Marketing Magazine SG - Jul 2016 by Marketing Magazine Group

THE ART & SCIENCE OF CONNECTING WITH CONSUMERS

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

Rezwana Manjur, Deputy Editor rezwanam@marketing-interactive.com Vivienne Tay, Journalist viviennet@marketing-interactive.com Editorial – International Inti Tam, Deputy Editor (Hong Kong) intit@marketing-interactive.com Production and Design Shahrom Kamarulzaman, Regional Art Director shahrom@lighthousemedia.com.sg Fauzie Rasid, Senior Designer fauzier@lighthousemedia.com.sg Advertising Sales Johnathan Tiang, Sales Manager johnathant@marketing-interactive.com Ee Kai Li, Account Manager kailie@marketing-interactive.com Erica Loh, Account Manager erical@marketing-interactive.com Laura Lai, Account Manager laural@marketing-interactive.com Ong Yi Xuan, Advertising Sales Coordinator yixuano@marketing-interactive.com Advertising Sales - International Sara Wan, Senior Sales Manager (Hong Kong) saraw@marketing-interactive.com Event Production Hairol Salim, Regional Lead - Events and Training hairol@marketing-interactive.com Event Services Yeo Wei Qi, Regional Head of Events Services weiqi@marketing-interactive.com

I feel marketers are blessed with the ability to switch perspectives, which helps them to adapt and remain agile. Their inherent understanding of people and situations sets them apart. And I have imbibed some of these traits in my eight years with Marketing magazine. Much of my life’s perspectives have been shaped by what I have learnt on the job – about marketing (connecting with people), engagement, creativity, and so much more. As I pen my last editor’s note for the magazine, I find myself reflecting on these marketing/life lessons I’ve picked up on the job. Here they are: Get the culture right – without a deep understanding of culture, no marketing will be able to strike a chord with the audience or your team/s. Personal branding – never underestimate its importance. Whether you are a senior exec or entry-level staff, being conscious of your brand and building it over time is a must. Longevity – it’s 2016 I know, but patience pays off. Adding value to an organisation while growing your career requires time. Some, I know, may argue otherwise, but I’m a believer. Think long-standing client-agency relationships. Isn’t it a #blessing? (hate that hashtag, by the way!)

Network – I have constantly communicated this to my team. Our job as journalists is 60% networking, 40% writing. If you are not meeting new people, you will stop learning, simple. Same goes for marketing – meet your vendors, customers, channel partners. Be on the ground, talking and collecting “real-life” data. That’s a true differentiator. And last, never underestimate the value of content. We have seen exponential growth in our readership every time we have made changes to our content strategy. For a publisher, audience numbers are everything, and therefore, our growth over the years has been immensely gratifying. Big thanks to you, our audience. Now it’s time to take that growth to another level and nobody else, but Rezwana Manjur would’ve been the best person to do so. So, say hello to Marketing’s new editor. As I take the next step in my career, I say goodbye to a team which is not just looking good, but fantastic. Wishing Rayana all the best. I mean Rezwana! (PS: It’s an inside joke, you would know.) Keep reading Marketing magazine, and stay in touch!

Circulation Executive Deborah Quek, Circulations Executive deborahq@marketing-interactive.com Finance Evelyn Wong, Regional Finance Director evelynw@lighthousemedia.com.sg Management Søren Beaulieu, Publisher sorenb@marketing-interactive.com Justin Randles, Group Managing Director jr@marketing-interactive.com Tony Kelly, Managing Director tk@marketing-interactive.com

Marketing is published 12 times per year 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. MCI (P) 122/01/2016. 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 2/F, Connaught Harbourfront House 35-36 Connaught Road West Sheung Wan, Hong Kong Tel: +852 2861 1882 Fax: +852 2861 1336 To subscribe to Marketing magazine, go to: www.marketing-interactive.com

Rayana Pandey Editor

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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

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

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

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

14 WILL CAMPBELL WILSON’S DEPARTURE CAUSE TURBULENCE AT SCOOT? And should agency partners be worried? Rezwana Manjur asks.

18 MEDIA REBATES: WHAT IS THE INDUSTRY DOING ABOUT THEM? An issue which refuses to go away, what does the industry think about media rebates? Rayana Pandey finds out.

20 MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE WITH SMRT CEO’S 20% PAY CUT? What does it really mean when the CEO takes a pay cut? Rezwana Manjur explores.

22 PROFILE: GOH THENG KIAT, CMO OF OCBC BANK Marketing is often considered synonymous with creativity and ideas, but the one thing which is even more important than those two is discipline, says OCBC’s CMO, Goh Theng Kiat. Read more on page 22.

A multi-faceted personality, what is OCBC’s CMO Goh Theng Kiat’s top priorities when it comes to consumers? Rayana Pandey asks.

38 MASTER REPORT: THE REAL-TIME ADVERTISING LANDSCAPE How can marketers utilise real-time advertising to intimately engage audiences and influence the consumer’s path-to-purchase journey? Our latest Master Report gives you the answers.

46 SHOPPER MARKETING 2016 52 ANALYTICS 2016 How companies are embracing the power of data and embedding analytics into their business processes.

SCAN TO SUBSCRIBE!

18 14

KEY TAKEAWAYS: >> Managing your brand when a CEO leaves. >> How luxury brands are using technology. >> Taking analytics to the next level.

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38 46 JU LY 2 016 M ARKE TI N G 3

ON THE COVER: Art direction: Fauzie Rasid & Shahrom Kamarulzaman; Photography: Edwin Tan — Lumina (www.animulstudio.com)

Check out how brands can make the customer experience from online to offline as seamless as possible.

NEWS

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

‘Go Places’ with PSB PSB Academy launched a campaign inviting polytechnic diploma graduates to “Go Places” with an “undergraduate education experience that is agile, readies them for the industry and is cosmopolitan”. The campaign ran from mid-May with the tag line “Go Places with PSB Academy” on digital and social media platforms, roadshows, as well as on print, buses, train platforms, bus shelters, outdoor video screens and other out-of-home channels. ION renews with KRDS ION Orchard renewed KRDS Singapore’s contract to manage the brand’s digital presence for another year. Content for ION Orchard has been curated using native applications and website development, giving an overall digital echo to strengthen the brand’s identity on social media. With innovation being the key focus, several successful campaigns have been created, such as ION Holideals and a Facebook cover photo that changes based on the weather. Avado launches in Singapore Global digital learning provider Avado made its debut in Singapore, joining the ranks of other players such as Hyper Island and General Assembly. Partnering with brands such as Google and accrediting bodies such as CIPD, Avado delivers learning platforms and training solutions to clients. It has worked with the likes of brands such as Mediacorp, WPP, Nestlé, HSBC and Sony in the APAC region. 4 M A R K ET I N G JU LY 2 0 1 6

CASE lauds Fair Trading Act Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) announced its support to ensure consumer protection laws stay relevant and protects consumers, following the Ministry of Trade and Industry’s move to review the Consumer Protection (Fair Trading) Act. The proposed amendments will not only help tighten consumer protection laws, but also target unscrupulous retailers who exhibit recalcitrant behaviour in unfair practices against consumers.

Pokka celebrates being No.1 Pokka launched a new campaign to celebrate its recent crowning as the No.1 selling ready-to-drink coffee in Singapore, according to Nielsen. It recognises the increasing pace and competitiveness of life in Singapore and utilises a first-person perspective video featuring the Pokka coffee man. It was conceptualised by integrated marketing agency B’yond 360 and the full uncut two-minute take was achieved after more than 40 takes. Lighting up the roads Out-of-home media owner Moove Media launched its latest Moove Bling Bus for more advertising options. It consists of 15 LED light bulbs which light up the moment the bus headlights are turned on, lining both sides of the bus. Since its introduction a month ago, it has been used by brands such as Gem Residences, Electrolux and Sompo Insurance for their advertising campaigns.

Twitter adds data scientists Twitter tapped into the local talent pool in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics in Singapore. The new team will be the first data science team to be based outside of the US, focusing on its international growth opportunity. The social media giant is looking to make 10 new hires involved in creating new products for its key markets such as Japan, India, Indonesia, the Philippines and Brazil.

HPB picks eight agencies Health Promotion Board (HPB) awarded all eight agencies who pitched for its Health Hub Portal account. The agencies awarded were DDB Worldwide, Mirum Singapore (XM Asia), Possible Worldwide, Web Professional, FXMedia, Novus Media Solutions, King Content Singapore and Digital Boomerang. Undertaking content management duties will be DDB Worldwide, Possible Worldwide and FXMedia. Health and wellness content development services will be helmed by Mirum Singapore, Novus Media Solutions, King Content Singapore and Digital Boomerang.

Retiring with a dream Great Eastern teamed up with SPHMBO on an out-of-home campaign featuring Instagram contest winners for its #RetireGreat campaign, along with their heartwarming retirement dreams. The campaign provides a glimpse of how to achieve a great retirement through Great Eastern’s suite of retirement solutions. It dresses up the walls at the Ocean Financial Centre linkway to showcase the selected winners, along with a digital wall mural.

