Every now and then companies and public figures should put more “human” content on their social media accounts. This helps the company go down to the level of their consumers and it really does make their social media channels more relevant and interesting to visit. Let me just share some photos that ABS-CBN’s news channel, ANC, posted on their Facebook account this morning. It’s something that you really wouldn’t expect at all, haha! Here’s a photo of their anchor, TJ Manotoc, playing Plants versus Zombies on the desk with the giant LCD TV. I’m not the...

I was recently interviewed by Beth Morrissey from ABS-CBN (News & Current Affairs) about how the Presidential candidates are using Social Media and the internet in the 2010 campaign. It was a pretty interesting discussion we had since she was genuinely interested in internet marketing and she had a pretty good grasp of the topic. It was really more like an exchange of ideas than an interview. Anyway, let me just share the share the article which was posted on the ABS-CBN News website. New media consultant Carlo Ople is skeptical that politicians in the Philippines will be able to replicate...

I was invited to give a 45-minute talk on how to make money with blogging during the recent Blog World Philippines 2010 conference at Crossroads 77, QC. I was initially expecting around 500 participants but I was really surprised when I saw that the entire auditorium was filled to the brim! According to the organizers, more than 1,000 people actually attended the conference. The talks were actually divided into two groups. I had several speakers in my team who talked about making money through blogging which included multi-millionaire bloggers Philip Tiangson and Julius Sison. Financial blogger...

ABS-CBN’s Pilipinas Got Talent is literally making waves on Youtube. Jovit Baldivino’s audition just crossed the 1,000,000 mark and the other notable clips have already breached 350,000. This is a very good pick-up rate. I’ve been a fan of UK’s X-Factor and they’ve been regularly uploading clips of the show on Youtube. Most of the time the videos just register 200,000 and slowly climbs up to the 1M mark after several days or weeks. People love watching reality talent shows on Youtube again and again. This is one of the accidental successes that ABS-CBN now has to...

… is what you have to be if you want to become viral. I had this really good conversation with the Vice-President and Global Head of Brand Experience for Friendster, Ben Dunn, yesterday about Buzz Marketing. I’ve noticed over the past few months that more and more agencies are trying to pitch for viral videos and low-cost PR stunts that would generate hype for products or candidates. The problem that they always encounter though is that the videos fail to get the targeted viewership. This is mostly because the things they pull off aren’t extreme enough to the point that it would...

The latest SWS and Manila Standard surveys show that it’s a deadlock between Senator Noynoy Aquino and Senator Manny Villar. It’s also the same for their social media Friend numbers. Right now Noynoy is at 850,000+ while Manny is closing in at 812,000+. However at this point it’s no longer about having the most number of friends on social media. The campaign staff of both teams fail to realize that they can actually use social media to win in the upcoming elections and it just puzzles me why they haven’t figured this one out. In this short post, let me give free unsolicited...

I wouldn’t really call this black propaganda but it’s definitely still political propaganda. A month ago, GMANEWS.TV came out with an article which questions Noynoy Aquino’s legacy. The article talks a lot about Hacienda and all the negative things that the Aquinos were dragged into. One of the most controversial topics is how Noynoy Aquino defended GMA during the Hello Garci hearings (that’s for another blog post though). I won’t talk about politics in this post but allow me to just post a screenshot of a rather interesting ad that I saw on Facebook. I don’t...

I was invited a few weeks ago to give a motivational talk to a batch of graduating entrepreneurial college students from San Beda (mostly seniors and juniors). I immediately accepted this talk because one of my passions is really to reach out and teach the next generation. I don’t see myself entering the academe anytime soon but maybe sometime in the future when I’m more financially secure already (haha). Anyway, this talk was special to me because I decided to use my late grandfather’s commencement speech as my material. It’s called the “7 Keys to Success” by...

I had some free time tonight so I decided to sign-up for an account over at Formspring. It’s basically a website which allows people to ask and answer questions anonymously. I already configured it so that the questions that I answer will appear on my Facebook and Twitter account (technology is fun). If you have anything you want to ask me, please go ahead and ask away in my Formspring profile. Since we’re on the topic though let me share with you a personal branding blunder that I made with Formspring. Each time a good online social platform goes up, I’ll make it a point to reserve...

Viral Videos are slowly getting buzz in the local ad industry. However only a few people actually get it right because they keep on forgetting that a video has to be “interesting” before it gets viral. Anyway, I have a very good example of a viral video which is promoting T-shirts. I got this from GM Tristan and it is just filled with epic win. The video now has over 2,000,000 views on Youtube. I wonder how many shirts they’ve managed to sell so far?

