Way back October 2010, husband and wife Jonathan and Angelica Engalla made the life-altering decision to settle permanently in the Philippines after thirty years of living in the States. In preparation for their return, Angelica started asking cousins Harold and Howard Guintu, both young, budding entrepreneurs, about go-to places once they arrive in the Philippines. “When she asked us, we didn’t know what to say either. Lucky for those who go out much, but what about those people like us, who didn’t know everything about the hippest restos or other go-to places? There should be a site for Filipinos for that,” says Harold.
CityPoynt.com: The Beginning
The lack of a singular resource guide in the Philippines that featured all establishments, bars, laundry shops, restaurants, travel hotspots – anything under the sun – fuelled the concept for a site that merged such business feature with hugely discounted deals – which has then started crawling into the Philippine realm. Jonathan resigned from his ten-year tenure at a real estate firm to establish a one-stop website together with Harold and Howard, which combines the dynamic business listings and user review features of USA’s Yelp! with the efficiency of group buying sites.
And so tells the birth of CityPoynt.com.
At first, CityPoynt was created simply with the vision of merging group buying and a business directory in one site. During the company’s launch in March 2011, the website was mapped out with four key features: a home page, a deals page that featured one to two bargain deals a month, a fashion and events blog by fashion mavens Erika Hoffman and Feanne Mauricio, and a helpful, though still incomplete business directory.
With the rampant spread of group buying sites in the Philippines, however, the need for more competitive site features and a stronger, wider market base that will differentiate CityPoynt from competitors became apparent. During this time too, the team realized the urgency for having an online ambassador for the Philippine brand, with the Philippines faring only as 94th out of 139 countries in the world’s travel and tourism competitiveness, slipping 12 notches down from 86th Place in 2009. According to a report issued by the World Economic Forum, issues such as the “protection of property rights, rules related to foreign investment, the difficulty of starting a business, safety and security, health and hygiene levels, transport, tourism and ICT infrastructures” all served as deterrents for the Philippines to gaining international traction in terms of tourism.
Run solely by Filipinos, the report became a call-to-action idea and a focal point for re-strategizing CityPoynt’s path. From its humble beginnings, CityPoynt started dreaming big. “Tourism is the greatest opportunity for creating wealth into our country, and we want CityPoynt to be a brand that will help support the growth of wealth in our country,” enthuses VP for Sales and Marketing Jonathan Engalla.
Giving back to the country
With a team that possesses a distinct passion for promoting the Philippine brand with the internet as its primary medium, CityPoynt started making revisions in their long-term goals. More than serving group buying deals, CityPoynt is now focused on marketing the Philippines itself as a “product” to online communities. Aside from successful deal tie-ups with top Philippine merchants such as Midas Hotel and SM Cinema, the group also recently partnered with Team Manila for the promotional campaign, Why We Love Manila (WWLM).
The Why We Love Manila campaign aims to create a better name for the country, encouraging Filipinos to use their creativity in stating reasons why Metro Manila is special to them through a video blog contest. With the help of prominent Filipino bloggers Carlos Celdran, Bryan Ong, Tricia Gosingtian, Nina Sandejas, Seph and Shai, WWLM is the first of many baby steps that CityPoynt is determined to accomplish on its way to promoting a better Philippines.
“There are all these things that people read about the Philippines – floods, poverty, crime – which also happen in other countries, but it seems that when it’s the Philippines, they’re much more emphasized in the news. But what about the other side of it? The great food and the nice restaurants to dine in, the fun bars, places to travel to? There’s so much more about the Philippines and we want to be able to share that to the world. We want to take part in that advocacy to increase the attractiveness of the Philippines,” Jonathan adds.
Because of its innovative strategies, achieving this goal is far from being impossible for CityPoynt. Technology-wise, the group has progressed ahead of other deal sites, having made the huge leap of completing tasks within a year’s timeline down to three months.
A Noble Mission
CityPoynt’s mission involves building online communities that make it possible to discover and share the Philippines. Redefining the way the country has looked at group buying sites, CityPoynt’s website underwent a major overhaul so as to showcase not only a diverse collection of deals, but also a directory of various business sectors, establishment reviews, and an information-rich blog that showcases lifestyle, fashion, food, travel and other points of interest – all created by Filipinos, exclusively about Filipinos and the Philippines.
Banking on its multifaceted site and dedicated member base in social network connections mediums Facebook and Twitter (and soon, Multiply), the company wishes to spread the word on the Philippines being the ultimate hub for tourism, among other things – be it fashion, food, discounts, businesses, travels, or even, blogging. The team believes that each Filipino can and must serve as the country’s ambassador in his own way. Creating the CityPoynt website is their means of doing their share.
If you, like CityPoynt, wish to create a stronger voice for the Philippines, go to their website at http://www.citypoynt.com/ and start learning more about the country. As the saying goes, all it takes is one voice to echo the world (or in this case, one mouse click).
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