The pandemic may have altered how Cebuanos celebrate the Sinulog Festival this 2021, but this has not stopped PLDT Inc.’s wireless arm, Smart Communications Inc, from bringing the fun online!
Smart organized the #SmartSinulogOnline where it called for participants to share their most memorable Sinulog stories before the pandemic. Winners were given the chance to win a Huawei Nova 7 SE 5G Smartphone or Smart Bro pocket WiFi devices.
Ten winners were named from the contest namely, Noli Grucen (as this year’s Grand Winner), Juralyn Pagaura, Mark Angelo Cadungog, Crystal Marie Cañete, Jackielyn Cabrera, Gino Jugalbot, Jasper Clarabal, Anna Marie Dapat, Ma. Elezabeth Descartin, and Cristina Gochoco.
“Over the years, Smart has been supporting the Sinulog Festival. With the pandemic, the majority of planned activities were cancelled. We therefore shifted our on-ground efforts online so that Smart could still support and provide Cebuanos with different platforms to celebrate Sinulog,” says Ian Velasco, Head of Smart Regional Marketing.
Smart also partnered with Bai TV for their “Sinulog sa Balai, Bai” initiative to encourage the audience to safely celebrate Sinulog inside the comfort of their homes. Among these gimmicks were the 6-day long posting of Sinulog Fun Facts via BAI TV’s official Facebook page which helped bring back nostalgia and enthusiasm to the viewers.
The #SmartSinulogOnline and “Sinulog sa Balai, Bai” are among Smart’s initiatives to continuously encourage and empower their customers in pursuing their passion and purpose. Smart enables its subscribers to enjoy the GIGA Life through related products, such as GIGA Stories 99, which comes with a total of 16 GB, valid for 7 days. By registering to Giga Stories 99 via the GigaLife App, customers enjoy Free Stories for All, which means having a total of 14 GB for FB, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok at 2 GB per day, plus 2 GB worth of open access data.
Via the handy GigaLife App, Smart subscribers are now in full control of their digital lifestyle! Downloadable on Google Play Store and the Apple App Store, the GigaLife App allows subscribers to register to GIGA promos, monitor their data usage, and earn and redeem GigaPoints for exclusive treats – with just a tap on their smartphones.
Smart also scaled up its current suite of GIGA offers. In addition to GIGA Video, GIGA Stories, GIGA Music, and GIGA Games, which come with data dedicated for consumer passions, plus open access data for other online activities, Smart has also launched GIGA K-Video, which enables Smart prepaid subscribers to enjoy ad-free streaming and unlimited downloads of K-dramas via the VIU Premium video streaming platform.
