Marketing - Asher Wen

Jan 25 2013

Food For Thought @ Botanic Gardens.

Food For Thought Frontage — Entrance to FFT Botanic Gardens

I have been questioned more than a couple of times recently about the Marketing’s compatibility with morality and ethics. The most common comment that most have about marketeers is, “I am not comfortable with the idea of creating needs and wants for corporate profit”. I personally don’t agree with that statement, and here’s a prime example of why.

Food For Thought (FFT) is a local restaurant with the motto, “Good Food For A Good Cause”. There are currently two outlets, one at 8 Queen Street, and another at the Botanic Gardens at 1 Cluny Road, Basement 1. I have known about FFT since the days when they still had a restaurant at Middle Road, and I was fortunate enough to visit its latest restaurant at Botanic Gardens last week. Let’s take a look, shall we? [Read more…]

Jun 17 2012

Strategy and your brand.

A brand is the outer expression of your company’s proposition, values and strategy. These, of course, might not be mutually exclusive. A brand then, becomes a powerful symbol that communicates what your company is about in a petite package. Conversely, a brand without strong corporate beliefs, direction and commitment behind it becomes nothing but a pretty graphical symbol to consumers and business partners at large. [Read more…]

May 10 2011

Marketing Authenticity: Delores from 7-Eleven

It can be all too easy for Marketing to be broken down into a set of rules that business have to follow for sales to go up: “End your prices with 9s!”, “Have more promotions!”, “Make sure your positioning is razor-sharp!”, “Get your distribution right!”

It can become easy for concepts to become abstract when we read about them. The best way to learn sometimes is really to see examples at work.

In the video I have shared, Delores helped to define that 7-Eleven retail store for its customers. The customers have a real relationship with Delores because of her friendly disposition, and this makes people want to come back for more. What the President of 7-Eleven realised at that point was that it was not the coffee product that was being sold, it was the service of being greeted with a smile in the morning by a friendly face. A small gesture like remembering the names of customers makes a big difference on the traffic and sales for that particular store.

An article in Harvard Business Review wrote about the phenomenon of companies making friendliness a “rule” when serving customers. This means always smiling at the customers, always attending to his needs, etc. When enough of this is done, both the employee and customer would realise that it is manufactured, like what the author in the article discovered. Neither would enjoy that experience very much.

What is required is a sense of authenticity that stems from a genuine desire to serve the customer to the best of the employee’s capabilities. This can and should be built into the brand through hiring practices and educating of such values to employees. This does not mean a list of things to do or not do, but rather what beliefs the brand holds. Expression can be secondary. Delores in our video hits her customers – logically a no-no in customer service.

There needs to be a return of authenticity to business and brands as consumers become increasingly educated on marketing tactics and skeptical of mold-casted customer service.