NEWS FROM AROUND BATA WORLD WEEKLY DIGEST. Bata World Digest April 28, 2017 BATA IN THE NEWS

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1 WEEKLY BATA IN THE NEWS Bata CEO Alexis Nasard Tells CNN Philippines Is Dream Market On April 5, Group CEO Alexis Nasard was interviewed on CNN Philippines, during his week-long visit to Manila, the capital of Bata Asia Pacific s newest addition to its growing roster of companies. CORPORATE CORPORATE STORE First Ever Bata Fashion Weekend Proves Spectacular Success in Prague Top Young Designers Announced during Bata Fashion Weekend Bata Pakistan Opens New Store in Upmarket Shopping Mall Spring Trend: Mules Rule BCP Zimbabwe Congratulates Volunteers for Hard Work in 2016 South Asia Bata Group Latam Women s Empowerment in Bangladesh IT Tips: How a Hacker Works Special Needs Children Celebrate with BCP Volunteers in Bolivia We Are Bata People: Jade Keeble Sends In a Selfie

2 BATA IN THE NEWS Bata CEO Alexis Nasard Tells CNN Philippines Is Dream Market On April 5, Group CEO Alexis Nasard was interviewed on CNN Philippines, during his week-long visit to Manila, the capital of Bata Asia Pacific s newest addition to its growing roster of companies. Interviewed by CNN's Claire Celdran, Nasard spoke about Bata's entry into the Philippines, and the plans the company has in the country, highlighting the positive opportunities for growing the business in the region. Below are some of the highlights of the interview, which can be viewed in full here on the Bata Philippines Facebook page. Asked what Bata is most well-known for, Nasard explained: Bata has been around the world, as I mentioned, for a long time. It is in more than 50 countries. We have 5,300 stores. And the one thing we pride ourselves upon is providing products that people want. That simple. You know, fashion and retail follow lots of fads and there are lots of tendencies every one or two years. But there is one thing which is fundamental in our business: the product. That is why our number one strategy is called 'product is king.' In particular, we try to make sexy comfortable and we try to make comfort sexy, which is, as you know, a dilemma that many women have to deal with all the time. 'Do I look sexy or do I look comfortable?' And we try to resolve it. Discussing the possibilities for the new Bata company in the Philippines, Nasard continued: The Philippines is a dream market. It s 103 million people growing more than a half percent per year. Six to seven percent GDP growth. Two-billiondollar market. Only 2.2 pairs of shoes on average bought by Filipinos every year. You don t buy enough shoes! So we consider it a really, really great opportunity for us here. It has all the fundamentals required and, importantly, our strategy and the state of the Filipino market are quite congruent. In the sense that your median age is 25 years old. You re in the heart of the millennials. Our target consumer at Bata is a lady called Angela, and she s also in the bullseye of millennials. We re really confident that our consumer proposition and the topography of the Filipino market fit very well together. Discussing the way Bata continues to evolve to meet consumer needs, Nasard added: "The relationship between consumer and a brand is a little bit like a relationship in a couple. You want to be consistent but you don t want to be predictable. So we try to be consistent to our values as a company. We try to be consistent to the key tenets of our strategy which importantly includes the product and all components related to it. But we try to be also surprising every once in a while. Surprising in the shoes we offer, surprising in our marketing campaigns. "Now we are using lots of local celebrities every time we go. We are moving also more and more into the fashion arena. We are launching a global initiative which is called the Bata Fashion Week, which you ll soon see also in the Philippines." Speaking about the company's reason for advocating environmentally conscious shoes, Nasard explained: "We are a very responsible company. We try to do it because it s part of the values, but also because it s good business. Nowadays, particularly when we talk about millennials, they value values. They don t just buy products because of their functional virtues, but they buy products because they represent a set of values that they associate with. "So we really try to live through that in the way we source our products, in the way we source our raw material, in the way we select our partners, as well as the kind of shoes that we build, in terms of labor practices and all that. "There is also another component: we try to be responsible citizens in the places where we operate. For example, we have a global program which is called the Bata Children s Program, where we have a big philanthropic agenda to help education. So far we have a quarter of a million children involved in that program. "And lastly, let s not forget that retail employs a lot of people. You know we have 5,300 stores, we have 30,000 employees. It is really quite an intensive source of employment. If, hopefully, we develop in the Philippines like we would like to develop in the next few years, it should be a significant source of employment for people."

