Howard Vs Rudd

It is a campaign period in Australia. Soon the Prime Minister election will be held. It has been an interesting thing for me to be able to witness it. I decided to share about this because I believe that campaign means marketing. I believe that most of the members are familiar with the campaign. I can still remember the first we had approximately 50 different parties at the beginning of reformation era.

There are only two major parties in Australia, Labour and Liberal. The current PM, John Howard, is from Liberal party and also one of the candidates. He is the second longest serving Australian Prime Minister. The other contender comes from Labour party is Kevin Rudd. In this sharing I do not intend to express my political opinion since my objective is purely to discuss the unique marketing phenomenon during the campaign.

The unique issue about their campaign, of course we could not see this in Indonesia, is their marketing technique in expressing mockery and ridicule of the other party. Instead to only focus on their strengths, they also focus on raising the disadvantages from their opponent. They attack their opponent from every angle of their opponent, such as future policies, the ministry candidates, and the mistake of the leader in open communication to public.

I find this marketing very powerful since the public could see clearly both advantages and disadvantages of their prime minister candidates. Probably it still would take 100 years for Indonesia to apply this method since it might be considered to be morally inappropriate. However, let us just share about what you think about this phenomenon. What is the electoral campaign like in your country? How do they conduct the marketing?

David Herlambang
MarketingFirst

Support My Movember

Hi All,

During Movember (the month formerly known as November) I'll be growin a Mo. That's right I'm bringing the Mo back because I'm passionate about changing men's health and the fight against male depression and prostate cancer. Why...


Depression affects 1 in 6 men...Most don't seek help. Untreated depression is a leading risk factor for suicide.
Last year in Australia 18,700 men were diagnosed with prostate cancer and more than 2,900 died of prostate cancer - equivalent to the number of women who die from breast cancer annually.
Men are far less healthy than women. The average life expectancy of males is 5 years less than females.
To sponsor my Mo please go to http://www.movember.com/au/donate/, enter my registration number which is 125690 and your credit card details. Or you can sponsor me by cheque made payable to the "Movember Foundation" clearly marking the donation as being for my Registration Number: 125690. Please mail cheques to: PO Box 292, Prahran VIC 3181. All donations over $2 are tax deductible.

The money raised by Movember is donated to the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia and beyondblue - the national depression initiative, which will use the funds to create awareness, fund research and increase support networks for those men who suffer from prostate cancer and male depression.

For those that have supported Movember in previous years you can be very proud of the impact it has had and can check out the detail at: Fundraising Outcomes.

Movember culminates at the end of the month at the Gala Partés. These glamorous and groomed events will see Tom Selleck and Borat look-a-likes battle it out for their chance to take home the prestigious Man of Movember title. If you would like to be part of this great night you'll need to purchase a Gala Parté ticket .


Thanks for your support

David

More info is available at www.movember.com.

Movember is proudly grown by Commonwealth Bank, Holden, Schick and VB.

Movember is proud partners with the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia and beyondblue - the national depression initiative.

Inconsistency in marketing…It is happening to me =)

Good day everyone!! It has been a while since the last time I put my latest sharing. Is it laziness, busyness, or sickness that has been keeping me away from writing? Well to be honest the answer is the combination of all three of those. It all started with busyness from my new commitment with the new company that I work with. However, I should have not broken my commitment as a marketer to keep sharing. Therefore the laziness also got into my brain and took over the whole body not to think and write. Just when I thought it could not get any worse, the sickness came along. Yes!! That is right…I had too much fun on the last long weekend and therefore I had to experience a very bad flu for the last two weeks.
I am actually still in the office with some spare time. Therefore, it is a good idea to keep my brain exercised with marketing concept or otherwise there will always be more reasons in the future that keep me away from sharing. Let us elaborate more the phenomenon that I just experienced. I would like to call it “Inconsistency”. I think this is a cancer in marketing.

Since my interest in marketing was triggered I noted that marketing requires consistency. The sustainable marketing does not depend on a single incident. Let us look at the obvious example. I am sure that all of you acknowledge the American Idol, Australian Idol, Indonesian Idol, and the other Idol series. Those series have managed to capture a lot of great talents from all around the world. Each and every season always manage to bring at least one person under the spotlight. However, where are they now? Only a few of them that managed to continue their popularity.

