icomm

The Official Publication of the School of Communication University of Asia and the Pacific

Issue 017

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“!

” or “Help” is the best way to describe this issue. First of all, it is my first time to act as guest editor for this worthy cause called IComm. So, I need a lot of “!”. The second reason is that this issue is all about “!” or asking people for help through marketing communication strategies.

The advocacy campaign is a completely involving subject because it works with a new bottom line that is not tangible, like money, but intangible, like change.

Like the “!” symbol, advocacy campaigns are lean, mean, and punctuated with a sense of urgency. They don’t mince words and are always ready to hit, with heavy impact. It is especially relevant today when causes are becoming more focused. Poverty is not just about material lack anymore but can be spiritual, cultural, or environmental. It is not surprising to find an advertising agency like Ideals dedicated to helping NGOs because the world really needs it. It is especially true because these organizations need effective campaigns in dire situations where funds and manpower are hard to come by. We also found out that creating change doesn’t mean squeezing your schedule the way some of our featured alumni did it. Change is all about just working up the nerve to actually do something. Hope you can spare a few minutes of your time to enjoy this issue and use it at least as your personal immersion in a brighter world.

Editor-in-Chief Guest Editor Editorial Assistant Contributing Writers Front and Back cover Layout Printing

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Jason N. de Villa Jan Vincent S. Ong Vanessa J. Jimenez Mar G. Corazo, Emily A. Dy, Ma. Teresita V. Gutierrez Tiffany G. Orbien, Paul P. Perez Tim delos Reyes Jaime O. Hilario Inkwell Publishing Co., Inc.

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Getting Creative Service Service

in in the the of of an an

Ideal

by Jan Vincent S. Ong Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw said that youth is wasted on the young. He sadly didn’t live long enough to meet Rhea Alarcon, Berns De Leon, Dan Matutina, Marielle Nadal, and Dang Sering.

These full time heroes, as they describe themselves, form the marketing communications agency called IdealsCreative, which specializes in advocacy campaigns. They have worked with 36 clients in a span of 2 years, including high-profile corporate social responsibility projects for companies such as Coke, Asian Development Bank, and Caritas Manila.

Before teaming up to save the world though, the Ideals group were already long-time friends who all studied fine arts at the University of the Philippines. Their talent for the arts, they recall, either came from doodling at home, flipping through books on Van Gogh, or joining grade school art competitions.

Their passion for change was inspired by the “speak out” atmosphere found in their university. As Ideals Project Director Dang Sering recounts, “I was impressed by classmates who wrote to newspapers and did something about issues that bothered them.” As a consequence, each of them developed his own appetite for advocacy.

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www.ideals-creatives.com

For Ideals Creative Director Dan Matutina, it is the promotion of local folk culture. Ideals Marketing Director Berns De Leon gets riled up by the careless way people treat the environment..

After college, social change was still on the top of their minds, but so was finding a stable job. They kept in touch but realized that their dream to make a difference had to temporarily take a back seat to the pursuit of a successful career. Each of them spent three productive years working for advertising agencies or media companies.

Dan picked up a Lotus Creative award and was creative director in Harrison Communications.

However, the itch to change the world through communications continued to nag them, until Ideals Executive Director Marielle Nadal stumbled upon the Youth Social Enterprise Initiative (YSEI), an international program that gave grants to social entrepreneurs so they can implement their dream projects.

Jumpstarting their ideals They immediately jumped on the opportunity and pitched the idea of an advocacy agency to Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP), the YSEI program organizer.

On Easter Sunday

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of 2006, they received a call from GPK and were told they were awarded the coveted $15,000 start-up grant for Ideals.

Dan placed such high hopes on Ideals that he quit his job at Harrison the next day. He says “I felt that I had to put 100% into Ideals or nothing at all. It was a risk worth taking because we were young enough to make mistakes if it didn’t work out.”

Berns admits that starting Ideals was indeed a true test of their commitment because the grant was not given immediately. Without money to rent an office, they had to work in their homes and explain to their parents that they were not just bumming around.

But they soon gained momentum after some good word-of-mouth publicity and were approached by clients from their former agencies. Now they have enough clients so that campaigns for start-up NGOs can be supported by funds coming from bigger projects.

Passion bears fruits Their quaint Katipunan office is brimming with knick knacks, doodles on the wall, art work, toys, and design books — reminders of their passion for both their craft and their mission. Creativity is always on their mind and advocacy is the air that they breathe.

It is in the little things. For example, they all have code names inspired by the action show “Bioman”.

Marielle also started a tradition of giving proper names for their things so they feel more responsibilty for them.

Before meetings, everyone prepares “baon” for brainstorming by talking with friends online, observing trends outside, or doing research on social design. During meetings, they follow a nolaptop rule so that everyone is focused on the task at hand. Also, there are no veto powers for ideas and deadlocks are sorted out by vote. Of course, they have fun, too, as they see their ideas develop and become a reality months later.

This is why the Ideals group is so focused on choosing the right partners. Their number one criteria for hiring is to find people who can match their obsession. For their upcoming online networking project called ONE LINE, they didn’t hire a programmer for a long time until they found a person who would put his heart into it.

Luckily, they discovered the programmer, who they call “the one,” living a block from their office.

Energy boosters They get their energy partly from their clients.

They are challenged by the fact that many of these clients think they are too young for the job. More than that, the actual research for their projects gets them totally motivated to do their best. Interacting with cerebral palsy patients or talking to Caritas Manila scholars makes them realize that there is so much more at stake than just their reputation or compensation. They are driven by the challenge of improving the welfare of others, not just the bottom line of corporations.

Yet, the best compensation for their hard work is hearing “thank you” from their clients. For everyone at Ideals, those two words often make all the sleepless nights worth it.

