Elmer Lapeña Named Executive Managing Director of SAGA

Events and production company SAGA just recently announced the designation of Executive Managing Director to Elmer Lapeña. Aside from being a director and producer of different shows, he has been in the company for 20+ years taking on lead posts in different capacities, it is now his time.

This coincides with the announcement of the renaming of SAGA from its previous Saga Events Incorporated to now being a full fledged experiential company. For those who don't know, I've watched several Philippine Fashion Week Shows and International brand launches that have been handled and executed by their group. SAGA was founded by Robby Carmona in 1995 and this expansion means they'll be taking on not just production of shows and events but physical and virtual ones, experiential marketing, digital solutions and production of content following business plans and branding ideas accordingly.

Currently, they have clients including Shell, Xiaomi, Century Tuna, Under Armour, Spotify and a whole lot more availing their services. This includes online, hybrid or physical events, website and digital campaigns for them just to name a few. Albeit challenging these days, Lapeña says "Times have been challenging for us in the industry and the recent easement of restrictions bring us hope, to hopefully brighter days for SAGA and our clients. We are bigger, better, happy about taking on this leadership role. Cheers to all of us in the industry!"

Congratulations and hope to see you in your upcoming shows!

AutoDeal Releases 13th Insights Report

Getting a car these days are doubly hard and with the war happening in Ukraine, oil prices have skyrocketed in the past few weeks. This shouldn't be the case especially when purchasing a car, wether for business or family use. It should be seamless, and be adept to conditions like this pandemic - as everything should be personalized, so customers get what they need when they need it most.

Top online automotive market place AutoDeal has been in the business since 2014 and has been the go to place to buy, compare cars, and get offers on the latest models on the web. Daniel Scott, AutoDeal CEO and Co-Founder says "As car sales go through digital channels, AutoDeal is getting tons of inquiries per day gearing more sales for our partners even during these times. AutoDeal transactions amount to Php 28 Billion last 2021 from 24,835 transactions, and that's amazing."

They also released consumer reports and insights on the industry from the platform which gives valuable data that can helo it grow on a business and market standpoint. They've been doing it every year and has been analyzed by experts. The 13th edition includes performance metrics as the industry recovers from the troubles of the pandemic. This includes leads that specify location, brand, buying trends which would be helpful for car companies and consumers. This also includes the motorcycle market which has become a pretty significant market. You may visit bit.ly/2021ADInsights and download AutoDeal Insights Volume 8 for it. AutoDeal is currently partnered with 16 car/motorcycle brands and currently holds top spot as far as market sales volume is concerned in the country. You may visit autodeal.com.ph for your car and bike needs and visit their social channels for more information.

PH Contact Center Industry Lauded by Government

A tough and brazen partner in economic recovery, the local contact center industry was praised by the Philippine government for its efforts in making sure business is moving and for being resilient during the pandemic.

The Secretary of the Department of Trade and Industry says "We have seen your work despite the huge challenges of COVID-19, the third quarter of this year shows IT-BPM's recovery. It had posted moderate growth and is steadily rising in the last few months." This was mentioned during the Contact Islands '21 session on "Government and Private Partnership: Road to Recovery".

IATF Karlo Nograles also attests on how the IT-BPM industry has continued to lead in employment generation even on the countryside. He also mentions how Filipino IT-BPM workers have remained competitive and remain to be a crucial part of how we could transition to the new normal. CCAP Chair Benedict Hernandez reiterated how it is crucial for IT-BPM firms to have backing from the government as the industry was classified to be essential during these times and keep support intact for clients and keep their employees employed too. CCAP President Jojo Uligan on the other hand thanks the government for listening to the sector so they could remain in operation and complete procedures on protocols in work from home arrangements, so it would stay safe during these times. Lopez also said that the contact center and IT BPM industry continue to implement programs and reforms to continue the drive towards economic recovery. He's also keen this would create more opportunities and satisfy patrons even if needs are changing locally and internationally.