In Search of the X-Factor with Digital Marketing Consultant Jako De Leon
Kassy Braganza
Helping women make millions as their new normal using group coaching programs #mentor #startupfounder #coach
It’s not every day that you see a premed graduate apply for marketing positions, so perhaps it’s understandable that ad agencies and marketing firms questioned Jako De Leon. Still, it took a toll on his confidence.?
Back in the US, he was working multiple jobs, juggling both hospital work and out-of-the-box marketing. When he moved to the Philippines, he struggled to permeate the marketing industry—until a family friend offered him a production role. He took it, fueled by a willingness to learn from the ground up.
At 22, he was producing his first TV show.
“I just kept pivoting,” Jako told me on the Ambitious Tribe podcast . “When people say, ‘You’re not a marketing guy,’ well let me figure that out. When I was on a block time show and I needed to get an audience and work with bigger ad sponsors, let me figure that out.”
A Filipino Loveteam as the Perfect Marketing Storm
Jako worked with the production company behind Eat Bulaga, one of the longest-running noontime shows in the Philippines. He already parted with the company when Eat Bulaga created AlDub, one of the most popular love teams in the history of Philippine entertainment; still, he helped out from the digital sidelines, creating more hype and helping it trend on Twitter.?
He called AlDub “the brainchild of a lot of people on the show”—it captivated the audience, and the showrunners saw this, took care of it, and developed it story-wise for a long time. Its addictive quality, according to Jako, is its authenticity. “It doesn’t feel like it’s being shoved down your throat,” he said. “With AlDub, it was something I was watching on TV in bed, and I felt that authenticity. I liked what they were doing.”
Further, Jako said the love team’s virality was not something easily replicable. There are things you can do to mimic its effect, but there was an x-factor that made it all work.?
“Social media is word of mouth on steroids.”
Jako observed a similar quality in the consultancy work he now does for influencers and brands. There’s power in simply letting things flow, he said, because that’s what social media and content creation are. “It’s a collaboration of players, of you and the audience. People want to be a part of things, so you make them a part of it.”
“It’s cliche to say ‘be yourself,’” he said. “But that’s exactly one of the things that makes you different. Why not start with who you are, what you like? That’s what people are going to know you as.”
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He recalled that when he first started in the industry, only about 5% of overall marketing budgets were spent on digital. Now, it’s not uncommon to allocate the entire budget to social media. “Social media is word of mouth on steroids,” he succinctly put it.
Jako described the work he does now as “helping people do what they want to do,” and at the core of this is his desire to see people succeed. “You rise by lifting others,” he said. “When I’m managing people, I just want to see them succeed.”
This was his approach in managing Wil Dasovich, one of the top content creators in the Philippines. Wil got a brand deal that Jako did not like, so the latter offered to help out. He created a strategy for Wil; it then snowballed into doing consulting work for companies like Spotify, Google, and Disney.?
“Imagine I’m like salt and pepper,” he explained. “You’re cooking and you have everything: the meats, the vegetables, the soup. I’m that little piece of seasoning that inserts that big boom of flavor that makes the dish a lot more palatable.”
“My KPI is that the people I work with are happy. I really believe that success is not the key to happiness, but that happiness is the key to success,” he added.
What Makes a Great Content Creator?
Jako listed three C’s that determine a great content creator:
“Don’t count the people that you reach. Reach the people that count,” Jako said. Longevity trumps relevance, always—you have to be passionate since the crux of content creation is simply sharing your passion with the world. “Ideally, that passion transcends your work, and you thrive and make a living out of it.”
To hear more about Jako’s story and advice, listen to our podcast episode here . For more inspiring stories about wealthy, driven, and ambitious humans and actionable steps you can take in order for you to move the needle and have a soulful business, tune in to Ambitious Tribe with Kassy Pajarillo .?
If you want to build a high-ticket coaching and consulting business of your own, apply for my exclusive training here to learn how to craft your power profile and make your passion profitable. See you there!