Philippine tycoon to set up media buying company

<p>Plans are underway for Philippine tycoon Lucio Tan to set up his </p><p>own media planning and buying company. True to Mr Tan's low-key business </p><p>style, the plan has yet to be formalised, although the group, in a </p><p>sense, is already practising media buying via chief media coordinator </p><p>Luis Guison. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Mr Guison directly negotiates with suppliers, particularly television </p><p>networks and radio stations, to get discounted rates for the ad </p><p>placements of the myriad firms under the Tan conglomerate. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The Tan group has interests in airlines (Philippine Airlines), banking </p><p>(Allied Bank), brewery (Asia Brewery Inc), cigarette manufacturing </p><p>(Fortune Tobacco Corp), hotels (Century Park Hotel), liquor (Tanduay </p><p>Distillery) and a host of other businesses. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Mr Guison, advertising director of Basic Holdings Corporation, which </p><p>manages several Tan companies, pools together the advertising budget of </p><p>companies under the Tan group and with this single though "huge" budget </p><p>(industry players estimate it at about one billion pesos) negotiates for </p><p>the best airtime rates. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The negotiated rates are then farmed out to the marketing departments of </p><p>each of the Tan companies for implementation. Mr Guison said their </p><p>advertising agencies, for the time being, still do the actual "buying" </p><p>as per the Tan group's rate book and they still get the full </p><p>commission. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Mr Guison did not give a timetable as to when they expect to formally </p><p>set up the planned media planning and buying company. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>He acknowledged that this was indeed the plan and that they are already </p><p>in the "first stage". </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The current wholesale approach of the group translates into substantial </p><p>savings although no figures were available. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"We benefit from the synergies of the group. In the past year our </p><p>approach has been especially beneficial because of the rate increases" </p><p>by media outlets, Mr Guison told MEDIA. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Another benefit from this pooled media buying is that even the small </p><p>firms under the conglomerate, such as Nuggets Food, which have a modest </p><p>advertising budget, can benefit from the discounted rates. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"If they went through the normal route they would get the higher rates" </p><p>since the media cost would be based on volume, Mr Guison said. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The Tan group has a number of mass market brands which benefit from TV </p><p>and radio advertising including Hope, Winston and More cigarettes, Beer </p><p>na Beer and Tanduay Rhum. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"In the order of priorities, TV would be our primary medium, followed by </p><p>radio. Print comes in at a distant third," Mr Guison said. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The reason for this is sheer numbers, he said, with TV and radio in the </p><p>Philippines reaching millions of viewers nationwide with newspapers and </p><p>magazines having a limited reach. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>