Of Arsenal Top

Final score
Liverpool 1-1 Arsenal

Steven Gerard Free Kick
Cesc Frabegas Penalty Box Toe-poke

All well ends well? Not really, it should have been 1-3 with Arsenal taking all 3 points.. Fabregas missed an open goal, hit the bar much later and young Bendlter blast another one ala Fabregas when faced with the rebound..

Liverpool are lucky, many teams would have crumbled and found it impossible to get past their defence, if they were this good this season, they would remain unbeaten, so good luck to them

For now, Arsenal is back on top of the table










Picture from Soccernet





Hail the gunners, 2 points missed is better than 3 points lost

Halftime: Liverpool 1-0 Arsenal

It's half time, liverpool leads by 1 with a Steven Gerard freekick at the edge of penalty box that was well drilled into the gap in the wall, great skill, good player, but i just don't like him

2 obvious elbows from Jamie Carragher and Hypia in this half, referee either didn't see or didn't care, he doesn't have the benefit of television replays.. liverpool is tightening things at the back but placing more players behind the ball, maybe the manager should get there too

second half begins, lets go, get that 1 goal back and score more for and 1-2 it'll be







Final Prediction Liverpool 1-2 Arsenal..yeah, i hope

Of Banglah

Was traveling home with my wife on the bus tonight when we saw some workers still working on some pipes and cables, it was past 8pm and these workers were still working

these were either India nationals or Bangladeshis, working hard in Singapore to earn their keep and send money back home..

come to think of it, what would Singapore without the contribute of these people?

I'm not being racist, but i too have my doubts when these workers get on the buses, and i have a few occasions where i really hate having one of them sit beside me and i guess you know why

but back to my point, my flat in punggol would most probably be unable to carry on without these workers, there would also be no KPE, opened this week, no Integrated Resorts, no Singapore flyer, no floating platform..

Through the tune of a popular NDP song:

They build a nation, with their hands
the toil of people, from Bangladesh
Strangers when they first began
Now they building all they can


They building for Singapore
Day and night, more and more!








Some people just don't get the credit

Of Ad211 Msg Approach

After some struggle, i have finally managed to remember the 9 types of message approaches that advertisers use in their ads to speak to the audience

Not in any order of merit:

1. Straightforward
Ad tells a direct message, clear cut message for audience

2. Slice of Life
Ad tries to get audience to relate to a situation or person, placing the audience in the same shoes of the person or scenario in the ad

3. Comparison
Not really allowed in Singapore, you can't show and directly say pepsi taste better than coke, or M1 is better than singtel, so you can only do gimmicks like green vs orange vs red charts for telco companies

4. Endorser/Spokesperson
Using a person, sometimes a celebrity, to transfer the personality of a person into a brand, merging them and creating a brand personality similar to the spokespersons image. Testimonials can fall under this portion

5. Shock Advertising
Limited here also, the most recent being the mouth cancer ad that the anti-smoking people put out

6. Problem Solving/avoidance
The product comes across as the hero to solve problems are prevent something bad from happening, household cleaning agents, pain killers fall under this category normally..

7. Demonstration
Teaches consumers how to use a product or do a certain things, facial wash for example, as easy as 1-2-3, teaches the steps involved, or dynamo cleaning ad, put a little on the stain, pour the rest into the washing machine kind of ads

8. Humour
Very popular appeal, based on the theory that if you like the ad, you'll like the brand, however, sometimes the ad is so heavy on humour that the ad outshines and the brand

9. Teaser
An ad before an ad, serves as a prelude to the actual campaign where the product is deliberately keep away till its launched




These 9 message approaches will form a tiny portion of my exams, hope that by blogging, i'll have a better recall of the 9 approaches, maybe that's what study is really about, repeat repeat and repeat to remember

U got it?







Ad211, 15 Chapters, 1 Final Exam to go

Of Ad211

I have been eating well.. the appetite is back after weeks of hectic work schedule, and weekends has become days for indulging in good food and good company..

today marks the last day of my lessons when the angmoh, Mr Corey from australia, flying over from Perth to take us for a day's lesson from 10am to 3pm. Somehow feel that i do have a better understanding of the subject and what he requires from us for the exams after today.. as it stands now, looks like i'm in the "credit" zone based on my mid-term test, my presentation and final report..

this is not good enough, a Distinction is between 70-79.. 80 above equates to Higher Distinction, i have set a internal target of Distinctions for all my 12 modules in this 2 years of part time studies, i know its not easy, but i'll try and hit the D when i can..

now the stakes are laid for a Distinction if i'm about to score about 75% or more for my final exams, which is taking place on 20 Nov, 17days after my wedding.. i'll have another paper to prepare for on 19 Nov, so till then, i'll be resting and doing stuff for my wedding

Just a peep at what i'm do learn for talk about in class:
FACETS Model of Advertising effects
Perception
Affective Response
Persuasion
Association
Behavioural Response
Cognitive Response

These are the headings, there's lot more to talk about and application for a particular ad can bring in the relevant FACETS..

