TED Talk: Simon Sinek, Noel Bairey Merz

I don't know if you've noticed through some of my previous blog posts, but I'm someone who tend to ponder about issues and often I see both sides of a case and have a very middle stand to arguments. 
And I like to share these thoughts through this blog and bring up little anecdotes I find interesting.
Just now, a friend of mine who is studying abroad for a term in Boston, MA, USA, sent me a link during a Skype conversation saying "Since we're amongst geeks...here's a very intersting video". Of course, the geek that I am, as soon as I realized it was a TED Talk video, I watched it immediately, and it was one of the most interesting videos I've seen on TED.


The Speaker, Simon Sinek had worked out what the difference is between those who are successful and those who aren't. Whether it be individuals, corporations, innovators, these people had a complete opposite approach to others in the same field. Even if you have the perfect conditions for success, funding, the right people, the know-how, people follow those who know "why" they are doing what they do. People follow leaders who believe in what they do. And these people don't follow because it's a good idea/product, they follow because this becomes their belief. Leaders are people with authority and the qualifications to prove it, but people who actually lead just believe in what they do which makes other people believe in what they do. Mr. Sinek gave really great examples using Apple, the Wright Brothers who built the world's first successful airplane, and Martin Luther King.  Another interesting concept he talked about was the Law of Diffusion of Innovation. This determines the how products diffuse through different types of consumers in a culture with the development of market share. 


Here are some good graphs of the two concepts I found on Google Images:

 

Well, rather than me going on more about it, it would really be worth watching the actual video on TED: http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action.html

Coincidentally, I was watching another TED talk today, which I was sent the link from one of my old professors at my university. It was by Noel Bairey Merz, director of the Women's Heart Center at the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute, who talked about how heart disease is far more fatal for females today than breast cancer, and we absolutely NEED to raise more awareness. The statistics given truly surprised me and the nature of the talk had a nice personal touch for a female audience too ;) 

So here it is: http://www.ted.com/talks/noel_bairey_merz_the_single_biggest_health_threat_women_face.html

Weekend soon! Yayyy xD

Larvotto Beach, Monaco

Monaco beaches are starting to open again! 
After 4/5 months of winter, the recent blazing sun and blue sky has convinced the Larvotto beach houses to open again. 
I went to have lunch at our favorite beach house La Note Bleue. My family has been going there for the past 8 years now, and of course we've tried the others, but nothing beats the joyous servers and the great Jazz music provided by La Note Bleue. 
Actually, at first, they were not as nice to us because we were new in Monaco and looked much like tourists. But we knew that it was the best beach in Larvotto, right at the centre, and so we kept going and they soon warmed up to us. 
I think it's a common attitude in rural towns like Monaco that the restaurants are really nice to repeating customers and not so much to the never ending stream of tourists. I don't know what's better. Recently, my boyfriend has gone to the US and realized that it's actually very annoying that the waiters are SO nice to you wherever you go. Is it better to be fake and overly nice to all your customers, following the server's manual of asking how the meal is etc. or to be rather cold to new customers but the repeaters feel privileged with extra services like a drink on the house? The second is perhaps more common to Europe and it may feel rude at first but it does make it worth becoming a good customer at a specific restaurant. I guess it depends on the size and style of the restaurants too. 


Anyway, since then, my father has always done his Monaco tv shoots there and my parents did their official wedding ceremony there last May. 
Yes, wedding ceremony. They were legally married 21 years ago but they never had a wedding so they decided to take the 20 years anniversary as a good opportunity to renew their vows and have a proper ceremony. 
I was in charge of organization and I had to coordinate the restaurant staff and our friends who kindly volunteered to help us. We had to bring in the wedding cake that was ordered from another one of our favorite restaurants, Joël Robuchon Monte Carlo in the Metropole Hotel, have a bouquet of my mother's favorite Kala flowers delivered on the day etc. There were lots of delays such as, our friend the hair and make up artist was taking too long to do my mother's hair and make-up, another friend who is the official pianist for the Monte Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra was late and she was supposed to play my parent's favorite song - La Vie En Rose - as they walked in through the curtains arranged for their entrance. 
In the end, it was beautiful. The weather was perfect, the food was great, there were plenty of drinks and everyone seemed to have a good time. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a good picture to post from the wedding but here's the link to La Note Bleue


Starting this week, Monaco's started redoing the roads for the Grand Prix in May (which is why it's so loud outside my window at night so I can't sleep but) it's so exciting that the weather is getting warmer!   I can just feel Monaco starting to get ready for it's best time of the year! 

