Frugality Sparks Creativity

In every seasonal activities conducted in SM Supermalls, one factor is definite; it will always go big time, as big as SM’s name in the industry.

In today’s Marketing approach, we do not just entice people to shop, dine and have fun in SM. We have given our shoppers what they are looking for in a shopping mall, modesty aside SM is now far beyond being the second home of millions of shoppers nationwide. The challenge has leveled up to creating a lifestyle which people will admire to be part of. This really sounds costly because innovation and creativity always twin up with pricey investments. Success stories of SM is an open book to all of us but aside from the many reasons behind, SM definitely was able to inculcate the value of prudence to all its employees.

The challenge to Mall Marketing is to outdo its performance vs. last year in terms of event implementation, budget management, creative efforts and a lot more. Therefore we shouldn’t run out of creative juices, or else we wouldn’t fit anymore to the trends that SM is eyeing forward.

The Chinese New year being the very first seasonal campaign for the year has been a great start for Marketing. We saw all equally beautiful centerpieces across all malls; atriums were decorated with Chinese lanterns creatively hung on different heights giving us a really Chinese ambience. I am pretty sure people enjoyed the celebration; it was evident in the social networking sites as I see fellow Batangueños post their photos in our Chinese temple and Ang Pao tree. It is rewarding to hear good comments but seeing people enjoy the fruit of our labor is good enough to inspire us to do more and keep our passions alive. Indeed, it was all applause beyond words.




Chinese New Year Centerpiece - view from 2nd floor

 


Batangas KIPSI students performed an authentic chinese dance. Our temple fits well :)



When everyone else thinks it’s easy to hire a contractor to deliver our needs for thematic set up, it’s impractical to pay them our entire month’s budget for one centerpiece. This is the time when we need to improve our perspective on available resources of the company.  Passion is the key to create beauty out of a scrap. Our ideas for Chinese New year centerpieces were overflowing but for it to materialize within the given budget were a totally different story. The good thing with the situation, it pushes our creativity to the next level, most of the times we are surprised to discover alternative materials of the same effect with the expensive one but of totally lesser cost. Perfect example was the red carpet that we used last year; this time around our flooring was a bright red taffeta, with superb luster and easier to maintain than the red carpet. A trip to our storage also helped as we found good materials to recycle to build the Chinese temple. And who would think our Ang Pao tree was recycled?  It was an old red tree that we keep; it was used several times in different seasonal activations. It has been an Easter Egg tree, it was even borrowed by other malls. This year it was repainted with sunlit gold, fuchsia cherry blossoms were extended on the branches to symbolize good fortune, low-priced gold foil were added to achieve balance of colors between red and fuchsia. The result is an abundant ang pao tree, signifying a prosperous Chinese New Year.



Lucky Ang Pao Tree



The creative minds of Marketing team, the artistic hands of our VDD team and support from Operations made it all possible.  This certainly proves that two heads are better than one and stunning centerpieces need not be costly.  Without a doubt frugality benefits us in unexpected way – it prompted the creativity within ourselves!

Christmas in the Eyes of a Child

Christmas is always the most wonderful season of the year especially for kids! But for grownups, its meaning has been tarnished and associated to so many different meanings! For employer expenses shoot up for employees' bonuses, for businessmen it's like a dollar sign  as they double their earnings because people do not mind spending their money! I always enjoy Christmas and even now in my late 20's I still do! When my sisters asked me, what's with Christmas that still excites me, I just nod and recall good Christmas memories!

Aside from the fact that I receive lots of gifts, left and right; it's the time when people are showering so much kindness to each and everyone that we end up praying "Sana araw-araw ay pasko! Admit it,  people are extra caring, patient and  kindhearted!

It has been five years when I joined the magical world of SM and Christmas means a lot different! This is the time when I cannot go into shopping ahead of time because there are lots of more important things I have to do before I think of shopping for my myself! This is also the time that my job spells BUSYNESS and stress!

Last year, I am so proud of our centerpiece! Because from the start I knew what I want to see as centerpiece! I gave a title that's so me :) It's Sweet Christmas at SM City Batangas!

