Sales, Social and Tech

It is amazing how we are quick to forget that a single wrong comment on social media can make one the most hated person in Singapore. Back in 2012, we had Amy Cheong . Her comments on Facebook about a Malay wedding under her HDB void deck resulted in an online CSI that cost her her job. Fast forward to 2017 and we have Thomas Chua Poh Heng and whose name will forever live in Internet infamy. Thomas reposted a video of the funeral of a Traffic Policeman who died while on duty. Thomas then commented that his death was well deserve as Thomas was once given a traffic ticket by the same Traffic Policeman. Even the Home Minister for Singapore, who is responsible for the Police Force, was offended by Thomas' statement. The screenshot showed that post was marked global by the Globe image next to the Singapore tag which could hint that this post was meant for all to see. As such, the argument of a "private"post does not hold any weight here. Just as expected, aft...

Chope seats, swear words and a deliberate hard shove from behind. Nope, it isn't a script for a movie, but a video recording that went viral over social media over the weekend. The video showed a lady arguing with a senior citizen over choped, or reserved seats, at a local kopitiam, or known as coffee shop. The incident was compounded when the lady's male companion made a deliberate hard shove against the old man from behind. it was later reported that the guy pushed the plates to the ground in a fit of anger. As the video continued its viral non-viscosity, many commenters were looking to the Internet to CSI the identity of the couple - to “make them famous”. One alleged that it was a lady from a local bank and shared her photo. Some online sites picked it immediately and it was quickly shared online. However, the alleged lady responded to say she was overseas and could not have been part of the video. Singapore Police Force investigated the issue and the latest...

Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) Singapore Facebook Page recently received a complaint of the size of the chicken being served at KFC. Source: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10155209770906882&set=o.113001545421517&type=3&theater Barnabas Ng took a photo of his chicken from KFC which showed it to be almost the size of the KFC small container. It also looked like a an oversize popcorn chicken. Wrote Barnabas , "Hi KFC, is this your new standard size for a chicken? I order 3 piece meal and 2 pieces including this so called original recipe chicken is smaller than the size of the cap of ur small mash potato. Have you guys try to cut cost so much that you are offering half a size chicken pieces for a full price meal? It is just getting from bad to worse" KFC Singapore did reply to Barnabas for him to PM his mobile number but Barnabas has yet to receive any calls from KFC Singapore, as of this posting. Maybe chickens are also shrinking with the curren...

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong celebrated his 5 years anniversary on Facebook having joined this social media outlet on 21 April 2012. The Strait Times only reported that Prime Minister Lee has "amassed 1.1 million followers", but left out some important details that any social media manager would report on. There are many free online apps that will help you analyse your page and below are a snapshot of Prime Minister Lee performance on Facebook Page. LikeAlyzer , from Meltwater, gives Prime Minister Lee's Facebook Page a score of 77 out of 100. In comparison, fellow Singapore Government Public Figures like Ng Eng Heng and Grace Fu has higher LikeRank than Prime  Minister Lee Hsien Leong. Chee Soon Juan, an opposition party member in Singapore, ironically, is the highest ranking LikeRank politician with a score of 82. LikeAlyzer also analysed that Prime Minister Lee's posts mainly make up of photos (79.2%) and followers react most to...

It was a video to showcase to the youths on how it is like to work at one of Singapore's top fast food outlet, but the host's untied hair has led questions to F&B hygiene practises at the outlet. From the video above, the host has very long hair and F&B hygiene practises is to keep the long hai buned up or in a net. But this was neither practiced from the video. Though the host wore a cap to hold the hair in place, leaving the long hair freely like that is still a no-no for F&B hygiene reasons. Most commenters were immediately drawn to the host's untied hair and reminded 4Fingers of the F&B hygiene practises ad even asking the host to attend NEA F&B Hygiene course.

