As you spin or pirouette let your head not follow your body.
For that is where you’ve been or are now. So instead, spot, gaze forward - towards the future, where you envision yourself to be
Saturday, September 8, 2007
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Nail Me Down
I was gently cajoled into doing some media interviews recently and was reminded of an impressionable PR act which I'd experience in Thailand some months ago.
I was invited to the Grand Opening of the new Imperial Hotel Group’s Nail Studio. I'd arrived late as the traffic at Sukhumvit was so bad the entire area literally became a parking lot. I hopped out of the cab and trundled towards Emporium and into the back door of The Imperial Hotel.
Although I was nearly 45-minutes late, a handsome gentlemen - Khun Prasert, the hotel's in-house PR Executive, immediately recognized me, quickly came forward to greet me and gave me a warm handshake.
He was impressionable, which is really imperative in the field of public relations as it is important for corporates to put forth a face that impresses the public and press alike from the get-go. And the best part was that his approach wasn’t phony. Khun Prasert gave me the impression that he was seriously interested and proud of his job and their latest new nail salon.
I thought about how rare it was to find PR Executives that really understood and lived the virtues of customer satisfaction. No sooner had the thought crossed my mind when an exquisitely dressed and obviously important fixture strode towards me…no, it wasn’t one of the many celebrity-beauties gracing that night’s event.
This woman had beauty, of course, but what made her stand out was her air of sophistication and her proud aura of purpose and authority. She is really Khun Prasert’s mentor, teacher and leader - Khun Janya, who greeted me by name... I was impressed and very charmed.
With perfect English she asked me if she could show me around the Nail Salon. She then ushered me towards the registration desk. Although there were dozens of other obviously more important attendees than this short, mad American-columnist, Khun Janya kept her attention on me the entire time as we strolled from the registration counter to the Nail Studio.
Once we arrived at the Nail Studio, Khun Janya handed me over to another of her able assistants and politely excused herself as she attended to a much more important guest.
Boy-oh-boy, when it came to hitting that emotional cord Khun Janya and her team really struck me in the chord. They made me feel important.
As a result, I trusted them. They were sincere and passionate about their client.
Is important to note this is the PR team that does the campaigns for the entire ‘Imperial Queen’s Park Hotel’. The Nail Salon is just ONE of many products or services the hotel has to offer.
To think this is the way Khun Janya’s team behaves for all of their accounts boggles the mind. But, you feel it. Its not an act. Her team truly impressed me.
THIS is what good PR/ Guest relations is all about!
Anyway, back to the salon…
I asked the team why they chose the maroon, gold and beige hues as the key colors and they explained that their objective was to create an air of sophistication, beauty and relaxation. And in addition, using part of the Imperial Hotel's signature colors was something they thought would be in line with the overall brand identity.
Later, I decided to pose them a more difficult question... which really is what a typical investor or journalist would ask - What is the unique selling proposition that distinguishes Nail Studio from other nail salons?
After a short pause, she recited her positioning statement (memorised, of course), which is ‘We’ve a fashionable international standard salon that will pamper you with the most refined treatments, at a beautiful salon without charging high prices…high class with low prices…’
And they’re right! I have a manicure every-other-week and have tried several salons around Sukhumvit. Nail Studio’s prices are extremely reasonable. Their salon’s ambience, décor and location snips the cuticles out of the competition (pun intended).
For starters, although the PR team mentioned their primary target group would be hotel guests the grand opening went almost totally unnoticed by the hotel’s patrons. There were no hoteliers getting their nails done — only celebrities — and there were no hotel guests strolling in and about the Nail Studio shop. One would assume that most of the guests staying at Imperial Queen Hotel would be non-Thai’s. Chances are they would be Western. If this is the case then the press attending the event—mostly Thai—would be apt at conveying the Nail Studio’s message to their Thai-readers not the non-Thai, hotel-staying, primary target group.
I was one of the few, if not only non-Thai journalist at the grand opening.
Now, my next observation.
What's media relations without a good press release right?
A press release headline is supposed to grab the attention of the media. The headline must be something catchy, controversial, bold, flippant, humorous, adventurous, shocking, flamboyant, witty or revealing. Just simply writing: “Nail Studio: Colours of Wonder” is not something that’s going to get the media excited. This headline is more like an advertisement tagline.
In addition, the first paragraph of the release is far from polished (is not done correctly). There are run-on sentences, punctuation, tense, and conjunction errors…a big No-No when it comes to formatting an English written document.
Furthermore, the release and all accompanying literature about Nail Studio was rather vague, and non-defining…more like advertising mumbo-jumbo.
Statements like: “latest acrylic nail accessories from America” should state WHAT accessory brand its referring to, i.e., OPI? Just stating that its from America is like name-dropping and in this case, my motherland!
Or, “You will be pampered with the most particular and refined treatments”, should tell us HOW we are going to be pampered and WHAT refined treatments will be used.
Oddly though, when reading through the Imperial Hotel Group’s large maroon, corporate folder—which housed the press release and other information about the Nail Studio—one reads impeccable, error-free, content-specific text that speaks mountains (says a lot about) about what The Imperial Queen’s Park Hotel has to offer.
My advice, find another agency to develop and write the Nail Studio’s printed literature. Or, better-yet, just hire the same team that created the Hotel Group’s corporate folder.
Aside from this little chip I found the overall grand opening a brilliant success. The PR team was spot-on (great at execution and highly professional).
Now, if this remarkable PR team can impart their professionalism upon the ranks at the Nail Studio it’ll be a nail-snipping success.
