Cebu’s new brand to stand even with change in leaders

CEBU, Philippines – Any change in the political leadership after next year’s elections will not have any effect whatsoever to the newly introduced branding of Cebu dubbed "Cebu, where the heart sings!"

"Since this is a private-public sector endeavor without any political color ( or more appropriately now already wearing  various 'colors') done for the love of Cebu, I believe it will be supported by whoever wins next year. I proved in this endeavor how much Cebuanos are willing to give for the love of Cebu," said Ma. Teresa Chan, president of the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the lead convenor of Cebu Brand Team.

The zero-budget branding tagline, which best captures Cebu's soul as a diverse destination, was officially unveiled last Friday night by the Cebu province's key tourism and government players.

"We referred to the result of the research done by Publicis and other studies. We consulted them , Jacqueline Thng and other branding experts. After so much consultation and brainstorming, the brand best represents Cebu and its people. People say Cebu is nice yet they cannot identify any specific reason for that comment or feeling. Yes, Cebu makes one's heart happy, makes it love the world... makes it sing," said Chan.

Hotel, Resort and Restaurant Association of Cebu (HHRAC) president Julie Najar, likewise said that the strength of the brand cannot be weakened by the upcoming change of political order, considering that branding, which summarizes the "identity" of Cebu as leisure and business destination is agreed upon by the prime movers of the tourism and business sectors.

“Cebu where the heart sings!, represents a new beginning which is welcomed and embraced by all. We are all excited for the branding," said Najar.

Cebu City Tourism Council (CCTC) chairperson Tetta Ba-ad assured that sustainability of the brand will not wane overtime, considering that the composition of the tagline is "agreed upon" by multi-sectoral levels in the province, and this is not a "small measure" to start with.

“Cebu Where The Heart Sings!, is our official entry to the world's stage of tourism destination and joins the multitude of [iconic] brands all over the world," added Ba-ad.

Over the years, Cebu had been struggling to find its own identity as a premier tourism destination due to lack of unified effort to make a one branding proposition that is "agreed" by all sectors in the society.

In the early 80s Cebu had been known as the "Island in the Pacific", a branding that worked well for the province, but lost its sustainability after a while.

Department of Tourism (DOT-7) regional director Rowena Montecillo announced that the new branding of Cebu will be endorsed to the Regional Development Council (RDC-7) to be used as the platform for tourism related policy making for the province.

Led by CCCI and Mega Cebu, and support from the Cebu City and provincial governments the Cebu Brand Team was created six months ago to work on the proper positioning of the province as destination’s "identity" is considered as the main driving force in revving up tourism and business growth.

"The branding’s conceptualization and process took more than five months where all initiatives to craft the distinctive concept of Cebu and express it in simple yet meaningful symbolization was finally captured through the collaborative efforts of the Team," said CCCI Tourism Committee chairperson Milagros Espina. (FREEMAN)