Strategic Marketing for the 21st Century Filipino Chemical Engineer

(Survive and Thrive the Typhoons of Change) By Prof. Remigio Joseph A. De Ungria, Jr., ChE, ME, MBA

For the past 20 years, Prof. De Ungria has led the creation and implementation of strategic marketing plans. He is

currently a Professor of Marketing Management at the Ateneo Graduate School of Business, a position he has held

on a concurrent basis for the last 15 years while he was fully engaged in roles as Country Marketing Manager for

Philips Lighting and Electronics, Commercial/ Marketing and Technical Manager for Apo Cement (CEMEX),

Marketing Manager for United Coconut Chemicals, Sales Manager for Seaoil Petroleum and Product Group

Manager for Unilever Philippines. While on a full Dept. of Science and Technology scholarship, he earned his BS

Chemical Engineering at UP Diliman in 1986 after which he passed the licensure exams. While working with the

DOST, he completed his BS Mechanical Engineering in 1988 also at UP, after which he garnered 6th

place (out of

1,500 examinees) at the April 1988 ME licensure exams. After 4 years of managing factories like an oil refinery, a

foods plant and a sulphonation facility he shifted to a marketing career. He completed his Masters in Business

Administration at the Ateneo in 1994 and his Diploma in Marketing Communications from DLSU in 2002.

Contact details: 2/F Ateneo Professional Schools, Rockwell, Makati. Tel (02) 216-9743 Cell (0917) 8571089 Email:

josephdeungria@gmail.com. Professional references and more marketing info at http://josephdeungria.com and at

http://strategicpinoyengineer.blogspot.com

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Disaster, catastrophe, cataclysmic change, bad luck, karma – these are some of the labels which we call

the bad things that happen to us. But being the smart and talented people that we really are, chemical

engineers refer to it as entropy- or the degree of disorder in our lives. One of the things I remember

from studying chemical engineering at UP 25 years ago is this- the law of entropy is that the direction of

change is always to create more disorder, until it creates a temporary equilibrium. Once in equilibrium,

any changes that happen will automatically produce a counterbalancing reaction that drives things back

to equilibrium. I keep on saying that to my wife, who by the way is also a chemical engineer but who

doesn’t believe in entropy- if you fix the messy clothes that I put on the floor, there will be natural

unstoppable forces that will put them back there tomorrow. And if you wash them, they will get soiled.

The following characteristics better describe what these terms mean-

1. Worse off after it happens

2. Often, unexpected

3. Life changes as we know it

4. Affects us and those who are important to us

More than characteristics, examples better illustrate what disasters are: Typhoon Ondoy and Pepeng

are the 2 most recent tragedies in many Filipinos’ memory. On that fateful Sep. 25 event, my house had

2 feet of water causing damages running to tens of thousands of pesos. But I was one of the lucky ones

and I am still thankful- because I have a relative and 2 officemates whose 2 story houses were

completely flooded- destroying most of what they saved and treasured for most of their lives. All of

them said that this type of flooding has never happened in the past 20 years that they have lived in their

areas.

There are many personal learnings and profound conclusions that can be derived from the Ondoy

flooding, and this is 1 of them- just because it has never happened in the last 25 years, does not mean it

won’t. As many a financial planner will tell you as a disclaimer, past performance is not an indicator of

future results.

Mount Pinatubo, was an inactive volcano for hundreds of years. But when nature released its natural

energy through its crater, the ash clouds that spread through the earth caused an unprecedented

reversal in global warming. Its lahar buried houses and families and the volcano accomplished what no

government has ever done- drive the American bases out of the country.

Disaster, catastrophe, cataclysmic change, bad luck, karma- as we may call it however is not limited to

natural disasters. This happens to the careers of Filipino chemical engineers as well, and this is the main

topic for today- how does the 21st century Filipino chemical engineer survive and thrive the typhoons of

change?

Are disasters also happening in our Impossible, you might say. Yet, in business, we have different terms

for these bad things: lay-offs, downsizing, rightsizing, outsourcing, sub-contracting, regionalization,

globalization, recession, deregulation. And by the way, when I was in the US last year, the

unemployment rate rose to a national average of 10% which prompted a re-definition of what a

recession and depression was: recession is when many people lose their jobs or are underemployed,

depression is when you lose your job.

