Acer – The Rise of Predator Empire in Vietnam 2016 – 2018

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Source: http://gaming.acervietnam.com.vn/predator-de-che-troi-day/

On the 31st March, there was the biggest exhibition of Acer gaming product line: Predator, The Rise of An Empire in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam. The 1 day event gathered more than 3000 gamers from across the country and more than 35 Vietnamese media.

It was very impressive that Acer, for the first time, hold such a huge exhibition on their gaming product line, Predator, which show-cased 12 gaming laptops. Some of the products are well known by gamers such as the Predator 21X, Nitro 5, Orion 9000, Helios, Triton 700. Some other laptops are particularly represent Acer latest technology and innovative ideas such as the Switch 5 and Switch 7 for Business person.

What is a Predator?

Source: Acer Youtube Channel  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfCfcPTy8p8 

And why this event named “The Rise of The Predator Empire”? I will tell you in the following story.

I attended this event with a free ticket from a friend, as a participant but walked out with as a student who just finished Marketing 101 class. I walked in that day at a very beginning point where I am not a target customer of Acer. In addition, I am not aware of the brand products and I do not intend to buy any of Acer laptop or computer in the next 10 years but there are changes in my perception about the brand after that day.

I learnt.

Acer started in Vietnamese market as a brand for everyday computer use, cheap to average price and their biggest disadvantage is cheap computer easily get error and broken parts. According to Dien Vo, General Manager of Acer Vietnam, he took this job as Acer Vietnam General Manager in 2015 and he has spend 2 years struggling in many ugly truths of the brand and how to improve it. Acer was positioned in a low to average market and re-evaluated by many dealers and customers. Lowering the prices of product didn’t help to increase the sales. Many promotion programs released but the dealers are leaving Acer for better products from other brands.

Recognized the challenges and wrong direction Acer going, Dien Vo started to do plenty researches on the Vietnamese market and he is determined of recognizing what is the real potential market for Acer, what are Acer strengths and how to focus on those.

Source: Acer Youtube Channel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDnCTUABK5A

From 2015, moving toward to the future plan as a result of Acer Marketing Researches, Dien Vo put the team effort in developing and repositioning the gaming product line, which is the strongest selling point of Acer Vietnam. However, it was never a piece of cake! The Marketing team of Acer always search to find where and who is the target market for gaming laptop products. And it seems like the light at the end of their caving journey, they hosted gaming exhibition, for the first time in Vietnam. Acer had perfectly found its target market and effectively market their gaming product line such as Predator, Nitron, Helios to the target customers without going door-by-door. Customers come to them!

The all day event was successfully hosted, started by introduction speech of Andrew Hou and Dien Vo, welcome all participants. There were product exhibition displays, product trial, lucky draw and special promotion on the day.

Based on my observation, most of the gamers registered prior event but some of them also joined accidentally but love it so much. Besides, the special promotion on the day, down the price of gaming laptops to 50% dramatically increase the sale of Acer gaming product in few hours time.

During the event, I also learnt that Acer has plan to host a Game Competition at for all gamers in Asian region. The first Gaming Competition named Predator League was successfully done earlier this year 2018 in Jakarta, Indonesia, which offer the prize of 150,000USD. There were 8 countries with nearly 1200 gamers participated. The competition has made such big noise by live streaming the final rounds on many gaming forums and almost every Asian countries. The event was exceed any expectation that Acer announced next year Predator League will be in Thailand and a bigger prize will be offered.

Source: Predator Gaming Youtube Channel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dpcbkytkIU 

And through this event, I also learn that it is not the end if you loosing the market for 5 years or more, it’s more about how you recognize your problem, ask the right questions and do your own research. To me, Tony may not the best GM for Acer but he is the one who asked the right questions, which help Acer to come back to the industry the way it should be.

My day at Acer – The Rise of The Predator Empire wasn’t fulfill because I didn’t get a chance to play any game and honestly there wasn’t enough time for me to learn about their product. However, there are key messages of Acer that as a Marketer, I understand and appreciate Dien Vo’s vision for the company and the target customers. I believe this is the rise of the Predator Gaming product line and also a new empire of Acer Vietnam leading by Mr. Dien Vo. I hope in the future, my next visit to any Acer Vietnam event, there will be another rise of another product line for different group of customers that I can tell you all about. And I hope Acer will gain what worth their effort in the last two years.

If you are out there, reading this, remember don’t give up your business. There is always a strength of your product/service that people will remember it and buy it. All you need is asking the right questions.

Finally, don’t forget to leave your comment below for any thoughts and question. See you in the next post!

 

 

 

Note: The post content based on my observation and experience at Acer – The Rise of The Predator Empire event in Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam. The content also included Dien Vo’s speech on the day and other information were discussed with Acer Vietnam staffs. There is no written academic and non-academic source used readings to the above content.

