Hug A Coca Cola Vending Machine To Get A Free Soda

A vending machine in Coca Cola’s iconic red color and with the words ‘Hug Me’ displayed in the brand’s signature white font, has showed up overnight at the National University of Singapore. What makes this vending machine special is that it responds to physical hugs before dispensing a free can of Coke.

Students on campus were pleasantly surprised to spot the Coca-Cola Hug Machine, which was installed as part of the company’s ‘Open Happiness’ campaign. Before long, there were lines of people waiting to give their affection to the dispenser.

Leonardo O’Grady, ASEAN IMC Director, The Coca Cola Company, explained that:

Happiness is contagious. The Coca Cola Hug Machine is a simple idea to spread some happiness. Our strategy is to deliver doses of happiness in an unexpected, innovative way to engage not only the people present, but the audience at large.

The simple, yet engaging idea was created by Ogilvy & Mather.

I hit the front page of The Korea Herald as one of SNS supporters for Yeosu Expo

The 3rd rehearsal of EXPO 2012 Yeosu Korea

I went to EXPO 2012 Yeosu Korea from May 4-6 to participate in a SNS supporters workshop and 3rd rehearsal before the official open on May 12.

On the first day, there was a special gathering with the other SNS supporters trying to have positive relationships with a lot of people through their own SNS channels by posting pictures, videos, and links etc. I was also there to discuss how to make it better to let a lot of people all over the world know about EXPO 2012 Yeosu Korea, and first of all, very proud of myself being there as one of SNS supporters for EXPO 2012 Yeosu Korea. I really had such a meaningful and magnificent time with them by communicating with people from all over Korean cities from Busan to Seoul. It just gave me motivation to keep doing well with this EXPO thing :-)

 [Photo1. at the SNS supporters workshop with SNS supporters]

[Photo2. at the Uniform Fashion Show at Shilla hotel with SNS supporters]


On the second day, I could get a chance to experience EXPO 2012 Yeosu Korea even before its opening! yay! The view of Yeosu looked fabulous with such a great harmony of the ocean and facilities. There were too many people with their family and friends to look at it even though it was a pre-opening, which means there'll be way more things to see on the opening day on May 12!

[Photo3. the day time at Expo 2012 Yeosu Korea]

This is a picture taken from 3rd Rehearsal on May 5. Some people are amused by attractive Expo facilities, especially the Big-O! There's the fountain show of the Big-O at the night time ;-) I heard that the fabulous fountain show of the Big-O was opened to the public on April 30 so I didn't want to miss the chance to look at it for real.

 [Photo4. The fountain show of the Big-O at the night time]

[Photo5. The fountain show of the Big-O at the night time]

The audience was attracted to its gorgeous fountain show resembling a ballerina dancing the Swan Lake. A total of 345 nozzles and 1,233 lightings in water made it more colorful and majestic. The water from nozzles goes up to 70m (about 164 ft) and visitors also can watch stereoscopic hologram image realized through Living Screen technology over the fountain show. It is the world’s first trial to apply this technology to fountain shows. At the expo, this show will be going to be held every 30 minutes during the daytime and Big-O Show using multi-media is ready to attract visitors during the nighttime.

[Photo5. with the fabulous view]

 [Photo5. with the main characters named Yeony and Soony]

 [Photo6. with the fabulous night view]

 [Photo7. LED screen at the ceiling] 

 [Photo8. A march of Marine and Navy] 

 [Photo9. EXPO 2012 Yeosu Korea with a lot of people from all over the cities] 

[Photo10. The night view is more amazing than the day time] 


Aren’t you excited about this? Come enjoy it with Yeony and Suny! It's totally worth it!

Are You Looking for Global Internship Opportunities?

College Internships Are Going Global

The world is becoming increasingly interconnected and more employers are looking for candidates with global experience. Now, college students are getting in on the action by gaining work experience in overseas internships.

SunheeCho who is me, a junior at Hanyang University majoring in public relations, got 2 internships in Toronto, Canada last year working for local companies that offer useful information for authors, journalists, and reporters etc. I worked full time to gain valuable experiences related to my interest, to participate in a place branding project that’s my first English project in the real field, and first of all, to be able to improve some English skills which most employers in Korea are craving for.

