Even with 52 Official Candidates for Miss Universe Philippines 2020, I was able to figure out my Top 5 so far because I can feel that they have the peg of the MUP brand in terms of all-around qualities that would make them good social media influencers in due time. Ladies who are likely to have the capacity to make good use of a platform for their causes or advocacies.

At the end of the day, pageantry is still a business – like it or not. It has evolved from the traditional search for the most beautiful to a competition that will aim to find that one person who can bring the brand to greater heights of both social awareness or popularity and marketability. If Miss World gives high premium on Beauty With A Purpose, then Miss Universe will want to go for that perfect balance in all aspects without letting go of the parts that make it a source of global entertainment.

Think of it this way – MUP would like to see who could be a potential Pia Wurtzbach who continues to sustain an effective handling of her image, advocacy and branding long after winning Miss Universe back in 2015.

In random order:

I am liking Pauline Amelinckx of Bohol, Paula Ortega of Albay, Alaiza Malinao of Davao City, Ysabella Ysmael of Parañaque City and Michele Gumabao of Quezon City. If they keep it up in the next two months, then they should battle it out for the crown in the end.

I also know that there are so many others in the remaining 47 who can steal the thunder from the quintet above. If I need to complete a list of 10, then I would add Apriel Smith of Cebu Province, Sandra Lemonon of Taguig, Lou Dominique Piczon of Mandaue, Rabiya Mateo of Iloilo City and Sigrid Grace Flores of Catanduanes.

There are five contenders I want to observe more to see if they have what it takes to be considered spoilers. They are Adee Hitomi Akiyama of Oriental Mindoro, Maria Isabela Galeria of Sorsogon, Kimberly Hakenson of Cavite, Christelle Abello of Aklan and Chiara Lyn Markwalder of Leyte.

Those are my early findings so far.

Now, I can clearly see the direction where the Miss Universe Philippines brand is heading to, and this must be one of the biggest considerations why it parted ways with BPCI. I was also telling Mario Garcia – the Business Development Head – how impressed I am that he was able to gather bigwig sponsors like P&G Philippines (Olay and Downy) and Unilever Philippines (Cream Silk) along with blue-chip companies Jollibee and PLDT Home (which opted to support both BBP and MUP) on top of other popular brands like Havaianas, Grab, Morris Garages and Anytime Fitness. Of course, Frontrow Philippines is already in place long before.

I’m keen on how everything will roll out, especially on the digital marketing part where the Official Candidates will be given a chance to earn compensation from their social media efforts all throughout the pre-pageant period.

Let’s give MUP a chance to set new trends in national pageantry. Now if you want to know what TV network they will join forces with, then you might be in for another surprise. But that’s getting far ahead of the story. I will let the organization implement the new strategies at their own convenience. 🙂