[00:00:01] Welcome to your Play Now in Spanish, presented by Better Global Logistics and Supply Chain Now. This is the program we give to Spanish-speaking people in the ever-changing logistics industry. Join us as we discover the inspiring stories of our guests and learn from their collective experience. Our goal is not only to entertain you, but to foster your passion for this exciting industry and support your professional development along the way. And now, here is today’s episode of Supply Chain Now in Spanish.
[00:00:34] Good morning and welcome to another episode of Supply Chain Now. My name is Enrique Álvarez and today I am pleased to introduce Rafael Aparicio. Rafael is the marketing director at the Universidad Iberoamericana in Puebla. Rafa, thank you very much for being here with us. How are you doing?
[00:00:52] My pleasure, Enrique. Many thanks to you and all your audience. The truth is that I am very happy and honored to be able to participate in this podcast that you are in charge of.
[00:01:03] Thank you very much. The pleasure is all ours and welcome. I think it’s going to be a very interesting conversation given your personal and work experience, but let’s start a little bit by talking about you, your childhood, your early years, where you are from, where you were born, etcetera.
[00:01:25] Yes, of course Enrique, I can tell you in a nutshell that I had a happy childhood. I am originally from Mexico City, from around 1980, that is when I came to this world and the truth is, as I was telling you, not all of my childhood and adolescence, even when I finished high school at La Salle there in Mexico and I moved to the city of Puebla to the Universidad de las Américas, Puebla. The truth is that I have had, I tell you, good and bad moments like every adolescent child, but the truth is that I am very happy. A family that I love, that I adore, my parents who are still here with me and my two sisters, of course. And the truth is that I am very happy that right now they are in Canada starting the four of them and we are going to visit moms there.
[00:02:24] Hey and Puebla very nice a city this I was told in the 80’s and 90’s is a very different city than it is now. It has become a very important industrial capital, especially in the automotive industry. Right.
[00:02:39] Definitely. Enrique, notice that when I made the movement from Mexico City to Puebla, at that time.
[00:02:46] I already had at that time.
[00:02:48] 17 years.
[00:02:50] Ah well, ok, right, since you had finished elementary school, etcetera.
[00:02:54] Yes, primary, secondary. I still went to high school at La Salle, back in Mexico, at Benjamin Franklin’s, and that’s when we applied for a scholarship. I was awarded the scholarship here at UCLA and I decided to move because my family was already living here in Puebla. So I said well, let’s take advantage of these last years of study, to be with them, because my intention was to finish my degree and from there I want to go on a trip to the United States, Europe, somewhere. So I said let’s take advantage of the family and at that time Puebla was just growing, really one who comes from Mexico City and arrives to a city that is calmer, with a different rhythm, well, if you notice it, not this palpably, but the truth is a beautiful city, Puebla, which has everything. Since I arrived I have always been treated with open arms and I am in love with the city. It has, as I said, details of gastronomy, places, magical towns, the people themselves, which I have also been able to achieve.
[00:04:00] Thank you Great story Puebla, definitely a great city and good for all of you who are listening outside of Mexico, country all over Latin America. Well, Puebla is one of the most important cities in Mexico, it is relatively close to the country’s capital, about two hours away.
[00:04:19] A little less or.
[00:04:20] Less and good and highly recommended for anyone who wants to visit, because as Rafa said, it has a lot of history. Going back a little bit to you and your past, well, you move at the age of 17, you go to college in Puebla with a very concrete idea and life plan. I think you were very clear about that. You have. Could you share with us some of the best experiences you had in that stage of your life? The one that pushed you to get to where you are, the one that guided you towards the successful path you had later on.
[00:04:56] Yes, of course it is. Enrique, Notice that one of the. One of the most important events in this university stage in the mockery here in Puebla was when together with a professor of Strategic Planning, who later became my thesis advisor, we managed to found what is still an association that is still in force, called Arts a RX. There inside the Universidad de las Américas. And the idea was to recruit non-university, graduate students who had this intention and this knowledge, not to want to go to study in another country, to get to know new cultures, to soak up new knowledge. So, this ARCS Association Foundation was really a turning point because it allowed me to meet, in this case, profiles very similar to mine that had the same ideas that allowed us to get together to take an exam that is required in the United States before going on to become an FBI or a master’s degree in administration, which is the call. So we get together, study in the summer and we all get to spend it together, right? So I think that definitely marked me to be able to make a very important networking group at the university level. Obviously having the experience of founding an academy, of directing it, of being the co-founder, well, that also opens different doors. Besides, I had already had the opportunity to go on an exchange program to France for a whole summer, as a mandatory part of the university and especially in the career of business administration. And then I also had the opportunity during the four and a half years I was there to be a beneficiary of the 70% two Jenkins scholarship. Practically I was involved in different university projects in succession and that changes your outlook and above all gives you a good university curriculum so that when you face the real thing that we have out here, you can really face it in the best way and with security above all.