I have been a chemical engineer for the past 24 years. I am in the middle of my professional career- that

is, I hope to work for another 24 years before I finally retire. During this first half of my life, I have

personally experienced or seen the following happen-

1. In Unilever, where I was a of an Oil Refinery, I saw how the company decided that it was better

buying the coconut oil it needed for its food products rather than manufacturing it. Result- it

shut down its refinery and at least 100 people lost their jobs. To be able to compete in the

market place, it also sub-contracted major production processes- soap manufacturing, foods

packing and other jobs which used to employ chemical engineers and technical people.

2. In the oil industry, where I was involved in as a sales and marketing manager for Seaoil

Petroleum, I observed how Caltex, now Chevron, decided how it was better for the company to

just import refined oil products rather than produce it in their plant in Batangas.

3. In the oleochemicals industry, where I was the marketing manager for the Cocochem for their

Asia Pacific operations, I struggled to compete with my coconut oil derived chemicals vs. the

bigger and more economically viable facilities of the Malaysians and Indonesians which used

palm oil as their main raw material. Last year, the company was forced to shut down for several

months, drastically reduced its workforce and re-started operations.

4. In the cement industry, I was one of the professional managers that the one global cement

player brought in as it took over the operations of Apo, Rizal and Solid cement. Their transfer of

technology and infusion of hundreds of millions of dollars in direct capital investments

eventually made the companies more globally competitive, but of course with about 50% less

manpower than they came in.

5. In the lighting industry, I came in as a country marketing manager for Philips lighting- and it did

not surprise me anymore that we import all the lighting products - everybody, and their boss,

decided it was better to shutdown the Philippine factory in Las Pinas and simply manufacture

these in regional centers like Indonesia and China.

When you compare the list of the Top 20 corporations in the Philippines in 1992 vs. 2007, you will be

surprise at how the companies are so different. Some big ones are no longer in the list, and some that

are in the 2007 list where not even existing in 1992.

Yes, history is nice but what is more important is the future, is it not? Exactly, but if we don’t learn from

the past, then we are destined to repeat its mistakes.

The most important perspective I have taken from these past 24 years of my career as a chemical

engineer is this- change will happen, we cannot stop it (for who can stop an earthquake, a flood or

globalization), but we can prepare for it. While many view change as a threat, I view it as an opportunity

for those who adequately prepare for it.

The proposal I make for this talk is this- make a strategic business plan that will prepare you for the

typhoons of change and entropy that will definitely happen in the future. Your business plan should

have several components and at least these 2- a financial plan and a strategic marketing plan.

Allow me to focus on the strategic marketing plan. My expertise on this matter is derived from having

completed my MBA at the Ateneo, a Marketing communications management degree at DLSU, several

marketing courses at AIM, 13 years of teaching marketing at the Ateneo graduate school of business

and more than 17 years of strategic marketing experience with leading local and multinational

companies.

Based on this strategic marketing expertise, here are my fearless predictions for the future of the 21st

century Filipino chemical engineer:

1. The basic chemical engineering theories and concepts will remain the same- my dad used

Perry’s chemical engineering handbook in Mapua until he finished in 1959, I used it when I

completed my degree at UP in 1981, you used it and your child will probably use it in 2030.

What has changed and will continue to change is how this basic knowledge is used in business

and industry.

2. Competition will continue to dictate where chemical engineering jobs will be- the Philippines

and the companies operating here will only produce locally if there are strategic advantages in

terms of supply, operations or proximity to markets. For example, the reason cement is still

competitively produced locally is because the supply of raw materials like limestone and silica

and the proximity to customers coupled with the high cost of distribution offers some

advantage vs. imported cement. Having said that too, the high cost of energy and electricity

here plus possible dumping of imported cement from bigger factories abroad make this a

delicate balance that can shift anytime. I recently read about a new paradigm, “China ate my

lunch”, which I believe correctly describes the overwhelming influence of supply and markets in

China to us.

3. Chemical engineers will continue to be hired and competitive in the job marketplace, but less for

our chemical engineering knowledge but more for our skills and ability to think beyond what can

be seen by the eye. We can think molecular and atomic levels, do energy balances as if it is just

another equation and accept that substances react differently with other substances producing

color, heat, and various transformations that we can predict and control.

