A Beautiful Mind: Rowel Vijandre

Growing up in Manila, Rowel Vijandre spent 16 long years with the Jesuits at Ateneo de Manila, an all-boys school. Ironic then that he would end up, a day after leaving Ateneo, in a woman’s world: the beauty industry. "Never in my wildest imagination growing up with rowdy boys," Rowel shares, "did I think that my management years would be spent immersed in hair care, skin care, deodorants, fragrances and make-up."

When he recently celebrated his twenty-fifth high school homecoming anniversary, the icebreaker question would be: What are you doing now? "I would sheepishly answer: I sell make-up for a living," jokes Rowel. "At that time, I was heading up L’Oréal Philippines, and a number of beauty and lifestyle magazines did a feature on me, labelling me ‘The Man of Beauty’. Some of my classmates would joke that Rowel is now ‘The Man of Beauty’ in the Philippines!"

The power of brands

The inspiration to go into management was ignited by Rowel’s curiosity and fascination with the power of brands. He was intrigued by how brands were built, why they died, and how they influenced consumer behaviour. He designed his management engineering course to allow him exposure to brand management, advertising and production.

Never in my wildest imagination, growing up with rowdy boys, did I think that my management years would be spent immersed in hair care, skin care, deodorants, fragrances and make-up.

As he explains, it served him well: "In my last year at university, when I was applying for jobs, I got a call from Unilever Philippines inviting me for an interview for their management training program. I remember sitting in the lobby with this huge Dutch guy, Ole van der Straaten. He was relatively young and I thought he was also waiting for an interview, but apparently he was waiting for his car. I introduced myself and asked him who he was, and he casually said he was the marketing head and vice-chairman of the company.

"He talked me through his journey: about how he had been exposed to building brands all over the world, and how it has been an adventure for him and his family." The following day, Unilever called and offered Rowel a job.

A marketing maestro

His start in marketing was impressive: As a trainee, he was given the Cream Silk brand at a time nobody was interested – externally or internally – in hair conditioner.

However, in doing his research, he saw that it was a great product with a 75% repeat customer ratio, so he channelled all of the budget into product sampling, and attached a young star – Sharon Cuneta – to endorse the brand. It became one of the biggest brands for Unilever Philippines. Rowel then went on to handle Unilever’s entire hair portfolio, taking them from third to number one in the market.

His next move was to sales and operations, gaining much-needed exposure to channels, warehousing and production. This was followed by the Unilever Personal Care start-up business in Vietnam; it would eventually capture market leadership in 12 out of the 13 categories targeted and establish Unilever as the biggest multinational company in Vietnam.

From face cream to fast food

Rowel was headhunted to start Johnson & Johnson in Vietnam – initially 6 employees in a small, cramped office. It went on to deliver the highest growth of any multinational for 4 years straight. Then came a call from Paris to run L’Oréal Philippines, so for personal reasons he returned to his home country and joined L’Oréal. It was another successful adventure: turning around a company in trouble to become one of the highest-growing subsidiaries in Asia. 

After 23 years in a multinational beauty setting, Rowel was invited for coffee by the then CEO of Jollibee Foods Corporation – who also happened to chair the board of Ateneo de Manila, his alma mater. After coffee, he was invited to join the group’s subsidiary, fast-food chain Chowking. As Rowel explains, it was an easy decision: "I was impressed with the culture. I could talk easily to the CEO, who had built a multibillion- dollar business, yet with all that wisdom he was grounded, simple and humble. I somehow felt, not only will I learn to be a better manager but probably a better person."

However, Rowel could also be considered humble himself when describing his rise: "I was fortunate that I had learned from and was moulded by the best companies in the world. I will be forever grateful for being mentored by some of the great minds in business – not just in the Philippines but also in Asia and the world."

Strong talent

And he explains in some detail how important people are to success. "It’s all about great people. If you surround yourself with strong talent, design an organisation that can compete for the future, and build a highly engaged culture, then half the battle is won. So I spend time getting to know people, hearing their stories; knowing their strengths and weaknesses, their hopes and dreams. I spend time interviewing potential hires. I spend time coaching key talents.

"A business organisation is run by people, not machines, processes, or Excel spreadsheets. At the end of the day, you get what you give. If you don’t invest your time in people, it will show. Conversely, if you take the time to invest in people, you will be rewarded not just with results but also friendships that will be there long after the business challenges are gone."

Turning up the heat

Since joining Chowking, the main opportunity Rowel has seen for growth has been helping people in the Philippines rediscover the joys of wok-cooked food in a heavily populated fast-food landscape. And it’s paid dividends. "Our store network will be 500-plus by the end of this year; we are expanding across the major cities in the Philippines to be able to serve our customers better. We are also rolling out a more modern store design that will really lift the dining experience of our customers. These designs are Instagram-worthy, and in fact we have had features on them in interior design magazines."

Consistency is also important in the fast-food world, as Rowel explains: "Execution is also vital. Developing a really delicious recipe is one thing, but replicating it in almost 500 stores is another. Therefore, having processes, systems, and a culture of firm execution and commitment from everyone is crucial for growth. We have designed measurement systems to ensure we only serve gold-standard food in terms of taste."

Surprisingly, there is something very simple that has also driven success for Rowel’s Chowking, as he explains, and that is heat: "With the acquisition of Chowking, Jollibee brought with it the scale to ensure they were able to replicate that outstanding taste in a much greater number of stores. It brought in its systems and processes. There was a drastic improvement, not only on the key attributes of taste but more specifically the food was being served hot. And Chinese food that is hot off the wok takes the taste to a much higher level."

The future is certainly bright for Rowel and Chowking as they continue to turn up the heat on the opposition.