Mang Inasal Rewrites Brand Love Story with Local Content Creators

“MICC started as an experiment because we wanted to try out better ways to promote Mang Inasal on social media. Then during the first campaign, we saw that there’s promise in it as the MICCs' posts looked and sounded so natural that netizens found them authentic and relatable. And the selection was perfect because MICC members are real loyal Mang Inasal patrons. MICC is definitely one of our biggest wins this 2023 because we have connected with different communities of customers through our content partners nationwide. We are thankful to all MICC members for their contribution in bringing all the great Mang Inasal updates to their followers. And the Dragons of Asia win confirms the power of their efforts.” ~RJ Jabeguero-Rodillo, Mang Inasal Digital and Public Relations Head

For the past two years, Mang Inasal, the Philippines’ Grill Expert, has been heavily present on digital. In fact, it’s official hashtag, #ILoveMangInasal, has over 128,000 posts related to it on Facebook and 315 million views on TikTok, and counting!

In March 2022, Mang Inasal Creators’ Circle (MICC) was launched. With 30 members composed of mommy nano-influencers and foodies who love Mang Inasal, MICC was created to bring together real brand ambassadors and support their influencer journey by making them part of campaigns that allowed them to enjoy the Ihaw-Sarap food and Unli-Saya experience of Mang Inasal.

All efforts since its creation have proven to be worth it when the MICC was recently awarded the Black Dragon recognition under the Best Brand Building/Awareness Campaign category at the prestigious 2023 Dragons of Asia.

The birth of MICC

In March 2022, Mang Inasal Creators’ Circle (MICC) was launched. 

With 30 members composed of mommy nano-influencers and foodies who love Mang Inasal, MICC was created to bring together real brand ambassadors and support their influencer journey by making them part of campaigns that allowed them to enjoy the Ihaw-Sarap food and Unli-Saya experience of Mang Inasal.

IHAWtastic content co-creation

Everything starts with a simple brief – for the content creator to post about the campaign however they prefer it. Apart from key messages, reminders on what to highlight in their photos and videos and coordination with the stores for the products that are taken care of by Mang Inasal, it’s the influencers who work on the magic of their materials in a way that achieves the goals yet aligned with their personalities and lifestyles.

From the initial 30-member group, the MICC exponentially grew to over 160 members by 2023. This growth gave birth to a new category of content creators within the community – the Gen Zs and TikTokerists. Now, with over 30 campaigns in 2023, the youth, moms, and foodies all seamlessly tell their unique love for Mang Inasal across their 29-million overall follower base. 

As MICC continues to expand, the community has not only tapped a diverse mix of content creators but also partnered with some of the biggest content creators in the regions including Simon Javier of Metro Manila; Mommy Hieds and Georgeous George of North Luzon; Mommy Diaries PH of South Luzon; Mortejo Twins and Zamboanga Guide of Visayas and Mindanao.

“We really appreciate how MICC has added a new spark to how we tell our brand story. It is a mutually beneficial partnership that has allowed Mang Inasal to help expand the followers of its partner content creators, while the MICCs enrich the Brand’s ways to share its campaigns to more people across the country. We are all kindred spirits exchanging stories about Mang Inasal, a brand we all love.” ~Ed Timbungco, Mang Inasal Public Relations Manager

Celebration of collaboration 

All efforts since its creation have proven to be worth it when the MICC was recently awarded the Black Dragon recognition under the Best Brand Building/Awareness Campaign category at the prestigious 2023 Dragons of Asia.

As a celebration of this recognition, MICC Meet Ups were done nationwide, including Mega Manila, North Luzon, South Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. This allowed the brand to get to know the creators in person and share each other’s MICC journey. Also, a virtual party wrapped up the year as all members united via Zoom and celebrated the first-ever MICC IHAWtastic Awards.

While Mang Inasal is ending 2023 with the loudest bang with MICC, the new year promises bigger and more IHAWtastic campaigns that will surely give digital content creators more Ihaw-Sarap food and Unli-Saya experience wherever and however they want to enjoy it!

Building brand love in the Next Normal: How Mang Inasal redefines moment marketing for and with the customers

“Social media opened a huge door for brands like Mang Inasal to connect real-time with customers. These platforms serve as avenues where we get to discover what makes our customers happy, ‘kilig’ and excited. These overflowing emotions signal to us what we can ‘trendjack’ and enable us to bring the brand within those conversations. Relationship-building with customers is now made faster all thanks to social media. SEVENTEEN’s fans, the Carats, have been tweeting Mang Inasal to support their idols. And as a special Christmas gift to them, we've granted their wish as we were among the sponsors of the SEVENTEEN WORLD TOUR [BE THE SUN] – BULACAN. For Mang Inasal, Moment Marketing is important because we want to be with our customers wherever they are and that includes the trends that matter to them. It excites us knowing that we are part of the conversation of our consumers because it’s a validation that we remain relevant to them. Mang Inasal is continuously learning today in terms of Moment Marketing and we can’t wait what 2023 has for us. But so far, our strategy is working for us because it allows the brand to sincerely connect with the consumers who talk about us, and create moments that will make them remember us more meaningfully.” ~RJ Jabeguero-Rodillo, Mang Inasal’s Head of Digital and PR

In a consistently changing computerized scene, brands need to set with the times up to remain applicable and associated with their customers. Although it sounds difficult, it is absolutely doable!

 

This is the Moment Marketing concept. For brands like Mang Inasal, Second Showcasing is exploiting the "here" and the "presently" to carry brands to the very front of purchaser discussions, particularly through something as high speed as virtual entertainment.

 

Mang Inasal and the value of real-time social listening

 

A digital marketing strategy that places customers at the center of the ecosystem has been redesigned by Mang Inasal in 2022. It has been able to ride on trends that are most relevant to its customers thanks to its robust real-time social listening muscle.

Man Inasal wins Silver Award in the Marketing Excellence Awards-PH

Mang Inasal’s “16 Cup Challenge” was recently honored in the Marketing Excellence Awards-Philippines with a Silver Award under the Excellence in Viral Marketing category.

 

In this year alone, Mang Inasal was able to create buzz on social media with several marketing initiatives, such as the “16 Cup Challenge” that happened after SB19 member Stell’s mention of his own Mang Inasal record. It became a three-day trending topic on Twitter, evolving later into a nationwide challenge. This challenge was recently honored in the Marketing Excellence Awards-Philippines with a Silver Award under the Excellence in Viral Marketing category. 

Mang Inasal’s most recent concert sponsorship with K-Pop performance powerhouse, SEVENTEEN, shows exactly how well-positioned Mang Inasal is when it comes to its consumers’ interests.

From being a trending topic, Mang Inasal granted the wish of the SEVENTEEN’s fans, the Carats, and became among the sponsors of the SEVENTEEN WORLD TOUR [BE THE SUN] – BULACAN.  

Meaningful connections through its digital presence

 

Mang Inasal’s digital presence has truly evolved past the traditional brand monologues and digital posters. Through its community-powered strategy, Mang Inasal has significantly surpassed engagement targets by 240% and improved positive sentiments across channels, due in part to its more authentic brand tone, raw user-generated content, and community-centric messaging.

 

From being mere observers of social media to being an online friend listening to its customers’ voices, Mang Inasal’s brand has transformed into an entity that ‘phygitally’ [physically-digitally] takes care of the communities it serves - both within its physical stores and digitally across social media platforms.