Advertising + Marketing MY - July 2016

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

Editorial

Rayana Pandey, Editor rayanap@marketing-interactive.com Rezwana Manjur, Deputy Editor rezwanam@marketing-interactive.com Venus Hew, Senior Journalist venush@marketing-interactive.com

Vivienne Tay, Journalist viviennet@marketing-interactive.com

Editorial – International

Inti Tam, Deputy Editor (Hong Kong) intit@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 - Malaysia

Joven Barceñas, Director, Business Development & Strategy (Malaysia & Indonesia) jovenb@marketing-interactive.com Bernadine Reyla, Project Manager bernadiner@marketing-interactive.com Ong Yi Xuan, Advertising Sales Coordinator yixuano@marketing-interactive.com

Advertising Sales - International

Johnathan Tiang, Sales Manager (Singapore) johnathant@marketing-interactive.com Sara Wan, Senior Sales Manager (Hong Kong) saraw@marketing-interactive.com

Event Production

Hairol Salim, Regional Lead - Events and Training hairol@marketing-interactive.com

Event Services

Yeo Wei Qi, Regional Head of Events Services weiqi@marketing-interactive.com

I feel marketers are blessed with the ability to switch perspectives, which helps them to adapt and remain agile. Their inherent understanding of people and situations sets them apart. And I have imbibed some of these traits in my eight years with A+M magazine.

Much of my life’s perspectives have been shaped by what I have learnt on the job – about marketing (connecting with people), engagement, creativity, and so much more.

As I pen my last editor’s note for the magazine, I find myself reflecting on these marketing/life lessons I’ve picked up on the job. Here they are: Get the culture right – without a deep understanding of culture, no marketing will be able to strike a chord with the audience or your team/s.

Personal branding – never underestimate its importance. Whether you are a senior exec or entry-level staff, being conscious of your brand and building it over time is a must.

Longevity – it’s 2016 I know, but patience pays off. Adding value to an organisation while growing your career requires time.

Some, I know, may argue otherwise, but I’m a believer. Think long-standing client-agency relationships. Isn’t it a #blessing? (hate that hashtag, by the way!)

Network – I have constantly communicated this to my team. Our job as journalists is 60% networking, 40% writing. If you are not meeting new people, you will stop learning, simple.

Same goes for marketing – meet your vendors, customers, channel partners. Be on the ground, talking and collecting “real-life” data. That’s a true differentiator. And last, never underestimate the value of content.

We have seen exponential growth in our readership every time we have made changes to our content strategy. For a publisher, audience numbers are everything, and therefore, our growth over the years has been immensely gratifying. Big thanks to you, our audience.

Now it’s time to take that growth to another level and nobody else, but Rezwana Manjur would’ve been the best person to do so. So, say hello to A+M’s new editor.

As I take the next step in my career, I say goodbye to a team which is not just looking good, but fantastic.

Wishing Rayana all the best. I mean Rezwana! (PS: It’s an inside joke, you would know.)

Keep reading A+M magazine, and stay in touch!

Finance

Evelyn Wong, Regional Finance Director evelynw@lighthousemedia.com.sg

Management

Søren Beaulieu, Publisher sorenb@marketing-interactive.com Justin Randles, Group Managing Director jr@marketing-interactive.com Tony Kelly, Managing Director tk@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 office. 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 2/F, Connaught Harbourfront House 35-36 Connaught Road West 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

J U LY 201 6 | a dvert i s i ng + m a r ke t i ng 1

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

HERE’S TO AN AWESOME TIME – AND A NEW BEGINNING

Advertising + Marketing’s MasterClass series is an ongoing programme of specialised workshops covering wide-ranging topics relevant to present-day marketing communications disciplines. One day in length and customised to ďŹ t the needs of marketers from various functions, each MasterClass course will enrich you with skills and tools to bring your competencies to a higher level.

Check out all upcoming courses here:

WWW.MARKETING-INTERACTIVE.COM/MASTERCLASS-SERIES/MY

COMING UP Social Media Content Creation Date: 25 July 2016 Social Media 101 Date: 18-19 August 2016 Social Media Crisis Management Date: 20 September 2016 Under the Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF), registered employers can claim rebates for trainings conducted by an overseas trainer/ training provider.

Contact Carlo Reston, carlor@marketing-interactive.com, +65 6423 0329 for further information on agenda and registration.

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15/7/2016 12:01:30 PM

CONTENTS ................................................................................................................................................................................................................

4

A MONTH IN NEWS A round up of a month of news from Malaysia and the region.

10 BRANDS CELEBRATE HARI RAYA IN STYLE Venus Hew checks out the numerous ways brands displayed their colourful and creative side this festive season.

14 WHAT DO MALAYSIAN GEN Ys LOOK FOR IN BRANDS? Here are the Malaysian brands that have won the hearts of Gen Y. Rezwana Manjur reports.

16 AIRASIA’S PUSH TO RENAME KLIA2 AS LCCT2: IS IT A GOOD IDEA? Industry experts weigh in on the rebranding spat and whether or not the renaming is necessary.

Vivienne Tay writes.

20 PROFILE: FREDRICK SIEW, DEPUTY CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF CORPORATE SUPPORT, BSN Changing a 40-year-old image is hard. Changing the perception of this brand is harder still. Read how BSN is looking to make that transition.

This is the story of the 40-year-old bank which struggled against the odds to change the perceptions of Malaysians. Rezwana Manjur writes.

28 ANALYTICS 2016 How companies are embracing the power of data and embedding analytics into their business processes.

32 SHOPPER MARKETING 2016 You want to impress a customer? Here are some key truths about getting their attention.

SCAN TO SUBSCRIBE!

14 10 What you’ll learn in this issue: >> How brands can increase their visibility in the market. >> The power of data and weaving it into the business process. >> Ways to getting a customer’s attention.

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16 28 J U LY 201 6 | a dvert i s i ng + m a r ke t i ng 3

NEWS ................................................................................................................................................................................................................

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

Raising its standards Standard Chartered Bank is looking to pour in about RM123.3 million (US$30 million) into Malaysia. According to a report in The Star, the money will be used to run a global technology and operation hub under the wholly owned subsidiary, Scope International. The investment is part of the US$3 billion the bank has set aside to strengthen its tech offering, retail and private banking and wealth management. StanChart Scope International CEO Matthew Norris said the global shared service in Malaysia provided technology services and support to 54 other nations around the globe.

Media camp to help youth In recognition of the disconnect between academic qualifications and the needs of the workforce, Malaysia Publicis One’s media agency brands organised an, “Awesome media camp” inspired by the reality talent game show The Apprentice for university graduates. The one-day camp created a platform for potential employees to experience what working in media planning is like and created excitement about careers in this highly potent field. Only 22 candidates were shortlisted to join the camp out of 500 entries.

4 a d verti s i ng + marketi ng | J U LY 2016

Looking to pick up UK assets Malaysian conglomerate YTL Corporation is scouting for bargains again in the UK after the nation voted to leave the European Union that sent assets plummeting. While Brexit may prompt overseas companies to steer clear from the UK, YTL’s managing director Tan Sri Francis Yeoh sees it as an unprecedented opportunity to snap up assets at cheaper prices. In an interview with Bloomberg, Yeoh said the company would look for infrastructure utility assets in the UK over the next two to three years.

Beckham’s surprise visit German sports gear giant adidas partnered with its football brand ambassador David Beckham as an undercover delivery man to make a surprise appearance at La Salle College in Hong Kong to present autographed footballs to the students on 27 June. Beckham surprised all those on the football pitch by carrying the footballs to the team members. He interacted and mingled with the young players, as well as presenting 30 autographed adidas mini footballs to the students. La Salle College principal Steve Hogan in turn presented Beckham with a La Salle College football team jersey bearing his name as a token of appreciation for his visit.

ICON lands in Asia Digital production and distribution studio Endemol Shine Beyond launched ICON Asia, a global digital lifestyle network.

Headquartered in Singapore, the network features original new series and content from some of the hottest up-and-coming digital influencers and lifestyle experts from across Asia, including Singapore, Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand and Hong Kong. ICON Asia premiered on YouTube with support from various social outlets, including Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat.

Healthy eating awareness Mondelez Malaysia teamed up with MasterChef Malaysia’s Brian Chen and social enterprise MakanLah to help children understand their bodies and the importance of good nutritional habits and an active lifestyle. The programme called the “Eating Smart Assembly” was held at Sekolah Kebangsaan Puchong Batu 14 (SK Puchong), Selangor.

There was also a food survey and the distribution of a healthy breakfast to students. Information gathered from the survey will be a guide for parents and the school in providing healthier meals.

Driving tourist traffic Malaysia Airports launched its KLIA Aeropolis, which will serve as the driver in achieving its vision of becoming a global leader in creating airport cities.

The development is expected to drive more business investments and tourist traffic to Malaysia and is part of its five-year business plan, Runway to Success 2020, to elevate the country to developed-nation status. The five strategic partners are AirAsia, DRB-HICOM, Raya Airways, Vanderlande and RUAG Aviation Malaysia.

Bridging digital and physical Google said it would be making it easier for marketers to bridge the digital and physical worlds with location-related mobile search enhancements. Advertisers using location extensions will be able to prominently showcase their business locations when consumers search for things such as “shoe store” or “car repair near me”. Google is also investing in more branded, customised experiences for businesses on Google Maps – geared towards helping marketers increase store visits.

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NEWS ................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Bearing fruit Media Prima Digital’s (MPD) latest foray into the digital apps and games market has started to bear fruit as its Ejen Ali: M.A.T.A Training Academy mobile game registered some 260,000 downloads as of 7 June, slightly more than three months after it was launched on 4 March 2016. MPD is a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Prima Berhad. Adapted from TV3’s newest animated series Ejen Ali, the mobile game provided further engagement for players with an updated version launched on 30 May 2016.

A cosmetic-tourism hub Langkawi is looking to reposition itself as a cosmetic-tourism destination and will be looking to woo tourists with a higher income base. A RM200 million investment has reportedly already been made in the state which will see the establishment of research and development centres, factories, a sales centre and a herbal cultivation centre. It is also looking to attract wellknown cosmetics companies and brands to set up their branches in the vicinity. There will also be 5000 more jobs added.

MINI flashes light, saves lives To combat the dangers of excessive speeding, MINI Malaysia launched an initiative aimed at speeding drivers on Malaysian highways. The campaign was conceptualised

by Saatchi & Saatchi Malaysia.

It is based on how members of the older generation used to alert drivers on the other side of the road about police roadblocks by flashing their headlights at them.

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Surfing the heart strings An ad by Surf Excel for the holy month of Ramadan has gone viral, with more than two million views since it was posted on YouTube on 10 June. It tells the heart-warming story of an old samosa seller and three young boys. When the old street food seller’s cart breaks down, you see the three boys come to his rescue – only to later stain their own clothes.

Link to the video: https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=I5_ XH1ikNsw&feature=youtu.be.

The League of Legends Swiss hardware provider Logitech is sponsoring a local League of Legends competitive gaming team in Malaysia. This is part of a partnership agreement with Garena, a consumer internet platform provider based in Asia.

Called the Kuala Lumpur Hunters, the team will be provided with Logitech products to help in its training efforts and improve its competitive performance in upcoming gaming competitions.

A+M has confirmed the sponsorship will last for one year.