3 CORPORATE First Ever Bata Fashion Weekend Proves Spectacular Success in Prague From April 22 to 23, Bata held its very first ever Bata Fashion Weekend (BFW), an event which presented Bata's Me & Comfortable with it brand manifesto to the public for the first time, as well as highlighting the company's support of young designers and social responsibility. Held in Bata s hometown of Prague on the occasion of the company's 123rd birthday, the inaugural spectacle featured catwalk shows, exhibitions, celebrities, prominent designers and much more. For two days, thousands of visitors from all over the world had the opportunity to enjoy fashion shows, design exhibitions and dialogue with top Bata representatives, in the city's Holešovice district. The weekend was attended by members of Bata's executive committee, including Group CEO Alexis Nasard and chief marketing officer Thomas A. Bata, along with Thomas G. Bata and Christopher Kirk, and a host of Bata managers who were on hand to provide information about Bata's mission. The two-day event also welcomed many important celebrity guests not only from the Czech Republic but from over 20 countries around the world, including TV stars, models, editors from top media publications and bloggers, who all traveled to Prague to be part of the event. In order to create a suitable atmosphere for such a momentous occasion, the Bata Fashion Weekend worked with distinctive aesthetics inspired by fashion shows in New York, Paris and Milan. The aim of its choreography was to connect different disciplines from within the arts. In addition, a number of side events also took place over the course of the whole week, making Prague come alive with design and fashion. The catwalk shows introduced the work of meticulously selected designs from various Bata design studios, which revealed their current, next-season collections for the first time. The BFW also introduced the work of meticulously selected young designers from the prestigious Academy of Arts, Architecture & Design in Prague. The young designers also had the opportunity to showcase they work and participate in the Young Designer Competition. An awards ceremony, to reveal the winners of the competition was also attended by significant personalities of cultural and social life, including Libena Rochova, head of the Fashion and Footwear Design Studio of the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague, and Tonya Graves, a popular singer and ambassador of the new Me & Comfortable with it manifesto. Jana Barbati Chadová, global marketing manager for Bata the Brand, commented: We created Bata Fashion Weekend with all our passion and heart. And I would like to thank the whole team, internal and external, for the great job done. Our objective was very clear from the beginning. To express the essence of our brand and its transformation to the public, to our audience. To surprise people and to create an impact. To show clearly that Bata is a credible player when it comes to design, fashion and style. To prove that our brand can indeed be cool. And to be pretty much comfortable with it. Thomas A. Bata added: "Style. Excitement. Openness. Empowerment. These four words sum up perfectly how we feel about the event. Not only did it allow us to link our beautiful heritage with our dynamic reality, it allowed us to surprise our customers and followers by showing them the exciting products that they can find at Bata, as well as the incredible talent that goes behind it. I am very proud that we have been able to empower young designers and share this great story with everyone through the Bata Fashion Weekend. See you there next year!"

