It’s all about the product

The Cebu Provincial Government hiring an advertising agency to publicize its projects and programs is an interesting move. Interesting, too, is the claim by Gov. Hilario Davide III that the accomplishments of his administration have not been promoted well. The second one is supposedly the reason the governor is pushing for the first one. But are both points well studied?

“Kung PIO lang, well right now we don’t get enough publicity for what we’re doing diri sa Probinsya. Daghan gihapon ang nangita hain na man ning nabuhat ni Davide sa iyang administrasyon. Unsay accomplishments niini? Dili man nato makita,” the governor said.

First, let us consider accomplishments. A government, no matter how mediocre, always accomplishes something. So it is safe to say the Province does have accomplishments. But some accomplishments are routinary and others major. In the scheme of things, it is always the major accomplishments that attract attention because they have a bigger impact on the lives of constituents in the province.

The Capitol has a Provincial Information Office (PIO) whose job is precisely to promote the Provincial Government’s projects and programs, “as well as accomplishments.” The hiring of an advertising agency would be an admission that the PIO has been remiss in its job. But has there been a proper accounting of the PIO’s work before the hiring of an advertising agency was proposed?

Which should lead us to ask whether that is the appropriate solution and the most cost-effective one, considering that good advertising agencies do not come cheap. Wouldn’t a change of personnel, organizational restructuring and the giving of better guidance be enough? Or is the hiring of an advertising agency given priority for unsaid reasons?

In the end, though, this is not about what the PIO is doing or what the advertising agency can do better, but rather on the product. Programs, projects and accomplishments normally attract attention for their creativity and significance. That these programs, projects and accomplishments didn’t attract attention is probably because many of these were not well thought of or not that significant.

If that’s the case, no amount of publicity could prod the public to take a second look.