20 Evergreen Facebook Marketing Tips for Chinese New Year

How Massive Media Influences Global Incidents

January 18, 2015 Public Relations no comments

Je Suis Charlie Khalil Bendib

(image courtesy of Muslim cartoonist Khalil Bendib)

Like fire, media publicity is a good servant but a bad master.

Managed well, it focuses the glaring spotlight on neglected issues which warrant a global audience. However, extensive media and social media coverage may also lead to unwarranted consequences.

Let us examine a recent tragic news event to see how this unfolds. One that is close to everybody’s hearts.


The Heart of Singapore’s Productivity Challenge

January 14, 2015 Blog, Business and Management no comments

Flying Robots Singapore

Flying robot waiters are nifty, but are they enough? (courtesy of RT.com)

How can we raise Singapore’s productivity? That is the multi-billion dollar question.

A recent report in Business Times offered suggestions by economists to lower the steep productivity growth targets for Singapore from 2-3 percent per annum to 1-1.5 percent. Various suggestions such as supporting Research & Development for the PIC scheme (which IRAS already supports by the way), and offering discounts for not hitting the foreign worker hiring ratio were suggested.


Six Pillars of Content Marketing

January 11, 2015 Content Marketing 1 comment

6 Pillars of Content Marketing
Courtesy of Socialbrite

What are the ingredients of a good content marketing strategy? How can one differentiate one’s business through content marketing?

After reading and listening to a tonne of content on blogs, podcasts, and videos, I believe that successful content marketing is predicated on 6 key ingredients. Taken together, they can raise the chances of success in any content marketing endeavour.


Twitter Is Not a Strategy: Book Review

January 7, 2015 Content Marketing, Social Influence 1 comment

Twitter Is Not a Strategy

How do we build strong brands in the digital age? Should brand marketers “bow to algorithmic salvation”, allowing data and process to ride roughshod over inspiration and creativity?

Chairman of JWT Asia Pacific Tom Doctoroff provides compelling answers to these burning questions in his latest book Twitter Is Not A Strategy. Author of the book What Chinese Want, Tom argues in his new book that “new-media cleverness” cannot be a panacea for marketing. Rather, effective marketing begins with deep customer insights that translate into a great brand idea that is media-agnostic.


The ABCs of Influencer Marketing

January 4, 2015 Content Marketing, Social Influence 3 comments

What is Influencer Marketing all about? How do you pick the right influencers to work with your brand, and how much should you pay for them?

In this article, I will cover the basics of who influencers are, what influencer marketing is all about, ways to work the right influencers to work for your brand, the cost of engaging an influencer, and how you should choose the best influencers to partner with.


MoolahSense Brings Crowdfinancing to Singapore

January 2, 2015 Blog, Business and Management 1 comment

MoolahSense Website

Are you an entrepreneur seeking to raise funds but unable to secure a bank loan? Or perhaps an investor looking to diversify your portfolio?

If you belong to either category, you may wish to consider crowdfinancing. Unlike traditional means of securing funds through bank loans or equity investments, crowdfinancing (or crowd-lending) allows businesses to borrow money through an online peer-to-business platform from individual lenders.


Who’s Your Influencer?

December 27, 2014 Social Influence no comments

Xiaxue versus Gushcloud

Courtesy of Xiaxue

By now, everybody would have heard of the great brouhaha between influencer/blogger Xiaxue (aka Wendy Cheng) and influencer marketing agency Gushcloud.

While enmity between Nuffnang’s stalwart Xiaxue and competitor Gushcloud isn’t new, the latest episode saw the queen of blogging publishing a no-holds-barred post purporting that Gushcloud misled advertisers by inflating its influencers’ blog statistics, instructing influencers to mask advertorials, misreporting earnings, and fudging YouTube viewership figures.


9 Qualities of Great Gifts

December 24, 2014 Blog, Personal Branding no comments

Generosity and Giving
Courtesy of Victoria Brain Injury Society

One of marketing maven Seth Godin’s recent post on what generosity truly is struck a deep chord with me. As we are celebrating Christmas tomorrow, I thought it would be good to highlight some of his ideas, peppered with my own perspectives.

In Godin’s own words:

“Generosity is not merely giving a discount, or giving what you make away or creating a race to the bottom. It’s far more complex than that. ” 


Thrive: Book Review

December 18, 2014 Book Reviews, Personal Branding 1 comment

Arianna Huffington Thrive
Courtesy of AARP

How do you define success? Can it be measured by wealth or power alone?

Apparently no. Not least according to Arianna Huffington, founder and editor of Huffington Post Media Group – one of the world’s most influential news and information brands.  In her latest book Thrive, Huffington proposes that there is a “third metric” which quantifies success by one’s well-being, wisdom, sense of wonder, and ability to give.