PEOPLE
PROFILE
words
139
IRMA MUTUC
H
e’s easing nicely into
his new role and home
and Stephan Czypionka
seems to genuinely love
it here, “The first time I came over,
when I landed, there was really good
vibes. I’m not so much of a spiritual
person but there was good energy.”
He compares the Philippines with
the last market he’s handled and
surmises that his counterpart in
Europe could be jealous because
here the market is comparatively
young, dynamic and therefore,
gratifying. Before moving to the
Philippines, he successfully led
the first country worldwide launch
of Coca-Cola® Life in Argentina
when he served as Marketing
Director of Coca-Cola for Argentina,
Paraguay, and Uruguay. During
that assignment he successfully
managed a portfolio of 25 sparkling
and still beverage brands for six
bottler operations in the South
Latin Business Unit of Coca-Cola.
THE PAUSE THAT
REFRESHES (1929)
Czypionka made adobo smile with
a very refreshing insight, something
we rarely hear from foreigners,
“What I also like is it’s very safe
(here). The first two weeks I was
here, every night I took the car, went
out and explored. I went through
really humble areas and nothing
happened. It was interesting because
I got to see what the city is all about.”
He was thrilled that he was able
to do something that might not be
safe to do in some Latin American
countries. This marketer seems
to genuinely want to get to know
the Filipino consumer beyond
referencing graphs, tables and
numbers supplied by his company’s
research department. He said he
wanted to see how the people lived,
to feel the country’s pulse, and he
wouldn’t be able to do that if he
stayed in the confines of their home.
THINGS GO BETTER
WITH COKE (1963)
He’s definitely struggling with
some differences in the market,
“Coca Cola is a big player here. The
volume is big. The difference to
Latin America is that affordability
is even more important. (This
is the reason why) we launched
Timeout, this 237ml bottle that’s
sold for seven pesos (SRP) only. This
is unique to the Philippines. We
actually had to apply for approval
because the bottle shape is nice
and thinner. Route to market is
another thing that’s different in the
Philippines. In Europe, you have
the challenge of very few big retail
chains, 80% of your volume will
go through Carrefour and Tesco.
In Latin America it’s vice versa,
80% comes from the traditional
trade but they have a size that’s at
least the size of a small office. Here
it’s the sari-sari store that’s 60% of
the traditional trade. They’re very
small so we also have to reinvent
our distribution. How do we give
them the best possible service?
It’s different because you have to
work with various distributions. ”
He was also amused about
(brand) ambassadors, “Celebrities
are very important but you have
to be very smart about that. If not,
they become the center. Like when
we worked with Aldub (monicker
for a popular local TV love team), it
was really important for us that we
(our product) were there when they
hold hands to make it a Coca-Cola
moment for them and also to give
the bottle a real role. It’s important
is how you use the ambassadors
and they should have a good fit
with your brand. The story you tell
with your ambassadors should be
product-centric that if you take the
pr