In a sea of marketing content, how would your brand stand out? Keep reading on and learn from the Philippines' most successful marketing campaigns!
Filipinos are flooded with marketing and advertising content daily–from billboards, TV commercials, radio promotions, to online ads. The Philippine market spends more than 10 hours a day surfing the internet, more than 3 hours watching TV, and more than 4 hours scrolling through social media.
Each medium is already saturated with branded content, that an average consumer may already feel numb, detached, or indifferent to brands. The question is, how will brands utilize this media exposure to their advantage? Several brands have shown others how it’s done.
In this article, we curated a list of the top marketing campaigns in the Philippines. This list ranges from online commercials, social media posts, to offline content. Get your pens and start taking notes!
The Top 7 Marketing Campaigns in the Philippines are ⬇️
RC Cola Philippines: “Basta RC Cola” Commercial
Trese: Offline Marketing Campaign
Red Notice: Publicity Stunt
Smart Communications: “Break Down Barriers” Commercial
Orocan Philippines: “Pa-star ang Orocan” Commercial
Camella Homes: “Sikip” TV Ad
GRWM Cosmetics: Influencer Marketing Campaign for Milk Tints
1. RC Cola Philippines
“Basta RC Cola” Commercial
Some may call this ad “weird” or “insane,” but one thing’s for sure–it’s effective.
The “Basta RC Cola!” commercial revolved around a family. A boy returned home in order to ask his family whether or not he’s adopted. The son removed his backpack and clothes to reveal four drinking glasses which had grown from his back. The mother then removes her head to reveal a big RC Cola Bottle underneath. The commercial ends with the mother pouring RC Cola to his son’s glasses, and the whole family drinking from his back.
What made it successful
Once you watch this commercial, you’d think “what’s going on?!” It’s absurd, to the point that you could not even make sense of it. This is what made it effective. It instantly became the talk of the town the moment it was posted, because people were puzzled by the commercial. It was hard to understand, but at the same time it gave everyone a good laugh. Everyone was asking “why?” Why create this commercial? What was the point?
The video ad was also reflective of the “whatever happens” behavior of the Gen Z market. “Basta” translates to “whatever” or “it just is”. The RC Cola commercial represented this attitude when it created a commercial for the sake of creating one. It was viewed as a commercial made just for the heck of it, just for fun, with no reason at all.
The commercial was surely one-of-a-kind, giving internet users a fresh view towards marketing.
2. Trese
Offline Marketing Campaign
Trese was a Filipino show created by Netflix which tells a story about dark supernatural forces pervading the criminal underworld. The characters in the show were based on mythical creatures from Philippine history. Trese, the main character, was there to keep the peace.
Though Trese was hyped up on social media, its offline marketing efforts were surely up to par.
Several ordinary billboards rose around Manila for the Trese premiere. A few days later, the same billboards were found ripped, vandalized, and defaced, with creepy words written on them. The writings on the billboards translate to “This is our city. Get out of our city.” Netizens lost their minds when these billboards were posted online.
The Netflix Country Marketing Manager, Stef Pajarito, posted on his LinkedIn saying, “Our billboards all over the country started getting vandalized, apparently protesting Trese’s arrival.” The marketing team really made it seem as if the creatures of the underworld were against Trese coming to the city.
What made it successful
The marketing team behind Trese successfully overlapped animation with reality. The team behind the billboards were looking for a way to make the audience think monsters were real, and they really hit the mark. The marketing campaign stood out and was successful in bringing Trese to the top list of Netflix shows when it was released.
Their out-of-the-box thinking successfully integrated two different worlds.
A fun fact about Trese’s campaign is that it was also made by GIGIL Productions, the team responsible for the RC Cola commercial.
3. Red Notice
Publicity Stunt
Speaking of blurring the lines between reality and fantasy, Red Notice also brought its A-game.
Red Notice is an American comedy-action film distributed by Netflix. It revolved around an FBI agent who wanted to capture internationally notorious criminals. These criminals steal the world’s most precious historical items, like Cleopatra’s bejeweled eggs.
Red Notice’s marketing team created a marketing stunt that confused reality and movie. News spread fast about the Mall of Asia’s 50-foot Earth Globe structure disappearing in the middle of the night. The Mall of Asia added fuel to the fire when it released a public notice stating that they were investigating the disappearance of the Globe.
A few hours later, it was revealed to be a publicity stunt for the Red Notice premiere. The post already reached thousands of likes and shares on Facebook, which gave Red Notice instant virality and national attention.
What made it successful
Much like the Trese billboard campaign, the Red Notice tapped on viral marketing and brought the movie characters to life. The Red Notice marketing team were able to get social media attention by making it seem as if international criminals were really targeting the renowned Globe. Since the PR stunt was so close to reality, news spread around faster than lightning.
4. Smart Communications
“Break Down Barriers” Commercial
Smart Communications utilized the power of storytelling.
Smart is a wireless communications and digital services company, which provides Filipinos telecommunications services. In 2016, Smart released the “Break Down Barriers” commercial in support of the LGBTQ community.
