Meet Mike Constantino: the MusiC Guy froM the PhiliPPines

MUSIC has always been a big part of our lives. We use music to communicate in countless ways. From the time when we are still in our mothers’ wombs, we are exposed to our mothers’ singing and lullabies to send us to sleep. At an early age, we are taught music lessons in school and for those who are fortunate to have the means, they may be given further lessons in piano, guitar, violin, and any musical instrument that they choose. Growing up, we are barraged by music on the radio, television, computers and gadgets, not to mention live concerts by musical groups and artists and every media we consume is always accompanied by music.

PR Matters

By Joy Lumawig-Buensalido

We in IPRA Philippines believe that music is a major component of the communication process so we have invited a music professional to be our speaker for our first Communitalks for this year. The topic is: “Sonic Branding: The Power of Sound in Communication.”

We are fortunate to have as guest speaker Mike Constantino, who humbly calls himself “half-artist, half-music entrepreneur” in his Instagram profile.

Mike is the Founder and CEO of Homonym, the premier sonic branding and music/audio marketing agency in the Philippines today. In 2019, together with the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), Mike founded Sonik Philippines, the country’s official Music Conference and Festival, which is now an annual industry event.

Although Mike is only in his early 40, he is considered a 25-year veteran with international exposure and extensive experience in multiple disciplines and has been a key figure in the local and regional music industry for decades.

His impressive work experience includes being the Country Sales Director of Yahoo Philippines, Marketing Head for the Asia Pacific for the Filipino Channel, and head of Brand New Media, a global content marketing agency.

On the music front, Mike has been a professional DJ, since the early 2000s. He is a two-time Awit Award-winning singer and songwriter for his work with his independent Soul band, Conscious and the Goodness.

On the music industry side, Mike is part of the technical working group for the SUDI National Music Awards and represents the independent sector for the Music Industry Act of the Philippines.

On February 22, 2023, Mike will be our featured speaker for IPRA Philippines’ Communitalks 2023 series, the first time to be held in partnership with the UP College of Mass Communication, and the first time to be conducted in a hi-flex manner because aside from the live presentation at the UPCMC studios, it will also be streamed via Zoom to other participants both locally and internationally.

Without preempting Mike’s presentation which we know will be interesting to both students and practitioners in the communications industry, we asked him the following questions which we hope will encourage more participants to join our free Communitalks by registering at this link: https:// bit.ly/IPRAphilippines who was also supported as one of event partner ASUS‘ featured artists.

Jason Magbanua on changing the wedding ga M e through storytelling and continued learning

MANILA, PHILIPPINES—On the second day of Graphika Manila weekend, one of the biggest names to grace the stage was wedding photographer and filmmaker Jason Magbanua,

Jason has made a name for himself in the Philippine creative community by pioneering the creation of stunning same day edit wedding videos, an industry trend that has turned into a lasting service many photographers and videographers have added to their catalogues after Jason turned it into a staple and key element in any wedding event.

In his Graphika talk, Jason discussed how he sold his craft to the Filipino audience at a time where wedding videos were typically consumed through lengthy documentations mailed weeks after the ceremony.

Here are the three questions with Mike’s profound answers:

Pr Matters: w hy do you think music/audio is a strong and powerful communication tool?

Mike: Out of all the human senses, sound is the only one that subconsciously influences emotions, guiding and pacing them whether we are aware of it or not. Many studies already state that sound penetrates/ infiltrates our brain much faster (you hear anywhere from 20 to 100 times faster than you see), making you less aware that you’re already being overtly marketed to vs. a visual stimuli that’s served right in front of your eyeballs. Why do you think Podcasts are so huge these days? Human beings are learning while being entertained at the same time (they don’t mind being served an inPodcast ad), without getting visual fatigue. Not to mention, they can do a lot of other things while they’re listening vs. being glued to a screen.

In the Sound On Era or the Headphone Generation, it is getting crucial to add sound

This was one of the biggest obstacles in his early career, he shared, where he had to change people’s perspective on how a wedding video could and should look like. He achieved this by making his product stand out and making customers understand that he wasn’t selling merely a video, but a complete service of immortalizing one of the most important days in a couple’s relationship. Jason continually pursued this by maintaining an open mindset to learning, and seizing every opportunity he can to educate himself on new techniques, technologies, and trends.

In fact, if there was one thing he hoped the Graphika audience would to every visual that you serve to your audience. Your readers are probably wearing earbuds right now as they read this article. At Homonym, we believe that visuals go straight to the brain, while sound goes straight to the heart. But combining great visuals with great audio is where it gets really interesting—a powerful combo that’s neurologically irresistible to humans.

Pr Matters: a r e there a lot of opportunities for students in communication and other related courses such as marketing, music, the arts, film, Pr and journalism to embark on careers in the industry?

Mike: Definitely! At Homonym, we’ve proven that there are lots of ways one can earn a dignified living doing something you love, like music. A lot of our former employees are now working for the biggest labels, agencies and music platforms in the market. Even if you are not a musical person (meaning, you do not sing/perform or play an instrument), there are many avenues for you to join in on the fun. Not limiting things take away from his session, it would be just that: Never stop learning.

“Grab every opportunity to attend these kind of learning experiences for growth, whether it’s at school, at SMX, or your local barangay. If you have an opportunity to learn, take it,” Jason emphasized on stage and during an interview with adobo Magazine.