Candy house plus candy tree made last year's Christmas so sweet! Plus we had cupcakes, variety of candies, chocolates and candy canes in our candy buffet!

The candy tree is just an addition to our centerpiece! I got the inspiration from Candylicious  in Singapore during our first trip to Sentosa. And I'm really satisfied with how my contractor gave justice to my love and  addiction to sweets :)

This year, I'm kinda confused! I have lots of things in my mind! I like snow, i like santa but all year round I'm imagining of a snowy playground with hundreds of snowmen playing! And I ended up having a WINTER WONDERLAND with all the fat and huggable characters around!

View from second floor

The "Bear Tree" made it more special! Thanks to Bear Cuddler for lending us all the cutie bears :)

After all the busy days and nights, everything is all worth it!



And of course, what I like most about my job? Dressing up :)

But what completed my happiness is when i saw kids' smiles turns into laughters... Instead of performing their dance number, they play around as if they were in real snow! Truly, this is Christmas in the eyes of a child!





Pahiyas Fest is the best!

I love colors and lights and i admire creative people, that's probably the reason why I love Pahiyas Festival among other local festivities that I know. I was in SM Lucena for My City, My SM  and  one of the endorsers is from Lucban. Soon after the event, at around 8 pm, we went ahead to Lucban with my  good friends in the magical world. I was  still in my yellow dress, matching the bright colors in Lucban but I didn't mind.

Great that I joined my SM friends in this trip! My eyes were busy adoring the leaf-shaped wafers called kiping! It comes in all great shapes, brilliant colors and it truly depicts festive celebration. And it's really nice for photo opp, yeah that's the best part actually.  

During our trips, we comment on funny yet entertaining statues and I love the climate! We also enjoyed the food in Ground Zero! Perfectly Italian piconne in the province of Lucban! It's amazing because I  didn't expect much in the place and yet I consider it a wonderful travel experience :)

Kota Keluarga for Beautiful Batangas

I am a beach bum so living in Batangas is absolutely rewarding! I’m close to stunning beaches, deep blue sea, translucent water, virgin islands, fresh breeze and lots of nature wonders! Swimming gives me inner peace, it feels like the sea waves can take away my burdens! Yes, I’m convinced I was a mermaid in my past life. I can even sleep at the sea, floating! My mom doesn’t believe I can do so until she really saw me floating asleep. The sea waves are lullabies to my ears! (baby ) hehe.

I have been in hundreds of resorts and beaches in Batangas and other places,  but there’s one place where I want to go back every now and then. Have explored the stretch of Laiya, Mabini, Nasugbu and  Anilao beaches  but the pristine water and clear sky and rough rocks that were naturally formed  over the years made me fell in love with Kota Keluarga! 

Going there is easy especially now with Startollway. Travel from Manila to Batangas is now 1 and a half hours. It is located in municipality of San Juan, southeastern-most part of Batangas along coastlines of Barangay Laiya and Baluarte. Here's the map.

Unfortunately, Kota Keluarga is not open for everyone, it’s a residential resort which means you need to own a part of the subdivision or know someone who lives there to enter this paradise. Since very few can afford a piece of land there, the beach has maintained its coral reefs and white powdered sand.

Unlike in other famous beaches, you won't find a banana boat here! There's no souvenir shops, nobody will offer you to braid your hair or put tattoos on your skin, it's just you with the nature. And what I love most? There’s no communications signal at all, whatever your network is. You are really "out of coverage area" Yes, I love twitter and facebook but when I’m in Kota Keluarga, I can bid goodbye to social networking sites!

I'm glad I was invited to have an overnight stay here. I enjoyed playing with the waves, climbing and jumping from the rocks and of course, the rock that stands proud at the shoreline, and take note it looks like our favorite muffin :)

Two thumbs up Kota keluarga for Beautiful Batangas!

