Getting to know you

Getting to know you
Local businesses are turning to social networking websites to reach out to their customers, reports CHRISTOPHER LIM

THE Internet almost ground to a halt last weekend after pop star Michael Jackson’s death on June 25, as both the fervent and curious flocked to social web tools such as Twitter and Facebook for news.

Online presence: LAMC Productions’s Twitter page (above) lets it connect directly with people who go to their concerts
Twitter was also a key communication medium in Iran’s recent election, when the service delayed going offline for maintenance just so that the country could use it for the event.

All this makes it hard to ignore how intertwined these social networking tools have become in pop culture. You may not use them, but millions of consumers do - and if you want to reach these pockets and minds, you may just have to hop on to the bandwagon.

Social networking website Facebook (facebook.com) has become a tool not just for many companies in Singapore, but for many of executives.

And micro-blogging website Twitter (twitter.com) is quickly entrenching itself in the vocabulary of marketing and communications professionals.

Facebook is one of many similar services that allow people to connect with one another online and share a plethora of information including news, photos and videos. It has emerged as a favourite among businesses here because of the ease with which they can set up corporate accounts that can seamlessly connect to consumers’ personal accounts.

Twitter pioneered the concept of micro-blogging - posting messages, called tweets - that are no longer than 140 characters. A raft of imitators have popped up but Twitter still leads the niche. Its strength versus Facebook is its single-minded focus on rapid updates.

The idea is that 140-character tweets don’t take long to write, and therefore encourage people to tweet in real time as events unfold. In fact, you can often predict news before it’s officially announced by monitoring the volume of corresponding Twitter activity.

Adoption by trendsetters

Another unique advantage that Twitter has over its competitors is adoption by trendsetters. If you want to find out what book celebrated fantasy author Neil Gaiman is working on at the moment, subscribe to his Twitter feed and be kept up to date.

And if you want to find out when the next Nine Inch Nails album will be out, follow frontman Trent Reznor. Every celebrity worth following is on Twitter, not its competitors.

However, Facebook, in an attempt to stave off competition from Twitter, has incorporated its rival’s micro-blogging approach into its own more comprehensive offering.

And to complicate matters, people like Financial Times journalist Gideon Rachman are sceptical about Twitter’s real value as a communication medium - Mr Rachman wrote in a column on Tuesday that he feels that Twitter ‘is mainly hype’.

So, are companies in Singapore voting for Twitter or Facebook, or do they treat them as complementary tools? And do they see themselves buying into an excuse to waste valuable man-hours slacking, or adopting a credible new communication channel?

IT solutions provider Datacraft Asia isn’t usually in the central media spotlight, but it deserves attention for making social media an integral part of its marketing strategy.

Datacraft Asia’s Singapore-based chief executive Bill Padfield is a huge champion of social media, and is personally active on both Twitter and Facebook. He can often be seen tweeting on his Apple iPhone, as well as using the mobile device to update his Facebook account.

Another IT company active in social media is Cisco, whose chief technology officer Padmasree Warrior, has over 650,000 followers on Twitter. That’s a mind-blowingly huge following for someone who’s not a pop icon.

‘During a TelePresence interview this week between press and analysts around the world with Padmasree Warrior, an analyst in Singapore prefaced his question by saying that he follows her on Twitter,’ says Tom Cheong, Cisco’s managing director for Singapore and Brunei.

Beyond raising a company’s or executive’s profile, Lenovo Asean communications manager Derrick Goh highlights the democratic nature of social media tools. ‘They allow you to be ubiquitous while giving your audience the option of how and to what extent they would like to engage with you,’ he says.

Audience engagement is a key area of interest in music and the arts, and concert Promoter LAMC Productions’ Twitter and Facebook activity is geared towards encouraging customers to engage it more.

‘These sites give us an opportunity to connect directly with people who come to our concerts and to also get fans involved with promoting our concerts,’ says LAMC’s Andre Alabons, who administers the promoter’s Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Mr Alabons estimates that the target demographic for LAMC’s Facebook page is 14-40 years old, whereas its Twitter page is narrower at 14-30 years.

