You’ve probably been loitering around facebook and probably stumbled upon this disturbing image:

Thanks a lot Manny!

Thanks a lot Manny!

As many you guys have said, while so many people are suffering from Ondoy, Villar had the right mind to proclaim himself a savior of the typhoon victims by shamelessly plastering his name over a styro meal.

Some argue that it could’ve been an enemy of Villar who did this—and I believe that’s possible. But what’s really, really interesting is that people are choosing to believe that he did it.

Why?

Although he has been positioning himself as the bringer of “Sipag at Tiyaga,” Villar has long been unintentionally building his brand as a rich capitalist with really, really deep pockets. If you’re into social media, you’re probably tired of seeing his rectangular orange box at your facebook page’s right column. If you’re listening to the radio and watching TV, surely you’ve seen how ridiculously long and obviously well-spent his self-promotions are.

It also helps that he associated himself with Willie Revillame, another personality known for publicly bragging about his flashy Ferrari and a luxuriously wasteful lifestyle.

Another addition to his self-branding as a front runner is how he shares a name with the most famous Filipino in the world, Manny Pacquiao. Although there are certain good associations with sharing a name with Pacquiao, he’s branding himself to evolve from the country’s hero to just another rich, capitalist media puppet.

This branding approach worked for Villar that he boosted himself to number one. That is, until Noynoy happened.

With Noynoy suddenly in the race, Villar’s rich frontrunner brand suddenly switched into a bully.

To the question of how did all of these happen? I attribute it to Noynoy’s brand associations, which resulted in powerful brand positions.

NoyNoyBranding-01First off, nobody can ever remove the Ninoy and Cory Brand from Noynoy. And that’s a really good thing even if people argue that Noynoy has to stand up for himself and make his own name. (A visual evidence of this is how yellow is still being used as his presidential brand’s color.)

Ninoy was branded a hero and Cory as God’s Messenger; and these associations are creating such a powerful overflow of positively-perceived traits that are obviously flowing down to Noynoy. With Cory’s recent death so close to the elections, the events that led to Noynoy’s presidential race seem like God himself sent Noynoy to be a hero from heaven.

NoyNoyBranding-02Noynoy’s insistence on letting the nation campaign for him was probably the best presidential move I’ve ever seen. Not only is it practical considering Noynoy’s financial status, it also shows that he hasn’t amassed corrupted money from our countrymen. This in turn, converts to a perception of honest government.

NoyNoyBranding-03Above, I mentioned how Villar has suddenly turned into a bully when juxtaposed with Noynoy. While Villar is flashing his cash and power, Noynoy has been telling people that he doesn’t have any money, but wants to create a better Philippines. That just makes Villar look like an asshole when he’s stepping on such a little, honest man like Noynoy. And when you create a scenario that portrays a person of power bullying a person of integrity, that makes an extremely sticky underdog story—and everyone loves the underdog.

NoyNoyBranding-04Shuttle’s best, MangDonalds, and Caintacky Fried Chicken are obvious proofs that Filipinos love to play with words. Unlike the West, who have to call their politicians with their last names (Obama, Bush, Clinton) we like to play with familiarity and jokes (Erap, Gloria.) Maybe it is a divine coincidence, but Noynoy’s name just makes it so much easier for him to associate with the Filipino people. Noynoy just sounds right. It rings as humble and familiar. It easily creates a subconscious association to what it means to be truly Pinoy.

If we look at how Noynoy positioned himself and condensed it into one sentence, here it is:

An Underdog Hero sent by Heaven to bring Honest Government to the Filipino people.

And if we try to see how important and emotionally relevant these values (God-fearing, An Honest Government, Being an Underdog, Pinoy) are to Filipinos, you’ll realize how Villar doesn’t stand a hell of a chance against Noynoy.

What do you think?