Many years ago, consumers don’t have much option because we only have that limited choices when it comes to product. For example, when I wanted to buy a new mobile phone for myself, I only know 2 so-called ‘better’ brands – Nokia and Motorola (before the merger of Sony and Ericsson). And for those brands, there will only be 1 to 5 models at one time.

We don't need new hand-free accessory every few months, do we?

But look at now. Nokia comes out with a new model every 3 months, and there are different ranges of mobile phones – the N series, the E series, the normal 6000s series, etc. If you take into consideration the models from other companies such as LG, Samsung, Motorola, and Sony Ericsson, there are easily more than 10 models for a particular price range. Consumers are simply spoilt for choice – which, is creating a new market for the reviewers since they are helping people to test our stuff and help consumers make their decisions.

This is not really a bad thing for the consumer. Problem is, with a new model every 3 months, the value of the current model will drop and drop FAST. It’s as if the attention span or life span of the model has becoming shorter, unlike many years ago where there will only be a new model every 6 to 9 months. Buying a N85 soon? Expect the price to drop for at least 30-50% 1 year later.

And with the attention span of products getting shorter, the money spent in the R & D and development of the new models will increase – thus, cutting down the profit margin. To me, this kind of market is becoming a bloody red ocean where competitors are fighting with each other in terms of price and technology. There will never be a big winner in such a situation.

But maybe, just maybe, companies involved in this kind of war should stop and look at what consumers really want. Why do I say this? Well, Nokia, Sony Ericsson and other phone companies have been fighting for so many years………but when the newbie Apple came in with their IPhone, they managed to dominate a large chunk of the market share.

Why? Because Apple realizes a few things when it comes to catching the consumers’ heart.

• Consumers don’t need, and most don’t want to change the item to a newer version every 3 months unless it’s free.
• Consumers hate seeing the value of their item drop so much within a short period of time.
• Consumers want items which have longer attention span and not some items which are bought and forgotten within a month’s time.
• Consumers want good quality stuff.

Maybe companies should start realizing the above points and give the consumers something SPECIAL. No point fighting with each other and neglect what the consumers really want. Because in the end, people will just ignore you and your war, and go to the one which gives them the best.

P/S…. i will be away to Bangkok for project deployment (finally!!) from Sunday until Wednesday. Thus, I might not be able to update the blog regularly at that time.

Just a few days ago (or was it last week? or the week before? I couldn’t remember), I mentioned to some people that the level of creativity among companies/corporations/businesses (and sadly, criminals as well) will rise in 2009 due to the recession. And my “wild guess” seems to be heading to the right direction as mentioned by this article – Recession = More Creativity + Higher Rates of Entrepreneurship.

Why is that so?

This is good!! Maybe we'll have an automated coffee machine as well?

Reason is simple. When everyone is having a good time in the good economy, there’s no reason why people should take such high risks and venture into something uncertain – when creativity and entrepreneurship are  concerned, it means uncertainty, even with a proper plan. People are willing to just sit down, relax, and enjoy the benefits and money that the good economy brings. After all, nobody is going to take their rice bowls away from them. And those competitors who try to be too creative? They’ll either perish before we know their name, or they’ll become very successful……….which is VERY RARE.

Well, that’s the assumption of most people anyway.

But when time is bad and economy has gone terribly wrong, some people will lose their jobs and some businesses/corporations/companies will be forced into a corner or a tight spot. Remember that I mentioned before, when one is pushed to a corner without anywhere to run……..one will be forced to take the risk which he/she was not willing to take few months before. Dire circumstances call for desperate changes. If they don’t change, they’ll just perish like the rest.

That is why when people have nothing more to lose (like jobless people), they will be willing to take up higher risks and be creative. Same goes for businesses and corporations because when the “normal way” doesn’t save them…….maybe the “abnormal way” will.

So expect to see more creative products (and sometimes useless) and ideas coming out in 2009. As consumer, let’s enjoy the ride. We deserve it! After all, our money is becoming a rare commodity in 2009!

My sister and her husband went to Curve the other day to look for a birthday gift for a baby girl. After walking around for few hours, they decided to buy a RM 90 toy imported from Italy called Ch**c*. They wrapped it up, and gave the birthday gift to the baby’s parents (who are based in Melaka) 2 days later.

On the 3rd day, the parents called my sister to tell her that the toy is faulty. My sister got it back on the 4th day and went to the shop to ask for a warranty. The sales girl told her that the warranty period is only 3 days which means my sister was not eligible for it.

Ok, my sister is much prettier than this.

When my sister told me about this, I was quite surprised. I thought the global economy is really bad? The company is really making a big mistake here by doing this. It’s either the employees (management team included) don’t care, or they are really really bad in handling the customers.