[00:07:23] Hey, no, actually a very successful career this one as a student. And well, a great idea from this foundation to RX that still exists right? The association to RX, we will put the link there so that those who are also listening to us and are interested in knowing a little more, can also have access to this information. And well, continue to develop professionals, continue to support them with the process part. I can imagine what is the main objective of the association to conclude this stage.
[00:07:54] Of course it is. Enrique E. The association La Academia Arts Tigo arises from the need to bring together people who want to eat the world, who could support each other, but above all to do this networking that Okey, I can share my experience with you when I have already taken my exam or I can share with you who you have to approach or this type of scholarship. This type of support arises not as this issue of allies if we want to see it that way from a university structure and then it evolves, right? To have this support for university students or those who are doing a postgraduate course and want to study abroad, well, many times with all the information we have on the Internet we look for it and see, but what better when someone has not already gone through it. A group of people support you, give you advice and above all you have that peace of mind and security that they are people like you, like me, who are going to be there supporting us, right?
[00:09:01] Totally. And well, I imagine that need looks even more important. In the eighties we still didn’t have the connectivity we have now, but well, thank you very much for sharing that part of your trajectory. Changing now a little bit the professional part. Tell us about your graduation and well, I see that a large part of your career has been in the automotive sector, an extremely interesting sector worldwide and particularly in Mexico. With everything that is happening, could you tell us a little more about your professional evolution and especially about the automotive industry in Mexico?
[00:09:40] Of course Enrique, notice that when I finish my degree in Business Administration at UDLA, I apply, I do my thesis on a theory based on the company’s resources, on the economic theory that can generate or create sustainable competitive advantages. But I leave it. Or open. That is to say, I make all the theoretical approach that at that time, since practically nothing was known in Mexico or in Latin America, all the English literature. And from that point on, the change of rectors came about. At that moment, Dr. Nora Lustig arrives and sends out a call for postgraduate students and says that we will be giving out three 100% postgraduate scholarships for those who apply for a class type project during the summer of 2002, and based on the evaluation we make, we will determine who will receive the 100% scholarship. I apply with my thesis project the continuation that I told you I had left open and I am given the opportunity to access this 100% scholarship. Thank you very much. And besides having all the tuition and registration fees paid for, I also received a stipend. The only, the only restriction I had at that time is only dedicate yourself to study, you can’t work, only dedicate yourself to study. Then I started a Master’s Degree in International Business Marketing, right there at UDLA, and just a year into my Master’s Degree, the university signed an agreement with Texas Christian University, Texas Christian University and NYU, where the students of this Master’s Degree in Marketing could obtain a double degree, that is, study a year and a half in Mexico, a year and a half in the United States, and then obtain the two degrees separately.
[00:11:40] So that’s where I raise my hand and say that’s my goal, right? And I just sent and abroad, etcetera I apply and I am also accepted in this master’s degree in international administration I said I finish a year and a half of my studies here and the half year that was missing is revalidated with subjects from the United States and vice versa. The year, the half year with the U.S. pact is revalidated with materials here in Mexico. Then I also finish this second master’s degree in Dallas, Fort Worth, and one of the requirements of this master’s degree is to be able to do an intensive internship there, and I was able to be placed in a worldwide helicopter sales, repair and maintenance company called Gelida in Systems. I started as a marketing and sales assistant for a period of three months at first and then some internal changes happened where I was left in charge of customer service for both the Mexican and Argentinean part of the company. That is to say.
[00:12:50] After those three months did we say you know let’s leave everything to Rafa?
[00:12:56] Notice that about two months after I started my internship in this company, the one who was my boss had two bosses, one of them saw all of Europe, Africa, Asia and my boss saw from North America to Latin America. We are not talking about Argentina and the boss who saw the European, Asian, African part was sent to corporate in Michigan and my boss was practically told that while there is a replacement, you take care of everything. He definitely couldn’t do this and he tells me You know what, Rafa? I’ll take care of Mexico all the way to Argentina, you take care of it, get them there and you’re all set, Dale. And that’s how those three months extend to five months of work. I did not continue with them because the agreement that I signed between Mexico and the United States obliged me to return to Mexico for at least two years after finishing my second master’s degree, and then I could return to the United States to work. Well, now it is.
