Penshoppe; Cebuanos are the newest additions to the Club Pen family

CEBU, Philippines - The selling power of celebrities in ad campaigns has been a tried and tested strategy, adding personalities and characteristics to a brand that will raise consumer awareness and product adoption. And especially if you can connect a product and a celebrity to a specific demographic group, the rewards of a star’s pitch are pretty enormous.

But the Cebu-born and bred casual apparel giant Penshoppe revealed that they are taking a different marketing path. The first time I joined a press launch for Penshoppe was when they brought then-couple and endorsers Jericho Rosales and Heart Evangelista to Cebu to grace the opening of the revamped Penshoppe boutique in Ayala. On Penshoppe’s recent Cebu presscon, the brand launched two newcomers as its latest additions to the elite Club Pen family.

“We tried the celebrity route but it didn’t work. We prefer to differentiate ourselves because if we just follow, nothing will happen to us. Penshoppe would like to think that instead of always getting stars, we make stars. For instance, Ryan Agoncillo and Paolo Bediones started with us; they were not celebrities yet when Penshoppe discovered them,” said Albert Ong, Vice President for Marketing of Golden ABC, the mother company of Penshoppe along with other fashion brands Oxygen, ForMe, Memo, and Regatta. “We also don’t go the route of skin. They say sex sells, but we believe that values also sell.”

While their current ad campaign features Kapamilya stars Matt Evans, Melissa Ricks and Victor Basa; Kapuso mainstays JC Tiuseco and Akihiro Sato, joining them are up and coming models Solenn Heussaff and Bea Soriano and Cebuano recruits Annette Louise Osmeña and Piero Sainz-Vergara.

“Annette and Piero are a perfect fit as apart from their obvious good looks and charm, they have interests and achievements that today’s youth can really relate to. Annette is a model student, a varsity volleyball player, and a musician; while Piero is an actor, guitarist, singer, and songwriter,” said Ong.

The two (who discovered during their first shoot that they are distant cousins) got Penshoppe’s nod because of their well-rounded, attractive, and wholesome personalities. Yet while one is bent on invading showbiz by joining a reality star search, the other considers this modeling preoccupation as just a hobby and isn’t that keen on showbiz stardom.

Piero missed his own launching at the Casino Español because he was taping for GMA 7’s “Starstruck V”. Before Piero’s television debut, Ong said they discovered the multi-talented teen first.

He is a senior at the Marie Ernestine school, who loves sketching, painting and performing, having been a mainstay of the stage, singing and acting in lead roles in numerous school plays since grade school. He is also musically-inclined, playing the guitar and having written 17 songs to date.

Singing and composing music is an interest that Piero shares with Annette, a junior at the Cebu International High School. “I write about things that happen to me, anything that I can think of. I’ve already recorded two songs so far. I’ve had offers from Viva Records but I’m really focused on my school right now, it’s my top priority,” shared the 16-year-old daughter of Mimo and Lani Osmeña.

Admirably so, studies is on top of her list as she’s aiming for an International Baccalaureate diploma at her school and plans to study Business Management either in the UK or US. “Everytime I’m asked to write an essay in school, it’s always somehow related to business. It’s very broad, so I’ll see what I’ll be interested in, but business will definitely be the path I’ll take.”

For a teenager, she keeps a hectic schedule, trying to balance academics and extra-curricular activities plus occasional modeling jobs. The sports-minded gal is a front center spiker in her school’s volleyball varsity team, is a member of the Model United Nations, and is into occasional charity work on weekends. “My life is basically sports, school and community service,” she summed up.

They might not have the instant recall that a celebrity brings to a product, but they have the freshness and star appeal that would certainly merit interest.