Advertising + Marketing MY - Dec 2015 by Marketing Magazine Group

advertising + marketing malaysia

DECEMBER

2015

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ED’S LETTER ................................................................................................................................................................................................................

IT HAS TO BE INTERACTIVE … THEN AGAIN, MAYBE NOT Rezwana Manjur, Deputy Editor rezwanam@marketing-interactive.com Noreen Ismail, Journalist noreeni@marketing-interactive.com Editorial – International Matt Eaton, Editor (Hong Kong) matte@marketing-interactive.com Production and Design Shahrom Kamarulzaman, Regional Art Director shahrom@lighthousemedia.com.sg Fauzie Rasid, Senior Designer fauzier@lighthousemedia.com.sg Advertising Sales Johnathan Tiang, Sales Manager johnathant@marketing-interactive.com Ee Kai Li, Account Manager kailie@marketing-interactive.com Grace Goh, Account Manager graceg@marketing-interactive.com Ong Yi Xuan, Advertising Sales Coordinator yixuano@marketing-interactive.com Advertising Sales - International Sara Wan, Senior Sales Manager (Hong Kong) saraw@marketing-interactive.com Events Yeo Wei Qi, Regional Head of Events Services weiqi@marketing-interactive.com Circulation Executive Deborah Quek, Circulations Executive deborahq@marketing-interactive.com Finance Evelyn Wong, Regional Finance Director evelynw@lighthousemedia.com.sg Management Søren Beaulieu, Publisher sorenb@marketing-interactive.com

You get to hear this a lot from marketers, especially when it comes to traditional media, that they have to become interactive. Marketers go on and on about how far interactivity can take those conversations you’d wanted to have with consumers, and how great it is to be able to carry it online from offline. All that is great by the way, but I’m just not sure if we are missing out something vital in this rat race to make everything interactive. Growing up, here’s what ads meant to me – they were stories, packaged beautifully within a few minutes and invariably ending on a note that either tugged at my heartstrings, or tickled a funny bone, or left me with a warm fuzzy feeling. Nothing more, nothing less. I still remember characters from those ads. (Heck, I wanted to become like some of them, but that’s another discussion). That girl who comes home after completing her PhD, only to find her grandma waiting for her as always; those short dialogues between them, the eye contact, and in the end, grandma handing her a soap or hair oil which the girl has used growing up, asking her to continue using it as it’s good for her – now that’s one plug I didn’t mind at all. Or, that five-year-old who is so upset with his strict parents that he leaves his home, only to come back after hearing that mum has cooked his favourite dessert. The voice over then introduces the healthier oil in which the dessert was cooked. Simple. I still remember the brand (and ended up using it as well).

There are so many more that come to mind and I revel in delight. As a colleague rightly put it, ads are like art. If tastefully done, they need no explanation and linger in your mind for a long time. All this makes me wonder, if brands now are a bit too “kan-chiong” to trust creativity and messaging. The realities of business are different, many may argue. Granted. Besides being subtle and letting creativity take charge would require enormous amount of guts too. Striking a balance between the new and the old is a tall order and the pressure on businesses to perform is real. The means, therefore, are in accord with the end. But as a consumer, I will continue to feel about advertising what most ads today are not – a piece of art, a gentle nudge, a subtle reminder, a pleasant story. Enjoy the edition.

Photography: Stefanus Elliot Lee – www.elliotly.com; Makeup & Hair: Michmakeover using Make Up For Ever & hair using Sebastian Professional – www.michmakeover.com

Editorial Rayana Pandey, Editor rayanap@marketing-interactive.com

Tony Kelly, Editorial Director tk@marketing-interactive.com Justin Randles, Group Managing Director jr@marketing-interactive.com

Advertising + Marketing Malaysia is published 6 times per year by Lighthouse Independent Media Pte Ltd PP 16093/12/2011 (026708). Printed in Malaysia on CTP process by Percetakan Skyline Sdn Bhd No. 35 & 37 Jalan 12/32B, TSI Business Industrial Park, Batu 61/2 Off Jalan Kepong, 52100 Kuala Lumpur Tel: 03-6257 4846. For subscriptions, contact circulations at +65 6423 0329 or email subscriptions@marketing-interactive. com. COPYRIGHT & REPRINTS: All material printed in Advertising + Marketing Malaysia is protected under the copyright act. All rights reserved. No material may be reproduced in part or in whole without the prior written consent of the publisher and copyright holder. Permission may be requested through the Singapore offi ce. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in Advertising + Marketing Malaysia are not necessarily the views of the publisher. Singapore: Lighthouse Independent Media Pte Ltd 100C Pasir Panjang Road, #05-01 See Hoy Chan Hub Singapore 118519 Tel: +65 6423 0329 Fax: +65 6423 0117 Hong Kong: Lighthouse Independent Media Ltd Unit A, 7/F, Wah Kit Commercial Building 302 Des Voeux Road Central, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong Tel: +852 2861 1882 Fax: +852 2861 1336 To subscribe to A+M Malaysia magazine, go to: www.marketing-interactive.com ...............................................................................................................

A MEMBER OF

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Rayana Pandey Editor

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CONTENTS

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4 10 12 20 28 32 39 44 50 Grabbing the consumer’s attention today really is a challenge. With media fragmentation at an all-time high, and attention spans at a deﬁcit, marketers are often left grappling with their budgets and are torn as to how to allocate their spends. In this edition, we’ve created a comprehensive list of the top players in the media scene and what makes them a cut above the rest.

A MONTH IN NEWS MEDIA OF THE YEAR OUT-OF-HOME MEDIA OF THE YEAR TV BROADCASTER OF THE YEAR RADIO BROADCASTER OF THE YEAR NEWSPAPER OF THE YEAR MAGAZINE OF THE YEAR DIGITAL MEDIA OF THE YEAR MARKETING EXCELLENCE AWARDS A total of 103 trophies were awarded during A+M’s annual awards night celebrating the best of Malaysia’s marketing landscape. A recap of all that went on during the night.

58 MARKETING EFFECTIVENESS FORUM How can businesses use behavioural insights to their advantage? Rayana Pandey writes.

60 CONTENT 360 The inaugural edition of Content 360 saw 120 senior marketers and industry professionals discuss the evolution of content marketing. Here are the key discussions that took place at the conference.

28 20 SCAN TO SUBSCRIBE!

32 39 What you’ll learn in this issue: >> Malaysia’s top media owners.

>> How to get your email marketing right. >> Issues around content marketing. W W W .MA R KET ING - INT ERAC TIVE . COM

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NEWS

WANT MORE BREAKING NEWS? SCAN THE CODE TO FIND OUT WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE INDUSTRY.

Digimind smartens up Global social intelligence company Digimind has launched a new interface for its competitive intelligence software, Digimind Intelligence. The aim of the competitive intelligence teams is to acquire an exclusive and complete vision of what is happening around their company, their industry, and across society as a whole. Digimind listened to the changing market by integrating Digimind Social with Digimind Intelligence to make it the most powerful competitive intelligence software on the market. Recipe with a cause Omnicom Media Group Malaysia and book store MPH collaborated to create a book called OMG Can Cook which it claimed was a recipe book with a cause. OMG Can Cook was co-published in 2013 by Omnicom Media Group Malaysia and MPH. In November, in a combined effort with Media Prima and TGV Cinemas, the OMG Can Cook team donated RM5,000 to the Jinjang Soup Kitchen and helped prepare and serve food to the needy. Looking to the future Pos Ad Group is gearing up to launch its new retail lab – Future Retail. It aims to add ﬁrepower to its strategic planning capabilities, the agency said. Pos Ad Group’s Future Retail lab hopes to represent the retail environment. The lab is meant to encourage an immersive in-store experience for clients and industry players alike.

PHD launches lecture series Media agency PHD Malaysia has partnered with Taylor’s University School of Communication to launch a lecture series on the media industry. Various senior PHD staffers will conduct multi-part lectures to introduce various careers available in the media industry. The range of topics includes insights and research in the media, paid media and how they work in Malaysia, and digital and data-driven marketing.

A bucket of cookies The internet went abuzz with Malaysians applauding student Alphaeus Tan for daring to raise an issue with President Barack Obama that no one else would during his ASEAN youth town hall meeting. The post quickly became viral on social media with many people offering to “give him a cookie”. Oreo Malaysia, hence, decided to give Tan not just a cookie, but a bucket load of cookies. Celcom seeks growth Celcom Axiata is aiming to double its postpaid subscriber base with a big marketing push. The plans were revealed as the company launched the First Blue and First Gold postpaid offerings. Meanwhile, The Edge reported that Celcom would be launching more campaigns and products for the remainder of the year as “competition in the local telecommunications industry heats up”.

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AirAsia gets search partners Starcom Mediavest Group’s (SMG) Malaysia ofﬁce, together with India’s SMG Convonix, won AirAsia Berhad’s search marketing business across 16 markets in Asia Paciﬁc. The markets include Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, China, Hong Kong, Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Australia, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Brunei and India. Giving back to the community PETRONAS, in conjunction with the Festival of Lights, has given back to the community through its annual Sentuhan Kasih PETRONAS, a corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative. It also launched an ad campaign to educate the public on the reasons behind certain Indian customs. The CSR event, ahead of the Deepavali celebrations, was a culmination of various activities involving 300 students from SJK (T) West Country (Timur). A creative pitch PETRONAS has called for a creative pitch. The incumbent on the account is dnaCOMM. The oil and gas company is looking for an agency to manage below-theline creative duties, sources told A+M. The pitch is by invitationonly with several agencies said to be participating, including M&C Saatchi, CD Communications Group, Lowe Malaysia and dnaCOMM, sources said.

Rebranding exercise Retail group Parkson Holdings invested about RM100 million into a rebranding exercise. The brand is aiming to enter new areas, including food and beverage, beauty, and gourmet supermarkets, The Star reported. The group told the publication it aims to have about 100 labels under its brand in the future, with investments well over another RM100 million. Along with the rebrand, Parkson is also launching three additional affordable South Korean labels.

Makkal Osai apologises Tamil news publication Makkal Osai came under ﬁre for putting up an alcohol ad next to pictures of school students doing well in academic courses. The Malaysian paper’s managing director Sunther Subramaniam apologised for the ad and said it was the “carelessness of the editorial team”. The paper also republished the article once again as according to Subramaniam, the students “deserve better coverage than to share their glory and hard work with the wrong advertisements”.

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NEWS

WANT MORE BREAKING NEWS? SCAN THE CODE TO FIND OUT WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE INDUSTRY.

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NEWS

Reinvigorating the ad industry The Association of Accredited Advertising Agents (4As) partnered with the UK-based Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) to introduce the IPA foundation certiﬁcate in Malaysia. The areas covered in the certiﬁcate include advertising and communications in context, understanding the client’s business, strategic planner’s toolkit, understanding media channels and media planning, creativity and creative development. Dato’ Johnny Mun, 4As president, said there was a need to provide a support system, training and counsel to young talents.

Gamuda picks PR partner Gamuda Berhad, Malaysia’s infrastructure and property developer, appointed Asia PR Werkz to handle its public and media relations matters in Singapore following a closeddoor pitch. The agency will be working on a retainer basis to provide strategic counsel work for Gamuda, and will be responsible for all local media outreach on behalf of the infrastructure giant. The agency will also work on strategy development for Gamuda for the region. Cineplexes acquired Mm2 Asia completed the acquisition of the Cathay Cineplexes Sdn Bhd business operations at two locations in Malaysia for RM40 million (SG$13.8 million). The acquisition was done through the company’s wholly owned subsidiary, mm2 Screen Management Sdn Bhd. The acquisition came shortly after the group signed a binding term sheet with Mega Cinemas Management Sdn Bhd to acquire cinemas at three locations in Malaysia.

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A music collaboration In an effort to target Millennials’ regular entertainment routines, Mondelēz International and media agency Carat created a regional music collaboration featuring favourite local music stars from Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. The content was launched on YouTube and in its ﬁrst two weeks gained more than two million views. The music video was targeted at Millennials and complements the wider “Wonderﬁlled” campaign, which launched across Southeast Asia earlier this year.

Saying no to corruption AIA Public Takaful, AIA Bhd and AIA Pension and Asset Management (APAM) signed the corporate integrity pledge, declaring their stand against corrupt practices. It is a document that allows a company to make a commitment to uphold the anti-corruption principles for corporations in Malaysia.

Nestlé’s halal forum Nestlé Malaysia held its inaugural halal forum, emphasising the strong prospects of Malaysia as a leader in the global halal industry. The conference was themed: “Malaysia, the halal centre of excellence: a ﬂourishing global market.” Dato’ Seri Jamil Bidin, chief executive ofﬁcer of the Halal Industry Development Corporation, and a keynote speaker, said the global Halal market was currently thriving with huge potential and untapped opportunities.

Outdoor expansion OOH company JCDecaux Singapore has launched a new digital advertising network at ION Orchard. Following the successful launch of the “Digital Fashion Network” in July, JCDecaux unveiled a new network of 80inch digital screens in the mall, packaged as the “Premium ION Link Digital Network”. Located at key touch-points along the busiest linkways of Orchard Road, the new network consists of nine screens and several new advertisers.

Print acquisition Highend Media, publisher of international luxury magazine Billionaire and digital publication Billionaire.com, acquired Crown magazine from Smart Media. Covering middle to high-end luxury watch marques, the two-year-old magazine aims to be a resource for budding watch lovers and horological enthusiasts. With this acquisition, Highend Media hopes to build on its vision of championing the merits of authentic luxury and craftsmanship. Honest funding Honestbee, a grocery concierge and delivery service company based in Singapore, raised the ﬁrst round of funding of US$15 million. Honestbee expanded its team to almost 100 people in just eight months, and continues to aggressively scout the best talent in the world. Honestbee expects to be in at least six other Tier 1 cities by June 2016. Participants in this round were led by technology investment ﬁrm Formation 8.

Orange Clove selects Section Catering service company Orange Clove appointed digital agency Section to handle its digital account. The agency will help the company launch its ﬁrst digital brand campaign to engage and create meaningful conversations and connections with its customers. Digital executions were rolled out in early November across the company’s social media pages such as YouTube and other relevant digital channels. The win covers the Singapore market only.

Inspiring an inner sparkle Fraser and Neave and GOVT Singapore created an integrated campaign to promote its latest product offering, Ice Mountain Sparkling Water. The team created an interactive Kinect-powered screen that turned people into a mass of bubbles. A custombuilt bubbling water bar was also displayed around town to push the message of “sparkle from within”. Launched on 15 October 2015, it will run until the end of the year.

LEGO settles media pitch LEGO appointed Carat Asia Paciﬁc as its media agency for the regional market. Sources close to the pitch indicated Carat and Starcom were the last two agencies battling it out in the ﬁnal round. Called in July, the pitch covered markets such as Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Taiwan, Marketing understands. Before the appointment, LEGO did not have one consolidated media agency for the region.

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NEWS

An essential acquisition WPP’s media investment arm GroupM made one of its more signiﬁcant acquisitions, taking a majority stake in Essence Digital. Essence Digital, a key Google partner, also ranks as the world’s largest independent buyer of digital media. Under the acquisition, the company will continue to operate as an independent brand, but with access to GroupM’s global reach and infrastructure. The agency will compete for businesses independently, but will also collaborate with GroupM on speciﬁc assignments.

Alibaba to acquire Youku Alibaba, long associated with e-commerce, is set to make a big entertainment investment by acquiring Chinese online video giant Youku Tudou for about US$3.7 billion. Alibaba held 18.3% of Youku Tudou, but offered to buy out the remaining 81.7% of Youku Tudou for US$26.60 a share. Youku Tudou, popularly known as China’s YouTube, will give Alibaba access to more than half a billion online video users. Heart Media adds to its stable Luxury publisher Heart Media acquired Luxuo.com to engage a new wave of affluent readers and luxury brands in the digital space. Luxuo.com launched in 2007 in Hong Kong and has grown to become one of Asia’s largest luxury portals with a focus on affluent audiences. Heart Media’s stable of luxury titles include WOW, Men’s Folio and L’officiel Singapore.

HOW MUCH DOES THAT COST?

AXA DISPENSES PROTECTIVE PRODUCTS

AXA Singapore launched a new wave of its “Born to Protect” global campaign in Singapore riding on its successful launch last year in October. Aimed at providing protection against everyday concerns, AXA was looking to reach out to Singaporeans from all walks of life. To make protection fun and

accessible, AXA transformed four bus stops posters in high traffic areas into mega-sized capsule dispensers containing free items such as band aids, mosquito patches, medicated oil and cough drops. The out-of-home media cost specifically for the capsule dispensers was estimated to be SG$200,000.

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Wooing the Chinese Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has ramped up efforts to lure tourists from the Chinese markets. STB launched a suite of digital and mobile services for the Chinese market which allows Chinese visitors to search for Singapore destination offerings, navigate Singapore and share their travel experience. STB has also entered into a memorandum of understanding for the ﬁrst time with online travel services Alitrip and Tuniu, and social review sites Dianping and Mafengwo.

Raising awareness of SMEs MediaCorp participated in a nationwide campaign called 99%SME. The campaign aimed to raise awareness of SMEs in Singapore. As part of the campaign, MediaCorp offered three advertising grants worth SG$100,000 each to the top three SMEs that garnered the most shared promotions and the most “liked” videos. The winning SME can use the $100,000 advertising grant on any of MediaCorp’s media platforms, including the use of its creative services team. Konica appoints PR agency Printing solutions company Konica Minolta appointed Singapore agency Huntington Communications as its PR agency following a pitch. The account covers the Singapore market only and is for one year. Huntington is tasked to provide strategic counselling and media relations for the brand. In addition, the agency will manage and create community initiatives to drive brand differentiation.

New tool for brands Digital agency KRDS launched its “KRDS story analysis tool” (KRDS SAT) to help brands identify the most engaging posts for any given industry. The tool is accessible to all brands and agencies and aims to provide brands with a report that unveils community management efforts being made by other brands on Facebook in real time in Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai and India.

New hotel brand Hospitality group Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts launched a new brand called Dhawa. Dhawa builds upon the group’s reputation for redeﬁning luxury hospitality through innovative thinking, design excellence and sustainable business practices. The hospitality group appointed Jones knowles ritchie (jkr) to create the visual identity and hotel collateral for Dhawa. The agency was appointed following a pitch in September.

More love for SMEs Singtel and Ogilvy & Mather Singapore (O&M) rolled out phase two of the 99%SME movement to spur all consumers to support local small and medium-sized (SME) businesses. Currently SMEs make up 99% of registered companies in Singapore, employ 70% of the workforce and contribute 50% of the nation’s GDP. This phase of the campaign for consumer engagement was launched with a new short ﬁlm – “99%SME” – which aired nationally as well as on YouTube.

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NEWS

Winning awards Y&R Philippines’ “Water Lamp for North Face” was awarded a number of top honours, including Print Innovation of the Year and the Grand Prix at the Tinta Awards, which celebrates excellence in print advertising. The magazine ad for The North Face led with the line: “Exploring at night? Make a lamp using this ad.” Upon wetting a speciﬁc area, electrons began to ﬂow from zinc to copper, both embedded as electrochemical cells within the paper. A plus for retailers GroupM media agency Mindshare launched a retail data unit called Shop+. The unit is dedicated to helping clients leverage real-time data to apply adaptive marketing techniques to in-store and online shopping. Shop+ covers all forms of commerce, from exploring beacons in physical stores to the latest adaptive pricing and promotion technologies being used by online retailers. Narayan Ivaturi will lead the APAC initiative.

