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METHODOLOGY
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JUDGES
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SPONSORS & PARTNERS
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OVERALL AGENCY OF THE YEAR
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CREATIVE AGENCIES
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MEDIA AGENCIES
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PUBLIC RELATIONS AGENCIES
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EVENT MARKETING
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CRM & LOYALTY MARKETING
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DIGITAL AGENCIES
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BRAND CONSULTANCIES
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MARKET RESEARCH
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MOBILE MARKETING
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SOCIAL MEDIA AGENCIES
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PRODUCTION AGENCIES
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THE MARKIES
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ON THE COVER: Photography: Edwin Tan — Lumina (www.animulstudio.com)
EDITOR’S NOTE
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Elizabeth Low, Deputy Editor elizabethl@marketing-interactive.com Rezwana Manjur, Senior Journalist rezwanam@marketing-interactive.com Editorial – International Matt Eaton, Editor (Hong Kong) matte@marketing-interactive.com Oliver Bayani, Editor (Philippines) oliverb@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 – Singapore Che Winstrom, Sales Manager chew@marketing-interactive.com Johnathan Tiang, Account Manager johnathant@marketing-interactive.com Trina Choy, Account Manager trinac@marketing-interactive.com Advertising Sales – International Josi Yan, Sales Director (Hong Kong) josiy@marketing-interactive.com Events Yeo Wei Qi, Head, Events Services weiqi@marketing-interactive.com Marketing June Tan, Regional Marketing Executive junet@lighthousemedia.com.sg Finance Evelyn Wong, Regional Finance Director evelynw@lighthousemedia.com.sg Management Søren Beaulieu, Publisher sorenb@marketing-interactive.com Tony Kelly, Editorial Director tk@marketing-interactive.com Justin Randles, Group Managing Director jr@marketing-interactive.com
An agency head once told me: “You (clients) can’t pay an agency s--- and treat it like one too. You’ve got to choose.” That summarises the frustrations of agencies pretty well. Things are changing fast and the challenges for brands and agencies are alike, except agencies are expected to quickly become experts on all-things-new or lose out on the game. Now these past 12 months, since our last Agency of the Year Awards, have been nothing short of a roller-coaster for the industry. In what would have created the largest advertising group in the world, the industry saw the high profile attempted merger between Publicis and Omnicom. While ultimately called off due to a host of complications, the discussions nonetheless raised important questions for agencies about consolidation, leadership and the business side of advertising. We have seen the rise of specialists catering to specific client needs in the areas of social media, e-commerce, social CRM, mobile marketing and others for some time now. Bigger, more established agency networks therefore have a problem with these nimble, agile smaller shops which slowly, but surely are eating into their pie. It is, therefore, only natural for the bigger networks to acquire these shops in order to develop the new-age marketing capabilities. The trend cuts across all markets, globally. Moreover, the most-trodden paths of marketing a brand are becoming redundant. Content marketing is the “in thing”. While nothing new, the relevance of it now is much more pronounced and is requiring brands to rewire their approaches to marketing.
The agencies have to keep on top of it, as expected. The distinction between online and offline is blurring – and quickly. The physical and digital barriers are breaking, omni-channel is the new way of doing things, and hybrid experiences are what brands should be aiming to create. Phew! All of you are fighting these battles every day and deserve a pat on the back for not only surviving through the storm, but riding the wave. So, it’s that time of the year when we celebrate the hard work the industry has put in, in creating some great work for brands over the past 12 months. Continue doing great work, guys. And don’t forget to share it with the larger clientmarketer community. On with the show …
Photography: Stefanus Elliot Lee – www.elliotly.com; Makeup & Hair: Michmakeover using Make Up For Ever & hair using Sebastian Professional – www.michmakeover.com
Editorial Rayana Pandey, Editor rayanap@marketing-interactive.com
SURVIVING AND THRIVING IN A NEW WORLD
Marketing’s Agency of the Year is published annually by Lighthouse Independent Media Pte Ltd. Printed in Singapore on CTP process by Sun Rise Printing & Supplies Pte Ltd, 10 Admiralty Street, #06-20 North Link Building, Singapore 757695. Tel: (65) 6383 5290. MICA (P) 180/03/2009. For subscriptions, contact circulations at +65 6423 0329 or email subscriptions@marketing-interactive.com. COPYRIGHT & REPRINTS: All material printed in Marketing 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 Marketing 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 198755 Tel: +65 6423 0329 Fax: +65 6423 0117 Hong Kong: Lighthouse Independent Media Ltd Unit A, 7/F, Wah Kit Commercial Building 302 Des Voeux Road Central, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong Tel: +852 2861 1882 Fax: +852 2861 1336 To subscribe to Marketing magazine, go to: www.marketing-interactive.com
Rayana Pandey Editor
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METHODOLOGY
HOW THE WINNERS WON Breaking down the selection process, the winners of the Agency of the Year awards 2014 were determined by the combination of a nation-wide survey on marketers’ agencies preferences, and a thorough evaluation of agency performances during a specified timeperiod (1 January 2013 – 31 December 2013). Through both processes, the Agency of the Year awards was completely client-driven. Marketing Research helped survey and consult marketers in Singapore as to which agencies they would most likely short-list and engage across the major marketing services disciplines. These questions were asked in the larger context of Marketing Research’s Marketing Spend Benchmarking Survey. Thereafter, based on the survey results, the short-listed finalists in each category (the top 10 and – if they weren’t already in the top 10, the top three local agencies) were invited to justify their case in the category they were nominated by submitting an entry to the Agency of the Year 2014 judging panel, which consisted entirely of 23 senior marketing professionals from major advertisers in Singapore. In that process, finalists also earned a shot at the coveted Overall Agency of the Year title. Marketing Research’s Marketing Spend Benchmarking Survey Statistics 489 selected client-side marketers and advertisers participated in Marketing Research’s Marketing Spend Benchmarking Survey, which was conducted in January 2014. Genuine decision-makers and influential figures were well represented in this survey from a wide range of industries, job functions and geographical areas of responsibility. The survey was hosted online with a unique URL given to each respondent as a quality control measure. How the finalists were decided In the agency rankings section of the questionnaire, respondents were asked to write in the most preferred agency they would most likely engage in free text fields. The agency ranking results were then passed to Marketing to prepare the list of finalists.
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JUDGING CRITERIA
25%
25%
25%
Performance Product People Perspective
Finalists from the Marketing Spend Benchmarking Survey were determined two ways: either by ranking as a top 10 finalist, or as a top three finalist among local independents in their respective categories of the survey. How the winners were decided The next step saw all participating finalists submit their entries for further evaluation by a judging panel made up of senior client marketers across most industries in Singapore, including FMCG, retail, F&B, hospitality, education, finance and government. In total, more than 77.4% of the finalists opted to participate in the submission process. The judging panel evaluated the finalists in
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25%
four key business areas: performance, product, people and perspective – with each criterion carrying 25% of the total score. All the judges’ scores were then tallied and each agency’s score was expressed as a total percentage within each category to produce the winners’ table. The three agencies with the highest percentage, and the highest ranking Local Hero in each category were thus determined. The agency with the most significant wins across all categories was duly granted the title of Agency of the Year. In the case of a tie-breaker, the agency with the highest individual percentage points prevailed.
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THE JUDGES
YOUR AOTY AND MARKies JUDGES
Chitkala Nishandar Head of insights Asia Pacific 3M Singapore
Myungjo Choi Managing director Facebook Southeast Asia
Lynette Ang Chief brand and communications officer NTUC Enterprise
Benny Toh Head, corporate marketing (former) Singapore Management University
Amit Das Gupta Director, brand adidas, Southeast Asia
Jastina Balen Director of group branding and communications Frasers Hospitality
Christina Lim Director – brand and marketing NTUC FairPrice Co-operative
Sisca Margaretta Global head of marketing services Standard Chartered Bank
Joyce Koh Group senior vice-president, brand development BreadTalk Group
Pritendra Chawla Regional marketing director, Asia Pacific and Latin America GlaxoSmithKline
Paulo Koelle Marketing director, Gillette Asia Procter & Gamble
Janice Chan Director, digital marketing Starwood Hotels & Resorts Asia Pacific
Sharon Lee Marketing director United International Pictures
Cecilia Wong Director, regional marketing, Asia Pacific Citibank
Leon Traazil Head of digital marketing and social media, South Asia HTC
Sharon Koh Head of marketing Scoot
Manisha Seewal Head of marketing Tokio Marine Life Insurance Singapore
Anthony Wan Senior vice-president, head of product, channels and business banking marketing United Overseas Bank
David Lee Head of e-tailers and social commerce Dell Asia Pacific Japan
Hannelore Grams Head of digital marketing and social media Nestlé China
Myrna Poon Executive director, marketing and communications Singapore Economic Development Board
Marit Kievit Global brand director – Lux Unilever
Patrick Steinbrenner Regional director, on-site marketing ZALORA Southeast Asia
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SPONSORS & PARTNERS
SPONSORS
Overall Agency of the Year Sponsor
Creative Agency of the Year Sponsor
SMRT Media SMRT Media is Singapore’s No.1 local outdoor media company. With close to 100 stations and 2,200 billboards all over the island, we are definitely Singapore’s largest out-of-home marketing and advertising network. From digital screens and interactive ads in our stations, to ads carried around Singapore by our buses and taxis, or even vast on-site campaigns and installations, we have the perfect platform for you to capture, engage and activate the millions using our network daily.
HISTORY™ HISTORY™ and HISTORY HD™ are the leading destinations for entertaining hit series and revealing, award-winning event specials that connect history with viewers in an informative, immersive and fascinating manner across multiple platforms. Programming covers a diverse variety of genres ranging from real-life characters who bring history to life every day, to natural history, contemporary history, technology and science, as well as archaeology and pop culture.
MARKies Sponsor: Best Idea Direct Mail
MARKies Sponsor: Best Idea Female Audience
MARKies Sponsor: Best Use of OOH
Sponsor
DMrocket DMrocket, a division of Singapore Post, is Asia’s hottest specialist direct mail shop that offers everything from highly targeted lists, printing and response handling right through to warehousing, letter shopping and delivery. Whether you’re new to direct mail or a seasoned professional, you can use DMrocket’s comprehensive suite of services as a complete, onestop-shop solution or as individual components to help boost your marketing communications activities.
Lifetime Lifetime is an entertainment destination offering the highest quality dramas, movies and reality. A television network infused with passion and empowerment, it is the leading channel for women in the US. Lifetime reflects the full spectrum of the modern female experience, delivering top-tier, female-focused entertainment that encourages co-viewing.
Dino Media Apart from being big in size, loud on the streets and bright in colours, what else could we do for OOH advertising? Dino Media Pte Ltd has again added a new array of products and platforms customisable for every OOH advertising need. You can expect very exciting and interactive platforms to display your creatives on the roads soon! Our vision remains to be the top OOH media provider using the latest and most creative technology featuring every brand across the island and around the globe.
NBCUniversal Universal Networks International is one of the world’s premier entertainment portfolios, delivering quality content and compelling brands to over 176 territories in the world. The brands in the portfolio include Universal Channel, Syfy, 13th Street Universal, Studio Universal, E! Entertainment Television, The Style Network, DIVA Universal, Telemundo and Golf Channel. Universal Networks International is a division of NBCUniversal, one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies.
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Mobile Marketing Agency of the Year Sponsor Millennial Media Millennial Media is the leading independent audience platform in digital advertising. The company’s mobile-first approach to audience targeting helps brands connect to consumers in powerful ways and helps developers maximise their revenue. Its robust crossscreen targeting capabilities, enabled by its unique data asset and full technology stack, deliver meaningful results for advertisers and developers.
Media Agency of the Year Sponsor The Wall Street Journal The world’s largest publisher of business news and information for the web, The WSJ in Asia can be found in print, on the web, on smartphone and tablet apps, and additionally publishes four local language web editions in China, Japan, Korea and Indonesia. Consistently ranked the most important business reading in Asia by business elites across the region, in China, The Journal’s Sina Weibo feed was named the third most influential — and the only international feed in the top 10 – of all media feeds in the country.
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SPONSORS & PARTNERS
PARTNERS
Official Online Registration Technology Partner ACTIVE Network ACTIVE Network is on a mission to make the world a more active place. With deep expertise in activity and participant management™, we help over 50,000 global customers manage their events and drive over 80 million transactions annually. ACTIVE Network has Asia Pacific offices in Hong Kong, Singapore and Sydney.
Official Wine Partner
Official Entertainment Partner Band on the Run Band on the Run Pte Ltd is Singapore’s leading live entertainment provider. Founded in 2008 by experienced businesspeople and professional musicians Kalliope Coplin and Simon Hyett, BotRPL specialises in corporate events and highend private parties, tailoring entertainment to precisely fit client needs. BotRPL enjoys the patronage of an impressively diverse clientele and is delighted to partner Marketing Magazine’s Agency of the Year.
CornerStone Hock Tong Bee Pte Ltd is one of the oldest and largest independent wine and spirit companies in Singapore and an increasingly significant regional player. It is committed to bringing the best of beverages to consumers all over Asia Pacific, keeping in line with the vision of becoming the regional one-stop solution for all products related to wines and spirits.
Official Post-Production Partner
Official Whisky Partner
Official Beer Partner
Official Photography Partner
Freeflow Productions At Freeflow Productions, we enjoy every step of the creative process – listening to clients, ascertaining needs and then brazenly promising them the world. We then stare determinedly at blank pages and at one another until the “eureka” moment strikes. Next comes the perspiration for ideas to become effective solutions. We then deliver them to our clients with song and dance (they usually join us in celebration too). Finally, we indulge in our customary self-congratulatory number where the team comes together in a group hug, shedding tears of gratitude for our god given talents.
Johnnie Walker Gold Label Reserve Has been personally crafted by the Johnnie Walker master blender, Jim Beveridge. Handpicked prized casks from selected reserves – each matured to perfection – create a bold blend of intense flavours which is every bit as luxurious and indulgent as its name suggests. Johnnie Walker Gold Label Reserve is an indulgent, luxurious and multi-layered blend with a smooth balance of sweet fruits and creaminess that evolves into deeper honeyed tones before finishing in lingering waves of wood, fruit and light, sweet west-coast smoke.
Kronenbourg 1664 A modern brand with a rich heritage, Kronenbourg dates back to 1664. Brewed from the Strisselspalt hop, better known as the “caviar of hops”, it gives the lager a delightful floral aroma and citrus flavour. Only the purest waters from the Vosges Mountains are used to brew Kronenbourg 1664 and Blanc 1664, giving the beers a uniquely delightful and clean taste. Kronenbourg has been the best-selling beer in France for many years.
Live!Studios Live!Studios pioneered live photography in 2003 when its CEO and founder, Willy Foo, wired his camera to a notebook carried in a backpack which was then wirelessly transmitted to the projector and web simultaneously. As the name suggests, it creates a lively and interactive event atmosphere. Covering more than 700 events each year, they capture photos at precise moments and within seconds, project these images onto screens and have them printed out on credit cardsized photo cards for guests’ keepsake.
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OVERALL AGENCY OF THE YEAR
AND MARKETING’ S AGENCY OF THE YEAR IS …
After six long years, Ogilvy & Mather returned as the overall champion in Marketing Magazine’s Agency of the Year awards. Ogilvy & Mather strode fashionably towards the title after winning gold in the Creative Agency of the Year and Digital Marketing Agency of the Year categories, beating close rivals DDB Group who bagged silver for both categories. Here’s what Fiona Gordon, group chairman of Ogilvy & Mather Singapore, had to say: “The vision we have set for Ogilvy & Mather Singapore is to be a truly world-class hub, creating work and thinking that impacts clients’ businesses and delivers on the twin peaks of creativity and effectiveness. To support this mission, everything we do is through the lens of, ‘what do our clients need to succeed in today’s world?’ “From the way we arrange our teams, grow our specialisms to our approach to finance and training. Because of this, it is so gratifying and tremendously exciting to see that our efforts are bearing fruit in such a big way. “The fantastic wins that came through highlight the breadth of our expertise in
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Singapore, and our clear standing as a market leader in the critical areas of digital and creativity, both for Ogilvy and our clients. “We couldn’t do this without the wonderful clients that we have, so these wins belong to them too. “And finally, my big thanks and gratitude to all our staff on every team across the office. Everyone has contributed so much to make this possible so well done and savour this moment. Here’s to more excitement and big plans in the year ahead.” Witnessed by a 710-strong crowd at the Shangri-La Hotel, Ogilvy also bagged silver in the CRM & Loyalty Marketing Agency of the Year and Social Marketing Agency of the Year categories. The gold awards in these categories went to CPR Vision Management and GOODSTUPH respectively. Ogilvy Public Relations took home some metal as well, winning a gold in the Event Marketing Agency of the Year. However, Edelman Public Relations edged out Ogilvy PR to bag the gold trophy in the PR Agency category. Local hero and new entrant Codigo made a stunning debut at the awards after
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bagging gold, and the Local Hero title in the Mobile Marketing Agency of the Year category. Other Local Hero winners that also swept gold were GOODSTUPH for Social Marketing Agency of the Year and Freeflow Productions for Production Agency of the Year. The Media Agency of the Year category witnessed Mindshare Singapore reclaiming the top spot, with ZenithOptimedia and MediaCom
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OVERALL AGENCY OF THE YEAR
Singapore coming in a close second and third. The Brand Consultancy of the Year and Market Research Agency of the Year categories saw the incumbents holding their fort with Brand Union Singapore and Nielsen Company Singapore retaining their top titles. The awards also saw trophies being presented for the MARKies, a segment that recognises the most innovative and creative campaigns in the industry. ZenithOptimedia took the inaugural Overall Creative Ideas MARKie after bagging four wins in the Creative Ideas categories, including Best Idea – Consumer Events and Best Idea – Male Audience. The Overall Best Use of Media MARKie, meanwhile, went to MediaCom Singapore after it took three trophies in the Media Usage categories, including wins for Best Use of Apps and Best Use of Print. Publicis SEA’s campaign for Sanofi-Aventis did well in the MARKies, winning the Best Idea – Female Audience, and Best Idea – Consumer Insights categories. Other MARKies winners were Dentsu Singapore, MEC Singapore, The Local and yolk(at)Grey. The Agency of the Year Awards 2014 was sponsored by SMRT Media, HISTORY™, Millennial Media, The Wall Street Journal, DMrocket, Lifetime, Dino Media and NBCUniversal and supported by partners, Active Network, Band On The Run, Cornerstone, Freeflow Productions, Johnnie Walker Gold Label Reserve. Kronenbourg 1664 and Live!Studios.
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CREATIVE AGENCIES
OGILVY & MATHER SINGAPORE
THE WINNERS GOLD
Ogilvy & Mather Singapore
SILVER
DDB Group Singapore
72.5%
BRONZE
BBDO Singapore
71.06%
LOCAL HERO
Mangham Gaxiola
69.25%
THE FINALISTS Bartle Bogle Hegarty Dentsu Singapore JWT Singapore Leo Burnett Singapore Saatchi & Saatchi TBWA\Singapore Wild Advertising & Marketing Y&R Singapore
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73.44%
Taking home the top honour in this category is Ogilvy & Mather Singapore. 2013 was a memorable year as the agency consolidated its position in the creative, digital and effectiveness markets of Southeast Asia by being awarded all of the integrated SingTel business. This came despite the difficult economic and business environment the agency faced. It topped the R3 new business rankings throughout 2013 and also made significant investment in expanding its services and capabilities to provide world-class solutions in helping clients meet and exceed their business targets. Major new account wins of the year included SingTel, MCCY and LTA. Its campaigns for Google Chrome, CocaCola and SingTel were recognised on the global and local stage. The agency also invested in global talents such as Nicolas Courant who came on board as integrated creative director; Steve Walls as head of planning; Jon Loke as head of art; Chris Mockford as head of affiliate marketing; Sutowo Wong as head of marketing analytics; and Patrick Heyer as performance
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director of NEO. It now has a reduced staff turnover rate of 20%. Ogilvy & Mather also expanded its services and invested in new ones. This included the launch of K1ND, a brand innovation unit as well as the launch of the mould-breaking customer engagement planning tool. This was done in partnership with Singapore’s Economic Development Board (EDB). Based in Singapore, K1ND is touted to be the first such brand innovation business in the region with a strong focus on technology and design. It has also focused on the expansion of the social content studio, including the acquisition of Verticurl to strengthen the enterprise marketing automation, and with the launch of CSB Engage for social CRM solutions. When asked what the direction is for the agency going forward, it said: “We are driven by ‘divine discontent’. We will continue to seek groundbreaking and smart solutions to provide outstanding results for our clients. We know that great creative is good business.” Owned by: WPP Headed by: Fiona Gordon, group chairman
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DDB GROUP SINGAPORE In 2013, DDB excelled on its digital technology and social media drives. Beyond winning Cannes Lions for its digital work on StarHub, it created highly advanced portals for StarHub. com (e-store) and MySmartEye, a mobile service for the blind; “The Million KG Challenge” for the Health Promotion Board; an interactive gaming app for Republic of Singapore Air Force; a web-ordering system for McDonald’s; and a fully transactional e-store for Courts. It adopted a creative mantra, “technology drives the new creativity”. DDB has transformed from a creative agency into a marketing innovation agency. Its highly integrated creative department boasts 38 technologists (coders, mobile engineers, UX, UI and digital architects) working alongside digitally savvy creative teams. Chuck Brymer, worldwide CEO of DDB, called the Singapore office, “our Silicon Valley for innovative marketing work”. DDB renewed all its major client relationships in 2013, with the agency seeing a 12% growth from existing business mainly from new scope in digital, portal and social
media. New business revenue was up 18% with notable wins on SilkAir, Keppel Land and the Prime Minister’s Office (children campaign). Agency headcount grew 3% to 298 in 2013 with key hires, including Tai Kam Leong as chief planning officer for the agency group; Rowena Bhagchandani as managing director of DDB Singapore; and former JamiQ CEO Benjamin Koe as consulting director for Radar. The year also saw David Tang’s promotion to vice-chairman of DDB Group Asia as well as Jeff Cheong’s promotion to vice-president of Tribal Worldwide Asia. The Singapore-based agency has steadfastly become the “hub” for the DDB Asia network.
The agency also looks set to expand its “hub” capabilities for clients across the DDB Asia network, as the centre of excellence for digital, technology and human capital. It is showing the way for the future – with a new creative revolution – by putting technologists at the heart of creative teaming. In 2014, it has unleashed new services in social media activation (CrowdSauce), film and content (WaveMaker) and a technology solutions arm (Capstone). Already it is creating new work from these services for local and regional clients. “DDB Group Singapore stands out for its blend of creativity and effectiveness. It is making big strides in work that is innovative, cutting-edge, technology powered and also socially very contagious,” Tang said. Owned by: Omnicom Group Headed by: David Tang, president and CEO, DDB Group Singapore
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BBDO SINGAPORE BBDO Singapore believes business success is dependent on the agency’s ability to produce great work for its clients and to consistently add value across various dimensions. In 2013, BBDO focused on the digital standards of its Singapore office by finding the best people and delivering the best work. Last year the agency won a number of new clients and produced much work to be proud of. As the APAC hub, servicing mainly regional corporate clients, the agency worked on major regional projects. By harnessing the strategic excellence of the office, BBDO also aimed to find more creative opportunities within. Throughout the year, it worked towards that goal – making the Singapore office one of its most-awarded creative agencies, not only in Singapore, but in the region. This accomplishment can be seen by the 375% growth in wins BBDO had in 2013, helping it attract top talent, especially in areas of project delivery and innovation. With no senior staff leaving the agency, BBDO saw a turnover rate of less than 20%.