[00:14:03] Legal.
[00:14:05] Exactly. So that’s why I’m coming back to Mexico. And indeed, being already here in Mexico, in Puebla, I spend part of my months of arrival in politics. I was involved in the political campaign of Dr. Enrique Róger Guerrero for Municipal President of Puebla, because it was also one of the issues I was passionate about. Not all of the policy issue to know. I spent almost a year in this area and that’s when.
[00:14:36] I imagine it had something to do with it.
[00:14:37] Good.
[00:14:38] I imagine all of this, well, it’s still a little bit related to your passion for marketing, I imagine that’s how you could maybe explain the changes in an industry so much to politics? Another industry is still what keeps bringing you together. It is the business part, the part of the. Geotechnics the part of people or what do you feel is the common denominator of what you are liking about each of these stages of your life?
[00:15:09] Sure, no, definitely not. I am passionate about business, especially marketing, I have always been passionate about the logical market and obviously, as I always say, even to my marketing students, we do it everywhere, because we are all people talking to people and negotiating with people. So, definitely, even in politics, this issue of the famous political marketing is also an aspect that caught my attention at the time. I knew of course that I definitely say you know it’s not around here and it is precisely when we arrived in 2007 to the automotive industry and specifically to Volkswagen de Mexico. First, I took on the position of store manager of the Collection Store, which is the store that sells to practically all the employees of the plant, which at that time numbered 15,000, and I was in this position for about two and a half years when I was called to the commercial area to take charge of the Foursquare brand loyalty program at the national level. As of 2009.
[00:16:18] So, sorry to interrupt you again, for the people who listen to us and maybe are not Mexican like you or me. This good, La Fox Vaughan in Puebla are an institution, they don’t carry. Could you tell us a little bit about it? It is one of Volkswagen’s largest and most important plants, maybe at the time I don’t know if it still is, but it has quite an important history. Both the city and the Volkswagen plant in Puebla.
[00:16:49] Yes, definitely. Before the industrial growth that we have today, definitely what it was and still is. Volkswagen was one of the main suppliers of Puebla families in Volkswagen Puebla, already established around the sixties, which is when in Mexico, we only had three or four automotive brands, no more, all of them foreign. And that is precisely when it starts to boom with iconic models such as the sedan or the beautiful one we know.
[00:17:24] It is the good Monchito, the Beetle for the best, other parts of the world, but.
[00:17:28] Exactly.
[00:17:30] There were several in Puebla. I don’t think most of this whole continent was that plant.
[00:17:36] Totally. In fact, they were first manufactured in Germany and later another part was manufactured in Mexico. That was one of the orders to build the plant in Puebla, precisely to distribute these cars throughout North America and Latin America, and later it was decided to close production in Germany around the eighties and Mexico was left with the entire production of small cars or sedans worldwide until 2003 and 2004, when the last, the last sedan was manufactured in this plant. And it was a historic thing that happened there in the.
[00:18:16] Iconic Not for generations and generations. I think that worldwide it is a car that we could have not only several interviews, only dedicated to the Volkswagen Sedan or the Vocho, as we say in Mexico. This is definitely an iconic car.
[00:18:33] If not it definitely marked new generations and its history today, well you ask someone about the vocho and they pretty much do.
[00:18:43] That you had one, did you get one or not?
[00:18:46] My father had this two little boats at the time and we had incredible stories there, in those, in those super warrior cars. That is to say, apart from being very careful to get a very interesting speed and above all easy to fix it, that is to say, the.
[00:19:04] Cutting-edge technology didn’t really need anything, those engines were really designed, developed and created for war conditions, which is how I find these pieces that didn’t have a radiator, had air cooling, etc. Very interesting technology in their cars.
[00:19:24] In fact, it was Hitler’s mandate at the time to the German government and scientists at the time and to be a war car as it is, wasn’t it? He sends for it and that’s when it’s developed and with Porsche and all, colleagues and company.
[00:19:39] Well, sorry, sorry I interrupted you on this tangent, but well, I think that merits a little mention in this interesting interview. But well, then you enter Volkswagen, an extremely important company for Mexico, for the economic development of our country and obviously for the city of Puebla. And tell us a little more. You enter an area that was in very, very high demand, I imagine.