Game on for Shangri-La Shangri-La launched a gamiﬁcation site to discount incentives and travel offers at its hotels and resorts in Australia, Fiji and Southeast Asia. Before unlocking the travel deals, users were encouraged to participate in the site’s personality quiz to determine whether they were a thrill seeker, nature lover, art and cultural buff, elite traveller, urban voyager or one who preferred tranquillity – before being recommended with a relevant experience to match their character.

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Tasty partnership Carat entered into a strategic partnership with global snacking powerhouse Mondelēz International and China’s internet service portal Tencent to meet the fast-evolving and growing demands of the Chinese market. Shared resources will include data and research, content and innovation, as well as joint research studies to develop new activation models and methods to engage the Chinese consumers.

Shifting media Johnson & Johnson shifted its global media buying business from OMD to IPG Mediabrands, a move which will see the IPG-owned agency J3 manage the reported US$2.6 billion business. A statement from the pharmaceutical and consumer packaged goods manufacturer said after a comprehensive media review across its consumer, pharmaceutical and medical device businesses, J3 would take on the business in Asia Paciﬁc, Latin America, Europe, Middle East and Africa.

MTV gets creative Viacom’s music channel MTV unveiled MTV Canvas – an interactive online tool that gives the audience freedom to create their own content and engage with the brand. Taking cues from pop culture, fans can make their own visual art with music, backdrops and more, via this newly launched platform co-created with an online tool called To.be. This activation is part of MTV’s rebranding strategy launched earlier this year.

AUDIT WATCH

CROWNING GLORY Highend Media, the publishing house behind international luxury magazine Billionaire and digital publication Billionaire.com, recently acquired Crown magazinee from Smart Media. A quarterly specialist watch periodical, Crown is known for its comprehensive and insightful content. Covering mid to high-end luxury watch marques, the two-yearold magazine aims to be a resource for budding watch lovers and horological enthusiasts. With this acquisition, Highend Media will build on its vision to become “the world’s leading publishing house, offering niche luxury titles for the global affluent, while championing the merits of authentic luxury and craftsmanship”. The enhanced variety of luxury titles allows Highend Media to present a greater scope of offerings

Looking to buy Australian digital advertising group REA Group is looking to acquire 100% of the share capital of Southeast Asian property group iProperty Group Limited. REA Group is a subsidiary of News Corp which owns property sites in Australia, China, US and Europe. The acquisition is valued for a massive sum of AU$751 million. According to several media reports, this is one of the largest acquisitions of an ASEAN start-up. One for the kids Prudence Foundation and Turner Broadcasting have built further on their ﬁve-year partnership with the launch of the Cha-Ching Boomerang Kids’ Card. As a new avenue to reach Thai kids and their families with ﬁnancial literacy education, the Kids’ Card, through various partnerships in Thailand, enables a hands-on experience of Cha-Ching’s core messages about earn, save, spend and donate. The card entitles kids to qualify for unique discounts and retail deals at various establishments.

to readers and business partners across both print and digital platforms. Flagship titles Billionaire and digital publication Billionaire. com will be bolstered by added horological content, a mainstay of the global luxury market, while Crown will look to enhance its presence in regional markets as well as on digital platforms in the coming months. A quarterly publication, Crown is not audited. It is distributed in Singapore and advertisers on board include luxury brands such as Rolex, Harry Winston, A. Lange & Söhne and Van Cleef & Arpels.

Painted beauty Emirates launched two A380 jets wearing special livery in support of United for Wildlife. It is a global collaboration that unites the efforts of the world’s leading wildlife charities in the fight against the illegal wildlife trade. The livery features some of the planet’s wildlife threatened by poaching and the illegal wildlife trade. The airline aims to raise awareness of the illegal wildlife trade and communicate the need for action. Dubai expansion Global location data company BlisMedia has opened an office in Dubai. Its foray into the Middle East follows its office openings in Hong Kong and Australasia earlier this year, and key executive hires across the globe. The Dubai operations will be headed by Puja Pannum.

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NEWS ANALYSIS

SKILLS MARKETERS NEED TO GAIN A SEAT IN THE BOARDROOM A growing recognition of the need for customer-centricity within a business is not currently matched by marketing’s presence in the boardroom. Noreen Ismail writes.

Over and above: Marketers need to go beyond their current skill sets to reach the top.

Marketers must embrace data, technology and finance in order to successfully secure a seat in the boardroom. A growing recognition of the need for customer-centricity within business is not currently matched by marketing’s presence in the boardroom. Only 34 marketing directors sit on the executive board of US Fortune 1,000 companies. Of the FTSE 100 CEOs, only 21% had a marketing background in 2015. Marketers will gain a place on the board, credibility and strategic support from directorlevel peers only if they speak the right language. This is according to new research published by Econsultancy and Oracle Marketing Cloud. The research showed that marketers who have grown through the ranks in digital organisations or been part of the launch teams of successful and rapidly growing start-ups are finding the path to leadership easier than those in more traditional organisations.

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Two of the highest profile board-level marketing executives are Unilever’s Keith Weed and Roisin Donnelly at P&G UK. Both have been largely responsible for creating a strong brand focus in the FMCG sector and allowed many products to transcend commoditisation. The presence of these two executives demonstrates how important the marketing voice has become in the board room. The research, which involved in-depth interviews with a number of leading global marketers in markets across the US, Europe and APAC, revealed the areas marketers need to upskill to gain a place at the top tier of leadership. Here are the top five skills needed for marketers to gain a seat on the board. Communications The single most important skill identified by all the executives interviewed for this report was

the ability to communicate in a vernacular that the board can understand. In the vast majority of cases this means leaving a great deal of what could be termed marketing speak at the door. To resonate with the board, it’s not just about adapting language to be more familiar, less colloquial. Using the language of finance and IT literally isn’t lip-service. Marketers have to be able to distinguish between metrics that are perhaps not financially rigorous, but still allow them to make decisions at team level and those that can be applied directly to the bottom line. The marketer at board level is a split personality. To show credibility and strategic leadership, they need to fit into the mould of their peers at the table. But as advocates of the customer and custodians of creativity in the organisation, they also need to distil the dry facts and figures. The long-term goals along with the

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NEWS ANALYSIS

excitement and enthusiasm through the teams they lead – teams that aren’t just made up of marketers any more – is what will drive brand performance and delight customers.

Marketers no longer have the luxury of claiming, “I’m simply not a numbers person”, but they are still hired for their creative and strategic side.

Knowing the science of marketing As we have already alluded to, it’s not enough to simply speak like a board member. Those figures and measurements being trotted out really do need to add up. There is no point in coming up with woolly indicators that somehow made sense at the time of the team meeting. Telling the CFO that the social media strategy broke the company’s previous “Tweets favourited” record won’t cut it. For many marketers, the need to get to grips with a degree of statistical analysis, modelling and a deep dive into the technological processes that deliver customer information is vital. Borders no longer really exist in terms of e-commerce so while the marketer may nominally be purely US, Europe, APAC or Latin America-based, the fact is an understanding of global markets is also required. The relative technological advancements of each territory are also an issue. The US and Europe are well advanced in using data and digital to drive the growth of the organisation. As a result board level marketers need to be more than au fait with the implications these twin masters have for the business. Australia, it was noted, is following a similar path, but other regions, including China, India, Singapore and even the relatively technologically advanced South Korea, are not using data to support marketing and customer experience strategies at anything like the same level. Assertions around being a data or digital savvy marketer to operate at board level therefore have very different implications dependent on the relative maturity of the market. To succeed at this level, regardless of the levels of market maturity, in terms of technological and information capabilities, it is always advisable for the marketer to adopt a gold standard of understanding. If their market is not yet mature, trends are moving so fast it will be a matter of moments before the market catches up and overtakes capabilities. To be fair, no marketer, however highly placed, has reached the gold standard simply because the market keeps moving.

are continually faced with the common challenge of keeping up with, understanding and managing the data transformation. The digital environment has been a clear boon to marketers wishing to make the leap towards the board. Its inherent measurability and the fact that marketing leads the majority of the sales strategy in this space puts the marketer at the centre of the conversion conversation. Marketers who have cut their teeth in digital may already possess these skills, but those who don’t, need to seek to build teams of data scientists and marketing automation experts who can deliver on this need. The marketer has become quite a difficult profile to fill – needing to be conceptually strong, data inclined, commercial and focused on ROI.

Being data-savvy Since overall businesses – not just e-commerce – is moving more and more towards a dataheavy environment, companies will need digital experts who can help this transition. Marketers

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Ability to encourage team-building Marketers reading through the growing shopping list of skills in this report might be starting to worry the demands on their intellect is rapidly becoming an unsupportable burden. While it is true the marketer at board level is much more the generalist and is expected to a degree to be a Jack or Jill of all trades, there is no expectation they are expected to be the font of all knowledge in every area. Marketers no longer have the luxury of claiming, “I’m simply not a numbers person”, but they are still hired for their creative and strategic side. If marketers are having to develop their data muscles to a degree then perhaps an even more important one to exercise is their peoplebuilding skills. If their place on the board is going to be built on a “people pyramid”, it’s up to the marketer to make sure the foundations of that pyramid are solid. Having diverse experience Gaining experience at board level isn’t about plunging headlong into an advanced accountancy course. The argument is that senior marketers should have more than a working knowledge of business finance regardless. However, it is about gaining as much experience and as broad a range of experience as possible. Halfords’ CEO Jill McDonald took a technical demotion working for another brand earlier in her career by accepting an international role because she understood this would have a positive impact in her later career. There isn’t one path or defined set of

experiences and characteristics that make up the archetypal board marketer. PropertyGuru’s CMO Bjorn Sprengers started out in strategy consulting which he suggests is a good starting point. “You’re trained in the fundamentals of business in analytics and communications, understanding how the dots in the organisation are connected.” Possessing financial acumen To an extent it is all right to delegate the management of data and insight in the company to the technical experts who can build the algorithms and distil results, but when those insights begin to impact the bottom line, it is down to the marketer to be able to translate those impacts into financial information for the business. An understanding of how all the elements under their guardianship – from campaigns to call centre resourcing – translates into the financial health of the business is ultimately the only way to keep credibility on the board. Marketing has always struggled to a degree with justifying its value. But now, with a wealth of metrics, experts and financial ability at today’s marketer’s fingertips this need no longer be the case and yet an echo of the marketer going cap in hand to finance remains. If marketers are to be taken seriously and that cost centre switched to a perceived investment, they have to embolden themselves and talk in financial terms. Andrea Ward, vice-president of marketing at Oracle Marketing Cloud, said: “The value of marketing in driving revenue is undeniable, and as such it’s time marketers solidify their role next to other executive decision-makers to drive business strategies. “The role of today’s CMO is allencompassing. It requires them to be part artist – leading their teams to develop inspiring campaigns; part scientist – analysing and uncovering value from the huge volumes of valuable data they collect; and part politician – building relationships and becoming great communicators.” Jim Clark, research director at Econsultancy, added: “If marketing has been given a seat at the board, it’s because the board values its contribution there. “With the right preparation, marketers at this level have permission to take bigger and bolder steps. Change can be slow and sometimes not in a straight line, but it will happen with the right vision and patience.”

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METHODOLOGY How did we achieve this? The Media of the Year Rankings were derived from questions in Advertising + Marketing Research’s annual Media Spend Benchmarking Survey. Advertising + Marketing Research employed an online questionnaire and surveyed its database of client advertisers and marketing services agency professionals. All answers given by respondents were considered by Advertising+Marketing when ﬁnalising the rankings.

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Quality recipients and respondents More than 750 respondents participated in the Media Spend Benchmarking Survey. Genuine advertising decision-makers and inﬂuencers across key agency-using industries were well represented as were agency professionals from various marketing services. Nearly 96% of client advertiser-side respondents were manager-level decision-makers and above, with 14% from the most senior ranks of client advertisers and another 47% were VPS or director-level marketers. The majority of the respondents from the agency side were CEOs, MDs or GMs (49%), 40% were marketing personnel, while 10% were creative and media personnel. Advertisers from major and local international banks, FMCG companies, property and construction, IT and telecommunication ﬁrms, as well as those from travel and tourism companies participated in the survey. Agency professionals across the marketing services spectrum were also well represented.

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A+M’s annual report looks at the media companies which have won over marketers’ hearts when it comes to launching their latest campaigns to target the Malaysian public. From newspapers, TV, radio, magazines, out-of-home and digital – here are the leaders in the Malaysian media scene.

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Look around you. Chances are most of the ads that grab your attention run on OOH platforms. These gentle giants of advertising have not only proven to be tech-savvy, but also command your attention in the least intrusive way possible. In this report, we take a look at which OOH media owners have most earned the love of marketers in Malaysia.

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OUT-OF-HOME MEDIA OF THE YEAR

BIG TREE OUTDOOR

Taking home the coveted number one spot is Big Tree Outdoor (BTO). BTO strongly believes in providing value to all of its stakeholders through its creative out-ofhome advertising solutions. Its solutions are used by some of Malaysia’s leading brands because of the company’s ability to provide customised solutions that can help clients gain more eyeballs. This customisation sets BTO apart in terms of value creation which is why the company claims it maintains a 44% market share in Malaysia’s OOH advertising. “Media consumption has changed tremendously; creativity today is beyond ‘out of the box’. Competition for eyeballs is immense as the market is crowded more than ever before,” said a spokesperson from the company. In addressing these challenges, BTO has expanded its OOH inventory to provide a more comprehensive nationwide network and concurrently provides solutions that are different and innovative. For example, strategically located in prime locations along Jalan Maarof, Jalan Bangsar, Jalan Bukit Bintang and Jalan Sultan Ismail, the Cubig Digital series has the capability to execute

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animated connectivity across vibrant multi screens with a synchronising effect. The latest addition to BTO’s arsenal is the station naming rights (SNR) programme which it believes is a breakthrough in terms of providing advertisers maximum value to promote their services and to be closer to consumers.

By strategically immersing commuters of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) with creative advertising solutions, the SNR programme enhances the ambiance of the stations and makes the journey more pleasant. Its SNR is available at the Kelana Jaya Line Bangsar and KL Monorail Bukit Bintang stations.

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OUT-OF-HOME MEDIA OF THE YEAR

REDBERRY AIRPORT

Taking second spot is Redberry Airport. It has been a player in the OOH airport scene for 29 years and is one of the most experienced airport advertising concession operators in Malaysia. Being in this business for that many years has given the organisation ample opportunity to work, understand and be familiar with the requirements and aspirations of Malaysia Airports Holdings. Its database of clients ensures it maintains continuity and expands revenue streams.

YTL INFO SCREEN

Taking third spot is YTL Info Screen. YTL Info Screen’s media on the Express Rail Link (ERL) reaches more than one million people who use the service every month. With the opening of klia2 last year, passenger numbers on the ERL have soared. Riding on that growth, YTL expanded its

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Its clients are also receptive to new technology in display mediums that are innovative, interactive and eye-catching. “We hold a monopoly position in airport advertising at KLIA, klia2, Senai

International Airport and Gateway@klia2,” said a spokesperson. Redberry Airport operated and managed a network of advertising concessions for the Carrefour and Tesco chain of hypermarkets in Malaysia from 2002 to 2005. It also handled several night entertainment outlets from 2000 to 2004. Redberry Airport has worked with a myriad clients from both domestic and international bases and across various silos. Mastercard, City Bank, Visa, Great Eastern, Nissan, Acer, Del, Nokia, Samsung, Panasonic, Sharp, Toshiba, Tourism Australia, Hong Kong Tourism Board, Coca-Cola and Singapore Airlines are some of the big international clients who have used Redberry Airport’s services. Locally it has worked with Maybank, AirAsia, Tourism Malaysia, Malaysia Airlines, CIMB Bank, Hong Leong Bank, Digi, Celcom, Maxis, Astro, U Mobile and Proton, among many others.

reach through its new 65-inch LCD portrait screens located on the platforms at KLIA and KL Sentral stations. With more than 7,200 spot exposures a day (216,000 per month) per advertiser, this new media reaches a very valuable demographic.

As well as being one of the leading digital OOH media companies in Malaysia, YTL Info Screen takes pride in being an end-to-end solutions provider in the OOH digital media space. It supplies a range of services from technology solutions and maintenance, proprietary content management solutions and content production, through to sales and marketing to media agencies and clients. Positioned in a prime location along Bukit Bintang, it also markets strategic event space around Bintang Walk for brand activation events. With its OOH media network, it is able to integrate and package airtime and on-ground campaigns at the Lot 10 Shopping Centre and Starhill Gallery. Most recently, the Maybank GO Ahead Challenge 2015 was held around Lot 10 Shopping Centre along Bintang Walk. Dubbed the “Season of Smiles”, 10 beautifully designed booths were set up along Bintang Walk; and YTL Info Screen’s giant cube was used to live stream the entire event drawing the attention of a large numbers of shoppers and vehicle trafﬁc in Bukit Bintang. YTL Info Screen’s client list boasts names such as Honda, Swatch, HSBC, Mastercard, Nestlé, GE, Petrosains, KLCC, Cathy Paciﬁc, Air Asia, Emirates, Maybank, ServisHero and Celcom, among many others.

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OUT-OF-HOME MEDIA OF THE YEAR

BE DIGITAL

Coming in at number four is Be Digital. Be Digital was incorporated in 2001 to spearhead the digital content development division of its parent company Click Grafix. Be Digital currently has two lines of business. The first is the provision of digital media solutions, specifically in providing advanced digital signage solutions and the development of high-quality digital content; and the second is the provision of media space for advertisers through out-ofhome digital media in the form of digital signage networks in F&B and retail locations. Be Digital is recognised for its strength and professional specialisation in 3D animation, visual effects, broadcast multimedia, dynamic digital signage and the development of digital content particularly for training and visual communications. Its digital out-of-home network is built on state-of-the-art technology, based on leading hardware, software and display manufacturers. The technology allows marketers to communicate their message in real-time with their target audience. Comments made in Be Digital’s forum and blog engines are published in real-time on its screens in over 80 restaurants. The company also offers what it calls

POS AD

Taking home ﬁfth spot is Pos Ad. With a much vaunted heritage of 30 years, Pos Ad Media makes it a company mission to spearhead innovation and champion shopper marketing in Malaysia. As the economic landscape becomes more precarious, the battleground is now moving in-store. In this arena, Pos Ad Group is pioneering and trailblazing in-store innovations. In line with Pos Ad Media’s mission, new

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“ambient media” options which are screen wraps, impact walls, posters, take-ones, booths, ground activity along with other customised

options. Clients in its media space include Fireﬂy, Packet One, Maxis, GCH, MAMPU (PM’s Dept), and EMI.

initiatives have been put into play in 2015 and will continue into the new year. These new strategies include its shopper marketing series, innovative mediums that push in-store shopper marketing to the next level such as multi-screen shelf strips, PosBanner screens, chiller handles with LED and sound, a giant radio crew and digital kiosks; as well as the company’s brand new retail lab, meant to immerse marketers in the retail environment. In the past year, some key campaigns have included the DAIA ShelfAttack, where DAIA content was displayed on six interconnected

screens riding on shelves at giant hypermarkets all over the country. Pos Ad Media also worked with Safi to introduce vPosBanners with 7-inch screens in Guardian outlets across Malaysia. Recently, the giant radio crew was activated in Giant Kota Damansara and Giant Batu Caves. 2015 has been a wonderful year for Pos Ad Media, especially with the addition of new clients such as Ajinomoto Tumix, Seri Aji, Aji-Shio, F&N SCM, F&N Evaporated Milk, Ideal, Teapot, Carnation, Safi Shayla, Safi Men, Enchanteur, Tiger Radler and Afy Haniff.