Malaysia Airlines (MAS) may have scored a  viral hit with its 2017 Chinese New Year advertisement but a bad customer service experienced by a popular Malaysia blogging couple is becoming a social wet blanket to the airline's Lunar New Year party.  Audrey, of Fourfeetnine.com, wrote how MAS "ruined" her family Chinese New Year by denying their 11.15am flight to Penang because it was "overbooked", even though they have tickets in hand. The reason given by the counter staff was they checked-in too late even though Audrey and family was at the counter 90 minutes before the flight. Wrote Audrey  about her husband's conversation with the counter staff, Staff: I’m sorry, you checked in too late. Fatty: Huh what do you mean too late? We’re here 1.5 hours before the flight to check in. Staff: Yea, because check in is open 48 hours before a flight…. Other people already checked in before you so there are no more seats. Fatty: So? I’m not late to check in what...

Andrea Chong, a Adidas appointed influencer, posted a photo of herself in the middle of the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon 2015 and captioned how she was "all smiles" during the run. Unfortunately for Andrea or the PR agency, one of her readers checked her bib number #75148  at the Marathon's website only to find it to belonging to somebody else. That somebody else is Kuvin Kuar , a intern at Edelman PR and the bib number had a status "DNF" or did not finished. This raised the first red flag as one of the rules stated that "A Participants is strictly not allowed to transfer his or her race entry to another party". This cascaded into perceptions that Andrea herself did not even start or complete the race and was only "planted" by Adidas or the PR agency, Edelman PR, to look pretty in the marathon. Marketing Magazine noted that Adidas declined to comment about the incident which lead to further speculation that Andrea was ...

Model Manuela Arbelaez gave away a USD 21,960 car away on the game show "The Price Is Right" and the clip has become the gameshow's most viewed video in its Youtube channel. The video clip has already generated 5 million views as of this writing. The most popular video I can find on the "The Price Is Right" channel is the clip of the "USD7,000" iPhone 6, which was looking at 1.8 million views. Model Manuela Arbelaez wasn't fired for her gaffe though she thought she would be. Wrote Today , “It was a brain fart,” said Arbelaez. “I just zoned out. I literally did not see that coming. My body took over and reacted before my brain had a chance to stop it.” The goof brought Arbelaez to tears and sent “Price is Right” host Drew Carey into a giggle fit. “Congratulations, Manuela just gave you a car,” Carey told the contestant.  This gaffe probably generated more attention to the show that it ever had. In Singapore, with h...

Two of Singapore top banks are in a vanity battle of who has the most number of Facebook likes that ironically have little or no effect on their bottom line. Yet, OCBC Singapore and DBS Bank decided it is worth fight over at Marketing Interactive. Wrote Rezwana Manjur of Marketing Interactive , "OCBC Bank’s claim that it is the leading social media bank in Singapore has sparked retaliation from arch rival DBS.... ... In reaction to OCBC’s claims, Edna Koh, senior vice president, group strategic marketing & communications, DBS Bank has refuted the claims and told Marketing that in 2010, DBS was the first Asian bank in Singapore to adopt a regional corporate Facebook page which now has over 590,000 fans across its 12 Facebook pages established for different audiences...." If you were to ask either OCBC or DBS Bank how much of these likes or fans are actually account holders of the respective bank, you are more likely to get a blank check than a definite answer. ...

It was meant as a cheeky tweet from Dutch airlines, KLM, but it ended up pissing almost the whole world. So what went? KLM tweeted "Aidos Amigos!" #NEDMEX" with reference to the lost by Mexico to Dutch. Sounds innocent, but the whole world found it be "racist". Wrote The Guardian , The Hollywood actor Gael García Bernal launched a foul-mouthed Twitter attack on KLM after the airline posted a tweet mocking Mexico and their defeat to Holland. The A-list star wrote: “I’m never flying your shitty airline again. F--- you big time,” after the Dutch airline posted a picture and an infographic of a sombrero, moustache and serape blanket under the heading “Adios Amigos!”. So why did KLM drew so much ire? 1. Be Humble In Victory and Gracious In Defeat  Most sportspeople would have learn that those who are humble in victory and gracious in defeat are the best sportspeople around. KLM, while trying to celebrate Dutch victory, sounded arrogant in bragging ...

