Your marketing doesn't suck but...

It's just not genuine.

Author

Vulcan Post
June 24, 2024

Sometimes when Vulcan Post reaches out to businesses for an interview, we get rejected with the excuse that the business is “not ready” to have their story featured.

The thing is, you don’t have to be ready to start telling your story. Isn’t the journey also part of the story?

In fact, sharing your brand journey as it happens is one form of effective marketing you just might be majorly missing out on.

For you today, we have:

  • A cafe in KL that went viral BEFORE it launched and how it garnered such interest

  • M’sian unicorn Carsome’s path to profitability and what they’re doing to maintain their success 9 years into the biz

  • Why MPH bookstore is suddenly the new hot spot for bookworms to get excited over

📢 Customers want to see your dirty little secrets

 🥯 Okay, maybe not quite in the way you’re thinking. We’re talking about taking customers behind-the-scenes to experience your brand journey together, whether it’s how you handled a mishap or are renovating your shop. The latter marketing strategy was one that worked for new bagel cafe, Grumpy Bagels. By creating genuine content, they grew an invested audience without spending a single sen on marketing. We heard it’s so popular that the queue to get a table takes 1 hour!

Grab a coffee, here’s your to-read list:

📈 Profitability is a significant milestone… but it’s just the beginning for homegrown unicorn Carsome. More importantly, they need to sustain their success, and this is the mindset they have to tackle that.

📖 Remember the days when bookstores were just bookstores? MPH is going back to basics, signalling a renaissance. Is that what people want, though? Well, its new CEO believes so, according to his plan to revitalise the local company. No cafes or perfumes at their new store, just books, books, books (and good ol’ stationery).

💲If you’re wondering what’s the digital bank for your buck… here’s how the 3 launched ones stack up against one another, in terms of benefits and what they’re best for. Now we wait for Sea Group-YTL and KAF Investment Bank to make their move.

Time for a local vacay at… a classic English hotel from 1937?!

Run by a passionate M’sian family, we spoke to its second-gen owner to learn the ins and outs of the biz.

7-figure funding for a M’sian brand of slow-baked pet kibble

They were only 9 months old at the time, but 500 Global and Joel Neoh’s First Move really purr-lieved in them.

Don’t just take it from us—take it from MAVCAP

If you think your startup can ignore ESG, think again. Investors have new standards that you’ll have to meet.

M’sian entrepreneurs, can you please create these?

We flew to a tech expo in Macao and saw cool creations that we think could pop off locally. Any takers?

Spotlight on BizSmart Business Conference

💡So, you’ve got a great business idea, and you think, “This is it! This is the jackpot!”

Now, if only you had the funding to execute the idea…

But is that really all you need to make it?

Not quite. Funding is one part of growing a business; equally as important is knowing how to convince partners, investors, and clients to go on the journey with you. You can’t do everything alone, after all.

To help you figure out just how to do that, Alliance Bank is partnering with The Shift Asia (YouTube talk show about sustainability and market adaptations, hosted by Freda Liu) and NextUpAsia (or the Entrepreneurs and Startups in Malaysia Facebook group with over 170K members) to bring us: ✨BizSmart Business Conference✨

Whether you’re starting up or scaling up, you’ll get interesting takeaways from leaders of successful business like ZUS Coffee, Mamee, Montigo, and more, who will be imparting their expertise.

📅 Mark your calendars for July 16, 2024!

When the career pivot pays off

Yes, we do have a TikTok too, where our articles can be watched in bite-sized videos! Click on the thumbnails to watch the videos!

🍰 Don’t get this couple wrong, they were making bank in banking. But they craved simpler lifestyles, one fulfilled by stacks of cakes, not cash. So they swapped banking for baking, and are now a go-to spot for desserts in Shah Alam.

💅🏻 What’s being a professional bimbo like? Okay, that’s not Ling’s profession, but her online handle. After 20+ years in HR, she traded complaints for content creation. She became a HR influencer at 45, winning people over with sass and humour.

🦞 Aizuddin’s reason for leaving the corporate world and starting Kay’s Steak & Lobster is simpler than you’d think—he couldn’t stand the awful daily traffic! Doing F&B was easier said than done, but now they’ve raked in 7-figure profits.

Check out content marketing opportunities with us today.