One Minute Grammar Tips: Verb Tenses All Explained

Has Won? Had Won? Has Been Winning? Had Been Winning?

Have you ever paused in midst of your writing, thinking which verb tenses to use?

Or have you been writing without caring about verb tenses apart from "Simple Present/ Past/ Future Tense" (He wins/ He won/ He will win) and "Present/ Past/ Future Continuous Tense" (He is winning/ He was winning/ He will be winning).

Some might think that it is not important as long as one writes the correct "Present/ Past/ Future Tense"; however, using the wrong verb tenses can change the meaning of the sentence completely.

Check out my "One Minute Grammar Tips: Verb Tenses" chart below, and you will get all your verb tenses right for your next writing.

Loss Leader Strategy - Revisit

It's been a few years since my last blog post and I am glad that I am back into writing. I didn't realised that I would actually fall in love with writing till these few years.

So I am back, and will be sharing short snippets of my random marketing thoughts.

I shall start with my favourite - the fastfood brands.

I walked past KFC just and saw their $2 ice-cream promotion (that includes choice of a topping). To be frank, if you think through, $2 is actually quite worthwhile if you compared to other ice-cream brands in the malls that is at least $4.90 per scoop, but frankly while we love the KFC chicken, I have not seen long queues for their ice-cream? At this point, I know you would have a question mark on top of your head - thinking why am I talking about the topic of KFC's ice-cream when this is not even their core product and what does that got to do with my subject title? I will get to my point soon....

Well we always see long queues at llaollao for my favourite $6.95 sanum, OK, I know comparing it to llaollao might be too far-fetch as llaollao's core product is the yogurt ice-cream, not to mention that it is so pretty, with the novelty factor, etc. But the point I am bringing across is, is price a factor for the queue?

If it is not, then what is? For non-marketers, bunch of reasons listed are eg: novelty, packaging, crowd effect, Instagram opportunity, etc.... But if one pauses and thinks, on the other hand at McDonald's we do sometimes see a queue for their Vanilla Cone (PS: sorry I can't remember the price, I just remember that it's cheap and good) or $1.50 Hot Fudge Sundae.

So what is at work here? Some may say loss leader strategy to attract the crowd into the outlet? I feel it is deeper than that one-dimensional surface. While $1.50 is really worthwhile for an ice-cream, $2 is actually just as good. And on the taste, personally, I do not see a huge difference between the $1.50 one vs the $2 one. We have also concluded that price is not a main factor here for ice-cream, especially when the difference is only $0.50.

I feel the concept here is the effort and how McDonald's has marketed it throughout the years that imprinted to me that the ice-cream (that used to start from $0.50) is very value for money that novelty, packaging, crowd effect, Instagram opportunity, etc somehow doesn't matter and the main purpose of the loss leader is not just to attract crowd into the stores but has in a way imprinted on me that dinning McDonald's overall is very value for money so much so that even when the ice-cream cone price slowly increased over the years, the thought that not just the ice-cream is value-for-money, dining at McDonald's is value-for-money still lingers in me.

It's the same marketing charm we get from McDonald's through their Happy Meals when we were little kids and the Kids Birthday Parties that I attended multiple times but never get to hold one myself - where I keep telling my hubby than when I have kids one day, despite all the new "exciting" themed kids parties venue in the current market, I will definitely have at least one of my kids' birthdays at McDonald's.

Interesting Advertisement - 1

Interesting. Adobe Photoshop.

4 Steps to Wining a Negotiation

Achieving a win-win situation after a negotiation is easier said than done.

Our instinct and nature to outlive others often results in a ‘victorious but bloody’ battle of the wits.

The question - how do we achieve a win-win negotiation then?

The Plan

Though your ultimate goal is to WIN but it is important to recognise that winning does not mean that you must be the winner of every conflict that occurs. You should not push the other party to the ‘wall’ even if you have the upper hand of the situation.

The reason is simple; unless this is the last business dealing you have with your ‘opponents’ and their business networks, else it is not wise to win the battle and lost the war.

The Approach

Realise that the ‘pie’ can be make bigger with other opportunities available. Sometimes, you need to take a step back to weigh the pros and cons of the benefits you can acquire upon letting go.

Why? The decisions that you made will become the talking point of the industry – to be in the top of mind of a referral or a gossipmonger.

The Strategy

Preparation is the key. You need to research and get your facts right before you present your case. You must be aware of your situation and know your odds of winning. Understand the concerns of your ‘opponents’, consider the proposition they will present and work out your stand in the dispute.

