PEOPLE DON'T BUY WHAT YOU DO, THEY BUY WHY YOU DO IT

Here I am on a Sunday morning, in my empty apartment alone trying to find some inspiration. With only a few hours of sleep, I could not go back to bed because I'm not really used to sleeping beyond 6AM. And most especially now that the heat of summer is coming so early from my wide window.

So I took a few minutes to surf the net to find a few inspiration. I felt like I needed to be rekindled with my old self and be reminded of what I really want to do in my life and in my career. And with a few clicks on Stumbled Upon, I found this video and I thought this is just worth sharing to fellow sales professionals like me.

Simon Sinek kept on saying that "people don't buy what you do, they buy WHY you do it." And I thought that maybe I have forgotten this principle for a while now. I know that for most of us in Sales, we are "results driven" (COMMISSION=MONEY). But then, I thought, maybe I have focused so much on the results lately that I am already setting myself up to failure. I think I forego of what I believe in the first place why I am selling what I am selling. This speaks true for every and any product that any sales people sell. We have to believe why we do what we do otherwise, we will end the day as a failure.

Moments of Truth (past 24 hours) - Present day entry

When I talk about moments of truth, eto yung mga bagay na ipinapagpalagay ko na mga "signs" na di magiging maganda ang araw ko. And it's really frustrating because even if you want to do something, you just can't. It seems that the odds are all against you. Anyway, here they are and I meant to write down each one of them because I believe if I read this entry again, I will realize something out of it and the things that I thought I can't do anything about will actually be doable at one point or another-:

Moment of Truth #1: Maaga ako nagising kanina umaga pero super antok pa ko so, nakatulog ako ng another 1 hour. In short, late ako dumating ng opisina. Sarap matulog eh!

Moment of Truth #2: Late din nakarating ang partner ko kasi nireport nya yung binilhan namin ng shoes online na manloloko pala. Pucha, nakabayad na kami ng buo only to find out, walang darating na sapatos. Grrr! bakit ba may ganitong klase ng manloloko? At ang dami sa 'Pinas, ha!

Moment of Truth # 3: Naghanap kami ng supplies para sa homework namin sa Raw School. Umabot kami sa Trinoma, only to realize in the end na lahat ng binili namin, sa National Bookstore namin lahat nakuha. Kung alam lang namin, sana sa Cubao na lang kami namili. Malapit pa at di pa aksaya sa oras. Grrr!

Moment of Trutjh #4: 2pm na pero wala pa rin kaming nagagawang execution ng homework. Lahat ideas lang.

Moment of Truth #5: 4 pm na pero isang execution pa lang nagagawa namin. Yung sumunod na execution, kinailangan kong ulitin kasi di pulido!

Moment of Truth #6: Sira yung printer namin. Anak ng pating, pano kami magpi-print? Albert, di pa rin tayo nakabili ng kapalit ng printer natin???

Moment of Truth #7: 5pm na pero di pa namin naku-kumpleto ang homework. Bungi-bungi pa mga detalye.

Moment of Truth #8: 6.30pm and counting. gutom na kami pero di puedeng tumigil. Isa-isa nang natatapos ang execution.

Moment of Truth #9: 7.30 na pero nasa office pa rin kami. Super late na kami sa klase!

Moment of Truth #10: Bumuhos ang ulang nang malakas. Bakit kung kelan paalis na kami? Umiyak ata ang langit sa amin!

Moment of Truth #11: Wala kaming maparang taxi sa gitna ng malakas na ulan. Ayaw pumunta ng Makati. Bakit ba kasi ang layo namin sa kabihasnan? :P

Moment of Truth #12: May pumarang taxi. Pucha, P350 daw hanggang Makati. Tumawad ako ng P200, ayaw. P250, ayaw pa rin. Finally P300, pumayag na. Tangina, isa pa itong taong itong mapag-samantala!

Moment of Truth #13: 8.14pm- tapos na daw ang judging sabi nung kaibigan namin at kaklase sa Raw School. Tangina talaga, pack-up na! Pano na yung homework namin? Shet! Gumawa kami para sa wala!

