Blog | Cooler Insights

July 29, 2008 • Blog • 8 comments

I moderated and chaired two sessions on new media yesterday at the Civil Service College. Held as part of their Senior Executive Development Programme together with the National Institute of Public Administration (Malaysia), it featured public service attendees from both sides of the causeway. Joining me for the second session were Arun Mahizhnan of the Institute of Policy Studies and Chua Mui Hoong of the Straits Times.

Several interesting points were raised during the discussion, and they include the following:

Rest In Peace Randy

July 28, 2008 • Blog • no comments

Do you know who Randy Pausch was? Well, he did something extraordinary, and the whole world grieved recently at his passing.

Despite suffering from a terminal pancreatic cancer, he chose to leave an indelible legacy to his three young kids (and inadvertently the world) when he chose to live life to the fullest despite dying. In doing so, he inspired millions and created a revolution through a simple heartfelt message. His Last Lecture video (below) was viewed by millions, and showed the power of social media networks in spreading a message of goodwill and humanity.

A university professor at Carnegie Mellon University specialising in virtual reality and human computer interaction, Randy made history when he delivered his last lecture – both figuratively and literally – to a capacity crowd. In it, he spoke about achieving one’s childhood dreams, and the simple lessons in life that one should take whatever one’s circumstances. The presentation was especially memorable because Randy did it with a wicked sense of wit and humour, without once feeling sorry for himself despite having only months to live.

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.

Childlike Marketing (No Kidding!)

May 5, 2008 • Blog • 3 comments

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.

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!

My Family’s Car Accident – A Tale of Service Excellence

October 7, 2007 • Blog • 32 comments

Yesterday afternoon, my wife together with my son and maid got into an accident along CTE (I was attending a work lunch then). What happened was a tale of God’s divine providence mixed with extraordinary service excellence.

My wife was driving towards the city and encountered the usual Saturday afternoon jam. Traffic was extremely heavy and crawling at a snail’s pace. Unfortunately, a slick black BMW driven by a young 19 year old guy crashed into the rear of our car. He must either be driving his dad’s car or distracted by his girlfriend.

The shock was so hard that the beamer’s airbag popped up. Fortunately, my family didn’t suffer major injuries although my maid had a swelling on her head (currently under observation) while my wife’s back hurt. Both cars stopped and my wife took down the driver’s full particulars (NRIC, license plate, hand phone photos of damage, insurance company, car model).

Branding Non-profits

July 29, 2007 • Blog • 5 comments

The Salvation Army is one of the world’s most recognised non-profit brand.

In this day and age, non-profit organisations like charities, trade associations, special interest groups, and clubs can ill afford to ignore branding. To reach a critical sized audience and membership, you need systems and processes to be in place. You need to also market your organisation for it to gain greater clout and reach so that it can better achieve its purpose. Just passion alone would not cut it.

Branding Insider, one of my favourite references for branding thoughts, highlighted 7 points of branding non-profit organisations.

Word of Mouth Demystified

June 20, 2007 • Blog • 12 comments

Ian McKee, CEO of Vocanic, shared at the recent PR Academy Conference about the importance of Word of Mouth (WOM) marketing. Anybody who has spent time on the blogosphere will probably have heard about this term. However, what does it truly mean?

In his presentation, Ian shared some startling findings.

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