So what exactly is a Digital Brand Strategist?  Well frankly a lot of that is going to be figured out on the job since this is a completely new position for P&G Marketing.   At the highest levels, the job will be helping drive P&G's capability in digital marketing, branded content, social media, mobile and a host of other "digital areas".  My job will be helping guide and equip my fellow Procter & Gamble Brand Managers / Marketers across the company with the tools to develop their digital marketing strategy.  Here is part of the job description:

Accelerating the company's Digitial Marketing expertise and efforts across the globe is one of the current top priorities. Our commitment is to equip our brand building community with the knowledge and capabilities to create and execute a Digital Marketing Strategy.  Specific responsibilities will include:
- building & running the global digital marketing network
- leading digital marketing training program (content & delivery)
- 'collect & connect' of best practices & inspirational case studies
- demonstrating use new digital capabilities for internal communications

This role will involve strong external networking and communication to bring the outside in and keep us in close touch with leading edge capabilities and expertise.

I am super excited about this new role because it allows me to dive headfirst into two areas that I love: Digital Marketing and Brand Building.  It will also allow me to meet and work with many of the people in the online community who I have grown to respect and admire while writing Hard Knox Life.  And with our changes at the top of our marketing leadership, the job will be even more interesting.

As part of the job I will be relocating back to Cincinnati so I'll be getting ready for that move over the coming 2 months while finishing up some major projects on the Walmart Team.  If anyone is looking/wanting to buy a house in Fayetteville, Arkansas, I can get you a great deal on mine!

First, however, let's talk about conventional wisdom for the person not interested in the markets or actively investing. The general consensus seems to be that over the long, LONG term, investing broadly in the market (some mix of broad market funds including big and small caps, growth and value, etc.) will bring you an average annual return of 10%. I found a somewhat amusing and mildly assuring column from USA Today on the subject as the first result in a Google search. I say, "Mildly," because it makes sense, statistically, but that sure isn't very convincing or reassuring in the face of some major problems nationally and globally that don't look like they'll be going away anytime soon. Economic slowdown(recession?), Energy issues, war, etc.

"Statistics show that large-cap stocks (measured by the Standard & Poor's 500) have produced 10.4% yearly returns on average over the past 79 years through 2004, according to data from IFA.com," writes Matt Krantz. "What about inflation? Certainly, the declining purchasing power of the dollar over time does erode returns. To be exact, the 10.4% annual return of the S&P 500 is actually 7.2% if you adjust for inflation, according to data from Standard & Poor's.

"But keep in mind that just investing in the S&P 500 is not adequate. You need to add other asset classes to your portfolio, including small-cap stocks, which have returned 9.1% returns on average a year even after inflation. Foreign stocks and emerging markets stocks, which have a place in many investors' portfolios, have done even better."

But doesn't being invested in more than just a broad fund that matches the market involve some active choices of what funds, what foreign funds, when and if to sell and change funds, etc.? For the sake of the discussion, let's assume that the average uninterested and investment-wise uneducated person will do the "buy and hold" approach to a fund or group of funds that are comparable to the S&P500.

While ten years is arguably not quite the "Long term," in terms of a lifetime, and perhaps not the time frame they mean when siting this average annual return of 10%, how long is long enough to judge what works NOW, from this moment forward?  I woudl think ten years is sufficient.  The most recent ten years seems plenty more relevant than any ten year period before it, to say the least.

Here's the most recent ten years in the S&P 500.  To be fair, this may not be an entirely accurate representation since I don't think the index itself would include the payment of dividends, but it's at least a ballpark for discussion.

The index is up approximately 35%.  With compounding interest, an annual 10% gain over ten years should result in a profit of 159.37%.  Even adding dividends, I suspect the gain over ten years in the SPX would not be anywhere near this figure.  (For the record, I am FAR from an accountant or CPA.)

