About two months back (yeah this post is long overdue), I brought my family to the Singapore Zoo. This is one of our favourite hang outs for many reasons, some of which I have blogged about here. Attracting close to a million visitors a year, the Singapore Zoo has attained pinnacle position in the Singapore Tourism Awards for many years running. It is also a media darling, generating publicity for anything from animal births, conservation championing, escaping cats to goring elephants.
These signages complete with different animal showtimes help us to plot our journey through the wildlife park.
Anybody who has been reading anything in the media or spent anytime at our bus stops recently would have noticed this teaser campaign by Out of the Box Pte Ltd. In a radical departure from how traditional FMCG companies market new brands, the company has decided to name their new beverage brands “Whatever” and “Anything”.
This was accompanied by an extensive nation-wide teaser campaign on both mainstream media channels as well as outdoor media. Most of the ads had clever copy playing on the words “Whatever” or “Anything” accompanied by an eye-catching photograph or visual in bright colours. It certainly generated an extensive amount of buzz in the marketing circles.
Here is one of its TVCs aired on Singapore TV channels.
Last night, I brought Ethan and Tina to catch Oceanskies and her fellow double bass players performing at a free event called Basso Bravo! This is a half-hour special aimed at getting members of the public to better appreciate classical music.
Ethan recently had fun at our neighbourhood playground with two older kids Shaun and Amu who are brothers. Watching them leaping and laughing, slipping and sliding, and generally having a great time was pretty therapeutic for me too. If only adults like us can learn how to completely let go and have fun, I believe that the world will be a better place.
Here’s a video of him with Shaun and Amu chasing each other around the playground.
Got this interesting post by Guy Kawasaki which explains why PR doesn’t work in certain situations. According to the PRSite.com’s Margie Zable Fisher, the top 10 reasons are:
1) The client doesn’t understand the publicity process.
2) The scope of work is not detailed and agreed upon by both parties.
As I was walking back home, I spotted this incredible array of strewn flyers, newsletters, bills, envelope covers and goodness knows what else on the floor near the letterbox. Obviously, some of my fellow neighbours are waiting for the contract cleaners to pick up after them.
Just outside my lift landing, I spotted these supposed tools to help clean up the mess which ended up being litter themselves! A very picture of irony wouldn’t you say?
In case you do not already know, NEWater was one of the great stories of invention in the time of need. Many would know that it is largely driven by Singapore’s lack of this essential liquid resource. Its launch spun off many positive stories in the media, and resulted in water scarce Singapore producing companies like Hyflux, one of the leading players in the water industry today and a darling of the local bourses.
I certainly had fun moderating the panel discussion which talked about “A New Voice”, though it did go a little chaotic at times. My conclusion was that the crowd seemed to have more fun chatting with each other! Well, I guess that’s the spirit of the whole 2.0 movement, where EVERYBODY participates in the conversation. It’s “All Star Anything Goes” (for those old enough to remember that celebrity slugfest).
A special treat for the evening was having upcoming blogging singer Genie treating us to a music video of hers, hottest mummy contestant eastcoastlife sharing what makes her so special, and also hearing from celebrity STOMP blogger Joe Augustin. Nice to also know that we have upcoming technopreneurs in Singapore making their mark in the web 2.0 universe. Finally, it was great to meet Veron, DK and Dr Leslie Tay of I Eat I Shoot I Post fame, all big-time bloggers in their own right.
Special kudos go to Estee for the fabulous organising and professional emceeing of this event, as well as other digital movers like Ming Yeow, Su Yuen, Swathi, Chern Jie and all the other hardworking folks at The Digital Movement who made this possible.
Science Centre’s Roadshow on Chinese Inventions at Chinatown Point
One of the most common forms of events marketing are roadshows. These can be standalone affairs in shopping malls or be part of a greater themed exhibition and convention.
For years, roadshows have been used by credit card companies, insurance agents and real estate marketers to attract new customers. Often, the aim is to provide a “mini” experience-rich zone to interest potential customers who can then be quickly converted to sign up for whatever packages you have to offer.
Many of us would have heard about Singapore Airline’s legendary service. Or how every employee at Ritz Carlton, from GM down to housekeeping maid, is taught to resolve any guest complaint. Must quality service only exist in premium establishments?