[00:20:03] Yes, as I was telling you at that time, and today it continues to be a fundamental part of the Puebla economy. Today, there are 15,000 administrative and technical staff working directly for Volkswagen, plus 30,000 suppliers, i.e., on a daily basis, there are almost 45,000 people in the Volkswagen defense zone. It is a micro city. Then what we have there is practically imagine now 45,000 direct families, not with that economic support, because we are talking about a large population that is revitalized in this sense of what is the Volkswagen factory, which today is still iconic. Many of the students, not the ones we give marketing, dream of being there at Volkswagen, of making their first steps, their professional career, and it is a great company, to be honest.
[00:21:03] That’s definitely, definitely impressive. Hey, and from the point of view of marketing, well, not a word. It is a very good company from an engineering point of view, not state-of-the-art German technology. At the end of the day, and well, also in marketing, in Mexico they paint themselves, as we say.
[00:21:24] Yes, you can see that a very important part of marketing is how we achieve or how we help companies precisely so that the products and services they have are marketed in the best way in the markets, with the different audiences. And something that has always characterized Fox, not only in Mexico but worldwide, is the part of marketing that is really impactful or at the time, with this zinc Small campaign in the 70s. Later, with all the changes and with the arrival of the Volkswagen factories in the United States, mainly in Chattanooga, Tennessee, they also began to do this marketing differently, not as we see it in the Superbowl commercials, they went out and went out there in those Superbowls some years ago and in this case they were also iconic commercials of the brand and here in Mexico they have also had the fortune of being allied, well, practically to the best advertising agencies. So he invests a good amount of money to be able to create these impact commercials, not that they are really tropical, but that allow not only the awareness, but also the attraction and finally the conversion into sales of automobiles for Mexico.
[00:22:51] Tell us a little more about it, then you change positions after a while and now they send you to the commercial area.
[00:23:01] Is this correct? In 2009, we joined the commercial side of the business, mainly as a manager. I was telling you about the Volkswagen brand loyalty program at a national level, where at that time it was all the marketing actions focused on current customers to pamper them, to thank them and thank them for the preference they had for us at that time, because there were marketing actions such as the official Volkswagen magazine in Mexico. We gave tours of the entire plant for VIP clients, where we showed them how the sheets were made, how the presses were shaping them until they were practically a finished car. The test drives also had the famous Welcome Kit or welcome packs for those customers who bought a car. At that time we had the sponsorship of the Puebla team and we also invited customers here in the city who shopped at the Puebla dealerships to watch games in the box. So they were really marketing actions aimed at strengthening customer loyalty and this allowed us to make them come back, keep on buying, buy or acquire additional products to the main product they purchased, which was a car, because they were so happy. But above all and most importantly, from my point of view, this word-of-mouth marketing is not a recommendation. Today we know that we believe more in what people tell us than in the advertising that companies manage for us. So, definitely these loyalty actions were geared for it and.
[00:24:43] We achieved very important, very strategic achievements in the great success that Volkswagen has and has had in Mexico.
[00:24:50] Totally. And not just Volkswagen, eh? In fact, a very important part is also when the Japanese women who have been drinking arrive. And the Asian companies have a very large market in Mexico, and they have a different philosophy, which is to go out of their way to provide the customer with attention and service. And that is what some Mexicans needed at the time, because some of us needed these established, old brands, which in the end did not, they did not manage to deliver at the time, but they are transforming, yes, but at the time it was the great boom of the Asian brands in Mexico.
[00:25:26] A challenge from your career at Volkswagen, something that you could share with us, something that wasn’t there, was difficult or you solved and well, you learned something both from the problem itself and from yourself.
[00:25:41] Of course, I will tell you about two very brief occasions in that regard. The first of these was when I was asked that through this customer relationship program, we could seek alliances with some iconic brands, not only in Mexico, but around the world. And that’s when I approached Microsoft Mexico to see what kind of partnership alliance we could make between the two brands and the first one. The first exploration we had was to include at that time. In 2011 we had the launch of the New Viru, which is the latest version we have today and we said well, with the new car we can find a way to include it in the video games developed by Microsoft’s Xbox platform and see what works by digging a little deeper. Even with Mexico this project is not moving forward, since the developers of all the 3D models and all the cars that we can see in the video games are located in Europe and it takes a long time. Everyone tells us well, if we do it, it’s going to take more than two to three years because of all the projects in the pipeline. So how come there isn’t one, huh? So a real alternative, not for this one, for this project. But let’s keep looking and see what else we can find. And at that time, I lead the alliance with Microsoft Mexico to bring out a special edition of what was the Mobile or this little drunk updated at that time and we were able to bring out the Xbox 3 60 edition where there were 360 units that came with their folio and also brought special attachments and everything that we were able to market in the Mexican market and that went like hot cakes.
