“It’s More Fun in the Philippines!” is DOT’s New Philippine Tourism Campaign

Its More Fun In PH
It's More Fun In PH

New year, new campaign! Six days into 2012, the Department of Tourism (DOT) unveiled yesterday the new  Philippine tourism slogan “It’s More Fun in the Philippines!” as developed by BBDO Guerrero | Proximity Philippines with an aim to promote the country’s tourism.

Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez, Jr., hinted the other day in his twitter account @MonJQuotes that “the new tourism line will be more competitive than just an adjective. It is going to be an expression, drawn from natural conversation.

He further shared that “the new tourism line is not a manufactured line; it’s drawn from the way Filipinos have touched the lives of tourists.

Not too long ago, “Pilipinas Kay Ganda” can be remembered as the slogan that went through a lot of issues and challenges, to say the least, which was eventually pulled out.

Its More Fun in the Philippines
It's More Fun in the Philippines

Reactions

What do you think of the new slogan and its shorter version “#1ForFun”? Is it really more fun in the Philippines?  Netizens had mix reactions if you were able to observe yesterday’s Twitter-sphere and Facebook comments.

1ForFun
1ForFun

From being too long a slogan and ordinary,  to being a copycat of a magazine ad 60 years ago on Switzerland’s tourism.

Nonetheless, generally, the response of the Filipino in social media-scape was positive and supportive. Even local brands such as Magnolia Ice Cream got to discuss the matter with their loyal customers. It signifies the important role of the private sector as well.

Brands / Private Company Online Discussion
Brands / Private Company Online Discussion

Bloggers and online entities were also abuzz.

Online Communities Discuss
Online Communities Discuss

As expected, people would naturally tend to compare “It’s More Fun in the Philippines!” with the highly successful “WOW Philippines” from years ago, Definitely, different people would have different opinions on this as much as 52% of your office mates do not like the pastel blue color of your blouse today, in contrast to the 37% who like it, while 11% just don’t care.

Despite all these, are you ready to support and #HelpDOT in this endeavor?

Blogger Reactions and Discussions
Blogger Reactions and Discussions

Personal Take

With the same criteria in choosing blog names and URLs, we always prefer it to be shorter and catchy for obvious purposes. But “It’s More Fun in the Philippines!” is not bad at all, it was good. As secretary Ramon Jimenez, Jr., mentioned, they want it to be a conversational phrase.

However, being just “good” can also be a problem to a nation who would like to expect more from their government agencies. In fact, some of Ben Kritz critiques and arguments in his blog do have valid points and basis.

But I have resolved to myself to accept and support the new tourism slogan, nonetheless, and focus more on making the statement more true, that it is indeed “more fun in the Philippines!

I do expect that this same slogan will be used against Philippine tourism in a satirical way not too long from now (if not yet), specially when someone gets a bad experience with their visit in the Philippines. But more positive voices do have the power to drown the negative ones.

I hope “It’s More Fun in the Philippines!” or the shorter and local version “1ForFUN” will be able to help in pumping up the Philippines’ 3 million international tourist visitors last year and inch closer to Thailand’s 15 million.

I am interested in DOT’s follow-up programs on how they will highlight this “More Fun in the Philippines.”

Check out DOT’s new website for this campaign: http://www.itsmorefuninthephilippines.com/

Infrastructure and Tourism Policies Needed

With the slogan in place and support of the people, I hope Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez, Jr. and responsible local government officials can also give attention to our tourism infrastructure and policies. Because a haphazard and short-sighted sewerage system and ningas-cogon garbage disposal system in our islands and beaches is never “fun.”

Its More Fun in the Philippines
It's More Fun in the Philippines

Moving Forward

So the next time my foreigner friends from Taiwan, Singapore, and Malaysia asks me why they should go the Philippines, I’d reply back “because it’s More Fun in the Philippines!”  🙂 Oh, by the way, Happy New Year too! This is LetsGoSago.net‘s first article for the year 2012! 🙂

9 thoughts on ““It’s More Fun in the Philippines!” is DOT’s New Philippine Tourism Campaign

  1. Thanks for the plug. My take on it, while snarky, is I think a very legitimate point — there should be far more concern with developing a desirable “product” than worrying about the branding of it. “It’s more fun in the Philippines” is an instant challenge to any visitor to compare the experience to something or somewhere else. And if the experience doesn’t hold up in comparison, you’ve just scuttled your brand association.

  2. @Benk – Very well said.

    This is also what I meant when I said “this same slogan [can] be used against Philippine tourism in a satirical way ..specially when someone gets a bad experience…in the Philippines.”

  3. Apparently 3 million pesos was paid for consultancy alone for DOT’s branding / slogan. And wow, hanggang ngayon di pa tapos ung website nila.

    There is no such thing as a soft launch nowadays. Sayang ang momentum.

    Sa 3 million na un wala pang konkretong website?! And is there an official facebook fanpage for the campaign already? C’mon. Someone do it from the DOT, it’s free and easy. Then place a FB plug-in on the site (khet hinde pa tapos ung website, hay). Even a gradeschooler can do that. Sayang traffic and the chance to promote the site and go viral. Amp.

    500 Million is allotted this year alone for DOT campaigns. Sana naman may mangyare. Kabagal kasi naman. Naexcite ako for this slogan at first talga because finally meron na tayo khet ‘so-so’ ung dating nya, pero naman,sana DOT be consistent and work hard and fast. They should have a team that will work on online promotion alone, as it is that powerful. Alam naman nila un. So kindly please work a little faster.

    Sorry, I don’t really complain that much pero , hehe, this one really gets in my nerves.

    Still, it’s more fun in the Philippines.

  4. @Urban Pinay

    Your arguments do have basis.

    With regards to their FB page, it’s a little confusing at first as there’s a lot of FB pages about the campaign. Those responsible should have anticipated this scenario and highlighted the official one from the beginning.

    Nonetheless, we really do hope DOT will eventually do better.

    Cheers!

  5. The “official FB page” of the DOT campaign may not be the official FB page at all. If it is, mas disappoint. Seems like natutulog ang admin admin. Revisit the FB page and you can see a lot of non-sense posts. Hayz.

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