AI-powered property platform The iProperty Group, owner and operator of Asia’s leading property websites, launched Rebecca, the industry’s first artificial intelligence (AI) powered property chat platform.

Rebecca, available globally on Facebook Messenger and Telegram, lets users find their desired property to either rent or purchase. Rebecca will then provide a list of suggestions based on the request submitted.

The arrival of Rebecca comes amid a series of consumer internet trends that suggest the time is ripe for chat bots.

Enriched content Global mobile communications brand BlackBerry entered a strategic alliance with PT Elang Mahkota Teknologi Tbk (Emtek) to provide cross-platform BBM users with access to enriched content and services. The partnership aims to advance BBM for the consumer market through a licensing agreement with Emtek Group that enables the company to develop new BBM applications and services for Android, iOS and Windows Phones.

A season for kindness Malaysia’s Media Prima Television Networks announced a series of partnerships with some of the nation’s leading brands on its “Syukur Selalu” campaign to brighten this year’s Ramadan and Syawal celebrations. These big brands include companies such as F&N, Nivea, Nescafé Classic, POS Malaysia, Bank Rakyat and Samsung. The campaign was the network’s annual Ramadan and Syawal brand movement that encouraged Malaysians to discover the spirit of the Hari Raya through kindness.

Facebook’s big video move Facebook reportedly signed contracts with nearly 140 media companies and celebrities globally to create video content for its live-streaming service, according to The Wall Street Journal. This move is a bid to compete with the likes of Google’s YouTube, valued to be much as US$50 million. Some partners which have jumped on board include CNN, The New York Times, Mashable, Buzzfeed and Huffington Post.

Joining up Naga DDB and Tribal Worldwide Malaysia merged. The move officially signals the agency’s intent to strengthen its ability to deliver to clients a full range of marketing communications services by combining the best of traditional advertising and brand strategy services with sound and comprehensive digital marketing abilities. The two agencies under its holding company, Foetus International, will now be fully integrated in sharing resources, staff as well as a reporting line under Naga DDB CEO, David Mitchell.

YouTube Week Malaysia debut Four years after the launch of YouTube Malaysia, the platform will be holding its very first YouTube Week Malaysia in the week of 5 December. This is to celebrate brands, local and international content, and also many of the talented creators that make the platform a daily destination for entertainment, information and education.

The celebration is set to line up a brand showcase event for advertisers and agencies, alongside content showcases and creator workshops, among other activities.

GoBear goes big Comparison site GoBear appointed Havas Media as its media agency of record following a pitch. GoBear is a comparison site for all types of insurance and credit cards.

The appointment will see Havas Media International, the agency’s international media planning and buying arm, handle GoBear’s offline and online strategy as well as its media planning and buying duties across seven markets: Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam, Hong Kong and Indonesia.

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NEWS ................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Feeling cheated?

Range Rover in the UK initiated a publicity stunt for its new luxury SUV, parking the vehicle outside the popular department store Harrods. The vehicle had been spray painted with the words “Cheater” and “Hope she was worth it” in huge red letters.

Photos of the car were shared right around the world, generating thousands of mentions online and press coverage to boot, even from the BBC. Racist detergent ad uproar A new advertisement for Qiaobi, a laundry detergent brand in China, is turning heads for its blatant racism. It starts with a woman doing her laundry, when a paintsplattered black man appears.

After inviting him closer, the woman stuffs a laundry detergent capsule in his mouth and shoves him into the washing machine. To her pleasant surprise, when the load of laundry is done, a young Asian man with a clean shirt climbs out of the machine.

Getting creative Facebook partnered with WPP to launch the “creative ambassador” programme in Asia Pacific. Top creative directors, planning directors, copywriters and client leaders from WPP agencies across Asia, including Geometry, Grey, J. Walter Thompson, Mirum, Ogilvy & Mather, Possible, VML, Wunderman and Y&R, travelled to Facebook Singapore for the two-day education session. Agency attendees represented WPP offices from Japan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand.

6 a d verti s i ng + marketi ng | J U LY 2016

Going big on videos Trusted Media Brands, formerly known as The Reader’s Digest Association, announced massive plans around video. It introduced six new video series across its biggest brands – Taste of Home, Reader’s Digest and The Family Handyman. According to Rich Sutton, chief revenue officer of Trusted Media Brands, video will be part of its digital-first strategy to give ad partners a new way to tap into its fan base.

McDonald’s new movie Joining the likes of The Social Network, which chronicles the early formation days of social media powerhouse Facebook, is none other than fast-food conglomerate McDonald’s as it gets its own biopic underway featuring its founder, Ray Kroc.

Loaded with imagery showcasing its signature golden arches, the film is set to show the journey of the brand. The film stars acting heavyweight Michael Keaton.

Getting bloody PETA Asia teamed up with Ogilvy & Mather Bangkok in its latest campaign opposing the exotic skins industry. The organisation opened a fake pop-up shop in one of Bangkok’s most trendy shopping malls and put seemingly ordinary luxury leather goods on display. The inside of the bags, shoes, wallets, and other items contained fake animal flesh, blood, and one bag even had a “beating” heart to terrify unsuspecting shoppers.

Colombia, not Columbia A campaign by the German sporting giant adidas, which ran in the US for the 2016 Copa America tournament, spelled South American country Colombia as “Columbia”. This, unfortunately, did not go unseen by the Twitterverse, which sported a major backlash.

Adidas has since apologised for the error and removed all the ads and replaced them with new ones – with the proper spelling.

Turning on the waterworks AIA Thailand created a new spot which will leave you in tears. It showcases the journey a boy has with his mother since his early days. The two struggle to make ends meet all their lives and this undoubtedly puts pressure on the mother-son relationship.

Unconventional ad A recent ad by sanitary brand Bodyform addresses the issue of periods head on. The clever creative ad by the brand shows the numerous instances where women athletes and dancers are left bleeding actual blood while practising their passion, instead of horrendous blue liquids typically used in period ads. The intense ad ends with the line: “No blood should hold us back. Live fearless. Don’t let your period stop you.”

Carlsberg goes Jurassic Using Jurassic Park-style techniques, Carlsberg Research Laboratory re-brewed the “world’s very first quality lager”. The lager was brewed with the original pure yeast which was developed at the Carlsberg Lab. The yeast has survived 133 years.

HOW MUCH DOES THAT COST?

HOW ARE YOU FEELING TODAY?

P e p s iC o I n te r n a tio n a l la u n c h e d a s e t o f 2 6 e m o tic o n s in S in g a p o re , w h ic h w e re fe a tu re d o n P e p s i b o ttle s a n d c a n s .C a lli n g th e m “ P e p s im o ji” , th e s e e m o tic o n s o f fe re d v a r ie d e x p re s s io n s s u c h a s “ L o v e ” , “ K is s ” , “ S m irk ” a n d “ C o o l” – e m o jis th a t u s e r s a re a lre a d y v e r y fa m ilia r w ith .

It a ls o s h o w c a s e d n e w e m o jis w ith “ S in g lis h ” e x p re s s io n s s u c h a s “ B lu r lik e S o to n g ” , “ K a n C h io n g S p id e r” a n d “ C h o p e ” to s u it th e lo c a l c u ltu re .

T o b r in g th e s e # P e p s im o ji c lo s e r to c o n s u m e r s , o u t- o f-h o m e m e d ia o w n e r M o o v e M e d ia tra n s fo r m e d a w a ll a t th e D h o b y G h a u t M R T s ta tio n a lo n g S B S T r a n s it’s N o r th E a s t L in e in to a n a u g m e n te d re a lity s c re e n .

W h e n a c o m m u te r a p p e a re d o n th e A R s c re e n , a “ P e p s im o ji” w o u ld a p p e a r o n th e to p o f h is o r h e r h e a d o n th e w a ll a t th e s a m e tim e , in d ic a tin g t h e c om m u t e r ’ s m o o d a t t h e m om e n t .

T h e c a m p a ig n r a n fo r fo u r w e e k s o n S B S T ra n s it b u s e s a n d w a s c o n c e p tu a lis e d b y c re a tiv e a g e n c y W E I n te ra c tiv e ! a n d its m e d ia a g e n c y w a s M i n d s h a r e S i n g a p o r e .T h e c o s t o f th e c a m p a ig n w a s a b o u t S G $ 2 8 0 ,0 0 0 .

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NEWS ................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Tiger heads to New York Tiger Beer officially launched a two-day showcase, The Tiger Trading Co, in New York City.

The showcase was a retail popup with modern art, fashion, technology and designs of Asia located in the heart of Chinatown.

It was conceptualised as part of the brand’s initiatives to present the modern face of emerging Asia, in line with its “Uncage” ethos, to inspire people, regardless of whereabouts and to embody the courage and entrepreneurial spirit of Asia.

Kiosked eyes APAC Publishing monetisation platform Kiosked will invest up to US$10 million in the Asia Pacific region through to 2017. The company will expand its global footprint to help media companies commercialise content across multiple devices. Kiosked’s investment in APAC comes at a time when the digital category is growing and the Asian market continues to embrace programmatic – inclusive of digital display, video, mobile and with the burgeoning interest in 360° advertising units.

Mondelēz gets fearless Mondelēz International launched a new media monetisation model that will allow the company to improve the return on investment of its global media spending.

Through this “fearless marketing” model, Mondelēz International will focus on forming new media partnerships to acquire, develop and distribute content properties that will build its power brands and generate revenue. This approach will enable the company to make larger-scale investments behind its power brands.

Man versus machine McCann Erickson Japan’s A.I creative director AI-CD completed its first assignment for Clorets Mint Tab (Clo-Tab), a tablet-type, mint candy sold by confectionery maker Mondelēz Japan. It was given the task of coming up with a creative direction that would communicate the product’s benefits. A commercial was created as part of an ad campaign that pitted a human creative director against an A.I to see who could produce the better commercial.

Meme cats strike again German discount supermarket chain Netto Marken-Discount capitalised on the viral nature of using cats in ad campaigns and came up with its “Netto-Katzen” advert. The film borrowed a handful of internet cat memes, including cats being scared of cucumbers, No No No Cat, Pawsin-the-Air Cat and Keyboard Cat. Since it was published in June, the YouTube video has already gone viral, amassing almost seven million views.

Nestlé and Alibaba partner up To celebrate its 150th anniversary, global food and beverage giant Nestlé teamed up with Alibaba to kick off a six-month joint campaign to capitalise on Alibaba’s online marketplaces and media platforms.

Other marketing activities Nestlé has in the pipeline will include showcasing its brands to Chinese customers countrywide via what Alibaba calls its “e-commerce media ecosystem”.

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AUDIT WATCH

WHY AUDITING MATTERS

W h e ni t c o m e s t oj u s t i f y i n gt h e a d v e r t i s i n gs p e n d ,k n o w i n gt h a t a p u b l i c a t i o nh a s b e e na u d i t e df o r i t s c i r c u l a t i o n u m b e r s c a nb r i n gs o m e e x t r a r e a s s u r a n c e t oa d v e r t i s e r s .

C h l o e N e o ,m a n a g i n gd i r e c t o r o f O M D S i n g a p o r e ,s a i da d v e r t i s e r s a n dm e d ia a g e n c ie s t y p ic a lly e v a l u a t e dt h e r e l e v a n c e a n d e f f e c t i v e n e s s o f p u b l i c a t i o n s o nb o t h q u a l i t a t i v e a n dq u a n t i t a t i v e m e t r i c s .

