The Game of Life: One Year After Graduation

| tofubros

I graduated from NUS Business School on 13th July 2016. Today marks my one-year anniversary of graduation and let’s just say while many things didn’t go as planned, I would like to think that kept me flexible and adaptive to different situations.

Recently, I spoke to a close friend about uncertainty and how we lack control over future events and circumstances. “But that’s just the game of life, isn’t it? If everything were clear, then there wouldn’t be a need for faith in what we do,” she responded.

Within these 365 days, I have pushed through with some projects, learned a great deal of new things, but also envied one too many friend’s jobs, faced some rejections and gravely trusted the wrong people…

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Book Review: Youtility by Jay Baer

| tofubros

Artificial intelligence (AI) has been touted as the new darling of marketing. With the ability to churn through data, analyze petabytes worth of data points and personalize target markets through big data and account-based marketing, it is no wonder why this is so.

So is AI a competitor or a collaborator? Is there a way that marketers can learn to collaborate with AI, and complement the information that automated systems and technology brings about? According to Jay Baer, yes!

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Pokemon Go’s Timely Revival: 5 Branding Lessons We Can Learn

| tofubros

Fast forward 4 months, it’s March 2017. It has been one month since Pokemon Go’s major update, which is the largest expansion of Pokemon Go since its launch. And it seems to be rather effective in bringing back users – with over 80 new Pokemon to be caught, the old trainers are back in action and ready to catch ‘em all.

The biggest feature of the February update was the release of over 80 Pokemon from the Johto region, from the franchise’s second generation of games – Pokemon Gold and Silver. Definitely a smart move by Niantic to reignite the interests of Pokemon Go fans while building up the user experience and strengthening its brand community. Most importantly, by releasing Pokemon one region or one generation at a time, it creates more anticipation for users as they start to predict what other Pokemon can be expected on the app (“Johto today, what else tomorrow?”).

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Marketing Pokemon Go, Pokemon Go(ne): Marketing Lessons to Learn from Pokemon Go

| tofubros

When Pokemon Go first released in Singapore four months ago, the locals were pretty wild with the craze. Once-shy Singaporeans swiftly befriended anyone who exclaimed ‘ah, dratini, over here!‘

It was indeed a crazy Pokemon period – from Pokeball sushi/cakes to giant Snorlax plushies to Dating Go! (yes, a Pokemon Go-inspired dating event), Pokemon Go had undoubtedly created massive hype among Singaporeans. Globally, at the height of its popularity, the app saw around 45 million daily active users worldwide.

Am I surprised by how Pokemon Go was so warmly received by users worldwide? Not really. And here’s why:

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