Looking Forward

A. Partnership

This idea of partnership is very suggestive of this year’s Baccalaureate theme -- KEEP ON DOING WHAT MATTERS MOST. We see this picture clearly illustrated in Philippians 3:13: "Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead."

In this verse, Paul illustrates that after having received God’s grace, our responsibility is to return full effort in striving perfection in moral, ethical, and spiritual areas. Paul is urging his erring brothers to follow his example in persistently concentrating on the common goals. What does Paul mean by “perfection.”

This consists of discarding wrong attitudes and habits accumulated in the past. We must let go of our excess baggage, the weight that pulls us down. We must diligently make unwavering progress in eliminating unwanted fat – so we can do what matters most -- growing in God's love, producing the fruit of God's Spirit, moving toward the Kingdom of God, and putting on Christ's perfection, His image in us.

The Legend of Nataer

Have you heard of the Legend of Nataer?[1] I wish to recall this legend using the story written by Rev. Dr. Mariano Apilado. This is a legend that may have been forgotten by people in northern Philippines.

It is the legend of Nataer, a young man so named because he was handsome, but who started with the name Butiog. Because he was so fat, he walked around like a duck. One day, a hairy giant, Aran, came out of the forest to visit and told Butiog, “I have come here to ask about your dream.”

“I have no dream,” Butiog replied.

“That’s impossible,” Aran insisted, “you must have a dream -- last night, the night before or nights before,” Aran continued approaching Butiog with a menacing look.

“All right, I have a dream,” Butiog answered, “In my dream, I saw a big alingo (“wild hog”), he began to fabricate, “and the biggest bukatot (“bamboo fish trap”) full of dalag (“mudfish”), purong (“carp”), padaw (“prawn”) and igat (“eel”).

“I knew you had a dream,” Aran said happily, “let’s go and find your dream alingo and bukatot.”

Butiog became even more frightened because he knew that what he told Aran was not even a dream but only a fabrication, and so he said, “I am tired, and I can hardly move my body.”

“You can walk,” Aran said in a low but firm voice, “let’s go.” And so they departed, and when they reached the riverbank, they proceeded downstream. As they walked farther, they saw the biggest bukatot near a bamboo grove beside the river.

“See,” Aran said excitedly, “there is the bukatot of your dreams.” They examined it and true enough, it was full of different fresh water fish.

Aran then instructed Butiog to carry the Bukatot. And because it was full of fish, Butiog could hardly lift it. Aran then helped so that it could be placed on Butiog’s shoulder. Butiog complained that he could not carry the load, but Aran told him to be quiet, and so the fat man had no choice but to carry the bukatot and, although he would fall down once in a while, they trudged on.

Soon, they also saw the big alingo caught in a trap, and Butiog had to carry it also on his shoulder.

And so, although he walked with extreme difficulty with heavy loads on each of his shoulders, Butiog trudged on with Aran muttering, “That was your dream, that was your dream,” until they reached the house of the former.

Several days later, Aran came back and asked Butiog, “Where are the reins of your horse? Get them, come with me and let’s join the hunt organized by Apo Baknang (“Lord Wealthy”).

Aran took the reins and put them on Butiog, after which he rode on Butiog’s back until they reach a wide plain of ledda (“cogon grass”) where many people had already gathered together.

They learned that the hunt had been organized for the purpose of catching Ugsa a Balitok (“Golden Calf”), so called because it had golden horns. “Whoever catches Ugsa a Balitok will receive for a prize Apo Baknang’s pretty daughter, Wayawaya, as wife.”

The Ugsa a Balitok had hidden in the ledda and so the hunters set the fire on the grass in order to force it to come out into the open. The frightened animal came out and one by one the hunters tried to catch it; one by one they failed.

Then Aran said, “Watch me, gentlemen, and I shall catch the Ugsa a Balitok and marry pretty Wayawaya.” Getting on Butiog’s back, he shouted, “Run fast, Butiog, we can do it.”

What a sight it was! Butiog, with Aran on his back, at first could hardly move, but he waddled on as fast as he could. Then as he ran, he felt lighter and lighter and he could run faster and faster. It was quite a spectacle seeing Ugsa a Balitok running as fast as it could and Butiog with Aran on his back running after the animal.

Then wonderful things began to happen. Butiog now ran as fast as lightning and soon caught Ugsa a Balitok. Then Aran, the hairy giant, disappeared.

Finally, Butiog was no longer what he was; instead, he had become what he truly was, a very handsome young man, with broad shoulders, upright body, radiant eyes and gorgeous looks!

