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SUNDAY, APRIL 29, 2018
Business
Ray S. Eñano, Editor / Roderick dela Cruz, Issue Editor business@manilastandard.net
HP OFFERS TO TRANSFORM PH FACTORIES
BEAUTY INDUSTRY EXECUTIVE BETS ON FILIPINO MILLENNIALS
OANNA Therese ‘Sobee’ DueñasChoa was the top marketing executive of global cosmetics company Mary Kay Inc. in Asia Pacific in 2016 when she chose to come back home and lead the company in fully tapping the great opportunities in the Philippines.
Her return, after a decade of working in Hong Kong, China, Japan, Singapore and other Asian countries, marked the transformation of the US brand in the Philippines into one that is more accessible to Filipino women, especially millennials. “I was living in Hong Kong for seven years. It is just advanced and so high tech there, and the pace of energy is so fast. When I got home, I thought I would miss it. And you know what, I don’t. When I got home, it is like wow, the Philippines is so advanced now, and there is so much opportunity. The progress here is amazing,” Dueñas says in an interview in Makati City. Dueñas, who has two decades of experience in the beauty industry, had worked for Avon Asia Pacific and L’Oreal, before joining Mary Kay in 2009 where she rose to become the regional marketing manager based in Hong Kong overseeing 10 AsiaPacific markets. “When you say base, it was where I left my clothes. Because I was traveling every two weeks, every month, to work in other countries,” says Dueñas, who obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Marketing and Asian Studies from De La Salle University Manila in 1991. She also studied General Management in National University of Singapore and has an MBA degree from Ateneo Graduate School of Business. On why she decided to take on the challenge of leading Mary Kay Philippines as the country general manager, she says: “We have come so far as a country. I am not surprised that people are investing here and we are seeing our business also growing because there is a growing middle class.” “The Philippines has 100 million people. If you look at the sheer size of the population, and the economy is growing 6 percent to 7 percent a year, we are going to be the fastest growing country in the world. Now is the time. It is a good thing I went back home now,” she says. As the country head, Dueñas leads thousands of independent beauty consultants and sales directors who are engaged in direct selling of Mary Kay products such as makeup, foundation, lipsticks, pressed powder, facial wash, cleansers, anti-aging and skin care lines. Direct selling is a face-to-face marketing or sale of products without the use of brick-and-mortar stores. Mary Kay, established by the late American entrepreneur Mary Kay Ash in 1963, is one of the world’s top direct selling companies that focus on cosmetic products. Based in Addison, Texas just outside Dallas, the company has 3 million independent beauty consultants across 35 countries and generates annual revenues in excess of $3 billion from the sales of over 200 products. Mary Kay Philippines began commercial operations in May 2000, establishing a head office at Allegro Center along Pasong Tamo Extension in Makati City and two other centers in Davao City and Zamboanga City. Dueñas says while research and development takes place in Texas, Mary Kay has developed certain products for Asian women. “Because our seasons and climates are different., we need to use sun protection, especially if you are out running
Mary Kay Philippines country general manager Joanna Therese ‘Sobee’ Dueñas-Choa around,” she says. She says Mary Kay Philippines focuses on skin care and makeup lines. “When you look at direct selling as an industry, beauty which is the category we are playing in is just a part of it. We actually chose not to play in apparel or in accessories or in nutrition. Not yet. Because we want to focus on our core strength which is skin care and makeup,” she says. “The reason for that is that we are still in the process of turning the business around,” says Dueñas, who faces the challenge of making Mary Kay one of the top five direct selling companies and beauty brands in the Philippines. Dueñas says the beauty and skin care industry in the Philippines is worth billions annually and it continuously grows as the economy expands and the population increases. “It has been a year and a half since I moved back to Manila, but I have been in this role as country head for two years. It took two years to reposition our company, make pricing more accessible, make the opportunity more accessible, and now we are seeing progress,” she says. “At the moment, we are going to stay in beauty because I want to make sure we are stable there
first. And there is so much opportunity. I would love to have Mary Kay sales director on every island,” she says. Dueñas says direct selling is a legitimate form of trade, just like retail. “At the end of the day, direct selling or retail is just a channel. If you look at it now, we are selling the same products. Whether you are selling in a store or direct selling, it is just a channel and we are competing in the same industry,” she says. She says that unlike other multi-level marketing company, one needs to sell in order to make a commission with Mary Kay. “We need to sell in order to earn in the business. In multi-level marketing, a lot of times, it is dependent on recruiting people. You earn from bringing in a group of people, but not necessarily making sales,” she says, adding that this causes a negative perception of MLM or even pyramiding in the country. “In Mary Kay, when we practice direct selling, we really need to sell. The only way we can earn a commission, even if were bring people under us, is by selling,” she says. Dueñas says what makes Mary Kay different is
