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Metaverse Marketing is future of commerce - says PMA | Business and Politics

Philippine Marketing Association President, Sy Bryan Lato, and Youth academe chairman, Leah Marie Ayeng, talk about the newest marketing strategy called Metaverse Marketing. Metaverse marketing is defined as the 3D dimensional marketing done entirely in the virtual space. However, they added Marketing must still be effective in both the online and physical world channels.


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Transcript
00:00 Business, as you know, is one of our major themes.
00:02 And whether one is starting an enterprise or growing one,
00:05 a firm grasp of marketing is vital.
00:07 Despite sounding familiar, that management function
00:10 is often misunderstood.
00:12 When some think about marketing,
00:14 promotions probably come to mind.
00:16 But there is a well-known marketing framework
00:17 that reminds us that marketing is broader in scope.
00:21 It covers the product itself, pricing strategies,
00:24 place or distribution and points of sale,
00:26 and finally, promotions,
00:27 which is about connecting with customers.
00:30 Because marketing is practiced in the real world,
00:32 we often inject politics in the mix.
00:34 But our discussion will have to go even beyond that,
00:37 venturing into the changes unraveling
00:39 in a new age known for the disruption
00:41 caused by a rapid technological change.
00:43 So for our discussion, we have two members
00:45 of the Philippine Marketing Association, or PMA.
00:48 Its vision is to be the catalyst and advocate
00:50 of world-class marketing practices in business,
00:53 industry and academia here in the Philippines and elsewhere.
00:57 Lea Mali-Ayeng is the General Manager
00:59 of Prestige Quality Paper Products.
01:01 She held positions in sales and marketing
01:03 for over 20 years.
01:04 In 2022, she received the Outstanding Member of the Year
01:08 award in PMA.
01:09 And this year, she won the AMF Asia Youth Women
01:12 Netizen Marketing Excellence Awards
01:14 for the category of Asia's Top Outstanding
01:16 Women Marketeer of the Year.
01:18 C. Brian Lotto is currently the PMA President.
01:21 He co-founded multiple startups
01:23 and specializes in digital marketing,
01:25 creative services and restaurant management.
01:27 He also serves as a Strategic Business Development Director
01:31 for a group of companies with diverse interests
01:33 that include manpower outsourcing, resort management
01:35 and commercial property management.
01:38 We'll ask them about their respective businesses,
01:40 but our main focus will be how is marketing evolving
01:43 and how can Filipino managers stay ahead of the game.
01:46 Ms. Ayeng, Mr. Lotto, thank you for making time
01:49 for Business and Politics.
01:50 May I call you Lea and Brian?
01:53 - Shortly.
01:53 - Okay, well, again, thank you for making time
01:56 for Business and Politics.
01:58 - It's an absolute pleasure. - It's a pleasure, yes.
01:59 - Okay, so I visited your website
02:02 and I saw this term Metaverse Marketing
02:05 and it's something that your organization is promoting.
02:08 Definitely, you're talking about it.
02:10 But for those who are not so updated with the trends,
02:13 what is it?
02:14 What is Metaverse?
02:15 We've heard of Metaverse,
02:17 but now you've attached marketing to it.
02:18 So what's Metaverse Marketing?
02:20 - All right, so when we were thinking about
02:23 the theme of the Philippine Marketing Association,
02:25 as we are the thought leader
02:27 when it comes to new and emerging technologies,
02:30 we thought of streamlining and focusing
02:32 on one aspect of blockchain,
02:34 which is more relatable, which is the Metaverse Marketing.
02:38 Metaverse Marketing is actually defined
02:40 as a three-dimensional or a dimension that is different.
02:44 - Virtual reality. - Virtual reality.
02:46 Or there are several applications of it.
02:49 It could be a whole 3D rendered world
02:53 or it could be an extended reality,
02:56 whereas there's the real world,
02:57 but there's an overlay of digital asset.
03:00 So when we're thinking about it,
03:03 the consumers are getting younger and younger,
03:05 the Gen Zs and now we have the Gen Alpha,
03:09 they are the ones who are native when it comes to internet.
03:13 So they're demanding for more gamifications
03:15 when it comes to marketing strategies and applications.
03:19 That's why when we thought of it,
03:21 all right, I think we have the perfect theme for this year,
03:24 which is Metaverse Marketing.
