Point of view
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
One thing I've learned in Marketing is that you always have to look from the other person's perspective. You'll be amazed at what they're looking at.
Joshua Johnson mailed me this a couple of days ago:
posted by sam @ 3:49 AM,
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A series of interesting findings
I've just downloaded and read through P&G's 2006 Annual Report, and I must say it's quite impressive. The more I read about them, the more respect I have for this company. I just realized it's not very clever of me to write on your blog that you're thinking of starting a burger business when you're applying for a high stake job (they could be reading this even as we speak!). Oh well, it's just a contingency plan. Better to be prepared for anything right?
On a lighter note, I just love marketing humor/glitches:
- Coors put its slogan, "Turn it loose," into Spanish, where it was read as "Suffer from diarrhea."
- Clairol introduced the "Mist Stick," a curling iron, into German only to find out that "mist" is slang for manure. Not too many people had use for the "manure stick".
- Scandinavian vacuum manufacturer Electrolux used the following in an American campaign: Nothing sucks like an Electrolux.
- The American slogan for Salem cigarettes, "Salem-Feeling Free", was translated into the Japanese market as "When smoking Salem, you will feel so refreshed that your mind seems to be free and empty."
- When Gerber started selling baby food in Africa, they used the same packaging as in the US, with the beautiful baby on the label. Later they learned that in Africa, companies routinely put pictures on the label of what's inside, since most people can't read English.
- An American T-shirt maker in Miami printed shirts for the Spanish market which promoted the Pope's visit. Instead of "I saw the Pope" (el Papa), the shirts read "I saw the potato" (la papa).
- In Italy, a campaign for Schweppes Tonic Water translated the name into "Schweppes Toilet Water."
- Pepsi's "Come alive with the Pepsi Generation" translated into "Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the grave," in Chinese.
- When Parker Pen marketed a ballpoint pen in Mexico, its ads were supposed to say "It won't leak in your pocket and embarrass you." However, the company mistakenly thought the spanish word "embarazar" meant embarrass. Instead the ads said that "It wont leak in your pocket and make you pregnant."
- The name Coca-Cola in China was first rendered as Ke-kou-ke-la. Unfortunately, the Coke company did not discover until after thousands of signs had been printed that the phrase means "bite the wax tadpole" or "female horse stuffed with wax" depending on the dialect. Coke then researched 40,000 Chinese characters and found a close phonetic equivalent, "ko-kou-ko-le," which can be loosely translated as "happiness in the mouth."
- Also in Chinese, the Kentucky Fried Chicken slogan "finger-lickin' good" came out as "eat your fingers off."
- When General Motors introduced the Chevy Nova in South America, it was apparently unaware that "no va" means "it won't go." After the company figured out why it wasn't selling any cars, it renamed the car in its Spanish markets to the Caribe.
Did you know that the Red and White Santa Claus that we see now on the TV and the streets was an image created by the Coca-Cola Company? Before Coca-Cola came up with their ads, all Santa Claus were either Black/White or Green/White. Though I don't believe in the jolly old Santa, I do admire the marketing genius of the jolly old company.
(The image that made Santa red and white)
Findings taken from Aha!Jokes and BuildingBrands
posted by sam @ 1:13 AM,
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Coming to the wedding near you
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
From my previous post 79% (the last I saw it) voted for me to be a wedding singer.
Oh my goodness! This is absurd!Reality check: The majority of the time I "practice" singing is in the shower. The only proper breathing exercise I do is when I choke on some food that's stuck down my throat!
On the other hand, I'm seriously considering starting a burger business. Start small due to limited resources then grow to franchise it, that's if if P&G turns me down. Haven't really applied to many companies yet, just targeting those that appeals to me now.
Oh, speaking of P&G it ain't that easy to get a job there. It seems I have to sit for some maths and english test then endure a whole day assessment/interview, that's if I pass the paper test first. They did send me a practice test to get use to the format of the paper test. It's not that hard, could answer all the maths question correctly just the comprehension part that got me a little thinking. Want to try it? Perhaps the only thing that's making it hard is time constraint! You've got about a minute to answer each question. Just have to make sure my mind doesn't fall asleep EARLY Saturday morning. Pray for me! :D
Thought of the day: I've been meeting up with my friends and asking them about their working life, It seems those who spent some time relaxing and taking time off after graduating (at least 3 months or more) tend to get a higher paying job and higher job satisfaction compared to those who rush off to work the moment after graduating. Hmm... I wonder...
posted by sam @ 9:46 AM,
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Choices
Saturday, November 18, 2006
Oh well, keeping a blog alive isn't as easy as it sounds. With so much else going on, you wonder what can you say here that will make a difference.
Since I just moved back home to KL leaving behind my second home in Melaka, I've been contemplating what my next move should be. I always wanted to start a business but the lack of capital (not good to start a new business with a huge debt) and lack of experience has caused me to look elsewhere for it and soooooo ... get a job! The way I see it I think the business part will only come in several long years down the road.
This are me options:
P&G called me up one fine day telling me I've passed their online test which I didn't know was a test by itself and asked to come on by their office and sit for further assessment and all. Oh yah, P&G is the company behind brands like Gillette, Pantene, Pringles, SKII, Pampers, Whispers, Febreeze, Oral-B, Clairol and a whole lot more! All the brands of which the products and I use and love, well except for Pampers and maybe Whispers :P. Anyway, it's for a management training program thing that they're having where only a selected few are chosen to join their workforce which if I pass would be great! It's like going for classes and training but getting paid for it!
I've been playing around with several burger recipes out of frustration of dry fast food burger patties and up to now I'm liking what I can cook up now (fast and easy as well). Imagine juicy mushrooms blended with cheese bursting out from the middle of patties with every single bite! That's the way burgers should be like!
So what do you think? (remember it's just for fun)
posted by sam @ 2:01 AM,
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Pollock
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Draw your own Pollock.
posted by sam @ 7:10 PM,
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The Author
Samuel Yau
How do you truly know someone? The truth is, you can't. Each person that you come across have a perspective of you that differs from another. So it's entirely up to you on how I am perceived to be
About This Blog
Initially this blog was birthed out of curiosity, on what it would be like to have a blog. To explore the world of entrepreneurship, business, marketing, etc and to jot down my learnings/experience here. As time passes on, the purpose change, the passion change, the person change.