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OUT-OF-HOME MEDIA OF THE YEAR

BRANDAVISION

Taking home sixth position is Brandavision which has kept up with the ever-changing advertising landscape to meet clients’ demands for more dynamic and unique advertising. The OOH media company has also launched a new outdoor LED standee display – Brand@8 along Jalan Bukit Bintang which is AR and live screening-enabled. This new digital medium is in addition to its existing LED screens at Pavilion KL and fahrenheit88. Due to the endless possibilities digital mediums provide for the company, Brandavision has also reached new milestones and carved

REDBERRY RETAIL

This year Redberry Retail takes home seventh spot. The OOH media owner recently named HK Ch’ng as head of its retail arm in Malaysia. The appointment was made in October this year.

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new memories for its advertisers through wedding proposals, exclusive screenings, live screenings, AR and more. It has also brought to life new interesting outdoor ambients such as Nippon Paint’s

campaign at fahrenheit88 which drew in good crowds and aroused the curiosity of consumers. Another new attraction was the "Zurich Love Lock" campaign that featured an outdoor ambient at fahrenheit88, which the company believed was a key attraction along Jalan Bukit Bintang. Static advertising, though facing tough competition, is still a force to be reckoned with. Brandavision continues to innovate by offering highly visible advertising mediums at prominent places all over the mall. Key campaigns that ran on its various platforms in the past year included the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6s campaign, Nippon Paint Blobbies ambient, and Omega, among others. Some of its newly acquired key advertisers include Pandora, Thomas Sabo, Soju Bar, Burberry, Tudor, Maybank, BMW, IWC Schaffhausen, Celcom and Maxis.

Key advertisers include the likes of Vivo, Oppo, Syarikat Takaful Malaysia, Maybank, Astro and PKNS. New advertisers such as Carlist, Kumon, Sunway Lagoon and Manulife have also come on board its network. Redberry Retail predicts 2016 will be a very challenging year for the Malaysia market due to

the economic struggles since the implementation of the GST in April 2015; and the depreciation of MYR against other major currencies. However, this might turn around in the second half of the year. The company also predicts that the majority of advertisers are going to reduce their media budgets or divert their media investments to other alternative channels that will achieve higher ROI. Hence, retail media will need to work harder to suit the clients’ requirements better as its communication is very direct and at point-ofsale (POS). “In order to win the advertisers over to the platforms we are offering, we need to be different than others. Understanding clients/advertisers needs is essential,” Ch’ng said. Tactical campaigns with small budgets would be the best way to support clients and advertisers during this period. Redberry Retail will also be looking at collaboration campaigns between brands and business partners. “Our belief in retail advertising will inspire us to secure two or three new partners in 2016 and to strengthen our position as the largest retail media specialist in Malaysia. We will work towards being the top-of-mind retail media solutions provider for our clients and media agencies,” he added.

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OUT-OF-HOME MEDIA OF THE YEAR

GANAD

Coming in at number eight is Ganad. Ganad is a pioneer in the outdoor advertising industry and the media owner of prime billboard sites across the nation. With a penchant for innovation, it listens to not only what clients want, but also what they need. Ganad has assisted countless organisations to go beyond industry norms and explore exciting

Ganad also recently introduced what it claims is Malaysia’s ﬁrst surface mounted display LED screen, strategically located at the intersection of Jalan Bukit Bintang and Jalan Sultan Ismail. The 40 foot x 80 foot LED screen is set to be the largest of its kind, capable of achieving maximum exposure by capturing the attention of millions of visitors with its vibrant colours and wide viewing angles. With its live stream capabilities, it was utilised during Digi’s rebranding launch earlier this year. Ganad’s impact can be felt overseas as well with its Myanmar, Thai and Cambodia ofﬁces which continue to break new ground in the emerging Southeast Asia market. “Going forward Ganad will continue to dominate the industry with its supreme range of products and services to meet the surging demand for outdoor advertising, and assuring top-notch brand exposure for its clients.”

REDBERRY OUTDOORS

Taking ninth spot is Redberry Outdoors. It has recently expanded its media platform via multiple outdoor acquisitions in the past year. Its latest acquisitions include building wraps, digital boards and school buses located in and around the Klang Valley.

ways to grow their customer base. It sustains a good rapport with clients from the most humble of SMEs to multinational corporations such as Mercedes-Benz, Citroën, Celcom, H&M and many more. “At Ganad, we accentuate a fair culture by ensuring equality in service to anyone who walks through our doors. Our team of experts brings extensive experience in meeting client demands and persistently sets the pace for our competitors,” said a spokesperson.

According to reports on The Malay Mail earlier this year, the agreement seals a two-year deal for Redberry to have sole advertising rights on school buses. The advertising rights to the medium were signed over to Redberry Outdoors by Kuasa Media Sdn Bhd. Kuasa Media obtained the rights from the Federation of School Bus Operators and the agreement also gave school bus operators a chance to make extra money. Red Berry Outdoors has also over the year worked with multiple brands. These brands include the likes of Petronas, Mah Sing, M101, Tourism Indonesia, Faber-Castell and others. According to a statement from a spokesperson in the company, there are several

more projects in the making. Spearheading these acquisitions is Jimmy Quah, head of Redberry Group Operations. With more than 20 years of market experience, Quah is leading the way for innovative outdoor media experiences for advertisers across Malaysia.

Asia Media partners up with strategic bus network partners such as RapidKL, Handal Indah (Causeway Link buses plying into Singapore from Johor Bahru) as well as express coaches from the Plusliner and Nice++ ﬂeets. This helps clients get exposure across the region and across a diverse demographic. Its unique insights allow Asia Media to easily customise campaigns to ensure the greatest

impact on the audience, while having the power to unleash the potential of its highly targeted and effective medium. Its fresh professional thinking, teamed with collaborative working attitudes and industry expertise, ensures an effective successful delivery of its clients’ vision. “Our national presence and passionate team make for a truly unique out-of-home experience,” the network boasts on its website.

ASIA MEDIA

Coming in at number 10 is Asia Media, which is wholly owned by Asia Media Group Berhad, which is a digital out-of-home transit TV company. The media provider offers high-quality infotainment and targeted advertising through the use of digital electronic displays installed in various outdoor premises. Recognised as one of the “largest transit-TV networks” in Malaysia, Asia Media has 3,993 LCD screens installed in 1,800 buses travelling in the market-centric hubs around the areas of Klang Valley and Johor Bahru. Currently, the network communicates to more than 500,000 viewers daily.

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Still commanding the lion’s share in the marketing mix, TV continues to gain favour from client marketers. At the same time, fully aware of the changes brought upon by digital, it is being nimble in adapting nice and fast. Integration with digital and original/new content are the top priorities of any TV broadcaster now. Let’s see which players are getting marketers’ attention when it comes to the latter’s preferred TV partner.

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TV BROADCASTERS OF THE YEAR

1 | BBC

Taking top spot this year is BBC. BBC Worldwide launched a premium factual channel, BBC Earth, in Asia on 3 October 2015. BBC Earth is part of a global strategy created and shaped by research into audience demand. It is BBC Worldwide’s brand for premium factual content with topics spanning natural history and the human world to outer space and science. The channel is now available in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. In August 2015, BBC News opened a new digital newsroom and studio in Singapore. The facilities, the main hub for BBC World News and bbc.com in Asia, bring the BBC’s news, business and digital teams together. On the digital front, BBC launched its ﬁrst fully commercially funded non-English language website BBC.jp. It comprises a Japanese translation of the best content from the BBC’s world-class English language global news and feature site BBC.com. Meanwhile, the BBC.com home page has been optimised for all devices. The use of images on larger devices has also been increased, while offering a streamlined experience for mobile phones where data charges and bandwidth limits can be a concern. Its feature sites – autos, capital, culture, earth, future and travel – were also included in the relaunch, offering a wider breadth of evergreen content. In June 2015, BBC Worldwide launched a new content marketing team, BBC StoryWorks,

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sitting within BBC Advertising. The BBC StoryWorks team, based in Singapore, Sydney, New York and London, will span the

globe offering clients content solutions built on compelling narratives that will engage audiences.

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TV BROADCASTERS OF THE YEAR

2 | FOX INTERNATIONAL CHANNELS Clinching second spot is FOX International Channels (FIC) which has had a great year in terms of growth and expansion. FIC’s key brands FOX, FOX Sports and National Geographic Channel were made available over-the-top in partnership with leading platforms, including Avex in Japan, Tencent and its OTT partners in China, Astro in Malaysia and Cignal in the Philippines. These services range from linear streaming to catchup and others and will offer FIC’s content across all genres. In January this year, FIC announced the consolidation of all its 126 FOX channels outside the United States under a single brand positioning and network package. The FOX Sports network also underwent a rebrand and repositioning exercise in August 2014, with the launch of FOX Sports, FOX Sports 2 and FOX Sports 3, all in HD, and with a strategy of strengthening the brand in Asia, and with a strong commitment to localising content. The new FOX strategy was aimed at reﬂecting the brand’s growing dominance in the international television marketplace. This worldwide rebrand took place in conjunction with the return of FOX’s international hit The Walking Dead. The change kicked

off in February this year. Excluding the US market, FOX entertainment reaches 244 million households in 126 countries and 33 languages. Meanwhile, its National Geographic Channel launched a comprehensive travel feature,

designed for Emirates as part of an integrated marketing campaign, called “Be There”. The travel feature is a series of vignettes about seven Emirates “Globalistas” and is at the centre of the “Be There” campaign.

digital front Turner launched Cartoon Network and Boomerang Watch and Play apps, the Cartoon Network Anything micro network, CollegeHumor Australia and a new Style vertical on CNN.com. From in-depth coverage of breaking news to the US presidential debates, CNN has seen growth on TV and even bigger growth digitally. CNN’s feature programming highlights include the On The Road series which recently spotlighted Singapore to Culinary Journeys, Growing India and Future Cities.

Warner TV recently launched the new fall season with a pan-regional “Villains Are Coming” campaign that included a university school tour in Philippines and an on-ground event in Kuala Lumpur which drew 15,000 fans. Turner also offers an immersive world for fans, and advertisers such as Prudential. Prudential renewed a five-year partnership with Cha-Ching Money Smart Kids which is Asia’s first multi-platform financial literacy programme on Cartoon Network, which was extended locally into Thailand with Boomerang.

3 | TURNER Coming in third is Turner. It has been a tremendous growth year for Turner in APAC with a signiﬁcant increase in portfolio size and depth. Notable highlights included the launches of all Turner channels on Singtel TV Singapore, Toonami in Thailand and India, Oh!K and Boomerang in Malaysia, Warner TV in Taiwan, CNN Philippines, CNN Indonesia and the World Heritage Channel, the network’s ﬁrst factual brand. Boomerang and Warner TV also revealed a fresh new look, while on the

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4 | MEDIA PRIMA TELEVISION NETWORKS Malaysian media platform Media Prima Television Networks (Media Prima) came in fourth this year. According to the network, it commands more than 80% of the Malay TV viewers, alongside widespread digital, social media and on-ground engagement. In late August, it concluded its “Syukur Selalu” brand campaign. The campaign hashtag #SyukurSelalu achieved a total of 10 million Twitter reaches during Ramadan and Hari Raya. Channels TV3 and TV9 maintained their

reputation as the number one and number two TV channels respectively, reaching over 10 million Malay viewers during the Hari Raya season. Both channels dominated over 40.5% of the Ramadan audience’s viewing share on free-to-air and pay TV platforms. In Malaysia, drama remains popular among Malay viewers. TV3 owned the most watched dramas, including Akasia (four million viewers), Zehra (3.1 million viewers) and Samarinda (three million viewers). This year’s drama series Hidayahmu Ramadan earned the number one

prime time Ramadan drama spot with a 43% audience share or three million viewers. Meanwhile, leading the noon time Ramadan slot was Chef Ramadan that consistently reached more than 1.2 million viewers. According to local reports, in August the media conglomerate re-designated Datuk Seri Fateh Iskandar Mohamed Mansor as its chairman. Media Prima also named Fateh Iskandar as its group managing director and chief executive ofﬁcer of Glomac Bhd in a ﬁling to Bursa Malaysia. It also appointed Raja Zaharaton Raja Zainal Abidin as its new independent and non-executive director. She currently sits on the board of Big Tree Outdoor and Primeworks Studios, both wholly owned units of Media Prima.

5 | NBCUNIVERSAL Coming in ﬁfth is NBCUniversal. The broadcaster has increased investments in local productions and added episodes express from the US and the UK. Over the past year, DIVA launched the ﬁrstever Asian version of popular makeover format How Do I Look? Meanwhile, E! increased its local relevance in the Philippines with the new countdown series Top 5 Philippines. Localisation is also a priority in Malaysia, with the E! Music Special: Yuna, a concert follow-up to last year’s highly rated E! News Asia Special: Yuna, and a new season of reality mini-series Facing Up To Fazura.

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Syfy also launched its ﬁrst-ever Asian co-production The Paranormal Zone, which investigates Asia’s spookiest locations In addition to the new seasons of the Emmy Award-nominated series The Good Wife, Brooklyn Nine-Nine and the ﬁnal season of Downton Abbey on DIVA, the company has extended its express programming strategy to E! with the same day as the US telecast of the talk show The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Moreover, the company has extensive collaborations across NBCUniversal’s various business divisions. Some examples include cross-company promotional activities for

Universal Studios Singapore’s Halloween Horror Nights and Universal Pictures’ Fast & Furious 7 launch. In terms of new hires and promotions, the network promoted Charmaine Wong to director of advertising sales and Lena Ng was hired as the manager of advertising sales for Malaysia, while Ruben Lawrence was hired as director of marketing for Asia. Meanwhile, E! News Asia correspondent Erin Lim has also moved to Hollywood to become a correspondent for E! News, working alongside the likes of top E! hosts Jason Kennedy, Terrence Jenkins, Maria Menounos and Catt Sadler.

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TV BROADCASTERS OF THE YEAR

6 | ASTRO Taking sixth spot is Astro. This past year saw Astro providing a greater choice and value to its customers through better content, products, services and experiences across its platforms. This has resulted in a higher customer base of 4.7 million, translating to the Malaysian TV household penetration of 66%, the network said. In October, Astro introduced on demand (OD) entertainment allowing Malaysians to catch the latest titles anytime with Astro’s new OD offering. OD by Astro enables Malaysians to personalise their TV viewing experience – from the content selection to how and when they want to watch their shows. The rich choice of content, including the latest and the biggest box ofﬁce movies and

complete seasons of TV series, is aimed at appealing to a wider audience. According to Astro, its customers are responding well to its new OD offering. In addition, to enhance the experience of viewing on-the-go, a new download feature for Astro on the Go is now available, where programmes can be downloaded on mobile devices for ofﬂine

viewing later. At the same time, Astro is ensuring its content proposition is second to none. As for its international offering, the network is ensuring that linear viewing is supplemented by a strong on-demand proposition of the same day as global premieres, live, social and box sets to cater for its customers evolving viewing trends.

Throne of Perak, Malaysia (Discovery Channel). In addition, You Have Been Warned with Ean Nasrun is a local version of an international series, with the insertion of a local host, experts and clips. In terms of new hires, Arthur Bastings

was named president and managing director of Discovery Networks Asia Paciﬁc, while Louis Boswell joined as general manager – Southeast Asia, Discovery Networks Asia Paciﬁc. Key campaigns that ran in the past year included the inaugural “TLC Festival” in Malaysia, which was a large-scale on-ground event featuring TLC personalities, local fare, live music and lifestyle booths as well as the “Food Fix” campaign – a part of TLC’s localisation efforts, introducing Erwan Heussaff as the latest TLC personality and brand ambassador for Southeast Asia. In addition, it rolled out “Racing Extinction” on Discovery Channel which is an on-air and online campaign featuring Malaysian personalities. It launched the “Jackson Galaxy Tour” on Animal Planet which featured onground events in Malaysia, featuring Jackson Galaxy – the host of Animal Planet’s My Cat From Hell to promote the premiere of the new season. The launch included two consumer events at Sunway Pyramid and extensive media interviews at a local cat café. Key advertisers that have come on board this past year include Watsons, Tropicana and Khind.

7 | DISCOVERY Clinching seventh spot is Discovery. This past year saw its continued focus on localisation with the announcement of several local productions, including the topical special Sabah Earthquake Decoded (Discovery Channel) and Revealed:

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TV BROADCASTERS OF THE YEAR

8 | BLOOMBERG Bloomberg takes eighth spot. In October this year, Bloomberg unveiled an Asia Pacific edition of Bloomberg Business, a new digital destination for news from the Asia region covering markets from Australia to India, Hong Kong, Singapore and Southeast Asia. The site brings together the best of Bloomberg’s business journalism with a diverse global and regional focus. The site launches with a dedicated team of digital news editors based in Hong Kong who will concentrate on multiplatform journalism from 24 Asia Pacific cities. The company said that much of its breaking news, financial features, data journalism and bites from Bloomberg TV will focus on the early morning mobile commuters, with all news to be shareable through Twitter, Facebook, Instagram

and WhatsApp. The newly formed editorial team in Asia is being led by Anjali Kapoor, formerly director of digital news strategy at Toronto-based newspaper The Globe and Mail. In November, Bloomberg Media appointed M.

Scott Havens as global head of digital. Based in New York, Havens will be responsible for Bloomberg’s global consumer digital initiatives, overseeing digital products, the user experience, partnerships, and the overall digital strategy for Bloomberg’s websites, mobile apps, over-the-top platforms, and distributed content partnerships. Meanwhile, Bloomberg Media Group appointed Dan Molloy as commercial director for Asia Paciﬁc. Based in Hong Kong, he will lead Bloomberg Media Group’s strategic partnerships, distribution and marketing across all platforms, including web, mobile, television, digital video, radio, print magazines and live events in Asia.

9 | SONY PICTURES TELEVISION NETWORKS, ASIA Taking ninth spot is Sony Pictures Television Networks, Asia. It’s been a year of continued leadership for Sony Pictures Television Networks, Asia, which is home to English general entertainment powerhouses AXN and Sony Channel; and Asian content giants Animax, GEM and ONE. In October, AXN hosted the “Ultimate

Experience” at Sunway Pyramid, where fans could step into the thrilling world of the channel and interact with their favourite shows, including The Blacklist, Quantico, CSI: Cyber and The Voice. Riding the popular wave of Asian entertainment, it launched GEM, a joint venture channel with leading Japanese broadcaster Nippon TV. Specialising in premium Japanese entertainment, among others, the channel enjoys exclusive access to Nippon TV’s coveted content library. On the leadership front, it consolidated its Asian and English content portfolios, naming Virginia Lim as vice-president of content and marketing, reporting to Hui Keng Ang, senior vice-president and general manager for Asia.

Leveraging its channels for good, Sony Pictures Television Networks, Asia, launched “Picture This” a global environmental awareness campaign to encourage positive change. In Asia, the network teamed up with the winner of Asia’s Got Talent and shadow dance group El Gamma Penumbra to remind viewers to reduce their use of plastic bags. Sony Pictures Television Networks, Asia, took clients beyond the 30-second spot this year, seamlessly integrating them into original productions such as Asia’s Got Talent and eBuzz. Advertisers such as MyTeksi, Great Eastern Life, Caltex, Sony Mobile, Perfecto and Antabax were some of the clients who tapped the power of Sony Pictures Television Networks, Asia.

