Another banking stuffup, but from HSBC?

*Warning* bitching session approaching!

Here's a tale of woe. After leaving my Australian HSBC account open for a few years while I was working in UK, I finally came back to reactivate my account. Obviously I had forgotten my PIN by now, and I couldn't get into my internet banking. I faxed in three times to reopen my account, but each time they said my signature wasn't right. And of course the bank's always right, and it must be me that changed.

Went to the Box Hill branch nearly 3 weeks ago to fill out forms, and request a new PIN. Since then, I received a security device in the mail, but no PIN... so again, I call up the call centre a few times. Finally, I'd had enough of their f@#king about, so I requested they reset my PIN again and mail it out to me; as I hadn't received it the first time around.

But no... I have to go back to the branch. And of course HSBC isn't a big player in Australia, the nearest branch is 3 suburbs away. Can't I just do it over the phone? Nooooooooo.....

So my take on this is that the bank doesn't really want me to get my internet banking working, and don't want to help me when a problem arises. They also don't really care that even though they don't have any convenient branches in Australia, I still have to go to the branch to fix the stuffup they couldn't fix the first time I went to their branch. What this means for me is I'm going to have to take a few hours off work, go to the branch... but to hell with resubmitting all the forms again, I'm just going to close the account, withdraw all my funds and take it to another bank. Though frankly I'm considering just buying a couple of gold bricks and putting it under my mattress, it's probably safer than a bank and at least I know where my money is!

Back to MBA/MMarketing matters, my team had a final presentation for a client yesterday which went kind of OK. Turns out we weren't as structured as we should've been (fair comment) but I think all 3 of us learnt quite a bit about dealing with clients and working through a consulting case. Still got one deliverable for a Marketing class; a final essay. Problem is, we've got a 3000 word limit, and 3500 words which I don't think answer the question very well. Might have to put in a couple of hours to tidy things up.

Graduation is in middle of May, and have't really got much planned to celebrate. More tired and relieved than in a celebratory mood!

Got a couple of projects in the works; hoping to start up an online homewares/design business with a graphic designer friend of mine, similar to what's going on with 88SPEED.com and JDMSTYLEDECALS.com, but in houses - not cars!


Tim

Almost end of term!

OK, so again it's been months since my last post. Who has time to blog, when you have to work, study and play?! There's only so many hours in the day.

So, what have the last few months entailed?

• One subject I've been doing is Managing New Ventures. Been coming up with a business concept for a consulting firm interesting in operating weight management businesses in Melbourne. Lotsa hard work, but actually quite enjoyable.
• Another subject: Masterclass in Marketing. Many leading industry figures coming to present to us, CEOs and MDs of national and multinational firms. Great to see a wide range of opinions and experiences being presented (and not having a final exam is just brilliant!

On a personal side, the graphic design business is going well. Me and a designer friend are hoping to launch a new site in the next few months in the interior design and manufacture business, very closely aligned to what's going on with 88SPEED.com and JDMSTYLEDECALS.com - bling for your home!

As for looking for work... well, I'm not. I've pretty much decided that working for someone else just isn't for me. I've never really been in a corporate job, with the exception of being a very low-level drone for a UK healthcare corporate - an experience I'm not looking to repeat! Unfortunately, the MBA program (and in particular the careers dept) is purely focused on corporate life, which to be perfectly honest is understandable. Probably 95% of the students (at least from my personal experience) are from a corporate background and looking to climb the ladder, with the other 5% split between wanting a corporate job or looking to get out of one.

On an unrelated note, me & Tina have booked a holiday long ahead of time - usually we book at the last minute, but going to Thailand on December 28th is probably something to organise early. And looking now, a week after booking, the flights we've booked are sold out, so that turned out to be a good decision! The plan is to fly into Bangkok, then travel through Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia before coming home.

A quick review: HP Photosmart C5280.

Went out at lunch and bought myself another printer - this time it's a HP C5280. Typical all-in-one multifunction with scanner and printer, but a CD/DVD printer, one of the main reasons I bought it! I burn a lot of DVDs, and wanted some nice looking artwork rather than my usual handwriting.

I also thought of buying a very cheap inkjet and sticky labels for DVDs, but these labels sometimes come off while in a DVD drive, which isn't ideal. Plus, the labels are relatively expensive for a bit of sticky paper, and I like the idea of direct print to DVD. Another bonus is the 80gb external HP hard drive currently on promotion. Pity there's no wireless function - there was a slightly cheaper HP MFC that had wireless but no DVD printing - doh!