More on Product Placement, The Greatest Movie Ever Sold

Alright, so I watched "The Greatest Movie Ever Sold"(2011) and "Super Size Me"(2007), both directed by  Morgan Spurlock this weekend. 


Super Size Me became really famous and it's kind of obvious what it's about but I hadn't actually watched it for some reason and it was a good opportunity so I decided it'd be good to show it to my 10 year old sister too. 


Result was great. My sister, who often eats more dessert than the meal, now swears not to drink coca cola or eat McDonalds or anything sweet ever again. Well. That's never going to happen but it's a good first step for her to realize what she's eating. 


I was astonished too. I didn't think there was so much health risk to your liver, blood and heart just by eating McDonalds. I just thought you'd get fat. Apparently, that's not the only effect. 


And "The Greatest Movie Ever Sold" was pretty good too. Although the two documentaries, seemed to have a bit of a different style. "Super Size Me" is more like an actual documentary, but with "The Greatest Movie Ever Sold", it was difficult to grasp that that was the actual the film. It's difficult to explain but, "The Greatest Movie Ever Sold" is really a behind-the-scenes clip, the documentary is about how that documentary was created. You'll see if you watch it. 


But the really interesting thing is that the Product Placement in "The Greatest Movie Ever Sold" really worked. There were a bunch of brands that decided to sponsor the movie, most of which I had never heard of and it really made me want to try it.


For example, I didn't know there was a Pomegranate juice! I had never even considered that option! But I love Pomegranate as a fruit and next time I go to the US, I am definitely trying POM Wonderful! 


And Ban is not well known here in Europe, but I know it in Japan as one of the two main deodorant brands. Next time I face a choice between buying an 8x4 or a Ban deodorant in Japan, I can already say that I'm going to try Ban because I watched it in "The Greatest Movie Ever Sold"!! 


AND, now that I've mentioned them in my Blog, you're curious. So either, you already want to try these products, or you're curious so you go and watch the film only to have the same effect. Honestly, it's scary. But I can't quite be against it. And I think the reason is that I am amazed at how effective it is and I kind of want to say, "Wow, Well done. Kudos for that!". I have to give it to them that it did widen my options and it gave me information that these products are out there and that it's something I might like, and otherwise I would never have known that my potentially favorite fruit juice existed in this world! 


Although it did leave me wondering, am I so vulnerable as to want things if they have enough exposure? 


I was slightly worried when I started watching"Super Size Me" that maybe, instead of learning how bad it is, I'm going to want to eat McDonalds. But no, I did feel disgusted and right now I don't want to eat anything. I also saw an interesting commercial for a TV show that I don't like, and I still felt that I didn't want to watch it. 


So I think, the conclusion I'm reaching about whether Product Placement is good or bad, is that, like most other things in the world today, it depends. 


Product Placement 
IS effective. to the point that it's scary. 
but it also ISN'T evil. It can broaden your options. and maybe a good alternative to commercials.


But one thing is for sure: We can no longer escape from being fed advertisement and unnecessary information while we are awake. It's now up to our individual intelligence and ability to filter things out and determine what is information and what is noise. 


Here's the trailer of Super Size Me in case you hadn't heard of it. 

Product Placement

Today, I had to prepare a debate for my Product Placement class.


Product Placement, is when brands pay the production to place their products on TV or in films. 


