The Marketing Peg

Interning at a prestigious FMCG really is an eye-opener and made me understand more about the marketing obligations and activities of marketing in Singapore. (I'm actually referring more to those who are working for huge MNCs with the headquarters situated in a country with 4 seasons). "Obligations" is the word used because marketers in Singapore... well... don't really have a lot of say in the marketing mix. For non-marketers, marketing mix means the 4Ps which equate to Product, Price, Promotion and Place. We are mostly told what to do... in a way.. I'll explain. Product I've learned, that when working with a large MNC, there are regulations and guidelines which have to be (strictly?) adhered to. Let's talk about the first P - Product. The headquarters (let's just assume that this is the US for convenience sake) sends you the product that they have come up with - the product is not fully developed yet, of course. Excellent, you get to try it out and g...

I'm sure few have heard the brand Li Ning, especially those in Singapore. But it seems to be a whole different scenario all across the ocean in China. In China, Li Ning is a well known sports brand which is similar to the likes of Nike and Adidas. Ask any Chinese teenager if they know Li Ning, and few would shake their heads. It was initially set up by the famous Chinese gymnast Li Ning, and this sports brand is endorsed by Damon Jones and Shaq O'Neille from NBA. Li Ning, however, is not exactly very globalized yet (judging from the fact that few have heard of it's name here). I was tasked with this project to research on Li Ning a few months ago, and these are some interesting things I discovered. Firstly, the Li Ning logo looks like this the not so famous (yet) Li Ning squirrel tail Now, just compare the above... to this the already very famous Nike swoosh Notice the similarity? Now, on to the slogan... Li Ning's slogan is Anything is Possible and another famous spor...

*spoiler alert* Watched Sex in the City with my boyfriend recently, and I came out totally feeling happy and thinking hard after the show. If you haven't watched it, YOU MUST WATCH IT!! It's one of the best movies EVER. =) 5 stars by me. Happy, because after watching 6 seasons of the drama on DVD I finally get to see Carrie marry Mr Big (this is not exactly a spoiler because it's been over advertised in its various trailers anyway ;p). And there were many happy endings in the movie as well related to the other 3 girls which I also love. Samantha became her cool single self, Miranda made up with Steve and Charlotte had a beautiful baby girl :) However, this movie also got my thinking real hard. I mean like these 4 girls are really tight... and I mean.. R E A L L Y... TIGHT. They can talk about anything in the world, and their friends will accept the fact. I mean, yea, they do fight and get angry with one another, but after some apology, the matter will just blow over and the...

There has always been talks about how fishermen leverage on the huge market for the consumption of sharks' fins and throw the dying shark back to the water after snipping off their fins, aka "live-finning". In JC, I've even watched a documentary endorsed by our very own Stephanie Sun (Sun Yan Zi) about the harm that this is causing on those sharks and other marine life. All these news left me a bit apprehensive and I even swore to lay off shark's fin. However, a few years ago, I remember hearing from my mum, after she had read an article on the Straits Times that we can eat shark's fin without guilt . An excerpt below: However, these sensational pictures obscure the fact that many within the industry are against such practices. The vast majority of fins in the market are taken from sharks after their death. This is the preliminary finding of a review made with the assistance of shark experts, fishermen, captains of big fishi...

I think some of you have already seen the video of the Raffles Place Ghost being uploaded to youtube (with more than 260,000 views to date). If you haven't seen it yet, you can view it below. Many who've viewed the video were very curious on the authenticity of it. Below are some comments of those who kinda believed the footage: who ever post this video, do tell me which area is this..i mean which area of the building is this.. gosh. i had a rude shock. not sure if this is real but it is very scary. raffles place can get quite eerie at night especially when it is very quiet. seems real leh... to me at least. coz maybe i heard alot of scary office ghost stories before. i don't know whether this is real or not lah, but i heard alot of stories from my mum about how during world war 2, a bomb was dropped at raffles place and alot of people died during the war... i don't want to work there!!! :[ And then there are skeptics who doubted the authenticity of the video: there...

Apple appears to have ditched its one-carrier policy for the iPhone following a statement announcing that SingTel, Bharti Airtel, Globe Telecom and Optus had signed an agreement with the company to bring the product to Singapore, India, the Philippines and Australia, later this year. SingTel would not provide any further details but, rival, StarHub said that in Singapore, the agreement was also not exclusive. "We expect all three operators in Singapore would be offering the iPhone by the end of the year," Michael Sim, corporate communications and investor relations for StarHub said. An M1 spokesperson weighed in saying "it will continue to maintain dialogue with Apple" and that its "interest is more in the upcoming 3G model". Apple would only say that it was "excited to be working with SingTel to bring the iPhone to Singapore later this year". "We can't wait to get this revolutionary phone in the hands of even more people around the worl...

We all know how tough it is to attract consumers' attention amongst all other competing advertisements on the streets today. But this one thing never fails - sex appeal. And HBO Asia has used just that... well, sorta. HBO Asia has launched an advertising campaign, featuring a red brassiere hanging over its bus shelter creatives, for the latest season of Entourage . Around 400 bus shelters will carry the advertisements which feature the cast of Entourage with the slogan, "The Naked Truth of Superstar Life" but only eight will feature the racy brassiere versions. Timmerman & Tan helped with the creative while Mindshare did the media planning. - Marketing Interactive If you wanna catch a glimpse of those racy red bras in action head downtown soon! (my guess is that a couple will be placed in Orchard Road - it only makes sense since it's bustling during the weekends) Campaign ends mid-may. I can't wait to see the reaction of people who pass by those bus shelter...