Along with this new design, I aim at changing a bit the topics I blog about to re-centre myself on the web a lot more. As a result, expect to see more posts about web strategy, start ups, online user experience and behaviour and web design. Of course, as all good rules mean to be broken, my first posts (still being worked on) will be about the Kindle, which was released internationally about a month ago. But as Amazon released Kindle for PC, talking about the Kindle is almost on topic…

I will also try to build some more resources around the blog, especially in relation to user experience in Asia, as well as resources I use on a regular basis in my work and personal projects. Yes. Personal projects will be another aspect of this blog. I have been advising people regarding web strategy and user experience, but in the end, I only rarely put myself out there and this is about to change. With two friends, we are working on a project called go2gethr and I will be blogging about how the project is going as it unfolds.

Let me know your comments about the new design and especially tell me if you see broken stuff!
Enjoy the reading…

Related posts:

1. Back in Hong Kong

I have always wanted to restart my blog as a way to get my brains thinking again about user experience in general instead of worrying about meeting my next deadline in my job. And in the past week, two people “scolded” me because I had stopped writing (David Jacques and Jane McConnell), so I decided to take the matter seriously and here I am… As always when I start something, there are many plans, like redesigning the blog, host a version of Wordpress to allow more flexibility and maybe even use GoAnimate animation to accompany some of my posts. But overall, the idea is the same: “Talk about Customer Experience and cultural aspects of living/working in Asia”. First post to come in the time I need to write it…

No related posts.

One of the changes that may occur on the blog is that some posts may be in Chinese (simplified) from now on. Posts in Chinese will contain a short translation in English.

The first post will be uploaded very soon.

再见！

Related posts:

1. 41st Hong Kong Brands and Products Expo
2. The Great Firewall of China
3. The Compliance Assistance Centre in Hong Kong

The expo is still interesting to understand what makes Hong Kong consumers buy…

Rule #1: Product demonstration always attract crowds
Rule #2: Display discounts all over your booth
Rule #3: Get a loudspeaker louder than your neighbor’s

Or…

Get ready for a looonnnnggggg day

Related posts:

1. Hong Kong people and the environment
2. "Better Living – Product Design Contributes" Expo
3. Buy on Hong Kong Now Broadband TV: Short Review

Time passed…

… and passed…

And two days ago I decided, seeing one of these PCCW Now booths in the street to go and check for myself. I discovered that my contract was already over and that they just had continued to charge the service as usual. Well, I consider myself lucky that they did not start charging more without telling me, so that’s fine.

Then the guy started to enumerate the different options I had to renew. Of course all of them were forcing me sign a new contract for 12 to 18 months, even though I have been a customer for more than 18 months. After some negotiation, he told me that there was a way for me to get a nice subscription and 3 months for free. He just had to treat me as a new customer, come to pick up my current set-top box and replace it by a brand new one.

Reluctant to sign for a long contract, I asked him what would happen if I was switching subscription through the DIY (do-it-yourself) TV system they have. He told me: “Well, you would pay full price and get no discount.”

To summarize, if as a customer I change my subscription I use the way that costs the least to the company, then I will pay the most (that’s DIY). And if I ask the support person to stop my current contract and come to my place to exchange the hardware, then I will pay the least for the service. How could a company do something more mind-bending than that?

Well… This kind of things happen of course everyday, but I just had to write about it!

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Last week-end, as my dad was visiting, I went to Shenzhen to show him the difference between Hong Kong life and China life. Sure enough, you cannot summarize China by looking at Shenzhen, but you see a big difference with Hong Kong right when you cross the border. Colors are paler. It is dusty everywhere because of the continuous construction going on. People look tired. You can tell you are not in Hong Kong anymore. You can tell you are in a country that is developing and in a city that is still struggling to find its identity.

On one of our errands, we saw a celebration in the street. A Hong Kong jewelry brand was celebrating a very important event. That brand had joined the exclusive circle of “CHINA FAMOUS BRANDS” as the certificate that they were showing off explained (see picture on the right).

That got me thinking… How can a certificate, be it from the most important government body, give you the status of a famous brand. Aren’t the people supposed to decide which company is famous and which one is not?

Now, I am reading “1 Billion Customers” by James Mc Gregor right now (a book that I recommend to anybody with interest in doing business in China). In the book he explains how the Chinese government when there is a lot of money at stake will find ways to benefit more from it.

To me that example could be one of these. Branding, advertising and marketing in general are great sources of revenue. So, what if the government could issue a document that decided whether you were famous or not, whether your brand was a valuable asset or not, wouldn’t that be a great power in the hands of the government?