So let's look at the prospects for potentially investing in selected funds that show relative strength.  I think it's reasonable to say that most people could look at 9 sector funds every few months and try to stay balanced in 4 that are more toward the best performing ones, or at least stay out of the worst performing ones.  Here is a comparison using the Select Sector Spiders, described on their website as such:  "Select Sector SPDRs are unique ETF's that divide the S&P 500 into 9 sectors. To strengthen your portfolio, simply choose the sectors that fit your investment needs." (Judging from the chart, they weren't introduced until December of '98.)

(Click image to see it bigger)

I think most of us, even those who only peripherally pay attention to the news could know that the Energy sector has been very strong for a number of years and that from early 2000 to late 2003 the tech. sector got cushed, losing 80% of its value.  Is it not reasonable to think that even with less than precise timing, a self guided investor could have gotten out of tech somewhere along that plunge and could have later gotten into Energy sometime along its ascent?  Keep in mind that I say this with the idea of someone looking at only these 9 ETFs consistently every few weeks or month or so.   Here's a comparison of the last five years.

By adding all of the Select Sector Spiders using the "comparison chart" function under Chart Settings, you can see a percentage comparison of all of the 9 sector ETFs versus the SPX or whatever stock or index you're interested in for any time frame. SPX makes the most sense, of course, and should fall somewhere in the middle of the pack at any given time.

Here is a look at the last year. The top performing sectors were Industrials, Consumer Staples and Utilities, in that order.

Now the last 3 months, particularly relevant considering the downdraft solidifying the bear market and the increasing likelihood of a recession.

Healthcare is leading the way, followed by consumer staples.   Coming in third, just barely above the middle of the pack, is Utilitites.  These first two are sectors thought of as "defensive," because regardless of a potentially poor economy, health and basic needs will always be a primary destination for money.  Utilities are also somewhat defensive because most utilities are not focused on growth and therefore rather than reinvesting their earnings toward growth, they tend to pay dividends.

In the healthcare ETF, the XLV, the top holding is Johnson and Johnson, making up 13% of the fund. Nice move above resistance and then test of new support at 68 before shooting higher.

Proctor and Gamble makes up 16% of the XLP consumer staples ETF followed by Walmart at 11%.  PG hasn't had such a beautiful year to date, but just this week it seems to be breaking the downtrend.

Walmart, on the other hand, looks to have had a great year so far.  Not only did it alreaday have a nice run, but after some months of consolidation, it appears to be moving higher out of that range this week.

I think you catch my drift.  And I think this post has gone on WAY too long.

The SPX is down roughly 12% from this time last year and roughly 11% year to date.  How do we feel about holding those broad market funds for the last year?  Is it reassuring that, statistically speaking, at some point it'll all work out so that this year was really as good as a 10% gain?

Continuing from last week's episode, the Sunway PGians finally bestowed the coveted glorious title to Carl's Jr, winning hands down, burger in face... demonstrated once again by janet-burger-face. The meet up saw a smooth flow of burgers, drinks and people, including:

• Pastor Alex - woohoo!
• Jiawern - 1st cameo appearance!
• Ken Eat & Sing
• Martha - 3rd time!
• Janet-burger-face
• Celina Tan Cheng Lock
• Caroline - all the way from bank negara! awesome, sista!
• Judith - 1st timer!!! who's also Janet's cousin! (or niece?)
• moi, of course

After the long drawn meticulous burger assessment (or gorging in 2 secs), we had a good time getting to know the newbies in the group and finally wrapping up with a prayer before leaving. All in all, we left very satisfied customers indeed and some even more so... tapauing free refills *ah choo-jan-ah choo*. For those around the lion's head, feel free to join us for more finger-lickin good times.

mg

For years the world’s biggest advertiser (P&G) has demanded that its adverts use demonstration to illustrate the power of the product.  Fairy liquid have always shown you how much further they’re washing up liquid goes.  Check out these two ads:

The first is a straight up Nanette Newman just telling you how much better Fairy is.

This is pretty much exactly the same ad with exactly the same message, just done creatively:

check out the oldies too:

Which do you empathise with the most?  Which appeals to you?

ABC/Wash Post: US Consumer Confidence Down 2 Pts Latest Week

NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--U.S. overall consumer confidence fell again last week, according to an ABC News/Washington Post poll released Tuesday.

