AI, digital marketing driving local startups

Castillo talked about the current trends in digital marketing, and the channels that startups can leverage on to grow their business and accelerate their customer engagement

Shell LiveWIRE, the flagship enterprise development program of Shell Pilipinas Corp., recently partnered with Brainsparks Community Meetup to sharpen the competitive edge of startups by employing digital marketing and artificial intelligence or AI.

Eight Media CEO Gerald Castillo and Creative and IP Lead of AcadArena Andrew Manliquez shared their experiences and expertise about maximizing digital marketing and AI for startups.

We were able to reach 800 startups and among the 32 who went into the acceleration program.

Shell’s partnership with Brainsparks Philippines in this gathering is in line with its mission of supporting startups that are on the cutting-edge of innovation while helping strengthen local economies by promoting entrepreneurship and meaningful employment.

“Shell LiveWIRE supports the MSMEs producing innovative products and services. The second form of support is for the tech startups where we run accelerator programs,” Crisille Villaluna, program officer of Pilipinas Shell Foundation Inc., which is the social arm of Shell Pilipinas, shared. “We were able to reach 800 startups and among the 32 who went into the acceleration program, there were 12 who were integrated into the value chain of Shell and Pilipinas Shell Foundation Inc.”

The community meetup also invited startups and innovators to be a part of the program that can give way to opportunities like mentorship and inclusion to the Shell Value Chain.

Digital marketing, AI for startups

Castillo talked about the current trends in digital marketing, and the channels that startups can leverage on to grow their business and accelerate their customer engagement. He focused his discussion on solving a problem through marketing for startups. His tip: to still keep the basics.

In the talk about AI, Manliquez shared how machine intelligence like ChatGPT can help in a startup’s everyday tasks, specifically for content. He said that startups can use this platform to help minimize their tasks for a day and focus more on other activities.

Also present at the event was Shell LiveWIRE alumnus, Louie Villalon, CEO of Dali Innovative Solutions. He shared his journey with the program and how their product, Vortex, a global energy device particularly a wind turbine, evolved and progressed.

“When we joined Shell LiveWIRE, we did not have this design and this certain ambition that we are trying to target now,” Villalon shared. “With the help from Shell LiveWIRE, we’ve already been able to do several community visits and reached four communities with the help of Shell. They led us to these communities to talk to them and validate our market. We’ve been able to be part of three potential projects, we are now part of one project in Mindoro.”

This year, 11 teams will be chosen to be part of the Acceleration Program.

Among those 11 teams are three tech startups, six community enterprises, and two Shell sponsor’s A-list that will get access to mentorship from industry experts to scale their company.

Tech startups will get financial support through product development and monthly allowances plus a chance to win P1,000,000.

All founders of community enterprises will receive a P100,000 grant after the program.