Lighting up Mediacorp OOH Media launched its 2D illuminated lightboxes, increasing night-time visibility of its existing 2D Flagships while maintaining the panels’ even lighting and vibrancy. Featuring the Marina Bay skyline, the lightboxes promoted the event to incoming traffic and passers-by from the roof of the bus shelter. It features attractive motion LEDs, opening up possibilities on the use of animated lights to attract commuters’ attention. New partnership StarHub appointed Carat as its media agency following a pitch. The incumbent on the account was Mindshare Singapore, which had been its media agency of record since March 2009. It worked with StarHub to create impactful radio campaigns now in the Singapore Book of Records, #SG4SG, 4G4Good and more recently Home by Homes. WWW. MARK E TING-IN TE RAC TI VE . C OM

NEWS

Buying out slavery The #BuyOutSlavery campaign was launched by nongovernmental organisation Not For Sale, CNN Freedom Project and HISTORY Asia and is being promoted throughout Southeast Asia’s most popular e-commerce websites. While shopping on participating sites, consumers will be encouraged to contribute to liberating modern-day slaves by making a donation to Not For Sale and also by sharing their actions online. It will educate the audience about the products they are buying and what to look out for. BCA concludes pitch The Building and Construction Authority (BCA) appointed Addiction Advertising as its integrated marketing communications agency. The agency will be responsible for the conceptualisation and provision of creative counsel for BCA’s Project BUILD Competition 2016 publicity campaign. This year’s campaign will target youths and aims to promote better understanding on universal design and its importance in shaping a more inclusive and friendly built environment for everyone.

Saving the environment Saving Gaia, MediaCorp’s green initiative, was launched for the ninth year with a new campaign to raise public awareness of environmental issues. The campaign’s focus this year is on the alarming amount of waste that Singapore generates each year in food, plastic and electronics. Its message: By changing our habits and reducing waste, we can reduce global warming. WWW.M A R K ET I N G - I N T ER A C T I V E.C O M

Grabbing PR help Grab, Southeast Asia’s leading ride-hailing company, appointed Golin as its communications agency. This follows a pitch process, with the appointment lasting for one year. Currently, Grab also has an in-house PR team which will be working with the agency. The incumbent on the account was Ruder Finn. Grab began as a taxi-hailing application in 2012 and has extended its product platform to include private car services, motorcycle taxis and social carpooling.

ICON lands in Asia Digital production and distribution studio Endemol Shine Beyond launched ICON Asia, a global digital lifestyle network. It features original new series and content from some of the hottest up-andcoming digital influencers and lifestyle experts from across Asia, including Singapore, Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand and Hong Kong. Fashion, beauty and lifestyle talents featured include Michelle Phan, Michelle Dy, Ross Kwan and others.

Bringing Pepper to Asia MasterCard unveiled the first commerce application for SoftBank Robotics’ humanoid robot Pepper. Powered by MasterPass and partnering with Pizza Hut, it looks to create an innovative customer engagement with Pepper. It extends the robot’s ability to integrate customer service, access to information and sales into a seamless and consistent user experience. Pizza Hut Asia will be piloting Pepper for order taking and personalised engagement to enhance the customer service instore by the end of 2016.

Restricting online access All computers officially used by public servants in Singapore will be cut off from the internet come May 2017 in a bid to tighten security. As many as 100,000 computers used by the public service will be affected by the new policy. The move has garnered a strong online reaction, with many calling the policy “backwards” and contradictory of the Smart Nation movement which has been promoted extensively.

SAM’s new media partner The Singapore Art Museum appointed Starcom Singapore as its media partner for the Singapore Biennale 2016, Marketing has confirmed. The agency has been tasked to undertake advertising and media buying activities for the account and event, which will be held as a four-month exhibition from 27 October 2016 to 26 February 2017. Singapore Biennale 2016 is organised by the Singapore Art Museum, and commissioned by the National Arts Council. A new data centre Digital Realty Trust, a global provider of data centres, opened up its “next generation data centre” in Singapore. The facility spans 177,000 square feet and will support 13.2 megawatts of IT load. It is designed to accommodate a wide range of customer deployments – from cloud service providers to financial services customers – and has been engineered to meet the applicable technology risk management guidelines of the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

StanChart calls for media pitch Standard Chartered Bank Singapore called for a media pitch. This is in response to a recent initiative to streamline processes and maintain efficiency in the organisation, Marketing understands. The agency appointed will take care of media buying and planning duties. According to sources, the pitch is a global one being run out of Singapore. Marketing understands agencies pitching for the account include MEC, Havas Media and UM, with OMD as the incumbent.

Spotting 10 errors in an ad Independent agency Blak Labs issued a challenge to graduating students from the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts with the promise of a 12-week work placement. The test, distributed to students through their graduation booklets and digital channels, required them to spot at least 10 design errors deliberately hidden in the ad. According to Blak Labs, industry practitioners should be able to spot at least 15 errors.

SPHMBO adds OOH offering New digital advertising screens have been set up in VivoCity in partnership with SPHMBO. Since its inception, the digital advertising network has played host to Seiko, Rado and Walt Disney’s Finding Dory, which will be screening in local cinemas later this month. The advertising network in the mall comprises mainly the Mega Screen, a large video wall in the atrium, and three other sizeable similar video walls on link bridges on the first level. JU LY 2 016 M ARKE TI N G 5

NEWS

Measurement for ad mileage With US$7.2 billion being lost per year on ad fraud, the International Advertising Bureau Singapore (IAB) announced a standardised measure to help advertisers and brands measure just how much mileage their ads are getting. It created a viewability roundtable and committee made up of members from Google, LinkedIn, MediaCorp, SPH, Xaxis, Facebook, and many more, to define exactly what viewability means and how this is defined in the region.

IBM Studios launches in Asia IBM Studios, a new design centre which aims to help clients reinvent their business for the digital age, launched in Singapore and will serve as the regional hub for Asia. IBM Studios Singapore will host more than 100 designers and digital experts from IBM iX (Interactive Experience). Working out of Singapore, it will also help develop individualised experiences through a combination of cognitive capabilities and experience design for clients around the region.

Dining like a prisoner To promote the fourth season of Orange Is the New Black, Netflix Asia teamed up with OverEasy Orchard to bring the prison dining experience to attendees. Modelled after the Litchfield Penitentiary Cafeteria in the series, attendees had a complimentary fill of Litchfield prison food in the two-day event, served with its house beverage: water. The event was conceptualised by The Secret Little Agency. 6 M A R K ET I N G JU LY 2 0 1 6

Ogilvy takes on the arts The National Arts Council appointed Ogilvy & Mather Singapore (O&M) to undertake public relations duties for a period of one year, with an option to renew for an additional year, according to GeBiz. Other firms which pitched for the account were APCO Worldwide and WE Communications. O&M also won the public relations tender for the National Council of Social Service in April, which recently picked its creative and media partners for a disability awareness campaign.

Hitachi extends partnership Hitachi appointed Dentsu Aegis Network Singapore for its media planning and buying work, plus management of its Social Innovation Forum. Dentsu Möbius Media (DM2) and Dentsu Singapore were appointed respectively, with additional support from Band Interprise, a Dentsu Aegis specialist agency that provides B2B marketing, channel and sales enablement services. DM2 retains its media agency partnership with Hitachi across Southeast Asia, a relationship that has lasted more than five years. JCDecaux offers more Out-of-home (OOH) advertising company JCDecaux launched a 23 square metre lightbox on the building façade of Shaw House, expanding its media offering with the new outdoor site. The new site was launched on 5 May, promoting upcoming movies such as Warcraft: The Beginning and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows.

Pushing the red button Mediacorp’s Toggle launched Toggle Red Button, a new service to further the free-to-air TV viewing experience. It will amalgamate live broadcast TV and Toggle’s video-on-demand catalogue service. The service was developed in partnership with Finland-based HbbTV solution provider, Sofia Digital, and was based on a hybrid technology known as Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV (HbbTV). It was the first in Asia to be deployed.

Samsung Pay hits local shores Samsung launched mobile payment facilities in Singapore, after its first launch in Korea and the US. This comes shortly after the recent launch of Apple Pay in Singapore in April. Similar to Apple Pay, Samsung Pay payments can only be authorised through fingerprint scans. Some of the 40 brands which have already jumped on the bandwagon include 7-Eleven, Best Denki, BreadTalk, Challenger, Cold Storage, NTUC FairPrice, M1 and StarHub.

New possibilities The Ministry of Social and Family Development appointed Carbon Interactive as its digital agency after a pitch that involved five other agencies. The appointment will be for a period of one year with an option to renew for another. It will provide services that include digital content development, social media management, digital marketing, and campaign management for the council’s Families For Life website, Facebook page and Instagram account.

Kenzo partners with JCDecaux JCDecaux Cinema Network was selected by Kenzo for an OOH advertising campaign celebrating the 16th anniversary of the brand’s iconic fragrance: Flower by Kenzo’s. Kenzo’s brand ambassadors handed out fragrance samples with a poppy at Shaw House Level 5. It gave away 12,000 samples of FlowerByKenzo L’Elixir and FlowerByKenzo Eau de Parfum over four weekends (from 20 May to 12 June). Up for grabs The Media Development Authority (MDA) launched a public tender for two FM frequencies – FM 89.3 and FM 96.3 for proposals in operating the commercial or not-for-profit radio stations. Currently, the FM 89.3 spectrum is vacant while FM 96.3 is occupied by Expat Radio 96.3 XFM. MDA will not limit proposals to any particular genre or programming format in order to attract a wider range of proposals. It closes on 14 September.

