Q1. Your company is owned and managed by a group comprising of five friends (including a brother). How has this worked out for all of you — in terms of business relationships and in terms of personal bond. Have you worked together in a previous organization or association before incorporating? Jimmy Thai: Johnny and I informally worked together in a family business, […]
Q1: You became the first Asian President of the World Marketing Association a few years ago and you have made Asia proud. How has the role of marketing in the Asian region then and now evolved at an international level? In the last decade, we can see that the role of marketing is evolving so rapidly in the Asia. In […]
Q1: Congratulations on winning Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 2012. Previously, the import duty of chicken products was 30% and it went down even further to only 5% in 2007. This was a major concern of your industry since Thailand has relative cost advantage Tell us about how you arrived at the Chooks-to-Go retail store decision? What […]
Q1: Congratulations on being the 2014 President of the Philippine Marketing Association. How is marketing an association different (or similar) from marketing a product or a service? Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Print Email
Q1: When you founded Ahead Tutorial, what made you decide to focus on students doing well than students having flunking grades? At the time I started AHEAD, there was a negative perception attached to tutorials, which were mostly done at the students’ or tutors’ homes. Most people saw tutoring as a last resort for students who were failing or in […]
Q1: Fast food giants like McDonald’s and Jollibee have french fries as part of their popular value meal, what made you and your partners decide to launch a solo product, french fries, via your Potato Corner kiosks? In 1992, we did not know any better. We just thought it was a good idea because flavored popcorn was doing well and […]
This is continuation of our interview with Universal Robina Corporation’s Vice President-Marketing Edwin Totanes on Launching and Defending New Products. In this second part, Mr. Totanes generously shares about lessons he learned from failures. For Part 1 of his interview, click here Q7: One of your early marketing assignments was as brand manager of Procter and Gamble for Crest. While […]
Q1: I have known you since 1982, and you have always been entrepreneurial, please update us about your other entrepreneurial ventures outside of RFM (Joey’s Pepperoni, etc.) On my popcorn and cotton candy business, it is a business I started with my wife Marissa, when we were still single, over 30 years ago. It used to be called Joey’s popcorn […]
“Research results should be “used directionally” and not necessarily to be “followed directly” Edwin Totanes Q1: Congratulations on your winning the prestigious Agora Awards for marketing management from the Philippine Marketing Association last 2013. What do you consider are your biggest marketing achievements so far and why? I have selected 3 examples from my previous employment at a) Kraft Foods, Inc.; […]
Q1: You have founded many successful companies like Abenson, Walter Mart, Electroworld and many distribution companies. Where and how do you get ideas for your businesses? Through the years, I have realized that the market evolves relentlessly. With the technological advancements, consumers are now better informed and more connected. The key to success is the ability to continuously identify and […]