CEBU, Philippines - A home-grown print production company seems to enjoy the robust demand from the Cebu market as more retail stores, malls and other commercial establishments are opening up in the province.
Twin-Bee Print Ads Corporation was established in May 2006 by Jay Fernandez, a young executive who have earned six years of combined work experiences for print production companies in Cebu. He envisioned to create a one-stop shop that would address the marketing needs of his clients.
Inspired from the bee's industriousness and hardworking, Twin-Bee Print Ads Corporation was initially named as Twin-Bee Marketing.
If Fernandez were to assess the print advertising industry, he would describe it as promising for companies like Twin-Bee Print Ads Corporation given the booming local economy and aggressive expansion of malls and retail establishments.
"As more of these establishments will continue to be built across the country, especially in Cebu, it would assure stable growth for the industry. As long as advertising materials are needed, we will be there," he said.
He added that despite the competition that has become tougher as more Manila-based print ad companies are coming into Cebu to take advantage of the vibrant local market, Twin-Bee Print Ads Corporation manages to stand out through quality customization and efficient service for its clientele.
To date, Twin-Bee Print Ads Corporation caters to the needs and preferences of its 500 clients nationwide. Majority of the company's production is being accounted for the demands of the corporate clients such as distribution firms and malls that have regular monthly advertising requirements for product advertisement, promotions and campaign.
Twin-Bee Print Ads Corporation caters to variety of industries ranging from schools, resorts, fastfood chains, malls and advertising companies. It offers large format printing for billboards, streamers, banners and company signages; digital offset printing for posters, brochures, menus and desktop calendars; and printing and embroidery of souvenir items such as shirts, shorts and caps.
Fernandez also cited that aside from large format printing and fabrication, light-emitting diode (LED) print ads are now hit in the market since they are cost-saving and environment-friendly.
Fernandez started the business alone with an initial investment of P10,000. He used to recall when he had to carry the tarpaulin himself and commute to deliver the material to the client.
"It has never gone into my mind before that I would get into this business had it not been for my friends who demanded for my service. It was a tough experience when I started. My expertise in product management and finance from my previous employers help me throughout my journey, backed up with passion on sales and marketing," he shared.
The 40-year-old entrepreneur graduated Bachelor of Science in Information and Computer Science at the University of Cebu.
At present, Fernandez has 103 employees with branches in Cebu, Mandaue, Carcar and Bacolod. The company also now owns ten sales cars, four delivery vans and 15 motorcycles.
Asked if he plans to expand the company's presence further in the country, Fernandez said that he is already contented with his four outlets.
"This is the size that I wanted. What I intend to do now is to focus on maintaning our quality service and outdoing our high performance," he said.
Fernandez added that they are eyeing to venture in doing billboards, kicking off its flagship structure in Argao just this month. They are planning to duplicate it in Negros and Bacolod./JOB (FREEMAN)