4 CORPORATE Top Young Designers Announced during Bata Fashion Weekend On April 24, the Bata Young Designers Challenge jury presented the awards to the best young Czech designers from the Fashion and Footwear Design Studio of the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague. The aim of the competition was to provide young, talented designers with the opportunity... A total of 18 students from of the Fashion and Footwear Design Studio of the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague participated in this year s inaugural competition. The awards ceremony took place at the La Fabrika cultural centre in Prague s Holesovice, and prizes were handed out by leading Czech cellist Terezie Kovalová and world-famous Italian designer Alberto Del Biondi, who has a long history of collaborating with Bata Global. school, a lot of possibilities to work with industry...but it's really good and really important to also work for the brands." The awards ceremony was attended by Bata Group CEO Alexis Nasard, chief marketing officer Thomas A. Bata, Thomas G. Bata and Christopher Kirk. Also in attendence were Libena Rochova, head of the Fashion and Footwear Design Studio of the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design, and Tonya Graves, ambassador of Bata's new brand manifesto Me&Comfortable With It. Chadová explained: In 2017, on the occasion of the first Bata Fashion Weekend, we launched a competition of young designers, where groups of talented students from the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague, introduced and presented their original projects. The finalists of the competition then manufactured samples of their shoes with their own hands in our factory in the Czech Republic. The winner of the competition in the Women s Footwear category was Linda Zabilková with her Change It! design, and in the Men s Footwear category it was Adam Kost with his Straight Black design. The winners of the competition will be able to implement their designs in cooperation with Bata. One pair of men s shoes and one pair of women s shoes will then be manufactured and sold in a limited edition in the biggest Bata shops around the world. Kost, speaking to Bata World News at the awards ceremony, praised the event, commenting: "I think (the competition) is something absolutely different...i think the shoes are really good." Discussing the impact on the young designers, he added: "For me, it's really important because we don't have, at In its decision making, the jury, which included Thomas A. Bata, Jana Barbati Chadová, global marketing manager for Bata the Brand, Rochova and members of the Bata Global team, focused not only on creativity, originality and innovative approach, but also on the feasibility of the designs and their sales appeal. Thomas A. Bata, speaking about the awards, added: We are excited about working with Libena and her students. The project was great fun, and the designers enjoyed designing and then working in the factory. If this support helps them once in their future career, our team will feel immensely proud.

5 STORE Bata Pakistan Opens New Store in Upmarket Shopping Mall On April 21, Bata Pakistan opened a new store in conjunction with the official opening of the Packages Mall in the country's capital, Lahore. The Packages mall is the latest venture of the Packages Group, a company known for its game-changing vision and strategy in the Pakistani market. The new Bata store delivers a great degree of flexibility, offering a modern appearance and a shopping experience entirely different from other shoe brands. The store feature modular and interchangeable elements, allowing almost infinite display possibilities. This allows categories to be differentiated more easily, helping customers to find the areas they are looking for. The new store also provides an enticing shopping environment, making customers feel comfortable as they shop, while keeping the brand recognizable. The Packages shopping mall is a project built to the highest international standards of designs, architecture and construction. The mall, situated in DHA, an upmarket area of the city, offers all of the facilities of a modern, comfortable shopping mall. It is spread across almost 30 acres, and includes features such as ground-level parking for over 1,700 vehicles, along with up to 200 shops, a hypermarket and food court. Muhammad Qayyum, country manager of Bata Pakistan, commented: I am very proud to open the shop as part of our plan to grow the business in metropolitan cities, and it is situated in a very strategic location, which is important for us in order to expand our market share and strengthen our foothold in the vicinity. Once again, the team has done exceptionally well, with great team cohesion toward one common goal.

