Q1: Your name is synonymous to volleyball. Yet, your first love was basketball. What life lessons have you learned shifting from basketball to volleyball? A: I’ve learned that you have to accept the realities in your life and make the most out of what you have. At that time, we didn’t have a basketball team in high school and I […]
(An anniversary tribute to my late dad, Dr. Charles Gosingtian) Rich girl, poor boy is often the theme of many movies, and it is the story of my mom and dad. Dad was a market vendor at age 11. His maternal uncle helped him with his study money. He struggled but he succeeded in being a student leader. He often […]
Q1: You were a La Salle brother for 5 years but decided to be a marketer of P&G, Citibank, Pepsi and Sara Lee, what attracted you to marketing that made you give up a vocation? I did not leave the La Salle Brothers to pursue a marketing career; the latter was coincidental. In 1977, after four years of formation in […]
Don’t celebrate yet – hold that promotion to the next position! Review your expansion plan first. Know that many situations of high sales may not be sustainable. 1. Few Repeat Customers When sales are mostly from new customers with only a handful of repeat customers – you may have lost many customers, accounts, and distributors. Retention is the problem. 2. […]
Q1: Your competitors have attacked your makeup and skincare categories. How are these products doing now and what did you do then to defend your turf? A: Being the world’s number one beauty company gives us two huge competitive advantages in “defending our turf.” The first one involves product innovation. Given our huge investment in our Research & Innovation division […]
It is always good to be mindful of mass-based consumers and the poor and marginalized. It’s even better to stay with them to watch what they do and why. A. Family heritage Dad became a market vendor / kargador at age 11. He had to support a family struggling to make ends meet. I have always embraced this fact and […]
Q1: As someone who rose from the ranks, what are some of your most unforgettable experiences while starting out as a rookie? A: Fresh from college, I joined Gillette as a sales trainee where all new recruits were required to survive the grueling 6-month long boot camp training. Each month, at least one trainee would be sent home for not […]
Why do some marketing strategies work with some companies but not with others? Besides having bad products, pricing and a host of related issues that affect awareness, trial and repeat purchase, the answer may have something to do with the company’s operating model. A colleague with over 20 years of experience in the food and beverage industry shared a frustration that […]
Q1: You have been president or managing director of San Miguel Brewery, Kraft, URC and many other companies, then you shifted to the government as president of Philippine International Trading Corporation (PITC) – Pharma. I understand you were able to turnaround PITC, (“a consistently profit-challenged” government company) within your 14-month stay. What issues plagued PITC and how did you […]
In my previous article (Why Businesses Fail), I explained that businesses fail when lacking in at least one of these four factors: Product-Market, People, Peso, and Prayers. This article will focus on some of the possible remedies A Product-Market deficiency arises when there is a lack of brand relevance. To be relevant is to have a clear target market that […]