Businessman Vincent Ong, who worked under Cruz, recalled his boss’ leadership when the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) group was working to outsell Procter & Gamble’s Tide brand of detergents.
“Tide was the 800-pound gorilla in detergents then. But we went all in with Surf when Luzon hardly wanted it,” Ong recalled in an interview with InsiderPH.
“As it gained traction in West Visayas, it became the starting point of the long march to market leadership nationally in detergents,” he said.
“At that time P&G was still larger than Unilever. But through innovative regional initiatives [in West Visayas], we achieved higher market share than national in key categories,” he added.
International career
This early success in Cruz’s career served as a launch pad for larger roles at Unilever Philippines and eventually in countries like Sri Lanka and Nigeria.
He made a strong impact in the telecommunications industry as CEO and managing director of Airtel Nigeria, Airtel Africa’s largest unit, driving growth in both subscriber numbers and mobile data services.
Killer instinct
Ong, who eventually left the corporate life to become founder and president of Cebu-based Airworks Aviation Academy, said his former boss is a solid choice for CEO of Globe.
“He is very well equipped both for battle of inches and trench warfare, which is FMCG, and transformational changes,” Ong said.
“Personally, he is a very down-to-earth people person. Can eat in a carinderia [outdoor food stall] anytime. His management style is non-abrasive, but with killer instinct,” he added.
Prized asset
Globe is one of the crown jewel assets of Ayala Corp., the country’s oldest conglomerate.
Choosing a new leader is no easy task, especially on the heels of president and CEO Ernest Cu.
During his more than decade-long tenure, Cu led Globe to surpass main rival PLDT and Smart in mobile leadership and oversaw the rise of GCash, now one of the country’s most valuable financial institutions.
High expectations
“Mr. Cruz is a very good choice to take over as CEO of Globe given his track record of successfully leading large, consumer-focused organizations in developing and emerging markets,” said Juan Paolo Colet, managing director of leading investment bank China Bank Capital.
“He faces possibly one of the highest expectations of any new CEO of a local company. Mr. Cu presided over an era of incredible growth for Globe, so investors will look to his successor for the next exciting chapter,” he added.
Market reaction
Shares of Globe slipped 3.35 percent to P2,310 each on Wednesday as Globe announced Cu’s eventual exit as president and CEO.
This compares with the Philippine benchmark index’s 0.61 percent decline.
Cruz will officially join Globe as deputy CEO on Jan. 1, 2025, working alongside Cu during a transition period before taking over as the top executive at the telco’s annual stockholders’ meeting a few months later.
“The market will be particularly attuned to Mr. Cruz’s vision and strategic direction for Globe. Two key questions in front of him are where he sees the big opportunities for growth and how he plans to turn those opportunities into actual stakeholder value,” Colet said.
Cu to stay as chair of Mynt
Meanwhile, Cu will stay on as chair of 917Ventures, Globe Fintech Innovations Inc. (Mynt), which is the parent firm of GCash.
“Mr. Cu’s continued presence as chairman of Mynt reassures investors that he will see to the completion of his initiatives there, especially the much-anticipated IPO of GCash,” Colet said.
Analysts’ view
Adrian Yu, head of institutional sales at stockbrokerage house COL Financial Group, said Globe is expected to weather this key transition.
“I think it’s important, and eventually the market will know, the context of why the company decides to change CEO. But I think this should be a relatively non-event, since Globe is part of a large conglomerate and should be able to stem the tide of any possible impact a change in CEO would create,” he said.
“The market normally prefers people from within to reduce any friction from the succession planning, but again, I think they will get a pass on this since it’s part of the Ayala Group,” he added.
Miguel R. Camus has been a reporter covering various domestic business topics since 2009.
