Ayala, Caktiong, other biz leaders team up for PH promo video

MANILA, Philippines – Filipinos are fond of making online videos so perhaps it should come as no surprise that even prominent local business leaders have taken to the internet to spread their message in video.

The names behind a new Youtube clip showing why international investments should come to the Philippines are none other than:

• Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, the head of the Philippines oldest conglomerate, Ayala Corporation
• Tony Tan Caktiong, the leader of the Philippines’ largest fast-food chain, Jollibee
• Doris Magsaysay Ho, the President of the Magsaysay Group of Companies which is involved in shipping, logistics, human resources and tourism

The Philippines is gaining more importance as a global economy but doesn’t have the same name recognition as some of its Asian neighbors. So the video endeavors to show in roughly 5 minutes what makes the Philippines an attractive investment destination.

Ambassador Roberto R. Romulo succinctly sums up the key point, “It’s an opportune time (to invest) because our economy has never been brighter than it is today.”

What makes the Philippines unique

The video shows factories turning out electronics, a good choice since electronic products make up more than half of all Philippine exports.

Adorable kids and young professionals are scattered throughout the clip. The median age of Filipinos is 23 years old yet the most productive stage in a person’s life is from 35 to 55. So analysts expect the country’s young workforce to power growth in the future.

“Filipinos are young and engaged. They’re really our greatest asset. With a dynamic new generation that actively harnesses technology to reach out, to connect, (and) to communicate, there’s really no limit to what we can share (and) what we can build with the rest of the world,” explains Zobel de Ayala in the video.

Dubbed the call center capital of the world the video shows smiling agents wearing headsets in the first 30 seconds.

While the country has a long way to go in terms of infrastructure with only 7 out of 10 national roads paved, the video emphasizes what infrastructure is in place, like the light rail transit line and shows skyscrapers rising across the capital.

Iconic Filipino brands are also displayed, like Jollibee, Bench, San Miguel and C2. And no video would be complete without a punching Pacquiao, who is a brand within himself.

President Aquino even closes out the video with its final message that “the Philippines is open for business under new management.”

The backstory

The clip was initially produced as a video invitation for a January 2013 meeting in Manila of the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC), a private sector body that advises the leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation on the business sector’s top priorities.

The group typically meets 4 times a year and the invitation is in the form of a video presentation from the next host country; “however, there was no ready-made video on the Philippines on hand,” explained Bill Luz, the Private Sector Co-Chairman of the National Competitiveness Council (NCC) in an email to Rappler.

Ever enterprising, the Philippines 3 ABAC representatives – Zobel de Ayala, Caktiong and Magsaysay Ho – decided to make a video that would not only work as an invitation but as a year-round invitation to investors.

They called on the government and private sector companies for help putting together footage. The final video was co-produced by ABAC, the Department of Trade and Industry, the Makati Business Club, the NCC. “It’s a private-public collaboration of a different sort,” explained Luz.

Before showing the video to the delegates from other countries, the 3 Philippine representatives played it for the President.

“At the pre-APEC briefing for the President one week before the trip to Russia, we were surprised to be slotted in at a full Cabinet meeting….After the video was shown, the entire room burst into spontaneous applause,” wrote Luz.

“That’s a tough crowd to please when you are trying to capture all the attributes of a country — the economy, tourism, youthful energy, modernity and dynamism, creativity and traditional culture, work and off-work activity,” he added. 

“The President’s staff liked it so much that we had no problem getting his schedule for the video shoot,” he said.

In the end, the team pulled off the video as a truly collaborative project with many Filipino partners clamoring to join in.

The real test though will be if it reaches and is able to pull in its intended audience – foreign investors. In the end, the video aims to leverage the internet to reach those beyond the country’s boarders. “We hope you’ll come and join us,” as Zobel de Ayala said. – Rappler.com