Anyway, it's a nice enough unit aesthetically, matches my current Samsung laser MFC pretty well, even though now there's no room on my desk for anything else. The main annoyance I had was that the CD software provided with the unit is absolutely, horrendously, unforgivably bad. Shame on you both, HP and Roxio, for crippling such a unit with terrible software!

But if you were stuck in the same boat as me, I quickly ditched that piece of junk and found a great solution in Acoustica (go Google it) which is a free trial download (but I'm going to pay up for this one, because they deserve it!). I've been burning and printing DVDs all night; even Tina is impressed with the print quality!

Another note; a major factor in buying was the consumables cost - let's just say that printer manufacturers should give everyone a free printer; because obviously they're making the bucks on ink. $25 for 3ml, or a bargain $55 for 18ml? Then let's add up the multiple colour ink cartridges... anyway, the 5280 uses a single black, and a combined 3 colour cartridge. There's a deal on now where both together is about $45. I need minimal colour printing to add some flash to my marketing material for 88SPEED.com and JDMSTYLEDECALS.com, so I'll do the bulk work on my laser printer, then refeed it through the colour printer for highlights. They also had a great deal on a HP colour laser for $169 (after rebate). Not bad? I thought so, then checked out the toner costs. You need 5 toners at approx $150 each, or $750. See what I mean about giving away the printer for free?

Anyway, it's nothing new. Companies with some ability should try to achieve proprietary platforms and lock their customers into a lengthy cash cycle - the most obvious example is Gilette and shaver blades, but here it's printers and their ink supply. In other industries, it's new cars and dealer servicing schedules, Nintendos and game carts (for the 80s among us!) and Krispy Kremes with 110% sugar laden doughnuts. The lesson to be learned here is pretty simple - if you've got the product to back it up and legal defense around your IP, give away your platform and charge big bucks for the consumables.

I've got 2 more days of work this week, then it's the Australian Open on Monday, and off to Shanghai on Wednesday. My team hasn't really got anything planned, but I'm optimistic we'll wing it successfully on the ground! Hmm.. I better start booking some accommodation!

Tim

Boxing Day!

I was wondering what Boxing Day was all about - my fiance reckons you're not supposed to open any xmas presents until boxing day (which should then really be UNboxing day?). Went along to Chadstone with her - well, that was a mistake. Too many people, not enough air.

Christmas day itself went down pretty well - went to my uncle's for lunch, brought the XBOX360 and Guitar hero which went down well, then to Tina's uncle's place for dinner and more Xboxing.

Only working a few days intermittently until leaving for Shanghai - should actually get some work underway, as we haven't got much organised so far!

Been pretty busy trying to make my new website look pretty - it's JDM Style Decals, which should be fully functional early Jan 08. It's usable at the moment now with no problems - he cart works, credit card/paypal payments work OK (I think!)
. Basically it's ike my existing website, but targeting the North American market (by listing in USD mainly) and trying to tailor product descriptions to the clients.

Also trying to find time to work on medical devices/consumables to look up while I'm in HK - I'm hoping to avoid having to go to Shenzhen, but I have a feeling it may be difficult for some of the manufacturers to send reps to meet me in HK so I might have to cross the border for a day or two.

OK, just a quick post to warn people about the annoyances of being sent countless surveys to fill out. Having completed the MBA back in May 07, I seem to be getting an email every month or so from the university, the business school, the "MBA association" etc etc etc asking me for me thoughts on the course.

It'll only ever take 15 minutes!
You might win an iPod, or $100!
You can contribute to further research!

Dammit, I'm not doing it anymore, mainly because of the latest survey I did by a mob called "forethought research". Is this what passes for marketing research nowadays? Seems fairly obvious that whoever setup the survey didn't have the first idea of how to make it user friendly. After the 15th identical question asking me for my opinion on other MBA schools which I have no idea about, I gave up and answered "5" for every subsequent question.

Unfortunately I suspect whoever is commissioning these surveys is doing it purely because everyone else is doing it - there' no thought put into the content of the questionaire, which seemed to be designed to be as frustrating, unintelligible and annoying as possible. I wish I had saved the one sentence where they tried to explain the complexities of a 0-10 scale, which did nothing but make it sound like rocket science - which it's not.

