Tim Ho

What can marketers learn from Jiro the sushi master

2012-11-06T04:42:41Z

Jiro Dreams of Sushi is a documentary about the 85 year-old sushi master, Jiro Ono, who has been working his entire life improving his Michelin 3-star sushi restaurant in Tokyo. I recently had a chance to watch this documentary on the plane. Like many other documentaries and good films, the philosophies in them apply to many different things, in both professional and personal situations.

Jiro Ono, like many other Japanese legends or masters, is all about mastering one skill. He fell in love with the art of sushi. While many sushi and food experts (Joël Robuchon being one of them) think that Jiro’s sushi is the best in the world, he never stops looking for the perfect piece of sushi. He believes that every single detailed effort affect the outcome, he dislike holidays and he dreams about sushi from time to time.

“I do the same thing over and over, improving bit by bit. There is always a yearning to achieve more. I’ll continue to climb, trying to reach the top, but no one knows where the top is.” – Jiro Ono

It’s interesting to look at this as a marketer. In this fast moving “360″ media environment, people need to have different skill sets to survive and understand the marketing landscape and it’s changes. We were taught to learn as much as possible; speaking 5 languages, learning how each social channel works, perhaps some computer programming, or hosting brainstorm sessions, all sound ideal. We are busy learning, busy working, dealing with personal issues in life, while both smartphones are popping up whatsapp messages. But we should realize one thing – we are just doing what everyone in our industry is doing.

In order to have a different point of view and professional approach, we need to behave differently. That does not mean we should only do things that our industry people wouldn’t do. I believe mastering a skill like Jiro Ono will give us the edge, especially in marketing agencies in the future, they start to realize that a group of “360″ know-it-all talents can only, and will always develop mediocre work. I believe in slowing down, knowing life balances, and feel comfortable to be disconnected from “the world” and THINK. Talk less bullshit, do and think more, love what you do and really put your heart to it!

“Once you decide on your occupation… you must immerse yourself in your work. You have to fall in love with your work. Never complain about your job. You must dedicate your life to mastering your skill. That’s the secret of success… and is the key to being regarded honorably.” – Jiro Ono

How to use QR code effectively

2012-07-05T04:29:36Z

For most countries, there are increasing amount of QR code seen on different marketing channels, most common ones would be on print ad. What’s the true value of having them? And how to make best use of this technology?

The mistake

Being working in the communication industry, I have sadly learned that most clients (brands) have no clue about QR code. Many clients think that it looks innovative to stick this ugly box onto different media without knowing the purpose. I have also tried to scan many of them to test out what they bring me to, most of them just take me to a non-mobile friendly website, some of them are even too small that it doesn’t scan. Many of them clearly don’t even expect people to scan the code!

Make it work!

The true value of having QR code is to extend the offline experience and continuely interest the target for further actions. QR code is best implemented when it provides experience that users can’t get without it. For example, if a print ad is telling how great an apple tastes, the QR code on the ad should make viewers “feel” how good this apple tastes, an experience or promotion which they otherwise can’t feel only through the print ad.
One of the great examples I’ve seen is the QR code “uncensored”, print ad shows an attractive woman which viewers can scan the QR code to see more of her, the brand successful built in a key practical reason of why this QR code exists.

Upcoming trend

New smartphones and other mobile device are very likely to build native QR code scanning capability to the hardware. Apple has announced the Passbook, a native app that scans codes, this is very likely going to make a big change the marketing and how advertisers use QR codes!

The launch of SALT – The Creative Word of Mouth Agency

2012-05-16T09:40:56Z

I’ve been learning so much through blogging here, it has also been giving me lots of joy hearing from fellow marketers from around the world through this blog. So I would like to update you all on my big career change here.

I have recently resigned from my position at Ogilvy, although I enjoyed working with the extremely creative and talented team there, I have made a huge decision to start my own agency, SALT.

It’s nothing new that bad (or not good enough) products or services can never stay in the market for long, no matter how much marketing budget they are willing to throw in, storytelling and customer engagement are what differentiate good brands from great brands these days. In cooking, salt is one of the key ingredient, but it can’t make bad food taste good. Similar to cooking, I can’t magically make consumers share and talk about a bad product, instead, we are the SALT that turns good brands great by bringing out their brand flavour to their target audience.

SALT focuses on innovating, and making new ideas happen for lifestyle and hospitality brands. We are based in in Hong Kong at the moment, but also have clients in Canada and Mexico. (Here’s a story covered by Marketing Magazine: http://marketing-interactive.com/news/31957.)

I’m very excited about this and I’m hoping to bring something new to the table in the creative industry!

Please enjoy the presentation we created on social media & fashion industry.

Mercedes going young?

2012-04-16T15:16:30Z

Mercedes’ marketing and communication is clearly heading towards the direction of being more innovative than before. After the brilliant video showcase of the “invisible mercedes” (video above) went viral, they have published a new video for the French market (video below) 3 days ago, looks a bit more hip and lifestyle driven than any other videos they’ve published before, is brand’s trying to hit the younger target?

Video: Mayan’s Marketing Strategy

2012-02-02T07:53:05Z

I’ve seen great videos produced by boutique agencies last year in 2011, including two of my favorites both by John St.’s Catvertising and Pink Ponies.
Buzzman, a French interactive agency just created an amazing piece, a case study styled video highlighting Mayans versus Egyptians as 2 competing brands and their tactics to dominate the market by launching the “end of the world” campaign.

Axe: The Chain

2012-02-02T04:14:42Z

Another brilliant piece by Axe and BBH London, love the chaos and the calm elvis presley as background music.

Agency credits:
Director: Tom Kuntz
Creative Director: Dominic Goldman, David Kolbusz
Art Director: Daniel Schaefer, Szymon Rose
Copywriter: Daniel Schaefer, Szymon Rose
Producer: Suza Horvat
Sound: Factory Studios
Account Director: Richard Lawson, Keir Mather
Agency Producer: Ruben Mercadal
Post Production: Framestor
Print Producer: Jeremy Gleeson
Account Manager: Jennifer Omran

Mercedes-Benz launched official video for 2013 SL-Class

2012-01-10T08:18:30Z

Car brands are investing more and more in online content, especially online videos.
Mercedes Benz created a story with a video and launched 2 days ago to promote the upcoming SL class model.
Story is a bit cheesy but demonstrates all key features beautifully.

LG viral video: The Smart Thief

2012-01-09T09:17:43Z

This is an extremely clever video created by LG for their latest “World’s Slimmest Television”. Video shows the thief directly facing the security cameras as he walks out the electronic shop, the TV is so slim that you can’t see him holding the TV until the last camera.

Insane interactive projection on Middle East Mosque

2012-01-09T02:26:44Z

To celebrate UAE National Day 2011, US and Sweden based interactive designers at Obscura Digital created this amazing eye candy, projected on the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque with more than 40 projectors.

Penningtons: The mirror surprise

2011-11-25T09:33:19Z

This concept has so much potential. Would really like to see if a brand can crack this idea and integrate with social channels.