Relevance of traditional media

Despite LAMC’s heavy use of social media tools, Mr Alabons stresses the importance of basic Web services such as websites and e-mail newsletters, as well as the continued relevance of traditional media outlets such as print, television and radio. ‘We are aware that not everyone has a Facebook or Twitter account so we need to reach the masses and not risk focusing on one particular group,’ he says.

Michelle Koh, director of marketing services for the Esplanade, agrees. ‘We see social media very much as a complement to industrial media, such as newspapers, radio and TV, as well as our corporate website and festival micro sites,’ she says. But she affirms the value of social media tools in fostering dialogue with the Esplanade’s audience. Facebook is the service of choice, and the Esplanade has six Facebook group pages at the moment.

Ms Koh points to the multiplier effect of social networking websites, where publicity can spread virally through communities of friends.

Some business have thrown all their social media eggs into one basket, such as Warner Music, which only uses Facebook, although it is evaluating Twitter and working on revamping its main website.

Warner’s Facebook page is run by its marketing team. ‘Our purpose is to inform and spread news relating to our artists, products, and events, and the occasional competitions to win prizes,’ says promotions executive Evelyn Woo, adding that Warner was the first record label in Singapore to set up a Facebook page.

IT, music and the arts aren’t the only businesses to benefit from social media. Nightspot Supperclub is also a big Facebook and Twitter user.

‘People can give their opinion, ask questions or make remarks about Supperclub, and Supperclub has the ability to respond to this almost immediately, says general manager Edme Straver.

One of the potential pitfalls of embracing social media at a corporate level is the blurring of lines between work and play since the same channels are used for both activities.

Supperclub gets around this by establishing some basic ground rules for staff. ‘No confidential information or gossip can be spread through their accounts,’ says Mr Straver. ‘The business accounts cannot be used for personal help and they are advised not to get in touch with business contacts, with the reason that it should only be used for business,’ he adds.

Relaxed policy

MTV Networks Asia has a more relaxed policy. ‘Employees are free to use social media networks on a personal capacity,’ says Nam Ji Hee, the company’s vice-president of digital media for South-east Asia and Greater China. ‘What they say about the company and its activities is unofficial and should not be taken as fact,’ she adds.

But not every company focuses on the potential downside of employees using social media. ‘In general, the employees that use these services feel better informed, better connected to one another and the company, and better able to keep pace with what is going on inside the company and in the industry,’ says Manjit Kour, vice-president of corporate communications for Oracle Asia-Pacific and Japan, whose company uses a mixture of custom-designed social networking tools along with public ones like Twitter.

A useful gauge of the real-world usefulness of social media is to look at business that have used it for a while. Restaurant and bar entrepreneur Michel Lu was an early Facebook adopter and is happy with the traffic and publicity that it has brought to his businesses.

‘I believe in social media but also know that it is most effective when paired with an integrated marketing strategy instead of relying entirely on it,’ Mr Lu says.

What all these persepectives seem to indicate is that social media is only useful if it’s channelled towards a specific purpose for your business.

Like any other tool, it can be abused to death, but if used within the right parameters, it can be a formidable addition to existing communications channels.

Source : Business Times - 03 July 2009

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Technical expert testifies in MediaCorp vs RecordTV trial

Technical expert testifies in MediaCorp vs RecordTV trial

SINGAPORE: Singapore’s largest broadcaster, MediaCorp, produced a technical expert in court on Thursday to give evidence that an Internet start-up had infringed the copyrights in its free-to-air programmes and broadcasts on Channels 5, 8 and Channel NewsAsia.

RecordTV is suing MediaCorp for millions of dollars for “groundless threats” of copyright infringement, while MediaCorp is counter-suing for copyright infringement.

In his affidavit, Derek Kiong, programme director of Technical Curriculum at the Institute of Systems Science, National University of Singapore, said that unlike a dedicated digital video recorder (DVR), users of RecordTV have no control over the web-based recording system.

RecordTV’s CEO, Carlos Fernandes, has said that his service functions like a home video recorder. But Mr Kiong said unlike a DVR, where users decide which video recordings to keep, edit or delete, RecordTV imposes a 15-day retention of its recordings.

He added that even though RecordTV has attempted to limit its users to Singapore residents by restricting access to IP addresses known to be sited in Singapore, an IP address is not always a good or correct indication of the location of the computer or its users.