03:26 - That's so interesting.
03:27 I didn't realize there's a Generation Alpha already.
03:29 I'm so far away from the current generation.
03:33 You were chair of the youth, right?
03:36 So how is this being, is it being introduced
03:40 or are they already doing it?
03:41 And that your PMA is doing something more formal
03:46 or what's the intersection there
03:49 between PMA and Metaverse Marketing?
03:51 - In the Youth and Academic League,
03:53 what we actually do is to reinforce
03:55 because these kids actually know Metaverse already.
03:57 - They know gaming, they know technology.
03:59 - They know technology, they know AI.
04:02 But what we do is that we invite speakers,
04:06 we invite thought leaders to make them more aware
04:10 and to become responsible in terms of usage.
04:14 - And so this had to do with the recent PMA conference,
04:18 right?
04:19 - Yeah, we will be holding a strategic marketing conference
04:23 for students and one of the topic actually is Metaverse.
04:27 - Metaverse Marketing, I see.
04:28 Now, I'm just a little fuzzy about blockchain
04:32 because as I understand, blockchain is like a digital ledger.
04:35 How does that fit into Metaverse Marketing?
04:38 - Well, actually, blockchain is a crucial part
04:41 of the Metaverse because it enables the ecosystem
04:46 because it's a digital ledger that makes it,
04:49 what do you call this, fraud-free
04:52 because everybody can access to it.
04:55 So everybody can create digital assets,
04:58 create marketing assets, which sometimes they call it NFTs,
05:03 the non-fungible tokens, which are,
05:06 that would enable the marketing in the Metaverse.
05:09 Or probably, it's just the most famous term,
05:13 but there are really a lot of applications.
05:15 - Yeah, so when I hear blockchain,
05:17 I think about cryptocurrency.
05:19 So I didn't realize there's so many applications.
05:21 - Correct.
05:22 - Right.
05:23 So how far are we from Metaverse Marketing?
05:27 Is this a dream or is this something
05:29 that's going to happen soon?
05:30 And where will we see it?
05:31 Will we see this in retail?
05:33 I mean, will we see it in maybe sampling paper products?
05:38 Will we see it in maybe somewhere else?
05:43 - Well, actually, our dream is to become
05:45 the Asia's blockchain capital.
05:47 - Okay.
05:48 - And so we are reinforcing the industry to adapt.
05:52 - Okay.
05:53 - And recently, we had the blockchain,
05:56 the second blockchain week.
05:58 - There's the Philippine Blockchain Week
05:59 held by the Blockchain Council of the Philippines.
06:02 - I see.
06:03 - Which our former president, Donald Lim, started.
06:05 - Okay.
06:06 - He's a former PMA president.
06:08 He's actually the youngest PMA president to be.
06:11 - That makes me feel bad
06:12 that I'm the second youngest,
06:13 I'm older than Donald.
06:14 (laughing)
06:14 - And he's the third.
06:15 - I am the third youngest.
06:16 The second youngest is Josiah Goh.
06:18 - Okay, Josiah Goh.
06:19 - So, you know, the pressure is on me too.
06:22 That destination of me.
06:24 But going back to your question.
06:26 - Yeah.
06:27 - Yes.
06:28 - How far are we from?
06:29 - It's actually not far.
06:30 - Okay.
06:31 - You can see Apple already introduced their vision,
06:34 Apple Vision, which is a headset.
06:36 But we did market research together with Synergy.
06:40 - Okay.
06:41 - And we did market research and YouGov.
06:42 - Okay.
06:43 - We see that the adoption of Metaverse
06:45 would start with smartphones.
06:47 So if you would like--
06:48 - Oh, okay.
06:49 - If you would like to activate--
06:50 - That's interesting.
06:51 - Let's say, it's more of a,
06:53 what makes sense is more of the extended reality.
06:56 - Yeah.
06:57 - Or the augmented reality, AR, where it is,
06:59 there's a digital overlay in the real world.
07:01 - Right, like a Pokemon.
07:02 - Yes, like a Pokemon Go, that's the perfect example.
07:06 We see that if brands would integrate AR experience
07:10 into an app or their camera phones, it's not really far.
