Brand Masterclass

Last Wednesday the 20th of April marked a historic day for me and The Listening Tree. We conducted our first Brand Masterclass for 12 visionary CEOs and Business Owners. I introduced this new service to enable small companies and start-up to create the right foundation for their brand. Business owners of smaller companies often tell me that branding is the last thing on their minds when trying to juggle HR, delivery, payroll and new business development. But for me this is the ideal time to brand.

Brand Courage

Yesterday I was on bfm as a speaker for The Resource Centre at 1pm. I spoke about the importance of performing brand audits and for some reason this word kept popping up - Courage. I had never used it before with my clients but pondering on it now, it seems to be one of the most important pre-requisite for great brands.

Do KPIs spell the death of brands?

Over the last two years or so, there has been increasing talk about accountability in the public and private sector. This backlash from the economic crisis has generated huge outcry for transparency and honesty.

Many local companies and public offices in Malaysia have over the last few years been adopting KPIs as a move towards greater accountability and performance. While I laud these organizations for the move, I must also express some concern over the ways that this has been done.

Delayed Brandification

Starting up a business is a time of heady excitement. Everything is fresh and new and so full of promise. With the mantra ‘time is money’ going over and over in your head, your first job as CEO is to get your company up and running in order to get the money rolling in. You’ve hired all the people you need, paid them the right amount according to market rates to put all the processes in place, and you are now busy with trying to get business in.

So three years down the road, you’ve got business coming in but something is not quite right.

Employer Branding: What a Clown Taught Me

It has been an amazing week for learning. I had the supreme pleasure of listening to Patch Adams talk about what makes him tick and he basically boiled it down to two words -- Love and Care.

I had been fortunate enough to hear him speak once before at the Art for Health conference in Manchester, UK. That was about 10 years ago when his fame was gathering momentum fresh from the movie debut and he had just started on the speaking circuit. He was full of energy and he spoke about doing what he does and why he did it. The stories were filled with sadness yet tinged with hope. That was the thing with Patch.

Patch Adams - doctor, clown,
 healer, carer

A decade ago he left me in awe of the indomitable spirit of one man and the feeling that that if he were around, then there would always be hope no matter how bleak the situation. Last week, the same man, albeit less energetic than before and perhaps due to the long flight, again left a mark of hope sprinkled with a liberal dose of love and care. 

If you can’t stop the genocide, alleviate the poverty or cure the sickness, the least you can do is spread laughter, fun, joy and hope through the single act of caring.

Newer and developing brands should take a leaf from the Patch Adams’ brand. I must apologise to Mr Adams for calling him a brand as he spoke vehemently against advertising but a brand he is. And the best kind of brand – the kind that inspires, empowers and makes you want to be a better person. What makes Patch Adams stand out is that he cares

Branding: Why Steve Rocks

Although I am an avid Apple fan and am slowly becoming a pure Apple user in terms of lifestyle gadget, for me, there has always been one sacred cow that Apple has never been able to penetrate - that of the mobile phone domain. For me I am a Nokia loyalist. Having made the mistake of following a trend and switching to Sony Ericsson, I can now happily say that I am back with Nokia and have never been happier.

Think Different...And Make Customers Happy

So when the iPhone came out I was intrigued but apprehensive and the touchscreen keyboard was a concept that frustrated the hell out of me with constant spelling errors due to the proximity of each key. I was sure that I would be one of the few that would be iPhone-free.