Chocolade for RM123

My boss had a Family Day last week, and well, low thinking as I am, I first got a nicely designed box of chocolate, made in China. And WoW, did my wife give me the heat. She said that this is chocolate manufacturer that is known by no one. She assumed that the taste of the chocolate inside would be horrible. She was right with that - how come women are always right? . We tasted the chocolate later and I think, it ended up in the garbage bin shortly afterwards. I first tried to put on a brave face stating, yeah, that it tastes nice, but than, well, I couldn't eat more than two or three of the pieces.

Okay - her opinion was that a present reflects who you are - the image that you project - and how much you value the person that you give the present to. So she said we need a nice looking package with extremely well-tasting content.

The picture below shows the chocolate package that we bought in the chocolate shop in Megamall - I think its name is something with Belgium in it. It looked very nice, very professionally made. I just hope that my boss keeps the package, since the box alone costed around RM25.

But yeah, my wife is right. A present reflects on you and as such, the creation and the management of an image still is important for a product manufacturer and service provider. Even today. The design of the box is beautiful, and I believe the content - Belgium chocolate!! - will be great.

But the story also reminds me of the campaign for National Service in Malaysia. I heard an advertisement on the radio recently which praised the situation in the camps. How beautiful they are, and how important NS is. That it is great that participants can meet so many different people from differen races. But open the newspapers and read the section "Letters to the Editors". How did one describe it today in a letter to The Star?

• Security - the camp is still under construction and foreign workers are all around
• Communication - there are only five phones available to all participants
• Cantine smell - he wrote that even a toilet would smell better than the canteen in the camp
  

Clearly, those organising the National Service want to promote a picture of fun, and learning. But, again, what perception is created when the experience is bad? Its a similar situation, isn't it? Managing your image and aligning your image with the reality and the perception is crucial for the success.

To come back to the story with the chocolate - the Chinese manufacturer had a chance to persuade my wife that his product is great - it already had a great design. I bought the box, and my wife tasted it. But the lasting impression is that Chinese chocolate is not necessarily something that I am going to buy again. So well, first impressions count as well.