Consistency is a simplest and yet I consider it as the hardest marketing idea. Jay Conrad Levinson, the author of Guerrilla Marketing stated that “You should know that a mediocre marketing program with commitment will always prove more profitable than a brilliant marketing program without commitment. Commitment makes it happen”. I suppose nothing comes easy in life.

A couple of days ago I read an article that stated Wal-Mart has lost its consistency as the world’s strongest retailer. They could no longer provide the complete full range of products as they did years ago. Their competitors seem to be able to create deals with the producers and hence outweigh Wal-Mart. This seems like an unimportant measure however the marketing jungle see this as a huge drawback.

Only through consistency the level of your experience and credentials could be enhanced in a particular area. You will begin to gain some traction, to know people in the relevant area and to be known, and potentially to acquire a reputation as an expert. Each of these attributes requires a sustained effort.

Since I am also still learning to be a better marketer and a better person, I would like to hear suggestions from other members on how to keep our motivation in life.

David Herlambang
MarketingFirst

Add More Reasons to Your Product for People to Buy

In the Sydney Central Business District (CBD) there are a lot of restaurants. They are not necessarily good restaurants however they are always packed and very busy every lunch time. They are quite expensive from the price point of view. Moreover, there are a lot of café in every street corner, building, and shopping mall in the CBD. Likewise, they are always very busy every morning and not all of them serve the high quality coffee. Why is this happening?

Another important reason for the costumers to buy their foods and coffee probably is the convenient location that they offer. As my friend, Michael Raharja, stated in his earlier sharing there are a lot of factors that affect the costumers’ decision in buying a product. Surely quality is not the only driving force to win the marketing war.

The former McDonald’s boss, Ray Kroc, in his seminar once asked to the audience “Who can make better burger than McDonald’s?” Expectedly, there were more than a dozen people raised their hands. He then asked “Why can’t you sell more burgers than we do?” This shows that marketing war is more complicated than just the product itself. However, marketing without promising product would also be a dangerous situation.

Approximately a year ago, an Australian supermarket called Woolworths decided to create a charity day which intended to give all the profit generated on that particular day for charity purposes. The sales went crazy on that particular day and one of the employees told me that it was the busiest day after two years of experience to work in the store. Not just a good PR strategy, this act also added one more reason to shop at Woolworths on the top of the convenience and low price which is to do something good.

McDonald’s could conquer the marketing war because of the vast reasons that they have created for people to buy their burgers. They have convenience, reasonable taste, goodwill values with their charity, wide selections, and it is even getting healthier in Australia. Therefore, they manage to answer the hesitation of Australians to buy their products the health concern.

Marketing is a beautiful concept since it could be implemented into our daily routine regardless the business level we are involved in. As a person we are marketers. Warren Buffett once said that “If you have a chance to invest in 10% of one of your colleagues’ life, which person will you pick? I am sure that you will not choose a person based only his ingenuity. I am sure you would rather choose a person with a good heart, great vision, positive attitude, and of course great intelligence”. At the end of the day it is good to have these qualities as a person.

Do you agree with me?

David Herlambang

MarketingFirst

Indonesia oh Indonesia

On September, 08 – 10, 2007 there will be a great event for Indonesian students who study overseas. The International Conference of the Indonesian Students will be held in Sydney. Hopefully the president would be able to attend this conference after the APEC meeting. As a graduated student in Australia, and also as an Indonesian, I think this is important for me to promote this event through this sharing.

The topic that will be discussed in the conference is “Pulang atau mengabdi dari jauh” in English “Come home to Indonesia or devote from overseas”. As one of the Indonesian students who studied overseas, I also have the dilemma whether should or should I not come back to Indonesia as soon as I finished my university. I am sure that all Indonesian students that study overseas would have this dilemma of the century.

The majority of the students that I have met and talked to said that they will stay overseas for a couple of years in order to gain the valuable experience and the financial stability, before they come back to Indonesia. What happens to Indonesia? Even their own students do not believe that their home country could offer them the valuable experience and financial stability.

From the population point of view, there are 200 million people; therefore this is ten times the market size in Australia. With the great land, we could grow most of the plants in Indonesia. With the great panoramic view, we can be one of the best tourist destinations in the world. With the great natural resources, we should be one of the richest countries in the world. More importantly, with a lot of ingenious Indonesia students, we should be one of the leading countries.

From the marketing point of view, there should be a lot of great stories to be told to the world about Indonesia, especially with those qualities lined up. However, there is always and only bad publicity that I heard about Indonesia. Seth Godin stated that a great idea sometimes stays in dormant unless it could be marketed properly. In the marketing war, the winner is the person who can spread their ideas, regardless what the idea is.

