NEWS FROM AROUND BATA WORLD WEEKLY DIGEST. Bata World Digest March 31, 2017 BATA IN THE NEWS

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1 WEEKLY BATA IN THE NEWS Bata in the News: A High-Profile Interview with Alexis Nasard in Italy The most-read daily newspaper in Italy recently published a wide-ranging interview with Bata Group CEO Alexis Nasard. He touched on the company s strategy and how Bata is bringing the swagger. INTERVIEWS INTERVIEWS PRODUCT Q & A with Laurent Henderickx On The Ground with a Training Course Participant in Malaysia A Special Launch for the Insolia Collection in Zambia BCP Vietnam Continues Mission to Bring Education to Disadvantaged Children Bata in the News: Insolia Makes Heel Sense South Asia Asia-Pacific South Asia BCP India Encourages Students with Award Ceremony Angelas Join Focus Group in Singapore Bata India Forges Multifaceted Partnership with Femina Miss India

2 BATA IN THE NEWS Bata in the News: A High-Profile Interview with Alexis Nasard in Italy The most-read daily newspaper in Italy recently published a wide-ranging interview with Bata Group CEO Alexis Nasard. He touched on the company s strategy and how Bata is bringing the swagger. The prestigious Corriere della Sera published the article, by Maria Teresa Veneziani, on March 25. Read on for an edited translation. We have been quite low-key. There is something to being discreet, but it's good to let people know what there is of value. People do not know that we at Bata are the world leader in footwear. We sell a million pairs a day, in 50 countries, and we have 23 production centers." Lebanese and 50 years old, Nasard has a diverse resume: a bachelor s in engineering, a master's in business administration from Berkeley, and 24 years of experience in groups such as Procter & Gamble and Heineken. He confesses he moved to Bata a shoe brand created in 1894 by Czech cobbler siblings who rode the wave of the American industrial revolution because he loves fashion and shoes. "We're trying to become an ever more innovative brand also in terms of style. We have been around for more than 122 years, and we have to surprise loyal consumers." As a matter of fact, Bata shop windows feature the shoes launched by the catwalks: suede ballet flats and low heels in pale dusty pink, as well as espadrille sandals with gold bands and pom-poms, priced between 60 and 120 euros." "Bata launches a thousand new models a year, but we also have the classics," continues Nasard, pointing to his brown lace-ups and red socks. "If the tie is serious, the socks are cheerful even pink." How does a brand reposition itself? "Rule No. 1: the product is king. There are many trends: shopping malls, online shopping, large and small shops, but if the product isn t good there is no reason to exist. The point is the quality." The second rule concerns the brand: "We must bring swagger to Bata." What s that? "Make comfort sexy and sexy comfortable." Then the markets: "The goal is to continue to be leaders and competitive in already developed markets like Europe and push in the others." And Italy? "It remains our benchmark market, because here there are demanding clients and craftsmanship knowhow to pay attention to even if you produce elsewhere." There are 250 Bata stores in Italy, out of 5,266 worldwide, 80 percent of them non-franchise. "To enter stores, people need to feel surprise and delight. You have to create emotions. We are pushing on athleisure, urban sneakers, because people want them." For Bata Tennis we launched special capsule collections realized with fashion brands like Comme des Garçons and Julien David, sold in stores such as Colette in Paris or Selfridges in London, and we developed collections dedicated to the Peanuts characters. Many celebrities in the 90s wore Bata sneakers, among them Kurt Cobain and Magic Johnson! Today there is Melissa Satta. "It is important to really know who you want to reach. She is the celebrity our female consumer pays attention to." How important is e-commerce? "It's a fantastic lens to understand what the market wants, but the challenge online is to avoid mosquito management : the digital agenda has to be subordinate to the strategy, not vice versa. The risk? Flying around aimlessly, like a mosquito. What we want is to sell cool shoes that people want!