Everyone saw that he had become Nataer. Carrying proudly, therefore Ugsa a Balitok on his shoulders, Nataer walked proudly towards Apo Baknang’s house, and there pretty Wayawaya met him on the doorstep and all she could whisper to herself was, “Nataer.”

The Butiogs in All of Us

In many ways, most of us may be similar to Butiog: with a huge stomach filled with junk experiences, junk food, junk thoughts, junk learnings, junk activites, junk songs, and many other junks.

Those junks may come in many forms -- materialism, spiritual sluggishness, priorities that are skewed in favor of oneself instead of others, activities that are limited to personal satisfaction, and other deviant behavior that take us away from the lap of Jesus Christ – such as dishonesty.

You have successfully completed an important journey in your life. Perhaps, you need to do a reality check – what baggage you have to get rid of and, in place, important spiritual options you need to acquire.

Dr. Apilado suggests that “Perhaps there is a need for addressing this indigestion, reducing worldly obesity and regaining the dash and dynamism of physically and spiritually fit, morally straight and mentally alert Christians will attempt to win the hand of Wayawaya.

As this year’s theme suggests, we must stay focus on the things that MATTER MOST. Discerning which ones matter most and which ones should become the significant stepping stone in the second stage of your journey. May I suggest that you focus on three values – integrity or honesty, confidence, and responsible citizenship/Christians.

Things that Matter Most

Let us start with integrity/honesty.

Part of my advocacy is governance. I advise local governments and national government agencies on how to institutionalize governance.

It is in this endeavor that I learned that the Philippines lost its eligibility in the millennium development program. With this is a US$500 million grant which is supposed to be a grant to help bring down poverty. We lost that status only for one reason –corruption. We scored quite low in the corruption index.

Survey after survey, we scored the highest in terms of corruption. Year after year, our ranking went up. I understand that as of latest ranking, the Philippines is the number 1 most corrupt country in Asia.

That is a paradox considering that the Philippines is the only Christian country in Asia. That is something that Christians should consider as a task, a responsibility. As graduates of a Christian college, you must bring this value wherever you go. In business. In your profession. As an overseas worker. As housewife, even.

Remember the parable of the Emperor’s Seed (internet-circulate story, author not identified).

o An aging emperor in the Far East called all the young people in the kingdom. He gave each ONE seed and asked them to plant that seed. Then he asked them to come back after one year with what they have grown. From among them, he would choose the next emperor of the kingdom.

o A boy named Ling received a seed, went home, planted the seed and watered it carefully. Every day, Ling kept going home to check his seed, but nothing ever grew.

o After one year, they all brought their plants to the emperor for inspection. Ling was hesitant to attend but his mother encouraged him to go, and to take his pot, and to be honest about what happened.

o When the emperor arrived, he spotted Ling at the back of the room with his empty pot. He ordered his guards to bring him to the front. He looked at Ling, and said, "Behold your new emperor!

o The emperor said, "I gave you all boiled seeds which would not grow. Ling was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new emperor!"

There is a reward for being honest and for keeping your integrity intact. It may not show itself instantly, but it will come.

Second value is confidence. I choose this as a second value because this is a common weakness of many young Filipinos.

I have seen this in many of my new employees. They are very talented. However, they seem to have very little faith in their talent and what they can do. I have instituted a program for building their confidence. Somehow, the challenge to build their confidence remains.

I know of many talented individuals. But because of the lack of confidence and the lack of faith in one’s capability, they were never able to make use of their talents. Looking forward, I believe that it is something that all us, especially young graduates, should seriously look into.

There was this woman who lived in London over a century ago.[2] One evening, she took a leave to hear a great speaker of her day. His speech moved her deeply and she waited to visit with him afterward.

o   This woman confessed to the speaker that she never had the opportunity as he and many others had. She narrated that she had been peeling onions and potatoes in her sister's boarding house for fifteen miserable years. 

o   In response to the questions of the speaker, she said that she had been doing this while sitting on the bottom of the step in the kitchen with her feet planted on the floor made of glazed brick.

o   Hearing that, the speaker said, "My dear lady, I will give you an assignment today. I want you to write me a letter about the brick." Against her protests about being a poor writer, he made her promise to complete the assignment.

o   The next day, as she sat down to peel onions, she gazed at the brick floor. That evening she pulled one loose, took it to a brick factory and asked the owner to explain to her how bricks were made.

