WEEKLY INTERVIEWS Q & A with Janet Hidalgo Janet Hidalgo is North Star brand manager in the Latam region, having been with Bata for just over 12 years. She recently spoke to Bata World News about her role, and the projects and products with which she is currently involved. MARKET TRENDS MARKET TRENDS BCP / SUSTAINABILITY A First for BFirst: BTS Global Office Introduces Worldwide Campaign Cool and Back to School: Global Teener Campaign Launched Bata Sustainability Report Wins Prestigious Graphic Award Bata Sri Lanka Continues to Support Young Cricketers Bata Zimbabwe Praised at Kaguvi Vocational Center Graduation Ceremony Latam China South Asia Serving the Community: An Interview with Lara Pilar We Are Bata People: Gary Yee Sends In a Selfie Bata in the News: Tips from Bata India's Design Center BCP Czech Republic Teaches Children to Care for the Planet
INTERVIEWS Q & A with Janet Hidalgo Janet Hidalgo is North Star brand manager in the Latam region, having been with Bata for just over 12 years. She recently spoke to Bata World News about her role, and the projects and products with which she is currently involved. What has been your career history with the company? I started working as a footwear designer for Bubblegummers, and then some years after that, became product manager for the same brand. Two years ago, I moved to North Star as product manager, and now I am here as brand manager. What is a typical day like for you? In the morning every day I arrive early at the office, check emails, check the important and priority issues of the day with two designers who work with me. Then I check the internet for news from the world of young people, trends and the fashion business. After that I check the collections we are developing, and work on the structure of the products and how we can improve it. Do you have any favorite products? More than particular favorite products, I have favorite materials to use for different styles, such as metallic materials and shiny glitter materials for example. Are there any particular products or styles that are popular in your region? For Latam, sneakers are really very important, and I think two projects are very significant in terms of pairs sold, margins and brand position in the markets. These are Las Vegas, which are vulcanized shoes and Petronas, which are retro cemented shoes. What do you enjoy most about your job? I love shoes! Before I started working at Bata, I always thought shoes were the most beautiful products to design in the world. I love how the world and markets are changing constantly, which means you have to pay attention and keep your eyes open, to see, understand and catch the information you need to make the right shoes. I love to tell trend histories, telling new stories each season, finding new product inspirations and using my energy and creativity for the benefit of the products. What current trends are there in your region? How important are issues like e-commerce? In this moment I don t want to say we have strong trends in our region, because in terms of the products we are at the same level as the rest of the world. Information is very democratic, and the people in the world look at the same things at the same time. My mission is to try to give a trendy direction to the brand in each country, with commercial collections and key prices. E-commerce is the best platform to tell a history, show the shoes and sell them. It is an interaction directly with your final consumers, and you can learn many things about them with just a few clicks. In my opinion, it is crucial to be visible and competitive on the internet. Is there any information you would like to share with other brand managers? From my point of view, I think we need to be flexible and to open our eyes in terms of how we see the market. We must listen to our buyers, listen to our final consumers and always be hungry about the future, no matter what happens, in all the places where there is an opportunity to grow the business. How would you like to see the North Star brand develop in the future? The future! I cannot wait for it! I would like to see North Star as a real youth brand, with all the channels and communication for our consumer development, offering histories not only of shoes, but also accessories and clothes. The market is open, and I want a big part of the cake. Which of the Bata Core Values would you say best describes your management style? Serve with Passion and Be Bold. What would you say is your most important role as North Star brand manager? Now my priority is standardizing the collection globally, in terms of the products and trend directions. Latam, Asia, Africa and Europe need to have the same global
Q & A WITH JANET HIDALGO language, with local accents. After that, we need to see how we can grow and be a recognized, desirable brand for our young consumers.