Shell's new retail agency Shell Retail appointed M&C Saatchi in Singapore as its agency of record from May 2016 following a closed-door pitch involving several agencies. Marketing understands the incumbent on the account TSLA did not pitch for the account. As Shell Retail Singapore’s new creative agency partner, M&C Saatchi (Singapore) is tasked with bringing in fresh perspectives and insights to help the iconic brand stand out in this highly competitive category. WWW. MARK E TING-IN TE RAC TI VE . C OM

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For Singapore registered companies, enjoy 40% rebate off the course fee under the Productivity and Innovation Credit (PIC) scheme.Contact Carlo Reston, carlor@marketing-interactive.com, +65 6423 0329 for further information on agenda and registration.

NEWS

Feeling cheated? Range Rover in the UK initiated a publicity stunt for its new luxury SUV, parking the vehicle outside the popular department store Harrods. The vehicle had been spray painted with the words “Cheater” and “Hope she was worth it” in huge red letters. Photos of the car were shared right around the world, generating thousands of mentions online and press coverage to boot, even from the BBC. Racist detergent ad uproar A new advertisement for Qiaobi, a laundry detergent brand in China, is turning heads for its blatant racism. It starts with a woman doing her laundry, when a paintsplattered black man appears. After inviting him closer, the woman stuffs a laundry detergent capsule in his mouth and shoves him into the washing machine. To her pleasant surprise, when the load of laundry is done, a young Asian man with a clean shirt climbs out of the machine.

Getting creative Facebook partnered with WPP to launch the “creative ambassador” programme in Asia Pacific. Top creative directors, planning directors, copywriters and client leaders from WPP agencies across Asia, including Geometry, Grey, J. Walter Thompson, Mirum, Ogilvy & Mather, Possible, VML, Wunderman and Y&R, travelled to Facebook Singapore for the two-day education session. Agency attendees represented WPP offices from Japan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand. 8 M A R K ET I N G JU LY 2 0 1 6

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

McDonald’s new movie Joining the likes of The Social Network, which chronicles the early formation days of social media powerhouse Facebook, is none other than fast-food conglomerate McDonald’s as it gets its own biopic underway featuring its founder, Ray Kroc. Loaded with imagery showcasing its signature golden arches, the film is set to show the journey of the brand. The film stars acting heavyweight Michael Keaton.

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

Colombia, not Columbia A campaign by the German sporting giant adidas, which ran in the US for the 2016 Copa America tournament, spelled South American country Colombia as “Columbia”. This, unfortunately, did not go unseen by the Twitterverse, which sported a major backlash. Adidas has since apologised for the error and removed all the ads and replaced them with new ones – with the proper spelling. Turning on the waterworks AIA Thailand created a new spot which will leave you in tears. It showcases the journey a boy has with his mother since his early days. The two struggle to make ends meet all their lives and this undoubtedly puts pressure on the mother-son relationship.

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

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

HOW MUCH DOES THAT COST?

HOW ARE YOU FEELING TODAY?

PepsiCo International launched a set of 26 emoticons in Singapore, which were featured on Pepsi bottles and cans. Calling them “Pepsimoji”, these emoticons offered varied expressions such as “Love”, “Kiss”, “Smirk” and “Cool” – emojis that users are already very familiar with. It also showcased new emojis with “Singlish” expressions such as “Blur like Sotong”, “Kan Chiong Spider” and “Chope” to suit the local culture.

To bring these #Pepsimoji closer to consumers, out-of-home media owner Moove Media transformed a wall at the Dhoby Ghaut MRT station along SBS Transit’s North East Line into an augmented reality screen. When a commuter appeared on the AR screen, a “Pepsimoji” would appear on the top of his or her head on the wall at the same time, indicating the commuter’s mood at the moment. The campaign ran for four weeks on SBS Transit buses and was conceptualised by creative agency WE Interactive! and its media agency was Mindshare Singapore. The cost of the campaign was about SG$280,000.

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NEWS

Tiger heads to New York Tiger Beer officially launched a two-day showcase, The Tiger Trading Co, in New York City. The showcase was a retail popup with modern art, fashion, technology and designs of Asia located in the heart of Chinatown. It was conceptualised as part of the brand’s initiatives to present the modern face of emerging Asia, in line with its “Uncage” ethos, to inspire people, regardless of whereabouts and to embody the courage and entrepreneurial spirit of Asia.

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

Mondelēz gets fearless Mondelēz International launched a new media monetisation model that will allow the company to improve the return on investment of its global media spending. Through this “fearless marketing” model, Mondelēz International will focus on forming new media partnerships to acquire, develop and distribute content properties that will build its power brands and generate revenue. This approach will enable the company to make larger-scale investments behind its power brands.

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

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

Nestlé and Alibaba partner up To celebrate its 150th anniversary, global food and beverage giant Nestlé teamed up with Alibaba to kick off a six-month joint campaign to capitalise on Alibaba’s online marketplaces and media platforms. Other marketing activities Nestlé has in the pipeline will include showcasing its brands to Chinese customers countrywide via what Alibaba calls its “e-commerce media ecosystem”.

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AUDIT WATCH

WHY AUDITING MATTERS

When it comes to justifying the advertising spend, knowing that a publication has been audited for its circulation numbers can bring some extra reassurance to advertisers. Chloe Neo, managing director of OMD Singapore, said advertisers and media agencies typically evaluated the relevance and effectiveness of publications on both qualitative and quantitative metrics. Qualitative assessment covers editorial relevance and factors such as production quality, while quantitative elements typically include circulation and readership numbers. “These numbers serve as a verified basis for media evaluation

E-Halal.com expands reach E-Halal.com, a directory portal supported by a worldwide halal trustmark, is expected to generate RM300 million in turnover in its first year of operations. The portal will also be available in Singapore, Indonesia, China and South Korea, reported the local news. International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said the “e-Halal mall would help Malaysia establish itself as a halal hub for the e-commerce trade”. A big buy Microsoft will be acquiring LinkedIn for US$196 per share in an all-cash transaction valued at US$26.2 billion, inclusive of LinkedIn’s net cash. Through the acquisition, LinkedIn will retain its distinct brand, culture and independence while Jeff Weiner will remain CEO of LinkedIn, reporting to Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft. The transaction has been unanimously approved by both boards of directors.

and recommendation, in addition to other qualitative assessments,” Neo said. This allows advertisers to maximise their already finite budgets when it comes to investing in the most cost-effective solutions and the right media prioritisations. “Audited numbers allow for a more consistent, verified approach for comparison and is a critical part of the media evaluation,” Neo said. “Conversely, audited numbers enable a media company to present their publications/media with credibility, given the third party verified data.” Melvin Lim, CEO of Havas Media, notes the increasing trend of marketers understanding the importance of auditing. “Increasingly we are seeing marketers who have very good instincts about publications that may not have audited numbers as well,” Lim said.

GoBear goes big Comparison site GoBear has appointed Havas Media as its media agency of record following a pitch. GoBear is a comparison site for all types of insurance and credit cards. The appointment will see Havas Media International, the agency’s international media planning and buying arm, handle GoBear’s offline and online strategy as well as its media planning and buying duties across seven markets: Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam, Hong Kong and Indonesia. A sweet deal OMD was retained as Frucor Beverages’ media agency. The new win will incorporate media strategy, planning, buying and digital for a range of brands, including V Energy Drink, Maximus and OVI Hydration. Frucor Beverages has been a foundation client from OMD’s entry into the Australian market back in 2000. JU LY 2 016 M ARKE TI N G 9

NEW WORK .................................................................................................................................................................................................................

1 Campaign On Cloud-nine – “Experience your Comfort Zone” Brief American Standard embarked on a regional creative communication campaign that showcases its line of lifestyle sanitary wares, touted to be ergonomically designed to give users the most comfortable bathroom experience possible. It has invited consumers to try out the seats in an artistic manner. Client

LIXIL International

Creative

Addiction Advertising

Media

Addiction Advertising

2 Campaign Goodbye, Hello Brief To convince consumers they can trust Singtel to deliver reliable broadband and connectivity to people who matter, the telco has collaborated with critically acclaimed local film maker Boo Junfeng for “Goodbye, Hello”, a short story about a long-distance relationship. The TVC is airing on freeto-air channels and in cinemas. Client

Singtel

Creative

Ogilvy & Mather Singapore

Media

Havas Media Singapore

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3 Campaign Pack of Life Brief Outdoor Singapore launched a new campaign to promote the brand’s 2016 Spring Summer collection. It introduces four relatable and distinct packs of friends: explorers, dreamers, music lovers and geeks. Explorers have a thirst for adventure; dreamers are happy-go-lucky; music lovers express themselves with music; and geeks collect new knowledge or skills. Client

Sidefame Singapore

Creative

Section

Media

Section

4 Campaign Incredible Hair Everyday With New Sunsilk Brief Unilever and Mediacorp’s OOH Media launched a new campaign promoting Sunsilk’s new shampoo series. One hundred units of OOH Media’s 6-sheet outdoor panels were fitted with a mirror, based on the natural human instinct to look at a mirror whenever one is in sight. Passers-by can check their hair during the course of the day, to see if it’s still as fresh in comparison to when they first started the day.

