Reshaping the PANA brand for the millennial generation
The Philippine Association of National Advertisers (PANA) is one of the country’s oldest and distinguished organizations composed of various companies that are involved in advertising. Founded in 1958, the organization turns 60 this year and one can’t help but think it’s already a “senior citizen” among advertising industry societies.
Which is why when the author recently met the youthful new PANA president Anna Legarda-Locsin for an interview over lunch, all misconceptions about the organization being a “senior citizen” were shattered.
At 35 years old, Locsin heads one of the largest networks in Philippine advertising—a position stereotypically assumed as reserved for older, more experienced advertising executives. Concurrently, Locsin is the communications head for Procter & Gamble Philippines and has been with the company for 13 years.
She has been with the company even before graduating from college. During her internship, she worked at the company’s brand marketing for Pantene. She was hired by the company and assigned to external relations, doing what was called “brand PR” at the time (nowadays, it’s called brand communications).
“[The] things I’ve been proud to work on were the launch of Olay in the 2000s; the Safeguard Scholarship program, which was one of my first projects when I was a new hire; I worked on hair care; for corporate PR, I worked for the 75th and 80th anniversaries of P&G; and then now, in the latter part of my career, I am fortunate enough to do the external representation for P&G, representing the company in PANA,” the PANA executive states.
Locsin simply proves that one can be youthful and have a wealth of experience to boot.
It also proves that a “senior citizen” organization like PANA is keeping up with the changing times to become more relevant to its members and the advertising industry. It’s a transformation that’s been going in the group in recent years with the election of young yet experienced advertising practitioners and PANA members to the board of directors.
A NEW GENERATION OF BRAND BUILDERS
Locsin herself takes over from an even younger former PANA president, Adi Timbol-Hernandez of McDonald’s Philippines, who is three years younger than her. The two switched places this year, with Hernandez taking over Locsin’s previous position as VP.
“It’s great fun, still will be, working with Adi. She was a great president who advocated for a millennial PANA and a millennial board. What do I mean by that? She started to bring PANA to become more relevant to the current times, to the current composition of companies out there, and what companies need now,” Locsin says.
She adds, “Apart from pushing PANA more into the current and the future, I like that Adi brought good structure to our planning and meetings, because it started to become very clear as to what the plans should be and where we should take it. I think one legacy she did for her term is that PANA is now able to reach out to the members not just by bringing relevant skills and knowledge, but also by engaging with them to see what their concerns and needs are, helping them resolve it, and involving them in the decision-making process.”
While PANA in recent years has been working to bring itself closer to its current members and be relevant to the present generation, Locsin clarifies that it is still indebted to the contributions and wisdom of the people who have served in the organization in the past. Which is why the current PANA board still has a number of senior members, aside from millennials and Gen Xers.
“It’s going to be a great year of balance and contrasts… but we don’t ever want to disrespect every thing that’s gone on 60 years behind us. We have respect for all the wisdom, tenure and experience of everybody who has touched PANA for past 60 years, but we want to make sure that people don’t think of PANA as an old institution that is not up to date with the times and cannot serve its members. We’re here to make sure that we are not obsolescent, that we remain the voice of the industry,” says Locsin.
With a great combination of equally wise, experienced and talented millennials and people who have seen PANA in the past, the organization is in a better position to be the representative of the advertising industry to all its stakeholders. It can continue performing its role of being the credible scale of what is good advertising and helping Filipino companies to raise the bar higher when it comes to advertising.
It needs to do so because advertising remains a highly competitive industry in this country, and for companies to thrive at this day and age, they have to be more than just advertising
their products and achieving virality. Their approach to marketing has to be sustainable, so that it can withstand and compete with whatever next big product or service that will be advertised.
Brand Building for the next generation
As the voice of the industry, PANA is obliged to mentor its members on how to build brands that are sustainable amid constant innovation and disruption. Hence, in its 60th year, the organization hopes to inspire its members along the lines of its new motto, “Championing Responsible Brand Building.”
“We at the PANA board all agree that we are now moving from the age of simple advertising to the age of brand building. There is a big difference between brand building and [traditional] advertising. If you think about it, advertising is just one-way communications, but brand building in this era and generation encompasses everything. What does the brand stand for? What is the customer experience you want them to have? What is your customer service? What are the services you give them on top of the basic product?” Locsin explains.
