According to the latest post on Church of the Customer, the most important platform for consumers to talk about brands isn’t on Facebook, Google +, Twitter or even SMS! Rather, it is good old person-to-person communication in the flesh (well at least in the US).
Have a look at this chart here from eMarketer:
Source: eMarketer.com
Do you ever wonder why some people look fab in black, while others look sinister? Want to add a dash of colour to your professional wardrobe without looking like a clown (or 7th month Getai singer)?
I found out the answers to this and more at a recent Colour Dynamics seminar organised by Jill Lowe International, thanks to my buddy James Soh (Living in Singapore Today) and the folks from Jill Lowe. Held at their cosy premises at level 2 of the Raffles Hotel Arcade, the session provided much food for thought.
Ensure that all customer touchpoints are branded (courtesy of Marketing Brainstorm)
You’ve probably heard variations of these conversations in your own organisation:
“Our branding sucks! Let’s change our logo and splash it all over the place.”
Fancy a Hobgoblin, Kopparberg pear cider, or Pauvel Kwak with chicken rice or fish ball noodles? How about a lychee flavoured Taiwanese “Xiao Mei Mei” beer to wash down a steaming plate of fish head?
Now you can with The Good Beer Company, Singapore’s first (and only) specialty and craft beer stall in a hawker centre. Opened by Daniel Goh of Young Upstarts fame, its a realisation of a long-time dream come true.
Nobody manages resources better than Nature! (image source)
Sustainability seems to be the buzzword these days. We’ve all heard about how companies are investing in carbon credits to offset their industrial activities, embark on occasional recycling programmes, or improving their efficiency to reduce their carbon footprint. While such motives are laudable, they often compromise on business profitability, and are seen more like “CSR” investments. Should the economy – and business – nosedive, would companies still be as noble?
To overturn traditional thinking on business sustainability, Gregory Unruh of the Lincoln Center for Ethics in Global Management shared that one should adopt a “value cycle” rather than the standard “value chain” in one’s business model. The idea behind this is reuse as much material from one’s products as possible, and to feed that back into the manufacturing, distributing and retailing process. This should be done in a profitable manner and be so ingrained into business practices that it becomes second nature.
What can you do to transform the world through the social media? Is there a step-by-step way to drive social change?
In the words of former US President Barack Obama, “Yes We Can!” The answer lies in the Dragonfly Effect.
P&G researchers study customers where the action truly is (courtesy of Science in the Box)
Marketing research is a huge cannon in any marketer’s arsenal. Or is it?
The weapons of choice? Street surveys, focus group discussions, straw polls, online surveys, telephone interviews, and behavioural observations. Supplement these with secondary (desktop) research findings published by research houses and voila!, you’ll have the makings of a great marketing strategy.
I am a writer. Wordsmithing is my craft.
I eat, pray and love the written word. My spare moments are spent reading, writing, or listening to words that bring knowledge, inspiration, comfort, wisdom and joy.
Steve Jobs (bless him) associated calligraphy with beautiful fonts in the Macintosh (source)
Ever wondered how disruptive innovators like Steve Jobs (Apple), Jeff Bezos (Amazon.com) and A.G. Lafley (P&G) behave? What are the traits of these great entrepreneurs and business leaders?
According to INSEAD Professor Hal Gregersen (who co-authored the book “The Innovator’s DNA” with Jeffrey Dyer and Clayton M. Christensen), they have what are called the five discovery skills as follows:
In an age which some may term as the “experience economy”, companies and businesses can ill afford to focus solely on quality products or low prices. The entire spectrum of engaging and enrapturing a customer through every single touch point – both online and offline – becomes critical.
It isn’t just the transaction itself that matters. Rather the entire customer experience journey becomes important. This includes reading/hearing about your product online or offline, browsing your stores/ websites, speaking to a retail associate, purchasing the product, experiencing the product, and after sales customer service.