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Client

Unilever

Creative

The Alchemy Partnership

Media

Mindshare

SUBMISSIONS PLEASE SEND US YOUR BEST NEW WORK REGULARLY IN HIGH-RES JPEG OR PDF TO BE CONSIDERED FOR THESE PAGES. EMAIL REZWANAM@MARKETING-INTERACTIVE.COM

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OPINION: AD WATCH/WEB WATCH

Timothy Chan Creative director GOVT Singapore

AD WATCH HOT: Singtel – Goodbye Hello

Daikin – ENVi Series TVC

I’m a sappy little fool, so I’ll fall for a good story that’s well told any day. And Goodbye Hello hits the spot. This three-minute film about a long-distance relationship, powered by Singtel, had unrequited love, heartbreak, a romantically cheesy song and a cat all in one. It reminds me of an ad on my top 10 list: Google Chrome’s “Jess Time”. In both cases, it proves the best stories are honestly simple, casting is key and a good director can bring fairy dust to the screen. It also does the job of driving the product story home. Sometimes, storytelling pieces can overshadow the product, but not here. Maybe it was the cat. It may contain some misses, such as a few not-so-subtle logo placements, but hey, I won’t crush the caterpillars and complain there are no butterflies. So, well done, Boo Junfeng and Singtel.

I like watching cinema ads. When they’re good, they’re really nice to watch on a big screen, aren’t they? But when they’re not, I tend to feel better about the work I do (don’t roll your eyes. We all do that.) I saw this before Civil War. If you haven’t had the pleasure, it’s about a husband who forgets to turn off the air conditioning at home. He realises it at work, promptly goes into full Assassin’s Creed parkour mode to get home and turns it off in the nick of time, only for his nagging wife to catch him redhanded because she had turned it on again via her smartphone and … well you get the idea. All via terrible acting too. I don’t think anyone ever deliberately sets out to do a bad ad, so all I’m saying is: I’m glad I didn’t do this one.

Preetham Venkky Director KRDS Singapore

WEB WATCH HOT: carousell.com

NOT: gumtree.sg

More than two-thirds of Singaporeans access websites from their mobile devices. It has now become important to have a mobilefocused strategy. So, here comes another start-up that changes the market paradigm forever (hopefully). Carousell, having started as a mobile-first company, may give it an edge over its ancient competitors (knock knock, Gumtree and Craigslist) in the classifieds space. The content on the site is primary led by pictures making it more engaging and immersive. Carousell has adapted the most commonly used Pinterest layout to its advantage (always nice to be inspired by leaders in the space) with much success. Simple white and grey tone enhances the products on display. It is able to focus on what’s most important – the image, the title and the cost – the most important parameters needed for users to make a decision. Its mobile site loads fast, is intuitive and uses Instagram-like images to give you that warm fuzzy feeling.

Just off the bat, the site looks like it carries parts from a decade long gone. It looks like an old death star that refuses to disappear. Green and cream, much like sap oozing from a tree, aren’t really great colours for the tone of a functional website. Heavy with text, it seems to pay homage to the era of DOS. Images are smaller than stamps (and thumbnails) and look more like an afterthought. While the layout is simple, listings have more information than what is needed. Much hated ads are loaded first – requiring the user to scroll up before they can interact with the requested content. The only nice thing about a listing is the ease with which one can dial the contact. In the world of million-dollar business deals finalised over What’s App business, it would’ve served them better if they’d included a direct messaging option. In short, they have a lot to work to do or else the tree shall come unearthed.

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DIRECT MAIL CASE STUDY

SILVER RULES FOR ZOUK’S 25TH ANNIVERSARY Zouk Singapore sparkles and shines during its silver jubilee celebrations.

For the first time, it showcased the Zouk All Stars which consisted all the favourite past and present resident DJs along with live fringe acts such as CyberJapan Dancers, percussionist Maniam and ShiGGa Shay.

THE MAIL Objective To celebrate Zouk’s 25th silver jubilee anniversary and introduce the new Zouk mascot robot.

Target audience Celebrating in style: Zouk goes all out for its silver jubilee celebrations.

Singapore’s iconic nightclub Zouk Singapore celebrated its 25th silver jubilee anniversary this year on 28 May. Tying in with the theme of a silver jubilee, Zouk Singapore took the “silver” in silver jubilee literally and transformed Zouk into a multiplicity of silver. The same went for the party invite. The mailer aimed to create maximum impact and build curiosity by creating some social media buzz and serving as a gift or form of memorabilia for the receiver. Targeted at members, media and VIPs, the mailer featured the Zouk mascot robot, WWW.M A R K ET I N G - I N T ER A C T I V E.C O M

the famed Zouk “sausage and mash” and the silhouette of the Zouk warehouse. It was a conduit for the introduction of the new Zouk mascot and aimed to create some social media buzz as it doubled up as an invitation which admitted two to its anniversary bash. Receivers of the direct mailer had a visual spectacle of the projection mapping at Zouk, which was part of a collaboration with Untitled Project. The event also featured throwbacks to past resident DJs who took on iconic genres such as breakbeat and hip hop, tribal house and techno.

Zouk’s existing members – 3,000 – and media, VIPs, sponsors and partners.

Results There was a good turnout at the event, with about 200 people in terms of media turnout and a PR value of SG$300,000 in coverage. The event had a total of 407 social media posts on Instagram and the final turnout showed a full house at 4,000.

Sofie Chandra Head of marketing and events Zouk

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NEWS ANALYSIS

WILL CAMPBELL WILSON’S DEPARTURE CAUSE TURBULENCE AT SCOOT? And should agency partners be worried? Rezwana Manjur asks.

Up, up and away: With Campbell Wilson leaving, it remains to be seen how the brand will handle it.

Last month, Marketing reported news of Scoot’s chief executive Campbell Wilson leaving the brand, along with Steven Greenway, head of commercial for the budget airline. Wilson is set to take on a new senior position of acting SVP for sales and marketing for parent company SIA. Wilson’s name has over the years been synonymous with Scoot. As the man in charge of starting up the airline in 2012, he was seen as the CEO who injected the “free-spirited” persona the brand carries. Wilson has often fronted several campaigns for the brand, making the statement that a CEO is the face of the brand. But as it happens in most cases, a change in top management leads to a change in direction for the brand and how it markets itself – especially with a CEO such as Wilson who was also closely tied to its image. In fact, in 2014, when Sharon Koh, former marketing lead of the company, left, she thanked Wilson personally in a heartfelt blog post for supporting the marketing teams’ daring and often cheeky vision. When the brand first took off, Wilson had simply handed her a thumb 1 4 M A R K ET I N G JU LY 2 0 1 6

drive, consisting of the Scoot logo, a cartoon picture of the plane-to-be and an animated video of it taking off. “He also handed me a concept called Scootitude, a blank canvas and asked me to create a picture for the Scoot brand … thank you Campbell, for this opportunity and trusting me to grow and nurture the Scoot brand like my own baby,” she said at the time. Agency partners such as Publicis and Performics also raved about Wilson’s leadership style. When asked if a change of management worried them, both leads of the agencies declined to comment. However, Lou Dela Pena, CEO of Publicis Communications Singapore, said Wilson and Greenway were clients who clearly understood the tremendous value that creativity could add to the bottom line when done right. Meanwhile, Vivian Yeo, head of Performics, said it was common practice in the industry for new management to be introduced as part of a client company’s succession plan. “We are #yellowandproud to share a great culture of partnership with Scoot, which

enables Performics to respond swiftly to Scoot’s dynamism,” Yeo said. So, with the face of Scoot now no longer with the company, is the brand’s DNA under threat? Moreover, should agency partners be worried? Shufen Goh, founder of R3, said it was true that agency partnerships were often vulnerable amid people changes on either side, and the more senior the change of guard, the more likely the reviews of partnerships. Her experience has shown that relationships that survive changes have built up a trust bank anchored on strong culture and ways of working. That is, not totally dependent on just one or two people. “Agencies are seen as a strategic partner and custodian of the brand. So the acid test for agencies is to answer this: Are we the custodian of the brand? And have we built an accountable relationship based on trust with our clients?” she said. For brands to endure a change of guard on both sides, they need to invest in a way of working that supports their culture and brand DNA. This should always be defined by the brand owners, but stewarded by both the client and agencies, Goh said. When asked how he would ensure Scoot’s unique brand DNA was not lost, Leslie Thng, chief commercial officer of Scoot and Tiger, said the airline, much like Tiger, would continue its marketing plans and objectives already set out for the year. The marketing for each of the respective brands under Budget Aviation Holdings will remain independent so Scoot “will not change its quirky ways”. “The Budget Aviation Holdings was established to manage both the budget airlines to fully realise commercial and operational synergies,” he said. “The unified management team at Budget Aviation Holdings is committed to continue – as well as grow – the success of both brands including multiple award-winning Scoot, which was acknowledged at the recent MARKies and as Marketer of the Year 2015,” he said. WWW. MARK E TING-IN TE RAC TI VE . C OM

NEWS ANALYSIS

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

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

A PageFair report has revealed how twice as many people are blocking ads on mobile browsers worldwide, and how ad blocking has surged 90% in just one year since January 2015. Moreover, 93% of the world’s ad blockers are in Asia Pacific. At least 419 million people globally are blocking ads on smartphones. China, India and Indonesia reported 319 million active ad blocker browsers in March this year. Members of the WFA and some of the world’s leading brands have been recognised and responded to the latest report which details the extent to which ad blocking technologies are spreading globally. “Brands, whose money has driven the development of the online ad ecosystem, must take responsibility. We get the message loud and clear; we must listen to what people are saying and take action,” said Stephan Loerke, CEO of the World Federation of Advertisers. The study follows an analysis by Juniper released recently, which found that by 2020 ad blocking would cost publishers almost US$28 billion a year. The report included a warning that given the next billion internet users will come online via low bandwidth, relatively expensive mobile connections and with readily available mobile ad blocking technologies, these users may be invisible to digital marketers. WWW.M A R K ET I N G - I N T ER A C T I V E.C O M

