PMI on its 44th reading

In April 2007, we conducted the pilot test for the Purchasing Manager's Index (PMI) Philippines. Fifteen months after (July 2008), PMI Philippines made its foundational run featuring PMI Manufacturing. Since its initial run, the PMI has been conducted every month without fail.

Now on its 44th reading, PMI Philippines has become the earliest leading economic indicator available to planners and decision makers. It provides policy decision makers with a directional tool based on actual conditions in industry. Two other PMI surveys have been activated -- PMI Retail/wholesales which is now on its 35th run, and PMI Services which is now on its 17th run.

Together, these three economic surveys provide policy decision makers in government and industry with a significant foresight about the economy month on month. PMI users were asked to evaluate how this economic indicator is able to help the company. Significantly, 58% of PMI subscribers use PMI as a management reference while 15% use this indicator for decision making.

PMI Manufacturing, as a leading economic indicator, has been able to sufficiently plot the direction of the economy -- whether it expanded or contracted -- each current month as compared to the previous month. This reading is reported to readers during the first week of the succeeding month -- three months ahead of the GDP.

Where PMI is extensively used (such as North America and Europe), PMI is used as a leading economic indicator to predict way in advance the GDP. It confirms if the economy expanded, a confirmation that gives decision makers a persuasive guideline for action. It is most useful, however, when it gives readers a bold reading of when the economy is contracting. The PMI was able to foresee the economic contraction in the last quarter of 2008.

For more information on PMI Philippines or if you have questions, send an email to nick_fontanilla@ascendph.com.

the dragon comes to life

The Dragon sleeps....

Then it comes to life.

Triton Dragon Boat Team puts its act together.

For the MBC dragon boat competition on March 25, 2012.

A chance to compete. Make friends.
A time to connect with nature.
Using raw power.
And a discipline to work together.

I Touched Manila Bay

I touched the untouchable -- Manila Bay. As a rower in the Dragon Boat Regatta 2011 held on Sunday, 6 March 2011. Organized by the Philippine Dragon Boat Federation, over 100 rowers and thousands of viewers were there.

This was a chance for many to see how beautiful Manila Bay is and how beautiful it can be if restored to its old glory. I row to touch it. To see it. And, in my own small way, send a message. That is, make it touchable again.

Rerum Novarum

I was invited by the UST College of Commerce and Business Administration as guest lecturer for the 17th Pope Leo XIII lecture series on March 1, 2011. The topic was about "Illuminating the Business World Through the Social Teachings of the Church" with Pope Leo XIII's encyclical Rerum Novarum.


It was a challenging lecture. I used Dr. Paul Dumol's thesis on Civil Society to contextualize Pope Leo XIII's encyclical on capital and labor. To present applications in the present environment, I used several contemporary business cases including those of Ortigas & Company and Cebu Pacific. I have to thank Paul for allowing me to use his framework on civil society as needed, my favorite Department Chair Paula Bautista-Tiongco for recommending me, and Dean Ma. Socorro P. Calara for selecting me as guest lecturer for the 17th Pope Leo XIII lecture series. Big thanks to Joanie Ipili who helped me conceptualize and write the lecture, and to Tyrone Cimfranca, an ex SVD, for giving me a hint on where to get materials on Pope Leo XIII's encyclicals.

Rather than publish what I lectured, allow me to present selected photos.

Baywalk Walk

Took a quiet walk along the Baywalk in Manila early morning Sunday, 16 January. Some interesting finds.

The Green Biker. Best bike design. Best costume.

More green bikes.
Shades at P40 per piece, any brand. With a matching cleaner and plastic case. I bought one which I liked. The lady entrepreneur promised she will be around Valentine's day. No fail. I promised her I will promote her products.
Spa for the dog and the dog owner.

I think I will take that walk again. I missed buying bike shirts for P170 per shirt.

Elitist PBA: A Distribution Blunder

I decided to watch PBA games again. Good timing. As of this writing, the elimination games have started to determine the two teams that will collide in the finals.

Frankly, I was disappointed.

Not with the teams that are playing in the elimination round. The four teams are B-Meg, Talk and Text, San Miguel and Ginebra San Miguel. These four teams have a good mix of players. All teams have excellent playing systems. The games I recently watched attest to that.

Not with the venue. Playing venue is the Araneta Coliseum, probably the best venue for basketball games and other big events. The last time I watched, the coliseum boasted of a four-sided LED posted at the center. With this LED, you will never miss what you see on TV even as you watch the games live.

Not with the food. Within and outside the coliseum are the best restaurants and outlets. Some of them are my favorites. Gateway is just a walk away. At the second floor, the Coliseum is connected by a bridge to the Farmers Market which has a good selection of food outlets.

Why then?

First, ticket sales or the way tickets are sold to the general public. The manner tickets are distributed or shared to the public. All upper box, patron and ringside tickets are distributed to team members. What are left to the general public are the lower box and general admission tickets with no designated seating.

The last three games I was at the coliseum, the upper box and general sections were crowded, filled to capacity. Many of the PBA fans had to suffer watching the games standing. In the last game, I had to leave the coliseum at half time during the exciting Ginebra-San Miguel game because I could not stand any longer. When I looked down at the lower box, patron and ringside sections, there were many empty seats. Perhaps, recipients of the tickets decided not to watch or were just not basketball enthusiasts.