3 INTERVIEWS Q & A with Laurent Henderickx Laurent Henderickx is Group insurance manager for Bata, a position he took up over a year ago, after several years of experience with the company in other roles. Bata World News recently spoke to him to hear about his work and the projects he is currently working on. When did you join Bata? Where are you based? I joined Bata in 2012, as Finance Assistant at our headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland. After three years, I started taking care of the Group s insurance portfolio by renewing the insurance policies, managing the major claims and coordinating global risk management projects. Soon I realized that there was room for substantial improvements in terms of continuity of coverage and insurance premium level. What is a typical day like for you in the office? Honestly there s no typical day in the office, and that s why I am still motivated to come to work every day. The position allows me to touch a broad range of subjects. It can go from new, incoming-risk evaluation, coordination of global risk management projects, to policy wording/premiums and claims negotiations. What do you consider to be your most important responsibilities? I would say ensuring the continuity of coverage, set up clear procedures and guidelines which would lead to a better risk mitigation within the Group. In fact, I realized quite rapidly that this ultimate goal could only be reached by the implementation of a strong risk management philosophy. I am therefore putting a lot of effort into the development of new risk management projects such as Business Continuity Plan, external audits and engineering visits. I want the Group to see risk management as an asset and not only as a cost. What projects are you currently working on? On top of working on the projects mentioned here above, I am currently working to evaluate the integration of more countries into the global property insurance policy. I am conducting this project in partnership with selected countries, and I am quite convinced that using the scale of the Group and mutualizing the risk under one global policy could lead to substantial savings. What challenges do you face in your role as Group insurance manager? My biggest challenge is to understand the needs and constraints of every Bata entity. I consider myself as a service provider, and therefore understanding those two elements is, for me, crucial if I want to be successful in my mission. What has been your best "Bata Moment" with the company so far? My most rewarding moments are when I see that what I put in place, such as insurance policies or risk management projects, offers significant support to our entities. Two years ago, one of them suffered a fire incident. I was proud to be helpful and to prove that, after all, insurance is not only buying a piece of paper, but leads to concrete indemnity and actions. Which of the Bata Core Values would you say best describes your management style? Count on Me and Exceed Customer Expectations would be the two Bata Core Values that represent me the most. My objective of mitigating the risk and improving our risk profile is linked to those two values. I need the organization to count on me in case of major incident, and I must exceed customer expectations by providing the best coverage at the lowest premium possible. What is the best piece of advice you have ever received about your job? I received a lot of advice from many different people, but the one that I like the most is: Trust does not exclude control. How would you like to see Bata develop in the future? I would like to see our company taking more risks in terms of innovation. I am convinced that Bata is capable of being a trend setter and influencer. There is an infinite panel of opportunities that are waiting to be explored.

4 Q & A WITH LAURENT HENDERICKX

5 INTERVIEWS On The Ground with a Training Course Participant in Malaysia Angeline Lim works for Bata Malaysia as a merchandising planner, and she recently attended the Merchandising Strategy training course at the Bata Training Academy in Kuala Lumpur. Bata World News spoke to her after the course to hear her thoughts on the training. Why did you attend the course? I attended Merchandising Strategy as a refresher course, and to understand the merchandising strategy process, flow and the tools required to carry out these actions. Did you meet a lot of new Bata people on the course? Yes, people from different roles and different countries. It is good because we had the chance to learn the culture of each country, the different Angela in each country, and also there was a lot of information being shared. I truly think I learnt a lot from this sharing session. What was the most important part of the program in your opinion? The merchandising process flow and the trend analysis. The training was divided into two parts: the first on understanding the merchandising process flow, the tools to carry out the merchandising process and KPIs. And the second part was on knowing our customer profile, and the trend analysis to apply to our market. These two processes were really important as, in order to drive profit and grow the company business, we not only need to have the right product, but also need to ensure the product is sold to the right customer at the right price and at the right point in time. What was the most surprising thing you learned? What did you most enjoy? I really enjoyed all the group activities during the class because it motivated me to participate in this training. This is one of the best trainings I have had because I believe it is always good to have a handson approach rather than just a theory class. From all the group activities, I was able to hear stories from our colleagues in different countries. We all shared our experiences, both related or unrelated to our work. The most surprising key learning for me was the importance of communication and gathering information from other people. After these three days, I realised that everyone has different opinions and ideas. We should not always live in our comfort zone. Everyone sees things from a different perspective. We might not be able to see what others can see. I learnt this from the group exercise where we were asked to describe the picture that we were given. I noticed that there were many points that I was really not able to see. I feel this course really taught me to communicate more with others, think out of the box, listen to others and get feedback. How did the course help you to understand the stages of the merchandising process? After the course, I understand in more detail the steps of the merchandising process flow. From the group activity that we were assigned, by arranging the process flow and the lead for each process, I noticed that somehow we are often confused about which process should come before another. After the activity, I understood the correct process for the whole merchandising flow. What did the course teach you about how to build appropriate collections? What factors did the course consider? I learnt that it is important to identify our customer profile, dividing the customers into different segments based on different attributes. Then, we should forecast on the upcoming global trend, do an analysis of why this will be a future trend, based on lifestyle, product, media, celebrities and so on. From there, we should filter down which trend will be suitable for our customer persona. What would you like to say to the course organizers who prepared and ran the course? First of all, I would like to thank Lucia for her three days of effort and for making the class enjoyable. I truly enjoyed the way she conducted the class. There was a lot of interaction through activities and discussions between participants from

6 ON THE GROUND WITH A TRAINING COURSE PARTICIPANT IN MALAYSIA different countries, which made the class very lively. The information presented was clear, and there were a lot of videos, which made it easy to understand. I am now looking forward for the next class!

