Ace Gapuz, CEO of Blogapalooza, the trailblazing community of bloggers, social media influencers, and content creators all over the Philippine archipelago and nearby Southeast Asian countries, talks about the power of influencer marketing, growing her company and being a female entrepreneur in an interview with Stylish Magazine. 

From Blogapalooza 2011 to Bloga Fest 2023: Photo above is from Bloga Fest 2023

Manila, Philippines — The blogging movement in the early 2010s was such a game-changing, interesting and beloved era in marketing– thanks to bloggers who would pour out their lives, thoughts and passions in long narratives of essays in their self-crafted websites. It was such a turning point in marketing and online atmosphere as a whole as the page truly flipped when bloggers were suddenly invited to previously exclusive media events and press conferences, showing just how much the way they documented their thoughts and words truly impacted how certain brands and events can be perceived or seen online. Suddenly, there were active online conversations because of personal blogs that would then talk about brands, businesses and companies, and not just about their mundane daily lives. 

Ace Gapuz, CEO of Blogapalooza, was such an strong force who honed the landscape of the blogging business around this time. Back in 2011, networking event Blogapalooza was launched, wherein a small community of bloggers got to interact with small business owners who were starting to see the value of online reviews via blogs. That impact is still strong these days as Blogapalooza has become the Philippines’ premier influencer marketing company that continues to connect online content creators to businesses.

The Start of Blogapalooza

In an interview with us here at Stylish Magazine, Ace shared the humble beginnings of the Blogapalooza event, how it has seen the growth of online and social media marketing, and how it has turned into a full-blown influencer marketing agency today.

“When we started in 2011, Blogapalooza was an event that we organized because we just wanted to convene people together. It was a small community of bloggers back then, and we wanted to  introduce them to business friends or small businesses through the Blogapalooza event. We just wanted to have that gathering of bloggers and business owners basically,” Ace shared.

“And then, because it was the firs- of-its-kind, it gained some early recognition in the community and then people started looking for it every year. And so we gave it to them. We have held the Blogapalooza event every year since 2011. We only stopped during the pandemic, so we didn’t have one in 2020 and 2021. But we came back in 2022. So you know, it’s a tradition. It’s a ritual for people in our community to be in the Blogapalooza event. Right now, we call it Bloga Fest, but that was how it started in 2011 as an event. We just continued it over the years.”

Bloga Fest 2023
Bloga Fest 2023

The steady growth of Blogapalooza in more than a decade of its existence gave this female CEO the front row seat of the changes of the online content marketing landscape in the country.

“And then through the years, we are trying to ride the wave of how the industry is evolving, so we put up business units that would support whatever it is that the market would need at the time. And that’s why we were able to come up with the other business units that are already part of Blogapalooza Incorporated, which is now a formally registered company. It has its own identity already. We have a lot of business units already under this company. The event is still there. We have a proprietary tech platform that we use just for our internal purposes and then we have a talent management arm. We have the creator merchandise, and of course, the Bloga Creator Hub.  We are continuously developing and cooking up business units that will support this entire ecosystem of influencer marketing.”

“I think that’s also one thing that sets us apart. We don’t stop at just giving agency service. We also introduce new business units and innovations that would support what we’ve already built. So that’s how we are, we have been building it ever since.”

Today, Blogapalooza has creator communities in almost all the areas in the country.

“We’ve been here the longest, we’ve also seen how the industry has evolved through the years. Having that  rootedness is very important, especially when you encounter new campaigns. Because I don’t want to say that history repeats itself, but there are a lot of insights that you can get from campaigns or marketing efforts that have been done before. You can easily rekindle a sense of nostalgia. And then there’s a specific market that can relate to a certain campaign. You can just go back to the times when blogging was still the thing, and that rootedness really is what makes us a good partner for a lot of our brands.”

Bloga Growth: From Blogging to Influencer Marketing

Today, Blogapalooza is more than just a blogging community. It has become a full-blown influencer marketing agency, and it goes way beyond that indeed with its physical collaboration space and activities.

“Blogapalooza is the Philippines’ premier influencer marketing company, and I say this because number one, we’ve been here the longest. Having that experience and I say rootedness in this industry is what really makes the difference,” the female entrepreneur said.

“The edge of Blogapalooza, first and foremost, is in our community because we really have the largest community of influencers and content creators in the entire Philippines right now. Literally from Batanes to Tawi-Tawi, we have our Bloga family there.”

