In the world of Philippine marketing, it isn’t easy to stand out and captivate an audience anymore. It takes a lot of creativity, real guts and a deep understanding of the audience to truly succeed. As such, those who succeed in the matter truly deserve to be awarded for it. The Mansmith Young Market Masters Awards (YMMA) recently recognised this year’s cream of the crop at an event that honoured 11 young and inspiring Filipino professionals who have made their mark in an absolutely wonderful manner. Here they are:

Meet the 11 Inspiring Filipino Professionals Who Won the 11th Mansmith Young Market Masters Awards

Michael Jonathan Biscocho, Country Head for Consumer and Market Knowledge, Procter & Gamble Philippines

Mansmith YMMA Awardee for Business Development

Miko currently leads the Consumer and Market Knowledge (CMK) function for P&G Philippines. At 27 years old, Miko is the youngest member of the P&G country leadership team, youngest direct report to the P&G Philippines President and first Filipino CMK country leader in eight years. He has been well-awarded in the company, including being a three-time recipient of Recognition Shares (highest award given to junior and middle managers) within his first four years of joining P&G.

Miko also has an incredible passion for people development. He was recognized as one of the Model Coaches for Consumer and Market Knowledge in Asia, in part for his dedication in developing Filipino talent. He was also awarded as the Most Promising Trainer in P&G Asia for the corporate trainings that he has run in the Philippines organization.

On weekends, Miko teaches at the Ateneo de Manila University, where he is consistently ranked among the top professors in the John Gokongwei School of Management. He has also been invited to speak at a broad range of external events, including the APEC SME Leadership College, the American Chamber of Commerce Youth Leadership Program, the PAG-IBIG National Marketing Conference and research conferences in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.

Miko has always believed that at its core, the work that they do in CMK is business development – for only with a delighted consumer can a business thrive for the long-term.

Dorothy Jane Dee-Ching, Marketing Director – Hair, Unilever Philippines, Inc.

Mansmith YMMA Awardee for Marketing Management

Unilever Philippines is home to one of the biggest Hair Care businesses in the country. As Marketing Director, Dorothy developed the Unilever Hair Strategy & Financial Growth Model which enabled the team to differentiate, prioritize and maximize growth. Knowing that each brand had specific challenges, Dorothy focused on building brands based on 3 Principles: (1) Stay relevant by having a deep understanding of the consumer (2) Max the mix by leveraging on key 6P advantage/s (3) Rise above the clutter with magical brand experiences. Doing these have led to the successful Cream Silk Reborn, Sunsilk Turnaround, Dove Supergrowth and TRESemme Premiumization, enabling Total Unilever Hair to grow!

With a solid strategy, a clear roadmap and flawless execution, Total Unilever Hair is now growing consistently fueled by strong performances across key brands, growing competitively reaching its highest-ever shares and sustainably with improving brand equity scores – ensuring Unilever Hair is ready to grow not just today but more so, for the future.

Eduardo Joseph Cimafranca III, South East Asia Area Sr. Brand Manager – Sensitivity & Acid Erosion Category, GlaxoSmithKline Consumer HealthCare Pte Ltd, Singapore

Mansmith YMMA Awardee for Brand Management

Sensodyne’s vision is to create a future where every Filipino is sensitivity-free. The brand was tasked to effectively communicate that sensitive teeth do have a negative impact to everyday life, and addressing it will make each one fully enjoy the food and good times that go along with it. As an action, Sep launched the Sensodyne “Say No to Ngilo” Relevance campaign in 2014 and further intensified this in 2015. The campaign involves a strong, compelling and integrated marketing communications consisting of high impact consumer, shopper and expert programs to drive conversion and brand preference.

As a result, Sensodyne Philippines achieved the fastest net sales growth in Asia at +59%. It drove market-beating consumption growth – 24x faster than the category. It led to 3x brand penetration increase and 2x brand equity improvement. Sensodyne also now owns the sensitive teeth or “pangingilo” space in the hearts and minds of Filipinos. Key elements of the campaign were also highly recognized and gained multiple awards: South East Asia PR Campaign of the Year Gold Award by the 2015 Asia PR Week Awards, GSK Global Digital Competition Winner, and Watsons Best Beauty Mall Animation of the Year Award.

Due to stellar business results and individual performance, Sep was awarded multiple distinctions, as well: GSK Philippines “Employee of the Year”, GSK Philippines Global Employee Award for Team Excellence, and GSK South East Asia Region Global Employee Award for Individual Excellence.

Anna Milagros Datu-David, Marketing Director – Skin, Unilever Philippines, Inc.

Mansmith YMMA Awardee for Marketing Management

Mian believes that every woman can be beautiful. By making a little bit of effort to take care of her skin, and without necessarily spending a fortune, every Filipina can be more beautiful than she has ever imagined. And so Mian leveraged her portfolio of brands behind this Purpose. In her Mansmith YMMA entry, she shared three case studies (Pond’s, Eskinol and Dove) on how making brands relevant, authentic, and talk-able can inspire women to embrace their beauty and in turn, deliver business growth.

Beauty for every Filipina. Regardless of age, income, skin need, and social status, Mian believes everyone deserves the confidence of being beautiful. As she says, “lahat tayo may igaganda pa.” This is Mian’s personal purpose, and this is the reason behind the brands’ success.

Maria Kris Ann Llanes-Dimaculangan, Group Brand Manager, Johnson & Johnson Philippines

Mansmith YMMA Awardee for Brand Management

Kris is a homegrown talent of Johnson & Johnson (J&) joining the company in 2006 as a Management Trainee. She has had stints handling different brands within the J&J’s Women’s Health portfolio with a proven track record of back-to-back high double digit growth, business recovery and marketing with purpose. She became the Asia Pacific Regional Franchise Manager of Carefree in 2011. Upon returning back to local marketing, she handled one of the biggest brands of J&J PH’s business – Johnson’s.

Kris helped moms understand that playtime is important – that there are skills and lessons that one can learn while playing, that are just as important as the things one can learn in school by promoting Johnson’s Playdays: Di Lang Laro ang Laro, which advocates one hour of active play everyday to have healthy and well-rounded kids. Kris forged a partnership with DepEd and Play Pilipinas to push one hour of active play everyday. Johnson’s donated a playground built by J&J employees themselves together with their partner agencies in Montalban, Rizal, one of the less fortunate cities in the Metro. Johnson’s Baby (JB) powder sales grew by 22% during the campaign period. The campaign also helped maintain its market share at a strong 84.2%. As a result, JB Powder became the single biggest brand in J&J PH in 2013 and led powder recovery in 2012 by +5% versus previous year.

Kris continued the campaign with the launch of a new harder-working line of products. Now, the Play campaign is considered as one of the most successful campaigns of J&J so far. It has traveled to other countries such as Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, etc and cited as a Global Best Practice. It has received back-to-back Asia Pacific wins in the Global James Burke Awards for Integrated Communications in 2013 and Strategic Partnerships in 2014. It was also recognized by various external award-giving bodies such as Tambuli, Araw, The Quill, Ogilvy PR Global Excellence Awards, PANAta, Kidlat and Anvil Awards. Finally, Kris was ranked #21 in Adobo’s List of Creative Marketing Managers in the Philippines for leading award-winning Johnson’s projects in 2013-2015.

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