Finding Life’s Meaning Through Purposeful Work

Purposeful work is hardly ever associated with Marketing or Brand Building. Cynics would always view it as “fooling people to buy your products” or “mind games” or “brainwashing”, “inception” and the list of descriptors that depict manipulation, goes on and on.

But for Chelet Tanjuatco, for Marketing and Brand Building to truly be effective and considered successful, it must be genuine and true – true to the values and strengths of the company, and true to the mission of serving the needs of the consumers.

“A lot of people would associate Marketing and Brand building with just money and revenues, but I see it as having a lot to do with PEOPLE and BUSINESS VALUES. Not to say that revenues are not important – they are super important – that’s certainly a key metric and there should be no shame in saying that one of the objectives is to be profitable! But certainly, that should not be?the end all and be all."

Get to know one of Acumen Strategy Consultants' leadership team, Chelet Tanjuatco.?

Ma. Celeste Clarissa Cuadrante-Tanjuatco, more popularly known as Chelet, is the Practice Head for Marketing and Brand Strategy at Acumen Strategy Consultants. She has been with Acumen for almost a decade, and has led various projects such as Tanduay, Conti’s, Century Pacific, Western Union, Sky Cable, and Hershey’s, and the first cross-generational consumer understanding research of Acumen. Her marketing expertise extends to various industries such as Beverage, Dairy, Food, and Confectionary.???

For Chelet, clients come to Acumen because they know that it has the experience and expertise to help them overcome their most pressing challenges. The Acumen team consists of thought leaders in their respective fields who are constantly committed to providing the best possible service to a vast array of enterprises and industries that ignite transformation and accelerate performance.???

Her involvement with Acumen enables her to do what she’s most passionate about – human insighting and solving strategic challenges.

“I love that my work deals with getting a deep understanding of people: what pains them, what motivates them, and knowing how these can help my clients’ brands and address their needs and motivations. And because our clients have their specific strategic challenges – helping them bridge these needs while achieving their business goals is such a natural high for me!”

Her main practice in marketing and brand strategy is also complementary to her ultimate strengths – ideation and empathy. She possesses the ability to see different perspectives, angles, or approaches to things including the ability to generate new ideas and new solutions for different situations, which is exactly what her role entails. Her strengths and capabilities are what allow her to excel in her field and help her come up with unique solutions that work best for each individual client.

“My role requires me to be able to effectively put myself in the shoes of the target market of my clients and find what they need and what’s relevant and appealing to them.”

Seeing things from their eyes and articulating their emotional space in relation to the category where Acumen’s clients are in, help create on-point strategies for their brands.?

Unlike many practitioners in the marketing field, Chelet understands that people are at the heart of every business. Her thought process is inspired by the discipline and art of Philosophy, which sets her apart from other brand strategists who derive their reasoning from business frameworks or marketing concepts. Fueled by her love for the subject back in college, Philosophy has taught her to always get to the core and essence of people and of business situations, to ask why, and find out why. In her role as a consultant, she helps her clients answer their most pressing business questions. She starts by getting to the root of the question and then designs a consulting engagement that will help her clients find the answers they need. She believes that companies should put people first and that this approach will result in better products and an even more successful business.??

Her involvement with Acumen enables her to have more freedom of time for her family, particularly her twins while at the same time living out her passion for brand building/brand strategy.? Her role is deeply rooted in her personal purpose, which is “being a teacher who empowers people to live, laugh and love”.?

Lastly, Chelet looks forward to working with Acumen Strategy Consultants in the years to come because of its strong set of company values that match with hers - Integrity, Learning and Adventure, Health and Wellness, Teamwork/Collaboration, and Humility. By setting herself as an example, she hopes to attract like-minded individuals to be part of the team and to demonstrate these principles in her client engagements as well so that the world will be a much better place to live in.??