Author: coolerinsights

Zooming in on Zappos

March 25, 2011 • Business and Management • 1 comment

Tony Hsieh, CEO and Chief Happiness Officer of Zappos.com (courtesy of Sunni Brown)

UPDATE: 28 November 2020 — Tony Hsieh has tragically passed away in a house fire at the age of 46. May he rest in peace.

Few companies are as zealous as Zappos in ensuring that excellence is ingrained into every single process, person and policy of the organisation.

Radical and almost ruthless in their quest for the holy customer grail, Zappos is famous for legendary strategies which few of their competitors dare to take up.

KLM’s Highest Party in the World

March 22, 2011 • Blog • no comments

Every once in a while, you come across a marketing idea so radical that you simply have to talk about it. That honour today belongs to airline company KLM and its effort in creating the highest party in the world where a DJ gets to spin music 35,000 feet in the air.

What’s cool about this effort is that it came about from a bet between KLM and two DJs/creative producers – Sied van Riel and Wilco Jung – to organise a party on board a plane for the very first time. I like how it weaves in online channels (like a blog, website, and online radio station) with a grand idea of a party for those who have the time, money and energy.

Montages, Mashups and Morality in Music

March 20, 2011 • Blog • 3 comments

Source of image

In an attempt to understand what’s hot in today’s music scene (and chill out after a tough day’s work), I’ve been viewing music videos on Youtube, checked out Billboard’s Hot 100, and listened to the most popular hits on MySpace. What I discovered was pretty fascinating – and perhaps a little shocking – for a mountain tortoise cum geek like me.

Several trends seem to be prevalent in contemporary pop music culture (at least in the US):

How to be an Indispensable Linchpin

March 18, 2011 • Book Reviews • no comments

“You are not a faceless cog in the machinery of capitalism…” In fact, according to Seth Godin’s latest book Linchpin, you are an “artist who can give good gifts”. Best of all, you don’t need a canvas, a stage, nor a musical instrument to create art.

Beginning with such a delightful premise, Linchpin tackles the age-old issue of career motivation. What’s interesting is that Godin doesn’t just promote entrepreneurialism but rather, a form of intrapreneurialism – one where you as a worker in any circumstance or situation can “make magic”.

Contrarian Competitive Strategies

March 15, 2011 • Blog • no comments

Source of image

Have you noticed how businesses, like humans, tend to adopt a herd mentality? Some examples:

– Opening and closing hours of retail shops (normally 10 am to 10 pm, with extended hours only during festive breaks)

Deceptive Advertising that’s Totally Rubbish

March 13, 2011 • • no comments

If you’re staying in a government built flat and receive the above letter, what would your first reaction be?

A) Oh no, I’ve obviously screwed up and have to pay a fine.

Giving and Getting the Right Signals

March 11, 2011 • Personal Branding • no comments

Reading the right diving signals can save your life (courtesy of A Nice Gesture)

What’s the similarity between body language, hour of the day, voice level, “weather”, and tone of email? Give up?

Well, they provide perceptual cues on how somebody is feeling and are useful in determining whether you should “go for the kill”, wait for another opportune moment, or adopt a different strategy altogether.

Marketing with a Social Message

March 8, 2011 • Blog • no comments

As I was walking back to work this afternoon, I saw the above bus stop poster by NTUC Income. What’s interesting about the advertisement was that it sought to imbue a social element to an otherwise commercial marketing platform. I suppose its also topical since the opening of the two Integrated Resorts in Singapore last year, and I like how it fused clever copywriting with the main visual.

This isn’t the first time that NTUC Income has rode on the wave of public interest, if you can recall their opportunistic flooding advertisement last June.

What do you think of the above strategy? Would such social messages work for a financial services company?

The Premium on Corporate Coherence

March 6, 2011 • Blog, Business and Management • no comments

I was listening to HBR’s Ideacast recently and came across an interesting idea by Booz & Company’s Paul Leinwand and Cesare Mainardi urging companies to “have the discipline to focus intensely on what they do best”. Titled the “Coherence Premium”, the central thesis of Leinwand and Mainardi is that “sustainable, superior returns accrue to companies that focus on what they do best”.

Gaining the Coherence Premium can be done if a company aligns and interlocks internal capabilities (or core competencies ala Hamel and Prahalad) with the right external market position. This can be graphically represented as follows:

Image source

Off to London for Business

February 28, 2011 • Blog • 3 comments

I’ll be flying off to UK for a work trip tomorrow morning, to visit some of their leading art museums and galleries, learn how they run their institutions, and explore collaborative possibilities. There’re quite a lot that we can learn from the Brits who are world leaders in the art, science and business of running museums, art galleries and cultural institutions.

On the cards are an eclectic mix of meetings that we’ll be scheduling with both private and publicly funded mueums and art galeries. They include the world famous Tate Modern which showcases international modern and contemporary art…

Courtesy of News-Poland