The consumer comfort index fell 2 points to -49 in the week ended Aug. 3, from -47 a week earlier.

According to the survey, 10% of respondents expressed confidence in the economy, unchanged from the week before. Also, 48% of those polled said their
own finances were in good standing, down from 49% in the prior week. In assessing the buying climate, 19% of respondents said it was good, down from
21% a week earlier.

The consumer comfort index was based on a random survey of 1,000 respondents nationwide ended Aug. 3, 2008. The index measures typical Americans'
confidence in three areas: the national economy, their own finances, and their willingness to spend money, according to the report.

Now with all the recent buzz on falling oil prices - and they are down from ~$145 to the current ~$119 or so - you still have to remember that they are up rather nicely year over year despite the pullback and that gas prices are likely to remain in the $3.50-$4.00 band if not a tighter $3.75-$4.00 band.

The other thing to think about though is the price increases that other companies have announced earlier in the year to rising raw material prices and energy costs. The two that come to mind the quickest are the following:

1) Symrise - a refined and active ingredient maker in Germany - announced on July 8 that its Scent and Care division is increasing prices with immediate effect because of the rising cost of energy, transportation and raw materials. The magnitude of the prices increaeses was stated to be "up to 10 per cent and more."

2) Proctor & Gamble (P&G) - On July 11 it was reported that P&G would be taking "significant across the board price increases in the face of mounting costs." Significant in this case would add 2%-16% to retail prices. For those not recognizing the name, you may know the names of some its better known products - Charmin, Tide, Bounty, Crest, Pringles, Pampers, Folgers, Duracel and a host of others.

These two examples follow several others - Dow, BASF and Sun Chemicals  to name but a few - that have announced price increases in excess of 10%. Announcements by Symrise and similar companies means that these price increases are being passed down the chain to ingredient players.

The announcement by P&G and others indicates that the price increase is flowing down to the consumer and while oil has retrenched - perhaps for the time being - price increases by companies tend to be sticky and in that we are not likely to see these companies start reducing their prices anytime soon. Keep in mind that a fair amount of these price increases were put in place over the last few weeks so its doubtful we have seen the full impact as yet.

Still think the consumer will be feeling better near term, that disposable income will be rising and consumer spending will rebound?

Os esboços estarão disponíveis no blog "minha hora silenciosa".

Romanos sempre foi tratado pela Teologia como o básico da fé cristã. Porém devido ao método "cut & paste" de leitura da Bíblia, ignoramos diversos aspectos desta carta. Mutilamos os temas do livro desde o argumento para a justificação em Cristo passando pelo escândalo da graça, e o controverso futuro de Israel e sua relação com a igreja. Os aspectos mais relevantes tem sido diluídos pela tal "Teologia Sistemática" que transforma o livro de Romanos em uma cartilha da fé. Do outro lado da cerca, os neo-teólogos emergentes pintam os primeiros capítulos de Romanos de cor de rosa tentando expor um homem menos pecador e um deus mais justo (ou menos cruel) aos olhos dos teólogos descolados.

Complexo mesmo é viver tudo o que Paulo propõe nos capítulos finais. Será possível amar o próximo mais do que o próprio estômago?

It’s Wednesday already, how’s everyone doing?

This week’s PG is gona be special at an auspicious date, 080808! Two reasons – Olympics 2008 commences in Beijing and it will be our dear Dr Vinod and Dr LingLing’s wedding! J So let’s make your Friday special by coming to PG and be blessed ya, great to hear so many testimonies even at our last PG at Kim Gary last Friday!

This week’s PG will be at Pizza Hut, KLCC at 12.30-1.30pm. (yes, you would notice that we are trying out new places this few weeks ya!) We will try this out as our official PG hour so that those who need to leave at 1.30pm can leave and the rest who want to stay, can do so.

Do come and be encouraged! Let me know if you can confirm your attendance? Let’s practice Accountability as we learnt in Homes last Friday and also so that I would know how many places to book at Pizza Hut , thanks a bunch!

