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 […]
There was a frantic call one morning. The man on the other side reminded me that we met in one of the marketing and innovation conferences he attended where I, together with some colleagues from Mansmith and Fielders, Inc. spoke. He then pleaded I should make time to meet him the same day – – his wife was about to […]
After sharing my top 10 Q&A for 2014, I would like to share my top 10 blog posts for 2014 according to number of readers. Interestingly, my two articles about pyramiding attracted the most interest. I will therefore write a bit more about network marketing as distinguish from pyramiding in 2015. In fact, the officers of the Direct Selling Association […]
I started www.josiahgo.com on May 9, 2014 with an interview with marketing expert Edwin Totanes. The interview was quite long and it had to be split into two parts. It remains the all-time favorite of readers in 2014. My top 10 Q&A blog posts for 2014 according to the number of readers are: Q&A with Universal Robina Corporation’s VP-Marketing Edwin […]
Last year, we put together a list of trends which was really borne out of personal reflections, based on past experiences on how things tended to progress or divert into other patterns of change. This year, besides our own observations, we have put together another such list, this time combining our own forecasts as well information shared by some Mansmith […]
Most of the things I have done in marketing and for the marketing industry can be called accidental if not for my single-minded focus on how I “live” marketing – from personal branding and positioning, to customer market segmentation and customer understanding, to love and passion for what I do. Writing books for example, is no mean feat. I turned out […]
Q1: One of your competitors was first to launch a sugarfree bread variant in 2012, which captured a significant 15% market share in the wheat & health bread category. How did Gardenia protect itself from this competitive attack? A: Gardenia responded by studying further the consumers to understand their behavior and to know what they truly desire. We found out […]