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With business revenue up by 89% against the previous year, BBDO created several campaigns, quite notable of those were the Guinness “Made of More” which was recognised worldwide as a brilliant example of craft, taking the Guinness brand values to a whole new level; the Guinness “World’s Smoothest Launch” campaign which won a gold at the Singapore Effies, one of only four golds awarded this year; and the SingTel “Hawker Heroes” campaign which perfectly tapped into Singaporeans’ love for food and local culture to become the largest social
conversation in Singapore’s history. The work was further honoured when the National Library of Singapore included it in its permanent archives. BBDO plans to keep investing in its people and its work, with a focus on growing its social capabilities to complement its integrated offerings. Owned by: Omnicom Group Headed by: Jean-Paul Burge, president, Southeast Asia and CEO Singapore – BBDO and Proximity
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CREATIVE AGENCIES
MANGHAM GAXIOLA Only 11-months old heading into 2013, Mangham Gaxiola proudly boasted three clients – CIMB Bank, At-Sunrice GlobalChef Academy and Samsung Asia. Over the past 12 months, however, it grew its clientele to nine, picking up the likes of Greenfields Dairy, Beiersdorf, BIG Hotel, BOBSON jeans and Subaru. Signing up this calibre of clients, not only in Singapore, but across Asia and even Europe, with its “trial marriage” basis pitch, Mangham Gaxiola has given clients the opportunity for a much closer exchange of views and understanding which leads to better work. Greenfields selected the agency in February to develop a regional brand campaign to relaunch its milk brand in Singapore, Indonesia
BARTLE BOGLE HEGARTY Last year Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH) Asia Pacific concentrated on adding more value to its work. While focusing on existing clients, it also acquired several new ones such as Häagen-Dazs, Singapore Sports Hub, NEA (smoking ban campaign) and several others. Its portfolio includes clients such as Axe, Baileys, British Airways, Clarks, Google, Mentos and Vaseline. A memorable campaign created by the agency was Mentos National Night which candidly tackled the pressing social problem of Singapore’s declining birthrate with a rap song. The campaign generated more than US$2 million of media value and was aired in a three-minute segment on CNN and made the front page of The Wall Street Journal. In 2013, the agency launched a web application that gave Indonesians an opportunity to create street art through the internet. Some senior hires in the agency included Scott McClelland who took on the role of ECD and Miguel Andres-Clavera who came on board as creative technologist. Owned by: Publicis Groupe Headed by: John Hadfield, CEO
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and Hong Kong. In September 2013 it won a pitch for a place on the NIVEA global roster – one of a handful of creative agencies worldwide working with the HQ in Hamburg. In the same month, BIG hotel appointed the agency to develop its website and booking engine. Jiinzu Inc, the largest distributor and manufacturer of jeans apparel in the Philippines, also selected the agency in October from a range of agencies to relaunch the Japanese brand BOBSON in its market. In December it successfully pitched and won a regional car assignment for Subaru. Mangham Gaxiola gives credit to its staff, which were all handpicked and retained, by creating an attractive “coffee house” environment. The agency has lost only one person since it opened its doors. And this did not happen by chance. “We have carefully handpicked our staff. This may seem easier to do for a start-up than a large established agency, but then again persuading good people to join an unproven entity isn’t so simple,” it says.
The agency has retained them by creating the attractive coffee house environment which is stimulating and fun (in the most literal way – it teamed up with a café when it sourced its new office). “We have respected their need for downtime by making it a rule we don’t work weekends except in the direst emergency (this has happened twice in two years). “And we cement the bonds by regular gettogethers. We celebrate every staff member’s birthday with a team lunch – after which the birthday boy is given the rest of the day off.” As the agency enters its third year, it continues to seek ambitious projects for ambitious clients. Mangham Gaxiola never believes size or location should be a barrier; the only things that count are ability, thinking and ideas.
DENTSU SINGAPORE
JWT SINGAPORE
2013 was a milestone year for Dentsu, according to the agency. The mother ship, Dentsu Inc, decided to double down on going global – most visibly through the strategic acquisition of Aegis; the formation of Dentsu Aegis Network; the appointment of the first non-Japanese CEO to the newly formed network company; and rapidly strengthening the region’s talent and management. Being the region’s flagship office and hub to the Asia network, Dentsu Singapore was at the forefront of this transformation. The office found its leadership in ex-Tiger Airways’ managing director Rosalynn Tay, who was an instrumental member of the team that led the airline to the IPO and championed the financial success over her three-year role as MD. Through a more streamlined, efficient approach and review, several non-performing accounts were resigned, existing businesses were reviewed and work processes were improved. This resulted in a reduction of billings, which was expected.
JWT spent 2013 scaling up its digital capabilities and retooling the agency for its business and clients. The agency tries to not only keep pace, but move ahead of the technology curve, so it can truly lead and provide actionable advice to marketers. Helmed by a new management team led by CEO Frank Bauer, who joined in January 2013; Bauer and Cheng Valerie Cheng, who was promoted to CCO in April; and Sosuke Koyama, who came on board as head of planning in August, the agency hired new talent with digital capabilities, and changed the way it worked to drive innovation. Key hires included Jenn Hoe, Yahoo’s ex head of operations and creative director Jac Rodrigo.
Owned by: Dentsu Aegis Network Headed by: Rosalynn Tay, chief executive officer, Dentsu Singapore
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Owned by: Independent Headed by: Directors – Stephen Mangham, Robert Gaxiola, Yu Lin Loh and Siew Cheong Bong
Owned by: WPP Headed by: Frank Bauer, CEO, JWT Singapore
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CREATIVE AGENCIES
LEO BURNETT SINGAPORE
SAATCHI & SAATCHI
TBWA\ SINGAPORE
For the fourth consecutive year, Leo Burnett has grown the local operations, and its average yearly growth across the four years at 35%. Most of the growth was achieved through its top three clients, which the agency says it helped grow by more than 14% in the past year. It also bagged new business opportunities from brands such as Twinings, MBT, Skyscanner and Diageo Smirnoff. With the ambition of being the best agency in Asia, Leo Burnett has seen an overhaul in its leadership and structures for the purpose of its people, clients and employees. The agency also recruited new leaders to strengthen top ranks.
In 2013, Saatchi & Saatchi continued an agency wide transformation, a process that began in 2012, consolidating new capabilities, not least from the acquisition of Arachnid, one of the region’s leading digital and social agencies. It grew through organic and new business revenue by 41% and enjoyed an 83% client retention rate. The agency has a lot in store for 2014. It has new creative leadership in the agency with the arrival of Dominic Stallard as executive creative director. Saatchi & Saatchi is also furthering its shopper marketing capability, with new shopper marketing specialists becoming embedded in the teams. The agency is sensing an increase in appetite from clients to experiment and innovate – and that is where Saatchi feels it shines. By focusing on its strategic and creative capabilities to transform businesses, the agency will have more opportunity to experiment.
In 2013, TBWA focused on growing all the specialists within the agency to strengthen its integrated approach to the business and enhance its Asia operations’ regional hub status. The agency saw the addition of some big local clients such as Tangs, StarHub, the Economic Development Board, the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, JobsDB, among others. For Tangs as part of its major brand overhaul worth SG$45 million in strategy over the next three years, TBWA kicked off a consumer communications campaign running on print and OOH. Other major campaigns for the year included those for Singapore Airlines, SCB, Visa and adidas. Going forward, in keeping with the way the communications business is evolving, DAN, Integer and E-Graphics will be the agency’s focus. The agency also aims to ramp up its role as a centre of excellence, while increasingly taking on a regional or global leadership role in creative ideation and platform development.
Owned by: Publicis Groupe Headed by: Josh Grace, managing director, Leo Burnett Group
Owned by: Publicis Groupe Headed by: Paul Roebuck, chief executive officer – Singapore and Malaysia
Owned by: Omnicom Group Headed by: Philip Brett, president, South and Southeast Asia
WILD ADVERTISING & MARKETING Last year, Wild was awarded Marketing Magazine’s Local Hero in the category, and this year it’s one of the finalists. The homegrown agency aims to be a force of good, while fulfilling clients’ business goals. Its vision is to shift people emotionally towards brands with humanly relevant ideas that deliver an impact. For one of its biggest clients SMU it developed a campaign featuring the adventurous alumni of the institution who
Y&R SINGAPORE 2013 was another stellar year for Y&R Singapore, in which the agency retained all its clients and welcomed some exciting new ones. This expansion was also seen in staff numbers, with a 30% growth. Some key new senior hires included Melvin Kuek as managing director; Cindy Poh as client services director; and strategic planner Matteo Pierce. Following one of the region’s highest profile pitches, Y&R Singapore won both BMW Asia
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spoke about how SMU had transformed them into well-rounded individuals. This was to lure ambitious undergraduates to prefer SMU. For the National Crime Prevention Council, it created the “Stay Away from Ah Long” campaign. This campaign was developed to deter a borrower going to unlicensed moneylenders aka Ah Long. The aim of the campaign was to educate that the split second decision to borrow can lead to consequences
and Performance Motors Limited to handle the local and pan-regional business. Long-term clients, Caltex, M1 and Republic of Singapore Navy were all retained, while exciting new accounts were won, including Dell, Munich Automobiles, Soo Kee Jewellery and Dark Dog. Some of the major campaigns included Y&R Singapore’s fully integrated M1 brand campaign, “M1 For Every One”, as well as its new pan-regional campaign for Caltex. The new activation campaign for the Republic of Singapore Navy saw custom-
that will spiral into a dead-end for them and adversely affect their families. It also created the Total Defence 2013 campaign. Leveraging on the theme of, “Will You Stand With Me”, Wild came up with the idea to create the longest human chain online in Singapore. It also created a blogger and a Facebook engagement programme for it. Owned by: Independent Headed by: Yeo Ai Ling and Ng Khee Jin, founders
designed “Sea of Fire” vending machines, accessible via a mobile game to attain a QR code for a special “Sea of Fire” isotonic drink. It reaped top honours at the Marketing Excellence Awards and Mob-Ex awards. The agency hopes to further these accomplishments and client relationships in 2014. Owned by: WPP Headed by: Melvin Kuek, managing director Y&R Singapore and Farrokh Madon, chief creative officer, Y&R Singapore
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MEDIA AGENCIES
MINDSHARE SINGAPORE
THE WINNERS GOLD
Mindshare Singapore
SILVER
ZenithOptimedia
75.5%
BRONZE
MediaCom Singapore
74.64%
LOCAL HERO
Vibes Communications
64.54%
THE FINALISTS Briq Carat Havas Media LINS Advertising & Marketing MEC Singapore OMD Singapore PHD Starcom Media Worldwide The Media Shop
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76.75%
2013 was a busy year for Mindshare. The agency successfully handled many pitches, a change in leadership, and a continual evolution of the agency’s structure. Mindshare specifically focused on four areas of growth. The first was retaining its key clients, three of which were re-pitched. The second was to restructure the agency to ensure the right service model was being executed to leverage market trends. It also strived to ensure it attracted the right talent profile to match its ambitions. Finally, it embarked on a digital training programme, iLearn, putting all staff through the programme. Over the past year, the agency won pitches from Dyson, Dräger, Swiss International, Dr Wolff and MCCY. In addition, it also retained large-scale clients such as Nestlé, GSK and HSBC. Meanwhile, regionally, Mindshare launched The Loop – a data-infused “war room” in Asia. The agency hopes that through the new offering, clients can make more collaborative and adaptive decisions across their paid, owned and earned marketing in real-time. Through The Loop, brand marketers can track consumer response and competitive moves. Hence, clients can adapt the usage of media channels and the content based on this data in near real-time. The Loop is also used to track competitor efforts in paid, owned and earned media, as well as providing intelligence on trending and viral news, videos and pictures.
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The Loop has two modes – strategy and campaign. In strategy mode, The Loop enables collaborative and adaptive decision-making through the mixing of fast and slow data across a spectrum of different disciplines such as business planning, strategy, creative and communications planning, and across client agency networks. In campaign mode, Mindshare takes thirdparty data feeds and tools and combines them with media spend, performance tracking and intelligence systems. Looking forward to 2014, Mindshare has seen an increase in client expectations. “As the complex marketing environment evolves, clients need appropriate services and talent to assist them in navigating,” said the agency. Mindshare has seen huge opportunities in digital, technology and content. As a result, the agency has launched a new division focused specifically on these three areas: Mindshare Discovery. This unit is dedicated to creating experiences for brands where they can tell their stories. While Mindshare will continue to harness the power of traditional media channels, it is also building solutions for the physical and virtual world. Owned by: WPP Headed by: Nick Seckold, chief executive officer
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MEDIA AGENCIES
ZENITHOPTIMEDIA
2013 was a year of growth for ZenithOptimedia Singapore. The agency’s three-pronged strategy of talent, diversification and client service propelled its industry leadership as proven by new business wins and account retentions. ZenithOptimedia also integrated new client services such as “Performics” for performance marketing; “Newcast” for branded content; and other tools that help deliver ROI. In 2013, ZenithOptimedia Singapore promoted Adam Hemming to the newly created
role of CEO, with Jacqui Lim replacing him as managing director in the Singapore office. Lim was previously the agency’s general manager. In his new role, Hemming drives the agency’s overall business strategy with a focus on developing specialist services and product excellence. He reports to Gerry Boyle, ZenithOptimedia’s Asia Pacific chairman and global managing partner. Lim takes charge in leading the agency’s commercial operations across all its key clients and also oversees Newcast, and reports to Hemming. Earlier in the year, the agency also hired Jason Tan from Neo@Ogilvy as director of the Newcast division under ZenithOptimedia in Singapore. In total, there were 16 new business wins for the agency across various categories, markets and disciplines. Some of the accounts included Marriott APAC, Singapore Airlines and Changi Airport Group. One of ZenithOptimedia’s most successful campaigns was the “Draft in a Bottle” launch for Guinness. The multi-media approach helped
Guinness communicate the “smoothness” of its new product. The agency achieved this through velvet out-of-home placements and radio sponsorships. The campaign resulted in arresting the GDIB market share decline and an increased market share. ZenithOptimedia also participated in a project that showcased Oracle’s content online to enable IT hardware buyers to self-navigate in a seamless manner. This campaign reached key IT buyers and delivered a high ROI. Going ahead for 2014, the agency will continue to strengthen its specialist services and usage of Live ROI strategic planning tools in addressing client business goals. It will continue to train its staff to lead conversations beyond traditional paid media into holistic, integrated and measurable paid, owned and earned channels for existing and prospective clients. Owned by: Publicis Groupe Headed by: Adam Hemming, CEO and Jacqui Lim, managing director
MEDIACOM SINGAPORE
MediaCom had a very exciting year with major global brand wins, along with the fortification of new leadership in the digital space and the appointment of general manager, Vivian Yeung. MediaCom strived to bring continued freshness to the agency through new media approaches and new areas of expertise. This ideology led it to acquire several new account wins, namely Fonterra, Sony Mobile, B/S/H and Siemens. On the media campaign front, MediaCom experienced great success with Coca-Cola in its “Tasting is believing” campaign for Coke Zero. Not only did the agency have to raise awareness for the brand, it also had to change
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Singaporeans’ negative connotations of Coke Zero. MediaCom gathered 100 fans through its Facebook page and invited them to an exclusive cinema screening of Django Unchained. When they arrived, they were given popcorn and a Coke. However, the Coke was actually Coke Zero. Before the movie started, MediaCom revealed this secret. The agency then captured their surprised reactions and used testimonials to create a TVC to convince the rest of Singaporeans just how much alike Coke and Coke Zero really are. The TVC was broadcast over the three free channels on Singaporean TV, online, at
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bus stations and through social media. The campaign reached more than one million people and weekly consumption jumped 330%. Another campaign it did was for Asiarooms. com, where the agency organised two live marriage proposals on SMRT trains, generating enormous PR coverage. Going ahead for 2014, MediaCom is looking to create a new breed of systems thinkers in a world where the consumer journey is becoming more complex. The agency will use new platforms such as its 2020 connections, a unique approach to create brilliantly connected communication systems for clients, centred on a range of apps to achieve this goal. “At MediaCom we believe that everything is connected. To take advantage of this connected world, we need to grow from being a media agency into a content and connections agency. This means we seek to understand and optimise the total ecosystem of content and connections and not just the individuals silos within it,” Yeung said. Owned by: WPP Headed by: Vivian Yeung, general manager
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MEDIA AGENCIES
VIBES COMMUNICATIONS A 21-year-old integrated communications agency, Vibes Communications focuses on branded and consumer lifestyle clients. Since its inception in 1993, the agency has been a firm believer of through-the-line marketing solutions for clients with brand stewardship. Today, it provides 360-degree services encompassing media, creative, advertising account management, public relations, event management and digital/interactive solutions. Vibes Communications has offices in Singapore and Malaysia, and a total staff strength of more than 60. 2013 has been a challenging year for Vibes, given the industry’s ever-evolving landscape. Vibes has noticed media is at a crossroads as it witnesses a unique convergence of traditional and digital media. For example, offerings such as MediaCorp’s new Toggle, iPad platforms and virtual placement advertising have really changed the environment for the agency. However, Vibes Communications still bagged business from brands such as Dickson
Watch, Watsons, Nippon Paint, TianPo Jewellery and A. Menari. The agency was able to show its strengths through various campaigns over the past year. For example, one key project was with Crizal Lens, “Shield U From UV Rays.” The objective was to inform Singaporeans about the harmful effects of UV exposure on the eyes through street activations. Talents were engaged to shield pedestrians using huge umbrellas bearing the Crizal logo. When it rained heavily during two of the activations, Vibes demonstrated its ability to adapt when it creatively organised the talents to
BRIQ A locally grown agency, Briq has grown from its inception in 2010 to take on an impressive list of blue-chip and local clients, including new wins such as Gardens by the Bay, Merck Consumer Healthcare, Pernod Ricard and The Body Shop. Briq also expanded its international operations with a new full-service advertising agency in Phnom Penh as its Indo-China headquarters. 2013 was a very busy year for Briq as it participated in a string of pitches, recording
CARAT In 2013, Carat Singapore came into its own after a significant period of reinvention. At the core of this was the set up of a dedicated analytics unit that focuses on e-commerce delivery, attribution analysis and predictive modelling. In recognition of this strong focus on building the digital and analytics practice, EDB stepped in as a co-partner with a view to growing Carat’s digital analytics practice into a business that serves the needs of marketers not just in Singapore, but also APAC.
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a 93% success rate. In addition, the agency was recognised by the official ranking body, DP Information Group, for its sound financial management and achievement as a Singapore
With digital underpinning its approach to communications planning, Carat put up a strong showing in winning and retaining businesses in 2013. Mondel z, FrieslandCampina and Mastercard were three significant wins in Singapore. A strong digital and analytics delivery also helped it to retain e-commerce-heavy, attractionbased businesses such as Resorts World Sentosa and the National Heritage Board. While digital and analytics now define the cutting edge offered by Carat Singapore, there is a continued effort to build on its core strategy
shield pedestrians from the rain instead. Along this directive, the team was able to portray the message that harmful UV rays exist even in wet weather. It also launched a three-month branding campaign for Nando’s – “Just Say Lah”. The campaign was aimed at inspiring Singaporeans to express themselves freely and to share their feelings with people they cared about. In the coming year, Vibes will devote itself to cross-learning between different verticals – from PR to advertising, creative to media, and consumer interactive to digital. The agency has also adopted a visual trajectory timeline to nail down its goals and objectives as it tracks its progress every quarter. In general, Vibes is gearing towards more digital involvement as it looks to offer more insight to brand personas in cyberspace.
Owned by: Independent Headed by: Desmond Teo, group managing director and Jeffrey Sia, managing director
SME 1000 Company for two consecutive years in 2013 and 2014. Briq executed a variety of campaigns over the past 12 months displaying its expertise in media marketing. With the changing media landscape and hype about big-data, Briq feels it is important to recognise advertisers’ needs for a simple and effective means of marketing their products and hopes to continue filling these needs. Owned by: Independent Headed by: Jim Goh, founder, CEO
product. This was amply demonstrated via the Health Promotion Board’s HIV Testing campaign which asked high-risk individuals to record their confessions. These were then used in a radio talk show to dispel misconceptions about HIV testing and to encourage this high-risk group to undergo HIV testing. The campaign successfully improved the annual HIV testing numbers by more than 200%. Owned by: Dentsu Aegis Network Headed by: Audrey Kuah, head, Aegis Media Singapore
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MEDIA AGENCIES
HAVAS MEDIA Havas Media Singapore says 2013 was a phenomenal year for the agency. Havas Village was established in Singapore to integrate its divisions, bringing together Havas Worldwide – its creative arm, and Havas Media – its media buying arm – to strengthen its resources and operational efficiencies. According to the agency, with Mobext, Ecselis, Affiperf and Socialyse, its specialist digital service, it expanded the definition of a media agency to include solutions for mobile, performance marketing, real-time bidding and social media management. Growth in online revenue has grown by an average of 46% in four years, driving digital revenue contribution to surpass offline for the first time. The agency’s support to its regional team, Havas Media International, with strategy, planning and buying capabilities, contributed to key global account wins such as LG Electronics and Emirates. Furthermore, Singapore’s acquisition of Tan Chong Motors led to the agency securing the SG$23 million account across the region. “Havas Media’s integration of its digital specialists is a unique agency model that cuts across paid, owned and earned media that places communication solutions at the intersection of creativity, data and technology,” said the agency. Owned by: Havas Headed by: Melvin Lim, chief executive officer, Singapore and Malaysia
OMD SINGAPORE
2013 was a year of success for new business wins for OMD. It successfully added 15 new clients to its roster after competitive pitches. Some of the notable wins included National Environment Agency, SilkAir and Audemars Piguet. OMD also retained the Health Promotion
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LINS ADVERTISING AND MARKETING
Continuing to grow from strength to strength, LINS Advertising and Marketing had an impressive year. New accounts grew by 8% as a result of selective pitching and the agency’s holistic reputation. Annual billings for 2013 topped SG$73 million. In addition to existing broad-based accounts, LINS acquired Allswell, Popeyes Chicken, Emerson Network Power, British Council Singapore and Neko International, among others. LINS executed several successful high-profile campaigns which it claims made a tremendous impact in the respective industries. The agency substantially contributed to the growth of the beauty industry ad spend, having played a major role in above and below-the-line A&P campaigns. However, the annual travel fair campaign and its auxiliary tourism industry continues to be one of the agency’s biggest projects. The target for 2014 is to hit the century mark in million-dollar billings. For this, LINS is aggressively ramping up its traditional and new media, including ATL, BTL and digital advertising.
2013 was a strong year of organic growth for MEC Singapore, even amid plateauing industry growth rates. MEC said it was able to increase revenue by 9% thanks to its growth in digital, programmatic buying, mobile and video, paid search, and social. The agency had an impressive year in terms of account wins, achieving US$34 million in billings value for regional pitches outside of Singapore and US$8 million in billings for local pitches. MEC also welcomed seven new clients into its agency, including Tigerair, Sony Electronics and Human Capital Learning Institute. One campaign that reflected MEC’s strength in digital thinking and innovation was the “Every Family Has a Rebel” launch with Mercedes-Benz. The agency was challenged to shatter the old and boring image of the brand for the new A-Class and to strike a chord with young affluents. Therefore, all communications had to be reimagined. The strategy was to break media rules, and for every touch-point used, MEC added some rebellious behaviour by creating media firsts and breaking out of traditional formats. Moving forward, it expects to continue integrating MEC Access into its offering. From a content ideation perspective, along with the social and SEO capabilities, this specialist team aims to create opportunity for clients to optimise their presence in the earned media space and connect with their customers.
Owned by: Independent Headed by: Seow Liang Lin, managing director
Owned by: WPP Headed by: Sharon Soh, managing director
Board account and has been awarded the exclusive agency contract by Singapore Workforce Development Agency, which was previously split between three agencies. The agency attributes its growth to long and deep partnerships, innovation, best-in-market service, critical self-appraisal and successful results. The past year saw the official launch of Vision, OMD’s new global operating system. It represents a fundamental shift in the way the media agency thinks – from minimising costs to maximising investment; from media results to business growth; and from reaching the many to focusing on the few. Vision goes beyond the usual agency focus on media and communications planning and was designed to help clients buy growth, not just media space. One example of OMD’s campaign work
was Carlsberg’s, “Where’s the Party”. This was a niche, yet powerful campaign that propelled the brand to break new ground with an unconventional partnership that successfully renewed its connection with young beer drinkers, the agency said. The campaign brought huge success with high interactions on Facebook, with a 30% increase in fans, and generated more than SG$100,000 in PR coverage. To keep up with OMD Singapore’s strong growth, OMD expanded its talent pool with the appointments of Masie Ong as media director and Edward Wong as director of digital strategy.
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MEC SINGAPORE
Owned by: Omnicom Media Group Headed by: Chloe Neo, managing partner, OMD Singapore
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MEDIA AGENCIES
PHD
It was quite a year for PHD. The agency continued to draw exceptional talents across various disciplines and build on its unique culture to develop great work and thought leadership for its clients. Last year saw the launch of Source, PHD’s new global operating system that harnesses gamification and crowd-sourcing. This allows participation and collaboration across the network as a game changer. Source has changed the way the agency works and develops talent – two components that are evident in the work it has delivered, said the agency. PHD had a year of record growth with wins from Banyan Tee, Transitions Optical, Gumtree, Unilever Global Planning Remit, and Amorepacific. One of its most successful projects was the Unilever Lifebuoy’s “Help a Child Reach Five.” The campaign used Source as the planning framework. PHD created a strong emotional bond between the brand and the consumer over Lifebuoy’s hand wash product. The viral video beat all set KPIs, including achieving 6.7 million views within the first week of the launch. Another successful campaign was the work created for Transitions. The uphill challenge of creating buzz in a functional, low-interest category speaks volumes to how PHD bridges consumer insights with business objectives, said the agency. The agency cleverly orchestrated a social engagement campaign, “Enjoy Life Well Lit,” across multiple markets. 2014 will be a transformative year for PHD as it looks to drive faster and smarter growth, while not forgetting to have fun and continue efforts to give back to the community. Owned by: Omnicom Media Group Headed by: Ang Wan-Gyn, managing director
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STARCOM MEDIA WORLDWIDE
THE MEDIA SHOP
Starcom Media Worldwide has been in an evolution phase over the past 12 months in an effort to become a human experience company, leading in the areas of content, digital platforms and analytics. This evolution was much influenced by the appointment of Patricia Goh as general manager in December 2013. A slew of other leadership appointments were also made throughout the company. Adding to that, the agency converted its traditional media buying clients to move their media mix aggressively to digital, and use Starcom’s digital tools to support that. In line with its move away from traditional media buying activities, the agency placed digital at the core, with the formation of the Starcom social and digital performance marketing team. As a result of this evolution, the agency won social and digital businesses from Wing Tai, P&G and Taobao.