Blessings,

Cindy

(1) Acts of Kindness (Merdeka Special)
- This time around, we would like to bless others (our colleagues and people who are the least appreciated in the marketplace like the coffeeshop waiters/security guards/cleaning lady and thank them for contributing to our country.
- Having said that, the 3 of us will compile the list of people that we would like to bless so that we can decide on what to bless them with.

(2) Wall of Influence (WOI)
- The Phileopians are eager to lend a hand to build the WOI next week.

(3) Changing our Phileo PG to Tuesday & where to eat next week
- SamYeoh mentioned that her company frequently has company lunches on Wednesday.
- Because we would like to meet SamYeoh and also her colleagues during PG, we think it will be best if we move our PG to Tuesday (which is also YWA Tues).
- Next week, we have a special guest joining us. She is none other than Ari from Indonesia! We are planning a car trip to SS2 to makan and have a rockin' time!

(4) Passion Conference
- SamYeoh was sharing with us on the awesome God-perience she had in Passion Conference last Sunday!
- She also shared what Pr Mike Giglio was sharing about this girl who hates the world and how she came to know Christ and saw transformation in her life. Her salvation was because her roommate was persistently sowing into her life. This girl had passed away recently but praise God that she is now living with Jesus!

(6) ACTSperiment/ Revo Conference KL
- We are all excited over ACTSperiment and waiting eagerly for Revo Conference!

(7) Subang PG's testimonies
- I was sharing with the PG today on how Subang PG is experiencing God's favour in their workplace with testimonies at work.
- We would like to experience the same thing and in fact, see our colleagues experience God's favour when we pray together with them!

So we ended our PG with powerful prayers for one another and for those who couldn't join us. However, because we didn't have enough of an awesome time together, we decided to spare some time to visit a nearby Salvation Bookstore before we finally parted.

So amazingly blessed by God,
pamchoo D.V.

I paid a visit to the Subang PG. This is one PG known for its humour, warmth and less expensive eating spots! :-) ...which works for many!

It was good to have met Esther, Kai Ling's colleague, who joined us for the 1st time! The rest of the attendees were Jia Wern (PG Coordinator with Kai Ling), Kai Ling, Matthew Chang (visiting) and Shereen (who joined us at the very last minute! :-)

Kai Ling share of her job testimony. But this testimony also came with a prayer request; to see a completion of the testimony (in terms of leave, etc). I had the privilege to pray for different needs represented around the table (healing, family situatio, stress). Jian wern also prayed for me and i was refreshed too! God's presense is real even in a stuffy coffeeshop! :-) That's why we believe in meeting up as YWAs wherever we are and allowing His love to refresh His people in the middle of the week!

Keep up the good work Subang PG! Keep up the visitations in SJMC too!

Blessings, Pr Alex

It's our second week since we started our first PG at The Curve and we've already seen growth! Praise God! We had three times the amount we started off and we're believing for more! Lunch was at IKEA Cafe and all had a good time of fellowship. The highlight of lunch was Jess Chia who had problems keeping her food in her mouth! Hehe..

Those who made it for PG were:

1) Jessica Chia

2) Jessica Chan

3) Sharlene ( Jess Chia's colleague)

4) David Gan

5) Nicole Tan

6) Jeff ( Nicole's colleague)

7) Shawn ( Nicole's colleague)

8.) Alex AY

Just when some of us had to leave, Nicole's other colleagues, Ben, (err.. I can't rememeber his name..) and Eleanor joined us and we had a chance to talk to them for awhile before heading back to work. It was a very fruitful meet up and looking forward to tomorrow's lunch!!!

Enjoy the pictures!!!... and check out David Gan's cool shirt below!!

( hmmm.. how come the pic sideways wan... must be some programming issue.. LOL)

PG This week will be at Teh Tarik Place, The Curve at 1230pm!!

Don't forget to invite your colleagues and bring them for lunch this week!!!

AlexAY.. running off!....

HCG is supposed to double every 48-72hrs. On day 14 it was 219, today on day 24 its 1109. Do the math.

I am now home on bed rest and more bloodwork next monday.

