A story to tell

AS children, we relished listening to bedtime stories told by our parents. As we grow into adulthood, this supposedly childish longing does not disappear with age. The draw towards stories is just as strong, but is outwardly masked by maturity and politeness.

Daniel Comar ... ‘Too much information should not be given to the audience.’

However, it is only human nature to be drawn to stories, and story-telling is increasingly becoming an important tool in the world of advertising and marketing.

In positioning a brand, advertisers are beginning to realise that people react more to stories than the products. This was the main theme that resonated during the Effie Effectiveness Bootcamp 2011 last week. Star Publications (M) Bhd was the knowledge partner, while Malaysia External Trade Development Corp (Matrade) was the sponsor.

Since its introduction in 1968, Effie has become recognised by agencies and advertisers as the pre-eminent award in the communications industry.

The Effie Awards is the only global award that honours achievement in meeting and exceeding marketing communications objectives, with a focus on effective campaigns.

Argonauten G2 and G2 Germany executive of planning director Judd Labarthe says for story-telling to be effective, it has to be appealing to people's right side of the brain.

“The right side of the brain is related to artistry, empathy, inventiveness and big picture thinking. This is the conceptual age. Human beings naturally want to work through stories. Stories are how we remember things,” said Labarthe.

That is why Labarthe says that story-telling and managing brands make a natural fit. People do not buy products. They buy stories.

“Too many marketeers still believe that they can argue their customers into buying a product. This thinking is only on an intellectual basis. People are not inspired by reason alone. It is emotions that inspire,” he said.

He added that for story-telling to be more effective, marketeers should first pose the “wrong” questions. For instance, who may hate my brand? Who is my brand not for?

OgilvyAction Asia Pacific executive creative director Daniel Comar says marketeers must ask themselves what is their main storyline.

“Establish a clear and bold challenge. Raise the stakes. Prioritise, simplify and make sure the results link back to the main challenge. Then write the script,” he says.

He also reminds participants of some deadly sins to avoid in story-telling.

“The idea cannot be boring and lacking in drama. The plot cannot be confusing, and too much information should not be given to the audience,” says Comar.

AirAsia X Bhd chief executive officer Azran Osman-Rani says ultimately, no great marketing campaign will ever compensate for an average product.

“The most important thing is your product. It has to stand out and be different. No matter how exciting your story is, it will not sell if your product is not exciting or unique.”

In AirAsia X's case, how was its product unique?

The destinations are the same, the pilots were the same and so were the planes. The difference was the ability to fly at a much lower rate. The breakthrough came through a key customer insight.

“All airlines were flying at a low utilisation rates. Airlines were flying only 12 out of 24 hours a day. They were serving the premium customers. So the airlines had to fly their premium customers at their convenience,”

“However, most people fly not because of convenience, but because of price! People make decisions differently ... When everyone is moving one way, that is a sign there is an opportunity to stand out and do something else,” says Azran.

He adds that normal airlines wait for people to come to them.

“Don't ever wait for customers to come to you. Forget market share. Find that space,” he says.
Azran adds that the difference is not in the idea, but in the execution. “A great ad cannot sell a mediocre product, especially if the execution is bad. You must win people over and over again. If you make mistake, react quickly. Don't waste time finger pointing.”

Star executive director and chief operating officer Ho Kay Tat says print remains a very effective media to reach out to the audience. The newspaper remains a very effective mode of communicating with our customers.

“Nonetheless we must learn to play with all the new instruments,” Ho said during his speech.
He added that the industry was revolutionising fast, mainly due to the technology.

“A journalist today has to be a multi-tasker. The journalist has to sometimes write and file his story from his Blackberry or laptop. It's not easy but we have to do it. Due to the changes in technology, there are tremendous challenges for the media industry. Here in The Star, we have been adapting and adopting,” says Ho.

The Malaysian Effie Award 2011 season has begun and the call for entries are underway, with the closing deadline in July 8.

Bigger head, bigger success

16 April 2012 - 

THE next time you assess how well a CEO is doing, check out the size of his head.

The successful man has a bigger head. No pun intended here.

    Mohd Khamil

 

If you were to really observe successful people in the corporate world, you will notice that these people are bobbing some seriously big heads around.

Lets just have a look at some of the corporate heads that have been in the news recently.

