There was a newspaper article about a case of theft at the Singapore Jewelry Festival 2013.
Apparently, two men came to the show and paid a deposit of a few thousand dollars for purchase of a jewelry piece. They requested that the box containing the jewelry be sealed while they go withdraw money. The piece of jewellery was shown to the suspects before it was placed into the box and they assisted to seal the box. However, they did not return to collect the piece of jewelry after a few days. It was then the jeweler discovered that the piece of jewelry was missing from the sealed box. Now, I'm not going to talk about how to take precautionary measures against theft. It's something more than that. When you think of Jewel festival, what's the first impression that comes to your mind? Gold, silver, rubies, emerald, jade, pearl, sapphire, diamond and all kinds of precious gems. There'll be events and fashion shows showcasing the jewelries for the rich and famous, socialites and celebrities. Champagne and good food and parties at private events. When one sees the who's of who's at such events, one associate them with success and wealth. Back to the theft case. I assume the two men must be very well dressed, spoke well and probably were wearing "branded" stuff on them to project an image of wealth and success. That's how you can convince people that you're successful based on appearance alone. So why did the theft happen? Could it be because of this perception on the part of the jeweler's staff that caused them to let their guard down? After all, when you see someone dressed well, you don't question if they are really rich to avoid offending them. You just assume that they are rich. Of course, the well executed plan of the thieves probably have the staff deceived without realizing it. But it's amazing that it took the jeweler a few days before they found out the jewelry was lost. What make them so sure the two men will be back? Did they base their trust on the appearance of the two men? And don't they have any precautionary measures in place no matter how genuine a buyer is? Not just for their own safety, but also for the safety of their buyers too. On a similar note, when one sees a person dressed casually, not smartly and without the symbols of success, what does he or she associate the person with? Many times we based our perception of a person by the impression we have from outer appearance. However, this is the part that is easiest to fake. One just need to wear a "branded" watch (i.e. a fake one) and people will immediately look at him or her in a different light. Just look at how people get treated differently based on the car they drive and their home addresses. And this is the precise reasons why con cases are happening all the times. A young man cheated a supermarket of a few million dollars of voucher just by renting a branded car when he went to collect the vouchers. A friend told me that there's a lady who's always attending high society events. One would assume that she is famous and successful as she seems to know all the other famous people. It turns out the lady goes around cheating people of their money. Another friend who works in a watch boutique shared with me this story. A man walked into the boutique wearing just a pair of very old bermuda and tee shirt bought a $200,000 watch. Isn't it the same for businesses? A prestigious office address is a sign of success. The newer the building your office is located, the more successful is your company. The higher the level, the more successful the company. There's nothing wrong to dress for success. There's nothing wrong in having a prestigious address if that's the impression a company wants to make. In fact, there's some truth to it. But it's not always the case. The problem starts when you start associating without really understanding if the association
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AuthorOutrageous Marketing Archives
May 2020
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