BIZ BUZZ: Chinabank is ‘Focused on You’

China Banking Corp. has declared record-high cash dividends of P5.9 billion, 16 percent more than the previous year and represents 27 percent of the bank’s 2023 net income of P22 billion.

But that’s not all.

The country’s fourth largest private universal bank likewise launched its brand refresh program, replacing the signages of the head office and branches in an ongoing rollout to give Chinabank a younger, more agile, and dynamic look.

The bank headed by Romeo Uyan likewise rolled out its digital campaign featuring its new jingle and tagline, “Focused on You,” with its first brand ambassador, Miss Universe Philippines 2023 Michelle Dee, a third-generation member of the bank’s founding family.

READ: Chinabank reports all-time high 2023 profit

“Focused on You” conveys Chinabank’s commitment to serving its customers and putting their best interests in mind.

The new brand identity, expression, and promise were conceptualized with the help of senior marketing consultant Nita Claravall, who has worked on numerous branding campaigns over her many years in the industry.

Claravall worked closely with Chinabank marketing head Aileen Vallesteros and external teams to give the bank a brand makeover, in a bid to keep its loyal market of high net-worth individuals and corporations while expanding to the younger clients, the so-called successor generation who wants something hip and happening.

By being “Focused on You,” Chinabank hopes to be just that to the next generation. —Tina Arceo-Dumlao

Maharlika unveils logo

Maharlika Investment Corp. (MIC), the state-run firm managing the Philippines’ sovereign wealth fund, has finally unveiled its logo.

The company symbol features a stylized Philippine eagle with designs and colors that pay homage to the country’s flag.

In a statement, the MIC said the design reflected the Fund’s “commitment to building benefits for future generations of the Philippines.”

The MIC also explained that its logo was “resonating with the themes of rebirth and renewal embodied in the Bagong Pilipinas initiative”—a shoutout to the campaign rally and clarion call of President Marcos, whose landslide victory in 2022 brought his family back to Malacañang decades after the People Power Revolution that toppled his father’s regime.

Do you think the logo embodies the economic vision of MIC and the Marcos administration? Sound off your thoughts! —Ian Nicolas P. Cigaral

MLM in pharma?

If your doctor is aggressively pushing certain drugs, beware.

That’s because he or she may be part of a local pharmaceutical company—rumored to be based near the Philippine Heart Center—that is said to be incentivizing doctors to prescribe its medicines to their patients.

According to Biz Buzz sources, their business model involves doctors investing in the company, and encouraging other doctors to invest as well. Doctors would then earn commissions through the medicines they prescribe to patients, which are marketed by the same pharmaceutical company.

They earn a commission as well from fellow doctors they have recruited, as long as the latter make prescriptions for products of the same company to their respective patients.

Doctors who are “top performers” in terms of generating sales are allegedly lavishly rewarded, with incentives ranging from cash to luxury products such as cars and watches.

If proven true, then the pharmaceutical company’s business practices raise multiple ethical concerns—primarily on the grounds that it is seemingly operating a multilevel marketing (MLM) scheme. Since doctors are incentivized to prescribe a certain brand or product over others, patients are being robbed of a choice to go for medicine that is more affordable and potentially more effective.

Worse, it is highly possible that overmedication may be rampantly practiced as incentives are based on a quota system. This results in a scenario wherein a business’ profits are being prioritized over patients’ well-being.

Here’s hoping that the Department of Health as well as the Professional Regulation Commission will get on top of the situation before it gets any worse. —Tina Arceo-Dumlao INQ