They hired their second batch of summer interns — Paeng Schlobohm and Regine Palma from La Salle Canlubang — after sorting through hundreds of emails from students eager to have a chance to work with them. They continue looking for grants to do more projects, one of which is the website called One Line, which will allows designers and copywriters to pitch their concepts to NGOS and companies who are creating CSR programs. They are also planning to work with universities for their Design to Make a Difference get-togethers that feature speakers from various creative disciplines promoting advocacy through design.

Thus, with a promising horizon up ahead. Ideal’s future is best described

by George Bernard

Shaw as “dreaming of things that never were and saying ‘Why not?‘” May they inspire us to do the same. ★

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CSR CSR 101 101

by Vanessa J. Jimenez

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n the beginning, under the objective guidance of Milton Friedman, markets were all about profit-making and utility maximization; nothing more and nothing less. “Externalities,” “stakeholders” and other related terminology were not relevant to most executives. Obviously, this painted an incomplete picture of the society in which businesses flourished, and the needs of such societies.

Over time, corporations began to take responsibility for more than just profits.

Corporate Social Responsiblity (CSR) is defined as “a commitment to improve community well-being through discretionary business practices and contributions of corporate practices” (Kotler & Lee, 2005). Today, sustainability, social responsibility, and environmental viability have replaced old ideas and theories in conducting business.

Philip Kotler has said that it isn’t just enough for companies to do good, which is generally limited to market performance, but to actually do good (2005). In doing good business, he connotes that one has to be able to render service to different stakeholders while minimizing, or even eliminating, the negative effects for everyone concerned. That is “integrating social activities to our business strategies” (Coleman, et al. 1998) or doing business with a conscience in all aspects of the corporate life.

Many notable companies started the trend late in the 1980’s, and pioneers and success stories include Levi Strauss & Co., Nestlé, Ben & Jerry’s, Marks and Spencer, Avon, and The Body Shop, to name a few. For the often stigmatized ‘cold and greedy’ corporations, having a heart paid off, in more than just material ways.

What has been a long practice in developed countries has also garnered attention with local companies, though the Philippine environment is still largely at the experimental stage (Rimando, 2007, December). A study done by Newsbreak and supported by British Embassy has found out that most CSR initiatives in the country are still inherently at a developmental stage and are largely implemented by corporate foundations. Meralco, Asia Brewery, McDonald’s, Petron, and Philamlife, among others, have trail blazed the CSR path in the country. Although our CSR is young and still developing, we cannot deny that it already has a good following that can prolong its existence for the welfare of society. ★

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The Yabang Pinoy movement hopes to remind at least one million Filipinos that there are many things to be proud of as Filipinos.

Getting the youth involved in community work can be a difficult task, especially when daily concerns such as school or TV take too much of their time. This task becomes much more difficult if the goal is about changing people’s minds. Yet, this has not stopped Yabang Pinoy, with its core group of 20 to 30 volunteers, to spread their proPinoy culture and entrepreneurship message to over 20,000 people in three years.

According to active volunteer Maricris Sarino, Yabang Pinoy was set up three years ago by balikbayans to try to preserve the Pinoy culture that they felt was being washed away by the growing wave of globalization. Recently, Yabang Pinoy received a lot of attention from youth-oriented media outlets like Philippine Star’ Supreme Lifestyle section and Candy Magazine, and even from celebrities. She says that Yabang Pinoy’s success is due to four elements, which she elaborates on in the following sections.

1. YOU GOTTA BELIEVE According to Maricris, Yabang Pinoy’s strength is that they have a clear idea of their brand. They are set up to revitalize and reinvent the idea of Filipino culture and lifestyle for the new millennium. They noticed that pride for the Pinoy style is waning because a lot of people find it baduy (corny). They were able to meet this challenge head on, for example, by reviving and updating the image of local culture via the resurgent popularity of graphic statement t-shirts and baller ID’s. All they needed to do was put a Pinoy flavor to the designs. The result was an abaca woven bracelet and statement tees with the slogan Yabang Ako! Yet, it must be said that the organization is not about selling local products but

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about creating awareness and changing minds. This is why they have turned down marketing tie-ups that don’t jive with their communication goals and have not charged high for their bazaars. The group is very clear that they are not after change in their pockets but change in each Filipino.

2. FUN! One of the core beliefs of Yabang Pinoy is that each project should scream fun to its volunteers.

Since the volunteers have the same demographic profile as their target market, they admit that each Yabang Pinoy intiative strongly has D.I.Y (Do It Yourself) factor because they are confident that if the volunteer group falls in love with an idea, then it will be a hit with other young people.

The result has been debates on whether the jeepney or the tricycle is better, Pinoy bazaars with rock bands and freedom walls, patintero games, and even immersion trips around the country.

3. GET INSPIRED Yabang Pinoy easily finds a balance between the two hemispheres of the brain because their members come from management and humanities courses. For the artists in the group, their first inspiration is nature. Maricris says that nature is their golden peg for design. She says that all their marketing materials should have rich “Yummy” colors to attract people. Aesthetic appeal can also be drawn from going around the supermarket because it is filled with cans that are made to catch your attention. For Yabang Pinoy, inspiration also comes from its history nerds who make sure each design is rooted in authentic Pinoy meaning.

4. MAKING FRIENDS The main source of Yabang Pinoy activity comes from their online web sites such as Multiply and Facebook where a lot of the people in their target market swim in. They also post regular updates about their activities through their website at http://www.yabangpinoy.com.

To reach their current goal of reaching one million people, they have set up campus tours composed of 15 schools that engage students to play patintero and talk about learning Tagalog. ★

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by Teá Villamor “Chastity is the new sexual revolution,” declares Lora Garcia, on the advocacy her organization, I Keep Love Real (IKLR), espouses, adding, “After all, when engaging in premarital sex is common, it’s hardly what you’d call a revolution. It’s when you refrain from it that goes against the grain these days.”

