Breaking the Barrier with Marissa de Ungria
By Mary Ann Hazel M. Tolentino

I was given a good opportunity last August 28 to attend the 5th session of the Women in Leadership series by the Professional Women of the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines. The featured speaker was Marissa de Ungria, Country Manager of S.C. Johnson and Son, Inc., who shared the secret to her company’s success and her personal experiences in the highly-competitive world of marketing.
She started her presentation by discussing how S.C. Johnson managed to achieve Php 5 billion in revenues, despite the fact that household cleaning supplies and other consumer chemicals are not necessities in many Filipino households. In line with this, Marissa shared four ways to break the barrier:
1. Brand relevance. It is constantly adapting to current and progressing needs of customers in the market, and at the same time, focusing on customer experience, where every touch-point counts. S.C Johnson ensures that they maintain the trust and loyalty of customers by being true to their communications and positioning.
2. Innovation. It is being open to engage in fresh ideas and find unique ways to meet customers’ needs. S.C Johnson encourages creativity and innovation to ensure that they do not put their brand or business in a box.
3. Market leadership. S.C Johnson capitalizes a lot on listening and understanding their customers’ purchase patterns. They regularly conduct consumer research, claim right spaces in stores, guarantee good distribution, and invest in TV commercials, advertising, and digital marketing.
4. A passionate, engaged, and committed team. They are driven to do their best and are required to continuously improve, learn, and hone their skills. They focus on opportunities instead of hurdles.
In closing, Marissa personally admitted that she consistently performs at her best and is not afraid to take on new and ambiguous assignments even if she is not comfortable with them. She considers these things as opportunities to further broaden her capabilities and skills. Hence, in order to break our own barriers, we should be motivated to learn and adapt to new things and be fearless to speak up and discuss our ideas.
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About the author:
Hazel has 20 years of professional experience in human resource management with a strong background in talent search and recruitment. Her years of experience with John Clements gave her an opportunity to handle job search requirements of clients from different industries such as consumer, direct selling, healthcare, manufacturing, pharmaceutical, and most recently, with information technology. Hazel is married with three wonderful children.