“Hat boi” – Vietnamese Opera

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Source: https://www.facebook.com/vevehatboi/ 

“Red has a  symbol of joyfulness”, Qiang 2011.

 —————————

This Lunar New Year 2018 celebrates the year of the Dog, lasting from the 16 Feb 2018 (first day of the new Lunar Year) to 26 Feb 2018. We, the Vietnamese simply call it “Tet” time. Tet usually has 10 days celebration with different activities and cultural customs during these days. Most of the activities aim to bring the family together, celebrate the moment and remember the ancestors and embrace our culture. Tet is joyful. Tet is Red.

The local community and the government organizing so many activities for the people to celebrate Tet in Ho Chi Minh City such as the Nguyen Hue Flower Street, Tao Dan Flower Exhibition, Live Music everywhere, LED screens everywhere, temple and pagoda activities for old people and kids, etc. Despite many live music shows at many city central spots, I caught myself looking at a small ad on Facebook, about a traditional art performance on the 7th day of the Tet holiday. A Vietnamese traditional art performance group named Ngoc Khanh will come to one of the most popular temples in Ho Chi Minh city to perform the “Ngoc Ky Lan”.

What is exactly this Vietnamese traditional art performance? It is “Hát Tuồng” –  a form of Vietnamese Classical Opera. “Hát tuồng” (local word from Ha Noi) or “Hát bội” (local word from HCMC) is a traditional form of Vietnamese theatre. This is often referred to as classical Vietnamese Opera, influenced by Chinese Opera. With over nearly 800 years of establishment and development, Hat Boi has become an integral part of Vietnamese Culture, being regarded as a classic and unique performance of Vietnamese traditional stage.

The stories in Hat Boi tend to be ostensibly historical and frequently focus on the rules of social decorum and can include legends from either the history of China or Vietnam. The characters are strongly recognizable from their make-up and costumes, which are typically extravagant and elaborate. There is usually a full Red stage with curtains and carpet, a traditional drum and a lot of shiny, decorative adornment. The decoration is usually in the shape of the Dragon, Pheonix, and Lion or in a shape ancient Vietnamese language characters. The colour and the origin of Hat Boi through its history and its development make a strong association with Tet and other Vietnamese ritual events.

 

 

                                Costume of Hat Tuong in 1874                                   Costume of Hat Tuong in 2018 
                                Source: khamphahue.vn                                              Photo: Nguyen, 2018 

The performance takes place at Tomb of Le Van Duyet, in Binh Thanh District, HCMC once a year to celebrate the Tet Holiday. This is a great location in the city centre and has a long cultural and spiritual history with the local people.

IMG_6740

Tomb of Le Van Duyet, HCMC, Vietnam 
Photo: Nguyen, 2018 

The show began at 10am but I got there an hour earlier, trying to find myself a good spot in the crowd. Kids, old people and photographers were surrounded the group of artists and took every chance to observe them with so much excitement.

In a Green Room, about  10m x 3m, there were about 20 artists carried makeup, costumes, food, accessories, stage props and so on, parked their scooters on the side and started the preparation while stuffed with fans and photographers. It often took about 2 hours for the artists to finish the dramatic makeup and put on heavy detailed costumes.

 

 

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Photo: https://www.facebook.com/vevehatboi/

Most of the time, the artists help each other, have a quick meal or setting up the props. There is usually a team leader, who watches over for the group, takes the booking and simply manages finance, HR, performance and everything else. There is no production manager, no stage manager, no assistant. They are on their own.

A full performance usually last for few hours and artists take-turn to be on stage. There will be an opening session, different acts in middle and recap ending. The music was very loud and dramatic, played by 3 folk musicians on the side of the stage throughout the show.

 

 

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Photo: Nguyen, 2018

Despite the difficulties in set up, technical condition and limited in space, all artists of Ngoc Khanh group had such an amazing performance with many applauses.

 

 

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Photo: https://www.facebook.com/vevehatboi/

Honestly speaking, I am not an expert in Vietnamese Classical Opera and I had never watched a live Vietnamese Classical Opera performance until this event. But I love the feeling and the connection it brings to my people. A strong reflection of the past but absolutely move into the current age. Despite my little knowledge that I share with you about “Hát Tuồng”, still, I believe this traditional art worth your time of research and try to watch a live one once you are in Vietnam.

