BUMPING into Kia’s marketing ladies Nenuka Guba and Pie Villster at a coffee shop in the vicinity of their Pacific Star office was providential.
A colleague and I had the golden opportunity to be updated on the progress of Team Kia which has yet to find a cute and catchy moniker.
“We’ve just launched a nationwide contest in search of a moniker for the players. We are inviting all basketball fans to send in their entries,” said Guba, Columbia Autocar Corp. marketing manager.
“Just call her “Nooks,” suggested my colleague, who is a longtime business associate of the two, as we juggled our memories, trying to remember what the Toyota players were called back in the 1970s.
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“They were always named after Toyota vehicles,” my colleague reminded me. “Toyota Comets, Toyota Tamaraws, Toyota Corollas, Toyota Macho Machine.”
“So for Kia it could be Kia Sorento, Kia Sportage, Picanto, Optima, Carens, Rio, Soul, Forte, Carnival. There’s a long line to choose from.”
One thing we forgot to ask the Kia ladies is, what prize awaits the lucky entry. Could it be a Kia Picanto?
“At the moment we’re neck-deep working on the marketing requirements of the team. Looking for a regular practice gym falls under our department, so does the procurement of uniforms, and all the paraphernalia that go with this garment such as jackets, jogging pants, bags, shoes, socks, even tapes, etc,” Guba said.
“We have found a practice venue somewhere in Pasig. We have a practice venue but we still don’t have a team. We are eagerly awaiting the expansion and Rookie Drafts, so we can already form the Kia team.”
Guba said Kia’s jersey colors are red, white and gray.
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Contrary to popular belief, the women said Kia intends to form the strongest possible team they could.
With Manny Pacquiao as playing-coach, they made it clear that they do not intend to play the role of whipping boys.
It won’t be good for Pacquiao’s image as well as that of the product and company.
Personally, I think Kia has the potential to become a crowd favorite in the level of Ginebra, having Pacquiao as its own version of Sonny Jaworski if the new PBA franchise can whip up a never-say-die type of squad like the Big J’s charges.
Remember that Jaworski is Pacquiao’s idol.