In my opinion, there are few things they (the company) can actually do to improve this situation.

• Tell the customers that the warranty period is over and show the proof (it must be stated somewhere – in the receipt, the box, etc).
• Offer to repair the toy but informs the customers that there’s no promise the toy can be repaired. Do it Free-of-charge and promise to give the customers the reply within so and so number of days.
• Extend the warranty period to 1 week since 3 days is ridiculously short.

These 3 are very very common things a business can do to make the customers happier…or at least, lower down the “pissed off” meter to a manageable level. The funny thing is, most businesses don’t do these 3 things. The only thing that most businesses like to do is to piss the customers off.

No wonder so many businesses are closing down nowadays. Serve them right.

UPDATE: The customer service officer in the HQ office managed to “fix” the toy up after we told them that we are VERY disappointed with their service and might even inform our friends about it. No warranty still but at least, they’ve fixed it up.

I’m finally back after 1 week of absence (or more?). Hope you guys have enjoyed your Chinese New Year celebration as much as I did. I’ve had a great time except for …erm…losing money in the famous CNY “sports”.

Anyway, I’ve some good n bad news for you all.

The good news first.

• I’m back! Okay, I’ve said that already.
• I’ll resume blogging from Monday onwards.
• The number of RSS subscribers of this blog have achieved 20 mark for the first time! Yeah yeah, I know it’s a small number but it’s quite a record for this blog. If you haven’t subscribe to this blog’s RSS, you can do so HERE.

and the bad news….

• I will not be blogging actively during the next 2 weeks as I’ll still be rushing my project. I was rushing the project during CNY as well. I’ll still try my best to blog as much as possible, but work comes first and the project does need my help (which is actually a good news since I’m not a liability).
• I lost quite most of my “ang pow” money to those “sports” during CNY. LOL. Well, not all of the money anyway…not the big ones. Lesson of the day – Alvin should not be greedy in this “cow” year. =_=

Besides the good and bad news about my life, there are some observations I’ve made during CNY period which I want to share with you all. See, this blog is not all about me.

• The economy is really bad, even in Malaysia. A lot of factories are closing down, and many more are retrenching workers.
  

  More people are getting married this year...even though it's recession period

• In fact, I do believe Malaysia will be very badly hit by recession and the signs will become obvious in May or June 2009.
• Crime rate is going up because those foreigners are the first to be retrenched. And when they’re desperate, where can they turn to?
• Dengue cases are on the rise in Malaysia. So kill all the mosquitoes you see and check if your house have any stagnant water. Do it weekly or 3 times a week, if possible.
• A lot of people are getting married this year! Be prepared for lots of red bombs.
• I expect to see a lot of sales and promotions as businesses try to improve consumer spending. So if you are looking to buy some stuff, try to be patient and choose only the best deals. Sales will not be something rare this year.
• Besides sales & promotions, I also expect to see more options for consumers since businesses will be competing with each others to get the bigger piece of the market – price war…technology war…etc.
• The food & beverages business is affected by the recession as well. More people are eating @ home, and they are switching to vege n chicken diet…less seafood. My father’s friend who sells fresh seafood complained to us the other day that business is really becoming from bad to worse.
• Cosmetics business is going to get more popular…since I noticed that more young girls in my hometown (which is quite a small place) are using make-ups nowadays, as compared to few years ago.

Hmm can’t think of anything now. I think I better sleep. Seriously lacking sleep. =_=

Last but not least, thanks for all those who visited and commented on this blog while I was away.

The other day, I drove pass Shell station and my friends started discussing which company has the better fuel – Shell, Mobil, Caltex or Esso (Petronas is not applicable)? A lot of them said Shell because it can actually last longer. And everyone believes so.

Then I asked them. Did they actually try that out or prove that theory/belief?

Nope. None of them did.

Honestly speaking, I’m one of those Shell supporters because my bro-in-law told me that Shell can actually last longer. From where he heard that from, I’ve no idea.

Well, that’s the power of word-of-mouth. If someone says you’re good, a lot of people will believe you are especially if it is very difficult or troublesome to prove otherwise. If someone says Shell is good, a lot of people will not be bothered to test it out by driving their car out…pump using Shell’s fuel….and go around to see how far they can go. It’ll be too troublesome and time consuming for us. Also, that is not our job…that’s the job of the folks from Mythbusters.

So if you’re planning to come out with a product, try to make it a good one or at least an OKAY one…but make everyone believes it’s good. Also, make sure it’s not easy to prove that your product is actually not that OKAY. People will be too lazy to prove your product is not OKAY.

Last but not least, never underestimate the power of word-of-mouth. It can either be your best ally in marketing…or your worst foe.