Ray Mears on the Alan Titchmarsh Show (ITV1 20 October 2009) This was the very first time that I have seen Ray Mears on TV even though I have noticed his name on several TV programmes. He impressed me with his views which I am sharing on this blog. Ray Mears is an authority on [...]
Ray Mears on the Alan Titchmarsh Show (ITV1 20 October 2009)
This was the very first time that I have seen Ray Mears on TV even though I have noticed his name on several TV programmes. He impressed me with his views which I am sharing on this blog. Ray Mears is an authority on Bushcraft and Survival.
1. He was taught judo in School by Kingsley who was a Chindit (British guerrillas in the Burma campaign 1939-1945 war). Kingsley taught him –”You don’t need equipment, you need knowledge to survive in the wild”, In other words, the important part is developing the skill of the person, in modern parlance – personal development. In the commercial pressures of the world today, equipment manufacturers and retailers give the impression that it is the equipment that matter more.
Comment: I would like to narrate an experience in fishing that we had in Florida. My wife Helen was brought up in a small town by the river. She had spent much of her childhood fishing and understanding the behaviour of fish.
We had noticed that the bridges were lined with men using lavish fishing gear. Having a free day, we prepared to go fishing but she just bought a hook, line and sinker. She enquired which was most popular bait and then prepared her own bait from the soil (worms). She chose a spot on the bridge where the fish would more likely to congregate at that time of the day and started.
She appeared to be the only person who was actually catching any fish. Word got round the bridge and they were amazed with the simplicity of our equipment “Gee, they are catching fish, only using a line!” It was my impression with the people on the bridge, the more sophisticated the gear, the better the chance of getting the fish.
At the end of the day, we re-collected the event. She attributed her success to understanding the behaviour of the fish. She had not only chosen a spot more likely to have fish, she used worms whereas the others were using squid. The fish could easily identify the squid but were curious with the worm as bait.
The point is – Helen’s skill was the understanding the behaviour of fish. This was the reason for her success even though her equipment was basic, It is the person that matters; the equipment is secondary. Finally, she presented the fish with something different, worms. They bit it.
2. Ray commented that the leadership skills in the UK can be improved. People are not thinking the consequences of their decisions through, they are just making decisions because they believe it is leadership. He suggested that, going on survival training is one of the best ways to learn about leadership. You bear the consequences of your decisions that you made earlier on.
Comment: After this economic downturn, we are going to see many changes and this includes the style of leadership. Currently, there is the expectation of instant results but this will change. I will be discussing this in future blogs or in talks.
Dr Michael Oon
Understanding the mindset can be an extremely useful tool. You can very quickly understand your own or the other person’s viewpoint. Therefore, you can respond appropriately and correctly. I have just come across an e-commerce web site selling the same natural therapy products for 2 different markets – humans (mainstream) and the horses (equine). The [...]
Understanding the mindset can be an extremely useful tool. You can very quickly understand your own or the other person’s viewpoint. Therefore, you can respond appropriately and correctly.
I have just come across an e-commerce web site selling the same natural therapy products for 2 different markets – humans (mainstream) and the horses (equine). The products and the pricing were the same but there were slight differences in the labelling. It was the owner’s proposition to offer good value to the equine market by bringing in mainstream products.
I was mildly surprised with the web site as the 2 markets were very different. The equine market is similar to the luxury market where prices can be 5 times that of the mainstream market.
Therefore, I decided to do an analysis of the business model by looking at the mindset of the customer of the 2 markets (mainstream and equine).
Mindset is defined as the attitude of the mind, in this case, the attitude of mind of the customer. Once the vendor (in this case retailer) understands the mindset of his prospective customers, he can then tune his marketing strategy to the relevant customer mindset.
The mindset of the mainstream customer for natural remedies – price sensitive market with focus is on value and familiarity (branding). Which is appropriate for this website.
The mindset of the customer in the equine market – price insensitive with focus on packaging. It is highly likely the customer is indulging her horse.
Recommendation: Create 2 different web sites, each focussed on their respective market with a different pricing structure. A well presented and informative web site for the equine market on the use and benefits of natural therapies for horses would be appropriate. I would suggest packaging the products in gift boxes with elaborate product notes including instructions.
Dr Michael Oon
