The online playing field has evened out for content creators from听VisMin听(Visayas and Mindanao), according to the Creator and Influencer Council of the Philippines (CICP).听

鈥淭here are now people from Luzon who like our content, so we鈥檝e put subtitles. They can laugh at our humorous content even if they don鈥檛 understand what we鈥檙e saying,鈥 said David Jones Cua, member of Cebuano boy band 13C and co-founder of Bai TV, a Cebuano entertainment channel that boasts over 356,000 Facebook followers.听听

This was a far cry from almost half a decade ago, Mr. Cua shared, when there was no creative industry to speak of where Bisaya content creators and influencers could converge, hold events, and find opportunities to connect with brands.听听

Now, there are many avenues to explore, including the digital talent agency Bai Social to events like the Bisaya Fan Fest or听BaiCon听InFest.听听听

These developments, in addition to providing opportunities, also showed that the Philippine creative landscape did not have to be Luzon-centric, according to Phillip听Te听Hernandez, known online as Davao听Conyo.听听

鈥淚t鈥檚 really the internet that changed things. We see a lot of Bisaya creators online and we see it鈥檚 possible to have an audience, to have someone to listen to you, even if you are Bisaya,鈥 he said during a CICP general meeting this August.听

Humor is the difference between Luzon content creators and听VisMin听content creators, according to Mr. Hernandez: 鈥淚 would not be able to write my scripts in my way if I wasn鈥檛 Bisaya, even if I usually use Tagalog now. Bisaya [style] is punchier and braver.鈥澨听

Mr. Cua confirmed this difference in humor and style, and added that brands and agencies should put up Bisaya-language billboards in Cebu 鈥 since Tagalog billboards are a pet peeve among听Cebuanos.听听

REGIONAL APPEAL听
The appeal of working with Bisaya creators lies in their ability to connect with consumers in听VisMin听in ways people from Luzon can鈥檛, according to panelists.听

Public relations firm听Greenbulb听Communications started working with regional influencers in 2017 for brands such as P&G, Nestle, Grab, and听Klook. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been rapidly evolving, seeing the number of content creators emerging across the different platforms,鈥 said听Ayel听C.听Agbanlog,听Greenbulb鈥檚听public relations director. 鈥淚n terms of perspective, I would definitely say we can see the added value regional creators bring.鈥澨听

Michelle De Guzman, marketing director of Cebu Pacific, acknowledged the importance of Bisaya creators in promoting flight routes in听VisMin.听听

鈥淲e operate a lot of flights everywhere in the Philippines. The question then was, how might we promote the new flights we operate? That鈥檚 why we partnered with听VisMin听creators early on because we realized that, by working with them, we could reach a specific audience and reach our customers on a local level,鈥 said Ms. De Guzman. 鈥斕Bront毛 H. Lacsamana听听

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