Vientiane

Marketing Talk in Vientiane Retold – and a New Book on the Power of Story

Marianne Gadeberg

How to make your marketing as successful as that of Nike or HP? That was the premise for my talk on storytelling and marketing at the Laos Business Meeting last night.

To illustrate some of the most important storytelling principles, when talking about storytelling in marketing, I showed Nike’s “Write The Future” commercial. This video was created as part of Nike’s campaign for the World Cup last summer.

In the first week after this commercial was released, it was viewed more than 11 million times on Youtube, and the number of Nike Facebook fans rose from just over 1 million to just over 3 million.

The commercial was (and is) so successful in part because it tells a very compelling story. It effectively grabs our attention, takes us on a journey, and leaves a long-lasting impression.

After the talk, we had an interesting discussion about whether or not the storytelling technique can be successfully applied in a Lao context. I think that we are already seeing some examples of applied storytelling here, and likely it is a phenomenon that will quickly catch on. Storytelling is an age-old form that has brought people together since the beginning of time, and I have no doubt that storytelling will remain a powerful technique, also in Laos.

Which brings me to the next piece of news: A new book, by Peter Guber, on the power of story, was released today. “Tell to Win: Connect, Pursuade, and Triumph with the Hidden Power of Story” collates everything that Guber, a Hollywood legend and successful film producer, has learned about storytelling.

In Guber’s view, storytelling is an universal tool:

“In any situation that calls for you to persuade, convince or manage someone or a group of people to do something, the ability to tell a purposeful story will be your secret sauce. Telling to win through purposeful stories is situation, industry, gender, demographic, and psychographic-agnostic.  It’s an all-purpose, everyone wins tool.”

I’ll leave you with this bit of insight on “the secret sauce”, which I predict we’ll see applied more and more here in Laos and Southeast Asia. Drop me a note if you see any good (or not so good) examples that I should know about.

Where To Go for Print Services in Vientiane

Marianne Gadeberg

If you find yourself in Vientiane, Laos, looking for a place that delivers decent print services, this post may be helpful to you.

Last week, I was looking to print a new set of business cards. I had seen a place in town advertising printing and “name card express”, and because of its convenient location I decided to have them print a small batch of business cards for me. Their service was indeed fast, and also cheap, but the product didn’t live up to my expectations: the printing was smeared, the cutting was crooked, and the paper unexpectedly had a silvery glitter feel, which wasn’t what I was looking for.

The road that takes you to Savang Printing.

Dismayed, I went searching for one of the two big printing companies that I knew should be located close to the Russian Circus. One is Savang Printing, which allegedly is the number one printer of books in Laos – the other is Nakhon Luang Vientiane Printing, which prints many Lao newspapers and which is the only printer in town authorized to print Lao passports.

I was on my bicycle, and even though I’ve always found myself to be a reasonably capable navigator, I find it difficult in Laos. Street names and Google maps just don’t take you all that far here.

Hence, I spent some time that afternoon biking around the Russian Circus area until I more or less stumbled upon Savang Printing. A narrow and potholed dirt road took me down to a large building holding an impressive printing operation. The staff there was kind and helpful, and I ordered a second batch of business cards.

This time the results came out a lot better: professional printing on a heavier stock. The cutting still leaves some to be desired, but I felt I ended up with a decent product. I have also used Nakhon Luang Vientiane Printing before, although never been there, but I know that they deliver decent print materials as well.

In conclusion, I recommend going a little out of town for your printing needs – it’s worth the drive.