Ace has seen the start of the power of influencer marketing, as then-bloggers have grown and transitioned into becoming influencers.

“Influencer marketing helps businesses in terms of forming positive opinions about whatever their business is. And it also encourages your belief in the product, and recognizability of the product. And I say this because the market is already super noisy, there are a lot of product options. There are many channels through which people acquire their information and influencers just make it easier for businesses to reach the people that they want to speak with, their target market basically.”

“The financial implication of it is that it helps businesses to have more product sales. I’ve read a study that there’s a huge majority of people that would try a product because they saw it being used or being recommended by an influencer,” she added.

Bloga Creator Hub

After more than a decade, Blogapalooza opened its first-ever creators space hub four months ago called the Bloga Creator Hub, where content makers can produce videos and photos, and even collaborate and work. The space is located at the Mega Tower near Megamall in Mandaluyong City.

“The Bloga Creator Hub is a brand-powered collaboration hub for content creators and influencers. It is a space that we want content creators to convene in, create content together in, and hold activities in. The entire space is powered by various brands. We have sponsors. Our internet is powered by PLDT Home, the furniture is from Muebles Italiano. The space is protected by UV Care. There’s the Uratex Sleep Studio here, too. This entire ecosystem of brands and creators working together, that’s really the thrust of Bloga Creator Hub, and t’s a versatile space. You can have your meetings here if you’re a creator. You can brainstorm here. You can film your content here. We’ve done so many activities at the blog creator hub, how we call it beach. BCH, beach. We’ve done a bazaar. We have done a fan meet, a watch party for a movie. We’ve done Zumba classes. It’s a hub that can host their activities, a space where you can connect with other creators,” she said.

BCH also welcomes walk-in creatives, as the space is really made for creators. “It’s not just for influencers, it’s for creators and influencers. Creatives are welcome. In fact, there are two to three production houses that have already shot their TVCs here. So it’s a really versatile space where people are welcome.”

“Right now, we implement a membership system whereby the members can use the space on an unlimited basis during its opening hours. We are testing out a lot of things so this membership system will maybe change eventually, but we will see. We’re only four months old from the time when we opened, so we’re really testing out a lot of things and it’s a little more challenging for us because there’s no benchmark to really, really kind of model against. It’s the first in the country and we don’t see anything similar to this. We welcome creators and influencers in the Bloga Creator Hub.”

Business Tips for Female Entrepreneurs

Ace has opened up about being a female entrepreneur, as well as the many lessons, challenges and milestones that come with it. She shared her top three pieces of advice.

“Number one is really focus on your strength and outsource the rest, or delegate the rest. When I was starting Bloga as a company for that matter, I know that accounting is not really my strong suit. And legal is also something that I know we need. And so those are the two initial I’d say departments. But all of those are outsourced. Those are the two initial things that I focused on because everything else, I think at back then I can. I was doing everything virtually, everything except accounting and legal. So everything internal was really me. Because I know I’m strong in these things. I’m a strong strategist and I’m a planner. I’m a doer. I’m an organizer. So these are my strong suits and I outsource the rest.”

“Second advice: try to keep your emotions in check. Women can be emotional, I was also a drama queen before!” she said in jest. “But eventually, the more things happened to me and the business, I tried to just let things happen because it is what it is, and then move forward quickly. Just keep your emotions in check because running a business is not a piece of cake. It will really take you through a whirlwind of emotions. Like before, when people would leave us, I would really take it personally So, keep your emotions in check and stay rational.”

“And then my third advice, manage your time very well. I think as females, we have so many things that we need to do. We need to maintain our hair, nails, all of these girl things to maintain our appearance. You need to make time for all of these things. And some women have other things that they do in life. Or maybe for the moms, you have other responsibilities aside from your career, and, you know, we all have different circumstances in life.”

“You just really have to manage time very well. I’m a calendar person and everyone who works with me closely would know this. I calendar everything, everything down to my social media time is calendared. I wouldn’t say I’m uptight about my life. I’m flexible when it needs to be flexible. I’m also flexible when it matters. But most of the things that I need to do for work are scheduled. That’s why a slight deviation would really rattle me. It’s the way to go if you want and need things to happen, you schedule them properly.”

We cannot wait to see what is next for the Bloga fam and this female visionary!