Certainly, IKLR faces an uphill battle, one that Lora herself is all too aware of.

Minutes into explaining what her organization is all about, she tells me, halfseriously, “I hope you don’t fall out of your chair by what I’m saying.” Indeed, getting anyone, especially teenagers, to choose chastity as a way of life, given the bombardment they get from media, the peer pressure, added to the usual adolescent angst and hormones, getting teenagers to choose chastity seems like an impossible task. Lora though thinks it’s well worth the effort.

“You’d be surprised,” she says. “We’ve done a lot of talks in high school about this and teenagers are receptive. It helps that we present an alternative to them.” IKLR started out as an offshoot to Lora’s college thesis, I AM S.T.R.O.N.G. From there, it branched out into its current form.

“I AM S.T.R.O.N.G. was a leadership program started about 10 years ago geared to the public school setting. It was about leadership, values training, and decisionmaking in four areas of their lives: first year, study habits; second year, friendship; third year, career; and fourth year, love and relationships.

“Over the years, we discovered that kids have such hunger for more information, and more than information, guidance—about their love lives, and more specifically about their sex lives. And as teenagers, especially coming from the public schools, they don’t have a lot of information about sex from people they feel have an authority—for example, their parents or an older, wiser person. It’s such a taboo topic. As Filipinos we don’t like to talk about sex openly, or with the family. It’s rooted in the culture.”

It’s such a taboo topic. As Filipinos we don’t like to talk about sex openly.

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From this, IKLR was born. “I AM STRONG held a congress attended by students last November that focused on character education and chastity. That was where I Keep Love Real was launched.”

IKLR is a campaign for sexual purity and chastity, two words that carry such heavy freight today. “When you first hear the word ‘chastity’ we get all sorts of reactions, none positive—it’s so middle-aged, so archaic, so we try to bring it down to a level wherein they understand that this is how love was supposed to be about. This is how

icomm 017 www.ikeeplovereal.com

it was created, and despite times changing, this is the ideal.”

Lora wants to be clear that IKLR is not rooted in religious dogma, as some people who first encounter the organization think. “The members are all Catholic by chance,” she explains. “But we’re not a Catholic organization. A lot of people think we’re Opus Dei, since this started in UA&P,…but we’re not.” But Lora does make clear IKLR does share certain beliefs that the Church espouses. Like how to approach sex education, for instance. The government has a fairly comprehensive sex education program rooted in the idea of safe sex, or the use of different birthcontrol methods. While lauding the need for sex education, she doesn’t think that the government approach is the way to go.

“The problem with contraceptives,” says Lora, “is that despite all the science and research, there still isn’t a 100% safe contraceptive today. The best thing to wear for safe sex is still a wedding ring. All contraceptives do is give teens and young adults a false sense of safety.”

For IKLR, the idea is to go beyond the contraceptives—to the idea that chastity or purity are their own reward.

“We believe that contraceptives are a quick-fix solution. Knowing about them doesn’t necessarily teach you anything about how to stay married later in life, let’s say, which is what many people really aspire to. They want happy marriages.”

Herself married with two kids, Lora is articulate about her beliefs. “This is what a stable happy marriage is all about: It’s about sacrifice, it’s about delaying gratification, it’s about holding back because you love the person. It’s about not always considering what you want, when you want, and how you want it. So we talk to the kids about being chaste versus using contraception. How that trains you for marriage. How it gives you the right kinds of virtues so that you can succeed later on in your marriage.”

While still relatively in its infancy in the Philippines, organizations that teach or urge teenagers to abstain from sex are becoming popular in the United States, where there seems to be a revival of old-school values. In the Philippines, IKLR seems to be the only sectoral organization right now that’s actually teaching teenagers the value of waiting.

“Yes, we’re sort of like the organizations in the States. But while the abstinence organizations just teach kids to say no—we go much further. We have a chastity-based sex education. With abstinence, you can tell them to say no, but you don’t talk about what’s underneath that.”

So what do they talk about? For Lora, chastity education is all about values, coupled with a healthy dose of logic rooted in everyday situations: “We talk about love. What does it mean to really love a person? What does it mean to be a real woman? What does it mean to be a man? Where does your dignity as a man come from?

Where are you different?”

Talk like this is all well and good, but lessons and lectures need to be based in reality. How does IKLR go about getting kids to listen to them?

“The way we do it is, first we talk to them as a group and then after that we separate the genders. A male speaker talks to the guys and a female speaker talks

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to the girls. It’s only when we’re alone that we talk about things more in-depth because no one wants to talk in front of the opposite sex. We try to keep the facilitators young, around college-level or young professionals because we’re talking to high school kids. I actually shouldn’t be doing this anymore because I’m older,” says Lora, who at 34, feels that IKLR should be facilitated by younger people. “For sure the students are thinking, you’re married and have two kids, what do you know about our problems?”

A lot, counters Lora. “I don’t come from a very different background from everyone else. I know what it’s like out there. I had a boyfriend pretty early. I dated many guys. A lot of people think that I’m kulong-sa-bahay [homebody] because of what I do, but I do know the situation out there.”

Lora experienced the same kind of pressure from friends that these teenagers are experiencing now. “When my husband and I were dating, we had such a difficult time so we’d try to surround ourselves with people who were also trying to be chaste.

In fact, Lora experienced the same kind of pressure from friends that these teenagers are experiencing now. “When my husband and I were dating, we had such a difficult time so we’d try to surround ourselves with people who were also trying to be chaste. For example, we’d go out of town with our barkada. Syempre, boys and girls and everyone would go off to their own rooms, and my fiancé and I would go, ‘What are we gonna do?’ It was very difficult for us because no one wanted to try it. It was only through being very careful and after so much prayer that we managed not to have sex before marriage. And our friends would go, ‘You sick people! What’s wrong with you?’ And I’m like, laugh all you want but our relationship was so peaceful.”

