Gentle Reminders

Hi folks,

Please be reminded of the following, as agreed in class last Saturday:

1. Each group needs to upload the most recent version of your paper to Google Drive. We need to make sure that all your papers are fit for final printing and submission to CME. Please also use new file naming convention: MARK 106[Section] [Company Name] [Final]. All updated files should be uploaded on or before Saturday, 1 March.
2. Deadline of submission is on Saturday, 8 March. Printed on a hard bound black cover.
3. It should have an Approval Sheet right after the cover page, and right before the Acknowledgment page. Your Page 1 is the Executive Summary. All pages before the Executive Summary, are counted as i, ii, iii, and so on. To illustrate:

Page A: Hard Cover (same with Title Page)
Page B: Inside front cover (blank)
Page C: False cover (blank)
i. Title Page
ii. Approval Sheet
iii. Acknowledgment (optional)
iv. Table of Contents

Page 1: Executive Summary
...and so on.

The Table of Contents (ToC) starts with Executive Summary. All the rest are preliminary pages and should not be included in the ToC.

A sample of an Approval Sheet is shown below (click to enlarge).

Online consultations continue especially for those who were required to revise their papers. My communication lines are always open to you. Just let me know in advance should you need real time feedback. I'll be on the road on a business trip most of the time this week so please bear with me.

That's all for now.

Cheers!

Recap: Panel Presentation

Congratulations to each of you for surviving the panel presentation last Monday and Tuesday. You all did a good job, really, considering the limited time that was given to you to prepare and submit your Strategic Marketing Management Plan. Good job!

Before we started the panel presentation last Monday, I gave a short opening remarks addressed to you- my students- and to the members of the panel to set the tone of the panel presentation. Here is a screenshot of my notes (there might be some changes of a few words or phrases during actual delivery but the essence remains the same) for those who were not there to hear it. 

In summary, 9 groups passed the oral defense while 3 groups were not as lucky. For those who were less successful, don’t fret: we are here to learn, and failures are part of the learning process.

“Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. Most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.”

Here are some of my observations from the whole exercise, and I hope you’ll use these as valuable lessons (you may also add your own list of ‘lessons learned’ in the comments section below):

1. Unfavorable comments from the panelists stem from your lack of understanding of your industry and even of your company. 
2. Most papers were not supported by a simple consumer research, even as simple as asking your family or classmates about your chosen product.
3. People notice it when you Copy-Paste what you are writing in your paper. Stop that habit. Do not plagiarize.
4. Experience what you are writing about- see, feel, taste, smell it so you can have better credibility.
5. Read. The quality of your writing and speaking reveals your lack of grasp of what's happening around you. 
6. Improve your presentation skills. You should learn to engage your audience, and not just read from the screen or from your notes.
7. Improve your writing skills.   

Lastly, I’d like you to read Steve Jobs’ graduation speech at the Stanford University given on 12 June 2005. I’m sure many of you have encountered this before in one way or another, but it is important to be reminded again by the powerful words of this one great man.  

Or watch the video. (Better yet watch the video while reading the speech- or turn on the subtitle).

See you again on Saturday, 22 February. I'll post soon our agenda for the next meeting.

Cheers!

Break a leg!

Here's to wish you good luck on your oral presentation tomorrow and Tuesday!

And for some useful tips to effective public speaking, remember these:

1. Know your material very well. Mastery of your topic- industry, market, company and strategy- is half the work done.
2. Practice. Practice. Practice. There might not be enough time to practice, but you may start thinking of what you will be saying by organizing your thoughts on every opportunity.
3. Relax. This is part of your learning process. Your panel wants you to succeed. What can't kill you will make you stronger. But if you are not hurting, you are not growing. So pain is a friend.
4. Don't be defensive. Some of you call this exercise the "oral defense", but the best way to survive this is by NOT antagonizing your panel. Be friendly but not cutesy. Be serious but not snobby. Take all in, calmly. Thank your panel for each of their suggestions. Explain briefly and plainly.
5. Support each other. Speak as a team, work together as a team. 

Cheers- Arnold

Strategy

By now you have already gone through assessing the factors that affect you firm- from the general environment (PESTEL) to the market forces (5 Forces) to the firm level (SWOT, VCA, Competitive Advantage).

You have found out how your industry works, discovered what the industry is comprised of, learned of the level of competition within the market where you operate. You have also profiled your customer base- who buys your products, where are they from, when are they buying, why are they buying, and to some extent, why are they buying your competitor's products instead. More importantly, you have also identified the need that your product/service/company aims to satisfy. This is what you are trying to offer to the market. It is what you are trying to sell.

You have also dissected your firm's inner systems, and found out where you are best at and where you need to improve in order to survive.

Then you set your objectives or goals for the next 3 years. The goals are consistent with your company mission-vision and core values.

You are now ready to embark on the next chapters of your paper, in fact, the heart and soul of a marketing plan- the marketing strategy.

First, the definition: a marketing strategy is a game plan to reach target markets and the enumeration of value propositions that will be offered based on analysis of the best market opportunities (Kotler).

Here is an example of target segments and corresponding features/benefits for each segment (Kotler):

There are in fact several marketing strategies that you can employ. Your choice would be dependent on what you want to accomplish (objectives), what you are capable of doing (competitive advantage).

You may use the following frameworks to choose the most appropriate strategy.

1. The Product/Market Opportunity Mix

2. Segment-Target-Position

3.  Market Positioning

For detailed discussions, read your textbook: Part 4 and Part 5.

Then proceed with specific strategies for each of the 4Ps in your marketing mix: Product, Price, Place (Channel/Distribution), and Promotion.

Next up: Implementation.

Poll Results

Here's how your class voted on the suggestion to cancel class tomorrow to give you more PRODUCTIVE time to write your paper and prepare for the oral presentation on Monday and Tuesday:

Class/Group	VOTE
MARK 106-1
Remington Hotel	A
Camella Homes, Inc.	D
Philippine Seven Corporation/ 7-11	D
Digitel Mobile Philippines/Sun Cellular	D
MARK 106-2
Honda Cars Philippines	A
Sun Life Financial Philippines	A
PLDT	A
RGC Foam Group/ Uratex	D
MARK 106-3
Pepsi-Cola Products Philippines, Inc.	A
San Miguel Brewery	D
Island Overseas Transport Corporation	A
2Go Group, Inc.	A

For MARK106-1, since majority of your class wanted to hold a session, we shall meet tomorrow at the same time and same place.

For MARK106-2 and MARK106-3, I am available tomorrow from 10 a.m.-12 nn and from 4:30 p.m. - 6 p.m. at the PLM Library- both for online and offline (face-to-face) consultation.

The CME office has posted today the schedule of your oral presentation. Thanks to Candy Ignacio for sharing this photo. See below.

The oral presentation will be held at the TOP Room, according to Dean Gamus. You are also requested to prepare food, token for panel members and other arrangements. I am not familiar with this practice therefore I am requesting Block officers of the 3 sections to meet and agree on how to deliver this request from the Dean. Ask your seniors how they did it in the past year.

Lastly, each section/class/block would have to draw lots to determine the order of the presentations. I trust the class officers can also facilitate this process. Please let me know thru SMS the final order of presentations.

That's it for now. Keep working on your papers.

Cheers--- Arnold