Sean Blanchfield, CEO and co-founder of PageFair, highlighted to WFA that “22% of the world’s 1.9 billion smartphone users are blocking ads. The blocked web is growing steadily, and in-app ads are now vulnerable too”. The research offers an unequivocal insight into people’s attitudes towards and efforts to avoid online advertising, particularly on mobile devices. The current experience is one people are clearly no longer willing to accept. Advertising may pay for news, content, maps, messaging and social media platforms, but people fail to make the link. Ad blocking puts all of these benefits at risk. Left unaddressed, brands, publishers and people all stand to lose out. Brands must focus on the causes to find sustainable solutions. People are not to blame. The industry must look at itself, said the WFA. David Wheldon, CMO at RBS and WFA president, is clear that “the industry needs to reflect on the rise of ad blocking. Advertising has always been cultural wallpaper and we have a duty of care to make it as attractive and engaging as possible so that people enjoy it, not want to shut it out”. As the new findings were announced, WFA called for the industry to take action. WFA envisages a three-point process involving the creation of international standards for digital advertising; allowing consumers to

establish clear preferences for the advertising they are willing to see; and then regularly monitoring their responses. It is essential that any action must have at its heart the consumer experience. WFA is working with third parties to identify granular data around formats, frequencies and the volume of advertising which people no longer accept. The findings will differ by demographics and geographies although there are likely to be some commonalities in terms of what triggers people to block ads. The association has begun to identify the most credible methods of gathering consumer data and will begin to act on such information over the coming months. This process presents an opportunity which fits into leading brands’ overall strategies. Luis Di Como, senior vice-president of global media at Unilever and a member of the WFA executive committee, noted how “as an industry we need to focus on creating content that is authentic, relevant for consumers and drives talk-ability – creative that enhances rather than detracts from users’ online experiences. “We have an ambition to create a billion one-to-one relationships with our consumers through providing positive brand experiences.” In parallel, WFA will bring together a broader coalition, particularly with leading publishers, to work together to take co-ordinated action at a global level. This is designed to support and enhance local initiatives which are emerging. Loerke added: “Brand owners must take a long-term view and envisage an acceptable and sustainable online advertising environment. Our vision is an ecosystem where brands, publishers and the entire supply chain put people first.” Roel De Vries, CMO at Nissan and also a WFA executive committee member, hit a note of optimism the industry will rise to the challenge. “It is our responsibility to reach our customers with strong content they are interested in via channels they choose. If we do our job well, we will always be able to reach them,” he said. JU LY 2 016 MARKE TI N G 1 5

NEWS ANALYSIS

LOCAL BRANDS WARM UP TO PINK DOT SG Does this indicate a change in mindset of local brand marketers and is there still room for growth? Vivienne Tay finds out. The recent Pink Dot SG, an annual rally which celebrates the freedom to love regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity, saw a double in the number of overall sponsors. This year it had 18 sponsors in total with a marked increase in local brands showing their support. While in 2015 the only local sponsor was audio branding agency, The Gunnery, this year there were notable names such as PS.Cafe, Gravitate, Infinite Frameworks and Cavenagh Law who jumped onto the bandwagon. Gravitate’s executive producer Shahril Ahmad said: “We have always wanted to do our bit for the LGBT community. So this year when we were asked to be one of the sponsors for the event, we jumped right in. We consider our contribution to the Pink Dot event as a community service. Hence, we would be happy if the message gets across to as many people as they possibly can.” While he did not share sponsorship details, he added the company looked forward to more Pink Dot campaigns in the future. Also backing the event were global brands such as Apple, Clifford Chance, Facebook, General Electric, Microsoft, NBCUniversal and Visa. Returning global sponsors for the annual rally were Google, Barclays, J. P. Morgan, The Gunnery, Goldman Sachs, BP, Bloomberg, and Twitter. When asked by Marketing for more details on the turnout, organisers declined to release numbers saying they would rather focus on the “quality of engagement as opposed to quantity”. The organisers also said the manner in which the ROIs had been justified to the sponsors were “private”. “Our sponsors support us because they support the freedom to love. Their message of solidarity is not only broadcast to the LGBT community in Singapore through Pink Dot, but also to their business partners and customers. Their support also sends a strong message to their own employees – and potential employees – that their companies embrace and celebrate diversity,” said Paerin Choa, a spokesperson for Pink Dot. Unlike 2015, which saw the banning of Pink Dot SG’s ads promoting the event, to local brands keeping mum on the “Let’s Celebrate 1 6 M A R K ET I N G JU LY 2 0 1 6

Picking up: More and more brands are stepping out to support Pink Dot.

Pride” movement, it seems like the share of voice on local brands and LGBT issues is getting louder. We asked industry players if this is an indication of more local brands becoming more accepting towards the LGBT community. Fiona Bartholomeusz, managing director of creative agency Formul8, said this was a sign of the times as more brands start to recognise the increasing strength of the pink dollar. “I think that brands and marketers are realising that they are ignoring an important consumer profile with high disposable income and spending power. Especially in lifestyle products, as frankly, this is a target audience that is finely attuned to looking good and being socially connected,” she said. She explained the more progressive brands were likely to join the pink movement. “Brand association is normally championed on the backbone of marketing or being aligned to the LGBT community.” However, one has to realise that Singapore is a small population, and the number of individuals who are out and proud is a small minority. As such, it will be hard for a brand to

validate a targeted campaign because this is not a large domestic market. “We are still an Asian community that prides itself in not being influenced by Western ideals. This myopic thinking sadly still permeates most of society here,” Bartholomeusz said. Agreeing with her is Pat Law, founder of GOODSTUPH, who thinks there is still plenty of room for growth when it comes to seeing more brands come forward to support a rally such as Pink Dot SG. “It would really mean something if a homegrown local powerhouse like NTUC FairPrice sponsors Pink Dot. Or if we see a Milo truck at Hong Lim Park, or suddenly having every vendor at Pink Dot selling cupcakes and hotdogs asking if you have a PAssion card.” Nelson Lee, who heads up local agency Section, said with the increase in sponsorship and the global LGBT movement on a whole, the support for the community was growing. “Smart brands are brilliant opportunists and those whose brand values tie in with respecting the right to love will definitely jump on the bandwagon, and the same goes for the brands who blindly follow the hype,” Lee said . WWW. MARK E TING-IN TE RAC TI VE . C OM

NEWS ANALYSIS

WHY MARKETERS ARE STILL OVERSPENDING ON OFFLINE Marketers are failing to match their media spend to where customers actually spend their time, according to a new study. Rezwana Manjur reports. Despite the talk of digital mediums growing in importance, Singapore marketers still overspend on offline media while under investing in online. Paid social has the least support in APAC, with 15% of marketers in ANZ and 13% in India planning to reduce their spend. This is a key finding from the Media Budgets Index research, published by Econsultancy in partnership with Datalicious. The study said marketers were failing to match their media spend to where customers actually spend their time. Budgets are still largely allocated on the basis of historical performance rather than customer behaviour or external insights. Globally, only 31% of executives surveyed said they based their media spend on customer time spent in each channel. Agreeing with this was Simon Kemp, regional managing director of We Are Social. He added the worries of click fraud in the digital world definitely factor in on why marketers might not be very big on paid social. When it comes to online versus offline, he said marketers need to forget “lines”; instead of thinking of which medium to invest marketing dollars in, they should plan around people’s lives, and where and when the marketing will be most relevant and plan for “content in context”, not “messages in media”. “Marketers are obsessed with the line, but it’s a distraction,” he said. The study also said digital was where the most consistent growth and investment was being seen. An examination of total spend across online and offline channels shows that TV advertising continues to dominate budget allocation. In fact, 50% to 60% of executives plan to keep their TV commitments the same for the coming year. However, EMEA and Singapore are displaying more caution in this area. Several traditional media channels are continuing to experience declining investment even though some, including radio and print media, show a reasonable degree of ongoing consumer interest. Rajesh Mahtani, head growth and strategy officer at Starcom Mediavest Group Singapore, said: “Singapore’s small geography also contributes to why marketers might WWW.M A R K ET I N G - I N T ER A C T I V E.C O M

Making the numbers add up: Marketers are still trying to work out online investment versus offline.

find traditional mediums attractive. But the traditional ad spend is no longer increasing year-on-year. “While the country and its people might be digitally savvy, its space constraint makes it easy to grab a majority share of eyeballs with a simple print ad or OOH execution. “Moreover, the staple of traditional mediums available have been tried and tested which gain marketer confidence.” Mahtani, however, also added that 2016 would probably be the year where many clients shifted and became more sophisticated in their digital media spends. “Progressive clients have already been investing a lot of their dollars in digital and a majority of clients now understand data and tech better to create personal and precise ads. 2016 will definitely be a pivotal year for clients,” he said. While most executives expect to increase their exposure on mobile platforms, the sector is slightly more volatile and 6% voiced an intention to decrease their investment. Email is continuing to enjoy a resurgence, with more than 90% of executives stating a commitment to either maintaining the status quo or increasing their investment. Nonetheless, Asian executives have the most confidence in their ability to monitor where consumers are spending their time, with the

