And indeed, my posts on stunning babes hired by Dutch beer brand Bavaria last year and this very post are ranked 3 and 4 among the best read posts ever (see menu at the right), and counting…

Here’s an excerpt:

A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 7,000 times in 2011. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 6 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

Democracy in Europe currently is obviously the biggest obstacle in dealing with one of the biggest crises in history. Europe made impressive steps forward after the Second World War, but is now standing still and moving backwards from an international perspective.

While other more centrally led countries (US, China, Singapore) are either recovering or growing fast, it seems that (mulit-party) democracies are experiencing their biggest test in history. India’s democracy had some challenges along the way as well, but will without any doubt do pretty well in the long term, because of the huge population number.

Does the European crisis mean the end of democracy? I’m not sure, but if European politicians don’t implement changes to their decision making processes along the road, they might be forced to by (future) stakeholder like the US and China.

At this first edition 35 professionals showed up, which made us very happy!

Special guest was Patrick van Hees, member of the C-People Advisory Board, financial marketing guru in the Netherlands and writer of ‘De Geluksprofessor’. Especially for this occasion he flew to HK and brought signed books for all Dutch present at the event.

Next week we’ll come up with a date for the 2nd edition. We expect at least 50 people!

But what’s next? Recently, Facebook launched integrated business network BranchOut in an attempt to get a piece of the pie that LinkedIn is baking really fast. But is it wise to add a business platform to a social network? Do these two go together? Can you shift your positioning just like that? I’m not sure.

Then there is Google+. Can somebody please tell me what the pros and cons of this platform are? For techsavvy persons like my brother it’s probably very clear. But I bet 99% of the people don’t know what Google wants or what the features exactly are. What I do know, is that I get the idea they’re trying to tap into both the social and business networks. (Check out this poll on Campaign Asia about FB vs. Google+. Guess who I voted for?;-)

My point is: social and business networks are still early cycle. With a huge members base as Facebook and Google have, you might think they just launch anything they like and try if it works. But at the same time, you do have a brand that you’re building. You don’t want to confuse visitors. And brands need a lot of attention, especially when markets grow up.

And that’s the phase online networks are in now. The pie has to be shared with more hungry competitors and positioning becomes key. There are so many others around already. I just mentioned the big three, but for the smaller ones it’s at least as important. Branding and marketing will be on top of the list. What’s the competitive edge? How do you distinct yourself? Facebook didn’t need a slogan so far. But they might in two years time from now.

Facebook will probably stand out, because of its ridicilously huge members base. On the other hand, they grew big, because they focussed on social network alone. Will adding a business network confuse their members?

Just look me up on Facebook, Mark. I’m happy to discuss.

I hope it will bring on lots of discussions on challenges, issues, successes and experiences and new networks, so the group can help bringing marketing in Asia to the next level!

In his book, Patrick describes the road to happiness in three steps. The first is to set clear and realistic goals for yourself. Goals get you started and keep you going. There’s always this perspective you’re dedicated to. Next to this, you have to build true relationships with people, instead of just having superficial contacts. Last but not least, one should on a regular basis ‘recharge’. Get new energy from things that you really like to do and not just because it’s fashionable (if you happen to like the hip and happening, that’s fine of course;-): do sports, go to the beach, walk, have a massage, play cards, spend a long night with your girlfriend, anything you like.

Next to being a writer, Patrick is a successfull marketeer and entrepreneur. That’s why I also asked him to become a member of the Advisory Board of my agency C-People. A great honour to me that he was delighted to do so, but of course a great honour to him as well;-)

Buy the book here.

Campaign Asia conducted the yearly survey together with TNS. Check out the full ranking here (subscription needed).