- A.G. Lafley, chairman and CEO of Procter & Gamble (PG), which is due to report quarterly earnings tomorrow morning. By driving innovation in age-old brands like Tide and Crest and Olay, P&G has beaten rivals in organic volume growth and profits too.  Gillette Fusion recently became the company's 24th brand with annual sales of more than $1 billion.

Retailers are getting such a strong control over FMCG that in cause is the future of many brands giants. In UK for instance (and many other countries), Tesco, Marks and Spencer and other retailers are having a whole portfolio of products ranging from low priced to premium products, presenting consumers a wide variety of interesting products at the same level of other brands.

Well developed retail stores with only their own brands are leaving no reason to choose others, and new concepts arise on the marketing of these brands and stores, making everything effectively more attractive. The knowledge and connection retailers can have on the consumer is huge.. targeting well which products should be on the shelves and how to market them.

On the side of the consumer, he or she is more rational on this type of shopping, rather than emotional - making some brands more vulnerable. When quality reaches the same point of well known brands, with lower prices or higher added value, their decision changes.

In the future I envision a P&G supermarket. A direct connection with consumers on a physical platform or a effective online shop spurring sales within new channels for this organizations - their own channel.

The cost of implementation could be crucial, the deterioration of relations with retailers would be a major factor, but maybe the cost of today's profit shrinking is a sign change will happen.

: : :

Last Friday we had PG in 2 separate places: Puchong and TPM area!

For Puchong PG, we had it in Strawberry cafe in a last minute change instead of Kiwi Restaurant (For those that tried going there, sorry ya). We had 9 people with during our casual lunch. Johnson and i were there with 7 of our colleagues.

For TPM PG, they had it in Nyonya Food, Sri Petaling with 3 people. Jason Ding, Sharon Tan and Yow Fung were there during that time.

That's all about our PG(s). Next Friday we should be combining together in another awesome place. See u there!

Benny Lim

We'll start off with the good ol' Americans. Please note I'm not saying any of this is overpowered, indeed I believe they're just fine. I'm just listing stuff I have a hard time with.

1.) Massed G43 Panzer Grenadiers in good cover, backed by an Infantry Halftrack, defending a crucial point (high fuel or critical strategic point).

This is tough for a lot of reasons, the main one being you are fighting at a disadvantage. PE has the cover advantage, can reinforce, and can direct the Halftrack fire to suppress shock units like a flamer. They're making you come to them, inflicting heavy casualties before Rifles can get close enough to do the same. Best case scenario, you take heavy losses but force PE to retreat. Normally I would say screw this, go around this obstacle, but in this hypothetical scenario you MUST retake the position (either because it's a high fuel that can't be lost, or a strategic point that chokes all your resources, etc).

2. Multiple Infantry HTs with G43s and later, Panzershreck teams.

Man, is Infantry HT spam annoying. Two usually allows suppression of half your Rifles while G43 PGs focus fire. I usually go grenades first and they help even up this fight, but it's really hard to win without bleeding Rifles, which means constant manpower drain. HTs with panzershreck teams seriously own M8's and even Shermans -- it's ridiculous. The only thing I can think of is to keep your armor together, but there's pretty much no way to save a wounded M8 or Sherman when your opponent is good at micro and determined to chase you long enough to kill those units. Best case, you kill one of the halftracks before it can escape.

3.) Overlapping MG42s with Volksgrenadier support as Pioneers build Bunkers to continue map denial.

Flanking two MG42s is really hard, and again it's your opponent that has the benefit of being able to direct fire without really moving his squads at the same time. Grenades can win this, but if that bunker goes up somewhere important, it's almost certainly time for a WSC. Problem is, while you react to the bunker and take time to counter it, your opponent is soaking in the fuel and teching to all kinds of crazy shit -- Panzer IVs, Ostwinds, etc.

 
4.) Wehrmacht Mortar Team protected by MGs and Grenadiers, killing absolutely EVERYTHING.