UK the least confident in this area. The study states, however, only a third of global marketers have a good idea of where consumers are spending their time, while a further half (49%) can measure this to some extent. Jim Clark, research director at Econsultancy, said: “The research underlines the fact that despite the rising number of digital signals available, organisations are still struggling to evaluate and understand how to get the most ROI from their marketing investments.” Conversely, the US seems to strike almost the right balance between online and offline (although there are disparities when it comes down to a per channel basis), with only a 3% margin either way which, interestingly, sees the nation spend less than the optimal amounts on offline. Australia and New Zealand are under indexing offline and overspending on online, but by a slightly larger margin, around 7%. The UK exhibits a more than 10% disparity in spend versus consumer time spent and favours offline media more than it should. The report, based on a global survey, desk research and in-depth interviews with executives across the UK, EMEA, US and Asia Pacific, questions the extent to which marketers are looking at the relationship between media spend and where consumers are spending their time, and compares this across regions. JU LY 2 016 MA RKE TI N G 1 7

NEWS ANALYSIS

MEDIA REBATES: WHAT IS BEING DONE ABOUT THEM? Rebates, unbilled media and market complexities characterised by layers of intermediaries and brokers are all widespread issues. What is the industry doing about it? Rayana Pandey asks. The WFA has come out to laud ANA on its latest study on media rebates – a practice that gets media agencies rebates and other forms of income from media owners, leveraged by client volume spend. Global media transparency has been a core part of WFA’s focus since its foundation more than 60 years ago. The study commissioned by the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) highlighted that numerous non-transparent business practices, including cash rebates to media agencies, were found to be pervasive in a sample of the US media ad-buying ecosystem. KEY FINDINGS The K2 Intelligence report indicated that nontransparent business practices employed by agencies, some of which may or may not have been contract-compliant, included the following: • Cash rebates from media companies were provided to agencies with payments based on the amount spent on media. Advertisers interviewed in the K2 Intelligence study indicated they did not receive rebates or were unaware of any rebates being returned. • Rebates in the form of free media inventory credits. • Rebates structured as “service agreements” in which media suppliers paid agencies for non-media services such as low-value research or consulting initiatives that were often tied to the volume of agency spend. Sources told K2 Intelligence these services “were being used to obscure what was essentially a rebate”. • Markups on media sold through principal transactions ranged from approximately 30% to 90%, and media buyers were sometimes pressured or incentivised by their agency holding companies to direct client spend to this media, regardless of whether such purchases were in the clients’ best interests. • Dual rate cards in which agencies and holding companies negotiated separate rates with media suppliers when acting as principals and as agents. 1 8 M AR K ET I N G JU LY 2 0 1 6

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

•

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

The study revealed that non-transparent business practices were found across digital, print, out-of-home and television media. In addition, the non-transparent practices were found to exist across the spectrum of agency media entities. Results of the study were released by the ANA in conjunction with K2 Intelligence, which conducted the assessment. “Advertisers and their agencies are lacking ‘full disclosure’ as the cornerstone principle of their media management practices,” said Bob Liodice, president and CEO of ANA. “Such disclosure is absolutely essential if they are to build trust as the foundation of their relationships with their long-term business partners.” The K2 Intelligence study, conducted from October 2015 through to May 2016, revealed “evidence of a fundamental disconnect in the advertising industry regarding the basic nature of the advertiser-agency relationship”. In general, advertisers expressed a belief

their agencies were duty-bound to act in their best interests. Meanwhile, many agency executives interviewed said their relationship to advertisers was solely defined by the contract between the two parties. There were systemic elements to some of the non-transparent business practices reported by K2 Intelligence in the report. Specifically, the study revealed that senior executives across the agency ecosystem were aware of, and mandated, some non-transparent business practices. Contracts for rebates and other non-transparent business practices were negotiated and sometimes signed by high-level agency executives. In addition, K2 Intelligence found evidence of potentially problematic agency conduct concealed by principal transactions; as a principal, an agency (or its holding company or associated company) purchases media on its own behalf and later resells it to a client after a markup. “From the beginning, this has been a study designed to shed light on certain nontransparent practices in the media-buying landscape – not an investigation or an audit,” said Richard Plansky, executive managing WWW. MARK E TING-IN TE RAC TI VE . C OM

NEWS ANALYSIS

director of K2 Intelligence. “At the ANA’s insistence, this has never been about pointing a finger at any individual or company.” He said the documentation cited in the report included, among other things, emails between agency executives and media companies in which rebates were specifically discussed in detail. Liodice indicated that a fundamental shift in the business model for media agencies over the past several years has created a challenging new media landscape for both agencies and advertisers. “Whether acting as agency or principal, vast changes in technology, the complex digital supply chain, and the proliferation of media outlets provided agencies with additional opportunities to increase their profit margins beyond agency fees,” he said. “This has led to disconcerting conflicts of interest and a lack of transparency.” WFA’s position on this, as established in its media charter, is clear: Advertisers expect agencies to fully declare revenue streams directly or indirectly related to their business, for example, via rebates and “arbitrage” among agency trading desks. Research from the WFA has previously identified that rebates are less pervasive in the US than in other countries, but that a large share of these are being retained by media agencies. “We are not against rebates and AVBs in and of themselves, but we believe that advertisers should receive a fair share of these and, crucially, that rebates should not create issues surrounding conflicts of interest,” the WFA statement said. Markets such as China and the Ukraine suffer from some of the lowest levels of transparency when considered globally, as identified by WFA research, which it conducts on an ongoing basis. Rebates, unbilled media and market complexities characterised by layers of intermediaries and brokers are all widespread issues contended with by clients around the world. Globalisation and new media trading practices have amplified and deepened transparency concerns, and the news from the ANA, itself a member of the WFA, confirms these issues are also taking place in the world’s biggest ad market, the US. “Media transparency requires constant global scrutiny and WFA is extremely focused on helping clients to navigate and address this complex issue. WFA guidance and best practice guidelines in relation to strengthening media agency contracts, programmatic media, and now ad fraud, help clients to understand and mitigate the costs of an opaque and often inefficient ecosystem. WWW.M A R K ET I N G - I N T ER A C T I V E.C O M

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

Stephan Loerke, CEO of WFA, said: “Transparency has long been considered a critical issue by WFA and remains a priority for its members. We welcome the findings from the ANA and will continue to address the challenge globally, not least in emerging markets where transparency problems can be more acute. “Advertisers should take the lead in addressing the challenge, but WFA also believes in, and calls for, global cross-industry collaboration to find answers. “That’s why we have been conducting systematic dialogues between media agencies and clients around the world to better understand the issues and ultimately try and engender greater trust in the marketplace.” TRANSPARENCY IN CONTRACTS While the report indicates that some contracts between advertisers and their agencies allowed the agencies to engage in non-transparent business practices, transparency and contract compliance were clearly not one and the same in media buying. Even if a particular nontransparent practice was permitted by contract, advertisers were often deprived of relevant information for optimum decision-making. Accordingly, K2 Intelligence focused on bringing to light non-transparent practices throughout the media-buying ecosystem, even if those practices were contract-compliant. In fact, the study revealed that, in many cases, advertisers were unaware of details in their agency contracts that addressed the issue of transparency, particularly because some contracts had not been reviewed or updated in as long as 10 years. “The K2 Intelligence report unearthed a ‘fundamental disconnect’ between advertisers and their media agencies,” said ANA chairman Tony Pace. “As media practices have become more complex, stewardship and oversight needs to become more precise, more thorough, and more fully transparent.” RECOMMENDATIONS The ANA is developing suggested contract language to address mediabuying transparency. In addition, the ANA commissioned Ebiquity and FirmDecisions to develop guidelines and recommendations

for ANA members to consider based on K2 Intelligence’s findings. Ebiquity and FirmDecisions did not participate in the interviews that formed the foundation of the assessment and, like the ANA, is unaware of which specific companies and individuals were interviewed. Ebiquity and FirmDecisions’ full report containing a list of detailed long-term recommendations will be released in the coming weeks. In the near term, it is recommended marketers immediately take the following steps in anticipation of the complete set of recommendations soon to follow: • Re-examine all existing media agency contracts and meticulously review all terms and conditions. As appropriate, use an expert, independent third party to provide insight and contractual expertise to optimise transparency, upgrade reporting and analytics, and substantially expand audit rights if necessary. • Implement media management training, particularly in the areas of contract development and management of the digital media supply chain. • Confirm and reaffirm the basis on which your media agency is conducting your media business. Be critically clear and comfortable with the agency’s role as agent and principal. Ensure there are no conflicts of interest, and that there are clear processes in place for resolving conflicts that might emerge. • Assess whether contract terms permit you to “follow the money” by having full accountability for every dollar that is invested with a media agency. It is recommended that audit rights cover not only the media agency, but the holding company and any affiliated companies that touch your business. Liodice said these guidelines would help set the stage to take additional steps upon release of the complete set of recommendations by Ebiquity and FirmDecisions in the coming weeks. The recommendations will focus on contract provisions, principles, and re-establishing advertiser primacy in the industry. JU LY 2 016 MARKE TI N G 1 9

