Life
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TUESDAY, AUGUST 16, 2016 isahred@gmail.com
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HINESE mobile phone brand Vivo brings its unique design and cutting-edge technology to the Philippines as it opened its first concept store in the country on Aug. 9. Located on the lower ground floor of SM Light Mall in Mandaluyong City, Vivo concept store serves as a service center for customers with technical issues and concerns about their mobile phones. Vivo Product Specialists (PS) assist and answer questions on the products. Vivo was initially launched in the country in March this year. Vivo Philippines Vice President Hazel Bascon said they have received “nothing but warm welcome from Filipino consumers who have constantly supported us through several events and roadshows.” Apart from catering to current consumers of the brand, the store also aims to expand Vivo’s market reach and promote recognition in the country. “We at Vivo are excited to provide a new platform where our supporters can learn more about our brand and the products that we have, and for us to provide nothing but the best services to them,” enthused Bascon.
After delivering her opening speech, Bascon was joined in the ribbon cutting ceremony by Vivo Team Marketing Director Lindsay Guan, Vivo Brand Director Annie Lim, Vivo Philippines CEO Ted Xiong, Shopping Center Mgt. Corp. Senior Assistant Vice President Patrick Palla, Vivo Service Manager Sajid Silvestre and lawyer Rodel de Guzman. The ceremony was followed by a short mass held by Rev. Fr. Aries Reyes and an entertaining performance by the HHI Philippines NCR Regional Champions and semi-professional dance team Alliance. The Vivo concept store showcases the brand’s prime products, popular for being high quality yet affordable— such as the recently launched V3 and V3Max smartphones. V3 features 3GB RAM with a Snapdragon 64-bit Octa-Core CPU, while V3Max sports 4GB RAM as well as Snapdragon 64-bit Octa-Core CPU.
Vivo’s first concept store in the Philippines officially opens. Present during the ribbon cutting ceremony are (from left) Vivo Trade Marketing Director Lindsay Guan, Brand Director Annie Lim, Vivo Philippines Vice President Hazel Bascon, CEO Ted Xiong, Shopping Center Management Corporation Senior Assistant Vice President Patrick Pacla, Service Manager Sajid Silvestre and lawyer Rodel de Guzman
Vivo concept store at SM Light Mall offers technical support to customers
Vivo
opens first ever concept store Both products take pride in their speed: faster operation, faster fingerprint unlocking, faster charging—three qualities users search for in a smartphone. On top of impressive hardware, Vivo ensures that its products are top-notch both inside and out. Both the V3 and V3Max are beautifully designed with refined metallic bodies and side panels
60 YEARS OLD AND STILL DANCING
Bayanihan dance company celebrates diamond year PHILIPPINES’ national folk dance company Bayanihan is celebrating its 60th anniversary with a series of shows at the Cultural Center of the Philippines. @60...Bayanihan’s Diamond Dance-o-Rama: A Ravishing Dramatization of Bayanihan’s Global Dance Trail will be on Aug. 25 to 27 at 8 p.m., with a matinee at 3 p.m. on Aug. 27. The show will be divided into three segments that will feature a dazzling staging of “Flashes of the Past,” “Flights to Greater Heights,” and “Reaching Out to the Future.” Coinciding with the show, the highly anticipated Bayanihan book entitled 60 Years: Fulfilling the Filipino Dream, Touching Lives, Sharing Culture. The Art of Bayanihan will be launched. The book was written by Helena Benitez and Trustee and Executive Director Suzie Moya Benitez, and edited by Jose Cabazor. It hopes to inspire the young and the young-at- National folk dance company Bayanihan stages a series of shows to celebrate its diamond anniversary heart to love their culture and be proud of their heritage. Since Bayanihan’s founding, it has evolved to respond to pany holds the distinction of being a nine-time World Dance a new generation of learners. To date, the folk dance com- grand prizewinner since it started competing in 2002.
We finally have Pokémon Go!