What was different, according to Lora, was that she was blessed with a mother who had strong ideas about how she wanted her daughter to grow up, was very vigilant yet understood what it was like to be a teenager. “My mom would talk to me and my boyfriend about relationships, issues about sexuality,” says Lora, who smiled when she sees my horrified reaction. “My mom knew what it was like out there, so she made sure that I understood where she was coming from and the values I was raised in.” In fact, one can say that it’s her mom’s teaching that Lora is continuing with IKLR. “I think what we need now is more of a culture of adults who can talk about sex.

If you set the bar low, hanggang dyan lang yung mga bata. If you set it high, I think you’ll be surprised at how much they also want this.”

She does concede though that aside from teens, the parents need to be taught as well. “The lost virtue, I think, is that parents can’t explain it to them,” says Lora.

“Once the children get used to the idea of talking about sex at home, once they get used to the idea of delaying sex till marriage, when the children feel that from their parents, then they have an obligation whether they like it or not to talk to their children about it when it’s their turn. It’s a cycle. You have to start somewhere. Parents who never talk to their children, beget children who never talk to their children.”

The problem, she says is that parents are also violators. “I’ve had parents who have come up to me because they’re mad that I’m blaming them for their kids’ problems. I’m not saying they should be blamed, but maybe they’re feeling guilty?” she asks, smiling.

All this talk of chastity and one wonders, what exactly does she tell the kids? And what do the kids ask about?

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“IKLR focuses on teens and we only get them for a few hours, so we don’t have a lot of time to explain the biological aspects of it. Although I wish we did, so we could talk about human sexuality. But we do talk about contraceptives, homosexuality, masturbation, pornography, drugs, and so on—it depends on the temperature of the audience. Sometimes we talk about marriage. We talk about making out, what we call the ladder of intimacy—from the simplest handholding to the most passionate necking, petting, and intercourse. I don’t think any Filipina teen—it may be different in the States—sets out to lose her virginity. A lot of people who lose their virginity before marriage start off thinking they’ll just do certain things but stop short of the whole deal. They’ll say, ‘It’s just necking or kissing…’ What these kids don’t realize is that it starts off with very, very subtle things and you don’t even know you’re going to the next level already. Each time you keep pushing it a little further and before you know it, you’re having sex. And then you start justifying it—everyone’s doing it, he loves me, I’m going to end up with him anyway, it’s my life, it’s my body, etc.’ So we warn them about this. And we answer their questions as honestly as we can.”

Lora continues, “Usually at the open forum, I have them write their questions and drop them in a box so no one knows who asked what. I also put my email address on the board so they can email me. It really depends on what they want to talk about.

Sometimes, there will be groups where we talk about sex or abortions while there are groups na neneng-nene ang mga students. I’ve had one talk where a student cried. It turned out she had an abortion. Cases like that we do a one-on-one.”

Counseling is another aspect of IKLR. “We usually get the students for two days so there’s time for one-on-one counseling when they need it. I believe that we need to talk to the students one-on one.”

Sometimes though, even she gets thrown for a loop. Lora says there really is no way to prepare for everything they’ll ask. “There was one time, I talked to an all-girls college. After the talk, I asked for questions. No one wanted to ask questions. And I was so surprised. An all-girls’ college and no one wanted to ask about relationship questions? But I told them what my email address was in case they have questions they wanted to ask me. Turns out, they didn’t want to ask in front of everyone because most of the questions were all about lesbian relationships and feelings. I should have figured it out!”

“I think teens have a vision problem. They don’t look ahead.

They don’t understand that if they have premarital sex now, they’re cheating on their wife or husband in advance. It’s still infidelity because I believe we’re meant for lasting love with one person. I don’t believe we’re meant to be given in pieces. We should all hold sex sacred because life is sacred.

So the act that brings life, it cannot not be sacred.”

Listening to her be so matter-of-fact about subjects that would make most people blush, I commented that she seemed so comfortable talking about these things.

“Because what I’m talking about is rooted in something else. Ultimately, I’m talking about love and what love should be like. All these issues stem from that. And I don’t think teens today have a problem controlling themselves. I don’t think they’re any hornier than teens, say, a century ago. We have the same hormones. I don’t necessarily think it’s media’s fault although they do contribute.”

What’s the problem then? “I think teens have a vision problem. They don’t look ahead. They don’t understand that if they have premarital sex now, they’re cheating on their wife or husband in advance. It’s still infidelity because I believe we’re meant for lasting love with one person. I don’t believe we’re meant to be given in pieces.

We should all hold sex sacred because life is sacred. So the act that brings life, it cannot not be sacred.” ★

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A New Way of Solving

Old Problems

Interviews with Bam Aquino and Illac Diaz shed light on how to use new ideas and new technology to try and solve some of society’s oldest problems Dole-outs and other “charitable” projects can only do so much. It will take a different approach to the poverty problem to achieve better results, faster. Mr. Paolo Benigno ‘Bam” Aquino of Microventures Inc, and Mr. Illac Diaz of MyShelter Foundation, Inc. spoke at a forum on Social Entrepreneurship organized by the Center for Social Responsibility of the University of Asia and the Pacific last September 10, 2008.

The event focused on two sustainable business ventures led by Mr. Aquino and Mr Diaz. Microventures aims to give the local sari-sari store system an organizational and efficiency makeover through its Hapinoy project. MyShelter Foundation, Inc. is the force behind a number of housing innovations that address the needs of the rural poor and urban migrant workers.

These two ventures try to solve a social problem through market strategies that consider environmental viability as well.

Their goal is not just to make a profit but to earn the future.

