Sunday, August 25, 2019
The country’s favorite young artist and model
Nadine Lustre is the new face of the Philippines’ leading mobile wallet, GCash.
The multi-awarded actress headlines GCash’s “What
Can’t You Do?” campaign to power the dreams of young adults who constantly
want to do more, to expand possibilities, and to achieve beyond their own
expectations.
“Nadine is the perfect fit for GCash because
she represents the true aspirations of young adults and is at that point in her
life where taking charge of your finances is becoming more important. She shows
how young adults can be independent and take charge of their own lives, and
with the help of GCash, “What Can’t You Do?” means so much more,” Chris
Manguera, Chief Marketing Officer at Mynt, which runs GCash, said.
After starting out as a singer in a pop band,
Lustre evolved to become a much-sought-after actress on TV, with her primetime
hits "On The Wings of Love" (2015) and
"Till I Met You" (2016).
The
25-year-old actress has fared as well on the big screen, winning the Best
Actress awards from Young Critics Circle, FAMAS Awards and the Gawad Urian
Awards in 2019 for hit movie, “Never Not
Love You.” Her latest film, “Indak,” a dance musical movie, shows Lustre’s flexibility
as an actress.
Early this year, one of world’s biggest fast
fashion brands, H&M, launched Lustre as its first Filipino ambassador. The
actress, named by a top magazine as Sexiest Woman in 2017, has her own line of
swimwear with H&M.
“She has built her brand and can create the
image of a lifestyle that everyone will want to follow. We hope for that to
happen with GCash as well,” Manguera said. “We also want to activate her big
fan base to help spread the word of financial inclusion and empowerment.”
Lustre, who was voted Artist of the Year and Favorite
Female Artist at the Myx Music Awards 2019, is a social media savant who has 6.8
million followers on Instagram.
GCash’s “What Can’t You Do?” campaign
pushes the limits of what mobile phones can do for young adults with its
innovative financial services accessible through mobile. With over 50,000
partner merchants and 20 million users, GCash remains the country’s leading
mobile wallet.
Like Lustre, who has won over the entire
country and has kept everyone’s
attention throughout the years by relentlessly adapting to change, GCash
continues to evolve not just as digital platform but as a lifestyle brand.
Friday, August 23, 2019
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| Pertinent issues facing the coconut industry, such as best farming practices, supply and value chain, takes centerstage in the World Coconut Congress organized by the United Coconut Association of the Philippines. |
At the second World Coconut Congress, industry players here and abroad come together to tackle issues that are shaping the landscape — one of which is best practices in coconut farming and product development that local players, like ProSource International Inc. (ProSource), are focusing on.
Organized by the United Coconut Association of the Philippines (UCAP), the conference centralizes on coconut supply and value chain. Covering wide-ranging topics — from coconut solutions for health and environment, coconut biodiesel, to the latest on coconut oil health research — the said event seeks to promote Philippine coconut products globally.
At present, there is an observed paradigm shift in worldwide market behavior on choosing healthier and sustainable alternatives known as ‘Conscientious Consumerism’, as defined by the Network of Business Sustainability. With this, more and more consumers are seen to be promoting local industries, patronizing cruelty-free cosmetics, reducing plastic use, and generally, turning to healthier and more ethical diets.
To the key players in the Philippine coco industry, the eminence of the coconut trade stems from the significant shift in consumer values towards healthful living. For them, it is but an exciting opportunity to strike on now that the concept of “going green”, or lessening our environmental impact by way of creating more informed choices, is deliberately finding its way into Filipino sensibilities.
“The concept of ethical consumerism is already established in people's behavior, and as practitioners in this field, we see strong opportunities in penetrating this market,” said ProSource’s CEO Ricky E. Santos, who, as a key producer from the coconut industry, believes that businesses like them should also start adapting to the conscientious commerce trend.
“There has been an increase in veganism over the past decade even in meat-heavy countries like the Philippines. Through this thriving lifestyle, we believe that coconut production is one huge market that we all should keep an eye on,” he added.
