Our vision is a world filled with music lovers inspired and enabled by Yamaha. And our philosophy is about sharing passion and performance. And our primary purpose is to empower expression, right? Because, you know, we're not all robots, we're all different unique individuals, and we all have a different voice.
-Eric Aparicio
Episode Summary
Early in his career, Eric Aparicio realized he wanted to work at a company with a deeper purpose, and that’s exactly what he found at Yahama. Now, as the senior director of strategic marketing, he gets to share the Yamaha story with a growing audience. In this episode, Eric joins cohosts Kristi and Monica to discuss how Yahama empowers expression through music, the company’s reverse logistics and community outreach efforts, the evolution of its marketing approach and more.
Episode Transcript
Intro/Outro (00:02):
Welcome to logistics with purpose presented by vector global logistics in partnership with supply chain. Now we spotlight and celebrate organizations who are dedicated to creating a positive impact. Join us for this behind the scenes glimpse of the origin stories, change making progress and future plans of organizations who are actively making a difference. Our goal isn’t just to entertain you, but to inspire you to go out and change the world. And now here’s today’s episode of logistics with purpose.
Kristi Porter (00:34):
Hi, and thanks so much for joining us for another episode of logistics, with purpose presented by vector global logistics and supply chain. Now, we are delighted to have another amazing conversation for you today with someone else doing good in the world and who has a fascinating, personal story that you’ll love hearing. Um, but before we get to him, let me introduce my fearless co-host today. Monica Roche money. How are you?
Monica Roesch (00:56):
Hi, Christy. So happy to be here. How about you?
Kristi Porter (01:00):
I’m delighted that you’re here with me. It’s been a while since we co-hosted together. So I’m glad to be, um, back in the saddle with you, and we’ve already had such an amazing pre-conversation with our guests today. So I know it’s gonna be a good one for listeners.
Monica Roesch (01:13):
Definitely. So now we’re gonna welcome Eric Aparicio. Uh, he’s a senior director and strategic marketing at de Maha corporation of America. So welcome Eric. Thanks for being here. Hello,
Eric Aparicio (01:25):
Good morning. And thank you for having me.
Kristi Porter (01:27):
Yes, absolutely. We’re thrilled to have you joining us. We’re of course, excited to know more about Yamaha and perhaps some things that we weren’t aware of, um, for such a well recognized company. But before we talk about that, um, tell us a little bit about your childhood and where you grew up. I know from our pre-conversation, before we started recording, you were very interested in family history and legacy and preservation. So tell us more about you and, um, how you got your start in life.
Eric Aparicio (01:56):
Well, um, I was, I was born in east LA and, uh, my, my parents when I was very young, uh, they bought their first home in a suburb on the outskirts of LA county called Lak. And that’s where I grew up. It was, uh, it was a nice working class neighborhood. And, um, you know, I, I don’t know that I have any particular stories about that, that I can share that shaped who I am, but I would have to say that, you know, my, my parents specifically, my father dramatically shaped who I am and, and, and my childhood, you know, I was, uh, very fortunate to grow up with great parents. And, uh, they instilled with me, both of them, a very strong work ethic, you know, and, uh, growing up in the, in the sixties and the seventies, you know, you, you know, times were different. And so you, you grew up with a lot of resilience and a lot of grit. And, uh, in my, in my father’s home, there was no given up and there was no backing up. There’s only one direction and it’s forward.
Monica Roesch (02:53):
Wow. That’s great. And <laugh>, it’s very interesting to know that about you, you and your father. And, uh, you just mention that there’s not a specific, a specific story about, um, your childhood that you could share, but maybe while you were growing up, there was another person that was like a mentor for you, or that helped you to develop your career. Uh, what would be that person?