It is argued that users of RecordTV are merely making electronic requests for a recording to be made, while the actual recordings are done by RecordTV’s system.

In a cross-examination, RecordTV’s lawyer, Koh Chia Ling, asserted that the online service’s systems are automated, with no human intervention. “The system draws information from (MediaCorp’s) electronic programme guide,” he said.

At this juncture, MediaCorp’s lead counsel Davinder Singh interjected saying: “While the defendants have a schedule, the plaintiff has to install a software to draw that information in. It doesn’t just come uninvited.”

Mr Koh also argued that his client did not try to suppress evidence as earlier alleged by Mr Singh.

MediaCorp’s senior vice-president of Network Programming and Promotions, Khiew Voon Kwang, also took the stand and will continue his testimony on Friday.

- CNA/so

Source : Channel NewsAsia - 03 July 2009

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CEL Development launching remaining units of Oasis @ Elias

CEL Development launching remaining units of Oasis @ Elias

By Yasmine Yahya

SINGAPORE: CEL Development is launching the remaining units of its Oasis @ Elias condominium at Pasir Ris on Saturday.

Half of the 142 units previewed have been sold, at an average price of S$670 per square foot.

The units that have been sold included six of nine penthouses in the property.

Marketing agent CB Richard Ellis said HDB upgraders made up 80 per cent of the buyers.

The strong take-up rate reflects the current popularity of mass market private property among homebuyers.

The recently launched 8 @ Woodleigh condominium at Potong Pasir was fully sold within two weeks, while Vista Residences in Balestier has also seen a strong take-up rate for the units launched so far.

Oasis @ Elias is a 99-year leasehold property, and comprises six blocks of two to five-room apartments.

- CNA/yt

Source : Channel NewsAsia - 03 July 2009

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S-REITs can cushion external shocks, says S&P

S-REITs can cushion external shocks, says S&P

By Mok Fei Fei

SINGAPORE: Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s said Singapore Real Estate Investment Trusts (S-REITs) can cushion against external shocks in the event the economic downturn is prolonged.

In a report, S&P said three factors will offer S-REITs some buffer – cash flow resilience of the underlying properties, strong management of operations and strength of the S-REITs’ sponsor or key shareholder.

S&P also assessed the relative credit strengths of 15 of the 21 S-REITs listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange.

CapitaMall Trust, Ascendas REIT, Frasers Centrepoint Trust, and CapitaCommercial Trust have emerged as its top picks. They were singled out for managing their finances better than others.

At the other end, S&P found CDL Hospitality Trust, Parkway Life REIT, Frasers Commercial Trust, First REIT, and MacarthurCook Industrial REIT to be the most vulnerable to external shocks.

Six S-REITs were excluded from S&P’s assessment as they did not have any Singapore-based property exposure in their asset portfolios.

- 938LIVE/so

Source : Channel Newsasia - 03 July 2009

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3 new industrial sites put on reserve list

3 new industrial sites put on reserve list

By Jessica Cheam

THE Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) will continue to suspend the confirmed list for its industrial government land sales (GLS) programme for the rest of the year.

This would provide flexibility for the market to ‘adjust supply in accordance with the current economic conditions’, it said in a statement yesterday.

But the MTI has put three new sites on its reserve list to meet potential demand for industrial land.

Under the reserve list system, a site is offered for public tender only if a developer commits to bid at an acceptable price.

The three sites are a 3.2ha plot in Woodlands Avenue 12, a 2.99ha plot in Kaki Bukit Avenue 4 and a 1.24ha plot in Ubi Road.

All three have 60-year leases and are estimated to become available in the last quarter of this year.

In the first half of the year, two reserve list sites - in Woodlands Industrial Park E5 and Kaki Bukit Road 2 - were triggered.

The Woodlands plot went up for tender recently when an unnamed applicant undertook to bid at least $12.5 million or $18.57 per sq ft of potential gross floor area.

This tender closes next Tuesday.

Mr Colin Tan, Chesterton Suntec International’s head of research and consultancy, said the MTI’s announcement yesterday is unsurprising given the uncertain climate, but he added that buyers are starting to emerge.

