BOUND WITH THE purpose to “educate, showcase, and promote,” the San Beda Junior Marketing Association (SBJMA) invited its students to witness DRMEET 2024 with the theme, “Leveraging Distribution & Retail Strategies through Bricks and Clicks,” at the Abbot Lopez Hall last May 29.
SBJMA kickstarted DRMEET 2024 by inviting esteemed speakers in the likes of Ms. Nelly Nita Dillera, Executive Director at Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Philippines Trade Training Center (PTTC) – Global MSME Academy; Ms. Glice Batulan, Managing Director at Zapateria Inc; Mr. Alvin Man, Distribution Manager at Pepsi Cola Products Philippines Inc; and Mr. Lyndon C. Avendano M.B.A. CLYSSYB, President of LCA Lean Logistics Specialist and Professor in the Graduate School of Business in Operations Management, to further expand the students’ knowledge on various strategies in operating in the industry’s retail process.
Opening as the keynote speaker, Ms. Dillera shared her presentation entitled, “Trends in the Distribution and Retail Management Industry,” and highlighted points such as its challenges and opportunities, retail industry trends and priorities, and powering suppliers through capability building.
A roundtable discussion later took place among the speakers, facilitated by the Chairman of the Board of Directors of SBJMA Engage, Mark Cruz. Among the topics tackled were the prevalence of artificial intelligence (AI) in the creative sector of the business industry, as well as challenges encountered in other sectors such as logistics and distribution.
Afterwards, formally opening the event was Asst. Prof. Greg Borja III, MBA, CPME, who expressed his anticipation for the third-year students of the Department of Marketing Management who will be presenting their Distribution and Retail Plans for Zapateria Inc. before the panelists, namely: Ms. Dillera, Ms. Batulan, and Mr. Joselito Figueroa Almajose M.B.A., Owner of QC Logistics and Cargo Handling Transport Services.
Student-presenters were announced the same day as finalists from a separate defense where all third-year students from the Department of Marketing Management partook in. The seven team finalists were Team ZAP, Team Sole Society, Team-Mates, Team N2S, Team Repotala, Team Pepsilog, and Team Jaks, who showcased their ideas in navigating Zapateria Inc. in both online and physical retailing.
Ms. Batulan opened the defense, presenting the student presenters the challenge of how they can bring the Zapateria-made experience to more people without disregarding the “soulfulness” aspect of their identity as a business that the presenters must accord their presentations to.
As the teams thrived to present their ideas, stemming with diversity and variety, five minutes were given to the teams for their presentation, which was followed with an allotted ten minutes for the fiery question and answer portion between the panelists and presenters.
Awards were given afterwards, acknowledging both manuscripts and presentations. For the Best Distribution and Retail (DR) Paper, the third place was awarded to Team-Mates, consisting of Chelsea Nicole Dantes, John Andrew Bajaro, Julian Sean Tangso, and Rafael Joshua Tanteo; the second place being Team Pepsilog, consisting of Thomas Elmo Alejandria, Mac Gelito, Julian Ralph Roxas, and Justin Angelo Vinluan; lastly, the first place being awarded to Team N2S, consisting of Josh De Villeres, Hannah Nasalga, Erin Feliz Navarro, Martin Pantaleon Jr., and Jaylyn Reyes Valencia. Both teams Pepsilog and NS2 were also accorded the Best Presenter award.
Maurice Lapira, the co-activity chairperson for DRMEET 2024, shared how the preparations for the event “started back in March of 2024,” wherein he and his team were met with a “series of meetings, approvals, and suggested revisions from persons of authority in SBJMA and school administration.” “It was a rollercoaster ride. There were days when we had to work twice, or thrice as much,” Lapira confessed. He then shared that despite the crucial circumstances that they were met, his team “full of cooperation and dedication,” were able to navigate through the stigma held against them of “being the worst batch in the Department of Marketing Management.”
He revealed how much it was a journey of cascading beyond the comfort zone, both for the organizers and participants. “It will not be easy, but it will be worth it…You just need to enjoy the ride, even though that there’s a lot of negative feedback, negative words, that you’ll be hearing from your professors. It’ll be worth it,” advised Lapira to the upcoming Third Year Marketing Management students who will also have to participate in DRMeet 2025 in compliance with their subject, “Distribution and Retail Management.”