JUST when the Filipino masses were wondering how the economic meltdown was shaping up with regard to them—with mixed signals coming from various quarters on the issue—along comes Paul Roebuck, chief executive officer of BBDO Gurrero/Proximity Philippines with glad tidings.
Addressing select members of the media at a luncheon held in the exclusive Tower Club, Roebuck proclaimed that “Filipinos are better prepared for weathering the financial crisis than consumers from other countries.”
He was making that bold prediction based on the findings of a new study called ‘Trading Up/Trading Down’ completed in recent days by BBDO Guerrero/Proximity Philippines to gauge how the spending habits of Filipino consumers are being affected by the global economic crisis.
Agnes Acasio-Martinez, Strategic Planning Director of Proximity Philippines, shared the highlights of the study, reporting that since news of the crisis broke, 72 percent of respondents were looking for other means to augment their income and 71 percent were spending more time looking for the best deals before making a purchase.
The study also revealed that more consumers were now looking for leisure activities at home as opposed to going out versus six months ago, and that 75 percent of consumers were resistant to compromising quality for price, all behavior adopted to help them cope with the uncertainty of the current financial crisis.
Arlene Aquino, brand planning director of BBDO Guerrero, said that since consumer debt-related spending is not really an option for most Filipinos, they have not experienced a “shock to the system” in the same way that consumers in developed markets have.
He added: “The consumers we spoke to and spent time with indicated that the hardships of life in our country have left them feeling more resilient to the vagaries of the economy and better prepared to deal with the implications of a downturn. Many said they felt that they had ‘one up’ on consumers in developed countries in helping them deal with the downturn because they had more experience of challenging economic conditions. This crisis is viewed by many as just another in a long line of financial challenges.”
Martinez pointed out that this conclusion was supported by recent consumer data from Nielsen showing that consumer confidence has dropped by 12 percent in Great Britain and 13 percent in Singapore, while it has only dropped by 6 percent in The Philippines since the start of the crisis.
The study, which has also been conducted in other markets around the world by BBDO/Proximity, shows that Filipino consumers are not only more resilient, but they adapt their behavior quicker to deal with changing conditions than consumers in other markets. For example, 36 percent of Singaporeans decreased spending on social outings and meals with friends when the crisis hit versus 61 percent of Filipinos, or almost double the number of Singaporean consumers.
Roebuck said the study showed that, “Filipino consumers have become well equipped at adapting to changing economic conditions quicker than in other markets due to the hardships they have gone through in the past.”
The study carries the weight of BBDO Guerrero/Proximity Philippines, which is a network office of BBDO/Proximity Asia Pacific, part of BBDO Worldwide and a member of Omnicom Group, a global advertising, marketing and corporate communications company.
It is one of Asia Pacific’s most highly regarded creative agencies with its finger firmly on the pulse of consumer trends, as proven by its client portfolio that includes Pepsi, Johnson & Johnson, Fonterra, Mitsubishi Motors, Pizza Hut, Emperador Distillers, Bayer Consumer Healthcare, Ayala Land, Bayan Telecommunications, Wrigley, MARS and Krispy Kreme.
BBDO Guerrero/Proximity Philippines is currently the Philippine 4As Agency of the Year, Philippine Ad Congress Agency of the Year and Campaign Brief Asia Philippines Agency of the Year.
In 2008, BBDO Asia Pacific was named MEDIA Asia Pacific Regional Creative Agency of the Year and BBDO Worldwide has been named the winner of The Gunn Report as the most awarded agency in the world for the three years in a in a row.
In 2007 & 2008, BBDO Worldwide was also named “Network of the Year” at the International Advertising Festival at Cannes. –Random Jottings, Manila Times
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