What is the Significance?

The total number of South Korean students traveling abroad for internships and receiving academic credit has been getting higher and higher. Especially, the various experiences in the real world and practical English skills are exactly what they want in order to hire qualified, talented, and proper candidates for their teams.

I strongly believe that if a student is interested in pursuing any sort of career outside of Korea, it’s a great idea to immerse myself in the environment. Therefore, I think the employers would put a very high value on that because of the growth we’re seeing there and because of the investment a lot of countries are making in abroad. If someone has both the language skills and the experience, it’s a lot of value for the company looking for the candidates.

Of course, getting set up with an internship overseas doesn't come cheap. However, with financial support from governmental institutes such as Korea council for university education that enabled me to receive a scholarship for Canadian internship opportunities, it’d be way easier for the students to gain the chances to work internships abroad.

In personal opinion, I’ve learned a lot from what I had been through in Canada during the internships. It’s because it was never easy for me to adapt to a new and unfamiliar environment, which was my first time to go abroad without any friends, families, or acquaintances. When I arrived at the Toronto international airport for the first time, I made a decision to change the feelings like fear, isolation, and loneliness to motivation to overcome and get fit into Canada better.

Knowing that I’ve always been eager to go abroad, I started making some friends and being ready for the job interviews. Fortunately, 2 employers caught my potential possibility to work well with my bright and positive personality.

I think it’s very important for all the students to take a chance to try new and challenging things regardless of age, cultural backgrounds, and countries when they face them. The more you hesitate, the less you gain.

Try Right Now! That's what I can tell you as a person who already has internship experiences! 

My own way to deal with difficult people

 A colleague asked me why “grown folk” throw full blown temper tantrums when you don’t jump to do their bidding. She asked me if I knew a quick, fast and easy way to deal with difficult people. I chuckled because it truly is fascinating to observe people and their personalities. I am constantly surprised at how many adults will throw a toddler style temper tantrum in a hot minute. Allow me to share a quick example to illustrate my solution.

Many years ago I worked for Samsung Customer Service. During my days as a customer representative, people would call us and then absolutely throw a fit when you didn’t do whatever it is that they wanted you to do. They would scream, yell, and curse.  Some wanted to exchange the device, some wanted you to refund and some wanted you to force an engineer to reschedule so they could get their device fixed ASAP at their convenience.  What was shocking is that the people who do this are not “children”, they are “grown folk”, meaning someone over the age of 40!

I remember one time this elderly gentleman trying to get refund, yelling at me. The moment that he was told that he would be unable to get refund because it was his fault, not ours, he screamed quite aggressively and yelled at the top of his lungs, and demanding to speak to a supervisor on the phone.  I sent him over to my supervisor because I loved to watch her “conflict resolution skills” in action.

She took a deep breath and said “Yes Sir, how may I help you?” He then went into a tirade about how we were wasting his time when we could be sending him over to the supervisor. She expressed that all customer representatives have protocols to follow prior to sending over customers to me.  He then threw bad words over the phone and demanded to get refund since we were so unhelpful.

She looked at his information about the TV he got, and shared that although his situation was NOT suitable for getting refund, this was unacceptable to him and he once again started yelling. She smiled stopped him cold in his tracks, and said in a low voice “You know, when I was a child, there was a thing called ‘shame’ and we were too embarrassed to behave in such a manner, publicly or privately. I am trying to help you out and I’m stunned that you keep yelling at me when your anger has nothing to do with us, you just broke your device with your inappropriate usage, and you are behaving in this manner”. He became pretty quiet and replied “Well I was taught that the squeaky wheel gets the grease!” She laughed and relied “I was taught NEVER to reward ‘bad-behavior and /or temper tantrums’.  Thank goodness he also laughed.  You see, I was in my early twenties and he was in his seventies. Needless to say, he took his “act right” medication, accepted our offer and sent an engineer over to his place to get it fixed properly.

