Business and management articles | Cooler Insights

12 Apostles, Great Ocean Road and Beyond

May 8, 2009 • • 2 comments

As part of my family’s recent driving holiday from Melbourne to Adelaide, we coasted along the Great Ocean Road from the 12 Apostles to the Limestone Coast areas (like Robe, Beachport and Kingston where our hotel was). It was quite a monumental drive in more ways than one, peppered with lots of beautiful sights, sounds (of seagulls calling and waves lapping against the shore), scents (especially of the sea), and tastes (sandwiches and burgers!). The drive was long but fortunately not too difficult as the route was pretty straightforward.

For those of you who have followed my blog for a while, you would recall that this is the second time we took the GOR. The first time in September 2007 was from Geelong to Bells Beach, Lorne all the way to Apollo Bay. In a way, this second trip was a continuation of sorts from our previous journey.

Here’s a photographic record of our journey for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!

Extreme Outdoor Advertising

May 7, 2009 • Blog • 4 comments

Courtesy of hojimoto

Came across this series of 15 of the most creative outdoor advertisements seen in the world from this fascinating compilation of superlatives called oddee. The above advertisement was apparently one from Nationwide Insurance which specialises in automobile insurance services. Well, it has certainly proved a point with this amazing visual spectacle.

I wonder if it got the approval of the authorities in doing that? Hmmm…..

Employing Nostalgia in Marketing

May 5, 2009 • Business and Management • 2 comments

We have all been victims at one point or other. Apparently, the older one gets, the more one suffers from it.

This syndrome is manifested in a periodic penchant for the past. Life was more carefree then, unfettered by the stresses and strains of modernity and technology.

Outdoor Advertising in Melbourne

May 4, 2009 • • 3 comments

In a city like Melbourne where the streets are often chock full of people, it is important for brands to invest in outdoor marketing to gain visibility, awareness and affinity, especially those targeting end consumers. Depending on the objective of the advertiser, these can be highly brand-oriented without any calls for action or be tactical and hard-selling if they are focused on specific groups.

Due to the limited amount of time which one has to glance at them, outdoor advertising creatives and messages must be immediately impactful and to capture one’s attention in the blink of an eye. They should be easy to digest and readily appreciate by the (literally) man-in-the-street. Creatives that are too visually cluttered or that contain too clever messages tend to get lost in the sea of images, failing to resonate with one’s potential target audience in a highly competitive market.

Here are some advertisements that I came across recently while taking a walk through the city. Do feel free to give me your views on whether they work or don’t work for you.

Play a Part in Dennis Kweh’s Mission

May 2, 2009 • Blog • 1 comment

Courtesy of Sebastian Song

By now, you would have probably read, listened or viewed about Dennis Kweh, a Singapore librarian who suffers from the rare genetic disorder called Morquio Brailsford Disease, Spinal Sclerosis and is blinded in one eye due to Glaucoma. Because of his condition, Dennis has to get around in a motorised wheelchair, which can be hazardous if you consider the high vehicular and human traffic in practically every corner of our city.

At 47 years of age, Dennis decided to do something meaningful and ventured on a journey of 200 km around Singapore – aptly named Adventure 200 – on a motorised wheelchair. His intention is to raise a total of $200,000 for the Spastic Children’s Association of Singapore (SCAS), and the math works like this = a dollar each for every metre traveled, ie $200,000 for 200,000 metres covered (which is 200 km). Management of the fundraising effort comes from the Start Centre Pte Ltd, and support was provided by various sponsors including the NLB, NParks, and several companies.

Walking With Giants @ Otway Fly

April 29, 2009 • Blog • no comments

Treetop walks seem to be a common feature of nature parks these days, and we certainly enjoyed our very own along the Southern Ridges of Singapore. Being hardcore outdoor lovers, we decided to check out the Otway National Park on our way to the Great Ocean Road and Port Campbell (near where the 12 Apostles stood) and had an acrophilic (opposite of acrophobic!) time walking amongst some of the tallest trees in the Southern Hemisphere at Otway Fly.

Stretching for 600 metres long at heights up to 25 metres above the ground, Otway Fly is a steel girded treetop walk weaving through age-old primary temperate forests with a 45-metre high observation tower. Apparently, the tree top walk here is the world’s highest and longest, and is nestled amongst temperate rainforest species like Mountain Ash (the world’s tallest flowering plant), Myrtle Beech and Blackwood. Other than the canopy high attraction, one could also take a prehistoric walk through ancient ferns and other species along the 1.9 km long forested path.

Hitting the long and winding road to Otway via Geelong and the M1 Freeway.

Rural Delights @ Collingwood Children’s Farm

April 27, 2009 • Blog • 1 comment

On the 3rd day of our Easter holiday, my family and I went to the Collingwood Children’s Farm at the recommendation of Tim Richards, to experience its pastoral pleasures just minutes away from the Melbourne CBD. Apparently, it has a farmer’s market every second Saturday which offered fresh farm grown produce (many organic) from participating farms in the greater Victoria region which surrounded the city of Melbourne. What this meant was that the farms could sell directly to end consumers (many of them were small family-owned establishments) without having to pay middle-men like retailers and distributors their share of the pie.

For a flat fee of just $2 for adults (free for kids), you can visit both the animal farm itself and the farmer’s market too. That’s pretty cheap considering that normal admission prices are about $16 for adults and $8 for kids. Certainly, a delightful way to spend a Saturday morning!

Can We Truly Market the Arts?

April 23, 2009 • Blog • no comments

Art or sheer marketing brilliance? (Damien Hirst’s £50 million For The Love of God courtesy of Secretly Ironic)

There is an underlying tension in the field of cultural management where one has to balance between giving customers what they want and preserving artistic integrity. This is especially prevalent in what we term as the ‘high arts’ like classical music, ballet, theatre and museums.

Against the ever growing competition from lifestyle activities coupled with the ever shrinking discretionary time of today’s consumers, it appears suicidal for art organisations to hold their ground for the sake of their art. Considered by many to be a discretionary expense (compared to purchasing groceries, fuel and homes), cultural activities have never faced such tremendous competition as the present age.