[00:27:40] The dealerships wanted them all, but practically the luckiest ones got two or three cars, no more, because there were 360, 160 dealerships in Mexico. So it blew up the car and it was a watershed thing at Volkswagen, because usually when a brand launches a new model entirely, it’s very difficult for you to bring out a new version or a special edition. And in this case, with the importance of the alliance that we had, it was decided that practically before the year of the launch of this model worldwide in 2011, we already had a special edition of the Xbox 3.60, which I had to lead, organize the teams on both sides and a super challenging issue was the legal issue, where we signed it because Microsoft Mexico belongs to Microsoft, United States and they say I sign, but in the United States, in California and Mexico said well I will market the cars in Mexico, well it has to be that way in the country as we do it. So it was resolved, it was signed in Mexico and with that the project was released and I am very happy and proud of this learning, not only to manage very important areas, an organization like Volkswagen, this relationship with companies from another sector, of course.
[00:29:02] Highly different, totally different and at the time less complementary industries. Perhaps one could say that nowadays technology is more complementary, but it is a very good, very good achievement. And how long were you with Volkswagen then? How long is your career with Volkswagen?
[00:29:19] Practically 13 years, Enrique. 13 years from 2007. Well, 2006 until 2019 October 2019, which is when I pause and make the switch to Universidad Iberoamericana Puebla as brand director.
[00:29:36] How in all your trajectory since you entered the automotive industry in Mexico, I imagine it has changed radically, hasn’t it? Could you give us so some examples of when you went out in 2019 to the city in I already had this when I entered the Volkswagen, they still didn’t have this Mexico they had the. What’s the name of that little button you used to press for the cigars? If you wanted to smoke the resistors, the one that works with resistors. What have you seen in general evolution in the cars? And well, extrapolating that question, where do you think it’s going? Where to? What would be the view of someone who knows Volkswagen as intimately as you do? Ten years from now or 20 years from now?
[00:30:22] Yes, of course. That is an excellent question, Enrique. And the way in which I see that evolution has to do a lot with the evolution of marketing, not only in the automotive industry, but in different consumer industries and especially around the world where it has gone to a personalization that we have seen before joining Volkswagen and throughout my career, that not only Volkswagen, but the other brands, bet heavily on creating increasingly customized products, each time satisfying not only the needs of a mass, but the particular needs of their consumers, of their customers who bet their money on you and that you had to respond to them. That was one of the technical or product aspects of product customization. Another very strong one that was given great attention. Also the issue of customer service. Not many companies and specifically Volkswagen. They brought an approach to production. Obviously they have been making cars for n number of years and it is very difficult to change the production chip, even for a sales chip or an even more important customer service chip, not that the whole organization is responsible for the customer, that it followed in the production line. I don’t do my part or I don’t do it right. Will this effect affect the end customer and the end customer will not say whether the production department will say that it is the Volkswagen brand that makes the cars, which is coming out here with a fault, right? So this evolution towards customer service is to understand that once they buy a car from you, it is the beginning of the road and not the end, and that from that moment on you have to make the customer fall in love with you, you have to take good care of them for the following years so that when they decide to change for a new car, the first brand that is present in their mind is you.
[00:32:22] So, in that sense, these two elements were the most important ones that I had to see during 13 years as the evolution of the automotive industry in Mexico, and that precisely when we left in 2019, a worldwide project was already underway for the entire Volkswagen Group, which is made up of more than 12 brands around the world, including Bugatti, Porsche, Audi, Bentley and others. It was already intended to say that by 2025 the Volkswagen Group’s commitment is to sell 1 million units worldwide, but that they will be electric. So, this whole electric issue is definitely the direction that is being followed, not only Volkswagen, all brands and around the world I can see it, no, you can watch a channel in the United States in a sporting event and now everyone is talking about electric cars, not even about hybrids, everything is electric cars, all brands are already revolutionizing, they are changing. Obviously there are markets such as the American and European markets that have the infrastructure to support and demand all these electric cars. Mexico would be very difficult for us to tell you even if you give the car to all Mexicans. Electric We change if there is no infrastructure, we get to see in shopping malls four or five non-charging stations, but no more. Everything else is diesel, it’s gasoline.
