Grab Opportunities & Profit From Market Changes
Posted by Sant Qiu in : Marketing Maneuvers on October 5, 2007 , add a comment“Change Before You Have To.” - Jack Welch
As the world moves faster and faster, things change at a more rapid pace. And as things change, opportunities are created. For you to profit from the opportunities that are around you, pay attention to the changes around you.
Charles Darwin once said, “It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.”
Similarly in business, it is not the biggest who profit the most, nor the most experienced/oldest/intelligent, but the one who is most responsive to change.
One of the ways to be the most responsive to change is to create change. When you’re the one innovating (changing/improving), you have the potential to be the leader, the trend setter and gain the biggest market share. One great example of such a company is Gillette.
Gillette owns the majority of the shaving razor blade market. And they manage to maintain their dominance in the market because they constantly innovate their razors.
Before any competitor can come up with something to catch up with their latest razor models, Gillette would have introduced something newer to replace them. Eg. the Mach3 Turbo to replace the Sensor Excel. Then came the M3 Power—a battery operated razor, promoted by famous football celebrity David Beckam.
But Gillette didn’t stop there. There is now The Fusion, a 5-bladed razor that is an improvement of the Mach3 Turbo. Continuous change and innovation like this ensures that Gillette continues to have a stranglehold of the market.
Ask yourself, what’s the first brand you think of when it comes to razor blades?
So start innovating in your business.
Strategic Positioning & Branding For Singapore
Posted by Sant Qiu in : Strategic Positioning & Branding on October 5, 2007 , add a commentFinally! Singapore is consolidating its efforts to position and brand itself! Her previous efforts were mainly skewed towards being a hub for any and every industry. That only fragmented the branding of Singapore. When you are everything, you are nothing. However, the final branding that Singapore came up with was ‘Uniquely Singapore’.
As a brand for a country, ‘Uniquely Singapore’ is particularly weak. While the Singapore Tourism Board may have achieved great success in increasing tourist flow to the country, it is because of a combination of great promotional activities, tie-ups, and other such factors.
But just ask one of those tourists who visited Singapore about what made them choose this country as a destination and the answer: “Because it is unique” will probably never arise. This is because the word ‘Unique’ does not conjure up any strong images or emotions.
‘Unique’ only means different. But why or how is Singapore different? ‘Uniquely Singapore’ does not say nor does it answer the questions it propagates.
A Mercedes is associated with ‘Prestige’ because decade after decade it continues to brand itself as an expensive vehicle bought by those who have made it. Coca Cola is known as the ‘Real Thing’ because that is what it stands for decade after decade. For years, SIA is ‘A Great Way to Fly’.
It is worthy to note that strong brands are usually associated with a single characteristic. Growing the perception of that characteristic should be the goal of a branding strategy.
Just take a look at the IMF-World Bank Meeting that was held in Singapore in 2006. Delegates are asked about their impression about the country and comments like ‘very clean’, ‘hi-tech’, ‘advanced’, ‘shopping’, ‘efficient and highly competent’, ‘strict’, ‘authoritarian’ and ‘green city’ were the common replies.
Even when a survey was conducted among residents of Beijing, Tokyo, Jakarta, New Delhi, London and Washington to ask about their perception of Singapore, it was more of the same comments—with Singapore Airlines (SIA) and Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew being the most recognisable Singapore brands.
Isn’t it interesting that “Singapore is unique” never came up in any of the answers? I would suggest that it is very hard to associate Singapore = unique. Why? Simply because ‘unique’ does not mean anything. It is vague.
‘Unique’ can mean a lot of things. It can mean bad, good, enriching, peculiar, strange, not up to par, and many other interpretations. How and why it is unique is what matters. And so far the question has not been answered! When you don’t define clearly who you are—in simple terms that people can relate to—then people tend to fill in their own blanks and come up with their own perception. This leads to weak branding.
In contrast, Malaysia’s ‘Truly Asia’ branding hits the bull’s eye as it shows why they are different. It says: To get a true taste of Asia, come to Malaysia. Inherently it is saying: If you don’t have time to visit all of Asia, Malaysia is enough as it encompasses Asia’s spirit. How long has Malaysia been using ‘Truly Asia’ now? Years.
Let’s think about it:
Who is David? The guy who defeated Goliath. He was also a shepherd boy who defeated a lion with bare hands, a warrior and a King, the father of King Solomon among many other things. Is David unique? Yes! But in general we know him as the giant slayer.
SIA is unique. Why? Because it is associated with top-notch service. A Rolex is unique. Why? Because it is associated with prestige in watches. Singapore is unique. Why?…
The Singapore government has to be willing to sacrifice some characteristics that Singapore has and focus instead on just one distinct characteristic to make the brand stronger. We can always educate prospective tourists or talents about Singapore’s other characteristics when they visit our country.
One suggestion for the Singapore brand: Asia’s CosmoCity (as in Cosmopolitan). Some inherent characteristic to this branding includes:
- Singapore is Asia’s, if not the world’s, most multinational and multi-ethnic city. No other place that has so many different races staying and interacting with each other in harmony.
- The name represents sophistication, modern, hi-tech and a progressive culture, great shopping, of which Singapore is all that.
- It alludes to the image of Singapore being a place of opportunities.
- It also says strict rules (as in Michael Fay and the chewing gum ban).
