Monday, April 20, 2009

IS LOOKING CONVENTIONAL GOOD FOR MALAYSIA? REALLY?

I am currently caught in between many different dilemmas at the moment (Di Persimpangan Dilema – Nora LOL). Just things random people say to me that made me think. For e.g. Should I blog in English or Malay? OR should I just write in both? Will writing in Malay increase my readership & help me reach out to a new fan base because they could “relate” to me more? Should I cut my hair shorter? Should I change it altogether? Some people think it’s cool & some said it is too ‘Individual’ that it limits me & makes me look NOT adaptable/ accessible. Some say I should have different hairstyles to suit different occasions. What should I do? I love wearing bow ties more than ties, should I ditch them for a more ‘accessible’ normal look? Many told me to tone down my dressing. Many asked me to keep it up. Many noticed me because of the way I carry/ dress myself. I don’t think I have worn anything ‘loud’ or ‘out there!’ in fact nothing I’ve worn so far can be classified as crazy. Some say my dressing is too ‘tasteful’, too ‘clean-cut’, too high fashion for Malaysia & that I should tone it down by wearing more t-shirts, washed out jeans, sneakers, conventional haircut, looking more street. Will it make me more relatable? Does looking like everybody else out there makes me more accessible? Maybe I have yet to find the balance. Is Looking Conventional Good for Malaysia?

WHO SHOULD I LISTEN TO? Quincy Jones was once asked regarding what was his secret to success and he answered, “Frankly, I don’t know what is the recipe to success, but I do know the recipe to failure is when you try to please everybody”. Do you guys think this quote is applicable in Malaysia? If you guys have anything to suggest please go on the comment page & comment away yeah? Thank you so much.

P/s: Below is some of the recent stuff I went to after winning Best Dressed Male at the recent ABPBH2008/09. I’ve been on Berita Harian 4 times in the past seven days alone! LOL. And that is only on B.Harian, pls do alert me if u see me somewhere else :-)
Discussing with a team of designers from (XXX) They took my measurement & you guys may wonder for what? Hehehe will spill the beans in later posts yeah?
The fab team from left: Madeline, Syarifah, Me & Avis :-)Henry Golding & friend, Kenji & I at Davidoff's store launch recently. The food was so good.... I wonder who were the caterers. We all shared a fun time at the event.
We were clinking our desert because it was so good. Henry and I kept stuffing ourselves with the food... Keep em' coming. LOL

5 comments:

Cael said...

lakukan pe yg iz selesa. peka persekitaran. terbuka n ketahuilah, kita akan 'pengsan' kalo nk puaskn ati semua pihak. as long anda tahu siapa diri anda. sori kalo if ca'el silap beri nasihat. hei, mis u bro, chiao!

Unknown said...

frankly speaking, i dont wanna suggest the same. I mean, i know it's good to be comfortable with yourself, but as an artist, you need to build a strong fan base first.

Jangan syok sendiri, you're selling yourself and your talent. So you must know what the market wants. True, ada artis yang prefer to stay the way they are, tak nak diet, etc. True, diorang ada fans. Tapi cuba tengok, i think they will have so much fans if they change and abide to public preference. Contoh: Aizat AF.

Pasal dressing up, if you do the high fashion look occasionally or when the situation calls (ada function ke apa ke) then okay lah. Bear this in mind, once you have a very strong fan base, you can wear what ever high fashion look that you want, whenever you want it.

p.s. you might wanna see yourself as an entrepreneur. Yang menjual benda yang orang nak beli, bukan menjual benda yang kamu nak jual (a.k.a. syok sendiri).

Good luck and all the best. Oh, and please please please, do not be offended. This is just a feedback, and the final decision is up to you.

salam.

izoiam said...

Thanks for the feedback Cael and Helmi!

What to do kalau semua org kasi feedback lain2 kan? really up to your judgement la at the end of the day.

Now regarding being an entrepreneur, sometimes to start something new, as an entrepreneur they need to educate their target market too. This usually takes a bit of time and it is a form of investment (TIME), because as an entrepreneur when they sell something, if there is no product positioning meaning takde competitive value they are at risk because what they are offering is the same like what their competitor is offering too. I think it is more important in finding and securing your target market, your own audience and have it strengthened then trying to win all. Short term businesses come and go especially when all they do is follow the trends, fads instead of creating one themselves. If you create something new in a generic market, you stand out and you are not competing with anybody else. You will be recognised for standing for something and in the long run it will benefit you more I believe. Its either being trapped in the rat race and constantly competing or just doing things at your own pace and being a leader of your own purpose. The thing with being in the rat race is that if you at the front, you are lucky but if you are at the back, you will be competing constantly to get the saki baki.

I am only 9 months old officially in the business since the release of my EP and since I am working on my full album now I just want to do some reality check and find a balance. Again there are some truths in the things you guys mentioned and I really appreciate it Cael and Helmi that you guys cared enough to comment.

Many thanks!

Unknown said...

haha, yeah. In business, the bigger the risk, the better the gain. That's one very powerful rule of thumb. But dear Iz, ever heard of market testing? It's a very useful marketing tool, if you know what i'm saying.

p.s. sounds like you're a full-fledged business degree holder. Me on the other hand, only learnt business when I did my IB diploma. I'm doing something else now. Nevertheless, business was pretty interesting. he he. Out of topic sekejap.

imborntosing said...

LOL
Yes I hav heard of market testing actually studied it & practised it when I worked for an organisation b4.... but when it comes to music things are much more subjective... and some artists are being liked just because they have a pretty face. I am not a business degree holder and never did IB [my sister did] I have a BA in Advertising and Masters in Cross-cultural Communication [http://labsome.rmit.edu.au/people/iz-sulaini]

The rat race I was talking about really is nothing to do with a business degree, it really is commonsense & applicable in diff aspects of life,for e.g. if you go for an interview for a new job, how would you make yourself different/ stand out from the others? what is ur competitive value and so on? at the end of the day you're a product too whether u realise it or not. Hehehehe.