o   Still not satisfied, she went to a library and found a book on bricks. She learned that 120 different kinds of brick and tile were being produced in England at the time. She discovered how clay beds, which existed for millions of years, were formed. Her research captivated her imagination and she spent every spare moment learning more. She returned to the library night after night and this woman, who never had a chance, gradually began to climb the steps of knowledge.

o   After months of study, she set out to write her letter as promised. She sent a 36-page document about the brick in her kitchen and, to her surprise, she received a letter back. Enclosed was payment for her research. He had published her letter! And along with the money came a new assignment - this time he asked her to write about what she found underneath the brick.

o   For the first time in her life she could hardly wait to get back to the kitchen! She pulled up the brick and there was an ant. She held it in her hand and examined it.

o   That evening, she hurried back to the library to study ants. She learned that there were hundreds of different kinds of ants. Some were so small they could stand on the head of a pin; while others were so large one could feel the weight of them in one's hand. She started her own ant colony and examined ants underneath a lens.

o    Several months later she wrote her findings in a 350-page "letter." It, too, was eventually published. She soon quit her kitchen job to take up writing.

o   Before she died, she had traveled to the lands of her dreams and had experienced more than she ever imagined possible! This is the woman who had never had a chance.

Sometimes we need a reminder to tell us that we have the talent to do other things.

Third value is responsible citizenship. How do we become responsible Christians. Lee Kuan Yu, former Prime Minister and now senior adviser in Singapore once said that he like Christianity but he did not like the Christians.

Last month, I was part of a group that went to participate in a session that defined the vision of a Southern City. One of the participants was the author of a book “12 Little Things Every Filipino Can Do To Help Our Country.”

After hearing him speak and elaborate on what he wrote in the book, I was just so amazed to realize that, indeed, little things mean a lot. To those who grew up in this environment, you will find some of these little things quite amusing or even comical.

For example, his first recommendation is for us to follow traffic rules. If you have been to Manila, you will know that this wish is not a joke. One of the required readings in Apologetics in the Seminary is the book “To Each His Own.” That is precisely what traffic is like in Manila. In that part of the world, it takes commitment, dedication, a deep sense of patriotism and a life of Christian values to be able to follow traffic laws.

The recommendation makes sense. The author says that “Traffic rules are the simplest of our country’s laws. But when implemented, it paints a country of strong laws.” The people become better citizens, Christians. You see civic culture in action. This is one little step, but big in impact.

There are 11 other little things that he recommends to every citizen. Each little thing, when reviewed, is really a little thing but may yield proportionately gigantic results if done by everyone. The author quoted a finding in a study on behavior. It says, when a person does something 30 times continuously, it becomes a habit.

Benjamin Franklin said that “the best way to build a dream is by attending to the little things that comprise it. Its foundation is in the little details; its beauty in the fine points.”

Looking Forward

If we go by the average, most of you are graduating at age 20 or 21 years. That was the first stage of your first journey. Looking forward, you have 40 or so years to do something purposeful before you retire. That I believe is the second stage of your journey. The military retires its officers early at 56 years old. The civilian government and private sector retire employees much later, from 60 to 65. The judiciary retires justices at 70.

Forty years may be short. They may be long. How it will be for you – whether short or long -- will depend so much on how you take the journey from now until 2050. It will appear to be short if you live a meaningful, significant or successful life. It will appear to be long if that journey becomes perpetually a struggle or uneventful. You have a choice.

Allow me to do a little arithmetic. Those who will become doctors will need another 10 years to complete their medical education and residency program. Add to these another five years to specialize and to become a consultant. Perhaps, another five years to gain the reputation of a specialist. By the time they become bankable, they are 40 years old.

They have 20 more years to make something out of their lives -- if they haven’t already and before they are considered irrelevant and old by the time they reach the age of 60.

It could be the same arithmetic for those who will become lawyers, those who will work in government, and those who will go into business. There is no short cut to your destination.

Whatever life’s challenges or surprises will be, your task is to look ahead, take what you have learned in this great institution, and use them to full advantage. Put your sight in front of you.

I remember when I started riding a bike. The person guiding me was always reminding me to look forward. True enough, whenever I looked down or else, I lost my balance. What I started driving a car, my instructor told me to look forward. Indeed, we cannot drive a car by using the rear view mirror. We have to look forward.

As the saying goes, “Make the least of all that goes and the most of all that comes.”

---

[1] With permission to reprint from author Dr. Mariano Apilado, The Dream Need Not Die: Revolutionary Spirituality 2, 2000.

