Selling Cement in Mexico...don't do as you're told

My first post-college job was a real mind warp for me. I had held 5 jobs to pay my way through school: managing a blues band, as a waiter, bartender, Spanish tutor, and as a self-defense instructor. So there I am at a top tier consulting firm with the other associates who had spent their summers as interns with Wall Street firms, Washington Lobbying groups and what not. I am assigned to work for a Mexican Cement manufacturer and I’m shipped off to Mexico City. Manager comes in and the associate (me) gets the spreadsheets, the consultants go out to meet the client and top buyers. Funny thing…I don’t know how to use excel. So I self teach myself with help from some really nice consultants on the project and start crunching heavy duty sales numbers, trying to tie it to their marketing spend.

Manager comes back and little progress to report. I had a thought: Since I’m the only native Spanish speaker, how about we just ask the consumers why they pick a particular type of cement? “Umm…you’re an associate, get back to those spreadsheets.” Weeks pass, still little progress. Someone senior comes up with the brilliant idea to interview the individual consumers who represent a big (huge) chunk of the revenue. Out go the consultants, but they miss a small point. The consumers are primarily dirt poor laborers who build their houses with cement and blocks, usually several blocks a month or as much as they can afford that month. Back come the consultants to report that most the laborers either didn’t understand them or weren’t willing to talk. Wonder how open they would be to see suited Gringos come up to them to ask them questions in broken English. Probably assumed they were US Agents and ran.

Client is getting anxious. They are spending millions in billboards, print ads, etc. touting how their cement is better. It dries faster, it’s stronger, it slices/dices, in a pinch it makes good salsa. Manager breaks down and lets me go into the field. My turn finally. I criss-cross Mexico meeting with users – in a tshirt and jeans – and buy them a beer. Funny how people open up when you offer them a beer on a hot day. We sit down to watch the local soccer team as a break. Yes, nearly everyone has a TV even when they lack a roof over their heads, and yes, there is almost always a game being played/replayed, etc. (Sidenoting the obvious: Soccer –futbol- is huge in Mexico and everyone has their favorite local team) .

So why do people buy a certain brand of cement? The quality? Availability? Drying speed? Price (most brands are priced nearly the same)? Nope. The answer: they thought all cement is about the same. They bought from the company that supported the local soccer team. Our client effectively used this to clobber their competitors and is a major player now.