Wow Philippines

Wow Philippines (stylized as WOW Philippines) was a tourism marketing campaign used to promote tourism in the Philippines. The name of the campaign also served as its tagline.

Background

Then Department of Tourism secretary Richard Gordon conceptualized the tagline "Wow Philippines" himself in 2002. The government agency then has a limited budget allotted for advertising.[1] The promotional campaign was based on the 24-month Visit Philippines 2003 campaign by the World Tourism Organization which aimed to encourage the Filipino diaspora to visit tourism sites in the Philippines.[2]

The Department of Tourism (DOT) then commissioned advertising firm BBDO Guerrero[3] for the implementation of the campaign. This includes the coming up with promotional materials and the addition of "More than the Usual" as a sub slogan.[1] Also the "Wow" of the campaign slogan is meant to be capitalized which doubles as an acronym. The meaning of the acronym varies depending on the usage of the slogan according to the government agency. The following are some possible meanings given by the DOT are the following:[2]

  • Wealth of Wonders[4] - tourist attractions
  • Warm Over Winter[4] - beaches
  • Wild Over Water[4] - water-based adventures
  • Wacko Over Wildlife[4] - indigenous flora and fauna
  • Wear Our Wares[4]
  • Watch Our Whales[4]
  • Walk Our Walls[4] - Intramuros

Impact and legacy

From 2003 to 2005, several tourism campaigns were conceptualized which include "Biyahe Tayo" (Pfizer and Perceptions Inc.), "I Love Philippines Biyahe Na!" (Smart) and "Pilipino sa Turismo'y Aktibo" (Philippine Tourism Authority, ABS-CBN and Star Records). The following personalities from the entertainment and political field lent their popularity to promote tourism to mainstream audiences during that time:[5][6]


Sharon Cuneta
Ogie Alcasid
Rey Valera
Francis Magalona
Lea Salonga
Nina
Regine Velasquez
Gary Valenciano
Piolo Pascual
Vhong Navarro


Between 2007 and 2012, foreign visits in the Philippines increased from about 3 million to 4.27 million.[7] The campaign also generated 2800-4000 jobs.[8]

A remake of "Biyahe Tayo" was produced in 2011 and was re-titled as "Pilipinas, Tara Na!" and also had expanded lyrics with the addition of other artists including Pepe Smith, Zsa Zsa Padilla, Martin Nievera, Jaya, Kitchie Nadal, Kyla, Jay R, Billy Crawford, Aiza Seguerra, Nikki Gil, Yeng Constantino and Sam Concepcion among others, with additional spoken parts from Dolphy and Manny Pacquiao. A few of the artists were absorbed from the original version such as Gibbs, Alcasid, Jim Paredes and Boboy Garovillo (of the APO Hiking Society) and Villegas.[9]

Reception

In 2003, the Wow Philippines campaign was named as the Best Marketing Effort of a National Tourism Organization in the overall category in 2002 at the Internationale Tourismus Bourse.[2]

See also

References
  1. "'Wow Philippines' not a failure, ex-DOT chief of staff says". ABS-CBN News. January 9, 2012. Retrieved May 24, 2016.
  2. Bulacan, Annabella (April 30, 2002). "'More than usual'". Manila Standard. Retrieved May 24, 2016.
  3. Amaldo, Maria Stella (January 6, 2012). "'It's more fun in the Philippines' - Spread the word, says DOT". InterAksyon. Retrieved May 24, 2016.
  4. Turner, Yvette Reisinger, Lindsay (2003). Cross cultural behaviour in tourism : concepts and analysis (Repr. ed.). Oxford [u.a.]: Butterworth Heinemann. p. 20. ISBN 0750656689. Retrieved May 25, 2016.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. "WOW Magic Sing Magic Microphone". www.magicmic.com. Archived from the original on January 3, 2006. Retrieved February 22, 2022.
  6. "Explore The Philippines, Music Video Tells Pinoys". The Manila Times. April 19, 2005. Retrieved May 24, 2022.
  7. Shahani, Lila Ramos (September 20, 2015). "Tourism and its many paradoxes". The Philippine Star. Retrieved May 24, 2016.
  8. Cruz, Reil; Bersales, Grace (2003). "Tourism as Political Platform:Residents' Perception of Tourism and Voting Behaviour". Cross-cultural Behaviour in Tourism: Concepts and Analysis. By Turner, Lindsay; Reisinger, Yvette (Repr. ed.). Oxford [u.a.]: Elsevier. ISBN 9780750656689. Retrieved May 24, 2016.
  9. "57 artists perform for 'Pilipinas, Tara Na!' campaign". ABS-CBN Corporation. August 9, 2011. Archived from the original on February 15, 2022.
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