The most commonly seen forms of sales/marketing incentive techniques in Singapore:

Pamphlets – everyday I see armies of people stand in street corners, escalator landings, and shop fronts dispensing thousands of tons of printed pamphlets to all and sundry. Even at a recent computer show – there were probably more people handing out pamphlets than actual gear to look at.
Product demonstrations – I see these on street corners and …

In the introduction to Bo Burlingham’s Small Giants – Companies That Choose to Be Great Instead of Big, he made some interesting points about limited our prevailing benchmarks of what makes a “successful” business really is. Much of the writing about business has been around data that is limited to:

Publically listed companies – primarily due to the easy access of financial data.
Companies that are well know – thanks …

The fear of being an individual is a more noticeable trait in Singapore. This is the fear of standing out “inappropriately”, in a way that is not approved by the majority. This is not surprising given the country’s Confucius heritage which places a lot more emphasis on the collective than the individual.

Shopping is a national pastime. But there is an apparent shortage of independent brands here. People …

This is a nicely written piece by Stephen McElhinney reflecting on the challenges faced by Singapore in its attempts to become more creative as a nation.

The “Missing T” refers to Richard Florida’s three T’s required to jump start a creative economy: Technology, Talent and Tolerance. McElhinney argues that Singapore’s key challenge is the historical suppression of the last T.

On the subject of tolerance, …

Does the subtleties and nuances, the richness and adaptability, of a language impact a culture’s (a population group’s) ability to innovate?

If the language:

is rich with borrowed words;
is open to playful metamorphosis by the majority of the population and not just the hyper- educated elite;
is actively used by many people in diverse (but not isolated) geographical regions so has to promote both variation and cross pollination);
has been in use …

Here’s a great demonstration of using a risk management technique to make decisions when faced with uncertainties and the lack of hard facts.

It also provides an interesting take on the global warming debate. You don’t actually have to believe or disbelieve in global warming to think about the situation at hand and make a reasonable decision.

I am sure you can …

In this Sydney Morning Herald article, Clemenger’s Mr Morgan complained about how an ABC TV series The Gruen Transfer had demeaned and trivialised the advertising industry.

Maybe the ad industry felt threatened by the thousands of reader-created mashup ads on the series’ website. Or perhaps by the sheer amount of ordinary people who jumped at this opportunity to serve some back at the ad companies …

Here are some ways to make a difference to the world, using Tim Berners-Lees as an example: A World Wide Web of Ideas.

My take on the key concepts are:

Altruism – giving something away returns far more, and enables more people, in the long run.

Influence – a personal story attracts more attention than the best message-managed PR gloss.

Freedom – the freedom to explore ideas is a …

“People say that a joy shared is a joy doubled. And a sorrow shared is a sorrow halved. So what happens when you share something with the entire world?”

This is the premise of i-confide. Go look, and confide something.

(Disclosure: I was the designer of this application)

Artist Chris Jordan has created some amazing prints that really rubs home the consumerist madness that is the US, with us in Australia likely not that far behind.

If you have children, be very very scared for their future.

Spotted by way of this post by John Maeda.