In the 21st century, we’re spoilt with choices….plenty of choices. It’s so much that anything complicated or messy will be ignored by us. Complicated banking system, confusing investment type, a machine which is hard to operate, or even a overly-cluttered workspace, just to name a few. These mind-boggling things are fast becoming things of the past.

Don’t believe me? Let’s look at some of the successful products in recent years.

• Apple IPod and IPhone. Simple design. Ease of use. In fact, most of Apple products have been designed with simplicity in mind.
• IKEA’s furniture. If you notice the design in the IKEA store, most of them are pretty simple and clean. Some are a bit cluttered due to the space but overall, they are still relatively simple yet attractive.
• Operation manual used to be text book sized but has now reduced to maybe one a4 paper for most products. People are just too lazy to read long-winded manual. They just want to get straight to the point and save time.
• And if you use Internet everyday, do you prefer a web site design which is messy or a design which is clean and simple?

It’s pretty obvious isn’t it? When there are too many things available to us, we tend to focus more on simple things which we can understand and digest right away. A complicated or messy design has the tendency to make us more sophisticated (not in a good way) and even, at times, frustrated.

So if you are trying to come out with a design or a product, remember that it’s important to solve the problem with as simple a method as possible. Because unlike in the past when anyone who creates complicated product is regarded as a genius…people nowadays prefer the simplistic approach.

I’m a big Japanese anime fan and it all started when I was a little boy. My father’s friend owned a video shop and he lent me a lot of Dragonball videos for free. And it all started from there.

20 years later, the name Dragonball is still very popular in the world of anime and maybe that is why someone came out with an idea – “Why not make a REAL Dragonball movie?!”

Thus, the result is the movie Dragonball :Evolution.

After watching the trailers, my only response – I kept laughing as if this action movie has become a comedy. I can go on and on about why this should not be made into a Dragonball movie….but well, it’s better if you go find it out yourselves. If you’re a Dragonball fan, you’ll either feel disgusted or amused.

Son Goku and Bulma - they do look pretty funny

Anyway, what I intend to say here is that it is never easy to change something which other people have strong feelings on. This movie is one example. There are millions of Dragonball fans worldwide and all of them know what Dragonball is and all the special feelings associated with the franchise – Son Goku is a Japanese! And and Bulma is a Japanese also!! And Master Roshi is supposed to be bald! To change such feelings is never easy and most of the time will backfire.

Another example is KFC. KFC is famous for fried chicken but I recall that few years ago, they tried to be creative and came out with Fish burger. It was a total failure. Same goes for Nandos, the so-called grilled chicken specialist. I’ve tried to grilled fish and my friend tried to grilled beef before……..they sux. Actually, those things are not really THAT bad if they are being sold by other people. The thing here is that, our mindset has been set, and the feelings associated with these businesses have been set – Nandos for SPICY grilled chicken, Kenny Rogers for HEALTHY grilled chicken, Burger King for large burgers, Dragonball for spiky-haired guys that can fly around in the sky and can change hair color at will, etc.

From here, you can see that there are feelings which we associate with certain names….some ever since our childhood days. That is why it’s never easy to change the feelings associated with a famous brand name. It’s pretty risky too because if you can do it very well (like Transformers…which actually didn’t really change THAT much. They’re still robots…not human), then your product/work will be very popular but if you don’t do it well……….it’ll become a laughing stock and expect millions of hardcore fans to boycott you before your product even got launched.

If you are going to change these feelings…..you better be prepared and make sure you have a well-thought plan. 

Last year, before the recession hits the States, I met up with some friends and we started talking about small company vs large company. Most of them say that large companies will be better since they’re more stable, consistent and productive. The small ones, to them, are too risky since these companies might suffer from cashflow problem, headcount problem, etc.

The small guy will be able to outrun the big guy and make him tired

I told them, that mentality is true and applicable for 2008 but not in the future. Why? Because there will be more and more changes ahead, more so that the large companies might not be able to handle them. Most of us know that large companies are very process-oriented and they have a certain set of procedures you need to follow for every action. I used to work for a Fortune 500 company, and at 1 point, I requested to upgrade my laptop memory to 2GB. The whole process took 3 weeks since it needs the approval from some IT managers in the States. 3 weeks…for something worth RM 200-300.

Anyway, as I’ve predicted, many so-called large companies are falling and falling fast. Retrenchments are not being made by small companies only….but also big companies (some are formerly known for being the best employers in their respective industry). In fact, most of my friends from large companies are suffering job losses or pay cuts but those in smaller companies are only suffering from pay cuts (they only lose their jobs if the company get closed down ).

The thing here is that large companies tend to spend too much time handling their processes and procedures, while the small companies (the good ones) are spending their time changing and adapting to the new environment. In this ever-changing world, whoever can adapt the fastest will win. This is something important and everyone should remember…..but sadly…not many believe in it.

So if you’re still thinking that large companies are better than smaller companies…….think again. In my opinion, it’s better to keep it small or medium for now since changes will be inevitable in 2009 onwards. You wouldn’t want to be the last in the queue to make the changes.

I’m a big football fan – Manchester United only – and I watch Astro’s Sports channels every weekend for live football matches. During some of the games, there will be this “Vote your man of the match” contest sponsored by Nokia. You just need to SMS them your man-of-the-match and you will stand to win a brand new Nokia phone worth more than RM 1500 !!

Let’s see….

From the perspective of a normal person, it is quite a good deal since I only need to spend RM 1 or RM 2 to get something worth RM 1500 but whether I get it or not, its strictly based on luck. But well, it’s still not a very bad deal since a meal outside would already cost me at least RM 3 – RM 4 nowadays. RM 1 or Rm 2 don’t really mean a thing in our world anymore.

And from the perspective of the contest organizer, it’s a very good opportunity to earn big bucks. There will be thousands and thousands of viewers for those “big matches”, and say 20% of them are feeling lucky and decided to join this man-of-the-match contest. 20% out of ….maybe 100000 viewers = 20000 people, each would vote once = RM 20000. Look at the profit margin?

And they have this more than once a week – maybe 4 or 5 times.

No wonder there are so many SMS contests nowadays.

Anyway, this concept does not apply to SMS contests only. It’s applicable to any form of products or services. So when you want to sell something using such concept, remember a few points.

• Make the process as trouble-free as possible. Example, typing a SMS is simple but sending an entry form is not. And typing the name of a player is simple, but writing why you chose the player is not.
• Make it as cheap as possible. RM 1 SMS charge is not significant and people will not notice, as compared to RM 10 entry form or RM 5 SMS. Also, if your price is cheap, people will be willing to send/purchase more than 1 unit.
• Make your contest or product or whatever you’re selling, as well-known as possible. Spread the words because you’re relying on numbers here.
• Get some partners, preferably the reputable ones so that whatever you are planning to sell will appear more trustworthy.

One bad thing about this is that, there will be a lot of work unless you are doing something like the SMS contests which should be automated. If you’re selling some small items/products, the large amount of items will add up to the cost and all those inventory problems (if you can’t sell them off).

So my suggestion to you is, try finding something which is automated (save time) and preferably, won’t take up too much space (save cost).

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.