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Marketing: It's Just Gotta B' A Good Life

I read a Dilbert's comic strip lately on marketing and it made me laugh. Because well, the perception was spot on! But then again, how true is it?

Many perceive that marketing is all work and no play, but nonetheless, they forgot to perceive something else - how do people perceive what is work? As for starters, my office does not offer unicorn meat, and if it did, "Make mine rare too!" haha. I have attend a number of events in my 2 years of event management and while compiling the list of events I have participated, co-organized and organized, I might say I have enjoyed the networking and free lunches, but behind the curtains, there were screams, blood and tears just to get things perfect, or at least close to it. All in all, after an event, sitting down comfortably in my office seat, I smile and say, "Man, this is gotta be the good life."

List of events:
2009
Formis Solutions Day

National ICT Conference 
2010

Chinese Chamber of Commerce

Docuflo UiTM Event

Sandfil HRCA Event

Nina Incubation Week

SESTECH

World Congress of Accountants (WCOA)

InfoConnect Annual Event "Red is Passion"
1Insurance Framework Event "Make IT Work"
InfoConnect Annual Dinner 
2011
SAP BusinessObjects 4.0 Release Event

SAP for Insurance

FICO Insurance Forum: Claim Your Competitive Advantage
InfoConnect & Visiwan "Achieving Government Transformation through ICM"

National ICT Conference

1st Insurance Summit

The Red Brand Manual

Most of the time, employees wonder what is the use of a brand manual? Is it so that marketing can look like they have done something, apart from their stereotypical lives of partying and enjoying wine at social events? And is there a true purpose of it at all? For those who are clueless about brand manuals, well the answer is that it is used so that other fellow employees would stop asking "What is the font colour for the logo again?". On a larger scale, it also applies to advertising firms, whereby this book will be ultimately, an understanding for them on  what is the brand ABOUT, how the corporate logo MUST look like, and how the brand should FEEL like.

The brand manual below is designed and created from an inspiring course session with ATCEN, the brand training experts. 

define: corporate profile

Corporate Profile, definition:
Concise description which, among other items of information, includes (1) firm's history, (2) number and quality of its human, financial, and physical resources (3) organizational and management structure, (4) past, current and anticipated performance, and (5) its reputation, and the standing of its goods or services.

So, should I say more? :)

Brochures 101

From my days of writing brochures, the first thing I ever knew was to write about the pros' and cons', most of them time making it into the paper-material sales man. Most brochures I have seen most focusing on gibberish with almost 50% are filled with business people smiling or talking in a business meeting. I finish studying the brochure to find in the end "Okay, what did I just read out of this?". I either got bored out of it and blank out through skipping text lines because it focuses on generic advantages or probably got confused with all the IT jargon they were using. And the pictures, ugh!! What's the point of putting a generically white person doing business when we are well, in Malaysia? helloo!! Ok fine, statiscs have shown that puttin a white person on a brochure will subconciously increase your brand into a international level - but however, what other values are there?

So my advice is, write what is necessary and most importantly, write about what people want to know and buy off. After all, they have already taken your brochure because they  NEED it, whether to compare it or scoop dog poop. Time is precious especially if your buyer is of a C-level nature. They want to know what is what, NOW.

And also, try not to waste your money on stock images, because there are always other ways to not only show professionalism but additionally, strengthen your brand image.

The Unconventional Business Card

My sister has always been a baker at heart and has taken this passion into a whole new level - with cake orders scheduled tightly every day she's free, I would say her business is booming! And so she called me one day and told me "I need a business card. I want it to be sweet, different and not so expensive!". My first attempt of designing a square card had her giving me a look like "OMG, are you like my so called "creative" sister!!!" haha, and so I told her "If you want something of nice pansy cutting shapes, its expensive!". My sister pouts and says "But I don't want so expensive". And so I sat down and thought about it, how about this way?

I designed the card to be like a square, however my sister could cut the edges off and punch a whole in the middle - making it into a tag :) It will be beautifully decorated with a thin creamy ribbon to provide the classic sweet look, and I redrew the cupcake to add more pink and at the back, I designed a Ginger man, inspired by who else but Gingy himself from Shrek the movie. I designed Ginger man with an apron and well, one of him.. er.. naked? :) Well, it was the favorite choice and in the end, it was indeed sweet, affordable and of course, unique!

Music Meets Magic

When you meet people who know people who knows more people, I call that the power of business networking. I got this job from knowing a friend, who knows a friend who plays golf with his trainer - and his trainer was well, a part time musician :) Despite being part-time, he sings English, Malay, Japanese, Spanish and sometimes upon request, even Hokkien songs, so it was quite a 'wow' factor for me. Being an international musician, he has decided to hang his golf gloves soon  and join the entertainment industry. His request was to create a simply and classic logo for his band "Music & Magic".

