Testing is very important as it is a cheap and fast way to test assumptions. Augustín’s “revolution” had been quite expensive (and it was not even fully done yet). Augustín was just going off of data and no testing at all. The board was also to blame – they had agreed to run hablar claro without testing it first. If he would have gone the testing route and run experiments with customers, he would have gained useful insights like – Customers responded really well to discounts (the satisfaction of getting a good deal was a great feeling) and were deterred by a lack of discounts/promotions. If he had gained these insights in a timely fashion, he would have been able to pivot and combine his vision with what the users responded well to and so much money wouldn’t have been lost. At the end of the day, you cannot change people at the core — you need to see what pulls them in.
Augustín’s vision was great — but given the history of Emilia, it might not be the best fit for them. I feel that he should keep the discounting and deals aspect as that is what attracts his main customers. I like the idea given in the expert’s section of having some sort of deals (like the 3 for $15 tshirts) that can be synonymous to your brand — this will help get people into the stores — and once you are able to do that successfully, you are able to get them to look at your other stuff as well. Getting people into the store is what is most important and takes the most effort.
While I like his idea of creating a place for the younger people to hang out , I am not sure if it is something worth spending a ton of money on as young people are usually not the ones with money (their guardians make most of the money decisions) and they prefer online shopping (less interaction with people is what they love). That money could be better spent other places
