earth9 :: Blog

Jumping on the Vista Bandwagon

2007-01-11T11:07:07.2020000+08:00

Should we upgrade our computers to the new Microsoft operating system when it comes out? That will be the vexing question that the marketers within Redmond will have to convince customers that “Yes” is the logical answer.

Microsoft’s newest operating system has definitely taken its time in making its appearance. Taking almost 5 years since its last major iteration, Windows XP, the new version (named Vista ) is promised to be the greatest one step upgrade since Windows 95.

Touted as being more secure and better architectured for the newest computing components, Vista is Microsoft’s push in securing its position as the leading operating system of choice against the constant challenges coming from the Mac OSX and the many Linux variants. Not forgetting also the much ballyhooed Aero glass interface, the consistently annoying UAC (User Access Control) security feature among the more obvious changes to end users.

For businesses and individuals who depend on their computers for their bread and butter, the answer would have to be a cautionary “No”. The simple reason is that the current version of Microsoft Windows XP has matured to become a very stable and relatively problem free platform.

From my limited testing with Vista RTM (release to manufacturing), the system does not have serious problems. Sure a couple of drivers for older peripherals are not available yet and if your computer is any sort of ancient, you would probably have to pony up for upgrades. Of course, as with any major upgrade of internal plumbing there will be birthing pains. Some of my applications are wonky or simply do not work at all (Apple’s Itunes is one of those cranky applications), video card drivers (from Nvidia) are just now coming out of beta and my Creative sound drivers are still in the beta wilderness.

Therein lies my initial point, it’s going to take some marketing muscle to convince users who depend on their PCs for their livelihoods to not only pay up for Vista (it’s not cheap, the Ultimate flavor of Vista will set you back a cool US$499, ouch!) but to also accept the inherent problems with shifting over to a new operating system.

Even without my cautionary tale, it would be tough to see the majority of SMEs and even larger corporations moving en masse to Vista in 2007. The prudent path would be to wait for Vista to mature, after all, XP only after SP2 became an OS of choice. For more adventurous individuals and those who hanker after the latest and greatest, nothing anyone will say will dissuade them picking up a copy on the 29^th of January, Microsoft’s official consumer launch date.

At least dual boot please, no matter what Microsoft may say, XP is for primetime, Vista is a nice indulgence for afters.

Dan

Importance of Testing to Email Campaigns

2007-01-08T19:17:03.4056250+08:00

MarketingSherpa’s latest survey of email marketers is out.

One of the key questions they asked was which creative email tests deliver the best ROI?

The results weren't surprising to us;
- Testing does improve ROI.
- Copy played a bigger part in achieving ROI than graphic design.
- The most ROI was achieved by testing landing page copy

Practical items I can think of based on this survey are to allocate more resources to tweaking copy versus investing in fancy graphics and to ensure your email and micro-site are in sync in terms of design, development and tracking. More often than not, we find in execution, the email campaign trails as an afterthought for many clients.

Read the survey results here.

Jo

Technorati Tags: email marketing, A/B Testing, Landing page copy

A Brand New Year!

2007-01-04T18:36:16.1400000+08:00

The last 2 weeks of the year have been 1 mad rush, preparing the Christmas card, planning and working on a few new projects (more on that soon) hence the lack of blogging activity.

I’m more than ready to say “Happy New Year!” and also announce that the Malaysian team ushers in the New Year with a brand new office. They have really been troopers, working with the pioneering space (or lack of it) we got when we first dropped anchors in KL.

With a growing team, we decided to take up a larger unit on the 7^th floor of the same building, this means bigger wider spaces with dedicated discussion/meeting rooms and a cheery bright red wall.

Take a look:

Have an awesome year ahead!

Jo

PS - Going slightly off track: I recently discovered a number of great food places near our KL office, check out:
Relish, the Gourmet Burger Joint
Yoko's - Japanese.

The Time is Right for the Retailer-Manufacturer Relationship to Evolve (Part 2 of 2)

2006-12-12T11:39:45.8275000+08:00

Continued from Part 1

What’s next? Selling through the Internet (even for low margin FMCG goods), and creating small product runs targeted at niche audiences (Asia Pacific Brewery’s Archipelago Brewery), will be among the many strategies adopted to seize the initiative that was so easily given up decades ago.

