BizNewAsia marks today, Nov. 25, its 15th year of leadership as the Philippines’ largest and most influential weekly business and news magazine by honoring 30 of our best and brightest entrepreneurs, CEOs, and leaders in business and government for excellence and contribution to the betterment of the Filipino.
The anniversary event starts at 6 tonight at the Garden Ballroom of Edsa Shangri-La Hotel.
The awardees for excellence in visionary management, entrepreneurship, and corporate management are led by:
Ramon S. Ang, president and vice chairman of San Miguel Corp.; Felipe L. Gozon, chair and CEO, GMA Network Inc.; Tessie Sy-Coson, chair, BDO Unibank and vice chairman, SM Investments Corp.; Andrew Tan, chair-CEO, Alliance Global Inc.; Edgar “Injap” Sia, chair-CEO, DoubleDragon Properties Inc.; Zenaida Tantoco, chair-CEO, Stores Specialists Inc..
JJ Atencio, president-CEO 8990 Holdings Inc.; Henry Lim Bon Liong, chair-CEO, SL Agritech Corp.; Jaime Bautista, president, Philippine Airlines; Oscar Reyes, president, Meralco; Wellington Soong, president-CEO, Frigate Holdings; Elizabeth Lee, president-CEO, EMotors; Bansan Choa. Chairman and CEO, I-Remit; Marife Zamora, chairman of Convergys Philippines Services Corp. and president of the Management Association of the Philippines; Joseph Calata, president and founder of Calata Corp., Myrna Yao, CEO, Richprime Global Inc.; Emma Imperial, president-CEO, Imperial Homes Group; and RoseMarie Basa, chairman, PhilRealm Development Corp.
To be cited for distinguished public service and governance excellence are: former Presidents Fidel V. Ramos, Joseph Estrada and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo; Lilia de Lima, director general for 21 years of the Philippine Economic Zone Authority; Albay Rep. Joey Salceda, Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Teresita Herbosa, and Sen. Loren Legarda.
For financial management, the awardees are: Ferdinand Constantino, CFO, San Miguel Corp.; Chaye Cabal Revilla, CFO, Smart Communications; and Felipe S. Yalong, CFO, GMA Network Inc.
Awards will also go to Mike Enriquez of GMA News, for broadcast excellence; Atty. Francis Lim for shareholder rights advocacy, lawyer Manuel “Lolong” Lazaro, excellence in law; and Sergio Ortiz Luis Jr and Donald Dee, business leadership
I founded BizNewsAsia in 2001, using savings from my stint of 25 years at Asiaweek, the Hong Kong-based weekly magazine subsidiary of Time Warner Inc., which also publishes Time, Fortune and People. Time later shut down Asiaweek. With me as the senior correspondent in Manila, Asiaweek became the No. 1 weekly in the Philippines with peak circulation of 32,000 copies. That is the void BizNewsAsia wants to fill up today.
Before and sometimes simultaneous with Asiaweek, I worked for among the largest and most iconic publications in the world, including The Manila Times, the Manila Chronicle, The Times Journal, The Mainichi Shimbun, German TV ZDF and ARD, and now as a columnist of The Manila Standard.
Also, I will be 68 today. Allow me to brag a little. I finished journalism, magna cum laude, on a four-year full scholarship at UST. I also finished global journalism at the University of Stockholm, and took three semesters of MBA at Ateneo de Manila.
Despite competition from foreign publications, BizNewsAsia has kept its leadership in readership, being the only weekly to score a pass-on circulation of 350,000 readers. BNA easily outsells local magazines and foreign brands because of its broad and deep coverage of business, politics and global issues, and outstanding profiles of personalities in business and governance.
In recent years, Manila has seen the entry of foreign magazines focused on business. One magazine devoted to entrepreneurs has phased out its print edition and withdrawn to just being online. Another big name newcomer, barely a year in the market, is thinking of pulling out, because it already has an Asian and an international or US edition.
According to BizNewsAsia Executive Editor Ivy Lopez Cabaltica, a lawyer and a communications graduate at Ateneo, among all media audiences, print magazine readers consistently belong to society’s elite. They are wealthy, highly educated, stylish, healthy, knowledgeable, and influential. People ask them for advice on what to buy.
Compared to the readers and audience of newspapers, cable, radio, television, digital, and the web, devoted print magazine readers earn at least $150,000 (about P6.7 million) a year. These wealthy influentials prefer print magazine over any other form of media.
Newsmagazines are a verified source of in-depth news and they are read leisurely. Readers sit down and take their time to absorb and enjoy the content. Which is why readers spend an average of 51.6 minutes on a print magazine, more than online. This focus allows these intellectuals to comprehend and recall more data on print. Then, the magazine is passed on to at least three other people in their circle.
Research shows that affluent print magazine readers are most receptive to marketing targeted to their lifestyle. They will pay for the best quality brands and they are influenced by ads they see in their favorite trusted magazines. It affects their purchase of expensive cars, drugs, food, home furnishings, luxury goods, technology, travel, and financial products and services. This preference is then transmitted repeatedly to their elite friends and professional circles.
Moneyed print magazine readers lead enviable lives. They are considered an authority by their numerous friends. They attend more social events, have rich and varied experiences, wear signature clothes and accessories, enjoy finer things, and avail of the best health care. They travel the most, locally and abroad, and spend $10,000 (P450,000) on a vacation. They are avid buyers of entertainment goods and services, technology, luxury vehicles and items, and home improvement.
It is no wonder that influentials’ lives reflect their image of being more knowledgeable, active, cerebral, adventurous, curious, and who live life to the fullest.
To tap this coveted clique, advertisers choose magazines with credibility.
Says one leading magazine: “Magazines appeal to advertisers because of their highly targeted audience. In general, magazine readers have higher incomes and are better educated than users of other media; magazine audiences …show a higher level of commitment and response to editorial and advertising content.”
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