- It even encompasses the characteristic of ‘clean’ which is what Singapore is known for too.
Branding Blunder: Creative Technology VS. Apple
Posted by Sant Qiu in : Strategic Positioning & Branding on October 5, 2007 , add a commentRecently I was interviewed by Marketing Magazine, a local magazine in Singapore that keeps close tabs on the marketing strategies companies of all sizes use to reach out to their consumers. I thought that this is an excellent case study of how important positioning, branding and marketing are for your business.
For their feature story on Branding, the magazine asked for my comments on Creative Technology’s (renowned for its sound card and MP3 players, and most recently for its legal tussle with Apple) branding efforts. While I’m a fan of Creative, I have to say that their branding leaves much to be desired. In particular, comparing the arch rivals of Creative Tech’s MP3 players vs. Apple’s iPod, it is easy to see where Creative’s branding efforts had gone wrong. Below is a simple comparison of its rival’s branding moves. (more…)
Analysing A Powerful, Elite Brand: Singapore Airline
Posted by Sant Qiu in : Eye On Singapore on October 5, 2007 , add a commentWhen Singapore Airlines (SIA), the world-renowned multi award-winning airline, announced that they were opening up their account for other advertising agencies to tender, it created a pitching frenzy in the industry. After all, SIA have been with Batey Ads for 35 years since they first started the airlines.
And the inevitable question predictably came up: Will the Singapore Girl, the icon of SIA, stay or will she go?
Personally, I found even the slightest idea of dumping the Singapore Girl… erm… Dumb! Below is my raw, politically incorrect, heavy-dose-of-reality, might-piss-you-off opinion on the issue. If you are easily offended, skip this. Read at your own risk. (more…)
‘Starving Crowd’ Is The Lifeblood Of Your Business
Posted by Sant Qiu in : Eye On Singapore on October 5, 2007 , add a commentCrazy Horse, that famous topless revue from Paris, made its first Asian debut in Singapore in December 2005. Hailed as the largest Crazy Horse venue in the world when it was opening, it garnered the same front page attention when it announced its ‘demise’ thirteen months later.
Interestingly enough, when Crazy Horse was opening, I made the comment that it will not last long in Singapore (The France and Last Vegas outlets are big hits). Being a marketing consultant, I have a knack of being able to tell what works and what won’t in business. Many times I pass by retail shops and I’ll just know that they will not last long. And in the case of Crazy Horse I am again proven right.
So then, is it possible to increase chances of success? Absolutely! This reminds me of a question one of my mentors asked me…
“Sant, if you are in a “life and death” situation to sell as many burgers as possible (if you succeed your company can live on another day, if you fail, your company must close down), what is the ONE most important thing that you would want to have?
- Crowd pulling advertisements
- A persuasive, marketing & trained sales team
- Mastering the use of 101 closing techniques
- An irresistible discount offer
- High traffic location
- Fantastic customer service
- Strong referral program
- etc…
(Think about this. What would your answer be?)
A few important strategies came to mind. But he saw my expression and reminded me…
“If you can only have one thing. What would it be?”
I remembered thinking there are so many different strategies and so many factors to consider, selecting just one would be really tough. Before I could give him my answer, he told me the answer: (more…)
Business Positioning Secret: Be Congruent
Posted by Sant Qiu in : Strategic Positioning & Branding on October 5, 2007 , add a commentWould you pay a Hugo Boss suit’s price to get a G2000 suit…?
I think it is a pretty common sense answer. Unfortunately, nowadays common sense is pretty uncommon; especially in business. In their bid to frantically create a meaningful difference for their businesses in a razor-sharp competitive market; many companies forget the most basic common sense such as: Congruency.
Congruency is not only critical to create and build a powerful positioning and brand, but without it your company is built on a wobbly foundation that can give way any second. Without it you are sabotaging your own business!
Here’s a powerful and clear example:
Recently I read in my national newspapers, the closure of a restaurant that had opened barely 10 months ago amidst much fanfare and a blitz of publicity. Überburger—whose claim to fame was its reputed USP of being “Singapore’s first gourmet burger restaurant”, was also featured in the media for its signature $101 prime wagyu beef burger. In fact, the $101 wagyu burger was part of their branding. Almost every time they were featured in the media, the $101 wagyu burger would be mentioned.
So in simple terms, their positioning is: “Singapore’s first gourmet burger restaurant”. And they have 2 distinct factors going for them namely:
1. The word “über” of überburger comes from the German language that means super. So their name essentially means superburger, which is supportive of their claim of a gourmet burger restaurant.
2. Their signature dish is a premium $101 wagyu burger. The extravagant price of the burger also supported the gourmet restaurant’s image.
BUT… (more…)
Vera-The Wang Of Branding
Posted by Sant Qiu in : Strategic Positioning & Branding on October 5, 2007 , add a commentThe other day I caught a program on TV titled ‘Behind the Label’. The presenter was interviewing Vera Wang, the famous Asian American designer whose name is synonymous with beautiful, elegant bridal gowns. Just say the name Vera Wang to a woman and you can observe the starry-eyed look on her face as she starts to dream about herself modeling the gowns… even if she has no prospective marriage partner at the moment! That’s how powerful the Vera Wang brand name is.
The interview was interesting as Vera described some of her business philosophies as well as her design. There are some powerful insights she shared in her interview about building a powerful brand. Following is my summary: (more…)