‘There’s interest in industrial properties, especially from owner occupiers who want to own their own business space,’ he said.

Perhaps the perception is that prices are more reasonable and lower than at the peak, he added, suggesting that more industrial sites may be activated for tender before the end of the year.

The reserve list for the second half of the year comprises nine sites with a total area of 19ha, said MTI.

Source : Straits Times - 03 July 2009

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Facebook plans to simplify privacy settings

Facebook plans to simplify privacy settings

(NEW YORK) Facebook is overhauling its privacy controls over the next several weeks in an attempt to simplify its users’ ability to control who sees the information they share on the site.

Privacy has been a central, often thorny issue for Facebook because so many people use it to share personal information with their friends and family and beyond.

But as the five-year-old social networking service has expanded its user base and added features, its privacy controls have grown increasingly complicated.

The Palo Alto, California-based company said on Wednesday that the new settings will give people greater control over what photos, updates and personal details they share with their friends, family and strangers on Facebook and, eventually, the wider Internet.

To make the settings easier, Facebook is consolidating its existing six privacy pages and more than 30 settings onto a single privacy page. It will also standardise the options for each setting so the choices are always the same, something that hasn’t always been the case.

That means that for various pieces of content, users will be able to click on a lock icon to choose whether to show it to everyone, only their friends, friends of friends, members of professional or school networks or people on a customised list.

Previously, users had to navigate page after page to exclude, if they want, bosses or co-workers from seeing their photo albums, status updates or shared links.

And because the privacy settings were dispersed on different pages, even after making a profile visible to friends only, the photos on that profile could remain public.

Facebook’s chief privacy officer, Chris Kelly, said in a conference call with reporters that the changes don’t have anything to do with advertising or the information Facebook is going to make available to advertisers.

Rather, he said, the site wants people ‘to be able to share information with as many or as few people as they choose’.

One of Facebook’s most notable privacy mishaps was a tracking tool called ‘Beacon’, which in late 2007 caught users off- guard by broadcasting information about their activities at other websites, including their purchase of holiday gifts for those who could see the information. The company ultimately allowed users to turn Beacon off.

Other changes, too, have often met with user uproar. Earlier this year Facebook let its users vote on the site’s guiding principles after tens of thousands joined online protests over who controls the information they share on the site.

To prevent another backlash, Facebook will gradually roll out the latest changes. Facebook will start by testing them out on small groups of users and tweak the final version of the controls based on feedback. Facebook said it would take more than three weeks to reach every user.

‘They are learning how to listen carefully to their users,’ said Jules Polonetsky, co-chairman and director of the Washington-based Future of Privacy Forum and former chief privacy officer at AOL. He added that Facebook has learned from the past that suddenly making big changes, whatever they are, has not been the most effective approach.

The privacy changes come as Facebook tries to become a broadly used destination, competing not just with other social networks like Twitter and MySpace but also more established hubs like Google and Yahoo.

To do this, Facebook needs its 200 million-plus users to share content and interact with more people than their close friends and families.

The site will soon let users assign different privacy settings to each piece of information they make available, including photos, contact information and work info, as well as status updates, links and photos. — AP

Source : Business Times - 03 July 2009

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Factory output expands 2 mths in a row in June

Factory output expands 2 mths in a row in June

By TEH SHI NING

SINGAPORE’S manufacturing economy expanded for a second straight month in June, going by the latest Purchasing Managers’ Index, released yesterday.

Although June’s PMI reading of 51.1 was one- tenth of a point down from May’s figure, due to a first-time contraction in overall stocks of finished goods and imports, more positive signs surfaced in the electronics sector. The electronics PMI was 55 in June - its highest level since December 2006.

The PMI is a forward-looking indicator based on a survey of purchasing executives at 150 companies, conducted by the Singapore Institute of Purchasing & Materials Management (SIPMM) each month. Readings above 50 indicate expansion, while ones under 50 imply a contraction.

Both the overall new orders and new export orders indicators continued to expand in June, recording their highest readings since December 2007. ‘This is clearly a positive sign in an otherwise uncertain state of global business environment,’ said SIPMM executive director Janice Ong.

Inventory indicators for both the overall manufacturing economy and the key electronics sector expanded.

