The Age of Supersized E-gos o.O

Saw this interesting article...
(http://www.todayonline.com/Commentary/EDC110704-0000181/The-age-of-supersized-E-gos)

"Ladies... He's not your prince charming if he doesn't make sure you know that you're his princess." ~ Emily

"You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment." ~ Henry David Thoreau

Sometimes my leechie mum would ask y do i view certain things with such a practical n cold eye...well, after several disappointments, not sure if i'm rather disillusioned by some individuals' behavior...but i understand tt there r no free lunches in this world...business is business...perhaps certain things might be less difficult if we were to run our lives juz like a business??? o.O"

"Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, 'What's in it for me?'"

"The best relationships are with people who enter your life on accident, but stay on purpose."

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"The age of supersized E-gos
by Pat Law 04:45 AM Jul 04, 2011

As you read this article, a friend has checked-in into a Starbucks on Foursquare. Another has tweeted about the massive traffic jam on the Ayer Rajah Expressway. Your cousin is bragging about his awesome 35th birthday party over the weekend - with 55 glorious photos on Facebook, tagging every single hot chick he knows. You get an update that 45 friends have changed their profile images on Facebook today - disturbing, considering you only have 50 friends.

No medium celebrates the consumer's ego as much as Social Media, or rather, to be precise, Social Networking. Social Networking and its suite of self-glorifying tools - whether it is updating your Facebook status with philosophical quotes ripped off from Sid Meier's Civilisation VI, to showing off your invite to some exclusive party at Filter Club - encourages narcissism that contradicts with our conservative Asian values.

Today's consumer has acclimatised to promoting every aspect of their lives to family, friends and strangers that brands are struggling to keep up with this psychological phenomenon.

For as long as a brand is dependent on its consumers for business survival, it must acknowledge the new supersized egos growing in them. "Feed their egos", as I would advise my clients, "But please don't turn them fat. Emotional obesity is unhealthy".

To market effectively to the new psychological dimension in your consumers, you must first understand the peculiar shift in consumer behaviour in the last couple of years as a result of the social-technology advancements in the Social Media realm.

COMMUNICATING TO BROADCASTING

Social Media was first born out of an innate need to communicate. It provided the perfect platform where one could interact with another instantaneously, regardless of time or place. That has somewhat evolved. The ability to update your Facebook status or tweet as life happens has resulted in us broadcasting more than we converse.

Case in point: I recall having a cup of coffee with a friend at a cafe some time ago. She was more preoccupied with telling her some 3,000 followers that she was "enjoying a lovely cup of coffee with an old friend" than actually enjoying that coffee with me.

PASSIVE (E-) AGGRESSIVE

Here's a true story: A well-known local blogger and marketing executive was brutally berated by his managing director in the boardroom, in front of some 20 individuals, including myself. He surrendered without a fight, without an utter of a dignified protest, without even a slight frown of the brows to show his discontent.

I remember thinking: If he was defending my country against an enemy, we would have surrendered before our enemy is done polishing their leather boots. With that meek personality in my mind, you can imagine my surprise (disgust, really), when I discovered he had compared his boss to a female anatomy on Twitter - during that same meeting.

This passive-aggressive behaviour is now almost a common sight. Not everyone is as real as the infamous Xiaxue (I've met her on a number of occasions, and I can vouch she is as real as her blog gets). "Throughout history, we have controlled (bad traits) with religion and moral codes", said psychiatrist Elias Aboujaoude. "But on the Internet, they have resurfaced."

Back to afore-mentioned blogger, there is a clear social hierarchy to his role in the boardroom but not in Twitterland. Remember that when you are placing your brand in the Social Media realm: The billions in revenue you post for your product does not matter to the passive-aggressive Twitter user.

I LIKE THEREFORE YOU ARE

Facebook deserves the credit for turning their feature into Key Performance Indicators for marketers. Consumers today understand the power of their endorsement; do not underestimate their heightened level of self-awareness. They may even demand a value exchange for their endorsement. And why shouldn't they?

Barely a year ago, one may "Like"a brand's Facebook page as a result of genuine, pure love. Today, one may "Like" it to get a free pair of movie tickets. While the intent of documenting the consumers' personal endorsements is noble, I cannot help but think the value is depreciating exponentially as we speak.

So what if you have 100,000 fans on Facebook if you do not know who they are? To a customer relationship management specialist, the data is meaningless. You cannot market your product effectively if you do not even know who your audience is.

So how do you play up your consumers' new supersized egos in this shift of consumer psychology? Here are some tips to bear in mind:

- Inflate their egos but do not deflate your brand

Look around you. Brands that survive wars, financial crisis, and technology changes, are those that stay in tune with what they stand for as a brand. While they allow consumers to play a part in brand development, they do not allow consumers to dictate what their brand should stand for. You cannot please everyone and you should not try: It was not a consumer who thought of the iPad.

