A Love Affair with Coffee (Nescafe Direct Mailer)

Oh how I miss my IMC days... Back when we would have to deal with sleepless nights thinking of marketing strategies and coming up with executions for Starbucks Coffee (who would have known that I'd actually end up doing this for real!), Sun Cellular, Presto Creams and of course, Vetracin, the brand that played a very important role in the Paul & Fran love story. *sigh*

For those who are wondering what IMC is, it stands for Integrated Marketing Communication. This was my chosen course and till this day, I couldn't imagine myself taking up any other course but that.

Marketing is my life, even as a freshman in the university, I've been busy getting sponsorships for my organization. Clearly, I have a soft spot for students asking me for sponsorships because I know how stressful this can be..then again, do not dare murder any part of my name for that is unforgivable. tsk tsk

Speaking of marketing, a direct mailer was sent to my sister last Thursday. Although I noticed that the material isn't very sturdy, I also noticed the inviting message, attractive design and the brilliant idea of creating a handy expandable-envelope type for recipients to store all future mailers that will be sent. This is Nescafe's newest below the line effort to reach out to their prospective Nescafe Amore clients.

Pretty clever I thought, as I carefully opened the mailer. Inside, they enclosed two sampler packs of their newest product. Nescafe Fit and Nescafe Relax. Hmm..tempting. I wonder if they're good. It was too late for coffee that night so I postponed my test run until the moment I got home from work yesterday.

"This thing better work", I thought as I opened the tiny pack of Nescafe Relax and began to prepare the coffee. Pouring the hot water into my mug, I immidiately smelled the aroma of the coffee.. Mmmm, the smell of sweet instant coffee never fails to remind me of Liezl, a former colleague who is a true-blue coffee drinker hailing from Batangas which after all is the Barako land of the Philippines.

I carefully sipped my coffee the way I was taught at work, slowly but loudly I took in the rich, sweet taste of an instant coffee. True to its form, I didn't felt any jolt or sudden rush of energy since this is decaffeinated. After enjoying my coffee while checking my mail, I felt more at ease, a bit sleepy and yes...relaxed. It worked! I love its chocolate-y taste that is just right for non-hard core coffee drinkers like myself.

Don't get me wrong, I am still madly in love with my Starbucks Coffee..nothing and i mean absolutely nothing will beat my tall cup of Non-fat, no foam, Hazelnut Latte. However, I just got to hand it to Nescafe for coming up with a very cool mailer.

As I've mentioned before, I am every marketer's dream and it looks like I am really tempted to keep a secret stash of Nescafe Relax sachets at home in case I just feel like having a mug of decaf coffee and is too lazy to use Papa's coffee maker.

Looking at the mailer one more time, I really miss my IMC days. I know agency life is not really my thing which is the main reason why I chose to go client side but there will always be days when I wish I could use my creative juices by coming up with unique, out of this world ideas to sell my brand. Then again, who ever said I can't?

27 Dresses

Always the bridesmaid but never the bride.."

This statement has always been present as reason for a number of wedding beliefs in our society. Such pamahiin (superstitious belief) includes avoiding to be the bridesmaid three times in a row or being the maid of honor for someone younger than you for fear that you'll never get married yourself.

What happens when a girl who simply adores weddings makes a total career out of helping her soon-to-wed girlfriends and eventually becomes their maid of honor 27 times? Everything is going oh-so-well until her attractive younger sister ends up as the bride-to-be of the man whom she has been madly in-love with for a long time.

This movie is your typical romantic comedy flick that can make you laugh and cry at the same time. An added bonus also is that James Marsden, who plays as a young newspaper columnist Kevin, is super duper cute. Ü I love Katherine Heigl's (our heroine Jane) body! Kainis...everything, and I mean EVERYTHING that she wears looks soooo beautiful!

A very light movie that is perfect for that lazy saturday afternoon where all you want to do is to sit back, eat some popcorn and watch a "no-brainer-yet-emotionally-stimulating" movie.

27 Dresses

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when it rains it pours (concert chismis #2)

After the BIG news about Maroon 5 coming to Manila, more big names in the music industry will be gracing our beautiful archipelago just DAYS apart from one another.

First of is Ne-Yo (wheeeeee!!) who will have his concert at the Big Dome on February 29.

Becasue Of You- NeYo

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...and as if it isn't hard enough to decide which concert to go to...

then Ticketnet announces that Incubus will also be coming on March 9!! ok..so this might not really appeal so much to me but I'm sure this will be great news to alternative fans out there!

