Amway, Not a Scam

Ok, let me be real here. I think a vast majority of people have heard about the company Amway in one form or another. Most assume it to be unethical or illegal. After doing thorough research, I found that Amway is NOT a scam. So, sit back and let me reveal why it is not a scam to all of you.

1.       They had a tie up with a local polytechnic here in Singapore

In 2019, Amway had a collaboration with Republic Polytechnic. Which institution would let a company that is supposedly a scam collaborate with it? No one.

2.       They have had a presence since 1959 in many different countries

As of 2011, Amway operates in over 100 countries and territories, including China (of all places), Australia and Singapore and, it was founded in 1959, over 60 years ago. It would have died long ago if it were a scam.

3.       There is a website in Singapore which tells visitors that it is legal

I quote from this blog: “Disclaimer: The above list is MLM companies operating in Singapore. Companies such as Amway and Tupperware are legal and approved by the DSA of Singapore”. DSA stands for the ‘Direct Selling Association of Singapore’.

So, it boils down to how you market Amway to others. Amway practices a “reveal name only at the last moment” due to the negative perception many have about Amway. This is where I draw the line. Ethics are defined as: 

By not revealing Amway’s name at the very start of your interactions with people and telling them that it is a legal Multi-Level Marketing company (MLM), that is deception. If you say that you will be guaranteed to earn a six figure salary from Amway, that is deception.

An example of Amway advertising I find deceptive. 

Example of an illegal MLM

 Here is how I would pitch it, if I ever had to: “I have a business, it is called Amway. It is MLM but, a legal one, here is my proof of research I did (shows research). I am not going to lie to you and say that this business will get you a six figure salary overnight but, it rewards you for buying everyday convenience goods that you need like, soap and toothpaste. The products are of high quality and, Amway members get a discount on all of them. For example, a box of concentrated meal replacement shakes, containing for example, 15 packets will cost you $50 instead of $60 for example if you are not an Amway member. It costs less than $100(or the equivalent of that) in no matter which country you join in. And no matter what, you can get out of Amway after a period of trying it out, say for example, a year, unlike illegal MLMs, where you pay hundreds of dollars on a “miracle pill” which gets you a lifetime membership you never wanted. So, why don’t you consider joining me for a year and, see how it turns out. No hard feelings if you decide to leave Amway after a year. Interested?”

                        An example of Amway advertising that I support because, this video mentions that Amway is not magical and requires hard work. This is an honest commercial.

As it is stated “Not all issues can be regulated, an advertising or promotion action may be legal, but not considered ethical and finally, advertisers must make decisions about the appropriateness of their actions”. At the end of the day, with honest advertising, the world would be a much better place. 

With appreciation from Jay’s Digital Marketing blog, she mentioned “In 2018, Instagram announced its removal of false likes and accounts so that more genuine experience and interactions can be held with people and their audiences.” 

So, it is up to you to make an informed decision about whether a proposition is genuine or not. As this website points out the pros and cons of Amway to offer a balanced view of it, this was one of my best information sources for this post.

To end, what brand has made you feel cheated? Have you come into contact with Amway? I have seven times. So, sound off! Let’s have a discussion.

       

Having Dinner At Fancy Restaurant...Mcdonalds!

In 1986, Mac Tonight was introduced to Mcdonalds to get people to dine there for dinner. In 2015, he got associated with a meme that forced Mcdonalds to retire the character. Here is my strategy to bring him back.

                                          Mac Tonight in a Singapore Ad, 2011

1.       Bring attention to the most well-known functioning Mac Tonight animatronic.

 The most and only prominent McDonald's restaurant to still feature one of the animatronics is the "World's Largest Entertainment McDonald's" in Orlando, Florida. So, since he is such a cool character, It seems fitting that Mcdonalds put pictures of that on social media, then use a hashtag, perhaps #mactonightisback.

2.       Make it clear in the advertisements that Mac Tonight is meant for adults

This goes in line with knowing who your target audience is to create a consistent strategy to bring Mac Tonight back.

3.       Use the 3 C’s approach for him

Communications must be clear that Mac Tonight is meant to get you into a Mcdonald’s for dinner, a compelling message like maybe “despite claims that I support the white, I’m back with my new brother “Dark Moon””, must be applied. This will have the potential to remove any of the internet memes against Mac Tonight. The third point, consistence has been mentioned above.

