I am lucky to have been a involved as a juror for the 43th Anvil Awards. As one of the judges of the Interactive Media category I was able to have a rare glimpse into the current state of Philippine public relations and marketing campaigns, specifically in the Online Tools of PR division.
This is the first of several afterthoughts on winning noteworthy marketing campaigns worth sharing with everyone.
Experience Philippines: Department of Tourism
What it is:
The Department of Tourism issues 250 free round trip tickets to the Philippines for 3rd and 4th generation Filipinos in the USA. The objective is to get them to explore, enjoy, fly home, and come back dragging more friends to see the many wonders this country has to offer.
Why it is notable:
It is quite a feat to have a government arm thinking of something quite of the box. Amidst the many government controversies we’re hearing, the DOT is doing amazing “non-dinosaur” things that directly promotes the country’s tourism. For bloggers, the most notable event was when the DOT shipped Christine “HappySlip” Gambito for a meet and greet and had her serve as an ambassador for the Experience Philippines campaign.
FInal thoughts:
Although the website obviously needs some work, I’d still say that it isn’t about how you do it, but more about the results. The Experience Philippines campaign is still a good example of how we can think of out of the box ways to promote our sexy country. Special thanks to Yehey! for doing a lot of the legwork to make this a reality.
4 replies on “43rd Anvil Awards Afterthoughts: Experience Philippines”
Yeah wow they need to give he website a facelift. Glad that they’re thinking out of the box, but I daresay they’d get better results if they spiffied that site up some.
btw Christine gambito’s cute.
Hehe Jonas sent us the link–glad to see you finally got around to doing it! And yeah, like I was telling you, if they really wanted and worked on it, the site could be so much better and more SE efficient.
Ah well you can’t please ’em all. Kudos to their ad agency, Euro RSCG though for the brilliant gem of a promotions idea in bringing Christine over be their ambassador. ^_^
Wonder if it’s already had an impact on the site traffic AND bookings for the Philippines?
By the way, how’s Vietnam and Cambodia? =D
the timing for this vacation couldnt have come at a better time. im leaving on tuesday.
on monday im taking my dog out and we’re going to be lazy.