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Segundina: Eat. Pray. Love.

Today, as we celebrate Segundina’s journey to heaven to join God, her Creator and Remigio, our dad and our beloved, we pause to reflect on how her life was part of ours.

Segundina, Ding, Abogado De Ungria, served many roles in her 79 years here on earth. She was her family’s bunso, the dutiful daughter who took care of our Lola Papeng until Lola’s death, and there was no doubt she was Lola’s paborito. I now believe that the constant question- “Who’s your favorite?” started from this.

She was the youngest sister to Uncle Doring, the last survivor of the Abogado family from Villasis, Pangasinan and to her siblings who have gone ahead and have surely welcomed her there:  Auntie Dyoning, Uncle Nardo, Auntie Nena, Auntie Auring, Auntie Conching, Aunti Sion.

She was the nurse, wife, supporter of our dad, James De Ungria,  who she loved unconditionally in sickness and in health, and in rich and in poor, till death 1300 days ago set them temporarily apart.

She was our beloved mom who gave us everything and never asked for anything in return. If you see anything bad in any of us- me, Joel, Cora and Paul, today, if there is anything wrong that we do, it is because of our fault. But if you see anything good in us, surely it was because of mom. And we can never thank her enough for that. If any of us achieved part of our dreams, it was because she let us and enabled us to do so.

She was the favorite tita or auntie for a lot of you, the proxy mother when you needed her most –cooking for us, always offering us food, driving us to school, listening to our heartbreaks, protecting us from harm and danger.

And to all of us, she was the happy, cheerful, ever-smiling prayer warrior who prayed for our well-being and safety when we needed it most and even when we thought we didn’t. 

And so today, as I was thinking of what she would want to be remembered, I thought of the 79 years of  lifetime service to all of us. And what stands out is what she gave up so that she can give a better life for us. She gave up her dental profession to take care of her children. She gave up her dream, every bride and every wife’s dream, to have a separate house; she obeyed lolo’s request for us to stay with them at Matiyaga. She gave up her own physical health to take care of my dad during the 11 years he survived after his paralyzing stroke.

At the Ateneo, we are challenged to be a man for others. Surely, mom, Segundina,  was the ultimate, undisputed, Woman for others, the Lola, mother, wife, sister, tita that seconded her life and her dreams so that our life and our dreams will be possible. For mom, it was others first, Segundina second. For Lola Ding it was you and I first. Segundina second.

Until yesterday, I  thought that Segundina’s life would be best characterized by what we know as Faith, Hope and Love. For surely, she exemplified all these virtues- Faith, Hope and Love.

But after hearing all of the anecdotes, stories and memories that was shared last night, I think that Segundina’s life is really about 3 actions that we should continue even after her passing from this earth. These 3 actions are: Eat, Pray, Love. And if she were able to speak now, I think she would say:

Eat. Pray. Love.

Eat for health and not for food. Eat not alone but together with family. Eat to live. Eat with your loved ones. Eat to celebrate a birthday, a school medal, a graduation or simply eat because you are blessed with that special moment with family and friends. And eat and then take pictures so that one day when one needs a good memory, then that wonderful eating moment together is recalled in all its color and joy.

Pray. Pray and never doubt. Pray once, twice, three times a day, pray unceasingly. Pray persistently. Pray not for self but for others. Pray and you must expect that it will be answered even if the answer may come in a different form and time. Pray even when you don’t need it but especially when you do. And like she did, keep some money in your prayerbook so that when your son opens it, he will find an answer that he will never forget and which he can pass on to his children and to the rest of the family.

Love. Love unconditionally. Love others first and yourself second. Love even when it hurts. Even when it is not easy. Love in sickness and in health. Love in rich and in poor. Love in life and in death.

Eat. Pray. Love. From hereon, I will hear her whisper from heaven these 3 actions which I will continue with my own family. I promise.

Oh. One last thing. If you saw the many pictures of mom, there is no doubt that they were taken  during the best of times, and during the worst of times - when life was not as she would have wanted. These snapshots were taken when she was at the peak of her youthful beauty, and when she was the ailing senior citizen patient in so much pain. But she always smiled at the camera. I guess she did it not for herself alone but more for us so that we can always remember to be happy, to eat, to pray and to love.