Goh
Moving forward, Starcom will continue to grow and the growth is expected to come from a media mix change with clients, actionable data analytics, real-time insights and agile marketing. Two approaches for this include POEM for lagged data and Pathfinder for real-time insights. Both are powered by Starcom’s data collection and dashboard platform. Connected intelligence will be more of a focus in the coming year. “Just like the curved TV gives better viewing and audio, the technology and marketing worlds are now converging to view the same picture. This is where we need to be sensitive and respectful to the consumer’s needs giving them simple, meaningful and real-time needs,” Goh said. Owned by: Publicis Groupe Headed by: Patricia Goh, general manager
The past 12 months have been a period of rapid growth for The Media Shop. It opened its first office in Taiwan in April to enable the agency to support its regional clients. On the local market front, the team kept busy as clientele increased two-fold over the past year. In addition, the agency also won many retainers from its key accounts such as CA Technologies which increased The Media Shop’s scope of work to pan-regional planning in 12 countries with a budget of US$1.47 million. The agency won five new accounts: NETS, SanDisk, Seagate, Grundfos and Ngee Ann Polytechnic. For Ngee Ann Polytechnic, The Media Shop ran a local campaign for its open house. Ngee Ann Polytechnic aimed to draw youths to its 2014 Open House campaigns, which eventually garnered 12.6 million impressions and 361,007 clicks. The agency also brokered a sponsorship deal between Ngee Ann Polytechnic and Spotify. Another notable campaign was with FireEye to generate qualified leads in 11 countries. The Media Shop was able to achieve this goal through working closely with ZDNet to establish a dedicated microsite. As a result, four million impressions were served and 1,600 leads garnered. The Media Shop has future plans to open two new offices, one in Jakarta, Indonesia, and in Sydney, Australia. Its team will also be expanded to include a digital director, media planner, and country manager of Singapore, Indonesia and Australia respectively. Under the leadership of new digital director, Lee Chee Wee, the agency will look to strengthen its digital offerings, especially on the social media front. Owned by: Independent Headed by: Jessica Toh, founder and regional business director; and Gary Tang, founder and head of operation
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PUBLIC RELATIONS
EDELMAN PUBLIC RELATIONS
THE WINNERS GOLD
Edelman Public Relations
77.63%
SILVER
Ogilvy Public Relations, Singapore
75.06%
BRONZE
Tate Anzur
73.19%
LOCAL HERO
Tate Anzur
73.19%
THE FINALISTS Asia PR Werkz GolinHarris Hill+Knowlton Strategies Ketchum ICON Singapore LEWIS PR Rice Communications Waggener Edstrom Communications Singapore Weber Shandwick Singapore
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Edelman in Singapore has seen client and people growth over the past 12 months thanks to the new practice leadership and specialties launched, says the agency. It launched two new specialties – Edelman digital and consumer marketing. The agency also strengthened its expertise and sector bench for corporate affairs, crisis, financial, health and technology. “Our talent development plan saw a refreshed focus on quality basics, but also deepening of specialist skills,” the agency spokesperson said. Some key wins over the past year included Unilever’s Pond’s, Hilton, Johnson & Johnson, SAP, Symantec, Singapore Sports Hub and Singapore Tourism Board. It also expanded its remits with existing clients GE and Shell. Out of the various campaigns, one of the most notable was the “YouTube FanFest and Music Matters Live” with HP. Edelman was the lead agency driving content creation, regional co-ordination and realtime engagement. The campaign reached more than 30 million impressions for social content and more than half a million video views. Edelman also created a B2B campaign with Amadeus. The “Shaping the Future of Travel” campaign was centred on research by the agency and executed by Frost & Sullivan. The research discussed the four big effects shaping the future of travel in Asia to help Amadeus reshape the travel industry. The campaign featured events across Asia that
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received extensive business and trade media commentary as well as owned content on a microsite. The agency was also in charge of public relations duties for the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s launch of the country’s new coins. According to the agency, the campaign was a success because the coins were introduced without much issue or controversy. It attributes this to a well-conceived public engagement and education programme that eschewed high-profile tactics in favour of community based advocacy and education, for example, ensuring hawker stall owners and other small businesses were aware of the change and its impact on the small things that matter, such as vending machines. Looking forward, Edelman is putting a greater emphasis on a stronger real-time promotion and protection of brands. The agency plans on doing even more creative and strategic work for major global and regional clients, headquartered out of Singapore. With a number of key hires in digital, publishing and editorial, creative, research and planning, clients can expect to see an evolved thinking in some of the agency’s major innovations such as Trust, Brandshare, Creative Newsroom and Words of a Generation. Owned by: Independent Headed by: Amanda Goh, managing director, Edelman Singapore
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PUBLIC RELATIONS
OGILVY PUBLIC RELATIONS, SINGAPORE According to Ogilvy Public Relations, Singapore 2013 was the best year yet, financially and creatively, as well as for client retention. The agency expanded to more than 100 executives as it experienced double-digit growth for the eighth year in a row. Its top 50% of clients have now been with the agency for more than eight years. Ogilvy PR captured 10 new accounts in Singapore, including InterContinental Hotels Group (Singapore and SEA), NTUC FairPrice Foundation, SilkAir and KOP Properties. Among the various campaigns, one of the biggest was the Singapore Biennale 2014 with the Singapore Art Museum. Singapore Biennale was established in 2006 as the country’s pre-eminent platform for international dialogue in contemporary art. The platform brings Singapore’s artists within a global context and fosters collaboration with the international community. Indoor visitors at the 2014 Biennale almost tripled at more than 560,000, which was in part because of the extensive media coverage and ongoing activation ahead of the
Senior staff turnover was less than 10%, and the agency prides itself on finding and retaining the right people for their ideal roles, said a spokesperson. Ogilvy will continue to shape its offerings to meet the complexity of the communications environment. By combining its deep planning capabilities, the full-integration with Ogilvy Group’s creative capabilities, and an attitudinal shift that involves social listening, Ogilvy PR hopes to shape its client’s message around real-time consumer sentiment. The recent creation of the Content Studio and the virtual dashboard will help this realtime drive. In addition, new offerings such as Ogilvy Impact, dedicated to employee communications, Social@Ogilvy, the Content Studio, social marketing and Ogilvy Noor, the world’s only Islamic branding practice, will help boost revenue and growth over the next year. opening. Participation at the Biennale activities, including talks, workshops and film screenings, had a capacity average of 85%.
Owned by: WPP Headed by: Chong Ee Rong, managing director, Singapore
TATE ANZUR
Tate Anzur has taken it to the next level over the past year. The agency built a sweet spot in the arts, heritage and social sectors with big account wins in these spaces. In addition, there was a 100% retention rate of existing clients. Tate Anzur attributes its success to three mantras: great stories, told through genuine engagement, and from the ground-up. The agency bagged wins such as the Asian Civilisations Museum, i Light Marina Bay 2014, National Library Board, Singapore Heritage Festival, SAFRA Army Half Marathon, and various others. In addition, the past 12 months have seen a variety of campaigns by Tate Anzur as it strived to link brands to ordinary people by getting them involved and letting them be the voice.
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A great example of this was the Liberty Hunt 2013 campaign with Liberty Insurance. The goal was to connect this global insurerr with young Singaporeans. The campaign was a nation-wide treasure hunt with a S$50,000 prize. The Hunt brought more than two million people in Singapore to the Liberty brand through an integrated mix of mobile, on-ground, social media, media and direct outreach. Tate Anzur insists it is committed to growing talent from within its ranks, ensuring the next account director will be hired from within. In addition, the agency is working with communication schools to train the PR professionals of the future. It has implemented a strong internship programme with the universities and provides
lectures and l d career talks lk with i h Temasek T k and d Ngee Ann Polytechnics as well. The agency also marks the fact it has not lost a member of its staff yet, with its first hire, Cherie Lee, still on board. The agency grew from four to 12 consultants in 2013. In 2014, Tate Anzur will look to stretch its legs in lifestyle, activations and branding. Owned by: Independent Headed by: executive directors Ethan Tan, Yvonne Li and Raoul Le Blond
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PUBLIC RELATIONS
ASIA PR WERKZ
GOLINHARRIS
In 2013, Asia PR Werkz worked on nearly 90 creative campaigns and initiatives. It credits its success to its dedication in delivering strategic communications counsel and executing creative campaigns across multiple platforms, with the clients’ business objectives in focus. The agency has worked with many clients in various practices, including consumer marketing, public affairs, corporate and finance, and technology, among others. Some of the key clients include Nestlé Singapore, Nippon Paint, Nanyang Polytechnic, Toshiba and Music Matters 2013. Asia PR Werkz was able to satisfy these clients by proposing innovative initiatives to achieve interest and reignite excitement in the target market, said the agency. One of the agency’s major campaigns included the launch of the nationwide productivity campaign, “Way to Go!” – a national outreach campaign to rally workers and employers to unite behind Singapore’s push for higher productivity. The first wave of outreach showed good results in raising awareness which led to a second wave to deepen engagement with the increasingly tech-savvy population, as well as the working community. For the remainder of the year, Asia PR Werkz hopes to continue its pace as more and more clients seek counsel in integrated communications efforts.
The past 12 months have brought a year of change and growth for GolinHarris. It saw Tarun Deo take over as managing director for Singapore and Southeast Asia. The agency’s growth stems from its dedication to training its expert team in the four strategic areas of its g4 model. This approach aims to integrate the deepest insights, boldest ideas and the broadest engagement into real-time conversations that help clients connect with and remain relevant. The agency’s virtual creative crowdsourcing platform, The Bright Collective, has been a valuable tool in various campaigns. The platform harnesses talent from around the world and can be tapped into for the latest trends, insights, market research, ideas generation and validation, and new product testing. There are more than 300 members, ranging from chefs and fashion designers to architects. This brings a wide variety of fresh thinking from across the globe. This type of generated ideas helped the agency win new business pitches for clients such as the Health Promotion Board. The agency believes specialism is the future of communication. This, along with identifying talent, honing skills and developing the bestin-class professionals, will allow the agency to adapt to the ever-changing world of digital communication.
Owned by: Independent Headed by: Cho Pei Lin, managing director
Owned by: Interpublic Group Headed by: Tarun Deo, managing director, Singapore and Southeast Asia
HILL+KNOWLTON STRATEGIES With new leadership taking over in March 2013, Hill+Knowlton Strategies has been going through a period of renewal, adding to its core strengths in public affairs, corporate and financial communications and MICE. The agency was able to add capabilities in paid and shared media as well as continued offerings in its core expertise of earned and owned media. With a bolstered leadership, H+K Strategies went on to win a variety of new accounts such as Wargaming, EcoHouse, Menarini Asia and ATT Tanjung Bin. One of the agency’s biggest campaigns involved a product recall for which it set up a call centre, communicated the recall, collected the product, and handled all administrative and logistical functions to support these services. The recall went successfully without negative brand mentions in the media. As H+K Strategies continues to move forward, it aims to deepen its renewed focus on owned content as a driver of earned media and third-party advocacy. Over the next year, H+K Strategies plans to introduce its Hollywood Storytelling model to more clients as an account-building component or standalone service. The agency will also more aggressively market Flight School, a proprietary social media crisis simulator, as online crises become more widely recognised as a major risk. Owned by: WPP Headed by: Jamie Morse, managing director, Singapore
KETCHUM ICON SINGAPORE The past 12 months have been eventful for Ketchum with the acquisition of ICON International Communications in November 2013. Since 2008, the agencies have been working closely as exclusive affiliates to service some of the largest and most geographically diverse clients in the APAC region, said the agency. Now, as Ketchum ICON, they operate as one firm which greatly enhances the agency’s ability to provide clients with local knowledge and international expertise, service and support. Along with nine retainer clients, Ketchum ICON, in the past year, worked with 19 project clients, including American Express, A*STAR, Glasgow School of Art, Hitachi, Panasonic and
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Turkish Airlines. One of its biggest campaigns was with Procter & Gamble for the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games. The campaign, “Thank You Mum,” recognised and celebrated the mums behind the Olympic athletes for all that they do. Ketchum ICON led the overall regional communications programme for Asia, specifically for Japan and Korea. In Asia, the programme surpassed set targets by 200% when it reached three billion media impressions across the region in print, broadcast and online channels. Looking ahead to next year, Ketchum ICON will further integrate the newly formed agency into the global network. Employee learning will be another area of focus as indicated by the
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comprehensive talent development programme implemented at the beginning of the year. Overall, the agency hopes to gain a stronger foothold in Asia in its expert industries such as food and nutrition, healthcare, change management and digital media. Ketchum ICON will look to expand its social and digital capabilities throughout the region as well. Owned by: Ketchum, a unit of Omnicom Group Headed by: John Bailey, managing director
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PUBLIC RELATIONS
LEWIS PR LEWIS PR saw many new marquee clients in the past year. The digital business continued to prosper as well with Lewis PR’s flagship digital client Porsche Asia Pacific. In addition, the agency sponsored and organised various local PR networking events and hosted media parties at its office. One of the agency’s biggest wins was the integrated comms work for Spotify after a competitive pitch. Lewis PR was engaged by the global music phenomenon to launch the service in Singapore. The agency implemented a planned and sustained programme of media and influencers as well as social media activity to boost awareness. Through this, Spotify became the number one downloaded iTunes app in Singapore, said the agency. For 2014, Spotify is a retainer client for Lewis PR in Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia. Other account wins included BBC Worldwide, Hitachi, Nikon, Porsche, and Sony Computer Entertainment and PlayStation. Looking forward, Lewis PR will focus on further building its digital marketing proposition, and making the agency a great place to work at with great career prospects. To accommodate its growth, it is planning on moving its office to a shophouse property which will allow for the agency to double in size. Owned by: Independent Headed by: Andy Oliver, senior vice-president, APAC
WEBER SHANDWICK SINGAPORE Despite budget scale backs from a number of clients, Weber Shandwick Singapore noted that practically all its clients chose to extend their relationships. Total turnover was steadfast thanks to key long-standing clients MasterCard, Microsoft, Temasek Holdings, Far East Organization, Rolls-Royce, ION Orchard and Emirates, among others. The agency also won some impressive new business, including Burger King, the National University of Singapore Society, Pfizer and a major IPO. Also new to the agency were key staff hires, including Christina Cheang, chairman of the Singapore office, and Carolyn Devanayagam as head of technology. One of the campaigns it ran was for Singapore Red Cross. Weber Shandwick was responsible for providing PR support to the tech-savvy generation of young Singaporeans. The agency achieved this goal by launching a microsite that listed current blood stock levels with real-time updates. The agency also launched Mediaco, a new content creation and distribution unit. The platform is built to deliver a comprehensive approach to brand publishing, allowing companies to manage their media through digital and owned media channels. Owned by: Interpublic Group Headed by: Vanessa Ho-Nikolovski, managing director, Singapore
WAGGENER EDSTROM COMMUNICATIONS SINGAPORE Waggener Edstrom Communications Singapore witnessed strong growth, especially in healthcare, corporate and consumer practices, over the past 12 months, posting impressive revenue growth of 16% in 2013. The agency is increasingly working with the marketing departments of its clients in addition to the corporate communications teams. All of this in an effort to deliver integrated communications solutions that will have a greater direct impact on business performance. Some of the notable account wins over the past year include Hospital Information Management Systems Society, Johns Hopkins Singapore, National Library Board, Qatar Airways, Skype and Virgin Active. One of its campaigns was with Unilever Clear to design a novel CSR campaign, “Helmets for Heads”. The campaign supported the brand’s sponsorship of the Lotus F1 Team at the Singapore Grand Prix. Launched in 2012, this has become a global CSR asset for Unilever. The funds raised through the campaign were used for the purchase and distribution of helmets in underprivileged communities of Vietnam. Owned by: Independent Headed by: Carolyn Camoens, vice-president and general manager, Singapore
RICE COMMUNICATIONS The past year has been a significant one for Rice Communications. As the company reached its fifth year, it won 10 new retainer accounts and hit record levels for revenue and profitability, thanks to its strategic focus on improving commercial performance, says the agency. “In many ways, 2013 was a watershed year for us as we reached new heights in terms of headcount, revenue, profitability and, of course, results for our clients. Our strategy is really paying dividends as we continue to grow into one of Singapore’s best mid-sized firms,” said managing partner Sonya Madeira. Assisting this achievement has been its key hires. Anna Goulding and Mansi Maheshwari both joined the company as account directors in 2013. Retainer revenue over the past year
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In the campaign for Hilton, it profiled the property’s meeting and convention capabilities to event organisers across Asia Pacific. The campaign culminated in a round table held at the property with top-tier media from Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand and Malaysia. For 2014, Rice expects to continue growing in terms of staff. The firm is looking to bolster its regional capabilities through stronger partnerships with other independent agencies across APAC. This year will also see an increase in the focus for providing clients with management and content development support. increased 45%. Some of these clients included Subaru, Hilton Phuket Arcadia Resort & Spa, Forum, Dentsu and Palo Alto Networks.
Owned by: Independent Headed by: Sonya Madeira, managing partner
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Global Talent. National Service. Calling the brightest brains in advertising and marketing.
“
This country needs you.
�
You, who have just picked up your first trophy, or your umpteenth one, at the Marketing Magazine’s Agency of the Year Awards.
Time for this nation’s best creatives to conjure up new gameshow formats, new sitcoms that don’t suck, new storylines for epic 100-episode dramas.
And standing there with you in that same ballroom are your fellow award winners.
Time for the family to be united once more following the same show everyday, or going on a marathon watching binge together.
Never mind who’s your colleague or who hails from a competitor company. What if we banded ALL the award winners (and award finalists) together to form committees and collectives charged with this mission – Saving Singapore with fresh new ideas. Currently, the PAP government already gathers various representatives from different industries in order to garner their feedback and thoughts on key issues. But have they experienced what can happen when you bring together our industry’s most ingenious and resourceful minds and souls?
Of course, to meet that gaping need, freeflow has a Broadcast Content Division geared up to produce your bright new ideas. So call us now! And what else can be improved? Well, everything else - because this country is always looking to make things better in every area it can, being progressive, future-ready. Not taking anything at all for granted. Because in these times, you need to arm yourself with the best ideas so that you don’t end up like the once-great city of Alexandria.
At freeflow productions, we are fortunate to have encountered some of the most interesting raconteurs and agent provocateurs walking through our doors. Mind you, these are the clients or creatives who collaborate with us to come up with great work. And they are not all Singaporeans – some are, while others come from Australia, Canada, China, Malaysia, Spain, the Philippines, the U.K. and the U.S. They all live and work here now, at freeflow productions and at the agencies we work with. Just as our advertising and marketing here has benefitted from the global and local talent working together - Singapore deserves to have the best ideas from these guys too.
Here’s to SG50 and beyond! Yours truly, Singapore.
And what in Singapore needs saving? Well, for starters, our local Public Service Broadcasting (PSB) television programmes. Enough already, with the Internet age dividing parent and child, brother and sister. Enough already, with each and everyone we know watching something on the web, on his or her own.
www.freeflow.com.sg
The patriots at freeflow productions A 10-year-old video production house at 89 Neil Road
www.vimeo.com/freeflowproductions
www.facebook.com/freeflowproductions
EVENT MARKETING
OGILVY PUBLIC RELATIONS, SINGAPORE
THE WINNERS GOLD
Ogilvy Public Relations, Singapore
75.83%
SILVER
amcasia!
71.67%
BRONZE
Launch Group
67.50%
LOCAL HERO
amcasia!
71.67%
THE FINALISTS DMC Event Management iris worldwide Kingsmen Exhibits Mercury Marketing & Communications Pico Art International The Event Company Staging Connections The Events Artery
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According to Ogilvy Public Relations, Singapore, 2013 was one of its best years financially, creatively and in terms of client retention. The agency expanded to more than 100 executives as it experienced double-digit growth for the eighth year in a row. While Ogilvy PR grew, it was still able to deepen relationships with existing clients leading to a high retention rate over the past 12 months. Last year was its eighth straight year of successive double-digit growth with the top 50% of clients continuing to stay with the agency for eight years or more. Constantly keeping, building and deepening relationships with existing clients remains a primary goal for the agency. Ogilvy PR captured 10 new accounts in Singapore, including InterContinental Hotels Group (Singapore and SEA), NTUC FairPrice Foundation, SilkAir and KOP Properties. One of the most notable social media campaigns it did was for the Singapore Biennale. Established in 2006 as the country’s pre-eminent platform for international dialogue in contemporary art, the event places Singapore’s artists within a global context, and fosters productive collaborations with the international arts community. Indoor visitors at the 2014 Biennale almost tripled at more than 560,000 in comparison with 196,000 visitors last year. No doubt because
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of the extensive media coverage and ongoing activation ahead of the opening. Participation at the Biennale activities, including talks, workshops and film screenings has also been robust with the capacity averaging at 85%. Meanwhile, the agency also saw Ee Rong Chong take on the role as the agency’s new managing director in Singapore. Chong last served as deputy managing director and she succeeded Andrew Thomas, who was promoted to the role of president of Ogilvy PR, Southeast Asia. Chong joined the company more than 13 years ago and has held a succession of key roles in various markets, including Sydney and Kuala Lumpur. Looking towards next year, Ogilvy will continue to shape and evolve its offerings to meet the complexity of the communications environment. By combing its deep planning capabilities, full integration with the Ogilvy Group’s creative capabilities, and an attitudinal shift that involves social listening, Ogilvy PR hopes to shape its client’s message around real-time consumer sentiment. The recent creation of the Content Studio and the Virtual Dashboard will aid this real-time drive. Owned by: WPP Headed by: Ee Rong Chong, managing director, Singapore
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AMCASIA! The silver and Local Hero winner for this year’s Event Marketing category is none other than amcasia! A regionally acclaimed experiential marketing and strategic events agency, amcasia! designs and produces immersive, interactive and experiential B2B and B2C business theatres, brand experiences and experiential journeys for Fortune 500 companies. With more than 150 brand evangelists across six markets in the region, namely Singapore, Malaysia, China, Hong Kong, Japan and Korea, amcasia’s strengths lie in its ability to succinctly and innately understand clients’ objectives and create one-of-a-kind customised campaigns and strategic events. The year 2013 was a great year for amcasia! with an annual turnover of SG$28 million. This was a growth of about 28% from 2012. The agency also maintained a steady kill ratio of 75% where it won an average of 7.5 out of every 10 pitches. Client retention is one of its core focuses and throughout the years, the agency’s regular list of clients has grown. These clients included
the likes of Nokia Siemens, Networks Asia Pacific and Greater China, Hewett-Packard (HP) Asia Pacific and Greater China, Unilever Asia Pacific, BASF Asia Pacific and Keppel Corporation. In 2013, the agency also saw new client wins such as Raffles Quay Asset Management, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, IE Singapore, NOL, Ferrari, NTT Technology and Maersk Malaysia. The agency also claims feedback from clients this past year has been very encouraging. The agency’s strength lies within
its core values and the brand evangelists driving client-centric disruptive transmedia innovation. This 360-portfolio strategy will be further supported by big data analytics, thus extending amcasia! through leadership in experiential marketing and strategic event marketing across Asia and EMEA. Owned by: Independent Headed by: Bernard Oh, group CEO and executive creative director
LAUNCH GROUP
Climbing the ranks this year is Launch Group which bags the bronze award. The past 12 months have been busy for the agency with not only local projects to execute, but also international ones. Launch Group saw an influx of overseas projects across Asia as well as France. One of its major projects included the Oracle Asia Pacific FY14 Applications Partner Summit that was held in Seoul. Some events it did in Singapore included the China Sonangol TwentyOne Angullia Park launch; the Transocean Naming Ceremony and the launch of Nissan Note.
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Launch Group also retained all eight senior staff for 2013 with an exception of the imminent departure of a senior operations manager. Some of its new account wins for 2013 included Techinnovation and SIRC. Looking ahead, the company has hopes for expansion both locally and in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. On the local front, Launch Group is hoping to expand its current portfolio of clients and key position appointments. Its sister company, Launch Entertainment, also aims to further increase its presence in Singapore and across the Asian entertainment scene. Having already
promoted 14 shows in Hong Kong in 2013, plans are underway to establish a foothold in China, Taiwan, South Korea and Bangkok. At Launch, the staff strongly believes in striving to be a leader within the industry, creating a footprint with innovative ideas and near flawless execution. Owned by: Independent Headed by: Amos Boon, group managing director
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DMC EVENT MANAGEMENT Over the years, DMC has developed into a trusted event management agency. The company has proved itself for transforming creative concepts into wellexecuted realities as well as being quick to develop innovative ideas and concepts, with the intent to generate brand awareness, meet key objectives and reinforce messages – all at the same time – thereby creating unique experiences. Its core business includes event management, campaign activation, sporting events, design and fabrication of exhibition tents, conferences and show management, interior fit-outs for concept corners and retail outlets. According to the company website, it has managed some of the high-profile MICE events such as APEC 2003 Thailand, Merck ASEAN regional conference and SingPost’s 150th anniversary regional conference.
