Letran and Ad Foundation to Hold AdSpeak ‘17 (Updated)

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Colegio de San Juan de Letran, in partnership with the Advertising Foundation of the Philippines, will convene delegates from various schools when it holds AdSpeak ‘17, a student convention on values advertising. Letran and the Ad Foundation are co-presenting AdSpeak ’17 since they share the same goal of promoting values and worthwhile advocacies in advertisements.

The event, which will take place on March 10, will be held at the Student Center Auditorium of Colegio de San Juan de Letran in Intramuros, Manila. Admission is free on a first-come, first-served basis.

AdSpeak ’17 aims to impress on future communicators the importance of advertising with positive values.

Advertising experts will share their insights during the whole-day affair. Among them are Melvin Mangada, Partner & Chief Creative Officer, TBWA\Santiago Mangada Puno; Maya Estrada, Operations Manager, Ad Standard Council; Titus Arce, Managing Director, Dentsu Jayme Syfu; Alan Fontanilla, Managing Director, MullenLowe Open Phils.; Maya Ambalada-Roldan, Business Unit Director, Y&R Phils.; Paolo de Leon, Creative Director, Aspac/Dentsu Aegis Network; Jethro Adriano, Chief Creative Officer, Project Junkie; and Paolo Agulto, Creative Group Head, DDB Singapore.

Aside from talks from resource speakers, AdSpeak ’17 will mount its Values Advertising Awards, Students’ Choice Awards and Online Choice Awards. Commercials that uphold values have been created and entered by student delegates in six categories: Print, Radio, TV, Campaign, Digital and Brand Communications.

The AdSpeak’17 student convention is sponsored by Enervon Multivitamins, The Linden Suites, Hawk Bags, The Luxe Box, Greenwich, Nips, Hunts, Payless Pancit Canton, Mark Fragrances, The Soap Spot, Bic, Hallmark, Wild Format, Summit Media, DZUP 1602, Wazzup Pilipinas, Take Off PH, DZXL RMN’s Creativoices and Voice of the Youth Network, Click the City and Adobo Magazine.

GetGo, Honda Cars Team-Up for Exciting, New Partnership

Wazzup Pilipinas!

GetGo by Cebu Pacific has partnered with Honda Cars Philippines, Inc. (HCPI) through the recently launched “Points to Fly, Points to Drive” campaign. The alliance between the country’s fast-rising loyalty rewards program and the world-renowned car manufacturer aims to strengthen their commitment to provide rewarding and innovative products and services to their customers. “Through our partnership with HCPI, loyal GetGo members can expect even more exciting benefits and promos that can make their everyday spend rewarding as ever,” said Nik Laming, GetGo Loyalty Division General Manager. Photo shows Laming (left), and HCPI President and General Manager, Toshio Kuwahara sealing the partnership.

DLSU-CSB's School of Design and Arts Proudly Presents "The Scarlet Stockings"

Wazzup Pilipinas!

When an audience sees ballet dancers, they see a gossamer parade of young bodies on show. Nymph-like and lithe, ballet dancers have personified the epitome of ethereality for centuries. However, no one ever has the nerve to peer behind the velvet curtain to see the true grit of a ballerina’s life.

From a young age, the female ballet dancer trains relentlessly, in the hopes of one day rising to fame, of becoming a star. Unfortunately, for most young dancers, the possibility of that dream becoming a reality is slim. It is more likely that she will spend most of her career in the corps de ballet; the ensemble group dancing in unison around the featured soloists.

The dynamic of the dancers who make up the corps de ballet is unique only to them. Despite sharing a bond closer than blood; they are painfully aware of how short their careers are. Every girl in the corps de ballet prays to be noticed, to be promoted, and to achieve her dream.

Adrienne, is one of the many swirling bodies in the backline of the corps.

Adrienne is a young dancer with the Grinkov Ballet, talented, but often ignored by the company’s merciless director. She finds a pair of scarlet stockings, after which she is suddenly catapulted to fame and stardom. She finds a pair of scarlet stockings, after which she is suddenly catapulted to fame and stardom.

