Q1: Congratulations! After 25 years of waiting, the Philippine congress was able to pass the Philippine Competition Act. Who should be afraid of this? A: The Philippine Competition Act punishes entities that exhibit anti-competitive behaviours, cartel-like actions and abuses in dominant position. If your business is playing fair, there is nothing to fear. What this bill will do is to […]

The Philippine Franchise Association (PFA) is the Philippines’ pioneer and largest franchise association. It’s officers list includes the who’s who of business with Samie Lim of BLIMS Furniture as chairman emeritus, Yvette Orbeta of Wendy’s as chairperson, Bing Limjoco of Francorp and Robert Trota of Max’s Group as vice chairmen and Franklin Go of Goldilocks as president . Its membership […]

Execution involves having the capabilities to get the job done.  In Mansmith’s implementation workshop, we call this the 3Cs of capabilities – coordination, competency and commitment.   This helps in solving company’s execution obstacles by replacing traps with tools. A most fundamental problem in execution is when people create assumptions that someone else in the company will do certain tasks and […]

Q1: You are an industrial engineer and you started as a methods officer in the finance function in 1977 for Unilever (then PRC). How did this influence your thinking process in your long career in Customer Development? A: Industrial engineering, in my view, is the application of science in business.  The professional advance of Customer Development (previously called Sales) from […]

There are so many little things that corporate leaders ignore.  Just take a look at the following industries and you can see many blind spots.  Some examples of old truths that are still unchallenged to date are: In the retail banking industry, there is no fun and enjoyable experience while inside a retail bank. For the supermarket industry, shoppers have no choice […]

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There was a frantic call one morning. The man on the other side reminded me that we met in one of the marketing and innovation conferences he attended where I, together with some colleagues from Mansmith and Fielders, Inc. spoke. He then pleaded I should make time to meet him the same day – – his wife was about to […]

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Q1: Decades ago, Goldilocks had popular cake competitors like Rolling Pin, Merced and Joni’s – all of which are no longer active in the market.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 […]

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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: 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 […]

Q1: You have been with Gardenia since its launch. What was your launch strategy and if you were to change something in the launch, what would that be and why? When Gardenia started in the Philippines in 1998, it marketed Cowhead milk and Gardenia loaves with its sales force selling more milk than bread. The company refocused its strategy in […]

Josiah Go features the movers and shakers of the business world and writes about marketing, strategy, innovation, execution and entrepreneurship

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