You might be thinking about now “What in the world does this have to do specifically with me  – an author, coach, consultant, speaker or trainer – when I have to deal with difficult people?”  This is a great question and my answer is “everything”.  If you “give away the store” simply because you lack conflict resolution skills, you will find yourself in the shoes of my colleague, filled with anger, rage, bitterness and resentment whenever people show up in tantrum mode.   When you are self-employed, there are not thousands of people standing between you and the direct customer.  You must learn how to say no to high maintenance, high drama people. The simple, fast and in a hurry answer is this "Put your big girl panties on and develop protocols for handling irate customers". You will not be in business very long if you give into every customer demand. It doesn’t matter whether you are a big or small business, you must take the time to develop customer service protocols.

 

How do you deal with people in challenging situations? What has worked well for you in the past? How do you remain calm when a person is yelling, screaming and cursing at you?

Social Timing Insights - Markerters Post at Work Instead When Their Audience is Listening

5 Lessons from Coca Cola’s New Content Marketing Strategy

 Coca Cola has been part of popular culture for over 100 years and has been called a “Vision Brand“. Its marketing and communication is purposeful and connects with its audience in a way that makes it stand out from its competitors. Its mission is not about selling products but to create significant positive change in the world that makes the world a better place.

Coca Cola’s mission statement

• To refresh the world
• To inspire moments of optimism and happiness
• To create value and make a difference

Recently they have realised that their marketing strategy that has worked well for them for decades needed to evolve and as such they are moving from “Creative Excellence” to “Content  Excellence”
Creative excellence has always been at the heart of Coca Cola’s advertising and they have decided that content is now the key to marketing in the 21st century on a social web.
Content for Coca Cola is is now the “Matter” and “Substance” of “Brand Engagement”
So what can we learn from Coca Cola’s new marketing strategy?

Lesson 1: Create Liquid Content

The purpose of content excellence is to create “Ideas” so contagious that they cannot be controlled this is what is called “liquid content”.
On a social web people can easily share ideas, videos and photos on social networks such Facebook.
So create content that begs to be shared whether that be an image, a video or an article.

Lesson 2: Ensure your Content is Linked

The next part of the equation is to ensure that these ideas create content that is innately relevant to

• The business objectives of your company
• The brand
• Your customer interests

This is “Linked” content…. Content that is relevant and connected to the companies goals and brand.
Ensure that the content communicates your message that is congruent with your mission and values.

Lesson 3: Create Conversations

Coca Cola has realised that the consumer creates more stories and ideas than they do so the goal is provoke conversations and then “Act” and “React” to those conversations 365 days of the year.
The new “Distribution Technologies” of Twitter, YouTube and Facebook provide greater connectivity and consumer empowerment than ever before.
Don’t just publish but interact with your audience and tribe.

Lesson 4. Move onto Dynamic Story Telling

On traditional media in the past story telling was static and a one way street. Television and newspapers shouted at you with no interaction.
Coca Cola has come the realisation that to grow their business on the social web they need to move on from “One Way Story Telling” to “Dynamic Story Telling”
This means you need to allow the story to evolve as you interact and converse with your customers. You need to converse with your customers in many media formats and social networks.
Storytelling has moved on from static and synchronous to multifaceted, engaged and spreadable.

Lesson 5: Be Brave and Creative with Your Content Creation

Part of the new Coca Cola content strategy is applying a 70/20/10 Investment principle to creating “Liquid content“.

• 70% of your content should be low risk. It pays the rent and is your bread and butter marketing.(should be easy to do and only consumes 50% of your time)
• 20% of your content creation should innovate of the what works.
• 10% of your content marketing is high risk ideas that will be tomorrows 70% or 20%. (be prepared to fail)

This provides a blueprint regarding moving on from just developing white papers to maybe trying some content that is more visual and engaging in web world that has embraced multimedia and interactive content.

The 30 Second TV Ad is no Longer King

Coca Cola has come to the conclusion that the world has moved on from the 30 second TV ad. So has the the Old Spice brand and many other businesses who are embracing social media as part of their marketing strategy.
We need to move towards a genuine consumer collaboration model that builds buzz and adopts a more iterative approach to content creation.
Learning how to fuel the conversations and interact has never been more important.
Consumers ideas, creativity and conversations have been set free with the evolution of social networks, learning to leverage and wrangle those conversations to increase your brand visibility is now a vital part of your marketing.

What About You?

Do you create conversations with your marketing? How many people are talking about your stories on Facebook?
Is your content liquid, linked and multi-faceted?