Author: coolerinsights

Setting and Scoring Corporate Goals

February 20, 2012 • Blog • 3 comments


Jeremy Lin sure knows a thing or two about scoring (courtesy of streetball.com)

Establishing clear goals is one of the most important things you need to do in any organisation which you work in. Otherwise known as objectives, goals provide an end point for one to aspire and work towards, providing purpose and meaning to any endeavour.

The analogy of sports provides the clearest example of goal setting. With a clear goal in place – kicking the ball through the goal posts, throwing a ball into a basket (who haven’t heard of Jeremy Lin?), or hitting a ball through an opponent’s racket – players and spectators alike would know where to focus their energies and emotions.

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Evil Plans: A Book Review

February 18, 2012 • Book Reviews • 3 comments

Written and illustrated by renowned cartoonist and blogger Hugh MacLeod of gapingvoid.com (he just completed his 10th year in the business), Evil Plans: Escape the Rat Race and Start Doing Something You Love is a business book that reads more like a personal motivation tome. True to MacLeod’s craft, every other page (or more) is peppered with his characteristically abstract and witty cartoons, complete with clever captions.

An example of this is found below:

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What Do Sherlock Holmes and Consumers Have in Common?

February 16, 2012 • Content Marketing • 2 comments

Teaser Marketing - Sherlock Holmes
We all love a good mystery! (courtesy of Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows)

Answer? They love to be teased and challenged. Preferably every step of the way until the bounty is unearthed.

Sadly, however, most marketing efforts today hasn’t matched the rise in consumer sophistication and expectation. Our aggregated abilities to captivate and charm a potential customer hasn’t caught up with the explosive growth in always-on social tools and communication networks.

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Are Travel Fairs a Good Way to Sell Holidays?

February 7, 2012 • Blog • 4 comments

In the hypercompetitive travel trade in Singapore, merely putting together a compelling itinerary with an attractive price isn’t sufficient. With a plethora of online travel portals like Expedia, Travelocity, Zuji and Wotif muscling into their space, brick and mortar travel agents need to find new ways to differentiate themselves. With the help of online travel service providers, consumers are booking airline tickets, selecting hotel rooms, renting cars, arranging land transfers, and even making reservations for restaurants and shows in advance.

While some players like MISA Travel have gone on to develop a more e-commerce savvy website, others such as ASA Holidays have organised full-fledged trade fairs to showcase their various offerings. Together with other big outbound tour operators like CTC Travel and Chan Brothers, ASA Holidays is pre-empting the upcoming NATAS Travel Fair with their own pre-sales event (I told you it was competitive). 

Are these travel fairs successful?  Well, join me for a tour of ASA Holidays’ recent fair at Suntec City and decide for yourself.

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How LEGO Creates a Lasting Legacy

February 5, 2012 • Business and Management • 3 comments

Courtesy of Choo Yut Shing

Wonder how LEGO manage to rule the roost as one of the world’s most successful brand?

On a recent visit to Toys “R” Us at VivoCity with my kid, I observed that there are more and more interlocking brick toys filling the shelves these days.

Inspired no doubt by LEGO, brands like Mega Bloks, Coko and Tyco Toys are now emulating the same success strategy employed by the 80 year old Danish company, albeit charging a lower price for their bricks.

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Ways to Embrace a Kinder Economy

February 3, 2012 • Blog • no comments


Patagonia is the new yardstick for ethical and social businesses (image from Fortune Magazine)

Of late, I hear a common clarion call amongst leading thinkers for companies to pursue a more humane, ethical and sustainable business strategy. These proclamations allude to the fact that the current system of profit and GDP growth at all costs is broken, and that a more holistic and considered approach is needed.

The first is renowned management guru Michael Porter, who urged companies to adopt shared values when crafting their business strategies. Porter cites that the capitalist system which much of the industrial age economy is built on has been the cause of much social, environmental and economic woes, with companies (and their leaders) prospering at the expense of the rest of humanity.

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