07:15 The earlier adoption would be using the smartphones
07:19 because the headsets are pretty much bulky.
07:22 - Right.
07:23 - The gears are still bulky and they're much more expensive.
07:26 - Right.
07:27 - But the early adoption that we see,
07:28 79% of the nationwide study that we did
07:31 is that smartphones would be the best way to go
07:34 when it comes to Metaverse marketing.
07:36 So we are not really far.
07:39 Probably next year, brands would be integrating
07:42 personalized AR campaigns.
07:45 - Especially for the retail.
07:46 - Yes, correct, especially for the retail.
07:48 When you enter a coffee shop, there's a QR code,
07:51 you just place the camera there and a character pop up,
07:54 welcome, Brian, to that coffee shop.
07:56 - Whatever coffee shop.
07:56 - Yeah, whatever coffee shop that is.
07:58 - And soon to banking.
07:59 - Soon to banking, and the same time,
08:01 even out of door advertising, OOH.
08:04 So that's why we, as PMA, we want the Filipinos,
08:09 or our Filipino marketers, to be on top of this.
08:12 We need to be knowledgeable on how to execute this,
08:16 especially when we do our market research,
08:19 it really pops out on our market research,
08:22 which is the basis of the marketing strategies
08:25 that we're going to implement in respective companies.
08:28 - Right, so where does AI come in here?
08:30 Is that, again, I'm not, mind you, I'm not a techie, right?
08:34 So you explained blockchain to me
08:36 and how there's application for that in Metaverse marketing.
08:39 Where does AI come to the picture?
08:43 - To be honest, Metaverse was the hot term last year.
08:46 - Okay.
08:46 - This year is about AI.
08:48 - Okay.
08:49 - I was talking to some of our colleagues
08:51 in the Blockchain Council, and they were telling me
08:53 that we fast track, our data is already 2049 of some sorts,
08:58 because during the pandemic, we were inputting data.
09:01 We were teaching the AI so much.
09:03 That's why it was able to, I believe,
09:06 ChatGPT was not supposed to be launched this year,
09:09 but because of that data that we inputted,
09:12 they were able to launch it this year.
09:15 So AI comes to place when it comes to automation,
09:18 when it comes to--
09:20 - Services.
09:21 - Services, when it comes to chatbots.
09:24 - And it's here, it's actually here.
09:25 - It's here, we're using it.
09:26 - Yeah, we use it all the time, right?
09:28 - Correct, in your Google Search, or in your Siri,
09:32 or your-- - Banking apps.
09:34 - Banking apps.
09:35 - So give me a little leeway here.
09:36 So would it be correct to say, or to describe it,
09:38 that Metaverse is like the platform,
09:42 and AI now is the tool that helps you figure out
09:45 what to put on that platform?
09:47 Is that, or to analyze your behavior on that platform,
09:50 is that the right way to--
09:51 - That could be, that could be one application of AI.
09:54 - Oh good, so I'm not so outdated.
09:55 - Yes, yes, yes, you are right,
09:57 because with AI, marketers are able to understand
10:00 the usage, or the attitude of the online consumers,
10:04 without going through the data.
10:06 - Because of the algorithm.
10:07 - Correct, the algorithm, that it's creating a report
10:12 for us instantaneously.
10:14 - It's supposed to make us more efficient, actually,
10:16 if we use it the right way.
10:18 - Correct. - I see.
10:19 So what are the experts telling you, your resource persons?
10:22 Are we seeing now, as they predicted before,
10:26 the end of the brick and mortar stores?
10:29 Everything will be virtual, or do you think moving forward,
10:32 there'll be a mix, and how will that mix look like?
10:35 - We call it still an omni-channel.
10:37 - Omni-channel, what does that mean?
10:38 - Wherein there has to be a combination.
10:39 - Combination.
10:40 - Combination of the brick and mortar,
10:42 and the online world. - Okay, the online.
10:44 - So you need to be both effective on both channels,
10:48 in order for you to sell more.
10:50 - Okay. - Because if you only,
10:52 because we are also advocating on the digital.
10:55 - Yes, digital, physical digital.
10:57 - Digital, so when you need terms,
10:59 my hand is swirling. (laughing)
11:02 Digital, all right.
11:03 - Digital. - Okay.
11:03 - I'd like to pick up only as omni-channel.