Unaware and dismissive of the heavy price attached to the stockings; Adrienne's manic obsession with keeping the power she believes they possess to herself escalates, and she begins to lose touch with reality.

The Scarlet Stockings features set, lighting, and sound design by some of Benilde’s best young talents; as well as the scholars Ballet Philippines Dance School (both past and present).

With original choreography by Cheska Reyes (formerly a scholar of Ballet Philippines) The Scarlet Stockings, Benilde’s first fully balletic dance thesis production in nearly a decade, intends to take audiences on a journey, and show them physical and emotional struggles of what is arguably the country’s most difficult and under-appreciated career. What is the price of attaining a goal? Where does one draw the line between ambition and obsession?

For ticket information, visit fb.com/TheScarletStockings or contact 09064680226

Greenpeace Reports Smartphones Leaving Disastrous Environmental Footprint

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Smartphone production and disposal over the last 10 years is proving to have a significant impact on our planet, according to a Greenpeace USA report released today. The report shows roughly 968 TWh was used to manufacture smartphones since 2007 - nearly the equivalent of one year’s power supply for India - and the devices contribute significantly to the 50 million metric tonnes of e-waste expected to be generated in 2017.

The report is released as Greenpeace Spain activists attempted to unfurl a banner from the building where Samsung was holding a press conference at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona with the message “Reuse, Recycle, Rethink”. The activists are demanding Samsung reuse and recycle the 4.3 million Galaxy Note 7s recalled in 2016 following reports the devices were exploding or catching fire.

“What has happened with Samsung’s recall of the Galaxy Note 7 is indicative of a wasteful and unsustainable system. Rushed design and production cycles can lead to wasteful mistakes, not to mention the impact on our planet,” said Jude Lee, Global Senior Campaigner at Greenpeace East Asia.

“Samsung still hasn’t shared a clear plan to deal with the 4.3 million phones that it recalled. If Samsung is serious about making sure this never happens again, it must lead the IT sector and move towards a system that allows phones to be more easily repaired, reused and recycled.”

Greenpeace USA’s report, From Smart to Senseless: The Global Impact of Ten Years of Smartphones, provides an overview on the increasing use of smartphones across the world since the release of the first iPhone in 2007, and how this has impacted our planet. 

The Holistic Chef Advocates Health and Wellness with Meatless Meals

Wazzup Pilipinas!

The holistic chef was the only reason why I stayed for almost 7 hours at this "media launch." It was a grueling "information overload to the max" for the rest of the talks composed of several information about their products.

She also patiently waited for her to talk and demo what we could call her advocacy to promote health and wellness by offering vegan alternatives to our favorite meals. It was just a shame that having an absolutely meatless meal is not possible since she was referring to a need by children to still have meat to get the necessary nutrition needed by their young bodies.

But for the adults, we may make it past our prime if a great percentage of our diet is fruits and vegetables. No more fast food, or the so called junk food or "chicharya." No more MSGs or similar harmful ingredients. Real chefs don't use msg or anything related like instant flavoring powders, cubes, granules, etc.. Chefs are supposed to be able to bring out the flavor of dishes using natural spices and ingredients. They should be both artists and scientists of the kitchen. Food should not only look good, but also taste good without using anything artificial.

Her demo on smoothies by mixing fruits and veggies using a special kitchen equipment would make you want to buy the machine so you could start living a life having no need for medicines. But you could do the next big thing using any ordinary blender for food processor.

She was also responsible in preparing the meals we ate that night composed of noodles, veggie kebab, veggie maki, lemongrass or "tanglad" for drinks, and "turon" for dessert. Honestly, I only liked the "turon" among the lot since the tongue still needs to adjust before it would agree with the sudden change. Our food craving is based on what we usually eat making it our comfort food. Getting used to new things like a plant-based diet would require patience and time.

I remember the last time I visited HICC and that was where they let me taste the meals (some pasta and rolled veggies) prepared by he Holistic Chef, and I distinctively recalled I enjoyed them.

We've been trying to keep healthy similarly. We even bought juicers, arranged for diet meal deliveries, fell in line to use gym facilities, underwent fat reduction at specialty clinics, and other similar stuff all aimed to make us look and feel better.

