A PSA from W&W for GE13, considering the intense emotions felt by the public

Enough said

I don't owe the rights to this image. I do not know who does (my friend just forwarded the image to me). But whomever she or he is, thanks.

Listen Listen Listen....Nando style

Another witty Nando ad in their usual tongue in 'chick' style, making use of the latest hot topic in the local scene. It's good enough for me to voluntarily click 'like' on their FB page, and decide to go to Nando's for a meal soon.

If you do not understand that, it's in response to this incident:
http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/listen-listen-listen-listen-sharifah-zohra-jabeen

Update (17 Jan 2013):
Oh my. It's catching on!

Perception change

I had recently met up with a potential client who told me that they had recently changed their name from Tsunami--. Before she even explained the reason for the name change, the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami crossed my mind. Even in that flitting moment, I thought that maybe it was just because I am working on Hotel Tales 2 and had recently met a hotelier who survived the horrific day. I had been researching the event, watching videos and reading up on survivors' accounts, facts and other information.

She went on to explain that it was indeed because of that tragedy that the name brought on such negative images and connotations. 

Prior to the incident, I suppose that 'tsunami' would have been associated with great strength, speed and majesty. Now, it just means death and destruction.

Other phrases or words that has undergone a perception change must therefore include 'twin towers', 'nuclear', 'earthquake', 'hurricane' and so forth. Not that the world had not seen great tragedies before, but because we are now so connected globally that almost all sad events will touch us in our own corner of the earth. So, be wary when naming your company or product. Always know what's going on in the world, especially where your clients are from. And don't be afraid to rebrand if necessary!

Goodbye 2012, Hello 2013

2012 has been exceedingly kind to me. There are many things to be grateful for on the business front.

I've had opportunities to meet new clients and complete interesting projects. My clients are fun, interesting, adventurous and prompt payers (in fact, some of them urge me to invoice them before I even intend to). They understand, without me even saying it, that small businesses have limited cash flow.

When I started, I wasn't even sure if there was a demand for copywriters that I only registered my company for one year. This year, upon expiry, I renewed the license for 3 years. Not the full 5 years allowed, simply because I do hope to convert this business into a Sdn Bhd eventually.

I've learnt  from my clients that there sorely lack good copywriters in the market (the same as, I believe, good designers) and the good ones tend not to get recognized except for a few. I aim, eventually, to have a large group of skilled writers who look beyond the words on the computer screen, be able to analyse the context that make these words some important, and that their skills are duly recognised and valued (read: paid what they are worth). I've met talented (experienced and aspiring) writers and designers, whom I hope will persevere to see the local industries recognise their worth.

So, 2012 has come and gone without the expected doomsday occurring, but as harbinger of good things to come. I ended it by finishing an online florist website - Pureseed, www.pureseed.com.my (another wonderful client!) and start 2013 with a name development project for one of my very first clients - Kytera. If there was a good time to be a writer, it is now!

Revamped mascot

As I said, I am my worst brand consultant. I can't settle and always itch to tweak, change, add or remove something. But I think this should have been done from the beginning. 

Revealing my revamped mascot!

The Word Artisan

It's a great improvement from my original stick form, and I do not know why I didn't do a better one earlier. And so, yet again, my website has something new and so will my next batch of namecards. Sarcrilege! (for branding).

Do what I preach, but don't do what I do!

Marketing the Undesirable

I had an interesting conversation with someone from Yayasan Sejahtera yesterday. I met her to discuss the possibility of working together, to promote their cause. They "help the extreme poor create a better life for themselves by equipping them with the necessary tools, skills, infrastructure and opportunities to break out of the poverty cycle", a cause that I believe to be extremely important. I once wrote about how those who need help the most are the ones who don't know they need it, or are utterly helpless to do anything about it. If they are lucky, someone outside the cycle is able to intervene.

Aishah shared the difficulty of 'marketing' their cause: to the public, the sponsors and even the people they are trying to help. Just like a commercial product, it is extremely difficult to promote something so far from 'sexy', so time consuming to see results. Yes, even humanitarian causes can be sexy or not. Disaster relief, for example, is extremely titillating. Helping a Mak Cik to sustain her keropok business, to feed and school her children, is not.

Another difficulty is that the cause is asking us to face the undesirable truth. In Malaysia, where there are comforts and luxury in the urban cities, it is hard to believe that in certain corners of the country, there are still fellow citizens who have no access to clean water and live in shacks, much less have electricity. Indeed, telling the well-to-doers that such living conditions still exist in Malaysia usually evokes disbelief. It's not a pretty picture that it's trying to sell, hence, it's hard to get people to 'buy' into the truth, before we can even get around to rectifying it. A weight loss ad promises that we can lose 10 pounds in 10 sessions, and we believe it because we want to. A property ad promises great investment returns, and we believe it because we want to. These ads can achieve great impact with very little effort because they are selling highly desirable products. On the other hand, Yayasan Sejahtera will have to put in a mountain of effort to achieve a molehill of a result. Because poverty is something that makes us uncomfortable.

So, what do we do? We need to give poverty a makeover. It needs a good stylist. Feature a young, kampung girl, with fresh, natural beauty, tending to her vegetable farm, with butterflies flitting around her like an exotic Snow White. Capture images of handsome, muscular young men, casting the fishing net, while the setting sun reflects off his wet body like a golden Adonis. Show good looking children playing by the river, like a GAP ad.

You, reader, may roar rahr-rahr at my suggestion. But black cat, white cat...what does it matter as long as it catches the fish?