Pero sa kabila ng lahat ng kamalasan namin at Moment of Truth ngayong araw na ito, may isang Moment of Truth na nag-stand out:

Moment of Truth # 14: Qualified kami sa Iron Creatives! Di ako makapaniwala hanggang ngayon. Kasi goal lang namin, mapansin kahit paano sa Raw School at eventually, maka-move forward with high hopes na other agencies could hire us. Sana nga, we're keeping our fingers crossed :)

Raw School (Session 3) – There’s More to Pinoy Than Penoy by Lilit Reyes and Ricky Gonzales

04 Aug 2010
Publicis Jimenez Basic

Ang Pinoy na Maka-Pinoy sa Pelikula
By: Lilit Reyes

Lilit Reyes is an award-winning director of the Indie Film “Halaw”. He tackled about how Pinoy Movies can help us (and our works) to move forward to Cannes. He has stressed the importance of knowing your audience and how to appeal to them, what will work for the Filipino audience and how we can be a global Pinoy. The following are the points that I got from him and the things that made me realize that making an ad, like what they do on film, is something that you just don’t create or write for yourself but for your audience. It is something that you can share and nurture. Please feel free to read and at your own sweet time, try to realize how true these things are especially for us, Filipinos:

PINOY FOR PINOYS ONLY
Pamahiin Nang Ma-“Ded na Si Lolo”
*Pagpag
* Sukob
* Pagwawalis, atbp.

PINOY COMEDY NI JOHN EN MARSHA
- Andres Di Saya (Takusa)
- Bienan Syndrome

PINOY DRAMA NG MGA MARTIR NA NANAY
- Anak: The Movie (Sacrificial Mom)
- Dekada ’70 (Progressive, Voiceless Mom)

PINOY MACHISMO
- Robinhood ni Robin Padilla
- Babaero ni Robin Padilla
- Maginoo per Medyo Bastos ni Robin Padilla

PINOY PAMILYA
- Spiritwal na “Tanging Yaman”
- Kalokohan ng “Tanging Ina”
- Trahedya ng “Magkakapatid”

KABATAANG PINOY
- Kababawan ng “First Day High”
- Kalaliman ng “Pisay”

MIDDLE CLASS PINOY
- Kamatayan ng “100”
- Kalokohan ng “Working Girls 2”
- Kakilig-kilig na “A Very Special Love”

KASAYSAYANG PINOY
- “Ang Paglilitis ni Andres Bonifacio”
- “Baler”

MUSIKANG PINOY
- “Emir”
- “Zsa Zsa Zaturna”

KABABALAGHAN NG BATANG PINOY
- “Ang Pagbabalik ng Panday”
- “Agimat” at “Enteng Kabisote”

GLOBAL PINOY
- “Engkwentro”, “Halaw” (Poverty)
- “Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros” (Gaiety)
- “Limbunan” (Cultural)

HALO-HALO KAYA DI MAINTIHAN
- Kuyug (Pre-Kolonyal)
- Maka-Diyos (Espana)
- Rakenrol (Amerika)
- Maabilidad (Tsina)
- Pabago-bago (EDSA)

EMOSYONAL PERO DI MAHAWAKAN, DI MAYAKAP
- Sentimental
- Mababaw ang Luha
- Madaling Matawa
- Kontrolado
- Eksaherado

MAKA-PAMILYA
- Lakas at Kahinaan ng Pinoy

KOMUNAL HINDI INDIBIDWAL
- Barkada
- Kapitbahay
- Lipunan
- Bayan
KIMI AT KIRI
- Asyano
- Katoliko
- Pero Exposed

UNIVERSALLY LOCAL
- Mga Pampinoy na Pinoy
- AT May Pinoy na Pinoy na Pandaigdigan

NASA TIMPLA AT PANLASA
- Tema (Big Idea)
- Storya (Storyboard ) – How to Say?
- Rekados (Crafting)

NAGMULA SA TUNAY NA PUSO, ISIP, SALITA, GAWA AT KALULUWA
- Ang huwad ay halata
- Ang tunay ay tumatagos at tumatama

THERE’S MORE TO PINOY THAN PENOY
“We speak, act and think differently”
By Ricky Gonzales

