By Queenie Resmundo
The continued negative news cycle around the COVID-19 pandemic has already brought fatigue not only to the audience, but also to the people who brings news to the public – the media.
As one of the unsung frontliners in this era, media has played an important role in keeping everyone well-informed at the time where we are quarantined from the safety of our homes.
Eastern Communications, a premier telecommunications company in the country, is one of the brands that have been extensively supportive to its stakeholders during the pandemic. And although the company also faced challenges, Eastern continually lived up to its “High Touch” branding, sustaining its strong connections to its customers, partners, and even media.
Staying safe and strong at home
During the early onset of the outbreak, Eastern Communications launched its holistic campaign entitled “Safe and Strong at Home.”
Aside from donating to several hospitals and partners, Eastern Communications in partnership with ComCo Southeast Asia also seeded fruit baskets and care kits last year to the media and blogosphere.
Since March 2020, physical events have been prohibited. The only way we could show our care to media and bloggers during the unprecedented time was through sending packages that could be beneficial for them.
Eastern Communications and ComCo Southeast Asia initiated seeding fruit baskets with a note to stay safe and healthy, which received positive responses among media and blogger friends. By the third quarter, we distributed boxes of care kit containing face shields, hand sanitizers, face masks, and other hygiene items.
Media and bloggers from the tech and business sections were the intended recipients of these tokens.
Maintaining strong connection at a distance
Eastern Communications has always been dedicated to providing a one-of-a-kind experience to its guests during events even when things used to be normal. Despite the quarantine restrictions, the telco found its way to share moments with media and bloggers.
Entitled “Blink: Magic Right Before Your Screen,” Eastern Communications organized an online magic show to entertain and uplift the spirits of guests.
The virtual event was graced by three well-known magicians in the country namely Justin Piñon, a world-class mentalist; Jeffrey Tam, a 3-time international magic champion; and JB Dela Cruz, a professional magical entertainer. Combining magic, wit, and feel-good mind-reading tricks, the attendees were left amused and astounded.
Spreading a sense of hope
As 2020 was coming to an end, Eastern Communications saw an opportunity to reconnect and thank their loyal customers as well as the media for all their support. The company wanted to show their appreciation by giving them a one-of-a-kind experience during a time where face to face events are not allowed.
Through Our Strong Tomorrow: A Night of Thanksgiving, the company aimed to further strengthen and solidify the company’s strong connections with media. Moreover, they wanted show that they will walk hand in hand with them for a better and stronger tomorrow.
The virtual mini concert for media and bloggers was held on December 10, 2020. The event featured awesome performances by South Border. As if the heartwarming songs were not enough, Eastern Communications also partnered with Feel Good MNL to provide urban plant kits to the media.
This plant kit was curated by Bulacan Natural Farmers and Kalipayan Farm, with seeds from the Department of Agriculture. Each kit contains bio-fertilizer soil, seed of life, coco planter box, seed pencil and the plant growth chart.
Moreover, attendees also had fun playing games and were selected to win raffle prizes such as Huawei Band Fitness 4, JBL GO Plus Bluetooth Speaker, and 1.5 TB of Seagate Hard drive. ComCo Southeast Asia helped distributing this media tokens to the attendees.
“The media have been a great contribution as to why the company has expanded and was able to service many businesses in the country. During these uncertain times, we appreciate their dedication to disseminate updates and information to the public using their platforms. We’re hoping to personally meet and catch up with everyone once again soon after this pandemic situation ends,” said Eastern Communications Marketing Division Head Jedrek Estanislao.
ComCo Southeast Asia, together with its clients including Eastern Communications, understands the constant need of sustaining connection and communication particularly in the field of public relations. We may not be meeting our media and blogger friends face-to-face as of the moment, but we aim to spread positive vibes during these unprecedented times, in any way possible.
