Cycling day @ Taman Pertanian, Shah Alam

Very tiring, but it is a good way to destress!

Hate the call centre? Tell me about it!

You had some problems with your flight booking, you called the help line, nobody answered.

You needed to change your booking details, you called again, nobody answered.

............................ and it goes on and on.

Many of us have had the same experience with Air Asia. The hot line never seems to work!

And guess what Tony's team did?

I could relate soooo well with the way Tony appears here saying "Hate the call centre?" Yes, who doesn't hate AA's call centre? Almost everyone has got a bad experience! Tell me about it!

AA has turned the table now by launching a FAQ site, inviting users to read up if they can't reach the people behind the telephones. Nice work!

Nissan Teana outsold other D-segment cars in Jan 2011

Latest statistics from Malaysian Automotive Association shows that Nissan Teana and Hyundai Sonata have both outsold Toyota Camry and Honda Accord, in the month of January.

Nissan has sold 1,394 units of Teana and Hyundai sold 532 units of Sonata. Camry and Accord have no mention in the chart at all.

Could it be an indication that the monopoly of Camry and Accord in the D-segment market is over? With the introduction of Teana and Sonata, one's need to be differentiated can now be fulfilled. People no longer buy a car for its practicality; they start to think of it as an emotional need.

Some main reasons I could figure:

1) People are getting bored with Camry and Accord.

2) A person who can afford a D-segment car generally does not care about after sale service/ resale value.

3) The Toyota's global recall (2009-2010) has resulted in a decrease in sales.

4) Nissan is finally making a come back by introducing a D-segment car, after its Cefiro went obsolete. For years, Camry and Accord have been dominating the D-segment market.

5) Teana has almost the same specs as its competitors. But in addition, the interior introduces a totally different luxury experience. It is a class higher. (But some people do find that the level of luxury equals to an old man's car, which I do not disagree...)

6) Without a big ad spend nor a big brand name, Sonata's design speaks for itself. It is not that kind of car you would buy simply by just hearing the name. However, a visit to the showroom and a test-drive would change how you feel.

I am not a target audience for any of these four cars. But, given the budget, I would love to own a Sonata.

Kotex- WOW me please!

I seem to be looking forward to having my period nowadays. :)

Most probably because there are just too many brands out there that I needed to try out!

And so... I bought a pack of Kotex LUXE today.

The 20-ultrathin regular pack is priced at RM15.90. It comes with a breakthrough fusion technology, micro max core, longer wings, anti-leak channels, and some attractive designs. 

Honestly speaking, buying pads should be like buying clothes. It's like love at first sight. If I've spotted it, I won't care how much it cost, I will find a reason to buy. Likewise, if I don't like it, I will find a thousand reasons not to buy.

So for girls like me, sales-talks don't work. The product has to speak for itself. :)

I am waiting to be amazed.

Blood donation campaign?

Copy says "DONATE BLOOD TO THE NATIONAL BLOOD BANK. NOT TO MOSQUITOES!"

Then I looked at the side and realized it is a Ridsect ad. Kills Aedes, it adds.

Congratulations on the creative ad! Cool and serious, yet humourous in its own way. :)

www.facebook.com/RageAgainstAedes

Source: The Star, 20 November 2010

Customer satisfaction is the key to CRM

I went to a hair salon for an express haircut yesterday. As I am keeping my hair short these days, I need to get it trimmed every two months so that it doesn't curl at or grow beyond my shoulders. I must say, the more I trim it, the faster it seems to grow nowadays! I have come to reckon that keeping short hair is a high-maintenance job- it requires a lot of patience and money!

And so, I slotted RM16 in the machine and got myself a coupon. The hairdresser sat me down; We discussed how I wanted my hair to be trimmed and he started working on my hair. He got it done in 10 minutes and I wasn't happy with the length. I requested to trim it again and he did it. Again I was not satisfied because by then, I decided to just make it even shorter so that it looks bob. He did it for the third time, and in the end I walked out from the salon with a smile on my face.

I posted this on my FB and apparently, my friends do find me demanding and ridiculous. But the purpose I shared this is to applaud the hairdresser. Why? I paid so little and he treated me like a queen. He could well be a junior stylist, but I chose to pardon his inexperience and I will still come back for the next cut because of the customer service. "If I go to a restaurant and the waiters are rude, no matter how delicious the food is, I will not visit them again," said a friend on FB.

Five reasons why customer satisfaction is the key to CRM:

1) Happy customers are good story tellers.