Among the more prominent are Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu) CEO Datuk Seri Idris Jala, DRB-Hicom Bhd group managing director Datuk Seri Mohd Khamil Jamil, British American Tobacco Bhd managing director William Toh, Dialog Group Bhd managing director Ngau Boon Keat, SapuraCrest Petroleum Bhd group president and CEO Datuk Seri Shahril Shamsuddin, and Rimbunan Hijau Group chairman and managing director Tan Sri Tiong Hiew King.

What do they all have in common?

Apart from being the chiefs of extremely big organisations, they have very large heads.

Their heads are a full one-seventh of their entire body lengths. In Mian Xiang, it is recognised that intelligent and more successful people tend to have bigger heads.

Toh

 

It does make sense. After all, it is where our brain sits — it is the place where we gain knowledge and learn about the world. So naturally, a bigger head should be sheltering a larger brain.

In physiognomy, the head is the highest point of the body and is related to stature, wisdom and intellectual abilities. Therefore, a larger head signifies a person who achieves his successes, material wealth and status through intellectual abilities.

Just look at the bosses in your own company. Doesn’t the big boss have a big head? If unfortunately he has a small head, then it is most likely that he has trouble managing big groups of people. He just doesn’t have the head for that sort of influence.

How often have you seen the CEO of a big company with an extremely small head? If he has a normal-size head, its fine. If he has a small head on on a natural-size body, or worse, a big body, then it becomes unfortunate.

Chances are, most of his staff don’t think highly of his abilities. He probably got into that position because there was nobody better.

Tiong

 

CEOs with small heads and large hulking muscular bodies aren’t going to be exactly known for their thinking power. When the lower body is more developed, especially the third station of the body (from the waist to the toes), this person has more physical prowess. He excels more in adventure and outdoor activities and is less of a thinker.

Many atheletes or men who place huge emphasis on their physical appearances tend to have this sort of body shape — small heads on great bodies. He spends more time in the gym developing his body rather than reading books improving his knowledge.

So if you’ve got an investment banker with that body make up, you better re-think your decision. He won’t be able to figure out financial creativity or the best way to bring value to your company,

In my book Faces of Fortune, nearly all my chosen tycoons have got nice big heads. If I were to choose a tycoon just based on his big head, I can’t think of a better example that IOI Corp Bhd’s founder and chairman, Tan Sri Lee Shin Cheng — crowning his compact but sturdy body is a really big head.

He carries his head high and it is a full one-seventh of his body if not slightly more. That’s your first indication that this is a man with immense power and wealth. When you have a bigger head, you probably control something like tens of thousands of people. When you have a small head, you’re better off managing 10 people.

Jala

 

While the size of the head is important, the shape and balance of it is just as significant. The head must have corners and prominence at the right places.

If you have a leader with a shapeless head, then you’re in trouble.

A shapeless head is the sort of head which looks like God made it while he was in a hurry. He didn’t have time to properly construct the head and just gave the person a doughy dollop above his neck!

These people always lack charisma and leadership. They are never good networkers.

Corners in the front and back are especially important. You hardly see CEOs with pointy shaped heads. The pointy-shaped head is one where the top of the head is prominent and sharp.

This individual achieves a lot when he is young, typically before 30, but does not have the nescessary wisdom to give him a stable career outlook. So, typically, these people are clever, but less stable and tend to take unnescessary risks.

You are inclined to see this sort of head on very creative people, for example actors, artists, marketing and advertising people.

Prominent corners in the back and front of the head are very important.

The protusion at the back of the head is related to good memory and strength in character.

The protrusion in the front of the head is related to creativity, idealism and thinking ability. That is why clever people tend to have big heads with obvious corners especially on the back and front.

So now you know why all those biggies have some serious head!

Successful women have more manly features

19 March 2012 -

IS it always good to look like one of those nubile Japanese and South Korean models? You know, those with the round doe-like watery eyes, the small rosebud mouth, the dainty nose and the V-shaped chin?

In the world of Mian Xiang, the balance of yin and yang is extremely important. Women shouldn’t look all yin, and men shouldn’t look all yang. Yin is the gentle energy, the nurturing and more compassionate energy whereas yang energy is associated with the can-do and action- oriented abilities.

You will notice that tycoons always have strong yang features, but their features are complemented by yin (the soft flesh) which gives them ample cheekbones, and a wide and fleshy double chin.

Based on these factors, the Japanese and Korean model look isn’t one that is too ideal. It is way too yin. Too fragile, too sensitive, and she gets hurt too easily. The V-shaped chin is an indicator of a poor old age. She has fun now, but the later years aren’t great.

For the Chinese, it is always better to have a poor start followed by a good finish, rather than the other way round. So what does a successful woman look like?