ProSource, for one, started innovating with the Coconut. They have introduced to the market the likes of coconut calming oil, organic coconut wraps, coconut crunch, and its classic hero product, the Virgin Coconut Oil, among others. This is foreseen to be a springboard for other players to also start getting creative with the fruit with its promise of a warm reception from the market.
“We are one of those who put our strong faith in the ‘tree of life’. It is indeed that, as the fruit can be broken down into a wide range of by-products — from food, medicines, supplements, beauty products, and even personal care commodities,” said Santos.
Worldwide values of coconut products have developed steadily since 2014, and in 2017, with the Philippines reportedly exporting coconut oil at over $1.46 billion in total returns, putting the country amongst the world’s top coconut producers.
With the significant shift in consumer values towards healthful living, and the local industry players’ ingenuity to toil on this worldwide demand, the Philippines is once again set to be in the forefront of the global stage — with its competitive edge of the mastery of the miracle fruit.
Fans of Darren Espanto, Vern Enciso, Verniece Enciso, Chie Filomeno, and Julie Anne San Jose are in for a treat!
The young showbiz personalities are so excited with the upcoming launch of the stylish Vivo S1 smartphone that they are giving their Instagram followers a chance to get their hands on the first-ever handset in Vivo’s latest S series.
From August 26 to September 8, interested participants should post their own OOTD (outfit of the day) that mirrors the Skyline Blue or Diamond Black color schemes of the new S1 phone. To qualify, they must tag their favorite celebrities and Vivo in their OOTD posts.
The celebrities will then choose from the creative IG posts to determine which of their fans will receive the new S1 smartphone.
The Vivo S1 has a 6.38" Full HD SuperAMOLED screen that houses an in-display fingerprint sensor. It packs a 6GB RAM and 128GB ROM which are powered by a fast-charging 4500mAh battery.
The mid-tier smartphone has a 32MP AI selfie camera and an AI triple lens set—16MP main, 8MP secondary, and 2MP wide-angle camera—for amazing photos and videos.
But the feature that will definitely catch everyone’s attention is the S1’s sleek back cover design which showcases a gradient glossy finish on the Skyline Blue variant and a diamond cut design on the Diamond Black variant.
With its cutting-edge features and superb finish, the Vivo S1 is clearly not just a smartphone, it’s a fashion statement!
So, what are you waiting for? Put on your best OOTD that reflects the Vivo S1’s Skyline Blue or Diamond Black theme and get ready to impress your celebrity idol!
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| UNICEF, The Philippine LGBT Chamber of Commerce, and Future Faces benefit from the sale |
Shopee, the leading e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia and Taiwan, partnered with Unilever, the leading beauty and personal care company in the Philippines, for the #BeautyThatCares sale in August. The campaign was a big success as it leveraged e-commerce to increase awareness for UNICEF, The Philippine LGBT Chamber of Commerce, and Future Faces.
Martin Yu, Associate Director, Shopee Philippines, said, “We are very proud to partner with Unilever for this philanthropic cause. This partnership has given us the opportunity to empower our users to support causes they believe in. Through the #BeautyThatCares sale, participating advocacy groups are able to reach a wider audience. Aside from our post-sale donation, we hope the continued support from our users will go a long way for these groups."
At the same time, Dorothy Dee-Ching, Unilever Philippines’ Vice President for Beauty and Personal Care says, “The #BeautyThatCares philosophy is grounded in purpose: to care for the people, the society, and the planet. Each brand under the Unilever Beauty and Personal Care category has its own thrust, acting as a compass for all its campaigns and innovations. It's not just about what products we put out, but also why we develop them at all. We want Filipinos to feel that they are being cared for by the brands they love. We are grateful for our partnership with Shopee—they have allowed us to reach more people online and raise the visibility of our purpose.”
The sale, which ran from August 7 to 9, gave Shopee users the opportunity to show their support for causes they believe in by buying Unilever products on the shopping platform. 20% of the proceeds from the sale went to the three partner organizations of Unilever.
- UNICEF - champions the rights of children everywhere in the world so they can reach their full potential.
- The Philippine LGBT Chamber of Commerce - advocates for safe workplaces that promote equality.