6 SUSTAINABILITY Women s Empowerment in Bangladesh The Bata Rural Sales Program, led by Bata Bangladesh, is a unique distribution model and an innovative market creation that reaches out to consumers in rural areas and at the same time empowers thousands of underprivileged women. This highly successful social enterprise has grown its business by The women in the Rural Sales Program called aparajitas, which in Bengali means women who never accept defeat sell Bata products door-to-door in rural areas of northern and southern Bangladesh. Their average monthly salary is US$115, working an average of six to seven hours a day. This is compared to the US$50 to $70 they might earn in factories. The logistics partner for the program, Jita, is the social business of CARE Bangladesh. It allows Bata to reach consumers who were previously unreachable by facilitating the distribution of Bata products to the aparajitas. The success of this social enterprise is also due to Bata s unique ability to manufacture the shoes locally in its own two facilities. For Bata Bangladesh, besides the more than positive business results already achieved, and the goal of 300 percent growth by 2020, the program builds deep brand loyalty and allows geographical expansion to areas where brick-and-mortar retail structures do not exist. Aparajitas have already reached more than 400,000 households in the rural segment. These consumers are at what is called the base of the pyramid, the poorest but largest socioeconomic population segment. Globally, the BoP market comprises 4 billion people or 65 percent of the world population with an important purchasing capacity estimated at US$5 trillion. According to World Bank projections, the population at the base of the pyramid could swell to more than 6 billion people over the next 40 years, as the bulk of the world s population growth occurs there. Recent developments in the Rural Sales Program include an intensive product knowledge and sales skills training session for women in the program: 2,100 aparajitas, 45 hub managers who ensure distribution, and six market development officers. Bata and Jita have also undertaken a pilot project in the northern part of the country for which more than 100 women were recruited. We feel proud to be a part of this project where, in partnership with Jita, we are working on empowering the women of Bangladesh, said Chitpan Kanhasiri, country manager of Bata Bangladesh. This is further proof of Bata s commitment to female empowerment. I believe this project will go a long way and that Bata s pioneering role will help transform strong social traditions into a positive force for change.

7 CORPORATE IT Tips: How a Hacker Works In the third installment of the "IT Tips" series, Jon Pertwee, head of infrastructure at Bata Brands, speaks to Bata World News about hackers and the way they operate, in order to highlight the threat posed to the corporate world by those who participate in hacking activities. He explained: "This month I think it's important to show everyone how things look from a hackers point of view, and how easy it is to be hacked without knowing it. We all see viruses and malware as an annoyance. Our anti-virus might annoy us once in a while with pop-up messages, maybe our computer slows down a bit, but really we think, 'how dangerous can it be? I've got a firewall after all.'" To illustrate just how dangerous hackers can be, and how important it is to be vigilant when potentially sensitive information is involved, Pertwee has shared a video with Bata World News, featuring one of the leading experts on the subject. Pertwee, discussing the video, stated: "Let me introduce you to Kevin Mitnick. Kevin spent his formative years as a hacker. He is now one of the world's top cyber security experts, and over the next 17 minutes, he will show you just how easy it is to get hacked note how he is demonstrating on a fully patched Windows computer with an up-to-date anti-virus and what a hacker can see from his side of things. Spoiler alert: they can see everything." In the video, Mitnick examines several of the techniques hackers can use in order to breach security and get hold of sensitive data. These include using USB keys to infect computers with malware, enabling them to take control of the computer and view the information it contains, and obtaining valuable product information by gaining people's trust and using basic facts gleaned from ordinary, everyday telephone conversations. In conclusion, Pertwee added: "I hope I haven't given you sleepless nights, or made you paranoid. From what I know about IT and security, I've had plenty of those myself."

8 BCP Special Needs Children Celebrate with BCP Volunteers in Bolivia On April 12, volunteers from the Bata Children's Program (BCP) Bolivia dedicated their time to help celebrate the Bolivian national children's day, by participating in two activities with different children's groups. The aim was to remember some of the country's less-fortunate children, and help to... In the first event, volunteers delivered 12 pairs of shoes to the Arnoldo Schwimmer school in the city of Quillacollo, where a special team teaches children with Down's syndrome. The donation was made in order to help support their efforts, and to bring happiness to the children on National Children's Day. For the second activity, six BCP volunteers visited the Niños con Valor (Children with Value) foundation, a charity based in the city of Cochabamba, which houses and cares for underprivileged children, particularly those living with HIV. In total, 37 children took part on the day, which saw a fun-filled program for everyone to enjoy. The volunteers had planned a variety of different games for the children, and the joy visible on their faces as they played together showed the level of commitment by the BCP Bolivia team in making such a memorable children's day for all those present. Micaela Escalier, one of the BCP Bolivia volunteers present on the day, commented: Being able to perform an activity to be able to see the smile of these children is the best reward we can have. Paola Navarro, director of the Niños con Valor" foundation, added: We are very grateful to the volunteers of BCP Bolivia for dedicating time and so much affection to all the children, sharing with them in the games and activities they prepared. At the end of the day, the BCP volunteers distributed over 40 pairs of shoes to all the boys and girls, and seeing how happy the children were in receiving the gifts, running and playing in their new footwear, was a great reward for all those involved.

