Wednesday, April 22, 2009

The Awesome Philippines!

An email landed to my mailbox inviting me for an event-cum-blogger launch of Awesome Philippines, a campaign of MTV Networks International and the Department of Tourism of the Philippines that "promotes the country as a hip and cool travel destination to young, adventurous travelers".


(logo from the website)



It was held in M Cafe, a restaurant by Ayala Museum that I have always wanted to try it when I read it in a blog but never had a chance to. located within the vicinity of Greenbelt 4

my photo op! :)


Invitation says the event will start at 6:00PM. I arrived at around 6:15PM and only handful of bloggers were still there at that time. As I was ushered into a table with a vacant seat, the other attendees were invited to start and grab some food for dinner.


appetizer: roasted honey duck rolls, assorted sushi, crispy asian vegetable tempura


main course: tuyo penne, roasted tandoori spiced chicken, beef and brocolli in garlic oyster sauce


and for dessert: jackfruit sansrival, chocolate creme brulee, mango sticky rice

bloggers, busy eating

This is what I had on my plate - roasted honey duck rolls, tuyo penne, roasted tandoori spiced chicken and rice. I'm a big fan of roasted duck, especially the peking/beijing duck variety. I have good memories of tandoori chicken back in Malaysia where I buy these Indian food from the street hawker stalls, paired with naan, but for some reason I didn't like this version from the restaurant. Tuyo penne was okay, just as I expected combination of salted dried fish and pasta.


For dessert, I had the jackfruit sansrival and chocolate creme brulee - I enjoyed the latter so much! :)


and the meal was almost over!


A few minutes later and the event started. Everyone was welcomed to the event and the campaign was explained briefly to the audience by Sherry Magno of Media Concepts.


An MTV VJ Maggie Wilson was called in for a few words, a head-turner that caught my attention when she came in. I was thinking "wow she's hot!"


Tourism Secretary Ace Durano was also present to grace the event and gave a few words about the campaign.


MTV, through Chris Pattinson, also explains their part of the campaign.


And then the teaser videos were shown to us


Yvonne Tey, Marketing Partnerships director of MTV Asia had a demo part (how technical can this get!). Well, at least they are using Windows Vista! :D


The demo, is actually a tour of the Awesome Philippines website. Cool site, I should say.


They also highlighted an on-going contest, Remix-a-holiday, which I think is an interesting viral campaign. And the prize... an expense-paid trip to the Philippines!


Mechanics for this contest (copy-pasted from the official website) is below:
AWESOME PHILIPPINES PROMO MECHANICS
1. Create your dream holiday video by remixing video travel clips, photos and music tracks from www.awesomephilippines.com.
2. Find the different clips of specific destinations in the Video Remixer.
3. Pick and edit cuts of the different travel clips and photos based on your own storyline.
4. Choose the soundtrack of your video from the songs available.
5. Register to enter the contest. As a user, you may submit more than one video entry.
6. All submitted videos will be showcased in the website (www.awesomephilippines.com) gallery and widgets.
7. Your video will be rated by other registered users via a thumbs-up, thumbs-down system.
8. Videos with the highest ratings will be short listed. From the shortlist, 11 videos will be selected by MTV Asia and the Philippine Department of Tourism as the winning entries.
9. Each creator of a winning video will get to fulfill his/her dream holiday with a friend.
10. This promo runs from February 27 to May 24, 2009. All submitted videos will automatically become the property of the Philippine Department of Tourism.


Andrew Chan showed us a beta version of a map in Second Life, featuring the different natural wonders of the Philippines such as Mayon Volcano, Chocolate Hills and rich underwater biodiversity.


Eduardo Mapa, Jr., Managing Director of Media Contacts showed us campaign videos showcasing Philippines, similar to the ones of "Incredible India", "Malaysia Truly Asia", etc. that are shown on cable TV networks.


And then the floor was opened for questions. Questions asked, among others, are why MTV was chosen as the partner, who are the target audience of these, what is the market, why choose the word "awesome", what's in for budget travellers, etc.


table of MTV and DOT team


Ace Durano answering the queries


The whole event ended early, just on time when I was about to run off for something else. Of course it ended with social drinks and...
photo opportunity!


I've been looking for a campaign like this for years now where Philippines is showcased to the world and attract foreigners, making them want to come here for a visit. I've always been amazed and attached with the series of video ads by Malaysia, tied up with a song that is easy to catch up with that sometimes I suddenly find myself singing "Malaysia Truly Asia". :P

Hopefully things will be sustainable and this is not just a one time big blast and then it's gone. I'm supporting this campaign in whatever way I can and for my foreign readers who have been messaging me what's in the Philippines and why go here, here's your chance - compete and win a free trip to the Philippines!

7 comments:

mhel said...

Hi Jasper, I hope this tourism campaign will be successful and encourage locals and tourists alike to visit the awesome places in the Philippines. Oh at least, you got the chance to visit M Café for free. :)

By the way, please change my site from The Asian Traveler to An Asian Traveler. I lost my custom domain. I have now my new web address http://www.anasiantraveler.com. My blog is still in transition. Thank you.

russelltehri said...

The Philippines is definitely an awesome country. All we need to do now is let other people know that.

Russell
www.e-philippines.com.ph
explore. experience. enjoy. Philippines.

escape said...

it was great to see you there jas. looking forward to some events like this.

BIYAHENG PINOY said...

hi jasper, it was nice meeting you. sayang lang at masyadong maraming tao that night that we never got to talk much. at least nakausap mo si miss sexynomad. :)
sorry if my shiny bald head got in the way in some of your photos.

i've never met the deadline for the contest, was too busy. and i thought we would be using our own photos and videos. so i ended up making my very own "the best of : biyaheng pinoy (2006-2009)" video instead.

http://biyahengpinoy.blogspot.com/

Food Lover said...

Hi Jasper!

It was nice seeing you at the launch of Awesome Philippines!

Grabe, small world noh? Hope to see you sa mga upcoming events. Take care and hi to Deo kamo! :-)


Jen (http://sexynomad.i.ph)

Jasper said...

@an asian traveler - updated!

@russelltehri - yeah, we should do our part in spreading the word now.

@the donG - nice seeing you there too bro!

@wencel - nice meeting you there too bro! there will be next time

@jen - haha yeah small world. i already extended your regards and hi to him :)

Ian | GoingRoamingWandering said...

I wish this campaign goes successful. It's time for Philippines to shine in the world of tourism w/c I believe the country is an underrated destination. Much support is needed.

Foods serve looks yummy. And Maggie, I like her personality. And yes, she hot!