Since summer, the Department of Tourism has been releasing a series of advertisements aimed at reviving the It’s More Fun message months after suspending media placements following the Typhoon Haiyan calamity.
Four 30-second destination-specific television commercials that feature Boracay, Davao, Manila, and Cebu are out in social media and international TV channels such as CNN, Asian Food Channel, BBC, Fox Sports, EuroNews, and EuroSport in various countries from USA, Canada, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan, and parts of Europe.
The print ad versions have appeared in German publications, the UK Sunday Times Travel, Action Dive publication for Southeast Asian distribution, and also displayed as out-of-home ads in select Korea subway stations.
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The new set of commercials marks “shifting the focus of our promotional campaigns and marketing efforts towards specific destinations worthy of becoming a brand of their own,” according to DOT Secretary Ramon Jimenez, Jr. in a statement on July 10.
Domingo Ramon Enerio III, chief operating officer of the Tourism Promotions Board, explained in an exclusive interview with Travel Update Philippines in April that the new strategy is to “power brand” destinations, instead of the entire Philippines.
“What we term as power branding in a sense that we don’t want to limit ourselves with the word Philippines. We want to power brand new names, destinations, and activities,” he said.
It’s a lesson learned after Haiyan: “The world thought the entire Philippines was affected by Typhoon Yolanda. They then realized it was only one part of the country that was badly affected,” said Enerio.
While the DOT released a public statement ensuring that other destinations were unaffected, the agency maintained a low-profile in the duration of the recovery. It suspended its promotional campaign for three months in the light of the super-typhoon incident.
“When we came back, we wanted to become more specific in our messaging. That is why we’ll release the names of the destinations more than the Philippines.”
Here are the other destination-specific TVCs:
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