11:06 It has to be integrated.
11:08 You know, the Filipinos would still love to touch,
11:11 to feel, to try and all,
11:13 but sometimes they don't buy right away,
11:16 or sometimes they might see it online,
11:19 and they'd like to go in the store to buy it.
11:21 - Sure, sure. - So if it's omni-channel.
11:23 - Well, that's happening also,
11:24 that's already happening in the US and Europe, I think.
11:27 But I just want to tie it in with something
11:28 that happened recently.
11:29 You know, GMA7 had this launch of avatars,
11:34 digital newsreaders.
11:36 Are we gonna be affected in our industry?
11:38 I mean, a version of this interview in the future
11:43 with you guys maybe will not be with a person like me,
11:46 but with AI-generated hosts.
11:51 Is that the future, you think?
11:53 - Sure, all right.
11:54 This is just my personal perception.
11:57 We're just discussing things, right?
11:59 I believe they just failed to communicate
12:02 that it was just a tool, an addition.
12:04 - No, no, we get that,
12:05 but do you think that's where we're headed?
12:08 - Most likely, most likely.
12:11 But there are still things that we cannot figure out
12:14 when it comes to AI, the emotions, the slangs.
12:17 You know, I wouldn't understand this new terminology,
12:21 but it's because our language keeps on evolving.
12:23 - No, because you mentioned the coffee shop, right?
12:27 Somebody virtual appears to welcome you.
12:30 You know, and similar to what GMA7,
12:32 you know, they could be just following a script.
12:35 Or is it, in your opinion, in your view,
12:39 something much more advanced?
12:40 Someone who could actually have a conversation with you
12:43 like what we're doing now?
12:45 - There are four types of AI,
12:47 and I believe that is the destination.
12:49 - Okay.
12:50 - That is the destination.
12:51 But right now, the two types of AI,
12:53 which is accepting inputs and all,
12:56 we're still right there.
12:58 And I think it will take a long time
13:01 before the AI would be able to feel, understand further.
13:06 It needs further teaching.
13:09 But in the end of the day,
13:10 similar to when we were migrating from calesas to car, right?
13:15 Technology is something that, you know, we cannot prevent.
13:18 Change is constant.
13:19 So we have to adapt.
13:21 As far as I'm concerned,
13:22 if there are jobs that would be lost,
13:26 definitely there are new jobs like AI prompter.
13:29 - Sure, there will be sunrise.
13:30 - AI engineers.
13:32 - Sure.
13:33 - And so many things, you know?
13:35 And it keeps on evolving.
13:37 But I don't see it.
13:39 For me, I don't see it in the future
13:41 that it would be self-reliant without a human intervention.
13:44 - Well, I'm just curious about what you guys are seeing
13:47 from your profession.
13:49 As marketing professionals, right?
13:51 Whether it's something that you are interested in
13:54 because it's developing,
13:55 or is it something that you're already preparing for
13:57 because the technology's here,
13:59 the applications are clear,
14:01 and you see a benefit to using it?
14:04 - Well, actually, it's like the same as Google
14:07 when we first introduced it.
14:09 A lot of, especially the education,
14:12 the academic is very adamant in terms of,
14:14 because it might probably replace the library,
14:18 but it made us, you know, more,
14:21 it made our students more actually efficient,
14:24 and they have to, they get to have more resources.
14:29 So we are more of preparing for this technology.
14:33 - In the creatives industry,
14:35 it's still hard for AI to adapt.
14:37 So I feel in the events management,
14:39 yes, it could write the script,
14:42 but it cannot execute the events properly.
14:44 - So it can't have a conversation.
14:45 - Yes, can't have the conversation.
14:47 The creativity, it needs human intervention,
14:50 but it helped us.
14:51 - It could probably just complement.
14:53 - Correct, it complemented.
14:55 But yes, of course, we are preparing,
14:57 and the innovations,
14:58 actually, we welcome these innovations,
15:00 and we have to learn how to navigate through it
15:03 as marketers, because it's really inevitable.
15:07 - Right. - Yeah.
15:08 - So as marketers, and we have to go to a quick break,
15:10 you see it as a ready tool,
15:12 or a tool ready for use in the Philippines.
15:15 - Yes. - Yes.
15:16 (upbeat music)
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