CHOW Wei Ming

I'm pleased to announce that I'm now a HRD Corp accredited trainer. After four months of arduous waiting for the opportunity to conduct a trial training, to record, and submit for assessment, I've finally done it. Refer to this previous post - bsky.app/profile/wmch...

Thank you Selina Chong for purchasing a copy each of #TEWS and #BrandID. May the content in both the books prove useful, and help to expand your business and personal lives.

Breve Latte: The Not-So-Common Latte - Espoletta Breve Latte, an exotic version of the regular Caffè Latte, as served in JDV Vivo Coffee & Comfort Dining. Smoother, richer and creamier.

𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐀 𝐂𝐚𝐟𝐟è 𝐋𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞, 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐀 𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐋𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞

This isn't just an ordinary caffè latte, but a breve latte. And what's the difference, I hear you ask?... The secret is what's inside that makes the breve latte a whole lot creamier than any ordinary caffè latte... espoletta.com/2025/06/09/b...

Selfie of Dr Tan Jin Kit and myself, holding a copy of Brand ID.

Thank you Dr Tan Jin Kit, Chief Medical Officer of IHT Rehabilitation Centre (Selangor), for purchasing a copy of Brand ID. I hope the book will serve you well in all your future undertakings.

Kento Cafe: Authentic Peranakan Asam Seafood - Espoletta I tried Kento Cafe's Asam Seafood and Yam Shaved Ice dessert. Are they authentic enough to live up to their Peranakan cuisine heritage?

It's been a long time since we last shared an F&B story. Strangely finding that authentic Peranakan cuisine at a restaurant that doesn't even 𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 the word "Peranakan" anywhere in their publicity materials... Take a read, you might just find it fascinating.

espoletta.com/2025/05/05/k...

Field Watch Vibes?... Dressing The Timex Expedition - Espoletta Whether field watch or field-style watch, here's how to pair them with classic menswear. Timex Expedition is a series of affordable watches.

The best watch to wear when you're out in the field? Well, it's none other than the field watch. A clean dial, easy to read three-hander with Arabic numerals, lots of lume to tell the time in the dark, and 100m water resistance.

Or in this case, a field-style watch.

espoletta.com/2025/04/07/f...

Baristas working the espresso machine, behind the counter of a café. Image by 🇻🇳🇻🇳Nguyễn Tiến Thịnh 🇻🇳🇻🇳: https://www.pexels.com/photo/coffee-shop-barista-preparing-espresso-drink-31228830/

Free Employer Brand Tips 25-05 : Treat Employees Like Customers

Most employers don't realise this, but you attract and retain customers in the same way as you attract and retain employees. Happy employees will evangelise your brand, and in turn attract even more happy customers.

Venn diagram, showing advertising as a subset of branding.

Free Corporate Brand Tips 25-09 - Advertising Is Subset To Branding

Ever wondered why branding is lumped together with advertising services? Especially when advertising is dependent on brand direction, and not the other way around? Perhaps it's time to look at them as where they actually are.

☝🏽🙄 Image by ibrandfy of Freepik... Damn autocorrect...

An anonymous graphic of a generic male, with the face covered with a Post-It, and a question mark on it.

Front cover of the book Brand ID - You Have One, Whether You Like It Or Hate It.

Free Personal Brand Tips 25-09 : What Is Personal Brand?

A personal brand is essentially the qualities that person is projecting. Personal brand can be distilled down to just adjectives that best describes how others see the person.

Image by brandy of Freepik
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Little girl at her lemonade stand, with a young boy customers, on his skateboard.

Free Corporate Brand Tips 25-08 : Branded Vs Commodity

Little Susie's Lemonade Stand?... Or a commodity lemonade? Without a brand, there's no basis to compare you against your competitor.

Brand ID, Chapter 1.4, page 12
espoletta.com/books-publis...

Image by Freepik
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Close-up of a loose wearing, blue-grey regimental striped tie, against a solid blue shirt.

Free Personal Brand Tips 25-08 : Still Wearing A Tie?

It's the post-pandemic age, and people literally wear pyjamas to work. Do you still wear a tie to work? Well, people who still wear a tie do so because they 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 to, not because they 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 to.

Image by Hans of Pixabay
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Rainbow background for SEO text.

Free Corporate Brand Tips 25-07 : SEO, Magic Bullet Or Meaningless Buzzword?

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), an oft-used term to wow clients. Is it a magic bullet to land your website on the front page? Or a meaningless buzzword to confuse unsuspecting clients to say yes to their service?

Steve Jobs speaking at WWDC 2007.

Free Personal Brand Tips 25-07 : Dress Casual Like Steve Jobs

If you're established and successful, you too can pull off casual wear like Steve Jobs. But if you're not, what you wear for work, or to meet people, still matters.

