Wholesale Tea: A Market of Possibilities
As the business world grows, the physical globe shrinks as products from all nations become business opportunities for companies of all sizes. A wide variety of items are available and relatively simple to acquire as the internet provides a gateway to export companies from all nations. With the rise in the accessibility of “foreign” countries, one seemingly small item has now exploded onto the market; Wholesale Tea.Before only available to those with contacts in Eastern nations including, China, Japan, India, and Sri Lanka, wholesale

A Fun Secretaries Day Party
You should never forget to celebrate Secretaries Day. This day commemorates all the hard work your office assistant and many others around the world have put in to keep you on time, organized and up-to-date on the job. Though this holiday’s name is a little out of date it is still important to remember and in some places looked forward by many assistants.There are several ways to celebrate Secretaries Day. Some places simply find that a small appreciative gift works best to show your employee that you are aware of their hard work and w

How Much To Pay Your Ad Agency?
I'm sure this is the interesting question you had pondered often. Even your creative agency returned with a fantastic concept, you would still be wondering if you should accept that $3900 or $59,900 quotation.What, exactly, are you paying for? Many think that they are only paying for that piece of advertisement or poster, the artwork. That would be very far from the truth. Behind that seemingly simple A4 artwork is a complex web of research, analysis, planning, conceptualizing, copywriting, experience, testing, creativity and execution.ature story on Branding, the magazine asked for my comments on Creative Technology’s (renowned for its sound card and MP3 players, and most recently for its legal tussle with Apple) branding efforts. While I’m a fan of Creative, I have to say that their branding leaves much to be desired. In particular, comparing the arch rivals of Creative Tech’s MP3 players vs. Apple’s iPod, it is easy to see where Creative’s branding efforts had gone wrong. Below is a simple comparison of its rival’s branding moves.

Apple
(A marketing and branding savvy company)
1. Understands the target market—young people want to be hip and cool. So they created a hip and cool positioning for iPod.
2. Very sleek and minimalist cover design—enhancing the hip and cool image.
3. Great ultra hip and cool TV ad, using black dancing silhouettes (all the better to contrast with Apple’s corporate white) against a colorful background + hit song of the moment ‘Hey Mama soundtrack performed by one of the hottest groups, the Black Eyed Peas.
4. Very focused in the beginning, starting with only one color, one model: The white iPod. This makes it very recognizable and easy to brand.
5. Special edition signed by U2 (very hip and cool band).
6. Featured in many hip TV shows.

Creative Tech
(A tech f

of Creative Tech’s MP3 players vs. Apple’s iPod, it is easy to see where Creative’s branding efforts had gone wrong. Below is a simple comparison of its rival’s branding moves.

Apple
(A marketing and branding savvy company)
1. Understands the target market—young people want to be hip and cool. So they created a hip and cool positioning for iPod.
2. Very sleek and minimalist cover design—enhancing the hip and cool image.
3. Great ultra hip and cool TV ad, using black dancing silhouettes (all the better to contrast with Apple’s corporate white) against a colorful background + hit song of the moment ‘Hey Mama soundtrack performed by one of the hottest groups, the Black Eyed Peas.
4. Very focused in the beginning, starting with only one color, one model: The white iPod. This makes it very recognizable and easy to brand.
5. Special edition signed by U2 (very hip and cool band).
6. Featured in many hip TV shows.

Creative Tech
(A tech f

p and cool positioning for iPod.
2. Very sleek and minimalist cover design—enhancing the hip and cool image.
3. Great ultra hip and cool TV ad, using black dancing silhouettes (all the better to contrast with Apple’s corporate white) against a colorful background + hit song of the moment ‘Hey Mama soundtrack performed by one of the hottest groups, the Black Eyed Peas.
4. Very focused in the beginning, starting with only one color, one model: The white iPod. This makes it very recognizable and easy to brand.
5. Special edition signed by U2 (very hip and cool band).
6. Featured in many hip TV shows.

Creative Tech
(A tech f

one of the hottest groups, the Black Eyed Peas.
4. Very focused in the beginning, starting with only one color, one model: The white iPod. This makes it very recognizable and easy to brand.
5. Special edition signed by U2 (very hip and cool band).
6. Featured in many hip TV shows.

Creative Tech
(A tech focused company)
1. Don’t understand their consumers’ desires, preferring to focus on product features, etc (appealing to logic, instead of emotions) and with no strong positioning.
2. Tacky cover designs. Responding to iPod’s sleek design, they asked their own engineers to design their new cover design! Huge mistake! Naming their products ‘Zen’ doesn’t mean that they will inherit the Zen essence.
3. Bizarre TV ads that consumers can’t relate to: one series of ad went along the lines of ‘something you really need’ and ‘Panda Rhapsody’, an ad using a panda bear listening to its MP3 player.
4. Unfocused and fragmented: Zen Jukebox, Zen Nano, Zen Touch, MuVo Slim, MuVo TX.. etc (confusing consumers with too many choices)
5. Special edition signed by Creative Technology’s CEO Sim Wong Hoo… (what?!?)
6. Almost non-existent.

While Creative Technology first came up with MP3 players, they lost out their pioneer status advantage due to incompetent branding and marketing strategies. Apple has always been an innovative company when it comes to technology. But more important than that, it has always been a company that is close to their consumers, understanding their desires.

On the other hand, Creative has no strong retail experience. Its earlier massive success, the Soun