Mar 9, 2008

The Power Of Marketing

This McDonald's logo,which is known as "The Golden Arc" is instantly recognize by everyone throughout the world for its quality fast-food.

Everyday in our lives, we are bombarded with advertisements from the various medias the moment we woke-up from our sleep.

Many multi-national companies are spending millions of dollars to promote their products to create a positive sense of perception.
In many companies,the success of a product depends highly on its marketing plans.

Marketing is an art of perception.

Kentucky Fried Chicken,like McDonald's is perceive to be selling quality fast food.Coca-Cola is perceive to be an excellent thirst quencher.Panadol is perceive to be an effective pain killer.

Malaysia has developed a product that has gain international recognition through the art of marketing by the government.
This product is call NEP.

The NEP(National Economic Policy) is developed to assist the Malays who are perceive to be weak in various fields.

In the education system,many Malays are given scholarships to pursue further studies in the local universities and overseas even though their results are less than impressive than the other races.

When the Malays want to buy properties,a special discount is given, even though the buyer is a millionaire.In the development of projects,30% of the units must be reserved for them and in the event that these units cannot be sold,it can only then be sold to non-Malays on further condition that it can only be resold back to the Malays.This is to preserve the ownership of land and properties by the Malays.

Likewise,30% share equity must be allocated to the Malays in major companies.Almost all high positions in GLCs are held by the Malays and private companies are encouraged to give the Malays special preference for promotions.

There are many avenues for the Malays to get loans to start a business.And many a times,when the business failed,the loans can be written off by the stroke of the pen.

In many international trade negotiations,NEP is usually being discussed to allow the foreign investors to understand and comply with the requirement,even though the foreign investors are not comfortable with it.

Lets take an analogy of buying a car.

A company(as in the government) is offering to sell a brand new car(the NEP) at RM10000 and comes with many freebies.
A free DVD player, leather seats , sports rims , ABS and air bag.Furthermore, it is interest free for the car loan which can be repaid anytime you like.

Naturally,this product will attract many buyers simply because it is too good to resist.

However,the joy of driving the car is short-lived when there are frequent breakdowns.Thus,precious working time is lost by sending the car for repairs.And what's more,quality parts are compromised which can cause serious accidents and endanger lives.
As such,there will be a backlash of anger and frustrations from the customers and ultimately,the company will have to close down.

Marketing is about perception.

NEP as a product has created immense perceptions about the Malays.
They are perceive as not being able to survive on their own due to the many assistance given by the government.
The graduates are perceive to be of low quality due to the preference given in the education system.Thus,it is not surprising that there are many unemployed Malay graduates.
In the business world,they are perceive to be incompetence and lacking in trust due to their frequent dependence on government contracts.

The greater the government advocate the NEP,the greater will be these perceptions.
We have to bear in mind that no race is born superior.
Superiority comes from hard work and the willingness to learn.I strongly believe the Malays have the abilities to be on par with the others without the NEP.
They just need to change their mindsets,work extra hard,move away from the rhetoric of politics and be focussed on their wants and needs.
There are already many successful Malay businessmen and also many Malay intellects in the academic and medical fields.
The willingness to learn and adapt will certainly move the Malays from a state of consciously incompetence to a state of unconsciously competence.
And that will be respect well earned.

Yes,there is no doubt that the Malays can rise up on their own.
The NEP, like the car has caused a lot of frustrations and anger from the Malays in general and the non-Malays in particular.
The marketeers in the government have apparently failed in the implementation and therefore must be sacked,regardless of whether they are Oxford graduates.

Our lives evolve around change.

The world is changing at a fast and furious pace economically,socially and politically.
It is imperative that our government must reinvent its marketing strategy to bring benefits for all and create a strong perception in good governance for its people who, like the consumers would "buy" instantly,without the anger and frustration of course.

Payment will be by votes.

4 comments:

David BC Tan said...

I find myself agreeing with your argument. However I was wondering if it was 'perception' alone that built dependence on handouts, or an active 'denial', or both?

Anonymous said...

Perception may be the key, but it isn't everything.

New born babies suckle their mothers' tits. This is natural. When you take away the tits, the babies cry. This is natural also.

However, all babies go through a weaning period, as time passes by, they gradually stop suckling.

The NEP matter is a different thing altogether.

Those "babies" refuse to be weaned. They demand to have the right to suckle the tits forever, and hence here's the crux of the problem.

The Good Book says - "God Helps Those Who Help Themselves" - and if the Malays don't want to help themselves, nobody, not even God will help them.

And that's my answer.

cancan said...

The insistence of the Umnoputras to have the NEP forever has created a perception of weakness.

The demo in Penang further enhanced this sense of perception of weakness and incompetence.

To answer David BC Tan,it is a clear case of active denial and dependence syndrome of the Umnoputras.

As brand new dalai said."even god will not help them."

Anonymous said...

Kingsmary,

Well said mate! The NEP provide's a platform for the Malays, yet nepotism is part of the govt. protocol here.

Believe me or not, we say the west are racists and etc. but i think this is the only country in the world where the govt itself practices racism as part of it's ruling policy.

They don't have to deny this any further, the difference is, in Australia a white calls an aborigine 'animal' and the aborigine has equal rights to call the white 'punk-ass'.

Here, we don't hv that, Indians are Kelings...Chinese are cinapekz and Malays are Wira Ketuanan Melayu.

Would love to hear more from you...hang in there with your good stuff.

Cheers,
loco