Aryty Blog

Jan Maghinay Padios is a Ph.D student at NYU researching Filipino consumer culture. She is working with Aryty this summer as part of her research so make sure to say Kamusta if you see her!

Jan reviewing her photos with Nancy

As a Ph.D student researching Filipino consumer cultures for my dissertation, I found that working with Aryty at the Pinoy Musik
Festival was both energizing and informative. Although I helped the Aryty team give away promos like free load and Globe SIM cards, and prepare for signings by Fil-Am star Sam Milby, I also kept my eyes and ears open for ways to answer some of the questions that organize my research.

For example, through Aryty, I am learning how a company markets to Filipinos. What strikes me about Aryty is the way “transnational” Filipinos have become an important part of their market. By “transnational,” I mean that people have ties to more than one nation. For example, many Filipinos that I know work and live in the United States, but send money “home” so that a niece or nephew can go to school or a brother or sister can build a house. These are all transnational ties, since it means that Filipinos in one location are involved in the lives (and drama rin, di ba?) of family and friends in the Philippines.

It seems to me that the desire to keep these ties together helps foster new systems – and cultures – of communication, which is why the business of selling long-distance airtime is so huge, and why roaming SIM cards are becoming more popular. But, I’ve also got to ask: how did all this happen in the first place? How did the telecommunications industry get to be such a powerhouse in the Philippines and how are American companies getting linked into it ? Who have been the leaders in the industry, and what makes their business so successful? What laws, market forces, and technological changes made growth in Philippine telecom possible? I think these are important questions to ask because I believe such changes have an impact on culture, which in turn affects what business leaders do. Aryty.com, for example, was launched in response to Philippine texting culture, which emerged because of changes in the Philippine telecom industry. So, how do market forces and culture work together in the twenty-first century?

Yes, believe it or not, these were some the thoughts running through my brain this weekend, even as I was blowing up Aryty balloons and taking pictures of Sam Milby’s and MYMP’s adoring fans.