Doctors will run out of jobs if we can relieve ourselves naturally using whatever nature could provide. Pharmaceutical companies would run out of business because there won't be the need for even generics. ..and this may even threaten clinics and health centers since if nobody will be sick, there won't be the need to cure.

However, our mistake is thinking these medical facilities were only meant to cure. We should embrace the fact that it could very well be there to keep us healthy. It should not be there as just a place to operate, remedy, or recuperate. It should be better as a venue that would make sure sickness or disease would not get the chance to go near us.

The combined Holistic Integrative Care Center (HICC) and Stemtech awareness launch for their esteemed products and services.

HICC is a medical facility that offers revolutionary and multi-dimensional approach to clients using the “Future of Medicine – Integrative Medicine” treating chronic degenerative diseases.

Stemtech, on the other hand is all about stem cell nutrition. Their products do not contain stem cells but are said to be made from quality ingredients that were not specified during the event.Their products aim to make our stem cells healthier by contributing to the natural renewal system of the body and allowing better blood circulation for noticeable effects like a youthful skin and optimized health.

The 2017 corporate campaign aims to bring the goodness of life and "healing that cares" to every household nationwide.

The official TVC and Jingle was also launched that night.

"Wow! I learned a lot! Being healthy does not mean the absence of disease. Being healthy means that one achieved a balance of everything. Staying healthy as you age! Spending more time to the things you love to do or with your love ones rather than wasting it by staying at the hospital or at home bed ridden. Invest on your health today or spend your money to hospital bills and medicines.

Thank you so much to Holistic Integrative Care Center team specially to Dr Meddie Edodollon (Medical Director), Mr Jasper John Tan-Maguigad (PR & Communications Manager) and Chef Arlene Clemente, and to Stemtech specially to Mr Percival Estrella (Director) and Ms Cynthia cendeno (Business Development Manager).

Just like what Dr. Meddie Edodollon said, start with the food on your plate. Healthy aging! Happy aging!"


Below is the official press release from the event:

Stemtech Philippines was launched last September 19, 2009 as a branch of Stemtech International, Inc. in Florida, U.S.A. More than a thousand distributors, local and foreign gathered and witnessed the event graced by Stemtech CEO Ray Carter.

The event proved to be a success with the signing up eventually of more than 2000 distributors in the next year to come. The office is well supported with an excellent computer system that allows our distributors to do remote business transaction from ordering to checking their genealogy.

At Stemtech, we do not sell our products in stores. Instead, we pay Independent Business Partners – people just like you – to help share our products and income opportunity with others. Our global Distributor team includes people from all walks of life – students, doctors, retirees and at-home parents alike enjoy the benefits of the Stemtech opportunity.

We provide our business partners with the opportunity to earn residual income and the chance to create a future with more choice, more freedom and more of the things that they desire! Aside from the income, independent business partners will have chances to enjoy life through the incentives and promotions the company introduce from time to time.

More and more Filipino began to benefit from StemEnhance and many also enjoyed the extra earnings as a business partner. Their amazing stories are widely varied from clarity of mind to cardiovascular health and many others.

This just shows how Stemtech changes lives and how Stem Enhance improves the quality of life. With the popularity of Stem Cell Theory, many broadsheets begin to write about this putting StemTech in the limelight. 

Microsoft: Enabling Digital Transformation for Business Growth

Wazzup Pilipinas!

With zetabytes of data soon to be within our midst in the near and looming future, businesses need to know how to use all those information for their benefit and advantage.

They need to adapt and evolve to the impending changes, and will be required to conform, if not able to excel, with the times to make themselves at least competitive or suffer imminent loss of profit, or worst, death.

We need to embrace the reality that everything and everyone aiming to reach and remain on top is going digital.That's how it is right now, and will be, as we say goodbye to the traditional and welcome the new technologies that has continuously disrupted the way we do business.

Nowadays, every business needs to operate like a software company managing digital and data in their business. There has been several job titles with "digital" as part of their designations but only a few are still fully aware what it stands for.