I was invited to the Grand Opening of the new Imperial Hotel Group’s Nail Studio. I'd arrived late as the traffic at Sukhumvit was so bad the entire area literally became a parking lot. I hopped out of the cab and trundled towards Emporium and into the back door of The Imperial Hotel.
Although I was nearly 45-minutes late, a handsome gentlemen - Khun Prasert, the hotel's in-house PR Executive, immediately recognized me, quickly came forward to greet me and gave me a warm handshake.
He was impressionable, which is really imperative in the field of public relations as it is important for corporates to put forth a face that impresses the public and press alike from the get-go. And the best part was that his approach wasn’t phony. Khun Prasert gave me the impression that he was seriously interested and proud of his job and their latest new nail salon.
I thought about how rare it was to find PR Executives that really understood and lived the virtues of customer satisfaction. No sooner had the thought crossed my mind when an exquisitely dressed and obviously important fixture strode towards me…no, it wasn’t one of the many celebrity-beauties gracing that night’s event.
This woman had beauty, of course, but what made her stand out was her air of sophistication and her proud aura of purpose and authority. She is really Khun Prasert’s mentor, teacher and leader - Khun Janya, who greeted me by name... I was impressed and very charmed.
With perfect English she asked me if she could show me around the Nail Salon. She then ushered me towards the registration desk. Although there were dozens of other obviously more important attendees than this short, mad American-columnist, Khun Janya kept her attention on me the entire time as we strolled from the registration counter to the Nail Studio.
Once we arrived at the Nail Studio, Khun Janya handed me over to another of her able assistants and politely excused herself as she attended to a much more important guest.
Boy-oh-boy, when it came to hitting that emotional cord Khun Janya and her team really struck me in the chord. They made me feel important.
As a result, I trusted them. They were sincere and passionate about their client.
Is important to note this is the PR team that does the campaigns for the entire ‘Imperial Queen’s Park Hotel’. The Nail Salon is just ONE of many products or services the hotel has to offer.
To think this is the way Khun Janya’s team behaves for all of their accounts boggles the mind. But, you feel it. Its not an act. Her team truly impressed me.
THIS is what good PR/ Guest relations is all about!
Anyway, back to the salon…
I asked the team why they chose the maroon, gold and beige hues as the key colors and they explained that their objective was to create an air of sophistication, beauty and relaxation. And in addition, using part of the Imperial Hotel's signature colors was something they thought would be in line with the overall brand identity.
Later, I decided to pose them a more difficult question... which really is what a typical investor or journalist would ask - What is the unique selling proposition that distinguishes Nail Studio from other nail salons?
After a short pause, she recited her positioning statement (memorised, of course), which is ‘We’ve a fashionable international standard salon that will pamper you with the most refined treatments, at a beautiful salon without charging high prices…high class with low prices…’
And they’re right! I have a manicure every-other-week and have tried several salons around Sukhumvit. Nail Studio’s prices are extremely reasonable. Their salon’s ambience, décor and location snips the cuticles out of the competition (pun intended).
For starters, although the PR team mentioned their primary target group would be hotel guests the grand opening went almost totally unnoticed by the hotel’s patrons. There were no hoteliers getting their nails done — only celebrities — and there were no hotel guests strolling in and about the Nail Studio shop. One would assume that most of the guests staying at Imperial Queen Hotel would be non-Thai’s. Chances are they would be Western. If this is the case then the press attending the event—mostly Thai—would be apt at conveying the Nail Studio’s message to their Thai-readers not the non-Thai, hotel-staying, primary target group.
I was one of the few, if not only non-Thai journalist at the grand opening.
Now, my next observation.
What's media relations without a good press release right?
A press release headline is supposed to grab the attention of the media. The headline must be something catchy, controversial, bold, flippant, humorous, adventurous, shocking, flamboyant, witty or revealing. Just simply writing: “Nail Studio: Colours of Wonder” is not something that’s going to get the media excited. This headline is more like an advertisement tagline.
In addition, the first paragraph of the release is far from polished (is not done correctly). There are run-on sentences, punctuation, tense, and conjunction errors…a big No-No when it comes to formatting an English written document.
Furthermore, the release and all accompanying literature about Nail Studio was rather vague, and non-defining…more like advertising mumbo-jumbo.
Statements like: “latest acrylic nail accessories from America” should state WHAT accessory brand its referring to, i.e., OPI? Just stating that its from America is like name-dropping and in this case, my motherland!
Or, “You will be pampered with the most particular and refined treatments”, should tell us HOW we are going to be pampered and WHAT refined treatments will be used.
Oddly though, when reading through the Imperial Hotel Group’s large maroon, corporate folder—which housed the press release and other information about the Nail Studio—one reads impeccable, error-free, content-specific text that speaks mountains (says a lot about) about what The Imperial Queen’s Park Hotel has to offer.
My advice, find another agency to develop and write the Nail Studio’s printed literature. Or, better-yet, just hire the same team that created the Hotel Group’s corporate folder.
Aside from this little chip I found the overall grand opening a brilliant success. The PR team was spot-on (great at execution and highly professional).
Now, if this remarkable PR team can impart their professionalism upon the ranks at the Nail Studio it’ll be a nail-snipping success.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
On Art and Comprehension
Point to ponder
“The moment you think you understand a great work of art, it's dead for you.”
- Oscar Wilde
“The moment you think you understand a great work of art, it's dead for you.”
- Oscar Wilde
Man-made or Innate?
Food for thought.
“There is one thing one has to have: either a soul that is cheerful by nature, or a soul made cheerful by work, love, art, and knowledge.”
- Friedrich Nietzsche
“There is one thing one has to have: either a soul that is cheerful by nature, or a soul made cheerful by work, love, art, and knowledge.”
- Friedrich Nietzsche
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