Agora awardee urges integrity in brand building

MANILA, Philippines - Today’s marketing landscape has changed a lot from how it was decades ago. Professionals are now provided with technology that makes work easier for them and open new opportunities that were once not there. Still, this does not necessarily make things easier for today’s professionals. In fact, they still need to go the extra mile if they wish to succeed in their chosen field.

This is according to past Agora Award winner Blen Fernando who received the prestigious award for Marketing Management in 2009. The marketing powerhouse shares how she and her colleagues had to learn the ins and outs of the industry the hard way to be where she is now.

She muses, “It’s very different now because a lot of facilities are available, and opportunities are available to marketers. You don’t have to research like we did back then. Now, there’s a lot of technology to help you.”

Fernando elaborates, “There are a also a lot of seminars, workshops, conferences and training programs that you can attend, which are the best practices. During my time, when you went to those conferences, they were all lecture-types. Now, there are a lot of practitioners who share their knowledge and experiences with the younger generation. They are very lucky.” 

Fernando is one of the 22 past Agora Award winners who will share their knowledge and expertise in marketing at the forthcoming Agora Circle Conference of the Philippine Marketing Association, which will be held at the Marriott Grand Ballroom on Oct. 21.

The conference, a pre-event for the annual Agora Awards, will see past Agora winners discuss with conference participants their personal stories and what inspired them in creating their winning marketing strategies.

This year’s Agora Circle Conference follows the theme “Fifty Shades of Marketing Darker” and will be open to members of the academe, industry professionals, and even students who are interested to know more about the local marketing industry.

Fernando is presently vice president for marketing of Alaska Milk Corp.  where she has been working for 22 years. It was during her term the corporation won the Agora Award for Marketing Company of the Year in 2013. Prior to her work in Alaska, she worked as a marketing practitioner in food and non-food categories for multinational and local companies.

Fernando declined offers to be nominated for the Agora Awards on two different occasions before consenting in 2008. After her nomination was filed with the Philippine Marketing Association, the prestigious body which hands out the awards to marketing professionals in the country, she completely forgot about the whole thing.