Owned by: Independent Headed by: Lau Sai Leong, managing director
IRIS WORLDWIDE
This year Iris Worldwide has dropped by some spots, but is still one of the finalists for the category. The agency has grown its team from two people when it was first started in Singapore in 2006 to a headcount of more than 60 at the start of 2013. In the past year, the agency also strengthened its team with Jeevan Kumar joining as Diageo’s business director; Sonal Narain as senior planning director; Timothy Chan as creative group head; Rishi Randhawa as account director; Guy Plumbly as account director as well as Michelle Tan as the role of producer. Iris also recently promoted Luke Nathans as CEO of Iris Asia Pacific. Iris is the lead agency for Johnnie Walker and the regional lead agency for Tiger Football’s experiential programme. It is also the lead creative agency for adidas across Southeast Asia; Coca-Cola’s experiential agency of record for APAC; and Singapore’s lead creative and experiential agency for Heineken, Audi and Emirates. Owned by: Independent Headed by: Craig Mapleston, managing director
KINGSMEN EXHIBITS Founded in 1976, Kingsmen Creatives, the parent company of Kingsmen Exhibits, boasts more than 1,500 creative professionals and project managers with 18 offices worldwide. Its business segments include research and design, retail and corporate interiors, exhibition and events, thematic and museums and alternative marketing, which includes services such as brand activation, out-of-home media, environmental graphics and interactive media. Its global presence includes offices in Singapore (HQ), Bangkok, Beijing, Busan, Dubai, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Shanghai and Tokyo. It also has multiple associates. According to Benedict Soh, executive chairman of the group, 2013 was a year where the group took steps to bolster its existing capabilities to strengthen its foundation for the future, he said in the annual report for 2013. “We enhanced our internal controls and processes and continued to increase our human resource capabilities through the hiring of more professionals and constant upgrading of skills and knowledge,” he said. “We also formulated a risk assurance framework to enable us to identify possible gaps, tightened controls, and implemented measures to align our support functions and processes with our business growth.” Key projects in the year included Art Stage Singapore. Owned by: Kingsmen Creatives Headed by: Anthony Chong, managing director
MERCURY MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS In the past 12 months, Mercury Marketing & Communications has seen good growth having secured new regional partnerships and megaevent collaborations. It launched an affiliate agency in China, and is running its flagship event Audi Fashion Festival as a fully independent and 100% privately funded festival. The agency has added three new directors/ shareholders to the board. These are Jeremy Tan, managing director of Mercury Events; Jordi Zimmerer, managing director of Mercury Creative and Joyce O’Dwyer, director of Mercury Creative. In 2013, some of the key new account wins for the agency included the likes of Charles &
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Keith, Victoria’s Secret, Sephora, Bosch, Fairmont Singapore, and Cortina Watch Jewellery Time 2014. The Charles & Keith campaign was one of the biggest events for the agency. Held on Orchard Road, the Lee iconic Singapore label celebrated the launch of its new flagship at Ngee Ann City with a glamorous fashion party. The event saw more than 400 guests and hit nearly SG$1 million in PR value in local media coverage alone.
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There were also special appearances by international celebrities such as Girls’ Generation, Daniel Henney, supermodel Liu Wen and celebrity fashion bloggers such as Bryanboy and Han Huo Huo. Another major campaign in 2013 was the exclusive Victoria’s Secret holiday pop-up store designed and conceptualised to look like a giant gift box. For 2014, Mercury will be looking at growing its own mega-events and possibly creating regional editions of those events in overseas markets. Owned by: Independent Headed by: Tjin Lee, group CEO
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EVENT MARKETING
PICO ART INTERNATIONAL
PICO Singapore entered 2013 against the backdrop of an ongoing tough macroeconomic environment. Despite the conservative sentiment in the market, PICO’s proven track record of activating brands spanning a wide spectrum of industries has enabled it to build relationships. In 2013, its innovative Total Brand Activation service model continued to receive a positive response from the market with a strong pipeline of business activity from new client pitches as well as existing clients. PICO’s strength comes from the diversity of its experienced people. The full-time headcount was 303, and the turnover rate was 14% which is below the national average of 24%. New project wins in 2013 spanned a spectrum of alcohol, automotive and electronics clients such as Diageo, Edrington Group and Lenovo to insurance, healthcare, stat boards and retail clients such as AIA Singapore, Prudential, Herbal Life, Jurong Health, Monetary Authority of Singapore and Wing Tai. PICO has also activated experiences for B2B brands such as Borouge, McKinsey & Company and Singapore LNG Corporation to name a few. One of the biggest wins in 2013 was the renewal of its three-to-five year contract with the Formula One Singtel Singapore Grand Prix to provide branded environments for the night race from 2013 to 2017. Another win this year was the inaugural incentive programme for Herbal Life top qualifiers. Experiential marketing is no longer a “below-the-line” tactic, but a leading strategic driver for brands, it believes. When live events are integrated with digital elements, they can create even deeper, more long-lasting relationships between consumers and brands and the future belongs to those who have the know-how to maximise their competitive advantages. Owned by: Pico Far East Holdings Headed by: Jean Chia, managing director
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THE EVENT COMPANY STAGING CONNECTIONS
THE EVENTS ARTERY
Over the past 12 months, The Event Company has delivered more than 50 large-scale event experiences across Southeast Asia for leading brands – for both local and regional clients. It has invested in key personnel to further elevate its competitive advantage in creative, account management, production and strategy. This enables the agency to build stronger strategic partnerships and achieve positive business outcomes with its clients. New key hires this year include Joel Lee as director of sales; Josh Drever as director of business development, and Geoffrey Fry as creative director. For 2013, the agency’s business wins have included leading brands in local and regional government and local, regional and international corporate sectors. The Event Company conceived, created and delivered quality event experiences for Human Capital Summit, Singapore Tourism Board, Ministry of Manpower Workplace Health & Safety Conference 2014, SingTel, Changi Airport, Far East Organisation and Citibank.
In 2014, The Event Company is targeting Singapore’s growing MICE market and key industry growth sectors, while continuing to embrace new technologies to further enhance event engagement and experiences. It is focused on achieving continuous improvement and on designing and executing exceptional event experiences to new and existing clients. The agency prides itself on building lasting partnerships with clients and creating and executing truly exceptional event experiences for them. Attention to detail and ability to meet and exceed clients’ expectations time and again, ensures its ongoing success.
For the past 12 months, The Events Artery’s mantra was to “Make it Happen”. The team produced a total of 120 events and activations which translated to at least 1,500 on-ground hours of set up, programme execution and tear down. Even being constantly challenged to work with short timelines, tight budgets and resources, the agency was relentless and made 2013 a very fruitful year overall. It grew its new business with Microsoft, Cycle & Carriage Industries, Bayer Healthcare, Health Promotion Board and National Heritage Board. New clients included Allergan, MediaCorp Print and the Prime Minister’s Office. Some of the major campaigns for the year included those for Cycle & Carriage Mercedes Benz; and the opening and vernissage of the Singapore Biennale 2013, the largest contemporary art festival in Singapore. The agency also worked with the National Heritage Board and Malay Heritage Centre for the opening and month-long calendar of the Malay Cultural Festival in September 2013. It managed the logistics and programming for more than 25,000 visitors over 10 sessions of performances, screenings, tours, demos and workshops throughout the festival. For 2014, The Events Artery is expanding its reach in the region with the opening of a branch in Kuala Lumpur. The agency believes at the heart of success is the need for a good client and agency relationship; one built on trust and dedication. It constantly challenges staff to listen better and think harder. The Events Artery promises its clients to remain the same – to be their steadfast partner and always deliver ideas with heart.
Owned by: Staging Connections Group headquartered in Sydney Australia. Headed by: Ian Terry, managing director
Owned by: Independent Headed by: Wai Mayleng, founder and managing director
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C R M & LOYA LT Y M A R K E T I N G
CPR VISION MANAGEMENT
THE WINNERS GOLD
CPR Vision Management
75.83%
SILVER
Ogilvy & Mather Singapore
72.29%
BRONZE
Ascentis
70.00%
THE FINALISTS AIMIA Capillary Technologies Edenred Singapore Grass Roots Asia Pacific ICLP Memberson Wunderman
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Yet again, CPR Vision Management has clinched the gold award this year. With a three-pillared strategy, the agency managed to maintain and grow its leadership position in Singapore – growing and dominating in the dynamic CRM, data, loyalty and digital sector. The agency hopes 2014 will be just as successful as it carefully exports its footprint into new markets in Southeast Asia. Last year, CPR Vision’s results were another positive endorsement of its strategy and disciplined approach in the retail and hospitality verticals. The geographic expansion and export of homegrown clients and IP helped unlock new revenue streams, opening up home and abroad markets. CPR’s new clients in 2013 included companies such as NTUC Downtown East, Lancôme Malaysia, Lotus Hong Kong, Clarisonic, Raffles Hotels & Resorts, and Biotherm Malaysia; most of whom CPR had helped conduct major campaigns for. CPR also hit the ground running in 2014 as it expanded its Singapore office, following several new client wins, locally and globally. One of the biggest appointments came from The Ascott Limited, an international serviced residence owner-operator. The Ascott Limited is a subsidiary of CapitaLand, one of Asia’s largest real estate companies. The expansion has resulted in the formation
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of a new division, “Special Projects” and the promotions of various employees within the company. Aloysius Choong was appointed as COO and Siti Raudha was promoted to CRM and business director. Other key promotions included Andi Yanto as IT director; Jasmine Tay as business controller; and Atikah Ishak as campaign manager. The team also established a solid platform for growth and has accelerated momentum to help it expand regionally and globally. CPR founder Cameron Richards said the expansion comes with hopes of unlocking new revenue streams home and abroad. The company’s next step will be to continue its expansion into the new markets of Southeast Asia. CPR also recently became part of the STW Network. For the long-term, CPR Vision will continue to measure and manage the company following the seven P’s: product, people, pipeline, performance, profile, professionalism and partnership. The seven P’s have helped provide a solid framework the agency uses internally and externally. The company saw pleasing results and overall job satisfaction within the past year as it saw a low staff turnover rate of 5% and a heavy staff retention of 95%. Owned by: STW Network Headed by: Cameron Richards, CEO
W W W.MAR K ET I NG -I NT ERACT I VE.CO M
17/6/2014 11:34:04 AM
CRM,DI GI TAL&LOYAL TYSOLUTI ONS
VOTED
NO. 1
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DI GI TAL Web, Soc i al , Mobi l e, Emai l &eCommer c e
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T HA NKY OU!
C R M & LOYA LT Y M A R K E T I N G
OGILVY & MATHER SINGAPORE
Taking home the silver award this year is Ogilvy & Mather Singapore. For the agency, 2013 was a memorable year as it consolidated its position in the creative, digital and effectiveness markets of Southeast Asia by being awarded all of the
integrated SingTel business. This came despite the difficult economic and business environment the agency faced. It topped the R3 new business rankings throughout 2013 and also made significant investment in expanding its services and capabilities to provide world-class solutions in helping clients meet and exceed their business targets. Major new account wins of the year included SingTel, MCCY and LTA. Its campaigns for Google Chrome, Coca-Cola and SingTel were recognised on the global and local stage. The agency also invested in global talents such as Nicolas Courant who came on board as integrated creative director; Steve Walls as head of planning; Jon Loke as head of art; Chris Mockford as head of affiliate marketing; Sutowo Wong as head of marketing analytics; and Patrick Heyer as performance director of NEO. It now has a reduced staff turnover rate of 20%. Ogilvy & Mather also expanded its services and invested in new ones. This included the
launch of K1ND, a brand innovation unit, as well as the launch of the mould-breaking customer engagement planning tool. This was done in partnership with Singapore’s Economic Development Board (EDB). Based in Singapore, K1ND is touted to be the first such brand innovation business in the region with a strong focus on technology and design. It has also focused on the expansion of the social content studio, including the acquisition of Verticurl to strengthen the enterprise marketing automation, and the launch of CSB Engage for social CRM solutions. When asked what the direction is for the agency going forward, it said: “We are driven by ‘divine discontent’. “We will continue to seek groundbreaking and smart solutions to provide outstanding results for our clients. We know that great creative is good business.” Owned by: WPP Headed by: Fiona Gordon, group chairman
ASCENTIS
Clinching the bronze award once again is Ascentis. For Ascentis, 2013 saw the largest growth in analytics and social media campaigns because of an internal reorganisation, creating a new team in the process that focuses on data analysis. The agency reorganised to place more emphasis on the areas of data and business
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analytics. This has been done to provide highly demanded valued-added services the market requires. Last year was also a year of consolidation for the agency as it won and delivered several projects for Changi Airport Group (CAG) such as Changi Rewards, business analytics and digital display. Ascentis was also awarded
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additional projects from CAG for the car park rebates programme, all to be integrated into the common Changi Rewards Programme. Ascentis also completed and launched AscentisCRM with enhancement in areas such as case and survey management, productbased bonus programme, social media and web analytics, client intelligence and closedloops analytics. In 2014, the agency is looking forward to the launch of the new Changi Rewards Programme. It was also involved in projects such as National Parks Board to maintain 14 of its websites, and implementing the Muji Malaysia and Golden Village Loyalty Programmes. For the long-term and 2014 specifically, Ascentis hopes to develop AscentisCRM further. This will integrate CRM, business analytics, POS interface, location-based marketing using ultra sound, digital mannequins and social media campaigns all into one suite. Ascentis also hopes to cater to the demand for social media, big data and client-centric solutions in the marketplace. Owned by: Independent Headed by: Bryan Tan, chief operating officer
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13/6/2014 9:52:26 AM
C R M & LOYA LT Y M A R K E T I N G
AIMIA
For more than 30 years, Aimia has built and worked on some of the world’s leading customer loyalty reward programmes such as Aeroplan and Nectar. In the past year, Aimia Singapore achieved a growth rate of 41% in a single year – a record-high revenue – since it set up office in 2002. The company also experienced an expansion in team size so large it has set up a second office. Aimia continues to develop strategies from the perspective of the customer to gain an understanding of how to best establish personal connections, real relationships and create longterm customer loyalty. In the future, it hopes to continue this expansion into the CRM and loyalty market. With 2014 in mind, Aimia has targeted a growth rate of 50% as its goal. Aimia claims that what sets it apart from its competitors is it designs and launches loyalty programmes for its clients. In the past year, it has worked with new clients such as Samsung, Estée Lauder, IKEA, Cebu Pacific and Changi Airport. It plans on bringing global Aimia products into Asia to support business expansion and the recent acquisition of AirAsia’s loyalty programme. This is all in an effort to integrate loyalty programmes into the region, in the space of systems, analytics and campaign engines. The agency believes loyalty programmes are no longer about points and rewards – it is about using rich data to build meaningful interactions with consumers. Owned by: Independent Headed by: Chen Peng, general manager, Singapore, and Karl Schuster, regional president, Asia Pacific
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GRASS ROOTS ASIA PACIFIC
CAPILLARY TECHNOLOGIES Last year’s silver winner Capillary Technologies is once again among the finalists. In 2013, Capillary Technologies successfully assisted some of the largest and most well-known brands. In the past year alone, Capillary’s customer base grew into a highly diverse and a rapidly expanding collection of top companies such as Courts, Guardian, Sephora, Pizza Hut, KFC and Puma. Having an excellent track record in Singapore has helped in boosting customer engagement, fostering loyalty and building the omni-channel infrastructure for its clients. Capillary made several key senior appointments to the Asia Pacific team, which has so far proven successful for meeting the critical needs of enterprise customers and specialised trade expertise. Capillary is also increasingly becoming part of stronger collaborations to bring innovative next-gen solutions to the Singapore market, as the agency sees Singapore as a regional hub for Asia expansion. Its partnership with American Express started as a pilot engagement with 50 merchants in Singapore in 2013 and has since extended to 90% of Amex locations outside of Singapore, including the US.
Going forward, Capillary is looking to expand its omni-channel marketing solutions to a new form, one that will provide enhanced modular, customised and focused products. It believes consumer businesses should also be able to easily and quickly manage their customer data, gain insights and personalise engagement across omni-channels, to drive a significant increase in sales and loyalty. Every retail marketer should form successful and personalised relationships with its customers based on insights derived from customer analytics across multiple channels, it says. Owned by: Independent Headed by: Aneesh Reddy, CEO
Sherrington
Grass Roots Asia Pacific is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Grass Roots Group, a global performance improvement agency specialising in communication, education, measurement, reward and event services. With an extensive coverage across Asia and the Pacific, Grass Roots aims to support clients through channel, employee or customer requirements with dedicated in-country expertise. In addition to its affiliation with the WPP Group, Grass Roots believes it’s the “only true performance improvement agency that can meet local, regional and global business needs”. Grass Roots Asia Pacific was founded in 2007 with the goals of bringing a fresh view and the deep experience of the Grass Roots Group to providing performance improvement services. Connecting each of its team members, and its businesses across Asia Pacific and the globe, is a common philosophy about what it aspires to and the methods and values it cherishes in the pursuit of achieving its vision. In APAC, Grassroots has offices in Singapore, India, Australia and China. Globally, it has 26 offices in total. Owned by: WPP Headed by: Daniel Sherrington, general manager
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C R M & LOYA LT Y M A R K E T I N G
EDENRED SINGAPORE ICLP
MEMBERSON
Edenred operates in 40 countries with more than 6,000 employees at an 85% staff satisfaction rate. The 2013 year brought forth new business opportunities for the company in the agriculture, hospitality and services industries. Its growth strategy for the year was to attract new clients and increase market share with the introduction of loyalty and relationship marketing programmes, with barcodes, QR codes, mobile apps and data analytics. The agency has strengthened its presence in Southeast Asia with new clients such as Dovre Group, Far East Organization, Lenovo, Research Now and Syngenta. 2013 was also a year of several innovative campaigns to engage and retain customers. Some of these included the “Great Sandisk Sale” campaign; the “Dovre Club” for Dovre group for O&G professionals worldwide; and the “PartnerGrow®” channel relationship programme for Syngenta. Continuing to focus on developing B2B and B2C segments, Edenred hopes to expand its industry reach for clients in the technology, FMCG, hospitality and manufacturing industries. With clients at the heart of the business, Edenred uses the “customer inside” approach, focusing on bringing innovation, performance and passion to all engagements.
For ICLP, a finalist in the category, the past 12 months have been full of activities. In Singapore, the agency’s impressive new wins included FrieslandCampina AMEA and Resorts World Sentosa. The agency’s passion is also driven by its dedicated team, which recently added five new hires in the client service department, including Ernest Custodio as regional business Tay director who leads the FrieslandCampina business. The agency is also looking to appoint a business integration consultant. The creative team has also seen major growth under Andrew Mason since his promotion to regional executive creative director, adding two art directors and a copywriter to the fold. “Going forward, the company plans to continually develop solid and relevant CRM strategies with the required enablers and by ensuring a succinct loyalty programme design,” said Bruno Tay, country manager for ICLP. “This will be packaged, as always, with strong creative concepts and compelling consumer propositions.”
Making it to the finalist category this year is Memberson, a provider of software and services to organisations that face large audiences Siirtola of customers, including merchants and retailers. Memberson Software-as-a-Service provides SMEs with hosted retail CRM and loyalty applications on demand, and provides ongoing mentoring about best practices. Meanwhile, the retail CRM functionality provides customer service by giving staff access to member and customer profiles with interests, preferences, spending history, activities history and event participation. Memberson also provides a range of reports that visualises the customer loyalty and marketing performance, providing the knowledge needed to fine-tune efforts for the highest ROI on marketing activities. These are only some of the many ways the agency aims to help clients. Hence, the agency aims to empower organisations to connect, engage and transact with their customers wherever they are – on any device at any time.
Owned by: Independent Headed by: JB Ray, managing director
Owned by: The Collinson Group Headed by: Bruno Tay, country manager
Owned by: Independent Headed by: Mika Siirtola, managing director
WUNDERMAN Founded in 1958 by Lester Wunderman, Wunderman has grown to be one of the largest data-driven marketing service networks in the world. With the simple manifesto to innovate for the consumer, the agency is considered to be the original architects of response-driven marketing to deliver measurable results. Present in Asia for nearly four decades, Wunderman now extends across 43 offices in 16 countries. The Singapore operation (including Comwerks Interactive) has grown steadily through both organic and new business development, making its place on the finalist roster a well-deserved one. Wunderman Singapore and Comwerks have an extensive team covering all facets of digital CRM skill sets. Some of the new clients for Comwerks Interactive include
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Workforce Development Agency, and Infocomm Development Authority. It also did the awardwinning work on Starbucks’ mobile application. In 2013 specifically, new business wins included Shell Fuels for its CRM and loyalty, and major campaigns included those for Microsoft Anti-Piracy, Microsoft Xbox and Microsoft SMB Audience. For 2014, Wunderman’s primary goal is to build new and existing client relationships by focusing on strategic planning, digital –
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technology development, data analysis, social CRM and digital marketing. By focusing on strategic data-insights, within Singapore’s data and analytics centre of excellence hub, it plans on providing clients with more bang for their budgets. “By continuing to bring operational and cost efficiencies to our clients through regional and global marketing solution centres and production hubs, Wunderman is preparing for a shift to agency relationships that requires greater planning, operational and strategic value,” it said. For the agency, driving value at the right time, in the right context and the right environment in an inspirational way is its key to success in 2014. Owned by: WPP Headed by: Steven Power, general manager
W W W.MAR K ET I NG -I NT ERACT I VE.CO M
12/6/2014 6:20:49 PM
THE BALANCED APPROACH TO SUCCESSFUL RELATIONSHIPS
Motivate & Perform
Connect & Engage
Drive Motivation & Performance
Enjoy Rewarding Experiences
Build Brand Value
Drive Customer Satisfaction
Drive Sales & Results
Aspiration for Progress & Performance
Increase Share of Wallet
Nurture Lasting Partnerships
Each side of our brain have different ways of organizing our experiences of the world. Learn more on how you can make the experiences good and strengthen your engagements with your customers and channel partners through a range of benefits. Here at Edenred, we help companies provide innovative loyalty and relationship marketing solutions and services to achieve greater business success. Through a range of marketing strategies, loyalty methodologies and technologies, Edenred’s complete suite of solutions bring additional values and insights to connect, engage, motivate and reward your valuable customers and partners.
www.edenred.com.sg | info-sg@edenred.com | +65 6229 8686
Our Services & Solutions: Customer Relationships Channel Relationships Rewards & Incentives Data Analytics
DIGITAL AGENCIES
OGILVY & MATHER SINGAPORE
THE WINNERS GOLD
Ogilvy & Mather Singapore
SILVER
Tribal Worldwide Singapore
82.81%
BRONZE
POSSIBLE Worldwide
80.94%
LOCAL HERO
GOVT
71.88%
THE FINALISTS Blugrapes Dentsu Möbius Digital Arts Network Singapore Isobar Singapore Mindshare Singapore Proximity Singapore PurpleClick Media XM Yolk(at)Grey
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84.69%
Bagging the coveted gold title this year is Ogilvy & Mather Singapore. For Ogilvy & Mather Singapore, 2013 was a memorable year as the agency consolidated its position in the creative, digital and effectiveness markets of Southeast Asia by being awarded all of the integrated SingTel business. The agency also topped the R3 new business rankings throughout 2013 and made significant investments in expanding its services and capabilities to provide world-class solutions in helping clients meet and exceed their business targets. Some of the big new account wins for the agency throughout the year included SingTel, Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth, and the Land Transport Authority. Some of the campaigns the agency worked on such as Google Chrome, Coca-Cola and SingTel were recognised on both the global and local stage. The agency also invested in senior hires such as Nicolas Courant as integrated creative director; Steve Walls as head of planning; Jon Loke as head of art; Chris Mockford as head of affiliate marketing; Sutowo Wong as head of marketing analytics; and Patrick Heyer as performance director of NEO. Ogilvy & Mather also has a newly reduced
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staff turnover rate of 20%. The agency also launched new and expanded existing services, including the launch of K1ND, a brand innovation unit as well as the launch of the mould-breaking customer engagement planning tool. Ogilvy & Mather Asia Pacific did this in partnership with Singapore’s Economic Development Board (EDB). Based in Singapore, K1ND is touted to be the first such brand innovation business in the region with a strong focus on technology and design. Meanwhile, EDB and Ogilvy launched the Marketing Analytics Centre of Excellence, which aims to help global brands penetrate Asian markets more effectively by translating “consumer insights into customised, targeted and measurable marketing strategies”. Ogilvy & Mather has also focused on the expansion of the social content studio, including the acquisition of Verticurl to strengthen the enterprise marketing automation, and with the launch of CSB Engage for social CRM solutions, it hopes to strengthen its enterprise marketing automation. For the future it plans to seek “groundbreaking and smart solutions to provide outstanding results for clients”. Owned by: WPP Headed by: Fiona Gordon, group chairman, Ogilvy & Mather Group, Singapore
W W W.MAR K ET I NG -I NT ERACT I VE.CO M
12/6/2014 6:20:31 PM
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Han Zantingh Managing director Asia BrainJuicer
Kensaku Konishi President & chief executive officer Canon Singapore
Yan Tsang Director of client services eBay Enterprise Asia Pacific
Stanley Kee Managing director Southeast Asia GfK
Bob Neville Global retail creative director and head of retail New Balance
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DIGITAL AGENCIES
TRIBAL WORLDWIDE SINGAPORE Tribal Worldwide had a solid year throughout 2013 and has climbed several spots to take home the silver cube this year. For Tribal Worldwide Singapore, last year saw the agency grow in terms of business and development. The agency won 11 out of 13 pitches, including Unilever brands, StarHub.com, Neutrogena Singapore and DBS. The agency also took on regional lead duties for Fonterra. In partnership with these brands, Tribal took on the roles of managing social media, creative duties and digital business, requiring new innovations in technology. One of the biggest projects the agency undertook was the “MySmartEye” for StarHub. The campaign presented visually impaired users with a way to “see” via their mobile. Another notable campaign was the “Happy Table” which involved a partnership with McDonald’s. The campaign allowed kids to play games at McDonald’s outlets using custom RFID-tagged tables and NFCenabled phones.
