Local presence opens doors to deals in Manila
Toronto-based marketing agency establishes a strong relationship, wins business
When international money transfer giant Western Union wanted to weave social media into a prominent advertising campaign in Alberta last year, it turned to AV Communications, an award-winning, Torontobased marketing agency.
The new ads would feature Gabby Concepcion. The presence of the Filipino actor, director and heart throb was sure to be a hit with the huge influx of new arrivals in Alberta’s Filipino community, folks who have been drawn by the province’s booming economy and are dedicated to sending money home.
Before Concepcion paid a surprise visit to Western Union outlets in Calgary and Edmonton, the campaign required teaser videos that could be revealed on social media.
The agency realized it needed a representative in Manila.
“Of course, because he’s based in the Philippines, we had to shoot the videos there,” AV Communications co-founder Anna Maramba recalled in an interview.
“Somebody had to co-ordinate with the talent manager, the celebrity and the office to make sure we’re able to get his time. He was shooting a movie at the time, so we had to go in between his schedule.”
The 12-hour time difference meant that phone and email would be a poor substitute for hiring someone in the Philippines’ capital city.
“That way, we can say, I can meet you at 2 p.m. If you can’t make it, I can wait another 45 minutes,” Maramba said. “There’s nothing like having someone there, especially for the critical stuff. We really need someone on the ground to report back what’s happening.”
AV Communications is among a growing wave of Canadian companies that is doing business in Manila, a gateway into a country known for a young, highly educated, English speaking population where economic growth came in at a robust 7.2 per cent in 2013, a rate among the highest in Asia and more than triple the rate in Canada.
Personal relationships are critical for Canadian firms looking to set down operations in this market, experts say.
Manila, along with other parts of the Philippines, has developed an international reputation as a hub for business-process outsourcing, a controversial practice where North American and European firms rely on the region’s professional workers to run their corporate call centres, and handle customer service and other administrative functions, at a lower rate of pay than they would have to pay in their home country.
The city is also an international shipping hub, boasting the biggest seaport in the country, and a major centre for communication information technology, manufacturing, me- dia, tourism, retailing, and banking and finance.
“The Filipino people provides great support to all these sectors given the country’s ready and steady supply of highly skilled, trainable, and Englishspeaking labour whose wage rates remain competitive with the rest of the Asian region,” said Wick Veloso, president and chief executive officer for HSBC Philippines.
The Filipino government is committed to expanding the sectors, he added. It provides a wide range of incentives to foreign companies through the Board of Investments and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority.
Manila is one of among nearly 300 economic zones, known as PEZA, that are meant to provide a kind of one-stop shop for foreign companies coming to the country.
Canadian life insurance giants Manulife Financial Corp. and Sun Life Financial are among the biggest life insurance companies in the Philippines. Both have head offices in Manila. “We like to say we are a shining light for Canada in the Philippines. The Sun Life brand is very well known in the country and it’s a highly trusted brand,” said Riza Mantaring, president and chief executive officer of Sun Life Financial Philippines. Manila, considered the most densely populated city in the world, is brimming with young, educated people and this bodes well, economists say, for the coming years. “The demographics are very good. It’s a young population. The average age is 23 and the prosperity has been increasing quite rapidly,” Riza said. “The runway is quite long for any company looking for opportunity. We have about two or three decades where we will be in that sweet spot.” Manila is getting a boost from the Philippines’ membership in the ASEAN trading block. ASEAN is the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and includes the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, and Thailand, and it has free trade agree- ments with India, China, Korea, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. Canadian companies with operations in Manila can access the trading block. “If they have a facility where they can make products in the Philippines, they can take advantage of the agreement,” said Chia Wan Liew, chief representative, Southeast Asia, with Export Development Canada. Liew cautions that corruption in the private and public sectors is a serious problem in the Philippines. He urges Canadian companies to do business with the country’s well known and prominent business families. This makes Manila, home to Canadian embassy offices and officials, an attractive start-up site. “Get the local embassy folks involved in business dealings!” Liew advises. Canadians seeking to do business in the city are advised to get into Manila’s very social business networking scene. “In Canada, it’s work and go home. In Manila, it’s work, go out, go home. Everybody goes out and networks and does dinners and cocktails. It’s all about socializing and making connections,” said AV Communications’ Anna Maramba. “Relationships are very important. You need to make connections first and fly there to meet the people so it can be face-toface.”
AV saw the importance of these connections firsthand. Having a representative in Manila meant that its video shoots went very smoothly.
“There’s no time difference. They were able to figure out any little kinks quickly, and clients appreciate speed,” Maramba said.
Months after Concepcion’s visits with fans in Alberta, AV’s Calgary representative flew to Manila to meet with Western Union executives.
“We expected it to be a meet and greet, but it became a meeting of the minds. We got a whole batch of Alberta projects. We really didn’t expect it,” Maramba said.
“Again, it’s all about trust.”