The medium is business but it is a business of the people, for the people, and by the people.

How do you make companies or stakeholders in general more aware and have more active participation in your

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projects? Are there incentives for big-scale companies once they participate in your projects?

Bam: We invest in time and effort to explain Hapinoy to them. Hapinoy is not only a new initiative, but in many ways, it’s a new way of doing things as well. With that in mind, we work hard at communicating clearly with our stakeholders.

The best way to explain is to bring them to the field and let them witness for themselves how Hapinoy works.

The incentives are built-in to the program. The more they help, the more likely their goods are sold through the system.

Illac: Social Enterprise and Ecologically Sustainable design were largely misunderstood at the beginning by companies and non-profits. In the first years we had to make sure that they did not view the foundation as some kind of “eco-outlaw,” and make them realize that we were not threatening, not looking for new legislations and government regulation, but looking for ways to cooperate in expanding their programs.

There is an enormous loss of initiative when people are given a handout and the worst thing is if the money suddenly stops and the program is not designed… (to be) sustainable,

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or have a profit mechanism that keeps the program alive. If the world economy on the whole dips, or profits of the local subsidiary go down, the first thing to go is the CSR programs so there is really a thin lifeline holding many of these poverty initiatives (together).

In the case of greener buildings, I wanted to move away from the measurements of progress of the Industrial Revolution, which was pure glorification of profit and production as the measurement of advancement of the human race. A green building can provide health for workers and increase their productivity, lessen their sick days, and keep retention. My work in rural areas using locally sourced materials like soil (adobe) and bamboo are not new technologies, but going back to traditions of older generations, and applying new methods in materials design to come up with strong buildings to meet the shortage of classrooms and clinics in the rural areas.

operations on the ground run smoothly, our nanays are satisfied with our program and our main messaging is clear and we trust that eventually, the larger audience will be one with the Hapinoy Community as well.

Illac:

The whole concept of social enterprise, “using profits to alleviate poverty” and sustainable design are sometimes a chicken-and-egg game. It is by building an actual working design that the nay-sayers will understand the logic behind it. It is the proof that makes them decide to eat the pudding. What the MyShelter (project) has going for it is a close relationship with the press and the fact that many of the media are starting to see the effects of donor fatigue as well as lack of budgets to keep on building with expensive manufactured materials like cement steel and glass. When we come up with a new project success, we have been fortunate to have a great response to the initiatives. We are just showing that there are other potions to be used when applicable.

How well do you market your social entrepreneurship projects? Do you market them at all? In your experience, does it require some special marketing in order to reach a massive kind of public awareness and advocacy? Does it require some special marketing to get to a larger audience?

Is social entrepreneurship as a movement more of a “word-of-mouth” marketing and does it have a life of its own as opposed to having to sit down and strategically plan out how to get funds and sponsors?

Do social entrepreneurship projects sell themselves?

Bam:

Bam: Strategy is very important. You must map out

Yes, we market it. In fact, we owe a large part of the success of Hapinoy to the partners we have so far. And getting these partners was a major feat in marketing the idea and the concept of Hapinoy. It does not require special methodologies per se, just an understanding of where people or organizations are coming from. It is important to adjust to your audience. For example a microfinance institution would be looking for different things as compared to a multinational corporation. But because we designed Hapinoy to deliver benefits for all stakeholders, it was a matter of choosing which aspect of the program to focus on.

We haven’t reached the larger audience that is being referred to. For us, we just have to make sure that the

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partnerships, sponsors, etc. In some ways, with social entrepreneurship being so popular these days, it does help to be one, but that will only get you so far.

Illac: The advocacies sometimes are organic in nature.

We started with urban solutions like self-build rooms and work-for stay for homeless migrants. Instead of giving poor people a home, we gave specific professionals, like seafarers in this case, a dorm in which to live in while waiting for a job. The idea was if we got enough of one skilled worker group together, they will have sufficient mass to attract job-opportunities from agencies that could not easily find

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them in shanty areas. This is definitely something that can expand to other areas like domestic helpers, construction workers; the link is to create some kind of physical classified address where companies know where to look for skilled labor among the poorest sectors of the city. By giving them jobs, they move them out of shanties.

How do you choose your advocacies and projects? If applicable, does marketability to the supporters and donors play a part in your choosing?

Or is the need and sustainability of the project to the beneficiaries the only consideration in your choosing?

Bam:

I choose advocacies and projects based on different things—if the cause is close to my heart, if I can truly contribute to the furtherance of the advocacy or project, if I am asked by a group or people I believe in.

You have to choose your partners well. As a project proponent, it is your responsibility to make sure that potential partners fit the advocacy or project. If it doesn’t fit, there’s no point pursuing the potential partner. This goes for both sponsors and beneficiaries.

How well is the youth sector involved in your projects, like Hapinoy and MyShelter and in social entrepreneurship in general? How do you get them involved? Are they a well utilized resource, given proper contact and interaction?

Bam:

We have a volunteer program that is composed mainly of students and young professionals. Our website was done by a student. We find that young people are ready to help when you ask them and that they are attracted to Hapinoy because they see it as a new way of solving old problems.

We speak in schools. We entertain

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emails. We need volunteers and we try our best to make the experience a truly memorable one for them.

Volunteers have different capacities—some will only volunteer for a day, others for an extended period. TJ, now our Head of Partnerships, was our first volunteer.

What is important is that the group getting them knows their limitations and how best they can contribute. If the volunteer management of the group is well-run, then you can get the most out of your volunteers.

Illac: MyShelter has not involved the youth sector so much from the city, as most of the projects are communitybased in the provinces. The youth there are very involved though in the different initiatives. One of the latest programs was the Millennium Schools design competition where young architects from around the world could create new ideas for green and typhoon resistant classrooms for the developing world. I guess, the way MyShelter works is more than asking the youth to give labor, and time, but to inspire them to come up with new ideas to redesign charity organizations to be more empowering and “out-of-the-box” in coming out with solutions.