Another main point in his talk was the importance of storytelling. He underlined the value of understanding one’s subjects, especially for wedding videos, to be able to successfully and effectively capture the couple’s personalities, and the specific magic of their wedding. He to just music, there’s also Audio, Sound, Voice. Just in Audio/Sound alone, there are opportunities in Production (song writing, composing, mixing/mastering, immersive audio production, scriptwriting, songwriting, etc.), studio management and even NFTs and AI. shared that it’s an integral part of his process to have multiple conversations with the couple—find out their hobbies, the music they listen to, their stories, etc. and really get to know them as people and as a couple to do their wedding story justice.

For Voice, it’s not just what you may think—like being a voice talent or managing voice talents. Just like the nascent fields of NFTs and AI that I mentioned, aCommerce (Audio Commerce) is emerging as a ubiquitous way to buy and sell products and services. As long as you have a smart speaker (reports show that there will be 75 percent smart speaker penetration in the US by 2025—from just 2.5 percent in 2015), you can order anything by just speaking. And we haven’t even touched on the music industry wherein you can earn from not just gigging, events and music/merchandise sales. Licensing, Publishing, Music Distribution, Artist Management and all the new music tech breakthroughs out there make this a space that will never run out of opportunities.

Pr Matters: Please name one or two of the most influential people in the music/audio industry globally and locally, and the reasons why?

Mike: There are many audio/sonic branders out there that I admire and fortunately, have become friends of mine. Trailblazers like Michele Arnese of amp Sound Branding, one of the biggest sonic branding agencies in the world, are breaking new ground in branded sound every day. David CourtierDutton and his team at SoundOut are pioneering Sonic Testing and Sonic Search, allowing brands to objectively determine what sounds fit a brand’s essence and resonate with audiences. Damian Scragg and Scot Simonelli of Veritonic are leading the way in Audio Analytics so we can measure whether our Audio assets are actually contributing to our bottom line.

I must also note Homonym’s Special Advisor for Sonic Branding and Multi-sensory Experience, Dean Aragon. Dean is the CEO and Vice Chairman of Shell Brands International (he's currently based in Zurich, Switzerland). He was the one who spearheaded Shell's iconic Sound of Shell global Sonic Branding rollout. Dean just joined the fold this year, consulting and advising us on how to take our sonic ideation to higher levels as we explore Homonym’s global footprint in this very exciting space.

Everyone is invited to meet Mike and listen to his talk. Please register here: https:// bit.ly/IPRAphilippines or for inquiries, please call Jingjing Romero at 0918 9042415.

PR Matters is a roundtable column by members of the local chapter of the United Kingdombased International Public Relations Association (Ipra), the world’s premier association for senior communications professionals around the world. Joy Lumawig-Buensalido is the President and CEO of Buensalido PR and Communications. She was past Chairman of the IPRA Philippine chapter for two terms.

PR Matters is devoting a special column each month to answer our readers’ questions about public relations. Please send your questions or comments to askipraphil@gmail.com.

He shared that this is key to having each wedding video unique to the couple, despite it being Jason’s nth shoot in this popular church, or that sought-after reception venue. He also noted some important elements to capture: “There are really key elements in a wedding day that we really have to lazer focus on. Number one is the personal vows, and number two is the first time the groom meets the bride in her wedding gown, walking down the aisle. It’s just magical, that moment.”

Lastly, Jason reminded all the aspiring and young creatives in the room that sometimes, your passion doesn’t have to be your job. There’s also value in being a creative just for yourself: “The money doesn’t always come [in this field], and that’s perfectly fine. If you’re a creator, in whatever field, it’s fine if you just create for the sake of creating—for personal pleasure, for personal growth, for other people, and not necessarily to make money. That’s one point I’m really driving right now.”

MARYHILL College is in control in the first weekend of the tournament.

Maryhill College girls go 2-0 in U18 tilt despite daily trips

MARYHILL College’s players didn’t mind the four-hour land trip to Manila and back to Lucena City during both days of the weekend as they swept their matches in the Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF) Under-18 Championships at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex.

“Everybody struggled and adjusted in our first game last Saturday, but we performed better today [Sunday],” Maryhill College coach Joannes Rey Supnit said.

On Saturday, Maryhill College’s team motored to Manila and beat Junction Youth Organization (JYO) of Los Baños, 2514,25-20, and returned to Lucena City after the match.

On Sunday morning, they went through the same routine and defeated New Gen Volleyball Club of Santa Cruz (Laguna), 25-8, 25-10, to go 2-0 won-lost in girls’ Pool A.

The reason for the Lucena City girls’ dynamic enthusiasm?

“The players are excited because most of them are first timers to play here in Manila,” said Supnit, minutes before he and the girls boarded a bus back to Lucena City Sunday.

“It’s amazing to see the enthusiasm of these girls from the provincial teams,” PNVF president Ramon “Tats” Suzara said. “The federation is inspired by their love of our sport.”

Team captain Claire Castillo, Icon Maravilla and Closer Losloso—all 17 years old—showcased a steady game for Maryhill College in the tournament supported by the Philippine Olympic Committee, Philippine Sports Commission, PLDT, Rebisco and Akari.

“Our setter [Losloso] played well both games despite the struggle and lack of sleep and rest,” Supnit said. “We’re very thankful to the support of Sister Rowena Labitigan [school official] and our coordinator Willie Pagsuyuin [team sponsor].”

PNVF finance head Rommel Bernardez was amazed by how MaryHill College’s young players are responding to the revived under-18 tournament and said “these girls have a bright future in volleyball.”