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Instant news and information
Michael Alan Hamlin
All the rules have changed
According to a report in Advertising Age last week, consumer products behemoth Johnson & Johnson (J&J) is doing much more than talking up new media. By some estimates, the company shifted somewhere around $250 million, 22 percent of its marketing budget, to nontraditional media last year. There is also evidence that nontraditional media performed so well that J&J spent 10 percent less overall on global ad spending in 2006.
Broadcast took the biggest hit in the reallocation of the J&J budget. The money went to purpose-built websites, online media, email promotions, and a feature film. Two examples: Its BabyCenter.com website attracts between 500,000 and 700,000 visitors daily and a separate report recently noted that consumer products companies’ corporate websites are among the most popular online destinations.
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Posted
3/29/2007 4:36:06 PM |
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Anti subversion law
Orly Mercado
Outlawing an ideology
The chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines has said he favors the restoration of the Anti Subversion Law which makes it a crime to be a member of the Communist Party or any of its front organizations. Before I comment, allow me to put on the record where I am coming from.
While a student of the University of the Philippines, I joined the Kabataang Makabayan (Patriotic Youth) on the day it was founded, November 30, 1963. I was later elected member of its central committee. I pursued a career in radio and television and became a harsh critic of the Marcos regime. In 1971, after the Liberal Party political rally at Plaza Miranda was bombed, I was one of those charged for violation of Republic Act 1700, the Anti Subversion Law. The case was docketed as People of the Philippines versus Luzvimindo David et al, the alleged sixty-three leaders of the communist rebellion.
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Posted
3/23/2007 2:13:28 PM |
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The CNN effect
Michael Alan Hamlin
But there is a window of opportunity, and it should be taken seriously
The Philippines Development Forum wasn’t the only important meeting taking place in Cebu last week, or the only international gathering attended by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Secretary of Finance Margarito Teves. As the international donor community gathered at the sparkling new Marco Polo Hotel (formerly Cebu Plaza) in Cebu City, across town approximately 60 top Asian stock brokers were meeting at the magnificent Shangri-La’s Mactan Island Resort for another conference.
Both meetings involved investment in the Philippines. The international donor community is composed of multilateral lending institutions such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, as well as their member countries that support Philippine development through the provision of various aid programs and low-interest loans for the development of infrastructure.
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Posted
3/14/2007 10:53:49 AM |
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A troubled TV network
Orly Mercado
Clinging to a shred of hope
Would you accept a job as chair of the board of directors of a sequestered TV network that is practically on its deathbed? I just did. In the 70s, during the martial law years, the Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation (IBC 13) was one of the largest.
Today, it is just a crumbling shell of its former self. The first board meeting I chaired was a depressing experience. The briefing I got confirmed what I suspected all along. The network’s sequestration after the People Power revolution of 1986 has failed. Its assets have dissipated. It is deep in debt, and has serious labor problems. It is mired in legal squabbling. Its ownership is still in question. This is unbelievable after more than twenty years of sequestration. A fine mess I got myself into, I thought to myself.
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Posted
3/12/2007 1:30:54 PM |
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Philippine residential, commercial real estate in expansive mood
Michael Alan Hamlin
BPO demand benefits tier-two cities, provinces
If trends hold, the residential and commercial real estate markets will continue to expand rapidly, possibly for several years, according to executives of CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) Philippines. “This is the first time I’ve seen this kind of enthusiasm in 10 years,” CBRE chairman Rick M. Santos told reporters and analysts in a briefing last week. Santos is also managing director of CB Richard Ellis Hong Kong.
Among the factors that have contributed to expansion in the residential market is the first long-term, fixed-rate mortgage financing programs in the Philippines. Santos explained, “local banks have launched mortgage financial programs that provide 11 percent fixed interest for 25-year home loans.” Other factors include an innovative build-to-own concept, notably in Fort Bonifacio Global City, that allows buyers to own residential units at direct cost; pre-selling to overseas foreign workers (OFWs), and project-financing initiatives by PAG-IBIG, the government’s housing fund.
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Posted
3/2/2007 11:57:38 AM |
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