What People Managers and Marketers Can Learn from AlDub

Update:

• (10/16/14) Good read: AlDub- blurring the line between traditional and social media
• (10/2/15) Added the blog of KalyeSerye AlDub Journal and input of Toujours Bambee
• (10/1/15) Added the input of Edward Jenner Perez and provided a link  to an insightful Facebook post of Tonyo Cruz

Last weekend, social web was a-buzzed by the hashtag and network war between‪ #‎ALDubEBforLOVE‬ of EatBulaga/GMA7 and ‪#‎ShowtimeKapamilyaDay of Showtime/ABS-CBN.

I saw several posts from friends on both Facebook and Twitter criticizing those who follow the noontime shows for their “kababawan”,  and accused them of idleness because according to them, a person must have been  jobless to be able to watch the noon time shows. One exception is Tonyo Cruz who said “let’s enjoy and learn”

Though this is not my cup of tea, I got curious since primetime news and broadsheets are also covering the AlDub and Pastillas thingy, so I decided to take a peek on that Saturday. While I find showtime as just another show, AlDub immediately caught “my emotions” when Alden Richards cried while singing God gave me you. Later that night, I asked wifey if she is familiar with the segment. I also inquired if it is a reality show or just plain entertainment. In my opinion,  the emotions seems real and genuine to be just another gag show.

photo credit to GMANetwork.com

What HR and Marketers Can Learn from AlDub

Instead of criticising, I find it more prudent to extract lessons that people managers and marketing professionals can use in their work, from this rare and unusual social phenomenon. Here are the initial list that I can think of,  I will edit this as I find more gems.

• You cannot fake engagement

In the marketing world, we can ask (or pay) a few influencers to spark a buzz or make a campaign viral. But a fake engagement will lose steam when you compete it side by side with the natural and organic response from people.  This is where AlDub fans have proven when they break twitter records. Its counterpart tried but failed to make itself look equally influential.

HR and Marketing campaigns, likewise, will look bad if it’ll not trigger an organic response from the target group we seek to influence.

Let’s use HR Marketing as an example.  As marketer, we seek maximum exposure to our services or job ads, and we can do that in two ways:

(1) Join as many groups as we can, with the intention to advertise.  But HR marketers fail miserably because there is no genuine engagement. They are just there to “post and run”,  without regard to the existing group dynamics.

(2) Form our own group or page. Now this is the more ideal path, however, this becomes ugly when HR marketers use non organic means (i.e. proselyting from other groups, buying likes) to grow their groups. Organic growth comes from people who visited your site or page, found value and decided to like it or subscribe to your mail list. Organic growth is when people add their friends to your group because they find it value adding.

It may be slower, but organic growth breeds loyalty and sense of community.

This is the reason why even though I am a marketer, I refuse to join the numbers game. Quantity does not necessarily mean quality, the best we can describe of such group is “flash on the pan”.

• Genuine emotions connect

While everything else is fictional in AlDub, the emotions appear to be genuine.  

In HR, we can roll out good programs but employees can be unappreciative. On the other hand, we may have the worse employee program in the planet but if our good intentions are heartfelt, employees nevertheless are thankful.

• The best brand ambassadors are happy employees (or consumers)

  We may not agree with how the AlDub fans react in some situation, but they rise to the occasion to respond to the request of its idols. Even without prodding, they fight back at the fans of the other show when bashed.

  Our best PR machines are the people we seek to influence. If we established the connection and trust level is high, our own employees will  be our endorsers and advocates in the open market.

• The value of entertainment

  This may not hold true in all industries, but this  strategy works for a company dominated by blue collar employees. One of the engagement strategies still being used today (and we may not like it) is provide some kind of  “entertainment” that can divert the attention of employees away from the not so ideal working conditions.

  Some social scientists attribute the success of AlDub to its ability to provide a moment of bliss or temporary escape to the daily social ills Filipinos face, such as separation from a love one whois an OFW, transportation and traffic woes, higher tax, government incompetence and the political circus.

  This blog, however, explained insightfully how the AlDub Social Phenomenon was born and how we came to be part of it.

  And let me add this,  human nature is attracted to a love story in the making, and this is where the kilig moments become value adding. We all yearn for a love story with a happy ending. After the broken relationships that we witnessed around us, deep inside us, we still want to believe na “merong forever”.
  

• Imparting Moral Values (added by Edward Jenner Perez)

  The show reminds us of “moral values/personal touch and important life lessons that nowadays seems to be fading due to so much modernization of technology.”

• Going Back To Basics (added by Toujours Bambee)

  Sometimes the way we do things should not be so complicated and going back to basics is all we need. Same thing with Employee engagement, Employee Development and Rewards and recognition to have Happy and contented workforce.

Do you agree with our observation? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section and I’ll include the value adding insights to the main article.