VIDANES Celebrity Marketing (VCM) has been known in the industry as a reliable celebrity source for advertisers that are looking for talents to represent their brand.
VCM has a multitude of in-house celebrities; such as Robin Padilla, Jasmine Curtis-Smith, Mikael Daez, Megan Young, Joyce Pring, Baste Duterte and so on, but as a trusted name in the entertainment industry, we are authorized to collaborate with celebrities and talents handled by other talent agencies.
This is where our Endorsement Management Department (EMD) comes in—a division of VCM that specializes in building relationships with brands and talents that are not exclusively managed by our team.
A lot of our brand relationship building efforts has always depended on face to face meetings, but the current pandemic crisis, have made us face new challenges. So myself (Lulu Evangelista, Endorsement Management Head) and our Brand Endorsement Executive Kathy Jane Ticod had to shift and look for alternative ways and methods to still be able to deliver our responsibilities to our clients even while an enhanced community quarantine is in effect. And I would like share some of them with you.
SERVING as a bridge between external artists/ talent management entities and brands, we have always taken advantage of the conveniences that technology has to offer, but now that we are in quarantine we need to enhance our electronic communications for a work-from-home setup.
The usual tools that we are using are the following:
- WhatsApp, viber and other chat apps for real-time communication with clients external artists depending on their preferences
- Landline for cold calling and lead generation
- E-mail for sending decks and proposal for brands and external artists
New tools:
But because of physical distancing measures and work from home set up, we started taking advantage of a new digital tool Zoom, which has allowed us to replace our face to face business meetings with virtual ones.
Video conferencing apps have become big part of our processes.
We are able to virtually meet with the rest of VCM team Managing for updates, briefings and we also use the platform to meet external artists to brain storm and come up with ideas and activities they can do at home. We are also using online video chat apps to create concepts on how our industry and the celebrities we work with can give back, conduct fundraisers for our front liners.
“Zoom is very helpful during this time because it helps us work better even if we are at home. Through this, we can update each other about our work even [when] we are not together. It is the best tool for us who are working remotely,” - says Kathy Ticod (Brand Endorsement Executive)
Struggles:
Of course just like many industries in these trying times, VCM Endorsement Management Department, is facing its fair share. But as a company we believe in “Always Forward” and now more than ever we need to put our design thinking caps on to empathize and create as much synergy as we can with our clients.
We are trying our best to create a common ground for both external artists and existing brands with ongoing contracts. Given the current crisis situation many marketing efforts for non essential consumer products have been forced to come to halt therefore empathy and finding a common ground in ways of working is key. May it be rescheduling of content postings, changing messaging or creating awareness for brand’s CSR efforts for the pandemic are just a few examples of our ideation methods, that helps both our clients and celebrities that we work with to be more of help to their audiences and consumers.
“Making sure that brand and their chosen ambassador mutually agree in terms of adjustments that need to be done in a project is not new to us, it is one of the main services we render. It is just a matter of how our team helps each party reach their goals in a brand engagement.
We do it through prompt and clear communications, especially at this time of COVID-19 pandemic it is even more critical to emphasize on clarity of objectives to avoid unwanted results. Good thing we have all the resources for effective communications while we are working from home,” - Me (Lulu Evangelista)
Another thing that is important to us is to check up on the clients and celebs we work with, ask them how they doing are and checking if they are safe. They mean more than just work to us. We consider them as partners and friends.
We are already reaching out on our connections not only because we are only doing a follow-up regarding on inquiries or project. We are messaging them to offer some help in case they have some advisories they want to be posted, by our celebrities or influencers, especially during this time of crisis.
“We have built not just working relationships with them, we have established real partnerships with treat them as family, so if ever we have information we think that can be helpful to them and to other people, we make sure they are informed. We are get in touch with them personally,” Kathy adds.
Lastly we understand that a lot of advertisers that we work with can not roll out their campaigns for the meantime so we have offered extension of contracts that may be ending during the lockdown. We understand the need of clients that may arise after the lockdown and by extending contracts our partner brands will be able to make use of their ambassadors services after the crisis.
Our business relies on collaboration and teamwork. It is crucial that we maintain good relationships with the brands and celebrities we are working with, that’s our standard. That’s our mission.