To put it bluntly, this ticket distribution system is a blunder. It isolates PBA from the general viewing public. Worst, it makes PBA elitist. No way I will go back to the coliseum to watch the games standing.

Second, there was no attempt to manage seat capacity or to implement a revenue management system. Ordinarily, like in airlines and restaurants, some guests are upgraded to re-distribute capacity, sometimes for free and sometimes for a fee which generates additional revenues.

The absence of an initiative to re-distribute seat capacity suggests an elitist policy. As usual, the general public suffers or have to bear the consequences.

Excellence

(Speech delivered as Chief Guest of the Sri Lanka Marketing Institute during the 2010 Effie Awards held in Colombo, Sri Lanka)

I bring you greetings from the Philippines and from my association the Philippine Marketing Association (PMA).

When I read the invitation of SLIM President Rohan Somawansa, I did not hesitate to accept. I cleared up my schedule and went on to book the flight. Earlier this year, I invited all national marketing association members of the Asia Marketing Federation to attend the PMA National Marketing Conference (NMC). Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing (SLIM), through Rohan, was the first to accept. Rohan even volunteered to bring along a super speaker from Sri Lanka. And he did.

SLIM has always responded to our invitation to attend our national and world conferences. I would like to think that the PMA should do no less and respond to SLIM’s invitation. SLIM and the PMA have developed this unwritten partnership based on mutual interests and objective. SLIM and PMA members have also developed close ties and friendship. You can consider SLIM and PMA as one tiny block in the Asian Marketing Federation. I believe that our countries share similar problems and circumstances.

Moreover, SLIM and the PMA have similar mission and vision. Founded in 1970 and subsequently incorporated by an Act of Parliament in 1980, SLIM has been promoting marketing and elevating the status of marketing in Sri Lanka. The PMA’s mission is to develop and promote Marketing as a science and profession guided by the universal principles of ethics, corporate citizenship and social responsibility and to serve as a policy making and recommendatory arm of the government on Marketing related issues

SLIM’s vision is to establish marketing as the driving force, which enhances business and national value. PMA’s vision is to create awareness on the power of marketing in business, industry and the academe, both here and abroad. The PMA's theme this year is “Marketing as Growth Accelerator.” Marketing as a growth accelerator advances the idea that the discipline of marketing is a superior approach towards sustainable corporate growth and profitability. The frameworks that are found in marketing are essentially the prescription for sustainable growth and profitability.

SLIM and the PMA are active members of the Asia Marketing Federation, and, by virtue of the affiliation, are both associated with the World Marketing Association, and UN Global Compact.

As active promoters of the art and science of marketing and as practitioners, SLIM and the PMA subscribe to the basic tenets of best practices in marketing and change management through customer and market understanding.

We just attended the Board of Management meeting of the AMF on November 4 and 5 in Tokyo. In that meeting, we reaffirmed the growing importance of the Asian region in the global economy. Two of the top three global economies come from our region. It is also expected that very soon, China will become the global leader and the biggest economy in the world. It will be this region and many countries in this region where economic growth will be sustained.

In Tokyo, SLIM and PMA attended a global conference organized by the AMF and Japan Marketing Association. Two distinguished scholars and writers presented their thesis about the role of marketing in development and the future of marketing as a driver for growth. Professor Hyun-Chul Kim of Seoul University outlined the accomplishments of Korea and what it did to rise above the difficulties brought about by the global crisis and become a world competitor. Hermawan Kartajaya, considered as one of the top 50 marketing gurus in the world, presented what marketing should and will be in the future and the importance of change in driving economic growth.

From these discussions, I realized that the changes driving economic growth in Asia are essentially market-driven and rooted on the successful applications of the latest principles of marketing. On the other hand, the principles that are dictating the type of marketing strategies are evolving. I consider Marketing's dynamism and its propensity to change and evolve as the elements that make marketing an important driver of corporate growth and profitability.

Such significance can only surface by recognizing the role of marketing in driving institutional growth and success. The Effie Awards, a global awards scheme which selects the most effective advertising campaigns that have excelled at the national and international levels, provide such recognition. Through these Awards, SLIM promotes best practices in the advertising industry. It is also through these awards that SLIM is able to provide industry and government with guidelines for driving growth. This is consistent with SLIM’s mission of being an active leader in the nation’s efforts towards economic prosperity and SLIM’s vision of establishing marketing as the driving force to create business and national value.

In that session, I also realized that the world does not stand still. In the 1960s and 1970s, South Korea was at the lower end of the list of countries in terms of economic development. Indonesia was very parochial and had very few executives that could be considered as global thought leaders. But lo and behold, Japanese top executives attended the session and listened to a Korean professor and an Indonesian marketing consultant.

I congratulate Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing (SLIM) for carrying the torch of excellence in marketing through the Effie Awards. These awards are very significant not only to the marketing profession in Sri Lanka but also to the members of the Asian Marketing Federation (AMF) of which SLIM and PMA are members.

Let me also congratulate the awardees, the epitome of excellence and considered the best of the best and the most effective MARCOM Campaigns in 2010.