10 | SCRIPPS NETWORKS INTERACTIVE Taking 10th spot this year is Scripps Networks Interactive. This year it continued to develop highproﬁle, lifestyle-oriented content for many media platforms, including television, digital, mobile and publishing. Its media portfolio includes popular lifestyle brands HGTV, DIY Network, Food Network, Cooking Channel, Travel Channel and Great American Country. On-air programming is complemented with online videos, social media and e-commerce components on companion websites. Scripps Networks Interactive is focused on a consumer-centric philosophy to deliver content, products and services related to its home, food and travel categories. Its programming is viewed on every

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continent worldwide, while its websites lead their respective categories with tens of millions of unique visitors every month. Its content distribution includes, but is not limited to: videoon-demand, the internet, satellite radio, books, magazines, DVDs, video games and the latest mobile and emerging platforms. Hiring changes in the past year included the appointment of Henry Ahn as president of content distribution and marketing. Ahn, who was previously executive vice-president, now oversees all aspects of distribution with both traditional linear partners and the rapidly increasing range of businesses seeking highquality digital content. It also named Eleni Stratigeas as senior vice-president of business and legal affairs and corporate secretary. She was instrumental in the

company’s international expansion, including the launch of joint ventures in Canada, Europe and Latin America, and the acquisition of the Asian Food Channel in Asia. Recently, she was a key member of the team in the company’s acquisition of TVN in Poland.

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23 March 2016 Singapore

Marketing Magazineâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s PR Awards are back for the 3rd time ENTRIES OPEN TILL 21 JANUARY 2016 *Open to entries from Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, East Timor, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, New Zealand, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam.

RADIO BROADCASTER OF THE YEAR

RADIO BROADCASTER OF THE YEAR VIDEO KILLED THE RADIO STAR, GOES THE SONG FROM THE BUGGLES. BUT DID IT REALLY? RADIO, ONE OF THE OLDEST FORMS OF PUBLIC BROADCAST, HAS MANAGED TO TRANSCEND GENERATIONS, AND REMAINS RELEVANT TO VARIOUS DEMOGRAPHICS. TODAY IT IS A VITAL PLAYER IN THE ADVERTISING MIX. THE MEDIUM PRESENTS ITSELF TO BE A RELIABLE AND POWERFUL ONE FOR CONSUMERS TO LEARN ABOUT BRANDS. IN THIS EDITION WE TAKE A LOOK AT THE TOP RADIO BROADCASTERS IN MALAYSIA AND HOW THEY HAVE STAYED AHEAD OF THE GAME.

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RADIO BROADCASTER OF THE YEAR

ASTRO RADIO

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Taking top spot is Astro Radio. With the media industry today more exciting than ever before, the broadcaster says it is seeing vast changes in consumption patterns and everevolving devices that connect to content. “We work hard in meeting the shifting trends among our listeners,” said a spokesperson from Astro Radio. Hence, Raku, Malaysia’s very own radio and music streaming service on mobile and web, has been designed for Malaysian listeners by Malaysians. Users have the ﬂexibility to select their preferred language interface, and customise their own personalised radio station, with a mix of music and other local content of their choice on Raku. To date, Raku boasts 117,000 subscribers, just six months after its launch. Astro Radio maintained the top spots in all languages in the recent Nielsen radio listenership survey. While ERA fm, hitz fm, MY FM and THR Raaga

solidiﬁed their positions as the preferred radio stations in their respective language segments, THR Gegar remained unchallenged as the top station in the East Coast. Astro Radio continues to see growing interest among advertisers. Its 360 integrated multi-platform branded content solutions have also earned acknowledgements from the industry. Among some of the notable campaigns were the “AirAsia Great 13th Anniversary Challenge” and “#MYCyberSALE”, both awarded at the Spark Awards 2015. Using customised solutions, Astro Radio also helped MDeC’s #MYCyberSALE campaign record RM67 million in sales, and won “Best Use of Radio” from A+M magazine’s Agency of the Year Awards 2015. “This is evidence to our commitment and passion towards delivering only the best campaigns that resonate with our targeted demographic,” the spokesperson said.

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RADIO BROADCASTER OF THE YEAR

BFM MEDIA Taking home second spot is BFM Media. BFM continues to move into the video space addressing its core target audience of Englishspeaking working professionals. It did so with programmes such as Morning Headlines which discusses the morning newspaper headlines by its news and current affairs teams and 89.9 Seconds, where each current affairs topic is covered in 89.9 seconds. BFM is also working to address the untapped market of the thinking Malaylanguage urban audience through its video programmes. BFM Media mainly targets working professionals in the Greater KL area. The organisation also attracted several new advertisers this year. Car brands such as Land Rover and Jaguar were some new additions to its core portfolio of car brands. Healthcare providers such as Ramsay Sime Darby and Sunway Medical Centre also came on board. On the education front, providers such as Epsom College, Tenby International School and Kolej Yayasan Saad Melaka have also

started advertising on the radio platform. Joining them are consumer brands such as Tesco, Eu Yan Sang, BonusLink, Popular bookstore and pharmaceuticals companies such as Merck Sharp & Dohme. “BFM Media aims to be the

most impactful media in Malaysia because it strives for positive changes in the Malaysian economy, business environment and society,” said a company spokesperson. It also launched the BFM Business School which has launched its second general management programme which aims to transform functional specialists to become general managers. According to its site, BFM’s purpose is to “build a better Malaysia by championing rational, evidence-based discourse as a key element of good policy decisions”.

Red FM and Capital FM also emerged positively despite the aggressive competition in a declining English radio market. While Red FM ﬁne-tuned its strategy and successfully realigned its core audience by increasing its percentage of male listeners, Capital FM expanded its

weekly listenership base by 70%, 80% of which are earning household income of RM4,000 and above. The network’s strong audience engagement has not only resonated well with its existing clients, but also new ones such as Cuckoo, YTL Hotels and Hong Kong Tourism.

STAR MEDIA RADIO GROUP Coming in third is Star Media Radio Group (SMRG). SMRG claims this was one of the best years for the network. This year, it focused on audience engagement initiatives throughout all four of its FM stations for overwhelming results. To date, SMRG reaches more than four million listeners weekly with 90% of its base contributed by the afﬂuent, urban-centric market, the network said. 988 FM and Suria FM were SMRG’s two brightest stars of 2015. 988 continued to conquer the number one position in the northern region. The station expanded its exclusive listenership by 50% and clocked in the highest growth in listenership across all Chinese stations by 29%. Its pre-lunch and dinner shows were also a hit with its target market as it topped the chart against all Chinese FMs. Suria FM strengthened its position with three prime time slots through Ceria Pagi Suria, Ceria Petang di Suria and Suria Cinta, raking in more than one million listeners respectively.

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RADIO BROADCASTER OF THE YEAR

MEDIA PRIMA RADIO NETWORKS Coming in at number four is Media Prima Radio Networks (MPRN) which adapts the concept of commercial radio with formatspeciﬁc programming. Fly Fm, Hot FM and one FM are managed and operated by MPRN. The growing success of the three stations has increased opportunities in delivering effective advertising at a competitive rate. The broadcaster’s target listeners are those who are from Gen Y, which consist of people below 35, tech-savvy with high spending

power. This group has been selected because it is the main demographic in Malaysia. In line to keep growing and expanding the business, MPRN recently announced the acquisition of Ultra FM and Pi Mai FM with the relaunch of the stations expected in ﬁrst quarter of 2016. With continuous achievement and

development, MPRN aims to grow stronger as a market player. To continue serving listeners with attractive content and delivering useful information, MPRN has been organising events and campaigns nationwide. The past year has seen MPRN launch various activations under Fly Fm, Hot FM and one FM. Campaigns such as #HotFlyMashUp, Hot Jam concert series, one FM Earth Day, one FM Music Tour, “Ben & Hafiz’s Apam Balik War” and #ApamBalikWar Gives Back have been successfully activated. Recently, Fly Fm introduced its new breakfast show with the trio Hafiz, Dennis & Guibo. Apart from delivering effective traditional content on radio, MPRN also continues to explore and refine its digital services. Digital offerings such as InterAds have now been enhanced to include geo-targeting.

RTM Defending its fifth spot this year is Radio TV Malaysia (RTM). RTM radio prides itself on being the main radio in Malaysia that provides information, news and music. There are all together 33 stations throughout the country that catch different target audiences. Of these, eight operate in Angkasapuri, Kuala Lumpur, which is its headquarters. According to the company’s mission statement, it continuously aims to build an informed community of listeners through radio, TV and new media. The network also seeks to ensure that RTM is the most trusted source for its Malaysian audience. Moving forward, RTM hopes to enhance its content by providing engaging, creative and innovative information for its audiences. There are six national radio channels: Nasional FM (Malay), TraXX FM (English), Ai FM (Mandarin), Minnal FM (Tamil), Radio Klasik

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(Malay) and Asyik FM (ethnic dialect). The rest include several local channels and are located in all the states within Malaysia.

RTM also has three TV channels, namely TV1, TV2 and TV i. TV Malaysia started its telecast on 1 March 1994 and started transmission as early as 6am. TV1 introduced Selamat Pagi Malaysia (Good Morning Malaysia). TV2 later followed by launching Moving On Two in December 1996. The commencement of the early morning telecasts also enables news and up-dates to be aired more frequently. RTM also broadcasts both its TV and radio channels online. RTM’s news centre, which is fully computerised, is also equipped with up-to-date editing and post-production facilities which are integral in the provision of this service.

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NEWSPAPER OF THE YEAR

While nearly all newspapers have gone online, many readers and advertisers still appreciate the value of a good print read delivered to their doorsteps. But that doesn’t mean these publications don’t know the urgency of evolving the business model. Many have branched into running events, as well as revamped their sites to reach readers and advertisers more effectively. So who came out on top? This year’s Newspaper of the Year makes a tally of the top newspapers in Malaysia, according to marketers.

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NEWSPAPER OF THE YEAR

1 THE STAR

The Star takes top spot this year. On 25 May 2015, The Star revamped its masthead for a more contemporary and fun look.

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There were also subtle changes to the paper’s layout with an emphasis on pictures. These changes to the newspaper were in line with Star Media Group Berhad’s efforts to revitalise the paper’s look and feel for a modern and diverse audience of readers. The newspaper continues to champion moderation with its “Brave Views, Bold Ideas”

campaign. The media group and publication passionately opposes extremism, and strongly advocates looking beyond race, religion and cultural barriers and coming together as Malaysians. The year marked a milestone for the newspaper as it entered a new phase, with a new campaign known as “We Were All Born Moderate”. The Star ePaper has also played an instrumental part in its continuous growth. In March, The Star forged a strategic alliance with Sin Chew Daily to offer digital versions of both leading dailies in the English and Chinese segments in a single ePaper subscription. With the addition of a Chinese paper, The Star ePaper became the companion for bilingual readers and the ePaper reached a new milestone in June 2015, when its subscriber base surpassed the 100,000 mark. Also in June, The Star mobile app was relaunched on Google Play and Apple App stores with a new look, user-friendly interface and extra categories. For lifestyle readers, Star Media Group also launched Star2.com in April with an accompanying mobile app.

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NEWSPAPER OF THE YEAR

2 THE EDGE MALAYSIA

The Edge Malaysia maintains its second spot this year. The weekly ﬁnancial and investment news publication introduced a new monthly pullout in September this year, Unlisted & Unlimited, which offers a fresh perspective on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Furthermore, it offers a platform to tell the unique stories of entrepreneurs and SMEs. These stories complement the newspaper’s corporate pages that detail listed companies. In addition, the pullout contains one page that has been written entirely in Mandarin,

while accompanied by a translated English version. The reason behind this decision was due to the fact that several SME entrepreneurs had been found to be more comfortable speaking when telling their own stories or listening to others, said a spokesperson for the paper. The weekly column, Tong’s Value Investing Portfolio, was introduced last year and maintains its relevancy to this day. It was launched in conjunction with the unveiling of The Edge Media Group’s new website www.theedgemarkets. com and the introduction of Insider Asia’s “Stock

Pick of the Day” in The Edge Financial Daily. The column solely focuses on insights by Tong Kooi Ong, chairman of The Edge Media Group, where he shares with readers about the stocks he is investing in as introduced in the section “Stock Pick of the Day”. The Edge Malaysia also has a strong social media presence with more than 134,000 followers on Twitter where it shares regular news updates. Furthermore, the newspaper has more than 15,000 followers on its Facebook page.

The revamp was shortly followed by the launch of The Edge Media Group’s new website, www.theedgemarkets.com. In addition, links to download sponsored digital copies of the ﬁnancial newspaper are regularly emailed to all registered users of the website every Monday to Friday, courtesy of leading property developer S P Setia Bhd. In conjunction with the website launch, three new columns were introduced in The Edge Financial Daily as of October last year. The ﬁrst column Stocks with Momentum

is aimed at helping readers understand the stocks, which are generated daily by a proprietary algorithm at 2.30pm on market days, with more in-depth. To help readers understand these stocks better, licensed investment advisory ﬁrm Asia Analytica Sdn Bhd does an analysis of these companies, with the fundamental assessment published in the next day’s issue of the ﬁnancial newspaper. The second column is Tong’s Momentum Portfolio. In this section, Tong Kooi Ong, chairman of The Edge Media Group, shares with readers what he is investing in based on stocks highlighted under “Stocks with Momentum” on the website. Lastly, Insider Asia has come up with a new daily feature – “Stock Pick of the Day”, which focuses on the recommended stocks by Asia Analytica Sdn Bhd once again.

3 THE EDGE FINANCIAL DAILY

The Edge Financial Daily takes third spot once again this year. The newspaper was launched in 2007 and recently in September, it unveiled a new look. It now has a regular compact size version with a more visually impactful front page.

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NEWSPAPER OF THE YEAR

4 THE SUN

The Sun newspaper leaps to fourth spot from seventh last year. According to the paper, it is

the number one circulating English newspaper in Klang Valley and Penang, with more than 300,000 copies sent out daily, at more than 3,600 pickup and distribution points nationally. On its website, the paper claims to be audited by the Audit Bureau of Circulations in Malaysia. It also says its key readers are professionals, management, executives and business people, who come with a high purchasing power, a keen interest in technology, are savvy investors in the ﬁnancial and property market, and enjoy the good life of dining and wining. The paper has had a tough time, with challenges on every

side from the period of 2010 to 2012. “There was lack of direction, despite strong interest from the Berjaya Management to sustain The Sun and improve business operations,” said a spokesperson. However, Chan Kien Sing, executive director of Berjaya Group and managing director of Sun Media Corporation, streamlined the operations, appointed editor Freddie Ng in 2014 and hired media professional Prashun Dutt as chief marketing ofﬁcer to turn things around. The newspaper maintains a free distribution business model and has its distribution concentrated in urban Malaysia.

boxes for special interest sections (SIS) on the back page for better visibility of SIS content. Through its campaign called “Rejuvenated”, the Business Times pullout introduced more in-depth analyses of what particular pieces of news meant to the business communities. It also included more commentaries from writers with authority on speciﬁc subjects as well as additional foreign business news items. Moreover, a new revamp of the Life & Times section was launched with a more organised read. NST also unveiled its own

mobile application. To encourage brand loyalty and create excitement among readers, NST offered a Starbucks buy 1 free 1 voucher and co-organised a healthy weight contest, the NST body makeover challenge. NST also made some editorial restructurings, which among others, saw the appointment of Mustapha Kamil Mohd Janor as group editor and Yushaimi Maulud Yahya as deputy group editor. On advertising, the newspaper’s clients include telecommunications companies, banks and ﬁnance companies, food and beverage distributors and automotive.

5 NEW STRAITS TIMES

New Straits Times (NST) takes ﬁfth spot this year. One of Malaysia’s oldest English newspapers, it celebrates its 170th year of publication this year with a fresh look, enhanced graphics and design. The paper has also sharpened its focus to zoom in on digital news while offering an exclusive printed version. On digital, NST tied-up with Google to offer news content via Google Play Newsstand. In print, NST introduced regional covers on the front page and dedicated regional pages to attract regional readers and additional blurb

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NEWSPAPER OF THE YEAR

6 HARIAN METRO

Harian Metro (HM) comes in sixth this year. Targeted to Malays aged 20 to 39, it is a publication which aims to provide not just news, but also information, entertainment and in-depth research. Strengthening the brand via its “Padat, Rugi Tak Layan” campaign, the content was brought to life and cramped inside a structure to describe how compact the newspaper is with news and information. HM celebrated its 24th anniversary this year and more focus has been given to the digital product, while enhancing its printed version. In print, its offers more coverage on less fortunate people, and changed the layout for all section introduction pages. It introduced dual colour for selected stories headings, while improving the Metro Ahad layout. On digital, HM unveiled its interactive

magazines called ZIP and Tech Kingdom, which each focused on entertainment and technology. It also partnered with Google to offer news via Google Play Newsstand. It also introduced its own mobile application, known as Harian Metro Mobile. A special column, Gen.Y, was given a new lease of life with more on-ground activities and a social media presence, and this included “Wayang Pacak Night”, Bumper Ball game and ATV Ride Gen.Y to create engagement with youth. Datuk Mustapa Omar remains as group editor. The newspaper appointed Ahmad @ Salim Bachok as its new deputy group editor and Hussain Jahit as features associate editor. Its advertising clients include automotive companies, health and beauty products, airlines, food and beverage distributors and telecommunications.

7 SIN CHEW DAILY

Chinese language daily Sin Chew Daily has come in seventh place for Newspaper of the Year, as voted by marketers and advertisers. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations for the period ending 31 December 2011, Sin Chew Daily had an average daily circulation of almost 500,000 copies and was also the largest selling Chinese-language newspaper outside of Greater China. According to Bloomberg, Sin Chew Media Corporation Berhad is an investment holding company that engages in the publication, printing

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and distribution of newspapers in Malaysia. The newspapers published by the company include Sin Chew Daily and Guang Ming Daily. Its other activities include the printing of newspapers for other publishers, publishing and distribution of magazines and other publications, providing content to web and mobile users, web hosting and designing, web advertising, and web audio and video broadcasting. Sin Chew Media also acts as a newspaper circulation and distribution agent, and provides editorial services and contract labour. The company was incorporated in 1983 as Pemandangan Sinar Sdn Bhd and changed its name to Sin Chew Media Corporation Berhad in 2004. Sin Chew Media is based in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia. As of April 23, 2008, Sin Chew Media Corporation Bhd operates as a subsidiary of Media Chinese International Limited. The paper

is sold for a cover price of RM1.30. It targets a Mandarin-speaking audience aged over 15 years. Sin Chew Daily was originally founded on 15 January 1929 by Aw Boon Par and Aw Boon Haw, founders of Tiger Balm as part of the Star Almagated Newspaper.

