THE PHILIPPINES has come a long way from being merely the texting capital of the world. With the launch on Saturday of Pinoy Phone from MyPhone, the Philippines can now boast of having its own cellular-phone brand.

“MyPhone is the first Filipino mobile-phone brand,” said David Lim, president and chief executive officer of Solid Group Inc.  (sgI) “With this new Pinoy Phone, we are bringing the first handset in the world with a built-in content that’s absolutely free.”

Developed and marketed by Solid Group, the consumer-electronics leader that locally introduced brands like Sony, Samsung and Aiwa, Pinoy Phone is another exciting development from MyPhone, which gave the country the first affordable and practical dual-SIM technology.

So what makes Pinoy Phone truly special?

While it’s not that feature-packed as smart phones, Lim said Pinoy Phone is actually “a representation of what truly a Filipino is—very prayerful and patriotic.”

Although some may find it baduy, he added that the company wanted to highlight in the new handset the three aspects that make one truly a Filipino: love of God, love of country, and love of culture.

Content-wise, Pinoy Phone boasts of its free audio prayers so users can pray along the Holy Rosary (the Joyful, Sorrowful and Glorious Mysteries automatically arranged by day), Stations of the Cross, and novenas. It also has the largest mobile-phone collection of audio prayers for every daily intention; and even an e-book collection, including the Catholic Bible and a complete Catholic Catechism guide.

“These [features] really make it especially designed for the Christians or Roman Catholics, who are actually the biggest religious community here in the Philippines,” Lim said.

Users may also enjoy exploring the rest in the e-book collection, with its useful information like a first-aid guide, as well as favorite Filipino recipes. No time to cook? Then browse through the list of fast-food delivery hotlines.

Pinoy Phone is also fun to carry along with its wide collection of audio jokes, bugtong (riddles), famous movie lines, salawikain (proverbs), alamat (legends) and popular radio comedy clips courtesy of Nicole Hyala and Chris Tsuper of Love Radio. 

“So you can listen and laugh with your barkada or by yourself—make sure no one is watching though—with this mobile phone,” Lim said.

Another common trait of Filipinos that is integrated in Pinoy Phone is their penchant for singing. Hence, the Pinoy Phone comes loaded with a compilation of original Pilipino music or OPM hits that let the owner listen to or even switch to sing-along mode. This includes a selection of Pinoy rock and roll, folk and pop tunes.

With more than 700 audio and e-book files to choose from, Pinoy Phone has its own menu-driven software chiefly designed by the Philippine team and patented for use only by MyPhone users. The team has arranged all the audio and e-book content of the handset so that it’s easy for users to search and access their selection in just a few clicks.

“Such features really make Pinoy Phone different, which I think is our strong selling point and advantage over the other brands. We’re not just selling a product here, but also the beauty of being a Pinoy,” Lim stressed.

Strategic positioning

FOR a relative newcomer in the cell-phone business, Lim still recalls the issues they had to work on when the company started developing Pinoy Phone more than two years ago.

“Some might wonder why we ventured in such a customized handset that’s limited only to a certain segment of the market that is Roman Catholic, considering that MyPhone brand has already established a niche of its own locally,” he related. “I think it’s because we wanted something more—that there’s so much beauty in us Filipinos that should be put in this small gadget. So that’s how Pinoy Phone took a life of its own. I was able to think of and conceptualize it, but how it molded up was by contributions of the many people—from the volunteers who did the voice and sound to our young team who did the research and all the encoding. We did it out of our love for the country and great nationalism.”

While mobile-phone technology is indeed a very tough market to compete in, Lim said Solid Group is very positive and excited on this foray.

For a local firm to be on a par with multinationals in the cell-phone industry, Lim is counting on a strategy that’s already been proven effective by many established brands: emotional branding.

“Consumers nowadays, especially the elderly, are very emotional when they’re looking at a certain brand. So by attacking their emotions, that could help us get into the heart of the market,” he said.

Inspired by his own experience of studying abroad for seven years, Lim said the “depression and loneliness” he felt during the time encouraged him to create the Pinoy Phone not just for the locals based in the country, but also for the overseas Filipino workers.

“For these unsung heroes, listening to at least the collection of Filipino music in Pinoy Phone could somehow help ease their loneliness abroad. And since those, for instance in Dubai or in other Muslim countries who cannot even be seen with the rosary or a Bible, they could just pretend [with My Phone] to be listening to music, but actually they’re praying,” he explained. “That’s the best part of it [Pinoy Phone]. It’s something that captures and preserves the Filipino spirit that you can take with you wherever you go.”

With the enthusiasm it has so far received for Pinoy Phone, no doubt the company has already received inquiries from other Catholic countries such as Mexico and Brazil.

“Outside all of that techie word that we hear, here’s the only phone that truly has a Pinoy soul that makes you cry, laugh and smile. No other phones in the market can do that, except the Pinoy Phone,” Lim boasted. “This only proves what my parents used to say in the past that ‘they brought the world to the Philippines, and now we’re trying to bring the Philippines to the world with our own brand’.”

Fun concert

IN keeping with the growing sense of nationalism nationwide since the death of former President Corazon Aquino, Solid Group is set to stage on Saturday a launch concert of the Pinoy Phone dubbed “Ako’y Pinoy Sing-Along Concert Party” at the Araneta Coliseum from 7:30 to 10 p.m.

The concert will feature OPM songs performed by an impressive roster of Filipino artists such as Kuh Ledesma, Leah Navarro, Ogie Alcasid, Ariel Rivera, Geneva Cruz, Eric Santos, Rachel Ann Go, Jed Madela and Yeng Constantino.

“This momentous event is really just to let everybody know the beauty of being a Filipino. With the OPM songs to be rendered by our nine guest-performers—from the national anthem up to the prayers, bonggahan songs, Christmas songs and nationalistic songs—this would be a very fun evening that’s exactly the soul of the Pinoy Phone,” enthused Lim.

For the audience to know more about Pinoy Phone, Solid Group vice president Beda Manalac will present the phone prior to the concert proper. Pinoy Phone units are also on sale at the three booths at the main-entrance gates of the the Big Dome from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Discounted at 30 percent, MS28 Duo, which has a dual SIM, will be priced at P3,995; while S21, which has a single SIM, will be sold below P2,000. Moreover, Solid Group will raffle off Pinoy Phone handsets for lucky participants who register in groups of 10.

Highlighting the event is an inspirational video clip about the essay of a 12-year-old boy named Chris, who won an essay-writing contest initiated by Solid Group for the children-beneficiaries of its feeding program in Canlubang. At the latter part of the audio-voice presentation, Chris will deliver the last sentence of his essay entitled, “I am but a child.”

 “That would be the message that SGI would want to send across the audience: That we are a country of great people and there’s hope for the betterment of our nation,” Lim said.

“I hope that people, even if they’re out of tune but feeling Pinoy, would come to this concert. It would be the biggest sing-along concert party where they could have a chance to win Pinoy Phones when they leave. Hopefully, they come out of the concert more and more Pinoys than ever because we are the best race in the whole world.”