The Smooth Talker

It was after one of my events I have emceed, I walked down the stage whereby a stranger asked me "So, how long have you been in the entertainment industry?". And I said "Hmmm, I work for the IT company". Quite suprised, he said "Owh, I thought you were a professional emcee". I was pretty much on cloud nine. I mean its not everyday, some stranger sing praises right? :) And well, I received some saying "owh, she can do it, she's jacyln". Little did they know, it was easier said than done.

I grew up a chatter box and everyone knew it. But I never got it on to stage, till of course I was in college. It was a beauty pageant, whereby I stepped on to stage - gleaming with pride to see my mom smiling at the front seat, and then it happened - stage fright. Words could not come up, and I started blabbering - it was a nightmare to remember. Well, that is for me, but my family thought it was a good joke to talk about every chinese new year, and possibly any family reunion. And to be honest, nobody knew how it negatively impacted me. Every night, if unfortunately I thought about it - my mind will  constantly replay it over and over again.

And then one day, I took charge of it. I went to my mom and said "Look mom, I am going to join another beauty pageant". And well, she laughed and told my family, which then laughed at me. On the day of the competition, my mom being the 'mom that need to be there to be a good mom' reluctantly came to support. There, I took a deep breath and told myself "This is it. I know what I need to do". I stepped on stage and delivered my speech smoothly and even managed a laugh or two in the crowd. My mom was, well speechless. At the semifinal round, my mom called her friends and my family for support. They were reluctant too but well, as I delivered my speech, I could practically see their jaws dropped to the floor. My sister, a former beauty queen said "oh dear, I need to find a new place for my trophies".

And so, after winning the semifinals by 70% vote, someone asked me "You're a born speaker". I tell them "No, I'm not. I learn that we tend to gain everything when we say something, and tend to lose everything when we don't". And that was the motto I live by every time I am on or off stage. 

And as random as it may go, I was inspired to write this story because I met individuals at the National ICT Conference event held at Putrajaya International Convention Centre (07-08/07/2011) :) Most of them said "Perempuan ni... pandai cakap! / This girl, she's a smooth talker!" 

Passion Makes Wonders

It was one of my interviews which I remembered saying "I am passionate about branding". And they did not seem too convinced and I always wondering why. Back those days, I keep telling everyone that I love marketing, the very essence of it - from making something out of nothing. And then it hit me, its not about just saying it, its also about doing it.

I started work in a very Chinese company, and use to be at the pantry self-whining at the ugly ideas my management wanted. And they just sent me to programs which they feel that was 'right'. So what does it mean if you send me to a Social Media Seminar, when you block the access to FB? Or sending me to design classes to explore my creative side when you want a full-on in-your-face advertisement? It was those days when I feel, damn.. my life sucks.

It was one of those days, when my company signed me up for the MDeC Capability Development Program for Branding. And I thought "Ok, another course". And then they told me its a 6 months course. Great. "A 6 months course". And now, if you asked me - I would tell you "I wished it was longer!". It was a Program which taught me to find myself again, to find my passion again - and to turn back to my company and said "We have to do something!!"

With much obstacles and resistant to change, I with the help of many enthusiastic colleagues managed to turn a whole 360 degree re-branding of my organization. It was not easy, but the end results can only be summarized in one word: AMAZING.

Thank you MDeC and ATCEN for the wonderful program!

As one of the highest achievers for the program! :)

As an 'additional' prize, we got featured in MDeC's magazine :)

My colleague was like "Ekkk!! I should have worn make up!"

 Picture Perfect for The Edge Malaysia

Our awesome trainer, ATCEN

And the driver for the program, MDeC also featured us online :)

Now, when someone ask me about branding, they will know how much I love branding. According to one, "It's the way I spoke, the enthusiasm felt, and the little sparkles in my eyes".Stay tuned for detailed posts of how we ran our marketing plan and became what we are today!

"The Secret Christmas Mission" Campaign

I believe it takes many kinds of people to make this world. Some are clever, some are not while there are the rich and poor, ugly or pretty. Same goes with charity. As I see some might like only kids, while some love helping the elders, I believe .. why not do a charity that no one can judge?

Thus, last year Christmas, I have decided to organize a "Secret Christmas mission" which is not a usual charity drive. It cannot be judged as we all do not know what it is.

Experience Charity with your hearts, not your eyes.

Experience Charity without Barriers for Christmas.

That was the tagline.

Some signed up willingly, while some signed up for curiosity.

While those who were unable to go, were given a chance at charity too - through donating items to a box which I labeled "The Box of Hope".

A week before the charity event, they receive an anonymous letter.

In it, they find out "what's the secret about"

Upon opening the letter, they will be showered by fake snow, cheekily inserted by me.

The first letter is topped by a charitable quote and kind words of thanks.

The volunteer will then unveil the secret at the next page.

During this charity, all volunteers will be given a nick name to provide an element of "fun". 

This name will be used during the entire event :)

Elves are the helpers
Reindeers are the drivers! :)

Prior to starting this charity, I asked "So what do you think". 

Most said  "Why are we helping the homeless?", "They are lazy"
"They should get a job or something"

That was before.

