The Book

Advertising in the Philippines: Its Historical, Cultural and Social Dimensions by Visitacion R. de la Torre is a comprehensive volume on the Advertising Industry in the Philippines. It examines in detail the industry’s birth during the Spanish era (turn of the 20th century) and how it acts as a barometer and instrument of change in Philippine society.

Interesting notes from the book:

Just like today, the ad biz is just as competitive as industry practitioners “heckled and harassed each other in an attempt to outdo each other.”

Towards the later half of the 20th century, Filipino advertising took its on its own identity as it started shifting from being American clones to one reflective of the Filipino culture and times. Despite coming up with world-class campaigns, the industry still suffers from “syndicated thinking,” where creatives still “copy” American campaigns.

“Sensitivity to local market conditions stunted the growth of advertising creativity.”

In 1987, when the People Power Revolution of the previous year prompted a new constitution, a provision characterized the industry as “impressed with public interest and shall be regulated by law for the protection of consumers and general welfare.” The law recognizes advertising as a powerful medium, apart from its business of selling, must be socially responsible, “promoting common good and self-reliance.” The constitution limits the ownership of agencies to no less than 70% ownership by Filipino nationals, “to protect the public from an indiscriminate and unhampered flow of ‘colonial’ advertising since most of the country’s largest advertising agencies are multinational corporations. Management is also limited to Filipino citizens."

“Direct comparison (of brands) is not allowed.” I remember years ago with I was in Marketing research, Filipinos are not comfortable with direct comparison ads. It has something to do with the cultural trait of being non-confrontational.

“That shall be the day when more Filipino advertising men and women would overcome their ‘Puwede na yan’ (that is good enough) attitude, that temptation to be content with mediocrity… As it is, there is this lack of consistency in the quality of completed ad material; for example, some commercials and print ads are very well made but most suffer from poor art direction or bad directing and acting or unsatisfactory reproduction. With better funding also, better facilities and equipment as well as better trained staff shall not be difficult to come by”

More to follow...