We can predict that the Internet of Things  (IoT) will start to change the business landscape until the next big thing is invented, or has emerged out of the many technologies out there just waiting for their big breaks just as social media networks has broken the Internet, and made people a lot more involved and engaged with everything around them.

Everyone needs to be able to engage, empower, optimize, and transform to keep up with the rapidly changing times. The digital transformation must be on a board-level, the culture must become data-driven, and we need to learn how to empower the Millennials to change the business into something permanent and sustainable and not just a passing trend or phase.

Staya Madella, CEO of Microsoft says to pick your technology partners carefully for it may make or break you if you make a mistake. But the question is how to choose the proper criteria as basis in making our choices.

After all, it may be the same technology that would also change how we perceive a successful business.

Below is the official press release from the recent Microsoft event focused on Digital Transformation of Businesses:

86% Of Business Leaders in Philippines Believe They Need To Be a Digital Business to Succeed: Microsoft Study

Microsoft Asia Digital Transformation Study shows that business leaders are just starting to embrace disruptions as region ushers in the 4^th Industrial Revolution

Business leaders in Philippines are showing urgency in embracing the 4^th Industrial Revolution, where 86% of them believe that they need to transform to a digital business to enable future growth and that new data insights can lead to new revenue streams for their organisations. These are some of the key findings of the Microsoft Asia Digital Transformation Survey[1] to understand how business leaders are embracing the digital era.

Technology advancements have ushered in the 4^th Industrial Revolution, where cutting-edge technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), advanced data analytics, and mixed reality are powered by cloud computing to create limitless possibilities in transforming the way people work, live and play. This revolution, together with rapid urbanization, emergence of the millennial workforce and a fragile global economic climate, is ushering societal and economic changes at an unprecedented pace.

The Microsoft Asia Digital Transformation Study surveyed 1,494 business leaders from Asia, including 111 from Philippines. All respondents were pre-qualified as being involved in shaping their organisations’ digital strategy.

Even as majority of business leaders are aware of the urgent need to transform digitally to address the changing business climate, the study found that the transformation journey for most organisations in Philippines is still at its infancy. In fact, only 32% of business leaders have a full digital transformation strategy while 43% are in progress with specific digital transformation initiatives for selected parts of their business. 25% of respondents have very limited or no strategy in place.

Karrie Ilagan, Managing Director for Microsoft Philippines said: “The Microsoft Asia Digital Transformation Study has shown that business leaders have started to act on the need for digital transformation to address the challenges and opportunities of the 4^th Industrial Revolution in the region. Lessons from past industrial revolutions have taught us that organisations that do not evolve fast enough will be less competitive or even obsolete as they face disruptions in every industry. We urge organisations of all sizes to digitally transform themselves amidst changing demands externally and internally, to stay relevant. At Microsoft, we believe this involves transformation in four key pillars – empowering employees, engaging customers, optimizing operations and transform with new products, services or business models, and data and the cloud are key enablers of these.”

Clear Priorities for Digital Transformation but True Transformation Lacking

Microsoft has defined what it means to transform in four key pillars:

1.     Engage customers: Consumers are savvier than ever before, with access to data ensuring they are often educated on a product or service before engaging. To stand out, organisations will need to deliver a new wave of deeply contextual and personalized experiences, while balancing security and user trust.

2.     Empower employees: The nature of how we work—and the workplace itself—has undergone a dramatic evolution. Organisations can empower their people and help them do their jobs better with the power of mobility, which allows employees to collaborate from anywhere, on any device, and access apps and data they need, while mitigating security risks.

3.     Optimize operations: Technology disrupters such as IoT are accelerating the potential for businesses to optimize their operations. This can be done by gathering data across a wide, dispersed set of endpoints, drawing insights through advanced analytics, and then applying those learnings to introduce improvements on a continuous basis. Organisations in manufacturing, retail, and even healthcare can shift from merely reacting to events to respond in real time, or even pre-emptively anticipating and solving customer issues.

4.     Transform products & business models: The opportunity to embed software and technology directly into products and services is evolving how organisations deliver value, enabling new business models, and disrupting established markets.