4.        Ensure Marketing Teams are working in Sync, that the messaging is integrated and, that the campaigned is track by Mcdonald’s.

Mcdonald’s may be losing appeal to people, especially after losing their trademark to their “Big Mac” burger in the European Union so, a return of one of their most popular mascots,who was even put in a Simpsons episode once, will most likely be a welcome change for the company. So, what do you think? Would a Mac Tonight revival interest you? Any way you can think of not mentioned here? Sound off! Let’s get busy discussing.  

                                                    "Do what he says"

Be Inclusive

Trifam is a social enterprise that is established with the objectives of: to create an open platform that provides a marketplace of flexible skilled job opportunities for Skills Providers (Persons with Disabilities and Caregivers), so as to provide more pathways to employment, to create meaningful interactions between Jobs Providers and PWDs that will help to evolve societal attitudes towards PWDs, allowing the society to see the abilities of our PWDs rather than their disabilities, to increase awareness of inclusive hiring and support our nation’s movement to promote fair employment practices and workplace diversity. 

Trifam's big debut at the Youth Forum.

With the objective to establish a right online skills marketplace, Trifam not only take cares of the interests of Skills Providers but fundamentally fulfil the interests of Jobs Providers. Trifam offers more sustainable jobs and redesigned GIGs to Skills Providers. This allows Skills Providers to earn additional income that contribute towards their financial self-reliance and provide more meaningful employment that can uncover their passion and interests. Trifam also provides Additional Source of Talent and Manpower Pool for Job Providers. Trifam offers one-Stop HR Solution for Jobs Providers, End to End Solution to support Job Providers in Hiring Skills Providers (From Recruitment - Hiring - Grant Application - Work Place Modifications – Training).

As Trifam aims to reach out to Skills Providers and Jobs Providers, effectively matching needs to supply based on relevance, Trifam have to embrace technology in its marketing and outreach efforts. Trifam should use search engine marketing to help them achieve their objectives. With search engine marketing, Skills Providers can browse for the jobs that they are interested faster and Jobs Providers can search for suitable Skills Providers more effectively. Trifam can create effective search engine marketing by providing updated job information, Updated links for its users and updated resources. In search engine marketing, search engine optimisation is very crucial. Trifam have to use suitable key words such as “Inclusive employment, PWD for PWD initiative, Abilities and not Disability” to attract users to visit their link and platform.

It takes everyone a small action to make Singapore more inclusive, would search engine marketing make you do it? What kind of resources and contents do you expect Trifam to provide? Sound Off!

The Future of Dating

The Internet of Things(IOT) is defined as “Linking machinery, equipment, and other physical assets with networked sensors and actuators to capture data and manage performance, enabling machines to collaborate and even act on new information independently” (McKinsey, 2013). With this definition, what would the future of dating look like?

Know of all the apps shown here?

I will be comparing Okcupid, Happn and Bumble really quickly now:

Okcupid is like Facebook, it asks you to create a profile, asks you an unlimited amount of questions about your personality, religion, your hobbies all the way to your answers to math questions(I am not good at Math by the way haha). From there, Okcupid will use an algorithm to generate a match for you. The closer your match is to 100%, the higher chance of you getting along with the Gentleman or Lady on Okcupid in real life.

Happn bases your potential dates on their looks and location. Hence, it has gained an infamous reputation for being an app that you can use to stalk people. How you can do this is that you can come back to the same spot daily, for example, SIM Global and, can find the same people there. Thus, if you really wanted to, you could trail someone home with Happn (PLEASE DON’T, Chivalry is not dead).

Lastly, we have Bumble. A swiping app like Tinder, Bumble was created by the creators of Tinder but unlike the former, Bumble lets the ladies take control. If a man and a woman like each other on Bumble, it will be up to the ladies instead of the men to initiate the conversation. This is a huge leap into the future whereas in the past and even currently, it is up to the males to start talking to a lady to ask her out on a date, I found someone I have chemistry with on Bumble, that has got to count for something.

So, Okcupid, Bumble and Happn all have data in fact, a lot of it. This is called “Big Data”. Big Data means “Datasets whose size is beyond the ability of typical database software tools to capture, store, manage, and analyse” (McKinsey, 2011). So, since we have a lot of dating apps, what could the future be like?

It could possibly be a holographic projection of a lady or man, sitting in your home talking to you and, telling you when food in your fridge is low for example. With IOT, there comes pros and cons. So, would you want a hologram for companionship? Sound Off!