For the past two years, Mang Inasal, the Philippines’ Grill Expert, has been heavily present on digital. In fact, it’s official hashtag, #ILoveMangInasal, has over 128,000 posts related to it on Facebook and 315 million views on TikTok, and counting!

You might ask, was it Mang Inasal that made it happen? No, not entirely.

The birth of MICC

In March 2022, Mang Inasal Creators’ Circle (MICC) was launched.

With 30 members composed of mommy nano-influencers and foodies who love Mang Inasal, MICC was created to bring together real brand ambassadors and support their influencer journey by making them part of campaigns that allowed them to enjoy the Ihaw-Sarap food and Unli-Saya experience of Mang Inasal.

“MICC started as an experiment because we wanted to try out better ways to promote Mang Inasal on social media,” shared Mang Inasal Digital and Public Relations Head, RJ Jabeguero-Rodillo. “Then during the first campaign, we saw that there’s promise in it as the MICCs’ posts looked and sounded so natural that netizens found them authentic and relatable. And the selection was perfect because MICC members are real loyal Mang Inasal patrons.”

IHAWtastic content co-creation

Everything starts with a simple brief – for the content creator to post about the campaign however they prefer it. Apart from key messages, reminders on what to highlight in their photos and videos and coordination with the stores for the products that are taken care of by Mang Inasal, it’s the influencers who work on the magic of their materials in a way that achieves the goals yet aligned with their personalities and lifestyles.

From the initial 30-member group, the MICC exponentially grew to over 160 members by 2023. This growth gave birth to a new category of content creators within the community – the Gen Zs and TikTokerists. Now, with over 30 campaigns in 2023, the youth, moms, and foodies all seamlessly tell their unique love for Mang Inasal across their 29-million overall follower base.

As MICC continues to expand, the community has not only tapped a diverse mix of content creators but also partnered with some of the biggest content creators in the regions including Simon Javier of Metro Manila; Mommy Hieds and Georgeous George of North Luzon; Mommy Diaries PH of South Luzon; Mortejo Twins and Zamboanga Guide of Visayas and Mindanao.

“We really appreciate how MICC has added a new spark to how we tell our brand story,” said Ed Timbungco, Mang Inasal Public Relations Manager. “It is a mutually beneficial partnership that has allowed Mang Inasal to help expand the followers of its partner content creators, while the MICCs enrich the Brand’s ways to share its campaigns to more people across the country. We are all kindred spirits exchanging stories about Mang Inasal, a brand we all love.”

Celebration of collaboration

All efforts since its creation have proven to be worth it when the MICC was recently awarded the Black Dragon recognition under the Best Brand Building/Awareness Campaign category at the prestigious 2023 Dragons of Asia.

“MICC is definitely one of our biggest wins this 2023 because we have connected with different communities of customers through our content partners nationwide,” said Rodillo. “We are thankful to all MICC members for their contribution in bringing all the great Mang Inasal updates to their followers. And the Dragons of Asia win confirms the power of their efforts.”

As a celebration of this recognition, MICC Meet Ups were done nationwide, including Mega Manila, North Luzon, South Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. This allowed the brand to get to know the creators in person and share each other’s MICC journey. Also, a virtual party wrapped up the year as all members united via Zoom and celebrated the first-ever MICC IHAWtastic Awards.

While Mang Inasal is ending 2023 with the loudest bang with MICC, the new year promises bigger and more IHAWtastic campaigns that will surely give digital content creators more Ihaw-Sarap food and Unli-Saya experience wherever and however they want to enjoy it!