|
Saturday, November 19, 2005
Local companies urged to challenge big brands
By Rose O. Versoza
Sun.Star Staff Reporter
AT LEAST two top marketing and advertising experts demonstrated during last Thursday’s sessions in the 19th Philippine Advertising Congress (PAC) how local and small companies can break barriers and compete with leading brands.
Ding Salvador, managing consultant of Lamoiyan Corp., which produces Hapee toothpaste, encouraged small companies to think big and to use unconventional means in order to topple down leading brand products.
In his talk “How Challenger Brands Can Eat Big Fish,” Salvador said “all businesses start small” so small companies should not get discouraged by the competition and stop at just being small.
He cited how Samsung managed to eventually overcome Sony after 36 years.
Prasoon Joshi, regional creative director of McCann South and Southeast Asia, emphasized last Thursday “the value of local being global,” saying companies can always put local flavors in their advertising without having to lose its universal tone.
Joshi, who has been recognized for bringing a paradigm shift in the Indian advertising industry, talked about “Going Global By Being Local” and presented several good foreign television commercials that used local elements.
He said every country has its own certain realities and these may be used as advertising materials that can still be understood and appreciated not only in that locality but also elsewhere.
Break rules
Salvador said the passage of time allows small companies to look for “better and cheaper methodologies and technologies” and it gives them the opportunity to have “more relevant conversation” with their consumers.
While brand leaders make the rules, he said, challengers must break the rules and formulate their own but better processes and methods starting from the production line down to the distribution line.
Salvador said the problem with many organizations is it has such complex decision-making processes that some of its people “have lost the creativity to think.”
Small companies should encourage its people to think and to make a contribution.
Salvador, who used to work for Johnson and Johnson until he joined Lamoiyan Corp. last year, told the PAC delegates they should be proud of the Filipino ingenuity and take care of their product.
He also emphasized the importance of building one’s own identity and cited how the local company, Mafran (now UFC), managed to push its banana catsup, which used to be an unknown product, and set aside Del Monte’s tomato catsup or how Jollibee managed to create its own niche and displaced the leading brand, McDonald’s.
“An identity is not just a name...in essence, it is what differentiates it from the rest,” Salvador said.
He also reminded the PAC delegates of the great marketing lesson that can be learned from the story of David and Goliath.
“Fighting the big fish requires a lot of faith, courage, sacrifice and total commitment...It took an unconventional fight to defeat Goliath,” he pointed out.
(November 19, 2005 issue)
Write letter to the editor. Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board. Click here.
|
|
[return to top]
[home]
[network page]
|
LOCAL NEWS
BUSINESS
OPINION
SPORTS
LIFESTYLE
FEATURE
SUPERBALITA
WEEKEND
|
