You are what you Celebrate

Why celebrate birthdays? I mean, why do your family, your significant other and definitely you go to great lengths to make an otherwise ordinary day extraordinary.

Because you're special... at least that's what you want to remind yourself and people at home and at your place of work.

I think it's the same thing for organizations, whether companies, churches or even families. When do you bring out the best food? When do you wear your best clothes? When do charge the batteries of your camera.

I started a tradition last week. I told my team that we are going to be celebrating the birth of new brands. Drinks on the house to celebrate this momentous occasion. This seems simple enough except for the fact that my dynamic and nimble team is scattered around Southeast Asia.

We did the next best thing. Let's do it (at best) simultaneously, whisper good luck to our new baby, drink away and send the photos.

Congratulations to Sarah & team for doing 98% of the work, Genesis Office for finishing the remaining 2%, special mention to Mara for pushing me to believe in the concept, House of Myles for the cutting edge design, Emily for the amazing name (I'm getting left behind in the naming count hehehe), and to Dragon Edge Group for the company's first brand for 2009!!!

Expect them in Philippine shelves in a few weeks. Retailers are asking for exclusivity, but we might go for better availability because for Holy Seat, the objective of 'Protecting Our Women' is primary. Website will be next.

Philippines celebrates Holy Seat!

Vietnam celebrates Holy Seat!

Thailand celebrates Holy Seat!

Indonesia celebrates Holy Seat!

Holy Seat Spray kills 99.9% germs commonly found in toilets

Holy Seat Biodegradable Seat Cover for those who want that extra protection

P.S. Dragon Edge Group's aim is to come up with 4 new brands this year. This is the first of a series. All Remarkable. All designed for the world.

Another accident

Giorgio Armani

How did you first get into fashion design?

It happened accidentally.  I was doing my military service and I had 20 days off on vacation in Milan.  A friend said, "Do you want to work for two weeks for a photographer in a department store?" and I said yes.  I started assisting the photographer, designing the windows and things.  Soon after that they asked me to oversee the fashion.  And I thought, Why not?  It was creative work.  It involved teamwork.  After a few years I realized that this was really what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.

Source: Time

Design as an Unfair Advantage

I learned a lot in the two business schools I went to. The first was a management course in Ateneo and the second was a masters degree in AIM. In all the years and with all the good professors I've had, not a single one mentioned the word DESIGN.

It has always been an afterthought. Always left out to the weird dudes in UP. And now that I'm in business for myself, this is great because this separates me. This separates my team. While everyone else is grinding away on the latest Excel 08 features, my team and I are figuring out how to make something out of nothing... how to make ordinary stuff cool.

I ended up calling my Chief Designer Myles Jamito to teach my team and I Photoshop. I've been working with Myles for maybe five years... and counting. His team has been behind the design of the great brands that we have. I've always look up to him due to his technical prowess, amazing entrepreneurial courage and marketing fundamentals. But way beyond these abilities he is my teacher in humility, and more importantly how to be a great dad to his three little girls (a gift we both have.)

It's shocking but it's true, I've been championing design for a while, I have a Mac BUT I don't know a thing on Photoshop. My excuse was I didn't have the time and so I forced myself to learn it, and I required everyone else to join.

I'd like to share with you my work through the Saturday mornings we had. Most were home works. It's amateurish but it's a Great Great Start!

Session 1 - Got some photos from my library.

The truth is I forgot how to resize hehehe Crappy crappy work!

Session 2 - Pao, the first foreign member of the team is magically transported to a busy intersection of Shibuya in front of a Beach Hut billboard

Session 3 - I'm starting to be proud of what I can do.

Looking forward to more challenges in Photoshop.

Session 4 - Have you ever wondered how Cebu Pacific would look

like if they went Pink?!?!

Myles also brought the journey into fonts, emotions and why design matters. I was expecting to learn Photoshop but we surprisingly got more. A primer on Design from a practitioner. And with Great Power comes Great Responsibility. I will keep in mind not to overdo everything with Photoshop.

Thanks Myles! I can now put in my resume Photoshop as one of my skills, next to maybe Aquathlon.

Go Negosyo Update

The interview I had a few weeks back will be aired on Saturday and Sunday 8:00am at QTV 11.  You'll see it in YouTube the moment I get the DVD.

What I remember as parting advice to viewers during the interview was NOT to aim to be an Entrepreneur.  I have very good reason for it... see for yourself.

My first Aquathlon

An Astonishing Experience!

That's how I would describe my very first Aquathlon experience very early today in Ateneo.  I had an idea what the 600m swim would feel like, I knew what the 5Km run is.  But I never thought it would be this exciting given the adrenaline of the place, the elbows and legs flying all over the swim lane, the awkwardness of the transition and the pride of having your legs and arms painted with your bib number.

Swim Leg

Run Leg

Beach Hut is a proud sponsor of the unique Ateneo event as you can see from the posters below and I intend to continue this both as a sponsor and as a participant.  Participation was so high this year compared to last year that they had to close the registration.  Congratulations & Great Work to Ateneo Swim Team for organizing this successful event!  You make me so proud to be an alumus of Ateneo Swim Team!  I was telling my wife that I'd wish the team was this active when we were part of it... well as I would always say the things you didn't do are the things you regret.  Also, great work to Coach Brian Aquino for making sure that things are in place early for Beach Hut.

Next time around thou I will be taking the event more seriously by training.  In the run part I saw two friends on separate occasions strolling the relaxed Sunday morning breeze of the campus, and in both cases they have the surprised look on their faces.  I was describing my run earlier as an SUV with a trailer.  I need to work on this one hehe.  Plus I think I would be requiring my team to join next time.  Life is too short to excel only inside the office.

