Asher Wen

Strategist, Marketer, Nerd

Prevalent pain points for eCommerce

It feels good to finally be able to work on a laptop again!  The past few days has been hell.  I never thought how restless I would be without my device of choice.  Somehow a tablet or a smart phone just cannot replicate the tactile feeling of typing and seeing things on a screen for me.  Is this a sign of inadaptibility that I used to see in older folks?

My 5 year old MacBook Pro recently died an untimely death due to an unfortunate spillage accident.  I was lucky that only the motherboard was fried, but my hard disk drive was left fortunately unscathed.  As such, I managed to get back all my data and some system applications as well. Looks like I’m not going to give up on design as yet! [Read more…]

THE SATURDAY BRIEF // 06.07.13

The Saturday Brief

Here’s some marketing news that you might have missed this week on The Saturday Brief. It looks like there are quite a few pieces centred around skincare this week in Singapore, with some tech news coming globally!

1. Does Tigerair’s New Logo Resemble Scoot’s?
Marketing Interactive
Tigerair unveiled its new branding earlier this week. Marketing Interactive thinks it looks a little too close to Scoot’s, with good reason. With both airlines being affiliates to Singapore Airlines, I wonder what is the strategic purpose of maintaining two different budget airlines? I would have wanted to write a post about the new brand, but I just didn’t manage to find the time. Perhaps next week!

2. Laneige Goes On Social Media Push
Marketing Interactive
Laneige has appointed Blugrapes as its new social media agency after a closed pitch. With the skincare market favouring Korean and Japanese brands these days, it would be interesting to see what Laneige pushes out in the coming months!

3. Japan’s Kanebo recalls cosmetics over skin stain fears
ChannelNewsAsia
Speaking of skincare, Japanese Kanebo has recalled 54 skin whitening products over fears that a compound in its products, 4HPB, would cause “white stains” on your skin. Some of the products recalled are also being sold in Singapore but has not been related to any complaints locally.

4. Shiseido Launches Ibuki
The Moodie Report
If this is old news for The Moodie Report, having reported this last month, it’s new news for Singapore. Shiseido launched its Ibuki skincare range this past week here on our island with a flipbook campaign. Ibuki, literally meaning “New Breath” is aimed at the elusive young audience of 25-34 year old millenials.

Coincidentally, a Japanese-associated product is just what we recommended for Shiseido in our Final Year Project, what with the Asian trend of skincare favouring products that are made and formulated for Asian skin. Glad to see that they took our advice! (teehee!)

5. Almost every major consumer electronics manufacturer is now working on a smart watch
Quartz
Everyone is talking about smart watches nowadays, with Sony having released its version of the future last week. Companies are rushing to jump onto the bandwagon that got started on a rumour that Apple is producing its version of an iWatch. Since we know that Apple is never one to pioneer a new device, but follows up with innovative ways of using existing technology, it would be interesting to see how all these unfolds when Apple announces its line-up of new products this Fall.

6. Apple Fashions a New Position for CEO of Yves St Laurent as it Eyes Wearable Future
Brand Channel
This is pretty interesting news: A fashion house CEO as VP in a Tech company. This probably gives us a hint as to what Apple has in store as its next big thing. I think it will definitely be wearables as everyone is guessing, but somehow I think it might not be an iWatch that everyone is expecting. I, for one, would be disappointed if it were a mere watch…

7. How Instagram’s CEO Kevin Systrom Is Making Good On Facebook’s Billion-Dollar Bet
Fast Company
This interview with CEO Kevin Systrom gives us an idea of what he thinks about how Instagram should monetize itself. I am glad that he is not trying to force banners or paywalls on our throats like say, YouTube or Facebook. The idea of having ads enhance the user experience is a great one. Have a read.

8. Motorola Unveils Patriotic Ad For MOTO X Smartphone Just In Time For Independence Day
Fast Company
As we all know, it’s Independence Day over in the United States. Motorola has rolled out its first ad campaign since being acquired by Google, and it appeals to the patriotism of Americans, urging them to “buy local” with the tag line, “Designed by You. Assembled in the USA”. This highlights the background of both Google and Motorola being U.S.-made companies. Would patriotism work in the smartphone market though, with Apple and Samsung being the two perennial giants?

9. Nike Celebrates 25 Years of Just Do It
Brand Channel
It is quite something for a slogan to last for 25 years. This is especially true for apparel, where fashions come and go like the win. That’s why it’s a particular coup for Nike to have clung on to its slogan for so long. It is, of course, world famous. And it doesn’t seem like it is going anywhere.

10. When You Talk To A Lamp Post And It Talks Back: Smart Cities Get Playful
FastCo Create
Finally, I leave you an interesting article from FastCo Create about smart cities. The Hello Lamp Post project allows anyone to talk to urban objects in Bristol through SMS. This is possibly a peek into how cities of the future could be like, when such technology is applied at a wider scale. Would you want to talk to your lamp post?

THE SATURDAY BRIEF // 22.06.13

The Saturday Brief
It’s that time of the week again, for THE SATURDAY BRIEF! Time passes really fast doesn’t it?

While we are enduring the haze here in Singapore, let’s take a quick look at what we missed in Marketing news around the world this week.