There are many challenges for “Hat Tuồng” to survive in recent years due to many competitors in the Vietnam entertainment industry. And “Hat Tuong” is never an easy art form to understand. Not like an hour movie or 3-minute song, the audience needs to be educated about the story, the flow and the situation to understand and feel it a bit deeper while watching it live.  “Hat Tuong” is a unique art performance inspired by Chinese culture, rising again in some Vietnamese regions such as Hue, Binh Dinh (khamphahue.com.vn). However, there are limited resources, mostly in old books at local library and art institution. Not many researchers conduct academic work and studies about Vietnamese Classical Opera and translate it into English. I wish to find many credible articles to expand my knowledge but failed to. I believe “Hat Tuong” is a deep wheel that I haven’t gone far enough till I found the right resources.

Many of you recognise the Red through the mass Chinese culture, such as Red in wedding, and Red in Lunar New Year. However, the Asian culture as a whole also celebrating Red as a symbol of happiness and energy.  The Vietnamese Tet is a part of our heart to celebrate this unique time in the year, the Vietnamese Classical Opera art is one kind of the art performance, we believe, communicate with our spiritual ancestors. “Hat Tuong” could bring curiosity to the youth of Vietnam but to the old, it is the classical entertainment that is unreplaceable in some provinces.

If you have seen “Hat Tuong”, share your experience. If you have any resources, comment below too. I am very interested to learn.

In the meantime, for those who are curious in watching a “Hat Boi”, here is a full performance of another group of artists named Kieu Loan from the Southern cities of Vietnam here (my apology for no English subtitle) and share you thoughts below.

Source:
http://khamphahue.com.vn/vi-vn/kham-pha/nghe-thuat/tid/Trung-tam-Hat-Boi-Hue-the-ky-XIX-va-Dao-Tan/newsid/44D66E86-52F3-4E6E-9E94-FE43EF46B9D2/cid/B4E888BA-7D4B-4410-91DE-A7BB01113D8D
https://www.facebook.com/vevehatboi/

Personal Branding

Personal Branding.

Have you ever heard of this term? If yes, have you ever thought of your own personal branding? Do you think it is important and why? I bet most of us don’t.

We all have our favourite products, our preferred services, the brands we like. So many brands and products become so familiar that we are so loyal and commit to them. Think back to all the purchases we make day by day, year by year, do you think you are affected by ‘brand’? Why it is so important to your decision-making process? Must be because it makes the product/service stand out, more than the non-branded ones.

Personal branding is the act of marketing oneself as a brand. Building a personal brand involves two key processes: self-management and self-improvement. Theory says that personal brand could be detected by people in the first 5 seconds. The question is: How to build an awesome personal brand?

Firstly, from this moment onward, see yourself as a brand. Analyse your strengths and weaknesses. How would you like people to see you? Would your charming smile and friendly attitude attack their attention enough? Would your passion and work commitments are part of your brand? Understanding the questions of how you want to represent your own brand and how you expect people to see it is a crucial start.

Afterward, you would need more time to dig a little deeper and develop a detail strategic plan for your brand. Of course, you can still be yourself. However, if you are seriously considering a long-life career path or working for an organization, your personal brand should be well-shaped. You might not see how beneficial it is in the first week, but within a year, you will thank yourself.

Many of us know Ellen DeGenerges as one of the most successful Television hosts in the USA and we also know Martin Yan is celebrity chef (worth your Google Search if you don’t know him yet). But did we know about these two persons in 2000s? How long did they take to reach the level of personal brand recognition as what they have now? We don’t have the exact answer but I am sure it has been a very long journey they been through. It is true that personal Brand will take time, 6 months, 1 year, 10 years and even a lifetime but once you start seeing the results out of it, you will desire for more. Only you know how to build the best personal brand for yourself. Despite some confusion and you might feel stupid to do proper marketing job for yourself at first, it will be worth your time and effort in a long run.

 

Source: 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/shamahyder/2014/08/18/7-things-you-can-do-to-build-an-awesome-personal-brand/#4b55d4f43c3a 

http://exilelifestyle.com/ebooks/personalbranding.pdf 

 

How to work smarter?

We are all busy with work. Who has time for the fancy idea of applying some theory into my work-life when I have 100 of emails and a few overdue projects? However, John Rampton from Entrepreneur believes that “Nobody cares how busy you are or how work you late, they just care what you get done”. And it’s true. So if there is any chance I can work less and get more work done, I am down for it. Curious about what can you do to be more efficiency? Read my 5 recommendations below.

  1. Track your time.

Time tracking allows you to focus on your work, check your limited time resource of the day and remind you what is your next task.

2. Get up and have a cup of tea every 90 minutes.

I don’t know about you but my brain stops working every 20 minutes. Scientific proves that the brain can only focus for 90 to 120 minutes before it needs a break. So before you feel like you need to take nap due to the body naturally reaction, we should get up and walk around the office for few minutes. Take small breaks. It helps.