“Sustainability”, “Social Responsibility” and “Viability” seem to be such buzzwords and often produces images of livelihoods, grassroots initiatives, and building communities. Is that the image you yourselves are trying to get across? What more messages are you trying to communicate with the public? Are these the end and be all of CSR and consequently, of social entrepreneurship? What do you think is the future of social entrepreneurship here in the country?

Bam:

Yes, but alongside these, we want to get across the image of the micro-entrepreneur, our nanays, who are making the most of what little was given to them. It is an empowering image, not one of pity. Most of our nanays just simply didn’t get the opportunities that many of us take for granted. Hapinoy is there to provide these opportunities and it is up to the nanays to work hard, do their best and make the most of Hapinoy.

I hope that social entrepreneurship will grow in the Philippines, with more individuals putting up social business enterprises. We hope that more people will support us, whether it be through volunteerism or coursing business through the Hapinoy network.

By our action and hopefully, through our success, we hope to inspire more people to start their own social business enterprises.

Illac:

What basic message I am trying to get across is that social responsibility is not an option for every Filipino, but an obligation; that each one has to give his share in making life better for all, even though it’s small. The effect of this is that the accumulated good will far outshines any large-scale project of any individual or company. The message I am trying to express is carried by the two individual projects. The social entrepreneur initiatives ask people to question the years of relying on large-scale subsidies and donor funds to run poverty alleviation projects. The Philippines is one of the largest recipients of funds in South East Asia, yet our poverty is escalating rapidly. We need a solution not only for a point in time, but one which grows with the increasing the number of marginalized who are affected over the long haul because poverty is not a shortterm problem. Therefore, a businessbased livelihood solution is a better choice to be considered. ★

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Activist Hooked on Life

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first met the World Youth Alliance back in 2005, when I was doing my 5th year in IMC. At first glance, I found it both admirable and surprising that a group of young people— all under 30—wanted to take up a cause as big as “the promotion and defense of human dignity in international policy and culture”. Was it really possible for young people to actually do something like this?

When I read their charter, I was won over. It talked about many noble things that made me believe in their idea of what the world should be: a world that runs on a proper understanding of human dignity as something inherent in all people, and inalienable no matter the race, creed, social standing or educational level of a person.

Actually, it talked about a whole lot more than that. But the thing that stuck to my memory was this one line: “WYA is… committed to building free and just societies through a culture of life.”

A culture of life?

I thought, “Has a nice ring to it, but, ummm… what is it, exactly?”

Fortunately enough, I got an intensive immersion in the actual WYA culture of life when I was shipped off to New York City for their international internship.

There I learned that you could promote a culture of life by going to the United Nations and attending all these fancy commissions, monitoring international policy-making and discussing their implications on the person’s ability to live a dignified life. But at the same time you can promote a culture of life by getting a bunch of young people together and doing something that makes you experience the beauty of life and of being human—be it watching a great film, going hiking in the mountains of Upstate New York, or, my favorite, sharing world cultures through an

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international food night!

“Always live out a culture of life.”

It’s about living life to the fullest for yourself.

And it’s about promoting a better life for others whether you’re leading by example or setting time aside to champion one cause or another.

In that one simple statement, I found some sort of guide for life. And I noticed a dramatic change in the way I lived. I came home in love with life, and in love with the world that offered so much to those willing to take it.

Even with my choice of a job, I sought it out because I knew it’s the one that would make me happy. The kind that doesn’t feel like a job even when I’m deep in work.

Then there are the weekends.

Other than the typical shopping trip with the girls or drinking sessions with the boys, I always make sure I add a little something different.

On one weekend I could also be spending the afternoon with friends at WYA arguing about different policies of the United Nations, and the next weekend I’m at a Project Beauty seminar learning the basics of commercial and mineral make-up from top beauty bloggers. Some weekends I fly to Cebu and Bacolod to set up provincial chapters for WYA, and on others I’m eating my way through the province on YTRiP’s Kulinarya Tagala Tour of Laguna and Quezon. Or I could just be chilling at Katipunan listening to great bands play at a Rock Ed gig—all for a good cause—from youth voter education to promoting safer commuting in Manila.

As of this writing I’m looking forward to next weekend where I’ll be a volunteer for Hands On Manila’s Servathon 2008 and the next few months for an upcoming mountain climbing trip with YTRiP to test our learnings from the Backpacking 101 seminar.

Sounds like it takes up a lot of my time? Actually, yes, it does. But I wouldn’t trade it for anything else.

I’ve been asked why I wouldn’t rather spend my time on “rakets” or “sidelines” the way other professionals do, and earn some extra cash.

My answer to that? I don’t see why I have to. I think I’m lucky that early on in life I’ve found the amazing things in this world that money can’t buy. [continued on page 17]

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f you think you’ve handled a challenging brand, try marketing a Catholic event.

To young people.

In Australia.

The country is home to just over 20 million people, only a quarter of which are Catholic. But consider this: a recent study conducted by the Catholic Education Office of Melbourne (the largest diocese in Australia) showed that 97% of all high school students who graduate from Catholic high schools lose contact with the Church within one year of graduation. It’s sad, though not surprising, figure. Visit any Church here on a weekend and majority of the congregation will be aged forty or above. A number of reasons contribute to the low figure of youth participation in the Church, but one of the most striking is the fact that young people don’t feel that it is “socially acceptable or relevant” to show people that you are Catholic.

Thankfully, further market study of youth in Australia shows that we live in a very “events- and experience-driven” culture. Music festivals, weekend camps, and tourism destinations all thrive because young people love to get out, experience fun new things and soak up the atmosphere with friends and other people their age.

