Malacañang Changes Tourism Slogan to "Pilipinas Kay Ganda"

[boom_box]

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php 100k for research and they only came up with this? Come on.. A product of "research"??

non-refundable... :d

[sharkey360]

DOT chief: Usec Romano was warned vs rushing tourism campaign

Newly resigned Undersecretary Vicente Romano III was warned against rushing his controversial "Pilipinas Kay Ganda" package but went through with it anyway, the Department of Tourism chief said Wednesday.

But Secretary Alberto Lim also admitted he did not stop Romano from pushing the new brand and logo because doing so might curb the undersecretary's "creativity" and "enthusiasm."

"Kami naman, nag-warn dahil kailangang may market test. Sabi niya, 'o saka na yan, at ilantad muna natin ito para makita ng tao at kung batikusin, i-withdraw natin.' So yan ang nangyari, Lim said in an interview on dwIZ.

(We warned him that there should be a market test first for the new slogan. Romano said, 'that could come later, and that we could always withdraw it if people do not like it.' That was what happened.)

On Tuesday, Romano quit his post over the "Pilipinas Kay Ganda" tourism branding, which had earned heavy public criticism.

The pubic disapproval prompted President Benigno Aquino III to drop the packaging altogether and order Lim to present a blueprint of the government's tourism program.

Critics had questioned whether foreigners could understand the slogan "Pilipinas Kay Ganda," adding the logo's similarity to Poland's "Polska" tourism branding smacked of plagiarism.

Romano, a "civil society" blogger who had lambasted the Arroyo administration over corruption issues, apologized to Aquino, Lim, and the Filipino people.

Lim stressed he did not insist on stopping Romano.

"Kung may ganyang creativity, ayaw mo pigilin dahil baka ma-discourage ang tao. Enthusiastic ang tao, galing siya sa kalsada so gusto niyang may pagbabago kaagad so pinilit niya ipursigi ito (You don't want to discourage creative people. The man was enthusiastic. He came from the streets and wanted change, so he forced the issue)," he said.

But he also stressed that the issue was blown out of proportion, saying the slogan was still in the "concept" stage.

Romano authorized the major decisions on the "Pilipinas Kay Ganda" program, while he as DOT chief authorized the "smaller" expenses. Lim did not elaborate on this, however.

DOT chief: Usec Romano was warned vs rushing tourism campaign - Nation - GMANews.TV - Official Website of GMA News and Public Affairs - Latest Philippine News


Lim on Romano: "You don't want to discourage creative people. The man was enthusiastic. He came from the streets and wanted change, so he forced the issue."

[gcc4426]

wtf...this county has gone JEJE now, bigtime. sheesh.

[sharkey360]

Pilipinas Kay Ganda: When re-branding goes bad

What happens when a re-branding exercise goes horribly wrong?

According to Tourism Secretary Alberto Lim, this is the tough lesson being learned by his department after its controversial "Pilipinas Kay Ganda" tourism slogan was rejected by stakeholders and even the President himself.

Lim said the snafu, which led to the resignation of Tourism Undersecretary Vicente "Enteng" Romano III, could be likened to the failed re-branding initiatives of American clothing company GAP and the United Kingdom fashion scene.

"Branding is a very, very sensitive exercise . Any brand that is launched and relaunched gets a lot of criticism. GAP tried to redo their logo and there were tins of criticisms on the Internet. Everyone was an expert. They liked the old brand even if it is stodgy," he told ANC's Headstart.

"The UK tried to rebrand from the stodgy 'Rule Britannia' image to a young, modern and hip 'Cool Brittania' but the public did not like it so they dropped it although marketing experts feel it was a good brand, a good re-imaging of the country," he added.

Asked what he learned from the failed "Pilipinas Kay Ganda" campaign, Lim said launching a new brand should not be rushed and should undergo proper market testing.

"I told President Aquino: 'There are no shortcuts. Let's take our time (and) have a broad consultation. National branding is such a sensitive topic. Everybody owns a piece of the brand,'" he said.

P4.8-M preview

Lim admitted he made a mistake in allowing Romano to preview the "Pilipinas Kay Ganda" slogan to tourism stakeholders. He said he and President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III had apprehensions about the proposed slogan but still approved it for the initial preview.

"He convinced us we should go ahead even before a market research because this would only be a preview, a mechanism to get feedback from the public. I told Undersecretary Romano that it should only be a preview but I guess in his enthusiasm, it appeared like a launch to the public," Lim said.

The tourism chief said he approved P3.7 million for a special preview of the new tourism campaign a week before he went to the United Kingdom. Romano later increased the amount to P4.8 million since the launch was done in 3D and was attended by 700 guests.