Input prices for both overall manufacturing and electronics contracted. ‘A likely explanation would be the weakening of the Singapore currency and the ability of local manufacturers to localise their input materials,’ Ms Ong said.

Order backlogs, for overall manufacturing and electronics, continued to contract too, which could indicate that local manufacturers are no longer holding back on production. But Ms Ong said that anecdotal evidence from the survey suggests local producers remain cautious. The depletion of order backlogs could therefore mean uncertainty over future orders.

The outlook on the employment front remained negative. While the electronics employment index moderated after 11 months of contraction, the index for overall manufacturing employment contracted for a 19th consecutive month in June.

Noting that the spread of H1N1 flu has had minimal impact on the economy so far, Ms Ong said that she is ‘hopeful that the overall employment ambience could be improved in coming months’.

Source : Business Times - 03 July 2009

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Three new sites on industrial GLS programme for H2

Three new sites on industrial GLS programme for H2

They are added under reserve list to meet potential demand, says MTI

By UMA SHANKARI

THREE sites have been added to the government’s industrial land sales programme for second-half 2009, which was launched yesterday by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI).

The three sites have been added under the reserve list to continue to meet potential demand for industrial land, MTI said. This brings the total number of industrial sites on the reserve list to nine.

The confirmed list, on the other hand, remains suspended.

‘In view of current economic uncertainties, MTI will continue to suspend the confirmed list for the second half of 2009,’ the ministry said in a statement. ‘This will provide flexibility for the market to adjust supply in accordance with the current economic conditions.’

Market watchers said that the continued suspension of the confirmed list was expected. Using the reserve list only means the market will have the final say on when a site is released.

Under the reserve list system, the government puts up a site for public tender only if it receives an application from a developer who commits to bid for the site at or above the minimum price acceptable to the government.

‘This is in line with the government’s aim of letting developers decide if they are interested in a site and letting them trigger the sites they like,’ said Savills Singapore managing director Michael Ng.

The three new sites on the reserve list are at Woodlands Avenue 12, Kaki Bukit Avenue 4 and Ubi Road 1/Ubi Avenue 4. In addition, six sites from the first-half 2009 reserve list have been carried forward to the second-half list.

The nine sites on the reserve list have a combined area of about 19 hectares.

It is unclear if the demand for these will be strong, analysts said. Singapore experienced a sharp drop in industrial investment sales in the first quarter of this year, with only a few isolated transactions completed.

However, sentiment picked up in the second quarter. Data from CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) showed there were at least six investment transactions in the industrial sector in Q2 - totalling $58.9 million. Most of the buyers were end-users, CBRE said.

Singapore-listed real estate investment trusts (Reits), which bought up a significant amount of industrial property during the boom in 2007, are still holding back on acquisitions this year as dividend yields have increased significantly and it would be extremely challenging to make purchases that are yield accretive. Obtaining finance also continues to be difficult.

Source : Business Times - 03 July 2009

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Aviva Building, Cecil House may change hands in $101m deal

Aviva Building, Cecil House may change hands in $101m deal

Buyers expected to build apartments on adjoining sites

By KALPANA RASHIWALA

(SINGAPORE) YI Kai Group and Fission Group, the duo that recently paid $71 million for VTB Building in Robinson Road, are said to have joined forces to buy Aviva Building in Cecil Street and next-door Cecil House from insurer Aviva for a total of $101 million.

Potential: Aviva Building (above) and Cecil House may have potential for an additional 20,000 sq ft of GFA each
Aviva is understood to be selling the assets that it considers ‘non-core’.

Market watchers reckon Fission and Yi Kai hope to redevelop all three CBD office blocks they have snapped up lately into residential projects - subject to official approval.

The three sites are zoned for commercial use with an 11.2-plus plot ratio and 35-storey maximum height, according to the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s Master Plan (MP) 2008.

In October last year, URA lifted its ban on converting office blocks in the Central Area to other uses.

Aviva and VTB buildings are freehold. Cecil House is on a site with a remaining lease of 71 years.

Analysts suggest that Yi Kai and Fission’s plans to redevelop the Cecil House plot into apartments will be subject to getting a lease top-up to 99 years from the state. ‘Otherwise, they may redevelop the property to a new office block,’ a market watcher suggested.

