It’s a new year, and we’re busier than ever. My assistant says it’s because of the Japanese ‘lucky’ cat that graces our office since Christmas; I am not superstitious but have to admit that the arrival of the cat (and its growing tower of 1 dollar coins) coincided with a surge in New Business:
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A new resort concept is talking to us and some competitors about brand positioning. It’s an interesting challenge since everything about this idea is different from category conventions. After four rounds we’re waiting for the final feedback.
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A Traditional Chinese Medicine producer from China who manufactures ‘ready-to-use’ TCM is looking to build a brand in Singapore, and we have submitted a proposal. The challenge here will be to use the heritage as a quality mark (TChineseM) while at the same time overcoming the baggage of ‘Made in China’.
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An education institution that is in dire need of a clearer positioning has been in conversation with us for some time; we have now submitted the formal brand positioning proposal. It’s a growing and interesting segment, fiercly competitive. That’s why a clear and differentiated brand is so vital.
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A car brand has tied up with us and some friends who run a small but effective consumer research group in order to get some better understanding of possible gaps in their positioning – we will do the groups this week.
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A manufacturing B2B client has invited us for a first ‘interview’ this Tuesday. ‘We can’t tell you what the product is’, they emailed, ‘but would like to get to know you.’ Well, we can tell you how we work – in general.
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Time permitting, I’ll pop up to KL briefly this week in order to interview a captain of industry for ARENA Singapore; my second interview for them after speaking to Tham Khai Meng of Ogilvy Asia for the launch issue.
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Remember last month’s newsletter? “Flowerpower’s Final Victory” will be published in the March issue of the German ‘brandeins’-magazine, and also on 9 February in MEDIA magazine, Hong Kong. You read it here first!
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Wednesday will see a much postponed meeting with some TV executives to discuss a treatment for a new TV show – how exciting is that? Naturally, I cannot reveal the content, but it has to do with branding…
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Term has started in the first week of January, and this time I teach one class of ‘Promotional Management’ at NUS, 2 classes of ‘Advertising’ and one of ‘Strategic Brand Management’ at SMU – overall, a lot of fun. We’re working with a tyre importer, a bookstore and a government institution for real-life campaigns.
You see why my assistant mentioned that ‘it’s almost scary how well the cat works’? I’d like to believe it’s not the cat, but the fact that our reputation has grown, after 1 ½ years as Jörg Dietzel Brand Consultants. But just in case you need some branding advice – we’re reserved a little bit of extra time just for you.
Oh yes, and I am writing this from The Legian in Bali, where we’re spending a long weekend with me sitting on the terrace writing my Advertising-textbook. Still quite a few pages to go, and the manuscript deadline is end of February…
Hope you had a Fast Start into the New Year!
Jorg |
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