Today, BlogBank is launching a blogosphere-wide promo to score THE SECOND SET tickets to the Eraserheads. We are giving away 500 tickets (that’s good for two — so 1,000 tickets!!!) and we’re using BlogBank to propagate the news. If you see TULOY ANG LIGAYA on a familiar blog, it will lead you to a splash page that allows you to refer friends to an interesting new project called “Sandbox.”
Here are some samples of blogs with the promo, so you know what to look for:
Fritz Tentativa’s site:
Karla Redor’s site:
Technograph’s site:
As for the curious case of “Sandbox,” well … more details to be unveiled soon! 😉
It’s been almost a week since Crumpler Philippines announced the local chapter of Beer for Bags. Let’s check out some of the photos of beer stacked outside the Cumpler store.
I took these today, after coming from an appointment:
Wow, that’s a loadful of Cheetos! Sadly for those who still are planning on exchanging their beer for bags, most of the stock is gone. I wanted the Maurice messenger bag for my 13 inch MacBook — but that’s gone too.
We live in exciting times. For matters of semantics, I refer to “we” being us people in publishing, advertising, marketing, blogging, and really — anyone involved in a profession that has to do with changing mindsets. Globally, we hear horror stories of PR agencies who “just don’t get it” or marketers who try to ride on a successful bandwagon of memes or tend to desecrate the true meaning of “word of mouth” or “viral campaigns” with half baked communication plans. The same is replicated locally — you probably have noticed an upsurge in the number of blogging events with every other PR practitioner wanting a piece of the blogging pie because the values derived from it are more trendy than scientific.
That last line — more trendy than scientific — is usually reflected by these events that don’t really have a lot of strategy involved. The truth of the matter is that blogs — or the bigger pie which is new media is never an end in itself.
I’d like to dispel the myth that local marketers don’t understand new media. A lot don’t. But to say that everyone in the marketing profession is a luddite is a misinformed statement. Take the Department of Tourism for instance, perhaps the most new media savvy branch of government office that recently bagged a Grand Bronze Anvil for PR Tools. Secretary Durano made use of an online video celebrity to lead a market segment to a quantifiable objective — plane ticket sales and adding a whole lot of “brand equity” to the Philippines. I mean, who would have though, eh?
Generally speaking, bloggers in the Philippines are usually classified as the early adopters when it comes to new trends — because breaking it all down, we’re all just very informed consumers. So when we complain, it’s probably the early adopter in us doing so, forgetting that there’s a huge “big body” making its way towards the paved path.
Sure, you’ll have the dime a dozen marketers. But I’m more interested in getting to know the ones who really do get it. And to be quite honest, they’re starting to show themselves 🙂
I don’t know why I even bother. The video shows it all. It’s probably the geek factor. Although I’m surprised how versatile the Opera browser is for the Nintendo Wii.
UPDATE: I got something in the mail today — it’s from my former managing editor Alora Guerrero. She told me she’d be moving on to T3 after her career with MANUAL Magazine when it closed. I’ve moved on as well and Alora finally announces her position with T3 Online (she sent this on April 1 2009 and no, this is not an April Fools joke).
T3 will still be around but in a better online format. The magazine will still be around, but only for three times a year. So this is the first time in Philippine history where a magazine has claimed that the print edition will support the online edition 🙂
Original Post Follows:
If you’re reading this and you’re working in the same small circle that is the publishing industry, you might have heard the recent move of Summit to close T3, Marie Claire and Seventeen. Three really good foreign franchise titles closing down.
If you’re thinking that this is a “print is dead” piece, it isn’t. I’m not fond of writing posts of that sort. And truth is, it isn’t about print being dead — it’s about the cost of expensive franchise licenses, at least for the better part. This isn’t the first time it happened. Summit closed UK franchise Gamesmaster in 2006. Hinge Inquirer closed PC Magazine Philippines as well. Eventually of course, PC Magazine closed their print edition and are now purely online.
Such is life. As a contributor to several local mags, I’m not one to argue on business decisions. I will say this though — It is rare to see the opposite situation – where a local title becomes such a phenomenal hit that it qualifies for franchising (take our closest example, C! Magazine) and distributed regionally.
At the end of the day, the industry’s editorial circle is small enough that we’ve all probably done the rounds. Beyond the business decisions which us writers would rather not be involved in (leave it to management!), it will always be about letting a bit of blood (just a bit!) drip and mark the medium that we write for. A magazine is nothing but the mirror of the staff. 🙂
All is not lost however, for there are plans to move T3 to its proper local place — online. I know that this will be exciting for Vince, Ed, and other friends who were invited to join the team. As for Seventeen and Marie Claire, the female titles are already invested in Summit’s Female Network and GirlTalk forums. It’s just sad to see the glossy go.
Farewell T3, Marie Claire and Seventeen. Thanks for a great run. Especially you, Marie Claire — you had the most interesting features. I always looked for you in the barber shop.
