Author: coolerinsights

Telling the Bad News

July 23, 2008 Public Relations disabled comments


Crises can be opportunities if handled well, as these Chinese characters show (courtesy of tingilinde)

One of the most important skills PR practitioners need to know is crisis communication. That is when things go wrong but need to be made public. Public listed companies would probably be most familiar with this when sharing their quarterly earnings reports.

Hiding the truth is probably one of the worst things to do in such a situation. The widespread availability of information and records through both the internet and public libraries makes it difficult for one to fudge. Sooner or later the truth will come out, and it would be far better coming from you rather than a third party source.


Corporate Blogging Isn’t Just Fun and Games

May 28, 2008 Content Marketing, Social Influence 1 comment


Hell Hath No Fury… (courtesy of Dinghy Blonde)

If you think being a personal blogger is difficult, wait till you try corporate blogging. It isn’t just a walk in the park. Just ask Coleman (a fellow media socialist), who wrote this excellent post on making your corporate blogs succeed.

But then, isn’t blogging just about shooting your mouth/fingers off and saying whatever you want to say. After all, it is the age of conversations, and everybody is a citizen journalist. Besides, people don’t want to just hear the filtered, fluffed up, fantastic stuff from the gatekeepers (like yours truly).


In Media Relations, Timing is Everything

May 14, 2008 Blog 2 comments


The horrific Sichuan Earthquake left many dead or injured (courtesy of szbluewater)

The recent spate of cataclysmic events happening around our region is simply awful. To date, more than 50,000 people in the Sichuan area are either dead, missing or buried, and Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar has left more than two million homeless and tens of thousands dead. As we flip the papers, page after page describes the sad story of human tragedy caused by these natural/ manmade (some say that the cyclone is due to global warming) catastrophes.

From what I understand, both incidents are still unfolding. In other words, they will continue to dominate media spaces for quite some time.


A New Marketing Idea

May 7, 2008 Content Marketing 6 comments

In the age of increasing emphasis on individual preferences, coupled with the prevalence of social media, the traditional rules of marketing would need to change. We are no longer talking about market segments that aggregate themselves neatly into discrete demographic groups, or consumer preferences that follow neat patterns. Information is available fast and free, and the general levels of trust in advertising has descended to an all-time low.

How do marketers hope to thrive in this landscape? Enter the concept of I-Marketing.


Childlike Marketing (No Kidding!)

May 5, 2008 Blog 3 comments

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Child’s Play or a Lesson in Marketing?

As I was going for a run this evening at the neighbourhood park, I noticed how kids have this boundless energy aimed at the sole purpose of having non-stop fun. Jumping and skipping from one activity to another, they appear not to have a care in the world, and are focused on their agenda of having pure, unadulterated fun. While watching them play in glee, it hit me that perhaps there are lessons there that we can learn from in the realm of marketing.

Indeed, some of the traits of childhood – especially at play – are invaluable to us jaded marketers. They include the following:


Service Recovery at an Aunty Restaurant

April 27, 2008 Blog 6 comments

To celebrate my dad’s 68th and my niece’s 10th birthday, my mum decided to book a restaurant for dinner last night at Tiong Bahru’s Seng Poh Lane. Going by the unassuming name of Por Kee Eating House (porky?), the outlet was your typical old-fashioned Chinese restaurant with red plastic chairs and an outdoor al fresco eating area. It was as unpretentious as you can get, with a clear focus on its food rather than ambience.

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When we arrived, we were ushered to a space next to the public carpark outside, under the starry moonlit sky. As the evening was cool, most of us didn’t quite mind sitting outside. Especially with a beer or two!


Getting Past The Social Media Hype

March 3, 2008 Social Influence 8 comments

This article first appeared in Marketing magazine in February 2008. I thought it would be useful to share it with you here.

And yes, I am back to blogging again after a super long hiatus!

By now, every publicist worth his or her salt would have heard of the wonders of new media. Anything imbued with the word 2.0, social media, conversational marketing, blogosphere or peer-to-peer is laden with the Midas touch.


Sex, Scandal and Sensationalism

December 18, 2007 Blog disabled comments


Courtesy of mercer machine

In the age of social media, one particular trend seem to stand out more so than others. And that is our penchant for perversity.

Just look at the leading blog posts and stories in technorati, digg, ping.sg and other blog aggregators. What hits you first and foremost? Most of the leading ones are either about controversy, coitus or corruption. If you have a feel good story, chances are that your efforts will be relegated to the backwaters of the blogosphere.