It started with a status on Facebook ( Where else?) and instead of commenting, I wrote a blog post about it. I seldom blog about these issues because I want to focus on my travel writing. Nevertheless, I gave my share about the latest stir which was more dominant among netizens. Yes that BAYO ad campaign, “What’s your Mix?”. Read my post here.
Last night, your freelance writer is one of the bloggers who received an e-mail from BAYO’s Vice President for Product Research and Development, Ms. Lyn Agustin. I appreciate how they acknowledged my feedback about the issue and with their permission, I will share it to you guys.
“With the different variations and suggestions made by the public, we have decided to reveal the rest of the campaign, as a way of shedding more light on the issue.”
So it turns out that the BAYO ad that created a buzz among us is the first part of a series. And I quote:
“It was meant to be a three-part series rolled out over the next few months with the intent of celebrating nationality, heritage and personality mix.”
So Jasmine Curtis-Smith and the rest of the models is actually part of an ensemble (?). Here is what the full-ad campaign should have been:
Sans that questionable ad copy, this marketing campaign is very promising. I can’t put it in words ( sorry!) but I understand what BAYO’s main purpose in relation to their business. And as I said, I found the campaign very brilliant BEFORE I read the ad copy.
If the message was delivered positively to the audience, I can visualize women creating their own memes. Maybe uploading their own photos with their own “mix”. Fun right? Being Filipino is a product of different cultures. Each one of us has a drop of Chinese, Persian, Spanish, German blood. Know your history.
The fashion industry is very vulnerable to controversies from over-the-top photoshop enhancements to “unseen” photo oops moment. Think about the French company La Redoute for its children’s clothing ad where there was a naked man at the back of laughing children to the “seductive” pose of Dakota Fanning for Marc Jacob’s perfume, “sexualizing children”.
Like other campaigns, the main purpose of marketing is not just to increase sales but for the public to have a different perception of the brand. And for BAYO, they want to be a clothing brand “celebrating diversity and uniqueness of every Filipino”.
After this backlash, I hope BAYO can pick up the broken pieces and create something. Think about what happened to DOT’s first ad campaign and how the “It’s More Fun in the Philippines” campaign became a success.
Just like any hopeful lass, this BAYO ad campaign is still a success when we speak about crowdsourcing. Crowdsourcing is one promotion under the social media umbrella where customers give their own thoughts with the brand. And the reaction from the public speaks how we Filipinos can be protective of our own “mix”.
Peace and good luck to BAYO!
This is not a paid post.