[2] This reading is found in Steve Goodier's popular book RICHES OF THE HEART  http:// lifesupportsystem.com/richesofheart2.html

Meaningful Marketing

A. Introduction

I have been tasked to keynote this big event by providing a backgrounder on the Philippine Marketing Association’s theme for 2010 “Marketing as a Growth Accelerator”.

I am using the topic “Marketing with Meaning” instead because the concept, a framework originally presented by Bob Glbreath, is at the heart of the theme “Marketing as a Growth Accelerator.”

“When your marketing is meaningful, the marketing itself adds value to people’s lives, whether or not they immediately buy what you’re selling.(Bob Gilbreath, 2010)

Marketing as a growth accelerator can only have substance if it yields something that is meaningful – to people, to a community, to a country or to the world.

Similarly, a performance-driven sales result will have to be delivered by the sales team and the organization in a manner that substantiates, not downgrades, the social value of that result.

The co-relation between a performance-driven sales result and a meaningful marketing may not immediately present itself in the short term. The relationship becomes apparent only over a long period of time.

Colins and Poras and Kaplan and Nortonhave investigated companies practicing meaningful marketing. Their findings suggest that companies practicing meaningful marketing have endured the test of time, better than other companies.

I was inspired to prepare this keynote using this topic after my meeting with Kate Palana, Public Affairs and Communications Director of Ariva. From what I gathered, Ariva, a young company with young and enterprising owners, believes in a corporate philosophy that directly connects corporate initiatives to social benefits.

For every event Ariva organizes, a certain amount from the gross is earmarked to benefit poor students. As they organize more events, more poor but deserving students get to participate in the proceeds. What I find amazing about this corporate philosophy is that the amount set aside is taken not from the net but from the gross.

This is the first time I have heard of such a practice. Large companies allocate a certain amount taken from reserves and put that amount in a trust through a foundation. From the interest of that trust fund, social initiatives are undertaken. It is hardly a commitment.

Here is a company, right here in this convention hall that practices marketing with meaning. While we cannot at this time compare Ariva with great companies as described by Colins and Poras because it is a young company, it practices the important elements that these great companies have implemented.

I will be talking about three inter-related subjects: Marketing with Meaning, Marketing as a Growth Accelerator, and Performance-Driven Marketing.

B. Marketing with Meaning

B1. Sharing a Place (Starbucks)

Do you have third place? What is your third place? My third place is Starbucks. I spend my first hour of the day outside of my house in Starbucks.

I have come to develop that affinity with Starbucks for some good reasons. Whenever lights were down because of brownout, there was Starbucks. You can charge all your cell phones and gadgets, and that is ok.

Whenever I needed to work on a report and going back to the office was not option, there was Starbucks. You can work the whole day in Starbucks buying just one cup of coffee, and that is ok.

In my frequented outlets, I am called by my first name. It has been a partner to me through deadlines, marathon meetings, and many work challenges.

Billy Coburn, in his book “Cafés of community: the Starbucks principle” describes Starbucks as a legitimate third place.

Billy Coburn writes that “Home is a good thing. Home for the holidays. But home is not the only thing. In fact, sometimes family closeness gets just a little too close, especially during the holidays. After a few days of togetherness — right about now, three days after Christmas — many of us would probably welcome a little time away from home.”

What is second place? Coburn says “That second place, home being the first place, is usually work. At work we form friendships, socialize and spend a considerable chunk of the week. It’s a place where we practice our vocation and participate in a community of colleagues. But [Coburn argues] home and work are not enough. Sometimes we need to get away from work. We need a third place.

That third place to me is Starbucks. According to Coburn, No one understands this better than Howard Schultz, founder and CEO of Starbucks. Schultz founded Starbucks on the premise that Americans are missing a third place in their lives — a place that his coffeehouses can fill. He understood that in America, as well as in Italy, it’s not about coffee, it’s about connection. That’s the Starbucks Principle. And for many, it seems to be working.”

Schultz found a business niche. It is a niche that is anchored on creating value for people, providing customers with the space that they need on a day to day basis. That is marketing with meaning.

To many Filipinos, third place may be the mall. I will not argue against that. The mall that the Henry Sy’s and the John Gokongwei’s established are virtual third places – where you can dine, buy RTWs, buy groceries, pass the time and hear mass. It presents a condition that positively alters lifestyle and behavior of people.

In the mall, people queue. People follow rules. People throw their trash in the trash can. People have fun. People share.

B2. Sharing Knowledge (Wikipedia).

Do you remember the “I love you virus”. That Filipino invention created so much disorder worldwide that the student who invented that debilitating virus is now a top notch programmer outside the Philippines.