>>>

When (not if) this happens, the biggest losers will be the big box retailers who will find themselves in direct competition with the manufacturers. The question is “How should the retailers view and evolve their relationships with the manufacturers in this increasingly customer-centric world?”

Retailers should leverage the end-customer reach they have to establish win-win relationships with manufacturers. Historically, retailers have not efficiently used available shopper data. This data presents a golden opportunity to get partners (manufacturers) to buy into their frequent shopper and loyalty programs. For FMCG companies, this strategy is efficient and makes sense for several reasons:

1. Creating a direct channel is expensive;

2. Relationship strategies are long-term and resource-intensive; and

3. Standard, standalone loyalty programs are not practical given their generally high-volume, low-cost environment and lack of means to track transactions.

Involving FMCG partners in the program fray allows the retailer to build better customer relationships through more relevant and targeted promotions. At the same time, as they drill down to analyze the purchasing behavior at the individual shopper level and offer more impactful research data to FMCG partners, we are opening up the possibilities of more innovative and exciting marketing initiatives.

By focusing on the customer as the ultimate bottom line, retail channels and FMCG manufactures can both come out winners.

Earl

First published in Marketing Magazine December 2006 issue

The Time is Right for the Retailer-Manufacturer Relationship to Evolve (Part 1 of 2)

2006-12-07T14:53:55.2020000+08:00

The Internet has empowered today’s consumers by transferring the flow of information into the hands of the masses and not just a few large organizations. Consumers want to know exactly what they are buying, provide input into the products they will be using and enjoy a personalized user experience. As a result, gaining an intimate understanding of their consumers has become essential to any organization’s survival, and not simply about achieving a competitive advantage.

However, for FMCG manufacturers, they are facing a problem in the last mile of the purchasing cycle – no matter how much pre-purchase research they conduct, the end customer remains largely concealed.

Big box retailers, like Wal-Mart and Carrefour, as gateways to the end customer, have a control over even the largest manufacturers. Ironically, this imbalance came about because manufacturers leveraged retail channels for rapid growth during the Industrial Age. At the time, it made business sense – manufacturers gained economies of scale and were freed up to concentrate on their core competencies. However, it has blocked them off from building meaningful relationships which today’s customer demands.

For large FMCG players, the road ahead seems clear. They are bypassing retailers to create direct access to customer information. Evidence of this is in the establishment of Nike Towns and Apple Stores. These consumer-centric companies have realized that unless they shift and reconsider their traditional marketing and customer outreach channels, they will be disadvantaged.

Beyond the traditional marketing channels, Coke, P&G and Nestle have also been launching relationship strategies through viral campaigns, social networks and event sponsorships to better profile and understand their consumers. P&G recently launched a new TV program in Singapore , Girls Out Loud – in conjunction with their Being Girl portal, an online space for young women to get advice and information on issues they commonly face.

Earl

...Continue on to Part 2

First published in Marketing Magazine December 2006 issue

The Christmas season is upon us again

2006-11-29T10:28:59.2800000+08:00

Happy Holidays!

Tis the season to be shopping and spending money. If you believe the constant barrage of advertisements, direct mailers, television commercials that have been inundating my inbox, newspapers and mailbox.

Christmas seems to have become the "shopping" season of the year for our snowless country. With faux Christmas trees and twinkly lights, Singaporeans are celebrating the season of giving by furiously spending year end bonuses.

Many marketers will tell you that this is the best time of the year to boost retail sales from big budget items like cars and houses to small convenient gift items like picture frames and beauty products. Not to mention the many of us who will want to pamper ourselves after a long year in the office.

"Sales" abound during this period, it's like a bargain hunters wet dream. Almost every weekend there is a 15% or 50% bargain to be had. In fact, if you were to buy something that was not on sale, it would seem very unwise indeed.

The fact is we are being conditioned in our purchase behavior by clever marketers. What makes the month of December the best time of retailers? It wasn't always like that of course. The creation of occasions and opportunities to open our wallets has always been the holy grail of marketers everywhere. Why sip champagne only when it is a special occasion when you can scoff it down for breakfast and as a subsitute to wine.