[00:33:53] A revolution for many countries. But well, for example, in Puebla, at Volkswagen, in the production part, we are already starting to see the change in the lines, and all this is already being prepared, I imagine.
[00:34:06] Yes, definitely this one. Even many production lines are closing precisely because they do not adapt to these new schemes that they call them, me without five, me without time or this issue of a modular construction that is basically with modules. You can go from creating maybe a Jetta to a Tiguan on the same production line. You no longer have to say 100 Tiguan’s have to come out and then 100 pieces to be efficient, but according to demand, not by having two tiguan’s five ñetas three and so on in the same production line. And these lines are also being adapted to these modular schemes that bring many advantages, not only lower weight, but also better fuel efficiency. Technology, having lower manufacturing costs, obviously translates to the customer in terms of highlights and other elements. So yes, those changes were definitely coming at that time and obviously now there are factories around the world that are totally dedicated to electric cars, not only because that is what the group is betting on for the year 2025.
[00:35:24] Rafa Well, you are absolutely right. I believe that the future, not only for Volkswagen, but for all automotive companies, is going electric. And well, we’re going to see many, many changes still in what’s coming to get there, especially in Latin America, especially in countries like Mexico, where you clearly say that’s the structure, the infrastructure of the part. The components required to drive an electric car are not there yet, but I imagine there will be a lot of investment to get there as quickly as possible.
[00:35:55] Yes, definitely. And another part is going to be the autonomy of the cars. All this famous, famous internet, of things that cars are going to be connected and that even like Tesla does, not that you put on autopilot mode and it takes you to the route you have.
[00:36:12] Several scenarios are already trying to do that. You are right. So you see those two clearly directions on the automotive side and Volkswagen will be no exception. On the contrary, one of the market leaders.
[00:36:26] Yes, as I was telling you, not since practically ten years ago, since 2025 I was already doing everything and adjusting everything to make it a reality. And it was one of the pioneers at that time, because in betting on the hybrid theme at that time there was an engine that even polluted less than the breath of a human being to that degree, but due to cost issues and all, it was very difficult to replicate it, but this was taken by a Volkswagen of technological advancement and bet forever.
[00:37:04] They have always been a technology company. It is backed by its technology, which is also iconic, we would say Germany. So they will always, always be important participants in these innovations and technological developments. And now changing and turning this whole conversation around. Tell us a little about it. In 2019, finish your career at Volkswagen and start a new stage in your life at Universidad Iberoamericana Iberoamericana. Tell us how. How did this change come about?
[00:37:40] Yes, of course it is. Enrique Fíjate que justo en ese año 2019 yo cumple en lo que son ocho años de docencia y en una de las instituciones donde he estado dando clases a nivel licenciatura, maestría era la Ibero y unos de mis alumnos, sobre todo de maestría, uno en particular que estaba dentro de la universidad. Well, he sees in this case that there is a job opportunity, he thinks of me and says Hey Rafa, look there is a position that is required, well, this expertise. I then thought of you, because my general director is asking me for a reference and the only one I thought of was you, I said well, let’s analyze it, talk and everything happened until October 2019 when I arrived at Ibero Puebla and the truth is a great challenge because my arrival was practically five months before the pandemic and I arrived at Ibero Puebla and they told me what my general director was at that time. Don’t worry, no, there are already budgets, there is planning, there is everything, there is a strategy, so little by little you will get back on track. But when I arrived surprise! No, there was no Mars strategy, no operational plan.
[00:39:00] And you had the pandemic on top of you. So I guess that’s one more good challenge.
