Being the avid foodies that we are, the wife and I are always on the lookout for new food joints to satisfy our cravings. Our problem is, being Muslims, finding halal establishments in Singapore can be quite a challenge. The halal foodie depends heavily on word-of-mouth recommendations, googling the Web and physical ‘stumbleupons’ to discover new food places (sometimes food blogs such as ‘Yok Makan!’ offers great recommendation). But most times though, halal food places remains top of our Google search list.
Not for much longer though. The mobile web will save us all.
The 2nd annual Mobile Marketing Forum Asia Pacific 2010 (MMAF) is currently underway in Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel, Singapore. Since 13 April, industry experts and players have been discussing the present and future of the mobile marketing landscape. The focus for this year’s event is ‘Building Brands with Mobile’. The full view of the agenda and topics of discussion is available here. The event continues till April 15.
I will continue to share the latest tidbits and my personal commentaries (in 140 characters!) from the event’s floor. Add me on Twitter at @ismantanuri if you would like to follow the event closely. Alternatively, you can lock your Tweetdeck or other Twitter client to the official Mobile Marketing Forum Asia Pacific hashtag #MMAF2010. Or you can visit this Twitter search page for all the discussion and chatter so far.
And yes! I will be livetweeting the event on my mobile phone. It is only apt and I will be proving that computing and communication can be effectively achieved through the mobile platform. My gear of choice is my trusty Google Nexus One with Seesmic for Android as my Twitter app.
The Mobile Marketing Association is also on Twitter (@MMA_APAC).
I have been invited to the event by Rice Communications as part of the Community Media team. I am loving it so far and kudos to the team for the fantastic event organisation.
Mobile is the present and the future, folks! The tipple has tipped.
The Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon 2009 came around last Sunday. I eventually ticked another item off my New Year’s Resolutions list by completing the 21km half-marathon, my first ever, but not without pains and frustration. Despite being able to run continuously for 90 minutes and feeling strong and tireless at the 14km mark, I had to switch to brisk walking because of a prior niggling injury to my right ankle. That meant shifting my weight to the left leg, and soon I was cramping out on that leg. One thing led to another and soon both legs were developing muscle pains.
Thinking is a Painkiller
I began writing this blog post in my head for the next 5km. That somewhat took away the troubling thoughts that I will not reach the Finish Line in 2.5 hours (my goal on the outset). In any case, many of my blog posts had been written while on my daily runs. The experts do say that running makes you smarter. I certainly like the tone of that.
As I have been reading Chris Anderson’s The Long Tail lately, naturally my mind drifted there. Observing the massive throng of people (well, mostly folks speeding past me), a theoretical connection clicked, from which more thoughts poured in.
Here’s the result of killing pain with brain juicing.
Recently I was asked this question ‘Tell me why Wisma Atria should have a Twitter account’. Wisma Atria is a major mall on Orchard Road, Singapore that has pretty much reinvented itself with a facade change and cool-factor repositioning. A quick check shows that Wisma Atria is already on Twitter although I can’t be sure if that is indeed Wisma’s or a Twitter-squatter. Looks derelict to me (with 4 dubious followers) and 0 tweets.
This literature review was written as part of my final project for the BA (Hons) Marketing Management program I had attended. I personally thought it was a lot of fun getting this together, especially enjoyed the tons of reading. A lot of insights and new ideas were formed during the process of writing this. See if you enjoy it too. Do leave a comment if you don’t :)
You may wish to download the PDF for later viewing.
Update Dec 1 ’09: I received an overall Distinction grade for the Final Year Project, of which this Literature Review is a major component.
How can a company who gives its product away for free be extremely profitable (billions in revenue!)? Chris Brogan says it nicely here on how Red Hat does business by involving the community.
In a really connected world, no one can go it alone. Apart from the community that supports and develops your products (in tech at least), listening to your customers (end-users) must be the easiest way to gain insights, to polish your wares. But sadly, that is not always the case.
This Red Hat video says it very well and succinctly. The community-driven enterprise: it works!
By now you must have realised my fascination for augmented reality. It has all been really ‘cool’ without much real-life application (yet) outside of games and layering the real world with the internet. Fancy but still too techy for most folks.
This is something else. The United States Postal Service has come up with a brilliant use for augmented reality. For the CUSTOMER. Not an exhibition.
A breakthrough perhaps in a real life use for augmented reality (anyone else seen anything similar being developed? Please comment if you have.) So, have you ever wondered if that teddy bear gift you bought will fit in a packing box for shipping? Now you can find out yourself with a camera and internet connection. No need for ‘guess-timation’ or looking out for that measuring tape that is never around when you need it.
Can SingPost develop something like this? I say it would be the norm rather than a novelty in the not-too-distant future.
Excellent, this is technology for the customer. Watch video below and be convinced.
Facebook is a great place for small businesses and startups to stay in touch with their customers online. In fact, there are many other social media tools that can help SMEs get around the big revolution that is the social Web 2.0. Fika Cafe is a new food place, serving Swedish food in a quaint district of Singapore. Fika’s on Facebook too and the subject of my case study.
Being the avid foodies that we are, the wife and I are always on the lookout for new food joints to satisfy our cravings. Our problem is, being Muslims, finding halal establishments in Singapore can be quite a challenge. The halal foodie depends heavily on word-of-mouth recommendations, googling the Web and physical ‘stumbleupons’ to discover new food places (sometimes food blogs such as ‘Yok Makan!’ offers great recommendation). But most times though, halal food places remains top of our Google search list.
Things have gotten easier since we discovered BuUuk for our Android phones (Nexus One FTW BTW). BuUuk is a restaurant guide utility application available for free on the iPhone App Store and also for phones running on Android (get it from Android Market on your phone or click this to dowload .apk file and install). Interestingly, BuUuk is a homegrown, Singapore-made product and has also been featured on CNN Go’s list of ‘11 Crucial iPhone Travel Apps’.
Recently I was asked this question ‘Tell me why Wisma Atria should have a Twitter account’. 
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