Q u a lita tiv e a s s e s s m e n t c o v e rs e d ito r ia l re le v a n c e a n d fa c to rs s u c h a s p ro d u c tio n q u a lity , w h ile q u a n tita tiv e e le m e n ts ty p ic a lly in c lu d e c irc u la tio n a n d re a d e rs h ip n u m b e rs . “ T h e s e n u m b e rss e rv e a sa verified basis for media evaluation

E-Halal.com expands reach E-Halal.com, a directory portal supported by a worldwide halal trustmark, is expected to generate RM300 million in turnover in its first year of operations. The portal will also be available in Singapore, Indonesia, China and South Korea, reported the local news.

International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said the “e-Halal mall would help Malaysia establish itself as a halal hub for the e-commerce trade”.

A big buy Microsoft will be acquiring LinkedIn for US$196 per share in an all-cash transaction valued at US$26.2 billion, inclusive of LinkedIn’s net cash. Through the acquisition, LinkedIn will retain its distinct brand, culture and independence while Jeff Weiner will remain CEO of LinkedIn, reporting to Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft. The transaction has been unanimously approved by both boards of directors.

a n rd e c o m m e n d a t i o n ,i na d d i t i o n t o t h e r q u a l i t a t i v e a s s e s s m e n t s ,” N e os a i d .T h i s a l l o w s a d v e r t i s e r s t o maximise their already finite budgets w h e ni t c o m e s t oi n v e s t i n gi nt h e m o s t c o s t - e f f e c t i v e s o l u t i o n s a n dt h e r ig h tm e d ia p r io r itis a tio n s . “ A u d i t e dn u m b e r s a l l o w f o r a more consistent, verified approach f o r c o m p a r i s o na n di s a c r i t i c a l p a r t o f t h e m e d i a e v a l u a t i o n , ” N e os a i d . “ C o n v e r s e l y ,a u d i t e dn u m b e r s e n a b l e a m e d i a c o m p a n yt op r e s e n t th e ir p u b lic a tio n s /m e d ia w ith c r e d i b i l i t y ,g i v e nt h e t h i r d p a r t y verified data.”

M e l v i nL i m ,C E O o f H a v a s M e d i a ,n o t e s t h e i n c r e a s i n gt r e n d o f m a r ke t e r s u n d e r s t a n d i n gt h e im p o r ta n c e o fa u d itin g . “ I n c r e a s i n g l yw e a r e s e e i n g m a r ke t e r s w h oh a v e v e r yg o o d in s tin c ts a b o u tp u b lic a tio n s t h a tm a y n o t h a v e a u d i t e dn u m b e r s a s w e l l , ” L im s a id .

Data explosions Data2Decisions, Dentsu Aegis Network’s global marketing effectiveness consultancy, opened a new office in Japan.

Led by managing partner, Hirofumi Hamaguchi, the new office extends Data2Decisions’ coverage in APAC which includes Australia and Singapore, and grows the brand’s global network to 12 offices. Data2Decisions was founded in London more than 15 years ago and is a leader in the delivery of marketing data analytics and optimisation to businesses globally.

A sweet deal OMD was retained as Frucor Beverages’ media agency. The new win will incorporate media strategy, planning, buying and digital for a range of brands, including V Energy Drink, Maximus and OVI Hydration.

Frucor Beverages has been a foundation client from OMD’s entry into the Australian market back in 2000.

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WFA URGES BRANDS TO TAKE ACTION FOR AD BLOCKING Ad blocking will force marketers to lift their game. Rayana Pandey reports on the threat it poses to the marketing community.

Time for action: Marketers will have to think twice about how they advertise because of ad blocking.

A PageFair report has revealed how twice as many people are blocking ads on mobile browsers worldwide, and how ad blocking has surged 90% in just one year since January 2015. Moreover, 93% of the world’s ad blockers are in Asia Pacific.

At least 419 million people globally are blocking ads on smartphones. China, India and Indonesia reported 319 million active ad blocker browsers in March this year.

Members of the WFA and some of the world’s leading brands have been recognised and responded to the latest report which details the extent to which ad blocking technologies are spreading globally.

“Brands, whose money has driven the development of the online ad ecosystem, must take responsibility. We get the message loud and clear; we must listen to what people are saying and take action,” said Stephan Loerke, CEO of the World Federation of Advertisers.

The study follows an analysis by Juniper released recently, which found that by 2020 ad blocking would cost publishers almost US$28 billion a year.

The report included a warning that given the next billion internet users will come online via low bandwidth, relatively expensive mobile connections and with readily available mobile ad blocking technologies, these users may be invisible to digital marketers.

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Sean Blanchfield, CEO and co-founder of PageFair, highlighted to WFA that “22% of the world’s 1.9 billion smartphone users are blocking ads. The blocked web is growing steadily, and in-app ads are now vulnerable too”.

The research offers an unequivocal insight into people’s attitudes towards and efforts to avoid online advertising, particularly on mobile devices. The current experience is one people are clearly no longer willing to accept.

Advertising may pay for news, content, maps, messaging and social media platforms, but people fail to make the link. Ad blocking puts all of these benefits at risk. Left unaddressed, brands, publishers and people all stand to lose out.

Brands must focus on the causes to find sustainable solutions. People are not to blame.

The industry must look at itself, said the WFA. David Wheldon, CMO at RBS and WFA president, is clear that “the industry needs to reflect on the rise of ad blocking. Advertising has always been cultural wallpaper and we have a duty of care to make it as attractive and engaging as possible so that people enjoy it, not want to shut it out”.

As the new findings were announced, WFA called for the industry to take action.

WFA envisages a three-point process involving the creation of international standards for digital advertising; allowing consumers to

establish clear preferences for the advertising they are willing to see; and then regularly monitoring their responses.

It is essential that any action must have at its heart the consumer experience.

WFA is working with third parties to identify granular data around formats, frequencies and the volume of advertising which people no longer accept. The findings will differ by demographics and geographies although there are likely to be some commonalities in terms of what triggers people to block ads.

The association has begun to identify the most credible methods of gathering consumer data and will begin to act on such information over the coming months. This process presents an opportunity which fits into leading brands’ overall strategies.

Luis Di Como, senior vice-president of global media at Unilever and a member of the WFA executive committee, noted how “as an industry we need to focus on creating content that is authentic, relevant for consumers and drives talk-ability – creative that enhances rather than detracts from users’ online experiences.

“We have an ambition to create a billion one-to-one relationships with our consumers through providing positive brand experiences.”

In parallel, WFA will bring together a broader coalition, particularly with leading publishers, to work together to take co-ordinated action at a global level. This is designed to support and enhance local initiatives which are emerging.

Loerke added: “Brand owners must take a long-term view and envisage an acceptable and sustainable online advertising environment.

Our vision is an ecosystem where brands, publishers and the entire supply chain put people first.”

Roel De Vries, CMO at Nissan and also a WFA executive committee member, hit a note of optimism the industry will rise to the challenge.

“It is our responsibility to reach our customers with strong content they are interested in via channels they choose. If we do our job well, we will always be able to reach them,” he said.

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BRANDS CELEBRATE HARI RAYA IN STYLE Venus Hew checks out the numerous ways brands showed their colourful and creative sides this festive season.

Hari Raya has come and gone in a flash, but some of the marketing campaigns we saw this year are here to stay.

We take a look at some of the most interesting, touching and meaningful Eid al-Fitr (Hari Raya) commercials in Malaysia that celebrated this festive season. With these brands taking the opportunity to send messages of love, kindness and gratitude, their commercials were bound to stir some real emotions in us. A mix of happiness, sadness and even some hilarious moments – so get your tissue box ready.

Malaysia Airlines

PETRONAS

video has generated more than 1.25 million clicks. Impressive, indeed.

Telekom Malaysia

Malaysian oil and gas king PETRONAS wanted to show that even in a time that seemed impossible – where a family has been evicted from home – a father still manages to put a smile on his precious son’s face. It also portrays the love of a son towards an old-aged father as time passes on.

The Vroom Vroom video came with this hashtag #PETRONASRaya. Much like MAS, the spot won over the hearts of many, grabbing more than a million views at the time of writing.

Tenaga Nasional

Sofea was collecting food that initially caused curiosity and misunderstanding from her colleagues and friends. But they soon realised the food she collected was actually for the consumption of the needy and less fortunate.

Published on 23 June, the video titled “Rezeki Yang Dikongsi Lebih Diberkati” by Telekom Malaysia, explored the act of sharing and loving among each other. It has had more than 58,900 views to date.

Kleenex

Being away from family and our loved ones during Hari Raya is tough. Malaysia Airlines (MAS)’ Raya commercial Adik with the hashtag #BolehAdikIkut, showed a tale of love tested when a family member, Adik – the family’s cat – is initially unable to return to the family’s hometown despite much persuasion from the daughter.

On this, MAS wanted to send this simple heartwarming message – love knows no distance or boundaries, “Kasih sayang tidak mengenal siapa kita”. At the time of writing, the video had more than a million views since it was published on YouTube on 3 July.

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Malaysian energy provider Tenaga Nasional’s Raya video of a boy named Din asking for forgiveness took a funny twist. With the hashtag #lepastu, the two-minute video ended with this message, “Tiada kesilapan yang tidak boleh dimaafkan”, meaning there’s nothing that can’t be forgiven.

Since it was posted on 21 June, the short

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the special memories Aisyah shared with her beloved mother who had passed on. With this, Kleenex also came out with its new limited edition Kleenex Vanilla scented facial tissues, just for this Raya. The commercial has garnered more than 555,200 views since 14 June.

RHB

The brief one-minute commercial has two men asking for forgiveness in a hilarious manner, lifting up the Hari Raya mood. Using the hashtag #RayaBersama, the bank has caught the attention of more than 53,400 views at the time of writing.

Watsons

Maybank The less than five-minute short film Baju Kurung Biru revolved around a stressful young boy called Aliff and has the bank’s group managing director Datuk Khairussaleh Ramli wishing everyone at the end a great Hari Raya. It has gathered more than 92,500 views since 27 June.

Maxis Another bank, Maybank, released its own Raya video and song titled #MaybankJomRaya, created by “Maybankers” from all around the world, particularly those from Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia. It wanted to spread strong messages of family, hope, gratitude and togetherness on the auspicious day. The video was released on 23 June and has almost 60,000 views so far.

#RayaNiMestiCun. That was the tag line of Watsons this year. It even had a funky Raya song that came with it. The seven-minute-plus video portrays different characters of people, with a humorous start. It also had its own staff and local celebrities such as Amber Chia and Deanna Yusoff starring in the commercial. It has had more than 141,700 views since it was published on 14 June.

IKEA

EcoWorld

The Raya video by communications service provider Maxis revolves around family and the use of technology in our modern world.

The less than three-minute film #SarikataHati – Bukan sebuah filem Hari Raya was inspired by the unspoken words of parents these days on using and keeping up with new tech. The film, which has gathered nearly 635,000 clicks since it was published on 24 June, also wants to prove there’s no better time than Raya to reflect on familiar conversations, while reminding that these reflections should go beyond the festive season and become deeply ingrained in the everyday interactions with our parents.

Property developer EcoWorld insisted for this Raya – that no matter where we were, may the festive season be filled with the sounds of laughter, the honour of traditions and the love of family. Titled #Syawal Dirai Keluarga Dihargai, it tells the ups and downs of the whole journey of a family visiting the grandparents during Raya.