But when it comes down to it, who doesn't like spending money and buying pretty things. Here's a big thank you to all the marketers who make me feel that little bit less guilty about blowing our bonuses at Xmas time :) Without the savings and freebies as a balm for that hole in the pocket, surely Christmas would not be such a joyous occasion.

Dan

Get closer to nature

2006-11-25T03:11:31.8900000+08:00

"Get closer to nature -

Visit the many beautiful nature spots in Singapore "

Today as I travel to work, I saw this huge billboard advertisement at the mrt station encouraging the public to visit Singapore ’s nature spots & I thought to myself that this isn’t that effective. Would the public bother to check it out & even if they're interested, would they know where to look for more information?

When we think about nature spots in Singapore , the 1st few places that normally comes to mind would be Bukit Timah Hill, Macritchie Reservoir, Kusu Island & maybe Pulau Ubin. But do they know that there’s more?!! We have nature reserves like Sungei Buloh, SG Diving sites like Pulau Hantu, interesting marine life at Chek Jawa (which is btw at Pulau Ubin)? How about interesting facts like there's a trekking trail from Bukit Timah all the way to Macritchie? Or that Chek Jawa is gonna be wiped off & be a reclaimed land in SG within the next few years?

Awareness needs to be built. Perhaps what would be a more effective thing to do is to create an interesting awareness campaign, where there's a series of poster adverts, introducing these different nature spots. Highlighting the rich marine life we have in SG. Create a website like http://www.wildsingapore.com, provide information about the location & interesting facts. Put a url in the advertisement, encourage people to view the site, create online games for kids, forums, if possible, get green societies to participate, organise tours. Let people know that these places ain't far from them. Visit it, love it, protect it.

Ade

The Growing Importance of Online Marketing (Part 4 of 4)

2006-11-23T11:57:52.2430000+08:00

...Continued from part 3

Set the Right Targets and Measure Results

The Internet has allowed companies to move away from just marketing their best sellers through mass media to marketing their complete inventory online. The attraction here is for marketers to take a broad-based approach. However, while common standards for website performance are still being developed and click fraud still a thorny issue, marketers need to take steps to set objectives and track and measure the results for themselves.

Depending on the objectives, clear key performance indicators (KPIs) have to be set. For example, if the objective is to build brand awareness, the KPIs should focus on page views and length of visit instead of number of registrations. Setting clear objectives also prevents any misalignment of expectations.

Especially in Asia , some marketers still perceive online marketing as ineffective – this often arises when clear objectives for the online element are not set or where it is difficult to track impact without introducing additional tools. Research however has shown that Internet advertisements do have a positive impact on branding and sales – though it can be difficult to measure the latter except for pure online businesses.

The online advertising industry is slowly evolving, from cost per impression and cost per click, to pay per print (coupon) and cost per sale – the new models are increasingly transparent and performance-based. Importantly, it is growing towards increased accountability, which will help marketers better evaluate their choices and allocate their budgets.

Tracking Campaigns and Leverage Best Practices

At a tactical level, marketers need to audit their campaigns and project execution to maximize resources. Evaluate what worked and what did not, and leverage on best practices that might take longer to implement but which if invested in, could result in more satisfying long-term customer relationships.

Some general best practices include developing the discipline of creating relevant, targeted and compelling messages for each target audience; portraying a consistent image across multiple touch points and campaigns; providing multiple opportunities or outlets for user interaction and feedback (such as through the web, phone, etc.); and automated programs to nurture cold leads and inactive users.

Avoid Death Traps

Again, remember that the Web 2.0 user is a sophisticated being. Do not be tempted to take the easy way out and adopt highly ineffective and yet strangely popular online marketing tactics:

· Unsolicited and untargeted campaigns – companies purchase mass databases and send out unsolicited emails. The potential recipient gets annoyed when asked for a receipt and receiving this spam on a daily and weekly basis builds a permanent negative image of the company.