THE GIST
BY ED BIADO NOTHING has been as phenomenal in recent memory as Pokémon Go. When the mobile game arrived in the Philippines two Saturdays ago, the rage officially started. Everywhere you go, you’ll find folks of all ages on their phones, scanning the immediate vicinity for Pokémon to catch or Pokéstops to loot supplies from. Simply based on this writer’s observation hanging out at Greenbelt, Glorietta, Mall of Asia and Bonifacio High Street, and walking around the Makati central business district, there’s a good chance that seven out of 10 Manileños are currently addicted to the game. Pokémon Go is a free-to-play location-based augmented reality mobile game that has swept the world by storm. Personally, I think that the great thing about this game is it not only encourages you to walk, but actually makes walking a requirement for your character to advance. Using your device’s GPS to track your movement, you can hunt for Pokémon around your vicinity and venture outside of your immediate radius to get to Pokéstops and Pokégyms,
where treats and challenges await you. It’s also tough to fool the game. It will detect if you’re moving too fast and assume you’re in a vehicle. At which point, a popup will appear reminding you not to play while driving. To which you can reply by tapping on the box that confirms you’re the passenger, not the driver. While you can still play while in a moving vehicle, it doesn’t count toward your “walk” distance, which is measured for you to get badges and be able to hatch Pokémon eggs. So for those naysayers claiming that video games are making us all fat, there’s Pokémon Go that counters that by being a very physically active game. In fact, I think I did a full week’s worth of cardio on the first full day that I played the game due to the excitement of exploring my surroundings. But of course, we should be mindful of our physical environment when playing in the digital one. There is the serious risk of being hit by a bus if you’re too engrossed in the game and not looking at the traffic. Or falling into a manhole. Or splashing yourself with puddle. Or bumping into someone and spilling their coffee. So as much as it’s a virtual lifeor-death situation when you’re in the middle of catching an elusive Pokémon or battling a tough opponent, it’s an even graver situation if you don’t pay attention to the outside world, especially if you’re in a very public place, which is usually where all the in-game action is. Then again, we all know that this is just a phase. The game has only been
with us here in the country for a week or so and we’re all eager to “catch ‘em all” and level up. Within the last 10 days, Pokémon-hunting tours have been organized, both privately and commercially. Malls are enticing shoppers with Lure Parties, which are gatherings for dropping the Pokémon-attracting module Lure onto Pokéstops. And we’re sure that brands and marketers will soon follow with their own Pokémon Go-inspired campaigns. It can’t be denied that the phenomenon is as real as it gets, crossing generation, socioeconomic and gender lines. There’s something about Pokémon Go that got to hook a huge chunk of the population. For the kids who grew up watching the anime and/or reading the manga, it’s the nostalgia – and the game capitalizes on that generation’s collective desire of being Ash Ketchum. For those not of that generation, it’s probably the application of augmented reality tech or the utter simplicity of the gameplay. There really is no need for you to know anything about Pokémon to play Pokémon Go. You just have to like cute monsteresque creatures. For young kids, of course they’d be influenced by their cool kuyas and ates. Point is, Pokémon Go is THE game for the whole family. It is the most popular mobile game today and has perhaps eclipsed the popularity of previous game phenoms at their peak. The game hit the sweet spot – it was the right formula released at the right time. And its success is not at all surprising. In fact, some might say that it’s actually quite expected.
that curve gently to perfectly complement the curvy 2.5D tempered glass front cover, allowing the products to be durable yet elegant. “Vivo has sustained its global momentum to secure the 5th spot in IDC’s (International Data Corporation) global smartphone tracker for the second quarter of the year. This growth is
reflective of our progress in the country where we’ve experienced great engagement with Filipino consumers to date,” noted Bascon. “This makes us more confident and excited for Vivo supporters in the country as we continue to provide them with more products in the future,” she concluded. – Natalia Alexa Sy
Financial comparison made easy for Filipinos THERE are about 15 to 20 million Filipinos looking for insurance and banking products but don’t know which to choose. This is according to the research of GoBear, a free financial comparison site. “The biggest banks here do not even have responsive websites whereas most people, or 60 percent, do search on through their mobile,” revealed GoBear founder and CEO Andre Hesselink. “This is completely disconnect to what customers want and what traditional providers give to customers,” added Hesselink. “In that gap, I think we can fulfill the customers’ needs very well.” Thus, the Asia’s first and only metasearch engine for financial comparison recently launched in the Philippines to help Filipinos make wise decisions in choosing the right financial products that will suit them through their computers or mobile phones. “We are proud to represent a brand that is giving a power of choice to Filipino people and making sure that we have the wise decision for our financial problems,” enthused GoBear Philippines Country Director Rommel Torres. The Singapore-based company is unique in its own because it serves as an information platform that does not sell anything. It claims to be transparent and personalized. Filipinos now have the freedom to choose the right travel insurances, credit cards and personal loans without worries. GoBear works in three easy steps: Search, Compare and Select. “We serve customers if we help them find what they are looking for in this particular industry,” Hesselink told Manila Standard.
GoBear founder and CEO Andre Hesselink introduces Gobear, a financial comparison website, to the Philippines
During the launch, Hesselink related how the idea of GoBear was born out of his personal experience when he tried to find the right car insurance for his car online. He had to go through a long process, answering irrelevant questions, but then failed at the end. “At that point I thought with technology of today this can be done much easier and faster. And then we can help customers, so with that idea in mind, I went back to one of the shareholders I was working for in Singapore and I presented the idea, and he liked it,” recounted Hesselink. GoBear Philippines also introduced husband-and-wife Drew and Iya-Villania Arellano as its celebrity influencers. By the end of the year, the local GoBear team hopes to have at least 100,000 visitors using the website every week. GoBear will also launch in Hong Kong by the end of August and in Vietnam in November 2016. – Michelle Buencamino
GoBear Philippines celebrity influencer Iya Villania-Arellano with GoBear’s mascot