From my recollection, the student wanted his revenge for his failure to get free access to the internet. In fact, it was quite expensive at that time. In response, he used his genius to express his anger. He developed the virus that cracked millions of computers around the world.

He knew how vulnerable people were with the words “I love you.” With what he learned from school, he unleashed the deadly virus. With these combination, he altered the life and resources of many people and institutions.

Here is a guy with the same purpose of getting things for free. However, he used a different approach, a kinder approach. [WIKIVIDEO CLIP].

Writer C Everett Koop, once wrote “Life affords no greater responsibility, no greater privilege than the raising of the next generation.” To Jimmy Wales, sharing knowledge to the internet generation is a mission, a privilege.

I can’t find any greater mission (save for what we read in Matthew 28) than to share knowledge to the next generation. That is the ultimate of marketing with meaning.

B3. Sharing Wealth (O&CLP).

We talked about sharing places (Starbucks), and sharing knowledge (Wikipedia). This time, we will talk about sharing wealth. The Greenhills Shopping Center, in particular.

What is unique about Greenhills Shopping Center? First, it is the most expensive retail space in the Philippines. No other shopping center can match the cost of retail space in Greenhills.

Second, it put the country in the international shopping map with its world-class pearls and reputation as a value-shopping mecca. One time, while walking along the side of Glorietta, three foreigners approached me and asked me what the general direction was towards Greenhills was.

I clarified if they were looking for Greenbelt, not Greenhills. One of the foreigners said, that place with the pearls. So I talked to the taxi driver and directed him towards Greenhills.

Third, you will find the wealthiest, hardworking Muslim traders in Greenhills, driving fancy cars like Mercedez Benzes and Expeditions and living and mansions in and around Greenhills.

The mother company, Ortigas & Company, created the environment for these traders to prosper. OCLP supported these traders’ aspirations by promoting oneness, respecting tradition and religion, and advancing equal opportunity to all business people. Sharing wealth. That is marketing with meaning.

B4. Sharing the Country.

Tony Fernandes, founder and president of Air Asia spoke about his struggle to reinvent travel within Asia particularly destinations to lesser known cities and places.

His company was just about to cross over the growing pains of starting business when the bombings in Bali happened some years back. Tourism was at a standstill which affected tourism traffic from Malaysia and other Asian countries to Bali.

In a bold move, he talked to the different hotels in Bali. Together they strategized. From that planning session, they agreed to offer 10,000 seats and rooms for free.

They wanted to test if the tourism drought was indeed due to tourists’ concern for safety. When the offer was announced, the 10,000 seats and rooms were taken in less than one week. Thus started the recovery of Bali as a tourist destination. That is truly marketing with meaning.

Cebu Pacific air redefined travel in and from the Philippines. A domestic seat for P99. A foreign destination seat for P999. How low and how courageous can one get to sell.

That marketing strategy expanded travel from and within the Philippines. The country is enjoying a boom in domestic tourism. Our young workers and executives are now able to see much of the country and some parts of the world.

My employees, including those who have been on the job for only a year, would take time off to go Mindoro, Cagayan de Oro, Palawan and Bohol. Now, they have started going to other Asean countries such as Vietnam. I believe that Cebu Pacific’s corporate and marketing philosophy made this possible. That is marketing with meaning.

C. Performance Driven Sales Result

That brings me to the topic on performance driven sales result. For sales to be performance driven, it must use effective sales techniques and strategies. For performance to be sustainable, sales activities must operate in a marketing system that is meaningful… and nurturing.

Have you ever heard of the movie Glengarry Glen Ross. Glengarry Glen Ross is a 1992 independent dramedy film. Stars included Al Pacino, Ed Harris, Alan Arkin, Kevin Spacey, Alec Bladwin and Jonathan Pryce. It is about selling.

The film depicts two days in the lives of four real estate agents and how they become desperate when the corporate office sent a representative to "motivate" them by announcing that, in one week, all except the top two salesmen will be fired.

At the same time, the company announced that they developed the ideal prospect list, called Glengarry Glen Ross, that would definitely energize sales and give everyone the chance to sell more properties.

This ideal list was to be given only to the top two sellers. The rest of them would be fired. You can imagine the anxiety and apprehension after that announcement.

One agent tried to bribe the manager to give him some names from the Glengarry list. Another tried to threaten the manager for some names in the list. Another tried to appeal to the manager’s emotion. No way, says the manager.

Somebody proposed to steal the list, a move that seemed to have been the only option at that time for the agents. Some agreed to take it as an option. One did not.

