Write Down Your Aspirations

Kalau flash back ke belakang lagi, semua yang di achieve saat ini adalah aspirasi dari masa lalu. Suatu sore gue pernah nemuin buku coret2an 5 tahun lalu gue yang isinya aspirasi karir, pendidikan, traveling, rumah dll. Dan pas dilihat lagi.. wow.. amazed aja. Ternyata semuanya kesampean. Walaupun keringet darah dan basah ketek untuk ngelwatinnya.

Ternyata punya aspirasi itu bisa ngebawa kita kemana-mana ya. Mungkin tanpa sadar pikiran kita ngebawa tingkah laku kita dan aiming ke aspirasi aspirasi tadi. Nah kenapa gak coba bikin aspirasi2 kita dalam sebuah catatan, tulis di blog, print gambar nya kalau perlu tempel di samping layar komputer.

Seperti yang gue lakuin sekarang ini; writing down my goals.

1. Car:

Walaupun memang khayalan tingkat tinggi, tapi sebenarnya mobil ini cukup affordable di UK. Tinggal dipilih aja warnanya yang mana.. :p

2. Home:

Apartment at The Grove

Dua minggu lalu ke show unit nya , damn... keren banget. Walaupun harganya mencekik leher, tapi spacious dan well designed banget. Ya namanya juga show unit. Tapi daripada punya rumah yang ngurusnya ribet, mungkin apartemen lebih simple.

Hmm.. ternyata so far itu doang aspirasi gue.

Walaupun terlihat sangat superficial, tapi memang perlu punya aspirasi. Nanti coba lihat lagi 5 tahun kedepan. Pas nyadar udah tercapai jadi bisa lebih bersukur.

Location & Location

I'm talking about how difficult to find perfect place based on specific location in London. I used to stay Canary Wharf area for more than 9 months. Which it's very convenient and quiet on weekend. Lived in the CBD area, like it or not, I always surrounded by people with office suits. There's a pressure for you to dress up little bit if wandering that area. Yes I know, I'm very pretentious.

But I don't wanna live in dockland anymore. It's too modern. And it's cold and windy during March. So I figure it out, I think I could stay somewhere in Swiss Cottage. It's very nice area. Surrounded by victorian houses, wine stores and accessible through 3 stations. However, the price is not really friendly. Especially for short term letting. Arrgh.

So this Sunday, it's final day to do viewing. And I hope I can find something suitable to live. At least for 3 weeks.

A Place Called Home.

Few second after Etihad landed to Heathrow, I realised that I finally found my home. Yes. But it's not London. It's Jakarta. It's my 5th time stepping in this country for the past 12 months. The last time was mid September 2011 after my trip to Sweden, and I went out again around Europe on early November 2011 before finally arrived in Bangkok, stay there for 3 days, and moved to Jakarta. What a crazy life. I know. But the utmost life changing experience was actually between December to February 2012 in Jakarta. It's the moment where I found the value of life. Not just because I can finally contribute something to others, but the acceptance of the local society, how they appreciate talents, and also never ending possibilities in professional life.

The fact in how great is your own hometown make me realise that it takes thousand miles away to getting this kind of consciousness. If I live with my curiosity and not having a gut to get my Master degree in London, I probably wouldn't be able to understand this whole thing. You never know if you never try.

I think after this April, I'm just gonna focus on my career in Jakarta. It's the best job ever anyway. The dream job! Settle down, buy an apartment at the end of the year. Travel somewhere near, probably HongKong or Vietnam, or Samui. Maybe hire personal trainer to get more discipline in shaping out my flabby love handle. It's time to take off my adventure badge. But till April '12, I'm just going to enjoy London, submit my final research, wandering around Amsterdam and Paris and finally facing the real challenge and get down to the business.

It's a good life.

