Conquering the Challenge of Changing Business Landscapes

In a constantly changing marketing landscape subject to unpredictable interactions between market forces, it is necessary to be updated on emerging trends and practices in the field of Marketing. According to a Philippine Marketing Association (PMA) official, it is crucial to be always a step ahead and to always ask “what’s next” in order to maintain competitiveness.

“It’s every marketing professional’s responsibility to be aware of new developments and trends in marketing to be able to grow and sustain the business and even become globally competitive,” explains Gwenn Albarracin, PMA President, adding that practices aren’t always timeless and professionals may be employing strategies that are no longer applicable or may need certain tweaks to be effective.

She shares that there are a lot of promising new theories in the field that may change or re-define marketing practices. Among which are ‘Marketing 3.0’ and ‘New Wave Marketing’ espoused by the Founder and CEO of MarkPlus Inc. – a leading marketing professional service firm (Consulting, Education, Research, Media) based in Indonesia and Malaysia – Hermawan Kartajaya.

“Kartajaya perceives changes in the business landscape as an indication that marketing has turned from vertical to horizontal; that it should no longer be viewed from a top-down perspective but should be seen as a level playing field instead,” adds Albaraccin.

Described as a unique combination of practitioner and theorist, Kartajaya has written several international books and has even co-authored some with the Father of Modern Marketing, Philip Kotler.

His co-authored book, Marketing 3.0: from Products to Customers to the Human Spirit, explains that there are three forces that set forth the birth of Marketing 3.0: The Age of Participation and Collaborative Marketing, The Age of Globalization Paradox and Cultural Marketing, and The Age of Creative Society and Human Spirit Marketing. It also describes Marketing 3.0 as the period by which practices are very much influenced by changes in consumer behavior and attitude.

He will be among the speakers in the upcoming Asian Marketing Conference to be held on July 19-20 at the Makati Shangri-La Hotel. Albaraccin says that Kartajaya’s insights will be helpful in understanding how practitioners and business owners can adjust strategies and practices in response to political, technological, socio-cultural, economic changes in the business scene.

As one of the “50 Gurus Who Have Shaped the Future of Marketing” by the Chartered Institute of Marketing United Kingdom, sharing theories and experiences has been a fact of life for Kartajaya, “I have been speaking in several marketing conferences since 1995 in US, Asia, Europe, and Australia. In fact, I have been in the Philippines several times already for various speaking engagements.”

He claims that global marketing practice has a lot of shortcomings. “There are generally a lot of bad practices that we should slowly do the correction. I hope that the attendees of the upcoming Asian Marketing Conference will be part of correcting these bad practices and become aware that Marketing is shifting from ‘vertical’ to ‘horizontal.’”

Albarracin encourages marketing practitioners and key decision-makers to take part in this opportunity to learn from globally-renowned experts and interact with fellow practitioners. “As marketing professionals, we need to play an active role in advancing our knowledge of the craft and be able to better conquer its challenges,” she concludes.

For more information about the Asian Marketing Conference, kindly visit www.asianmarketingconference.com or call +632 634-5722.

Harnessing Youth’s Community-changing Ideas

After a series of rigorous nationwide screenings in search for the best social marketing ideas around the country, Unilab Ideas Positive has chosen 12 student teams to implement their community-changing projects with a seed money of P100, 000 each. To help them prepare for their project implementation, Unilab Ideas Positive gathered these teams in a 3-day social marketing boot camp led by the country’s topmost and well-known social marketing practitioners at the Unilab Bayanihan Center in Mandaluyong City.

Among the 12 finalists, Team Five for Life (Metro Manila), Tamang TEAMpla (Metro Manila), Team Kabataang Katipuneros (Iloilo City) and Team Green Label (Davao City) focused their efforts on solving their community’s main issue of malnutrition through fun and innovative ideas such as nutrition plate guides and cooking contests. Meanwhile, Team Ba (Baguio City) and Team FNEC (Bicol) focused on improving the hygiene practices of Benguet school children and Muslim Maranao settlers respectively.

Taking on the challenge of environmental care and preservation, Team Protogenia (Batangas) proposed to train the Badjaos of Batangas on how to best utilize their surroundings for methods of self-sustenance while Team W.A.Y.A. (Iloilo City) suggested a mussel-conservation campaign. On the other hand, water-oriented projects were recommended by Team Matalaw (Batangas) and Team JEYTUDITUSI (Cavite) as they sought to establish clean-up efforts for their rivers while Team Bang (Cebu) and Team Transits (Cebu) developed water-filtering systems.

“Unilab Ideas Positive was developed to create meaningful change towards the nation. We seriously take our role as a health and wellness company in building the nation, which is the reason behind the nationwide expansion of the program this year,” shared Unilab Ideas Positive program lead Barry Barrientos. “Knowing that change starts with small steps, we built Unilab Ideas Positive to partner with and give a platform for the youth to ‘positivize’ the Philippines in true Bayanihan spirit, one community at a time.”

