Using ‘artistas’ as brand ambassadors and PR campaigns boosts awareness
VICKY BELO (CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA)
How did a doctor-cum- businesswoman make her name synonymous with “beauty”?
Dr. Victoria “Vicki” Belo shared her formula for success with participants of the 23rd Visayas Area Business Conference in Mandaue City last week.
Belo, who was born in Cebu City and grew up in Manila, emphasized the importance of building a brand so that one can compete and grow one’s business.
Belo said that when she was a young girl, she was often teased as being ugly and fat.
“I’m adopted. At the age of six, I already weighed 100 pounds, and children my age would often tease me about it. They would say I was given away because I was ugly,” she said.
The ridicule, however, challenged her, and at a young age, she set a goal of making herself beautiful. She finished a medical degree and trained in dermatology abroad.
“That’s the early foundation of the Belo brand,” she said.
In 1990, she opened her first clinic in a 40-square- meter space at the Medical Towers in Makati City.
She said she wanted a small space that could only accommodate a single patient at a time to make it look full rather than have a large clinic right away that’s often empty.
Two years later, she rented the whole floor. She also made sure that she would be the first to introduce new technologies for skin care in the Philippines.
Her efforts bore fruit as many clients went to her clinic for liposuction, facials, and cosmetic procedures to enhance their physical assets .
Her name has become a brand in itself and become a popular expression.
“People now say ‘oi tumaba ka, magpa-Belo ka na’(Hey, you’re getting fat.) and words like ‘Belo-fied’ already means ‘beautiful.”
She said she didn’t get to where she is today by simply riding on trends. She said she made it a point to make people know about her services and embrace her brand.
She recounted the steps that made her business grow.
“First is brand awareness. We used and maximized the power of PR (press relations) and advertising. That’s when we used ‘Thank You, Dr. Belo’ for our advertising campaigns. We also did a lot of digital marketing which has been a very good platform for exposure,” she said
Belo said her company also used brand ambassadors to promote her clinic’s services and products.
“It was Belo who first introduced artistas (actors) to endorse our services, and we get those who really embody our brand which speaks of reliability,” she said.
The third step is to develop brand loyalty among clients by ensuring they were satisfied of the service so that they always come back.
Finally, it’s good to build an army of “brand evangelists” who embody the values that the company stands for.