9 MARKET TRENDS Spring Trend: Mules Rule Mule mania exploded suddenly and has spread like wildfire. The fashionsavvy all agree: it is the shoe of the season. Vogue Italia traces the trend to when the current it fashion models Kendall Jenner, Taylor Hill and Emily Ratajkowski were spotted wearing flat velvet mules. Offering such comfort and versatility, it is no wonder mules took hold of the collective imagination. They showed up on all the runways everyone has at least one model to offer fashion addicts. Top designers have riffed endlessly on mules for this spring: flat, heeled, in python or crocodile leather, beaded, crystalstudded, embroidered, with fringe, fur or feathers. So what exactly is a mule? The only real requirement is that it leaves the ankle and heel exposed. The toe is usually closed or a peep toe. They might look just like slippers or an ultra elegant shoe. Fashion blogger Veronica C. Leone, of Jeveronique.com, recently had some advice for how to wear mules on the street: especially with skinny or flare cut jeans, but also with breezy dresses, long day dresses, or shorts. It s up to our taste to choose how to wear them, knowing that however we wear them, they won t be mismatched. Get ready: backless is back.

10 BCP BCP Zimbabwe Congratulates Volunteers for Hard Work in 2016 On March 15, Bata Zimbabwe held a luncheon for a group of 30 Bata Children's Program (BCP) volunteers, in order to thank them for their contribution during BCP Zimbabwe's successful year in 2016, while also looking forward to an impactful 2017 BCP calendar. The event, which was attended by Bata Zimbabwe country manager Ehsan Zaman, along with BCP coordinator Bongani Mafuwe and all of the BCP Zimbabwe volunteers, began with a round table introduction session, where every volunteer was given the opportunity to express their ideas and thoughts on how BCP Zimbabwe could improve its impact on the community. After this, BCP coordinator, Bongani Mafuwe provided a report on the year in numbers. She explained that, in 2016, a total of 1,655 people were assisted through the BCP program in Zimbabwe, thanks to the work of 179 volunteers who participated throughout the year. She commented: Let us all be aware that when we do our activities, we understand that we are representing our organization, and therefore we must make it our priority to leave good impressions in all the communities we associate with. It is our duty to uphold the values of the organization, and to continuously build the reputation of this organization. David Ngwenya, a 30-year veteran of the company, added: As BCP, it is one of our many responsibilities to ensure we conscientize the public and our children on the importance of a clean and healthy environment. Therefore, as BCP volunteers, we must see to it that we protect our environment, not only by picking up the litter, but by correcting bad behavior when we see it. The luncheon ended with the country manager encouraging the volunteers to perform a skills analysis, in order to continue to promote projects that will make best use of the skills pool. He also highlighted that charity should begin at home, and that BCP should aim to lead by example when taking care of the surrounding community. He also took note of all volunteers suggestions on how the program could be improved, and promised to take them all into consideration.

11 Powered by TCPDF ( INTERVIEWS We Are Bata People: Jade Keeble Sends In a Selfie Bata World News recently got a selfie of a few Bata people Down Under. Their smiles and camaraderie matched the sunny afternoon in Mornington, Victoria. How do you fit into the Bata world? I do flash trimming on the finishing line. Who is in your selfie? In the picture is myself and, on the right, Gypsy Ashton. What does it show? What is the story behind it? This picture shows us on the line in Mornington in the afternoon on a sunny day. What do you like most about your job? What I like most about Bata is how we all get along. Want to send in your Bata selfie? Just a few photos you take of yourself, alone or with colleagues, to bwn@bata.com. Show off your creativity! Photos must be horizontal, and be sure to use the largest file size allowed on your camera or phone.