Tag: New Coke

Something to learn

IT workshops and seminars are happening on a weekly basis here in Saigon.

Monsoon season is almost over. Except for some cigarette vendors, the Sheraton  downtown could trick you into thinking you were somewhere else, like San Francisco.  Lunch was ready for a group of  CSO‘s and Software testers, uniformed attendants mingled with pony-tailed guests.

Something in the way he moves (my friend, that is).

This was his second time organizing software testing conference.

Forever curious, always testing, probing, “jazzing” his way in hope of “bumping” into the unexpected.

How do you debug something you have never used?

Put it through imaginary scenarios.

Use the parameters and practices.

Niche on top of niche.

That’s how one thrives in a “me-too” market (for instance, India now considers to open its retail market to MNC’s). Another “me-too” market with logo, look and label.

India will be the most populous country on Earth in the next century.

Watch out, retailers.

Follow the money.

Something to learn.

The IT talent pool there are unquestionably top-rated.

The question is, who is going to be number 2?

When India itself looks to outsource some lower-value activities so its engineers could focus on McKinsey‘s level, where would it place its chips?

Malaysia seems to “get” this as shown in its laser-focused software parks and tight coordination between academia and corporate entities.

Thailand has realized that more could turn out to be less.

Back to Korea, back to Singapore and Taiwan.

Expensive? Yes.

Quality? Also a Yes.

You get what you  pay for.

Something can’t be manufactured overnight like curiosity, creativity and connectivity.

I read somewhere that the British Intelligence Service made a job offer for who ever could hack into its  system.

Again, why not use the talent that is out there.

In our digital age, anywhere-anytime connectivity opens up tons of opportunities for both the good and the bad.

Never a boring moment.

7 Billion  people in motion.

Key board got tapped.

Cursors blinking and moving, one word at a time.

Thoughts are formed and sentences completed.

New age, new idea.

Something to learn, to test and to share.

Facebook promised to “blow us out of the water” when it unveils the new Facebook. I hope someone inside Facebook did a study on the New Coke.

It’s a historic brand mismanagement.

But then, because of New Coke, we now got Classic Coke.

Coca Cola still rules. Something to learn from. And that is, brand endures even when challenged. When it comes to people, it’s character and not charisma. No wonder companies like SouthWest Airlines just kept growing , methodically and efficiently year after year (per Collins). It would not be far-fetched to say the 10,000 hours that are required for an individual to acquire a new skill set, is also applied to companies as well. Something to learn and learn well, time after time, day in and out to develop second nature.

Coke, enduring and endearing

The verdict is in. Marketing folks all know by now that top of the list reigns COKE.

My first wage (selling Vietnamese worthless currency in Subic Bay on my way to the US a few days after the war had ended) was spent on Coke, from a vending machine. I remembered til this day the taste, slightly burning but thirst-satisfying.

A few days before that, when we first landed on the Bay, a priest and a nun, one with a sandwich, the other with a coke, welcomed us to safety.

No wonder the brand sticks.

It was there, welcoming survivors.

(The priest by the way stood not on the beach, but by the water, waiting).

I am aware of controversies surrounding water plants in India to supply for Coca Cola plants.

But as a brand, it has so far stood the test of time.

Heinz pickles and ketchup should have come close. Hershey chocolate also. (in time of uncertainty as we are currently in, consumers cling to brand steady)

http://images.businessweek.com/ss/06/07/top_brands/source/1.htm

But beverages like Coke is hard to beat.

It engages all your senses: taste, touch, smell, visual and even auditory (as you pop open the can, you hear that sizzling sound).

Branding is emotional, even primal.

Anybody can put sugar and water together in a can, and slap a logo on it.

But somehow, one strand at a time, Coke manages to stand tall. It made a mistake with New Coke. But then, out of crisis, we got Coke Classic.

Coke doesn’t stray and respond hastily to tyranny of the moment.

It is rooted in Atlanta, home also to CNN and CDC.

Between those two, no virus can escape undetected and unannounced.

Google is working frantically on Google ME. It will be a personal branding engine. Can you imagine near 7 billion people trying to get online, and get in line  for their 15-minute of digital fame. We will need millions of server farms to accommodate these digital passports.

Personal branding will be to the next generation what reputation and trust were to our village elders.

Except, in this global village, the branding bar is set really high, thanks to COKE. Eagles’ latest CD tried to imitate Coke wavy graphic.

And I can’t remember the time without a can of Diet Coke next to me. That was before the mobile phone took over that sacred spot. Speaking of which, Apple however “hot” couldn’t even make the top 10 list . Something can’t be “coked up” overnight.