3. Take a 15-20 minutes nap

Taking a nap in the afternoon has been proven you can be more productive afterward. Besides, it also helps to get you more relaxed and reduce the risks like heart attacks.

4. Work in natural light.

Many scientists suggest that the workplace daylight exposure is strongly connected to the workers’ sleep, activity, and quality of life. Working next to a window or getting much natural light can impact your productivity and energy.

5. Plan your day the night before

Planning your work before hand helps you to schedule the work better and achieve your goals.

These sound like small steps that wouldn’t affect your daily work life much but trust me, small things can change the big picture. Keep your spirit and attitude but also change to work smarter, stay at the office shorter and enjoy your personal life out there.

If you have any suggestion or successfully become more productive after applying these methods, share with me.

 

Source: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/298941  

 

 

Marketing Film Festival

When I emailed my Persian Film Festival Marketing Manager last week, she stated in the email: the priority now is pushing all the marketing material to social media.

Let’s say we are directors of film festivals. We set up the location; we choose the theme; we have all the movies, we schedule days and time, we also have the guest lists, and all the tickets are ready for sale. What’s now? We need the audiences to buy those tickets. Since we are just film directors, can we do all of the marketing jobs to promote our film festival and make sure tickets are sold?  Do we need a marketing team? What can they do for our film festivals? Would the marketing strategy work?

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Source: https://www.coloribus.com/adsarchive/prints/film-festival-ticket-blue-3546455/

Usually, films or TV programs are marketed the way to maximize audience watching and rating then convincing them to go to the cinema or watch it on television. Maybe some film festival directors and film producers feel their work is finished when they deliver the movies to distributor or sale agents or the broadcast network. However, there are more we can do to obtain successful sales of our products.

In order to design an effective marketing strategy, Film Festival should define the target audiences, marketing strategies, marketing platforms, the cooperation with celebrities, marketing content, the frequency appear on the social media and the press and so on.

In general, publicity and commercialization at the time of shooting a movie can be useful as a tool to build awareness and get public attention, especially if a star or well-known factors participate in it. The media will be interested in writing stories and stories about the movie and the actors/actresses. The key is to keep the media side by side and let them have some photoshoot, good information and keep the media up to date until the film release. Similarly, with film marketing, film festival could be marketed early and regularly by working together with the distributors, celebrities, sale agents, journalists and the marketing team to maximize the marketing results since the preparation stage.

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Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3773263/Mel-Gibson-Andrew-Garfield-arrive-Venice-Film-Festival-hysterics-promote-new-movie-Hacksaw-Ridge.html

A great marketing strategy for a film festival would include many activities with celebrities involvement and take advantage of stars/directors reputation for having a co-promotion for both parties. A variety news articles (online and paper), Tweets, Facebook posts and Instagram photos on their social media accounts will encourage many following posts and social media trends created by fans and journalists and media companies. With the right frequency and the right content on suitable platforms, you can create many waves of exposure and awareness to the audiences. The result is your festival name can stay up-trend on media and news for at least six months period.

Along with the media cover, there are many other paid and almost-free advertising channels that film festival can make use, depending on their marketing budget. We can create ads on:

  • Radio Commercials
  • Newspaper/magazine advertisements/articles
  • Taxis
  • Billboard
  • Bus stops
  • Drop-in ads on website
  • SMS and emails
  • Social media

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Source: http://www.funniest-commercials.net/2010/10/metro-short-film-festival-ads.html

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Source: http://www.funniest-commercials.net/2010/10/metro-short-film-festival-ads.html

It not only depends on the marketing budget of each film festival but also rely on the purpose, adequate and connect with mass audiences and other festivals using same marketing channels. Some Hollywood movie with a larger budget and massive investment from sponsors will have more marketing activities for their films. However, film festival directors can make use of their connection and the positive relationship with the local government and local marketing agents to maximize the results.

Like television, radio and magazine are leading communication platforms, and the number of audiences reaching at these platforms are guaranteed. Therefore, it will cost a bit more than other marketing strategies. film-poster-4-london-bus

Source: http://gunnersburya2media2011group2e.blogspot.com.au/2011/01/where-do-film-posters-appear-by-myles.html

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 Source: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/gallery/key-arts-2013-best-movie-650731/1-all-that-matters-is-past

Should we think of Film Festival as a ‘service’ or a ‘product’? I believe the marketing strategy we choose will depend on our answer. If we decide to market a product, we tend to promote the quality of the product, what it made of, what can it do and the price. However, if we tend to market it as a service, we can focus more on the emotional benefit and other benefits it may bring to consumers (a relaxing time, culture sense, humor sense, emerging in the amazing sounds and beautiful images, watch their favorite actors and actresses, etc.). These benefits cannot be replaced and the price will worth their experiences.