Related posts:

1. Bookstores and signage – Shenzhen

Going mainstream gets harder and harder by the day. Significant behavioral differences and increasing expectations among customers makes it near impossible to develop a message that will reach every consumer. As a result targeting niche segment can become a more and more valuable option. That is one option that the Telecom provider Smartone is following in Hong Kong by targeting explicitly the Filipino community.

Smartone brand is usually red and white, but this store closed to a Filipino hotspot in Hong Kong Causeway Bay has been totally rebranded to fit the community taste and even displays Bahasa language instead of English or Chinese. Shops assistants are of course Filipinos as well. With a huge Filipino community, dedicated Filipino shops are not uncommon in Hong Kong, but it is very uncommon for a “big” company to recognize the fact and spend the effort to research the needs of that community. With no other company following the example as thoroughly, Smartone surely has a huge lead in a community of several hundred thousands.

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That ad is displayed inside the MTR (Metro) in Hong Kong. It is an ad for the fast train that links the airport and a new exhibition hall. It says in big that you can enjoy a same day return trip to the AsiaWorld Exposition Hall for only HK$42, instead of a usual HK$100 if I am not mistaking. That sounds like great! Then you look at the right of the ad with all these street signs displaying places in Hong Kong Island and a big 42 next to each of them…

… unfortunately, when you look at the bottom of the ad, you can see that if you take a full ride from Hong Kong station (on the main island of Hong Kong like the places displayed on the signs at the top right of the ad) to the exibition hall, that will cost you HK$72. Still a nice discount but not as nice as HK$42.

I will never understand how an advertiser can manage customers’ expectations so badly. You have a great discount, but by showing IN BIG a wrong figure you actually make people feel bad about the offer and about the company that is seen as trying to trick people. It would have been so easy to display the right price first or at least to change the copy and say: “Same day return trip ticket to AsiaWorld Expo FROM HK$42 up”.

No related posts.

In terms of hairdresser, I am not loyal at all. I never had any outstanding experience that made me want to stick to a specific hairdresser. I want a simple cut, nothing fancy. So a good stylist does not make much of a difference. Most importantly I want to spend as little time as possible in the company of the hairdresser. The main things I look at when choosing a new hairdresser is price and convenience. That could be a short version of my persona, summarizing my behavior in relation to getting my haircut.

When walking in the streets of Hong Kong I ended up finding a hairdresser that directly addressed this type of personas. QB House is a Japanese chain that was created in 1996 and that instead on focusing on style, focuses on efficiency. On the door of the hairdresser, then rules are set:

1. Get a HK$50 note ready
2. Buy a ticket (no change given)
3. Wait for your turn
4. Explain the hairstylist what style you want
5. The haircut lasts only 10 minutes

When searching on forums, it clearly appears that this concept does not rally all type of crowds. Many are reluctant to try, and it is true that in Hong Kong you can find countless cheap hairdressers that will induce more confidence by focusing more on style. But I can very well imagine the computer geeks in Akihabara district in Tokyo rush to that kind of quick hair salons, enjoying the very systematic process detailed in advance by the hairdresser. With a salon in Hong Kong just next to two major computer and game centers in Wan Chai, the concept can work very well. No need to please everybody.

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Below is a quote from the article that highlights the crucial difference that exists between running Starbucks in Western countries and running it in China:

“It’s not just a drink in China. It’s a destination. It’s a place to be seen and a place to show how modern one is,” adds Technomic Asia’s Kedl. And with China’s economy growing in double digits, there are likely to be lots more young urban and modern Chinese ready to sip java in a sleek new Starbucks.

People in China do not go to Starbucks because they like coffee. They do not go there because it is comfortable. Starbucks, just like trendy bars (but maybe appealing to a different crowd), is a place to be seen. Married women go there with their friends to chat and show off their apparel. Families spend the afternoon there reading newspapers proudly showing they can afford two kids despite the one child policy.

So of course, with wealth increasing that fast in China, more and more people will want to show off their newly acquired fortune. But at the same time the process will help create many more alternatives to sipping a coffee in a Starbucks to show off one’s wealth. A main threat for Starbucks could be businesses that are more relevant to the culture of China elites. And then Starbucks had better hope that Chinese do actually like coffee… because its early lead could backfire and push it down the value chain.

Related posts:

1. Starbucks – The four sizes trap
2. Who is in charge in China?
3. The Great Firewall of China