2) Happy customers make free word-of-mouth promotions (sometimes exaggeration) for you- on any occasions, across any channels.

3) Technologies made it possible for a happy customer to digitally update his/ her whearabout and status- the moment he/she steps out from your store. Note that once things are on social media, the reach is infinity.

4) A happy customer is sure to return for a repeat purchase.

5) A happy customer wouldn't mind/ notice if you have a price increase.

Check out X-Cut Salon, the express haircut concept by A Cut Above. In case you are not aware, the stylists are trained and exprienced hairstylists from A Cut Above.

Take a look at my new hairdo. They've never let me down!

Social Media: between Private and Public

"A recent blog post in Hong Kong lambasted a new restaurant in Central, but did not state that the author was the marketing manager for the restaurant next door to the one he was slamming. Disclosure, in this case, is your friend."

Source: Angie Wong, Food & Lifestyle Editor, Hong Kong

While living in the digital era, we seem to have forgotten to keep ourselves low profile. The world of digital taught us to be loud; We strive to be heard because for once, we have a chance to speak up boundlessly and we all believe that our voice matters. The ever-changing trend has invented Web 2.0- from IRC and ICQ to blogging, social networking, photo-sharing, podcasting, youtube and microblogging..... The list could just go on and on, and before we know it, a new trend will magically appear with a snap of a finger.

In the early years, these media was meant for people to keep in touch with friends and to digitalize their daily activities and personal lives. It comes in handy as one does not need to be involved in any heavy programming, and yet he/she could enjoy the ownership of a personal website. Then marketers see the opportunity and they started to engage with their customers via a two-way communication online.

But no one is there to tell us that we are drifting away from our privacy and identity.

This issue is especially serious when marketers started to employ social media in their marketing plans. As a marketer, we act professionally on one hand but on the other hand, we have a different profile altogether. If we choose to criticise about the competitor(s), do we have a valid reason for saying it or is it just based on a personal view? At what position are we suppose to talk about our competitor(s)? Being a human being, we show our likes and dislikes; We want to vent our frustrations on our personal space, but if we are not careful enough, it will indirectly influence our professional image.

Picture the scenarios below, what are your take backs?

1) Brand A decided to purchase a competitor's domain names and keywords, hoping that it would steal the crowd from its competitor. 

Question is, for all the dollars spent on this irrelevant purchase, do you get an effective reach? Do you want to take such a risk, for the exchange of your company's credibility? Check out these links for Google's trademark policy.

What is Google's U.S. trademark policy? - AdWords Help

When will my ads appear for trademarked terms? - AdWords Help

How can I get permission to use a trademarked term? - AdWords Help

2) You join the Social Media team of a company. 

As a general rule set by the company (to avoid having your personal opinions online), you are required to delete your blog and remain neutral on Facebook. Are you willing to accept the rules and hide your online presence for the benefit of the company?

3) You found cam-whoring photos of your school teacher/ professor/ consultant/ client on Facebook.

Now, does it tell you more about this person? Or does it tarnish the relationship between you both? I once have a teacher who teaches professionally in class; but behind the scene, she enjoys doing sexy photoshoot and modelling... I mean, I still see her as an inspiration, just, what would the guys think? ;)

Till today, the difference between what is private and public work is still unclear. There's no code of ethics to follow, except those that are drafted by the companies using the tools. The challenge here is to remain grown up and professional- that's probably the best way to move forward.

I've got a gold and a silver! --2010 ISTD Medallist Festival Malaysia

I am overly excited; I have too many things to tell but will just keep it simple and short. :)

Our team from Shall We Dance Studio (Karman, LiShen, Kalvin, Kim, Shaw, Heng and myself) took part in the ISTD Medallist competition last weekend and guess what! We have proudly brought back a total of 11 medals! It is really my biggest gift for the Halloween plus the greatest achievement in 2010!

My partner Shaw and myself.

 On the dance floor: Shaw and I; Kalvin and Karman.

 Photo session with Mr.Richard Hunt and Ms. Yvonne Taylor-Hill from ISTD.

 Don't we just LOVEEEE the medals!

 Ivy, principal of SWD Studio and my Latin dance instructor.

A gold and a silver- I'm contented; But at the same time, I want to do even better in the future.

They say results don't lie. I couldn't agree any more. Days and months of hard work and persistent practice off the stage have rewarded me with this in return. How nice!

Special thanks to Ivy and Shaw, for making things possible for me. And to my friends who gave their moral support, I love you all! 

XOXO...