NEWS ANALYSIS

WHAT IT MEANS WHEN YOUR CEO TAKES A 20% PAY CUT SMRT Corporation’s Desmond Kuek has taken a pay cut. Rezwana Manjur explores why. Recently, news emerged that SMRT Corporation’s top boss Desmond Kuek has taken a significant cut in remuneration. The president and group CEO of SMRT Corporation is reportedly taking home a total remuneration of SG$1.87 million for the financial year ending 31 March, as seen by Marketing. The number was SG$2.31 million last year, signalling a 20% cut. This was despite his base salary increasing and number of shares allocated to him not changing. According to the SMRT financial documents, the dip came due to the variable/ performance related to income/bonuses. Below is a chart of the performance. Kuek, who came on board in 2012, joined at the height of a SMRT crisis due to ageing operating systems and breakdowns. Will the pay cut affect its brand perception in any way? In recent years, the company has tried hard to get its act together. Over the past three years alone, SMRT has grown the number of

rail revenues which saw a growth of 5.9%, while 79.6% of the group’s non-rail business’s operating profit came from them. Lars Voedisch, principal consultant and managing director of PRecious Communications, said if SMRT would have wanted to liken the CEO’s pay cut to a reputation matter, and let it be perceived as service related, then it should have definitely come forward saying so. “Right now we can only speculate the reasons for the pay cut as we don’t know the indicators defining his variable salary component.” However, what is more interesting is if one looks at the changes in operating profits from 2014 to 2015 – which grew 43%. From 2015 to 2016, however, the growth was strong, but relatively moderate at 15% compared with the previous year, said Voedisch. He noted SMRT’s earnings from its rail operations have been steadily declining and

(Source: SMRT Corporation’s annual report 2016)

rail maintenance staff by almost a quarter. For executive rail engineers alone, the staff count grew by 80%. Nonetheless, it has still continued to face breakdowns along the way. Whether or not this was the reason behind Kuek’s performance cut remains unknown. SMRT did not respond to Marketing’s queries as to what factors led to the pay cut. According to the financials, the corporation ended the financial year with total group revenue of SG$1.30 billion. Group profit (PATMI) was SG$109.3 million, which was 20.1% higher than the previous fiscal year. The rail business continues to be under pressure under the current financing framework despite the slight revenue hike of 4.1% to $681.0 million in FY2016. This was mainly due to higher ridership and average fares being higher. Meanwhile, rental and ad business continued to be major contributors for non2 0 M A R K ET I N G JU LY 2 0 1 6

profit coming from other activities such as rental, advertising or bus and taxi operations has been increasing. “I would argue it’s not so much a cut this year. Rather, it had a possibly extraordinary year before in terms of profit growth. The interesting question to ask SMRT would be if the strong focus on profit growth and margin in the past years might have any correlation to perceived reliability issues of the train services,” he said. Lawrence Chong, CEO of Consulus, said from the business angle, SMRT was facing challenging times and most likely this pay out adjustment reflected the current state. But to the man on the street, it might be read differently; that the company is holding the CEO accountable for ongoing rail reliability issues and recent mishaps. This, he said, could be a positive move for SMRT because globally consumers were increasingly calling for accountability in the

boardrooms. He added: “By demonstrating that the corporation is sensitive, it will make it easier for the current CEO to communicate his new business vision as Singapore adopts a new regulatory framework for public transport.” Nick Foley, president of the Southeast Asia and Pacific regions for Landor, said the move to him seemed unusual and many might find the pay cut to be demotivating. “When CEOs don’t perform, they usually leave the company. The SMRT CEO is not going to be feeling a sense of inspiration out of the reduction in remuneration nor the publicity that surrounds it.” But this does not necessarily imply negativity for the brand’s image, he added, explaining most CEOs are on remuneration packages where the variable component is significantly larger than the fixed component – that is, the base salary. “Shareholders should expect that when a company fails to perform, the variable remuneration to the leadership team decreases. This type of remuneration structure is tried and trusted and aligns with pay for performance,” he added. WWW. MARK E TING-IN TE RAC TI VE . C OM

NEWS ANALYSIS

UNDERWATER WORLD GOES UNDER Was this inevitable or preventable? Vivienne Tay asks.

Sad day for Singapore: Even 30 million visitors over 25 years wasn’t enough to stop Underwater World Singapore from closing.

Haw Par Corporation announced the closure of Underwater World Singapore (UWS), which ceased operations on 26 June. The attraction had seen more than 30 million visitors during its 25 years of service. According to The Business Times, in a filing to the Singapore Exchange, Haw Par said the closure was “not expected to be material to the group’s earnings or net asset per share for the financial year ending December 31, 2016”. The attraction ceased operations ahead of the expiry of its lease to facilitate the transfer of the endangered attraction animals, which are under the protection of CITES, to their new home in Chimelong Ocean Kingdom in Zhuhai, China. CITES stands for “Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora”. The transfer was approved by authorities in Singapore and China, with the animals having already been relocated. UWS has seen an increase in competition over the years, with the arrival of Genting’s WWW.M A R K ET I N G - I N T ER A C T I V E.C O M

Resort World Sentosa on the island which in turn added a slew of attractions from an integrated resort, the theme park Universal Studios Singapore and competition such as SEA Aquarium and Marine Life Park. Was this inevitable or preventable? According to Winnie Pua, managing director of antics@play, UWS’ efforts could have extended beyond new visitor outreach when it came to the attraction’s development and marketing. “To attract frequent repeat visitors, the offering of F&B, convenience to visit, special occasion marketing and an outreach to a greater base besides students needed to be considered,” she said. She suggested it should have tapped on accreditation programmes which appeal to students as they form a large customer base. “Young adults may love a café hang-out. Moreover, special occasion locations could have also been carved out for parties and other events,” she said. Added Ranita Sundramoorthy, director of

attractions, dining and retail, for the Singapore Tourism Board (STB): “Underwater World Singapore has been an iconic part of the city’s attractions landscape for the past 25 years. It has constantly refreshed its offerings to cater to visitors throughout the years, and has provided fond memories for Singaporeans and visitors.” When asked if marketing and promotional efforts for UWS had decreased over the years, STB declined to comment. “The Singapore Tourism Board’s marketing activities have always been centred around profiling Singapore as a top-of-mind leisure destination for visitors, showcasing the various attractions the city has – from oceanariums to parks and built attractions. “We will continue to work closely with attractions in Singapore to enhance and diversify their offerings, and raise the profile of Singapore as an exciting and vibrant leisure destination.” To mark its closing, UWS provided free admissions to beneficiaries from charity partners it had worked with in the past, along with tickets charged at its 1991 opening price of SG$9 per adult and SG$5 per child. JU LY 2 016 MA RKE TI N G 2 1

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

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PROFILE

A L L S Y S T E M S G O H “Very rarely do you meet a client who can actually end up being more fun to work with than agency folks! Theng Kiat’s trust is earned by doing good work. But once you’ve earned it, you will have an absolute team player. It becomes a partnership of equality and mutual respect … he’s also a client’s dream CMO,” a recommendation on his LinkedIn profile reads. After having met Goh Theng Kiat, chief marketing officer for global consumer financial services at OCBC, on a few occasions, I can see why the recommendation reads the way it reads. As we prepare for the photo shoot and the interview at the studio, Goh walks in and his unassuming personality is unmissable. It comes naturally to him to make those around him comfortable, to relate to everyone and be a part of any creative process – this time it was the photo shoot for the cover. His enthusiasm and preparedness for the shoot, much like his congeniality, were also unmissable. He brings the same enthusiasm and spirit of collaboration to his work. “The guardianship of understanding consumers should be with marketing. Marketing should be able to lead the discovery of insights around consumers, and make the process of dissemination of these insights smooth and hassle-free for other departments,” he says. Marketing is often considered synonymous with creativity and ideas, but the one thing which is even more important than those two is discipline, he believes. “Discipline is what helps in bringing about consistency when it comes to building brands,” he says. And this is something marketers tend to forget often. Managing a brand is a long-term process, and what you do with your brand and how you take it forward, therefore, requires much more discipline than marketers currently have. “All the past stints I have done, whether it was to market shampoos and diapers to an extremely regulated product such as tobacco, I have found discipline to be a critical factor,” he says, adding it was more so for the case when he was marketing tobacco – a product for which marketing is highly regulated, globally. The limited avenues that brands can use make marketing tobacco very tricky. He had to be careful about what the brand said about the WWW.M A R K ET I N G - I N T ER A C T I V E.C O M

product and where, yet achieve great results with all the limitations. “That kind of discipline will always remain with me,” he says, and this matters in today’s world, where similar limitations exist – maybe not enforced by the law, but a result of the fragmented media consumption and waning attention spans of consumers. “Consumers now have the ability to choose where to receive information and what information to receive. Media fragmentation is a reality. We need to ensure we have the resources to optimise reach with a highly effective message for consumers to take note,” he says. This was not the case a few years ago when Goh started his career in marketing; when marketing was a one-way conversation with consumers and a lot of the power of broadcasting the messages was dictated by the corporations. A tobacco marketer, a FMCG marketer and a lifestyle marketer all rolled into one, Goh is known among colleagues to be a strong problem solver and an inspirational leader, and regarded by friends as self-driven, focused and resourceful. He has worked for brands such as AkzoNobel Paints, Imperial Tobacco Group, British Tobacco and P&G, before joining OCBC two years ago. The diversity of his experience has played a crucial role in his career, Goh says, because what it has taught him is adaptability – certainly a marketer’s biggest strength in today’s times when change is occurring at an unprecedented pace. “When I first started, the world moved at a much slower pace. Now the world moves much more quickly. We have seen the power balance shift to consumers, media becoming fragmented and attention spans dwindling. Therefore, for marketers to be able to adapt is extremely important.” Another significant change that has happened over the years is the decentralisation of marketing. When Goh first started his marketing career, the responsibilities were centralised – it was the marketer’s job to understand consumers and look for insights. But now, with the explosion of data, and the need to offer differentiated customer experiences, specialists need to be brought in. “Marketing alone is not enough to do all of that,” he says. The need JU LY 2 016 MARKE TI N G 2 3

Art direction: Fauzie Rasid & Shahrom Kamarulzaman; Photography: Edwin Tan — Lumina (www.animulstudio.com)

A MULTI-FACE T ED PERSON A LIT Y, WHAT IS OCBC’S CMO GOH THENG KIAT’S TOP PRIORITIES WHEN IT COMES TO CONSUMERS? RAYANA PANDEY ASKS.