Posted on 27 June, the advertisement has had more than 684,000 views.

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CIMB Islamic Bank

IKEA wanted to make room for everyone this Raya. It came up with the upbeat song accompanying a short 30-second video, portraying an extendable dining table to seat everyone that comes over during Raya. The video which was published on 1 June in Malaysia (in Malay) has had more than 1.15 million views, while the same video posted on its Singapore’s YouTube channel (in English) has had about 225,000 clicks at the time of writing.

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MALAYSIAN CREATIVE DIRECTORS REACT TO RUBBER BOY PLAGIARISM ALLEGATIONS Here’s what Malaysian creatives had to say about the matter. Venus Hew reports.

Two sides to every story: A battle, which may end up in the courts, has erupted over Rubber Boy as to whether the ad was the result of plagiarism.

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The director of Rubber Boy, Ismail Kamarul, has finally spoken up about the recent incident where Leo Burnett Malaysia faced plagiarism charges by Malaysian filmmaker Tan Chui Mui for the popular PETRONAS CNY spot.

On a Facebook post, Kamarul launched his own defence over the effort and work put into the film, which was nominated for this year’s Cannes Lions festival under the “Craft Section for Best Script in France”.

According to Kamarul, when he received the agency’s script in 2016, it was not called Rubber Boy, but “Stolen Toy”. However, since the clients thought the initial script, which involved a stealing scene, was too negative, the spot evolved to Rubber Boy – a title given by Kamarul himself. He added the dialogue was rewritten numerous times before arriving at its final version.

His statement read: “In the advertising world, when a film director is invited to a pitch, an agency script is provided. This is because an agency would have had to go through weeks and sometimes months of selling ideas to clients. Once the client approves a direction and concept, this is then used for the briefing stage to film directors to develop further into an executional shoot board.

“The agency script is treated as the figurative bible, where a director’s development will have to revolve around. In a nutshell, the concept always starts with the agency.”

Meanwhile, Leo Burnett’s business director, creative director and CEO have publicly refuted the allegations.

A+M asked several Malaysian creative veterans what their views were.

Former Dentsu Malaysia CEO and creative lead S P Lee said it was really hard to pinpoint who really came up with the idea and it seemed as though there was a fair bit of back and forth when conceptualising the piece.

The idea, he added, was not an immensely unique one, but could be seen as a shared identity.

“It is not like an Old Spice or a Volvo Epic Split spot which is completely new and unthinkable by two different people,” he said.

Lee added these accusations of “idea theft” do happen and the Cannes Lions nomination probably had a part to play in pushing the situation to the forefront and getting the conversation started.

Meanwhile, Alvin Teoh, ECD of NagaDDB said the issue was a learning point for the industry. “I think it is a grey area and I’ve read both sides of the story and I think everybody wants to do the right thing and it is hard for outsiders to judge. So I don’t want to make a judgment,” he said.

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LEO BURNETT HAS SINCE THREATENED TO SUE TAN CHUI MUI AND DA HUANG PICTURES Leo Burnett Malaysia later issued a demand letter to filmmaker Tan Chui Mui and her film production company Da Huang Pictures to retract recent plagiarism allegations made against the advertising giant over the Rubber Boy commercial.

“This demand has been issued (by its lawyers) following Mui’s unfounded allegation (on her Facebook posts) that her story regarding Rubber Boy was copied by Leo Burnett,” Leo Burnett Malaysia said in a statement.

“Despite an earlier explanation to Da Huang Pictures that their treatment and the Rubber Boy web film have different storylines, Tan continued to make these false allegations through her Facebook page.”

“The key elements, including the message, the characters, the setting in the rubber estate and the emotions, are very much a part of the agency script, which was shared with three directors in 2014, including Da Huang,” the agency explained, adding neither Tan Chui Mui nor Da Huang Pictures furnished those key elements.

“There appears to be an intention to cause damage to Leo Burnett’s reputation and that of its clients through these social media postings, which were shared and later picked up by mainstream media.”

The Rubber Boy spot was created during the Chinese New Year for PETRONAS by Leo Burnett and has had over three million views to date.

The web film drew its inspiration from Malaysian values which is about counting blessings to inspire prosperity and happiness. Rubber Boy revolves around the relationship between a mother and her son, capturing facets of their relationship.

“In order to safeguard Leo Burnett’s name and reputation, and that of its clients, Leo Burnett has no alternative, but to initiate legal proceedings if Tan Chui Mui or Da Huang Pictures refuse to retract the statements. Leo Burnett views these allegations seriously and will leave it to the courts to decide on the matter,” it added.

He added this was a great opportunity to have a conversation started on a pertinent issue. What both parties need to do, he added, was iron out the issue and share their learning with the industry for the industry to really grow.

“Both sides of the story have their own points. For plagiarism to happen, the person needs to do it willfully and with eyes wide open.

“In this case, the members of the public will never know if that happened,” he said, adding there is a big difference between plagiarism and coincidence. He added that on a daily basis, creatives expose themselves to stories and inspirations, and as such, it was difficult to be completely original.

“People have ideas which are similar. Is that plagiarism? The work we expose ourselves to will influence us somehow and this guides the way we think. Sometimes what we deem to be original has roots in other inspirations and if we can’t evolve far enough, then the similarities will remain,” he said.

Meanwhile, filmmaker Tan also responded to Kamarul’s post by referring to him as “the film director of Rubber Boy” and complimenting: “I think he did a good job for the commercial.”

She added that it was not “his fault if Leo Burnett did not inform him that they were using my story”.

She also later published a blog post on her Facebook notes titled “Recalling and Recounting #LeoBurnettPlagiarism”, detailing her own account on this whole saga and describing the #LeoBurnettPlagiarism as exhausting.

The Rubber Boy spot was created during the Chinese New Year for Petronas by Leo Burnett and has had over three million views to date. The web film drew its inspiration from Malaysian values which is about counting blessings to inspire prosperity and happiness.

Rubber Boy revolves around the relationship between a mother and her son, capturing facets of their relationship.

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WHAT MALAYSIAN GEN Ys LOOK FOR IN BRANDS Despite globalisation, rising digital age and high brand convergence in many categories, Malaysian Gen Ys remain loyal towards national and local brands. Rezwana Manjur writes.

According to the latest study by Brand Alliance comparing Gen Y with other Asia cities, Malaysian Gen Y’s choice of brands display their sense of practicality while balancing an interest to pursue a well-balanced lifestyle.

This is somewhat in contrast to the findings of China’s Gen Y who display their keen interest to pursue a quality lifestyle through their brand choices, comprising significantly more imported and luxury brands. In general, for Malaysian Gen Ys, value and product quality are almost as important as brand names and their associated images.

Made in Malaysia products and homegrown Malaysia brands are significant in the lifestyles of the majority of respondents. This trend is consistently reflected in Malaysian Gen Y’s selection across multiple categories: from their choice of car, restaurants to daily consumables such as coffee and biscuits.

Refer to the charts to see the categories that Gen Ys show strong sense of loyalty towards based on the consolidated research.

Brand awareness: Made in Malaysia products enjoy good coverage and advertising in the local media.

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To determine Malaysia’s Gen Y’s top brands, a partnership was formed with Open University Malaysia Business School (OUM) to conduct face-to-face and online surveys in the local language. More than 50 categories, including the online marketplace, food and beverage and fast-moving consumer goods to electronics and beauty and wellness were covered. Further, to determine Asia’s top brands, Brand Alliance studied and analysed the responses from more than 6,000 Gen Y consumers.

Associate professor Dr Zorah Abu Kassim, of OUM Business School, said the findings showed that Malaysian Gen Ys were familiar with “Made in Malaysia” products and homegrown Malaysia brands as these brands were widely available in the country. Many younger consumers were also aware and familiar with these home-grown brands or “Made in Malaysia” products as many of these products enjoy good coverage and advertising in the local media.

It further indicates that local brands have a prominent presence in local supermarkets, hyper-malls and retail outlets in the country.

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HOW TO RETAIN YOUNG TALENT IN THE PR WORLD Vivienne Tay explores how marketers can better retain Millennial talent in the public relations world.

Managing the Millennials: It is important to foster a sense of ownership with Millennials as it makes them feel more involved in what the company is doing.

The role of traditional public relations has been challenged in the past decade, with a higher demand for digital expertise from clients who are trying to jump onto the digital bandwagon, while the retaining of talent continues to be a problem.

In a recent round table, Rob Sheffield, group CEO of Nakama, said the dilution of the PR’s role in the communications world should be seen as more of an evolution as the role consistently becomes more complex.

When discussing what the Millennial PR professional wants out of a job, many industry players say company growth and opportunity are key areas which potential Millennial hires tend to look for.

“A lot of the research has suggested, however, that what this generation is looking for is more experiences, less so on where the organisation is going,” he said.

“They are not afraid to fail, but they don’t want to be told that they failed.”

The importance of fostering a sense of ownership is also important to Millennials as it makes them feel more involved in what the company is doing.

This also gives them a sense of control in what they can do in furthering the company’s development.

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Managing expectations According to Sheffield, crafting a three to fiveyear plan for a Millennial is becoming irrelevant as Millennials take on a more short-term view. A plan which maps an employee’s progress from three to six months and then six to nine months is a more effective way to ultimately help them see a five-year commitment with the company.

Tarun Deo, managing director of Singapore and Southeast Asia for Golin, also present at the round table, said it was important employers articulated clearly the company’s plan as it helps to build aspirations in the minds of young staff.

“If where the organisation is going doesn’t gel with what they want professionally, they will eventually leave and go somewhere else,” he said.

He added that people at senior management level are often afraid to communicate the organisation’s future plans due to the fear of not being able to live up to them – even if it is because of uncontrollable factors.

“As senior managers we need to go out there and share our plans and the vision so the expectations of employees are in line with ours.”

Caroline Bowler, managing director of fintech public relations, Bowlah, said employers should be more careful in the recruitment process and look for someone who was able

to bring skills which were lacking in the team – rather than succumbing to their personal view of the potential hire.

“I have seen someone exactly like myself during the interview and I got excited because I thought she was the one. But later I realised that she had the same attributes as me and I needed skill sets complementary to mine,” she said. As such, she ultimately hired an individual who filled the skill gaps of the team to add flexibility and depth.

Skill sets needed in modern day PR The world of public relations has evolved at an exponential pace today. What we knew of the job five years ago is no longer what it is in the modern day. Some traits that are highly sought after in the public relations industry include a good understanding of business objectives and a hunger for a good story.

Having a sense of transformation is also important said Satvinder Sandhu, managing consultant of Elevate Communications. This ensures the person is able to fit into long-term roadmaps for the company. Above all, having the ability to evolve and grasp new skills quickly is paramount to a team’s success, added Dinesh Subramaniam, director of the digital and communications network at Wärtsilä.

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AIRASIA’S PUSH TO RENAME KLIA2 AS LCCT2: IS IT A GOOD IDEA? Industry experts weigh in on the rebranding spat and whether or not a renaming is necessary. Vivienne Tay writes.

AirAsia has announced plans to launch a campaign to promote budget terminal KLIA2 as Low-Cost Carrier Terminal 2 (LCCT2), reinforcing Kuala Lumpur’s position as the leading low-cost gateway to Asia and beyond.