Eric Aparicio (03:17):
That person would be my maternal grandmother. Uh, my, uh, her husband, uh, died be before I was born and she had nine children. And I, I just, as a, as a middle aged man now, I, I, you know, the, the idea of a parent, any parent raising a family that large alone, I think, oh my God, what, what kind of strength and grit and sacrifice does that take? And so my, my grandmother was, she was a tough woman, you know, and, uh, and she definitely made me tough going over to grandma’s house. Wasn’t funny games. She always put me to work. Every time I came over, there was something that always needed to be done, you know, and, uh, she was a very powerful influence on my life.
Kristi Porter (04:01):
And before we started recording you and I were talking about money was kind of asking questions as well. I’d love for you to also share on the record here. <laugh> just about the researching of your family history and finding out that you had a crest and talking to your younger family members and what that means and kind of how to tie your past to your, to your future. I love the, you’ve certainly done a lot more research than I have on it, but I’m curious just to, I would love to have our listeners hear your perspective on that.
Eric Aparicio (04:28):
Well, you know, I think it’s, um, important to always understand where you’ve been so that it can help you determine where you want to go, you know, and I think it’s so important in life for all of us to be our true, authentic selves, whatever that is, you know? Um, and so for the idea of researching my family name and where we came from to, to get to this point, I felt was important to leave a story behind for my children, my nieces, my nephews, my other cousins, my second cousins, just to understand that there’s a path and when you know where you start, well, then you can, you can feel good about where, where you are, and maybe it also, you know, creates some, some inspiration to, to drive, to get to a point, you know, to, to pass the, the Baton a little bit further than where you got it from. And I think that’s a, that’s a fundamental concept for, for parents and for grandparents.
Kristi Porter (05:28):
Yeah, I agree. Um, thank you for sharing that. And speaking of looking back, uh, before we jump into your career, I’m also curious, you’ve been with Yamaha for a long time, which we’ll talk about now. And so as you kind of started your career and looking back on that, um, what would you tell your 21 year old self or, or yourself who’s just getting started in their professional career? What, what valuable lessons have you learned in the last couple of decades that you would want that person to know?
Eric Aparicio (05:55):
Wow, <laugh>, I don’t know what I would would think talking to a 20 year old version of myself <laugh>, but I would, the first thought that comes to mind is focus, right? Focus, focus on what’s most important to you and keep that focus until you attain what, what you want, what you were striving for, you know, cuz um, so much about life is that singular focus mm-hmm <affirmative>, you know, and when you, when, when you don’t have a plan, well then you have to take whatever life gives you. But when you have a plan, you’re you, you’re more likely to get what you want outta life.
Kristi Porter (06:26):
Yeah, for sure. I would agree. That makes perfect sense.
Eric Aparicio (06:29):
And I didn’t really get as focused as I am now until, until I got married, which is that 25. So, uh, 21 year old Eric was, was still kind of a knucklehead
Monica Roesch (06:41):
<laugh> well I’m 27 and I can still get that advice like yes. Yeah. Focus. And I think it’s a great advice. No matter what old people are, it’s something that in mind, like always.
Kristi Porter (06:55):
Yeah, absolutely. Um, well let’s speaking of, let’s talk about your professional career a little bit, which has been almost exclusively at Yamaha, which is amazing in and of itself when so many people change careers these days. So tell us more about your experience and career path within the company.
Eric Aparicio (07:12):
Um, well, well let me start about with my employer before going to Yamaha, let’s do it. Um, I used to work for a small retailer in orange county and um, I think about them with nostalgia because it’s where I cut my teeth and what’s, and it’s where I, I, I learned so much about business, but yet as I look back on that experience, I don’t think that I could ever work there again or any place like it because you know, our only mission was to make the owners more money. I mean, we didn’t have a vision, a purpose company values. And when I came to Yamaha, I mean, that’s, that’s what drives Yamaha and, and the company’s, you know, vision and values and, and philosophy very much aligned with my own. Yeah. And so, you know, generally speaking, most people have to work to support ourselves and work is good for us, but when, when you can derive satisfaction and be content with the work that you’re producing and that you feel that it adds value to, to others or, or to society at large, your work becomes more meaningful and, and, and much less stressful.
