I’ve heard a lot of good things about the Naumi hotel in Singapore and as I’m travelling down south, I thought it would be a good opportunity to try the place. Sadly when I attempted to book online, the hotel was full. The next day I was reading an online newspaper and noticed an ad … Continue reading »
Filed under Singapore …
Destination Branding – Take advantage of opportunities when they come your way
A luxury cruise ship, the Azamara Quest caught fire a couple of days ago whilst sailing in the South China Seas. The ship was travelling from Manila on its way to Sulawesi, Bali and Komodo before heading off to its final destination of Singapore. By all accounts, the Azamara Quest is a beautifully designed and … Continue reading »
Creative campaign not the solution to smoking issues in Singapore
As with many issues, Singapore has a zero tolerance approach to smoking and in particular, teen smoking. Get caught selling cigarettes to minors and you face a fine of over US$6,000. Anyone under the age of 18 caught carrying cigarettes, carrying not smoking, and it is an automatic fine of US$30. Get caught again and … Continue reading »
3 words that can ruin your brand in Malaysia and Singapore
If you are in Malaysia or Singapore and you sell stuff to customers, there is one phrase that can ruin your brand. “No stock Lah.” Is repeated time again by poorly trained and disinterested staff. This seemingly innocuous phrase should be banned in your organization. While we’re at it, you should also ban the obligatory … Continue reading »
Should destinations brace themselves for a brutal summer?
Grant Thornton has published a report that forecasts 373,000 visitors to the Football World Cup in South Africa in June. That’s a drop of 110,000 from original forecasts. The big question is, are fans waiting to the last minute to book tickets or is this a sign of the recession? Certainly political tensions in the … Continue reading »
Another argument for building brands
A year ago, the Wall Street Journal was telling us that wealthy consumers were suffering from ‘luxury shame’. Others were talking about the end of the luxury business. Certainly, the luxury business took a massive hit when the sub prime crisis blew up and the repercussions were still being felt at the end of 2009 … Continue reading »
Negative brand association, real world examples
In October of last year, I wrote a piece on my blog about negative brand association. You can read the short post here David Ansett of Storm in Australia approached the subject from a different angle and you can read his piece here Essentially, my attitude is that if the concept of positioning a product … Continue reading »
Will poor execution of a great offer become a public relations nightmare for Hilton hotels?
This is an example of how the old world of ‘special offers’ with hidden strings attached clashes with the new world of social media where transparency, honesty and engagement rule. It also shows, once again that a one-size-fits-all brand strategy conceived by well meaning executives in one country can backfire on the brand in other … Continue reading »