According to AirAsia group CEO Tony Fernandes KLIA2 “does not mean anything” compared with LCCT2 which is synonymous with low cost. The flight carrier currently

occupies 97% of operations at KLIA2, providing services to 37,000 guests daily, according to figures mentioned by CEO Aireen Omar.

It is urging Malaysia Airports Holdings (MAHB) to recognise the high volume of traffic brought into KL by AirAsia, KLIA2’s potential as a low-cost hub and changing its mindset to help facilitate the growth of the low-cost model.

“It is a brand that we built up together with

Malaysia Airports and it shouldn’t go to waste. I urge MAHB to stop denying the fact that it is a low-cost hub,” Fernandes said.

Meanwhile, Omar also added that Bangkok’s Don Muaeng airport has overtaken KLIA2 as the world’s largest LCC airport as it works closely with their customers to bring in traffic.

“MAHB needs to adapt the same approach

What’s in a name: The battle lines are being drawn as to whether to use the name KLIA2 or LCCT2.

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for it to be relevant and gain back that recognition for Malaysia,” Omar said.

MAHB has since responded in a press statement saying KLIA2 is neither an independent airport nor a hub. It is KL International Airport’s (KLIA) second terminal and is a crucial component of the KLIA hub.

MAHB added that although KLIA2 is currently mainly used by low-cost carriers, it is designed to cater to all types of airlines as it supports the overall KLIA capacity. As such, it is crucial to view and position the main KLIA and KLIA2 together as an integrated airport system, instead of taking KLIA2 as an independent low-cost hub.

KLIA2 was opened on 2 May 2014 to serve all low-cost carriers flights. It replaced the former LCCT (low cost carrier terminal), which ceased operations on 9 May 2014 after the new KLIA2 was built and was available to the public.

“Malaysia Airports would like to advise that KLIA2 is the registered name of the terminal under the International Air Transport

AIRASIA TO PUMP RM20 MILLION TO PROMOTE KLIA2 AS THE LOW-COST CARRIER TERMINAL AirAsia will pump in US$5 million (RM20 million) to promote KLIA2 as the low-cost carrier terminal (LCCT), according to Malaysia’s Bernama report.

“In anticipation of more LCCTs (in the future), we will call it LCCT KL, the low cost hub of Asia. A one-stop to anywhere in Asia at the lowest fare,” AirAsia chief Tony Fernandes tweeted, adding it will continue with its marketing campaign branding KLIA2 as LCCT KL to boost passenger traffic.

The budget airline said it would not spend the money in Malaysia, but in other countries to promote KLIA2 as the major transit hub just like Dubai Airport.

“The goal is to get more of ASEAN, Asia and the world to use our low-cost hub. One million (people have flown through KLIA2) so far this year. We want to grow that. From that transit we hope that more people will stay a few days in Malaysia. It will be great for the economy,” he said.

Fernandes, most recently, had been pushing for a name change of KLIA2 to Low-Cost Carrier Terminal 2 (LCCT2), reinforcing Kuala Lumpur’s position as the leading low-cost gateway to Asia and beyond. According to him, KLIA2 “does not mean anything” as opposed to LCCT2 which is synonymous with low cost.

However, post his meeting with Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai he tweeted: “Important issue is not the name, but that it’s promoted inside the terminal and to the world that KLIA has a low cost hub with low fares.”

Lai said earlier that KLIA2 should not be rebranded, calling the ongoing debate something which is “unnecessary and impractical”. He assured that the ministry was willing to hear AirAsia’s proposal to position KLIA2 internationally as a leading low-cost terminal to further enhance the nation’s tourism and aviation sectors.

MAHB managing director Datuk Badlisham Ghazali said earlier it would reserve its right to maintain the KLIA2 brand, including resorting to legal action.

AirAsia currently occupies 97% of operations at KLIA2, providing services to 37,000 guests daily, according to figures mentioned by CEO Aireen Omar.

Association and calling it by any other name would only serve in misleading and causing confusion to the public and passengers,” the press statement read.

In a conversation with A+M, Nick Foley, president of the Southeast Asia and Pacific regions for Landor, said MAHB should have gone with AirAsia’s suggestion. This is especially so with the neighbouring Changi Airport already being known for its international capabilities.

“KLIA needs to build in real difference to its offering and be more relevant to its audience of people travelling on low budgets. I like calling things for what they are – LCCT2 works well,” he said He added with “a disproportionately high number” of low-cost carriers setting up their bases in KL, naming the terminal LCCT2 is something which is fitting because it encapsulates the carriers which frequently pass through it.

“Regardless of what the Malaysian government wants to call its second terminal, consumers are likely to go with LCCT2.

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carrier airport),” he said. Jonathan Bonsey, principal creative and executive officer of The Bonsey Design Partnership, agreed with MAHB’s response on the need to associate KLIA2 with the capital airport KLIA, stating that budget travel in Asia is the rule rather than the exception. Hence, any airport should include both budget and scheduled carrier operations.

He said: “Passengers choose carriers based on cost, schedules and safety records, not the brand name of the terminal from which they operate. And if they did, wouldn’t it be better to have KL in the name to aid comprehension?”

While he agrees that KLIA2 has a strong AirAsia presence, the name change might be counter intuitive to MAHB’s efforts in improving its offerings to travellers. Naming the terminal LCCT2 might associate KLIA2 with the previous low-cost terminal which provided a less enjoyable experience to travellers.

“Why would AirAsia want to confuse potential passengers, particular those with little knowledge of the country’s name protocols, with a new alphabet soup?” Bonsey questioned.

“Presumably the train service then becomes the KLIALCCT2 Express? Good luck with that!”

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MEDIA REBATES: WHAT IS BEING DONE ABOUT THEM? Rebates, unbilled media and market complexities characterised by layers of intermediaries and brokers are all widespread issues. What is the industry doing about it?

Rayana Pandey asks.

The WFA has come out to laud ANA on its latest study on media rebates – a practice that gets media agencies rebates and other forms of income from media owners, leveraged by client volume spend. Global media transparency has been a core part of WFA’s focus since its foundation more than 60 years ago.

The study commissioned by the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) highlighted that numerous non-transparent business practices, including cash rebates to media agencies, were found to be pervasive in a sample of the US media ad-buying ecosystem.

KEY FINDINGS The K2 Intelligence report indicated that nontransparent business practices employed by agencies, some of which may or may not have been contract-compliant, included the following: • Cash rebates from media companies were provided to agencies with payments based on the amount spent on media. Advertisers interviewed in the K2 Intelligence study indicated they did not receive rebates or were unaware of any rebates being returned.

• Rebates in the form of free media inventory credits.

• Rebates structured as “service agreements” in which media suppliers paid agencies for non-media services such as low-value research or consulting initiatives that were often tied to the volume of agency spend.

Sources told K2 Intelligence these services “were being used to obscure what was essentially a rebate”.

• Markups on media sold through principal transactions ranged from approximately 30% to 90%, and media buyers were sometimes pressured or incentivised by their agency holding companies to direct client spend to this media, regardless of whether such purchases were in the clients’ best interests.

• Dual rate cards in which agencies and holding companies negotiated separate rates with media suppliers when acting as principals and as agents.

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Media rebates: A study has revealed there are transparency issues between agencies and advertisers.

•

Non-transparent business practices in the US market resulting from agencies holding equity stakes in media suppliers.

The study revealed that non-transparent business practices were found across digital, print, out-of-home and television media. In addition, the non-transparent practices were found to exist across the spectrum of agency media entities.

Results of the study were released by the ANA in conjunction with K2 Intelligence, which conducted the assessment.

“Advertisers and their agencies are lacking ‘full disclosure’ as the cornerstone principle of their media management practices,” said Bob Liodice, president and CEO of ANA. “Such disclosure is absolutely essential if they are to build trust as the foundation of their relationships with their long-term business partners.”

The K2 Intelligence study, conducted from October 2015 through to May 2016, revealed “evidence of a fundamental disconnect in the advertising industry regarding the basic nature of the advertiser-agency relationship”.

In general, advertisers expressed a belief their agencies were duty-bound to act in their best interests. Meanwhile, many agency executives interviewed said their relationship to advertisers was solely defined by the contract between the two parties.

There were systemic elements to some of the non-transparent business practices reported by K2 Intelligence in the report.

Specifically, the study revealed that senior executives across the agency ecosystem were aware of, and mandated, some non-transparent business practices. Contracts for rebates and other non-transparent business practices were negotiated and sometimes signed by high-level agency executives.

In addition, K2 Intelligence found evidence of potentially problematic agency conduct concealed by principal transactions; as a principal, an agency (or its holding company or associated company) purchases media on its own behalf and later resells it to a client after a markup.

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landscape – not an investigation or an audit,” said Richard Plansky, executive managing director of K2 Intelligence. “At the ANA’s insistence, this has never been about pointing a finger at any individual or company.”

He said the documentation cited in the report included, among other things, emails between agency executives and media companies in which rebates were specifically discussed in detail.

Liodice indicated that a fundamental shift in the business model for media agencies over the past several years has created a challenging new media landscape for both agencies and advertisers.

“Whether acting as agency or principal, vast changes in technology, the complex digital supply chain, and the proliferation of media outlets provided agencies with additional opportunities to increase their profit margins beyond agency fees,” he said.

“This has led to disconcerting conflicts of interest and a lack of transparency.”

WFA’s position on this, as established in its media charter, is clear: Advertisers expect agencies to fully declare revenue streams directly or indirectly related to their business, for example, via rebates and “arbitrage” among agency trading desks.

Research from the WFA has previously identified that rebates are less pervasive in the US than in other countries, but that a large share of these are being retained by media agencies.

“We are not against rebates and AVBs in and of themselves, but we believe that advertisers should receive a fair share of these and, crucially, that rebates should not create issues surrounding conflicts of interest,” the WFA statement said.

Markets such as China and the Ukraine suffer from some of the lowest levels of transparency when considered globally, as identified by WFA research, which it conducts on an ongoing basis. Rebates, unbilled media and market complexities characterised by layers of intermediaries and brokers are all widespread issues contended with by clients around the world.

Globalisation and new media trading practices have amplified and deepened transparency concerns, and the news from the ANA, itself a member of the WFA, confirms these issues are also taking place in the world’s biggest ad market, the US. “Media transparency requires constant global scrutiny and WFA is extremely focused on helping clients to navigate and address this complex issue. WFA guidance and best practice guidelines in relation to strengthening media agency contracts, programmatic media, and now ad fraud, help clients to understand WWW.M A R K ET I N G - I N T ER A C T I V E.C O M

“Whether acting as agency or principal, vast changes in technology, the complex digital supply chain, and the proliferation of media outlets provided agencies with additional opportunities to increase their profit margins beyond agency fees.”

Bob Liodice – president and CEO of ANA

and mitigate the costs of an opaque and often inefficient ecosystem.

Stephan Loerke, CEO of WFA, said: “Transparency has long been considered a critical issue by WFA and remains a priority for its members. We welcome the findings from the ANA and will continue to address the challenge globally, not least in emerging markets where transparency problems can be more acute.

“Advertisers should take the lead in addressing the challenge, but WFA also believes in, and calls for, global cross-industry collaboration to find answers.

“That’s why we have been conducting systematic dialogues between media agencies and clients around the world to better understand the issues and ultimately try and engender greater trust in the marketplace.”

