One of the questions often asked in my marketing seminars is about defending against attacks from competition and even substitutes. When brands become successful, they are bound to attract the attention of others who may want to share a piece of the pie. My advice to clients is to understand the pattern of competitive attacks and to never underestimate competition. Be sensitive to the obvious signs of a potential attacker – new […]
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Q1: You were in consumer advertising before marketing political campaigns. How do you influence decision making of specific voters? Do you use the same framework as marketing products or services? A: The same principles are involved: a good narrative, authenticity, and a compelling reason to buy or vote, in the case of politicians. Q2: Say some politicians have approached you. What do you […]
Marketing marketing. That’s right! There is no typo error in the title. I would like to discuss how marketing (the degree) should be marketed (the strategy) in many universities in the Philippines. If schools were to produce competent and capable graduates in marketing, they must consider what is truly relevant for industry (the demand side) versus what they are offering […]
Schools can benefit from changing their perspective with regards to how they operate. The following cases will show that even schools have something to learn. The Zero Moment-of-Truth Over a decade ago, I volunteered to help my eldest son look for a computer school and was told by one popular school that while they offered computer courses and was definitely […]
We ran a quick survey with some of the marketing management winners of Mansmith Young Market Masters Awards (YMMA) on the ‘hirability’ of fresh graduates in their respective companies. We thank the ff. for answering our questions — 1) Lester Estrada, country marketing manager for total hair care of P&G (fresh from his stint in P&G Japan), 2) Candice Iyog, […]
Q1: Cisco is number one in 14 out of 17 product categories and a close second in the remaining 3 worldwide in the IT industry. What directions or factors have you identified to attain this remarkable performance? Cisco is the only company with market share leadership across all industry segments that we are engaged in. That is the result of […]
Q1: You were a La Salle brother for 5 years but decided to be a marketer of P&G, Citibank, Pepsi and Sara Lee, what attracted you to marketing that made you give up a vocation? I did not leave the La Salle Brothers to pursue a marketing career; the latter was coincidental. In 1977, after four years of formation in […]
Q1: Your competitors have attacked your makeup and skincare categories. How are these products doing now and what did you do then to defend your turf? A: Being the world’s number one beauty company gives us two huge competitive advantages in “defending our turf.” The first one involves product innovation. Given our huge investment in our Research & Innovation division […]
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 […]