Travel MORE with LESS

Travelling is always an exciting thing to do. How much more if you’ll be paid to explore places, try on different food and delicacies, discover dynamic cultures and share your stories to the world? Amazing right? Absolutely! Being a travel writer must probably the most rewarding career I could have. But of course, as per experience it’s not really easy! But it doesn’t mean that we’ll stop sharing the fun, go travel and explore the world, this way you’ll appreciate life better.

Of course, thousands of considerations will arise when you travel but the best way to enjoy the adventure is not purely how much you have in your pockets to shop and unwind! There are always “diskarte” to have fun, to travel MORE with LESS J

 

GO FOR SEAT SALE! I so love Cebu Pacific and their marketing wise campaign "It's time every Juan flies" because they truly live up to the promise of affordable travel fares. Plan ahead and get feeds on the latest promos, this way you’ll be able to get the best rates whether it’s domestic or international flights.  

PLAN YOUR LOOK – Planning will always keep you organized but hey you’ll save a lot with your plans. Plan what to wear in your trips. Street-smart day 1, bubbly-on-the go day 2, comfy-chic day 3, whatever and however you want to look; plan it! Though I’m really guilty of changing planned clothes from time to time, I still manage to mix and match with what I have on my luggage. How did you save from planning your outfit? You need not to carry too many blouses, sandals and accessories! Travel lite means pay lite!

WEB CHECK IN – Let’s make use of the internet to confirm our presence on a flight and print our own boarding passes. I really love this! Depending on the carrier and the specific flight, we may also enter details such as baggage quantities and select preferred seating. It lessens activity at the airport, reduce passenger waiting times and most especially help us save our money. I’m sure you’ll agree with me that most of us have already spent 1/8 of our “ baon” while we are still in the airport waiting for our flights. Because people who travel a lot hate boring moments, sitting and watching people pass by is a no no!  Temptations are everywhere! Coffee house on your left, travellers’ kit on your right, we can easily justify the need when we are bored. So better yet, stay away from temptations and just click the web to check-in J

TRAVEL WITH YOUR BEST BUDDIES and NOTHING WILL GO WRONG! In fact this is the best tip I could ever give to all!  For sure best of friends know how much you can afford for the travel so you’ll help each other to stay within the budget.  You can abuse (yes, that’s really how best buddies are) each other without being so cautious on their feelings! I’m glad I have real friends like them J.

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Small Fish in a BIG Pond

The feeling of boredom that's resulting to  decline in performance is one of the common problems of  employees who have been in their jobs for 5 years, especially if type of work is routinary. Good thing I am in fast paced Marketing, everyday defines challenges. In my current work, we use the term "magical" to describe our world. Because everyday you have to do magic to be able to deliver and keep up with work demands. But since I'm here for 5 years already, I feel that my magic wand doesn't work anymore.

People who are also in this magical world can testify how much hardwork and perseverance is needed to stay and survive. " It's really hard to be a small fish in a big pond". Through the years, we were mold to  be tough  (as tough as the walls of our world:) We were trained to work hard and smart. Other suggest to work smart not hard, in our world it must come together or else you'll left doing all the hardwork while someone is getting all the credits. But you shouldn't be too smart as well because as soon as your stars shine, office politics can immediately create eclipse.

Reality bites, office politics is the game everyone plays! So whether we stay or quit and find another pond to swim, it will still exist. Contrary to my expectations, as you go up the ladder it becomes more difficult and complicated. There's no easy job after all!  This made me sad but led me to a better perspective about work and career as a whole.

So to make myself motivated again, I had series of re-assessment and realizations which may work for other as well:

• Let's coexist! Even if we don't like our colleagues and we hate their management styles.
• Stay on neutral ground! This is very hard especially for the idealistic workers but this will keep you away from trouble.  
• Renew your love for work! For sure, we won't stay long in a company if we do not really love our jobs.
• Take a break! Have some time alone, far away from your routine. You'll find out, you're missing the job that causes you headache.
• Redesign your work place. Why not? Add colors to your environment but of course consider the company policies.
• Change your aura! I highly recommend this, you're old in the job but don't let it show in your face and the way you dress up. Change your wardrobe and try something different :)
• And most of all, enjoy your work.