Can marketing scale Maslow’s pyramid to achieve transcendence? (courtesy of Prakash Advani)
What is the real purpose of your product or your brand?
Does it meet a customer need? Solve their greatest problem? Eliminate a nagging pain? Or help them to be more productive?
Ethan having a spinning good time at the DBS Marina Regatta 2013
Do you know that I was once a varsity dragon boater?
While those days were long gone, I still enjoy canoeing and paddling. I’m also drawn to carnivals that promote sports and active lifestyles. Thus, it was a no-brainer for my family and I to check out the Bay Festival last weekend at the DBS Marina Regatta 2013.
Can you guess the name of this actor? (courtesy of Lawson Stone)
In the social era, everybody’s becoming an activist.
Don’t believe me? Just look at the feeds on your Facebook or Twitter accounts.
Written by writer and brand consultant John Simmons, Innocent narrates the brand story of how Cambridge graduates Jon Wright, Adam Balon and Richard Reed built a “tasty little juice company” with a unique culture founded on strong values. Embodying the informal, casual wit of the company, the founding of Innocent is summarised on their website in the form of a charming story as follows:
“We started innocent in 1999 after selling our smoothies at a music festival. We put up a big sign asking people if they thought we should give up our jobs to make smoothies, and put a bin saying ‘Yes’ and a bin saying ‘No” in front of the stall. Then we got people to vote with their empties. At the end of the weekend, the ‘Yes’ bin was full, so we resigned from our jobs the next day and got cracking.”
Courtesy of United Nations’ Photo
Human trafficking is a major global problem. About 2.5 million people are victims of trafficking according to the UN’s International Labour Organisation. Over half of these people are in Asia and the Pacific. Approximately 800,000 people are trafficked across national borders (Source: US Government). Over 80% are women and up to 50% are children. Victims often suffer physical and emotional abuse, rape, threats against self and family, and even death.
Human trafficking is so common now that it is the 3rd most profitable criminal activity in the world after illegal drugs and arms trafficking. Criminals earn a staggering US$10 billion every year through buying and selling human beings!