In class, we were given three topics of Product Placement (PP): PP in Music, PP in Film and PP in Children's Film/TV shows. Then we were assigned into groups of three to argue for and against whether PP is ethical in these key areas. Our professor wanted Opening (5min), Rebuttal (3min) and Closing (5min) Statements given by each member and we were all given 15 minutes to prepare. 


My group was told to be For PP in Children's TV shows. 


Since we knew that we were going to have this debate, we were some what prepared and although I am not quite for PP in children's TV shows, we had to stand our ground. I did the Closing Statement and ran out of time to say everything so I think it was fine.


In my personal opinion, as someone from my generation, PP doesn't bother me that much. I realize that it can be considered subliminal mind controlling or unethical, but as long as PP doesn't destroy the content, the story and the art behind the show/film/music, I think it is a pretty clever idea. Tivo and others such like has enabled us to skip ads and to be honest, I would rather have the characters of a TV show drink Fanta than watch a series of 30 second commercials every 10 minutes! 


Yes, people will want to buy a Louis Vuitton bag because of a character that she is a fan of. But I don't see so much harm in it, because these people admire the person's personality and the bag is just a prop to help represent it. 


Although I do feel that our generation is more used to the mass advertising and don't feel so threatened by it. 


I enjoy the class a lot though and it's amazing how I hadn't noticed the products placed in the films that I had watched! 


We've talked about a couple of films in class that has a lot to do with Product Placement etc. like the: Transformers (2007), The Joneses (2009) and The Greatest Movie Ever Sold (2011). 


The Greatest Movie Ever Sold seems interesting because it is "A documentary about branding, advertising and product placement that is financed and made possible by brands, advertising and product placement." (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1743720/) 
And it's done by the director of "Super Size Me"(2004), the film made about eating only McDonalds for a whole month. 


I'm going to watch it tonight so I'll let you know if it's really as interesting as the trailer looks :)

CREM, Cipriani Restaurant

Good evening, I just came back from a Members Cocktail at Monaco's Members Club Society CREM. 


CREM, Club des Résidents Etrangers de Monaco,  is an association created in 2010 for foreign and Monegasque people living in Monaco to "take part in the social, economic, cultural and sporting life" in Monaco. (www.crem.mc/)


My mother is a member since early last year and the organization has organized numerous events through Monegasque connections as well as by request. For example last year, a member wanted to go to Alba, Italy to eat the seasonal delicacies of white truffles, so they organized a weekend trip! Other services are such like: premium tickets to the Monte Carlo Opera, weekly Happy Hour at the Club, guest speakers, art exhibitions, etc.


Tonight, we also had representatives from the famous Cipriani restaurants (Venice, London, New York, Hong Kong) join us because they are opening one of their restaurants in Monaco right next to CREM's lounge, where the former Ni Tapas used to be. (1, av. Princesse Grace, Monaco; to be opened around May 2012)


I actually have been to the original restaurant in Venice when I was 9 years old and I remember going to Harry's Bar, a Bar renown for their association with the Cipriani Hotel in Venice and their delicious Bellini. We were actually recommended the place by a friend in Japan who had worked there. So as a little kid who had come along with their wine-loving parents, I was sitting there asking for more Bellinis without the sparkling wine! ...Which turned out to be just peach juice...


So we shall wait impatiently to see how the restaurant in Monaco turns out! :) 

Financial Films: Margin Call, Too Big To Fail and Wall Street

In Finance class today, we discussed a film called Margin Call that we had to watch as an assignment.

It's a film released in 2011, with Kevin Spacey, Zachary Quinto, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Penn Badgley, Simon Baker and Demi Moore.

This film, as in its trailer, is about the very first 12 hours of the 2008 Financial Crisis and about how the first investment bank to go down managed not to, by selling off all its toxic assets to other banks, which then couldn't handle them and went bankrupt soon after.

I found the other two films that we had to watch, "Wall Street - Money Never Sleeps"(1987, 2010) and "Too Big to Fail"(2011) very interesting too although I was disappointed by Wall Street because of how much drama there is instead of financials.

But basically, they all have a different take on financial dilemmas.