I tried GrabTaxi to book a taxi from my place in the East to Changi Airport Terminal 1 but none of their taxi was available. One attempt was all it took on Comfort's App.  Of course I had to update this unexpected victory for Comfort on my social networks. However, it was GrabTaxi who replied to my tweet and acknowledged my subsequent feedback.  Comfort, shocked by their surprise win over GrabTaxi, remained silent. In today's social networked world, a simple acknowledgement online means a lot to the consumer. It is like a "thank you" of 0s and 1s. Though I may have not gotten a taxi via GrabTaxi, their Twitter gratitude will makes one to try them a few more times.

The decision by the Prime Minister of Singapore, who is also the chairman of one of the world's largest sovereign fund, to sue blogger, Sexispider of The Heart Truths, has raised the argument of the lack of the right of free speech. However, if you were to read the offending article, it seemed that this Sexispider did make himself an open target. Sexispider, or otherwise known as Roy Ngern, was served papers by the Prime Minister's lawyers for defamation. The entire papers can be found at  http://thehearttruths.com/2014/05/19/i-have-just-been-sued-by-the-singapore-prime-minister-lee-hsien-loong/ . The main issue which the PM with the offensive articles was of Roy linking the role of the PM managing the CPF as similar to that of City Harvest Church. The founder for City Harvest and other five accused is on trial of misusing the church's fund. As such, I am not surprised that the PM has taken to legal means for Roy to take down the offensive article. You have the Singap...

I am not ashamed to say I support Mr Tan Kin Lian as a presidential candidate because I believed in what he stood for. And when Mr Tan posted his "misadventure" with a thermometer app, I did shake my head in disbelief that he did that. Source:   http://www.mrbrown.com/blog/2013/07/we-could-have-had-him-for-president.html Thinking twice, there could be a possibility that Mr Tan misunderstood how this app work. Most  thermometer app take data from various weather stations to display the temperature on it. Yes, the technology savvy will do a #facepalm when they read the post and mrbrown's post demonstrated it perfectly. Wrote mrbrown , "Maybe the former Presidential-hopeful didn't realize he needed to upgrade to the Pro version of the app. Then his iPhone would not only measure temperature, it would also measure current PSI (PM2.5 included), tell you if you are having your period, and cook instant noodles. Good thing he didn't try to measure boil...

How reliable is Lenovo after service care in Singapore? This question was raised by a group of corporate communication folks when one of there members sent in her Lenovo notebook to service faulty internal speakers, but was billed $1,000 for a  Lenovo service center in Singapore was a hot conversation topic among corporate communications folks when a user send in her Lenovo notebook to service faulty internal speakers but was billed $1,000 to replace the motherboard. Wrote the corporate communications professional,  "Lenovo's service centre wants 1k to replace my laptop's system board which died during diagnosis... or so they claim. And I sent it in only to get the faulty speaker fixed, a $60 job. Anyone else had a similar experience?"  In the group discussion, the Lenovo laptop was tested to be working well.  Should a user bare the cost of replacing a faulty motherboard when it was in the hands of the service center? A Lenovo user recently al...

Many of you have already read about MDA's decision to license online " news sites " and within a week, made it a low. Of course, Singapore Netizens were enraged and engaged to do something about it. They launched the #FreeMyInternet movement, called for a blogosphere black out (See Youtube below) and a protest at Hong Lim Park on 8th June 2013. I attended the protest and was quite inspired by the speakers. The speakers, consisted mainly of bloggers , who were concerned, not only about MDA's online "news sites" licensing scheme, and at the speed at which it became law, without consultation with Parliament or with the Public. Tourists surprised by the "authoritarian" MDA The other problem of this new licensing scheme is so vague that it encompass any news about Singapore, except news created by the Government. As one speaker at #FreeMyInternet said, "Even if you post about photos of cockroaches on the MRT, it is considered as ...

