorial candidates to the top of the surveys in Cebu and surrounding provinces.

Filed under: Case Studies , Campaign, Cebu, Edgardo Angara, Elections, Gringo Honasan, Loren Legarda, Media, Mike Defensor, Panfilo Lacson, Philippine Politics, Philippines, Plantersbank, Politics, Visayas

The Ching Palace

This plush Chinese restaurant was still in its first year in December 2004 when it got hit by a crisis when a society columnist of Cebu’s top newspaper Sun.Star Cebu wrote a ruthless tirade regarding the quality of its food.

The column was a result of a tiff between the management and two customers who turned out to be relatives of the columnist. Because Ching Palace relied on the word of mouth in building its clientele within the AB market in Cebu, the published column somehow affected perception of its quality that had its impact on sales.

Filed under: Case Studies , Business, Cebu, Chinese Restaurant, Ching Palace, Commerce, Economy, Food, Media, Philippines, Prowrks Inc, Restaurant, Visayas

SALCON Power Corporation Campaign

In 2004, the SALCON Power Corporation in Naga, Cebu became the target of an NGO environmental campaign for its partnership with the Korean Power Corporation (KEPCO) for the construction of two 100 megawatts coal-fired power plants.

The NGO called CARE or Cebu Alliance for Renewable Energy conducted mobilizations in Naga town and in Cebu City to attract the attention of media. It had initiated organizing efforts in the communities around the SALCON Power Complex. It presented various data about global warming, conducted area tests with other NGOs like Greenpeace. In fact, CARE was backed by the Leftist BAYAN Muna and was bolstered by an earlier NGO campaign that prevented the construction of a similar coal-fired plant in Iloilo Island.

Because of the municipal government’s support of the construction of the two plants, the mayor and other LGU officials also became targets of an effective tri-media barrage.

Filed under: Case Studies , Business, Cebu, Commerce, Crisis Management, Economy, Global Warming, Kepco, Korean Power Corporation, Philippines, Salcon Power Corporation, Visayas