Would you ride an airplane with a jet-engine brand Lucky Skydust or would you feel better in a GE?
You and I have the same answer. And the Chinese government is aware of it. They know that Chinese brands lack the sophistication and emotional dimension to be accepted global. Which is why The People's Republic has set aside US$15 Billion budget for acquisitions of companies and brands, preferably with a brand management team.
And it's already happening. In 2005 Nanjing Automobile Group acquired the British car maker MG Rover Group for US $100 Million. The deal is said to include Austin, Morris, MG.
Read more in Brandchannel.com
I don't usually swear in my blog, but this entry would be an exception. SHIT.
Monday, October 30, 2006
What I learned going to Bora
I'm currently in Boracay and there was one thing that struck me as I rode the one and a half hour L300 ride from Kalibo to the port.Cemetaries.
Five of them in fact on one long road. FIVE! I judged the L-3 to be running at around 80 Kph and it took more than four to six seconds to pass each cemetary stretch. That's a long stretch!
We are talking of big, expensive (even showy) burial grounds in Aklan. And I felt really sad. Not because a lot of people lost their love ones but this is a reflection of where most Filipinos are busy with.
Why didn't I see Big School Grounds? Or decent Tourist Destinations? Or Remarkable handicraft stations? Or experiential dining?
Filipinos I think have huge rear-view mirrors in their lives. Instead of looking forward, a lot of us, unfortunately seek comfort in the past. Singapore, Thailand, China are leaving us big-time and we're stuck.
Please understand, I am all for respecting the elders. We'll all be a member of the oldies group in the future - and nobody wants to be placed in a home. But with that short ride I learned so much about the psyche of most Filipinos and why when the whole of Asia is looking ahead, we are stuck in the past.
Friday, October 27, 2006
Same Same?
We just got the 2Mbps Broadband Connection online in the office today. I wouldn't really believed it until I loaded my Torrent (after office of course! ) program.
It was fast. The fastest I've ever experienced downloading. Now I can more efficiently do my email and surfing. With the advent of Google Docs, who needs MS Office!
And I can bet my life's savings that in as little as five years, 4Mbps connections will be commonly cheap! That's just five short years. And at this speeds... you wouldn't know your hard drive from the internet. Are you ready-ing yourself for this?
It was fast. The fastest I've ever experienced downloading. Now I can more efficiently do my email and surfing. With the advent of Google Docs, who needs MS Office!
And I can bet my life's savings that in as little as five years, 4Mbps connections will be commonly cheap! That's just five short years. And at this speeds... you wouldn't know your hard drive from the internet. Are you ready-ing yourself for this?
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Information Overload
It's ugly signs are all over the office. With several brands and a unique structure, this is inevitable. But I believe quite easy to overcome. A few tips:
1) Put in the To: line in your email those who you expect to respond or communicate directly to.
2) Do not Cc: everybody because you don't know who are those who are supposed to know the info.
3) Use Reply All ONLY when necessary. Most often it is more appropriate to respond to the sender individually.
4) Do not be a slave to email. Offline methods breeds faster discussions - voice and in person.
1) Put in the To: line in your email those who you expect to respond or communicate directly to.
2) Do not Cc: everybody because you don't know who are those who are supposed to know the info.
3) Use Reply All ONLY when necessary. Most often it is more appropriate to respond to the sender individually.
4) Do not be a slave to email. Offline methods breeds faster discussions - voice and in person.
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
WeMen Rule!
I can count in one hand the number of times I played an online content that gave me goosebumps. This is one of them.Watch the video here.
I'm starting to like Columbus
Lifted from Seth's blog. I'm RED.
Lessons learned from Columbus
Cristóbal Colón, marketer.
Columbus failed early and often. He failed when he joined in the attempt to conqure the Kingdom of Naples. Later, he was captured by Portuguese ships as he escorted an armed convoy. He was wounded. And he never did get to India. The fact that he didn't give up and become a shopkeeper after this rough start was critical to his success.
Whoever makes the most mistakes wins - read this, we have it in the library. Now go and risk something!
Columbus was a thief. He didn't invent the idea that the world was round. In fact, Ertosthenes, Aristotle and Ptolemy pretty much made it an established fact among educated people long before Columbus was born. Just because he didn't invent the idea doesn't mean he couldn't use it.
I must admit, I am often times inspired.
Columbus didn't do his research carefully, reinforcing his optimism. He thought that calculations of the size of the Earth were in Italian miles, not in the longer Arabic miles. The correct calculations would have 'proven' he should never have left.
We sure don't do paid market research!
Columbus took advantage of human nature. The rulers of Spain were desperate to find an edge and Columbus offered them a quest that could address their state of emergency.
I'd rephrase that by saying - know basic psychology.
Columbus was persistent. It took him seven years at court in order to get funding.
Most people in our group are only counting months... maybe weeks!
No one really believed that Columbus would change everything. His contract with the king included huge bonuses for success, largely because they were pretty sure that he would fail.
I get that comment every now and then.
Columbus didn't consider side affects until it was too late. In order to help repay his investors, Columbus took slaves (the first person to do so in the New World) and in one notorious case, arranged to cut the hands off of each Haitian adult male who failed to bring a minimum amount of gold to his ships.
Ready. Fire! Aim.
Ultimately, in death, Columbus became a brand, a story bigger than his own facts. Buried in Spain, moved to Santo Domingo, then to Havana and then back to Spain. Namesake of the Knights of Columbus. Honored by statues and streets and even cities. In many ways considered the "first American," demonstrating vision, persistence, insight, brilliance, bravery and world changing paradigm shifting... almost none of it true, of course.