As the salesmen reported to work the following day, they found that the office had been burglarized and the Glengarry leads had been stolen. What resulted presented the bad side of performance driven selling.

This is not the kind of performance driver that we envision. It departs from the corporate philosophy of meaningful marketing. It is old stuff. Part of legacy marketing. It creates unnecessary tension. It destroys lives.

Sessions today and tomorrow shall unveil best practices and effective techniques to drive sales performance.

• New sales concepts, latest ideas and techniques for selling in today's challenging markets

• Achieve Success Through Collaboration: Account vs. Product/Market Focus… How marketing mix elements tie in to the sales process

• Learn how to utilize your selling resources more strategically to drive sales

• Gain insight into new ways to link your strategy and sales compensation plans, improve marketing plan, and increase sales performance

Performance driven sales results, as they are practiced today in progressive sales organizations, are actually metric driven using a model that combines lagging and leading indicators. They combine technology and people skills, outcomes and output measures, and short and long term goals.

Credit card companies and consumer financing companies were among the early adopters of performance driven sales results using a combination of technology and people skills.

As a result, the number of credit card holders have expanded, sales of consumer durables have exploded, and the turnover of traditionally slow moving products such as cars and real estate have increased.

I remember some 15 years ago, I received a letter from Citibank saying that I have been pre-approved for a card with a credit limit of P50,000. At that time, Citibank was a new player competing against the more established credit card companies. In five years, Citibank became the dominant card company, a position that I believe it still holds today.

How does that work. Using past data, the bank created a model that defines the profile of good credit risk and bad credit risk. They ran that model on a database of depositors, executives, and entrepreneurs. That process created a short list of prospects around which an aggressive sales campaign was mounted.

The same technology is now used in many other industries and many other functions in the selling process – in campaign management, churn management, loyalty programs, agent selection process, agent promotion programs, and many more.

Companies and industries that have innovated and implemented performance driven marketing and sales have expanded and have been profitable even during the crisis.

Using marketing as a model for corporate growth and profitability is gaining popularity. As marketing and sales professionals, it becomes part of our responsibility to discern the importance of this approach and to promote to management the value of creating an enterprise discipline that is anchored on marketing principles.

D. Marketing as Growth Accelerator

Yoram Wind, professor at the Wharton School of Business, reported that at the 2003 Chief Marketing Officer Summit (CMO) Summit in the U.S., marketing leaders from diverse firms came up with a manifesto stressing that marketing should be an engine of growth and profitability for the organization.

The manifesto begins with the premise that marketing has the discipline to link insights from the market with the strategies of the firm and to drive the creation of value by developing relationships with customers.

The manifesto states that marketing should create and build leadership brands that consumers love and that marketing should lead the continued transformation of the company.

A McKinsey study presented at the Summit noted three primary opportunities for driving growth:

1. Integrating customer insights more broadly into business functions,
2. Integrating business strategies with brand strategies, and
3. Integrating marketing and go-to-market execution.

The same study showed the specific ways by which marketing perspectives can serve as an engine for growth, these are:

1. Creating market-driven vision and value proposition,
2. Using market insights to drive innovation,
3. Leveraging technology and marketing to create convergence, and
4. Rethinking customer experience and relationships.

As reported, Marketing, which is at the interface between the organization and the environment, can provide new opportunities for value creation and growth and that it should be a concern to the entire organization.

Marketing provides the pathway by identifying opportunities to serve unmet needs of current customers or new customers for the company’s current and new products and services. A focus on growth requires an integrated approach, cutting across the organizational functions and activities.

Marketing as a growth accelerator is Philippine Marketing Association’s theme for 2010. All activities will be designed around this theme. There are actually several, let me mention some of theme:

1. National Marketing Conference – a must-attend conference that will showcase the important trends in marketing to be presented by thought leaders and exciting speakers, both local and international. Scheduled on June 24 and 25 at Hotel Sofitel. Expected attendance is about 1,000 participants.

2. National Marketing Month including Strategic Marketing – declared as national marketing month is the month of July. The major event is Strategic Marketing where we share with students the latest trends in marketing. To be held in four cities. In NCR on July 3 at Aliw Theater with about 2,500 students. In Cebu on September 13, in Davao on September 17 and in Baguio on November 26.

3. Agora Conference in October and the Agora Awards in November.

4. Chapter activities in 14 Cities.

Application of Advanced Research Techniques

A. Introduction

Dean Felix E. Asprer, outgoing PCDEB president, Dean Nelson S. Abeleda, incoming PCDEB president, CHED Representative Dr. Conrad Inigo, the PCDEB staff, fellow educators and industry practitioners, ladies and gentlemen, good morning.

