business cards...

I was actually at a networking drinks session yesterday. As is known, the point of these little gatherings is of course to meet new people and catch up as it may. What is always curios to me when I attend these sessions is how some individuals can show up without any business cards.

Your business card, by any standard acts as sort of your identification card or drivers license. The point I'm getting at here is that you wouldn't hesitate to leave your home without any of these documents, so why would you not have your business cards with you at all times?

Not having a business card at a networking function translates to 2 things, one being an opportunity lost to let people know about your business. You never know when & where you might meet your next million dollar deal. Secondly, a lack of a business card reflects a lot about the person or company you represent. Not having a card sends a message to the person you're meeting, I'm not interested in any opportunity to do business with you nor am I excited to meet or get to know you.

So, perhaps it would be a good idea not to be caught without any business cards on you. You never know, your next million dollar deal could be the next person you pass your card to.

In search of customer service

Over the last weekend, I found myself at my authorized Perodua car service center due for my regular service. As it may, the service bill came up to RM 220 (roughly USD 70). As my car was in desperate need of a cleaning, my fiance urged me to ask them if they had a car wash service as well. As it turns out; they did, for a cost of RM 10 (USD 3).

Now, let me ask you this, would it be un-reasonable for them after spending RM 220 at their service center to throw in a free car wash? Now, the car wash if given away free would only work up to be a 5% discount off my bill.

The point is this, do you remember when we were kids and used to choose our cereal brands based on what free toys / gifts came with it? If cereal makers can think of such ideas to entice customers (i.e. kids) to tell their parents to choose a specific brand of cereal, why not car service centers?

The key objective here I believe is to instill customer loyalty. The reason is if I do not send my car to the authorized service center I can also send it to a private car service center whom I trust and there are plenty of those kinds of service centers.

As businesses today become more and more competitive, keeping customers loyal should be our primary objective no matter the type of business. As they always say, its easier to retain a customer than it is to find a new one. So giving out free car washes or maybe incentive discounts to keep customers coming back to you is a sure way to let customers know that you value their business.

By and large the same problem exists in many businesses throughout Malaysia. In this country, businesses still operate on the concept that success is measured by the number new customers, but the reality of the issue is that we should be spending that same amount of effort (i.e. time & marketing funds) in not getting newer clients but to maintain existing ones and hopefully get referrals to new clients. Wouldn't that be a better way to use your marketing budget? Perhaps something for Perodua and many of us to think about?

A Product for Everyone

I believe that these Marketing gurus put it best! "You can't be everything to everyone" and "products for everyone rarely reach anyone". In case you're wondering, the latter phrase was by Seth Godin and the former was by Ries and Trout.

What these gurus are essentially saying is that you cannot make a product / service targeted for EVERYONE!!! Yet, in my work as a marketing consultant for my clients; especially in Malaysia, I've seen this mistake being made by companies over and over again. Every time I ask them, who is your target market, more often than not I'll get the response... EVERYBODY!!!

I believe FOCUS / SPECIALIZATION of target customers are the key here... In today's business environment, you can't market your product and service to everybody. Here's why...people's choices and preferences are all different. Another is that the market is so wide, do you have enough marketing budget to market to everyone???

So my advice? taking after the gurus... I believe every business should find a niche or segment which they can dominate and concentrate all their marketing efforts on. With that, I believe your company will not only thrive but will honestly be successful. The question is not whether you believe me or these gurus, the question that remains is whether you have the courage to do what it takes to FOCUS your business. =)

The Genuine Sushi Restaurant???

Was wondering around yesterday at 1Utama shopping mall and came across this advertising panel which lets shoppers know a new outlet is about to come up... Here it is...


While looking at it, a thought occurred to me. How can a business, any business for that matter claim to be "THE genuine sushi restaurant".

From a marketing viewpoint, trying to create such a brand identity maybe difficult to defend. How does one justify being THE genuine sushi restaurant? What is going to be so genuine about this restaurant that makes it different from other kaiten sushi restaurants such as Sushi King or Genki Sushi?

Brands such as Sushi King and Genki Sushi also use conveyor belts or better known as "Kaiten Sushi". Maybe then Sushi King could come out claiming to be the 1st quick service Sushi Bar in Malaysia? This is an example of an easier to defend marketing position because they have been in Malaysia since 1995.

Something for Sushi Zanmai to re-consider??

Something's wrong with this bunting...

Recently I was at the Pavilion in KL. An amazingly designed place but slightly confusing to walk around. I always seem to get lost??? maybe my internal compass is out of whack!

Anyways, as I was touring the food court section, I came across a J.Co Donut outlet. I'm always amazed at the line of people awaiting to purchase their donuts. I think there's definitely something here to take away from how J.Co brings people to their outlet...

However, the point of this post is beyond words, only pictures are adequate.... something is definitely wrong with this bunting... Can you tell???





if you didn't catch it... here's a close up...




I'm sure what they actually wanted to say was...




I must say, it this was a joke it was a damn good one... If not, I'm sorry but someone needs to give the copywriter a kick in the *&&!!!


Moral of the story: Always! Always! Always! go through your communication material going to print.

Point of Sale Material

Hey there, was having lunch the other day and saw this little Advert (i.e. table talk) on the table which caught my eye. It was for some sort of health drink but after reading it through, something really got me confused... Take a look



Now besides the obvious health benefits of this drink, would it be "fermented from 10 fruits & 2 types of vegetables" or would the statement be "fermented from 102 types of fruits & vegetables".

Now I'm gonna go out on a limb here and state that the correct phrase should be "fermented from 10 fruits & 2 types of vegetables". Thus without soiling (no pun intended) their design, wouldn't this advert cause less confusion if it looked like this.


My my, what happened here?? Perhaps the designer should have run this design through a copywriter before going to print with this....

Designing a company profile that sells

Today, it is not uncommon for companies not matter their size to have a company profile. A company profile is intended to tell readers about the company as well as ultimately how they (i.e. The company) can be contacted.

But there is an important factor which I do find many company profiles lacking in, that is they DO NOT SELL the company. Though using the selling analogy rather broadly, what I mean is that a company profile or brochure has to accomplish 2 things; one being that it should let you know who and what the company is about.

Second and more importantly a company profile must sell the company's experience, expertise, knowledge, etc.

So, what sort of information should we consider when developing a company profile which sells.

Here's what I think should be very fundamental information of what contents a company profile has to have:

1) About Us: This section entails describing issues of who you are, your history and core beliefs. Anything more in my opinion would amount to story telling and no one wants to read a long winded profile. KISS is the acronym that comes to mind. KEEP IT SHORT and SWEET.

2) Products and services: Come on, this is a given! Why else would anyone want to come up with a profile if not to include this in it? The point here is to go into very brief descriptions of your products and services. Leave out the technical specs and specialist jargon which belong in the trash can and not your profile. Having something too technical to describe your product or service will serve to confuse your reader rather than infuse them with knowledge about you.

3) Why Us: For myself and my team, this represents the most important aspect of any profile. This is where you sell the company, its experience and knowledge. The point of this section is simple: to let the customer know you can handle his business.

4) Clients: This area helps a lot in giving your readers of your profile confidence that you are capable and competent. It especially helps when you have a few big names (i.e. well known clients) as your current or previous clients.

I believe that these are the basics of what should be covered in every brochure. Anything more could be boring, but if you feel it important then maybe it should be in there, but not covering your basic areas as outlined here is sure to guarantee you a weak profile that will be of no use to you or anyone else.