Tribal also worked with renowned local nightclub Zouk to implement a system of detecting alcohol levels in partygoers. Tribal also had an active year for key appointments with the headcount breaking 100. Jeff Cheong was promoted to vicepresident of Tribal Worldwide Asia; Vinod Savio to creative director; Lydia Lim to associate creative director and Cheng Shu Yau to creative group head. In addition, Benjamin Koe, former CEO of JamiQ, joined the agency as consulting director for Radar. As 2014 rolls on, the agency expects to leverage its growing repertoire of technologists and social media strategists to create a more cutting-edge showcase for leading brands. Tribal hopes to evolve from a digital agency to an agency of the future by continuing to produce creative work for collaborative clients. Owned by: Omnicom Group Headed by: Jeff Cheong, vice-president, Tribal Worldwide Asia and head, Tribal Worldwide Singapore
POSSIBLE WORLDWIDE
Bringing home the bronze award this year is POSSIBLE Worldwide. Its main focus is to deliver results for the regional headquarters of leading brands in Singapore. Ever since its founding in 1999, the speed of change of technology and marketing has been unprecedented, and POSSIBLE Worldwide doesn’t see this trend changing in the near future.
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The past 12 months were strong for POSSIBLE Singapore with double-digit growth. Key client retention was exceptional, with no account losses. Account wins for 2013 included Allianz, Audi, Diageo, Fendi, Google and Resorts World Sentosa. The agency says the diversity of these wins reflect its ability to deliver anything from website builds to social media strategies across markets and languages.
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There were also several successes in 2013, one of which was the redesigned website launched for Standard Chartered Bank. Going forward, the agency will continue to look for new ways to drive engagement and sales for clients, and ensure it has the culture and agility to adapt to the ever-changing environment. The agency is made up of 150 people from more than 20 nationalities, with 15% of the team having worked at POSSIBLE for more than five years. New senior hires in 2013 included Stephanie Myers as engagement director; John Ng as director of media; and Berlinda Lim as director for marketing sciences. In 2014, POSSIBLE Worldwide hopes to invest heavily in its most important asset – its people. It will continue to recruit and develop the smartest and most enthusiastic marketers and technologists in Singapore. POSSIBLE also plans on making its services indispensable for clients by delivering world-class work. Owned by: WPP Headed by: Kenny Powar, chief executive officer, Asia Pacific
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12/6/2014 6:20:19 PM
DIGITAL AGENCIES
GOVT
Even though GOVT has only been around for 15 months, 2013 was a whirlwind year for this digital marketing agency, it says. GOVT has adapted an agency mantra of, “For the Betterment of Good”; it believes in creating work for brands who wish to differentiate. The past 12 months for the agency has been all about building trust between clients and the agency, and instilling GOVT’s mantra in its new employees and vendors. For the year, GOVT saw full creative
accounts for Pernod Ricard Singapore, including ABSOLUT Vodka and G.H. Mumm Champagnes, along with the Le Cordon Bleu Culinary School in Malaysia. ABSOLUT Canvas was one of the highprofile campaigns the agency created in 2013. Held at the National Museum of Singapore, GOVT wanted to give the iconic vodka brand more brand relevance with the target audience. ABSOLUT Canvas was all about letting the consumers see, touch and experience the
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brand on a new level. The agency engaged 58,457 visitors throughout the exhibition and reached 187,471 Facebook fans – which meant a 704.3% increase in fan engagement. The campaign garnered more than $4 million worth of PR value with $0 spent on media. For the agency, some of the other big project wins included DBS’ 2014 brand campaign DBS MINI Surprises, for the digital and activation components, Heineken Asia Pacific, RUF, BlackBerry BB10 and Xperia Z. In 2014, GOVT is planning on expanding the team, but only in the right places. It is the people that matter to the agency. GOVT believes in the culture of an agency and the work it produces. It wishes to be known as an ethical agency, giving people the right opportunities to grow and for clients to have an unwavering confidence in agencies again. Owned by: Independent Headed by: Leon Lai, head of business, Aaron Koh, creative director, and Casey Loh, creative director
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W W W.M A RK E T IN G- IN T E RA CT IV E . CO M
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DIGITAL AGENCIES
BLUGRAPES
DENTSU MÖBIUS
The year 2013 saw Blugrapes make a strategic shift from being a social media management firm to a digital marketing consultancy. The firm’s new consulting portfolio included more global corporate entities such as Temasek Holdings, CA Technologies, Dolby Asia, Lend Lease, Alliance Bank as well as several highprofile and high-net-worth individuals. It has been working on strategic areas of marketing for brands such as strategies and models for entering new markets, regional brand equity growth, marketing process optimisation and accountability and digital marketing ROI. The agency was also invited by Spring Singapore’s omni-channel team as part of a select group to advise business owners and brands on strategic digital marketing initiatives and customised solutions. These initiatives leverage the digital medium to expand these SMEs’ digital branding capabilities and business expansions. Top local fashion label Love, Bonito and premium luxury retailer LaPrendo were some of the brands that benefited from this programme. It is currently investing in research and development into social media intelligence, social command centres and influence modelling.
One word to describe 2013 for Dentsu Möbius would be dynamic. The agency grew by 50% as it made some key transitions in an effort to offer clients a constant stream of new ideas and opportunities. The agency picked up three big new accounts over the past year – Mondel z, Singapore Airlines and Fuji Xerox. Möbius uses a democratised approach to ideation, utilising ideas from all parties involved. This has resulted in eye-catching creative work for clients. One of the biggest campaigns over the past 12 months was with Mondel z to establish Oreo as the most social cookie in Singapore. Other campaigns included “Same Same photography” with Canon and creating an immersive HTML5 ad unit for The Economist which allows users to experience content across multiple digital platforms. Möbius offers clients effective and integrated marketing plans with core values in digital, social strategy and content. Moving forward, Dentsu Möbius is dedicated to finding unique solutions for its clients – no two problems are the same, it believes.
Owned by: Independent Headed by: Ryan Lim, founder and business director; and principal consultants, Freda Kwok and Natasha Zhao
DIGITAL ARTS NETWORK SINGAPORE TBWA Worldwide formed the Digital Arts Network (DAN) in 2012 to unify TBWA’s proven digital talent. DAN encompasses more than 700 digital specialists within the network and initially rolled out in 18 markets – a global network footprint to rival any pure-play digital shop. The formation of DAN created a formal global structure for how TBWA approaches digital and integration, rooted in TBWA’s media arts philosophy that everything between a brand and an audience is media and that, increasingly, those touch-points are becoming digital. DAN Singapore provides TBWA services such as creative technology and UX through social media and mobile to content, IP, search and analytics. Philip Brett, president of Southeast Asia at TBWA Asia Pacific, said DAN Singapore operated as one of the “global centres of excellence where the latest technologies and platforms are invented”. DAN also recently hired Eero Aalto as business director, while Rukshan Perera was hired as director of operations. Aalto joined DAN from Finland’s independent digital agency, Into-Digital, where he was CEO for five years.
Owned by: Dentsu Aegis Network Headed by: James Hawkins, managing director and CEO
Owned by: TBWA Headed by: Tuomas Peltoniemi, head of digital at DAN Singapore
innovation proposition. Isobar utilised certain strategies such as leveraging deep expertise across the Aegis Media Network, investing in consulting data analytics, as well as the launch of NowLand. NowLand is Isobar’s innovation accelerator in Singapore that helps trigger digital content. Isobar Singapore achieved these objectives by winning a multi-agency pitch for OCBC Bank’s consumer financial services’ digital retainer business; and winning a pan-regional digital and social retainer business; and developing a mobile-based product re-ordering system linked to its inventory tracking and accounting system. The agency also hosted Singapore’s first near field communicationthemed hackathon in February 2013. For 2013, Isobar had a staff retention
rate of 80%. Isobar Singapore employees are encouraged to participate in the networkwide “actionable knowledge programme”. This programme includes skills (hard and soft) improvement and tools training. It has been very successful from a skills enhancement and talent retention perspective In 2014, Isobar believes the era of marketing in a digitally connected world has well and truly arrived. With its deep understanding of connected communities, technology and commitment to innovation, Isobar is primed and ready to bring brands and people together like never before.
ISOBAR SINGAPORE
Isobar’s long-term vision is to be recognised as a global digital marketing agency that uses insight, design and technology to bring brands closer to their consumers, and one that delivers measurable business impact for its clients. To continue its journey towards realising this vision, three key strategic objectives were set for 2013 – building on the previous year’s new business success, creating business support solutions and strengthening the
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Owned by: Dentsu Aegis Network Headed by: Prakash Kamdar, CEO, Isobar Singapore
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DIGITAL AGENCIES
MINDSHARE SINGAPORE
PROXIMITY SINGAPORE
2013 was a busy year for the agency as it took part in multiple pitches, saw a change in leadership and a continual evolution of its agency structure. Nonetheless, the agency stayed focused on retaining its key accounts. It also embarked on an exhaustive digital training programme where it asked all staff to go through its iLearn programme. Some of its account wins in the year included Dyson, Dräger, Swiss International, Dr Wolff and MCCY. In a sophisticated digital market such as Singapore where its citizens are constantly connected to the web via a multitude of devices, brands are increasingly looking for ways to better connect and engage their audiences on a more personal level. While traditional mass media channels will always remain a vital ingredient in an integrated communications strategy, Mindshare believes it is no longer enough to influence today’s socially connected mobile consumer.
In 2013, Proximity Singapore focused on the digital standards of its Singapore office. It continued to focus on finding the best people and delivering the best work. As the APAC hub, servicing mainly regional corporate clients, the agency worked on major regional projects. By harnessing the strategic excellence of the office, Proximity also aimed to find more creative opportunities within. Throughout the year, it worked towards that goal. This accomplishment can be seen by the 375% growth in wins that Proximity had in 2013, helping it to attract top talent, especially in areas of project delivery and innovation. With no senior staff leaving the agency, it saw a turnover rate of less than 20%. With business revenue up by 89% against the previous year, it created major digital campaigns for Visa Travel, Visa Mobile App, P&G Everyday Me and Arduino (working prototype).
Owned by: WPP Headed by: Nick Seckold, CEO
XM XM kicked off the year with a great start thanks to its largest client, Singapore Tourism Board. As the four-year contractual term came to a close, more than a dozen international agencies were involved in a competitive pitch. However, XM won and was retained as the digital agency of record for the new tenure period. The company also appointed Pei Pei Ng as executive creative director and Edwin Rozells as head of planning. Along with the
YOLK(AT)GREY The past year has seen a big transition at Yolk(at)Grey with its integration with Grey Group. The original agency, Yolk, was remoulded across three markets. This brought the senior appointments of Benjamin Tan as group CEO and chief digital officer and Kelveen Soh as CEO of Singapore. The business as a whole grew by an unprecedented 85% and surpassed all targets before schedule. The agency won 19 new accounts over the
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PURPLECLICK MEDIA
Owned by: Omnicom Group Headed by: Jean-Paul Burge, president, Southeast Asia and CEO Singapore – BBDO and Proximity
The past 12 months have been exceptionally exciting for PurpleClick with the launch of its latest product, ProClick, a proprietary system that merges pay-per-click and advanced customer tracking into one single streamline. As far as campaigns go, PurpleClick was happy to find success in its app that allows users to access the latest government news by the Ministry of Communication and Information in Singapore. PurpleClick also won accounts from Bank of China, Volvo Construction Equipment, Ministry of Law and others. Owned by: Independent Headed by: Leonard Tan, CEO and founder
retention of Singapore Tourism Board, XM also won accounts with Diageo, Colgate, Great Eastern Insurance, and other small to medium enterprise brands. One of the most notable projects of 2013 was the “Happiness Served” campaign with Singapore Tourism Board. The main objective was to create a culture that recognises and promotes good service without any incentive or immediate reward. XM achieved this goal by having people vote for the places they thought had the best service in Tiong Bahru.
XM integrated Instagram into its approach by having participants take pictures and use a specific hashtag to vote for their businesses of choice. For future improvement, XM has decided to focus on staying abreast of digital fragmentation. This is an environment where multi-devices, touch-points, point-of-sale, and platforms all compete to deliver microexperiences of the same brand.
year. Some of the accounts included Maybank, Lenovo Mobile, Wyeth Nutrition, Sentosa Development Corporation, Great Easter, and Asia Pacific Breweries in Singapore. Across the board, Yolk(at)Grey took on responsibilities in digital, social, online media buy, digital PR and social media campaigns. One of the most notable campaigns was the “Have a Good Night Out” for Heineken
Asia Pacific. The main idea was to encourage young adults to drink responsibly through online videos, a campaign microsite, key opinion leaders and influencers outreach, on-ground activities and a musical tribute. The campaign saw tremendous results earning a PR value of more than US$500,000.
Owned by: WPP Headed by: Paul Soon, CEO
Owned by: WPP Headed by: Benjamin Tan, group CEO of Yolk(at)Grey and chief digital officer, SEA, for Grey Group
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B R A N D C O N S U LTA N C I E S
BRAND UNION SINGAPORE
THE WINNERS GOLD
Brand Union Singapore
74.65%
SILVER
FutureBrand
73.95%
BRONZE
DDB Group Singapore
68.4%
LOCAL HERO
A.S.Louken
68.31%
THE FINALISTS Acacia Design Consultants Consulus DIA Brand Consultants EffectiveBrands Interbrand Landor The Bonsey Design Partnership
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For Brand Union Singapore, 2013 was a year that combined strong continuity with significant progress. It also underwent a massive brand overhaul and dropped “the” from its name. The new identity and logo rolled out from November last, following major global rebranding projects for the likes of Vodafone. The agency also saw new project wins in 2013 from clients such as Fullerton Financial Holdings, Institute of Banking & Finance Singapore, Rykadan Hospitality Investments, Intercontinental Hotels Group, Tokio Marine Asia, Shell, Pacific, GSK, Pan Pacific Singapore, HTC and Lippo Group. In terms of people, the agency in Singapore promoted Ambrish Chaudhry to head of strategy in the Middle East and Stanley Chung, senior consultant for Singapore, to regional strategy director. Dan Ellis was promoted to the role of creative director for South and Southeast Asia, adding India to his existing remit. Samyabrata Deb will step up as creative director for Singapore. For its client Vodafone, Brand Union aided its first global identity refresh in seven years to drive brand compliance and consumer
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saliency across more than 60 markets. Brand Union also worked on a design refresh for GSK Scott’s across multiple markets in Asia Pacific, Africa and Latin America to give the brand a more contemporary and relevant image and to facilitate future brand extension. The agency also helped in creating FWD, a new US$2 billion regional insurance brand owned by Pacific Century Group. The project included brand strategy, naming and visual identity development. Going forward, the agency will seek to extend its geographical footprint and further enhance its strategic and creative talent base. All of this, while hoping to deliver on its new business philosophy – The Experience of the Brand is the Brand”. The centrepiece of its renewed focus is the Brand Experience Framework. This tool allows the company to evaluate brands across four key elements of the brand experience – impression, interaction, responsiveness and resilience. Owned by: WPP Headed by: Graham Hitchmough, regional director, South and Southeast Asia
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B R A N D C O N S U LTA N C I E S
FUTUREBRAND Taking home the silver award this year is FutureBrand. In 2013, FutureBrand shifted from traditional branding practices to a forward-looking creative strategy. It now talks more about the future, the people, and has an immense focus on fusing creativity, design and innovation with strategy. With all this in place, it hopes to be providing new value to clients and new ways of working across Southeast Asia. This new perspective has attracted talent with specific skills and experience from a diverse range of backgrounds. New hires this year include Beau Encarnacion, Philipp Diekhoner, Trechelle Ras Lyn and Mod Rattikorn all of whom are now strategy consultants. Meanwhile, Dan Dimmock and Karine Uehara stepped up into the roles of managing director for Southeast Asia and managing creative director for Southeast Asia respectively. FutureBrand also commenced work with major brands in the following sectors: Government, oil and gas, financial services,
and food and beverages. Some key highlights around two of its high-profile projects delivered in 2013 included: Petronas Corporate Branding, a three-tiered brand architecture strategy focusing on the monolithic use of the
corporate brand across the organisation; and Brand Malaysia where it showcased Malaysia’s ambition to attract businesses and talent; promote Malaysia as a tourist destination, and rally its citizens together. In 2014, FutureBrand will continue to stay true to its values and reaffirm its position by utilising its unique perspective on the future. It hopes to become more client-centric, to put ideas at the centre of its work, and embed digital thinking into the core of the company. “As we approach our 15th birthday, FutureBrand feels stronger than ever. We are looking forward to further evolve our offer and point of view around future branding, and continue to deliver on the promise of the creative future company for businesses in the region in 2014 and beyond,” Dimmock said. Owned by: Interpublic Group Headed by: Dan Dimmock, managing director, Southeast Asia
DDB GROUP SINGAPORE
Taking home bronze this year is DDB. In 2013, DDB excelled on its digital technology and social media drives. The agency helped in creating highly advanced portals for StarHub.com (e-store) and MySmartEye, a mobile service for the blind. Also for the Health Promotion Board, it helped launch the “The Million KG Challenge” and an interactive gaming app was created for Republic of Singapore Air Force. It also helped in the creation of a web-ordering system for McDonald’s and a fully transactional e-store for Courts.
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For its work for all clients, DDB believes in its adopted creative mantra of, “Technology Drives the New Creativity”. It hopes to pave the way for the future – with a new creative revolution – by putting technologists at the heart of creative teaming. Last year, DDB also repositioned itself from being labelled a creative agency into a marketing innovation agency. The agency saw many clients renew their relationships with DDB in 2013 and it saw a 12% growth from existing business.
Meanwhile, the agency headcount grew 3% to 298 in 2013. Some of these key hires included the appointment of Tai Kam Leong as chief planning officer for the agency group. Also, Rowena Bhagchandani took on the role of managing director of DDB Singapore, and former JamiQ CEO Benjamin Koe as consulting director for Radar. In the year ahead, the agency looks set to expand its “hub” capabilities for clients across the DDB Asia network. As 2014 rolls on, it has unleashed a new service in social media activation (CrowdSauce), film and content (WaveMaker) and a technology solutions arm (Capstone). Already it is creating new work from these services for both local and regional clients. It is making big strides in work that is innovative, cutting-edge, technology powered and also socially very contagious. But at the heart of it all, the agency believes in harbouring “talented and nice” individuals that in the long run help it to collaborate and work as a team. Owned by: Omnicom Group Headed by: David Tang, president and CEO
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A.S.LOUKEN The Local Hero award for the Brand Consultancy category goes to A.S.Louken, and rightly so. After starting in Singapore, the agency has been consistently growing its footprint over the past eight years. The effort has seen much growth in recent years, with overseas sales accounting for a significant 30% of overall sales in 2013. The agency clinched new projects in the Philippines, Myanmar, China, Malaysia and Indonesia. Overall, A.S.Louken completed a total of 100 projects in 2013, a 25% increase compared with a year ago. The agency’s largest campaigns in 2013 included those for Yellow Submarine (Singapore), Owell Bodycare (Singapore) and Pancious (Indonesia). With a strong emphasis on fostering internal brand engagement, work-life balance and learning culture, A.S.Louken boasts a low staff turnover rate of only 2% year-on-year. This year new key hires were made to the now nearly 60-strong team. A.S.Louken brought on board Lau Kong
ACACIA DESIGN CONSULTANTS
Cheen as senior director on the market research team, given brand strategy and consumer insights is his core area of focus. Other new hires included Denis Tan, assistant director, and Angie Ang, creative services director. Moving ahead for 2014, A.S.Louken intends to continue its penetration into regional markets, concentrating on new areas such as Southern China, Vietnam and Hong Kong. It is also part of A.S.Louken’s strategic plan to continuously add new services and
CONSULUS
Acacia began 2013 by moving to a more spacious workspace at Neil Road which allowed the agency to service clients big and small. The agency now does retail branding for Hyflux, corporate branding for the Singapore International Chamber of Commerce, market activation for an F&N brand, packaging design for Energizer, as well as way finding and signage consultancy for the inaugural Cancer Centre in Brunei. Acacia also works with local start-up Soyato, a non-dairy ice-cream brand developed by two young entrepreneurial Singaporeans. It has also begun an environmental branding programme for a mixed development by GuocoLand that will feature Singapore’s highest skyscraper at the heart of historic Tanjong Pagar. Beginning in 2012 and through 2013, Acacia has been tackling the new global economy and Singapore’s restructuring, with an initiative to build up its unique expertise in environmental branding.
In 2013, Consulus saw the addition of many new accounts. These included SONY, a project in Myanmar for a hotel conglomerate, and a growing Vietnamese distributor, in the midst of transitioning towards a high-value business. One of the largest campaigns for Consulus in 2013 was the “Bruneian at Heart” campaign for the launch of the new vision and identity of the leading Bank of Brunei. Staff turnover remained rather consistent, but Consulus claims to always be on the look out for new talent in data, coding, userexperience design and more organisational development specialists. Consulus is pushing heavily towards transforming the business into a tech-based platform in 2014.