 

1. Haze Prompts Creativity From Companies in Singapore
MAJOR:MARKETING!

This week was all about the haze, haze, and more haze. From Singapore at least. Find out what companies are doing to capitalize on the bad weather in order to build their brands or to sell their wares (the latter is probably a bad idea, frankly).

 

2. Apple Finds Its Footing Again With Evocative Film About Third-Party iOS Apps
Ad Freak

Apple shows consumers what its iPad can do with a long-form video. It’s not about selling more, it’s about meaning more.

 

3. On Heels Of Countless Famous Collaborations, Converse Launches “The Simpsons” Sneakers
Time

We are seeking more and more collaborations across brands, both from onscreen and off.  The Simpsons are coming alive in your Converse sneakers this time.  Isn’t it ironic how this is kind of a reverse product placement?

 

4. Researchers Explain How Brands Make You Fall In Love
FastCo Create

Now we can finally find out why we can’t get enough of Coke!

 

5. Microsoft To Reverse Xbox One Policies After Fan Revolt
Forbes

About time! Microsoft is going to allow you to play games from your friends, and without an Internet connection too.  I guess there are only very few brands who can pretend the competition doesn’t exist, and get away with it.

 

6. P&G Hosts Massive Everyday Effect Giveaway Event in New York City
Brand Channel

I would be uncomfortable with this normally because I always thought the idea of a House of Brands approach was to make lessen the power of the corporate brand.  In this case, however, P&G did a great job in showing New Yorkers how its products improve their every day lives.  They need that awareness too, seeing how they didn’t do too well last year.  Now, COME TO SINGAPORE!

 

7. Apple Wants to Drive Future of Infotainment, but Will Car Brands Move Over?
Brand Channel

Never one for standing still, Apple now wants to own the car infotainment market. Would auto companies let it? From what we read from Ford, it seems that most consumers still prefer traditional knobs and dials over touchscreens in their cars. We’ll see how this goes, Apple.

 

8. At Cannes, Brands Find Themselves Redefining the Boundaries of Advertising
Brand Channel

It was the Cannes Lion Festival of Creativity last week! If you missed out, check out this summary from Brand Channel. Also, you can go to the Cannes’ Lion website to find out more about the amazing campaigns! Advertising never looked less itself.

 

9. Introducing Video on Instagram
Instagram

Now all the selfies and food shots would be able to move… erm. Yay? But honestly, this is a better offering than Vine, I feel. By virtue of the fact that it is built to be shared on an existing platform. Not much of a stretch to use it.

 

10. Transgender Marketing: 12 Campaigns That Defy Sexual Stereotyping
TIME

Interesting look at how marketing has evolved. We are no longer “targeting” traditional segments. With big data and social media, more of these will follow,where we break down stereotypes.

THE SATURDAY BRIEF // 15.05.13

The Saturday Brief

The Saturday Brief brings to you Marketing news from around the Internet in case you were living in a hole this past week.

This week was all about technology with Apple’s WWDC and the E3 happening earlier in the week.  Here’s the TOP 10 Marketing stories this week that you might has missed on the Internet.

  1. Apple Enchants Once Again With iOS7 and Mac Pro
    MAJOR:MARKETING!
  2. How Sony May Have Won E3 With the PlayStation 4
    TIME Tech
  3. Facebook Adds Twitter-Like Hashtags
    Forbes
  4. Here’s what businesses can learn from the brand currently known as Kanye West
    Forbes
  5. Too Little, Too Late? Abercrombie Sponsors Anti-Bullying Scholarships
    Brand Channel
  6. To Celebrate 150 Years, Perrier Re-Issues Warhol Designs
    FastCo Design
  7. Interbrand Releases Top 100 Global Green Brands 2013
    Interbrand
  8. Mondelez Enters Coffee War with Pods for Rival Nespresso Machine
    Brand Channel
  9. For Consumer Brands, Asia Is The New Peoria
    Forbes
  10. Apple introduces bold ‘designed by Apple in California’ message
    Brand Republic

What do you think about the news this week?  Will Apple be able to win back the hearts of consumers with their new iOS?  Or is it too little, too late?  Leave your comments below!

Apple enchants once again with iOS 7 and Mac Pro

iOS 7 with a new interface that is not too foreign
iOS 7 with a new interface that is not too foreign

Apple has been under attack lately on multiple fronts, from patent wars to tax issues. Wall Street analysts have also cast doubt on whether the company can innovate new and attractive products again with the demise of the great Steve Jobs.

It may be too soon to say, and we may yet hear naysayers come up with more things to hate in the coming days, but I believe that this WWDC has shown that Apple still has its mojo. Many of the innovations here are things that we will use and appreciate rather than frivolous functions for the sake of.

Apple has proven once and again that it has the ability to enchant and capture the imagination of its users. I believe that is because they know exactly WHY they are in the business – designing for customers rather than for themselves to shine or for a visual aesthetic that a lot of other company are still stuck at.

With WWDC, Apple has also updated the Mac Pro.  Long overdue in my opinion.  It looks gorgeous, radically different from any other desktop.  I wonder why no one has thought of this before?  Maybe my next Mac will be a Pro…

What do you think? Write your comments about what whether Apple has done enough to win you back.