In the commercial, a father was looking at his son’s social media account, noticing that his friend request was still pending. The son was adamant at accepting his father’s friend request, fearing that his father might not accept him for who he is. The son looked at his profile where it showed pictures of him with his male partner.
After thinking about it for quite a while, the son accepted his father’s friend request. The son says, “Dad, I accepted you already.” The father responds, “Son, I have accepted you too”.
What made it successful
In a predominantly-Catholic country, LGBTQ acceptance in the Philippines is quite unwelcomed. Smart’s commercial was one of the first TV commercials which openly discusses hom*osexuality. The commercial used the power of storytelling by showing the world the struggles of LGBTQ members in coming out to their parents.
Although the topic was taboo in the country, Smart was able to create video content which was tasteful, heartwarming, and effective in delivering the message of “breaking down barriers” among family members.
5. Orocan Philippines
“Pa-star ang Orocan” Commercial
Filipinos certainly love humor. Orocan Philippines was well-aware of this when it created the “Pa-star ang Orocan” Commercial.
Orocan is a plasticware brand known in the Philippines for its water containers and water pails. The name is directly translated as “gold container”, which allows the brand to convey its core brand values of providing innovative, valuable, and durable plastic products.
The plastic brand has always produced humorous billboard campaigns and video content. It took comedy to greater heights with the “Pa-star ang Orocan” Commercial. Their new ad shows a typical Filipino scenario, where a guy takes a bath beside the water pump. When he was about to wash out soap from his face, he discovers the non-Orocan water pail was cracked and the water spilled out. He looks at the sky and finds a water pail-shaped constellation. The Orocan pail comes crashing down from the sky.
At the end of the commercial, a constellation filter was introduced. Anyone who finds the water pail-shaped constellation wins a prize. This was a parody of the Big Dipper and Little Dipper constellations.
What made it successful
Several factors led to the success of this commercial–relatability, humor, and interaction.
First, the Filipinos resonated with it, as it depicted a scene common to Pinoy life. Second, it grabbed the attention of the audience because of its humorous content. Not only did it catch the attention of the viewers, but it also maintained the same until the end. Lastly, it offered an interactive part with the constellation app. Those who find the constellation using the filter on Facebook and Instagram will see the hidden promo code for a 15% discount on Shopee and Lazada.
6. Camella Homes
“Sikip” TV Ad
Camella Homes’ timeless TV ad makes it to the list.
Camella Homes is one of the most-known house and lot builders in the Philippines. Its commercial song in the “Sikip” TV ad stayed in people’s heads like earworms back in 2009.
The commercial featured a small kid who thinks that they are still living in a tiny and old house. All her movements were restricted, since she was used to living in a tight space. She later realizes that her family were already able to move to a bigger home, and that she can already extend her arms and move freely. This story was shown while the theme music “Bulilit” plays in the background. “Bulilit” means small.
What made it successful
Filipinos love music–they love to sing, create music, and hear music. Camella Homes was able to utilize this when it created the “Bulilit” song.
First, the song told and enhanced the story while the same was being visualized by the actors. Second, the song was simple, repetitive, and easy to remember. Lastly, the song’s melody got stuck into people’s heads, that they were singing the song without them realizing it. Thus, the commercial sparked action, enhanced exposure, and reinforced sales.
7. GRWM Cosmetics
Influencer Marketing Campaign for Milk Tints
TikTok is the fourth most-used and third most-favorite social media app in the Philippines. Meanwhile, influencers are one of the most-followed account types by Filipino social media users. GRWM cosmetics knew this, which led to the successful campaign for Milk Tints.
GRWM Cosmetics is a local and small cosmetics brand in the Philippines. This year, it released the Milk Tints, which are multi-use creamy and milky tint products. In its marketing campaign, GRWM sought help from different beauty and cosmetics influencers on TikTok.
GRWM sent PR packages to influencers such as Norikuh, Kai Javier, Jasmin, and Killakushla. These influencers then created unboxing videos, swatching videos, first impressions, and product review videos. They created a positive image around the product, and recommended it to their followers.
What made it successful
GRWM chose influencers who were the best fit to represent its products. The influencers chosen were credible and were considered experts when it came to cosmetics and makeup. Moreover, the audience of these influencers were tight-knit with mutual trust.
Since GRWM chose influencers with wide followings, these influencer marketing videos were all over TikTok during the product launch. It led to wide exposure for the Milk Tints, and increased conversions leading to sales.
Conclusion
Even when you think everything has already been done in marketing, there are always new and untapped ways you still haven’t explored. The Philippines is riddled with ads left and right. The Philippine media is already saturated with marketing campaigns, so standing out from the crowd may seem near impossible. However, the examples above prove otherwise.
We provided you with the most remarkable and most successful marketing campaigns in the Philippines. We hope you were able to take a few lessons from them which you can implement in your own future campaigns.
To learn more about marketing and advertising in the Philippines, check the AJ Marketing Blog.
Contact Us
AJ Marketing | Unlock the Power of Influence
Instagram | LinkedIn | Pinterest
info@ajmarketing.io