I can think of two reasons why I am here as your keynote speaker. First, as the 2010 President of the Philippine Marketing Association, a non-profit non-stock organization. PMA fully supports PCDEB and the CHED-industry linkage.

Second, because of my involvement in predictive analytics not the least of which is my association with IBM-SPSS.

I decided to relate the topic of advanced research to governance for two reasons. First, to suggest that what I intend to discuss is applied research or the use of research to improve performance. Second, I have been actively involved in governance, particularly in local government and professional associations.

I got into this advocacy mainly because of my experience in performance management in the private sector. Having been through this initiative for some time and having been in an educator myself, I have always maintained that there must be a stronger and deliberate effort to promote the principles of governance in the academic sector.

Similar initiatives in several sectors yielded very positive results. These include the banking and healthcare sectors (hospitals in particular).

As a result, the banking sector has demonstrated resiliency and strength even in the face of the global crisis that affected many foreign banks.

Hospitals that have institutionalized the principles of governance are now very profitable as compared to their situation some ten years back and are offering healthcare services that are comparable to the best in the world.

B. Discussion Coverage

I will focus on two elements of research and try to give examples or approaches that are being used by researchers and decision makers around the world. These are data collection, and analyses for insighting including deployment of research findings.

Let me start with a case that presently dominates our free time, air space, advertising space and much of the time and resources of Filipinos. The presidential election. On the screen is a statistical estimate of the percentage of voters who remain undecided as of our latest survey.

In October 2009, about 40% of voters were yet undecided as to who among the presidential candidates they will vote for. Undecided, as a concept, includes those who did not have a choice, those who had a choice but were not definite, and those who claim they were definite but were open to switching depending on whether the endorsement remains the same or the platform of other candidates is more attractive.

In December 2009, the percentage of undecided went down to 35%. In our February 2010 survey, the percentage of undecided went down to 27% which was expected. I anticipate that this ratio will go down to around 10% towards the end of April 2010. What is the significance of these figures?

There are three things to consider. First, election is often decided by the undecided particularly in a tight race. My gut tells me that in this year’s election, for the President, that will be the case. Limiting election expenditures to communicate to the undecided will keep election spending to a level that is more realistic and optimal. Overspending stems from reckless targeting.

Second, with data on the undecided, it is possible to create a predictive model that will tell us who those undecided voters are –their profiles including age, gender, income, and concerns – and where they are located. This model may then be deployed in an existing database. Once tagged, a subsidiary database may then be created. This subsidiary list will show where these undecided voters are. Limited resources can then be allocated with maximum effect.

Third, it becomes a guide for a cost-effective campaign management. While it is not a guarantee for success, it improves that chance and sets a limit to election spending. Why spend money to cover those who have already decided? Why not spend that money on those who are still open to persuasion?

This video clip shows how this approach helped the Obama team reach out to those who mattered most during the U.S. elections – the undecided voters.

C. Data Collection

I recently attended a seminar organized by ESOMAR (of which I am a member) on the social media and how they are applied in research. The transition is rather spectacular – from a scenario where the researcher is in full control of all elements of the research to a scenario where the respondents become co-creators of the research output.

What is remarkable in this new approach, called Web 2.0, is how qualitative research has transitioned from a live discussion to an online panel. What is even remarkable is how it is able to replicate a social community online. The result is a very rich collection of insights that could never be generated in a traditional panel or FGD.

Imagine a branded online social community composed of around 30 to 50 diet pill users and would be diet pill users. Imagine further that these community members share their concerns, fears, experiences, successes, and new information online, not just one time but as desired or as many times over a period of three to six months. Imagine some more that in this group of 50 diet pill users and would-be users, anyone may initiate a discussion or present an issue for discussion.

I tried to promote this new approach to my clients. It is an uncharted territory and there is hesitation among the local clients to venture into this methodology.

Data collection is certainly evolving. It is moving towards a multi-mode or the use of multiple data collection channels for one survey. However, users and researchers are quite skeptical about the inclusion of the non-traditional channels for data collection and the combination of various channels for one survey.

In the 2008 SPSS Directions that was held in Las Vegas, there were several breakout sessions and presentations on the multi-modal research. Multi-modal is a “survey that is administered in multiple research modes, for example, web-based and phone-based, or web-based and paper-based.”

Proponents of the multi-modal approach believe that “A low cooperation or response rate does more damage in rendering a survey’s results questionable than a small sample because there may be no valid way scientifically of inferring the characteristics of the population represented by the non-respondents.”

