Love makes the PR world go ‘round

In this world, love is what cements most marriages. Apparently, according to a new trend and buzzword in the PR industry, love is also what creates marriages between consumers and consumer products, and makes them everlasting.

Cheesy but true. According to Public Relations Society of the Philippines (PRSP) president Bong Osorio, “lovemarks” (not those telltale marks on our necks after a night of passion, but a phrase coined by Saatchi & Saatchi’s Kevin Roberts) are the reason “some brands succeed while others die on the vine, why some brands motivate and while others struggle.”

Sometimes, you cannot quantify why you are fiercely attracted or loyal to a brand, as you are to a person. Why you like reformed “bad boys” like Robert Downey Jr. and why your lavandera likes only Downy.

“Love is all about authentic fondness, fidelity, fervor and faithfulness to the things in people’s lives that matter most. Growth and development is moved, inspired and fired up by people’s feelings, not their logic,” says Bong.

Bong, who is ABS-CBN’s communications consultant and spokesperson and who also writes a column for this paper, quotes Roberts as saying that lovemarks “don’t just deliver beyond your expectations, but they create an intimate, emotional connection that you cannot live without. In a nutshell, ‘lovemarks’ don’t impress — they inspire.”

 Ron F. Jabal, the external VP of the PRSP and chairman of the PR Congress to be held on Sept. 25 and 26 in Tagaytay City, affirms this and declares that the PR industry is “a love thing, too.”

“Why do (consumers) profess undying patronage despite certain product flaws or criticism  from others — even becoming spokespersons and evangelists of the brands?” Ron asks.

It’s because consumers have fallen in “love” with these brands.

“One of the first things that PR practitioners need to do is to accept that we no longer exist in the Age of Attention — where the primary task is to inform, educate and communicate. Today, we operate and live in an Age of Attraction where it has become imperative for PR to re-craft its tools…,” points out Ron,  the global award-winning country media head and international communications manager of Shell companies in the Philippines.

So if you ever wonder why some brands enjoyed by your parents are still heartthrobs, why your teachers favored one student over you even if you were better, and why some politicians are topping popularity and trust surveys despite the criticisms, valid or not, hurled against them — it’s the love thing, honey.

You can’t always explain love, but it’s there, and it sells engagement rings as well as detergents.

(Interested delegates and sponsors to the PRSP congress “PR: It’s a Love Thing” on Sept. 25 and 26 at the Taal Vista Hotel in Tagaytay City may call 661-7209.)

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Glory be

She gives glory to God — heart and soul, and all of her. Despite a Civil Engineering degree from Silliman University in Dumaguete City, and a career with DMCI, Glory Abueva began painting in 1987. And despite her stint with DMCI, she returned full-time to painting in 1994, successfully emerging as a seasoned artist over the years. Rarely joining group shows, she nevertheless got contracts for her works.

The Consunjis of DMCI collected her paintings, followed by tourists, visitors in Dumaguete, foreigners. Her works are in Europe, the US and Asia. She has paintings at the National Museum and also at the UP Padre Faura Museum.

Her deep gratitude to God moves her to teach children and out-of-school youth at the Rainbow Orphanage and Casa Cittadini in Dumaguete.

Her artistic trademarks are women with long necks, very small waistlines and big and wide butts. Her renditions of men are one-eyed images. With several solo exhibits to her name, she was chosen as one of 100 artists during the Centennial Year of 1998 followed by being honored among 100 Women Artists of the Philippines in 2005 and an Honorable Mention in the Philippine Arts Awards.

Open to the public, her exhibit entitled Different Strokes opens today, Sept. 16, and will run till Sept. 30 at the Yuchengco Museum at the corner of Ayala Avenue and Sen. Gil Puyat in Makati City. Men and women are shown dancing and making music in her trademark style of women with small waists and wide hips in vibrant colors. She used a palette knife and fine brush for this exhibit, thus, Different Strokes.

(The showroom in Dumaguete City is called GATXS at #6 San Juan St. near the boulevard.) (You may e-mail me at [email protected].)