BIZ BUZZ: Globe, Smart . . . and BTS

PLDT Inc.’s Smart Communications won a decisive victory when it bagged global sensation BTS to headline its marketing assault in 2021.

Thanks to their millions of loyal fans, the iconic South Korean artists are sought after by brands around the world. Naturally, their endorsement or any sort of association comes at a high price and undergoes a rigorous process.

This was something Smart pursued and eventually snagged although rival Globe Telecom, which also enlisted South Korea’s Blackpink, made a bid of its own, we hear.

Even then, Globe had managed to attach itself to the BTS name.

Some would call it clever marketing when Globe collaborated with Tiny Tan, the caricature characters “inspired” by BTS members.

The telco offered Tiny Tan face masks, which were given away and made waves on social media or offered as rewards to subscribers.

Smart officials have been mum on those marketing tactics occurring in plain sight. But Biz Buzz sources said they had quietly taken action and even reached out to South Korea’s HYBE Corp., the company that manages BTS.

Needless to say, counterparts in South Korea were displeased and we heard some mask deliveries—from the appropriate licensed distributor wary of angering HYBE—were canceled.

In fact, there were ongoing talks for a separate merchandising deal with another licensee. We were told that deal blew up like a stick of dynamite minus the cheerful beat.

—Miguel R. Camus

No bitcoin endorser

The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) may be interested in opening its doors to digital assets such as cryptocurrencies in the future—if and when a framework for such has been issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

However, it is not in the business of hawking bitcoins or any other cryptocurrency as what some social media fraudsters claim.

The PSE has warned of a fake social media account using its identity to hype interest in bitcoins. This account—calling itself “The Philippines Stock Exchange Inc.”—used the PSE’s logo and the Facebook account of a PSE employee as contact person.

While this Facebook account has now been suspended, the PSE warned that the persons behind the unauthorized use of its name and logo may try fooling people again and again by creating similarly fraudulent accounts in the future.

“The PSE does not directly sell shares to the public as stock transactions are done in the exchange through accredited stock brokerage firms. The PSE also does not sell cryptocurrencies,” the PSE said in a warning last week.

“Similarly, PSE employees do not promote, for purposes of investment, any specific stock, a particular investment instrument or cryptocurrencies,” it added.

The PSE reminded the investing public to exercise prudence and due diligence in dealing with social media accounts that purportedly offer investments and represent themselves as employees of the PSE or stock brokerage firms.

—Doris Dumlao-Abadilla

Top employers

Which companies are the top employers of fresh graduates in the Philippines? The top 10 list includes one big local pharmaceutical firm, a multinational fast-moving consumer good group, three local banks, a fast-growing design platform, an energy giant, a telco and a technology firm.

Based on GradPhilippines’ Top Graduate Employers List in the Philippines, the topnotcher is Campos family-led Unilab, a leading pharmaceutical firm in Southeast Asia in terms of revenues, followed by Nestle Philippines.

Despite losing its congressional franchise after incurring the wrath of Pres. Duterte, ABS-CBN still ranks high on the list at third place, followed by graphics design platform provider Canva (cofounded by Fil-Aussie entrepreneur and Australia’s youngest billionaire Melanie Perkins).

The country’s largest lender BDO Unibank ranked fifth.

“BDO considers its people as its most valuable assets. It employs over 38,000 professionals with diverse backgrounds and expertise in various fields. Thanks to its workforce, the bank is able to find ways for its clients every day,” said Evelyn Salagubang, BDO senior vice president and head of the human resources group.

“We continuously innovate our recruitment strategies to invite the country’s most talented professionals to join our organization and in the process, help enrich their careers. We take pride in how many of our employees have been with us for decades, some since they graduated from college. We are grateful for our employees’ continued loyalty and contribution to BDO’s success,” she added.

Shell Philippines ranked sixth, followed by Globe Telecom, Bank of the Philippine Islands, Union Bank and Accenture.

The Top 100 Graduate Employers List ranks companies based on their web search popularity and average review scores on top job sites. GradPhilippines undertakes a comprehensive methodology to arrive at its sector and overall rankings, which includes a review and consolidation of data from search engines, page views and employee reviews.

Over 600 Filipino companies were nominated before arriving at the final list. Criteria included are posting career opportunities for fresh graduates on employment sites, posting job or internship openings on any Prosple site in 2020 and having more than five searches on GradPhilippines.com.

—Doris Dumlao-Abadilla INQ

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