To put it simply. More like a man!

A successful woman has money, wealth and confidence. She is used to shouldering huge responsibilities and making important decisions.

In today’s world, it is still men who mainly hold the position of CEO and MD.

And what does the CEO look like? He has sharp eyes, good quality eyebrows, a bigger mouth, and a fleshier nose. Now, a woman with similar features, would surely also look stronger and more confident. She may not have the superficial sex appeal of the Playboy Bunny, but she has beauty that is more intelligent.

You see, the lady who is more self-assured will have a stronger and fleshier nose. Weaker women with no stand tend to have smaller noses. This is also known as The Second Wife Nose.

The successful woman also tends to have eyes that are longer and less round as they are strategisers and more in control of their emotions.

Very importantly, the chin tends to be shorter because usually, the successful woman’s prime is in her middle years — the adrenaline and success takes place between the ages of 30 and 55. Thus, the middle portion of her face, (which is representative of those years), also tend to be the most prominent.

Sign of success: Chia’s cheeks are fleshy, an indication that she is outwardly an extremly powerful woman.

 

For our first example, let us take a look at Hong Leong Bank Bhd’s managing director Yvonne Chia.

Now look at that chin. Square and solid. It is slightly sharp, which indicates an emotional character. In normal instances a sharp chin is not ideal, but whenever it is coupled with a spacious hired help palace, then it becomes auspicious.

The hired help palace is measured by the width and length of the chin. It has got to be wide and roomy. Chia’s hired help is favourable because it means she gets support from people to execute whatever grand plans she needs to achieve.

As Chia’s chin is almost as prominent as the mid-portion of her face, this shows that her successes continue to her mature years. She is currently 59, and the age points over the next 10 years are below the lower lip and the chin area. The expansive chin shows that she isn’t slowing down and the corporate endeavours continue.

She also has triangle eyes that are alive and spirited. Cleverer people tend not to have round eyes. The spirited qi in her eyes shows energy and fire. She also has a slight double eyelid which indicates compassion and feelings despite her strong character.

Now, successful women always have fleshy and higher cheeks. The higher one’s cheeks, the more ability they have to lead big crowds of people. Chia’s cheeks are fleshy, which shows that she is outwardly an extremly powerful women. Now as it isn’t too protruding, it shows that at home, she doesn’t dominate her husband.

Rare find: Teh’s square forehead indicates that she thinks like a man.

 

Now lets look at Selangor Dredging Bhd managing director, Teh Lip Kim.

First up, you will notice the square forehead. Yup, she thinks like a man! A square forehead on a lady is rare. Only Britain’s former prime minister, Margaret Thatcher has that feature.

And look at those triangle eyes. She is shrewd and sharp. Do not mess around with this lady. She runs a tight ship and does not cut corners. You may not want her to be your boss, but you’ll be happy as her shareholder. You know she will deliver results and do a good job.

Now, as Selangor Dredging is a property company, it is only normal that we evaluate her property palace. The property palace is the area between her eyebrows and eye. The wider it is, the more one gets to generate income from properties.

Look at Teh’s property palace. It is extremely wide and spacious. She can create beautiful properties and generate lots of money not just for her, but for her housebuyers. We see this by evaluating it together with her wealth palace, the nose. For a lady, the nose doesn’t have to be extremely big, but it has to be long, at least one-third of her face.

Couple those features with her short chin, and you know that Teh’s best is yet to come. She is 46 this year, and the age point is favourably on her right cheekbone. As the age points move back to her wealth palace from 48 to 50 years, she does even better then.

Finally, let us look at Sherilyn Foong, the head of Equity Capital Markets in HwangDBS. You will immediately notice the prominent nose and the wide mouth.

As Foong is in the financial services industry, her wealth palace, the nose is very important. For her, indirect income is significant and more important than direct income, because her sort of job is deal driven. Indirect income is seen in a person’s nose wings. The wider it is, the more more indirect income she generates.

Wealth palace: Foong’s prominent nose is a sign that she is a strongwilled woman

Look at Foong’s nose.

The length is one third of her face, has wide nose wings, and more importantly, the nostrils are covered from the front. Money comes in, and money doesn’t go out. This is a face of a very savvy lady who knows how to make money.

How do you see that Foong is a driven person who gets things done? You see that in the strength of her nose. As I have said, weaker-willed women will not have strong noses.

Meanwhile, Foong’s big mouth indicates big influence. She’s got a large network of clients and contacts to ensure the deals come flowing in. So who says intellectual and successful women aren’t beautiful?