MARKET TRENDS A First for BFirst: BTS Global Office Introduces Worldwide Campaign BFirst, Bata s sportsinspired school brand, has a worldwide advertising campaign for 2017 and a new slogan: Smart shoes for smart kids. This builds the BFirst brand and takes it on its move from the business category to the branded business. The campaign was launched in November, at the same time as a new Teener campaign and in time for the peak school sales period. The new slogan reflects the BFirst ethos that there is untapped potential in all kids, that all kids and their parents want to win at life, and that every child should be given the opportunity to be their best. It is a fresh new outlook that comes across in the communication tools for this school season. The BFirst school brand has the best quality-price ratio for the mid- and mid-tolow market and is preparing the way to be the leader in this socioeconomic group. Thinking worldwide, the brand covers the market that Bata s premium brands cannot. BFirst shoes are very well made, high quality, and feature technology that gives an added value to parents and a better reason to choose this brand. Luis del Canto, global brand manager of Back to School, said, We worked several months to achieve these amazing campaigns. We are sure that in the end, kids all over the world who attend school have similar lifestyles. They like and see the same things, and all of them are multitasking. They want, and have the capability to do, many things at the same time and do them well. This is how the new generations are; they are always trying new things and finding their way in life. All these insights helped us to build the concept: Be anything, Be everything, BFirst, and I think that the results are incredible. Parrish Tan, marketing manager for Bata Singapore and the Asia-Pacific region, added, The new BFirst and Teener campaigns are definitely modern and relevant. It shows that the branding of school shoes can be cool and exciting. I believe that our consumers will welcome this fresh breath of creativity. Congratulations to the global school team for presenting a great way to brand BFirst and Teener bigger and better! Together with the campaign, a full campaign presentation and a brand execution kit, or BET, were made available. These will make for an easy and successful school season. Contact Luis del Canto for more information.
MARKET TRENDS Cool and Back to School: Global Teener Campaign Launched This November, Luis del Canto, global brand manager of Back to School, rolled out to Bata companies the latest 2017 advertising campaign for Teener. It comes in time for the peak seasonal sales period. The campaign was launched in the week of Nov. 7. Teener, together with BFirst and Toughees, is a pillar of Bata s school business around the world. In the coming year, these school brands will boast many new initiatives. The Teener brand was born in Chile in 1990 and became a leader in the country s school market. After 26 years, Teener is the No. 1 school brand for style and innovation, as shines through in the new campaign from the Back to School global office. Now, Teener is taking its first steps to grow into an international brand that will satisfy the most demanding customers in the premium school market. With the expectation that this brand will launch in markets such as Peru, Colombia, India, Australia and others, a more global concept has been developed, with an international point of view but always with an eye on the teen market. Del Canto explained, For 2017 we worked very closely with the team of Teener Chile to receive their insight and input about what they expected for the campaign. At the same time, thinking about the launch of the brand in different countries, we have prepared a campaign for the teen market that is young and cool, with an international proposal, to consolidate our leadership in Chile and start with the best communication strategy in the other countries. It s important to highlight that during recent years many foreigners have arrived in Chile who are looking for better opportunities for their families. These foreigners and their children are part of the country, and Teener is the first brand that reflects this change in the culture of the country, and at the same time coincides with the internationalization of the brand. A full campaign presentation has been launched, along with a brand execution kit, or BET. The plug and play BET includes everything necessary for a successful school season. For more information, contact Luis Del Canto.
BCP / SUSTAINABILITY Bata Sustainability Report Wins Prestigious Graphic Award The Bata Sustainability Review 2014-15, a report that provides insight into the Bata Group responsible business approach and programs, was recently awarded a Golden Award in the Annual Report category at the Graphis Annual competition in New York. Graphis, based in New York, is an organization committed to presenting and promoting the work of exceptional talent in graphic design, advertising, photography and art/illustration. The Graphis Annual Reports competition features the top annual reports submitted from some of the best international design firms in the world, and provides coveted prizes to those considered to be the best submissions, across a range of categories. Bata's first sustainability report marries engaging design and compelling images with the story of Bata's responsible business approach, which has existed since the company was first created in 1894. The report was the project of Nicole Voillat, Group sustainability and BCP director, who has been working since 2014 with Ben Pankhurst, CEO of Geneva-based design agency Charles Cannon. Together they produced the first two annual reports, as well as all of the original photography in three Bata countries and the BataLife sustainability website. The report will now receive full-page exposure in the prestigious Graphis hardcover Annuals publication, a coffeetable book that is also available for purchase on Amazon. Speaking about the award, Voillat commented: Design impacts brand awareness and brand loyalty. Design awards help to increase corporate reputation and brand image.
