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This homegrown merienda brand's online content is a masterclass on youth's wit, creativity
"The way I had a heart attack."
If you've seen Lola Nena's recent viral video on social media, where a staff could be seen standing outside a store while the car behind her was backing out of the parking, then you would probably know why most of the comments on the video were along the lines of experiencing a "mini heart attack."
The video quickly gained attention and drew some laughs (and a mini heart attack) among netizens, with almost 100 million views across Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram.
Among those who were entertained by the viral video were Kapuso personalities Valeen Montenegro, Chariz Solomon, and Benjamin Alves.
"Aside from them being so good, I have ordered these donuts in fear that these reels might stop one day!" Ben commented on the video.
Lola Nena's began utilizing social media to promote their products in 2020. However, according to the brand's co-founder and COO Steffi Santana, the most recent viral video was their most successful in numbers and the most memorable for their team.
Lola Nena's, known for its old-fashioned donuts and pichi-pichi, has been crafting creative and entertaining content on social media since the height of the pandemic, and Steffi said the idea of taking advantage of the internet was all thanks to the lockdown.
"When the pandemic happened, I was stuck at home, so I thought, if everybody's staying in, how will they remember Lola Nena's? How are they going to see us?" she said.
"So, I studied social media. I thought if everybody had their phones and were just scrolling, then that's the only way we would be seen during the pandemic," she added.
Steffi credited the books she read about social media and marketing in head-starting Lola Nena's social media presence, especially "Contagious" by Jonah Berger.
"I got a lot of things from that book on how to be contagious and get people's attention," she said.
"It's an attention game," she added. "They see all these things online, so how do we resonate with the audience?"
As someone who's chronically online, Steffi saw limitless types of content she could do for Lola Nena's, but her non-negotiable is to never do anything hard sell—and the only way to achieve this is to build solid branding, which Lola Nena's aced in recent years.
"Our content's viewers are being entertained, but little did they know that Lola Nena's branding is already etching in their minds," she said.
Steffi's team, composed of young Millennials and Gen Z's in the creative scene, is well-immersed in social media platforms to know what works and what doesn't.
"All day, they're scrolling social media, they live online to see what's going on because things change so fast," she said.
"We actually spend more time scrolling than the actual shooting of content because once we have the idea, it's easy to execute," she added.
As a 35-year-old entrepreneur, Steffi said being around young people not only ignites wit and creativity for their content but also radiates contagious positive energy in their workplace.
She also added that Lola Nena's staff members are proud to be part of the brand because people recognize them from their viral videos.
"It adds a fun work culture, it makes them feel proud to wear the uniform," Steffi said.
Since its introduction in 2012, Lola Nena's has been a famous merienda brand in the Philippines. Aside from its old-fashioned donut and pichi-pichi, the food brand also offers palabok, pancit bihon, and gourmet tuyo, among others.
—MGP, GMA Integrated News