BT understands the freehold Aviva Building is being sold for about $65 million, which translates to roughly $960 per sq ft of existing net lettable area (NLA).

Based on the site’s 11.2-plus plot ratio under MP 2008, the unit land price works out to about $590 psf of potential gross floor area (GFA), excluding any development charge (DC) that may be payable.

Cecil House was priced at $36 million or about $710 psf of NLA in the sale to Yi Kai and Fission.

It is believed there is untapped potential to develop a further 20,000 sq ft GFA each for the Cecil House and Aviva Building plots.

The earlier sale of VTB Building for $71 million worked out to $1,061 psf of NLA and a unit land price of about $700 psf per plot ratio - based on an 11.2 plot ratio and assuming no DC is payable.

Jones Lang LaSalle’s director of investment sales Stella Hoh is understood to have brokered the sale of Aviva Building and Cecil House. JLL is also the marketing agent for two office floors at Parkway Parade that Aviva is looking to sell.

BT understands both buildings are currently almost 100 per cent occupied. Aviva uses about 60 per cent of Aviva Building.

Source : Business Times - 03 July 2009

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Recession may end, but recovery still not in sight

Recession may end, but recovery still not in sight

Singapore may technically climb out of a recession but stay in a rut, the numbers suggest

By ANNA TEO

(SINGAPORE) Now that the economy is believed to have touched bottom, data watchers are on the lookout for signs that it is headed up, and not still floundering. So it’s no surprise that May’s manufacturing uptick has spurred talk that Singapore could soon well be ‘technically’ out of recession - in or from the second quarter just past, in fact.

The surprise 2 per cent rise in manufacturing output in May - the second straight month of growth following April’s revised 0.4 per cent figure - no doubt adds to the sense of budding turnaround here. And if the pace is sustained in June, the payoff should certainly show up in the Q2 manufacturing and overall GDP figures.

But to infer from the May boost an end to recession - imminent or ‘already’ - is probably a tad hopeful. The qualifying asterisks behind the May output figure, to begin with, are glaringly obvious.

First off, the 2 per cent growth came courtesy of (as usual) the highly volatile pharmaceutical industry, which grew close to 140 per cent in May (and 80 per cent in April). Excluding the biomedical cluster - the only cluster that grew in May - total industrial output shrank about 18 per cent in the month.

And if comparing with the preceding month is a better indicator of recent pace, May’s overall output was down from April’s, albeit by a small 1.6 per cent in seasonally-adjusted terms.

More telling perhaps, beyond industrial output, the all-important exports still do not convincingly spell recovery, even if, as economists have noted, exports have lately shown better ‘improvement’ than output.

Sure, non-oil domestic exports (NODX) have continued to improve: April’s 19 per cent decline was followed by a 12 per cent decrease in May. And in adjusted month-on-month terms, NODX grew 5.6 per cent in May, following a 1.4 per cent slide in April.

But if NODX seem to have turned around, another key indicator - non-oil retained imports of intermediate goods (NORI) - suggests only that demand in the months ahead remains weak.

While NORI (the retained ‘intermediate goods’ presumably get consumed in domestic production) is said to be a coincident indicator for NODX, the two series have diverged of late: indeed, NORI fell for a third straight month in May on an adjusted basis, after a small pick-up in February. And apart from Taiwan and South Korea, Singapore’s non-oil exports to the top 10 markets continued to fall in May.

Also, with no firm sign as yet of any rebound in the US economy any time soon, forecasts of any sustained export and GDP recovery here - out of the trenches, that is - are probably optimistic or wishful thinking.

In any case, even if Q2 sees a return to positive GDP pace in Singapore - as may well be likely for the quarter-on-quarter numbers, though probably not the year-on-year figures yet - that would mark at best a tenuous rebound, until at least another positive quarter or two is in hand. After all, a ‘technical’ recession is called only after two straight quarters of economic decline.

And even then, just as output and exports had already been weak last year well before the GDP data pronounced recession after Q3 2008, a technical end to recession would not necessarily spell full recovery in industries and sectors big and small across the economy at large. You may get businesses asking: ‘The recession is over - but where’s the recovery?’

Source : Business Times - 03 July 2009

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