TRANSPARENCY IN CONTRACTS While the report indicates that some contracts between advertisers and their agencies allowed the agencies to engage in non-transparent business practices, transparency and contract compliance were clearly not one and the same in media buying. Even if a particular nontransparent practice was permitted by contract, advertisers were often deprived of relevant information for optimum decision-making.

Accordingly, K2 Intelligence focused on bringing to light non-transparent practices throughout the media-buying ecosystem, even if those practices were contract-compliant.

In fact, the study revealed that, in many cases, advertisers were unaware of details in their agency contracts that addressed the issue of transparency, particularly because some contracts had not been reviewed or updated in as long as 10 years.

“The K2 Intelligence report unearthed a ‘fundamental disconnect’ between advertisers and their media agencies,” said ANA chairman Tony Pace. “As media practices have become more complex, stewardship and oversight needs to become more precise, more thorough, and more fully transparent.”

RECOMMENDATIONS The ANA is developing suggested contract language to address mediabuying transparency. In addition, the ANA commissioned Ebiquity and FirmDecisions

to develop guidelines and recommendations for ANA members to consider based on K2 Intelligence’s findings.

Ebiquity and FirmDecisions did not participate in the interviews that formed the foundation of the assessment and, like the ANA, is unaware of which specific companies and individuals were interviewed. Ebiquity and FirmDecisions’ full report containing a list of detailed long-term recommendations will be released in the coming weeks.

In the near term, it is recommended marketers immediately take the following steps in anticipation of the complete set of recommendations soon to follow: • Re-examine all existing media agency contracts and meticulously review all terms and conditions. As appropriate, use an expert, independent third party to provide insight and contractual expertise to optimise transparency, upgrade reporting and analytics, and substantially expand audit rights if necessary.

• Implement media management training, particularly in the areas of contract development and management of the digital media supply chain.

• Confirm and reaffirm the basis on which your media agency is conducting your media business. Be critically clear and comfortable with the agency’s role as agent and principal. Ensure there are no conflicts of interest, and that there are clear processes in place for resolving conflicts that might emerge.

• Assess whether contract terms permit you to “follow the money” by having full accountability for every dollar that is invested with a media agency. It is recommended that audit rights cover not only the media agency, but the holding company and any affiliated companies that touch your business.

Liodice said these guidelines would help set the stage to take additional steps upon release of the complete set of recommendations by Ebiquity and FirmDecisions in the coming weeks.

The recommendations will focus on contract provisions, principles, and re-establishing advertiser primacy in the industry.

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Even after more than 40 years in the market, BSN is mostly seen as a “rural bank for Malays” in Malaysia. While no doubt a wellknown name, it has long struggled to resonate with Malaysians of other backgrounds.

Frederick Siew, deputy chief executive of corporate support at BSN, was given the mandate to change this perception. He joined the bank in 2008 and since then the bank has made steady progress in raising awareness and business from segments other than Malays.

He explains that since BSN was seen largely as a bank for Malays, the Chinese demographic shied away from trusting the bank with their livelihood.

“We were so strongly tied to the Malay community that the Chinese consumers totally disassociated from us and did not want to be our customers,” he says.

So the challenge for his team became to investigate the needs of the Chinese market and address their pain-points to ultimately gain acceptance.

One way it made headway with this group was through the education system. Knowing the Chinese demographic in Malaysia was not fully funded by the government, the bank entered the Chinese schooling and education system.

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THIS IS THE STORY OF BSN – A 40-YEAR-OLD BANK WHICH HAS STRUGGLED AGAINST THE ODDS TO CHANGE MALAYSIANS’ PERCEPTIONS OF IT. REZWANA MANJUR WRITES.

PROFILE ................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Through carnival-like initiatives in the schools, inclusive of event and entertainment management and garnering support from external companies to raise dollars for the schools, the bank won over the trust of the Chinese consumers.

“In the past, the Chinese consumers would think of BSN as a bank looking to take their money. But through helping them raise funds, we were slowly, but surely able to change the perception,” he says. This resulted in a 30% growth in terms of enrolment from Chinese school students from 2014 to May 2016, according to the bank.

“Changing people’s mindset and perception is marketing,” he says.

Even within the Malay demographic, the bank was torn as the various income groups had differing perceptions of the brand. BSN found it difficult to connect and gain the trust of the Malay affluent.

“The bank is often seen as a bank for the rural folk. Hence, the more affluent Malay consumers do not want to be associated with the bank or know its products. They would much rather bank with the likes of CIMB and Maybank,” he explains.

To this demographic, banking with BSN might not be seen in a positive light. “Our branding as a bank for the community somehow backfired on us.”

“WITHOUT A CHANGE IN INTERNAL PROCESSES OR IMPROVED SERVICE LEVEL, THE REBRANDING WILL BACKFIRE ON US EVENTUALLY AS WELL. CONSUMERS ARE NOT GOING TO COME TO OUR BANK BASED ON ITS COLOUR. IT IS ABOUT SERVICES AS WELL.” 2 2 a d verti s i ng + marketi ng | J U LY 2016

To counter this perception, the bank recently underwent a massive rebranding exercise with a refreshed brand identity and logo. The bank’s new visual identity saw its corporate colour switch to teal which represents trustworthiness and reliability. The three-year rebranding is said to cost about RM130 million from its capital expenditure.

The new corporate branding is set to reflect both the evolution of the bank, as well as its vision for the future. Along with the new look, the bank is also introducing a new brand promise of “a better life within your reach”.

All in all, the rebranding is a testament of the bank’s commitment and aspiration to support Malaysians from all walks of life, regardless of circumstance and social standing.

“We want to move our identity from being seen as a ‘kampong bank’ to an urban bank that is actually comparable to other commercial banks,” he explains. Simply put, having a beautiful physical appearance is not enough and the rebranding also promises a better customer experience across all touch-points.

“Without a change in internal processes or improved service level, the rebranding will backfire on us eventually as well. Consumers are not going to come to our bank based on our brand’s colour. In our industry, it all boils down to service.”

While digitisation is on the mind of each and every marketer in the banking industry, a balancing act is necessary, Siew feels.

BSN is careful when adopting new technology as a large part of its consumer base is actually from the rural areas and is not adept with hightech gadgetry.

“We cannot be overambitious in digitising our branches. We have to balance it out. Many of our consumers still want the human touch.”

However, the bank is still actively trying to educate the masses and push in that direction.

One way it has adopted digital into its everyday services is by creating a virtual teller machine. The machine connects consumers to a human voice anywhere in the nation which eases traffic flow to the branch itself, and cuts down the waiting time.

While the front-line staff at a particular branch might not be free at a certain time, others from any part of the nation can step in to serve the customer.

Coming from an accounting background, Siew says he is an ROI-driven individual. His belief? For marketing to be highly effective, marketers need to think beyond advertising. Advertising of any kind of products alone may not be effective enough in this day and age.

Knowing your target market for each and every product and crafting out a niche is important too, he says.

“Coming from an accounting background, budget and therefore, ROI, is important. I first have to think of how much money I spend, how much am I maximising and at what cost?” he says.

Prior to the role, Siew was chief financial officer of Kuantan Flour Mills for three years. There he was responsible for the financial management together with meeting all statutory reporting requirements of the group.

He was also highly involved in advising on new investment opportunities.

Before that he was general manager of Panji Timor where he was directly responsible in handling the due diligence review for new investments, all legal aspects, financial matters, tax planning and human resource management.

From all his experience, he says, he understands that today, to market a product is challenging because real marketing starts way before the campaign starts or the product is created. It starts when a marketer has realised the consumers’ pain-points.

“In today’s competitive world, you have to create a product that suits the consumer at that specific point in time.”

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REIMAGINING THE WORLD OF LUXURY VR is making waves across industries and luxury is no exception. Here’s how some brands are using this technology to create unique experiences for their customers.

Vivienne Tay writes.

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An experience is perhaps the only differentiator brands have when it comes to retaining customers, more so, in the world of luxury. And enabling that are technologies such as virtual reality and augmented reality.

What was once our mere imagination, often splashed across the screens in movies (think Minority Report and The Matrix), can be pretty much created today using these technologies.

For those not yet completely familiar with the world of VR, here’s the simple breakdown of what VR does – it recreates specific environments which can be either fictional or based on a real-life place and seeks to engage the sensory functions and create a life-like user experience for participants.

As eager marketers rush to embrace the possibilities VR presents for their industries, one question to ask is how VR will impact the elite world of luxury. Given the exclusive reach and nature of luxury, it is still perceived to be largely traditional.

In May, it launched its VR interfaces featuring Radisson Blu and Radisson RED rooms, social and food and beverage spaces.

“Our technological edge seeks to redefine the design process by providing owners and investors the ability to provide on the spot feedback with virtual walk-throughs. VR delivers value to our partners through a practical, portable tool,” he told A+M. The brand hopes to open fresh dialogue and deliver to partners a personalised and experiential engagement, along with a sensorial appreciation of Carlson Rezidor’s brands.

The brand has been steadily embracing new technologies for some time now.

In February this year, Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group launched “BluPrint”, a new interior design programme for Radisson Blu’s global portfolio of hotels, followed by a downloadable “BluPrint” app that allows consumers to enjoy a 3D experience and a sneak preview of a BluPrint city or resort room.

“Customers are adopting new technologies at a pace that few brands can match, and nowhere is that technology adoption faster than across Asia.

Brands have to evolve at the pace of the consumer or risk becoming irrelevant.”

Steven Taylor – chief marketing officer at Shangri-La International Hotel

But that reality is fast changing. One hospitality brand which has made a substantial investment in VR technology is Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group. The hotel group engaged a globally renowned international design visualisation studio to produce virtual experiences for its luxury hotel line Radisson Blu. Thorsten Kirschke, Asia Pacific president for Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group, told A+M that VR provided “an immersive and sensorial approach” to its brands which is ultimately “extremely beneficial to owners, investors and guests in visualising their investment and creating brand awareness”.

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“In doing so, we remain nimble and flexible in our drive to stay ahead of changing guest expectations, and capture new audiences to ensure stronger returns for owners and investors,” Kirschke said, adding the response by participants and the media to its new VR offering has been positive.

According to Kirschke, developers and owners shared that this technology helped them grasp brand differentiation very quickly and the unique selling points of each brand through each space’s sight and sound effects.

“It also gives them a good inclination of the target profile of each brand simply by

experiencing the headsets,” he added.

Meanwhile, late last year, Shangri-La Hotels also announced the integrating of VR experiences into its worldwide sales efforts.

Using Samsung Gear VR headsets across all global sales offices, the hotel chain produced immersive 360 videos for more than a quarter of its 94 hotels and resorts.

“Customers are adopting new technologies at a pace that few brands can match, and nowhere is that technology adoption faster than across Asia. Brands have to evolve at the pace of the consumer or risk becoming irrelevant,” said Steven Taylor, chief marketing officer at Shangri-La International Hotel.

According to Taylor, adopting VR allows the brand to break down geographical barriers that previously existed between its hotels and guests. This allows potential guests to experience the hotel and all its offers, quite literally, without having to move much from where they are.

The VR promotional videos created by the brand can be watched online on a 360-degree video player; or for a fully immersive experience viewed on a VR headset that uses the Oculus platform. The Oculus powered headsets then enable travel advisors, meeting planners and potential corporate clients to virtually experience Shangri-La Hotels and destinations around the world.