Check out the prizes of today's winners, this one was posted in his blog.  I hope tanman enjoys his Beach Hut camera!  Continue to take great pictures man!

Goodies for the winners!

My biggest gift today are my kids cheering for me the whole time, and asking me to resume our swim and run sessions together so they can join the event next year.  That for me is beyond first place.

Today in Cebu

I'm exhausted.  I've spent the whole day touring Cebu, not in board shorts but in long sleeves.  I handled around 8 interviews, did maybe 5 malls, 4 supermarkets, 4 convenience stores and 4 cups of coffee.  I picked up around 20 products both ours and not, turned them around, looked at expiration, registration, where they're made and what's cool about them.  I took perhaps around 30 snapshots using my iPhone to quickly share with everyone in the team.  Made promises to our partner which I intend to fulfill.  Earlier today I Skype-conferenced the team and promoted someone in Thailand.  I welcomed someone to the team this afternoon - she will be reporting in April.  I have ten ideas right now in my head to grow the market exponentially month by month, and will probably prioritize them and do three.  Give or take I have 3 active new brand concepts in my head (I feel my mind's doing a subconscious market-fitting for Asia in the background).  I ate stuffed crabs, crispy pata, baked scallops and 2 bottles of San Mig Light.  Did 30 emails prior to this 2nd blog post.

I'm exhausted, and this is a good day.  I wouldn't want to trade this for anything else.  I can't wait for tomorrow's adventure.  I heard we will be going north and south of Cebu for a total driving time of 3-4 hours.

If you think above excites you, let's talk.  I need more people who wants to make things happen.  If you can't imagine doing above, please please follow your heart.  Life is too damn short to suffer everyday.

Hmmm... I wonder what I can sell my customers tomorrow?

Want this bag?

Go get

• 12 cans Coors Light
• 12 cans San Mig Light
• 12 bottles of Cerveza Negra

And you bring home this bag which retails P2,950.  No kidding.

Click Clumper Beer for Bags to see other bags and corresponding beer requirements.

BTW, you get to gulp all the beer in a party they're planning on the 27th.  This promo is so brilliant that I just have to join.

Early Flight

It's my fourth flight for the year and I'm off to an early start.

I've gotten used to flying late at night or early in the morning.  I wouldn't have it any other way.  There are no interruptions in operations.  The short flying time gives me enough time to reflect on the people I coach, priorities and business conditions.

If you intend to be international and you don't have a flight monthly or maybe every two months then I think you're not serious.  If you want to sell somewhere, you need to be there.  Online has its limitations.

Lost Generation

Enabled Customers

Cycles recently got emails from two moms.  One from Naga City and the other from Tacloban City.

Allow me to share the email,

This is Zyrell from Naga City.  The product was great, it gave us so much satisfaction and it helps alot when it comes on budgeting.

But I feel so sad when I cannot find it on the department store anymore for the reason that it was removed (finished contract),,,I hope that, I can find soon the product on our city..Thank You..

There are two things I'd like to point out with the emails:

1. Moms will be Moms - the core community of Cycles are moms and they are the same anywhere in the world.  They want the best for their babies!  Nothing less!
   
2. Cheap is opposite Value For Money - "... it helps alot when it comes to budgeting."  Cycles is not the lowest priced detergent but it saves moms a lot of money because it cleans baby's clothes effectively, no need for fabric softener (mostly have harsh formulations) and no rashes means less doctor visits.

Mommy Zyrell and Mommy Jann, don't worry we are doing our best to be available in your areas :)

The Most Expensive TV Ad

$3 Million (P140,985,000.00) for a 30 second spot in Superbowl. 

Probably the most expensive annual tv ad placement in the world.  The best site to review all this very expensive entertainment is thru Adage.

My favorite is Denny's due to the word of mouth this ad brings.

Denny's gave away FREE GRANDSLAM BREAKFAST to everyone who went to their restaurants!  The pull of FREE is superior over all other types of motivation.  This is truly, amazingly Remarkable.  Thou it probably cost as much to feed everyone in America compared to airing this ad.

Just be remarkable

It can be anything really.

My toothpaste is salty

There was something wrong with my tongue, specifically my taste buds.  I was using Colgate - my toothpaste and it was awfully salty.

Or maybe it was my toothbrush.  Did I accidentally dropped it somewhere?

Turns out that majority of toothpastes sold in Thailand are salty, simply because they have salt.  Salt is known for its cleaning and antibacterial properties.  My guess is that the earlier Thais use this for their teeth and passed it on (quite well) to the next generations.

This belief is not the result of TV or advertising or flyers.  This is behavior, part of culture.  The smart thing to do is not to try to change people's behavior but to understand and go with it.

Hmmm... I do think it works.  But only when I'm in Thailand.

The Real Dragon

"Defeat is a state of mind. No one is ever defeated until defeat has been accepted as reality. To me, defeat in anything is merely temporary, and its punishment is but an urge for me to greater effort to achieve my goal. Defeat simply tells me that something is wrong in my doing; it is a path leading to success and truth."

Bruce Lee
1940-1973, Martial Artist, Actor and Author

The Bite of International Business

Five hours.

That's my average sleep time when I'm abroad on work.  Those who know me understand that I am not productive without my sleep.  But somehow I don't need as much sleep when I'm abroad.  I guess it's adrenaline.  The fact that I am working with young people to build something big.  Something Grand.  Something our children can be proud of.

I used to go to swimming competition back in high school and college.  I would compare what we do as competing against some of the finest swimmers of the world.  The feeling is indescribable.

I have so much to share in this blog as to what I see, who I meet but didn't have the time (remember the 5 hours).  I will be working harder to keep up.