The Filipino Marketing Professionals and the ASEAN Integration 2015

by: Jean Paolo G. Lacap

First and foremost, I would like to personally express my sincerest gratitude to Dominican College of Tarlac for inviting me to give a talk on the role of Filipino Marketing Professionals in the forthcoming ASEAN integration 2015. I really enjoyed the warmth and the Dominican hospitality! Thank you very much!

ASEAN integration 2015 is near. There are different opinions from both the private and public sectors, on the readiness of the Philippines in the coming ASEAN integration. Nevertheless, whether we like it or not, we need to embrace it since we are part of the ASEAN.

In the arena of marketing, every Filipino marketing professional should be ready with the ASEAN integration phenomenon. Why? It is simply because the competition among marketers among ASEAN member nations will be stiffer. ASEAN integration entails free flow of goods, services, and even labor thus it is a must for Filipino marketers to be equipped with necessary skills and competencies that are needed in the new ASEAN landscape.

What it takes to be an effective ASEAN marketer?

What it takes to be an effective ASEAN marketer? Creativity is one. With the stiffer competition among ASEAN industries, encompassing manufacturing and service, the role of marketers is critical. Marketing campaigns must be creative to fully acquire and retain customers. The success of marketing campaigns today lies on how creative the campaign is. Second is, each ASEAN marketer should learn how to add wit and humor to every marketing strategies they will conceptualize. It is not enough that the campaign is creative, humor is an additional factor. Injecting wit and humor adds the chance of the marketing campaign to attract and retain more customers. And lastly, commitment. Each market player must learn that achieving profits cannot be attained through mediocre, nonsense marketing strategies. Each firm must realize that, being committed to what they deliver to the customers is vital. Walk the talk!

From 4Ps to 4Ps

Marketing is always viewed by identifying the 4Ps – Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. These 4Ps are necessary to come up with effective and doable marketing strategies, typically through the utilization of SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis and come up with strategies through TOWS (Threats, Opportunities, Weaknesses, and Strengths). I am not going to deal on SWOT and TOWS analyses (I reserve this one, on my next article!). But with the changing market conditions, every firm must go beyond the analysis of the 4Ps. The new 4Ps in the era of globalization and ASEAN integration include People, Planet, Performance, and Purpose.  It is not enough that the marketing tools should always be based on product, price, place, and promotion. The "new" breed of Filipino marketers must create effective, and doable marketing campaigns today that 1) emphasize the importance of people in the organization, 2) know how to take care of the planet, 3) compete and augment the level of the firm’s performance, and 4) accentuate the reason why the firm exist in the first place. Profitability is the old measure of firm’s success. The new measure now is how the organization was able to help and contribute to the society in general.

At the end of the day, each of us has a huge role in the nearing ASEAN integration 2015. For marketing students, the future Filipino marketers, this is a huge challenge. Don’t give up because we can all face and succeed this inevitable challenge. Never forget Jonathan Yabut’s famous quote “You can never be too small to dream BIG!” As young as you are now, start to dream big! Remember, “Don’t rush things because there is no shortcut in achieving success. Always follow the formula: commitment + dedication + determination = SUCCESS! Kudos future ASEAN marketers!