DX In Design: The march of the next-gen, tech-driven businesses in the Philippines

The next wave of successful Philippine enterprises is redefining the way brands interact and connect with consumers as we speak.

The barometer of success for businesses in the future will not only depend on how they utilize technology. More importantly, their growth will be heavily anchored on the depth of interaction and quality experience customers get by interfacing with their brand.

This is what Micro-D International, Inc. (MDI) chief executive officer Myla Villanueva believes as she takes the lead in advocating real Digital Transformation (DX) in the Philippines, one where the DX Trinity—design, the physical space, and the brand’s aspirations—exist in harmony to create a remarkable customer experience.

MDI believes that any design which does not prioritize the integration of technology within a physical space and aligns itself with the brand’s promise is an incomplete design.

“The challenge for businesses today is how they can integrate their back-end with their front to bring their brand aspirations to life,” Villanueva says. “Look at other innovation pioneers, like Apple or GoPro. Every groundbreaking technology today should take into consideration the human element and interaction and how it complements its surroundings.”

A legacy of transformative thinking

Nowadays, it has become very important for corporations to understand that technology is utilized not just for technology’s sake. It must serve a bigger purpose in their organization as an “enabler.”

For the past 30 years, MDI has partnered with some of the country’s leading corporations to do just that: embrace the DX Trinity to ensure that their brand’s promises are manifested across all contact points with their customers.

The first step in MDI’s DX journey is taking the time to understand the aspirations of the business. What is the bigger goal they want to achieve? How do they see themselves as innovators? How will their ideas manifest within their space?

Afterwards, the next thing to do is to bring in their fellow innovation advocates.

“We collaborate with the right partners in promoting true Digital Transformation to make sure that the DX Trinity come naturally together. This way, we can ensure that an enterprise can make a significant and lasting impact, while generating the ultimate customer experience,” Villanueva explains.

Igniting the DX revolution

Perhaps, one of the finest examples that illustrate the coming together of the DX Trinity is the work that MDI has done together with UnionBank of the Philippines (UnionBank) for “The ARK”—the brand’s groundbreaking retail and banking hub in Makati.

“The ARK is a bridge between the real-world banking experience and the digital experience, which we have made possible by teaming up with our partners, led of course by MDI,” says Ana Aboitiz-Delgado, deputy center head for Consumer Finance and chief user experience Officer of UnionBank.

The ARK is a refreshing space that uses digital technology to augment an actual banking experience. It has been a very interesting project for MDI simply because of what they were able to accomplish given the kind of vision UnionBank shared with them.

What followed was a long process of going back to the basics and understanding the intricacies and the details of every customer’s point of interaction inside the bank. MDI looked at every process, every engagement, every interaction a customer goes through their journey in a branch.

Then, they researched and experimented on how they could make each process more effective and efficient, and how they can delight the customer by maximizing the DX Trinity.

The result was a space where clients can move around freely, make themselves feel comfortable, order a free latte at the coffee bar, or log on to the Internet to get some work done.

The ARK also becomes an avenue for off-site productivity, encouraging creative tech ideas not just from its partners but from its customers as well. Still, within the space, there is very powerful technology that allows customers to save time, fulfill their usual routines, enjoy a more hassle-free banking experience, and interact with the space positively.

“When we spoke to UnionBank president, Mr. Edwin Bautista, he made their aspiration very clear to us: to be the leading digital bank by designing a brand experience like a tech company that has a banking engine,” Villanueva says.

“We’re very delighted at how MDI and our partners have interpreted our vision and brought our ideas to life at The ARK,” Delgado explains. “Look around you and you’ll see that this is not just a bank anymore. It’s now become a ‘third space.”’

The way technology has evolved today, there really needs to be a strong synergy between technology, design, and brand aspirations. This DX Trinity has become the primary pillars for the game-changing work that MDI has been doing because, as Villanueva asserts, any DX journey will cease to make a difference if one of these three goes missing.

*This is Press Release

Tsinelas to Superheroes: The Elmer Padilla Story

From salt-powered lamps to the legendary karaoke machine, stories of Filipino ingenuity and creativity have always inspired us, as well as people all over the world. Now, we take a look at the latest among our countrymen to be recognized on the international stage for his brilliance.