Indonesia – The country branding puzzle

by:
Martin Roll(Business & brand strategist):

http://www.venturerepublic.com/resources/Indonesia_–_The_country_branding_puzzle.asp

Asia is a global economic hotspot. Asian countries are fast emerging as global economic super powers. If the Asian Tigers ignited the economic boom in the 90s, the Asian giants – China and India – are powering the Asian rise in recent years. Many factors make Asian markets more lucrative for quantum growth than many of the highly developed, sophisticated Western markets. Asian markets offer a huge captive market of more than 4 billion people, majority of whom are young, gradually making the transition to middle class, with high disposable income and craving for branded products. Such a combination has not only made home grown companies take advantage of the tremendous market potential, but the Western companies have also made a grand entry over the years.

In spite of the dominant Asian trading mindset, Asian companies have started to make strategic investments in building brands in order to attract and retain customers, and to earn better margins. In addition to demands for branded products, Asians and Westerners alike have unanimously supported Asia’s thriving tourism industry. Such demand has further propelled the tourism industry to invest heavily in building strong brands. The last decade has seen cities, islands and even countries very aggressively branding themselves in order to create a resonating identity among the customer base and build sustainable life time customer relationships. This article examines that very topic of country branding in the specific context of an Asian country, Indonesia.

Country branding refers to a process in which a country claims a distinct positioning in the minds of its citizens and the global customers. To claim such a positioning, the country does a lot of coordination and integration of a multitude of activities. Take for example Germany. The country is known across the world for precision engineering, and quality, so much so that German cars such as the BMW claims German engineering as one of its strong advantages. To achieve this global positioning, Germany ensured that it trained the best engineers, invested in developing the required research and development facilities, cutting edge technological infrastructure and the government also facilitated regulatory assistance for Germany to emerge as the leader in precision engineering. As is evident, claiming a distinct position is almost the end of an entire process whereby all the constituents of a country – the government, public and private corporations, the people, the many institutions, investors and others – are aligned to achieve an all encompassing goal. As such, branding a country is highly challenging.

Any country that has a strong brand also benefits the products and services that come out of that country. The country, from which a company (product/service/brand) originates, has an effect on the company’s perceived quality and likeability in the minds of consumers – this is the country of origin effect (COO). Swiss watches, French wine, Danish designs, Thai hospitality, Italian fashion, the 100% pure New Zealand are some of the well known examples. Research has proven that COO has a very strong influence on customers’ willingness to purchase products and the price level they are willing to consider.

Given this introduction, what is the position of Indonesia? Even though many other Asian countries seem to have captured a very strong brand position in the minds of customers worldwide, Indonesia does not readily conjure any particularly strong images and connections. Singapore: state of the art technology, Thailand: exotic beaches and cuisine, Malaysia: Truly Asia, and South Korea: Thriving cultural movement, world class electronics and scenic beauty. None of these connections are automatic. These countries have invested millions of dollars in building such a brand identity and then have ensured that the identity is consistently communicated to all possible stakeholders through all possible touch points worldwide.

In spite of being surrounded by such global branding jewels, Indonesia does not seem to have realized the value of developing a strong country brand for itself. Even though it might seem surprising to an onlooker, for a branding expert this is not very surprising. Branding trajectories are closely tied to a country’s economic situation, regulatory frameworks, dominant cultural roots and the customer mindsets. But given the strategic importance of branding countries, Indonesia should be very aggressive and proactive about building its country brand. Below are some suggested actionable guidelines.

To be successful in branding their countries, the following four steps can be strategically important:

Create an overall positive brand image: The fundamental step for countries is to create a very positive brand image. This not only ensures that tourists, customers, investors and corporations are attracted, but also projects a positive facet of the brand to prospective stakeholders around the world. This can be achieved through a phased system of creating basic awareness, creating excitement about the many facets of the country and then offering these many stakeholders a memorable and enriching brand experience (such as special showcases of the country, brand visits etc).

Establish brand associations through alliances: Some of the best country brands – Germany, New Zealand, and Switzerland – were not created in a vacuum. All these countries created an intricate network of alliances with their cities, their unique cultures, their people and cuisines, and their unique national heritage and exotic places. Such a thing can be achieved through consistent communication strategies, comprehensive tourism packages and showcasing of Indonesia to tourists who visit the country. Such moves will allow Indonesia to achieve the first step of creating an overall positive brand image and a unique position among all the other countries competing for attention.

