Discovering another Galaxy

When the summer season started, Samsung Electronics Philippines Corp. (SEPCO) sizzled with the launch of its hottest mobile phones.

First in the line-up is the Samsung Corby II. Banking on the success of the first Corby mobile phone, SEPCO celebrated the funky style and the ultra functionality of the Samsung Corby II with Corbyville 2. A whole-day event marked with busy booths such as a hair and makeup booth, a styling closet by Forever 21, a coffee shop with WiFi access and a photo booth brought the Corby II phone to life, highlighting its faster WiFi connectivity and stylish Form Factor (3.14” screen and 1.17 cm thin form factor).

TV and radio personality Rizza Diaz hosted the event while Caren Marangan, Audry Dionisio and Alex Montemayor, members of the all-girl band General Luna, together with Boom Gonzales and Aaron Atayde walked down the runway, each with his or her favorite color of the Samsung Corby II.

In a separate event called Galaxy AppNation held at the TriNoma activity center, Samsung’s latest additions to its array of Android-powered smart phones were launched  the Samsung Galaxy Ace, Galaxy Pro, Galaxy Fit and Galaxy Mini. All powered by the Android 2.2 OS, the Samsung Galaxy Phones bring smarter mobile phone experience.

Samsung Galaxy AppNation gathered four different personalities who fell in love with the different Samsung Galaxy Phones. Young celebrity entrepreneur Kelly Misa loves the Samsung Galaxy Fit, which offers functional user experience and smooth web browsing on the go. Young star Steff Prescott chose the Samsung Galaxy Mini for its great productivity and performance while boasting a magnificent display. Brapanese TV personality and model Fabio Ide had a lot of fun with the Samsung Galaxy Pro, which is a one-of-a-kind smartphone with a touch screen display. Model Hideo Muraoka enjoyed the premium smart phone experience with the Samsung Galaxy Ace.

(From left) United Graphics Mobile’s Kenneth Sytin with Samsung product manager Mylene Gabriel, HHP director Glenn Glinoga and management trainee Adriene Rivera.

All the Samsung Galaxy phones give more access to thousands of Android applications, which currently has more than 100,000 apps. It also comes with Social Hub, which integrates all social networking site updates, instant messenger, e-mails and calendar accounts in one page.

The summer season’s slew of activities requires new, better and more reliable gadgets and Samsung offers a great variation of smarter and funkier mobile phones with higher functionality. All these new mobile phones are now available in all Samsung Mobile authorized dealers nationwide.

Getting fit with Power Plate

Manila’s fitness enthusiasts welcomed the launch of Power Plate, the premium acceleration training device now very popular with Hollywood stars and elite athletes.

(From left) Sonam and Jack Lin of F1 Recreation Taiwan, Wellness Concepts operations manager Rizza Duque and Erica Minter.

Held at the upscale Wellness Concepts store, the launch of the training device created a buzz because it is an innovatively designed fitness machine that offers virtually limitless, effective, versatile and progressive exercise options and gives accelerated results in a shortened training period. It features a unique vibration method that stimulates muscle contractions up to 50 times per second.

On hand to welcome guests during the launch was the Wellness Concepts team led by managing director of Sportfit Inc. Kenneth Ti, Power Plate Asia Pacific manager Erica Minter and operations manager of Wellness Concepts Rizza Duque.

Guiding the program and discussion about the Power Plate were fitness expert and US certified fitness coach Chappy Calanta and TV sports show host and fitness instructor Reema Chanco, who were also introduced as the Philippine ambassadors for Power Plate.

Exercise demos and tryout sessions were made available for the guests while certified trainers explained and assisted the fitness enthusiasts with the basic Strength and Stretch exercise options they can do on the Power Plate.

Lea Beltran, Alex Pastor and Joba Botana.

Guests were also in for a wellness treat as several fitness prices were raffled off. Among the prizes given away were gift certificates for Power Plate training sessions, Stott Pilates Secret of Weight Loss gift packages and a Life Fitness Body Shape Kit.

(Power Plate is available in all Wellness Concepts stores at the Power Plant Mall, Ayala Center Cebu, TriNoma, Mall of Asia and all Life Fitness stores at Greenbelt 5 and Shangri-La Mall.)

UPCBAAA induction on May 21

The UP College of Business Administration Alumni Association (UPCBAAA) will have the induction of its officers and members of the board of trustees on May 21 at 4:30 p.m. at the Executive House, UP Diliman.

The oath of office will be administered by the UPAA president, lawyer Gladys Tiongco and will be witnessed by the new president of the UP System, Dr. Alfredo Pascual.

(From left) Pepe Jeans brand manager Rosella Lopez, Thinline’s Lui Castaneda, Adrian Concepcion and Mark Dy.

The members of the UPCBAAA board of trustees and officers are Roberto Alingog (chairman); Dr. Robert Kuan (president); Arthur Tuason (first vice president); Marivic Eustaquio-Anonuevo (second vice president); Melito Salazar Jr. (treasurer); Teresita Bolisay-Bermillo (secretary); Pacita Rosalinda Yuvienco-Aguirre (public relations officer); and Everdina Enriquez-Gan (auditor). Serving as trustees are Dr. Ma. Elisa Allado, Frank Capalongan, Dodie Lagman, Teodoro Panganiban, Aurora Dee-Pineda, Roberto del Rosario and Ma. Teresa Zuniga.     

Named as one of the UP College of Business Administration’s distinguished alumni in 2002, Roberto Alingog is currently chairman and president of the Philippine Rural Bank, while Dr. Robert Kuan, also a distinguised alumnus in 2007, is the chairman of the Board of St. Luke’s Medical Center.

UP wins Pepe Jeans Eyewear integrated marketing challenge

When Branded Lifestyle, Inc. (BLI), the biggest designer eyewear distributor in the Philippines, launched its first ever business school challenge called “IMC: Integrated Marketing Challenge,” over 100 students from reputable universities joined the contest. The IMC is a fashion marketing-based competition wherein students are given the opportunity to become marketing managers for a specific eyewear brand. In its first year, IMC puts the spotlight on one of BLI’s newest brands  Pepe Jeans London.

(From left) Raymond Gutierrez, Carlos Concepcion, Saab Magalona and Nyko Rodriguez.

The participating students came from schools like Ateneo de Manila University, University of the Philippines and University of Asia and the Pacific. In the university-finals round, each school was narrowed down to five finalists until one emerged to represent the school in the inter-school competition. In the competition’s final leg, finalists from the University of the Philippines (Team Perspective and 20-20), Ateneo de Manila University (Team Force) and University of Asia and the Pacific (Team Mojos) battled it out for the best marketing campaign for Pepe Jeans Eyewear.

The final round was held at Kyss Restaurant & Lounge Bar hosted by Saab Magalona and Star columnist Regina Belmonte. The night started with a mini fashion show together with a flash mob dance presenting Pepe Jeans Eyewear’s latest collection. Then the teams shared their final marketing campaigns for Pepe Jeans Eyewear.

It was great for all the teams but only one team and one school could be the champion and bring home P75,000 and Pepe Jeans Eyewear. It was the University of the Philippines’ Team 20/20 that bested the others with its well-rounded and very much out-of-the-box campaign.