- Future Faces - a group of young adults that use repurposed plastics to provide nutritious meals to children in impoverished areas.
Shop Unilever personal care products on its official store on Shopee at https://shopee.ph/unilever_personalcare.
Visit the Shopee website at https://shopee.ph/ and download the Shopee app for free via the App Store or Google Play.
Wednesday, August 21, 2019
More than 700,000
GCash users have joined the movement to plant trees through GCash Forest, an
important carbon tracking feature of GCash, to help save the watershed that supplies
water to Metro Manila.
Ney Villaseñor,
Chief Corporate Affairs Officer at Mynt, which runs the country’s leading
mobile wallet, said 756,370 people have signed up to collect green energy
through GCash Forest as of August 19. That translates to almost 400,000 people
using the new feature every month since its launch on June 25.
GCash Forest is a
personal carbon account that tracks how much emission people have avoided by
living more consciously. “Green” activities—such as walking, bringing eco-bags
and own utensils, going cashless, reducing paper use—earn users energy points.
When they have enough points, they get to plant a virtual tree in GCash Forest,
which GCash will match with a real, native tree planted at the Ipo
watershed.
“GCash Forest is
the easiest way to help the environment; you don’t even have to go out of the
city or to make time outside of work/school to plant a tree. You simply need to
make daily choices that will lessen your carbon footprint, such as going
cashless when you send money, buy load or pay bills, or walking instead of
taking your car. GCash will turn these actions into reforestation efforts,”
Villaseñor said.
GCash, in
partnership with WWF Philippines, has adopted 300 hectares for rehabilitation
and reforestation inside the Ipo watershed. WWF will monitor and report the
growth of trees sponsored by GCash for three years, which is usually how long
it takes to see any changes in a reforestation or rehabilitation site.
The 7,236-ha Ipo
watershed, which spans the provinces of Bulacan and Rizal, is part of the
Angat-Umiray-Ipo watershed system that supplies 98% of Metro Manila’s water. It
has been declared a protected area by the Department of Environment and Natural
Resources but forest cover in the watershed is now only at 40%, a drastic drop
from 85% several years ago.
“Planting a tree
not only helps with carbon reduction but also results in water security and
biodiversity conservation. Every decision we make has an impact, whether
positive or negative. In helping GCash users to adopt a more
environment-conscious lifestyle, we are raising a generation of green heroes,”
Villaseñor said.
Friday, August 16, 2019
CIMB Bank Philippines (CIMB Bank PH) today announced that it has garnered 500,000 customers, approximately six months after opening its doors for business in the Philippines. The milestone was reached anchored on a strong proposition of co-creation and partnership between CIMB Bank and GCash.
The all-digital, mobile-first CIMB Bank PH, was launched in early 2019 with a goal of bringing a unique and differentiated banking proposition to Filipinos. Anchored on a DNA of strong strategic partnerships and solving customer pain points digitally, CIMB Bank PH had forged a partnership with GCash, to allow GCash’s customers direct, paperless and seamless access to savings account services, a product termed GSave. GCash is an epayments platform owned by Mynt, the revolutionary fintech startup of Globe Telecom, Ayala Corporation and Ant Financial, an affiliate of Jack Ma’s Alibaba Group.
Tengku Dato’ Sri Zafrul Aziz, Group CEO, CIMB Group, who was in Manila to celebrate this milestone said, “CIMB Bank PH is surely the fastest growing bank in ASEAN, a wonderful achievement, and a strong testament of things that can be achieved in the regime of digital-only banks. We are motivated by this and will continue to innovate for our customers. Well done to the teams.”
In line with this, CIMB Bank PH and GCash also announced that the GSave bank account will be exclusively offered only on the GCash platform. The companies also said they will be working together to make added suites of financial services products available to GCash customers in the future. These services will be announced in due course.
Zafrul added, “The partnership with GCash was central to us achieving this milestone. It is a live case study of bank-tech partnerships, a combination of banking expertise and technology platform plays, and the opportunities it allows both parties to access. I look forward to developing more propositions with GCash to further establish our mobile banking presence in the Philippines.”