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NEWSPAPER OF THE YEAR

8 KOSMO!

Kosmo! comes in eighth this year. Kosmo! is a Malay language compact format newspaper in Malaysia owned by Utusan Melayu (Malaysia) Berhad group. It is available in Malaysia at most newsstands. It was launched on 30 August 2004 by Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Kosmo! started when the public was in a desperate need for a newspaper that could be easily read and carried. This newspaper caters to the taste of Malaysians who are mostly busy with their daily matters. All sections in this newspaper use an

exclamation mark (!) as part of its brand identity and feature. Formerly, Kosmo! was sold in Malaysia for 80 cents daily, excluding Sundays, when it was sold at RM1.00 under a different name, that is Kosmo! Ahad. However, by April 2007, Kosmo! was priced at RM1.00 per day, while on Sundays it is sold for RM1.20. Its parent company Utusan Melayu has progressed and consolidated itself into a multiple media conglomerate of the 21st century. Today, the group’s diverse expansion is still

synergistic with its traditional core activities. With more than 10 companies under its wings, the Utusan Group is engaged in four major business concerns namely publishing, printing, advertising and online services. In a recent poll survey conducted on Malaysian publications by AC Nielson, the group’s four key newspapers, Utusan Malaysia and Mingguan Malaysia, Kosmo! and Kosmo! Ahad as well as its top four magazines namely Mastika, Saji, Infiniti and Wanita, have consistently achieved and maintained the highest circulations and readerships.

best-selling Chinese daily newspaper in Malaysia, according to the newspaper. In 1993, Nanyang Press took over the management of China Press. In September 2000, it saw an increase in its Penang circulation. China Press hopes to develop and gain

more readership in the coming years. The 21st century marks a big step for the newspaper as it continues to afﬁrm its commitment to community service. It also hopes to make the newspaper more international in the future.

an interactive avenue between TMR and its readers, with more photos, infographics, and realtime updates available. It will also be highlighting selected posts from blogs as an added alternative voice to its news. “We are excited to present our refreshed website with a more elaborate content presentation which can be viewed on the go,” said TMR CEO Syed Fazilla Syed Hussain. He said the new portal would enhance the product offerings under The Malaysian Reserve newspaper brand which has been going strong

for nearly eight years. On the new portal, TMR group editor Zulkiﬂi Othman said: “We are doing this to introduce new readers to the brand and at the same time enhance the experience for our loyal friends who are already our readers.”

9 CHINA PRESS China Press takes ninth spot in its category. China Press is a Malaysian Chinese-language newspaper set up by Tun Henry Lee Hau Shik (H. S. Lee) and ﬁrst published on 1 February 1946 in Kuala Lumpur. On 13 May 1969, China Press was suspended for a month following its publication of a court news item after the 13 May incident which involved clashes between various ethnic groups. China Press relaunched in 1986, and by 1988, its daily circulation had increased from 20,000 to 100,000, making it the fastestgrowing paper in Malaysia. Today, its daily circulation of 220,000 makes it the second

10 THE MALAYSIAN RESERVE

The Malaysian Reserve (TMR) comes in at 10th place for Newspaper of the Year. The online portal has been repackaged since December 2014 as a complement to its print version. Its portal has its own team of writers and editors who will not only bring the latest in ﬁnancial news, but also all the interesting news about general happenings, politics and events. It will also include more lifestyle-related stories which will be dedicated to trending topics with reports ranging from book reviews, music and arts. On the social media platform, it is focusing on speed and accuracy, along with giving

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NEWSPAPER OF THE YEAR

REGIONAL NEWSPAPER BRANDS 1 WALL STREET JOURNAL

Wall Street Journal (WSJ) tops the ranking in its category. Dow Jones, parent company of the WSJ, announced the launch of Newsmart in October. Newsmart is a digital-ﬁrst learning product combining daily news content from the WSJ with a unique teaching engine comprising over 2500 comprehension, grammar and vocabulary exercises.

Available both for individuals and institutions, Newsmart utilises the expertise of a professional learning team and gamiﬁcation theory to make mastering Business English engaging and rewarding. With exclusive access to the WSJ’s daily news feeds, Newsmart’s dedicated English language learning team carefully curates six articles on a daily basis and up to two

videos a week focused on business, ﬁnance and technology news. Newsmart is available for individuals, as well as institutions and corporations Meanwhile, Yumiko Ono, audience engagement editor for the WSJ Asia, has taken on the role of digital editor, Asia, overseeing the video and social media teams in Hong Kong. Ono takes on the role vacated by Adam Najberg, who announced in September that he was stepping down this month after 21 years with the company. In her new role, the video and social media teams will report to her and she also will help oversee, with George Nishiyama, the expansion of its Japanese-language offering. Ono will also assist Asia editor Paul Beckett with the overall management of operations across the Asia newsroom.

The Financial Times (FT) comes in second place this year. This year saw a huge change in its ownership. In July, British publisher Pearson sold its flagship business newspaper the FT to Japanese digital media group Nikkei. The FT Group was sold at £844 million in cash, but will not include the company’s 50% stake in The Economist Group. The FT Group includes: The FT newspaper, FT.com, How to Spend It, FT Labs, FTChinese, the Confidentials and Financial Publishing (including The Banker, Investors Chronicle, MandateWire, Money-Media and Medley Global Advisors). A statement from the FT said total circulation across print and digital rose more than 30% over the last five years to 737,000, with digital circulation growing to represent

70% of the total business. Mobile trafﬁc now accounts for almost half of all trafﬁc. In 2014, FT Group contributed £334m of sales and £24m of adjusted operating income to Pearson. By 30 June 2015, FT Group had gross assets of approximately £250m. In November, FT announced two senior editorial appointments. David Pilling was named Africa editor, retaining his role as associate editor. Beijing bureau chief Jamil Anderlini replaced Pilling as Asia editor. Anderlini was also promoted to assistant editor. Pilling and Anderlini will take up their new positions from January 2016 . “Pilling’s unique insight, experience and leadership will bring great strength to the FT’s coverage of Africa as a hugely important continent for global business,” said Lionel Barber, editor of the FT.

they’ve missed, entertain them or help them understand or follow an event. For example, The Times’ Morning Brieﬁng,

a daily tip sheet that prepares readers for the day ahead, has become one of the most popular features on The Times’ mobile apps. Similarly, The Times created one-sentence stories for Apple Watch, a collection of content that gives readers what they need to know in under a minute. “Mobile Moments is the ﬁrst phase of a long-term mobile native advertising solution that will continue to evolve,” said Sebastian Tomich, senior vice president, advertising and innovation at International New York Times . Tomich said the solution is three-fold: present bigger, better and more dynamic mobile creative; provide context for the mobile and tailor the mobile creative to readers’ needs. The types of content will range from graphics to video, interactive or swipe-able short stories.

2 FINANCIAL TIMES

3 INTERNATIONAL NEW YORK TIMES. Taking the third spot is International New York Times. In August, International New York Times revealed plans to expand its mobile ad platform to focus on key moments of a user’s day. The solution, called Mobile Moments, will feature targeted short stories called Screenplays that will be created by T Brand Studio, The Times’ commercial content group. Available on The Times’ core smartphone apps and mobile web, Mobile Moments are designed to be more integrated in the reader experience and more relevant to time of day. Based on findings from research conducted with mobile users, The Times identified specific moments throughout the day when mobile users are looking for particular types of content, whether it’s articles that update them on what

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MAGAZINE OF THE YEAR

Publishing, a sunset industry as it is known, is seeing a revival of sorts. Be it through digital or events, it is evolving to meet the needs of its audience as well as advertisers. In this year’s rankings, let’s take a look at which titles have done a great job in remaining top-of-the-mind of marketers.

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MAGAZINE OF THE YEAR

OVERALL MAGAZINE OF THE YEAR 1. MALAYSIA TATLER Published by: Edipresse Media Malaysia Frequency: Monthly Readership: 10,909 (audited by ABC)

2. FORBES ASIA Published by: Forbes Media Frequency: Monthly Readership: 80,000 (publisher’s claim)

Targeting the afﬂuent and inﬂuential, Malaysia Tatler grabs top position in this year’s rankings. The magazine recently launched its website MalaysiaTatler. com with a dedicated editorial team. It has an average of two million page views monthly (Google Analytics). New advertisers include Harry Winston, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines/Air France, Studio 216, Crystal Time, Celcom and others.

Forbes Asia finishes second in the category this year. Serving as Asia Pacific’s definitive voice celebrating entrepreneurial capitalism and business, it identifies and profiles Asia’s noteworthy individuals in every edition from the up-and-comers to the best big corporations. It boasts relevant local features and authoritative reporting for Asia’s most influential and successful business leaders.

L I F E .

E X T R A O R D I N A R Y

November 2015

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3. BLOOMBERG BUSINESSWEEK Published by: Bloomberg LP Frequency: Weekly Circulation: 41,118 (International APAC edition, audited by ABC) Helmed by Ellen Pollock, Bloomberg Businessweek’s content, design and reach is stronger than ever. It lives online at Bloomberg.com which was totally redesigned and launched globally in January 2015 and in October the Asia version of the site was launched. Its advertisers include BNY Mellon, Singapore Tourism Board, UBS, Lexus, Samsung, Mitsubishi Heavy and Singapore Airlines.

WOMEN’S MAGAZINE OF THE YEAR 1. HARPER’S BAZAAR Published by: Blu Inc Media Frequency: Monthly Readership: 25,00 (publisher’s claim)

2. CLEO Published by: Blu Inc Media Frequency: Monthly Circulation: 71,000 (publisher’s claim)

Harper’s BAZAAR delivers a bespoke service element that caters to every aspect of its readers’ lives: fashion, culture, travel, beauty and lifestyle. This year it launched www. harpersbazaar.my and increased its social media presence. It has been able to widen the advertiser base within the category of luxury living, automotive, travel and homes.

CLEO strikes the perfect balance, offering a bright, light-hearted tone without shying away from the more serious issues important to readers – life, love, health and career, says its publisher. “CLEO is the must-read magazine for young, fun-loving and spirited Malaysian women who are constantly on the lookout for fresh ideas, ready to discover and wanting to learn,” it says.

3. FEMALE Published by: Blu Inc Media Frequency: Monthly Readership: 50,000 (nationwide), 35,000 (Klang Valley) (publisher’s claim) Female’s print edition recently underwent a revamp designed to emphasise the title’s strengths. The changes culminated in an exclusive event held at WOLO KL to unveil the “new female” to advertisers. With the changes in the print edition, adjustments were made to the user interface of femalemag.com.my so viewers could read what they like more easily.

MEN’S MAGAZINE OF THE YEAR 1. FHM MALAYSIA Published by: Astro Digital Publications Frequency: Monthly Readership: 20,000 (publisher’s claim)

2. MEN’S HEALTH MALAYSIA Published by: Mongoose Publishing Frequency: Monthly Circulation: 32,000 (publisher’s claim)

3. AUGUST MAN MALAYSIA Published by: Hubert Burda Media Malaysia Frequency: Monthly Circulation: 20,000 (publisher’s claim)

FHM Malaysia is now fully digitalised with a website, interactive e-magazine and a social media presence. New advertisers for the title include those from the brands from fashion, ﬁne watches, gadgets and the automotive sector. This year Astro Publications renamed to Astro Digital Publications to better reﬂect its strategic thrust as an integrated digital publisher.

Men’s Health is the deﬁnitive source of comprehensive information for and about men. In March, Men’s Health hosted a night run that drew 7,500 participants. Also held at the run was the launch of its sister title, Women’s Health Malaysia. New advertisers for the title include Under Armour, Honda, Samsung, Nike, adidas, Nestlé, Amway, L’Occitane, Subaru and more.

Like Prestige Malaysia, August Man Malaysia became part of Hubert Burda Media Malaysia, but the management team and editorial team has remained the same. While there is no speciﬁc change in direction, the goal of the magazine is to continue to grow from strength to strength. August Man is in a very strong position, says the magazine’s publisher.

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MAGAZINE OF THE YEAR

TRAVEL MAGAZINE OF THE YEAR 1. BUSINESS TRAVELLER Published by: Panacea Publishing International Frequency: 10 times a year Circulation: 30,463 copies (audited by ABC) Taking second spot is Business Traveller Asia. The magazine did not see any major changes in its senior and management staff over the year. It also launched a loyalty programme called BT Plus and is working on a total revamp of its website. The worldwide rollout of its revamped website is targeted to launch at the end of the year.

2. TRAVEL + LEISURE SOUTHEAST ASIA Published by: Media Transasia Frequency: Monthly Circulation: 60,000 across SEA, Hong Kong and Macau (publisher’s claim) Travel + Leisure Southeast Asia underwent a complete redesign this summer. The revamp in design was aimed to better serve its on-the-go readers with more informative information in bright, crisp layouts. The magazine has been available in a digital format for tablets since 2010 and in addition it is also active on social media.

3. DESTINASIAN Published by: DestinAsian Media Group Frequency: Six times a year Circulation: 34,883 copies (audited by Baker Tilly International) DestinAsian started 2015 with the debut of its redesigned issue. Its goal is to craft a more engaging way to tell stories that reﬂect exceptional experiences and new discoveries. Following the print redesign, it also relaunched its website in June. The aim was to make it more easily navigable with a fresher and simpliﬁed look.

LUXURY MAGAZINE OF THE YEAR 1. MALAYSIA TATLER Published by: Edipresse Media Malaysia Frequency: Monthly Circulation: 10,909 (audited by ABC)

2. THE PEAK Published by: Blu Inc Media Frequency: Monthly Readership: 16,000 (publisher’s claim)

3. PRESTIGE MALAYSIA Published by: Hubert Burda Media Malaysia Frequency: Monthly Circulation: 20,000 (publisher’s claim)

Targeting the afﬂuent and inﬂuential, Malaysia Tatler grabs top position in this year’s rankings. The magazine recently launched its website MalaysiaTatler. com with a dedicated editorial team that produces daily content on high society, luxury, fashion, travel, dining and more. The new MalaysiaTatler. com has an average of two million page views monthly (source: Google Analytics).

The Peak celebrated its landmark 25th anniversary last year, so this year was all about maintaining and enhancing its position in the market. New advertisers that have come on board include Jaguar, Maserati, Lexus, Jeep, Tod’s, Hautlence, Amouage, Amex,Eva Air, Qatar Airways, Getha, Roca and others. It targets HNWIs, corporate leaders and top decision makers.

In January 2015, Prestige Malaysia became part of Hubert Burda Media Malaysia, and with that, a new management team assumed the helm of the magazine, including a new managing director and new editor-in-chief. Under Hubert Burda Media Malaysia, Prestige Malaysia has worked to solidify its position as a leading luxury title, appealing to the upper echelons of society.

L I F E .

E X T R A O R D I N A R Y

November 2015

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IN-FLIGHT MAGAZINE OF THE YEAR 1. GOING PLACES Published by: Spafax Networks Frequency: Monthly Readership: 1.2 million (publisher’s claim) Coming on top this year is Going Places. It comes up with innovative content, contests and promotions to market its digital assets. It launched its ﬁrst Going Places Readers Choice Awards campaign in June 2015 which allows readers to vote for the best travel and lifestyle brands. Meanwhile, Justin Chee, its former deputy editor for digital, left and was replaced by Jessica Liew.

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2. TRAVEL 3SIXTY° Published by: AirAsia Berhad Frequency: Monthly Circulation: Approximately 57,000 copies (audited by ABC) Travel 3Sixty° is the inﬂight magazine of AirAsia. Conceptualised as a stylish travel and lifestyle magazine, travel 3Sixty° is dedicated to inspiring wanderlust through beautiful imagery and compelling travel tales. The in-ﬂight magazine underwent a revamped exercise in late 2014, with a fresh look unveiled in January 2015. In November 2015, travel 3Sixty° celebrated its 100th issue.

3. JETSTAR Published by: Ink Global Frequency: Monthly Circulation: 108,000 (publisher’s claim) Jetstar comes in third this year. It launched a multi-media style cover last year that was unique and a ﬁrst for Singaporebased low cost carriers. New advertisers that have come on board include Marina Bay Sands, Under Armour, Faber Peak Singapore, Kooks Wine, St Giles Hotel, among many others. It continues to provide coverage on destinations, travel, food, arts and culture.

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MAGAZINE OF THE YEAR

MOTOR VEHICLE MAGAZINE OF THE YEAR 2. MOTOR TRADER Published by: PROTO Malaysia Frequency: Weekly Circulation: 35,000 copies (publisherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s claim) With a new MD on board, PROTO Malaysia has ALL-NEW VOLVO XC90 expanded by taking on new strategies and operating models. It has expanded the publication for a bespoke edition to cater to the Southern region and this has signiďŹ cantly brought growth to the company. This edition focuses on dealers in that region making it more convenient for both customers and readers there. + INSIDE I

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1. TOPGEAR MALAYSIA Published by: Big Road Media ( Malaysia ) Frequency: Monthly Readership: 8883 copies per month average (audited by ABC Malaysia) While there were no major changes except for some creative layouts, the title stuck to the DNA of the magazine that is determined by BBC UK. TopGear Malaysia revamped its website earlier this year. It now has a full time web editor. Targeting mostly male, urban and PMEBs aged 25-55, the title is yet to launch the digital version of the magazine.

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2. AUTOCAR (MALAYSIA + SINGAPORE) Published by: PROTO Malaysia Frequency: Monthly Circulation: 25,000 copies (publisherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s claim) First published in Singapore and Malaysia in November 2000, Autocar ASEAN focuses on in-depth test drives and features on the latest cars in the local market as well as new models launched internationally. During 2015, PROTO Malaysia consolidated the editorial teams for both the Motor Trader magazine and website, and Autocar ASEAN magazine.

PARENTING MAGAZINE OF THE YEAR 1. PARENTHOOD Published by: Today Publishing Frequency: Monthly Circulation: 43,500 (publisherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s claim)

2. PA&MA Published by: Grup Majalah Karangkraf Frequency: Monthly Circulation : 50,000 (publisherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s claim)

A parenting guide from â&#x20AC;&#x153;bump, baby to beyondâ&#x20AC;? the title recently added a monthly segment aptly called KIDZ for parents with kids in their preschool and early primary school years, aged 5-10. A number of premium brands have come on board as advertisers such as Dyson, Instax Camera, PRUmy child (Prudential), Stemlife, Philips Avent and Nickelodeon to name a few. It also developed a new e-magazine called Todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Baby to complement the hardcopy version. Parenthood and Todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Baby are sister magazines with rather similar content.

Targeting parents and mothers-to be, Pa&Ma aims to be a complete parenting and preschool guide â&#x20AC;&#x201C; from pregnancy to birth, development of the infant, fashion for nursing mothers and health tips. The title recently appointed a new editor Intan Jastina and made changes to the editorial team to freshen up content and improve layout as well as photography. It also added more interactive content, for example, a Q&A from its Facebook. It also does â&#x20AC;&#x153;baby momentâ&#x20AC;? pictures given the trend that parents love to have their baby photos published. It also added a column for paediatrics for parents to better understand health issues of kids.

ENTERTAINMENT & LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE OF THE YEAR 1. TIME OUT KUALA LUMPUR Published by: Mongoose Publishing Frequency: Monthly Circulation: 30,000 copies (publisherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s claim)

2. VISION KL Published by: AsiaReach Media Frequency: Monthly Distribution: 110 leading hotels in Kuala Lumpur.

Time Out aims to help readers make the most of their city. It curates and recommends everything from the best things to do in the Klang Valley to the best nightlife and music gigs, and the best and the latest cafes and restaurants. It relaunched its website with a new responsive design. It has also launched new iOS and Android mobile apps and recorded a nearly 200,000 combined social media reach, and counting. It has also tripled its web trafďŹ c to about 2.6 million page views per month. New advertisers for the title include Parkson, Qatar Airways, Huawei and others.