The Study found that business leaders are putting people at the forefront of their digital transformation strategies:

Fig 1: Prioritization of Digital Transformation pillars among Philippines’s business leaders today

Said Ilagan: “It’s concerning to see that while there is widespread acknowledgement on the need to transform, they are doing so incrementally. With constant pressure from newer, agile and tech savvy players disrupting across industries in Asia, the transformation of products and new revenue models provides the greatest opportunity for organisations to truly lead rather than be disrupted. Leaders need to rethink business models, find new data insights which lead to new revenue streams. And they need to do this by embracing a different way of bringing together people, data, and processes. which create value in a new digital business.”

Sailing into success: Wallem Shipping, one of the largest shipping agents in the Philippines, used Office 365 and Sharepoint to increase transform their productivity especially in their line of work where time value is important . Click here to read more.

Emerging Technologies in Demand

Cloud computing and the decreasing cost of devices have made it more affordable for companies of any sizes to transform digitally, according to 86% of business leaders in Philippines surveyed. Majority of business leaders (84%) regarded cloud computing as essential in their digital transformation strategy.

In the next 12 to 18 months, business leaders in Philippines are interested to explore a range of emerging technologies to accelerate and achieve digital transformation. The top five technologies identified by business leaders as being relevant to them are:

1.     Internet of Things (IoT): Network of sensors embedded into devices that can collect data or be remotely controlled. Examples include smart buildings, cars and home devices;

2.     Artificial intelligence: Intelligent machines or software that are able to learn and perform tasks independently. Examples include robots, chatbots and self-driving cars;

3.     Next Generation Computing: Computers and software that can process natural languages, gestures and visuals. Examples include Microsoft’s Skype Translator and chatbots;

4.     Wearable technologies: Advanced computing and electronic technologies that are embedded into clothing, devices or bodies. Examples include smart watches and fitness trackers;

5.     Quantum Computing: Next-generation computers using different computation systems to solve data equations much faster than traditional computers.

Ilagan added: “Emerging technologies, specifically, cloud, analytics and new capabilities like AI and IoT will give organisations new capability to transform. But real transformation only happens when they bring their people along with them. Equipping employees with the right tools to enable them to be part of solution to be more responsive, data driven and customer centric are also key.”

Barriers to Digital Transformation in Asia Pacific

While there is no doubt that digital transformation will bring significant benefits for both businesses and employees, the path to digital transformation has been slow, given that only 32% have a full digital strategy in place.

According to business leaders in the study, the top barriers to digital transformation are, in order of priority:

1.     Lack of organization leadership to ideate, plan and execute digital transformation

2.     Cyberthreats and security concerns

3.     Lack of a digitally-skilled workforce able to optimize digital businesses

4.     Lack of leadership shown by Board of Directors & Executives, as well as lack of the right governmental policies and ICT infrastructure to provide a sound digital transformation platform for organizations.

Increasing security threats in today’s digital economies is real and cannot be ignored. There is a continued perception among business leaders that the cloud is less secure. However, they may be less privy to the advances being made in the cloud on security and privacy and need more exposure on how, with the current threat environment, it will be safer being in the cloud than relying on tradition forms of IT. In fact, a recent Microsoft Asia Pacific survey of 1,200 IT leaders[2]  showed that 90% of IT leaders in Philippines believe that in the longer term, the cloud will be safer. 

“People don’t use technology that they don’t trust. This is a golden rule that applies to organisations and individuals alike as we live in a mobile-first and cloud-first world. Ensuring security, privacy, and compliance are key to enabling businesses to carry out digital transformation with confidence. With the rise of mobile workers introducing new devices, apps, and data into organisations today, protecting sensitive company data requires a new and integrated approach, all of which we have invested in significantly,” Ilagan added.

Microsoft’s mission is to empower every person and every organisation on the planet to achieve more—building technology so that others can innovate, build their own technology, and create solutions that make things happen. Microsoft is uniquely able to enable businesses of all sizes to get from where it is today, to where it needs to be as digital business through its flexible technology solutions, integrated offerings and our investment in being the most trustworthy with investments in security, privacy and control, compliance, and transparency.  

To find out more about how Microsoft is enabling digital transformation for organisations, visit enterprise.microsoft.com/en-ph.