Wall Street (both the 2010 and 1987 versions) talks about an individual, Gordon Gekko, and his way of making money - by cheating. We can say that he believes in the Efficient Market Hypothesis, which says that you cannot beat the market because all available and public information is already incorporated into the market price. Which is why the only way Gekko believes he can make money is by having insider information.

Too Big to Fail depicts the American financial ways as a whole. From the Government Treasury, to the Fed to the investment banks. This film is actually more real and based on the actions actually taken pre and post the Lehman brothers bankruptcy. The clips used in this film from the tv news are real tv scenes that were aired at the time.

All these films in a way mocks the head of these billion-dollar investment banks because in the end these people got to the top by being "good salesmen" (Margin Call, 2011) and not by having all the technical knowledge. This point, discussed in class brought us to a very interesting debate as to whether the top people need to know what they're doing or just have to have charisma? For example, did Steve Jobs know how to make the iPad? (I'm not saying he couldn't, because I have no idea, but) could he have engineered the software? Or was it just enough that he had the ideas, the charisma and the quality to represent Apple?

On that note, I will leave you to ponder and watch the trailers of the films mentioned above :) Cheers!

Marketing Report - Is Social Media an efficient Marketing platform for Hotels?

Back from holiday, we had a quiz this morning in Entrepreneurship! We had to explain how to value a start up company, all the risks involved in running a business and the ways you can finance a start up.

This afternoon we have to present in Italian about a fictional trip to Milan.

Right now, I am working with two of my friends for a Marketing Report that we have to write about how efficient Social Media is as a Marketing Platform for the hospitality industry. It's a pretty difficult topic because yes connecting with customers through social networking is crucial nowadays and to be found in the top ranks of search engines is important, but how much of this actually results in increasing ROI (Return on Investment) is difficult to measure. But it takes substantial time and effort to keep social profiles up-to-date and you have to have things to say. Just saying "we have great rooms" isn't going to make readers follow your blog or tweets. 


Anyways, I'll keep posting :) 

Irish Referendum 2012, Entrepreneurship Negotiation

SO as I mentioned before, I live in Monaco. I'm studying at the International University of Monaco for my Bachelor in Business Administration.

This term, I'm taking 8 courses:  
Entrepreneurship And Family Business Management


Professional Communication - Writing

Job Search Techniques


Introduction To Financial Markets


Italian Elementary Level 2


Marketing Management II

Product Placement

The European Union

Today, I had to present an article in my EU class so I prepared a 5 minute explanation about the Irish referendum. The Irish PM, Enda Kenny decided to hold a referendum for the Irish people to vote whether they want to ratify the Austerity Treaty (which will give Brussels more power to intervene in economic and social issues of the euro-zone members) that they are signing with other euro-zone countries tomorrow. It's in the Irish constitution to give a vote whenever they have to agree to giving up more sovereignty to the EU. 

Even if Ireland votes "No", the treaty will still carry on because they only need 12 out of 17 signatures, but it may be a problem for the EU because investors will think that the EU are doing things that the people of the EU do not want. Also for Ireland, it may hurt them in the future not to be able to have a back up when they come out of their current bail out and has to raise capital on their own.

After my EU class, was the Entrepreneurship class. At the moment we are writing a Business Plan of our own about an idea that we came up with in groups of 2. My friend and I are writing about creating a Japanese Style Hotel and Resort in the South of France. Today, we had to give an "elevator pitch negotiation" where the teacher gave us 10 minutes to prepare, 10 minutes to talk to him as the investor in front of the class. We were very nervous because we didn't know about this, but we tried to structure what the message was that we wanted to portray about our product and what we wanted from him and why. It turned out ok and we all talked about how body language is important and it's ok to have a weakness and want advice from the investor once he is on board. 

Now I have my Marketing class but tonight an exclusive dinner event for an opening of "Sexy Burgers"at the BeefBar Restaurant in Monaco. 

Got this event through an ex-student at from our university and because I am head of the student association, he wanted me to invite some students from the uni. 

wsa - Write Soon Again! 

Koko xx