So marketing a Catholicorganized event like World Youth

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Day was going to be an interesting challenge.

The Brand (the event) World Youth Day (WYD) is an international gathering of young people on a pilgrimage of faith, consisting of a week-long series of events attended by the Pope and hundreds of thousands of youth. In the past, it has been held in Buenos Aires, Denver, Rome and Toronto.

Two thousand and eight was Sydney, Australia’s turn.

The WYD week culminates with a Final Mass celebrated by the Pope, which historically, has drawn millions of people in attendance (WYD Manila in 1995 attracted up to 4 million—a record still to be broken, according to the Guinness Book of World Records!).

In the week prior to WYD, overseas pilgrims are hosted in the different dioceses of the host country for what is called Days in the Dioceses (DID). This five-day celebration consists of pilgrim activities that aim to immerse young people in the local culture and prepare them for their pilgrimage to WYD.

The Task (or should I say, tasks) Since I was based in Melbourne, my work consisted of several communication tasks. First, our

team had to ensure that overseas young people chose Melbourne as their destination for DID. Second, we had to promote the DID and WYD events to the local market and encourage them to participate—for there was no point inviting all these internationals if they didn’t have any local youth to engage with!

Given the youth market situation we were faced with, it became imperative that we reviewed all key messages, audiences, existing and potential communication channels and methods available to us.

As much as we were promoting the events to young people, the Catholic Church itself is made up of many unique audiences (priests, religious communities, Catholic schools, etc.), all of whom played an integral role in promoting DID and WYD. They were the “gatekeepers”, so to speak, and with a tight budget, they were a key resource in getting the locals involved.

Therefore personal communication was key and this entailed physically visiting and presenting DID and WYD to all 300 plus parishes and Catholic organizations in Melbourne. It was important that they knew that they had a stake in the event’s successful delivery just as much as we did.

Faith is not taught, it is caught.

Interestingly, there was no trouble

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in attracting overseas youth to come to Melbourne for DID. Promotional DVDs were sent to the biggest dioceses around the world and young people from Germany, Korea, Italy, France, etc. simply couldn’t wait to travel to the “land down under” and meet their fellow Australian pilgrims.

Our biggest challenge was getting the local youth excited about going to WYD. Their misconception was that it was just a religious event. But WYD is so much more than that. One of the best ways to entice them to make the pilgrimage was to paint a picture of what that “pilgrimage” would be like. We gathered a pool of pastWYD pilgrims who were sent out to parishes and classrooms to talk about their “pilgrim experience”: how they would camp out under the stars with thousands of other young people and wake up for a morning Mass with the Pope himself. How they would swap pins and flags with youth from other countries. And how they would get on a train and randomly, a gospel singing competition would break out between different nationalities of young people, unabashedly celebrating their faith.

We challenged them—WYD would be a week-long physical and spiritual pilgrimage to the unknown— could they handle it?

Encouraging Repeat Usage As a pilgrim myself, World Youth Day is easily one of the most memorable weeks in my life. My family hosted Germans during DID in our home and it is safe to say that we have free accommodation if and when we travel to Germany in the future. In Sydney, I met and had deep conversations with pilgrims and priests about how challenging it is to be a young person in the current day and age. I, along

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with hundreds of thousands of other youth, waited in great anticipation just to see the Pope arrive and drive by in his “pope-mobile.” It was as if Pope Benedict XVI was a rock star and we were his screaming fans just hoping to get a glimpse of him! When I think about it, we were all just so excited by the fact that surrounded by thousands, it was actually cool to be Catholic.

The result of the event is clearly evident. Parishes all over Australia have been given a rejuvenated sense of purpose and young people are showing more interest in the faith, some groups even planning their own mini “pilgrimages” and retreats.

Young people in today’s society long for something more than just seeing an older generation in Church on Sundays—we need something as tangible and real as the World Youth Day experience to give us the confidence to express our faith.

While we may live in an eventsculture, at the end of the day there has to be something more that young people can cling onto. After all, the good brands that can stand the test of time are ones that remain meaningful to their customers. WYD was just a stepping stone for the Church in Australia to invite more young people into the faith. There is now clearly a captive market for this newly revitalized brand (the Church)—the challenge is encouraging “repeat usage” through ways and means that are relevant and exciting for young people.

When they asked me to stay on and help promote the new Archdiocesan Office for Youth in Melbourne, it felt almost blasphemous to say no! Challenging though it may be, where else do you get the chance to handle a brand that you are completely devoted to? ★

Some quick statistical facts on DID and WYD •

• • • •

84 nationalities and up to 25,000 young people from all over the world visited Melbourne City during DID Up to 8,000 young people from Melbourne travelled to Sydney for WYD Over 1 million kilometers were travelled by buses driving up and down the highways to Sydney A total of over 125,000 youth from Australia attended WYD Up to 400,000 people were present at the Final Mass with Pope Benedict XVI at Randwick Racecourse

[HOOKED continued from page 15] The experiences, the beautiful places I’ve visited, the amazing people I’ve met, and the effect we’ve had on other people’s lives… they’re simply priceless.

Let me end by saying this, though—I still disagree with the saying “The best things in life are free”. They’re not! They may not cost money but they do come at a cost—you have to put in your time, you have to give of yourself, and most likely you’ll have to step out of your comfort zone, even if just a little bit.

But in return, you get an overwhelming sense of fulfillment about the things you’ve done, and an insatiable appetite to do, see and experience even more.

Once you’ve felt that, you’ll know you’re hooked.

Welcome to the new culture.★

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Paul Perez started this project after meeting other children who were diagnosed with leukemia, the same illness his son had, in a charity ward in a hospital. by paul P. perez How it all came together Project: Brave Kids was an offshoot of a memorable experience. My son Seve (who was just diagnosed with leukemia on Sept 20) had to undergo intrathecal chemotherapy (chemotherapy via the spinal column). Since his doctor was out of the country, we were endorsed to another hospital. My wife Sigrid and the doctors from the new hospital had a miscommunication—and we were placed in the charity section.