Vision KL is one of Malaysiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s widest-read tourism and lifestyle magazines, with its complimentary distribution to some 110 hotels and 34,000 hotel rooms in Kuala Lumpur, with a hotel room-night occupancy of 13 million annually. Subject matter in the magazine covers a wide range of topics showcasing the best of what KL has to offer from the arts and fashion world to tourist attractions, shopping, dining and beyond. It also includes stories and interviews on numerous international personalities from the entertainment and business worlds. It has a strong presence online with visionkl.com featuring daily event calendars, weekly newsletters, online ticketing, dining and night life directories.

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MAGAZINE OF THE YEAR

PROPERTY MAGAZINE OF THE YEAR 1. LP – LUXURY PROPERTIES Published by: Blu Inc Media China Frequency: Bimonthly Circulation: 146,000 (publisher’s claim)

2. IPROPERTY.COM Published by: iProperty.com Malaysia Frequency: Monthly Circulation: 30,000 (publisher’s claim)

3. PROPERTY INSIGHT Published by: Armani Media Frequency: Monthly Circulation : 30,000 (publisher’s claim)

Last year the title underwent a revamp at the same time as the arrival of its new editor-in-chief Wen Hongwei. LP now comes to the market with a new appearance and approach to interpreting the architectural culture and design philosophy that it thinks is worth sharing. It is now working on its international and local social media sites to enhance the magazine’s awareness.

iProperty revamped the cover of the magazine as well as refreshed the way the content is laid out. The magazine now carries more articles on research data, consumer awareness topics, an international properties section and also views from industry experts. Some of its advertisers include Mah Sing, Sunway, IOI, Sime Darby, UEM Sunrise, SP Setia, Eco World, BCB, Nadayu and more.

Property Insight is a monthly English-language magazine catering to investors. It is knowledgebased and aspires to help Malaysians make sound property decisions. In 2015, it awarded its fellow developers through the Property Insight Prestigious Developer Awards event and recently launched its ﬁrst coffee table book – Property Insight – Guide to Investing 2015/2016.

REGIONAL NEWS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS MAGAZINE OF THE YEAR 1. THE ECONOMIST Published by: Economist Asia Frequency: Weekly Circulation: 1,547,562 (ABC audited circulation for January to June 2015) In February, Zanny Minton Beddoes took over as editor-in-chief of The Economist. She was formerly Washington, the business affairs editor and became the ﬁrst we have a problem... female editor of The Economist. In August, The Economist announced a change to its shareholding structure. Pearson, the owner of the Financial Times, which had a non-controlling 50% stake since 1928, sold its stake. As part of the new editorial team, Tom Standage was appointed deputy editor with speciﬁc responsibility for the publications digital strategy. New advertisers from Asia include, Beijing e-Town, Mitsubishi Industries, IDA Singapore, Tourism Australia, Mundipharma, Samsung Business and others. INSIDE THIS WEEK: TECHNOLOGY QUARTERLY Brazil disappoints, again

Primark’s retail revolution

Angela Merkel’s uncommon courage The magic of migrant money

SEPTEMBER 5TH–11TH 2015

Economist.com

Australia. . ...... A$11(Inc.GST) Bangladesh. . . . . . . . . . . . .TK470 Cambodia. . . . . . . . . . . . US$8.00 China. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . RMB 75

Making cycling less deadly

Hong Kong. . . . . . . . . . . . .HK$ 80 India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220 Indonesia. . . . . . . . . . Rp77,000 Japan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . ¥1,143+Tax

Korea . . . . . . . . . . . . . Won 11,000 Malaysia. . . . . . . . . . . . . RM25.50 Myanmar. . . . . . . . . . . . .US$8.00 Nepal. . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . NR490

New Zealand . . . . . . . NZ$13.00 Pakistan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rs640 Philippines. . . . . . . . ..Pesos385 Singapore . . S$12.50 (Inc.GST)

Sri Lanka. . . . . . . . . . . . ..Rs1,000 Taiwan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . NT$275 Thailand. . . . . . . . . . . . . Baht 300 Vietnam. . . . . . . . . . . . . . US$8.00

2. TIME Published by: TIME Inc Frequency: Weekly Circulation : 229,535 (audited by HK ABC, for FY 2014) One of the world’s most trusted sources for news, TIME captures the events that shape lives through exceptional reporting, writing and photography, China’s targeting inﬂuentials and opinion leaders. TIME New March launched a new look aimed at enhancing and simplifying the reading experience with three new sections covering a wider range of topics. It also launched a year-long integrated project on space, following astronaut Scott Kelly on the longest space mission in American history. The TIME brand reaches 100 million monthly consumer touch-points globally. The website is constantly evolving to simplify site structure to enhance the user experience. SE P T E MBE R 21, 2015

BEIJING IS FLEXING ITS MUSCLE. SHOULD THE WORLD WORRY? By Hannah Beech

Soldiers in formation during a massive military parade in Beijing on Sept. 3

time.com

REGIONAL BUSINESS MAGAZINE OF THE YEAR 1. FORBES ASIA Published by: Forbes Media Frequency: Monthly Circulation: 80,000 (publisher’s claim) Forbes Asia retains its top spot in the category again this year. Serving as Asia Pacific’s definitive voice celebrating entrepreneurial capitalism and business, it identifies and profiles Asia’s noteworthy individuals in every edition – from the richest people to the most powerful businesswomen, to the most philanthropic, and the executive ranks of the most dynamic companies.

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2. BLOOMBERG BUSINESSWEEK Published by: Bloomberg LP Frequency: Weekly Circulation: 41,118 (International APAC edition, audited by ABC) Businessweek lives online at Bloomberg.com which was totally redesigned and launched globally in January 2015, while in October it launched the Asia version of the site. New advertisers for the title included BNY Mellon, Singapore Tourism Board, UBS, Lexus, Samsung, Mitsubishi Heavy, Singapore Airlines, Huawei, Patek Philippe, NEC, Korean Air, HSBC and Indonesia Tourism.

3. FORTUNE Published by: TIME Inc Frequency: Monthly + 4 quarterly specials Circulation : 85,336 (audited by HK ABC FY 2014) Targeting business elites, the afﬂuent and inﬂuentials Fortune plumped up editorial with new tech hires from Gigaom and launched new editorial features such as The FORTUNE Accelerator, Change the World list, The Future of Work and BioInnovation. Launched in June 2014, Fortune. com’s unique visits reached 15.9 million in August 2015, up +100% YOY.

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DIGITAL MEDIA OF THE YEAR

No offering today is complete without a digital platform. The move to digital is vital, but not all in the space can provide consumers a smooth experience. Here are some of the players in the Malaysia market which marketers feel have nailed the digital experience.

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DIGITAL MEDIA OF THE YEAR

1 :: GOOGLE

Taking top spot for the Digital Media of the Year category is Google, along with its offerings of Google Display and Google Adwords.

This year, in October, Google AdWords celebrated its 15th birthday. In the past 15 years the organisation has seen a lot of changes, but

the biggest change, it says, is still taking place and this is the shift in the focus to mobile. Today its advertising platforms are focused on helping the whole ecosystem of advertisers, publishers and developers to succeed on mobile. Recently, Google also launched search ads in Play and Universal app campaigns to help developers ﬁ nd an audience for their app across the world. According to Google, appinstalled ads have helped drive more than a billion app downloads across search, YouTube and apps. One Malaysia player who beneﬁted from this is e-commerce site 11street. The site saw a conversion rate 10 times higher than other channels using ads in Google Play. Google has also launched cross device conversion tracking that has made it possible to measure the effectiveness of ads across the whole of the web and in apps. Nestlé Malaysia is using this offering and is now tracking crossdevice conversions. “There is amazing momentum on mobile, especially in Asia. Five of the top ten smartphone-adopting nations come from the region (Singapore 85%, Korea 80%) and others in the region are not far behind, with most countries over the 50% mark,” said a Google spokesperson.

express what matters most to them. The company continues to focus on three core priorities: capitalising on the shift to mobile; growing the number of marketers using its ad products; and making ads more relevant and effective. On capitalising on the shift to mobile, Facebook explains that most people have already shifted to mobile and this shift is driving further engagement on Facebook. Its second priority is growing the number of marketers using its products. Today it has more than 2.5 million active

advertisers on Facebook and more than 45 million active SMB pages on Facebook. Marketers, hence, get onto Facebook because it has one of the best performing mobile ad products, and the video capability is making them even better. Its third priority is making ads more relevant and effective. “Relevant ads are more engaging for people and therefore drive better results for businesses. Products like carousel ads and dynamic product ads help improve effectiveness for marketers,” a spokesperson from Facebook said.

2 :: FACEBOOK

Founded in 2004, Facebook’s mission is to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected. Facebook, as of Q3 2015, had more than 522 million people who accessed Facebook monthly in Asia Paciﬁc. APAC is one of the fastest growing regions globally for Facebook. The social media giant comes in second in the Digital Media of the Year category as marketers are now convinced more than ever that consumers use Facebook to stay connected, to discover what’s going on and to share and

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DIGITAL MEDIA OF THE YEAR

3 :: THE EDGE

Taking third spot in the Digital Media of the Year is The Edge. Introduced in October 2014, www. theedgemarkets.com is now the main website of The Edge Media Group and consolidates the previous news websites of www.theedgemalaysia.

com and www.theedgesingapore.com by The Edge Communications Sdn Bhd and The Edge Publishing Pte Ltd. The site helps its readers to make better business and investment decisions by empowering them with the latest news, data and ﬁnancial

analytics for free. Key features of the site include proprietary news from its team of journalists in Malaysia and Singapore; business and markets news from the region from its media partners in Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Hong Kong and China and global financial news from AFP, Bloomberg and Reuters. It also has historical financial data on every company listed on the Bursa Malaysia (Bursa) and Singapore Exchange (SGX) and tools to compare the financial and stock price performances of all Bursa and SGX companies with their industry peers. Over the past year online, the publication has kept true to its journey in embracing digital as smartphones, tablets and desktops become increasingly the preferred platform for media consumption. The subscribers of the publication are either already, or aspire to be, business leaders and corporate captains. The Edge Communications Sdn Bhd is part of The Edge Media Group and is the publisher of The Edge Malaysia, which is available in print and on digital formats. The Edge Communications also publishes The Edge Financial Daily from Mondays to Fridays, while the Financial Daily provides more details on breaking news at www.theedgemarkets.com and delves into the fundamental assessment of stocks with momentum.

publishing The Star since 1971. Its strength as a newspaper has been the cornerstones of its internet and new media ventures. The Star Online’s content is now available on many platforms – from the print edition to an online edition to e-paper and mobile devices. The online site also pushes content through its many channels and multimedia offerings, such as videos and podcasts, photos and blogs, and offers marketers a plethora of platforms by combining its internet broadcasts

with radio stations under The Star group. For readers on-the-go who want breaking news and business updates delivered to them, it also has SMS services available via Maxis, Celcom and Digi making it easier for consumers to access information at any given time. The Star Online and its various components on the mobile platform, or otherwise, are produced, managed, developed and contributed by its new media department as well as The Star Online and multimedia news desk teams.

4 :: THE STAR ONLINE

The Star Online comes in at number four as it continuously works to improve itself. The product that is currently live and that consumers and marketers see is the result of 15 years of hard work. The Star Online’s last big revamp was in 2008 where it incorporated several changes which were aimed to make the website even easier to navigate. The Star Online is the property of Star Media Group Berhad, formerly known as Star Publications (Malaysia) Berhad, which has been

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DIGITAL MEDIA OF THE YEAR

5 :: INSTAGRAM

It has been a big year for the Facebook-owned photo-sharing platform Instagram. Recently, Instagram launched its partners programme which brings on board “a set of

experts vetted for excellence ready” to help businesses grow on Instagram. The partners Instagram brought on board have three key areas of expertise on the platform: ad tech,

community management and content marketing. Launched in 2010, Instagram has led the cultural shift towards visual communication, and offers a real-time window into the world with 80 million photos shared every day on nearly every major global event. The Instagram community has increased over the past ﬁve years, growing to more than 400 million monthly active users, with more than 75% of the community living outside the US. Among the past 100 million to join Instagram, more than half live in Asia and Europe. In September 2015, Instagram’s ads solutions were made available to over 200 countries globally on a self-serve basis, and businesses both large and small can run campaigns on one of the world’s largest mobile ads platforms. With technology that leverages the best of Facebook’s ads infrastructure, advertisers on Instagram can target their message more effectively and reach people based on what they care about. A spokesperson from Instagram said: “Instagram is a fun and quirky way to share your life with friends through a series of pictures. We’re building Instagram to allow you to experience moments in your friends’ lives through pictures as they happen. We imagine a world more connected through photos.”

line on matters of political interest. However, the online media has to date not been subject to the same licensing, allowing for more diversity on the internet,” read the website’s description.

Clients on the site include AirAsia, Eu Yan Sang, CIMB Bank, Qatar Airways, Eva Air, Toyota, Dyson, Prudential, Talent Corp Malaysia, Cyberview Resort & Spa and many others.

6 :: MALAYSIAKINI

Launched in 1999, Malaysiakini believes that an independent media is critical to a country’s progress and informing citizens of current affairs and helping them hold the government accountable through citizen action, participation and voting decisions. This has clearly resonated well with Malaysians and the online website is also a key player in the minds of marketers. For this year’s Digital Media of the Year rankings, it takes home sixth position. Malaysiakini is published in four languages – English, Malay, Chinese and Tamil. According to its website, it reaches over 2.5 million readers every month with independent coverage of political and current affairs. The website also boasts 1.62 million monthly unique visitors. It also has more than 1.8 million Facebook likes and more than 270,000 Twitter followers. This, according to the description on Malaysiakini, is attributed to the independence the publication gives to its editors and journalists to practise professional and ethical journalism, without interference of the shareholders, advertisers or the government. “In Malaysia, traditional print and broadcast media are tightly regulated and controlled by the government. Media operations are closely monitored and owners encouraged to toe the

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DIGITAL MEDIA OF THE YEAR

7 :: YAHOO

Yahoo provides users with access to a rich collection of resources, including various communications tools, forums, shopping services, search services, personalised content

and branded programming. In Malaysia, it is the seventh most preferred go-to site for marketers. For marketers, the platform offers an innovative suite of advertising solutions backed

by industry leading data and insights to help you meet any marketing objective. According to Yahoo’s advertising description, more than one billion people experience the world through Yahoo every month. With one billion unique users worldwide each month, Yahoo captures trillions of user signals from search, mail, digital content consumption, Smart TV, mobile app usage, registrations, offline purchases and more. This extensive data set creates comprehensive user profiles and the clear signals of interest and intent. Yahoo works closely with marketers to find the right mix to drive real results. Recently, just in time for the holiday season, Yahoo launched a new product ads offering. This is a way for advertisers to reach consumers with both search and display ads to drive results and improve return on ad spend. With visually enticing digital magazines, industry leading coverage of major events, daily live concerts and the largest news, sports, finance, style and travel properties, Yahoo’s premium content attracts passionate and engaged audiences. Brands can become part of these content experiences by using the largest creative canvas available to deliver eye-catching messages with emotional resonance.

for its members and clients. One such initiative is the LinkedIn lead accelerator which is a new lead generation and nurturing product that connects companies to the right professionals with the right content as they make their way through the purchase decision process. It also now offers the LinkedIn Lookup which is a new LinkedIn app that makes professionals more productive by helping them easily ﬁnd, learn about and contact their co-workers. LinkedIn has also launched a new messaging experience which offers an easier and more lightweight way

for members to have professional conversations, including a chat-style interface. In Malaysia some of the new advertisers that have come on board include Digi Telecommunications, PR1MA Homes Malaysia and Proctor & Gamble (Malaysia). Currently, more than 7.2 million companies globally have company pages on LinkedIn. The platform crossed the two million member mark in Malaysia in Q1 of 2015. Bahasa Malaysia is one of the eight Asian languages supported on LinkedIn.

8 :: LINKEDIN

Coming in at eighth spot is LinkedIn. LinkedIn’s mission is to connect all professionals to make them more successful and productive. Ultimately, it hopes to create an economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce. Recently, Olivier Legrand took on responsibilities as managing director for LinkedIn in the APAC region in 2016, in addition to continuing to lead LinkedIn’s marketing solutions business in the region. Over the past year, LinkedIn has also introduced several new products and capabilities

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DIGITAL MEDIA OF THE YEAR

9 :: YOUTUBE

Taking ninth spot in the digital category is Google’s video streaming platform YouTube. The platform is seeing a shift in how consumers are watching videos. Mobile has transformed this and in the past year, YouTube has completely redesigned its mobile experience. According to YouTube and its parent company Google, globally already 50% of watch-time comes from mobile devices. In Asia the ﬁgures are much higher (Korea: 75%, Japan: 65%, Singapore: 60%). YouTube also recently unveiled its paid subscription service, YouTube Red, where subscribers can watch videos across all of YouTube without ads, while also letting viewers save videos to watch ofﬂine on mobile devices and play videos in the

background. Earlier this year, Google announced that brands can now measure the effect of their brand campaigns in near-real time across all devices, including mobile, with Brand Lift surveys. Dabur, an Indian FMCG brand established in 1884, which has always used traditional media, decided to test a four-minute ad on YouTube after realising its target female audience was online. Using Brand Lift to measure the results, Dabur’s campaign had a 113% lift in ad recall in the 25-35 age group of women in India – its key audience. Meanwhile, Chintai, a Japanese property rentals company, which used to advertise its website on posters and TV, saw that it had low brand awareness with males aged 18-34 looking to rent. Chintai used TrueView video ads to reach

this audience and used Brand Lift to measure the results. Chintai saw its brand awareness lift by 20%, and it measured a 156% lift in searches for its brand, as well as a 26% lift in searches for “apartment renting”.

10 :: CNN

Coming in equal in tenth spot is CNN Digital. The website is at the heart of the network’s commitment to breaking news and bringing distinctive business, sports, lifestyle and key vertical content to audiences worldwide. The latest Ipsos Afﬂuent Survey shows CNN is the number one digital international news brand in Asia Paciﬁc, and globally in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America. CNN International’s digital properties have about 270 million page views each month and this rises to 2.8 billion for CNN’s United States sites. CNN is also one of the most followed social news brands with 18.5 million Facebook fans and nearly 50 million Twitter followers across its main accounts. CNN International Commercial is investing in new digital revenue streams such as

programmatic and data through ground-breaking partnerships such as the Pangaea Alliance and hiring talent such as Rob Bradley to head digital advertising sales. In October, CNN International Commercial appointed Laura Greally to the newly created role of digital account director, Asia Paciﬁc. With more than a decade of digital marketing experience, her primary role is to identify and develop a range of solutions across CNN International’s digital portfolio from both direct sales and programmatic trading across Asia. Shradha Nair also joined the CNN ad sales team in July to help develop and increase its commercial opportunities in the Singapore market. She has eight years of sales experience across industries, including broadcast, recruitment and sports.

10 :: IPROPERTY

iProperty.com Malaysia is one of the most wellknown property websites in Malaysia and is trusted by consumers and marketers for all things property. The website, which also comes in at number 10, helps connect property hunters with more properties and real estate agents and property developers than any other website, it says.

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A favourite among property seekers, iProperty.com Malaysia has the largest and most current database of commercial and residential properties for sale and rent, with property news and all the resources a buyer, renter or seller needs to make their next property move. iProperty.com Malaysia is also a favourite

among the real estate industry. Not only does iProperty.com Malaysia provide online advertising solutions for real estate agents and property developers, the business also provides print and exhibition solutions to help brand its advertisers. The company is part of the iProperty Group, an ASX-listed company and owner of Asia’s network of property portals under the iProperty. com umbrella brand. News also recently broke that Australian digital advertising group, REA Group, is looking to acquire 100% of the share capital of Southeast Asian property group iProperty Group Limited. REA Group is a subsidiary of News Corp which owns property sites in Australia, China, US and Europe. The acquisition is valued for a massive sum of AU$751 million. According to several media reports, this is one of the largest acquisitions of an ASEAN start-up.