There is a Chinese proverb from The Art of War that says 知 己 知 彼 百 战 百 - if you know yourself as well as your enemy, you will come out of 100 battles with 100 victories (Sun and Clavell, 1983).

It is therefore important to understand the views of your ‘opponents’; this is where you gain the advantage of being ahead of them - seeing the complete picture to decide your best business stand for each negotiation.

The Tactic

Set your emotions aside. Do not get caught up with the arguments and emotions of the other party. Having a clam mind gives you the upper hand in thinking logically during the negotiation process. You can then analysis and focus on your ultimate goal - to WIN.

Copyright Ownership and Infringement Issues in the Digital Age (part 2)

Following up from an article I wrote earlier this year (Jan 2011) about digital copyright and infringement issues, I will like to share a local news (by Marketing-Interactive.Com) - Singapore Press Holdings filing a copyright infringement suit against Yahoo in regards to reproduction of news content.

Click here to read the article by Marketing-Interactive.Com.

Career Transition Magazine

I am glad to share the launch of MINDEF's inaugural Career Transition publication. Click here to read on.

Which colour work best for your product and consumer?

Colour is no doubt one of the main factors in design.

The reason? Tracing as patterns though physiological response testing, consumers react differently to different colors. Hence, use of the “correct” colour can send subliminal message to your target audience.

Below is a chart that I found from KISSmetrics (http://blog.kissmetrics.com) that I would like share with you on how colours affects consumers’ buying behaviors.

Click here to expand the chart.

Insights on Talent and Business Management from Channel News Asia’s Asian Business Leaders Series

Earlier this evening, there was a repeat telecast of Channel News Asia’s Asian Business Leaders Series that featured four prominent businessmen namely, founder of Wallace Business Forum, Mr Peter Wallace; CEO of Taiwan Uni-President Group, Mr Lin Chang Sheng; financial guru and co-founder of the Quantum Fund, Mr Jim Rogers; and CEO of YCH Group, Dr Robert Yap.

I like Dr Robert Yap’s interview on talent deployment and management as well as business management and operations, and I will like to share some of the insights I gained from watching this interview.

Talent Deployment and Management
Dr Yap pointed out YCH Group’s focus in creating efficient teams and developing effective teamwork.

He mentioned that diversity is the key to the success of an organisation. Each individual should recognise and acknowledge his/ her strengths and weaknesses. The tactic to bring out the best performance of an individual is to concentrate on developing his/ her strengths and balance his/ her weaknesses by working with other team members.

“In this company we are allowed to make mistakes. We encourage our staff to try, and because they try, they inevitably will make mistakes now and then,” Dr Yap shared on the entrepreneurship spirit in YCH Group during the interview, “If they make mistakes, support them, but make sure they don’t repeat the same mistake. And that’s the only way you can create entrepreneurship.”

I share his business insights. An organisation should allow its employees to innovate. One who does not, can no doubt reduce mistakes from its employees, but, this would hinder its business growth and affect its work culture. It is important for organisations to realise that it is the entrepreneurship spirit of an individual that drives devotion to work and improvement in work processes.


Business Management and Operations
In the interview, Dr Yap brought out the essence of adopting an open work environment – (1) a fenestration area for discussions (or arguments/ quarrels at times) with boards to pen down the contents and processes; and (2) having direct accessibility to senior management. This has facilitated the success of YCH Group in delivering a process-oriented approach while getting their employees to work towards common goals.

I really like the idea of having a fenestration area for discussions - to draw out objectives, ideas, and processes. This provides a clear approach to mark out common ideas and to sieve out disagreements for brain storming, analysis, and discussions in forming a common agreement for the business or project. This will also provide both the business and employees a clear, consistent, and result-oriented approach in working effectively and efficiently towards the business direction.

Lastly, Dr Yap shared his vision for YCH Group with Channel News Asia, “It is very important to create the environment to push people in front so that they can feel hungry. As long as you see the direction, you have the conviction and the guts to say this is where you want to go, you push – and that’s what vision is about.”

Indeed, one would never know his/ her full potential unless he/ she push for it.

facebook vs Google - search engine

facebook
facebook is the current buzz word in town. It is amazing to see how fast this platform grows in dominating and changing our social conversations.

Web users (the consumers) are now using the term "facebook me" to represent social interactions such as photo sharing, messaging, etc - combined with other popular social functions like tagging, posting comments, aps, fan pages, etc, facebook has huge potential in further developing its functions and uses.