BACOLOD ENTERPRISE GETS AUSTRALIAN AWARD BAGOSPHERE, a Bacolod-based social enterprise, won the top prize of Au$100,000 at Frontier Innovators, an initiative of the Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s innovationXchange. Bagosphere provides short-term, career-focused training programs to bridge the skills gaps in communications, IT and soft skills and prepare disadvantaged youth for jobs in fast-growing industries across the Philippines. It aims to skill, re-skill and upskill one million individuals by 2040. BagoSphere was among the 15 top teams selected by Frontier Innovators from over 700 applications and over 52 countries from the AsiaPacific region. The finalists work hard to provide a wide range of innovative
and unique solutions that deliver impact and support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goalsin areas such as health, agriculture, environment, education and finance, among others. Frontier Innovators will support Bagosphere to scale its impact as it contributes to SDG #1: No Poverty and #4: Quality Education. Bagosphere will receive grant funding, six months of tailored support, and access to relevant expert advisors, potential partners and investors. To achieve their vision of creating a world where every youth can pursue what they love, earn a good living, and build a better future for the next generation, Bagosphere provides a student-centric job preparation program. This award winning program gives rural and urban tal-
ents access to micro-funded education in digital and soft skills, increasing their employability. The team is dedicated to student success, with a commitment to share job opportunities six months postgraduation and through an alumni network that students can tap into for job and mentorship opportunities. Bagosphere’s training program has proven effective, with an 80 job placement rate within one month from graduation, and graduates earning up to four times more than their unskilled counterparts. Bagosphere’s partners include Negros Women for Tomorrow Foundation, Kickstart (a Globe subsidiary), Panasiatic Solutions, Teleperformance, Transcom, Tzu Chi Foundation and Ateneo de Manila University.
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HP PHILIPPINES has launched its groundbreaking multi jet fusion technology in the country with the introduction of the HP Jet Fusion 3D 4200 and 4210 printing solutions. HP said together with WordText Systems Inc. at WSI Corporate Center in Makati City, it aimed to drive innovative production-ready applications across sectors such as healthcare, manufacturing and engineering. The HP Jet Fusion 3D 4200 Printing Solution revolutionizes design, prototyping and manufacturing, and for the first time, delivers superior quality physical parts up to 10 times faster and at half the cost of current 3D print systems. By printing functional parts for the first time at the individual voxel level (a voxel is the 3D equivalent of a 2D pixel in traditional printing), HP offers customers an unprecedented ability to transform part properties and deliver mass customization. “HP’s 3D printing ushers in a new era for print in the Philippines with its cutting-edge technology. HP’s leadership to ignite an ecosystem and accelerate 3D printed productionready applications will transform the future of manufacturing with faster innovation cycles, shorter supply chains and reduced capital costs. This effort is paving the way for the fully digital future of global enterprise and industries including healthcare,” said HP Philippines managing director Pallasena Viswanath. Leveraging decades of printing exper tise and designed for industrial-scale 3D manufacturing environments, the new HP Jet Fusion 3D Print 4210 solution significantly lowers overall operating costs while increasing production volume capabilities, raising the “break-even point” for large-scale 3D manufacturing to up to 110,000 parts and enabling the industry’s lowest cost-per-part- up to 65 percent less than other 3D printing methods. To ensure consistent part quality for each product, the materials used in HP Multi Jet Fusion 3D Printing undergo a multi-agent printing process, which uses both detailing and fusing agents that work together to create fine details and smooth surfaces in each printout. HP Jet Fusion 3D Printing solutions also come fitted with continuous printing and fast cooling technology and an automated materials preparation and post-processing station that streamlines print workflows. This changes the game for how companies in the Philippines can fundamentally change the way they conceive, design, produce, distribute and consume, allowing them to be more efficient in prototyping, production, and supply chain digitization. “HP is one of the most trusted brands in the Philippines and we believe that their Jet Fusion 3D Printing solutions will strengthen opportunities across industries and ignite an ecosystem. We look forward to accelerating the transformation of manufacturing and supply chains with HP in the Philippines,” said WSI vice president Jing Laurente.
CFO OF THE YEAR.
Smart chief finance officer Chaye Cabal-Revilla (left) receives the “Excellence in Women Leadership – CFO of the Year” from The Golden Globe Tigers at Pullman Kuala Lumpur City Centre Hotel and Residences in Malaysia. She is accompanied by her husband, Bacoor, Cavite Rep. Strike Revilla (right), a multi-awarded lawmaker who served as mayor for nine years before being elected to Congress. “I am so blessed to have a beautiful hardworking wife, and a truly caring mom to our child,” says the lawmaker. Chaye says she is very thankful for the award which she dedicates “to my family, especially to my very supportive husband who is my inspiration.”