Advertising Communications Advertising communications is the love-child of marketing. It is heralded as the benchmark of success as an organisation: if you are able to put out an ad on a billboard, radio station, or television channel, your company is a big player. Besides the enormous cost most advertising communications require, is this respect founded? While many would define “advertising” as any sort of promotiona...
What is a brand? The brand is the singular most important aspect in Marketing. Because of it’s significance, there are hundreds of approaches in how to define, build, and maintain a brand. No matter what line of business you are in, or how established you are- you have a brand, and understanding this is important. Imagine a child sets up a road-side stall selling lemonade. The only signage she has reads “50c Lemona...
There is so much literature on customer relationship management that it is sometimes stifling to go through all the theory. What should be such a simple concept is often so over-analysed that many marketers grow a fear of it. This chapter will take the key ideas of CRM to simplify what is most important when dealing with customers. If I could choose another name for the chapter, I would name it “choose your customers.” I...
While there are many dangers and pitfalls of providing bad service, how can great service be achieved? Great experiences come from companies and employees who truly understand what it means to have an interaction with a customer. Humans are judgemental bastards. As a man, if I show up to a speech in a dress, I will probably lose all the reputation and respect I have built over the years. As an author, include one spellin...
Where value describes the use of the purchase, a product is the embodiment of this use. The product is a fundamental aspect within sales. If there is no product, there is nothing the customer can buy. Often overlooked by marketers, the product is the most powerful tool of communication the marketer has access to. To better conceptualise how marketers distinguish between value and product, consider a car. The value in the...
Understanding how consumers make decisions is the foundation of understanding marketing. While the value formula explains how we make decisions in a simplified way, we can delve into decision making much more. The decision making process starts from the planting of the idea of purchase, and continues past purchase. The Consumer Decision Making Process Model can be used to illustrate this further, and describe how we ...
No matter who you are, anyone living in the modern age will be exposed to marketing. This leaves two choices: either understand it, or be controlled by it. Even if you are not working in the marketing field, there are plenty of insights and techniques you can apply to your everyday life. Say that after years in a boring old job going nowhere, you decide to change vocations. The first thing you do would be to fire up the ...
Shanghai is a version of rummy which can be played between 2-10 players. There is a series of 7 rounds consisting of differing requirements of book/run combos in which players try to discard/lay down as many points as possible before the round ends. The player with the least points at the end of 7 rounds wins. Setup: You must use half the number of decks as the number of players (rounded down). Shuffle decks together an...
As long as I could remember and in all the stories I've been told, my grandmother (Nai Nai in Chinese) has been selfless. My Early Memories I have fond memories of my early years of childhood with Nai Nai. She would travel over to our hometown of Miri to take care of me while my parents worked. Sometimes, I was sent to her house in Sibu to be babysat. In one of these memories, she lamented the loss of her shoe...
In a constantly accelerating world, the need for efficiency is ever growing. In this post, we explore a few tools and tips which have kept me sane, and hopefully will help you too. To Do ListsFocus on two things at a timeKeeping your workspace organizedKeeping your digital workspace organizedIncremental Change and Continuous Improvement #1 on the list of tips: keeping lists! If you feel like there are always m...
I have been privileged to have been able to live in four different countries across four different continents in my life, and a common question I get is: "What's your favorite and least favorite?" I always answer: "I don't have either. Each place is great for it's own reasons." Asia: Malaysia Live here if you want the best in southeast Asian cuisine at minimal cost of living, or to visit an exciting tropical para...
These four main arguments form the basis of why I believe religion (and specifically Christianity) is man-made rather than a divine truth. I do not believe everyone should be an atheist. Many are not ready, and there are very good use cases for individuals and groups which are better off religious. I write this essay instead both to explain why I am not religious, as well as provide an alternative to those who are signific...
Religion serves as a convenient tool not just for the individual, but also those in power. It is easier to unify a population if there are shared values and interests. This is easily achieved through religion. Religion has been used throughout history as an excuse for war and harsh policies, by believers and non-believers alike. It has been used to establish kinship between unlikely individuals, and make peace j...
Another reason I doubt the truth behind every religion is that there is a personal convenience to it which makes believing beneficial. In a world where a mass majority of people are being dominated and oppressed- either by a king, lord, politician, organization, company, or system such as communism or capitalism- I see how it is convenient for religions to assert that these unfair and unjust power figures are on...
The second major reason for disbelief is the complete lack of hard evidence. The idea of the “god of the gaps” is a compelling one. What we see is that were science sheds knowledge and light on natural processes and the logic of the universe, god is often removed. Populations used religions to explain the biodiversity of life, origins of our universe, even things like why celestial bodies follow certain patterns. This ...
In a world full of evil and tragedy, even if I knew that any god exists- he/she must not be benevolent. Therefore, he is not worth worshiping and by principle nobody should bow down to a malicious god, even risking eternal damnation. Why are there flies which lay eggs in the eyes of innocent babies? Natural disasters which destroy entire communities? Why does he allow hatred in his name? In Christianity, orig...
I once read a joke that Christians and Atheists are not really that different. Out of over 6000 gods worshiped in human history, Christians don't believe in 5999 of them. Atheists don't believe in 6000. I don't believe in any god or gods, I don't believe in any being or beings within this universe or external to it which holds supernatural power and plays a significant role in shaping human life and experience. ...