Member of Parliament,Zainudin Nordin, recently shared a quote about democracy from a fantasy writer and that created a ruckus all over the Internet. Shared Zainudin Nordin ,  “People use democracy as a free-floating abstraction disconnected from reality. Democracy in and of itself is not necessarily good. Gang rape, after all, is democracy in action. All men have the right to live their own life. Democracy must be rooted in a rational philosophy that first and foremost recognizes the right of an individual. A few million Imperial Order men screaming for the lives of a much smaller number of people in the New World may win a democratic vote, but it does not give them the right to those lives, or make their calls for such killing right. Democracy is not a synonym for justice or for freedom. Democracy is not a sacred right sanctifying mob rule. Democracy is a principle that is subordinate to the inalienable rights of the individual.”  ― Terry Goodkind Terry...

All digital photos have a hidden watermark embedded in it called the EXIF data. This EXIF data would usually details of how the photo was taken and with what camera. Samsung, or rather their agency, posted a photo claiming to be theirs and taken with a Samsung camera. However, the photographer came across his photo and showed that this photo was taken with, not a Samsung camera, but with a Nikon. Image from EDMW Facebook Page Wrote CNET Asia,   Samsung claimed that the image was taken by one of its photographers and was using the image to promote a contest to win its latest NX300 ILC. However, the EXIF data of the original image found on Santos' Web site showed that it was taken with a Nikon D700, refuting the implication that the image posted on the Facebook page was taken with a Samsung camera (presumably the NX300). Samsung has since apologised to the photographer before generating 180 comments about Samsung's unauthorise use of the photo. If Sams...

Last week's social media news was about the Facebook Home, a launcher which sits on top of the Android app, which will show you your Facebook updates, without the need to go the Facebook app. When I saw the video above, it reminded me of a scene in Minority Report where a newspaper updates itself to give the reader the latest story. We are already seeing newspapers using Facebook to update readers on the latest news via their Facebook Page. With Facebook Home, will we start seeing the newspapers that updates itself?

"Patience and understanding" - These are just two words that describe how the staff at a Chili's Grill and Bar treated a autistic girl in her demand for her "perfect" burger. Such act of kindness has gone viral with 800K+ likes on Facebook. Anna Kaye MacLean, from experience, always expected her outings with her autistic sister to be difficult. But the staff at Chili's Grill and Bar proved Anna otherwise. Anna's sister refused to eat her favourite cut cheeseburger because to her the burger was "broken". Wrote Anna , So I asked her, “Why don’t you want it?”. She replied, “It’s broken. I need another one thats fixed.” Then it dawned on me why she wasn’t eating it. It’s because it was cut in half. Being a child with autism, she has to have certain things in a particular order at all times. One slight change in her routine can change the course of the day instantly. When Lauren came back to check on us, I asked if we could order another che...

A SUV in China was stolen and the baby in the car was also abducted. The sad part of the story was that the man responsible for it confessed to "strangling the baby and burying him in the snow". A depressing story to start the day, but brandchannel reported that a dealer at China Buick Cars decided to take advantage of this tragedy as a marketing tool. Wrote brandchannel, "As events were unfolding, one of Buick's dealers in China decided the Changchun tragedy would be the perfect subject to tout features on its new model cars. Liaoning Tianhe Buick, a dealership in Jilin's neighbor province, posted the following (now deleted) on its Weibo page (as a reader points out, before anyone knew the baby had been murdered): "A few thoughts following the Changchun stolen car incident: When buying a car it's completely okay to choose higher technology. Tianhe Buicks carry the OnStar GPS system, allowing the lockdown of a stolen vehicle at any time and place...