Month: August 2015

@Senyora and Her Ilk – Are Parody Social Media Accounts the New Tastemakers?

Senyora Santibanez @Senyora is the Philippines’ most popular twitter parody account, so much so that it is actually the 47th most popular among all twitter accounts in the country. It’s safe to say that she’s more famous and has more clout than most real celebrities in the Philippines.

Here are the impressive stats for @Senyora: (twitter account here)

Senyora Santibanez twitter stats as of August 2015
The account may be a parody, but its stats are not something to laugh at, Senyora Santibanez @Senyora twitter stats as of August 2015. Screengrab from twittercounter.com

 

With those stats, she must wield a lot of power – but does she even earn from it?

Continue reading @Senyora and Her Ilk – Are Parody Social Media Accounts the New Tastemakers?

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The ‘Eat Bulaga’ Lesson: How It Got To Younger Audiences Through #AlDub

In recent years, there has been a perception that Eat Bulaga, a Philippine noontime variety show, is for a more mature crowd. It’s the moms, dads, uncles, aunts and grandparents at home that still loyally watch them. Eat Bulaga’s rival, It’s Showtime, is reputed to more popular to the younger, more social media savvy crowd.

Fast Forward to 2015, Eat Bulaga connected big with the younger market through #AlDub. If there was a Philippine version of “breaking the internet”, the Aldub phenomenon did it on August 8.

Alden Richards and Yaya Dub or "AlDub" in Eat Bulaga
Alden Richards and Yaya Dub #AlDub in Eat Bulaga on the #Yakie wedding day. Screengrab from Eat Bulaga official Facebook page

 

If you want to see the August 8 episode that the netizens went crazy about, go the Eat Bulaga Facebook page here.

How did Eat Bulaga find success with younger audiences? Here’s how the show got things right.

Continue reading The ‘Eat Bulaga’ Lesson: How It Got To Younger Audiences Through #AlDub

A Blog Post to Gold’s Gym Philippines: “Thanks” for Kicking Us Members Out!

In June 2015, Gold’s Gym Philippines surprised its Sheridan branch club members by kicking them out without considerable notice. The reason — the Sheridan Gold’s Gym branch had become Nike’s House of Rise.

 

Golds Gym Sheridan becomes Nike's House of Rise
Gold’s Gym Sheridan becomes Nike’s House of Rise. Meanwhile, Gold’s Sheridan members were displaced. Image from Adobo Magazine Facebook page.

 

I’m happy for Gold’s Gym Sheridan for getting this gig, but did the gym have to kick out its members? Unfortunately for the members, Gold’s Sheridan is still pocketing the member’s money while raking in the Nike millions. That’s stinkier than a used pair of gym shorts.

Why was the Sheridan Gold’s gym branch chosen as the site for Nike’s Rise program?   Continue reading A Blog Post to Gold’s Gym Philippines: “Thanks” for Kicking Us Members Out!

Reality Bites: COL Financial Downgrades 2015 Yearend PSEi Forecast

COL Financial, the Philippines most popular stock brokerage firm, has just downgraded its 2015 yearend forecast for the Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) to 7,950 from the 8,300 it predicted in January.

COL Financial downgrades 2015 yearend forecast
Sorry! COL Financial downgrades 2015 yearend forecast. Image from COL Financial Facebook page (see here)

 

Someone very important made an even bolder PSEi prediction — will he downgrade it as well?

Continue reading Reality Bites: COL Financial Downgrades 2015 Yearend PSEi Forecast

Picture Perfect: Ten Ridiculous Things People Do When Asked to Submit A Professional Looking Recent Photo

I also have an upcoming stint as a speaker for a conference. I’m going to talk about investments to a group of doctors. They asked me to submit a picture for the marketing materials and the conference program handbook.

There’s a problem. I don’t have respectable and professional looking photos of myself. Well I do, but they are framed graduation pictures from decades past, so they are no longer appropriate.

Can I use this picture? Errrr, a  lot of people seem to use them in their profile pics.

facebook default no profile pic
If I use this pic, people may recognize me from Facebook – “Hey, aren’t you the default avatar guy?” Facebook default no profile pic. Image from Facebook.com

 

When asked to submit a professional looking photo, these are the ridiculous things people do:  – I’m guilty of many of these by the way.

 

Continue reading Picture Perfect: Ten Ridiculous Things People Do When Asked to Submit A Professional Looking Recent Photo

Do New MLMs Just Reuse and Rebrand Products of Failed MLMs?

When some Multi-Level marketing (MLM) companies are accused of being illegal pyramid schemes, their first defense is to say that they have products to sell. They’ll even boast that these are high quality products that justify their often very high prices. But what if they are the same products sold by other currently operating and failed MLMs?

Who are the product suppliers for these MLM companies? Here’s one of them:

Success200 Guyabano (Graviola) capsules supplied by Moringa Mountain Trading
Success200 Guyabano (Graviola) capsules supplied by Moringa Mountain Trading. Image from Success200 Agarica Living International Facebook page

 

Moringa Mountain Trading – major product supplier of MLM companies?

Continue reading Do New MLMs Just Reuse and Rebrand Products of Failed MLMs?

My Customized Ferragamo Shoes That I Don’t Plan To Buy Yet

Here at Finance MD, I advocate investing and smart spending. However, the reason why we have to manage our finances wisely is to ultimately enjoy the fruits of our labor.

One good way to spend your labor’s fruits is to buy some really cool high quality brand name shoes. It would be nice if you can customize and personalize them too. If you read further, there’s an arbitrage opportunity in these shoes somehow.

Here’s my own customized, personalized Salvatore Ferragamo shoe – that I don’t plan to buy yet. 

Customized Ferragamo shoes for thefinancemd
Fruits of Investment? Customized Salvatore Ferragamo driver shoe for thefinancemd.com (see the inscription above). Calfskin driver shoe in Ultramarine with metallic Cherry hardware and Cherry soles. Image created at ferragamo.com

 

Want to create your own customized, personalized Ferragamo driver shoes? The best part is you don’t actually need to buy it, if you don’t want to. Here’s how!

 

Continue reading My Customized Ferragamo Shoes That I Don’t Plan To Buy Yet