Observing the ads of many film festivals in Australia and oversea, I notice a variety of advertisements that encourage the boom of emotions and experiences and the spiritual benefit for all audiences. Most film festivals choose to market the unique experiences and feelings they deliver to the audiences in order to enhance the emotional connection between them. Therefore, their ads serve promise of a good time spending by watching movies.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IHRfEgwuVk 

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QupzG_4RaAQ 

And language seems not to be a high barrier to stop audiences and Film Festival exchanges experiences, sense of culture and sharing the moment together.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTlYpMxxMUk 

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5H1xQLVVaQ 

The marketing strategy for Persian Film Festival (PFF) mainly focuses on social media, website, YouTube with the aim to spread the reputation online at minimum cost. The social media and websites also help to enhance audiences senses of hearing, seeing, and feeling while watching film festival videos and trailers or read about our stories. As the results, many film festival videos, trailers of films and movies making are promoted, using more image and photographic than dense language based.

PFF is a small festival with a limited budget. Therefore it is a disadvantage that we could not manage to have a specialized marketing team as well as get PFF featured on national newspaper or radio or promoted by celebrities. Our marketing manager and her assistant have done much excellent work based on their knowledge and expertise in films and experiences in hosting many film festivals. Their strategy strongly relies on the connection and encouraging people to help to spread the words. Fortunately, after great effort of promoting the films Facebook page aligning with Twitter and Instagram posts, our festival is reaching more audiences and the tickets of all movies are selling fast.

Working as a volunteer social media assistant, I help my Marketing manager to keep an eye on PFF Instagram account, looking for connection and related businesses and individuals, also pushing the material of PFF to the online world. As the PFF comes closer, the more often we post.

Applying the common marketing strategy of all film festivals that promoting unique experiences and explosion of emotions, PFF has been effectively using the social media – Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to promote videos, trailers, short clips and photography to attract many audiences and potential films directors, writers and actors/actresses. Despite the fact of having a small marketing budget, our marketing of PFF still push PFF to the market and make the best use of free or minimum cost media platform. And in the next few days, when the PFF is here in Melbourne, we are expecting to see many film and culture interested Australians and Asians to come to our films. It’s always great to see our marketing works bring back great results.

Introduction To Persian Film Festival

Film – also called a movie, motion picture, or photoplay. Cinema is short for cinematography, covers the industry of films and filmmaking or to the art of filmmaking itself. Festival refers to a day or a period of celebration or anniversary. Therefore, a film festival should be a day or a period of celebration of films. However, is it this simple? Would this definition is enough to tell everything about ‘film festival’? What roles does ‘film festival’ play in national cinemas?

Santa-Barbara-Film-Festival1

Source: http://dailynexus.com/2015-01-29/artsweek-picks-for-santa-barbara-international-film-festival/

Cindy Hing-Yuk Wong stated that “Film Festivals attract widespread global attention as glittering showcases for films and people” (p.1). In Wong’s book, the Film Festivals, she discussed countless roles, missions, and goals of Film Festivals in the social and economical senses. And in fact, this book is the most comprehensive book about Film Festivals that I ever read (and you can tell by its title).

Film Festival

  • Allows us to understand multi faces of international relationships of film cultures, historical development, the hierarchy of films, filmmakers, film languages, film stars, concepts, themes, and, places.
  • Gathers discover and attract all the talents.
  • Is a platform to exchange ideas, show movies and do business.
  • Is to bring to the major audiences the artistic as well as wide appeal films.
  • Is to salute great filmmakers and stars.
  • Is to give people chances to meet and understand the great work behind the scenes
  • Is to speak to the world’s press and generate free publicity and attention for films and film industry.
  • Creates and participates in the public sphere and discussion on local and international media.
  • Is a place for creativity and conflict.
  • Is where to review the past, explore the present and create the future.

There are more and more to add to this list, but I guess the most important thing is the film festival supposes to be a strong connection between the place, the people, the culture and the artwork. Follow many successful film festivals in Cannes, Venice, Toronto, New York, Berlin, Hong Kong, Melbourne; film festival study attracts more scholars and researchers to conduct many depth pieces of research for further understanding. In corresponding to the film festival, many studies about related fields also increased such as social, political, cultural, economic, regional and international concepts. And Wong’s book is the result of excellent research work in Film Festival around the world, discussed from various aspects.

Like many other students, who motivated to take the APG 5782 subject, Film Festival Study Tour by the passion about film and film festival, it is my great pleasure to be part of the Persian Film Festival as part of my Film Festival subject at Monash University this semester. I am expected to gain some insights about Film Festival to develop an academic report about the Persian Film Festival as well as sharing my experience through this short-term university internship to all of my classmates.