Eric Aparicio (08:22):
And it becomes something that, that adds balance to your life. And that’s what I have found at Yamaha. And it’s, it’s a big reason why I’m still there.
Monica Roesch (08:29):
Thanks for sharing that with us. And it’s very nice that you really care for what the company does and that it aligns with your personal values, because like you mentioned, it’s what keeps you there, but I’m also curious about what drew you to Yamaha in the first place. Like, I understand why you are there now, why you’re keeping there, but why Yamaha in first of all,
Eric Aparicio (08:52):
Well, you know, there’s, there’s, um, a, a lot of people that work at Yamaha that have really cool stories because they, they were into music and mm-hmm, <affirmative>, you know, they, they absolutely wanted to work at Yamaha, but mine is not like that. Um, the, uh, the, the company that I was working for began to run into some, some challenges and I thought it was time to make a change. And so, um, I had a mentor at, at that time, his name was Brian Jilian and, uh, Brian had just, um, switched to, to work at Yamaha. And, uh, Brian knew that I was looking to make a change and I trusted him very, very much. And so he asked me to come work for him at Yamaha, which I did. And so that’s how I ended up at Yamaha.
Kristi Porter (09:35):
The best jobs always come through friends, um, and people absolutely as well.
Eric Aparicio (09:40):
Yeah, absolutely.
Kristi Porter (09:41):
And so what have been some of the roles that you’ve held within Yamaha during, uh, your time with them?
Eric Aparicio (09:46):
Well, um, uh, Yaha used to be structured, um, with a process driven type of divisional structure where you had these semi-autonomous business units, which all contained, uh, duplicative functions, like order entry, tech support, marketing sales inventory. And so, uh, I was the, uh, administration director for those, and I was responsible for managing, uh, those, those departments within that sales and marketing division. And, um, I was fortunate enough to, uh, move into multiple divisions so that, you know, I had a much better grasp and understanding of, of what Yamaha is, uh, from multiple product perspectives, uh, multiple product lines and different types of industries and business channels. And it really gave me a very broad view of the value of the Yamaha name and brand
Kristi Porter (10:41):
Mm-hmm <affirmative>. And so is the process, you mentioned that they used to have a, the, a process of how they were structured. How did that change?
Eric Aparicio (10:48):
Uh, it changed, uh, a couple years ago. Uh, our president, uh, Tom Sumner, um, restructured our, our company to be a functional driven company. So instead of having these, uh, semi-autonomous business units, that really didn’t collaborate a ton, um, all of those divisions were, were eliminated and instead we created functional groups. Mm. So now we have one massive marketing group, one massive sales group, one massive inventory group, and it sort of basically aligned, uh, positions and SU subject matter expertise by function.
Monica Roesch (11:28):
It’s very interesting. So since you have been there, like for around two decades now, and you have seen the industry in general change a lot, not only inside the company, but also around it. So what are other of the, of the ships that you have experienced in the industry? Not only inside the company, but outside, what have, what can you tell us about that?
Eric Aparicio (11:51):
I think the industry has become much better at storytelling mm-hmm <affirmative> and in a nutshell, that’s what we aim to do in marketing. Um, and it’s one of the areas where Yamaha has struggled. We tend to be a very product centric company. And so we, we talk a lot about, about features and specifications and, you know, that only goes so far. Right. And, um, you know, I, I wanna reference one of my favorite Ted talks. I, I, I love Ted talks. <laugh> love them too. And my favorite is the golden circle by Simon Sinick yes. Where he talks about the why, right. People don’t buy what you do, people buy, why you do it. And within Yamaha, um, as a result of this, of this new structural organization, driven by function, our marketing teams are now better. They’re, they’re in a much better position to engage in storytelling and engage in storytelling across the organization. Mm-hmm <affirmative> instead of focusing so much on, on very product centric marketing. And so that’s one of the biggest changes that I can see in, in a positive way for Yamaha and for the industry is that we’ve become much better at storytelling.
