The Campaign

The growth of the country’s No.1 fast food chain, Jollibee, has slowed down. The client believed that TV advertising is no longer helping. But the brand knew that TV is still the most dominant and popular medium in the Philippines. In almost every home, there is one TV set where Jollibee’s target, the child, sees what everyone watches. Most of them not suitable for children. The challenge was how to promote the brand on TV given the current landscape where sex and violence were the pre-dominant themes even for news and public affairs, let alone syndicated foreign shows and local programs. Jollibee, the loveable, huggable, iconic mascot made the strategy intuitive. Leveraging on his inimitable appeal as the Filipino child’s best friend, and the credible purveyor of good values, we created Jollitown, an idyllic place wherein we could situate Jollibee and his friends to provide wholesome entertainment and values education to a young, impressionable audience. Jollitown is the first branded children’s television show in the Philippines that altered the landscape of Philippine television.

The Brief

The primary target of Jollitown is mainly pre-school children who are at an impressionable stage, along with their mothers who need allies in molding them into principled, morally upright citizens. Jollibee recognizes its role as a co-parent/authority figure with the responsibility of helping inculcate good values among children the best way it knows how - through fun play and imagination.

Results

Jollitown is the highest rating children's TV show on Philippine television within the period August to November 2010, garnering 7.5% vs. SpongeBob: 7.1% and Ben 10: 6.9%. Jollitown also helped grow the total QSR brand’s business. Party bookings went up by 27%, Club membership up by 132%, and page views up by 100%.

Execution

The brand and creative team collaborated closely, from studying the program formats to identifying morals and values to promote. Close to 40 stories were tested until a harvest of 13 winning storylines was achieved. Feasibility and pre-production meetings for each of the 13 episodes were held weekly, with technical meetings and talent workshops running simultaneously. The best talents in production design, costume and make-up were recruited into the team. With all systems in place, the cameras rolled and each episode was shot for 24-hours straight. As the team prepared for the next show, CG animators took their seats and began transforming the Chroma background to breathtaking 3D panoramas of the magical town.

The Situation

How does a brand cater to a young audience on television where sex and violence are rampant themes? Despite this overwhelming obstacle, Jollibee was unfazed in staunchly advocating values education for children on television. Instead of airing the usual spots, Jollibee utilized its most powerful asset, the iconic bee mascot, by transforming it into an interactive character who engages with children in an idyllic place where they all sing, dance, and exchange stories about sharing, love, compassion and respect. Thus was conceived the idea of ‘Jollitown’, a weekly kiddie program that became the epitome of edutainment on Philippine television.

The Strategy

Jollibee took to heart its endeavor of promoting Filipino values among young children who were otherwise constantly exposed to sex and violence on television. The strategy therefore was to alter the landscape of Philippine Television with Jollitown. Featuring Jollibee and his friends, Jollitown is a 30-minute kiddie show that taught lessons on values such as: love, compassion, sharing, hope, and respect. Jollitown defied the conventional style of teaching values by packaging the lessons in stories, songs and dances.