So, if anyone from MBS or Forethought is reading this, improve your game!

On another note, finished my (only) exam this week, so kicking back a little by blitzing my xbox360 with Forza2 and Guitar Hero 3. Finally got a few online games to work, but being demolished by absolute pros is kinda annoying after a while! Gotta get better... or maybe do something more productive with my free time. More to come later.

An intermittent post!

As usual, days turn into months into... you get the picture. Who can find the time nowadays to write random postings on the internet in the hope someone will read them? And no - I don't use m random a lot in everyday speech, like a 13 year old... or Ja'mie from Summer heights High! Best show ever, go torrent it if you've not found it yet...

So, what's like been like recently? So far, it's been a pretty laid back affair. I'm only actively doing one subject - managing biotechnology, which is actually one of the most stimulating subjects ye. helps there's a lot of proper brainpower going in the class, not just a bunch of dozers trying to find subjects that fit with their timetable!

Also planning to go to Shanghai in January 2008 for the Industry Studies in Asia project. Apparently I'm going to be working with melbourne Football Club to help study their China strategy - and of course, how much do I know about footy? Not much, except that I know we don't get a public holiday for the grand final :(

So, I'm working only about 3.5 days a week now, but will go up to 5 days in December for a little while. Yeah, I know, it's a hard life... the main problem is I'm trying to find the time to play the new xbox games I picked up the other day from BigW. Finally got a copy of Forza2 (only $40!) and it's incredible! Not a instantly accessible as PGR3, but something about worthy of GT for the xbox. Though maybe one comment, a little easy to mod up your car to whip the competition. Also picked up Tony Hawk Project 8, as i played the old series on PS2 a lot.

Erm... so what else is going on? We were looking around for houses for a while, around heidelberg/rosanna/northcote/preston area etc, but taking it easy for a bit right now, with the crazy housing market the way it is! I remain a little hesitant to say there'll be the equivalent of the North American sub-prime market collapse; the Aussie market won't go quite the same way!

Oh, and one last thing.. I definitely remember ranting about the overpriced PS3 in Australia. The latest development? A 40gb (instead of 60gb) PS3, deleting 2 USB ports and the memory card reader, and dropping PS2 backwards compatibility. New price? I think it was $699.

Now, if you're in the know, that smaller hard drive and other missing bits doesn't add up to $300, not even including the usual Sony markup. So, what's the reasoning here? To my eyes, Sony knew they needed a price drop, but didn't want to lose face to the early adopters and naysayers. So, by introducing a "new" PS3, they can drop the price with some legitimacy and hope people are fooled into thinking they've got a better deal. This is similar to the practice of harware manufacturers creating may different product lines to distribute to different consumer channels, thus confounding consumer's ability to price match and compare.

On that note, I'll probably drop by Hong kong for a few days after my China trip, and will probably pick up an 80GB PS3 (for the equivalent of approx AUD$550). I figure it's a reasonable price for a blu-ray player at least :)

Playstation 3 saga continues!

G'day guys & gals, another long awaited (or not?) post from your favouriate (or not?) MBA graduate.

Erm; yeah. So I've started the master of marketing degree - more of the same! To be honest, I reckon I'm getting a bit burnt out with all this studying - and did I drink too much beer, or is this keyboard really... slow? [I realise you probably can't see this, reading this as a static post and all, but after I type it takes about 3 seconds for the text to appear on the screen. Annoying. Slow electrons in my 'poota I guess].

Kind of rambling actually, been busy doing far too many irrelevant things lately. Actually, I did want to partially continue my rant against the POS3 - whoops, PS3 - can you believe that was an honest typo?!

Rumour has it that Nth Bushtown (ie USA) will get a US$100 price drop mid July; which would make the 60gb PS3 about US$499. Which would make equivalent Aussie pricing (given our recent fantastic exchange rate) approximately AUD$600, give or take a bit.

What's happened in PS3land since launch? Initially $1000 for the 60gb PS3 with nothing else, very quickly one, then 2, then 3 games were thrown in for about the same price, around $1050 or so at last look. Arguably these extra games add some value - except in most cases there's no
customer choice in game, only the ones the retailers or distributor want to get rid of.