Monica Roesch (13:12):
And that’s just great. Uh, I wanna say something, uh, not exactly about Yamaha, but about what you were telling. Uh, Chris is her head of marketing and sales, and she’s very into storytelling too. And she has shared that with me, actually, I, I knew who Simon Sinai was because of her. And I’ve seen some, some Ted talks because of her and, and you are right. I think storytelling is impacting a lot different industries worldwide. It’s a great way to show people what you care about, what you do, why you do, what, what you do. So it’s amazing to find that not only maybe in logistics, but also in music and in other industries. So it, it’s just amazing to, to hear you say that.
Kristi Porter (14:03):
Yes. Yeah. Start with wise required reading for our marketing department. <laugh>
Eric Aparicio (14:07):
Yep. That’s an
Kristi Porter (14:08):
Excellent book. And if you don’t have enough time for the book, then yes. Watch the Ted talk,
Eric Aparicio (14:12):
Start with the Ted talk, but yeah. Read the book for sure.
Kristi Porter (14:15):
Yes. Yeah. Mm-hmm <affirmative> and I’m also curious from your perspective and knowing Yamaha so well and going through all the changes with them. Yes. Perfect. Yeah. Amazing. Have
Monica Roesch (14:25):
That too.
Kristi Porter (14:26):
Um, and tell us a little bit more about, we’ve talked about the instruments, the music people have seen the label everywhere, but you also were very clear in talking about the mission and vision and values of Yamaha. So how would you describe the mission? And is there anything about Yamaha that maybe you wish more people would know that they don’t know?
Eric Aparicio (14:46):
Well, our vision is a world filled with music, lovers inspired and enabled by Yamaha. And, uh, our philosophy is about sharing passion and performance. And our, our, our primary purpose is to empower expression, right? Because, you know, we’re not all robots, we’re all different unique individuals, and we all have, you know, a different voice. And so certainly one way that we can express ourselves is through our music in the way that we play the, what, what we listen to. I mean, it, it’s, music is just such a great, wonderful thing. Even if you don’t play, you can still value music. And, you know, so many people can, can identify points in their lives by the music that they were listening to at a certain moment, or the, the music that you were listening to in college, or, you know, your first dance or that kind of thing. And so music is such a powerful thing. And yeah. So the idea of helping others empower expression is, is a wonderful thing.
Kristi Porter (15:52):
Yeah. I love that. I love the empowering expression. Um, that’s fantastic. And very repeatable <laugh> as well. Yes. Yeah. So I’m also one of the things you’re also passionate about within Yamaha is reverse logistics. So for those who may be unfamiliar with the term, would you define it and explain its importance in supply chain?
Eric Aparicio (16:14):
Sure. Uh, reverse logistics is, is essentially the process. Whenever a consumer wants to return a product, whether you’re returning it to the re to the retailer or to the manufacturer and whatever your reason for returning it, whether it’s defective or you just don’t want it anymore. Reverse logistics is all about getting that product out of the consumer’s hands and back to the manufacturer. And once it gets to the manufacturer, there’s a significant decision matrix about what to do with that return when, when you get it back mm-hmm <affirmative>, you know, in the worst case scenario, we have some manufacturers that simply dispose of all of their products and they put ’em in a landfill. Uh, but, uh, I, I firmly believe that a strong reverse logistics process is the backbone to any type of support a company wants to provide, uh, for sustainability mm-hmm <affirmative>.
Eric Aparicio (17:13):
So the idea that when we take back those, those returns, if we say, Hey, you know, there’s an opportunity to reuse this product and let’s refurbish it, let’s refurbish it. And so it makes that product available for a second life, as long as it’s made well enough so that it, it can be used to basically help somebody else that, that may not either want, may not have the money for that product when it was brand new, or they may be, be able to utilize that technology and not need the latest and greatest of everything. And, um, and certainly being able to reuse things as well. So we have a, um, we used to have a colleague or I used to have a colleague that worked with us and he’s since retired, same as Dave jewel and Dave jewel began working with his company who would upcycle guitars.
