Image from Mashable.com
Everybody knows Steve Jobs.
Icon, innovator, brilliant entrepreneur and creator of “insanely great” products, Jobs was the founder and CEO of Apple.
Creator of legendary products like the Macintosh computer, iPod, iTunes Store, iPhone and iPad, Jobs founded the Disney beating Pixar Animations (which was later sold to the behemoth), and opened the much lauded Apple Store.
“Undercover Economist” Tim Harford’s latest book Adapt – Why Success Always Starts with Failure blends economics, psychology, evolutionary biology, and anthropology to explain why trial and error is preferred over grand strategic plans. Touted as “Britain’s Malcolm Gladwell”, Harford’s central thesis is that countries, companies and individuals should embrace an evolutionary and empirical approach in determining what works and what doesn’t.
Using analogies from evolution such as variation, selection and adaptation, Adapt uses far flung examples ranging from the Iraq War, Global Warming, 2007’s Financial Meltdown, to 3rd World Development efforts to prove its point. Some of its stories – such as the invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg – date all the way back to the middle ages. Others, such as the almost accidental success of Google (which purportedly has no corporate strategy) are more recent.
The Melbourne Museum provides a great immersive experience
In the world of information-rich visitor attractions like heritage buildings, museums and corporate attractions, spinning a great tale is imperative to success.
Having an exciting story which connects and resonates with your visitors makes all the difference. What should one do to create those magical moments?
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Considered the finest vessel of her time, the RMS Titanic was known as a “Ship of Dreams”. Designed and built with care by an army of engineers, ship builders and workers, she was the largest ocean liner afloat during her time.
Her sinking a century ago on 15 April 2012 left an indelible mark in the collective consciousness of millions around the world. More than 1,500 perished in the freezing North Atlantic arctic waters, dragged down to the icy bottom after hours of struggling fatigue.
Bob Rogers (source of image)
What is the magic behind creating truly memorable and delightful guest experiences at visitor attractions?
According to renowned experience designer Bob Rogers, the secret lies in finding the right story, shaping it for the right audience, and ensuring that it is an original tale.
Bob Rogers with ASA Chairman Kevin Cheong
The founder of BRC Imagination Arts, Bob Rogers, has cut his teeth in designing and building numerous theme parks, museums, brand attractions and other thematic experience destinations.
Rogers’ 33 year old firm, BRC Imagination Arts, received over 250 international awards, including two Academy Award nominations and 17 Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) “THEA” Awards for “outstanding achievement in themed entertainment”.
If so, nominate yourself for the 5th annual Singapore Blog Awards!
Organised by Omy.sg, SPH’s leading bilingual news and entertainment portal, the Singapore Blog Awards recognises “new-age wordsmiths” with the passion, determination, and energy to “create and maintain informative and innovative blogs”.
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In life, we often believe that we’ll be happy only AFTER we have achieved success.
For many, that would mean scoring straight ‘A’s in school, being promoted, buying that dream home, or having a million dollars in the bank. Sadly, this ‘rat race’ never ends…
Can you write in a compelling fashion? Are you able to persuade your marketing prospects with your prose?
In many marketing and sales professions, being able to write well gives you a significant edge over others.
Wordsmiths are highly valued in most organisations – especially if your words can magically transform complex and arcane concepts into attractive ideas exhibiting Zen-like simplicity.
Continuing along the theme of “Zagging” as a business strategy (ie radical but customer valued differentiation), I thought it would be interesting to highlight examples of businesses which apply such “Blue Ocean” strategies in their core value propositions. By offering something radical and unique yet deeply appreciated by their customers and other stakeholders, they are able to stand out in an increasingly hyper-competitive marketplace. This would mean offering a new innovation that isn’t seen in the existing marketplace and competing on different terms from incumbents.
As expected, many of these examples are in the mouth watering F&B industry, but there are also a few cases of consumer oriented innovation in other domains both digital and non-digital.
1) Gourmet craft beers in a hawker centre: Good Beer Company in Chinatown Hawker Centre. Fine hand-crafted beers in the comfort of your slipper and shorts anybody?