Dear friends, relatives, colleagues, for each and all of you here who have come to share with us mom’s final moments here, thank you, thank you, thank you.  You honor us and Segundina with your presence, with your precious time, your prayers and your tears of joy and grief.

Let us celebrate today, for mom is now home in heaven. She is with dad. She is free.

Please let us honor her memory, her life and her sacrifice by acting as she did: Eat. Pray and Love. And the greatest, is Love.

Case Study: Addmix Transformer

Late 2009, a long time friend and mentor, Gilbert Cruz, approached me for marketing advise. He wanted to create a low budget TV commercial which he can immediately air as part of the freebies he is getting for sponsoring a basketball team in the PBL.

As a PBL league member, he is entitled to so many exposures or spots of 30 second TV commercials. He had some ideas on how to tell his brand story. His words as I still recall it: "I was having breakfast, getting ready to go to work in my construction project. I wanted to find out how I can build stronger buildings faster. Then addmix came to mind."

Being a technical-marketing person, I knew what his addmix could do. Just a drop can mean a lot. It's so much like MSG for food, as addmix is to cement. My first battle with Gilbert was to get him, the brand owner, to agree on the brand DNA, or differentiator: Transformer. Addmix Transformer.

Asked how much budget he was willing to spend for the TVC (TV commercial), he replied- as low as possible (not surprisingly) but we finally agreed that it should not exceed P 150,000.

I had nobody else in mind to do the project except Jay Adlao, of Outbound Asia. Have worked with Jay in a number of  successful, tight budget video and exbition projects.

Here is what we came out with...

Here is what it cost...

It took about 3 weeks to get from concept to execution.

This included getting Adboard approval for some of the content of our TVC. Here is the top part of a 2 page letter

       and going through 2 storyboard revisions....

   The transformation from idea to execution was easy because of a complete ad brief to the agency.

   Here are some of the press-release and web news on the Addmix PBL Team

And here is the "free" version of a more comprehensive website I designed and implemented for Addmix Transformers... (the paid version was removed 2 years after the PBL team disbanded.)

http://addmixforconcrete.blogspot.com/

Remember This! Mastering Concepts through Stories, Images, Diagrams and Links

Contribute your share in remembering a marketing concept.

Learn from the Remember This! presentation….

Remember this 2013 pdf from Remigio Joseph DeUngria

Then choose 1 marketing concept from your assigned chapter. Using 1 of the techniques demonstrated in the presentation (story, image, diagram or link to I love Marketing), make the concept easy to remember.

Post your submission as a comment here…

http://www.facebook.com/groups/v59agsb/permalink/214558205335430/

Follow the format:

Chapter number and title from which the concept was derived

The marketing concept

url of your slideshare or blogpost

Sample post:

Chapter 3 Gathering Information and Measuring Market Demand

Concept: There are 4 references (data sources) for making effective management decisions: (1) internal records (2) market research (3) market intelligence (4) management decision support systems

http://www.hypermarketing2.com/2013/03/remember-this-mastering-concepts.html

You have to post at another location! Post at the appropriate chapter link here... (ie. If your concept is on Chapter 4, post your link as a comment on Chapter 4)

http://www.facebook.com/LearningKotler

Strama- Markma Linkage

If location, location, location are the 3 key success factors for fastfoods, then it might be topic, topic, topic which are the key success factors for Strama, or Strategic Management, the last subject of many an AGSB MBA student and sadly, where a lot of students falter- resulting in agonizing delays or worse non-completion of the MBA program.

Unfortunately, I cannot base the above hypothesis on my own experience in the MBA since I completed mine in 1994 when strama was not yet the norm; it was thesis writing and defense which served as the final hurdle to an MBA degree.

Prof. Frank Roa was my thesis adviser in 1993. He was and is probably among the most diligent, hardworking, and supportive advisers to get, even today for strama. Back then, I distinctly remember going to his office in Petron to bring a copy of my thesis. I got the corrected one back on time, and I am sure he read it word for word as there were corrections and suggestions pencilled in many of the pages. During my defense, he asked the familiar questions he asked me during the draft writing and of course I knew the answers already, having taken some, not all of his recommendations. On the items we agreed on, it was easy. On the others, I was prepared.