Offer credible tangible product features: Once Indonesia is successful in creating positive brand image and associations, it will have to back them up with strong tangible product features. In this case, such features could be a well implemented public safety program, a world class infrastructure that would continue to awe the different stakeholders, a robust regulatory environment that would protect intellectual properties, and an overall enriching brand experience. Such tangible measures would reduce the gap between the brand vision and the brand experience, thereby allowing Indonesia to create a consistent and resonating brand identity with all the multiple stakeholders.

Manage the holistic brand experience: The final and most important step is to proactively manage the holistic customer and stakeholder experience. The government, public and private corporations, many other service providers, and the general population of the country together should take consistent steps to ensure that tourists, businesses and investors are offered enough opportunities to enjoy, grow and prosper. Further, any and every interaction that these stakeholders have with the outside world should be monitored to gain valuable feedback. An integral part of managing experiences is to constantly evolve the processes and procedures to ensure that the customers gain a reasonable rate of return on their investment.

Conclusion

There is no denying the fact that branding countries has become a strategic issue for most countries. Gone are the days when only global tourist locations invested in building brands. But given the ever changing global competitive landscape and the ever increasing choice set for investors, customers and tourists, creating a resonating identity and offering excellent opportunities become a matter of survival for countries, especially for developing countries that strives to carve out a strategic position in the competitive landscape. It is high time that Indonesia takes some concrete steps to build a global country brand and showcase all the assets Indonesia has to offer. The guidelines offered in this article will provide an excellent beginning towards that goal.

Book Review, May 2011: From Those Wonderful Folks Who Gave You Pearl Harbor

About the writer: Jerry Della Femina is one of the old school of Madison Avenue ad men who defined American Advertising during its golden age of the 1960s. This book apparently the inspiration behind the TV show ‘Mad Men’ and straight out of the block, Della Femina’s writing hits you like the kick from a three Martini lunch.

As someone that grew up in creative industry, I have to admit and believe that this book is exposing the hate and love of surreal world of advertising, and not even one piece of statement of the fact that mistakenly wrote with actual situation in these days in most of agencies.

It's enjoyable ride in every chapter. And what so interesting about the this book is, he's coming from creative side, not the account side. It's like taking few pints after long days with your creative colleagues and laugh about stuff of what your AE did this morning. Unlike modern advertising, taking the 60s - 70s era, advertising was genuinely creative driven, but he didn't deny the fact that client interruption, account people common sense (as if they have), censorship, and many things that affecting the result of the creative work. This book spill the truth of creative people (those always late comers-excuse-complaining kind of people-lol-I was one of them too), the fact that account people got nothing but dance to survive, and also agency cocky cranky boss.

One of the chapter:

"What account guys have to do to surviving today is dancing, I mean they've got to be agile, with very, very good footwork so they don't get shot easily. You see, they've got nothing to sell. Your copywriter, no matter how young or how bad, has his book-his portfolio-to show. An art director also has a portfolio. Or they've got reels, short presentations containing all the commercials they've ever shot. But what does the account man to show? Nothing...."

Witty but so true.

But he mentioned about that fact about creative people and their career above their 40s. They are so replaceable with younger creative lads. Isn't it?

This book is highly recommended for those people who spend their life in one corner of their agency's office (or their client's office), sucking their cigarette while waiting for their late night snack. Or for those who trying to get into advertising world and believe that it's one fun glittery glamorous and (not so) healthy job for their professional life. You decide. Like Della Femina said: "Advertising is the most fun you can have with your clothes on" (only applied for some clients).

Purpose

Everything that exist in this world have a purpose. There's no way a thing suddenly shows up in front of us without meaning or a reason behind it. And God created human on earth with a purpose too, even before we born.

"Your eyes did see my substance, yet being imperfect; and in your book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them." Psalm 139:16

So there's no doubt that even if we live in our own will, God gives us purpose before we become a flesh and bone. That means, there is no one born on earth without having a purpose in life at all. I think they just lost, and they haven't found it yet. But how do we know what is God purpose for us?

What you believe about your origin will determine what you believe about your purpose in future. But how do we know our origin?

