Philippine Cultural Characteristics and the Power of KOLs
The Philippines is one of the countries where social media and KOLs (Key Opinion Leaders) have an incredibly strong influence. On average, a Filipino spends over 4 hours a day on social media, ranking 4th globally and higher than the average for other Southeast Asian countries.
Filipinos highly value advice and purchase suggestions from people they trust, and KOLs are part of that group. Many reports also indicate that social media in the Philippines plays a crucial role in providing product information, purchase recommendations, and experience sharing. It can be said that the purchasing behavior of consumers in this country is strongly shaped around social media.
These phenomena can be explained at a deeper level when looking at the cultural characteristics of the Philippines.
Family and community play an important role in Philippine culture. A Filipino’s life is very closely connected to their family and the surrounding community. Each individual loves to integrate into the community, and conversely, they are also influenced by the word-of-mouth effect within the community, the products people around them use, and the purchase suggestions of family, relatives, and friends. Therefore, micro and nano-influencers play an extremely important role because behind them is their community with family, friends, and followers.
Furthermore, Filipinos highly value their image and status in society. Influencers help build image, provide advice, and update trends to help Filipino consumers increasingly upgrade and build a more complete image, thereby gaining more status in the eyes of the community. Conversely, KOLs with perfect images are also admired and loved by social media users and serve as role models for their followers.
For the above reasons, Vietnamese brands wanting to reach Filipino consumers must build an influencer marketing strategy from the outset.
Strong Social Commerce Trend
#budol is an extremely popular hashtag on Philippine social media that reflects the consumer culture and the influence of social media on purchasing in this country. This hashtag is often used by KOLs or content creators to share products, shopping items, or “good deals” that surprise and satisfy buyers (or sometimes make them regretful). This helps increase video views and boost product sales on their personal sales channels.
In addition, KOLs in the Philippines are also familiar with affiliate marketing. Most micro and nano KOLs apply a review format and receive commission sharing alongside regular sponsored content. They receive a steady monthly income from affiliate marketing. These KOLs are always looking forward to opportunities to collaborate with reputable brands and differentiated products to cater to their follower community.
Building a well-structured collaboration program with KOLs in the Philippines will help Vietnamese brands penetrate the market deeply, connecting with close-knit community groups within Filipino society. The collaboration program should include introducing products that suit the KOL’s style while also offering good deals for their follower community. Furthermore, efforts to partner with KOLs to create quality content for products and develop social commerce channels will be very welcomed.
To collaborate with Philippine KOLs to bring Vietnamese goods directly to consumers, the SEAcommerce program builds a complete service ecosystem from import and export to KOL collaboration and order processing right in the local country. The program is introduced and developed by SKYPERY – an influencer marketing agency present in Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines.
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