DITO thumbs down spending on ‘big names,’ K-Pop stars as endorsers

Unlike its competitors PLDT and Globe, telecommunications duopoly challenger DITO Telecommunity Corp. will not be tapping A-list celebrities and K-Pop stars as brand endorsers.

Towards its commercial launch on March 8, DITO will be rolling out a marketing and advertising campaign to boost brand awareness.

In a virtual press conference on Tuesday, DITO chief administrative officer Adel Tamano was asked if the telco will get K-Pop stars or other celebrities as their endorsers just like PLDT Inc. and Globe Telecom.

In response, Tamano said, “We are not spending millions of millions of pesos to get big names.”

“We’d better spend our money on towers and consumers,” he added.

To recall Globe tapped K-pop sensation Blackpink while PLDT-Smart tapped Korean stars Hyun Bin

Just last month, Smart Communications revealed that Grammy-nominated Korean boy band BTS is its newest endorser. 

“Our best endorsers will be the public,” Tamano said.

The DITO official said the telco has already spent P150 billion to build its network and is spending another P26 billion this year as it rolls out its commercial services.

DITO, formerly Mislatel Consortium, was awarded a permit to operate as the third telecommunications player of the country in July 2019.

The consortium is made up of Davao businessman Dennis Uy’s Udenna Corporation, Udenna's subsidiary Chelsea Logistics Holdings Inc., and Chinese state-owned China Telecommunications Corporation. —KG/KBK, GMA News