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.

Why the Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC) will always be a strong voting block, why you should own SM and Jollibee and why these topics belong to this road trip blog.

Don't worry this is going to be apolitical as much as possible. I just wanted to share a distinct pattern that I observed traveling from Manila all the way to Polomolok, South Cotabato.

The minute you exit the South Luzon Express Way every major city, town and barangay ( village ) will always have a well kept and maintained INC church. During my first road trip on the same route way back in 1992 this was already the case and the churches have kept their shine and luster ever since. Last Sunday while driving from Naga to Tacloban I also observed how well dressed in their Sunday Best the INC faithfuls are. They would all be seen from town to town trooping in groups on their way to church. No jeans, no shorts. Men in slacks and polo, women in dresses. The kids are similarly smartly dressed. The church doors are closed during the service and there would be no one loitering outside of the church. We often stereotype them for voting as a block during election but we hardly talk about their discipline and decency. Maybe Filipinos are not undisciplined like we are wont to comment. Maybe there's just not many of us who belong to the INC.

Two decades after that trip and Jollibee, SM, Mercury Drug have blanketed the countryside. In fact I would determine how far I am from my destination based on the Jollibee markers on the roadside. For sure that Jollibee would be in the city center. SM on the other hand makes traveling easier since most would be situated in newly created diversion roads that allow you to sidestep the busy, narrow, and crowded old town roads. I swear it has become the new town center creating new businesses around it including having mass schedule just before the mall opens. Genius! These shares will always be a buy in my books on a dollar averaging strategy. Nothing can be more Pinoy than Chicken Joy bought from an SM Mall. Ditto for Mercury Drug should they plan to list :-). Oh I'd buy me some SMB shares too. I lost count of the number of SMB delivery trucks we have seen on the road :-).