MS session

Uhmm okies, I haven't posted for Get Help! yet, I'll do that asap. But I figured I should post on today asap before I forget everything (a lessons I learnt from my late external pitching session post :P).

(this is 10minutes later I just saw a spider the size of a 50cent coin (last time I saw a big one was in primary school and it was the size of my wee fist) and it FELL between the table and the wall after being hit by some insect repellent and I'm not sure if it's dead. Goosebumps all over man. Someday I will eat these nasty little monsters in Taiwan to make up for it all. I HATE SPIDERS (unless they are in jars/dead) Just wanted to say how much spiders suck.)

Anyway, before today, I never really thought of advertising/marketing all that much, though throughout the talk I was making links to stuff I observed in real life (probably had a glazed look on my face LOL), so I guess I'll just type them down here xD May be long, but it's also for my own reference next time hahaha.

Mm, so today, the presenter said something that really resounded with me (since I'd just said it to my mom yesterday actually), i.e. something along the lines of la good location is the most important thing perhaps in Singapore. I completely agree that it can be sometimes the case. Perhaps not always - people do go for fleas in ulu places and to the Expo :P But for stuff like food? Unless you are really established like Ubin Seafood, no matter how good you are, it's a horrid idea to start off in a low traffic location. On the other hand, you can cook really disgusting fare, but if it's in a place where there is a lot of human traffic, e.g. business districts, Orchard, you will probably still see queues. I brought this all up because there's this horrid hokkien mee in Somerset that costs 3bucks and tastes worst than my cooking. And it had a queue! People don't enjoy it, but its queue, while long, is still shorter than others. So for people who in a rush + not very particular about their food. You also trick first time patrons who will never patronize you again - but Somerset probably has millions travelling its streets a year, so they have many victims. Therefore a good location is the first step, though it may/may not bring you to the next step. Depends.

Though ofc, we can see places like Uniqlo which opened at Tampines1 (I have been to Tampines less than 5times in my life :X) and had people going down from all parts of Singapore to queue just to enter the shop. I must say what was called ermm the basic advertising thing (I forget the term that was used) was successful - all the full page ads in the newspapers plus news coverage and such. Though for me, I never did bother to go to Uniqlo until it opened at Ion and 313 (both places have ugh layout though), but different consumers respond differently :P Seriously though, you see a ton of the stuff Uniqlo sells are more suitable for cold weather? And yet they sell so well in sunny Singapore :X Global warming is that bad now meh? I think most Singaporeans just buy to stock up, regardless of whether they are immediately going abroad or not. They don't actually have a need, they probably bought the stuff on impulse, perhaps because of a opening discount (Did I mention that the same discounts were available at Ion AND 313, which are minutes from each other - yet 313 was packed and Ion's outlet was empty? :x). Though we have learnt that just lowering prices isn't very competitive, and they really have to compete more effectively. So is what Uniqlo doing "good"? Then again, they're new entrants, so they probably want to just make a presence.

BTW, doesn't Microsoft make a loss on each Xbox sold (not sure if it is still true), and basically profit from games? So it means they aren't competing very well, right? Though I remember that when companies like Lenovo sell at a loss, it's only because they want a larger market share.

But I disagree than in Singapore, competition isn't efficient. I remember reading recently about Topshop (okay, so it's not an sg firm) in sg, where everyone else was offering huge sales over Christmas or so, but they said they would not be offering such large discounts, since their marketing strategy was to provide unique pieces people can't substitute with something from elsewhere. So that was their niche. Though seriously, I am sure there are other shops offering large discounts with really unique pieces stocked too. Not that it matters, because what Topshop wants to send out the message and make everyone think they have the most unique pieces (perception), which is why you should pay their higher prices. Would that be competing effectively, then? But seriously though, if everyone is slashing their prices, it's weird if you don't follow suit, since consumer have expectations right. Maybe Christmas, CNY are more understandable - but can you imagine, like the Great Singapore Sale? And everyone is offering HUGE discounts, and you choose not to because you are so special? Probably won't be so effective during such a season. Sometimes it's quite reliant on the existing culture/mindset, so you kinda have to understand it... sometimes quite bo pian, must slash prices.

Anyway, I remember my mkt prof talking about price discrimination before, and that coupons are such an example. For those who are willing to pay a higher price, they won't hunt for the coupons. For those who are more price sensitive, they have the option of spending time cutting coupons. In such a way, each pays as much as they are willing to pay for a good. Sounds a bit like what we discussed today. Hence, I don't think discounts in such a form are a bad idea. Actually, I also remember my prof saying something like Carrefour guaranteeing that they have the lowest prices. They promise to match a lower price if the customer finds one. Though obviously they know they don't offer the best prices for everything. So why? It serves to lull customers into thinking they have the best prices so they are patronized (perception), and if someone is so price sensitive they will go back with something cheaper, they can simply match the price for the item already paid for, and still keep the customer, i.e. retain the market share (I think). So instead of truly offering the lowest price, they don't, but say they do so they can collect the max. of whatever people are willing to pay, and also capture a larger proportion of customers when customers are charged the same price as elsewhere.

The credit card discussion brought up was interesting. Because I think those tie-ups are meant to benefit the restaurants in the sense that more price sensitive customers would be more likely to attend if they have discounts, much like the price discrimination idea described above. But interestingly in Singapore, if you have enough cards, you can get a discount almost anywhere xD So people don't visit a place anymore lured by the discount. They already know they can get one regardless of where they go, so it's a small issue - just whip out all their stuff. It was very funny to hear it because it's sooo true xD My mom/aunts/friends always ask "does ... card have dicsount?" after eating out and YES they always do find one of the cards will help them. It amuses me every single time. So why do firms bother with these discounts? :P Actually, I think again it's b/c they have no choice liao. Everyone offers some discount - if you don't offer, people will visit someone else. The offer is, like, a necessity now (like a uni degree 20 years ago, and now).

Moving on to bing. Seems like it is more for consumers who want to make decisions? I mean, what if I'm not making a decision - I just wanna find info for my homework? :X Actually, I stopped using IE because somehow I kept getting re-directed to bing which was annoying (like Buzz, where I unfollowed everyone since I didn't wanna see all the numbers). I think now though, that it is explained properly, I may use it in the future. I'd really rather use something if it was explained properly, e.g. through videos, than forced on me. Though I don't know about all the other consumers la.

Okies, anyway, since I just recalled: Why did so many find it funny that Google is so highly searched o.o I also type "google" and hit "enter" (and many of those not laughing do so too). So what? We all do stuff differently. I'm not blur and I can type "google.com", but you see, the "enter" key, which 5 letters long, is one key. ".com" is, like, 4 keys. See, consumers are really smart :P They wanna shave off time here and there. (Yeah, I know there's a toolbar. But I don't like having one since it takes up space) It's just like we all notice we get re-directed to wave.google.com/wave and mail.google.com, but simply prefer to type gwave.com and gmail.com. It's easier xD

Haha, anyway someone asked about the small proportion of customers who ad-block and everything (they must really hate ads. I like looking at ads actually. I always watch TV ads on utube xD or googling images of newspaper ads) But anyhow, an article I remembered when I heard that that had me smiling (I am not sure what emotion I felt though):

http://www.maximumpc.com/article/news/apple_files_patent_os_embedded_advertising

Cheers! Awesome people if you actually read this entire post.

Ganna take medicine now.