Reckon Australia will see a $600 PS3 anytime soon? Nope. Hypothetically; even if the price does drop to $600, what could be the result? Certainly some Sony fanboys are holding out for a pricedrop (the bleeding edge adopters have already got their units) while others, dismayed at the huge launch price, have simply turned to the 360 and Wii - and haven't Nintendo done well for themselves in this regard! They've changed the rules for the game again; and rather than competing on who has the longer - i mean faster - graphics processor, 1080i or 1080p games, they've concentrated on what consumer really want - interactive, fun, multiplayer games that aren't simply rehashing the tired old FPS or driving sims.

Don't get me wrong - I have a 360, and I've just finished Ghost Recon 2; a brilliant FPS. But I'm mighty tempted by the Wii, because it looks... fun!

And as for the PS3, I'll buy one.

When they're AUD$600.

Final note; I've gotta throw in a plug for 88SPEED.com - custom JDM vinyl graphics and decals! I also do signage (for example, your website URL decal for you car) so email me if you need any work done!

Been a while since my last post - unfortunately (or fortunately) I don't always have free time to sit in front of a computer and write; though hopefully will change this (more later).

The big news is, I've finished my MBA course! Graduated on Saturday May 21st, with a few hundred others in our floppy gowns and square hats. What really kept me preoccupied was the though that I'd paid $75 to rent this getup for about 4 hours. Let's say there were 400 people in my situation... that's $30,000 in 4 hours! Even if there was only 200 people, that's still $15,000, a handy amount. Of course, the university has a monopoly on gown provision, so I should just be glad it was $75 and not $100 or more.

So, am I relieved to have finished studying? Yes... and no... because last night, I was back at MBS in a Channels of Distribution lecture. I decided to take up the offer of the Clemenger scholarship to continue into a MMktg degree, which I should hopefully finish by May 2008.

And after that, I swear I'm not doing any more postgrad study!

Other things...
- Bought a new laptop, a sweet looking HP DV9000T. Huge 17" screen, and lighter than my old 14" Acer!
- We went to Cairns & Port Douglas for a week after my last exam; unfortunately no good weather meant we didn't hit the beach much.

I also registered 812Consulting.com, which I plan to set up into a basic front for my consulting company. What I'd like to do is blog a bit about current issues in the Australian media, but with the perspective from an MBA background to analyse what's going on - and in particular, how Australian businesses can learn from other's mistakes (or rarely, from other's successes!)

Stay tuned on that, I'd need to find a few hours to get it all set up and it doesn't look like happening in the next few weeks. Been pretty busy cranking out JDM style vinyl decals from 88SPEED.com, and eBay sales are going well. I'm also wanting to set up an eBay store for my designs, just trying to calculate how best to set things up.

Tim

Surprise! Don't trust the labels!

I do feel sorry for GSK - a couple of schoolgirls testing Ribena have found that instead of having "Four Times the Vitamin C of Oranges", it has pretty much stuff-all Vitamin C.

I used to drink Ribena as a kid - though as I grew up, my parents (fearing these sweet drinks would give me diabetes, cancer, leprosy or worse) weaned me from it. Guess they were right after all!

But the bottom line here is - what damage has been done? Frankly, most people probably didn't even know GSK owned Ribena. But some might know GSK make Panadol?. And most people know GSK make a whole grab-bag of pharmaceutical products, including the world's most favourite over-prescribed prescription antibiotic Penicillin (Amoxycillin).

Some advice for GSK;

1) Admit defeat. There's no Vitamin C in Ribena, it's just coloured sugar water with a whole bunch of nasty-labelled preservatives. Make a public admission of guilt, consider relabelling/relaunching the product as an energy drink, which seems to be all the rage nowadays.

2) Get things settled quickly. The longer it drags on, the more likely some pimply-faced fresh intern journalist is going to dig deeper into related GSK consumer products, and if you're really unlucky, also look at prescription medications and vaccines.

3) Avoid future "mistakes". GSK states that their "overseas testing" of Ribena satisfies their Vitamin C claims... yet for some mysterious reason, the Australian Ribena didn't. Now, I'm not suggesting that there's more to the story here, but I wouldn't want schoolgirls in USA, UK, Asia etc to test their local product to see if it measures up. GSK needs to assess its entire line of products to ensure they meet all claims. It's not just a matter of meeting regulatory standards for advertising, but also a matter of company honour. If GSK allows mislabelling, what kind of message does it send to the rest of the company in other departments apart from marketing?

And at the end of the day, some people abide by the saying "There's no such thing as bad publicity!". Maybe more people will buy Ribena in the short term?