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A TOTAL OF 103 TROPHIES WERE AWARDED DURING A+M ’S ANNUAL AWARDS NIGHT CELEBRATING THE BEST OF MALAYSIA’S MARKETING LANDSCAPE. HERE IS A QUICK RECAP. JUDGES FOR THE AWARDS Michelle Low, global e-marketing comms and community manager, Agilent Technologies Aziz Laikar, head of communications, AirAsia and AirAsia X, AirAsia Jyn Wee, sales and marketing director, Allswell Trading Pte Ltd Singapore Nursuriyani Zainol Abidin, vice-president – corporate strategy and transformation, AXA Affin General Insurance Berhad Felix Haller, general manager – marketing and international business development, Bufori Motor Car Company Sidney Ng, country manager, foodpanda Riccardo Perere, head of marketing, Groupon Malaysia Ian Chua, co-founder, Hermo Timothy Johnson, vice-president of marketing, Inti International University and Colleges Shirley Low, vice-president of marketing, Lafarge Thila Munusamy, director of sales and marketing, LEGOLAND Malaysia Resort Shaleniie Devi, head of marketing, Australia/Malaysia, Luxola.com Melati Abdul Hai, senior director, marketing and communications, Golden Arches Restaurants Ruben Lawrence, marketing director, Asia, NBCUniversal Chen Lu, brand manager, OPPO Malaysia Martin Soong, country marketing manager – Singapore and Malaysia, P&G Noor Yang Azwar Kamarudin, director of corporate affairs, health and value, Pfizer Malaysia Fiona Liao, chief brand officer, Prudential Assurance Malaysia Karin Chan, marketing manager (Durex, Veet and Scholl), RB Elaine Soh, head of corporate marketing, Samsung Electronics Cindy Lee, country manager, SEPHORA Malaysia Pamela Knaggs, marketing manager, Singapore and Malaysia, Skyscanner Cindy Yoong, director of marketing communications, Malaysia marketing team, Starwood Hotels & Resorts (SEA) Danny Hoh, head of marketing, Watsons Malaysia Patricia Chooi, head of marketing, YTL Communications Geraldine Dreiser, director of quality, YTL Hotels Giulio Xiloyannis, managing director, ZALORA Malaysia

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PERMANIS SANDILANDS TRIUMPHS AT MALAYSIA'S MARKETING EXCELLENCE AWARDS 2015

Permanis Sandilands comfortably won the coveted Marketer of the Year award at this year’s Marketing Excellence Awards. Over 350 senior marketing executives from some of the biggest brands and agencies in Malaysia were in attendance at Advertising + Marketing’s third and largest iteration of its Marketing Excellence Awards. Permanis beat out tough competition with campaigns for its Mountain Dew and Wonda Coffee brands. Campaigns for these brands earned Permanis a whopping six gold trophies, two silver trophies and three bronze trophies – 11 in all, across categories as varied as Excellence in Launch Marketing, Excellence in Print Advertising and Excellence in Mobile Marketing, among others. Permanis won numerous awards with the support of its agency Dentsu Malaysia; the “How Wonda Owned A Day” campaign also won Carat Malaysia a gold award for Excellence in Media Strategy. The variety of categories demonstrated the value of a truly integrated approach to marketing, with campaigns that hit numerous touch-points extremely well. A close second was IKEA Malaysia, which carried home a total of eight trophies – four gold, two silver and two bronze – for its “IKEA BookBook” and “IKEA Bedroom Stories” campaigns. IKEA won in the Excellence in Brand Awareness, Excellence in Media Strategy and

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Excellence in Viral Marketing categories, among others. Other brands that did well at the awards included Beiersdorf Malaysia’s NIVEA, which won for its “NIVEA Celebrates the Sexiness in Modesty” campaign; Celcom Axiata, which won awards for numerous campaigns, including S.O.X. Fantasy Fest 2014; Citibank; Watsons Malaysia and Bank Simpanan Nasional. All winners were selected by a large jury of highly qualified clientside marketers from companies such as AirAsia, P&G, Sephora and Starwood Hotels & Resorts, among others. A total of 103 trophies were awarded during the night, and the awards were supported by sponsor NBCUniversal and partner Heineken.

MOST VALUABLE AGENCY This title recognises the agency behind the most number of winning entries at the Marketing Excellence Awards and this year’s title goes to FCB Kuala Lumpur together with Ignite KL. They won a total of four silver and six gold trophies in categories such as Excellence in Event Marketing, Excellence in Performance Marketing and Excellence in Consumer Insights/ Market Research for clients, including Beiersdorf, Celcom Axiata and Wipro Unza.

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EXCELLENCE IN ADVERTISING

EXCELLENCE IN B2B MARKETING

GOLD

Client: Permanis Sandilands Campaign: How Wonda Owned A Day Agency: Dentsu Malaysia

Client: Lafarge Malaysia Campaign: Lafarge Pro Solutions: Revolutionising the building material industry Agency: M&C Saatchi Malaysia

SILVER Client: IKEA Malaysia Campaign: IKEA BookBook Agency: PHD Malaysia

SILVER Client: Telekom Malaysia Campaign: Innovate to Dominate Agency: Lowe Malaysia

BRONZE Client: Permanis Sandilands Campaign: Mountain Dew Neonizes Malaysia Agency: Dentsu Malaysia

EXCELLENCE IN BRAND AWARENESS

BRONZE Client: Success Together World Wide Campaign: STWW Convention 2014 Agency: A&D Creative Solutions

EXCELLENCE IN BRAND STRATEGY

GOLD

Client: IKEA Malaysia Campaign: IKEA BookBook Agency: PHD Malaysia

Client: Wipro Unza Campaign: I am not just a “tudung” girl Agency: Ignite KL

SILVER

Client: Permanis Sandilands Campaign: How Wonda Owned A Day Agency: Dentsu Malaysia

Client: Lafarge Malaysia Campaign: Lafarge Pro Solutions: Revolutionising the building material industry Agency: M&C Saatchi Malaysia

BRONZE Client: IKEA Malaysia Campaign: IKEA Bedroom Stories Agency: PHD Malaysia

EXCELLENCE IN CONSUMER INSIGHTS/MARKET RESEARCH

BRONZE Client: Golden Arches Restaurants Campaign: McDonald’s Rasa Sayang Agency: TBWA\Kuala Lumpur

EXCELLENCE IN CONTENT MARKETING

GOLD

Client: Wipro Unza Campaign: I am not just a “tudung” girl Agency: Ignite KL

Client: Bank Simpanan Nasional Campaign: Kucing Happy – “How a very conventional bank made itself relevant in the age of Social Media.” Agency: Fishermen Integrated

SILVER Client: Citibank Malaysia Campaign: #CitiMakeMyDay Agencies: MEC Malaysia, Nielsen and Publicis Malaysia

SILVER Client: AIA Malaysia Campaign: Letters For The Future Agency: Starcom Mediavest

BRONZE Client: Bursa Malaysia Campaign: Bursa CelebTradr Agency: TBWA\Kuala Lumpur

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BRONZE Client: Bank Simpanan Nasional Campaign: Pengacau Raya Agency: Fishermen Integrated

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EXCELLENCE IN CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

EXCELLENCE IN CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT

GOLD

Client: Maybank Campaign: Maybank – Birthday Surprise Agency: Zenith Malaysia

Client: Watsons Malaysia Campaign: Watsons Got into the Malaysia Book of Records! Agency: OMD Malaysia

SILVER

Client: Malaysian AEON Foundation Campaign: Malaysian AEON Foundation - Changing Lives

Client: Golden Arches Restaurants Campaign: McDonald’s Rasa Sayang Agency: TBWA\Kuala Lumpur

BRONZE

Client: GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare Campaign: Horlicks School Journey Initiative Agency: Mindshare Malaysia

Client: Citibank Malaysia Campaign: KL gets a surprise from Citibank! Agencies: MEC Malaysia and Shiroku Production

EXCELLENCE IN DATA-DRIVEN MARKETING

GOLD Client: Citibank Campaign: Unlock a BMW X3 Agencies: Publicis Communications Malaysia, In2 Marketing & Consulting

EXCELLENCE IN DIGITAL MARKETING

GOLD Client: IKEA Malaysia Campaign: IKEA BookBook Agency: PHD Malaysia SILVER

SILVER Client: Courts Malaysia Campaign: Data Driven Intelligent Customer Engagement Agency: Capillary Technologies BRONZE Client: Astro GS Shop Campaign: Go Shop Agency: Xaxis

EXCELLENCE IN DIRECT MARKETING

Client: Bank Simpanan Nasional Campaign: Kucing Happy – “How a very conventional bank made itself relevant in the age of Social Media.” Agency: Fishermen Integrated BRONZE Client: Unilever Malaysia Campaign: Vaseline Instant Fair Agency: Immerse Group

EXCELLENCE IN EVENT MARKETING

GOLD

Client: IKEA Malaysia Campaign: IKEA BookBook Agency: PHD Malaysia

Client: Celcom Axiata Campaign: S.O.X. Fantasy Fest 2014 Agency: FCB Kuala Lumpur

SILVER

Client: Frogasia Campaign: Inspiring the Changemakers Agency: Lowe Malaysia

Client: Beiersdorf Malaysia Campaign: NIVEA Celebrates the Sexiness in Modesty Agency: FCB Kuala Lumpur

BRONZE

Client: HTC Campaign: HTC Hijack Agency: PHD Malaysia

Client: Mitsubishi Motors Malaysia Campaign: Red Peak Challenge Agency: Square Roots

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EXCELLENCE IN EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING

EXCELLENCE IN GOVERNMENT SECTOR MARKETING

GOLD

Client: Tune Talk Campaign: Mixed Martial Arr – Terror on the High Seas Agency: Interplay

Client: Social Security Organisation (SOCSO) Campaign: Return to Work

SILVER

Client: White Café Campaign: The Art of OLDTOWN Agency: Spin Communications

Client: Telekom Malaysia Campaign: Innovate to Dominate Agency: Lowe Malaysia

BRONZE

Client: Unilever Malaysia Campaign: Sunsilk Biggest Selfie Movie in Malaysia Agency: Immerse Group

Client: Celcom Axiata Campaign: MyCinta Agency: M&C Saatchi Malaysia

EXCELLENCE IN INTEGRATED MARKETING (CONSUMER)

EXCELLENCE IN LAUNCH MARKETING

GOLD

Client: Permanis Sandilands Campaign: Mountain Dew Neonizes Malaysia Agency: Dentsu Malaysia

Client: Nippon Paint Campaign: #PaintAllSurfaces Agency: TBWA\Kuala Lumpur

SILVER Client: Nippon Paint Campaign: #PaintAllSurfaces Agency: TBWA\Kuala Lumpur

SILVER Client: Unilever Malaysia Campaign: Master the Art of Teh Tarik Instantly Agency: Creative Juice Kuala Lumpur

BRONZE Client: IKEA Malaysia Campaign: IKEA BookBook Agency: PHD Malaysia

EXCELLENCE IN LOYALTY MARKETING

BRONZE Client: Permanis Sandilands Campaign: Mountain Dew Neonizes Malaysia Agency: Dentsu Malaysia

EXCELLENCE IN MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS

GOLD

Client: Citibank Campaign: Unlock a BMW X3 Agencies: Publicis Communications Malaysia, In2 Marketing & Consulting

Client: TGV Cinemas Campaign: Movie Club Agency: theLABEL Ads SILVER

SILVER Client: Watsons Malaysia Campaign: Say YES to Watsons Brand Agency: Advocacy Malaysia

Client: Beiersdorf Malaysia Campaign: NIVEA Celebrates the Sexiness in Modesty Agency: FCB Kuala Lumpur BRONZE

BRONZE Client: TGV CINEMAS Campaign: TGV Cinemas MovieClub

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Client: Permanis Sandilands Campaign: Mountain Dew Neonizes Malaysia Agency: Dentsu Malaysia

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EXCELLENCE IN MARKETING INNOVATION

EXCELLENCE IN MARKETING TO A FEMALE AUDIENCE

GOLD

Client: Permanis Sandilands Campaign: Mountain Dew Neonizes Malaysia Agency: Dentsu Malaysia

Client: Wipro Unza Campaign: I am not just a “tudung” girl Agency: Ignite KL

SILVER

Client: Citibank Campaign: Unlock a BMW X3 Agencies: Publicis Communications Malaysia, In2 Marketing & Consulting

Client: Beiersdorf Malaysia Campaign: NIVEA Celebrates the Sexiness in Modesty Agency: FCB Kuala Lumpur BRONZE

BRONZE Client: Energizer Malaysia Campaign: EVEREADY Book of Play Agency: TBWA\Kuala Lumpur

EXCELLENCE IN MARKETING TO A MALE AUDIENCE

Client: Watsons Malaysia Campaign: Watsons Getting Married this Raya! Agency: OMD Malaysia

EXCELLENCE IN MEDIA STRATEGY

GOLD

Client: Reckitt Benckiser Campaign: Durex Touch Agency: Arc Worldwide/Leo Burnett

Client: Permanis Sandilands Campaign: How Wonda Owned A Day Agency: Carat Malaysia

SILVER

Client: Maybank Campaign: Live at Old Trafford Agency: Zenith Malaysia

Client: IKEA Malaysia Campaign: IKEA BookBook Agency: PHD Malaysia

BRONZE

Client: Celcom Axiata Campaign: 3D targeting wins Indonesian Immigrants Agency: Zenith Malaysia

Client: Unilever Malaysia Campaign: Sunsilk – Its All in the AIR and not Hair Agency: Mindshare Malaysia

EXCELLENCE IN MOBILE MARKETING

EXCELLENCE IN NATIVE ADVERTISING/BRANDED CONTENT

GOLD

Client: Celcom Axiata Campaign: 3D marketing wins Indonesian Immigrants Agency: Zenith Malaysia

Client: Moving Walls Campaign: Love Generator Challenge

SILVER

Client: Permanis Sandilands Campaign: How Wonda Owned A Day Agency: Dentsu Malaysia

Client: White Café Campaign: The Art of OLDTOWN Agency: Spin Communications

BRONZE

Client: Unilever Malaysia Campaign: Ice Scream, You Scream: Ghostly campaign “haunts” consumers Agency: Mindshare Malaysia

Client: HP Campaign: Fall In Love with Printing Again Agency: PHD Malaysia

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EXCELLENCE IN OUT-OF-HOME ADVERTISING

EXCELLENCE IN PERFORMANCE MARKETING

GOLD

Client: Permanis Sandilands Campaign: How Wonda Owned A Day Agency: Dentsu Malaysia

Client: Beiersdorf Malaysia Campaign: NIVEA Celebrates the Sexiness in Modesty Agency: FCB Kuala Lumpur

SILVER

Client: White Café Campaign: The Art of OLDTOWN Agency: Spin Communications

Client: Celcom Axiata Campaign: S.O.X. Fantasy Fest 2014 Agency: FCB Kuala Lumpur

BRONZE Client: Ministry of Federal Territories Malaysia and Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur Campaign: “Appreciation of KL Citizens and Tourists for MH17 Victims” Agency: Parisign Media

EXCELLENCE IN PRINT ADVERTISING

BRONZE Client: DiGi Telecommunications Campaign: DiGi’s daily prediction football contest. Agency: Starcom Mediavest

EXCELLENCE IN PUBLIC RELATIONS

GOLD

Client: Permanis Sandilands Campaign: Mountain Dew Neonizes Malaysia Agency: Dentsu Malaysia

Client: Pfizer Campaign: Launch of Pfizer’s Anti-Counterfeit Technology – PASS Agency: Public Relations

SILVER Client: PETRONAS Group Campaign: Merdeka & Malaysia Day 2014: A Walk Through Time Agency: Zenith Malaysia BRONZE Client: PETRONAS Group Campaign: Petrosains: Dinosaurs Coming to Life Agency: Zenith Malaysia

EXCELLENCE IN SEARCH MARKETING

SILVER Client: Airbnb Singapore Campaign: Airbnb: A Night At The World’s Hottest Race Agency: THE GOVTKL BRONZE Client: Milestone Production Campaign: Thriller Live! A Musical Celebration

EXCELLENCE IN SHOPPER MARKETING

GOLD

Client: KDU University College Campaign: KDU – The Art of Stealing in Search Agency: Maxus Communications Malaysia

Client: Watsons Malaysia Campaign: Watsons Zumba Won Over Chinese Shoppers! Agency: OMD Malaysia

SILVER

Client: Nippon Paint Campaign: Painting Over Wallpapers Agency: iProspect Malaysia

Client: Energizer Malaysia Campaign: EVEREADY Book of Play Agency: TBWA\Kuala Lumpur

BRONZE

Client: Compare Global Group Campaign: SEM Financial Comparison Campaign Agency: Lion & Lion

Client: Citibank Campaign: Winter Wonderland Agency: In2 Marketing & Consulting

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EXCELLENCE IN SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

EXCELLENCE IN SPONSORSHIP ACTIVATION

GOLD

Client: Celcom Axiata Campaign: S.O.X. Fantasy Fest 2014 Agency: FCB Kuala Lumpur

Client: AIA Malaysia Campaign: AIA Cup Kuala Lumpur 2015

SILVER

Client: Bank Simpanan Nasional Campaign: Kucing Happy – “How a very conventional bank made itself relevant in the age of Social Media.” Agency: Fishermen Integrated

Client: Celcom Axiata Campaign: SOX Fantasy Fest Fuels Fantastic Fans Experiences Agency: Zenith Malaysia BRONZE

BRONZE Client: Volkswagen Group Malaysia Campaign: Test Drive Challenge Agency: M&C Saatchi Malaysia

EXCELLENCE IN TV/VIDEO ADVERTISING

Client: Milestone Production Campaign: Thriller Live! A Musical Celebration

EXCELLENCE IN VIRAL MARKETING

GOLD

Client: Maybank Campaign: Maybank – Birthday Surprise Agency: Zenith Malaysia

Client: IKEA Malaysia Campaign: IKEA BookBook Agency: PHD Malaysia

SILVER

Client: Bank Simpanan Nasional Campaign: Pengacau Raya Agency: Fishermen Integrated

Client: Unilever Malaysia Campaign: Sunsilk Biggest Selfie Movie in Malaysia Agency: Immerse Group

BRONZE

Client: A.W. Faber-Castell Campaign: Speedx “Rugby” Agency: theLABEL Ads

Client: Celcom Axiata Campaign: The Magic Sim – Casting its spell on the youth of Malaysia Agency: Zenith Malaysia

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EVENTS

IS YOUR EMAIL STRATEGY EFFECTIVE? Who will ultimately be a digital winner? “Marketers who ﬁgure out how to make email and mobile work together to win customers, drive sales and bring them back after the season ends,” said Dave Walters, strategic marketing evangelist for IBM Marketing Cloud, at a Marketing Effectiveness Forum. Email can help narrow the gap between browsing and buying on smartphones. In turn, smartphones can bring new email subscribers and widen the email messaging programme beyond the traditional inbox, he explained. However, email is still perceived as a no cost – a misconception that needs to be corrected soon. Very soon, according to Walters, marketers will feel revenue pressure on email. “The revenue pressure on email marketing spends is coming, if it hasn’t already. Your bosses are going to sit on you asking for real revenue per email numbers, so marketers better be moving that way,” he said. Marketers now have a wealth of information from customers at their disposal – time spent on marketing messages, interest levels, brand

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afﬁnity and so on – something they never had at such a scale. As email marketing enables marketers to communicate with many, in a manner that is scaleable, yet personalised, what marketers need to do is capture consumer behaviour and preferences as well as they can. “It is how we take that into account, making buyer personas and accurate assumptions about our audience, drill deeper into that data – for us marketers that is the moment of shine,” he said. It isn’t about the numbers At some level, sending emails is seen as a litmus test for a marketer. “I have met marketers who are a little too enamoured with their ability to send messages and not as focused on what they should be doing before they send those messages,” he said. However, just sending the email isn’t good enough. If you subtract the credit of sending the most amount of messages, then you start to think through the revenue opportunity – and that’s what’s needed. “If someone has not opened an email from you in a year, it is ludicrous that you will include them in your emailing list,” he said. While it may be a matter of comfort to have a huge mailing list, it is nothing, but a vanity metric. What marketers must therefore focus on is the top revenue segment after carefully assessing the database and conversion percentage with it.

