Billboards Work But Marketing Jacks Up Pricing- Luzon Leg Part 3

No I'm not talking about the "controversial" EDSA billboards of scantily clad men and women. Instead I'm talking about the lowly commercial/private mile/kilometer markers that dot the country's Maharlika Highway. The Maharlika Highway or the Pan-Philippine Highway (AH26) is a 3517 km network of roads, bridges, and ferry services that connect the islands of Luzon, Samar, Leyte, and Mindanao in the Philippines, serving as the country's principal transport backbone (Sourced from Wikipedia as always :-) ). When you drive an average of 10 hours a day for 4 days they become a source of entertainment and at times desolation or hope.

After bypassing the bitukang manok (Zigzag route at the Quezon Province National Park. Please see previous post) which would have surely regurgitated our breakfast from Tiaong via the new diversion road we were looking forward to a good lunch. Googling for a good lunch venue did not yield any good lead. So from Atimonan onward we were looking at all the mile/kilometer markers of various establishments in search of good food. My favorite spotter, Bettina, which I'm sure I would not have been able to say no to fortunately did not find any McDonald's marker. Instead we found this.

From 10 kilometers out they dotted the road with their billboard every 2 kilometers or so and every 200 meters after the last kilometer mark. Now when you're hungry and you see a colorful and catchy billboard like this that tells you exactly how close you are as you speed up at the speed of your grumbling stomach you have unfortunately become a captive market. Don't get me wrong Hapag Kainan has the freshest food. We were served freshly caught squid stewed in its own ink, grilled tilapia and a massive fish head that was also stewed in a sour broth and never ending serving of rice. Inclusive of all the ingredients it was as organic as any food can get. But just like any organic food out there which are also well advertised and marketed they cost a lot. Maybe it was Fiesta at Tiaong that made the meal relatively expensive but at three at times the cost of our breakfast fiesta (500 Pesos or 11US$) and considering we were in the province and miles away from the city center paying Pesos 1,500 or 33US$ did not sit well with me. Note to self putting up the billboard cost money and they have to recoup it somehow, sucker!  


While we are at the topic may I add another reason why you should own Jollibee shares and why it trounces McDonald's in this country. Every Jollibee marker you see simply states the distance of their establishment from your location along the road. As you approach their establishment it would have directional arrows together with the distance. McDonald's on the other hand does not have any marker along the National road. It is when you approach the town center that you would begin to see the McDonald's emblem. The funny thing though is it marks the town center's major landmarks like the church, a school, the public market and the like but never the location or distance of the establishment itself! Bettina was so disappointed that it took us a long time to locate the McDonald's in Legaspi City even though we have seen tons of their emblem all over the city. We had to stop and ask the locals for direction. Note for the McDonald's marketing manager billboards are meant to convey information about your store's location to drive more sales! The marketing manager of Hapag Kainan in Plaridel, Quezon Province could teach you a thing or two about effective marketing tools.