Typhoon Haiyan and Filipino Brand Equity

As I write this post, my heart continues to grieve the loss of my countrymen.  A few weeks ago, the strongest typhoon recorded in history decimated a large portion of the southern islands in the Philippine archipelago.  As the wreckage piled up, the government rushed to calculate the economic destruction, but can you truly value human life?

I continue to pray for the recovery of my countrymen as we band together to weather the storm after the storm.

But great lessons have emerged from after the storm regarding brand equity.  The first is about our current president, Mr. Benigno Aquino.  There is no stronger brand in Philippine politics the the Aquino brand.  From class we know that brands can outlast lifetimes and ownership, and that is true for the brand that is Aquino.  In fact the brand seems to grow with strength as personas pass away (Benigno Jr. was assassinated which catapulted his wife Cory to the presidency in 86 and when Cory Aquino died in 2009, the surge in popularity propelled her erstwhile aloof son Pnoy to his status today).  The Aquino brand was impregnable and apparently indestructible.  Despite seemingly incapable, Pnoy has weathered snafu after snafu in stride.  His presidency was tested early on when he bungled a rescue operation of Hong Kong hostages which resulted in almost ten of them murdered, captured live on CNN and world television.  But Pnoy endured because of the Aquino brand.  (Heck his sister has a multi billion U.S. dollar showbiz career and shes been married thrice, admitted on national TV of contracting several STD from her numerous sexual partners.  Not exactly recipe for fame in the pre dominantly conservative roman catholic nation).

Haiyan would test that brand equity.

Three days after the killer typhoon struck, the president was nowhere to be found.  Worse yet, when he surfaced, he berated local officials who sought aid and the marines to restore peace and order after rampant looting had emerged as the city of Tacloban descended into anarchy.  Lastly, his response to international coverage of the storm aftermath was altogether embarrassing, blaming CNN anchors like Anderson Cooper for not using the broadcast profession to uplift the lives of the people.   Pnoy's ratings are expected to plummet as his weaknesses as a leader have been exposed.  Can his brand equity survive?

On the other side of the spectrum we find Manny Pacquiao, the Philippines' former rockstar boxer who had his own fall from grace.  Manny just a short three years ago was on top of the world.  He had won a string of fights and was labeled the best pound for pound fighter in the world.  A split decision here and a knock down there and he was history.  His political career was in shambles as he aligned with the opposition to support a key anti life bill pushed by Pnoy.  Lastly, his decision to abandon his roman catholic faith left many Filipino Catholics smarting.  Pacquiao fought last night against Bam Bam Rios and demolished him.  From the social media response it looks as if his stock is on the uptrend once more.  During the fight, Filipinos, battle-weary and still grief-stricken saw flashes of the Manny of old, and not an old Pacquaio.  Pac was indeed back.  The Philippines has always had to look to their heroes in times of crisis and today, Manny was the hero that Pnoy failed to be in the wake of Haiyan.

If there's one thing i learned about brand equity after the killer typhoon raped and pillaged my country, its that brand value and equity, no matter how seemingly impregnable can be impaired and destroyed, even with the slightest of miscalculations.  Furthermore, brand equity lost can be gained back but only through hard work, as shown by the Pac Man.  He trained hard for this fight and we could tell, as the aging 34 year old pranced around a man 8 years his junior.

Lastly, from this i do hope that the brand equity of the Philippines, 2013's darling of the emerging markets can bounce back like Pac Man as we've fallen from grace.  In my field of work, our stock market has lost almost ten percentage points since Haiyan and the currency is reeling.  We can bounce back, for my countrymen, for my Philippines.  Be strong Philippines, we are made from sterner stuff.  Super storms come and earthquakes strike, but what endures is the Filipino spirit.