It is obvious that there is no stopping of this social platform in dominating the new internet era. It is popular, it is "the" communication gateway, and you are regarded as living in another era if you don't have it.


Google
On the other hand, Google is currently one of the most powerful search engines in the world. We are so used to the word "Google" that we name the action of searching things online as "Google it" - even though we might not actually be "Googling".


So, what threat does facebook pose on Google?
The threat here arises from the trend of our changing communication style - there is an exponential increase in information exchanged through social media platforms.

Consumers now prefer to get information from facebook, twitter, Linkedin, etc. In the case of facebook, is not just a product (an application), nor is it a lifestyle, facebook is slowly becoming part of its users' life - just like the concept of mobile phone where you can't work, function, or live without it.

facebook also changes the way organisations obtain market intelligence - market trends, consumers’ buying behaviors, perceptions of organisations’ products and services, etc. Organisations are forced to shift their focus from flanking defence and attack against competitors to hearing the voices of their target audiences, knowing their consumers’ wants, and engaging their consumers on a personal level through facebook.

The increasing flow of information in social media platforms like facebook means that consumers and orgnisations require a search engine that can perform a comprehensive search in these platforms. Though Google is the king of search for the internet, Google is unable to search through the intranet - and, facebook is a giant intranet. Hence, Google is not able to give its users a complete search result.

Currently, facebook does not have a comprehensive search function for all its users’ posts. With the growing popularity of facebook, an adverse impact to Google’s business model will occur if one day facebook decides to undertake a full launch into the search engine market.

The New Japanese Consumers – The “Herbivore” Boys

Consumers’ lifestyles and demands change with the environment and economy. Since Japan's economic bubble burst in the early 1990s, its economic stagnation (the Lost Two Decades) has altered its men's behavior where they have no wish to follow the corporate footsteps of their fathers – the pro-active, ambitious, workaholic, corporate salary-men.

The “Herbivore” Boys are the new men in Japan. Also known as soushoku danshi - literally translated as "grass-eating boys", they are Japanese men in their 20s and 30s who show a lack of interest in romance and sexual relationships, and they believe in having a quieter and less competitive lifestyle.

Surveys from various resources have showed that there are an estimated 60 percent of men in their early 20s and at least 42 percent of men aged 23 to 34 who considered themselves as “grass-eating men”. This has sparked a nationwide concern as they are seen as deepening the two biggest challenges faced by the Japanese society – (1) the declining birth rate and (2) the lowered level of consumer spending.

So what implication does these “new consumers” brings to B2C firms?

Forget about targeting corporate men. This shift in the Japanese men’s buying behaviour could be of a permanent level (based on the raising numbers of self-acknowledged soushoku danshi), and businesses are challenged to evolve in order to meet the needs and expectations of this group of consumers.

With the absence of material extravagance in this new generation, businesses who once solely depend on their brand names to drive consumers’ aspirations for their products have to find new means to push their products - eliminating the once importance factor of material possessions. Perhaps the re-positioning of products as lifestyle commodities for personal interests and bonding would attract this generation of self-fulfilling and family-and-friends-focused consumers. Understanding their buying behaviours and spending habits - their preference towards services than goods, businesses can perhaps look into providing their consumers engaging experiences with the brand in extending the consumers’ value of their purchases.

Though the “Herbivore” Boys poses a negative impact on Japan’s economy for established status products like cars and alcohol, this change in consumers’ demands could potentially spin-off new business opportunities - with this new generation of consumers willing to spend more on services than products, there is a market potential for growth of services businesses in Japan.

Copyright Ownership and Infringement Issues in the Digital Age

Whether you are an individual or a business owner, it is important to understand copyright ownership and infringement issues in protecting your digital work and in publishing online contents to the public.

So, what is copyright?

Copyright is one of the common types of intellectual property, and Intellectual property (IP) is defined as a property that derives from the work of the mind or intellect; specifically : an idea, invention, trade secret, process, program, data, formula, patent, copyright, or trademark or application, right, or registration relating thereto (Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.).

Though copyright does not protect words, phrases, and logos that are used in business to identify the source of goods and/or services (as what trademark does), copyright protects the way facts, ideas, systems, or methods of operation are expressed.

Copyright Ownership
Hence, the copyright law can protect your personal or business digital works like literary, publication, art, design, photo, music, computer programme, film, etc - enabling you, the copyright owner to allow or restrict personal and commercial usage of your work.

These restrictions may come in the form of putting up terms and conditions or implementing access control (eg: password protection, disallowing copy/ download, etc) for the use of your contents, digital watermarking, etc.

