Q1: As a retail expert, who are the top 3 retailers you admire most and why? Locally, Rustan’s, SM, and Bench. These homegrown brands all had humble beginnings and through the years have grown tremendously through constant evolution while remaining true to their brand essence, DNA, and heritage. Rustan’s represents quality, service, and world-class products and experiences. It has defined […]
Q&A
Q1: What are some of the most often made mistakes companies do in social media marketing? For me, the biggest mistake is mismanagement of expectations. In my experience, most brands use social media to collect fans, and use the number of likes or followers as the metric of success. Then, they evaluate ROI of social media through sales, which in […]
Q1: Why do you use Chief Evangelizing Officer as  your position title in your company? What is your “evangelizing” mission? Your goal is not simply to make a sale today, you want to invite your customers to join you in your cause… your mission. In our case, more fun in the beach with Beach Hut Sunblock or making sure your […]
Q1: In the diaper business, you have overtaken P&G in terms of market share nationwide since 2012, how long did it take you to take the lead and what was the tipping point? Can you share the strategy (and phases if any) behind EQ? ECG: It was a long process of adjusting to the needs of the market and to […]
Q1: Bayad Center, as a bill payment center, was set up because you had to address unremitted collections and increasing cost of collection (hold ups of Meralco electric bill collectors, delayed remittance, etc). Â How serious was this situation then or what was the tipping point that caused the creation of the Bayad centers? Have you attained your goals why Bayad […]
Q1.​ 7-Eleven is an example that a firm can give a parity value proposition to the consumers but a superior supply chain operating model to its franchisees. Can you elaborate why 7-Eleven is the industry benchmark when it comes to supply chain? Convenience stores in general are the most logistics-intensive of retail formats. We are able to meet the daily needs of our […]
Q1: You spent a few years with the US Navy when you were in your early 20s. What made you enter the navy and what habits did you get there that you continue to practice today? Pretty much, my life wasn’t anything worth talking about after dropping out of high school. I really didn’t value education yet back then so I guess I […]
Q1: Jacksonhole in Wyoming is the no. 1 ski resort in North America while Four Seasons Resort Hotel is the only 5-star, AAA 5-diamond hotel in Jacksonhole. What differentiates your hotel from other resort hotels or what do your guests experience in Four Seasons that they can’t get from other hotels? There is a great osmosis between JHMR (Jackson Hole Mountain Resort) and […]
Q1: You put up the first hypermarket in the Philippines, Shopwise, and while most supermarkets just provided express lanes for those buying a few pieces, Shopwise created the exclusive Elite lane designed to save time as well as reward volume buyers with free snacks. You also have price checkers in skateboard. I really like these ideas, can you share with […]
Q1: I have known you since the mid 1990’s, when you were a young partner of a struggling start-up. Although it became successful, the map business was eventually dissolved after 5 years, what lessons did you learn from that early entrepreneurial experience? It’s been exactly 20 years since I met you, Josiah, when you mentored me and my friends on […]