The 12 teams took time to pose for a shot during the boot camp

As part of their learning adventure, the students spent time with the country’s best industry practitioners: social marketing guru Dr. Ned Roberto, social entrepreneurs Mark Ruiz, Reese Fernandez-Ruiz, Jayson Lo, Krie Reyes-Lopez and Chit Juan, and creative and communication strategist Peachy Pacquing. Dr. Ivanhoe Escartin of the DOH National Center for Health Promotion gave the students an overview of the country’s health and wellness landscape. Meanwhile, social marketing consultants and academicians Harvey Keh, Ma. Christine Reyes and Dr. Sylvia Claudio, among others, dug into the implementation details of the students’ projects to ensure smooth rollout. Social advocate Jay Jaboneta and award-winning director Jim Libiran also inspired the participants with their stories of their own advocacies.

The teams were also brought to the Gawad Kalinga (GK) Enchanted Farm in Bulacan to witness social marketing and innovation in action, led by a talk by GK Founder and President Tony Meloto.

The Unilab Ideas Positive 2011 winners—Grand Winner Team High 5, Runners-up Team AweEights and Team KaBaLiKAT—also shared their boot camp and project implementation experience.

 “Assuming our newfound roles as agents of positive change in their chosen communities, we have learned the basics of social marketing and even immersed ourselves in actual social marketing practices in preparation for our very own project implementation,” shared Jhanette Co of 2011 Unilab Ideas Positive Grand Prize winner, Team High 5.

In the next six months, all 12 student teams will be implementing their projects in their respective communities, mentored by social marketing practitioners from around the country. From the 12, the five most successful youth teams in project implementation will advance to the finals for a chance to become the Unilab Ideas Positive 2012 grand winner.

For more information on the event and each team’s progress, visit www.Facebook.com/Unilab.IdeasPositive and www.unilabideaspositive.com. Follow us on Twitter via @ideaspositive.

Dine with Dad at Tokyo Café

To the man whose strong arms carried you, taught you how to ride a bike, helped you carry your heavy bags, fixed broken things that you needed, protected you, and drove miles for you to see interesting places. For all those great moments when he was at your side―guiding, helping, and teaching you―Dad will indeed always be the first and greatest man in your life.

Tokyo Café celebrates Father’s Day by giving you a chance to treat him to dishes that resemble his prime significance in your life. Because Tokyo Café understands how special he is to you, the Japanese-style family restaurant offers a selection of menus fit for a king―the Wagyu.

This delectable beef, grown from the Wagyu cattle in Kobe, Japan, is considered the premium cut of beef because of its extensive marbling. For years, it is known throughout the world as a notable part of the menu with a globally royal price. Simply put, Wagyu is the Rolls Royce of steaks. And like dads who deserve a power-packed meal to keep them strong, Tokyo Café offers its customers two of its great selections: the Tokyo Wagyu Burger Steak and the Tokyo Wagyu Burger.

Twice the size of a regular beef patty, Tokyo Cafe’s Wagyu Burger steak’s juicy beef

patty oozes with tender goodness and lathered with Japanese steak sauce. Comes with  

a carb-load of baked potato and a crunchy coleslaw salad.

The Tokyo Wagyu Burger Steak has twice the size of a regular beef patty. Tokyo Cafe’s juicy beef patty oozes with tender goodness and lathered with Japanese steak sauce. Freshly prepared and cooked to perfection, the Tokyo Wagu Burger Steak is paired with a carb-load of baked potato and a crunchy coleslaw salad.

Experience the exceptional big and bold flavor of Tokyo Cafe’s Wagyu Burger 

complemented with fried egg, crispy onions, and spicy mayo. Served with a

 scrumptious coleslaw salad and filling French fries.

For dads who opt to experience the exceptional big and bold flavor of burger goodness, the Tokyo Wagyu burger’s Wagyu tender patty is complemented with fried egg, crispy onions, and spicy mayo. Served with a scrumptious coleslaw salad and filling French fries, it also dominates in size and taste.

This distinct experience of indulging in the exceptional taste of premium quality meat with fine grade marbling is available until July 10, 2012. So dads can enjoy it more, Tokyo Cafe is offering a FREE Tokyo Blend or Tokyo Ice only on June 17.

The Tokyo Blend is one of the restaurant’s specialty blends known for its unique art of coffee preparation using the traditional Japanese “drip method.”  It has a naturally light and sweet aroma with a mild body taste. The Tokyo Ice on the other hand is its iced version. 

This Father’s Day, make dad feel like the King that he really is. Order the best at Tokyo Cafe, because like him, Wagyu is one of the best in the world!


Tokyo Cafe branches that offer the menu are located at SM Mall of Asia; SM The Block; Mckinley Piazza; Go Hotel; SM Megamall and SM Southmall.

For more details and information, you may visit www.tokyocafe.com.ph and like their official FB fanpage at facebook.com/tokyocafephilippines.