There we saw dozens of children undergoing major procedures without the benefit of anesthesia for the simple reason that they don’t have money to pay for it. We also got to talk to other parents who were on the verge of giving up since they feel hopeless about their child’s case. This experience shocked me and my wife (so much) that we felt strongly moved to do something for these children. I knew that we could never forgive ourselves if we knew we could do something yet we did not.

So, with that, we coordinated with the hospital authorities, and by Dec 5, Project: Brave Kids was born—3 months after my son’s diagnosis.

Getting the word out Project Brave Kids is what it is today because of the numerous people—some chose to remain unnamed—who made it happen. From one single email which we sent out to friends soliciting for help, people from all walks of life—from the tindera in the market, to the president of big corporations—whoever we got a chance to talk to, as long as they are moved by the many stories of children fighting cancer, are welcome to join our cause.

But to be legitimate, the core team was made up of Seve’s godparents—all who have proven to be real godparents in words and in deed. They come from various backgrounds, but the common

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www.projectbravekids.org

denominator is that all of them have the big heart to serve the needy.

The whole process happened so fast—in less than a month. Our initial idea was just to have a support team, in terms of their social well-being.

But after serious discussion with the core team, we decided that it’s best to address the need holistically (and) we have programs for the whole family. As a father, I know that when your child is diagnosed with cancer, the whole family suffers. With that, we developed 4 programs aimed at helping the whole family. We call this S.E.V.E. (Social and Family Support Program, Education program, Values Formation Program and Endowment Program). Viral marketing (has) helped the organization beyond our imagination. Starting with a single email, the project has reached so many donors nationwide and even abroad. We knew that in this digital age, the only way to reach out far and wide without much cost is via the Internet. So we took advantage of this medium. We put up a website (donated to us by K2Interactive; a Multiply site, a Facebook page, and a YouTube link). All these efforts are aimed at disseminating our cause to a broader audience in a fast and cost-efficient way. I guess our strategy was proven right because it was recognized by an international awardgiving body called the Promotions Marketing Awards of Asia as Best in Marketing Campaign in the Philippines in 2006.

With the success of our digital efforts, radio support came in. Radio Partners, particularly Magic 89.9 supported us 100%. Radio spots, DJ plugs, and immersion of their DJs made the news about brave kids real—and current.

Bringing in the heavy artillery We never cease in sharing our story and the stories of the other children.

These are real stories—and because they are real—it’s honest and people see this—be it regular Juan dela Cruz or a celebrity. It just so happened that I work in marketing communications and I deal with some of these celebrities—which I think is one great blessing. As such, we got the support of Lucy Torres, Richard Gomez, Wilma Doesnt, Francis Magalona, Will Devaughn, Hale, MYMP and Imago, among others. They know these kids have real stories to share, and real problems that need help; hence, they went all out in supporting our cause.

Dealing with the unexpected We did not expect the number of people who responded to our call for help. I knew Filipinos had a big heart but it never had as much relevance to me till Project: Brave Kids came along. A lot of Filipinos really want to help; they just don’t know how. With Project: Brave Kids, we are now providing an opportunity for the good-hearted Pinoy to help others.

We hope to mount a Christmas Bazaar.

This way, we can bring people together during the most festive time of the year, and in doing so we hope that they will realize that helping children with cancer does not take much, financially speaking. We will be calling this SECRET SANTA. The name came about due to the circumstances the children find themselves in. Due to their immunocompromised state, these children will not be able to visit the bazaar; thus, they will not be able to personally meet their Santas, whose identities will remain a secret. But one thing is for sure, their act of goodwill, even when done anonymously, will make a big difference. Each contribution will go a long way. ★

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by mar g. corazo

Last summer, a group of students thought of challenging themselves and their IMC classmates to take on two seemingly incompatible roles: to be an IMC student, and to be heavily involved in extra-curricular activities. They wanted to create the official student government for the School of Communication, something which the Center for Students and Alumni of the University requires of every program.

As the new school year began, some students began laying the groundwork for the new organization, consulting SCM faculty members such as Dr. Ronnie Isla, Dr. Chito Tongco, and Dr. Al Hiquiana. Kath Alday, a leading proponent of the idea, was elected president of Communitas by the other founding members. She is joined by Ian Ricardo as Vice President for People Development, Chris Guzman as Vice President for Events and Programs, Illin Rodriguez as Secretary, and Lexie Panaligan as Finance Officer.

Officers from the IMC juniors and the representatives of each IMC block complete the new organization.

Among Communitas’ priorities is a set of activities to polish the sense of teamwork that is so essential for every IMC pitch for every IMC subject. Communitas will also come up with activities that will help the students apply what they learn in the classroom, in order to develop “professionally competent, ethical, and socially responsible marketers”, as the newly-established Constitution of the student government puts it.

Getting organized is only the first step. Communitas believes in the University’s promise of giving its students holistic education, and the newly-appointed officers will be coming up with exciting activities and events for the entire IMC body throughout the school year. ★

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COMMUNITAS ACTIVITIES Design 101

To equip IMC students with creative production skills Contact: Berny Songco at 0922-823690 and/or Chey Mayuga at 0916-4927221 November 5, 12, & 19, 2008 @ PLDT Hall

Comm Together: Team Building/Strategic Planning for IMC Week “comm together, learn together, and plan together!”

Contact: Ian Ricardo at 0926-67220015 November 26, 2008

IMC Christmas Dinner 2008 An IMC night filled with talents and laughter!

Contact: Joel Guzman at 0906-3306771 December 19, 2008