Good night all... I'm off to see the Pixies tomorrow night at the Palace in St Kilda. Wish Tina had bought more tickets in the presale, as they're going on eBay for 200% of the face value. Ah, the free market forces are working! Another thing that's working (apart from a repeated plug for my other website) is 88SPEED.com - changed to a new fast server, but all custom vinyl graphic designs survived intact! Go buy something irrelevant now!

PS3 's Weak Australian "Launch!"

I'm sure it's a decent machine, but the major lack of crowds for the PS3's recent Australian launch is laughable! The Age report on PS3 launch. In London, they had to give away 100 Bravia TVs to get anyone interested! Good score on that one though, if you were lucky enough to get one!

I'd buy one (a Sony PS3), except I don't like getting ripped off, and the fact that it's $600 in Japan and $740 in USA (AUD equivalent) is massive pretty big cross against Sony Australia with the $999(!!!!) local price. And I don't believe their so called "justifications" for the relative price difference here down under - exchange rate and population? Puh-lease! Sony, if you're really an "international" company, you've got your currency exchange hedges set well ahead. Your products are mass-manufactured in China, just like everyone else. Don't try telling us that the PAL TV standards costs you an extra few hundred dollars per unit to manufacture, when no-name Chinese companies can churn out NTSC/PAL DVD players and sell them here for under $40. If that's all true, divest your electronics business to their "natural owner", because Sony certainly isn't the natural owner anymore!

A little side-note on natural owners; for those not in the know. Sony owns a lot of businesses in different areas - for example, their digital camera business is more or less separate to their electronic gaming, MP3, TV businesses, though obviously there (should be) some crossover between them. But if Sony's products are being pushed through the system, and not gaining some competitive advantage from these cross-links to their other business units, then another company who could better utilise the assets of the business should buy it from Sony. Everyone would win - Sony, the acquirer, and the customers.

Anyway, back to the topic of the PS3. I might buy one from play-asia, who will sell me an "international" grey market PS3 for a price 30% less than the official Australian distributor. Or I my get a friend O/S to buy one and send to me... except that I don't see it right now as a must-buy.

There's no real killer-app for the PS3 yet, I don't wanna pay $30-$40 for bluray discs, as I'm used to torrents, DiVX and the rest. Admittedly, these are lower resolution than Bluray, but who wants to watch King Kong or Casino Royale more than a couple of times? Content is king, and I prefer to watch up-to-the-minute Top Gear in DiVX rather than a rehashed, remade movie thrown together purely to capitalise on sequal recognition. Plus I don't have to leave the house when Azureus and Torrentspy play nicely together. The "home multimedia functions" are certainly not worth $1000 on its own - get yourself a PC for $300, with more hard drive space and functionality! Damn, even a basic card-reader for your TV is about $5 if viewing pics on your TV is that essential. Multiformat games, at this current early stage, certainly don't declare the PS3 a winner in terms of graphics, and a draw on gameplay - since it's the same game, just with a different box powering it.

So, price drop Sony! Sell it for the same price (or a little more) than the 360, at an internationally equivalent price (hey, Apple manage it OK, learn something from them!) and it'll go gangbusters, just from kids bugging their parents for one. Tell me again why it costs me 50% more than a consumer in Japan please, apart from the obvious reasons that you think I'm naive enough to pay that premium to be a bleeding-edge early adopter. Get me to buy one, and I'll probably get my friends to buy one. Am I the only one who thinks corporates have forgetten that word-of-mouth is a huge consumer behavioural tool?

And it's not just Sony who are doing stupid things with their consoles - I was reading some rumours about a "black box" 360 with 120gb hdd and HDMI, but it'll be the price of a PS3. Good one microsoft! For that price, you'd better package in the HD-DVD player, make the bloody thing a lot quieter, throw in a decent multifunction learning remote (like a Harmony 550 or similar), give free Xbox Live play, make sure it doesn't break down so much, make a smaller power supply (something the size of a Honda Civic - at least that's smaller than the 4-bedroom house size it is now!) and throw in a couple of good party-starter games, like Nintendo have done with Wii Sports. But who listens to me anyway... :)

On a final note, I've just had a bombshell thrown in my lap - opened my email to find I've been offered a huge scholarship by Melbourne Business School to continue studying a Master of Marketing once I finish my MBA in a few weeks. I'll blog again once I've thought about it a bit more!

Tim