Godin also stated that in 1912, Otto Rohwedder invented a slicing bread machine. However, he concentrated only to the idea (patent, production issues, etc) instead of the marketing and ended up a failure. There is no one cared about the sliced bread until seventeen years later, a company called Wonder White, marketed slice bread in order to spread the ideas.

Is Indonesia similar with the sliced bread? Why is it happening? As an Indonesian of course I love my country. However, how can we be expected to come home if there is no guarantee from the country for our own life security and stability? How can Indonesia position itself in the marketing war against the other countries?

Ideas, opinions, and questions will be greatly appreciated.

David Herlambang
MarketingFirst

The "X" Factor in Marketing

I have been living in a suburb called Kingsford since the first time I came to Australia. This is not the most beautiful suburb in Sydney however as a student I found it very convenient to live in Kingsford. It is only ten minutes away from the University of New South Wales (UNSW). Therefore, this suburb is packed by a lot of different international restaurants and students.

In Australia it is very common to see local bars and pubs in each and every suburb. Australians are very familiar with alcoholic beverages, particularly beer. Therefore, drinking beer with the companion of a couple of friends will be a regular routine in Australia.

There is an interesting phenomenon of a local bar called Churchill’s bar. I assume this bar has been established for a substantial period of time. Therefore, it should have a strong locality exposure and brand in the area. However, the reality showed an interesting contradictory. Approximately four years ago this bar was practically sleeping even during the weekends. The locals somehow prefer to go to the city and enjoy the better designed and more luxurious bars.

Until approximately June 2006, when the last world cup was on, this bar started to wake up from the long time sleep. At the same time Australia went into the world cup for the first time in the last 32 years. Therefore, a lot of Australians were involved in supporting their beloved country in the world cup. The bar was practically crowded from midnight until 7 o’clock in the morning.

After the world cup, the bar started to be diligent in advertising itself in the local newspaper and create a lot of different events in order to attract the locals. Moreover, approximately in the beginning of June 2007 this bar renovated the venue and becomes even more attractive and convenient. Somehow it is always more crowded than some years ago every time I pass the bar.

I realize this example exhibits the luck factor in marketing which sometimes is equally important in business. However, it is the management ability to sustain the good time after the luck is also important in order to wake the sleeping brand up. As I stated before the suburb is packed with a lot of international residents. The bar even advertised in the international magazines in different languages. They start to realize that their market is no longer limited to the local Australians.

A friend of mine told me that success is a combination of luck, courage in taking risk, and the great level of competency. Do you believe it? Let us discuss this “X” factor in marketing.

MarketingFirst

David Herlambang

The Media Power Revisited

Is there anyone in the forum who trade or invest in the share market? If the answer is yes, how many of you have sold your stock in the last one month? How many of you that cannot get your eyes off of the finance news in the last a couple of weeks? How many of you have told your colleagues, relatives, and family about the share market activity that could be considered as a bumpy market?

In Australia, the All Ordinaries index has plummeted 10% within 19 days. The ugly movement of the global share market began approximately five weeks ago. There are a lot of commentaries in the media, both the negatives and the positives in regards to the current market condition. Somehow these commentaries really affect the investors’ emotion which eventually could alter their investment decisions.

I am here not to share the wisdom of the stock market however I would like to point out how the media really could affect the opinions within the society towards any particular issue. I also stated how Jakarta Undercover became such a phenomenon in Indonesia. The uniqueness of the book and the creativity of Moammar Emka in finding the right niche in the market enhance the media publicity. A lot of reviews by the independent newspaper were issued and a lot of testimonials from the influential people were published. These factors surely affect the marketing strategy of the book.

The flow of information becomes even faster in this century with the assistance of the internet. A century ago it might take a couple of days for the Australian investors to note the important issues that spread in Wall Street. However, it only takes probably a minute to read and understand, or even not to understand, the important Wall Street issues. Consequently, a new investment or trading pattern increases the volatility in the share market.

Is there anyone in the forum that has seen the X rated Paris Hilton movie? In my personal point of view this is the only reason why she becomes so famous. Even her father, the founder of the Hilton Empire, stated that it was a greatest marketing that cannot be replaced even by a billion dollar. This is an example of another media power.

Could anyone mention their experience or sharing in accordance to the media power?