[00:39:06] Yes, the truth is yes. So we began by first not understanding the foundations of the institution, this vision to 2030, the whole issue of social impact, everything that was being done to be able to integrate it into a general marketing strategy of the brand and then a marketing strategy by business unit, because I was in charge as marketing director, from high school, undergraduate, graduate, continuing education, graduates of the entire university. They were all five very different business units, to which you have to create a differentiated strategy, obviously starting from an umbrella that is your institutional marketing strategy and from there down, so we were able to present those strategies and now we have the green light. In January 2020 they said sorry. We started to settle in and it was in March when we were given the pandemic theme. April all of us went home and from there practically a year and a half working from home with the teams, but thanks to the marketing strategy that was created, which took a few months to build, in the end it allowed us to be oriented towards what we needed, what we wanted. Two. With the update we made to the CRM at that time, which was Microsoft Dynamics 13 and five, the cloud allowed us to create all these famous registration landing pages and to make the digital part our gateway during the pandemic. Then things happened, the strategy and we were the institution that was least affected by the pandemic in Puebla in real enrollment numbers and we practically did not have to compromise any work, not during the whole pandemic of any collaborator or any teacher. We are all still in force.
[00:41:07] Hey, that’s excellent. And well, that’s good, really. Yes, very challenging years for everyone, not only in Mexico, but around the world. But as you say, you had a good marketing plan, you had a good strategy, you had good systems and at the end of the day you were able to achieve your objectives despite the limitations or challenges you faced. I see that you also in parts several courses, apart from all that what you have done of conferences on CRM and customer experience management. Very briefly, could you tell us a little bit about this. Customer experience management, how it ties in with CRM and well, bringing it full circle to close this one out. How does that get into business? Why is it important?
[00:41:56] Yes, of course. Enrique, Notice that in 2011, while still at Volkswagen, I went to New York to get certified. And precisely on the whole subject of customer experience, in an organization called the Creativity Group, which runs Russia, which is one of the great speakers on the whole subject of customer experience worldwide.
[00:42:21] What it was called.
[00:42:22] Recently.
[00:42:23] Se. The certificate.
[00:42:25] It is certified in customer experience.
[00:42:28] To put there also the data of en.
[00:42:30] Yes, of course, if you are interested, it is an international certification that you have and they are currently located in New York, New Jersey specifically, but they do different certifications around the world. They already have a calendar and everything and that’s how you can get certified in customer experience.
[00:42:52] Foreign, which is highly recommended for people in business.
[00:42:57] Totally, because not only do they teach you what it is, but they teach you how to build it in your business, how to maintain it, but above all how to measure, how to know that an action is really impacting your clients’ experience in a positive way and that this is giving you profitability, because if it doesn’t give you profitability, why do we do it? It is definitely a proven structured methodology, it is an international certification that changed me, not this paradigm that I had of CRM, but this evolution of customer experience in many. And precisely one of the things that I would like to answer to your question, Enrique, many see CRM as just a software, as a system, as a platform to manage information about your customers, your prospects, and from this management and this concentration of information you can apply marketing actions, a campaign, a telemarketing, a post, a post, something. But I see CRM, and precisely with the learning I had at Volkswagen, that it has to be seen as an approach that allows you as an organization to keep your customers and prospects very happy and very satisfied, as through six fundamental processes. What are these six fundamental CRM processes? First, what is IT management or prospecting, which is basically giving the maximum possible follow-up to a potential customer.
[00:44:37] From the moment we identify him until the moment we are able to close the sale with him. A second process is the loyalty program that, as I was telling you for almost ten years, has been running at Volkswagen at a national level and that basically is not those marketing actions to be present in everyone’s mind. Consumers. Apapachar. Thank you for your preference and above all, continue to generate this dialogue that is very valuable to continue to know you during the course that you are with you as a customer because the customer also evolves. A third process is campaigns, which are marketing actions with the express objective of selling something to that customer, that prospect, that product, service or idea that you are selling. That is what campaigns are for. There are three other processes, the 4th, which is in great demand, especially in Latin America. In these, in these countries where we do not leave anything out and we are there claiming that it is the market cost or customer service where it is not precisely an entity of the organizations that give a single face to the customer and that responds to any type of doubt, complaint, comment or suggestion. Not only complaints, but they are also the ones in charge or these areas to carry out. How satisfied are customers? Application of surveys To be the company’s active listener to everything that is happening with consumers.
[00:46:12] 1/5 process which is data mining and here you need a system, a platform so that with all the information you have on customers, prospects, transactions, activities, you can apply analysis techniques, linear regressions, decision trees, etc. and you can find insights or valuable information that allows you to take it to reality and thus better serve the customer or find new business opportunities. And finally, the 6th process, which is known as the 1-to-1 interaction. And this is any contact or any interaction that a brand has with its customer, but that meets two conditions, one that is interactive, that is, that the communication channel we use allows the brand to speak, the customer to listen, but also the customer to speak and the company to listen. Bidirectional. The second condition is that it must be personalized, that is, that we are talking to individual customers one at a time. If these two conditions are met, it is a 1 to 1 interaction and interaction and that is what allows you today to satisfy what the evolution of the market and consumers has allowed you to do. So, this CRM foundation, seen with these support processes, is being joined by new approaches throughout the evolution of marketing, including relationship marketing, endo marketing, green marketing, and it continues to evolve until it reaches one of the last.