Lim said the DOT’s marketing project’s funding is only 5% compared to the budget being used by other countries.

He also said he should not be asked to resign from his post since Romano was given the full authority and autonomy for the government’s new effort to promote a new tourism branding. "I think the proper accountability has already been answered," he said.

'Risk-taking'

Lim said the controversial "Pilipinas Kay Ganda" tourism campaign was a risk-taking initiative to entice tourists to learn Filipino words and unify all campaign slogans of the tourism department.

“Romano wanted to make people really curious and learn our language. If people learn ‘kay ganda,’ if US President Barack Obama would ask PNoy and say ‘kay ganda,’ wouldn’t that be a triumph? That would be something great, like a household word -- sayonara, aloha,” he said.

He said that was also the reason why the Tagalog words "Kay Ganda" had the translation "So Beautiful."

Lim likened the slogan to other recognizable tourism slogans such as “Malaysia, Truly Asia” and “Amazing Thailand." He said using Tagalog words for the Philippines' tourism campaign would set it apart from the others.

Unifying theme

Lim said "Pilipinas kay Ganda" was designed to be a unifying slogan for the tourism department. He said his predecessor, Ace Durano, allowed the use of different slogans to promote the Philippines in different countries.

He said that in Japan, the slogan is “Philippines Premium Resorts Islands,” in Korea “7,107 More Than You Can Imagine”, in Australia “The Philippines So Much, So Near” and in the UK “The Philippines: Culture, Adventure, Nature.”

The "WOW Philippines" slogan is only used to promote domestic tourism, he added.

“So what Enteng was trying to do was to unify the brand,” Lim said.

"Kay Ganda" came from Cayabyab song

Lim admitted that the words “Kay Ganda” were taken from the song “Kay Ganda Ng Ating Musika" by Philippine musician Ryan Cayabyab.

He said that before the DOT came out with the slogan, they approached Cayabyab and asked for his permission to use the words “Kay Ganda.”

He admitted that the “Pilipinas Kay Ganda” look was somehow copied from the Polish tourism logo “Polska.” He, however, denied that it was plagiarized.

Pilipinas Kay Ganda: When re-branding goes bad | ABS-CBN News | Latest Philippine Headlines, Breaking News, Video, Analysis, Features

[BIGDANE]

Php 100k for research and they only came up with this? come on.. a product of "research"??

mao gyud...grabeha naman sad para lang sa research...ako wa man sad gyud ko alam unsaon na ha...pero ngano kaha 100k para lang sa research...

[greenteam]

Ang pag usab-usab ug slogan I don't think nice moved na siya...para nako dili maka ayu kay maglibog noon ang mga foreign tourist.

[peewee_toot]

is this another form of corruption?

[Xilcher]

i like the WOW (world of wonders) Philippines much better that this new fag slogan

korek!

Si Kris cguro nagsugo ani..sa hehehe.. suko sila sa WOW.. kay naay WOW Videoke ug Wowowee... sa una..



Pilipinas ila gusto kay pilipinas win na win man daw..

[sharkey360]

Bobit Avila speaks out!

Tourism officials under P.Noy are big liars!

Just when we thought that we’ve moved away from the Department of Tourism (DoT) slogan fiasco, the big news is that DoT Undersecretary Vicente “Enteng” Romano III quit his post and Pres. Benigno “PNoy” Aquino III accepted his resignation with reluctance. He is the first Aquino top official to fall because of the Aquino government’s failure-ridden government. At least I can say this for Usec. Romano, he has delicadeza. However, other pundits say that it should have been DoT Sec. Alberto Lim who should have quit; after all, the buck supposedly stops at the top!

In his resignation letter, Romano still insisted that the Pilipinas Kay Ganda ad was a “work in progress” that it wasn’t final. Well I just received a DoT receipt of the cost of the rebranding program which amounted to Php712,790.00. On the invitations alone, the DoT spent Php48,000 and P46,000 on car stickers alone, even a mobilization fund of P60,000 and P70,000 for pyro effects, then a supplementary budget for P398,435 of which P356,000 was for additional graphics alone. All this for a temporary launching?

This is the problem with the DoT officials under P.Noy; they simply lie through their teeth! First was the lie that DoT Sec. Lim said on nationwide TV, now even Roman lies as he resigned! We should ask P.Noy to sack the DoT Secretary for lying to their boss, that’s us di ba? Let’s see if P.Noy would have the decency to remove his lying officials.

Tourism officials under P.Noy are big liars! - SHOOTING STRAIGHT By Valeriano Avila | The Freeman >> The Freeman Sections >> Freeman Opinion

[kharan]

The author of WOW Philippines, Holiday Economics, details of Tourism Law and more about tourism master plan in Philippines.

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Great interview.