JOSH D’AMARO, vice president, sales and travel trade marketing of Hong Kong Disneyland

Hong Kong Disneyland has been experiencing a steady double-digit growth, and the company is satisfied with that. You would be, too, if you felt in your bones, as they do, that this growth is destined to continue. The brand is growing like an “amoeba.”  One of the things that struck me repeatedly as I examined the entire Disney operation is that it is like a living organism. Each part, each activity supports, and, in turn, is supported by all of the others. Josh D’Amaro, vice president for sales and travel trade marketing of Hong Kong Disneyland, is a firm supporter of a “super-synergy” culture, blending technology, methodology, creativity and strategic planning, with each separate activity or product in the marketing system supporting and strengthening the others.

D’Amaro is a man who has a passionate, deeply felt belief that “the best is not enough for people of all ages.” It is a view that profoundly influences Hong Kong Disneyland’s thinking. Management has enough experience to know that one theme park is worth millions of paid advertising in its effect on brand preference and sales.

D’Amaro is responsible for all of Hong Kong Disneyland’s travel trade sales and marketing strategies, as well as overseeing Disneyland’s resort call center and MICE programs and initiatives. He is also instrumental in developing new niche segments to help position the resort for continued long-term growth in the region. He is a seasoned Disney executive, having joined the Walt Disney Co. in California in 1998.

Hong Kong Disneyland has been implementing new attractions and replacing old ones in only three years of its operations to keep people interested. The theme park has been attracting a fair share of American and European visitors, but a third of its visitors came from China, another third from Hong Kong and the rest from the Southeast Asia.

“The Philippines is very profitable, one of the top markets in the region. Filipinos love Disneyland and they get engaged. This is our most natural market,” D’Amaro told this columnist in a recent interview.

Promoting the themes of mutual understanding, peace, love and friendship, Hong Kong Disneyland recently unveiled its very own unique version of the classic Disney attraction “It’s A Small World,” marking yet another milestone in the Disney’s young history.

“This is a perfect example of Disney’s signature entertainment,” D’Amaro added. “It’s A Small World” takes guests on a leisurely boat journey across the continents of the world, inviting them to re-discover the world through the eyes of a child. Audio-animatronics dolls of singing children dressed in their unique colorful costumes, Disney character dolls, world-famous landmarks and unique Asian elements combine to offer a wonderful experience. The façade is part of this experience and is a work in itself, featuring whimsical versions of renowned landmarks including the Eiffel Tower, Big Ben, the Russian “onion” domes, the Leaning Tower of Pisa and the Moroccan minarets.

Hong Kong Disneyland’s latest attractions also include High School Musical Live, Muppet Mobile Lab and Turtle Talk with Crush.

You can see how Hong Kong Disneyland uses their one-to-one relationship with their core market—those willing to go to Hong Kong—to demonstrate a commitment of bringing fun and new challenges into the lives of dedicated “Disney maniacs.” This is not your usual hesitant, toe-in-the-water club put together by marketers going through the motions of “staying in touch” with end-users. It is an extension of the passion for pleasing the customer at the heart of Disney’s involvement. It says to people in concrete terms, “Here is what you can do.” It breaks the clutter of the marketplace to 10 million visitors in the past two years.

This thinking has placed D’Amaro in good stead and has managed Hong Kong Disneyland to maintain unquestioned leadership. “Lots of me-too products and/or services come and go… a new one comes, another one dies off, replaced by another. But we’re a premium brand so we do not compete on prices but innovation and creativity,” he stressed.

Disney’s kind of entertainment, though, has no direct competition in terms of songs, dances and magic that accompany every Disney production. What they are competing against is leisure time, which, according to D’Amaro, is becoming a scarce commodity.

Let your imagination soar, he advised. Local and foreign tourists are then asked to use their imagination to truly fit Hong Kong Disneyland into their lives. This intimate marketing encourages hands-on participation in the brand that has a far more powerful and longer-lasting impact than does passively processing an abstract communication effort.

Tribal teambuilding

They wore anting-anting, chewed nga-nga, masked their faces with ground coffee and carried native backpacks filled with vegetables as offering to the bulol (local god) for a bountiful harvest. They were not farmers or tribesmen, but managers and supervisors of Starbucks Coffee, who came to the Meralco Development Center (MMLDC) recently for a leadership camp and team-building. The event was best described as “extraordinary”—just like the impact of the Starbucks brand on Filipinos’ lifestyle.