BCP / SUSTAINABILITY Serving the Community: An Interview with Lara Pilar Lara Pilar, financial and administration manager at Bata Ecuador, also coordinates the Bata Children s Program in the country. She told Bata World News about the program, which boasts 100 percent participation from the administrative office. How did you get involved with the Bata Children s Program? Thanks to the invitation to the regional meeting of BCP in Peru in June 2015. What do you enjoy about being a BCP coordinator? The most wonderful thing about being a coordinator of BCP is to count on the support and help of my fellow volunteers. Thanks to this, we can enjoy amazing times with the children, we get out of the work routine, and are also part of incredible experiences that are indescribable when we see the little happy faces of those little angels. What was memorable about the first Latam BCP meeting in Peru in 2015? At this meeting BCP Ecuador was launched. I had the opportunity to get to know from my BCP colleagues of Colombia, Mexico, Bolivia and Chile how they developed and are running their programs. It was also interesting to hear about the other BCP programs thriving around the world and their challenges and achievements. How did you implement BCP in its first year in Ecuador? The group of volunteers is formed by all the company employees at the administrative office, making it 11 people. Our first project was to share a day with the kids of a foundation. These kids have a condition called brittle bone disease they have very fragile bones. We supported them by buying their costly medicine to ensure a better quality of life. The second was to be part of saving our environment by motivating our families, friends, kids and people around us to plant trees and take care of nature to enjoy healthier and cleaner air. Our third project was to support our community, parents and alumni of a public school in a rural part of our city. We shared a day painting their school because it was in very bad shape. This was a great experience because we were aware that in this kind of school, kids and their parents are incentivized to use the three Rs recycle, reuse, reduce a program that is promoted by the state. We hope to finish this year with a new donation of medicine for the kids with brittle bone disease, giving continuity to our first support of these kids. This has been a year full of satisfaction, and we hope that in 2017 we will be able to include the employees at the stores around the country in our program and make our BCP bigger. Can you tell us about a moving experience you had with BCP? Because it is our first year, all the projects have been very important and unique, but the day that we shared with the kids with brittle bone disease I think was very special. It was an unforgettable experience; just to see those little fragile kids so happy made me understand that outside of the office there is an unknown world that we are part of now because of BCP. We gave a day of our lives to receive great satisfaction. The clown we hired for six hours took a token amount, and we were given a 50 percent discount on food. I am so grateful and happy to know that there are some people and businesses that supported us in this project, and we are sure that we can count on them in the future. What is a long-term goal you have for BCP Ecuador? BCP Ecuador plans to provide continuous support to the most vulnerable children, in order to offer them a better future. We choose parts of our city that are more in need and can really use a lot of support. These places don t even get much help from the government or foundations. What are the most common comments you hear from the Bata employee volunteers after an activity? It is an incredible satisfaction and unique experience that I ve never experienced before.
SERVING THE COMMUNITY: AN INTERVIEW WITH LARA PILAR It fills me with happiness to see those little kids faces full of joy. What we get is much more than what we give. It lets me forget about the daily office work stress. I hope to keep helping in all the upcoming projects. Seeing this reality, I appreciate and cherish much more the lives that people like me have.
INTERVIEWS We Are Bata People: Gary Yee Sends In a Selfie Bata World News recently received a selfie that stood out for the moment in time it captured. The snapshot from Gary Yee shows a relaxed moment during the organization's first Global Product Review in Italy. How do you fit into the Bata world? My Job title is senior manager of supply chain management in China Footwear Services Limited, or CFS, which is essentially the sourcing arm of Bata Shoe Organization. In my current job, I am one of the links between suppliers and Bata companies in fulfilling part of the product requirements and sourcing, ensuring the companies receive what they buy on time with the right quality expectations. Who is in your selfie? Next to me is Mr. Miguel Angel Ruiz, who is the technical product development manager in CFS. In fact, all the other people you see in the background are from the big Bata family from all over the world! Everyone was excited and anxious at the same time as we had just concluded the first ever GPR, and we were on the way to enjoy a group dinner in a beautiful city. What does it show? What is the story? This selfie was taken at the Tronchetto Pier in Venice, where all participants in the GPR were gathering in one place before boarding a couple of boats to go to the San Marco Pier. While waiting, I thought it would be nice to take a selfie as something to remember this historical event by. It is after all the first time ever we had a Global Product Review meeting in Italy and a group dinner in the historical city of Venice. It was kind of crazy and fun to have so many Bata employees in one place! What do you like most about your job? For the current job, I would say it s the daily challenges I face in ensuring all goods are delivered on time to all the Bata companies and the constant need to be on high alert, as well as looking into ways to improve the job and work-flow itself, as my department s main KPI is on-time delivery. Overall, being in Bata, I would say the opportunities to grow, travel, meet people from around the world, and the opportunity to do something more each year that has been given to me throughout the last 12 years.
BATA IN THE NEWS Bata in the News: Tips from Bata India's Design Center When a national daily newspaper in India wanted to give readers tips on the latest in ballerina shoes, they found everything they needed from an expert at Bata India s Design and Development Center in Gurgaon. On Nov. 13, The Indian Express carried an article Pop of colors, tassels a must for ballerina shoes this season in their fashion section featuring advice from Bata India s own Juan Pablo Malaver. Malaver gave his recommendations for how to wear closed-toe ballerina shoes this winter. These shoes treat the feet to comfort, while spoiling the wardrobe with a versatile and fashionable star. The design expert reminded everyone that ballerina shoes are good for all seasons. He gave a shout-out to metallic detailing, a spot of color, laser-cut styles, tassels to spice things up, and classy black. Read the full list of tips, including what to pair with each style.