The Wehrmacht mortar outranges U.S. mortar and does more damage. Tucked behind MGs, buildings and protective Grenadiers, the Wehrmacht mortar squad is very, very hard to put away for good. The best you can hope for is to temporarily take it out of the picture so you can mount an assault.

I welcome any thoughts on how to handle these threats...

This gathering was a really special gathering.  This gathering is special because:

1) The food was cheap and great. We ate at 'Happy Chef'. We had our plates FULL of food and it only cost us between RM3 and RM4. Our wish is that more restaurants would charge this kind of affordable prices......

2) This gathering so happen to be an all guy meeting. We had Samuel, Alwyn and myself. The ladies couldn't make it this time around. We took this opportunity to talk about issues effecting guys. We had great sharing where we talked about our college days, dating, girlfriends and how to look for the 'right one'. I shared with the group how to look for the 'right one' and not to wait too long for the 'right one' to arrive. We all agreed that God is so good that He gives us choices in life and He give us freedom to choose our life partner. Thus we should be wise in making the decision in choosing our life partner.

We ended the gathering with a prayer for each and everyone of the PG.

Cheers.

Karl

For this PG, we're gonna split/multiply into 2 separate locations today @ 12.30pm.

These are the details below:

Puchong PG: Kiwi Restaurant, Bandar Puteri

TPM PG: Nyonya Food, Sri Petaling

That's it folks, see you there. Let the PG mayhem begin!

Yesterday we have myself, Janet, Rachel, Olives, Khim (the famous five), Yoke May and Maria (our new friend) at our PG at Khush's(izzit the right spelling??) at Century Square. I made a lame joke about being at Century Square or b square but somehow my email did nt get through on Monday. Anyway....how is everyone on this hot and balmy Thursday afternoon?

Prayer items include praying for people with 'sprained body parts', Maria for her ankle and Jeffrey for his finger (hows ur finger now, Jeff?); Khim, for journey mercies for his trip to jakarta next week; myself, for the commencing semester and its ensuing kraziness/choaticness; Janet, for her to be able to cope with work pressures; Yoke May, to have a positive attitude towards her students...........and generally God's blessings upon those of us who cant make it to PG.

So when am i seeing you guys..namely Freddie, Jeff and the Ericsson gang? Do try to join us for a refreshing time of fellowship and 'fei lo'ship (okay, overused term)...Till we meet again next week....welcome back Jijian and have a great weekend, guys!!!!!

cheerios
Zoe Tan

So gung-ho. With so many caught up with work, PJ PG narrowly missed the opportunity to meet up for lunch. But we just couldnt let that happen!! *grin*

Sun Wong Char Chan Teng, Jaya ONE was the place to be for 4 of us:

1. Amanda Tan

2. Joanne (NEW!)

3. Jolene (NEW!)

4. wernlu

Amanda's management trainees had a chance to have lunch with us, and BUT it was no ordinary lunch. It was a blackout PG lunch hahah! We carried a good conversation anyways (in the dark!) as you can see pics above ----->>

(i think there is a novelty restaurant that serves food in the dark. i read somewhere. i think it heightens our ability to taste better.. hehe)

psst... Hey anyone out there working in PJ? We're looking forward to lunch with you next week. You can be sure it will be one unique lunch experience ;) God bless!

signing off, wernlu 

How’s everyone doing in this week? I’m sure God is doing miracles in all YWA’s life and making us shine in the market shine as always, praise the Lord =) I personally have very strong gut feelings that this week PG is going to be very exciting and there are definitely more great testimonies that will be shared by all our dearest brothers and sisters in Christ.

For celebrating such wonderful session, let’s explore a new venue for this week PG. I will suggest we meet at Kim Gary, Avenue K same time from 12:30 PM to 2:30 PM. You are most welcomed to give your opinions and suggestions for the venue. Otherwise, we will see everyone at Kim Gary, Avenue K this coming Friday, 1st August, 12:30 PM. Can’t wait to meet everyone again as I have missed PG session for quite some time due to my tight schedule. Till this Friday, do enjoy many great things that God has set ahead for us. Happy working, cheers… =)

From the Desk of :

Jacelyn Choong