Group Picture of the Volunteers

 Us carrying the Box of Hope!

Picture with Kechara Member, Justin

and the next, was hard-but-exciting labour!

 

Diner Dash Time!

And the crowd keeps coming :)

And a few playful moments

At the end of the day, I asked again "So is it alright?"

And they said

"I always thought homeless people are bums. But after today, I have realized that most of them are of elderly age and have worked very hard during their time. Some sacrifice their life saving for their children education, only to be shunned and kicked out of their homes. Most were not accepted to work as they were too old. And some, were just there looking for company"

"I have never done this type of charity before, but after this 

if there's another charity event - i am in!"

"It brings us down to earth and lets us know that we should appreciate life
and not waste food!"

So I guess, it did not turn that bad after all :) And to me, that was a plus for my charity event. It's not about "corporate responsibility" all the time trying to make a company look good, but to me, what is most important is that we manage to make a change in other lives - including our own.

If you are interested to donate to Kechara, please find out more here.

Fresh & New - FastLights Studios

A logo designed made for a friend who have just launched his new recording studio :)

I have always admire entrepreneurs and decided I help out a little.

 

The first design batch - of horror!

After morning coffee and putting my thinking hat on - wa lah

 

My friend wanted simplicity and also darker colours to not only gel with his working environment but to provide a "professional" emotional attachment to the brand. From there, I worked on black and white, and coloured the word "studios" grey to put more emphasize on the company name. As for the logo, it is an abstract version of a lightning - because to me, what is fast and has light?? - LIGHTNING! :) Then played around with the colours and my friend picked his fav:

Thanks FastLights Studios for the opportunity!

If  you are interested to know more about recording services, click here.

Insurance Ads Time!

I cringe on the fact that some advertisement just put a smiling face with a tagline, and a helluva lots to read. An example would be the ad created below:

Working with various of people in my life, I tend to know and understand each manager's behaviour and characteristics. And from there, I notice what they like and what they don't. Thus, this ad was created. However, their comment was "The picture just ain't right".

Then they choose this picture. Hm. Doesn't look anyhow different but er. okay?

Their concept and experience in working in their field- they simply put it as the girl is smiling, and it attracts them to read the ad. And they told me "it feels real". To me, I don't quite agree but then again, I can't always agree that I am always right. And moreover, they represent my target market. So how can it go wrong? :)

Another design done.

They said "It lacked human emotions" lol

Ah, how I wish I could have a budget for this :)

Imagine the wonders!

Are You Digitized?

I have created this company ad for an upcoming government event, "National ICT Conference 2011" which is themed at "Malaysia's Digital Transformation for Global Competitiveness". This ad is created in the color blue - as from research targeted with the target market, and its tagline to complement the event's theme.

Do visit this event:

National ICT Conference 2011

7-8 July 2011, Putrajaya International Convention Centre

The Office (Signboard Series)

After the success of implementing an office signboard, my company requested for another mini one to be placed by the main entrance. The design is as below:

Office Level Signage

Why so serious?

After undertaking my copy writing course, I believed I should put it to some good use - and what better time it is when we needed posters for a particular event! :) I might add that doing posters all professionally does portray ourselves as professionals, but then again, "why so serious?"

Here are my creations with a little added dose of espresso!

Web-tastic!

Some feel that websites are just meant to be pretty. Much true to that but nowadays, its not only looking pretty that's important (what's in it for the viewer), but what information can we derive from it to make ourselves more visible and more competitive (what's in it for us).

This is the website I came to see when I started working in a company. Looks pretty good if you ask me, however built fully in flash - it was not really friendly on my internet bandwidth. And that's not all flash s not friendly too - they seem to wage war with search engines too!

Did I mention you can play "scroll the scroll bar" on the main page? :)

Approximately 4 scrolls after that, we figured - the website is set for a change!

With branding kept in mind- our website is complete! :)

 

Informational. SEO Friendly. And Awesome :)

Work done by my webbie, Noor & I

After Effects & Video Making

A recent request by my solutions partner, as she required a video for a advertisement space in Akademi Seni Budaya & Warisan Kebangsaan (ASWARA). The video is aimed to provide my product's brand value: simplicity, information and professionalism, produced by my colleague, Noor & I :)

Sell It Like It's Worth

As of my previous post, most people brand their packages because it is their image, their brand, their solution. But what happens if it is not? Another problem faced when I was working was that my company were also selling solutions from the US. And as our US partners practices the "green concept", all software solutions are downloaded by us, and given to our client.

It was one of those days as I was walking pass a sales person, that I realized him rushing to meet a client with a plastic CD sleeve on his hand. I asked him "So what's that?". He said "Owh, its just a solution we sold to a client". And to my amazement, it was not just any solution, it was a "One million dollar worth solution" - in a plastic CD sleeve worth 50 cents.

Of course, with a sporting CEO who was willing to change and with the same concept in mind, we were able to introduce a new cost-effective packaging for the array of solutions: