Generations

In 1958, Henry Sy Sr. opened the first Shoemart store in downtown Manila, not knowing that he wasn’t just opening a store, he was launching a lifestyle change for generations of Filipinos.

“I thought that if I sold a pair of shoes to every Filipino, I would be a successful man,” Sy said.

Thus, virtually every Filipino born from 1958 onwards has had a pair of shoes bought from SM. Usually, it starts from black school shoes. I remember my mom, my sister Mae and I would trek to the Shoemart nearest us to buy our boy shoes every summer, just in time for school opening. We would be amazed at how the salesgirls would be so skillful in sign language as they conveyed the size and styles we needed. Mae and I would also take our sons to Shoemart, now called SM, a generation later.

Shoemart opened a branch in Makati in the ’60s, when there was just one building in what is now known as the Makati Commercial Center, thanks to a persistent real estate agent who convinced Sy to make the investment. In the ’70s, SM took on a new name, “SM Shoemart” or SM. By this time, it had gone beyond shoes and had even ventured into banking.

Sy opened its first shopping center, SM City North EDSA in 1985. “In 1983, we were building SM City North-EDSA, our first shopping mall. Many people at that time thought I was crazy. There was a political crisis, interest rates were as high as 45 percent and the location of the mall was in the middle of nowhere... But the mall was an instant success.”

Thus was born the “malling” generation of Filipinos. “With the SM shopping malls, people tell me I changed Philippine lifestyle. Families and friends spend time together in the malls. They shop, dine, and have fun, whatever age, and whatever budget they have.”

SM Megamall was opened in 1991 and in 2006, the SM Mall of Asia, opened.

Sy called it, “The greatest project of my life.”

From school shoes to prom shoes, furniture, supermarkets and malls, SM has woven itself into the fabric of every Filipino’s life.

“Everyone has an SM story,” says SM executive Millie Dizon.

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Tessie Sy-Coson, vice chairman of SM Investments, once told Millie in the ‘80s that she had wanted SM to be “the store of the people.”

Thus, when Millie and her team were preparing for SM’s 50th anniversary last year, they decided to build on a previous “Serving Millions” campaign and come up with the “Generations” campaign.

“It would be a take-off from the Serving Millions campaign, but with a twist. The Generations premise was simple: everyone has an SM story. And since 50 years spans at least two generations, we would feature SM stories of families from all walks of life,” says Millie.

The Generations campaign appeared on the front page of the lifestyle sections of major dailies. Millie had a wonderful collaboration with the STAR, especially with lifestyle editor Millet Mananquil, who helped gather the SM stories of lifestyle columnists. Celine Lopez, for instance, wrote about how her mother Emily was the first face of SM. Dero Pedero composed and recorded the memorable SM jingle, “We’ve got it all!” and in 1985, when SM North EDSA opened, the revised, “We’ve got it all for you!”

As in all milestones, the 50th anniversary celebration came to an end, and to make sure there would be a memento of it, Tessie thought of a special compilation of the Generations campaign. I was proudly part of that, because SM chose People Asia magazine to publish and compile the Generations stories. Millie and my team composed of creative director Tatum Ancheta and writer Denise Roco worked on this special Generations magazine over the last-quarter holidays of 2008, and came up with a magazine that does justice to the SM Generations message.

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Last Feb. 20 at the Isla Ballroom of the Shangri-La EDSA Plaza Hotel, The Generations Campaign received two awards: The Anvil Award of Excellence in a Specialized Public Relations Program - Advocacy. SM received the award together with its agency, Corporate Image Dimensions, Inc.

 The citation reads, “For implementing SM’s year long print campaign to commemorate SM’s 50th Anniversary . . . a well crafted campaign featuring a combination of print advertising, feature articles, and reader’s participation through story submissions.”

It also received a Plaque of Recognition in collaboration with The Philippine Star.

It was a fitting finale to a year that celebrated a man’s vision, and how it has brought together generations of Filipinos — shoppers, sellers, suppliers.

In his foreword to the Generations book, Henry Sy wrote: “I have often said that while I am not big on words, I am big and bold in my dreams and visions, even once joking that it was easier for me to build a mall than to deliver a speech. Thank you for being part of SM’s 50th anniversary celebrations, and for sharing my dream!”

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 (You may e-mail me at [email protected])