Ricky Gonzales has stricken me as a fun, brilliant and true-pinoy-to-the-blood person. Why did I say that? Because there were times that I wished I wasn’t a Pinoy. If I could just choose, I wished I was of a European race. Somebody from the heritage that built the world civilization. Because being Pinoy just makes me feel disappointed sometimes most especially when you see your fellow Pinoy f*king up or getting f*ked up for one reason or another. That’s just crazy. But after the session with these two fantastic guys, it made me rekindle my old patriotic ideals back in college and made me appreciate more about being a Pinoy! Ricky has explained how Pinoys are fond of inventing words, giving different meanings to each one of them, and the trademarks of Pinoys that make us unique from the rest of the world. Here are my notes on this session with Ricky Gonzales:

Definition of MOTHER from the dictionary:
n. a female person who is pregnant with or gives birth to a child
- For Pinoys, MOTHER is someone that we call

A PINOY IS A PINOY...
- May sariling definition of terms!
• Ang galing natin mag-imbento ng salita
- Mas maingay ang action words
- Tayo’y sarap na sarap sa hirap!
• Example: Kung paano bumirit si Regine Velasquez sa pag-kanta
- ‘Naykupo!
• Pilipinas – matriarchal society
• “Under the saya” – naimbento ang phrase na ito
- Isn’t it ironic?
• Ang hilig natin sa kontrapunto
• “Ayaw ko magsalita pero…”
- Yehey! Tupperware Party!
• Mahilig tayo magpa-impress
• We put diplomas and certificates on display
• We collect souvenirs from another country para sabihing nakapunta ka dun!
- Ang hilig natin mag-short-cut
• Andami nating acronyms na naimbento
• OA (overacting)
• KJ (killjoy)
• ST (sex trip)
• KSP (Kulang sa Pansin)
- Ano ang relevance ng ating pagka-Pinoy sa ikabo-bongga ng ating industry?
• It’s what differs us from the rest
• It’s what we do best
- TRADEMARKS OF PINOY:
• Cluttered
• drama
- HETO ANG MGA EBIDENSYA:
• Charice Pempengco
• Tina Maristela Ocampo (Celestina Bags featured in Sex and the City)
• Kinatay (Brillante Mendoza)

Ricky on Creatives:
“Sa ating pagsusulat at pag-a-art direk, gamitin natin ang gating pagka-Pinoy. Isigaw, huwag ibulong. Gamitin, huwag tipirin. Ipagmalaki, huwag ikahiya. Hindi baduy maging Pinoy. Kaya, pagdating mamaya sa bahay….
Manood ng Rubi,
O makining ng Ogie Alcasid
O bumili ng Penoy!

-end of session-

SUBMISSION OF ASSIGNMENTS (Print Ad)
1. GILLETTE
2. CUBAO X

Unfortunately, we weren't so lucky on this assignment. As our Headmaster was calling out for the winning print ads, me and Ariane were like, "damn, it was also on our concept paper." Problem was: we were not able to put up a good execution. Oh well, try again next time :(

Raw School 2010 (Session 2) - The 50 Boxes Freakshow by Brandie Tan

July 21, 2010
Leo Burnett

Me and my partner, Ariane were late coming to the 2nd session of Raw School 2010. It was raining when we left the office, running on deadline with 24 entries of print ad. C'mon, 24 entries, 4 subjects, 3 executions and 2 ideas for each subject. Our heads were rolling like coconut trying to squeeze out the last drop of water from it. When we arrive, the 50 boxes that the facilitator was discussing was already on the 6th box. We never caught up, we just wrote down whatever we have started and there was no way we were able to participate on filling in on our own 50 boxes.

How could you possibly fill in 50 boxes with 50 ideas for one subject? Damn, never thought it was possible and there could be more than that. It's like looking at one subject on different angle: up, side, down, back, front, 45 degrees, 90 degrees, however you want to look at it, different ideas will come out.

That's what I like about sales so much (or advertising for that matter), you have ways to perfect your product, use its limitation to your advantage and convince people to engage with your ideas. Isn't that amazing?

