Business and management articles | Cooler Insights

Would You Apply For This Job?

April 1, 2010 • Blog • 1 comment

Every now and then, you come across a nice marketing idea that not only catches the eye but changes conventional perception of how advertisements should look like. As I was flipping TODAY newspaper this morning, the following job advertisement caught my eye.

What I like about this ad is that it chooses not to adopt a conventional job advertisement format which lists down the various job requirements in bullet points, and is often written in a more straight forward manner.

The use of the visual provides a nice touch, and the use of colours is balanced in a harmonious manner while highlighting certain text which needs special attention. What’s more, the copy is beautifully written and pitched at the right level for the premium world-class restaurants that the Marina Bay Sands will be opening.

It would be great to see more organisations take the plunge by investing in creative and innovative job recruitment advertisements. People are the most important resource in any company, and it is absolutely critical to ensure that you hire only the best that your money can afford.

We Should All Be Curators

March 28, 2010 • Blog • 4 comments

The art of curating and storytelling drew 8.5 million visitors to the Louvre in 2009 – many just to catch the Mona Lisa here!

One of the insights which I have gleaned in the hectic past few days from Steve Rubel and his thoughts on digital curation was this:

We should all be curators. Every single one of us in the fields of marketing, public relations, and advertising. And not only in the digital realm, but all others too.

So What’s the Big Deal about Transmedia?

March 24, 2010 • Content Marketing • 3 comments

Transmedia in a diagram (courtesy of Seize the Media)

Crossing various media platforms (or Transmedia, a term which is well expounded by Kevin Lim) isn’t something new in the world of marketing communications. We have always done that in our ever desperate bid to attract eyeballs, visitors, and revenue in an increasingly crowded marketplace.

Witness how quickly the emergence of communication technologies like the printing press, telephone, radio, television, websites, mobile phone, huge electronic billboards, bus stop shelters, and building facades are used for advertising purposes.

The Art of Good Governance

March 20, 2010 • Blog • no comments

(Source: SCCCI)

How should board directors carry out their duties as arbiters of public trust? What should companies do to boost performance while ensuring that sufficient safeguards are in place? In an age of increasing dissatisfaction over how companies and charities are governed, how does one balance the need for innovation with control?

To find out the answers to these questions (and more), I signed up for a talk organised by the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry yesterday by Mr JY Pillay, Chairman of the Singapore Exchange, who spoke about corporate governance and its implications for both public-listed firms and Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs). Mr Pillay is one of the movers and shakers in Singapore, and has helmed various leading organisations as the former chairman of Singapore Airlines, Temasek Holdings and DBS Bank, amongst others.

Of Love, Loss and Luscious CGI

March 17, 2010 • Blog • no comments

At the kind invitation of Omy.sg, I had the privilege of catching “The Lovely Bones” directed by Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson with movie mogul Stephen Spielberg as the executive producer. Screened at the Lido, it certainly won’t be forgotten in a hurry.

Based on the bestselling novel in 2002 by Alice Sebold, the movie centred around how 14 year old Susie Salmon (like the fish), played with much aplomb by Saoirse Ronan, was brutally murdered and raped on her way home from school in 1973 and the events which unfurled before and after the incident.

Online Buzz and Omnipotent Brands

March 12, 2010 • Blog • no comments

Disney’s one of the top dogs both online and offline – it is 10th on Interbrand’s list and 3rd online (courtesy of Jeff Bullas)

An interesting social media monitoring report by Jeff Bullas highlighted the buzz which major brands generated online relative to their overall brand equity as measured by Interbrand. What’s noteworthy is that the most prominent brands in the digital social spaces – at least as measured by Jeff over the last 12 hours – is fairly comparable to those offline. The top 10 brands on Interbrand’s list, which are assessed by a robust mix of different factors linked to market value, financial earnings, and others, are measured vis-a-vis their online might.

Other than Google which appears to be a pure internet play, the rest of the companies have very significant brick and mortar presences.

Will You Do Whatever It Takes?

March 9, 2010 • Personal Branding • no comments

Source of image

Challenges. Problems. Uncertainties. Obstacles. Stress.

These words form the lexicon of modern life, where resources – both financial and natural – are increasing being depleted while the demands of work, school and life put a severe drain on our beings.