I’ve noticed that more Filipino professionals and businessmen are now using BlackBerry smart phones. I use a BlackBerry Bold 9000 myself and other than the small tech issues, I’m very happy and satisfied with the unit. I literally am able to run my business and all my other sidelines using the phone. Ultimately the main attraction of the BlackBerry is their mobile push e-mail system. There are times that the e-mail comes in my mobile inbox faster than my Outlook (which is weird), haha. The ability to answer emails on the go effortlessly is such a huge advantage and benefit for people...

… that’s what a lot of business people here in the Philippines still think up to today. This made me reflect a bit and it made me realize a few things. First, them being ignorant is actually cool. Why? Because it means that it gives us a a window to penetrate their markets because they’re not being represented online. By simply not being in the fight, they’re leaving themselves and their customers wide open for a flanking attack from other people who are going online. When the money starts to change hands that’s when the brutal reality sinks in for those who don’t...

The Liberal Party has been releasing online ads lately promoting Noynoy Aquino merchandise. Obviously the money will be used to fund his campaign. Online fundraising was key in Barrack Obama’s win in the US. However the question is if it will really work in the Philippines? This post will analyze the current local e-commerce landscape and will end with a recommendation to politicians who want to ramp up funding from the internet in a more effective manner. Noynoy Aquino Fund Raising Ad Kudos to the Liberal Party First, let me applaud the Liberal Party for being one of the few who seriously...

I found this very interesting article on Mashable showing that FarmVille, a popular casual game on Facebook, has more users than micro-blogging tool Twitter. Apparently FarmVille now has 69M active users. This means that 69M people all over the world log-in FarmVille at least once in 30 days. That’s almost 3/4 the population of the Philippines, LOL! Twitter, on the other hand, has an estimated user base of 20M. Shocking right? You’d think Twitter would have more users since it’s getting so much media mileage on traditional channels (compared to FarmVille anyway). Quality of users...

It looks like all major tech companies are now focusing on delivering multi-touch tablet products. Apple’s iPad is set to ship sometime this summer. Shortly after them though Lenovo will be launching a truly revolutionary product – the Lenovo IdeaPad U1 Hybrid. Why is it revolutionary? It’s a 2-in-1 device. It’s a laptop but you can actually remove part of the monitor and it becomes a 3G Multi-touch Tablet. Whoa! Talk about a super epic win! The Lenovo IdeaPad U1 will cost $999 USD or around P50,000. It will be available on the market starting June 1, 2010. For more information,...

I gave a talk on how to leverage the internet for success to Ateneo students during AISEC’s seminar last Saturday morning. One of the points that I stressed on was that the internet has radically changed the communication and networking. Young people often tend to take the internet for granted because they grew up with it. Because of this they fail to see how powerful Facebook can become if used properly. I believe that every generation has a different set of opportunities and advantages. The internet is the advantage of our generation – people who are in their 20’s and early...

There’s this ad that’s constantly showing up on my political commentary blog, Juan Country. It says “Tindahan ni Noynoy” and asks people to buy “yellow” products to support Aquino’s presidential campaign. I decided to finally check it out. I was a bit surprised to not find any products that are actually affiliated with Senator Aquino. It’s either their marketing manager is irresponsible with his messaging or they forgot to change the layout of the site so that the “yellow” products come out at the front page. Here’s a screenshot...

I’ll be giving a talk this Saturday, February 20, 2010, at the Ateneo De Manila for AISEC’s Empowering Youth Entrepreneurship Seminar 2010. As most of you know I studied for 16 years in the Ateneo so I always make it a point to accept any speaking engagements that I get from that school. It’s always an honor to give back to the institution which played a critical role in molding my character and skills. My only worry right now is that I have a cold, haha. Hopefully I can get better so that I won’t have to keep on sneezing while giving my presentation. The topic will be “Talking...

When Google released Google Maps they almost killed companies that focused specifically on GPS tracker services. Now with Google Voice they’re directly challenging almost all telecommunication companies all over the world. The features of Google Voice is just phenomenal, awesome, and just mind-blowing. The possibilities this opens up for business and personal communication is limitless and I can’t wait to have it available here in the Philippines! So what does Google Voice do? Let’s go over them in this article. Using your existing number you get access to a whole deck of services...

To all bloggers and businesses interested in blog marketing: make sure you sign-up and register for the upcoming iBlog 6 this coming April 16-17. It’s totally for free so all you have to do is to actually head on over to their site and fill out the online form to reserve your slot. You might be asking yourself why I mentioned businessmen. The big difference in this year’s iBlog is that it will be split into two days. The first day will actually discuss blog marketing in the business aspect – on how companies can tap blogs to promote their products. The second day will be the usual...