Quotable Quotes

"The one certain factor about any market is that it will not last forever. As the population ages and society advances, consumer tastes, desires, and values undergo a transformation. What is accepted today may be anathema tomorrow. Today's fad is tomorrow's garage sale. This is precisely why businesses must know the demographic breakdown of the population and the unique characteristics of each market segment its products or services are attempting to attract." (Source: Barton C. White, The New Ad Media Reality: Electronic over Print, Quorum Books, 1993)

Middle and Upper Income Classes Less likely to spend in 2006

Belated Kung Hei Fat Choi, totoys and totoyettes.

Your "doom and gloom" blogger here again to bring you yet another reason to support the thesis that those interested in reviving the local comics industry should focus their attention on the low income D-E market which comprise 55% and 35% respectively of the Philippines' income distribution.

What? Local comics selling at P6 of P7 a copy or even less? Filipino comics entering the tingi-tingi and sachet culture? You better believe it, brother. Start your market survey and re-evaluate those business plans. Time to make an overhaul and rethink those logistics and distribution networks. According to a February 1, 2006 market report by A.C. Nielsen, the middle to upper income class are in extreme savings mode right now so that means less spending on a lot of consumer and--dare I say it: LUXURY GOODS--especially those dear old, licensed foreign comics and globalized Filipino comics that retail for about a minimum of P75 to P85 a copy. Here's the PDI newspaper article:

"Filipino consumers have become less inclined to spend their excess cash and are more likely to save it due to lingering concerns about the economy and the country's political stability.

This was the finding of the latest AC Nielsen worldwide survey on consumer confidence which the multinational research firm released yesterday.

In the survey, the Philippines' consumer confidence index declined "marginally" to 93 points in November 2005 from the results of the last survey conducted in May, 2005.

"Filipinos are now more conservative in terms of spending money", AC Nielsen managing director Benedicto Cid, Jr. said in a briefing, even as he stressed that the results were "relatively unchanged" from the previous results "particularly in the areas of job prospects and personal finances."

The regular survey is used to gauge customer sentiment and confidence in the future of different economies by examining spending and saving patterns.

More importantly, the survey revealed that consumer confidence in the country remained below the global average of 98 points during the period. Consumers in India and New Zealand were the most optimistic, garnering 132 and 123 points, respectively Korean and Portugese consumers were the most pessimistic with 62 and 60 points, respectively.

According to Cid, local consumer confidence took a hit mainly due to concerns about the Philippine economy, with an overwhelming 69 percent of respondents expressing their worry over it.

"Rising oil prices and the value-added tax are factors which contributed to this perception in the Philippines", Cid said.

Respondents in the Asean region also ranked the economies of their countries as their main concerns, specifically Thai, Indonesian and Malaysian respondents.

Aside from the economy, local consumers were also reining in spending due to worries about the country's political stability, the survey found.

"The Philippines takes first place in terms of political stability concerns," Cid said. "This is because we're all aware how it will affect our lives. The resolution (of political troubles) is important if we want our country to move forward."

The local AC Nielsen chief said the Hello Garci wiretapping controversy, the Hyatt 10 mass resignation, and the ensuing attempt to impeach President Macapagal-Arroyo--all of which happened during the run-up to the survey--made politics one of the top concerns of Filipino consumers at 42 percent, versus an Asia-Pacific median of only 18 percent.

Surprisingly, the survey also found that Filipino consumers have also become very conscious about saving their spare cash after all their essential living expenses are covered.

AC Nielsen said 60 percent of Filipinos indicated an "inclination to save"--the second highest in the region after the Taiwanese.

This contrasts sharply with official statistics which show that the country as having one of the lowest savings rates in the region with only 24 percent of the country's economic output being stashed in banks.

This divergence may be explained by the profile of the survey's respondents, which are mainly middle-and upper income bracket Filipinos with access to the Internet--presumably groups that have higher disposable incomes and a higher propensity to save.