- Decide on the value exchange

Before you reach out to consumers, ask yourself what the value exchange for them is? Just because you have sent a blogger a miserable piece of a press release would not guarantee a glowing blog post proclaiming love for your brand. Be realistic with the value exchange, as they say: There is no free lunch in this world.

- Let your campaign be about them

Intel's Museum of Me campaign for the Core i5 is the perfect example. With close to 700,000 Facebook personal endorsements in two weeks, Intel celebrates its consumers and their lives with a Facebook application that "curates (your) life into an interactive art exhibition". Implying your latest Facebook profile image is like staring at a Van Gogh is the ultimate form of flattery, no? "

Interesting Quotes:

"There is a miracle in the world. The miracle will not fall from the sky but people themselves to create miracle.
世界上真的有奇蹟，只不過，奇蹟不會從天上掉下來，而要人們自己去創造。" ~ Jeff

"Learn how to see PERFECTION in IMPERFECTION.
學習如何從缺陷中看到完美。" ~ Jeff

"Becoming who you were born to be goes beyond success and attainment. It's rediscovering your path and getting back on that path." ~ Robert Kiyosaki

"Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, 'What's in it for me?'"

"Vision is perhaps our greatest strength... it has kept us alive to the power and continuity of thought through the centuries, it makes us peer into the future and lends shape to the unknown." ~ Li Ka Shing

"If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put foundations under them." ~ Henry David Thoreau

"Sometimes, the smallest things take up the most room in your heart."

"Real success is finding your lifework in the work that you love."

"The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win you're still a rat"

"The key to success is to focus our conscious mind on things we desire not things we fear."

"Relationships last long because two brave people made a choice: "To keep it, to fight for it and to work for it!""

"There always are ups and downs in life, whether every year, every month or even every day. Whether you like it or not, life goes on. Do you want to be in a bad mood or happy mood, you have a choice. Choose wisely." ~ YewWah

"Of all the attitudes we can acquire, surely the attitude of gratitude is the most important and by far the most life-changing." ~ Zig Ziglar

"Not every guy is going to cheat on you or lie to you. But then again, not everyone's going to stay forever either."

‎"It's not whether you get knocked down; it's whether you get up." ~ Vince Lombardi

"It isn't what you do, but how you do it." ~ John Wooden

"Life is partly what we make it, and partly what it is made by the friends we choose." ~ Tennessee Williams

"‎Associate yourself with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation; for 'tis better to be alone than in bad company."Never injure a friend, even in jest.""

"‎~真正的愛情是雙方無條件的互相投降。"

"愛情是兩個相似的天性，在無限感覺中和諧的交融。"

"愛情中的堅持不懈會創造奇蹟。"

"談戀愛，誠實最重要，因為無懈可挚的謊話千年難求！"

"~愛情到来的時候，你既不能和它理論，也不能和它講價錢。"

"~愛情可以永遠燦爛，它需要の只是兩颗真誠の心。"

"机会不是别人给的 靠的是自己肯不肯给自己机会"

"有人比我更明白生活的真谛。活得太明白就会让生活变成带刺的玫瑰​，虽然娇艳，但
却让我们的双手沾满鲜血。抓的越紧，那颜色就越妩媚，这就是生活​。不是自欺，就是欺人。"

"人生其實就好像摇摇板，你掉到最底的時候，就是你反弹高升的時​候。"

"‎~遇到對的人是什麼感覺 呢？
就是感覺那個人不會走 。
你怎麼吵，怎麼發脾氣 ，怎麼撒嬌，怎麼耍賴 ，你都知道他不會走。
你的心知道：他就是不會走。
你放心的去愛，去擁有 ，去簡單，去快樂。
這樣的安全感只有他給得了。"

"王子與公主……如果一個男人真的喜歡妳，會時時把妳記在心裏，當​孩子一樣的寵，不會讓妳有任何的痛苦和憂傷，會讓妳享盡一切的快​樂和甜蜜，妳是他心中唯一的白雪公主，就像他在妳心裏是永遠的白​馬王子一樣……"

"有時候，你得承認幸福是上天賞賜的東西，我們凡人不能强求，就​算兩個人真心相愛，也不一定可以走在一起，所以我們要把握每一個​機會，惜緣，惜福。我們都市人都是日出而作，日落而息，有時候更​是夜夜笙歌，通宵達旦，令我們的節奏太快，而記憶也愈来愈淺薄，​交情，恩義，仿佛都差點忘了忙的是什麼，在匆匆數十年的一生中，​要是讓你在街道上，餐廳裡，網絡上，或者地下鐵裡，遇到能夠与你​相伴终老，相依一生的人，是最幸運的事，不過只要大家心中有愛，​我們人與人之中的關懷，包容，是會一代一代的星火相融下去，緊接​相連，川流不息。"

Words to change your life...


:'(