7 PRODUCT A Special Launch for the Insolia Collection in Zambia Bata Zambia is the first country in southern Africa to officially launch Insolia. On March 23, the company rolled out its latest collection, which features Insolia Heel technology, at a cocktail party at a premiere Zambian hotel, the Protea Hotel Arcades. The guest list was long with women, the group that is sure to appreciate the novelty of this collection, and the guest of honor was media personality and philanthropist Luyando "Lulu" Haangala Wood. Also present were media companies, fashion enthusiasts and retail business partners, alongside Bata Zambia employees. A television crew filmed the event to feature during fashion programming. The event began with opening remarks from the Insolia Launch co-ordinator, Mutinta Chiselenga. Country manager Prosper Bachi then took over and gave guests more detail about what Insolia is all about. He emphasized the key benefits for women who wear high heels: more confidence and comfort and the ability to walk taller and longer with less stress. The Insolia collection was then unveiled, and a fashion show followed. Wood then addressed the group about her relationship with Bata and how this landmark shoe technology will better the lifestyles of women across the country. To conclude her speech, she remarked, We as women have enough pressure on us already, so it's awesome of Bata to take uncomfortable heels off our shoulders. We can now concentrate on other things like being bold for change. Thank you, Bata, for giving us an option to stay comfortable as we keep moving." A celebratory cake cutting capped the event. Bata Zambia also engaged customers and heightened excitement about Insolia with catwalks at three shopping malls around Lusaka and weekly campaigns on social media and call-in radio shows. The Bata Club sent text messages to 6,000 premium Bata Club members to keep them updated about the launch and encourage purchases.

8 BCP BCP India Encourages Students with Award Ceremony The Bata Children s Program (BCP) India regularly organizes enrichment activities for its adopted schools, and an important part of this is motivating students. In order to recognize and encourage students efforts, the BCP team recently held an award ceremony at its Batanagar school. Fourteen students were presented awards at a simple ceremony at the school on Feb. 28. In order to encourage hard work and effort, the BCP team decided this year to recognize not only the highest academic achievers, as in the past, but also students who showed the most improvement in academics and behavior over the course of the year. The students were presented with certificates, dictionaries, and sundry necessities such as water bottles, umbrellas and lunch boxes. Four BCP volunteers worked together to organize the program: Pushpendu Jha, general manager of manufacturing; Subhra Shankar Bose, school secretary and of the human resources team; Abhijit Sanyal, of the finance team; and Anindya Ghosh, BCP coordinator. In his address, Jha congratulated the awardees for their hard work and said, Many of you have strived to do your best in order to be part of this ceremony, and I believe that represents the true spirit of our school. For a festive conclusion to the event, a student chorus sang in the honor of the awardees.

9 PRODUCT Angelas Join Focus Group in Singapore On Feb. 11, Bata Singapore held its first focus group of the year. It yielded worthwhile data for appealing to target customers. The Village Hotel Bugis was the venue for the focus group discussion with 41 participants. Participants were screened for a specific profile: they were married working professionals between the ages of 25 and 40. The discussion guide was developed jointly by Beacon Consulting and the Bata project team, and the participants also did a blind test of shoes. The goals of the day were to understand brand awareness, uncover triggers and barriers for purchases, discover response to styles as merchandising tools, and identify price thresholds for new collections. The participants favorite products from the blind test included the women s athleisure shoes and the men s Intrecciato. Suggestions based on the results of the discussion included increasing brand awareness by sharing product experiences on social media, using new brand names for new collections, and considering changing some product materials. The insights from this focus group not only confirmed our strategy in reaching out to Angela but also provided valuable information for us to work toward converting non-bata customers, said Pierluigi Pontecorvo, country manager of Bata Singapore. There is still a lot of work to be done to grow our customer base, and this is the very first step where we know our position and how customers and non-customers perceived us in terms of branding, value and price points.

10 MARKET TRENDS Bata India Forges Multifaceted Partnership with Femina Miss India Bata India is this year s official footwear partner of Femina Miss India, which has long been a prominent vehicle to celebrate Indian beauty and glamor. The four-month pageant provides ample opportunities for the brand, including visits to key Bata stores by the state winners. Femina Miss India is held in three stages: state, zone and, finally, national. Bata is hosting a sub-contest for graceful walking for each of the zones as well as at the nationals. A winner will be given the title Bata Miss Rampwalk The first final at the zone level was held on March 5 in the southern metropolis of Bangalore. Pankaj Gupta, general manager for south retail at Bata India, presented the award for Bata Miss Rampwalk to Ruhika Dass, who went on to be crowned Femina Miss India Karnataka 2017 as well. The four state winners of the zone from Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala and Tamil Nadu will soon visit Bata Flagship stores in their respective state capitals. As part of the association, most of the 30 state winners will stop by Bata Flagship stores. They will meet with Bata customers, offer styling tips for the summer, and discuss their own journey to becoming beauty queens. They will also educate customers about upcoming footwear trends and how to find all the accessories they need under one roof at Bata. Besides the brand recognition and store visits, the beautiful women who take home prizes in Femina Miss India will also participate in a lifestyle shoot for Bata s new Spring/Summer collection for brands including Bata, Insolia, North Star, Power and Marie Claire. Rajeev Gopalakrishnan, president for South Asia, commented, We are thrilled to be on board as a footwear partner to the 2017 edition of Femina Miss India. It is a platform which gives millions of young women of India a larger-than-life aspiration and helps them redefine their destiny. Bata as a brand is evolving, and we are continuously striving to woo the youth segment by understanding their style and preferences. Keeping that in mind, we have introduced quirky, fun, stylish footwear across various brands available at Bata, catering to modern Indian women s style needs.