Screen Shot 2016-09-06 at 6.23.46 PM

Source: http://www.persianfilmfestival.com/

This year, we celebrate the fifth year of the Persian International Film Festival. Hence the Persian Film Festival will be held from 22nd September to 3rd October 2016 at four different locations in Australia: Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Canberra, I will have chances to be more involve in various stages and process during that period. At the moment, I only help the Marketing Manager of Persian Film Festival on their Instagram account. Therefore, it is difficult to experience all of the major roles of Film Festival that listed above till the actual event happens.

However, as I start to discover the Persian cinema and Persian Film Industry through the glance of this festival, I realize that I will have to face many difficulties to conduct a comprehensive study about Persian cinema and Persian Film Festival. The first issue is the rare sources of information about Persian Films and Persian Film Industry. Based on some researches I’ve done so far, I believe this issue arises from another problem that Persian Film often categorized in ‘Iranian Film’. In addition, there are not many differences between Iranian and Persian Film except the language and the director’s origin. Even the Persian Film Festival attempted to distinguish itself from the Iran Film Festival by the name of it, but in fact, many scholars still tend to make a small discussion about Persian Film under the Iran Film study.

“Founded in 2011, it is a one of a kind festival that showcases films by Persian-speaking filmmakers of Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan, and through screenings, master classes and cultural events it celebrates this rich cinematic culture in and with Australian communities. The festival also aims to be a leader in shifting views and misconceptions in Australia by creating spaces for new and alternative voices of Persian-Australians and by being a forum for dialogue between and amongst diverse communities.” – Persian Film Festival Website

Secondly, since this year is only the 5th year of the Persian International Film Festival, Persian films are still new to Australian and international audiences. And the Iranian Film Festival also celebrates the sixth year in Australia. Comparing to other Film Festivals held in Australia, such as Melbourne International Film Festival, Festival of German Films, Sydney Underground Film Festival, Jewish International Film Festival, etc. Persian Film Festival is under a high-pressure in competition to reach to the audiences. In some cases, I believe that it also compete to its national films at Iranian Film Festival.

Screen Shot 2016-09-06 at 6.23.28 PM

Source: http://www.iffa.net.au/

Thirdly, from the brief description above, does the Persian Film Festival mean to be a purely Cultural Film Festival or this festival is moving from Cultural Festival to  Commerical Promotion Festival or Government Organized? Not many studies mention about Persian Film, not many articles, not many books or newspaper reviews. Has Persian Film Festival been successful to bring Persian culture and Persian cinema to Australian audience? Finally, as a young Film Festival often be seen under the shadow of Iranian Film Festival, how would Persian Film Festival join the festival circuit and what can they do to attract talented directors and best films and fit in their requirements at the same time? I believe all of the answers that I am seeking to solve these problems will open new understanding from different aspects, even all of these issues and questions are challenging and require great research.

I suggest that in the coming few weeks when the Persian Film Festival starts in Melbourne, I will have more chances to collect information, photos, articles, reviews and researches for my further study about this event. This could be an amazing opportunity to practice my research skills, but also be challenging in gathering credible sources for my report

Screen Shot 2016-09-06 at 6.24.40 PM

Source: http://www.persianfilmfestival.com/

It might be great to list all the roles and aims of film festivals, and a showcase of all of the greatly rewarded films, nevertheless, I trust that we not only celebrate the works but also salute the people, the makers, and the audiences. The moment that everyone enjoys when the film festival happens. Everything looks good on theoretical paper, but I also hope that my blog posts and my report can reflect some experiences of the audiences and myself during the festival time. The Film Festival book is inspiring and provide many insights about Films and Film Festival. Nevertheless, I am still looking for more academic articles to study the Persian Film Festival and gain the best valuable experience through this event.

Have you ever experienced Persian Film Festival before? I am sure this will be a unique film event that worth to check out. Get your ticket today and share your thoughts below after attending this event.

 

References:

Do, P 2015,Artsweek Picks for Santa Barbara International Film Festival, Daily Nexus, viewed 1 September 2016, http://dailynexus.com/2015-01-29/artsweek-picks-for-santa-barbara-international-film-festival/

Iranian Film Festival http://www.iffa.net.au/

Persian Film Festival http://www.persianfilmfestival.com/

Wong, C 2011, Film Festivals, Rutgers Univeristy Press, New Brunswick, New Jersey and London.

Crazy sales tips!!!

Some shoppers wait until Black Friday and Cyber Monday to shop. But is it necessary to wait?

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Cnet magazine says that the online shopping event this year in US reached 3 billion in sales, 12 percent increased from last year. This is the largest online sales record in the US ever! The increasing online shopping become too convenient to say “no” for Australians to shop without visit US stores, especially in this time of the year. Many brands and online shopping sites are boosting their sales on Black Friday and Cyber Monday with extended few days sales.