CORPORATE Bata Sri Lanka Continues to Support Young Cricketers On November 11, an awards ceremony was held to announce the winners of the 37th Bata Sunday Times Young Cricketer of the Year award, which has been sponsored by Bata since its inception, as the company aims to help its nations cricket talents to develop further in the game. The event was held at the Bandaranayaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH) in Colombo, the country's capital, in collaboration with The Sunday Times, Bata's media partner for the award. The award receives a great deal of publicity every year, helping to raise brand awareness in the country. Amitav Nandy, country manager of Bata Sri Lanka, represented Bata at the awards ceremony, and Deshabandu Roshan Mahanama, the former Sri Lankan cricketer and former ICC match referee, graced the evening as the chief guest. His address to the youngsters was very encouraging, giving many tips from his life experience on how to approach the game. The selection process to find the competition's winner takes place throughout the cricket season, and is closely monitored by a panel of judges consisting of members of the Umpires Association. Many press conferences and other events take place over the course of the year to keep the readers and participants updated about the situation. Charith Asalanka from Richmond College, Galle, was selected as the Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year 2016, winning the title for the second consecutive year. The evening was filled with entertainment thanks to music and dance performances, and all of the awardees and other guests greatly enjoyed the evening. Nandy, speaking about the awards ceremony, commented: The company is proud that most of the previous winners of this competition are today s giants of Sri Lanka national cricket and indeed the evening will be memorable for everyone.
BCP / SUSTAINABILITY Bata Zimbabwe Praised at Kaguvi Vocational Center Graduation Ceremony On October 28, the Kaguvi Vocational Training Center hosted its 14th annual graduation ceremony and prize-giving day, where Bata Zimbabwe was commended for the assistance it has provided. Bata Zimbabwe was represented at the event by production manager Mathias Musungapasi, on behalf of country mana... In June this year, the Kaguvi Vocational Training Center received a donation of five industrial stitching machines from Mrs. Sarah Bata, and it has now begun to enjoy the fruits of its partnership with Bata Zimbabwe. Kaguvi has joined two other vocational centers, namely Danhiko and Mupfure, as an Associate Business Unit (ABU), and following the training of students and instructors, Kaguvi has started to deliver 500 pairs of sandals every two weeks to Bata Zimbabwe. While giving an interview at the ceremony, Minister Zhuwao stated: I am impressed by the tremendous efforts made following the partnership between Kaguvi and the Bata Shoe Company. The provision of industrial sewing machines by the aforementioned has greatly improved production at the center. Speaking to reporters, the principal of Kaguvi stated that the partnership with Bata was a welcome development, which has resulted in the college earning extra income. He also appreciated that the partnership did not only generate additional income, but that it gave the students practical training and also helped the staff through the donation of the necessary equipment. After the ceremony, Musungapasi stated: It was very encouraging to see the number of students graduating from Kaguvi Vocational center. What was even more encouraging was to hear the principal anticipate an increase in the leather department enrollment due to this partnership. I look forward to continuously improving the quality of products being produced at Kaguvi, and eventually making other developments.
Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org) BCP / SUSTAINABILITY BCP Czech Republic Teaches Children to Care for the Planet This year, the Bata Children s Program (BCP) Czech Republic celebrated Earth Day with children from the Liptal orphanage, located around 25 kilometers from the city of Zlin. The activities organized by BCP volunteers were designed to open the children s minds about the importance of protecting t... A total of 19 children from the orphanage took part in the event, which was organized by Martina Julickova, BCP coordinator for the Czech Republic, along with two other BCP volunteers: Frantisek Vondrak, training manager, and Tomas Josek, personnel manager. To mark the occasion, children and BCP volunteers planted more than one hundred new trees between the villages of Loucka and Katerinice. The event took place in collaboration with the Forests and Estates of Tomas Bata, the company that manages the forest assets of Sonja Bata. In addition to the tree-planting initiative, the activity also included practical exercises with a science and nature specialist, who informed participants about a range of interesting facts, such as how to learn the age of a tree or forest, how to protect biodiversity and how to keep the planet in good condition for future generations. BCP volunteers then prepared a barbecue to conclude the day's events, in return for the children's hard work. The whole day was a great success, being both enjoyable and informative for children and volunteers alike, and BCP Czech Republic is already looking forward to organizing next year's event. Julickova commented: No one else is going to save the planet for us. It is our duty to come forward and do as much as we can, because small actions can add up to a big change.