More than 23,000 consumers were polled over the Internet covering 41 countries in November 2005. In the Philippines, about 500 respondents were surveyed, AC Nielsen said. (Source: Daxim Lucas, "Consumers less inclined to spend, survey shows", Philippine Daily Inquirer, February 1, 2006 issue).

Thank you and enjoy your meal.

The Meaning of Reading

I would like to share this letter sent to, and published by, the Philippine Daily Inquirer (July 6, 2005 issue). The letter is from Mr. Pedro G. Orille, President of the Agoo Senior Citizen Association, Senior Citizens Center, Rizal Park Compound, Agoo, La Union 2504. Mr. Orille's letter is titled: "Key to making pupils really read".

I am sharing this because of its relevance to the issue being discussed in this blog about raising the level of literacy in our country, which is crucial to reviving a local comics industry.

Reading comics is different from reading plain text. A point which was eloquently essayed by the late Will Eisner in his book, "Comics and Sequential Art". Citing educational authorities, Eisner posited the notion that the unique medium of comics entices the reader to read more than just plain text appearing in the comics panel.

Rather, this deliberate juxtaposition of images and symbols induces the same reader to comprehend their representational meaning by comparing it to said reader's experiences. In other words, how these images and symbols are organized in the comics page, supplement rather than hinder, the meaning being expressed or conveyed in the plain text of the comics panel such that increased and immediate comprehension results. Eisner compared comics reading to map, chart or statistical reading in that though there is a sparsity of written text, the information is nevertheless conveyed in full by the combination of images and symbols used and comprehended by the reader. If comics works are aimed to help elevate the literacy level of our populace, such an excigency demands that the visual storyteller be a thoroughly knowledgeable person of symbols, their meanings, the written word, and a host of other disciplines, and not confine himself to mere knowledge of "art".

Even so, the following article would prove useful to visual storytellers seeking to improve the comics medium:

"Declining readership, as observed by Belinda A. Aquino in her column (PDI 6/5/05), is a carryover of the kind of teaching done in the primary and secondary levels. Basically, all subjects are reading subjects. The poor grades in English, Math and Science can be attributed, therefore, to the poor reading ability of the students due to the ineffective way reading is taught.

One must know the nature of reading to teach pupils to read effectively. Reading is expressed in two related concepts: (1) reading is a series of complex proceses involving a variety of activities; (2) the reading performance of the individual is influenced by personal factors--physical, emotional, mental and social.

The crux of reading is expressed in the first concept. The series is made up of (1) recognition, (2) comprehension, (3) reaction and (4) integration. When these four reading skills or dimensions are fully covered in the teaching, good readership is enhanced.

Let me illustrate by using this line from the INQUIRER: "Who can argue against P35 billion profit?"

If this line is flashed to anyone to be read and it is indeed read, it can be said that the one who read it can recognize the printed page. This is the initial skill of recognition. Good readership does not end here. It should move on to the next dimension.

Comprehension. This means the ability to read above, between and below the lines. It involves analysis, the ability to draw meanings from the sentence. What ideas, information or situation can be inferred from the statement?

In the example, the following can be drawn: the President does not like to dismiss the present manager; she is politically indebted; more anomalies might be brought out if the manager is removed from office. These ideas are gleaned through comprehension. From here, the reading skill should proceed to the third dimension--reaction.

Reaction follows easily if comprehension is developed. It may take the form of rejecting, accepting or believing the ideas, implied or expressed, to be true, feasible or applicable in one's daily life. The fourth and last skill or dimension is integrating the meaning of the selection into one's behavior, activities and thinking. This series of complex menial processes should be fully developed to produce good readers. Aside from the materials used, personal factors such as health, mental, emotional and social should be considered.

If effective readers could be produced by diligently observing the nature of reading in teaching, the educational standard in the school could be improved. The teacher is the key to this. Books, chairs, good rooms and complete school facilities all contribute to make the environment conducive to learning, but only the teacher can provide the needed stimulus to make the pupils react and respond. One learns by doing."