Air Asia Creative Ad

Air Asia Singapore has recently launched a new ad- it put a smile on my face when I read through the copy. Brilliant!

Source: AirAsia Singapore Facebook page

Now I would want to see how Tiger Airways responds to the ad. :)

Mobile OnAir goes live onboard AirAsia A320 aircraft with Maxis’ support

"Ladies and gentlemen, we will be taking off shortly. For your safety, please fasten your seat belt, put your seatback upright, and return your tray table to the original position. We also ask you to turn off your mobile phone as it will interfere the aircraft navigational systems. Thank you for your co-operation."

We used to make that announcement every single time we go onboard.

I can still recall seeing an anxious passenger calling home using the Airphone, during a flight from JFK to ICN. She was obviously worried; had tears running all over her face and yet the connection was bad! It was a 12 hour journey and it must have been a tough one for her. Something must be happening at home and she needed to get immediate updates before setting foot on the home land.

Time has changed.

Some people made it possible!

AirAsia and OnAir recently launched their inflight connectivity services in AirAsia's A320 fleets. Such service is made available on AirAsia's flights to Singapore, Hong Kong, Bangkok and Colombo. Maxis, the key marketing partner has prided themselves as the provider of this service.

Mobile OnAir uses the industry’s most advanced and extensive infrastructure for mobile communications, along with Inmarsat SwiftBroadband, high-capacity services from Inmarsat 4th generation satellites.

Silhouette- Win a trip to New York

I discovered this via Facebook banner and tried playing with it. It's an application that runs on Augmented Reality (AR). (Is it augmented reality we call it? Or virtual reality?) Well what does it do? It allows you to try on a selection of stylish glasses- real time and online!

For an eyewear company to come out with such an interesting idea, I am really giving this a thumbs up! Impressive!

The execution is great except that the instructions are not clear. I have my photos taken but did not know how to continue. (I was expecting a Thank You message but did not get anything like that.) I suggest it could be more user friendly by adding in some acknowledgement messages upon completion of each step and make navigation clear and easy.

Check it out today! 

Steps to join:

1) Upload or take a shot of your photo (take the shot live, using your webcam)

2) Mark your eyes and one of your ears so that the system will "wear" the glasses on your face

3) Share your photo and stand a chance to win a trip to New York!

Here's one of the photos I did! :)

Late autumn

This year's autumn is arriving late... I don't know why but late.

20 Degree in Korea today. Am liking the weather.... :)

Moments alone in an elevator!

I was stuck in the elevator for 15 minutes yesterday.

Taxi was waiting, people were passing by, but no one responded to the emergency ring!

It was my very own flatmate who came to the lobby, heard the ring and asked the security for rescue.

I'm safe. No sweat and all. Just felt hilarious.

I've got guts. Don't you think?

Things do not easily scare me nowadays. :)

Onboard with Nicholas Teo! ^^

Nicholas Teo came onboard (which is a surprise for us) last night, rested in the PR class, had some onboard photos and videos taken by the photographer.

We did not have a chance to talk... Oh yes, we did! He wanted to pass through the aisle but I was stuck with my meal cart. Having no choice, I asked him to step aside for me to move my cart so that he could move. And he did. Haha can you believe it? I asked him to step aside!

He strikes me as a humble and nice guy.

I'm not a fan of his. I'm thinking, maybe, I will start googling for his songs.

And of course, we've got his autograph without buying his album! Advantage of being a hostess... oh hehe. ^ ^

It is 21st!

Yup, it is 21st! It's a pay day cum a roster day! I can't wait to check whether my leave is approved- am excited to plan for the holiday!

I'm back in Korea yesterday. Kylie waited for me at the arrival gate, and we had dinner together at snack bar with the Chinese crew who flew SYD with me.

Then I bumped into Eric at the bus stop. We decided to chill out at the crew lounge for a short while after I checked in.

He passed me a box of (famous?) Taiwanese pineapple cake. And then he made me green tea latte. Gosh, he is GOOOD at it!

Eric is a charming, young captain from Taiwan. Hmm, a gentleman who always brings and recommends the best of food from all over the world. But sorry girls, he--- is---- taken! ;)

See the masterpiece he made for me. Thanks Eric!

Today, I bought a book from the airport. An Eng-Kr/ Kr-Eng dictionary.
 

I'm starting to think that I should learn to speak proper Korean. Or I feel like a half-filled tank all the time. I'm also thinking to get a good Korean drama series to watch and learn. But I have watched Meteor Garden so Boys over Flowers is not in my consideration... Hmm, still thinking. :)