Source of image
I got tipped off to write about this following Priscilla Tan’s expose on what goes on behind the doors of PR agencies and their clients. Many of the situations which she described – expecting page one news, wanting to be called “the next big thing”, and agency bosses “kow towing” to clients – are not unique indeed.
Melvin, Preetam, Ian and I shared our views yesterday afternoon on a panel speaking session on business blogging recently by the Institute of Public Relations Singapore (IPRS). After some time away from social media gatherings, it was quite refreshing to share my thoughts and experiences in corporate blogging once again. The lunch talk was held at Geek Terminal, which seem to be the de facto venue for all things 2.0-ish.
The session got off pretty well and I enjoyed the animated exchanges between the panellists and the floor. Some of the key lessons which I shared were as follows:
Yesterday afternoon, my wife together with my son and maid got into an accident along CTE (I was attending a work lunch then). What happened was a tale of God’s divine providence mixed with extraordinary service excellence.
My wife was driving towards the city and encountered the usual Saturday afternoon jam. Traffic was extremely heavy and crawling at a snail’s pace. Unfortunately, a slick black BMW driven by a young 19 year old guy crashed into the rear of our car. He must either be driving his dad’s car or distracted by his girlfriend.
The shock was so hard that the beamer’s airbag popped up. Fortunately, my family didn’t suffer major injuries although my maid had a swelling on her head (currently under observation) while my wife’s back hurt. Both cars stopped and my wife took down the driver’s full particulars (NRIC, license plate, hand phone photos of damage, insurance company, car model).
Can Whiskers (Wai Wai) take the mickey out of Mickey Mouse? (source of image)
What do you do when an 800 pound gorilla arrives at your door step?
Well, you differentiate, innovate and fight back with all you’ve got. Especially if you are an incumbent home-grown player in your local market.
“Women belong in all places where decisions are being made… It shouldn’t be that women are the exception.” — Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Indeed, ladies of all ages are not just the fairer gender. They are also growing in their influence on the world’s economy – even in traditionally masculine businesses like construction, Information Technology, manufacturing and engineering.
Are blogs destined for the grave? (courtesy of Greg Ortega)
Are blogs heading the way of the Dodo? Or would they be here for the long haul?
Here is an extension of Steve Rubel’s thoughts on whether our obsession with newer and more summarised all-in-one platforms may lead to the demise of the beloved blog. As usual, he gave a no-holds-barred analysis of the situation coupled with his usual whimsical touch.
The Salvation Army is one of the world’s most recognised non-profit brand.
In this day and age, non-profit organisations like charities, trade associations, special interest groups, and clubs can ill afford to ignore branding. To reach a critical sized audience and membership, you need systems and processes to be in place. You need to also market your organisation for it to gain greater clout and reach so that it can better achieve its purpose. Just passion alone would not cut it.
Branding Insider, one of my favourite references for branding thoughts, highlighted 7 points of branding non-profit organisations.
Was reading Steve Rubel’s post about The Golden Age of Individualism which pointed to this decade old gem by management guru Tom Peters.
In Tom’s article on the “Brand Called You”, he wrote about the need to establish oneself as an authority on the matters which one is passionate about, the importance of influence and visibility, and the need to have BOTH style and substance.
David versus Goliath
Storytelling is sweeping the social media world by storm. However, crafting the perfect story can be quite a bitch for the uninitiated.
Thankfully, we’ve got brilliant online storytellers to help us here.
Podtech.net’s Jeremiah Owyang with The Digital Movement’s founder Steve Ng
At the recent iX-TDM New Media Forum, I had the privilege of meeting and hearing from Jeremiah Owyang. The director of corporate media strategy at Podtech.net, Jeremiah is a social media consultant to big guns like HP, Cisco and Hitachi. In his session, he spoke about trends and developments in the social media space.
Jeremiah started by explaining fundamental concepts. Companies need to shift their strategies and mindsets to look at harnessing all employees – not just corporate communicators (like yours truly… ha) – to be advocates.