I think the lesson of Columbus Day is a marketing lesson. Successful marketers allow people to tell themselves a story they want to hear. Columbus did that his entire life, and especially in death. Great marketers then do work that they're proud of, using their leverage to create things that people might not want in the short run, but are delighted in later on. I think Columbus was certainly successful. I wonder what would have happened if he had been great.
Do something that you like! Create something that thrills you! Challenge what is known and accepted! Only then, can there be no failure.
Lessons learned from Columbus
Cristóbal Colón, marketer.
Columbus failed early and often. He failed when he joined in the attempt to conqure the Kingdom of Naples. Later, he was captured by Portuguese ships as he escorted an armed convoy. He was wounded. And he never did get to India. The fact that he didn't give up and become a shopkeeper after this rough start was critical to his success.
Whoever makes the most mistakes wins - read this, we have it in the library. Now go and risk something!
Columbus was a thief. He didn't invent the idea that the world was round. In fact, Ertosthenes, Aristotle and Ptolemy pretty much made it an established fact among educated people long before Columbus was born. Just because he didn't invent the idea doesn't mean he couldn't use it.
I must admit, I am often times inspired.
Columbus didn't do his research carefully, reinforcing his optimism. He thought that calculations of the size of the Earth were in Italian miles, not in the longer Arabic miles. The correct calculations would have 'proven' he should never have left.
We sure don't do paid market research!
Columbus took advantage of human nature. The rulers of Spain were desperate to find an edge and Columbus offered them a quest that could address their state of emergency.
I'd rephrase that by saying - know basic psychology.
Columbus was persistent. It took him seven years at court in order to get funding.
Most people in our group are only counting months... maybe weeks!
No one really believed that Columbus would change everything. His contract with the king included huge bonuses for success, largely because they were pretty sure that he would fail.
I get that comment every now and then.
Columbus didn't consider side affects until it was too late. In order to help repay his investors, Columbus took slaves (the first person to do so in the New World) and in one notorious case, arranged to cut the hands off of each Haitian adult male who failed to bring a minimum amount of gold to his ships.
Ready. Fire! Aim.
Ultimately, in death, Columbus became a brand, a story bigger than his own facts. Buried in Spain, moved to Santo Domingo, then to Havana and then back to Spain. Namesake of the Knights of Columbus. Honored by statues and streets and even cities. In many ways considered the "first American," demonstrating vision, persistence, insight, brilliance, bravery and world changing paradigm shifting... almost none of it true, of course.
I think the lesson of Columbus Day is a marketing lesson. Successful marketers allow people to tell themselves a story they want to hear. Columbus did that his entire life, and especially in death. Great marketers then do work that they're proud of, using their leverage to create things that people might not want in the short run, but are delighted in later on. I think Columbus was certainly successful. I wonder what would have happened if he had been great.
Do something that you like! Create something that thrills you! Challenge what is known and accepted! Only then, can there be no failure.
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Mind the language
Springwise is one of my much-anticipated, entreprenerial, value-added, world-changing emails that I get regularly. In this week's copy I particularly like the concept of gravinity.
Such a great idea that can give birth to unlimited concepts. There is so much to share, so much to comment on. But alas, we don't speak the same language. Go ahead, participate.
Such a great idea that can give birth to unlimited concepts. There is so much to share, so much to comment on. But alas, we don't speak the same language. Go ahead, participate.
A view of things to come
I just bought my new MacBook Pro 2 days ago and BOOM!
There's a new kid on the block!
I'm a bit sad that I don't have the latest version but I think I and everyone else should get used to it. The accelerated change in technology will only be faster, more disruptive. And change is always good, because it alters destiny.
There's a new kid on the block!
I'm a bit sad that I don't have the latest version but I think I and everyone else should get used to it. The accelerated change in technology will only be faster, more disruptive. And change is always good, because it alters destiny.
Sunday, October 22, 2006
A Numbers Game
I'm not a Dilbert fan but I know quite a lot of people who are. I never really thought much of Scott Adams (the creator) until I read this blog entry (quite long).People give me the 'look' or sometimes just don't believe me when I say I'm willing to lose 6 out of every 10 times in a business I'm in. And then I read Scott Adams and I think I'm pathetic. To those fighting it out with the established systems, better read it.
Upgraded!
I've updated my Mac to
and I 'm still recovering from the fact that all my data (programs, email, etc) were transferred from my old laptop to the new without a sweat! All with a firewire cable!
I now know what Mac users upgrade more often... it's simply easier.
and I 'm still recovering from the fact that all my data (programs, email, etc) were transferred from my old laptop to the new without a sweat! All with a firewire cable!
I now know what Mac users upgrade more often... it's simply easier.
Monday, October 16, 2006
Sawatdee Khrab!
65 Million People
36th in World GDP Ranking (Phil @ 51st)
69th in World GDP Per Capita (Phil @ 104th)
11.7 Million tourists visited in 2004 (Phil @ 2.3M)
See you later Thailand!
Monday, October 09, 2006
Quote of the week
"We must have no tinkering! No pandering to sentiment! No regard for susceptibilities! We must be ruthless, relentless, and remorseless."
- Jan Morris
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
Are you fast enough?
I go to Amazon to check a book and I see this.
Talk about using technology to redefine the game of expectations. Spelling out 18 hours and 25 minutes is real gutsy!!! And I can't even get weekly movement report in my island full of turtles!
Talk about using technology to redefine the game of expectations. Spelling out 18 hours and 25 minutes is real gutsy!!! And I can't even get weekly movement report in my island full of turtles!
VHS is Dead
Two nights ago I watched one of the best documentaries I've ever seen! It was in Discovery Channel entitled Discovery Atlas: China Revealed.
Immediately I tried to look for our old VHS player so I can record the next rerun. There was no need, I was mistaken because you can download it from Torrent.
I'm making this a required viewing for everyone in the office. China is the future! Learn about it but this time, there's no need to read.
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