The happiest part of our session is that having one (1) entry qualified on the contest. It was a teary-eyed moment for me and my partner. We had this thought running on our minds that at last, our Agency's going to make some noise and we're doing it! The hell with those people who thought we'd never going to make it, who told us there's no future for us! Of course not! We're only beginning. And we just had the best foot forward. My partner's a year-fresh from advertising school and I'm just a late bloomer in advertising with X number of experience in sales. How's that as starters, huh?

There's just so more and we're so excited of what we could make in the next sessions of Raw School 2010 ;)

Here are the entries that we submitted for our first assignment. The first image qualified and earned a point for the contest!


This is a YOU ad as conceptualized by my partner, Ariane Denise Lunod for herself.
Collaborators:
MBBasco - Contributor for Copy
Albert Villasis - Graphics and Design

The following are the other entries we submitted as collaborated by the three of us:

MY MOMENTS OF TRUTH (IN THE PAST 24 HOURS)

Moment of Truth #1: Kahapon, Linggo, sabi ko sa sarili ko luluwas na ako dahil may client presentaion ako nang 9am. So dapat nasa Manila na ako kahapon pa lang para makarating ako nang maaga sa office, kundi, sigurandong maiipit ako sa trapik ng Lunes.

Moment of Truth #2: 7PM na kagabi di pa ko nakakaligo kasi walang tubig sa Cavite. Ilang araw na sira ang pipeline gawa ni Basyang. 1 hour lang magka-tubig, madaling araw pa. So nag-decide ako na madaling araw na lumuwas.

Moment of Truth #3: Nagising ako ng 4AM, naligo ng 5AM (sa wakas!), nakaalis ng before 6 with high hopes na darating ako sa office nang 8AM.

Moment of Truth #4: Mali ako. Punyetang trapik sa Cavite! SUUUUPPPPPPEEEERRRR! In short, late ako. 8:45 ako dumating sa office. Take note: 9AM ang presentation ko. At take note: before 6 ako umalis! ito na ang pinaka-mahabang 3-hour ride ko!

Moment of Truth #5: Wala kaming nagamit na service! Coding! yung isang service, gamit ng boss ko. Nakalimutan daw nya na may lakad kami kanina. SHET, di ba? So, taxi kami ng partner ko.

Moment of Truth #6: 9:20 AM nasa pier na kami (dun kasi office ng client). Late pa rin. Pero may mas late pa sa amin na ahensya! haha!

Moment of Truth #7: At dahil late kami, syempre huli din kami sa pila ng presentation. At least, 2nd to the last.

Moment of Truth #8: Turn na namin. Sabi ng guard, boardroom daw. Pagpasok, derecho, dulo kaliwa. Nasa dulo na kami, di pa namin nakikita ang boardroom. Sa bandang kaliwa, may binuksan kaming pinto. Isang long table ng board room at puno ng tao! Sabi ko sa partner ko, shet, di naman siguro ito yun. Sabay urong at tanong sa isang taga-ron "San po yung boardroom?"

Moment of Truth #9: Ayan, sa kaliwa, dulo. Sabi ko, SHET, yun nga! nanginig ang panga ko! Pagbalik namin, andun na yung client ko sa may pinto at nagpakilala.

Moment of Truth #10: Lowbatt ang notebook ko.

Moment of Truth #11: Putang-ina, ang bagal pa mag-upload ng apps ko. LECHE! tunaw na ko sa katitingin ng panel! So, chinika ko na lang! kahit nanginginig ang panga ko.

Moment of Truth #12: Nagbabakelya ako sa sobrang nerbyos! NEVER HAD THIS MUCH AUDIENCE ON A PRESENTATION BEFORE! Did I mention, puno ang board room??? Pati ata presidente ng kumpanya, nandun

Moment of Truth #13: Buti na lang, nakuha ko pang magka-humor. Not to mention, ang AVP ko, may humor din. Ikaw ba naman maging ahensya ng Kama Sutra condoms at breast augmentation clinic. :)))

Moment of Truth #14: At the end of the presentation sabi ng client: "So, you're the ants." Sabi ko naman, "yes, we are the ants." With all smiles. At least, natandaan nila kami. :)) (Sana, makasama kami sa pitching. Keeping my fingers crossed).

