October 18, 2023
By Joel C. Mangahis
The Philippine Marketing Association (PMA) dished out “Economic Brief, Cybersecurity and Marketing Tips for 2024″ at its 6th General Membership Meeting held at the Medical City in Ortigas, Pasig.
PRESIDENT’S REPORT
In line with the afternoon’s topic, President Sy Bryan Lato underscored the fact that “cybersecurity remains to be a critical concern” and there is a need to “invest in robust security measures.” Meanwhile, on the marketing front, Lato pushed for “personification, sustainability, and ethical practices which are gaining momentum.“
The PMA President also informed the members that the Research Outlook for 2024 will soon start. In conclusion, he invited the members to support the upcoming National Marketing Conference.
CAUTIOUS OPTIMISM
Kicking off the roster of distinguished speakers was Jonathan Ravales, the Managing Director of eManagement for Business and Marketing Services (EMBM).
He emphasized the need to fully understand economic indicators such as Gross Domestic Product, inflation, interest, and foreign exchange rates as these costs will be passed on to the consumers.
Ravales emphasized that “cautious optimism” should be our mindset to deal with the current situation. He mentioned favorable domestic factors such as easing inflation pressures and spending slowdown to boost fiscal consolidation but that on the downside, there are concerns for El Nino and global recession. Globally, the growth outlook remains dim as financial conditions deteriorate, and of course the Russia-Ukraine war and Israel-Palestine conflict.
The Managing Director further shared the country’s latest economic indicators — GDP, inflation, unemployment, policy rate, forex, etc. He forecasted that due to the midterm election in 2025, GDP will hit a high of 6.35%. Some growth drivers he mentioned include food security, improved infrastructure, reduced transport and logistics costs, food availability and accessibility, etc.
Ravales ended his talk by saying that global growth is challenged by elevated prices but that the country is in a better shape to face the difficulties ahead but still not immune from global risks.
ABSENCE OF CYBERSECURITY CULTURE
Immediately following him was Jocel de Guzman, Co-founder of Scam Watch who stated that digitalization has accelerated during the pandemic at P2.08 trillion in 2022 (9.4% of GDP). With this came the rise of the fintech companies.
Calling cybercrime the “unintended consequence of digitalization,” he identified that the problem stems from the absence of a cybersecurity culture of changing our habits online. Thus, he pointed out that part of the solution is making advocacy marketing a national movement. To report cybercrimes, he shared the hotline 1326.
MARKETING TIPS
A triumvirate of speakers next took to the floor to share their marketing tips with the members.
RG Gabunada, Director and CMO of Mansfield and Fields, Inc. shared his digital marketing tips — look for the personal user experience of customers, content is not created equal, organic is dead, organic is dead, try new technology that can be beneficial to the brand.
Chiqui Escareal-Go, President and CEO of Mansfield and Fields, Inc., came in next saying there is a “need to evolve our marketing perspective.” Elaborating, she sees “more and more interdisciplinary collaboration happening with digital taking the lead, constant re-calibration of sights or zooming in/out, more inter-generational mentoring and the importance of trust and transparency“.
Last was Josiah Go, Chairman and Chief Innovation Strategist of Mansfield and Fields, Inc., who pointed out that marketing strategies come from ideas which in return come from skills. Thus, he enumerated the four skills needed in 2024 and beyond –– sense-making, business modeling, innovation and execution.
There was also the usual networking, member induction, and finally the much-anticipated raffle.
As expected, it was an afternoon full of relevant information and insights with members raring to implement them in their respective workplaces. Until the next GMM!
