Q1: What is insighting and why is it important for a marketer or a businessperson to have insight? A1: Insighting” is basically the process of understanding what consumers need or want. It is getting to the heart of people’s thoughts, motivations and behaviors to inspire business opportunity. In that simple definition, one can immediately understand why “insighting” is important – […]

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 […]

Q5: Some companies do not franchise their businesses because of quick ROI and significant positive cash flow. A few have been able to successfully expand quickly. What are pros and cons of this approach? Fruit Magic President Dr. Alan Escalona: A business that wants to increase its market reach and advance its brand value needs to expand rapidly. If the said business […]

A few years ago, I was one of the plenary speakers of the Philippine Center for Entrepreneurship’s Go Negosyo Youth Summit.  Let me share the five highlights of my talk on “Grow from Failures” where I talked about many business failures from my early days, some of which I also wrote in my book “The WE Entrepreneur”. 1.     I was 23 years […]

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 […]

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Q1: East West Seeds is the dominant market leader in vegetable seeds in the Philippines controlling majority of the market. How was this made possible in your industry? A: This was made possible by a strong research and development, being close to the market (localized breeding and variety development), understanding the needs of our customers (farmers), excellent technology transfer services and […]

Without a market-driving strategy, a marketing plan focusing solely on the served market is incomplete as it risks losing the underserved or unserved markets (sometimes even bigger than current customers) to other competitors.  Thus, market-driving strategy should be viewed as a source of innovation and growth for old businesses as well as a new and major revenue source of firms. Market-Driving […]

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

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