By now you would have read numerous articles proclaiming the death of the blog. Like this, this, this, this and this.
Friends are also telling me that nobody blogs anymore. Some of their sound bites goes like this:
Ahh the wonders of 3D. If only we can get rid of those ugly 3D glasses…
Well, apparently, now we can. In a world’s first for Singapore, A*STAR’s Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE), together with Temasek Polytechnic (TP), has developed a new plastic film which empowers your handheld device to display 3D images and videos. This nano-engineered screen protector allows you to view 3D movies and photos using your smartphones and tablets without needing to wear those pesky red and green spectacles!
Customer service is one of the most talked about topics in Singapore. Hell hath no fury like a Singaporean customer scorned. At the same time, we have this incredible obsession to share what we eat, wear, buy and do, often with “value-added” comments (“yay” or “nay”).
Unfortunately, retailers and F&B operators are often oblivious of what their customers think. While a few do trawl the web to search for answers (good or bad), most continue their operations in blissful ignorance.
Image courtesy of Desk Topped
Screens, screens and more screens.
With smartphones, tablets, laptops, and of course the good old TV (or Apple TV for the gadget geeks) and cinema, everybody is staring at an electronic device. Lifestyles have certainly changed in the hyper-connected new social era, enabled by digital gadgets that are perpetually connected to the web.
Do you know that most TV ad viewers avert their eyes the moment a company’s brand appears?
Or that 6 out of 7 “megaviral” branded videos – think Subservient Chicken and Old Spice Man – are jump-started with paid seedings?
Oh the woes of the SME retail sector in Singapore. I’m sure you’ve read or heard about them.
Demanding consumers. Price competition. Sky high rentals. Relentless staff turnover (up to 300% a year in extreme cases). Difficulty in hiring. Competition from big chains. Rising utility costs. Increasing costs of goods. Growing transportation costs.
The list of problems faced by SME retailers is seemingly endless.
“Caveat Venditor – Let the Seller Beware”
So proclaimed Doc Searls in The Intention Economy: When Customers Take Charge. Co-author of the legendary The Cluetrain Manifesto, Searls’ main thesis is that customers – like markets – should be free.
Courtesy of Freepik
Give a man a fish, and he’ll eat for a day.
Teach him to fish, and he’ll eat for a lifetime.
Courtesy of Kingford Hillview Peak
To buy or not to buy a condo? That is the question for many Singaporeans looking for new homes.
Riding on one of the most buoyant property markets in the region, private apartments has become one of the most discussed topics here. To slow down white hot demand, the government announced a seventh round of cooling measures on 12 January. More recently, Minister Khaw Boon Wan has also spoken about bringing government-built HDB flats back to their original purpose as homes rather than investments.
Calling all fashion fans, designers, merchandisers and retailers!
Experience Singapore’s largest showcase of emerging and established fashion brands at BLUEPRINT – Asia’s Fashion Gateway. Comprising a tradeshow and emporium, this two-in-one extravaganza for the trendily coiffured will take place 16 to 19 May at Fashion by the Bay at The Pit Building (where the F1 Night Races are held).