But at a time when industry competition is fierce, and everyone just wants to go with what is viral and trending, if not remain with their tried-and-tested approach to marketing, how can companies raise the bar further and champion courageous, responsible brand building?
“[Companies should be] brave enough to incorporate in their brand-building materials, experiences, and communications topics, insights, issues and relevant points that are big with Filipino consumers, but at the same time, give them second thoughts because it’s too controversial for the brand. When I say ‘be courageous,’ I’m not saying ‘do controversial marketing for sake of doing it.’ It still has to be anchored on consumer insights, what are the relevant issues and topics and what not,” Locsin says.
She adds, “…there are some brands that have started to do responsible marketing that are anchored, for example, on LGBT insights. Having the courage to be able to share who you are with your family and then showing parents who accept them exactly for who they are. There’s another commercial that was done recently about split parenting that showed the value of coming together because they love their child. There are ways to be courageous in speaking about what is happening in the Philippines now because that’s what’s true and relevant, and yet, showing responsibly the right values behind it.”
True enough, there have been a number of companies whose brand communications have been approached out of the left field and have resonated successfully with audiences. But Locsin says companies shouldn’t be deterred by their company size. They should be courageous in taking risks in brand communications even if they are a new company competing in the big leagues.
“Brand builders can also raise the bar by learning regardless of whatever tier of company size they are in. I think big companies have a whole lot of learning to do from very small, agile, startup brands or entrepreneurs. When you are a big, traditional company, there are many times that it’s hard to get out of your ways and systems because it has given you success. But the truth is, if you don’t get out of that, you risk obsolescence. Likewise, very small, agile, startup brands or entrepreneurs can also learn a lot from big companies, particularly from their structured thinking when it comes to longevity, so that they don’t fizzle out when the next big startup comes along,” Locsin says.
Courage in brand building doesn’t just involve exploring groundbreaking stories, but also embracing new technologies. Locsin encourages companies to take smart calculated risks and try new platforms in telling their stories so they can reach wider audiences and avoid the risk of obsolescence. And when she says new technologies, it doesn’t necessarily mean ‘go digital.’
“You shouldn’t go digital just for the sake of going digital. There are many new platforms that companies are trying right now, of course largely enabled by digital, but it’s not just about going digital. Marketing and brand building is a mix of having good and solid data, having a good sense of gut and intuition, and being able to observe what consumers really do and what they value. New technologies enable brand builders to do this faster and cheaper. And if you fail, fail fast and cheap, and try again,” Locsin explains.
Serving Brand Builders Better
To help PANA members and the advertising industry champion courageous and responsible brand building, Locsin says the organization is drastically reshaping its brand to better reach its members, mentor them and engage with them about their concerns and needs.
Among the plans that the new PANA board has in store for this year is the launch of the PANA Edge, a digital publication wherein brand builders — from new practitioners to seasoned company CEOs — can share their knowledge about marketing and advertising to PANA members and the industry as a whole. It replaces the organization’s previous print magazine
Ad Edge and will be filled with insightful articles, blogs and op-eds about brand building. Members from the Philippines and overseas can view its contents and react to it in real time, making it an exciting two-way communication strategy for the PANA brand.
Moreover, the PANA board plans to bring its general membership meetings to places where the members are. Typically held in Makati, the GMMs are being planned to be held in other areas of Metro Manila so that member companies don’t have to travel far to engage with the organization. These GMMs will also feature a revitalized learning program, featuring local and global industry speakers who can help members improve on their brand-building strategies. Master classes that brand builders can enroll on are also in the pipeline.
Lastly, the PANA board plans to introduce changes in the PANAta Marketing Effectiveness Awards, which recognizes companies for their successful brand-building initiatives each year. One of the changes being planned is to add more recognitions for individual brand builders, aside from companies, so that they may become a source of inspiration and emulation among other brand builders.
“For sure, we are continuing the good plans from last year and improving the parts that we didn’t really focus upon or didn’t do so well from last year. [And with] the composition of the board this year being a mix of millennials and people who have seen PANA in the past, it’s going to be a great balance and contrast. We hope that people will clearly see the contrast and realize that PANA is keeping up with them, is relevant to them, has significantly improved and is now aware of what they need,” Locsin says.