“We all had a great time and we’re very impressed with how well-organized and professional the MMLDC team has been,” said Joel Cruzado, learning and development manager of Starbucks, who was part of the team that created an exact replica of a Zamboanga vinta, which, incidentally, jibes with the name of Starbucks’ very own Philippine blend, Kape Vinta.

Aptly described as a “unique” team-building, participants had an Amazing Race-style program with a tribal theme. Two hundred participants from Starbucks stores all over the country performed traditional rituals and customs that are rarely observed nowadays. The tribal theme reflects how Filipinos have incorporated the coffee-drinking culture into their daily lives.

“We thought of Filipino culture and concepts and we wove the activities around it. When we planned the event, we customized the program bearing in mind that this is a well-known brand that was embraced by Filipino coffee lovers,” associate director of MMLDC’s academic services department Amor Curaming said.

Curaming added that the tribal team-building event proved to be a major success for the Starbucks group, who are known to be very progressive and have done all kinds of activities in the past. The participants were so delighted with the experience that they are now brewing plans for next year’s team-building event.

“They told us that we’ve set the bar so high, so now we have to come up with another team-building event that would surpass the successful tribal theme,” she said.

The MMLDC specializes in providing the most appropriate learning solutions to various companies and groups. It offers a “one-stop-shop” package, from organizational diagnosis to conceptualization and execution of programs together with facilities and facilitators.

“Our approach is complemented by a team of competent facilitators who are not just upbeat and open to various kinds of activities but are also highly trained in organizational development, so they can connect any fun activity to an actual work situation,” Curaming pointed out.

She added: “We tell clients that even if they requested for team-building, it’s not automatic that that’s the only thing that they need. It is just the start of something bigger or deeper. So when we prepare proposals, we also offer to look into their organization and their work situation before we make any recommendations. Like a doctor that gives prescription, we also provide recommendations for a follow-through, if needed.”

BBDO drops the O

BBDO Guerrero Ortega, one of the region’s leading creative agencies, is renaming itself as BBDO Guerrero. The change, which is effective immediately, comes into effect three years after cofounder Jos Ortega left the agency to pursue other opportunities.

Commenting on the move, BBDO Guerrero’s chairman and chief creative officer, David Guerrero, said: “2008 is an important milestone as we will be celebrating our 10th anniversary. So it seemed like the right time to update our agency name. Jos and I remain good friends and continue to share a common vision of improving the standing of the Philippines in the global advertising industry.”

Chief Tomas, BBDO Asia-Pacific chairman and CEO, noted, “BBDO Guerrero Ortega has become one of the most recognizable and respected agency names in the region during the past 10 years, and that has been in large part due to the creative leadership of David Guerrero….BBDO Guerrero is a jewel in the crown of BBDO, not just in Asia-Pacific, but worldwide.”

BBDO Guerrero was established in 1998 and has continued to go from strength to strength in recent years. In the last 12 months the agency has won many industry accolades including Philippine Ad Congress Agency of the Year, Campaign Brief Asia and was short-listed by MEDIA as one of the top four agencies in Asia-Pacific in last year’s Asia Pacific Agency of the Year awards.

As for Ortega, J. Walter Thompson (JWT) president Michael Maedel has announced the appointment of the former BBDO Philippines’ vice chairman to be the CEO of JWT Manila effective July 7.

“Since JWT Manila already has a strong management team in place, we looked very carefully to identify and hire someone who would complement the existing management team,” said Maedel. “Jos’s past strategic leadership roles in BrandLab and BBDO will be a tremendous asset in guiding the office into the next phase of growth.”

As founder and chairman of BrandLab, Ortega provided counsel to companies as McDonald’s, Monde Nissin and Chowking.

JWT Manila is the Philippines’ shining star internationally. In the past year, it created history by being the first-ever Philippine advertising agency to be awarded the prestigious Gold Cannes Lions. JWT Manila also won the country’s only Clio this year, a bronze for its Shell radio commercial.

“While it’s never easy to say good-bye to colleagues that you have worked with for many years, I am looking forward to my adventure at JWT Manila,” commented Ortega. “Together with the existing management team, I intend to create an inspiring environment that will deliver great ideas in more creative platforms for our international and local clients.”

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Hong Kong Disneyland has been experiencing a steady double-digit growth, and the company is satisfied with that. You would be, too, if you felt in your bones, as they do, that this growth is destined to continue. The brand is growing like an “amoeba.” 

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