College students prepare to taste their full their potential with Teenspeak, Pepsi Philippines

What if students had a hand on how big companies did advertising campaigns or addressed business challenges for their target market? What difference would their new ideas and innovations bring to the table?

These were the possibilities Pepsi Cola Products Philippines Inc. (PCPPI) and the University Philippines Advertising Core (UP AdCore) sought to challenge in this year's iteration of the annual Teenspeak competition—"Start with a Sip."

"We've consistently partnered with educational institutions as part of our desire to drive inclusive growth for our stakeholders," said Monique Castro, PCPPI Corporate Affairs and Communications Senior Manager. "We've done lots activities and initiatives for children like our annual Brigada Eskwela project and this time we've set our sights on building up the youth through this competition."

As UP AdCore's flagship inter-university idea generation competition, Teenspeak aims to test the strategic skills of students in coming up with creative solutions for a challenge posted by the organization’s partner brand. A series of mentorships and boot camps with PepsiCo and PCPPI executives await participants who will vie for a prize of Php100,000 and an exclusive tour around a PCPPI bottling plant.

2018 saw a total of 100 teams from various colleges and universities in Metro Manila signing up, and on its tenth year the organization is expecting more competitors taking up the challenge.

"For its tenth year, UP AdCore joined forces with PCPPI to give participants the perfect opportunity to gain valuable experiences and learn from the best in the industry," said Bianca Aquino, Project lead for Teenspeak.

The partnership coincides with PCPPI's celebration of its 30-year legacy of serving Filipinos quality thirst quenchers.

Castro added that the collaboration will assist students in both honing their skills and deepening their principles by sharing their company values. "While we are encouraging the participants to expand their thinking and put into practice the theories they've been imparted with, we will also be imparting to them who we are as a company and the values we have that propelled us through 30 years of successful business in the country."

The Teenspeak bootcamps and mentorships will run throughout March 16, 25 to 30 with the competition culminating on April 27 for the Finals.

"Teenspeak and PCPPI are confident that students have what it takes to realize their ideas," said Aquino. "All they need is to refresh their spirit and explore their abilities."

PDRF, PCPPI to provide 20,000-liter Water tanks for Marawi rehabilitation

Marawi is on its way to recovery. As the efforts continue to revive Lanao Del Sur’s capital after being ravaged by war, private institutions and government organizations are partnering to address the need for water of Maranaos and others in the area.

(L-R) Holding the scale model of the 20,000-liter water tank to be deployed in Marawi is Lanao Del Sur Provincial Information Officer, Salma Jayne Alonto Tamano; Task Force Bangon Marawi Undersecretary, and Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council Secretary General, Falconi Ace Millar; Pepsi-Co Products Philippines Inc. President Samudra Bhattacharya, and Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation President Butch Meily

As the country's major private sector driver and coordinator for disaster resilience, the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation (PDRF) linked with Pepsi-Cola Products Philippines Inc. (PCPPI) to provide the internally displaced people of Marawi with clean and safe water. PDRF tapped PCPPI to provide 12 cylindrical, 20,000-liter water tanks to various gravely affected barangays across the province. PCPPI will also partner with PDRF to conduct community training on water management and hygiene, as well as initiate various programs for the holistic, socio-psychological recovery of the Maranaos.

In full support of this partnership is Atty. Falconi Millar, Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council Secretary General, who was present during the signing ceremony.

Millar also serves as Undersecretary of Task Force Bangon Marawi—the inter-agency task force group of the government dedicated to the recovery, reconstruction, and rehabilitation of Marawi and other affected localities.

The Undersecretary underlined that PDRF was one of the first to send recovery teams to Marawi, and that with their partnership with PCPPI he sees an evolution of responsible corporate citizenship in the private sector.

The collaboration between PDRF, PCPPI, Task Force Bangon Marawi and the Lanao del Sur government helps mobilize the next phase of rehabilitation efforts in the war-stricken area, beginning with the need for water.

The PDRF implements an eight-cluster system model for private sector coordination aimed to provide a more robust platform for collaboration and interoperability with key partners in disaster preparation, response, and rehabilitation. PCPPI’s efforts fall under the Water and Sanitation cluster.

Also at the event was Lanao Del Sur’s Provincial Information Officer, Salma Jayne Alonto-Tamano. Millar reiterated the government's relentless pursuit of rebuilding Marawi, returning it to its vibrancy.

PDRF first worked with the bottling company last year for the donation and installation of 1,000 gasera lights and 500 solar street lamps in Marawi.