PLDT connects

Grasya has arrived, not only in person in the Philippines as the TV commercial goes, but also in revenue terms for phone firm PLDT whose international direct dialling service is enhanced in the commercial.

PLDT’s "Hello Billy" series of commercials has doubled subscribers’ frequency of overseas call and has rung up for the phone firm more than 50 percent in extra minutes callers use the line today than two years ago.

"There has been a progressive increase. It’s helped that we reduced the rate from 99 (US cents a minute) to 69 to 40 cents anytime, anywhere, any day. That built up the momentum all the way," said one happy man.

That man is Claro P. Ramirez, senior vice-president of the GMM Retail Business Services Group of PLDT. At the giant phone firm, he is called upon to make consumers aware of today’s cheap overseas call rates. Of course, bottom line for the firm is he helps it recover revenues lost from the reduced rates.

PLDT, Ramirez allows, is simply following the worldwide trend of declining overseas call rates. As more facilities for international direct dialling (IDD) are becoming available, down go the rates.

The phone firm knew where it was before the progressive rate reductions: Filipinos called abroad almost only occasionally. Even kumustahan calls were "attached to something urgent" such as the need for financial help from relatives abroad, said Ma. Gigi R. Garcia, vice-president-management supervisor at Ace Saatchi & Saatchi, the ad agency tasked to support Ramirez in reaching out to the public.

And average length of the calls? "One minute," was Ramirez’s quick reply. The usual scenario was whenever Manila rang, the party overseas would say, simply, that he or she would ring Manila back. Both parties knew how expensive a Manila call was.

Near telenovela

That, plus the global trend in declining call rates gave birth to the "Hello Billy" commercial, envisioned originally to be just a one-shot deal but, due to audience response, has grown to a near-telenovela where the next episode involving the characters are eagerly awaited.

Garcia of Ace Saatchi said several storylines were developed and studied before the "Hello Billy" concept was found to be it. The story of a mother worried about a son (Billy) studying abroad, the agency and its client agreed, struck a chord in many Fiipinos’ heart.

And so the first 30-second commercial came out last July, with cuddly mommy Aurora Uding, now better known as "mommy ni Billy" because of the commercial shown ringing Billy three times in a row. The strategy is, after all, to make PLDT’s consumers call up not only more often but use up also more minutes.

The commercial was an instant hit with its audience. There was "strong recall on the material," said Merlee Cruz-Jayme, vice-president creative director of Ace Saatchi. The commercial’s success has been partly due to its focus on the down-home implications of the familiar close ties between a mom and a son that make choosing/approving a daughter-in-law a pleasant struggle for both parties.

"Initially, we were thinking of making only one commercial. But people started asking: "Who‘s Grasya?’ and it‘s now like a telenovela series," Jayme said.

The Anvil Awards of the Public Relations Society of the Philippines gave the "Hello Billy" series an award of excellence for the publicity that the commercial has created for client, PLDT. From PLDT’s viewpoint, this meant people changing their overseas calling habits to its advantage.

"The whole market has grown," said Ramirez. "More people are calling out now. We’ve benefitted the most because we have the biggest market share."

TV shows, in the meantime, have started spoofing the commercial series. It has become the subject of comic strips and text jokes. In short, say the folks at Ace Saatchi, "it gets harder every time. We have to sustain the momentum. The next (commercial) should be better than the last."

The next step

Truth to tell, Grasya "arrived" at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport last Saturday from the United States with Billy. The "arrival" was covered by top-rated noontime show Magandang Tanghali Bayan (MTB) on ABS-CBN’s Channel 2, rival network of PLDT-owned Channel 7.

"We gave the concept to both station and they came back with their own concepts and costs. MTB’s proposal was better," said Ace Saatchi‘s Garcia.

With the "mommy ni billy" and us folks now having been introduced to the beautiful Grasya, what "happening" is next in line for this pretend-telenovela? Definitely, the folks at Ace Saatchi want coverage of Billy’s and Grasya’s ‘wedding, all the way in New York ("in Cubao," Ramirez shoots back at the agency folk from client’s side) and at no less than St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

For as long as PLDT’s consumers want to see the commercial series, for as long as they are entertained by it, and perhaps most importantly, for as long as it continues to drive the phone firm’s revenues, the series will continue.

Revenues? In concrete terms, from the mere one minute, the average overseas call now takes almost three minutes.

Everyone seems happy. The talent playing the character" Billy in the commercial, Carlo" Munoz from the Talent Center of Channel 2, started getting offers because of his appearance in the commercials. He is now known as "PLDT’s Billy."

With its "Hello Billy" commercials. PLDT as a behemoth institution has gained a face before its public and it is an easy, down-home kind of face that is far from cold and sterile. It has achieved that at no astronomical expense: the "Hello Billy" series is made up of three 30-second and two 15-seconds commercials. All have followed the normal cost of production, placed at P1.5 million to P2 million for a 30-seconder.

What to expect next? Maybe something more about "mystery" character Joey who is always shown crying in the commercials. Another mystery is, who is that girl playing Grasya?

In picking her out, the requirement was stringent: "Grasya" must never have appeared in any other commercial before. The search was made both locally and abroad, hinted the Ace Saatchi folks.

Her real name is Gina. Yes, she has a surname but the Ace Saatchi folks really balked at its revelation. They want her to remain a mystery. And no, they didn’t give her phone number.