With courtesy from Starfleetyachts.com
Who should you pay the most attention to in your organisation?
A) The guy or girl who makes a purchase of your product or service.
Your Most Important Customers
The Promise and Peril of Starbucks
Taylor Clark doesn’t like Starbucks. However, he does patronise its outlets. Apparently he is not alone, as there are many who publicly profess their distaste for Starbucks’ “almost burnt” brew while still swarming towards their outlet.
That in a nutshell is the premise behind the book “Starbucked” authored by Clark, a Portland-based journalist who appears to have more than a little caffeinated chip on his shoulder while appearing to be balanced in his authorship. Unlike the more glowing titles featuring the world’s most famous purveyor of coffee as experience, Clark squarely places both the pros and the cons of the cafe behemoth in his book.
Touring Asia & Australia at the Shanghai World Expo
After visiting the various country pavillions in the European and American zones of the Shanghai World Expo, we focused our attention on the regions closer to home. Due to the shortage of time, we could only enter the Singapore pavillion as the queues to most of the Asian pavillions were rather formidable. However, I did manage to take some quick external shots of the various Asian pavillions which captured my interest.
Here’s a brief photographic journey of some of the pavillions which we saw.
Indonesia’s pavillion looked pretty impressive in terms of size, albeit a little like a typical conference building with the flags and pillars and all.
The Importance of Imagineering
Widely popularised by Disney, the concept of “imagineering” comes from its two words of origin:
Imagination, which is the act of dreaming and visualising a desired end-state;
Intelligent, Innovative and Integrated Cities
Like any other geek, I love glimpses into the future that technology can bring. Social technologies and mobile devices like smart phones have now evolved to the stage of bringing networked information, intelligence and interactivity to the masses.
Against such a backdrop, it was a treat to listen to Piers Fawkes, CEO of PSFK and creator of the Good Ideas Salon. Speaking on “Intelligent Cities, Innovation and Sustainability”, Piers shared about the multiple ways that urban jurisdictions can embrace leveraging on the social and mobile web.
A Visual Tour of Shanghai World Expo
Targeting to be the most visited World Expo event in history with an ambitious 70 to 100 million visitors, the Shanghai World Expo, is also the most expensive ever held in the history of the world’s fairs. Considered to also be the largest (yes, they do love superlatives there!) at 5.28 square km, the World Expo is themed “Better City – Better Life”, signifying Shanghai’s new status in the 21st century at the “next great world city“. More than 190 countries and more than 50 international organisations have participated in the Shanghai World Expo.
Located at downtown Shanghai covering either side of the Huangpu River, the pavilions of the official corporate partners of World Expo (like Coca-Cola) are on the northern bank of the river, along with the Urban Best Practice Area while the south bank of the river are the national pavilions, Chinese pavilion, and the World Expo Park.
Join me for a pictorial journey of the World Expo, beginning with the European pavillions.
The 4 Rs of Coca-Cola’s Social Media Strategy
Courtesy of Coca-Cola
As the world’s leading consumer brand, Coca-Cola generates significant online interest (although perhaps not as much as technology brands like Google, Apple and Microsoft). Each day, the beverage behemoth records about 5,000 English mentions online.
How does the company manage its social media strategy then?
How Brands Can Apply Digital Communications
Communication technologies have influenced brand-customer relationships in Asia, just as they have all over the world. Transparency and openness are now more important than ever before. Against such a backdrop, what could brands do to reach their customers?
I found out the answers to this and more at a talk by Deirdre McGlashan, CEO of wwwins Isobar of Greater China during my trip to Shanghai. According to her, the ubiquity of digital technologies, concerns over sustainability, rise of globalisation, and increase in consumer activism mandates a new approach to marketing.
Why Silver can be Sensational
Active Ageing award winners show the tremendous potential in the silver market (courtesy of mylifestylemap.com)
A recent news article in The Straits Times got me all excited yet again about the oldest but most neglected market opportunity.
Namely, the silver-haired (or seniors) market.
Coca-Cola’s Brand-sational World Expo Pavillion
My visit to the Coca-Cola Pavillion at the Shanghai World Expo was certainly one of the highlights of my trip. As a geek who firmly believes in the virtues of experiential marketing, branded entertainment and transmedia storytelling, I was almost brought to tears (fanboy style) by Coke’s immaculate attention to details here.
Every single consumer touchpoint in its pavillion, fashioned after its world-famous “Happiness Factory” transmedia campaign, was a 360 degree brand encounter. The entire holistic and immersive experience was orchestrated to stimulate the senses, from sight, sound, scent, taste to touch. For Coca-Cola fans, it was also highly emotional and community bonding.
Let me bring you through the journey.