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 […]

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 […]

Q1: McDonald’s started the fastfood trend worldwide with the insight “people don’t dine, they eat and run.” They created many firsts which are now standard in fast food. What are firsts that McDonald’s has launched in the Philippines? Innovation and relevance are important for McDonald’s to stay on top of a fast-paced industry. Here in the Philippines, McDonald’s introduced the […]

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Q1: Decades ago, Goldilocks had popular cake competitors like Rolling Pin, Merced and Joni’s – all of which are no longer active in the market.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

Q1: Your company deals mostly with generational transitions.  What are some issues confronting family businesses that are usually overlooked by families? To their credit, most of the family business leaders we meet think a lot about succession. The vast majority are very interested in having what they have built continue into the next generation. More than anything else, the senior […]

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There is a saying that “If you give a man a hammer, he will see everything as nails”. Similarly, when a person learns about the marketing mix (product, price, place and promotions) as a way to attain marketplace advantage, he may apply it without questioning the bigger picture for validity. My journey in analyzing marketing as a lifelong student continues to allow me to […]

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

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