Eric Aparicio (18:04):
So rather than discard some of those guitars that were damaged and broken and beyond repair Dave would work with this company, um, that where he would basically donate these damage broken guitars, and this company would, would deliver them to artists. And the artist would basically modify, you know, the, this damaged guitar anyway, that they wanted to paint it, restructure it, and they would create a piece of art. And so the piece of art would then be auctioned off and the proceeds would go to help whatever their local charity was. Oh, cool. And, uh, if, uh, if any of your listeners wanna check it out, all you have to do is Google, Yamaha cares upcycle. And, uh, the, uh, program was picked up on, on several local news stations here, cuz it’s such a great idea.
Monica Roesch (18:55):
Yeah. And this is, this is just amazing. And it actually brings us to our next question, which is, as you just mentioned, we know the Yamaha is involved in a lot of different social impact efforts. Uh, would you tell us about some of them and what effect they’ve had on both the company and your customers?
Eric Aparicio (19:15):
Sure. Yama has, has continually engaged in advocacy for music education at, in, in public schools. We have on UMMA almost every year, whenever, uh, we’ve been invited to attend. Uh, we send a representative to Washington DC. Mm-hmm <affirmative> to basically advocate for music and the arts as being an integral part of, of the education in a K through 12. And it’s something that is really important because that, that, that idea of artistic and creative expression it’s really important to the life of a child. And the, the impact on society is, is probably August. When we think about music in the arts. But beyond that, um, Yamaha does more than, than, than talk to talk. We, we put our money where our mouth is. And so Yamaha supports a number of different, uh, music programs throughout the us, which create the opportunity for music at the high school and, and junior high level.
Monica Roesch (20:27):
Mm.
Eric Aparicio (20:28):
So, um, in addition to supporting music programs, these organizations give, uh, children in music programs in school, an opportunity to compete and to play music. And the, the, the focus is less on competition as opposed to winner and loser. The idea of the competition is, is that everybody wants to put their best foot forward. You know, and it’s not individual music competitions where, you know, you have a lead trumpeter or somebody else like that. It’s think about high school band and the idea of bringing kids together to make music together. And, uh, a number of these programs throughout the country, Yamaha is, is their primary sponsor. And we do that because we want, we, we want kids to have a place to play music outside of, you know, football games and that kind of thing. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. And so Yamaha supports this at the educational level, which also supports our dealers and the industry as a whole.
Kristi Porter (21:35):
Well, before we, um, wrap up, I can’t let you out of the conversation as a fellow marketing professional without talking about marketing. So I’d love to hear, you’ve talked about storytelling. Um, you’ve talked about maybe not talking about sustainability enough, but I’m curious from your perspective how the marketing message of Yamaha has evolved and you know, what are your challenges and solutions to those challenges for such an established company?
Eric Aparicio (22:02):
Uh, our, our marketing message is in the process of evolving, so it’s not done yet. Yeah. Um, but as I mentioned, uh, creating, getting rid of these divisions and creating functional groups has really enabled us to think about, um, a, a unifying message, a a, a cohesive branding message that, that goes out across all of our products. And it’s, um, it’s, it’s quite difficult. Even, even having all the marketing under one roof, it’s quite difficult because of the breadth of Yamaha’s products and the number of industries in which we, we compete the mm-hmm <affirmative> the developing singular messaging is very difficult when you make as many products as we do. And it’s certainly a challenge that we’re working through. Uh, but I think, I, I think the best changes have been, um, our focus away from focusing on specifications and features, and really talking about the impact of products and really, really beginning to come out of our shell and, and talk about who we are as a brand, what our personality is and what our philosophy is and how we view the world. Mm-hmm <affirmative>, once again, it goes back to an emphasis on focusing on the why, instead of the what? Yeah,
Kristi Porter (23:23):
Absolutely.