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Here are some tips for you to save and buy smart:

  1. Do your research. List out some items you want or need to buy. Maybe contribute to your wish list to watch out for the best deals.
  2. Notice the duration of the sale. Different sites, brands and retailers have different sales offers and policy. Make sure you are aware of this information for the next step.
  3. Compare different websites. This step helps you to buy your favorite items without regretting that you did not check out other sites for better deals. Compare the sales offers, quality of the products, duration of sales and shipping fee or any other price-related that matters.
  4. Watch out for early treats. Sign up for VIP list of the brands and online sites for early treats to get your items before it is sold out.
  5. Know your size. Buying online can be tricky because of different measurement applied to different sizes. UK, US, EU, AU, etc.. Knowing your size is important and it is “the must” if you are buying gifts for others.
  6. Be aware of the return policy. In case you are guessing about sizes, make sure you check out the return policy and return fee (if applicable) and the delivery/return deadlines.

 

Let’s face the truth that shopping online is not easy. We can be overwhelmed by beautiful, convenient or cheap products. However, let’s set our limit before we shop online to prevent overspending and difficulty paying our credit cards. But after all, this time of the year is all about enjoying yourself and spoiling your loved ones. Many discounts involved can be a big saving spend for you and bring massive joy for all.

If you are a fan of online shopping, please share any tips or experiences you have to maximize the benefits of sales.

Sources: 

http://www.cnet.com/news/cyber-monday-breaks-sales-record-again-but-perhaps-not-for-long/

http://www.australianetworknews.com/black-friday-sale-2015-australia-12-tips-best-deals-au/

http://fashion.allwomenstalk.com/tips-for-shopping-online-sales

http://theredish.com/img/boxing%20day%20sales%20melbourne 

 

 

Have you heard about Bphone?

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If yes, you just happened to be informed of the most recent debatable subject on Vietnamese websites and forums. If not yet, you will know now.

Firstly, let me introduce you the creator of Bphone: BKAV.

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“Established in 1995, Bkav Corporation is the leading firm in network security, software, smartphone manufacturing and smart home. In the field of network security, antivirus and mobile security software of Bkav have been present in more than 100 countries all over the world” (https://www.bkav.com). BKAV corporation is a very well known as an expert in antivirus and security. However, Quang Nguyen, the CEO and the co-founder of BKAV has the vision to expand the company into the most competitive marketsmartphone, on both local and international levels. BKAV is entering the electronics industry by its own smartphone produced in Vietnam and a smart home system cooperate with their phone and security products.

Inspired by the success of Xiaomi – the Chinese smartphone brand competing with the iPhone on the Chinese market, BKAV wishes to develop a Vietnamese smartphone that has a potential to beat the iPhone and Samsung in the Vietnamese market and further, well-known globally. Mr. Quang, in the launch of Bphone in Hanoi, Vietnam introduced the Bphone as “the extraordinary phone made in Vietnam” and “the top phone of the world”. BKAV wishes to develop a Vietnamese smartphone that has a potential to beat iPhone and Samsung in the Vietnamese market and further, well-known globally.

The Bphone described as the phone has the best sound and music function; the phone takes the best photo in any light condition and movement; the phone has Transfer Jet, a new technology to transfer information only by touching two phones together. They are all very good features aimed to satisfy customers’ need.

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Source: http://www.statista.com/statistics/365278/weekly-smartphone-activities-vietnam/

Not yet discuss the success of the launch of this phone, I believe Mr. Quang is a nationalism that has a great vision and a great mind. His idea is unique, and he has all the ability, the power to gather all the resources, the human resource and financial source to make this idea come true. From my point of view, this idea has a possibility to bring the brand out of the preconception of the local Vietnamese antivirus company to a new perception of a modern technological and visional company, which is able to reach the future of technology and more. Since the launch of the Bphone had announced, a boom of discussion and expectation from a majority Vietnamese of many online news websites and technology forums.

The Bphone had already been already “hot” before people even see or touch it. Nevertheless, the launch of this phone on the 26th of May was a disappointment. There are enormous against and for opinions debated radically. The launch was just another copy of Steve Jobs’s style and Apple’s signature presentation. The performance of Mr. Quang and all of the staff of the senior board were not convincing and the term “the best of the world” were repeated many times, followed by some specification numbers. It is good to see some numbers and images that support their argument. It is alright to be proud of their own product and called it “the top of the world”, but the consumers did not believe in that term because there is no evidence support for that. “The top of the world” need to be seen and proved. It seems like all of the experiences that the customers have so far do not match all the expectations and specifications. And the world was not informed by the existing of this phone. I was struggling to find any articles or news that is written in English about this new product that supposed to compete with global brands. It seems like BKAV did not spread out the information well enough.