Copyright Infringement
The digital age together with the establishment of social media platforms have driven the increase of content creation in/ for the Internet. With ease of uploading and downloading contents from the Internet with the click of a button, one has to take note of the related online IP issues when using copyright works.

Some users assume that it is ok to use others’ copyright works for internal business engagement. However, it is necessary to seek permission or purchase the contents from the copyright owners when using copyright works for both internal and external business engagements/ operations.

Even for personal use, one has to take note of the terms and conditions before downloading or uploading the copyright materials.

When purchasing copyright contents, one has to be aware of the stated terms and conditions by the content owners on the applicable limitations (eg: to verify if the materials purchased are royalty-free) and exceptions (eg: to verify if the materials purchased can be distributed in the online channels you plan to use) for usage of the contents.

New Challenges with the Raise of Social Media Platforms
Though copyright law disallows users to re-publish copyright contents, the surge of social media platforms poses a great challenge for copyright owners to protect their works. The exponential increase of social network users makes it difficult for copyright owners to monitor the illegal sharing of copyright contents. Moreover, site owners like YouTube, Facebook, rapidshare, etc have protected themselves with terms and conditions and disclaimer clauses from their user generated contents.

On the other hand, as a content owner, if your intention is to use social media platforms for viral marketing,you have to consider on how or to what extend do you allow the re-publications of your contents by social network users.

My thoughts on Jack’s Place’s campaign - Taste the Canadian Difference

The fun facts of Canada captured my attention when I dined at Jack’s Place yesterday.





The Ad Header- Taste the Canadian Difference
Even though the headline, “Taste the ??? Difference” is not a new concept; it is a good choice as this is the sub-header used by the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s website (http://www.ats-sea.agr.gc.ca/info/info-can-eng.htm) to promote the quality of Canadian food products.

However, I feel that the Ad could have make more of an impact if it highlights the Canadian Feast as a joint promotion of Jack’s Place with the High Commission of Canada (stated in Jack’s Place website: http://www.jppepperdine.com/component/content/article/29-highlights-of-the-month/435-taste-the-canadian-difference).


The Ad Body
The text of the Ad focuses on the quality of Canadian food, facts about Canada’s culture, and the food that Jack’s Place serves – in the attempt to draw consumers to the Canadian dinning experience at Jack’s Place.

However, the Ad is quite wordy, and it would have been better if it portrays or relates the unique flavours of Canadian food to the food that Jack’s Place offers for its Canadian Feast.


The Artwork
The artwork is family-oriented with a strong appeal to kids as it fills its reader with a fun and vibrant Canadian experience (the colours of red and white) and it uses animations and graphics to showcase the culture and the map of Canada. But, the question is – the Canadian Feast does not include a kid menu.

So, I was a little confused on the design direction of the Ad though I enjoyed reading the “do you know sections” of the Ad that brought back my childhood memories!


The Call for Action
There is a bundle promotion which presents a good deal to consumers - to get a set meal (that includes soup, dessert, and coffee/ tea) at an additional cost of S$4.50 or S$8.80.

However, what puzzled me is the name of the “set meals”. A “Set Meal” promotion is cheaper than a “Big Saver Meal” promotion. Though the later, does provides the consumer with more choices, the title of Big Saver does not sounds that attractive to me with its higher price.

A consumer who is price conscious would probably choose a cheaper set meal, and one who selects a higher cost set meal would probably place more emphasis on the food options and quality rather than the price. Hence, personally, I would prefer the name “Executive Set Meal” than “Big Saver Meal”.

Amidst the interesting facts, the bright graphics, and the pictures of the sumptuous food, there is a section of the Ad that will definitely capture a consumer’s attention – the Grand Lucky Draw. And, the prize - a bottle of ice wine.

Though, generally natural ice wine is relatively expensive, however, as a consumer, one would have expected a “little” more for a “Grand” Lucky Draw prize. If I may suggest, I think the Ad would be more attractive if the prize is not marketed in the angle of a Grand Lucky Draw, but rather an extension of the diners’ Canadian experience from the good food to the quality wine.

Social Media Marketing - Insights from the National Sales & Marketing Congress 2010

Social media marketing - the “in” thing right now for marketers.

To keep myself abreast with the latest buzz in social media marketing and to gain further insights to the next leap in this industry, I attended the 2-day National Sales & Marketing congress at Carlton hotel organised by Marketing Institute of Singapore.


Insights - Where do I start?