Look at your blackberry. How do we know about all details and feature that this device have if we had never read the manual? For sure you will know when you trying to push this and that button, and there's a possibility you will get your blackberry error or spoiled, because you change the setting randomly without knowing it from the manual book first. You make your blackberry as an experiment. And there's always a geek friend of yours or an ITC ambassador who will fix up your problems. But life is not a blackberry. You can not make an experiment in life. Because when you do a big mistake at the time you experimenting your life, no ITC Ambassador or geek friends will fix you up easily.

So read our manual book. A holy bible. Open it, you can always find something interesting there. I read this book before; Life's Missing Instruction Manual : The Guidebook You Should Have Been Given at Birth written by Joe Vitale. But this is nothing compare to the Bible. Seriously.

There are so many people live their life out there, by clicking the autopilot button, just remember my posting about life in autopilot. We do same things everyday. If someone ask them what is your purpose in life. They are going to say; "Well I just let my life flow like a wind, go wherever it is..". Sadly to say, I think more than 50% people that I know, having this kind of mindset. Have you ever wonder, do we live only to become what we do right now? Don't you intrigued by thinking that is so much more than we have now. As we know, people are evolving.

Again, blackberry, with GPS, push email, browser and many more features, will be very useful if we are able to use its full functionality. But if we only use this device for sms and phone, it will degrades the value if it. I mean why not buy a flexi phone or something less expensive than that? It's the same for us, if we're not maximizing our abilities and skills, we will make ourselves less valuable than we should be. Think Big about yourself. This thought will bring you to achieve the next level of your life.

Remember Genesis 1:26 "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth."

We are meant to be conqueror. Remember that.

A questions that pops up when we ask about our Our Value.

1. Are we valueable to Society? Are we matters to our working place?

2. How many people under our influences?

3. how many people affected and inspired by us?

4. how many people listening to your words? Read your tweets?

5. How many people will miss you when you die?

The life after we know Jesus should make ourselves reach many people's lives, not making our life solitude. So that people will see God's Glory in you.

When God gives us purpose, sometimes, to achieve that purpose we have to face many temptation. But when we face the temptation, don't ever complaining and whining that the temptation coming from God. James 1:13 "let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God; for God never tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man."

But who are we kidding, we human, make mistake, and the temptation is coming from our flesh too. This is the real battle of life. The true battle is with our own flesh. And how do we know which one is God's purpose in us and which one is not? Should we doing praying or fasting for 40 days? Or should we meditating in the dark to know the God's purpose? But don't worry, I believe we have our own way and time to connect and feel very close to God. Some of them feel connected with God when they drive alone, some of them takes one week vacation to get the real connection. But if you really close to God, you will have an automatically response and you will know what wants you to do. It's like relationship, when you close to someone and very intimate, for sure you will get connected easily.

So few things that we should ask to ourselves about the purpose in life:

• What do you want? He will give you desire of heart. Just do something that you like. Don't do things that you hate, otherwise you will never stop complaining for the rest of your life.
• Why do we want this? Don't do it for your own glory. Do it for God's Glory. And people will see Jesus in you.
• What do you need to do to make it happen?
• Are we living in the purpose of God?
• Can we be the salt of the world and light to the world? Check your fb and twitter. Do they bring salt and light?
• When people mention your name. What do people remember the most about you?

Let's think about it. Make a purpose to Glorify God's name, and God will bring you to anywhere you want, anything you can be.

CoB-01

Where to Live

I've been wandering around Asia this last 4 years, I haven't found the right place that I would love to call home. Singapore it's too humid, while Bangkok can be very hot and I can't understand their nasal language, Hong Kong it's too crowded, and yes my city Jakarta, is packed with motorbike, and polluted air.

I should probably find other place beside Asia. Melbourne seems like a great option. While Sydney is too rough for me. And Auckland is too Korean. Seriously, get yourself to the city centre and you find yourself surrounded by countless Korean and Mainland Chinese with their tofu jacket. Even though Davenport is a very comforting to live.

However, finding a job to move to other cities outside Asia is not easy. One of the way is to get a Master degree in one of the big cities in the world and try to apply working Visa or post work study. Hmmm.. how about Europe?