Q1: Before your retirement, you were associated with having mastery of the ‘masa’ market with strong gut feel but based on consumer pulse. Jollibee, Lucky Me! are just some local brands you handled that grew so big. What traits do you think you have that made you a specialist for the ‘masa’? I am masa. I lived masa. It’s my […]
interviews
Q1: What is the most often overlooked aspect of shopper marketing which should be very basic to all? Great shopper marketing starts with great shopper insight. Shopper marketing is marketing. Insight drives actions and solutions. Neuroscience proved that 99% of what we do are driven by subconscious behavior or what we usually call habit. People more or less buy the […]
Q1: You have been with Mary Kay for 6 years. During this period, the company’s business size under you grew by 255% while total number of active sellers grew 335%. What did you do to get these remarkable results?” Women from all walks of life enjoy selling Mary Kay products because of the rewarding opportunity and flexibility offered by our […]
Q1: You were the first non-Japanese woman to be President/CEO of two significant–sized, publicly traded companies in Japan for two very visible iconic brands – Levi’s and Starbucks. What advise would you give young people who would like to follow your path? These were the toughest assignments in my career but also the most rewarding. How does one prepare for […]
Q1: As the top inspirational speaker in the Philippines, can you share with us how this path all began? I never knew I would go into the lecture circuit. But my very first exposure to public (or shall I say…Private) speaking started with only 6 people in the audience. It was a bible study group and our bible study teacher […]
Q1. How did you get started in marketing? I’ve always been a numbers guy, and I was initially inclined to pursue a career either as a financial analyst or an economist. It was probably fate that led me to my Management professors, specifically you and Emmanuel Fernandez, who inspired me to consider Marketing as a career. I eventually joined P&G […]
Q1: Decades ago, Goldilocks had popular cake competitors like Rolling Pin, Merced and Joni’s – all of which are no longer active in the market. Giant Jollibee Food Group acquired Red Ribbon in 2005. What has Goldilocks been doing right all these years for it to hold on to market leadership in the cake industry? I believe that the main […]
Q1: Your company deals mostly with generational transitions. What are some issues confronting family businesses that are usually overlooked by families? To their credit, most of the family business leaders we meet think a lot about succession. The vast majority are very interested in having what they have built continue into the next generation. More than anything else, the senior […]
Q1: Prior to Mondelez, you were with Unilever, first as country brand manager, then regional brand manager, then global brand manager. Can you tell us what were the most challenging parts of each of these brand positions and why? A: At the heart of these roles is the privilege to make a brand more valuable to the business and the […]
Q1: Manila Times was the leading newspaper from 1945 to 1972 before it was shut down during Martial Law. Manila Times scheduled its relaunch after President Cory Aquino was installed as President after the Edsa Revolution in 1986. By the year 2000, your family was already its 4th owner and the newspaper industry has been taken over by newer players […]