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In Marketing, the first goal that companies want to achieve is customers’ awareness. I believe that BKAV researched about their customers, they know who are their target market, they know the target market’s income and lifestyles, but BKAV did not make use of all the information they have. The evidence for my statement is a high level of disappointment and dissatisfaction can be observed among their potential customers: young, high income, technology lover, nationalism customers.

It is alright to make mistakes, but BKAV has made many mistakes and their biggest mistake is not responding to the customers. After weeks observing and listening to customers’ opinion, there is no answer from BKAV, reply to the concern of their design, suspected copied from Oppo – a new smartphone product just landed in Vietnam couple months ago from China. There is no answer from BKAV, reply to the unfulfilled satisfactions among a majority target customer. There is no proper marketing campaign or marketing activities, no social media post, no public relations strategy. I am shocked by the lack of preparation of BKAV and moreover, their behavior of receiving the feedback from the market. It must be the case when a company underestimate the power of marketing and only believe in an ancient business model: only two stages, making a product than selling it.

I agree, and I understand that it is not easy to introduce a new product to enter a new market. It never is easy. But I would like to see an effort of BKAV to rebuild their brand and the customers’ trust after this event. I would like to see a proper marketing campaign that fully researched, designed and developed to fit the target market. I would like to see a good response from BKAV and Mr. Quang to explain and comfort the unfulfilled satisfaction of the Vietnamese community and the media. The truth is Vietnamese people are so proud of BKAV brand, and they trust it, therefore, they found it hard to accept the mistakes.

But many research articles show that people tend to forgive easily. So, BKAV, just start over! Fix the problem, spread out the good rumors, prove the quality of your product, build a relationship with customers and remember, evaluate all of the parts of the business process carefully. I suggest you may want to start with an extraordinary marketing department in your company. Don’t let the term “the top phone of the world” was only a deceit. Let the world know about you!

Sources:

http://www.bkav.com.vn/bphone-media/-/video/302#cur=1

http://www.statista.com/statistics/365278/weekly-smartphone-activities-vietnam/

http://aseanup.com/vietnam-mobile-market-outlook-2015/

Android Users and iPhone Users are different in characteristics???

An American Advertising company named Chitika revealed a report in Jan 22 stated that the American people who has a higher income and higher level of education tend to use iPhone more than Android. The study also mentions about iPhone users’ characteristics: “Smart and Educated people” use “Smart phone”.

Chitika is not the only company interested in this topic. A Pew study in 2013 discussed that men are more likely to use the Android phones than women.  Students at college and higher income level people are more likely to use iPhone than others.

Of course, these studies are not strong evidence to conclude iPhone users are smarter or richer. However, there are a few common characteristics of these users that we can “recognize”:

Group 1: Android users: male, deeply technical, hard thinking, more likely to be in technical field and work as a programmer.

Group 2: iPhone users: consumers rather than producers, addicted in social media and non for technical jobs; higher income, higher education level.

Which phone are you using right now? Are these surveys/studies somehow reflect your characteristic? Share your comments below to discuss further.

Source: http://qz.com/332172/iphone-usage-in-america-mapped/

BBC Panorama – Factories produce Apple products in China and Indonesia: terrible condition!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVaTl2kW6YU

BBC just released a documentary about Apple’s factories in China and Indonesia. BBC found terrible facts about work conditions and very low standard in these factories, where people – workers be treated like in Army factories, working at least 12 hours, fall asleep while working, standing and sleeping during short breaks, 12 people in a dorm room for 8 etc. The documentary points out that Apple broke their promises about working conditions and even it’s could be quick and easy for them to address the issue, Apple hasn’t put any effort to solve the problem. Even when BBC told Apple about what they found, Apply reply did not satisfy people’s expectation. BBC even did a deeper research on Apple supply chain and the more they found, the more disappointed we feel.

However, there are many contrast opinions on this issue. It cannot be denied that this is a very common fact in Asian countries, common working condition in China and Indonesia in lots of factories, not only Apple. All electronic companies depend on the rare material that people destroy land and find the mineral mine. The question I have in mind is why Apple is the only name pointed out in this issue? Why not Microsoft, Blackberry, Samsung or any other name? Why we keep hearing this issue over and over again pointed out that Apple should be shame about this. Remember that some competitors of Apple from China. Is this their strategy to show people the negative side of production so they could compete Apple in a secret way? Nobody knows for sure, but this is a legal and illegal problem that Apple can’t just sit in their headquarters in California, US and look over the world from their window. I suggest what they should do now is taking action to prevent people’s anger and spreading bad information.

In the mean time, please check out this video and please leave your comments below. What you think Apple should do now?