Owned by: Independent Headed by: Kelvin Emmanuel Ng, director, branding and creative
Owned by: Independent Headed by: Lawrence Chong, co-founder and CEO
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offerings to its clients in its quest to become the preferred partner in brand growth solutions. “As a fast-growing independent agency, many opportunities are provided for staff to rise up and head a new venture – ensuring there is always career growth. We look forward to continue partnering businesses on their brand growth journey in Asia,” CEO Karyn Lim said. Owned by: Independent Headed by: Karyn Lim, CEO
DIA BRAND CONSULTANTS Even though DIA Brand Consultants faced a challenging year in 2013, the second half of the year and moving into 2014, it saw a renewed confidence in the market. This was attributed to some of its significant wins. In 2013 it was appointed by Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA), Singapore Sports Council and National Library Board, among others, to undertake major strategic and brand design projects. The first to be released is the recent relaunch of Singapore Sports Council with a name change to “Sport Singapore”. DIA Brands also helped many other brands launch or relaunch. It continues to be a strategic branding partner for brands such as NTUC, Olam International and F&N. The agency’s staff strength has increased by 15% over the past 12 months with one senior departure and one senior hire in Singapore. Going forward, DIA Brands will also continue to grow the business in the two main markets of Singapore and Malaysia. Owned by: Independent Headed by: Nigel Smith, CEO
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B R A N D C O N S U LTA N C I E S
EFFECTIVEBRANDS The year 2013 was successful for EffectiveBrands on both a global and Asia level. Its Asia offices in Singapore and Tokyo grew 30% with a key focus on delivering growth strategies, purposeful positioning work and capability building. The year 2014 also started on a promising note with the Singapore office delivering a marketing strategy for a regional beverage brand, marketing training for a global dairy player and a global fast-mover. In Japan, there has been positioning for a global writing brand as well as a commercial innovation training programme for a Japanese global beauty brand. The agency is further developing the “off the shelf” marketing training approach since there has been a growing demand from regional brands. Going forward, EffectiveBrands believes the marketing function will continue to change dramatically. “In the new digital and social world, long gone are the needs for a marketing generalist, but what is needed is more marketing thinkers, doers and feelers. Thinkers will translate big data into big insights; doers are specialised in content development and production while feelers are focused on consumer engagement,” said Nico Stouthart, MD of Singapore and Tokyo. Owned by: Independent Headed by: Nico Stouthart, managing director, Singapore and Tokyo
INTERBRAND
LANDOR
The 2013 year was a strong one for Interbrand Singapore. It went from strength to strength, winning significant new business, building its internal capability, developing client relationships and winning awards for work along the way. Through the year, Interbrand intensified its core brand consulting capabilities by continued training via the global Interbrand Academy. It also solidified its offer and proficiency area of analytics, discrete choice modelling and verbal identity with the hire of experts from within the network. Staff turnover was less than 10% and the senior team remained in place ensuring management continuity and stability. Some of Interbrand’s new account wins for the year included Standard Chartered Bank, Siam Health Group, Magnolia Quality Development, Phatra Capital and Toyota Thailand. Major campaigns for the year included the one for Royal Brunei Airlines and its new Dreamliner, as well as the campaign for Krungsri, a financial institution. Owned by: Omnicom Group Headed by: Julian Barrans, managing director
Landor covers all areas of branding – from research to brand identity, digital and social media. Across 25 offices in 18 countries, Landor also partners with WPP sister companies and other research firms, consultants, ad agencies and public relations firms to serve clients. Despite a challenging 2013, the agency has retained its key clients and growth rates, including Procter & Gamble, Malaysia Airlines (MAS) and Godfrey Philips. The agency’s portfolio also includes clients such as Kraft, John Deere, FedEx and Smirnoff. Landor has also added several new clients, such as Eva Airways, Motul, Philip Morris and Angkasa Pura II. Last year, it undertook a review of MAS’ brand direction and visual identity system for its A380 fleet. The new identity and livery, launched in both print and online ads, rolled out across Malaysia Airlines’ A380 collaterals and touchpoints. Another project the agency worked on was the Australian International School (AIS), an international school set up in 1993 in Singapore. Landor developed a brand framework which allowed pupils, staff and parents to express what AIS meant to them, with a personal and emotive approach. Owned by: WPP Headed by: Nick Foley, regional president, Southeast Asia and Pacific
THE BONSEY DESIGN PARTNERSHIP
For the agency, 2013 was a challenging year in many ways, but it ended the year with a renewed sense of optimism and a full-order book. Its P&G business continued to strengthen while relationships with a number of regional clients were deepened. Regionally, Bonsey Design also signed
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its first client from Myanmar and had new projects from markets such as Pakistan and India. The agency also incorporated Bonsey Design Philippines Inc and built a bridgehead team to grow the business in this market. Its Malaysia office also grew significantly in terms of business volume and the significance of the projects that were undertaken. Some of the new account wins for the year included AGD Asia Green Development Bank, Green Cross and CapitaLand. With new hires, Simrin Kaur as senior brand programme manager and Balqesh Abdullah as the country head, Bonsey Design had a fairly stable year with 5% staff departure and a headcount growth of 10%. In 2014, Bonsey Design Partnership hopes to build its combined on and offline branding
services through the partner digital agency Bonsey Jaden. The company also wishes to build a resource base in the Philippines, and shopper marketing capabilities, therefore, expanding its services. It has also spent the past nine months developing an in-store POP/POS tool ShelfLife to take advantage of the latest technologies and communication strategies. Looking to the future, Bonsey hopes to be plugging into the powerful data analytics tools from Bonsey Jaden to really add effective ROI measurements and social media activation to creative ideas in-store. Owned by: Independent Headed by: Jonathan Bonsey, creative and managing director
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MARKET RESEARCH
NIELSEN COMPANY SINGAPORE
THE WINNERS GOLD
Nielsen Company Singapore
SILVER
Millward Brown
BRONZE
Flamingo Singapore
71.88%
LOCAL HERO
Acorn Marketing & Research Consultants
69.06%
THE FINALISTS Blackbox Research Consulting Group – Asia Insight Euromonitor Forrester Ipsos Singapore Kadence International TNS Global
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81% 73.5%
Taking home this year’s gold award, once again, is Nielsen Company Singapore. Nielsen has been driving the market with a 60% share of global growth in 2013. The company recorded strong growth with major successes across all of its targeted industries. These included the likes of financial services, CPG/retail, technology and media. In 2013, the agency also launched its first project in Myanmar to help clients map their “go to market” strategies as they entered the new market. Moving forward, the company will continue to boost its suite of solutions and resources there. With the marketplace in Singapore becoming more and more competitive, the agency sees an increasing number of clients feeling pressured to have a greater understanding of the marketplace, customers and trends. Hence, the company introduced various new solutions such as Nielsen’s Syndicated Study on Asia’s Affluent; Nielsen’s Syndicated Forecasting Service; Nielsen’s Informate Mobile Insights; and Nielsen’s Digital Consumer Insights to help clients better understand the marketplace. Last year, Nielsen Singapore also grew its talent base from 320 employees in 2012 to 360
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employees. It also was able to retain 94% of its key talent. Nielsen Singapore predicts that over the next 20 years, about one billion consumers will join the ranks of the middle-class in Asia. Many of these will be first-time customers in the driving seat when it comes to deciding what, where, how and when they consume media and goods and services. Hence the need to get closer and more connected to consumers requires research and insights, as well as specialised expertise across the full spectrum of marketing strategy and planning. Recognising this need, Nielsen hopes to continue focusing on industry verticals to support clients with industry expert teams, as well as refine its solutions to align more closely with the clients’ business needs and challenges. To succeed, companies operating in Singapore need to have a firm understanding of how these trends impact their business, and how to leverage the opportunities and minimise risk – and Nielsen Singapore aims to aid them along the way. Owned by: Independent Headed by: Joan Koh, managing director, Singapore and Malaysia
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MARKET RESEARCH
MILLWARD BROWN Clinching the silver position again this year is Millward Brown. 2013 was a milestone year for the agency. Celebrating its 40th anniversary, globally, 2013 marked the 16th year for the Singapore office. Innovation remained central to its business with three expert solutions relaunched last year. Upcoming innovations for the year include creative development evaluation via ZappiStore and via mobile interviewing. Qualitative approaches are also being prepared to help clients in developing media plans and optimising touch-point effectiveness. Millward Brown is also increasingly transitioning data collection to mobile phones to reach a wider audience in a more engaging way to result in better quality and more timely data. The agency has also felt its clients have appreciated its commitment to better understand and meaningfully impact their business. Stepping into 2014, Millward Brown sees the year as a platform to offer continuity and change. For Millward Brown, long-established
Rastrick
relationships with clients also grew in size and scope, and 2013 was a star year for new business wins. The agency had significant brand strategy and brand performance wins for financial and telecommunication clients and creative development wins with pharmaceutical companies. It also excelled in channel optimisation wins with clients across many
sectors, including travel and tourism. Internally, employees at Millward Brown also felt inspired. Nearly nine out of 10 said they were proud to be working for the company and claimed they would gladly tell people about it. The agency appointed Nichola Rastrick as managing director for Southeast Asia. She brings more than 18 years of market research experience to the role and has led Millward Brown Singapore since 2008. She has worked with a wide range of clients across Asia Pacific and Europe, including local and multinational brands and government and communications agencies. Priti Mehra, meanwhile, took on the role of managing director of the Singapore office. Mehra has had more than 15 years in the market research industry, most recently as chief client officer of Millward Brown’s Southeast Asia business. Owned by: WPP Headed by: Nichola Rastrick, managing director SEA
FLAMINGO SINGAPORE
Flamingo was founded in 1997 and now has offices in London, Singapore, Tokyo, New York, Shanghai and Mumbai. It is an insight and brand consultancy firm, specialising in qualitative research. The agency says it has had a stellar past 12 months for the Singapore business. The office now consists of a team of 20 people and together the staff holds a united passion for culture and its power as a catalyst for brand thinking. Overall, Flamingo facilitated four exchange
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placements with other Flamingo offices; New York, Shanghai and London. The Singapore office has significantly grown its client base this year and deepened its relationships with existing clients. It also surpassed financial expectations. Most recently, the agency opened its newly renovated public research facility in Duxton Hill. The Loft Workshop & Research Facility aims to serve as a creative and independent venue that offers a full-service and fully equipped multi-room setting with a range of facilities.
The renovation has included the addition of a refurbished creative workshop space with various breakout rooms, as well as a new focus group room and client-viewing suite with updated Focus Vision and recording technology. Flamingo has been very focused on building the Asian contribution to the Flamingo Hivemind® – a global community of thinkers and makers. In 2014, the agency aims to continue to harness this across its work and bring to life its value through a series of events and publications. It wants to continue to innovate and drive the evolution of the agency, adding value to clients’ businesses in new and different ways and keep up the momentum of change internally. The agency aims to stay true to its mission to always identifying opportunities for brand growth and commercial success. It hopes to inspire clients with a sense of the possible, and guidance on how to achieve it. Owned by: Omnicom Group Headed by: Emma Gage and James Parsons, joint managing directors
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MARKET RESEARCH
ACORN MARKETING & RESEARCH CONSULTANTS Our Local Hero in this category this year is Acorn Marketing & Research Consultants. In 2013, the agency continued to stay on track in terms of growth targets. It has expanded its footprint into China with new offices and senior managers, as well as increasing partnerships in new emerging markets such as Myanmar. There has also been significant growth from its finance sectors regionally, as well as technology and tourism boards. Acorn continues to focus on building strategic long-term partnerships with clients, some of which are more than 15 years old. With accomplishments such as these, the company saw the staff turnover rate as very stable. Most of Acorn’s senior managers have been groomed from within from the beginning. The company takes pride in investing in the training of new young researchers. Acorn Marketing & Research Consultants gives strong support for SMEs and local tertiary institutions. The company provides pro bono market research consultancy to the Emerging
Enterprise Award winners and mentorships to young start-ups. It has also increased its scholarships to fund deserving students from the local polytechnics. Coming up in 2014, Acorn is looking forward to celebrating the company’s 30th anniversary by starting up a new chapter in East Asia. This will be the 10th Acorn office in the region. For the future, Acorn hopes to continue to be true to its owners’ vision in building
BLACKBOX RESEARCH
CONSULTING GROUP – ASIA INSIGHT
Last year was a busy one for Blackbox. In a challenging business environment, Blackbox continued to expand its services and embrace digital technologies to enhance the quality of its output. In 2013, Blackbox became one of the first companies in Singapore to introduce moment-to-moment communications testing technology which is used for advertising testing, news evaluation, message testing and personality evaluation. The research company has also expanded its UX testing capabilities and introduced a more sophisticated online community product that provides a great user experience. It also engages people of all ages and allows for realtime client review. Blackbox aims to continue to develop better mobile research applications (for ethnographic and tactical research) and technology platforms that allow for live qualitative feed to be sent back by interviewers while still in the field.
It has been an exciting year for Consulting Group – Asia Insight. For the past 12 months, the research agency has invested a concerted amount of time and resources into new product development. Within the past two years, Consulting Group – Asia Insight has brought to the market several new suites of exciting products. These products allowed this consulting firm to expand into new areas and find white spaces to service clients better. The products were instrumental to helping it win several key projects. In 2013, there was a huge increase in staff strength across the company’s Singapore and China office, and with no senior exits in 2013, Asia Insights remains committed to grooming strong new talent more than ever. Asia Insight has always taken pride in its differentiation from the competition and this includes how the firm delivers actionable findings that add value to clients’ decisionmaking process.
Operational for the past 15 years with its Asia Pacific headquarters in Singapore, Euromonitor has witnessed the Singapore research team spearhead in-depth research into emerging Asian economies, including China, India, Pakistan, Vietnam, Indonesia, South Korea and Taiwan. It has also opened up new offices in Shanghai, Tokyo, Sydney and Bangalore – the last three within the past two years. The company has seen good growth in the past 12 months as it has renewed several of its longstanding relationships. Euromonitor’s renewal rates as a whole have remained constant at more than 90% for the past 15 years. In 2012 and 2013, it revamped its integrated research database “Passport” to create a more user-friendly and enjoyable experience for clients. It also successfully launched two new product offerings under Passport, namely Passport Cities, and Passport Survey last year.
Owned by: Independent Headed by: Pearly Tan and Ng Chong Hin, CEOs and founders
Owned by: Independent Headed by: Geok Leng Loo, head of research, Asia Pacific
Owned by: Independent Headed by: David Black, managing director
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AGENCY OF THE YEAR SPECIAL ANNUAL EDITION 2014
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Asia’s largest only customised research network. It is a leading provider of research embedded solutions, and one that takes pride on building craftsmen who are able to pull together and design turnkey solutions from scratch. Owned by: Independent Headed by: Sum Ooi Leng, director and Danny Lai, associate director
EUROMONITOR
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MARKET RESEARCH
FORRESTER One of our finalists this year is Forrester Research which is a global research and advisory firm, serving professionals in 13 key roles across three distinct client segments. Forrester also provides proprietary research, consumer and business data, custom consulting, events and online communities, and peer-to-peer executive programmes. The company also aims to operate with a clear understanding of its clients’ needs. Diving deep into an individual’s role enables the agency to work as a trusted advisor to clients. Owned by: Independent Headed by: Dane Anderson, regional managing director
IPSOS In 2012, the agency was focused on building a strong and united Ipsos and Synovate team. The aim was to maintain stability and convince clients it was still committed to the partnership formed and the client’s success. As a result, 2013 was a great year for Ipsos Singapore. Despite a slowdown in global economies, Ipsos Singapore experienced a 22% growth in overall business revenue. All tracker contracts were renewed and Ipsos has further grown its top 10 clients by 57%. The staff turnover rate was 3.2% as of February 2013. Owned by: Ipsos SA Headed by: Miranda Cheung, managing director, Singapore and Malaysia
KADENCE INTERNATIONAL With all key metrics moving up, this year’s finalist Kadence International has seen the best 12 months in its history. In 2013 specifically, Kadence worked on a vast range of issues. This varied from helping a client refresh their entire China-market consumer-facing strategies to devising a new pan-Asian brand identity. It’s created the first ever Asian Leadership Index which has already helped many clients improve their retail strategies in Singapore. Looking forward to 2014, Kadence has exciting plans, including its 10th year anniversary celebration. Owned by: Independent Headed by: Greg Clayton, managing director
TNS GLOBAL Once again TNS has secured a place in the finalists for the Market Research category. The agency advises clients on specific growth strategies around new market entry, innovation, brand switching and stakeholder management. TNS has a presence in more than 80 countries. In each of the markets, it aims to develop precise plans that identify growth opportunities for clients. It develops solutions to understand how people approach decisions in the clients’ categories and how to win new customers profitably. Owned by: WPP Headed by: Jon Foged, managing director
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MOBILE MARKETING
CODIGO
THE WINNERS GOLD
Codigo
SILVER
Amobee
77.19%
BRONZE
Tribal Worldwide Singapore
76.56%
LOCAL HERO
Codigo
80.31%
THE FINALISTS Cellcity Dentsu Möbius InMobi Isobar Singapore MEC Singapore MediaCom Singapore Mindshare Singapore PurpleClick Media Somo XM
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80.31%
2013 has been Codigo’s most successful year since its creation in 2010. The agency has expanded tremendously, adding new skilled personnel and attracting new clients who want a long-term and reliable creative and technical partner. New leadership in the form of Subha Naidu on the creative side and Regina Chan on the digital team has helped Codigo enhance and expand its current service offerings with their expertise in strategic solutions, digital creativity and user-experience knowledge. The entire team has since grown to 15 employees. All of this growth allowed the company to evolve from a mobile development agency to a full-fledged digital agency. While the agency has started taking on bigger clients such as F1 Singapore GP, McDelivery and SingPost, it has held onto its strategy of building client trust through small projects that will grow into bigger projects in the future as they turn out to be successful. Codigo’s responsibilities include social media platforms, websites and enhancing current apps with new and innovative features. Some of the most successful campaigns include the Club 21 mobile app which reached more than 150,000 downloads and the Healthy Chef mobile app which reached 120,000 downloads. Over the next few years, Codigo is looking to change its business model from 100% client
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work to 80% white-label products. This means being the only local mobile agency with a full in-house development team. “Being the only local mobile agency with a full in-house development team, we are going to start investing in our own ideas, bringing them to life and selling those products to clients, or creating subscription-based models to earn revenue,” said an agency spokesperson. Society awareness is another area it wants to touch on. The technological growth in Singapore is staggering, but it is leaving people behind, especially low-income earners and the elderly, as well as cultural aspects such as the historical architecture, making way for high-rise apartments. “We want to be more considerate with the products we put out there. We are currently working with Singapore government grants to provide mobile technology that can help or highlight issues, and make people prouder of the place we live,” said the spokesperson. “In 2014, Codigo wants to make technology matter. It’s not just an innovation score for our clients, it’s a way to simply use the devices we have in ways that enrich our lives.” Owned by: Independent Headed by: Adrian Ng, founder and technology director; Subha Naidu, creative director; Regina Chan, creative and UX director; and Axton Salim, director
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how to keep them loyal
John - Australia v 55 years old v a premium customer of AUS Financial, which manages 70% of his investment
?
find full answers in Epsilon’s 2013 Consumer Loyalty Study
Shireen - India v 23 years old v shops 2-3 times a month v often listens to friends’ recommendations
Epsilon’s 2013 Consumer Loyalty Study An analysis of customer engagement that enriches loyalty
Wei - China
Misako - Japan
v 34 years old v a member of MaxMiles for 7 years v enjoys being treated like a valued customer
v 41 years old v a housewife with 2 children v always opens emails from her preferred grocery store for relevant offers
s-Country Epsilon Cros lty Study Loya Consumer CHINA
Epsilon Cro Consum ss-Country er Loya lty Stud CHINA y October 2012
13 Epsilon’s Epsilon 2013 ’s 2013 13silon’sS20 Ep y dy n’s 20 yns y tuConsumer CLoyalty Loyalty Stud onsumStudy er Loya Epsilo mer Co Lo altumer lty Stud u China Australia s n o y C India Japan
y 2013
Januar
January 2013
January 2013
January
Read more about other consumer attitudes and views about loyalty in a series of reports from Epsilon.
Alliance Data FHC, Inc., trading as Epsilon International
EpsilonIntl_A4_Loyalty_Print_29-01-2013.indd 1
October
2013
DOWNLOAD THE REPORTS AT www.epsilon.com/loyalty2013
Contact us +852 3589 6300 epsilon.com apac-info@epsilon.com
Connect with us Follow us @EpsilonAPAC Join our group Epsilon Asia Pacific 关注Epsilon艾司隆
1/29/13 11:56 PM
MOBILE MARKETING
AMOBEE Amobee had a tremendous year of growth with business doubling globally. The agency also expanded its offerings which now include Amobee DSP – an advanced programmatic media buying platform; Amobee 3D – an immersive mobile ad format; and Amobee LTV – a solution to better understand, engage and retain mobile app users at scale. These aim to help advertisers, publishers and app developers to maintain successful relationships with their customers, create innovative rich media and increase ROI. Amobee has expanded its presence in all geographies, said the company, adding it has also bolstered its global leadership team. Some brands the agency has worked with include AccuWeather, BMW, eBay, Expedia and SingTel. AccuWeather was a huge campaign win that required the use of the Amobee for Publishers platform to serve and target ads on multiple systems such as iOS and Android. Amobee was successfully able to monetise
AccuWeather’s robust mobile inventory, enabling advertisers to use AccuWeather to reach desired audiences in a unique, timely and contextually personal way, thus achieving outstanding results. Some client-specific successes included Expedia exceeding its yearly global room night goal on its mobile app by November 2013. NewsLoop saw such great success with Amobee’s mobile advertising expertise that it moved its entire marketing budget to mobile. Mobile ad users were spending three to four times the average time spent (industry average) on ads on the Ford 3D mobile
campaign as well. Another campaign was the “Singapore’s Best vs. Ramsay” with SingTel. The campaign had two phases. The first was to drive traffic to an immersive, interactive mobile landing page where mobile users could vote for their favourite Hawker chef. The second phase involved promoting the live cook-off events between the top three Hawker chefs and worldrenowned chef, Gordon Ramsay. Moving forward, Amobee expects to continue pushing the envelope in bringing the most innovative products to advertisers and publishers. It will also be focusing on expanding its broader digital and out-of-home advertising offerings. “The most important priority for any business in the next few years is innovation,” said Trevor Healy, CEO of the agency. “Companies need to foster an environment where creative thinking gets rewarded and becomes part of the company DNA.” Owned by: SingTel Headed by: Trevor Healy, CEO
TRIBAL WORLDWIDE SINGAPORE
Tribal Worldwide 2013 was a solid year for Tr Singapore in terms of business and development. The agency won 11 out of 13 pitches. It took on creative duties for StarHub. com, a MOM campaign for #WorkRight,
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Neutrogena Singapore, DBS Social Media as well as the National Library Board Singapore’s Memory Project and the National Information Literacy Programme. The agency also took on regional lead duties for the Fonterra digital business. This year, SilkAir also appointed Tribal Worldwide Singapore as its digital agency. The appointment is for two years and is for the Singapore market. SilkAir previously used Mindshare as its digital agency. Its creative is held by DDB, and its media buying duties by OMD. One of the biggest projects the agency undertook was the “MySmartEye” for StarHub, said Tribal. The campaign presented visually impaired users with a way to “see” via their mobile. Another notable campaign was the “Happy Table” which involved a partnership with McDonald’s. The campaign allowed kids to play games at McDonald’s outlets using custom RFID-tagged tables and NFC-enabled phones. Tribal also worked with Zouk nightclub to implement a system of detecting alcohol levels in partygoers. Tribal also had an active year for key
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appointments with the headcount breaking 100 employees. Jeff Cheong was promoted to vice-president of Tribal Worldwide Asia; Vinod Savio to creative director; Lydia Lim to associate creative director; and Cheng Shu Yau to creative group head. In addition, Benjamin Koe, former CEO of JamiQ, joined the agency as consulting director for Radar. In the next year, the agency expects to leverage its growing repertoire of technologists and social media strategists to create a more cutting-edge showcase for leading brands. Tribal hopes to evolve from a digital agency to an agency of the future by continuing to produce creative work for collaborative clients. “Tribal Singapore office has grown from a digital agency to become the agency of the future,” Cheong said. “It handles some of the biggest and most compelling brands in the region. Its cutting-edge work for Unilever, StarHub, DBS and RSAF has set new benchmarks across the categories.” Owned by: Omnicom Group Headed by: Jeff Cheong, vice-president, Tribal Worldwide Asia and head, Tribal Worldwide Singapore
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2:58 PM
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MOBILE MARKETING
CELLCITY
DENTSU MÖBIUS
INMOBI
Cellcity made a bold decision in 2013 to go back to the drawing board and create a piece of software that would distinguish the agency’s capability as a marketing solutions provider from the hundreds of mobile agencies. It began with a blueprint for a mobile and digital marketing platform that would allow any mobile app to plug into, in an effort to enable clients’ complete power over their sales and marketing campaigns. However, the agency ended up with a fullscale development centre in Sri Lanka. The new platform is called Central V2. It is now at the heart of every application Cellcity creates and sits at the centre of the four pillars that define the agency: big data, mobile marketing, mobile commerce, and loyalty and rewards. The Central V2 strategy has helped Cellcity win new clients such as Coffee Bean, DBS Bank and Optik Seis.
One word to describe 2013 for Dentsu Möbius would be “dynamic”. The agency grew by 50% as it made some key transitions to offer clients a constant stream of new ideas and opportunities. The agency picked up three new accounts over the past year which will bring in more than SG$8 million over the next two years. The accounts include Mondel z, Singapore Airlines and Fuji Xerox. One of the biggest campaigns done over the past 12 months was with Mondel z to establish Oreo as the most social cookie in Singapore. Dentsu Möbius offers clients effective and integrated marketing plans with core values in digital, social strategy and content. Moving forward, Dentsu Möbius is dedicated to finding unique solutions for its clients – no two problems are the same.
Riding on the momentum from 2013, InMobi has grown substantially in 2014. This year, the company launched its native ad platform, attempting to woo publishers and advertisers seeking to create their own unique ads outside the bigger networks. Over the next few years, InMobi will invest about US$100 million in fleshing out the new native ad platform, according to TechCrunch. “With this product, we plan to disrupt and democratise the advertising world – this is not any incremental feature, but a completely fresh platform that was in the works for one and half years,” said CEO and founder Naveen Tewari. By the end of June, InMobi expects to serve 100 billion monthly ads through its native platform. Currently, it serves around 150 billion banner ads every month. For developers, it is offering an SDK for building their unique ad units.
Owned by: Independent Headed by: Dannie Francis, chief executive officer
Owned by: Dentsu Aegis Network Headed by: James Hawkins, managing director and CEO
ISOBAR SINGAPORE
MEC SINGAPORE
Isobar Singapore’s long-term vision is to be recognised as a global digital marketing agency that uses insight, design and technology to bring brands closer to their consumers, and one that delivers measurable business impact for its clients. To continue its journey towards realising this vision, three key strategic objectives were set for 2013. These included building on the previous year’s new business success, creating business support solutions, and strengthening its innovation proposition. Isobar utilised certain strategies such as leveraging deep expertise across the Aegis Media Network, investing in consulting data analytics and the launch of NowLand. NowLand is Isobar’s innovation accelerator in Singapore that helps trigger digital content. Isobar Singapore achieved these objectives by winning a multi-agency pitch for OCBC Bank’s consumer financial services’ digital retainer business, among others.
2013 was a really strong year in organic growth for MEC Singapore, even amid flat industry growth rates. It was able to increase revenue by 9% thanks to its growth in digital, programmatic buying, mobile and video, paid search and social. The agency had an impressive year in terms of account wins, achieving US$34 million in billings value for regional pitches outside of Singapore and US$8 million in billings for local pitches. MEC also welcomed seven new clients into its agency, including Tigerair, Sony Electronics and Human Capital Learning Institute. The agency helped EDB to position Singapore as a future-focused nation to help overseas companies navigate their Asia expansion. Moving forward, the agency expects to continue integrating MEC Access into its offering. From a content ideation perspective, along with the social and SEO capabilities, this specialist team aims to create more opportunities for clients to optimise their presence in the earned media space.