There are three types of multi-modal approaches, each one with a different level of difficulty. One type is the multi-mode where one channel is used for one sample segment in a survey. A second type is the sequential mixed mode where different modes are used to collect data from different types of respondent. The third type is the parallel mixed mode where the respondent is able to choose the preferred mode and is able to switch from one mode to another.

For those who have been using it, results have been spectacular: Increased response rates, reduced non-response error, improved sample coverage, respondent centric, and reduced cost.

We have tried using this multi-mode – CAPI, CATI and FTF. There are indeed challenges. But those challenges are surmountable. The challenges are related more to factors such as availability of a sample frame for channels that require it, and data merging.

I have presented this to industry and clients remain skeptical about it. My sense is that for this to become an acceptable approach for data collection, it has to start in the classroom. Future decision makers (the students today) will have to be exposed to these new systems and be given the opportunity to experience and personally evaluate this approach.

D. Analytics

When I did my MBA and took the subject of marketing research, I learned that the objective of research is to provide information, not to make a decision. It was the belief that decision making was a function of many other variables. Similarly, the objective then of advertising was to communicate a message, not to sell. It was also the belief then that selling was a function of many other variables.

Arguably, that scenario has changed. In advertising, they talk about success fee, no longer just commission and production cost. In research, they are now talking about empowering frontline personnel to make decisions based on the output of research.

This video clip (crime watch) shows how investigators or police officers have been empowered to make decisions using research output.

This type of a research falls under the umbrella of data mining or predictive analytics. Predictive analysis helps connect data to effective action by drawing reliable conclusions about current conditions and future events.

Data mining is the process of discovering meaningful new correlation, patterns and trends by sifting through large amounts of data stored in repositories, and by using pattern recognition technologies, as well as statistical and mathematical techniques.

There are two types of data mining – supervised and unsupervised.

Data mining or predictive analytics is very useful for managing risk and for institutional research. In industry, there are applications of data mining in marketing, risk management, production management and supply chain management.

Popular applications of this methodology are the cross-sell and the upsell. You will notice that bank branches are now more aggressive in selling multiple products such as car loans, housing loans, pension funds, and other insurance products. What they are doing is actually cross selling. The starter product is the deposit account. The cross-selling is done on other bank-owned products.

But cross-selling to whoever walks into branch or to every client in the database is usually not very productive. It is like finding a needle in a haystack. By using data mining and the appropriate analytic technique, we can create a model that will tell us who among the clients in the database are more likely to respond to a cross-sell initiative. Each prospect is tagged and becomes a target for cross-sell campaign.

The same principle applies for up-selling. Other popular applications are credit scoring, customer retention or churn management, fraud detection, and campaign management.

In the academic sector, there are many applications. In Westpoint, they conducted a study to determine who among the cadets are likely to continue through graduation and those who are more likely to stay in the military service. By predicting who are less likely to continue, interventions may be implemented before the cadet decides to drop out.

Some of the questions that are ideal platforms or subjects for data mining are shown in this chart. You will notice that there are equivalent corporate questions. Who are the students likely to take most credit hours? Who are the ones likely to return for more classes? Which alumni are likely to donate more? What courses can we offer to attract more students?

Case # 1 on the screen is about the use of data mining to create meaningful learning outcome typologies. By applying analytics, the school was able to improve understanding of student types and helped educators and administrators better meet the needs of varied students.

Case # 2 is about transfer prediction. The objective is to prepare the University for the number of transferees from the community college. The approach was to define a model that will identify who among the community college students are likely to transfer. The school also created a model that predicted the community college students who are more likely to succeed and complete the program.

Case # 3 is about predicting alumni pledges. Why do we have to attempt predicting this outcome? This approach is not necessary if there are only 100 graduates. We can send mailers to all 100 graduates and make personal calls to all 100 graduates without incurring huge costs. But if there are say over 5,000 graduates and growing, it would take a huge investment to reach out to all of them just to find who among them are going to pledge.

The application of advanced research techniques has provided institutions in many countries with the instrument for managing risk and improving performance. However, in the Philippines, decision makers have not fully embraced the value of using such research techniques to improve performance and to manage risk.

Again, my sense is that we need to first bring this to the classroom, make faculty more comfortable in using them, then equip the students who will soon become the decision makers.

(Keynote address of Dr. Nick Fontanilla during the 9^th Annual Philippine Council of Deans and Educators in Business on March 12, 2010 at the Auditorium of Lyceum Philippines University)