Ideasabound

I have been living in Asia for 17 years but when it comes to news about Social Media, Digital marketing and usage trends, they are mostly focused around the United States. But it is always a surprise when I have discussions about the most active nations on Social media. They are not the places we think. According to Statista, these are the top 10 most active nations on Social media. Find more statistics at  Statista Even though Facebook usage is very US centric, the US doesn't have the most number of users. In fact, 5 of the top 10 countries are in South and South East Asia. Now how many of those are fake or duplicates is a different story but even if we assume that 5% are fake or duplicates, it still puts the numbers high in this region. When I started working on my company's Philippine operations we were struggling with sales. We were using methods from the US and Japan...countries with long history of direct marketing and great infrastructure. But something was diff...

The swoosh of the Nike logo is a defining logo of an industry and a brand. But does it define the brand? What does the bite out of an Apple mean? What about those tag lines? All you need to make a brand is a logo and a tag line, right? The answer is ... no! These are just the tip of an iceberg. If you are starting a business, don't start with a logo and tag line as this is the final step. Why do you do what you do? What is the goal of your business? What do you value as a business? What standards do you hold and will hold your employees to? It is like building a house. Your reason for existing is a foundation. The standards and values you hold and the way you act on them are walls. The roof is the business and all the pretty things. Most brand state why they do what they do in a brand statement and how they work in values. The most successful brands have taken care to state these clearly and specifically. Having a value like, "provide the best quality servi...

After four years hiatus on this blog, I'm coming back with more information and experience in doing social marketing, branding and inbound marketing with a greater focus at understanding the Japanese and South East Asian market. I'm working on content now and should be back very soon.

It's the best novel ever written! It's our human story; our loves, wars, failures, and triumphs. It tells us how we got to where we are and can tell us about our potential. Today there is so much push on science, math and technology that history is seen as wasteful. To understand all the achievements in those fields, we study history. History is not only the famous people and events from time but it is the tales, journeys, art, music and discoveries that connect all people from all corners and walks of life. It's a study of cause and effect from which we can learn who we are today.

Peninsula Hong Kong: Doing it right on Social Media Recently I've been looking at how hotels use Social Media for marketing, developing brand loyalty and just being seen. The Peninsula , one of the best in Hong Kong, has expanded over the past few decades while tying its original image of service, quality and brand in Hong Kong. It is considered Hong Kong's most famous hotel and most prestigious. It's been featured in Hong Kong tourism videos and even made its way into " The Man with the Golden Gun ." They have a fantastic Social Media presence building not only local loyalty but cross brand loyalty through their posts on Facebook and through using other medium. Today they posted a video called " Peninsula Moments " tied directly to a larger marketing campaign. It shows how a hotel can use social media to promote themselves without spending a billion dollars on ad buys. This probably cost a bit but putting on their facebook page and youtube was...

Luxury and chain Hotel industry has had a boom of late in Tokyo. At the same time many hotel companies are saying to their marketing team, "launch a Facebook page" and "get on social media" without giving them the proper budget, time or training to do it right. Recently I wondered what makes a good Hotel Facebook page? What is the market make-up? In Japan, why do so many hotel Facebook pages seem to be disconnected from the larger brand? Why do Why? The traditional marketing department has been put in charge of the system without understanding who to target and how to use it to generate sales. They are still thinking and working in the old hierarchy and thought process. But one of the key problems is they talk to the mirror and not to a wide audience. Most hotels in Japan depend on agents to sell rooms so they feel they don't need to appeal to the traveler - that's left up to the agencies. Instead the marketing and sales teams focus on selling bridal ...

Aim Beyond Target in front of you When I was studying modern Chinese economics in Changsha in 1998, I found a man to teach me Tai Chi and the basics of Kung Fu. He always said, "unlike boxing (which he considered stupid and wasteful), in Kung Fu you must be flexible and conserve energy. Qi, the energy from within, should be focused when exerted. If you were to punch someone, don't aim for the nose, aim for a point behind the back of the skull." Recently I've been wondering how this can be applied to Facebook advertising. Instead of targeting people with specific interests in a country, how about looking at the diaspora of that nation as well? In the fall we ran an ad that targeted Indonesians. Most of the Indonesian diaspora is found in Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, and the Netherlands. We found that we received visits and likes from Malayasia through Indonesia but nothing from Saudia Arabia nor the Netherlands. The Indonesians living in Saudi Arabia are mainly im...