· Dirty search optimization tactics such as link farms (pages with multiple links but no real content), spam keywords (embedding keywords all over a page either in a background font or very small font), redirects (creating pages focused on a particular page but redirecting users to another page when they click on it), and malicious cloaking (users click on a link but very different content works along the same lines).

It is a new web world out there. With consumers now being active participators, companies need to focus on building relationships with their customers versus employing short-term tactics. With the measurability and targetability the web provides and is continuously improving on, marketers can expect more out of their online marketing dollars.

Earl

Excerpted from the November issue of AdAsia

The Best Spinmeisters are definately the Government

2006-11-23T10:32:24.3050000+08:00

Hot on the heels of a "proposed" increase of 2 percentage points in our Goods and Services Tax (GST), a nice surprise announcement of a 2.7 month bonus for civil servants is trotted out.

Citing good economic growth as the reason, this is one of the higher payouts from the government in recent years. Nothing like a little bit of good christmas cheer to make us forget all about the impending increase in tax in the new year eh.

Now, if only companies like Sony (and their bad batteries and much delayed PS3s) and Airbus (with their even more delayed A380s) could take a page out of this playbook. Always announce the bad news first but don't give it time to fester. Once your stock explanations and excuses fail to satiate the general public, deflect criticism by throwing in a carrot.

Simple and elegant, how many civil servants are going to be complaining about the GST hike now? The silence will be deafening at least till January, when they have spent all their extra money.

Learn the lesson that the Singapore government has been practicing so well over the years. Honey us up where it matters most (cold hard cash baby) and we will take any pill, no matter how hard it is to swallow.

Dan

The Growing Importance of Online Marketing (Part 3 of 4)

2006-11-21T15:15:48.4610000+08:00

...Continued from part 2

Getting Up to Speed

How do companies effectively tap into online marketing in the face of such rapid growth and multitude of options and choices? Start by getting to know your target audience – the Web 2.0 user.

Web 2.0 is here, be it as a marketing buzzword or more formally defined by Wikipedia as “a perceived ongoing transition of the World Wide Web from a collection of websites to a full-fledged computing platform serving web applications to end users”.

For marketers, it is crucial to take note that Web 2.0 users are active participants who demand greater control and transparency. From blogs to social networks, we are seeing a clear shift away from vendor-produced content to user-generated content, customers moving from passive information receivers to active participants. Where websites used to rely heavily on sales and marketing to drive traffic, we now have lower customer acquisition and retention costs, as a result of effective and powerful word-of-mouth.

Working the Internet to Your Benefit

Publisher and Internet guru, Tim O’Reilly, made a number of insightful observations when describing technical design principles of Web 2.0. Two of his observations can be applied to marketing to the Web 2.0 consumer.

1. Data is the Next Intel Inside

Competitive advantage comes from having unique data. Look at Amazon.com, which took its original database from the provider of the ISBN database. Amazon enhanced the data so that today it is the primary source for bibliographic data on books globally. Marketers are always relentlessly collecting data but this data needs to be properly managed and augmented so that it can be used to build richer user interactions.

2. Users Add Value

Get users involved and connected to the brand. Shoe designer John Fluevog has been getting brand enthusiasts to submit their own designs for his brand of shoes. He posts the entries on his company's website and gets visitors to vote on their favorites. He makes and markets the most promising designs. He terms it "open source footwear".

.... to be continued

Earl

Excerpted from the November issue of AdAsia

Baah baah blank sheep

2006-11-21T01:21:02.3050000+08:00

Throughout the course of my working life, I have come to realize that one of the most important things in getting anything moving is motivation. Motivation represents a measurable increase in both job satisfaction and productivity. The motivated worker does his job better and likes it more than those folks who are not so motivated. I met up with a close friend recently for drinks and as the night wore on, he began to lament the plight of his working life:

“Hey Art, I feel like I’m stuck and not going anywhere. I had thought leaving the old company and taking on this new role in XXX would have stirred things up a notch and made me noticed….but I’m still the guy who gets passed on. Damn it.”

In between burps and sneaking glances at the voluptuous lady sitting two tables away from me, I decided he needed some cheering up and thus so put on my motivational speaker hat and started to spout the first things that came to mind.