Happy saving as ticket prices are pretty steep!!

Maroon 5 in Manila *hyper-ventilate* (concert chismis #1)

YUP! You read it right! Maroon 5 will be here on March 5 for their first ever concert at the Araneta Coliseum! It's the best time to save up as tickets will be on sale soon! (http://www.ticketnet.com.ph/)

This would be a nice post-valentines/early summer date for all yah lovers out there!

ohhh boy! Can't wait to tell my sis and paul about it!

Maroon 5 - Makes Me Wonder

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travelling starts NOW!

Travelling keeps me sane.

No matter how OC i can get, it's fun to take a guided tour especially when going to unfamiliar places to save me from all the hassle, unneccessary expenses and "ay mali" moments. Trying not to be soooo excited for fear that I might jinx it *prays hard*. I have to say i can't wait for February to come along!

Check out my travel schedule next month:

February 2, 2008 : The BIG Binondo Food Wok - Chinese New Year special


my first Big Binondo Food Wok adventure

I loveeee Ivan ManDy's food walk that I am going for Round Two with my favorite colleagues! Ü We'll be walking up and down the streets of Binondo as we join in the super duper cool festivities of the Chinese New Year! I'd say... Kiong Hee Huat Tsai!!!

February 9 - 10, 2008 : Clark, Pampanga


photo taken from: http://www.philskies.net/library/pihabf2008/

It's time once again for the 12th Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Exhibit and boy,oh boy am I excited! We booked out hotel room 2 months before and guess what?! Most of the rooms were already taken! woah!

This will be my only DIY trip this month. Can't wait to bring Pan to all the must-go/must-see/must-eat-at places in Pampanga!

Click here for the event schedule. See you there!!

February 23 - 25, 2008 : Photoholics '08: Ilocos Heritage Tour


photos taken at Flickr (Yahoo)

Woohooo!! the Best Finale for my 1st Travelling Month of 2008! Finally, Paul and I will be able to go up North and see famous sites like the Paoay Church, Crisologo Street, sinking Bell Tower and "the Boracay of the North" Pagudpud!!

Tour will be c/o the Travel Factor

We're all set, we're ready to go...please I pray that nothing...absolutely NOTHING goes wrong...

Hot Off the Press: Travel Bugs Rejoice!!!

Taken from an email that I've just received from Cebu Pacific:

Cebu Pacific offers P8 seats to all domestic and P888 seats to Asian destinations!

Plan your great holiday escapade with the Cebu Pacific system-wide seat sale!

Fly to Cebu Pacific's Asian destinations for as low as 888 PESOS! The Asia seat sale is from January 11 to 17 2008, and valid for travel beginning February 1 until May 31, 2008.

Travel to any domestic destination for as low as 8 PESOS! This is good for travel from February 1 to March 12, 2008.

The seat sale will run from January 11 to 17, 2008. The one-way fare is exclusive of government taxes, applicable surcharges and non-refundable.

Start off your summer holidays with the best bargain in town, more than 200,000 seat are up for grabs! Book now at www.cebupacificair.com before seats are sold out!

Sugus

It's always fun to reminisce about the good ol' days!

These were the days when I thought...
... that Santa was real
... that by selling manually typed tv schedules and oven-toaster-baked-banana-cake-made-out-of-ready-to-mix-batters to my relatives would eventually make me a millionaire
... that i can actually have a lil pony out in our garden
... that someday my family and I can live like the Jetsons
... that SUGUS is the best tasting soft candy in the world!

It was pure luck that I chanced upon the present day Sugus that is no longer made in Europe but is now produced in Thailand.

Opening the attractive red tin box, I immediately noticed that it also sports a new square-ish shape as opposed to its old look that resembles that of a tootsie roll or a white rabbit.

Biting into my 1st strawberry flavored candy, I also felt that it isn't as soft as it used to be. However, as the flavor started to come out and as it touched every single one of my taste buds, I was transported back to the time that I was still a little kid, sprawled out in front of our TV, watching one cartoon after the other while enjoying the same strawberry flavored Sugus that my parents would buy for us.

It was then that I realized that I miss my Sugus! I was also delighted that i was able to share my childhood favorite sweet treat with two of my colleagues who enjoyed the candy as well Ü

Sugus can be found in all Rustan Supermarket nationwide.

captured by my Z610i

Pumpkin Soup @ Secret Recipe, Shangri-la Mall