11 BCP BCP Vietnam Continues Mission to Bring Education to Disadvantaged Children Volunteers from the Bata Children's Program (BCP) Vietnam, recently returned to the village of Na Do, in the province of Yen Bai, for a new project in connection with the work they began in 2015, to encourage more children to attend school. Ten volunteers from BCP Vietnam, along with franchisee partner Thanh Bac, visited Na Do in the Mu Cang Chai district of Yen Bai province, to conduct a number of different activities. The majority of the population of the village are from ethnic minorities: Mong, Thai, Muong and Kinh. Around 65 percent of its population lives below the poverty line, meaning that most do not receive a good education. Last year, BCP Vietnam decided to build a kindergarten in the village, after discussions with the main school's principal, as it was felt that this would be the most beneficial to the community. In its most recent visit, after assessing the needs of the school, volunteers brought a donation of tables and chairs for the pupils' dining room, along with blankets and clothes to ensure that the children are warm and appropriately dressed. The village's main school is home to nearly 500 students, from first to fifth grade. Their own homes are far away from school, so they have to stay at school until the summer or other holidays. Most of them are still learning Vietnamese, and use their ethnic language to communicate with each other. In a second activity, the group of volunteers conducted a range of outdoor activities for the pupils of the school, such as camping, and a question-and-answer session about life knowledge, to help provide them with some of the skills they will need in their lives. The volunteers also organized some games for the children to play during the visit. Catherine Choo, country manager of Bata Vietnam, commented: The most important mission of BCP 2016, was bringing joy to Na Do children, and we hope that, through these activities, pupils now have the motivation to go to school. BCP Vietnam is planning to spread this volunteering spirit, encouraging as many people as possible to get involved, in order to increase the number of BCP projects in the future in Vietnam.

12 Powered by TCPDF ( BATA IN THE NEWS Bata in the News: Insolia Makes Heel Sense Zambia Daily Mail published a profile of Bata s new star technology, Insolia Heels, on March 25. It was a hearty endorsement. In the column Fashion Trends, journalist Angela Chishimba outlined the benefits of Bata s new high heels. The headline? Insolia Makes Heel Sense: Many Generations Have Known Bata for Reliability. An edited and condensed version follows. Painful feet for the sake of fashion are no longer an issue with the introduction of Bata s Insolia innovation. Bata Zambia has launched a new collection of shoes with technology that makes high heels more wearable. The Insolia technology distributes weight between the wearer s heel and toe and allows you to wear high heels three times longer than normal. For millions of women in the world, wearing high heels is not only synonymous with beauty but suffering. According to the latest research, almost 90 percent of women associate high heels with physical pain. The Bata team took on this challenge and for the last few years has been working on finding a solution. The Insolia technology, owned by an American company, HBN, is based on an inner shoe pad that helps distribute the weight between the heel and toe, Bata Zambia country manager Prosper Bachi said during the launch. Bachi said that apart from being very comfortable, Insolia technology also has a positive influence on the health of its wearer as it reduces the pressure on the front of the shoe by almost 30 percent. It brings relief not only to toes and arches knees and calves are also less burdened. Walking is less physically exhausting, the heart rate decreases and oxygen consumption is reduced by 25 percent on average, which means the body produces less sweat, he said. And Dagon Media partner Luyando Hangala-Wood, who wore Insolia heels, described Bata s initiative as an answered prayer for women. Bata has been part of our childhood story and is now part of our future, she said. Most women love the way they look in high heels, as they complement their look and add character to their outfits. High heel lovers, however, know that comfort is sacrificed in the name of fashion. This should not be the case. Insolia is a component in the design of the high-heeled shoe designed by New Hampshire podiatrist Howard Dananberg. By altering the geometry of the insole, the Insolia design shifts some weight to the heel. Insolia heels have been proven to reduce the pressure on the forefoot by a third, reduce oxygen demand while walking by 25 percent, increase wear time by a factor of three, noticeably improve the posture and grace of women while standing or walking, improve stability, and reduce shoe slippage and foot movement.