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Screen capture of a search result page on Google.

Free Corporate Brand Tips 25-06 - Push Marketing Vs Pull Marketing

Don't waste time, effort, or money, to advertise and establish your relevance with your audience. Instead, sprinkle cyberspace with potential search results, and let them seek you out.

The harder you push, the faster they'll run.

Ladies' Watch: A Real Thing, Or Just Marketing Hype? - Espoletta Is ladies' watch a real thing, or simply a marketing hype to help manufacturers sell more watches? Frédérique Constant and Orient examples.

Are "ladies' watch" a real thing, and something that's completely different from the traditionally male oriented horology market?... Or, are they simply splitting hair on what's essentially unisex models, to double their market share?...

espoletta.com/2025/03/10/l...

Graphic of a white sheet ghost between some shrubs.

Free Employer Brand Tips 25-04

Nobody likes to be ghosted, especially in professional interactions. If candidates can take the trouble to personally reach out to you, then the "𝐎𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐝" phrase won't do.

Image by Betidraws of Pixabay
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Free Personal Brand Tips 25-06 : Etiquette Vs Manners

Etiquette is a set of socially accepted guideline in any given situation, e.g. business, dining, corporate, social, etc. Manners is how we make others in our company feel about ourselves. Our target is the middle, where etiquette meets manners.

Finally... One week after completing the TTT workshop (and more than a decade after I dipped my toes into corporate training), I'm finally HRD Corp certified as a trainer. Refer to this post I shared earlier.
bsky.app/profile/wmch...

Next step is to get my accreditation done. Wish me luck. 😁

Stereotypical dress watch, with Roman numerals for hour markers, worn on the wrist, partially hidden by a white shirt sleeve, underneath a black jacket sleeve.

Free Personal Brand Tips 25-05 : Wear A Watch

A watch on the wrist serves more than just telling you the time. It's the one accessory that men can wear without calling unfavourable attention to himself. But more importantly, it also serves to indicate the wearer's relationship to time itself.

Close up of a human eye.

Free Corporate Brand Tips 25-05 : Make It Visually Attractive

Humans are visual beings. If you can't attract your audience visually, then it's very difficult to attract them by sound or smell, and next to impossible by touch or taste.

Image by LhcCoutinho of Pixabay
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Me, standing right next to the bunting, showing HRDCorp Train The Trainer programme.

It's been more than a decade since I dipped my toes into Corporate Training. It's way overdue for me to finally get certified.

Luxury Digital Watch?... Is There Even Such A Thing? - Espoletta How to pair an all steel GMW-B5000-1 to classic menswear outfit. Also, is this G-Shock a luxury digital watch as interpreted by Casio?

Most of us probably wore digital watches growing up. It's great for school, where we seek to differentiate ourselves from our peers. But in adult life, where we have to observe working dress code, it's not easy anymore. Not even the expensive "luxury" digital watches.
espoletta.com/2025/02/10/l...

Man in business suit, pointing to the viewer (indicating to "you").

Free Employer Brand Tips 25-03 : Grooming Leaders

Leaders are both born and made, but nothing makes a better leader than appointing somebody as one, and giving them opportunity to lead. The more leaders you have, the more attractive you are.

Image by Lukas of Pexels
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Free Corporate Brand Tips 25-04 : Push Marketing Vs Pull Marketing

If you sell something to a customer, it's essentially worthless to him/her. But if he/she decides to buy something from you, then it's invaluable to him/her.

Image from Clipart Library clipart-library.com/clipart/2161...

Navy blazer, contrast collar shirt, blue/green regimental stripe tie.

A cutaway, contrast collar, especially one with wide tie space, simply begs to be worn with a Windsor knot.

A well-dressed man holding up a card that says "I'm good, Hire me".

Free Personal Brand Tips 25-04 : Convincing Others That You're Good

You know you're good at what you do. But convincing others of your worth isn't easy, especially if your appearance isn't consistent with competence. It isn't fair, but there's no 2nd chance to a 1st impression.

Image by Pixabay

Sample palette for corporate colours consideration, showing the relative area space used in the overall available canvas space.

Free Corporate Brand Tips 25-03 : Corporate Colours

When designing your visual identity, don't ignore the colours used. This is a sample palette (choose your own colours), with their relative areas on the available canvas. Maximum of two bases and highlights only. Make sure there's enough contrast.

Navy blazer, micro stripped shirt, mini orange/yellow argyle tie, solid gold pocket square in square fold.

Was trying for a Half-Windsor knot, but the collar was too short, and the tie was too thick (thick, not wide). Ended up with four-in-hand instead.

Well, we won't have to start worrying, until it snows where I live... in the tropics... 😂