To this day, Prof. Roa volunteers his time to talk to markma students of other professors and share his wisdom on choosing a topic for strama. He proposes that an early understanding of the rigors of strama, especially while in markma helps. Having been a strama adviser for many years, he observed that many of the dilemmas and hence the solutions to business problems were marketing related. I have summarized Prof. Roa’s recommendations in the following powerpoint. When he has time, he prefers to explain this directly to the markma class.

Marketing and Strama Linkage from Remigio Joseph DeUngria

To support Prof. Roa’s initiative, I have suggested to my students to actually use the same topic/ subject matter for their 10 step marketing plan for the Markma class and for their Strama paper. At best, it will give them the chance to accomplish the marketing portion for their strama paper and getting feedback from me, their marketing professor. At worst, students will find out that the topic they chose was a difficult one – possibly in identifying the strategic recommendations or possibly that the data needed are confidential or not readily available.

 Hypermarketing students. After reading the guidelines, pls. prove that you have read it by posting your 2 proposed topics for your 10 Step Marketing Plan using the link below. Remember, pls. post as a comment and not as a new post! http://www.facebook.com/groups/v59agsb/permalink/212271598897424/

Marketing3.0: Kotler sets new frontier

Is this just another intellectual discussion. Or is this really happening?

See what marketing guru, Philip Kotler, says is the next frontier for marketing...

Marketing 3.0 from Ashraful Islam

Hypermarketing2 students- How does Marketing 3.0 apply to your personal branding efforts?
Pls. comment below... 
Or, if you cant find the comment box, pls. click here...
http://www.hypermarketing2.com/2013/01/marketing30-kotler-sets-new-frontier.html#comment-form

Hyper2 Opening Number

The "Opening Number" concept is similar to how TV shows, concerts and events start- with a bang! This rewards those who are present on-time, while allowing the main act to be completely enjoyed by those who come in later than the ideal.

And so, for Hypermarketing2 classes, we also use "opening numbers" so that the class always starts on time at 6 pm, with an inspirational song, prayer, blogpost or marketing exercise that serves as an icebreaker and great way to start the class. The content is relevant to the class session which follows. Typically, opening numbers take 15 to 30 minutes to complete. Vcoach thinks it is an infiinitely more effective use of the time vs. waiting for professor or  the rest of the students to arrive.

What does the class have to do for the opening number?
First of all, on or before 6 pm of the class, regardless if vcoach is already inside the classroom or not, a class volunteer opens the class Facebook page using the classroom's main computer and projects this on-screen.
Then follow the interactive instructions shown on the post or link. If comments or reactions are asked, this should be done individually and immediately, unless otherwise specified. If individual or immediate comments are not possible due to time and equipment constraints, then do so at a later time, possibly even after the class, but do it as part of your class participation.

What happens to those who come in after the opening number? Then you have to do, watch, react to the same instructions in the opening number later, but better if this is sooner than later and definitely better than never.

The opening number for the class session will be posted before the actual session on the class FB page. Can you view the post and react before the class? Absolutely! 

Despite the interactive and hyperlink nature of the class which allows students to follow and catch up with what is discussed in class, there is no substitute to actually being present in the classroom. Some wise man once said: "80% of success is showing up." So, if there is a choice to being late or being absent, then choose late. But remember too, "the early bird gets the worm." so be on time as a rule.

Hypermakering2 students:  I must emphasize too that school policies allow a 20% maximum absence rate and that is only 3 meetings per trimester. You will fail the class if you exceed this limit, no ifs and buts. Unusual cases with sufficient and documented justification may allow the student to be absent 4 times, with make-up for the 1 class that exceeded the limit. But there is absolutely no justification for being absent 5 times or more. Absenteeism is the largest cause of failure in hypermarketing2 classes. If you are absent, you still have to submit the requirements or else you get an incomplete. If you are absent but within the 3 meeting limit, you are not required to do a make-up class but doing so will allow you to get full value and grade credit from the class.