Last night, I attended DOT’s launch of the Philippines’ new brand.  It sparked debates here and there, people not liking it generally.  And while most people are already pointing out what they don’t like about the new brand, let’s balance it out by enumerating the things I like about our new brand.

• I love the fun and playful logo!  It is very catchy and it drives attention to it.  A head-turner I must say.  I hear comments saying it looks like a “Google Doodle” but hey, look at where Google is now I really love the colors and it just shows how colorful our culture, people and places are.
• The smile, coconut tree, tarsier, sun and the sea – they are all symbols of what Philippines is and at a simple glance, a foreigner would know what the Philippines is all about.
• The use of the word “Kay Ganda” may sound like a TV show but it’s just to us locals.  If the “Umagang Kay Ganda” show was not conceptualized, then I probably think we wouldn’t think of it is a talk show.  It is just unnecessary word association.
• The use of Filipino Word “Kay Ganda” might not relate to foreigners, but I think this is a conversation starter.  Foreigners would naturally ask what “Kay Ganda” means just as I asked my Malaysian friends what “Selamat Datang” means when I saw this Malay phrase it everywhere (airports, roads, tourist spots) when I toured Malaysia.  Now, that word is so stuck in my head.  It means “Welcome”. So I don’t think it would hurt using a local phrase on our logo – it shows pride for our language.  They have the translation in the logo itself anyway with a playful dictionary type of translating it.
• So Beautiful – when you explain what “Kay Ganda” means – it translates to “So beautiful” and THAT’S IT.  I don’t think foreigners would think deeply and interpret it otherwise as beautiful girls only… and even if they do interpret it that way, SO WHAT?  It is true, Filipinas are really beautiful.

The Philippines is more than just a logo and a brand.  I lived here my whole life and I say  I am proud of our great culture, our sights and natural wonders here, our food and of course our people.  I worked for an international bank before and foreign counterparts from all over the world would have business trips here in the Philippines.  They would always say, everyone is always smiling.  And in our office, even with hectic month-end processes, they seem to feel less stressed compared to where their workplace abroad.

Here are photos of the Pilipinas Kay Ganda launch at Oceanic near SM Mall of Asia.  They gave us 3D glasses for a 3D presentation of the video.  It didn’t really made the crowd go WOW, but at least, slowly they are thinking of going digital and high tech.  We can do better and there’s more room for improvement.  They also had fireworks display synched with a performance of Ryan Cayabyab’s “Umagang Kay Ganda”.

Here are more links talking about our new brand:

Noemi Dado’s write-up on POC http://www.thepoc.net/commentaries/10257-country-branding-the-philippines.html

Anton Diaz’ suggestions on Our Awesome Planet http://www.ourawesomeplanet.com/awesome/2010/11/pilipinas-kay-ganda.html#more

Want to read something more cool?

Check out my post featuring 10 bloggers from Malaysia who travelled Northern Luzon, Philippines.  Backpacking, with style!