A niche..

We Malaysians, especially the small businessman, are fond to think of opportunity as only money. And money is out there being held and guarded by the authority. And a worse scenario of thought when we think we need somebody in politics to help them to get that money. Little do they know that the authority and politics only facilitates. They facilitate wants and need, skills and the abilities, and a responsible government also facilitate money and the banks especially for the smaller ones. Thus the wrong generalisation of business opportunity only comes from the perspective of money and authority that include banks. And today I am going to tell them, money does not matter. Opportunities ought to be seen from the marketing perspective of needs and wants and on top of that asking the question what you can and able to do in fulfilling those needs and wants. So it is a question of niche. And niche has two sides. One side is asking who you are. And the other side is determining who they are. Once both are well defined and understood, then life can be relatively easy despite of long hours spent in doing the business. Just like reading and writing and a person can spent hours on it if the love and ability is there. That is what I termed as `niche.'

command loyalty...

Established company has commanded loyalty from their customers. Do the company deserved the loyalty? The basic of a product has lost its glitter in the reason for buying a product. Buying something is not just for the sake of filling the need of the stomach, not just for the sake of the eyes can see, it goes far beyond the land and the sea into another world full of fantasies. The customers do not listen anymore but the listening must have a unique fantasizing element in order for them to appreciate the product. And mind you what does the word fantasizing means? Well anything or any product for that matter must be `heavenly'. The customers want to have a sensation of heaven if they were to decide to buy a product. Haha. Established company in all its 4P's has done just that. What about your company?

Loyalty program..

SEREMBAN 16 Mac - Datuk Seri Najib Tun Abdul Razak hari ini melakukan pecah tanah pembinaan kilang pembotolan pertama syarikat Coca-Cola di Bandar Enstek, Nilai dekat sini dengan jumlah pelaburan AS$285 juta (RM1 bilion) bagi tempoh lima tahun akan datang.Pembinaan kilang ini juga akan memberi manfaat kepada lebih 100,000 peruncit di negara ini serta memenuhi keperluan kehendak 27 juta pengguna terhadap pelbagai jenis produk Coca-Cola.Dipercayai kilang baru itu mampu mengeluarkan minuman sehingga 50 juta karton setahun di dalam pelbagai kapasiti pengeluaran dengan penggunaan empat barisan pengeluaran.

Coca Cola sudah lama bertapak di Malaysia. Mengapa hanya sekarang pebinaan kilang dilakukan? Ini kerana persoalan `loyalty' terhadap coca-cola di rantau ini sudah tidak dipersoalkan lagi..

Marketing is basically putting loyalty program in place. On top of everything in the loyalty program must be the product itself. Certain basic questions on the product must be addressed first before the rest of the elements in the 4P's are being looked into. As an analogy, the success in growing a rambutan tree is not when the trees bear fruits. The success is being determined when the volume of sales cover the cost of growing it. It is not just mere saying I have everything and now see what happen the moment the product is being launched. That can be suicidal. In fact marketing concept proposed that the loyalty program should be first being looked into before anything else.. Needs must be studied in the context of loyalty meaning question should be asked: `would there be a repeat buying'? Thus the role of selling is critical in order not to misjudge the presence of loyalty elements in the prospect. So long as the customer has `fire in their belly' and they will remain loyal. How? By putting a loyalty program befitting with the current needs and the wants of the customers.

Arus perdana..

Saya mengajar ilmu pemasaran atau dalam Inggerisnya Marketing. Dua benda yang boleh memudahkan memahami ilmu ini. Pertama memahami konsep `ulang dan wang' dan kedua konsep `arus perdana.' Ada pelajar menyindir `apa bendanya kedua-dua benda tu?' Konsep `ulang dan wang' merupakan tonggak asas terwujudnya pasaran sesuatu produk dan kejanamaannya. A bad experience in buying a product would result in no second chance for the product. Kata orang Melayu kita, taubat tak nak beli dah barang tu. Kita mengulangi membeli sesuatu barang kerana elemen kesronokan yang terdapat pada barang tersebut. Dan Maha Besar Allah yang menjadikan keseronokan yang tidak boleh disimpan. Untuk merasai keseronokan satu satu rasa itu kembali, kita kena pergi balik ke tempat tersebut dan kena beli barang yang akan dapat memberi rasa keseronokan itu. Dalam istilah Inggerisnya dan pemasarannya ianya adalah `repeat purchase.' Dengan adanya `repeat purchase' maka terpautlah hati pengguna dengan perkhidmatan atau barang tersebut buat beberapa lama sehinggaa...

Apa pula konsep `arus perdana'? Sesuatu jenama kerana usaha demi usaha akhirnya akan terukir auranya yang tersendiri dalam kelasnya. Dan oleh kerana aura tersebut maka bermainlah di bibir pembeli bahwa jenama tersebut adalah baik ini dan baik itu. Apabila semua orang mengatakan baik atas sebab tertentu, maka `arus perdana' persepsi itu atau imej barang tersebut akan memudahkan ingatan dan memberi keyakinan yang tidak berbelah kepada pengguna untuk merasai keseronokan untuk pertama kali tanpa takut akan tidak terjadinya apa yang diharap. Maklumlah harga barang itu tidaklah murah. Persoalannya adakah konsep ini membawa keburukan atau kebaikan?

bersambung...

The Road is Straight, the money is different..

That gives thrill to life..we are different. As such despite the road is straight, the age and the money has never been the same for two individuals. Path taken is different for two individuals. I buy brand A because of my age and you have been buying brand B because you are not a Malay. What we are, psychologically, mentally, and physically, would tell a different story in terms of market opportunities presented by the products and services marketed. Remember we are not similar in our ways too. Despite the road is straight, I am on my own when comes to what I buy. What about you?

Productivity and the hierarchy in responsibilities...

Those in the top positions can see it all. They are the one who sees, feel, and control quality. As you move down the ladder, the executives need to be directed to ensure quality. And further down the ladder are the blue collar workers who dreams a lot and thus to ensure quality they must be closely monitored every minute of their movement.

In marketing, much emphasise is given on customers satisfaction. As a top level executives, they are able to visualize customer's satisfaction from point A-Z. At the same time the executive also visualize the problems he may encounter in implementing programs in order to satisfy the customers. At the operational level, the blue collar workers are not motivated enough to ensure a quality product. At sales level, the salesperson just refuses to improve himself in order to have a better understanding of customers.

So looking at productivity, the quality of products are very much in the controlling power of the worker's whims and fantasies. Till everybody has a better sense of togetherness, then quality of a product is still an issue that need to be resolved.

Politics, murky and muddy...So let it be...

The art of confusing people, that is politics and that is the name of the game. Nothing good and soothing when we talk about Malaysian politics. Politicians love to talk on topics that has never happen yet. They are no expert on it yet they love to indulge on topics that are not close to the stomach but topics that are close to the heart. Anything that is close to the heart is all time murky and muddy. In reality and in silence, the stomach is where the truth is, not the heart. If heart is the centre of points discussed, then it is a different story with everybody. But stomach unites us all and it is no thrill to politicians. The greater the differences the more thrill it would be. Then heart has become the favourite issue of politicians. That makes people talk and talk and talk. Heart is the home of most confusion. And as such it is a good home for politics. So let it be, let it be.