Monica Roesch (23:24):
Sorry. Right before we go, uh, I would like to ask you just one more question, cuz the other day we were talking about the phone over the phone, sorry. And you mentioned this huge event that you love, that it’s called NA and I’ve never heard about that one before, and it was just great to learn that it exists and, and you were like transmitting a lot of passion for that event. So if you could just share this with the audience, that would be awesome too.
Eric Aparicio (23:54):
Sure. It’s um, Nam stands for the national association of music merchants, and it’s the largest trade show for the musical instrument industry. And it’s, uh, it’s really more than a trade show it’s um, you have to, you have to think about some of the fundamentals of music. So growing up, I was very athletic. My family valued, you know, athleticism, but in, in sports, generally speaking sports are inherently exclusive. It’s a zero sum game, you know, for me to win, you have to lose mm-hmm <affirmative>, you know, and it’s exclusive. I I’m, I’m not, we’re not collaborating together because I wanna win. And you don’t. Um, whereas music is, is so different fundamentally because it’s, it’s inclusive, it’s all inclusive. I mean, when, when, when musicians are playing their instrument, they wanna collaborate. They wanna play their instruments with other people and they wanna know what’s going on and what new things you you’re doing.
Eric Aparicio (25:00):
And a different sound and music is inherently collaborative and inclusive. And, and because it’s collaborative and inclusive, there’s a vibe of, of, of connection and, and relationship and the, the Nam trade show because it attracts musicians for literally all over the world. It creates this really cool vibe that people are seeing long, lost friends and fellow collaborators in music. And it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s not like sports where someone’s gotta win and someone’s gotta lose. They, they just wanna get together and make music and they wanna talk about music and they wanna be immersed in it. And it’s, it’s such, it’s such a very cool vibe, especially if you’re a musician,
Kristi Porter (25:44):
That’s amazing. It’s a beautiful sentiment and a good, uh, takeaways for life lessons as well. <laugh>
Eric Aparicio (25:52):
Sure.
Kristi Porter (25:53):
Um, so how can our listeners connect with you and learn more about everything that Yamaha is up to, which sounds like a lot and, uh, has some great stories behind it as well.
Eric Aparicio (26:04):
Sure. Well, uh, to, to connect with me, uh, people can look at my profile on LinkedIn. That’s my preferred mode of, uh, social media. Uh, but, but as far as getting to know more about Yamaha, uh, Yamaha has a number of social media channels, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, most recently, uh, TikTok. Uh, and so, uh, basically connecting and following Yamaha on our social media cha channels is probably the best way to learn what’s going on at
Monica Roesch (26:31):
Yamaha. Wow. Well, thanks again, Eric, for being here today with us as always Christy, thanks for being the best host. And if you like to learn more about Eric or other similar stories like this, uh, make sure to listen to their next episode. Thank you. Thank you.
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Featured Guests
Eric Aparicio is the Senior Director of Strategic Marketing for Yamaha Corporation of America. Eric has been a marketing professional in the music industry for over 25 years. Eric is passionate about music and happy to work at a company like Yamaha, whose vision is a world filled with music lovers inspired to make music to enrich the lives of people around the world. Eric is also freakishly passionate about the environment and sustainability. He believes that a strong reverse logistics strategy is the backbone of sustainability and presents a unique marketing opportunity. The Reverse Logistics Association is a fantastic organization that truly understands the value of the circular economy. Eric has been a member of the RLA for many years. Connect with Eric on LinkedIn.
Monica Aurora Roesch Davila has a Bachelor’s degree in Management and International Business from Universidad Panamericana in Aguascalientes, Mexico. She has work experience in purchasing, logistics, and sales for automotive companies, and is currently working at Vector handling some non-profit accounts and helping them achieve their goals. She also develops new accounts and plans with them the better routes and strategies for them to have efficient and cost-effective operations.
Monica believes that everything we do matters and that we can make a difference and impact the world in a positive way with our daily actions, so she tries to do her best every day.
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