MediaCom had a very exciting year with major global brand wins, along with the fortification of new leadership in the digital space and the appointment of general manager Vivian Yeung. Some of its new account wins were Fonterra, Sony Mobile, B/S/H and Siemens. MediaCom successfully executed a campaign for Gillette. The agency was challenged with the task of increasing consumer awareness of the brand’s variant through its partnership with the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes Formula 1 team. Based on deep insight, the agency decided a fast-paced mobile gaming app would be the best way to reach audiences, leading it to use Real Racing 3, an app owned by EA. MediaCom executed a complete in-game integration of Gillette branding to ensure players were fully immersed within the interactive Gillette environment while relaying the Gillette core identity of performance and speed. The campaign achieved more than 149 million impressions.
Owned by: Dentsu Aegis Network Headed by: Prakash Kamdar, CEO, Singapore
Owned by: WPP Headed by: Sharon Soh, managing director
Owned by: WPP Headed by: Vivian Yeung, general manager
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Owned by: Independent (venture-backed by investors, including: SoftBank, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Sherpalo Ventures.) Headed by: Naveen Tewari, founder and CEO
MEDIACOM SINGAPORE
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MOBILE MARKETING
MINDSHARE SINGAPORE 2013 was a busy year for Mindshare. The agency successfully handled many pitches, a change in leadership, and a continual evolution of the agency structure. Mindshare specifically focused on four areas of growth. The first was retaining its key clients, three of which were re-pitched. The second was to restructure the agency to ensure the right service model was being executed to leverage market trends. Mindshare also strived to ensure it attracted the right talent profile to match its ambitions. Finally, Mindshare embarked on a digital training programme, iLearn, putting all staff through the programme. Over the past year, the agency won pitches from Dyson, Dräger, Swiss International, Dr Wolff and MCCY. In addition, Mindshare also retained large-scale clients such as Nestlé, GSK and HSBC. Meanwhile, regionally, Mindshare launched The Loop – a data-infused “war room” in Asia. The agency hopes that through the new offering, clients can make more collaborative and adaptive decisions across their paid, owned and earned marketing in real-time. Looking forward to 2014, Mindshare has seen an increase in client expectations. “As the complex marketing environment evolves, clients need appropriate services and talent to assist them in navigating,” said the agency. Owned by: WPP Headed by: Nick Seckold, CEO
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PURPLECLICK
SOMO
The past 12 months have seen PurpleClick launch its latest product, ProClick, a proprietary system that merges pay per click and advanced customer tracking into one single streamline. While most searches begin from online research, they do not end there. ProClick manages this process by merging all stages of customer decision-making – from online research to call enquiry to online form submission. PurpleClick looks forward to shaping growing trends in the value of digital to help companies market online more effectively.
Somo creates and develops all forms of consumer-focused mobile assets, including custom applications, websites and mobile advertising creative. In addition, its knowledge and competence in the corporate enterprise environment allows it to take the principles of great design user interaction and apply them to the business world. One of its biggest campaigns in the APAC region has been a multi-lingual mobile display to increase organic downloads for the Expedia hotel booking app. Owned by: Independent Headed by: Stewart Hunter, vice-president, business development
Owned by: Independent Headed by: Leonard Tan, CEO and founder
XM ASIA XM Asia kicked off the year with a great start thanks to its largest client, Singapore Tourism Board (STB). As the four-year contractual term came to a close, more than a dozen international agencies were involved in a competitive pitch. However, XM won and was retained as the digital agency of record for the new tenure period. The company also expanded in terms of leadership with the addition of Pei Pei Ng as executive creative director and Edwin Rozells as head of planning. Along with the retention of STB, XM also won accounts from Diageo, Colgate, Great Eastern Insurance, and other
small to medium enterprise brands. Currently, XM is undergoing various campaigns. One of the most notable projects of 2013 was the “Happiness Served” campaign with STB. The main objective was to create a culture that recognised and promoted good service without any incentive or immediate reward. XM achieved this goal by having people vote for the places they thought had the best service in Tiong Bahru. XM integrated Instagram into its approach by having participants take pictures and use a specific hashtag to vote for their businesses of choice. Owned by: WPP Headed by: Paul Soon, chief executive officer
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SOCIAL MARKETING
GOODSTUPH
THE WINNERS GOLD
GOODSTUPH
89.17%
SILVER
social@Ogilvy
82.08%
BRONZE
Tribal Worldwide Singapore
81.25%
LOCAL HERO
GOODSTUPH
89.17%
THE FINALISTS Blugrapes Circus Social Dentsu Möbius Mindshare Singapore Vocanic We Are Social Singapore Yolk(at)Grey
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Social media agency Goodstuph enters its fourth year with a bang, winning both the gold and Local Hero title this year. The agency also held the same position last year, clearly showing consistency in its progress forward. The agency first launched in 2010 and has over the years gained a reputation for creating its own distinct voice in the local advertising community. Goodstuph experienced tremendous growth over the past 12 months, with the agency doubling its staff count. It also set aside dedicated time at the beginning of the year to training and development of its staff. The hard work paid off by the end of the year with 12 new accounts acquired out of the 16 pitched for. The new account wins include BMW Asia, HTC Singapore, MINI Singapore, Oktoberfest Asia, Park Hotel and Topshop Topman among others. Just a couple of weeks back, the social media agency bagged more business as it was appointed the social media agency of record for Spa Esprit’s beauty brands – Strip, Browhaus and We Need A Hero. It will also work with several food brands under the company. One of the campaigns by Goodstuph was the Glenfiddich Vintage Anniversary SEA Launch. The event featured an auction of
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Glenfiddich Vintage bottles and successfully raised more than US$ 11,000 for the Oxfam Typhoon Haiyan Appeal. The Sephora Hot Wheels event was another notable campaign which provided customers with a mobile nail parlour. The vehicle travelled through Singapore during two weekends in July. The campaign engaged more than 2,000 people and projected sales reached US$8,000. Another innovation over the past year was the launch of an online retail shop, a rarity for agencies. The new regional accounts led to the launch of an office in Hong Kong. The agency is now looking towards Bangkok for its next office. Pat Law, managing director of Goodstuph, said that as it strengthened its grip over Asia it still intended to “keep up its reputation and the creative hub will be in Singapore”. Over the next year, Goodstuph hopes to expand its portfolio and presence on a regional stage, and to continue to “do good” in the social space, locally. In addition, Law insists the agency has been one that focuses on the word “social” in “social media” rather than “media”. Owned by: Independent Headed by: Pat Law, founder and managing director
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SOCIAL MARKETING
SOCIAL@OGILVY
This year social@Ogilvy climbed one spot to take home the silver award for the category. According to Ogilvy Public Relations Singapore and the social@Ogilvy team, 2013 was the best year yet, both financially and creatively, and in terms of client retention. The agency expanded to more than 100 executives as it experienced double-digit growth for the eighth year in a row. While Ogilvy PR grew, it was still able to
deepen relationships with existing clients, leading to a high retention rate over the past 12 months. Meanwhile, the agency’s top 50% of clients also continued to stay with it for eight years or more. Ogilvy PR captured 10 new accounts in Singapore. These new clients included the likes of InterContinental Hotels Group (Singapore and SEA), NTUC FairPrice Foundation, SilkAir and KOP Properties. One of the most notable social media campaigns which the agency was actively involved in was the Guinness Arthur’s Day celebration. The agency assisted the brand in celebrating its boldest fans through various platforms. This campaign attained almost SG$1.5 million of earned media across 130 articles in print, broadcast, online and social media channels, including Facebook and blogs. Meanwhile, its DO Good Initiatives with FairPrice Foundation also encouraged Singaporeans to perform simple acts of good deeds, and to share the joy of giving with their family and friends. By taking the initial steps
towards doing good, the Foundation hopes they can be an influence to family, friends and the broader community to do the same. With the initial goal to reach 20,000 pledges of good deeds, the agency garnered more than 62,000 pledges in just nine months. This was 210% more than what it had set out to achieve. Last year, senior staff turnover was less than 10% for the agency. Looking towards next year, the agency says it will aim to shape and evolve its offerings to meet the complexity of the new-world communications environment. By combining its deep planning capabilities, the full-integration with Ogilvy Group’s creative capabilities, and an attitudinal shift that involves social listening, social@Ogilvy hopes to shape its client’s message around real-time consumer sentiment. The recent creation of the Content Studio and the virtual dashboard will help this real-time drive. Owned by: WPP Headed by: Chong Ee Rong managing director, Singapore
TRIBAL WORLDWIDE SINGAPORE
2013 was a solid year for Tribal Worldwide Singapore in terms of business and development. The agency won 11 out of 13 pitches. It took on creative duties for StarHub. com, a MOM campaign for #WorkRight, Neutrogena Singapore, DBS Social Media as well as the National Library Board Singapore’s Memory Project and the National Information Literacy Programme. The agency also took on regional lead duties for the Fonterra digital business. This year, SilkAir also appointed Tribal Worldwide Singapore as its digital agency. The appointment is for two years and is for the Singapore market. SilkAir previously used
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Mindshare as its digital agency. Its creative is held by DDB, and its media buying duties by OMD. One of the biggest projects the agency undertook was the “MySmartEye” for StarHub, said Tribal. The campaign presented visually impaired users with a way to “see” via their mobile. Another notable campaign was the “Happy Table” which involved a partnership with McDonald’s. The campaign allowed kids to play games at McDonald’s outlets using custom RFID-tagged tables and NFC-enabled phones. Tribal also worked with Zouk nightclub to implement a system of detecting alcohol levels in partygoers.
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Tribal also had an active year for key appointments with the headcount breaking 100 employees. Jeff Cheong was promoted to vice-president of Tribal Worldwide Asia; Vinod Savio to creative director; Lydia Lim to associate creative director; and Cheng Shu Yau to creative group head. In addition, Benjamin Koe, former CEO of JamiQ, joined the agency as consulting director for Radar. In the next year, the agency expects to leverage its growing repertoire of technologists and social media strategists to create a more cutting-edge showcase for leading brands. Tribal hopes to evolve from a digital agency to an agency of the future by continuing to produce creative work for collaborative clients. “Tribal Singapore office has grown from a digital agency to become the agency of the future,” Cheong said. “Our cutting-edge work for Unilever, StarHub, DBS and RSAF has set new benchmarks across the categories.” Owned by: Omnicom Group Headed by: Jeff Cheong, vice president, Tribal Worldwide Asia and head, Tribal Worldwide Singapore
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SOCIAL MARKETING
BLUGRAPES
CIRCUS SOCIAL
DENTSU MÖBIUS
In 2013, Blugrapes made a strategic shift from being a social media management firm to a digital marketing consultancy. However, according to the agency there was also increasing pressure to remain independent, amid the sea of local agencies seeing consolidations and acquisitions. Last year, the firm’s new consulting portfolio boasted more global corporate entities such as Temasek Holdings, CA Technologies, Dolby Asia, Lend Lease, Alliance Bank as well as several high-profile and high-net-worth individuals. The agency was also invited by SPRING Singapore’s omni-channels team as part of a select group to advise business owners and brands on strategic digital marketing initiatives and customised solutions. These initiatives leveraged the digital medium to expand these SMEs’ digital branding capabilities and business expansions.
Starting as a one-man operation in 2012, Circus Social has experienced great growth over the past year working on more than 60 campaigns in 10 markets. The agency made 25 key hires, including Ram Bhamidi as COO, who brings with him a wealth of experience in the operations and development realm. Some of the notable campaigns included Coke Refresh Lah on Facebook where users could create a custom cover photo. Also involving Facebook, the agency created a custom Facebook app for Lenovo, enabling it to launch the brand’s K900 across 10 markets in five languages. Over the past year, it has worked with many new brands, including Coke, Nestlé, Unilever, SingTel, Guinness and IBM. It has also partnered with various agencies in the region.
Dentsu Möbius grew by 50% in the past year as it made some key transitions to offer clients a constant stream of new ideas and opportunities. Möbius uses a democratised approach to ideation, utilising ideas from all parties involved. This has resulted in eyecatching creative work for clients. One of the campaigns over the past 12 months was with Mondel z to establish Oreo as the most social cookie in Singapore. Other campaigns included “Same Same photography” with Canon and creating an immersive HTML5 ad-unit for The Economist which allows users to experience content across multiple digital platforms. Dentsu Möbius offers clients effective and integrated marketing plans with core values in digital, social strategy and content. Moving forward, Dentsu Möbius is dedicated to finding unique solutions for its clients.
Owned by: Independent Headed by: Ryan Lim, founder and business director; principal consultants, Freda Kwok and Natasha Zhao
Owned by: Shalu Wasu, managing director, is the majority shareholder. Both Ogilvy & Mather, and Ram Bhamidi, COO of Circus Social, own a minority stake in the agency Headed by: Shalu Wasu, founder and managing director
Owned by: Dentsu Aegis Network Headed by: James Hawkins, managing director and CEO
What are the trends shaping the future of Market Research? The explosion of social and mobile in recent years has fast-tracked the evolution of market research. In today’s hyper-competitive landscape, how can brands continually improve the understanding of their customers? How can marketers make most of new research methods? Research Asia Interactive aims to address these questions, and help you identify your own organisation’s research priorities. Join us on 27 June and learn more about the best practices in market research from brands and thought leaders.
SPEAKERS INCLUDE
27 JUNE 2014 I GRAND PARK CITY HALL HOTEL, SINGAPORE I 9.00AM – 5.00PM GOLD SPONSORS
BROUGHT TO YOU BY:
Tyrone Almeida Director, insights & planning, Asia Pacific/S.S. Africa Kellogg Company
Anna Rokina Social Data Consultant - Global Analytics Hub Lenovo
Michael Chadwick Director of brand strategy, Asia Pacific Mondelez Asia Pacific
Mukesh Kumar Head of Marketing for MAGGI Light Meal Business Nestle India
Sohyun Song Assistant Vice President, Market Research - Group Customer Experience OCBC Bank
…and many others! For more information visit: www.researchinteractive-conference.com
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MINDSHARE SINGAPORE Mindshare has seen huge opportunities in digital, technology and content. As a result, the agency launched a new division focused on these three areas: Mindshare Discovery. This unit is dedicated to creating experiences for brands where they can tell their stories. While Mindshare will continue to harness the power of traditional media channels, it is also building solutions for the physical and virtual world. 2013 was a busy year for Mindshare. The agency successfully handled many pitches, a change in leadership and a continual evolution of the agency’s structure. Mindshare focused on four areas of growth. The first was retaining its key clients, three of which were re-pitched. The second was
VOCANIC In November 2013, Vocanic was acquired by WPP’s GroupM, making Vocanic the lead social media agency among all GroupM companies. Vocanic now spearheads all GroupM’s social initiatives and accounts, joining the family as the fifth client-facing agency, working to provide full support, consultation and management to the other four agencies. 2013 also marked the official launch of VSocial, a platform built by Vocanic that helps manage multiple social media channels, provide more efficiency in customer care, and interestingly, a fan insights tool that allows brands to dive deeper to find out more about their fans as a community or as individuals. The firming up of dedicated in-house creative and social analytics teams also enabled Vocanic to take the lead on original social medialed campaigns – from strategy and ideation all the way to execution – supported with essential research and sentiment data that helped shape the overall planning more aggressively. It has grown from servicing 14 accounts to more than 26, seeing client growth more than double. New clients include SMRT, EDB (Contact Singapore), SAP, GEMS World Academy, i.t labels (under the Wing Tai Retail Group), Pringles, Harley-Davidson, Dulux, Tefal and Nikon. Owned by: WPP Headed by: Ian McKee, regional CEO and Stephen Thirgood, general manager, Singapore
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to restructure the agency to ensure the right service model was being executed to leverage market trends. Mindshare also aimed to attract the right talent profile to match its ambitions. Finally, it embarked on a digital training programme, iLearn, putting all staff through the programme. Over the past year, the agency won pitches
WE ARE SOCIAL SINGAPORE Since the formation of the Singapore office in 2011, the agency has grown to the size of 26 specialists in the areas of creative content and design, research and insight, community engagement, strategy and consulting. We Are Social saw its client list grow substantially this year, with existing clients Lenovo and Intel expanding their remit with the agency, as well as obtaining new clients such as SapientNitro and AirBnB. Coupled with the agency being acquired by Blue Focus in China in 2013, the agency is expecting greater growth in its business and service offerings. Campaigns it ran in the year included social media engagement programmes for Lenovo, asking Lenovo fans to define their “Do”, which was part of Lenovo’s brand positioning. It also drove a social contest for Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, hiding Lenovo’s Yoga tablet in three locations and revealing results over time. The campaign pulled more than 20,000 interactions on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram posts in those four days. For Intel Asia Pacific, it executed a series of content to inform and entertain, as well as trigger conversations among Intel’s fans. This contributed to an overall 500-plus million views from Intel’s five million fans in APAC. The campaign lasted 12 months. Owned by: Blue Focus Headed by: Simon Kemp, managing director
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from Dyson, Dräger, Swiss International, Dr Wolff and MCCY. In addition, Mindshare also retained large-scale clients such as Nestlé, GSK and HSBC. Meanwhile, regionally, Mindshare launched The Loop – a data-infused “war room” in Asia. The agency hopes that through the new offering, clients can make more collaborative and adaptive decisions across their paid, owned and earned marketing in real-time. Looking to 2014, Mindshare has seen an increase in client expectations. “As the complex marketing environment evolves, clients need appropriate services and talent to assist them in navigating,” said the agency. Owned by: WPP Headed by: Nick Seckold, CEO
YOLK(AT)GREY The past year has seen a big transition at Yolk(at)Grey with its integration with Grey Group. The original agency, Yolk, was remoulded across three markets. The move saw the promotion of several senior staff: CEO Benjamin Tan was promoted to group CEO and chief digital officer overseeing SEA; Adrian Lee relocated from Singapore as chief technology officer to Indonesia to head the Indonesian unit; and chief operating officer Kelveen Soh stepped up as CEO of Singapore. The business as a whole grew by an unprecedented 85% and surpassed all targets before schedule. The agency won 19 new accounts over the year, including Maybank, Lenovo Mobile, Wyeth Nutrition, Sentosa Development Corporation, Great Easter, and Asia Pacific Breweries in Singapore. Across the board, Yolk(at)Grey took on responsibilities in digital, social, online media buy, digital PR and social media campaigns. Moving forward, it hopes to widen its digital network across more markets and push digital boundaries through e-commerce, big data and real-time marketing as it strives to invest in innovation and bring value to customers. 2014 will see the implementation of offices in Vietnam and the Philippines. In addition, the agency will introduce an e-commerce consulting practice and real-time marketing. Owned by: WPP Headed by: Benjamin Tan, Group CEO and Kelveen Soh, CEO, Singapore
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28 AUGUST 2014
THE WESTIN HOTEL, SINGAPORE
FINALLY, AN
AWARDS FOR
MEDIA
OWNERS Honouring Southeast Asia’s top media owners, the Spark Awards is your chance to showcase your prowess based on your compelling content, innovative solutions and standout team performances.
To enter or find out more, visit www.marketing-interactive.com/spark-awards-sg
SUBMISSION DEADLINE: 30 JUNE 2014 THE SPARK AWARDS GALA NIGHT TAKES PLACE ON THURSDAY, 28 AUGUST AT THE WESTIN HOTEL Contact Che Winstrom (+65 6423 0329 or chew@marketing-interactive.com) regarding sponsorship opportunities. Contact Carlo Reston (+65 6423 0329 or carlor@marketing-interactive.com) regarding entry submissions and table bookings.
ORGANISED BY:
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PRODUCTION AGENCIES
FREEFLOW PRODUCTIONS
THE WINNERS GOLD
Freeflow Productions
SILVER
Veer Pictures
60.63%
BRONZE
Ugly Duckling Productions
59.75%
LOCAL HERO
Freeflow Productions
THE FINALISTS Gravitate Iceberg Design Shooting Gallery Asia sixtoes The Moving Images Company Two Oceans Film Company Upside Down Concepts
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70%
70%
Freeflow Productions is a full-service production house made up of 45 experienced media industry professionals and kindred spirits coming together with a collective passion to harness their creative powers. In its ninth year of operations, Freeflow Productions had a commercial turnover of SG$5.6 million and a profit of SG$ 1million for 2013. Some of the original clients have been with Freeflow from one to seven years with a satisfaction rate of 82%, giving the agency retention of 82% and a growth rate of 265%. The company produces television commercials, corporate and marketing videos for clients, which have included BBC Worldwide Channels Asia Pacific, CAAS, Harvey Norman, Herbalife Asia, MediaCorp TV Singapore, Ministry of Social and Family Development, National University of Singapore, Shwe Taung Development Co, Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel), SingHealth, United Overseas Bank (UOB), Wing Tai Holdings and Wildlife Reserves Singapore. It also works closely with agencies such as DDB Worldwide, IRIS Worldwide and Grey Group. In 2013, the company also won an estimated SG$2.8 million worth of new businesses, with a growth of 71%. These new clients included Frontage Asia, Heineken Asia Pacific, Herbalife Asia, Informatics, Parkway Cancer Centre, Just Marketing International, National Technological University of Singapore, National Library Board, OCBC, Riway
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(Singapore) and We Are Social. The agency also ventured into the Myanmar and China markets, servicing clients such as Shwe Taung Development Co and Sanya Tourism. Freeflow Productions started in 2005 with just five staff, but since then has grown to a strength of 45 full-timers, with a percentage change year-on-year of 18%. Its staff turnover year-on-year was 9%, said the company. “As a company, we recognise that it is our people who make us as good as we are. Most of our staff have stayed with us since they’ve joined us. Our longest serving staff has worked with us for eight to nine years,” said a spokesperson. Staff training comes from the senior staff. This includes Spencer Wong, the head of post production for his team of editors, motion graphics designers and post producers; Jenny Ng, the lead writer; and Vanessa Thomas and Alexis Krestin for its producers. In 2013, Freeflow started up a business development department that focused on getting its name out there. Wendy Ho, now with her team of three, work closely together to bring Freeflow’s name not only to new areas of business in Singapore, but also in other markets such as China and Myanmar. Owned by: Independent Headed by: Mark Chua, Roslee Yusof, Dan Stevenson, directors
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PRODUCTION AGENCIES
VEER PICTURES
Veer Pictures kicked off 2013 in full gear with a new office in Shanghai and its first major rebranding campaign for client, Super Group. In addition, Veer was able to demonstrate its strength in the niche of beauty TVCs. It produced a staggering 20 commercials for clients in the beauty sector alone. Veer Pictures was founded by Lee Chin Ming and Sherwin Kusnadi, who helm the team as executive producer and creative director respectively. Founded in 2002 as Veer Motion Graphics, Veer has come a long way from the graphics and post-production house it once was. It has made significant inroads in
being able to compete with local and overseas production houses. Says Ming and Kusnadi: “Looking at the long-term, Veer aims to set the bar high for storytelling and visual effects, inspiring a new generation of filmmakers and visual artists.” As far as new clients go, Veer has been in high demand over the past year, producing new work for Euro Group, CP Food, Unilever, Lipton, Ferrero Rocher and SK Jewellery, to mention a few. The company also retained existing clients such as McDonald’s, Owl International and Kao Singapore. One of the biggest challenges has been the
declining rate of TV viewership. However, this has led brands to discover other forms of media and Veer has been quick to adapt. The company has committed itself to helping clients stay ahead of the curve with innovative storytelling, regardless of the medium. Veer experienced great success in its campaign for Owl International, “Hello Happy”. The viral online smash hit quickly surpassed one million views within a month on YouTube and also drew a lot of positive publicity for the client in the local media. With its streamlined system of conceptshoot-post, Veer has delivered work that surprises the audience and earns the loyalty of its clients. In addition, Veer aims to expand its international clientele. These companies, including direct clients and media agencies, have come to engage Veer on the strength of its production capabilities and client servicing. Owned by: Independent Headed by: Lee Chin Ming, executive producer and Sherwin Kusnadi, creative director
UGLY DUCKLING PRODUCTIONS
In a summary of the past 12 months, Ugly Duckling’s bespoke content production solutions have performed well. Ugly Duckling began to expand its online strategy in its quest to be a full-service production agency. On top of the existing advertising production service it offers for photography and film, it also invested in growing its content production capabilities and offerings. Advertising agencies and marketers have exhibited a stronger focus on curated content as well as on creating enchanting brand stories, and Ugly Duckling has worked to ensure these needs are filled.