Moment of Truth #15: Hay naku, yun nag pinaka-masakit sa bulsa! Good luck na lang bukas! Di ko puedeng sabihin dito :P

RAW SCHOOL 2010 Session 1- THE IMPORTANCE OF FEARLESSNESS by Third Domingo

July 7, 2010
Publicis Jimenez Basic

My officemate, Ariane, encouraged me to join her on this seminar organized by Creative Guild Raw School a few weeks back. As she related to me the curriculum, activities and the objectives of the workshop, I immediately said "yes, please include me on your confirmation" without hesitations at all. So, earlier this evening, we went to have the feel of joining such group for the first time. The first session by Third Domingo of Ideas X Machina welcomed us with a wishlist that we have to think over during the class and shall be discussed after the session. The wishlist were the things we want to see invented in our lifetimes.

As the session went on, it tackled mostly about importance of fearlessness and phobias advertising people should and shouldn't have. Fearlessness in summary is committing mistake at the early point of your career and throwing all the bad things and keeping the good ones. It's the courage to say or to do what you think would work (for your brand) even if it seems crazy. It's like seizing life at its best. Phobias, on the other hand are the things we should be ready to face and conquer each day. It's the attitudes we should watch and we should have in order for us to succeed in this industry.

Third has mentioned how beautiful it is to be young and how hard it can be when you get old. He said that "fearlessness looks good when you're in your 20's" (basically because it is something natural for young people). And "when you're old, your job is to act really smart", which seems harder for older people because as a friend of mine relates, "you have very small room to make mistakes as you mature."

Anyway, we wrap up by discussing the wishlist that we have thought of during the class: some inventions we want to have in our lifetime. Following are list of the wishlists of the participants. As these were related to the class, there had been giggles, laughs and whoa's. Nevertheless, it was a good exercise for young (and old) creatives.

> website na ini-imagine mo na lang ang stock photos
> foldable jet pack
> totoong penis enlarger
> world peace
> recycleable pancit canton
> pambura ng guilt
> pampa-bango ng tae
> beer na ini-inhale na lang
> BMX na may reverse
> Projector na puede sa bulsa
> ATM Machine na nagbu-boost ng moral support sa pera
> Voice command na photoshop
> Auto pampa-payat
> Automatic na pampalit ng damit
> Awkward silence stopper
> Pampaganda ng tunog ng utot (which lead Third to discuss his school project: The Fart Synthesizer)
> X-ray, alarm or beep for things you can't find for hours
> Automatic notebook that will record all your thought
> Pinto ng bahay, pagbukas at paglabas, office na
> Mass vehicle to outer space
> TV na may grado
> Unlimited pizza, kasi naubusan kami
> Arinola na may sensor para walang lampas
> Toothpaste na banana flavor
> Sapatos na nagsasabi pag may amoy na ang paa mo
> Sabon and sponge in one
> Food/Multivitamins na nagco-convert ng puyat into energy
> Cellphone na may share-a-batt
> Humps sa EDSA
> Tablet na temporarily nagpapa-impotent
> Kundoktor na walang putok
> Upuan na puedeng maging girlfriend o kaya masahista
> Sabon na hugis kamay

There's a thing that really made my gut turn upside down: THE HOMEWORK. Individually, we have to do an ad of ourselves, an ad for our own agency, an ad for a very successful brand and an ad for an international organization. There will be a contest of some sort and doing the homework can actually lead anyone of us to Cannes Lions. As I look up to the Headmaster, my body bent down as I feel a deep pain in the gut. It was the first time I felt something like that towards a challenge. Having this fantastic advertising people in one room, it made me feel insecure. It's the fear that came to me that at the end of it, I maybe laughed at, scrutinized and mocked. But as Third Domingo said, "fearlessness in initiative." This is our initiative. Me and Ariane. As for me, I found my fears in this workshop and I'm working on how to conquer them. In the next two weeks, I should be ready with my homework. I would learn how to conquer my fears and become the best that I can be.