60% Marketing.....40% Product

Langkawi was a pleasant surprise. It was such a great place to block out the world and crash on the beach....and yes....you can get cold beers and what ever else that you feel like drinking. Best of all, when you think your money is running out, the mamak shops are always on stand-by for rescue work.

And, as most places in this gorgeous land, I left Langkawi with a sigh of desperation. Why oh why we never market our selves better? Langkawi, Melaka, Penang, Kota Kinabalu, Karambunai, Sipadan may be known but not as known as Phuket, Bali or the Maldives. The thing is, our very own holiday spots don't lack in anyway.

Then, there I was at Kelana Jaya this morning, in a mamak shop (I busted my budget buying single malt whiskeys at Langkawi duty-free!) after sending my trusted car for its long delayed service when I overheard this serious looking gentlemen talking about business in general to three of his teh-tarik mates. After a couple a minutes, their conversation became animated and this gentlemen with almost a sense of desperation waived his hands in the air and proclaimed " They just don't understand la....its 60% marketing and 40% product...so stupid la" I wondered if he too just came back from Langkawi...or maybe from Kundasang.

Well, we may argue about his equation in terms of percentage but the fact remains that marketing is key and without effective marketing, our products and services will be like the Americas before Columbus bumped into them and 'marketed' it to the gaping and wide-eyed royal houses of Europe. In terms of tourism marketing, Malaysia truly has everything for everybody. Whether you are a Muslim or whatever, whether you are a single or whatever, whether you are a straight person or whatever, you have a place to visit in Malaysia as long as you respect the local cultures and know your limits. You will not be attacked for having a good time within reasonable boundaries. My girl-friend and I stayed in a Muslim-run Inn, had our breakfast in Muslim restaurants and our dinners in a Spanish restaurant called La Playa and a fusion Indian-Western restaurant called the Oasis. Both were right smack on the beach! I mean, I witnessed one of the most beautiful sunsets with a cold beer in hand and munching nachos right from where I was sitting at La Playa (which incidentally was behind the Tomato Nasi Kandar which is facing the main road of Pantai Cenang...for those who prefer the good-old Malaysian dusty restaurant dining experience). There were loads of Indian tourists too. They were trying about everything offered at the beach in terms of water sports. And yet, have we ever used a Bollywood film to do product placing for Langkawi or any other Malaysian holiday spots for that matter. Product placing is a conscious and deliberate way to get your product known to the masses. Its like Will Smith showing off his Converse shoes in I-Robot. Shah Rukh Khan filming in Melaka don't count as the post production guys in India will make Melaka look like Madrid (that's how they save money!). Remember the controversy surrounding the movie Entrapment? Yes. So whats the big deal? They super-imposed some parts of Bangkok with Petronas Twin Towers and they re-named Bukit Jalil LRT station. Did anybody bother to put a sign board saying "This is where Catherine Zeta Jones sat!"

I guess this has something to do with our value system of "don't make so much noise....work hard...people will know!" Well, I am afraid we need to modify that to Work Hard and SHOUT EVEN LOUDER. Because...the Thais, Indians and Australians have been shouting at the top of their lungs and they are getting a bigger chunk of the tourism dollar. I was once told by a Malaysian tourism player that, most visitors who come to Malaysia do not return.This is unlike Thailand and Indonesia where they get repeat tourists.

Anyway, I must say that I absolutely appreciate the taxi drivers in Langkawi who despite not using the meters, charged us standard fares. They were friendly and didn't look at all carnivorous.

By the way, I think it is also appropriate for me here to make a little correction. It was pointed out to me by my new friend, Amata that in one of my postings I have said that "...people buy on logic and justify on emotion....". As Amata pointed out, the opposite has been proven to be true and I absolutely agree with her. That was what I meant to write but in my haste, I must have written it the other way around. Thanks Amata.