“Virtual reality makes it easier for our customers, clients, partners and guests to book our hotels and that will have a significant revenue impact now and in the future,” he said.

“VR is a platform that could empower our sales teams globally and transport our customers to, quite literally, the other side of the world.”

Virtual reality is also expanding rapidly into destination marketing allowing consumers an unprecedented in-depth immersion into local flavours of a city or country. According to Taylor, this means VR opens up doors to reach out to targeted guests who have heard about the brand, but never experienced what it is like to stay at one of its hotels.

As such, Shangri-la decided to first target travel consultants with its VR efforts.

“We wanted to focus our first VR efforts on travel consultants because of the critical role they play in the traveller’s decision-making process and the feedback has been wonderful,” he said.

“We have heard positive feedback from many travel counsellors who have been able to virtually tour hotel rooms to better guide their clients’ choices.”

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from meeting planners who have been able to experience the Shangri-La ballroom before planning for an event.

A new way of thinking At a recent conference organised by A+M, Dane Fisher, managing director of Asia and Oceania at Infiniti Motor Company, said when it came to marketing luxury products, especially in the automotive industry, covering all the touchpoints, along with strong above and below-theline campaigns, are no longer enough.

As such, a new way of engagement is necessary. Also making waves in the VR field is Audi, which integrated VR into its content marketing strategy for its SG50 project as well as the launch of its new Audi A4 during the Singapore Motorshow. The initiative saw more than 6,000 participants using its VR application for SG50 and over 1,200 people experiencing its A4 application during its launch.

According to Anna Bory, general manager of marketing at Audi, choosing to use VR fitted the brand’s progressive mindset which places innovation at its core. It also allowed customers and prospects to experience the brand and its products in a whole new way, complementing its more traditional campaigns.

Both the initiatives, she said, resulted in an increase in brand awareness, social media reach, media coverage and even walk-ins.

“We are living in the digital age and we need to ensure that the experience we offer to our audience not only matches their lifestyle, but is always on top of the latest trends,” she said.

For the SG50 VR project last year, the budget for the execution was only 30% of Audi’s usual media budget. What also helped in creating the campaign, said Bory, was not having a sales KPI. “Having a sales KPI for such a campaign would have killed the idea. In this way, the pressure of sales was lifted and the team had the freedom to come up with ideas,” she said.

She was also of the view that for luxury brands specifically, not always will every marketing initiative in the luxury industry be about direct sales. She admitted that while there wasn’t a totally accurate science of measuring the impact of the VR campaign, Audi did track the footfall to stores, during and post the campaign, and combined it with on-ground surveys to establish a correlation.

Eventually results indicated the campaign saw a more than 1.85 million Facebook reach, 287,995 YouTube views and more than $600,000 in PR coverage.

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“We are living in the digital age and we need to ensure that the experience we offer to our audience not only matches their lifestyle but is always on top of the latest trends.”

Anna Bory – general manager of marketing at Audi.

AUDIS1511 Audi SG50 Audi Magazine FPFC Aug

Size: 300mm(H) x 240mm (W)

(SUG)

bound Audi to Singapore arise. Bory added that ensuring a our exercise to embrace VR in a broader way, Presents: premium quality and experience, while working and increase product differentiation knowledge under the limitations of current hardware and with plans to visualise the rooms, meetings and infrastructure, such challenge. in 1965.event spaces of our other brands,” he said.

Take a was trip one back to Singapore Kirschke said the key challenges VR Shangri-La’s Taylor added virtual reality Experience next-generation virtual technology thatfor will transport you back to Singapore in 1965.

Take a ride in athe car ahead of its time while immersed in a 360-degree that at givesthe you the lie in ensuring utilisation of the required is experience genuinely cusp of transforming the opportunity to see Singapore’s historic district as it was in 1965. engineering and technology advances. way people do business today. Shangri-La is Date: 17 – 25 October 2015 “As Venue: it is The a Fullerton fully immersive experience, currently looking at partnership opportunities Hotel a complimentary eventto open the public. resolutionThis foris the display has betosubstantially with other travel suppliers. “We are accepting high, with quickforupdate rates.

It is vital to end look virtual reality for the revolutionary new sales Reservations slots will be made available from the of September on myAudiworld.sg into various aspects such as surrounding tool that it is, and integrating it across an entire environments, sounds and motion to ensure global sales organisation. In terms of future that serious simulationsTechnology are Partner: incorporated,” he impact, it’s open for imagination,” Taylor said.

Hospitality Partner: said. But the future remains bright, he added.

He added VR will become increasingly Singapore Tourist Promotion Board Collection, As more luxury brands jump on the VRArchivesaccessible to consumers as the cost of Courtesy of National of Singapore. bandwagon, more will be done in enhancing headsets reduce dramatically, and that the experience of the customer as technology means that brands which can create inspiring advances. This will not only help prospects gain content, representing unique and aspirational a more complete access to what a brand has experiences, will reap the greatest rewards. to offer, but do so in a more realistic manner to “I think the opportunities here are endless help informed decision-making. and we’ve only just begun,” Taylor said.

According to Kirschke, the hospitality and For the luxury auto industry, the use of VR travel market will embrace VR’s strong adoption will be indispensable, according to Bory. This is moving forward. Already plans are underway more so as the level of customisation that luxury to have VR technology incorporated into the brands such as Audi are offering, increases. content offerings of Carlson Rezidor’s other “VR will help to support the sales team hotel brands. at point-of-sales. Maybe one day, virtual test “We are also moving into the next phase of drives are possible,” Bory said.

A Drive Back in Time.

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Having an analytics strategy in place was a significant advantage. Now, with more companies embracing the power of data and embedding analytics into business processes than ever before, it’s getting crowded.

In light of these pressing issues, the third edition of A+M’s Analytics conference looked to help marketers in creating an analytics strategy beyond the mainstream.

The conference saw senior-level marketers tackle issues such as balancing automation and human judgment; the talent issue and fostering a sustainable analytics team; overcoming the privacy pickle; powering social analytics and more.

KNOWLEDGE PARTNERS

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EXHIBITOR

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HOW TO PERSONALISE PRODUCT RECOMMENDATIONS WITHOUT BEING CREEPY

Personalisation matters. Personalisation effectively combines segmentation and behavioural data to provide insights into each customer’s interests.

According to a recent study by Experian, when a simple email subject line is personalised, there is a 40% increase in the open rate.

However, today simply hoping to catch your consumer’s attention span is not enough.

“You need to catch it and monetise it and do so quickly,” said Kameel Vohra, global marketing manager at Dell, who was speaking at the recent Analytics 2016 conference. One area that comes hand-in-hand with personalisation is recommendations. Recommendations, he added, will change the way businesses capture more data and share of wallet.

“Recommendations matter because attention spans are abysmally low,” Vohra said.

Making the best recommendations, of course, comes with careful data analysis.

“You need to make sure the best information comes up really quickly and grabs attention.

Recommendation allows a win-win situation where the audience gets what they want and the provider gets more purchases,” he said.

Netflix and Amazon are two examples of companies, Vohra believes does this really well.

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recommendation was essential to reduce new release demand from 80% of all orders to 10%.

In 2006, it spent US$1 million on recommendations and in 2014, the number shot up to US$150 million. Today it has more than 300 people working on long tail recommendation and discovery.

During a conversation with Business Insider, Netflix’s VP of product innovation, Chris Jaffe, explained the company has only 90 seconds to convince the user to stick to its services.

Sometimes, having too much content means that users get lost and may just completely abandon the service.

As such, you need to be quick on your feet to test and adapt.

“The beauty of digital marketing is that it lets you really very quickly analyse the metrics in real-time,” said Endrit Muca, director of ad operations for Adknowledge APAC. As such personalisation can also be on the go to.

“The end goal is very much to turn these brand aware consumers into brand loyal consumers,” he said adding that in this digital world brands should A-B test as much as possible.

Personalise without being creepy “The truth is today’s consumers

want

personalisation. We want to be known and we need to know what we are getting is catered to us,” Vohra said.

But what is also important is ensuring that while analysing the data you are not coming across as knowing way too much.

“How you present the reason for recommendation is important,” he said.

He added that having an explanatory power as to why you made certain recommendations, similar to human interaction, reduces friction from users. “Making sure you are not abusing the data or crossing the line is just as important when getting up close and personal with your consumers,” he added.

As such, it is of utmost importance that marketers are transparent and mindful in the way they leverage consumer data for their marketing benefits.

Also warning against overuse or tech abuse was Sandeep Mittal, managing director of Cartesian Consulting. He added that marketers must first ensure they are utilising tools and data they already have.

“Analytics, as a practice, needs time to seep into the different parts of the business and marinate over time,” he said.

Only then will it yield the results your organisation really wants.

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ARE YOU COLLECTING DATA FOR THE SAKE OF IT?

With the recent crackdowns worldwide on data breaches and more governments taking measures to protect sensitive data from falling into the wrong hands, transparency in data management is something of great concern.

This ranges from a brand’s intentions on wanting consumer data, what it will be using the data for, and more importantly, the systems put in place for the protection of customer data.

“Everything comes at a cost. The convenience of getting a service or buying a brand comes at the price of giving up a bit of your data,” Prakash Chandrasekar, AMA head, e-commerce strategy, planning and analytics at Levi Strauss & Co, said at a recent panel discussion at A+M’s Analytics 2016 conference.

When it comes to collecting consumer data, Sonali Verma, head of customer experience, innovation and analytics, DBS regional partnership, at Manulife Singapore, stressed the importance of getting information sensibly.

Too often companies collect data, as though out of insecurity. That data, typically a massive form with many fields, then sits in the warehouse with no business unit using it or needing it.

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more about your consumers, asking the right questions is more important when it comes to data collection – leading to a better quality of understanding of consumers, according to Verma.

“Ask questions you actually need the data for,” she said, stating that she was often “wary of organisations who want to collect every information about the customer at the first point of contact”.

There are many opportunities for the brand to know the customer throughout the customer journey. Therefore, it is important to keep in mind the customer experience while collecting data as well, and not putting the customer off at the time of collection.

Agreeing with Verma, Andrew McClure, head of marketing and analytics for Asia Pacific at AIG, added there was no point in having data unless it could be converted into actionable decisions that benefited consumers.

What is the future of analytics?

Being in the age of the customer, where customers are now the centre of almost every business, the key differentiation according to Verma, would be how well a brand knows its customers.

“It [understanding consumers] is an ‘outside-in’ perspective,” Verma said, which allows a brand to relate to the customer’s point

of view, therefore building customer loyalty.

“With all the technology available, it is very easy for data to fall into the wrong hands. Use the information and data wisely, be transparent and use it in the interest of the customer by being as need-specific as possible.”

For McClure, the future of analytics is how it will eventually evolve into something which can be commoditised.

The source of differentiation will lie in the quality of questions brands pose to their customers and the quality of their marketing strategy.

“A marketing strategy is simply three things – segmentation, targeting and positioning. If you know your segments, you know who you are targeting and you know what to say to them, a big part of the job is done,” he said.

According to Chandrasekar, having revenue figures helps to address the common concern on whether or not data strategies are bringing in the right returns for the organisation.

“Five years ago was about building the right data architecture, and two years ago was learning how to harness the data collected,” he said.

“The future of analytics and data is figuring out how to turn that data into revenue.”

It will help ensure that data is being used in an optimal way, as well as provide justification for the investment in data strategies.

