Author: coolerinsights

Marketing Mix 2.0

March 21, 2007 • Blog • 5 comments


Ye olde Marketing Mix or 4 Ps, courtesy of marketingteacher.com

Anybody who has studied marketing 101 will be familiar with the marketing mix. Better known as the 4 Ps of marketing, they are Product, Price, Place (distribution) and Promotion. Newer pundits championing Services Marketing have added another 3 Ps which are Process, People and Physical Evidence.

There is even an 8th P called Positioning (made famous by marketing legends Jack Trout and Al Ries) which some have alluded to in marketing books and texts.

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Death of Mainstream Media? Not Just Yet

March 19, 2007 • Blog • 5 comments

Singapore’s ad expenditure in 2006. Source: Nielsen Media Research

Recent newspaper reports indicated that ad expenditure in Singapore has risen by about 4% to $1.94 billion last year. This reversed an 8.3% decline the previous year before. Entertainment outlets and services were the biggest mainstream media spenders at $202.5 million. This was followed by the retail industry with $136.5 million, followed by government and social organisations at $92.4 million.

What’s surprising was that most categories have shown an improvement, with television pipping newspapers yet again as the number one choice for advertisers, while magazines showed the greatest percentage increase. On the other hand, radio advertising seemed to have fallen significantly. I suspect that this may be due to the migration of listeners away from terrestrial radio stations towards podcasts and MP3.

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Lessons from TCM

March 17, 2007 • Blog • 9 comments

Our new ritual every Saturday noon is to drive up north to Yishun to visit a popular Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) shop there. My wife has been going there quite regularly lately, upon the recommendation of her boss, and has also brought my son to treat his runny nose and cough.

Despite the place being fairly ulu (out in the boondocks) at Yishun Street 71, there was already a queue when we went there recently.

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A Chain of Bloggers – Z-lists

March 17, 2007 • Blog • 9 comments

Ok folks, yet another link-love-list, this time courtesy of eastcoastlife. Apparently, this was started by Mack Collier of The Viral Garden. Yeah, I know I am very late in doing this, but well better late than never right? 😉

So How Do I Do It?
Write a post, and copy and paste my list from below into it. Make sure the links are active and correct. If your blog is on that list, remove it because your post isn’t about self-promotion. Don’t worry, because if your name is on mine, it’s on others and will spread. Add your favourite deserving blogs to the top of the list (not compulsory). Publish the post.

Step by Step

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Foodie Bloggers

March 15, 2007 • Blog • 8 comments

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This post is dedicated to my friends who bake, cook, prepare cocktails and generally help to make life sweeter and more sublime for foodies and drinkers like myself.

Being a true-blue Singaporean, I love to have my carrot cake and eat it. Yes, we are a nation of foodies and many people live and swear by their hokkien mee, satays, roti pratas, and mee poks (a flat fettucine like egg noodle) here. There are also many food guides around (many with online counterparts) like the venerable Makansutra which has become a national institution for many here.

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Scientific Success

March 13, 2007 • Blog • 7 comments


School kids making a beeline for the sake of science!

Since I was a kid, I have always enjoyed visiting the Singapore Science Centre. One of Singapore’s leading attractions and a member of the Museum Roundtable, the Science Centre has managed to reinvent and rejuvenate itself over the years. This can be seen in its growing list of accolades – including one which stated that it is one of the world’s best science museums. Visitorship has also been improving, with close to 800,000 visitors popping through its doors in 2005 and more expected this year.

What are the scientific techniques which lead to its growing popularity? Let me put forward a few educated hypotheses!

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An Incredible Consumer Spectacle

March 9, 2007 • Blog • 16 comments


Gadgets and geeks galore at the IT Show!

I recently visited the IT Show at Singapore’s Suntec City (also known as our very own vertical Silicon Valley) to see if I could pick up a good bargain or two. It always amazes me how these computer fairs and exhibitions could attract such huge and massive crowds, all thronging the place to catch a piece of the retail action. The number of people streaming in and out are usually non-stop. More importantly, most who leave are seen happily carrying bags and even trolleys full of hardware, software and all manner of computer peripherals and accessories.

Why have these shows become such huge consumer successes? More interestingly, why are some other consumer fairs (like gifts, furniture, weddings, and health) relatively moribund while PC shows continue to draw the crowds?

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Parking Lot Principles

March 8, 2007 • Blog • 15 comments

I was piqued by this recent post on Seth Godin’s blog which spoke about how a bank manager parked at the most convenient lot available right in front. An excerpt from it below:

“The manager of the Chase bank in Pleasantville parks right out front. Her branch is on a quiet street with parking meters available for customers to use. Figure there’s perhaps a dozen spaces convenient enough to make it worth going to the bank… if they’re full, keep on driving, because there’s always another bank coming up soon.”

This reminded me of exactly the same frustration which many of us face.

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