Anthony Thomas, President and Chief Executive Officer of GCash affirmed its shared mission with CIMB Bank to increase accessibility of financial products and services for all Filipinos. “The acquisition of 500,000 users is a clear testament that the partnership between GCash and CIMB Bank through GSave is a success. We welcome this achievement and the deepening of our collaboration with CIMB Bank, and assure our users that we will continue to provide more innovative services to address the banking and financial needs of Filipinos who aspire for financially better lives for their families.”
The 500,000 GSave users are now enjoying the benefits of CIMB’s savings account, which is available as the Save Money feature on the GCash app. GSave offers an interest rate of 3 percent per annum, which is more than ten times higher than those interest rates offered by most Philippine banks.
Additionally, GSave does not require an initial deposit or maintaining balance, nor does it impose service charges for transactions—greatly reducing the barriers for ordinary Filipinos to open and maintain a savings account.
Over the last couple of
years, the Philippines has been experiencing an alarming decrease in forest
area. Due to rampant illegal logging and the lack of funds to better secure
protected areas, the countries forests are going nude.
Each year, based on data
from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), around 47,000
hectares of forest cover is lost, which is equivalent to approximately 1.2
million hectares of deforested land in a hundred years. This translates to
about 24 percent in deforestation rate, one of the fastest in the world.
These figures may sound
too statistical, but they are a constant and stark reminder for Filipinos of
the state of Philippine forests. This is also a wakeup call for everyone that
while the government pursues efforts to create a greener country, a great
amount of work is still up ahead, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature
(WWF).
“Without strategic
measures to combat this, Philippine forests will cease to exist in the next two
decades -- leaving the next generation without clean air to breath, fresh and
lush sceneries to enjoy, and endemic flora and fauna will only exist in picture
books,” WWF Philippines President and CEO Joel Palma said.
The severity of the
situation calls for a pursuit of collaboration among all stakeholders -- the
state, organizations, companies, and even the common Filipino. For many,
participating in drives for the environment may seem to measly an idea due to
the gravity of work to be done, but even the slightest act can create a chain
of events that could help the country bring its forests back to full
life.
“We need to act now, and
we need to act fast. We are at a critical time that loudly calls for action and
the participation of everyone. Our fight for a greener Philippines is not won
by one group alone. It needs to be a collaborative effort,” Palma added.
GCash, operated by Globe
Fintech Innovations Inc. (Mynt), recognizes the power of its platform to create
a huge impact for the environment. Placing itself at the forefront of
developing financial sustainability mechanisms that aim to strengthen forest
conservation efforts within its growing user base of 20 million, GCash recently
introduced GCash for Good.
Acting as its corporate
social responsibility arm, GCash for Good has collaborated with World Wildlife
Fund for Nature, Forest Foundation Philippines, Bantay Kalikasan, as well as
Haribon Foundation to pursue their shared vision of establishing a greener
Philippines.
“Through these
collaborations with non-government organizations, international organizations,
and various merchants, we look forward to fulfilling our vision of greening the
Philippines through our platform, as this initiative shall create a significant
impact not only to the environment but also in the daily lives of each
Filipino,” Mynt President Anthony Thomas said.
With GCash for Good,
Filipinos from all walks of life, especially the youth sector, now have the
power to create a positive change for the environment and stay socially
relevant. Through GCash for Good, GCash has made it possible for registered
GCash users to conveniently send donations to their chosen organization.
The platform enables
Filipinos to reach out further while also creating better opportunities for the
society, as it eliminates the hassle of having to endure long processes of
donating through banks and institutions and allows people to focus more on what
truly matters to them.
Various research has
shown that there is a growing trend in crowdfunding as well as micro-donations.
Such kind of initiative, while it may generate a minimal amount at a given
period, would still go a long way and make a significant impact once it gets
added up.
“For every person who
would like to make a difference, it’s also important to recognize that working
together, aiming for the common goal hand-in-hand, can result in an even
greater impact. With GCash for Good, doing something for a cause becomes
accessible and easier for all Filipinos,” Thomas said.
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