AI (Artificial Intelligence) is a powerful tool in the creation and optimization of branding and marketing strategies.

Branding is to create and maintain a mental space in the mind of target buyers through its leadership in a product or service category or sub-category.

Traders and investors know very well how tough it is for precise, accurate and timely financial management projections, except those who boast - often falsely - about their flawless track records! Real-world economics seldom behaves what economics textbooks are depicting. There isn't any ceteris paribus (other things being constant) condition to the multifaceted reality of "Everything Everywhere All at Once!"

Strategy reigns supreme. In "The Dark Forest," the second book of Liu Cixin's acclaimed "Remembrance of Earth's Past" trilogy, humanity must devise a response to an impending attack by a vastly superior alien civilization set to occur just over 400 years in the future. Despite Earth being monitored by a subatomic computer from the invading force, this device is unable to decipher human thoughts. Consequently, the United Nations appoints four individuals, known as Wallfacers, to devise plans to save Earth.

Is an "Exit in a Financial Position" considering a success or a failure in financial management? It depends on one's objective. There are thousands of reasons to liquidate a position in an asset or a business.

Branding is about mental and physical availability through which options are retrieved by buyers to make a purchase decision. Branding certainty affects our buying decisions.

As people are spending more time on-line talking to friends, finding new information, playing games, having funs and watching videos, businesses are moving in the digital spaces through social media, websites, search engines, influencers and virtual reality for branding and pushing sales. 

Many products - bags, jewelry, watches, hotels, condos... try very hard to brand themselves as "luxurious" so that they may command top prices and maximum attention.

What is success? It is where you have achieved your goals. Hence a success formula will embrace the principles that will get you to where you endeavor to be.

In my earlier bloc "Interpreting the Facts: Critical to Financial Management", I said that "Financial management objectives are achieved when a businessman applies the relevant facts to his situations... Facts, however, may not be the truth." If we are not able to get the facts right, we are doom to fail, 

We think we are effective communicators such that we know what we are supposed to do and that our team all fall into place with one accord. How many times would we realize that we are very wrong. The link between action and ideas, the process driven by our KPIs that would result in profitability, our emotional glue with co-workers, clients and business partners are at stake if we fail in communicating - encoding and decoding the meanings correctly across to our counterparties.

Branding has become even more critical to financial management decision-making in the age of disruptive technological change. When we buy a top-end mobile phone, branding rather than technology, appears to be the critical factor for us to make the purchase decision.

Financial management will never "Bai lan (摆烂)" or "let it rot". Bai lan has been a meme amongst the Chinese youths as they are unwilling to make any effort to resolve current issues for they believe they will not succeed however they try hard.

Failure is the mother of success! How many of you really believe it? We are given many examples how great people have left legacy of audacity for humankind against all odds. How about many of us who have tried our best yet fail?

During a crisis, certain business sectors will have been severely affected. While no business can be totally shielded off from a sudden incident, some are more prepared than others in handling the crisis.

Experiences and track records are critical for a company in making smart business and financial management decisions. Indeed, financial forecasts are based not only on the best assumptions of the core business development and the financial data projected in the future, it is also a continuation of the past performances, except when it intends to abandon all its current and past businesses for a completely new line of business.

Financial Management objectives are achieved when a businessman applies the relevant facts to his situations. Very often when we credit a businessman of his acumen, we are actually praising him for his right extraction of the facts into somethings he can exploit to achieve his financial management objectives.

Financial forecast is good and critical to prosper an organization, yet very few SMEs have done any budgeting nor financial projections in their decision-making processes.

In making financial management and business decisions, momentum has cast a much bigger shadow than business owners would have ever imagined. Business owners would prefer seeing their sale/profit numbers higher and higher than having sustainable success in their business.

While it is "common-sense" to say that we should integrate our business with our passion, I wonder how many of us have applied this concept seriously in business and in career.

Many of us fail to make common-sense business decisions. I recently came across a book "Uncommon Sense" by Mark Homer, a property investor who has bought over 350 properties since 2003. The book was said to be the guide to unique, little-known and misunderstood strategies for profiting by going against the tide.

"Uncommon Sense" investing appears to be common sense for many investors except not many have acted upon good investing principles constantly and consistently.  Mark Homer in his book "Uncommon Sense" stated his investment is guided by the following 5 points and I have added the last point which is implied in his book:

In business, there are constant challenges for our "cheese" may be moved or even stolen by our bigger competitors, ex-employees, overseas dealers, e-commerce merchants and the next-door Ah Bengs. Covid-19 has accelerated these stresses and makes business transformation a matter of survival.

"Who moved my cheese?", a book written by Dr Spenser Johnson 2 decades ago has sold 26 million copies in 37 languages and remains one of the most popular business books since. In the book, it talks about 2 mice and 2 littlepeople and their responses to changes symbolized by the supply of cheese gradually moved away from the stations they have frequented. When the supply of cheese dwindles, some will work hard looking for other sources of supplies, while others may just sit still and angrily putting the blame on the system or even fate.