4. Chemical engineers who have a strategic marketing plan in place will have better chances of

surviving and thriving the forthcoming typhoons of change than those without a plan. Allow me

to base this assertion on our opening analogies with natural disasters: Did we really have a

personal plan prepared vs. the flooding of Ondoy. Probably not since in our minds that can

never happen, and that is why we suffered the way we did. Did the Philippine government and

the National Disaster Coordinating Council have a plan to address a destruction that was as

widespread and devastating as the flood? Not then and not now, which is why we have to

choose our next president wisely. On the other hand, did we prepare adequately for the last

Mayon volcano eruption? Yes, I think so, and that is from learning from the past eruptions and

that is why there were zero casualties.

Based on these predictions, I have 4 suggestions to you my fellow 21st century chemical engineer:

1. Start thinking of your professional expertise and career as a branded product that you can

continuously develop and position to be the leading brand in your own industries. What’s the

difference between leading brands and other brands- a lot in terms of profitability, longevity

and relevance? As products, we are subject product and market life cycles which have 4 distinct

phases’ introduction, rapid growth, maturity and decline. The profitability and the correct

strategy in each phase are very different. Can we positively influence our product life cycles-

certainly! We can lengthen the rapid growth period, extend maturity and re-invent ourselves

before decline sets in.

2. Think strategically- have a plan for the branded product that is your professional career, not just

for today or this year but at least for the next 20 years. Develop your personal vision and

mission statement to guide you in your plans and strategies. Align with this vision as often as

you can.

3. Develop portable, flexible and relevant skills that enhance your professional capabilities

regardless of the form of the industry or type of company that you will eventually find yourself

in. Yes, it is great and imperative to love your current product and company and do everything

that you can possibly can to help these survive and thrive in entropy and change. But know also,

that like everybody else, products, companies and even nations are parts of a bigger economic

and competitive system and in the end, only the fittest survive.

4. Continuously upgrade these skills to the 21st century standards by attending seminars, reading

books, earning degrees. Just like windows keeps upgrading from Windows 95 to 98 to XP to

vista to now windows 7, you are responsible for your own updates and don’t wait for your

company to do it for you. For myself, even as I have more marketing training than 99% of the

Filipino population, I am still trying to cope and trying to remain relevant in this new age of

technology - I am currently completing my digital marketing degree with the Ateneo because

the new technologies that are available- internet, mobile, social networks where not there when

I first studied marketing 18 years ago. To remain competitive, I need to be great at using these

new digital technologies as well.

I had hoped to include in this presentation a detailed framework for understanding and marketing

concepts, the way I teach it at the Ateneo Graduate School of Business. I need a minimum of 90

minutes to do a fair job at it so our short time of 30 minutes together today is not the appropriate

occasion for this. On the other hand, time and face to face interaction is no longer an obstacle in

today’s digitally equipped times - you can read, download that strategic marketing framework anytime

24/7 from my website: http://josephdeungria.com. The site contains all the links to the lectures, articles,

videos, I use to guide my MBA students to developing their own personal strategic marketing plans. It’s

free, and you can access it anytime.

Final Notes

Allow me to conclude this talk by giving you a glimpse of how the strategic, visual marketing framework

is used: Marketing is a continuous set of processes that profitably create, communicate and deliver

value that satisfies the customer’s needs, wants and demands better than competition. Strategic

marketing ensures that these processes are consistently done in alignment with the company’s vision,

mission, objectives and key result areas while responding competitively to the constant changes in the

environment, competition and the customer.

The 21st century has produced great challenges and unprecedented opportunities for the Filipino

chemical engineer. Today’s challenges of globalization deregulation and technological advancements

have exponentially increased competition and empowered the consumer. Many factories in various

industries where local chemical engineers used to have lifetime careers have closed down, downsized,

subcontracted, or transferred to regional centers. On the other hand, new opportunities requiring the

superior, differentiated competencies of a chemical engineer have emerged in industries such as food,

green technology, energy, power, internet and biotechnology industries.

20 years ago, engineering curriculums included a footnote or sprinkling of marketing. Today, new

chemical engineering graduates and veteran professionals will greatly benefit from developing and

applying the knowledge and skills that will allow them to create strategic marketing plans for

themselves, for their companies and for their careers.