Going Viral: A Creative Way to Stay Competitive

If you were to analyze the Philippines’ BPO industry, you would know that the success story behind it follows the same principles Malcolm Gladwell discussed in his latest masterpiece, Outliers. The Philippine BPO industry took off because there were certain opportunities—specific events in the course of history that made the country rise as one of the most popular outsourcing destinations. Our western counterparts were experiencing an economic downturn while outsourcing moved eastward, finding the Philippines, which was coincidentally one of the largest English speaking countries in Asia. With that valuable discovery, investors began building the infrastructure of what would be the most prolific industries in the Philippines today.

The Philippines was honoured to be named as the second best Offshore Nation for 2009 following India at the top spot, as reviewed in the joint study of Global Services and Tholons last month. More recently, the Philippines was named as the best BPO destination by the National Outsourcing Association of the United Kingdom, a title that we previously held in 2007. So what exactly does it mean to be on top of these lists? More importantly, what does it take to stay on top and be competitive in the ever changing outsourcing industry?

Although it seems that the Philippines has mastered the art of keeping itself in the forefront of the BPO industry, these titles, honors and study results must not be taken for granted. It took a lot to get the country’s name out there and it will take double the work to consistently prevail in the global industry. Various sectors such as the Philippine government, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPAP), Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) and BPO companies alike mustn’t slack off in carrying out their social and corporate responsibilities if they want the Philippines to stay competitive in the global industry.

BPAP already expressed its desire to further propagate business in the Philippines through their president Oscar Sañez, who applauded the country by saying “Time and again, the Philippines has validated its status as a world BPO market leader. We at the BPAP will continue to give our efforts in making the industry achieve bigger and greater milestones.”

Of course, these efforts will only yield the best results if various sectors come together to support each other. This is one challenge that the BPO industry in the Philippines is currently facing amidst the rising competition from second wave countries which are rapidly catching up with us ‘pioneers’. Recently, the BPAP sent a subtle message to the Philippine government—make room for our marketing expenditures so we can pull in more investors and even more clients. We have the infrastructure. We have the people. Now is the time to work. Now is the time to push further and work harder than ever before. What we want is to have staying power and to have a competitive edge in the rapidly growing industry.

“The challenge to us is to generate awareness. Not being able to do so can dislodge us from being one of the top destinations for offshoring,” BPAP president Oscar Sañez said in a statement to one of the nation’s leading broadsheets. “More than any time, we need a global awareness campaign to be launched now.”

Here at OAM, we’ve come up with a smart idea to help propel this awareness campaign that Mr. Sañez speaks of. We’ve gone viral. Social networking sites are no longer limited to personal uses. In fact, it’s a lucrative industry that helps promote well, almost anything you could think of—and that’s because it’s a cost effective way to spread the word. Imagine having individuals from all over the world sharing your same message by merely a click of a button. If you’re into Twitter, then follow us on Twitter.com/OAMPhilippines or Twitter.com/PhilippinesOAM. If Facebook is your thing, check us out on the Philippine Outsourcing Group. While viral campaigns are intangible, it helps, which is why you find random Twitter users tweeting at you with links to their subjects—and whether one clicks on that link purposefully or accidentally, information is disseminated and the goal of raising awareness is somehow fulfilled.

OAM is not only a steadfast BPO company helping the Philippines gain staying power in the field—we’re also a creative group of people who not only innovate, but also set clear goals within realistic time frames to achieve the common goal—a bigger and better niche by the time 2010 rolls around. Baby steps, we are told. But we know that taking the initiative to present something unique and of high client value will create bigger ripples in the campaign to raise global awareness of the excellence that is the Philippines BPO industry.