Ok, I shall share my thoughts/ insights gained on the topics on social media marketing.

Importance of SOCIAL Media Marketing
Research shows that only 18% of TV ads generate positive ROI and that consumers are increasingly spending more of their time on the internet in comparison to television. However, organisations are still spending a big bulk of their advertising budget on traditional media.

The impact of internet and social media marketing cannot be ignored by any organisations - whether your business is B2B or B2C as consumers’ time spent on the internet will continue to increase exponentially with the explosion of social media platforms.

Your Organisation’s Needs
Organisations try to keep up with their audience and the evolving communication platforms, and some eagerly engage in social media platforms for the sake of having a presence in the social marketing channels.

Marketers have to set clear objectives and perhaps to consider some of the following factors before embarking on social media marketing:

• The social media channels to select - for B2B vs B2C business?
• Sustainability and engagement – for Sales/ PR/ Branding?
• Continuous consumer engagement – beyond the product launch?

As quoted by Mr Ryan Lim, Founder and Business Director, Blugrapes during the seminar, a successful social media campaign requires quality, quantity, and sustainability.

It is no good starting a social media tool if you're going to abandon it after a few weeks.

Paradigm SHIFT of Power
Social media platforms have “flatten” the way organisation communicates with its consumer. There is a paradigm shift of power from organisations to consumers. Hence, there is a need to shift from communications to conversations with your consumers - from insights, engagements, acquisition, campaigns to advocacy.

Research shows that 78% of consumers trust their peers’ recommendations and only 14% of consumers trust advertisements. It is evident that it is people that drive users’ perceptions of the brand/ products. Hence, the new challenge in marketing is the contents created by people and not the competitors.

As commented by Mr Kalyan Ram Challapalli, Director Strategy, Leo Burnett Singapore, during the seminar, marketers have to understand the shift from “My” Hero to “Me” Hero.

Marketing through consumers’ aspirations to be that “somebody” will no longer work as social media allows consumers themselves to become that “somebody” - with social platforms to post their comments, thoughts, photos, videos, etc and have followers, fanpages, newsfeeds, etc through Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, etc.

The manifest of consumers’ self-satisfaction and attention paranoia has heightened the power of viral marketing. Hence, user engagement and marketing efforts of the brand and products should stretch beyond the campaigns as it is the consumers that drive the experience and the purchase of your products.

What about the ROI of Social Media Marketing?
It is relatively easier to measure ROI in tradition media. As for social media, your fans and followers; re-tweets; site and video views; ratings; and communities are not financial assets reflected on the balance sheet. However, that does not mean investing in social media is valueless, as social media should be treated as a “total value approach”.

Marketers have to recognise that its benefit go beyond simple dollars and cents. We have seen many examples of organisations that reaped the benefits from social media marketing, that includes, having fans loyalty to their brand that led to viral marketing and possible repeat purchases; the ability to cut cost through money saved on media buying; the reduction of operation costs of the call centre operation; etc.

Back to basics - FUNDAMENTALS of Marketing
Yes, social media platforms have shifted the power of marketing to the hands of the consumers. So, do marketers have to change the way we do marketing?

Social media platforms are just tools for marketing. Consider the evolution of marketing tools from print, TVCs, Internet, to social media, the fundamentals of marketing (satisfying the consumers needs, building relationships, enhancing user experiences, etc) since 1950s remain the same.

What’s NEXT? - The Next Leap…Technology has always presented us with new marketing tools and the impact of the evolving technology on marketing is evident.

Mr Haresh Khoobchandani, Chief Marketing Officer, Consumer & Online, Microsoft Asia Pacific, has shared in the seminar on Microsoft’s vision (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQdGvfV4WnU) on creating technologies that allows a seamless connection of various electronics devices.

The technology evolution of electronics devices will open a gate in taking marketing to a whole new level that allows marketers to have a seamless marketing approach for their campaigns.

So what is the next big thing in social media marketing? Mr Manoj Sharma, CEO, ManojSharma.com shared an interest concept, “small minds talk about people; bigger minds talk about events; and the greatest minds talk about ideas”.

It is just like the theory of the blue ocean strategy, but to take an even further step ahead - marketers have to stop trying to keep up with what everyone else is doing and to look beyond the current situation in rethinking and strategising to leap ahead.

Regardless of technology evolution or the next big leap in marketing, to bring our brands and products out of the clutter, noise, and confusion in the market is still the “exciting” challenge that marketers like myself face…

Data sources from http://www.socialnomics.com