I came across this awesome blog on branding by the Blake Project which offers truckloads of fabulous advice and insights on the art and science of branding. This is probably one of the best blogs on marketing which I have seen. What’s great is that they do offer lots of free stuff too.
How does one measure brand equity? There are many ways to do it. Interbrand–Businessweek’s methodology is probably the most famous for listed companies, and many marketers are familiar with their Top 100 Global Brands.
I personally like the approach which Blake Project has adopted. According to them, there are five key attributes which drive customers’ brand insistence, namely:
Ever since my university days, I have loved to go on long outdoor runs. Covering distances between 8 to 10 km, these sessions provide a much needed respite from the vagaries of life.
There is something about the feeling of wind rushing through your hair, sweat dripping from your brows, and your heart pumping hard as you stride across kilometres. Your mind will be much clearer as you think through the key issues of your life and focus on the ones that matter.
I’ve never revealed it before, but I am a closet consultant. I love to provide business and marketing advice to people. After so many years working with entrepreneurs, media, lifestyle and tourism businesses, I do have some thoughts welling in my head. Whether they take it or not is another thing altogether of course.
Let’s start with the optical business. It is a booming business, with 80% of adult Singaporeans being shortsighted and us having one of the highest myopia rates in the world. What can opticians (like eastcoastlife‘s hubby Chris) do to make themselves stand out clearly from the competition?
Seth Godin, the master of all things marketing, shares some valuable lessons on how to make an impression with your powerpoints. I am definitely guilty of some of the worst trangressions (like bullet points) but I suppose some of these old habits die hard.
In particular, I like his 5 point list below:
No more than six words on a slide. EVER. There is no presentation so complex that this rule needs to be broken.
No cheesy images. Use professional stock photo images.
No dissolves, spins or other transitions.
Sound effects can be used a few times per presentation, but never use the sound effects that are built in to the program. Instead, rip sounds and music from CDs and leverage the Proustian effect this can have. If people start bouncing up and down to the Grateful Dead, you’ve kept them from falling asleep, and you’ve reminded them that this isn’t a typical meeting you’re running.
Don’t hand out print-outs of your slides. They don’t work without you there.
Other than Seth, the other masters of the art of presenting are Steve Jobs (whose product launches are always spectacularly choreographed), Guy Kawasaki, Lawrence Lessig and of course the guru of all gurus Tom Peters. Most of the time, these masters do not have elaborate 20 point slides (Seth says bullets are for the NRA) with complicated charts and graphs. Simplicity, it seems, is the key to powerpoint success.
The best reference on how to create presentations that sizzle AND sell is Presentation Zen by Garr Reynolds. Simply the best online reference on this subject matter. And its all free.
I don’t know if you guys have watched this video about a customer’s frustrated attempt to cancel his AOL account. Vincent Ferrari spent more than 20 minutes on the line with a joker from AOL (who subsequently got fired it seems). I am sure we all can empathise with Vincent Ferrari some way or other.
I am currently attending a conference on Strategic Media Relations organised by Pacific Conferences. Its a good refresher on public relations and also an opportunity to broaden my horizons and network.
As usual, it covered the blogosphere’s growing influence (57 million blogs and counting), use of RSS, wikis, podcasts, photo/video communities, and so on.
Came across this interesting post by Nathan Gilliatt on how a national pork body tried to sue the pants off a breastfeeding advocate, to disastrous results.
“For a while, it seemed that every conversation about companies interacting with bloggers fell back on the same few anecdotes. It was as if our economy were based on Dell and Kryptonite. For better or worse, that’s changed now. We’re seeing more examples of bloggers calling out companies, and all too often, the companies don’t understand the culture. Today it’s the National Pork Board.
Jennifer Laycock is a work-at-home mom and founder of The Lactivist, “a site that aims to promote breastfeeding through humor.” One of her activities is selling shirts with funny slogans at CafePress, and one of her designs—The Other White Milk—was too close to The Other White Meat® for the eat-more-pig crowd.
I followed with much interest the recent news on the Singapore Flyer and how corporate organisations are making a beeline to book it for their functions. It is certainly heartening to see it kick off to a flying start, especially in light of the recent demise of Crazy Horse Paris and Jurong Crocrodile Paradise. With Adval running it (a subsidiary of NTUC Club), and a highly experienced management team (some of whom I know personally), I believe that it will at least have enough horsepower to keep itself going for some time.
To sustain itself over the long haul however, the Singapore Flyer will need to constantly sharpen its saw and offer unique value to its customers. There are many giant ferris wheels around the world – the London Eye, the Eye on Malaysia, a proposed Giant Wheel in Berlin (2008), another in Las Vegas, and yet another in Shanghai (the Shanghai Star). If you count the smaller sized wheels, there are plenty more in cities like Osaka, Hokkaido, and even Bangkok’s Suan Lum Night Market!
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