Last September, Elmer Padilla made headlines when his handmade action figures, made of recycled tsinelas, were posted on Facebook. He has since made an appearance on Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho, and his work was even handed to Thor: Ragnarok actors Chris Hemsworth and Mark Ruffalo, who praised Elmer’s depictions of their characters.

Elmer has always loved action figures, though he could never really afford them as a child. He turned to his creativity at a young age so that he could make his own. “Nine years old po ako noong magstart ako sa paggawa. Hindi pa po character ang mga ginagawa ko noon. Bangka-bangka lang po gamit ang mga tsinelas na sira hanggang sa nakakabuo na ako ng mga robot sa sarili kong imahinasyon. Hanggang sa nahilig ako sa mga action figures sa movie. Sinubukan ko na po gumaya ng mga action figures. (I was nine years old when I started making these. At the time, I didn’t make characters. I just made boats out of broken flip-flops until I was able to make robots of my own imagination. Then, I began taking an interest in action figures from movies. At that point, I tried imitating action figures.),” he said.

Originally hailing from Samar, Elmer, his wife, and two daughters recently moved to Imus, Cavite to try and fulfill his dream of making and selling action figures. It was here that he was discovered selling his tsinelas action figures on the streets, and from there, his fame skyrocketed.

Today, Elmer receives guidance from Jerry Santos, a toymaker who makes life-sized statues for his store, Jerry’s Life-Size Statues and Collectibles. Orders for his work have piled up so much, he can barely keep up with demand. “Actually, sa isang araw, nakakatanggap kami ng 70 orders. Yung iba hindi na niya nasasagot sa social media dahil nga medyo busy na rin talaga. Akala nila suplado si Elmer pero talagang marami lang talagang dating ng order. (Actually, in a single day, we can receive up to 70 orders. He can’t respond to the others on social media because he’s really busy. They think Elmer is being snobbish, but really, there are just so many orders coming in.),” Jerry Santos said.

Elmer’s primary expense in making his action figures has been the purchase of MIGHTY BOND. Sometimes, when he runs out of money, he’d just buy ordinary shoe glue, but this lowers the quality of his work. “Kapag ordinaryong shoe glue lang talaga, madaling matanggal ang dikit kapag natutuyo na. Kapag MIGHTY BOND ang gamit ko, mabilis dumikit at matibay kahit na yung sa mga parte pa ng action figures na mahirap dumikit gaya nung mga wires at plastic. (When I use just ordinary shoe glue, the stickiness easily fades when it dries. When I use MIGHTY BOND, it sticks quickly and it stays sturdy, even with the parts of the action figures that are hard to glue like wires and plastic.),” he said.

Right now, Elmer’s income from his craft remains a little slow, as it’s just him working on fulfilling the orders. Already, though, he’s being courted by international flip-flop brands hoping to become his supplier. And in the coming days, he’s going to personally hand action figures to President Duterte and President Trump, during the ASEAN Summit.

In spite of rising fame and fortune, Elmer’s dreams remain squarely grounded at home. He wants to be able to buy a house for his family, and buy whatever they need. With all the hard work he puts in for his family, he truly is as good as the superheroes he depicts.

ColorManila Gathers at least 10,000 Runners from its Paradise Run

ColorManila, the country’s biggest ‘concept fun-run’ organizer, just gathered at least 10,000 runners for its maiden event for 2018, for CM Paradise Run, held last January 7, 2018, at the Mall of Asia (MOA) Grounds, in Pasay City.

CM Paradise Run also marks ColorManila’s 6th successful year in the industry, which they have dominated in recent years.  With this event, they have brought the colorful fun-run experience to at least 160,000 participants, with events taking place once a month on average.

Celebrities such as Sam YG, Xian Lim, Dingdong Dantes, Ico Ejercito, Kuya Kim Atienza , among others, were also spotted at the event.

ColorManila VP Justine Cordero says, “We are proud to have brought the colorful fun-run experience to over 160,000 participants for the past 6 years.  Each year, we try to come up with a different concept that our runners will enjoy and would make the experience memorable.  Thank you to all our followers, we wouldn’t last this long without your support.”

Cordero continues, “We hope you can continue supporting ColorManila, as we try to introduce new race and fun-run concepts in the near future.”

ColorManila’s next event will be on February 24, 2018, for CM Blacklight Run, which will be held at McKinley West at Bonifacio Global City (BGC), in Taguig City.



For more information, please visit ww.colormanila.com