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In a recent campaign with Unilever and other agency partners, Ugly Duckling created a series of videos and images as traffic-driving content for Clear Shampoo. The ads were showcased online and on various social media channels. Another successful campaign was with Pioneer Asia. The project featured a rich social game that was conceptualised and produced with eight levels of game play, social tagging and other viral components. The campaign garnered more than 85,000 likes on Facebook – a huge accomplishment for all parties involved. In the coming year, the agency will look towards growing content production and brand
stories in concordance with advertising. This will require closer collaboration with clients on ongoing content production rather than projectby-project relationships. The agency’s goal is to fully establish itself as an expert in storytelling. To do this, it will work towards producing visual stories for brands that engage their target audiences. The agency has high hopes the next year will see more growth as it continues to create content platforms for richer social engagement opportunities, giving brands a more sustainable social presence. “We deliver bespoke content production solutions for ad campaigns as well as online/ social media campaigns,” said founding director Annette Fausboll. “Ad agencies and brand owners are requesting for quality content with real-time solutions, and for guidance in managing the production processes effectively. “From Facebook pages to microsites and social PR, I envisage our digital content production will continue to grow in 2014.” Owned by: Independent Headed by: Annette Fausboll, founding director and executive producer
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PRODUCTION AGENCIES
GRAVITATE
ICEBERG DESIGN
Gravitate has worked with many homegrown talented directors such as Royston Tan, Wee Li Lin, Boo Junfeng and Andrew Ee, to name a few. Media projects featured included TV commercials, music videos and even feature films. Gravitate has also collaborated with a number of agency clients and film production companies. 2014 started with some interesting projects such as the StarHub LionsXII Legend Returns TVC featuring Fandi Ahmad and a heartwarming TVC from MCCY directed by Junfeng in conjunction with the Singapore 50 celebration. In the coming year, it looks to continue growing as a fresh post-production outfit. It is excited to merge old and new to make creative productions to meet client needs. Although small, the Gravitate team is composed of professional talents in fields such as offline cutting, colour grading, online and special effects, compositing, clean ups, 2D motion graphics and 3D animation.
For the past 12 months, Iceberg has been busy working on the post-production for various TV commercials and local feature films. It has also expanded its reach to encompass a number of advertising agencies and production houses. Currently, Iceberg is providing postproduction services to the top five production houses in Singapore: Two Oceans Film Company, Moviola Asia, Lunar Films, KTV and Lava. It has had a successful year in terms of account wins, including TVCs for McDonald’s, L’Oréal Youth Code, Tiger Beer and Lipton Milk Tea. It also won six feature films. Iceberg’s responsibilities include post-production services and working with directors and ad agencies.
Owned by: Independent Headed by: Shahril Ahmad, executive producer
Owned by: Independent Headed by: Fabian Tan, executive producer
SHOOTING GALLERY ASIA Shooting Gallery Asia experienced a year of strong growth as it looked to position itself as an international production house focused on Asia. The Shanghai office saw steady growth and an office was also established in Manila. The content development and producing arms, The Flying Kick Asia and Shooting Gallery Motion Pictures, also helped to create original content for commercial work. Shooting Gallery Asia also supports the local film community and was recognised for this at the 5th Singapore Short Film Awards earlier this year. The company continues to support this market with its new involvement in the production of Sinaran: The Movie, a rare Malay musical-dance love drama set. The company is also investing in 3D printing and capturing, building upon its deep expertise in 3D CGI, and to seek synergies between 3D CGI, printing and scanning. Owned by: Independent Headed by: Sebastian Tan, group managing director
ASIA’S TOP AWARDS FOR LOYALTY AND ENGAGEMENT RETURNS Two of the most critical components to a brand’s survival are put under the spotlight in this unique showcase of customer centric marketing. If your brand has successfully built customer loyalty and engagement, don’t miss this chance to demonstrate your outstanding marketing initiatives to the industry. ENGAGEMENT 1. Best Engagement Strategy for a Male Audience 2. Best Engagement Strategy for a Female Audience 3. Best Use of Brand Advocacy 4. Best Use of Co-Creation/Crowd Sourcing
5. Best Use of Experiential/Live Marketing 8. Best use of Games/Contests/Quizzes 6. Best Engagement Strategy by a Government/Community. 9. Best use of Integrated Media Campaign. 7. Best Engagement Strategy by a Media Owner 10. Best Employee Engagement Strategy
LOYALTY MARKETING 11. Best Card-Based Loyalty Programme 12. Best Partnership in a Loyalty Programme RELATIONSHIPS 17. Best CRM Strategy 18. Best Use of Consumer Insights/Analytics 19. Best Use of Relationship Marketing – B2B BEST OF SHOW (NOT FOR ENTRY) 24. Loyalty Agency of the Year 25. Engagement Agency of the Year
13. Best Use of Loyalty Related Technology 14. Best Use of Rewards & Incentives
15. Best Regional Loyalty Marketing Campaign 16. Loyalty Programme of the Year
20. Best Use of Relationship Marketing – B2C 21. Best Use of Social
22. Best Use of Mobile 23. Best use of Direct Marketing
26. Relationship Marketing Agency of the Year 27. L&E 2014 Brand of the Year
Submit your entries today www.marketing-interactive.com/le-awards-sg
ENTRY DEADLINE – 18 JUNE 2014 Book Your Tables With Our Early Bird Rates (before 1 August 2014) Single Seat: S$ 350 | 1/2 Table (5 Seats): S$ 1800 | Platinum Sponsor 1 Table (10 Seats): S$ 2700
Awards Night: Thursday, 14 August, 2014, Shangri-la Hotel Singapore Brought to you by Cocktail reception starts at 6.15pm
For more information, table reservations, or entries, call Czarina Solomon at +65 6423 0329 (ext: 250), +65 98205195 or email czarinas@marketing-interactive.com For sponsorship opportunities, call Che Winstrom at +65 6423 0329 or email chew@marketing-interactive.com
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PRODUCTION AGENCIES
SIXTOES
Sixtoes prides itself on being Asia’s first production solutions company to provide creative and production services – from producing, content creation to full production execution for on-screen communication. With offices in Singapore and Shanghai, sixtoes supports a raft of awarded local and international talent to the region’s local markets. Working directly with brands, agencies or co-producing with international production companies, sixtoes can resource all on-screen production needs and advice. The agency has done work for brands such as Standard Chartered Bank, adidas, Martell, Mizone, Infiniti, Singapore Airlines, JobsDB, Acuvue, Fancl and McDonald’s. Owned by: Independent Headed by: Haydn Evans, founder and executive producer
THE MOVING IMAGES COMPANY
TWO OCEANS FILM COMPANY
The past year has been an exciting one for The Moving Images Company. The agency gained a partnership with gyro, a US-based creative and B2B agency. This collaboration allowed the agency to tap into new and old clientele as one complete package. It was able to extend its arms to provide not only production and post-production service for client needs, but also prominent marketing, creative and digital services when required. The Moving Images Company continued to work with long-term clients such as SingTel as well as other familiar agencies such as Orbital Group. The company also won some new accounts, including Interpublic Group’s MBWW. Given the client satisfaction, The Moving Images Company has been awarded with IPG’s next campaign video. Looking forward, The Moving Images Company hopes to continue exploring more opportunities for partnerships that will complement its culture and add value to its clients. By doing so, the company will be able to create and deliver something new and exciting time after time in accordance to its capabilities and expertise. In addition, it will venture into the production of TV content and game development, as well as working towards owning that content instead of contracting.
A priority for Two Oceans Film Company has been to create work that matches up to international standards, as it attracted diversified genres of work catering to the local and international markets. It was responsible for shooting the Singapore Army’s “Ops Diary” TVC. Poh Heng’s “Gold” campaign was another work Two Oceans did. For RSN, it was also the first time the team managed to break into the navy account to produce a television campaign entitled “BeyondHorizons”. The campaign was designed to show the capabilities and role of the RSN by focusing on the men and women. It launched with a 60-second TVC broadcast on FTA TV and cable TV. The campaign also included print, OOH, cinema, online channels and online activities. Production of this TVC was one of the largest marketing communications projects undertaken by the navy at the time, involving hundreds of personnel and almost every type of craft in the RSN. With the high level of coordination required between the ships, personnel and film crew, it was a project demanding high integration and logistics planning. Together with the RSN and its agency Y&R, the team completed the entire production in only 10 weeks. Owned by: Independent Headed by: Koh Say Chong, executive producer
Owned by: Independent Headed by: Figo Fuad, chief
UPSIDE DOWN CONCEPTS
The past 12 months have been a period of growth for Upside Down Concepts with a new office in Manila and a new event venue in Chinatown in the works. The company won quite a few broadcast projects with well-known clients such as the Asian Food Channel and MediaCorp. The company has also seen a greater investment
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in new technology, helping the efficiency and innovation of its projects. One of the company’s biggest projects has been the implementation of Skyshot in an effort to reach the high potential growth area in remote aerial filming. For this, the company invested in long-duration time-lapse filming technology. As a result, it was able to win several construction-related video projects that requires such filming over the next few years. Along with the Asian Food Channel, Upside Down Concepts won accounts with Samsung C&T, Hyundai Construction, Heineken and Mapletree Commercial Trust, among others. On the campaign front, the company produced a video for Zimplistic that gathered more than 2.1 million hits on YouTube.
As Skyshot continues to gain popularity, Upside Down Concepts is also developing a new camera accessory by the name of the Black Box. This is a heavy duty protective case for DSLR cameras when shooting in challenging situations. The Black Box can transform a DSLR into an underwater camera, outdoor time-lapse machine, or a rugged hand-held camera. As a company, Upside Down Concepts plans to direct more efforts and resources into internal and external training. This includes better integration between the Philippines and Singapore offices. Owned by: Independent Headed by: Michael Chua, executive producer/ director and CK Chan, director/executive producer
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Now in its fourth year, the MARKies emphasises excellence in two main areas: creative ideas, where innovation is combined with top-class execution; and media usage, which champions deep media understanding with powerful channel presence. This year we also recognised the overall winners of The MARKies with ZenithOptimedia bagging the Overall Creative Ideas MARKie and MediaCom walking away with the Overall Best Use of Media MARKie.
Just like the Agency of the Year categories, the MARKies entries were assessed by a jury panel consisting of senior-level client marketers, with winners selected based on the highest combined score in each category. Congratulations to the winners, and many thanks to all entrants and judges for helping us determine and celebrate the best creative and media innovations produced in Singapore.
Category y sponsors of the MARKies: M
Best use of OOH
Best Idea – Direct Mail Best Idea – Female Audience
The MARKies is indebted to the following senior-marketing practitioners for participating as judges in the evaluation of the MARKies.
• Chitkala Nishandar, head of insights, Asia Pacific, 3M Singapore • Amit Das Gupta, director, brand, adidas, Southeast Asia • David Lee, head, e-tailers and social commerce, Dell Asia Pacific Japan • Myungjo Choi, managing director, Southeast Asia, Facebook • Jastina Balen, director, group branding and communications, Frasers Hospitality • Leon Traazil, head, digital marketing and social media, South Asia, HTC • Lynette Ang, chief brand and communications officer, NTUC Enterprise
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• Christina Lim, director, brand and marketing, NTUC FairPrice Co-operative • Paulo Koelle, marketing director, Gillette Asia, Procter & Gamble • Sharon Koh, head, marketing, Scoot • Myrna Poon, executive director, marketing and communications, Singapore Economic Development Board • Benny Toh, head, corporate marketing (former), Singapore Management University • Manisha Seewal, head, marketing, Tokio Marine Life Insurance Singapore • Patrick Steinbrenner, regional director, on-site marketing, Zalora Southeast Asia
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OVERALL CREATIVE IDEAS MARKie ZENITHOPTIMEDIA
OVERALL BEST USE OF MEDIA MARKie MEDIACOM SINGAPORE
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THE MARKies
PUBLICIS SEA LACTACYD – IT’S TIME TO LOVE YOUR “V” SANOFI-AVENTIS
A+E Networks Asia Lifetime Launch in Singapore A+E Networks Asia amcasia! Starwood Asia Pacific Conference Starwood Launch Group HP Consumer Partner Summit 2013 Hewlett-Packard Asia Pacific & Japan The Event Company Singapore Experience Awards 2013 Singapore Tourism Board
FINALISTS
BEST IDEA – CONSUMER INSIGHTS
GOODSTUPH THE ELITE ASSEMBLY HEWLETT-PACKARD SINGAPORE
FINALISTS
BEST IDEA – BUSINESS EVENTS WINNER
CPR Vision Management Hotel Guest Insights Anantara Hotels & Resorts Havas Worldwide Singapore Fairprice Finest Festival NTUC FairPrice Co-operative MediaCom Singapore Tasting Is Believing Coca-Cola ZenithOptimedia Durex – World Aids Day Someone Like Me Durex
MEDIACOM SINGAPORE BRING HAPPINESS HOME COCA-COLA
DFW Creative Digital Fashion Week Singapore 2013 Digital Fashion Week Singapore GOVT Absolut Canvas Pernod Ricard Singapore (Absolut Vodka) GOVT Craft of Perfection Pernod Ricard Singapore (Absolut Elyx) ZenithOptimedia Guinness Arthur’s Day 2013 – A Bold Night Out Asia Pacific Breweries – Guinness
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FINALISTS
BEST IDEA – CONTENT MARKETING
ZENITHOPTIMEDIA GUINNESS DRAUGHT – THE WORLD’S SMOOTHEST LAUNCH ASIA PACIFIC BREWERIES – GUINNESS
FINALISTS
BEST IDEA – CONSUMER EVENTS
CPR Vision Management 3STRIPES Loyalty Program adidas Havas Media DBS Go Online, Go Mobile DBS INEO Solutions Singapore Say it with Scootitude Scoot Mindshare Singapore Fully Loaded Campaign – Pete’s Day Job Pizza Hut Singapore
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PUBLICIS SEA LACTACYD – IT’S TIME TO LOVE YOUR “V” SANOFI-AVENTIS
Capillary Technologies KFC KFC Singapore GOVT Craft of Perfection Pernod Ricard Singapore (Absolut Elyx) Mandate Advertising International Army Women’s Seminar 2013 Army Recruitment Centre, Singapore Army Water’s Edge POSB & DBS Debit Card Activation Direct Mail Programme DBS Bank
FINALISTS
BEST IDEA – FEMALE AUDIENCE
GOODSTUPH THE ELITE ASSEMBLY HEWLETT-PACKARD SINGAPORE
FINALISTS
BEST IDEA – DIRECT MAIL
GOODSTUPH Sephora Hot Wheels Sephora Singapore MediaCom Singapore Anlene One Million Steps Challenge Fonterra Brands Vocanic ION Beauty Season ION Orchard Vocanic Operation Pink Parkway Pantai
DENTSU SINGAPORE CANON EOS WORLD CANON SINGAPORE
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Mindshare Singapore StarHub Mobile Happy Everywhere StarHub Mindshare Singapore Sunsilk Pop Up Salon Unilever Singapore Publicis SEA Lactacyd – It’s time to love your “V” Sanofi-Aventis Vocanic Operation Pink Parkway Pantai
MARKETING
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FINALISTS
BEST IDEA – LOYALTY & CRM
ZENITHOPTIMEDIA GUINNESS ARTHUR’S DAY 2013 – A BOLD NIGHT OUT ASIA PACIFIC BREWERIES – GUINNESS
FINALISTS
BEST IDEA – INTEGRATED MEDIA
CPR Vision Management 3STRIPES Member Acquisition adidas CPR Vision Management shu uemura CRM Program shu uemura Vocanic StarHub Community StarHub Vocanic StarHub Social Proactivity StarHub
WWW.MARKETING-INTERACTIVE.COM
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THE MARKies
MEDIACOM SINGAPORE REAL RACING 3 WITH GILLETTE P&G
MediaCom Singapore Real Racing 3 with Gillette P&G Vocanic i.t Social Queue Wing Tai Retail Vocanic StarHub Bid 2 Win StarHub ZenithOptimedia Tiger Beer – GAME TIME Tiger Beer
FINALISTS
BEST IDEA – MOBILE
ZENITHOPTIMEDIA GUINNESS ARTHUR’S DAY 2013 – A BOLD NIGHT OUT ASIA PACIFIC BREWERIES – GUINNESS
FINALISTS
BEST IDEA – MALE AUDIENCE
ChatterBolt Gamified Cheers Christmas Contest Cheers Vocanic ION Beauty Season ION Orchard Wild Advertising & Marketing SMU – A Different U (Undergraduate Admissions Campaign 2013) Singapore Management University ZenithOptimedia/Leo Burnett UOB Mobile Lifestyle Campaign United Overseas Bank
ZENITHOPTIMEDIA GUINNESS ARTHUR’S DAY 2013 – ACTS OF BOLDNESS ASIA PACIFIC BREWERIES – GUINNESS
Bates CHI&Partners, Singapore Team Singapore “Together We Are Stronger” Singapore Sports Council CPR Vision Management LANCÔME Beauty Institute Microsite LANCÔME Singapore Publicis SEA Lactacyd – It’s time to love your “V” Sanofi-Aventis yolk(at)Grey PawfectPets SPCA Singapore
WWW.MARKETING-INTERACTIVE.COM
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FINALISTS
BEST IDEA – OUT OF HOME
SPE NETWORKS – ASIA AXN THE BLACKLIST AXN
FINALISTS
BEST IDEA – ONLINE
MEC Singapore Minions on the Loose United International Pictures ZenithOptimedia Double Refreshment by Tiger Radler Tiger Beer ZenithOptimedia Maybelline New York: Volum’ Express Rocket Mascara Launch Campaign L’Oréal Singapore/Maybelline New York ZenithOptimedia Tiger Beer – GAME TIME Tiger Beer
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THE MARKies
STRATEGIC PUBLIC RELATIONS GROUP THE SINGA PROJECT SINGAPORE KINDNESS MOVEMENT
Grey Group Singapore Endless Energy P&G International Grey Group Singapore The Return P&G International Mandate Advertising International Obitcheery Lien Foundation Mindshare Singapore Nestlé Infant Nutrition – Start health Stay healthy Journal Nestlé Singapore
FINALISTS
BEST IDEA – PUBLIC/MEDIA RELATIONS
MEDIACOM SINGAPORE DULUX LET’S COLOUR TODAY AKZONOBEL PAINTS (SINGAPORE)
FINALISTS
BEST IDEA – PRINT
Edelman Public Relations Worldwide The Road Comes First Samsung Asia Grey Group Singapore Lend An Eye Eureka Call Centre System Ogilvy Public Relations, Singapore Guinness Arthur’s Day 2013 Guinness Singapore Ogilvy Public Relations, Singapore SingTel Hawker Heroes – A Challenge to Gordon Ramsay Singapore Telecommunications
BEST IDEA – RADIO
BEST IDEA – RETAIL/SHOPPER
MINDSHARE SINGAPORE STARHUB MOBILE HAPPYTHON STARHUB
THE LOCAL SAY YUM TO BUM GOODS OF DESIRE SINGAPORE
StarHub Mobile Happython
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MediaCorp Creative Services Anyone Can Make Music Flute And Music Academy, Music Gear MediaCorp Creative Services Not For Dumb Sheep Quotient Travelplanner MediaCorp Creative Services Scoot Hong Kong Launch Scoot Mindshare Singapore Knorr Family Cookout Unilever Singapore
MARKETING
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FINALISTS
FINALISTS
Happy Screenshots and Photos!
CPR Vision Management MINORPLUS Loyalty Programme MINOR GROUP – Retail GOODSTUPH Sephora Hot Wheels Sephora Singapore MediaCom Singapore Duracell Bunny P&G Singapore Vocanic i.t Social Queue i.t Labels
WWW.MARKETING-INTERACTIVE.COM
13/6/2014 10:09:11 AM
THE MARKies
THE LOCAL PUPPETEER MEDIACORP
OgilvyOne Worldwide, Singapore Need 4G Speed Singapore Telecommunications Publicis SEA Lactacyd – It’s time to love your “V’ Sanofi-Aventis Zeno Group Asia BlackBerry Dream App Factory “If You Can Dream It, You Can App It.” BlackBerry Zeno Group Asia Lenovo Yoga 11S Yoga Time Lenovo
FINALISTS
BEST IDEA – TV
OGILVY PUBLIC RELATIONS, SINGAPORE SINGTEL HAWKER HEROES – A CHALLENGE TO GORDON RAMSAY SINGAPORE TELECOMMUNICATIONS
FINALISTS
BEST IDEA – SOCIAL
Dentsu Singapore CANON Curiosity CANON Singapore Goodfellas Their Greatest Disability is Our Apathy Disabled People’s Association of Singapore MEC Singapore The Noose Australia Edition Scoot MediaCom Singapore VW Holiday on Wheels Volkswagen Singapore
YOLK(AT)GREY HALLOWEEN HORROR NIGHTS 3 RESORTS WORLD SENTOSA
CDS Studio Project “Inori Aizawa” – Internet Explorer Anime Campaign Microsoft Singapore Vocanic Operation Pink Parkway Pantai yolk(at)Grey How to have a good night out Heineken Asia-Pacific yolk(at)Grey How to have a good night out Heineken Asia-Pacific
WWW.MARKETING-INTERACTIVE.COM
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FINALISTS
BEST IDEA – WEB DESIGN
WILD ADVERTISING & MARKETING SMU – A DIFFERENT U (UNDERGRADUATE ADMISSIONS CAMPAIGN 2013) SINGAPORE MANAGEMENT UNIVERSITY
FINALISTS
BEST IDEA – VIRAL
CPR Vision Management NEW AQUASOURCE Deep Serum + 15TH Anniv BIOTHERM POSSIBLE Worldwide Standard Chartered Website Re-Design Standard Chartered Bank Reading Room Living Oceans Foundation Website The Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation yolk(at)Grey The Swap Lenovo (Singapore)
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THE MARKies
ZENITHOPTIMEDIA GUINNESS ARTHUR’S DAY 2013 – A BOLD NIGHT OUT ASIA PACIFIC BREWERIES – GUINNESS
Grey Group Singapore Lend An Eye Eureka Call Centre System Mindshare Singapore Nescafé Smile Ribbon Campaign NESCAFÉ Singapore ZenithOptimedia Guinness Arthur’s Day 2013-AMPed Asia Pacific Breweries – Guinness ZenithOptimedia/Leo Burnett UOB Mobile Lifestyle Campaign United Overseas Bank
FINALISTS
BEST USE OF INTEGRATED MEDIA
MEDIACOM SINGAPORE REAL RACING 3 WITH GILLETTE P&G
FINALISTS
BEST USE OF APPS
MEC Singapore Rather Be Having Fun Scoot Mindshare Singapore Magnum Pink & Black Unilever Singapore Ogilvy Public Relations, Singapore Do Good initiative Fairprice Foundation ZenithOptimedia “Discover A Different U”: SMU Undergraduate Admissions Campaign 2013 Singapore Management University
ZENITHOPTIMEDIA HEINEKEN TRUE PROFILE ASIA PACIFIC BREWERIES – HEINEKEN
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Grey Group Singapore Lend An Eye Eureka Call Centre System MediaCom Singapore A3 SB Launch Audi Singapore ZenithOptimedia Guinness Arthur’s Day 2013 – AMPed Asia Pacific Breweries – Guinness ZenithOptimedia/Leo Burnett UOB Mobile Lifestyle Campaign United Overseas Bank
MARKETING
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FINALISTS
BEST USE OF ONLINE
MEDIACOM SINGAPORE REAL RACING 3 WITH GILLETTE P&G
FINALISTS
BEST USE OF MOBILE
MEC Singapore Mercedes Benz A-Class – Every Family Has Its Rebel Daimler Southeast Asia Mindshare Singapore American Express Travel Insurance Remarketing Reeling Them In American Express International Insurance Services Mindshare Singapore Run Like Never Before SME SAP Asia ZenithOptimedia Springboarding Oracle into the IT Hardware Space Oracle Asia Pacific
WWW.MARKETING-INTERACTIVE.COM
13/6/2014 10:09:16 AM
THE MARKies
MEDIACOM SINGAPORE PITERA HOUSE AT TANGS P&G SINGAPORE
Grey Group Singapore One Child’s Toy, Another Child’s Pain Metro Grey Group Singapore Umbrella Tree WWF Vietnam MediaCom Singapore AsiaRooms Love Train AsiaRooms ZenithOptimedia Double Refreshment by Tiger Radler Tiger Beer
FINALISTS
BEST USE OF PRINT
MEC SINGAPORE GET ON BOARD SINGTEL’S DATA-ROAM PLANS SINGAPORE TELECOMMUNICATIONS
FINALISTS
BEST USE OF OOH
MEC Singapore Citibank – 8 Days of Gourmet Pleasures Every Week Citibank Singapore MEC Singapore Darlie – Trust the Proof, Trust the Expert Hawley and Hazel Mindshare Singapore Nestlé Infant Nutrition – Start health Stay healthy Journal Nestlé Singapore PHD Sulwhasoo Snowise Launch AmorePacific
INEO SOLUTIONS SINGAPORE SAY IT WITH SCOOTITUDE SCOOT
MEC Singapore SingTel – Managing mio TV’s reputation with SEO Singapore Telecommunications Mindshare Singapore American Express Travel Insurance Remarketing Reeling Them In American Express International Insurance Services Mindshare Singapore HSBC Loans Search Competing And Winning Through Remarketing The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Mindshare Singapore Legoland Malaysia Building Blocks For Paid Search Success Legoland Malaysia
WWW.MARKETING-INTERACTIVE.COM
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FINALISTS
BEST USE OF SOCIAL
IPROSPECT SINGAPORE AIRASIA – SHOW ME THE ROI AIRASIA
FINALISTS
BEST USE OF SEARCH
Mindshare Singapore Nescafé Smile Ribbon Campaign NESCAFÉ Singapore INEO Solutions Singapore Perthfect Boluo Scoot & BreadTalk social@Ogilvy Dreyer’s Singapore Dreyer’s Singapore (Nestlé) ZenithOptimedia Heineken True Profile Asia Pacific Breweries – Heineken
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