Companies often think offering massive discounts, like 50% off or more, is a smart way to attract customers. It might bring in a lot of sales initially, but let’s take a closer look. The people it draws in the most are bargain hunters – those who love a good deal but might not stick around to buy at regular prices. […]

Market leader Cebu Pacific Air is not only known for having low fare services, but also very agile with their marketing communications and sales promotions. VP Marketing Candice Alabanza-Iyog selflessly shares her insights on how they do a campaign internally. Q1: When Leonardo de Caprio won his first Oscar, Cebu Pacific Air immediately launched a promo free trip to Guam […]

I walked into a meeting with a cup of Zu’s coffee in my hand. It was early December, when Starbucks lines grow longer and planners quietly signal participation in a shared ritual. The person beside me smiled and asked, “Do you like Zu? No Starbucks planner this year?” I laughed and answered honestly. The lines were too long for my […]

It’s tempting in business to chase the next campaign, launch a discount, or offer a flash promotion. But often, these are solving symptoms, not solutions, like painting over a crack while ignoring the foundation. In a low-trust economy like the Philippines, this approach is risky. Customers are skeptical. Partners are cautious. And trust, once broken, can take years to rebuild. […]

Public awareness around corruption and social justice is at an all-time high across much of Asia, including the Philippines. Wealth and power, once flaunted without question, are now being cast in a more critical light. For years, social media made ostentatious displays of wealth feel routine. Few questioned the sources of that luxury, and many influencers posted without considering the […]

How do Filipino brands break through the noise and build lasting loyalty in a culture where urgency and ritual coexist? The answer lies in two deeply symbolic marches that shape the Filipino experience: the urgent protest and the enduring pilgrimage. One is loud and immediate, the other slow and reverent. Together, they offer not only insight into the Filipino psyche […]

Most marketing leaders pride themselves on discipline: detailed calendars, tightly defined KPIs, and precisely allocated budgets. These are signs of a well-oiled machine. But what if that very structure is what’s holding your business back? The danger is subtle but real: over-optimized marketing plans are slowly suffocating innovation. Rather than acting as launchpads for growth, many plans become rigid scripts, […]

Most companies today are stuck in what’s called a Red Ocean, a marketplace filled with intense competition, where businesses offer similar products and fight over the same customers. Coined by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne, the term describes the bloodied waters of saturated markets, where everyone’s trying to take a bigger slice of an already shrinking pie. Here, the […]

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

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