Shall talk about Message Approach next time..








Marketing is not just about fish and vegetables

Of Crossroads again

Maybe i have only myself to blame for my current troubles, i left a decent environment that was conductive to my part-time studies, hoping for more exposure and learning in the private sector.. hoping that whatever skills and knowledge i have will be better utilised and appreciated elsewhere..

i'm not wrong to say that i did not find the right one to join.. in fact, i find myself in a dark hole looking out for that light at the end of the tunnel.. and just like anyone that is trapped within, it is always hard to believe that light will appear whilst you are engulfed within
i don't like my work, basically because you don't need experience and a decent education to do 60% of what i'm doing now..

i'm burdened with admin duties that disrupt my thinking, suggestions are might with minimum considerations, and conflicting instructions and changing of minds make easy task difficult

once again, i find myself at the same crossroads i faced 4months ago when i decided to leave my job, the only difference now is i have yet to secure new place to work before i leave this dark dark tunnel..

can i make things better here? i hope i can, but i know i cannot, isn't it great that i don't have a direct reporting officer? there's no one to assess me, no one to say what i should or should not do.. so i'm taking whatever that comes, whenever

i hate to whin, but that is exactly what i am doing now.. i hope to make this escape, to rediscover my true self and be valuable and contribute to a higher level growth or performance for which organisation i can be in






Waiting for the right one can be so difficult, thank goodness i already found my wife

Of Just another crap

Whenever there are new marketing collaterals in office, as the stock controller for brochures, i would give a copy of the new brochures to the creative consultant.. so here is where the spin comes in...

A: Don't need to give a set to everyone, just the person in charge of the specific brochure will do
B: Give a set to everyone to make sure that they are aware of the new set
C: Ask if they want a copy and get accordingly

I go for option C..

The thing is.. the A B C above or not options, but "instructions" by different managers..

so depending on which direction the wind blows on a specific day, the febble and low-level me will just have to drift and do what someone says..

that's why my work sucks






Another reason to hate my job

Of A Long Day

I took half a day leave today(9 Oct) to finalise the report and slides for my Advertising211 presentation at 7.00pm.. and now that its 1.52am the next day, i have just completed a website creative brief for a new e-business idea for my Internet Marketing 350

Later today, 10 Oct, i'm waking up around 7.15am to report to work at 8.30am(10 Oct) and hopefully finish work at 6pm to return hope and continue finalising my report and slides for Internet Marketing350 business proposal submission and presentation on 11 Oct, 7pm.

All the while, i need to complete the compilation of feedback forms from the event on 04 Oct and also sort through and reprint some photographers for customers from the event.. likewise, i need to call up about 20 CEO and Chief Info Officers from private and public sector to conduct an informal telephone survey and submit the returns by friday, later this morning of 10 Oct, i'll need to pack up the event venue used on 09 Oct morning and keep 6 banners and bring them back up to the office.. and not forgetting the emails, my "routine duties" and phone calls that i have to entertain along the way and who knows what else that comes today

if you have not receive the wedding invites, this is the reason

I know all this doesn't seem to make sense to you, but its what's happening in my life now..






Now this is one solid update, at an early hour too

Of A Very Good Point

One of the best stuff i read in a long long time

Read it here






Simply Brillant

Of Rough Times

Work, School, Wedding Preparations.. just how much can one person handle in 24hours a day? I have a short of time and i'm suffering from the ill effects..

I was almost non-existent for the past week, for days, i was slogging and putting in extra hours daily for the 4 Oct Golf event for my company. On the actual day, i woke at 5.30am and reached the venue at 7.10am. Thereafter, i slogged the day away, had a late lunch, dealt with last minute requests and scrambled around to make things go on as they were supposed to.. still there were hiccups here and there..

I missed classes because of the event and it was heartening and that manager that i report to for this event gave me the day off.. what sucked was that another manager was expecting me to be back in office on friday and queried about my absence, i will know the full requirements when i get -back to office tomorrow, not forgetting the clearing up for 4 Oct's event and follow-up emailers to the guest..

perhaps life in the private sector is indeed tougher, or i'm just plain unlucky to end up in a not-here-not-there kind of company where i can report to multiple people yet have no direct supervisor that can decide what i can and cannot do, there's no one to priorities tasks and people just can' seem to stuck the life out of me..

Still, i remain true to my belief that i will do what is necessary and to the best of my ability, i have given it all to make my work as decent as possible and to meet the mark

to say i'm happy at the current job is not entirely correct but its not wrong either, what is happiness i ask? i have no idea, do you?






Work, work, i feel like a grunt from the Orc Clan

Of We Suck?

Singapore's role in the troubles in Myanmar explained?

Read article from Australia here




Now, is this true and how would the world think of us now?