On February
6, 2001, five member agencies of the Advertising Board of
the Philippines (AdBoard) namely McCann-Erickson, Basic
Advertising, Avellana & Associates, Ace Saachi & Saachi
Image Dimension and Avellana and Associates met with members
of the Namfrel Media and Voter Advocacy Committee to plan
out a nationwide voters education campaign for the 2001
polls. ..
In order to come up with a relevant campaign, AdBoard
commissioned a study of the electorate to determine what are
their perceptions on elections and on politicians in
general. Since the target of the campaign was the “masses”
or voters belonging to the C, D and E classes, they were
made the subjects of the study.
Generally, the respondents had a very low opinion of
politicians. They were “walang silbi.” Respondents claimed
“Hindi ko naman nakikita o nararamdaman ang epekto ng
ginagawa nila” and “Naku, kung anong ikakayaman nya, dun sya.
Iniisip ba nyan ang kabutihan namin?” Others said “Ok naman
sana yung iba pero ano na ba talaga ang nagawa nila?”
With the change in leadership in the government brought
about by the swift turn of events in January, there was a
renewed hope for a better future and a better Philippines.
People gave themselves another chance as they realized what
they could do. “Parang nabuhayan ka ulit ng loob,” “Para
kang bumoto ulit, ”Puwede pala nating baguhin ang tadhana
natin” were some of the statements given by the respondents.
Moreover, people’s consciousness was raised about their new
set of leaders or officials. They now ask themselves “Sinong
papalit kay _____? Makakatulong ba ‘yan o ganun ulit ang
gagawin?”
The challenge was to come up with a campaign that will
compel voters to be vigilant and involved in the elections
and also to encourage intelligent voting among the people.
The message that the committee wanted to impart was that
choosing clean candidates will lead to clean elections and
will bring about a clean government. Based on the above,
AdBoard came up with the following tag line for its
media-based campaign: “Matuto…Bantayan ang Boto…Umasenso!”
The "Matuto" part of the
campaign was designed by the committee with a more vigilant
and politically aware electorate in mind. The electorate was
now, more than ever, looking forward to a government that
will be more responsive to the needs of the people, most
especially those in the lower-income bracket.
The campaign was also used as a
vehicle in recruiting volunteers for its nationwide OQC. The thrust
of this part of the campaign ("Bantayan ang Boto") was to impart to
the people that by joining Namfrel, not only will they help in
ensuring that the votes will be counted but they will also be taking
part in nation building. The "Umasenso" portion stressed how an
enlightened citizenry making an intelligent choice will lead to good
governance and a better society.
.
A total of 16 print ads, four radio
plugs and nine TV ads were released between April and May 2001 in
major dailies and tabloids, radio and KBP member television stations
and cable TV companies. Aside from the trimedia ads, the committee
also came up with three comics and two jingles one of which has a
music video.
.
The Hayup series ads that appeared
in the major dailies and tabloids.