[00:47:48] Well, now we have really made some progress in marketing, which is experience marketing. And this is where Tomás joins the base that is CRM, but you are applying it to a customer experience level, where today we see which are the most admired brands in the world, the most recognized, those that sell the most, those that manage very well the experience of their customers, both the rational that is everything tangible, all that product and service that you sell them, but also the emotional part that is how you connect with that consumer, how you give him that security, that prestige, status, that which you sell and that apart from that will allow you to charge a premium price. Sure, because there we have Disney and Amazon and Paul and we can go on. Not all of these brands are the most expensive, but people pay for it because they are sold a rational as well as an emotional experience. And that’s the way I see it today, because that’s the way I see it to be able to do marketing today.
[00:48:51] It is a chair. You have given us today not only from the automotive industry, but from the marketing side, marketing, CRM and well, you are absolutely right, I always my first reaction with CRM, a lot of people go to the system, I was one of them and well, this explanation of the different six steps and how it connects to the customer experience, this is an extremely powerful tool, I would say key for any organization that wants to be successful today.
[00:49:20] Of course, definitely not, and in that sense is that within this teaching that we have been teaching for 12 years, we are always with these issues present as the icing on the cake, to understand how to truly do marketing and how to take advantage of all that we have technology, processes, advances in favor of our customers. And today with this evolution, not only of marketing, but even of economic progress, because that’s how it has been happening worldwide, from the commodity economy to today, the experience economy. Nowadays, experiences are talked about everywhere, but very few of us really manage to achieve the level, if we want to call it utopian, that some of us think of it. But we are on the right track.
[00:50:12] Lots and lots to explore. And well, you and I could continue talking for several hours, because it is not only an extremely interesting topic, but you are obviously an expert in everything you have shared with us. You have told us Rafa, thank you very much. We would love this one again. Maybe in the future we will invite you again to participate in one of our episodes. I am very sure that all the people who listened to us not only learned a lot about the automotive side, but also about marketing. I was jotting down several things during your talk, so again thank you very much. And well, before we say goodbye for people who want to contact you, people who want to talk to you, what would be the best way to connect?
[00:51:03] Of course Enrique, I will leave you my personal email and now I will leave you my networks. The personal e-mail address is Rafa Punto Aparicio 18 at gmail dot com. On Facebook you can find me as Rafa Aparicio 18 and on Twitter and some other networks as Rafa Aparicio you can also find me as Rafa Aparicio Mx. We are there in these networks and taking advantage of them. Enrique and if you allow me, I would like to tell your listeners that soon, in about three weeks, we are about to launch a new book that I will be promoting, sharing and that talks about all this evolution that marketing has had from CRM to experience marketing and especially today with digital marketing, mobile, marketing and other trends, where we narrate in a very pleasant way, very particular and especially with this approach that I was telling you about the six CRM processes, which is a unique approach that if you search on the internet you will not find anywhere. It is something that was built from the experience that I have been fortunate to have and that I capture in this book called Marketing in Disruption, Marketing and Marketing in Disruption. The strategic value of people to create sustainable competitive advantages. Exactly.
[00:52:36] Thank you very much for sharing. This is a pleasure and an honor. The worldwide launch of your book here through its Spanish page. But well, when you have it, send us the link too, send us an email. We’re obviously going to put all of that in the comments of the episode so that people who listen to us and want to learn more can buy your book as well.
[00:53:02] Of course you can count on it. I thank all the contributors to the podcast of your Spanish-language Supply Chain en Español plan and thank you, Enrique, for your kindness as well. I was very happy to have this conversation with you, very pleasant, very fluid, as you promised us at the beginning and I am delighted to come back here for another episode.
[00:53:27] Well, no, thank you very much. Definitely a very, very good conversation. Let’s keep in touch and to all of you who are listening to us and listened to this episode, if you are interested in listening to episodes like this one, please don’t forget to subscribe again. More Enrique Alvarez Supply Chain Now in Spanish and see you next time.
[00:53:47] Thank you. See you later.
