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 […]
(Thanks to Inquirer for publishing this article last Jan. 10, 2014. The co-author of this article, Chiqui Escareal-Go, is President & CEO of marketing training firm Mansmith and Fielders, Inc. An updated trends article will be published at the Inquirer again on Jan. 4, 2015) 2013 was quite a year—for lack of a deserving superlative to describe it—most especially for Filipinos. […]
At the height of typhoon Yolanda a year ago (2013), I was sick and immobilized at home but I felt I had to do something to help those affected by the storm. Having initiated fund raising campaigns in the past for Zamboanga Fund for Little Kids (original name was Yellow Boat of Hope Foundation) and the Godparents Program of Markprof Marketing Leadership Bootcamp […]
Q1: Retailing appliances has many pain points where customers go through a process of information search, face-to-face inquiry, product demo, delivery and after sales. How is Abenson addressing customer irritants and annoyances? At ABENSON, our mission is to bring the ‘Good Life’ to every Filipino Home. In our 45 year history we have seen how differently our customers’ priorities have […]
Q1: When you were still with P&G Philippines and Singapore, you helped Pampers defend against EQ diapers, regaining leadership in 2003. You also found yourself doing the same for Whisper when you turned it around to win against Modess. What were your strategies then? When does a brand decide to defend or not to defend? A brand’s decision to defend […]
In my previous post, I wrote about the MarkProf Foundation Inc. which has been honing deserving graduating student leaders through a life-changing 7-weekend boot camp in Marketing Leadership. Just recently, MarkProf made official its roster of “Top 25 Marketing Management Trainees of the Philippines” through the graduation of its 11th batch last December 6, 2014. Kudos to the MarkProf scholars who successfully passed the rigorous training. On top of the mind-racing challenges, there was one exciting addition this year, a first in the MarkProf history – the Waters Video Challenge. Part of their overall grades would […]
In 2004, Ding Salvador (then newly–retired ASEAN president of Johnson and Johnson’s) and I put up MarkProf Foundation Inc. to help develop future leaders of the Philippines. We saw some biases happening in the corporate world where hiring of important entry-level positions, including management trainees, was usually limited to three schools, namely: Ateneo, De La Salle, and University of the Philippines (not necessarily in […]
Store retailing is a business that can easily be started. But with the rise of competition and many other risks in this industry, a store retailer must revisit and identify each business factor to have a competitive edge. There are two interconnected elements to have a profitable retail business. The first one is related to marketing while the second one […]
There are ‘marketing disasters’ that can be expected at year-end. One of these is what we call “ritualization”, a term that refers to practices that are wrong but are done anyway in the corporate world. Ritualization, as well as how to solve this, is part of the subject covered in the Marketing and Sales Implementation seminar / workshop Mansmith and […]
Q1: McDonald’s started the fastfood trend worldwide with the insight “people don’t dine, they eat and run.” They created many firsts which are now standard in fast food. What are firsts that McDonald’s has launched in the Philippines? Innovation and relevance are important for McDonald’s to stay on top of a fast-paced industry. Here in the Philippines, McDonald’s introduced the […]