You see, I have had the pleasure of knowing Jesse for close to three quarters of my life, and I pretty much know what he is about. He has always been a quiet one. One who simply goes with the flow, easy going and introverted.

He simply nodded his head when I proceeded to tell him what his problem is.
“You need to form your own opinions man, you need to stand up for yourself and stand by your decisions. You need to speak up and not be afraid of ridicule. Don’t keep saying yes, don’t keep letting things slide. Take control, grab the bull by the horns and quit letting it always turn around to kick you in the nuts.”

This week, on a somewhat parallel track, I seek to be an emotional and motivational compass directing countless men, women and children towards their potential and possibilities for personal growth at the workplace, success and inner peace. I shall attempt to dip my toes into the murky depths of motivational speaking, hoping that the ripples that resonate would be able to reach your ears. **

Oscar Wilde once said:

“Most people are other people.

Their thoughts are someone else’s opinions,
their lives a mimicry,
their passions a quotation.”

A seemingly simple sentence which yet holds so deep and profound a meaning.
I have found this quote to be extremely quoteworthy. It has come to define who I am as a person. Too many of us go by in our daily working lives without forming our own opinions, our own ideas, and our own points of view. We are too caught up in thinking what other people would think of us, that we relegate our thoughts, our ideas and our opinions into the back of our minds, never to see the light of day for fear of ridicule or non-acceptance. We have failed to understand there is no right point of view, or wrong point of view, there is only a personal point of view. We have failed to comprehend that a good idea is an idea that actually happens and that if an idea is not taken up and used as a solution to a problem it has no value. We have failed to pick up that our thoughts make us who we are, and not just another clone in the endless sea of repressed and afraid minds who simply nod or shake their heads in unison, depending on which way the current flows.

Take a look into the mirror today; is this how you look like?

If so, you might want to change your look today ... wool's out, chiffron's the in-thing this season.

By the way last I checked, Jesse got fired from his job. I heard from a reliable source it had something to do with grabbing his boss’s toupee and kicking him in the balls.

Arthur

*All names, places, events and information have been changed to protect the identity of everyone concerned.
** Or it could just be that I have nothing more intelligent to say this week with regards to PEE-ing.
*** No toupees were harmed in the making of this entry

The Growing Importance of Online Marketing (Part 2 of 4)

2006-11-20T11:21:22.9930000+08:00

...Continued from part 1

Are Marketers in Asia Responding to the Trend?

As the market grows, online advertising has been aligning itself quickly with what people do on the Internet. The top online activities pursued by Asians include information search, email, communications like instant messaging and entertainment (especially music and gaming). In line with this, search advertising is gaining market share on traditional display advertising. Advertisers are also tapping into the burgeoning gaming market. For example, in China , Coca-Cola is sponsoring an online basketball game and McDonalds has partnered with a local gaming platform GOQO in a promotional push.

With more people getting online and spending more time and money online, some insightful marketers are definitely leveraging the trend and including creative and innovative online components into their campaigns.

Motorola took it a step further and launched a few mobile phones in China last year without using traditional media channels. Instead, it hired two college students from Guangzhou who had become famous among the Internet community with homemade videos of themselves lip-synching to Western pop songs. The phone manufacturer’s online marketing campaign centering on the two lip-synching to a Back Street Boys hit garnered a tremendous response. A related music competition saw dramatic new phone sales and visitors casting more than 1.3 million votes to decide the contest winner.

Online Marketing as a Long-Term Strategy

Microsoft understands the importance of the Internet for relationship marketing. The company previously focused its developer outreach in Asia through offline events such as user group discussions and training sessions. This was both manpower and resource intensive. Feedback was not necessarily channeled and disseminated efficiently and events were often perceived as one-off campaigns. In 2003, they set out to build a portal known as MSDN Connection that allowed the regional Microsoft team to maximize manpower, achieve consistency in campaign management, eliminate duplication of effort, capture developer profiles, fine tune programs quickly and most importantly drive engagement with the developer community through targeted campaigns, membership incentives and personalized online training programs. The success of this relationship marketing program led to it subsequently being implemented in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region in 2005.

.... to be continued

Earl

Excerpted from the November issue of AdAsia