WHEN GREETINGS MAKE CASH REGISTERS RING
To many Filipinos celebrating a momentous occasion, there’s nothing quite as special as receiving a personal greeting from one’s favorite celebrity— and now, for the right price, anyone can “book” their chosen personality for such purpose, thanks to local website Celebritygreetings.ph.
“Imagine it’s your mom’s 50th birthday, and you know that she loved the Wednesday Group of ‘That’s Entertainment.’ Giving her a greeting from Sheryl Cruz, an iconic cast member, would definitely surprise her. Or if your best friend is feeling a little down and you want to cheer her up, a surprise video message from longtime celebrity crush Mark Herras will definitely lift up her spirits,” says 25-year-old Alexandra Natividad, founder of the site.
Before its official launch on June 15, Natividad says Celebritygreetings.ph had been on the back burner for three years. When a similar service gained popularity in the United States this year, she says she finally felt it was time to roll out her own version, since Filipino fans are now closer to their celebrity idols, enabled especially by social media platforms.
“We believe that a personalized celebrity greeting is the perfect gift in this day and age. It’s something personal, something you can post on Facebook or Instagram story to show off to your friends, and something you can cherish more in the years to come, versus a material gift that may even cost more,” Natividad says.
A BS Management (major in communications and technology) graduate of Ateneo de Manila University, Natividad
says the idea to create the platform most likely stemmed from her experiences in marketing, project management and tech development, having entered— and won—two different competitions for innovation and brand strategy during college (the contests were sponsored by the country’s competing telcos).
Entrepreneurship also comes naturally to Natividad, having grown up in a family that runs a wedding store and organizes
bridal fairs as well—a business where she sits as marketing director. It’s apparent by how Natividad describes her mother, that the young entrepreneur had a good mentor who inspired her to become an achiever.
“We only have a lean team for our wedding business, so early on I was already exposed to the grunt work of entrepreneurship. I witnessed firsthand, through my mom, how one must really go through the daily grind to achieve something great,” Natividad says.
Starting with just 20 personalities, Celebrity greetings. PH now has around 100 on the platform, who include Dianne Medina, Joross Gamboa, Inah de Belen Estrada, Cruz, singer Karencitta, and athletes Mika Reyes and CJ Cansino. Foreign vloggers such as Dwaine Woolley, local vloggers, influencers, and radio DJS are also on the website. Upon booking their chosen celebrity, the client, who usually requests for greetings as gifts for loved ones, are asked to provide the name of the greetings’ recipient, the occasion they are celebrating, and bits of personal information about the person they are dedicating the greeting to, just so everything sounds sincere and personal. Once a greeting request is confirmed, it takes seven days for the customer to get a copy of the video file through email.
“There are no templates, everything is personal and heartfelt,” Natividad assures clients.
The target this month is to have over 100 celebrities on the platform, and by next year, 500. Natividad says many personalities were eager to join in June because she had earmarked the month’s proceeds for donation to a COVID-19 referral hospital in Manila.
And while Celebritygreetings.ph wasn’t, like other recently created businesses, established as a response to the pandemic, Natividad recognizes how the website can help artists currently unemployed because of the health crisis.
“There are no mall shows now, no meet-and-greets and no live events. Getting a personal video message from your idol where he/she is talking to you and only you is the next best thing,” Natividad says. “And when [a business] opportunity presents itself, we must do everything we can to make the most out of it. It’s something I really strive to do now because the opportunity to innovate is here.”