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32 M A R K ET I N G JU LY 2 0 1 6

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A shopper’s movement between online and offline is now more fluid than ever, and the onus is on brands to make that experience and transaction as seamless as possible. At Marketing magazine’s fourth annual Shopper Marketing conference, we looked at the future of the retail space, and how brands and retailers can effortlessly tap into the opportunities present in the digital, mobile and physical commerce ecosystems that are dynamic, omnipresent and constantly evolving.

Read what was discussed at the event in the following pages.

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MAKING SENSE OF THE COMPLEX CUSTOMER JOURNEY

Making sense of the customer journey has never been easy. But it has now reached a level of complication never seen before. For Club 21, figuring out the symbiosis between online and offline is now more crucial than ever as it looks to launch an all-new e-commerce offering this July across six markets.

Speaking at the Shopper Marketing conference 2016, Mei Lee, SVP of digital, CRM and e-commerce at Club 21, said that today a consumer’s inspiration before a purchase decision could come from anywhere. And marketers needed to know these inspiration points.

“The way we see it, in terms of inspirations, customers are now getting influences from social media and content sites as well as print ads,” she said, explaining that a print ad in a magazine can inspire customers to go online to search for the product.

“It is really important for us to be highly 3 4 a d verti s i ng + marketi ng | J U LY 2016

targeted and specific and align ourselves with the new customer journeys and touch-points.”

Moreover, with social media channels at the tip of their fingers, modern consumers are often inclined to validate and show their purchases.

Brands, at this point, need to interact with the customer to nudge them in their direction to spend with the brand at the next purchase point.

Moving to an omni-channel strategy In the past, having a store front required different budgeting than online. Stores would have their own marketing budget broken off from a certain percentage of their top line. This budget was usually spent on promotions consisting of print advertising, OOH, digital display, radio, events and PR channels with the objective of driving people to the store.

But now many customers are simply trying

“E-commerce should be our biggest store at the company.

It should be the biggest and open 24/7 and we should be able to list as many products as possible.”

“We are looking at tools to help with social media listening and community management beyond just replying to connect to a point for next purchase. Marketing automation happens at this part of the journey,” she said.

the product in store and then purchasing the same product online. As the world moves into the world of omni-channel, the challenge for Lee and her team is figuring out how to shift from those marketing activities to digital while WWW. MARK E TING-IN TE RAC TI VE . C OM

Pivot Our Ecommerce Strategy For a New Customer Journey Inspiration

Shopping

Purchasing

Engage/Experience

Social Media

Store

New Customer

Social Sharing

Content Websites

Online & Offline Advertising

Website

Existing Customer

Up-sell and Cross-sell

Loyalty

Refer-afriend Membership Program Sign Up Email SignUp

Mobile App

Repeat Customer

Product Review

Retention Incentives

Source: Club 21

still managing a certain model of effectiveness.

“The shopping stage in the past used to be about coming into the store. Now it is also website and mobile. So how do we align our budgets across different touch-points? Yes, store, online and mobile all have different ecosystems, but the goal should be to align and be consistent throughout,” she said.

Lee admits to move in that direction takes a significant amount of integration with technology and people co-ordination.

Nonetheless, it needs to be done.

“E-commerce should be our biggest store at the company. It should be the biggest and open 24/7 and we should be able to list as many products as possible.”

With the upcoming launch of the website, Club 21 is putting its weight behind channels such as SEM, email, display and social media marketing. It is also looking at a target-specific geo-platform and online partnerships and collaboration with publications along with affiliate and native content strategies.

“These might all be standard things, but standard things can be really complicated because you need to get it right.”

Mobile connections Lee also added that often the misconception was that mobile marketing was all about having WWW.M A R K ET I N G - I N T ER A C T I V E.C O M

an app, but the challenge is to get people to download the app. And what marketers should be thinking about is: how can it be a utility for the customer. One way could be that by using the app in-store, they could get or redeem rewards points. Or using the app to book an appointment with a stylist in-store.

Currently, Club 21 is also looking at different tech partnerships to figure out who its new customers, existing customers and VIP customers are. This will help identify the loyal consumers from the one-time spenders.

“Customers need to feel that they will be instantly recognised by the store and know their worth,” she said. She added that mobile is an area to watch out for with more interesting innovations coming up in recent years.

Another mobile-friendly feature the brand is adding is Google directions to its websites so customers can get directions to stores conveniently or call directly.

“This might seem basic, but in Asia, a lot of companies haven’t even checked the box on these features. For me it is about getting our basics right and then we can build from there.”

Moreover, having a seamless experience also means the brand can more easily communicate with customers over mobile and they will be more accepting to the communications put out by the brand such

as mobile advertising, geo-targeting, search history targeting and in-store communications.

Data integration Ultimately helping all these changes will be data. While across the company there are many data sources, a chunk of them are still unstructured. Club 21 is now working towards integrating data from all the sources to come up with a single view of the customer.

“Data can inform how we can go to market and be relevant to the consumer in terms of advertising, trigger campaigns and product recommendations.”

In store there is point-of-sales data, where with every single transaction the team knows the customer’s details. And online, there is, of course, even more data at hand such as how many pages the customer viewed, where they spent time, which product they added to the cart and the page they last exited. As such, structuring the different data points is a must. With the right data at hand it is possible to create a single view of the customer and cross-sell and upsell seamlessly, according to Lee. “A lot of things might sound basic like merging online and offline, but when it comes to different P&L’s and requiring different stakeholders to be on board, it gets complicated.”

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UNDERSTANDING THE ‘SMART CONSUMER’ With more technologically savvy consumers turning to online platforms for purchases, trying to identify your consumer and target audience can be quite an uphill task.

According to Patrick Steinbrenner, regional director for on-site marketing at ZALORA, as many as one in four Singaporeans shop online at least once a week, with 69% of Singaporeans researching online before making their purchase. This is especially so when it comes to higher-priced items.

The demand to stand out is greater than ever, with brands being urged to have a personalised approach without the risk of losing mass appeal.

According to Dennis Tay, founder of Naiise, one measure brands can take to boost their mass appeal is through personalisation and finding values which answer to a universal theme.

Citing Apple’s iPod as an example, he talks about how Apple’s overarching theme – music – is a universal one. By having a universal brand message, marketers are enabled to target a larger set of people.

Humanising your brand For Tay, consumers should not be looked upon as merely numbers; instead they should be friends who your brand can relate to and vice versa.

“Humanise a brand and showing it to your consumers. Be honest with them,” he said.

He urges brands to be transparent and show customers the team behind the product and the story, which can be done through blog posts chronicling team activities, to simple behind-the-scenes social media postings of the team at work.

“These are the people who should be recognised because they are the ones who are struggling and trying to achieve something for the brand – that is something which is relatable to the next set of people, who are your consumers,” he said.

Understanding the “smart consumer” According to Steinbrenner, the first step to reaching out to the “smart consumer” is recognising that relevance is key when it comes to the content brands put out to connect with their consumers.

“Users are not a homogeneous group of people, they respond to different specifications and preferences. Having relevant information is not only key in acquiring customers, but more 3 6 a d verti s i ng + marketi ng | J U LY 2016

importantly – retaining them.” He adds that having a cross-device mindset is important when it comes to personalising the experience for a brand’s customers as it allows for a seamless transition from different screens during the purchase process.

Emphasising on the importance of this, he states the example of Myntra, a popular Indian e-commerce site which shifted to an app-only model last year.

It returned with the revival of its desktop and mobile sites last month upon realisation that cross-device transactions consisted of 40% of purchasing behaviour.

Understanding Millennials Values such as meaningful, simple and stylish are those that resonate most with Millennials or “smart consumers”, according to Bojan Blecic, senior vice-president and head of experience design at OCBC Bank.

There comes a stage in their lives where they need to see a meaning in everything they do; they are at a stage where having both a view and an opinion is paramount.

“They need a rationale as to why they connect with the brand or product, why it is important not only for themselves and the group they are in,” he said.

This was what OCBC learnt when launching OCBC Frank. Frank is the brand’s offering for the youth, and it has successfully encapsulated around 70% of the market share when it comes to credit or debit cards targeted specifically at the student demographic.

According to Blecic, brands need to

recognise that when it comes to reaching out to the rising “smart” consumer, it is not always about the crazy ideas, but rather finding intelligent ways to organise the experience in the perspective of the customer.

“It’s not about us and our product, it is about the consumers and what is valuable to them,” he said.

Agreeing with Blecic, Tay points out that although having data is important when it comes to mining insights about customers and their preferences, it is difficult to win them over if the product or service is not up to the mark.

“Data and solid marketing strategies are worth nothing if your company is unable to create value,” he said.

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LAST WORD ................................................................................................................................................................................................................

CLIENTS WHO DON’T PAY: HASN’T THE INDUSTRY HAD ENOUGH? There is nothing more appalling than non-paying clients (no, not even scam ads) in our industry.

Rayana Pandey writes.

Are you paying your agencies on time?

While we may have come a long way, certain issues still plague the industry as they did decades ago – and non-paying clients top the list.

Makes you wonder: how much have we really progressed?

Non-paying clients are big and small, local and multinational, so let’s not discriminate. Suffering most from this lack of professionalism are the smaller agencies in Singapore. Speaking to a few such agencies here, revealed some of the most outrageous reasons for clients not paying.

“Sorry, my boss is in a bad mood. She hasn’t signed the PO.” Or “you need to come by and make her happy. Give her some cakes and sweet stuff. She likes agencies like that. You guys are not ‘friendly’ enough”.

Worse still? A project starts, but never sees the light of the day. Not because the agency didn’t complete the work, but the marketing lead on the account changed so often. Let me put that in perspective – 14 people in three years – each demanding the agency submit the work following new directions and guidelines, but the agency was expected to honour the initial quotation and keep producing the work.

A disgruntled agency creative told me: ”Even the Lor Mee store near our office changed price from RM4.50 to RM6.”

I found it somewhat hilarious, but checked myself because there is nothing funny about people losing jobs just because a certain someone didn’t pay for the work he/she commissioned.

“Basically, it is the marketing managers/directors that just sit on WWW.M A R K ET I N G - I N T ER A C T I V E.C O M

things. Their executives bear the brunt of it,” the creative lead said.

Some of these agencies are on the verge of shutting down, others might too – sooner or later.

For the industry to be thriving, and competing with other markets globally, a certain level of ethics and professionalism is critical, but as we know, they have been a bit of a rare commodity in the marketing/ advertising industry.

The contradiction in a market such as Singapore is glaring. On the one hand, the EDB is pumping billions into making Singapore the most sophisticated digital hub globally, which will attract some of the biggest and the coolest businesses to its shore. On the other, certain industries simply refuse to get their act together. Is this how we will compete, globally?

The solution is simple. Non-paying clients, grow up. Be professional and pay for what you’ve asked for. And if you can’t, design and develop that ad in-house. It may be average or pathetic, but isn’t your work a reflection of you anyway?

There’s a need for a few disclaimers: Yes, this article has an agency-bias.

No, I am not undermining other issues plaguing the industry And PS: I am not even going to talk about the 4As in Singapore.

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Ronnie Brown Head of digital DirectAsia

Thomas Wolf Digital conversion manager Google

Steve Feiner Co-founder and CEO A Better Florist

Charlie Baillie Regional director, SEA RadiumOne

Benedict Hayes Managing director, SEA and India Sociomantic Labs