“If marketers in the world chopped the 80% chaos in their marketing plan and said all I want to care about are our best customers, where do I ﬁnd more of them and how do I absolutely, have the conversation that almost every single one of them wants to buy – that would be it,” Walters said. But showing large numbers to the management is a reality for many brands. How do marketers navigate that? Here’s a dirty secret by Walters. “Keep them in your list by putting them in a suppression list and in your last step of your segmentation list add ‘and or remove’ all inactive recipients – that way you can still report the top line number to your team.” Another common mistake marketers commit is to overlook the costs involved in getting email marketing right. Costs associated with headcount is one of them. “As marketers we have been willing to sign up to do more and we haven’t had the upper hand in terms of budget. We sign up for 50% more work with 10% more budget.” So, if marketers understand revenue, ROI or how to deploy the budget in the right places then it is a different conversation they will have. As opposed to being told end of year that they have overshot the budget, they will be going to the bosses mid-year, saying we have got this programme that we’re running and creating CLV customers at $500 on this paid media spend on social media. “We want to stop doing it and redeploy the budget on another channel which is proving to WWW. M ARKE TI N G- I N TE RAC TI VE . C OM

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EVENTS

be incredibly high in driving ROI. As a marketer, that puts you in a very different place.” Here is a summary of all that was discussed with the delegates over three roundtable discussions. USING BEHAVIOURAL PSYCHOLOGY TO IMPROVE MARKETING When thinking about where to begin with behavioural marketing, many of our attendees were already making strides – even if they didn’t realise it. When they deliver the best reactivation offer to those who have spent the most in the past six months, it is embracing the principles behind behavioural marketing. For many attendees in the hotel, food and beverage and travel industries, the basics of factoring in for customer behaviours comes in the form of loyalty programmes, but even some of the small businesses attending are thinking deeply about how to pay closer attention to their buyers. While we talked through many specific examples, everyone agreed with the big-picture idea of improving their customer’s overall journey (even if that term is still gaining traction). For many of the more B2B-focused firms, this means thinking more deeply about the content strategy that uncovers and nurtures their best prospects and turns them into profitable customers. It also means every company should be focusing on how to both retain and delight their existing customers – and be working hard to develop advocates throughout the customer life cycle. And while many ASEAN marketers are still

focused on mass media to drive awareness, I heard a wide range of roles and experience levels thinking more deeply about more oneto-one strategies based on tactics from the database marketing and direct response worlds. Dave Walters, strategic marketing evangelist, IBM Marketing Cloud USING MARKETING AUTOMATION TO DERIVE ACTIONABLE INTELLIGENCE Marketers are facing challenging times nowadays. We’re doing more with less – targeting core audiences and geographies using more channels (online and offline) than ever before. Marketing automation allows marketers to effectively manage and nurture your leads, maximising the marketing budget and automat marketing processes. With that, marketers will understand more prospects behaviour, and scores on that behaviour, ensures that customers will receive personalised messages or information at the right time and in the right channels. Marketers can also create multi-track workflows using email, direct mail, social media, SMS, mobile push and telesales. Keep track of the customers’ behaviours and steps – and know what keeps them engaged. With marketing automation, marketers leverage those behaviours to react to steps taken as well as anticipate future actions so that marketers can spend less time managing manual tasks and spend more time on marketing strategies. It’s not a one-day job. Before executing marketing automation, marketers need to have the proper discussion internally with other business units (such as the sales department and customer service department) to finalise the customer communication plan/process. Once strategies and processes have been determined, the marketing performance will prove all the effort is worth it. Alex Liu, sales director, IBM Marketing Cloud

A HOLISTIC CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT JOURNEY VIA OMNI-CHANNELS The landscape of email marketing has fundamentally changed as consumer expectations have grown, and as marketing heads are increasingly focused on providing a better and more relevant customer experience that leverages multiple channels. Additionally, with the tools and technology available, the expectation on marketers to track, test and prove ROI has never been higher. Emails are no longer being seen as oneoff campaigns to drive sales, instead the focus is increasingly on leveraging email as a channel of engagement, and then tracking the effectiveness back to overall campaign objectives. During the roundtable exchange, personalisation was agreed upon as the most important factor in most organisations’ email marketing strategies. We saw a variation of personalisation tactics in the different industries, but all agreed that personalisation and relevance has moved beyond using “dear first-name”, and we explored how to use on and offline behaviours to further personalise every email communication. Retail and e-tail delegates were said to experience the best open and click rates on Sunday nights whereas airlines and financial institutes received the best open and click rates on Friday mornings. Subject lines were agreed to be an important contributing factor, with most regularly conducting A/B tests. Data in multiple silos across the organisation still remains a big challenge for many organisations, as many are pursuing a single identity strategy. The further personalisation of transactional emails to provide realtime relevant cross and upsell offers in key communications was also explored and something that e-tailers are increasingly looking to adopt. According to our 2015 Email Marketing Metrics Benchmark Study, transactional emails generated an average 44.9% open rate and was even better for top email marketers with a 72.2% open rate. The participants all agreed that email marketing remains an essential engagement channel for every brand. Having the right email marketing and customer engagement strategy strengthens the relationship between the brand and its prospects and directly retains customers for long-term loyalty and success. Antonia Edmunds, sales and geo expansion leader, Asia Pacific, IBM Marketing Cloud

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The inaugural edition of Content 360 saw 120 senior marketers and industry professionals discuss the evolution of content marketing. Topics ranged from storytelling to organisational readiness to embracing content marketing to budgets and measurement. Here are the key discussions that took place at the conference. 6 60 0 MARKETING MAA RKE M MARKE R KKEE TTIN RK TIIN I N G MAY MAAY M A Y 201 2015

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DO YOU HAVE THE RIGHT CULTURE TO CREATE GOOD CONTENT?

When it comes to building a brand, and subsequently, content for a brand, having the right culture is very important. Earlier this year, Digi underwent a massive rebranding exercise. Along with a refreshed brand identity and a brand promise to be “the enabler of digital inspiration”, it also launched a new tag line “Let’s Inspire”. With this new focus in mind, creating engaging content was carved out as one of the core deliverables embedded within the strategic pillar of Digi life. One of the key components was then to create conversations around trending topics with the help of a dedicated team. Speaking at A+M’s one-day forum, Content 360, Chan May Ling, head of marketing services at Digi, said creating inspiring and relevant content comes from truly understanding your brand DNA. On top of that, to be part of quick and fast everyday conversations, a culture of empowering your front line staff is vital so they have the conﬁdence of creating content on the go and being part of topical conversations. Moreover, you need to have the spirit of a risk taker and be ready to deal with consequences. “You have to be able to say let’s do it and deal with the consequences later. You don’t know the outcome, but this is a risk you need to take. You must also know that some things will work and sometimes it won’t,” Chan said. With the speed of connectivity at an alltime high, a brand can no longer afford to get

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things done the old way, that is, multiple rounds of approval before sending out a tweet or a Facebook post on topical issues. When creating great content, team work and trust is also vital. “There is no client and agency mentality. We have a WhatsApp chat room with both sides and we discuss ideas as friends would and try to ﬁgure out the best way to angle a topical issue and create content out of it. You need to have that transparent two-way conversations,” Chan said. She added when under pressure, you need to have the whole team on board and have an honest discussion on what might work and what might fail. All parties involved speaking the same lingo in such high pressure situations helps immensely. Moreover, today simply being “always on” is an understatement. Citing the example of the well-known road rage incident last year involving a young Malay lady and an elderly man, Chan said the idea to get involved in this much-heated discussion came about almost overnight. The team decided this was a conversation the brand needed to be a part of, and executed content around it almost on the ﬂy. Given the situation occurred during the fasting month, and Digi was then running its season campaign 30 hari baik (30 days of good), it decided to spin the negative situation

into a positive one. Almost immediately after the incident, Digi Telecommunications stepped up to pay for the elderly man’s car damages on a post on its Facebook page, which was titled “#30HariBaik Can you see the good?” It also offered to pay the cost of the lady’s car damages. The post had more than 7920 Facebook likes and 3,673 shares. “We just saw the video of Kiki and uncle Sim together with you. The only difference is what we did with it. We decided to be part of the conversation and would deal with the repercussions later. Almost immediately, we asked what we could do about the situation,” Chan said. Echoing Chan’s view was Julian Matthews, director of Trinetizen Media, who said today you do not need to spend countless hours on high-tech devices and gadgets to create great content. “Great stories are everywhere. Very often in content marketing we seem to forget the human element,” Matthews said. Ultimately, what content does is humanise your brand, yet marketers often forget this. He advised marketers to forget about consumers and audiences being a bunch of uniques and views and start thinking of them as actual people. “Your audience is more than just an eyeball, it is an actual person. So it is important when you share the story you have an audience in your head,” Matthews said. He also explained that having the right audience in mind is critical. “What we really need to do is stop whining and get on with it. Stop blaming budgets (or the lack thereof), tools and equipment for not creating compelling content. Chances are the videos you are viewing are made by a simple smartphone. People can spot unauthentic content. They want real visceral experiences,” he said. Ultimately, brands need to go back to basics. They need to deﬁne their audience, ﬁnd out what is their brand story and the story they are trying to tell and most importantly, put it in context. Fair enough, content is king, context is queen, but it is up to the marketer to be the knight on the chessboard of marketing. Metaphorically speaking, he said: “The knight has the power to jump over the kings and queens. It also has the ability to leap over the bishop (which represents faith). So marketers need to defy the kings and queens of their organisations and simply take a leap of faith to get started in content marketing.”

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WHAT IDEAL CONTENT MARKETING SHOULD BE LIKE Social media marketing or content marketing has to include a great search and social strategy if it is to succeed in the new advertising space. Speaking at A+M’s Content 360 conference, Vaasu S Gavarasana, of the Asia Content Marketing Association (ACMA), defined content marketing as “a marketing technique of creating and distributing valuable, relevant and consistent content to attract and acquire a clearly defined audience, with the objective of driving profitable customer action”. Following this definition, he discussed the ideal state of content marketing while highlighting present-day shortcomings of the current state of the industry (as reflected in the chart below that he shared with the audience). Ideal state versus the silo-ed approach “The silo approach is not going to work for a company or an employee,” he said. The industry has to aspire to a more ideal state of integration to make content marketing more sustainable and effective. The integrated

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state should ideally combine search, content, social and e-commerce entities so the sharing of information can lead to a more impactful marketing strategy. The silo approach, according to

Gavarasana, impedes the flow of information and expertise from various departments. This organisational gap needs to be addressed for a company to be fully integrated: “An agency that has super specialisation capabilities can only use those capabilities for a smaller set-up – it won’t work for an organisation.” The industry should also reform its philosophy when it comes to content marketing. “Brands are spineless. They need to have a point of view and have a conversation with the audience to get people to subscribe to them,” he explained. The current state, however, sees organisations defining their brand by product assets, with their content premise built on push marketing. Usually, content is strategised based on unique selling points and driven by product marketing. This, he pointed out, leads to a “monologue approach to marketing and communications”, passively repeating the same brand mantra on available platforms. As such, brands must be seen as publishers with a point of view; the key driver for engaging content should include conversations with the consumer. Content needs to be built on and guided by principles of journalism to ensure there is an ongoing dialogue and engagement with consumers “Unlike copywriting, which hides behind qualitative research, journalism forces the content to be in sync with your target audience.” This ability to respond and be attuned to the market enhances the brand’s persona, further attracting and expanding its consumer base. He cited the examples of SAP, King Content and Kontent Cafe as some of the content marketers who are excelling in the domain. He also advocates for a restructuring of the agency ecosystem, one in which both creative and public relations firms embrace content to better benchmark themselves against existing content marketing agencies. “Agencies should hire a content marketing specialist who is able to track various metrics,” he said. To stay relevant in this ever-changing landscape, marketers should understand how content marketing drives the marketing funnel. Hence, for brands to survive and adapt quickly to the ideal state of content marketing, he emphasised the importance of having a content marketing lead who is able to promote the brand’s content and translate it into something of commercial value for the company.

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WHY CHALLENGER BRANDS CAN DO CONTENT MARKETING BETTER

Yes, creating content requires you to set aside a certain amount of your already stretched marketing budget and yes, it is a long-term investment. So, as a small challenger brand in your category, with a limited amount of cash in your hands, should you chuck the idea of investing into content? No, said Gaurav Gupta, marketing director of ASEAN at Kimberly-Clark, who was speaking at A+M’s inaugural one-day Content 360 forum held at Intercontinental KL. If you are a small challenger brand, the potential of creating great content which hits a nerve with your consumers is higher for you. “Small brands might have a tighter budget, but they have challenger mindsets and a niche audience. This allows them to tell even more sharply deﬁned stories unlike the big boys,” he said. While the likes of P&G and Starbucks might have several successful case studies when it comes to content marketing, they also have to be extremely careful in the kind of content they create. These brands have massive stakeholders’ and audience’s expectations to meet which often ties their hands when it comes to creativity. They can’t afford to alienate one group of consumers from others. “At the end of the day they might be spending huge marketing dollars behind not so great brand stories,” he said. He advises that brands, big or small, should use a storytelling approach to deliver their core messages. Not only does it open up doors to

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the audience’s hearts and minds, but it also drives more memorability than a simple ad campaign. This memorability ultimately helps in driving action. “Stories humanise marketing messages. The stories are sugar-coating your message and if they are great enough, it will motivate your audience. Storytelling is the best way to deliver brand messages in the new world,” he said. Sarvin Rajoo, regional sales manager for Oracle Corporation Malaysia, empathised with the difficult spot CMOs often find themselves in, given CEOs today are always demanding for measurable ROIs. However, content marketing is not an arena where the returns will be immediate, he reminded everyone. It is a longterm investment. Moreover, with the variety of customer interactions happening every second across digital channels, marketing teams often can’t keep up, he said. As a result, content often takes the backseat. He advises marketing teams to invest in the right tools to carve out their content strategies, suited for their target audience. “A major part of defining a content marketing strategy involves using customer data to target and personalise each content asset,” he said.“Your content marketing strategy will be fundamentally flawed if you don’t know the audience for your content and the types of content they want to consume.” Only after determining the personas can the marketer truly know what interests and motivates the audience.

A content checklist According to statistics from King Content and iSentia, consumers are bombarded with 2,000 to 5,000 marketing messages per day. As a small company if you are thinking of placing a chunk of your content on traditional mediums such as TV, it is worth noting that TV ads are only seen by 20% of marketers’ targeted audience and 86% of all people skip television ads. “There’s no fool-proof template, no silver bullet when it comes to content marketing. But there is a linear path you can follow to increase your chances of content marketing success. Nearly 80% of marketers who rate their content marketing as ‘very effective’ have a documented content strategy,” said Chad C. Laws, marketing and communications manager of iSentia SEA. He outlines a quick checklist for marketers making a move into content. • Focus on feeling: The best marketing doesn’t feel like marketing. • Become a YOUtility: The difference between helping and selling is just two letters. • Be objective: Don’t create content for its own sake. The goal is action, not eyeballs. • Know your audience: And we mean really know them. Set the bar high – you’re competing with their favourite content websites, brands, their friends and family. • Go viral: Is every piece of content ﬁndable, readable, actionable and shareable? • Focus on how to be social, not how to do social.

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HOW DATA JOURNALISM CAN HELP CONTENT MARKETING

With the topic of big data fresh on the agenda of most marketers, marketing has become less about traditional Mad Men advertising and more about carrying the voice of the consumer to the business and aligning the business’ objective with it. Speaking at A+M’s Content 360 conference, Bjorn Sprengers, chief marketing ofﬁcer of PropertyGuru Malaysia, said the diminishing effectiveness of traditional media had catapulted the popularity of content marketing where big and small brands alike compete to drive the most effective campaigns. According to Sprengers, because content marketing is scalable, the cost-per-reach of excellent content usually beneﬁts the brand when its CPR goes down for each and every shared content online. “Excellent content allows you to play ‘always-on’, this gives you a better return on investment of your marketing spend,” he explained. When curating and creating content for a brand or product, a marketer should always note the various “moments of truth” in the consumer’s purchasing path. To ensure your content makes a tangible return on investment,

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brands should focus on creating content that converts the consumer. “The content should be part of the conversion funnel if it’s to contribute to ROI,” he said. Because creative copy is mostly being written by agencies or people who may have very little passion or understanding of the industry, the content may not accurately convey a brand’s purpose. For this reason, he advised that companies in-source their content marketing or handpick the people in the contracted agency that want to work for the brand. “They may not necessarily be the best people in the agency, but they have passion for your brand – that’s the most important thing,” he said. The selective nature of this hiring process ensures the content is more likely to be targeted and relevant to the audience, while delivering entertainment and informative value to consumers. What makes good content marketing? Good content needs to be built around brand vision, a distinct point of view and data journalism, according to Sprengers.

For one, an aspirational content marketing execution is one that promotes high brand linkage for the company, serving as a callto-action for consumers, thereby increasing shareability. Content marketing should also act as a valuable point of differentiation from other brands. In advertising, brands must position themselves in a place of authority in order to ensure customer retention. “It must be something that is difﬁcult for your competitors to compete with. Excellent content should drive acquisition of leads.” In making shareable content, he cited that the length of the content correlates to its shareability. “There has been a lot of science about what makes content shareable. “While most of the competition aims for volume to value, the length of content is actually more important when it comes to its shareability.” Aside from the stopping power of visuals, he advised the use of 3,000 to 10,000-word content to boost its shareability. Long-form ads, according to him, are more likely to be shared on social media than shortform ones. To create a brand’s own niche content, he advocates the use of data journalism which makes use of small data to design scalable and shareable content while retaining brand authority. For PropertyGuru, it collaborated and combined data with the Urban Redevelopment Authority to predict property market transactions in Singapore. It also launched an agent performance insights tool for real estate agents to access their lead generation performance on PropertyGuru, by comparing with other PropertyGuru agent members who are dealing in the same property type and region. This enabled the agents to identify areas of strength and spot areas for improvement; such a tool and service were made possible by exploring data journalism. Given the crowded nature of the media environment, the content space is being increasingly cluttered and homogenised. Hence, Sprengers argued, data journalism could very well be the key differentiator for a brand when strategising its next content marketing execution.

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15/12/2015 3:59:43 PM

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