Blog | Cooler Insights

Burger King’s Naughty But Nice (For Now)

December 17, 2010 • Blog • no comments

Anybody who has followed Burger King’s advertising strategies in recent years would know that it doesn’t shy away from controversy. Embracing an all out assault to shock and awe – moral sensibilities notwithstanding – the popular fast food brand has adopted sexual innuendos and stereotypes both subtle and not so subtle in its advertising around the world.

Examples of its amorous and attention seeking ads include the following:

1) Bikini clad “BK Girls” which were featured in print advertisements…

The Pros and Cons of Lower Cheaper Discounts

December 14, 2010 • Blog • no comments

One of the most common forms of ‘marketing’ is what I call the L.C.D.

It translates into 3 universally embraced words:

How Taiwan Touched Our Hearts (and Wallets)

December 12, 2010 • Blog • no comments

As some of you may know, my family and I went on a one week tour of Taiwan (labelled Taiwan Feast Indulgence), and we certainly had a wonderfully hedonistic time together. Our vacation from 3rd to 10th December covered Taipei, Neiwan, Taichung, Nantou, Kaohsiung, Taitung and Hualien. It was an especially meaningful and fortuitous trip for me as this was the second time I visited the island – my first visit was in 1983 or 1984 back when I was a bored teenager.

Six Festive Marketing Ideas for Kids

December 10, 2010 • Blog • no comments

Christmas is in the air, and retailers are all out to garner those precious year-end gifting dollars. With bonuses likely to be bountiful this year, any business worth its salt would be finding ways and means to target the consumer wallet.

Young children probably form one of the most important markets in the season of giving and receiving. Nothing beats the story of how Santa Claus will shimmy down your chimney – or rubbish chute in Singapore’s highrise context – and bear tidings of fun-tabulous toys. On a more pragmatic level though, how can companies cream this festive occasion for their own profits (and bonuses of course)?

Advertising Taglines from Heaven (or Hell)

November 30, 2010 • Blog • 1 comment

Do you consider this a good slogan?

In the world of branding and advertising, developing a catchy slogan or tagline is probably considered the Holy Grail of the craft. They can be found in practically anything and everything, from shampoo to milk powder, movies to museums, cities to churches, and cars to condos to credit cards.

Almost any organisation or institution worth its corporate salt would purvey these one or two liners, in the hope of raising mindshare, deepening heartshare, improving top-of-mind recall, and of course growing brand equity.

Don’t Make Them Go Uphill

November 26, 2010 • Blog • 1 comment

Don’t make your customers go on an uphill battle (Source)

As I was running this morning, I’ve noticed a very interesting observation at the jogging track on a little hillock near my home. This was the same place I’ve gone for my regular exercise for close to 8 years. Its a little loop which goes for about 680 m per round.

Almost everybody was going in the same direction (except me – I’ve got a thing for running against the human traffic…;)). What’s more, they were all IGNORING the directional signages painted on the track which said “START” and “END” along a certain path.

Ship Ahoy! Aboard the Legend of the Seas

November 23, 2010 • Blog • 7 comments

Courtesy of MaritimeQuest

At the kind invitation of Omy.sg and Royal Caribbean Cruise, I had the chance to glimpse into the jetsetting – or rather seafaring – lifestyles of the rich and famous on board the “Legend of the Seas”. It was a novel and eye opening experience considering the number of things one can do on board (you can check out the virtual tour here too).

Inaugurated on 16 May, 1995, the sizable passenger liner could take a full load of 2,074 passengers. Measuring close to 300 metres and weighing in at almost 70,000 tonnes (some of those in Europe are twice as heavy), the massive cruise ship provides endless entertainment through indoor and outdoor facilities like a rock-climbing wall, outdoor pool and jacuzzi, miniature golf course, bar and lounges, glass-walled dining rooms, a mini shopping mall and a casino (of course).

How to Keep the Flame Burning

November 21, 2010 • Blog • 1 comment

Flames like this YOG one require lots of work to keep going (at Singapore Science Centre)

Perseverance and “stick-to-itiveness” are vital virtues in any personal, social or professional endeavour. Almost anybody who has accomplished anything substantial in any undertaking would share that age-old adage. Malcolm Gladwell’s “Outliers” spelled that well with the “10,000″ hour rule. You must have also heard of how Rome wasn’t built in a day.

However, gritting your teeth and slaving to the grind isn’t the easier thing in the world. There are multiple sources of distraction, both online and offline, that may conspire to rob you of your resilience. After all, we now have multiple MMORPGs, marvellous movies, mile-long malls, and of course lots of makan places to check out.

Head or Heart? Dilemmas in Management

November 5, 2010 • Blog • no comments

Source

One of the most difficult and perplexing challenge facing leaders and managers today is the trade-off between using one’s head and one’s heart. Should decisions be made purely on a bottom-line basis, or should they be done in the interests of all stakeholders?

As you would have guessed, there are no easy solutions to this, considering the dynamics of the modern organisation and its multiple demands.

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