PROFILE

“THE GUARDIANSHIP OF UNDERSTANDING CONSUMERS SHOULD BE WITH MARKETING. MARKETING SHOULD BE ABLE TO LEAD THE DISCOVERY OF INSIGHTS AROUND CONSUMERS, AND MAKE THE PROCESS OF DISSEMINATION OF THESE INSIGHTS, SMOOTH AND HASSLE-FREE FOR OT HER DEPA RTMEN TS.” for collaboration is a lot more now. “You need to work with specialists who are good in data, customer experience and design. And that’s where marketers need to let go of their territorial tendencies and collaborate.” In his role, Goh works very closely with OCBC’s analytics, e-business and business transformation teams to understand all the services they are developing for the bank’s customers. The need for organisations to move away from silos, is therefore, a very real need and according to Goh, OCBC recognises the need to organise itself around its customers. “At this moment we know the importance of getting away from silos. The way we are organising, based on customer segments, is a step in that direction. This helps to define responsibilities in a new way wherein everyone embodies the culture of customer-first,” he says. OCBC has been quite forward-thinking in terms of marketing, according to Goh, entrusting the department to be the engine that identifies possibilities. And to do so, the CMO needs to have skin in the game and that was the emphasis when Goh first joined the bank. Therefore, on top of his CMO responsibilities, he also has a customer segment responsibility. “I am actually responsible for a segment of customers in retail banking as well, so my concern is always to make sure these are taken care of.” Changing one step at a time While the move to becoming is a constant focus for the brand, it started to take more and concrete steps a few years ago. Earlier this year, the bank set up a new financial technology (fintech) unit called “The Open Vault at OCBC” to drive the ideation, prototyping and deployment of new technologies, innovative commercial business models and solutions to bring to market relevant financial products and services, and to enhance banking processes. The setting up of OCBC Bank’s fintech unit and The Open Vault at OCBC innovation lab is a step towards realising the Singapore government’s Smart Nation Programme and Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (MAS) vision to create a Smart Financial Centre in Singapore. 2 4 M A R K ET I N G JU LY 2 0 1 6

Along the same lines, it later became the first bank in the region to launch an open application programming interface (API) platform that allows developers to integrate the bank’s products and services when building applications and programmes. OCBC Bank’s developer portal Connect2OCBC provides free access to four open-source APIs: The branch locator, ATM locator, smart card advisor and foreign exchange APIs, which it says will help the bank extend its reach to existing as well as potential customers “while creating a better user experience”. “We recognise the need to use what is the latest in technology for long-term sustainability of the business by being prudent in working with organisations who can enhance the way we reach our customers.” Such a big move means a few things for marketing. Goh says it is about communicating the good this will bring about, while assuring customers their data and assets they have trusted the bank with remain secure. “Within the financial information we are careful about how much information we can reveal. What we are opening up now is not customer centric-information, but information about branches and ATMs,” he says. The precedence of opening up APIs is encouraging. Citing examples of companies such as Uber, Goh says it has helped them to grow into other industries and tap newer opportunities. “The possibilities are endless. In the past we have not been able to deliver these innovations at such a speed effectively, but now we can.” And what has been the one big learning in his first job as a bank’s marketer? “Before joining the industry, I looked at the external aspects of the job more, that is, all the consumer-facing things a brand did. The fun bits,” he says, adding now that he is inside, he can appreciate a lot more that goes on in the background before a brand can communicate to the audience. “I underestimated the scope of this initially. Compliance and regulatory issues are so important in this industry that the groundwork needs to be done before all the fun things can begin.” WWW. MARK E TING-IN TE RAC TI VE . C OM

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

A L L S Y S T E M S G O H “Very rarely do you meet a client who can actually end up being more fun to work with than agency folks! Theng Kiat’s trust is earned by doing good work. But once you’ve earned it, you will have an absolute team player. It becomes a partnership of equality and mutual respect … he’s also a client’s dream CMO,” a recommendation on his LinkedIn profile reads. After having met Goh Theng Kiat, chief marketing officer for global consumer financial services at OCBC, on a few occasions, I can see why the recommendation reads the way it reads. As we prepare for the photo shoot and the interview at the studio, Goh walks in and his unassuming personality is unmissable. It comes naturally to him to make those around him comfortable, to relate to everyone and be a part of any creative process – this time it was the photo shoot for the cover. His enthusiasm and preparedness for the shoot, much like his congeniality, were also unmissable. He brings the same enthusiasm and spirit of collaboration to his work. “The guardianship of understanding consumers should be with marketing. Marketing should be able to lead the discovery of insights around consumers, and make the process of dissemination of these insights smooth and hassle-free for other departments,” he says. Marketing is often considered synonymous with creativity and ideas, but the one thing which is even more important than those two is discipline, he believes. “Discipline is what helps in bringing about consistency when it comes to building brands,” he says. And this is something marketers tend to forget often. Managing a brand is a long-term process, and what you do with your brand and how you take it forward, therefore, requires much more discipline than marketers currently have. “All the past stints I have done, whether it was to market shampoos and diapers to an extremely regulated product such as tobacco, I have found discipline to be a critical factor,” he says, adding it was more so for the case when he was marketing tobacco – a product for which marketing is highly regulated, globally. The limited avenues that brands can use make marketing tobacco very tricky. He had to be careful about what the brand said about the

W W W .MA R KET ING - INT ERAC TIVE . COM

SON A LIT Y, THENG KIAT’S T COMES TO NDEY ASKS.

product and where, yet achieve great results with all the limitations. “That kind of discipline will always remain with me,” he says, and this matters in today’s world, where similar limitations exist – maybe not enforced by the law, but a result of the fragmented media consumption and waning attention spans of consumers. “Consumers now have the ability to choose where to receive information and what information to receive. Media fragmentation is a reality. We need to ensure we have the resources to optimise reach with a highly effective message for consumers to take note,” he says. This was not the case a few years ago when Goh started his career in marketing; when marketing was a one-way conversation with consumers and a lot of the power of broadcasting the messages was dictated by the corporations. A tobacco marketer, a FMCG marketer and a lifestyle marketer all rolled into one, Goh is known among colleagues to be a strong problem solver and an inspirational leader, and regarded by friends as self-driven, focused and resourceful. He has worked for brands such as AkzoNobel Paints, Imperial Tobacco Group, British Tobacco and P&G, before joining OCBC two years ago. The diversity of his experience has played a crucial role in his career, Goh says, because what it has taught him is adaptability – certainly a marketer’s biggest strength in today’s times when change is occurring at an unprecedented pace. “When I first started, the world moved at a much slower pace. Now the world moves much more quickly. We have seen the power balance shift to consumers, media becoming fragmented and attention spans dwindling. Therefore, for marketers to be able to adapt is extremely important.” Another significant change that has happened over the years is the decentralisation of marketing. When Goh first started his marketing career, the responsibilities were centralised – it was the marketer’s job to understand consumers and look for insights. But now, with the explosion of data, and the need to offer differentiated customer experiences, specialists need to be brought in. “Marketing alone is not enough to do all of that,” he says. The need

J ULY 2 01 6 M ARKE TI N G 2 3

Art direction: Fauzie Rasid & Shahrom Kamarulzaman; Photography: Edwin Tan — Lumina (www.animulstudio.com)

A MULTI-FACETED PER WHAT IS OCBC’S CMO GOH TOP PRIORITIES WHEN I CONSUMERS.RAYANA PA

MARKETING FEATURE: LUXURY MARKETING

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MARKETING FEATURE: LUXURY MARKETING

REIMAGINING THE WORLD OF LUXURY VR is making waves across industries and luxury is no exception. Here’s how some brands are using this technology to create unique experiences for their customers. Vivienne Tay writes. An experience is perhaps the only differentiator brands have when it comes to retaining customers, more so, in the world of luxury. And enabling that are technologies such as virtual reality and augmented reality. What was once our mere imagination, often splashed across the screens in movies (think Minority Report and The Matrix), can be pretty much created today using these technologies. For those not yet completely familiar with the world of VR, here’s the simple breakdown of what VR does – it recreates specific environments which can be either fictional or based on a real-life place and seeks to engage the sensory functions and create a life-like user experience for participants. As eager marketers rush to embrace the possibilities VR presents for their industries, one question to ask is how VR will impact the elite world of luxury. Given the exclusive reach and nature of luxury, it is still perceived to be largely traditional. But that reality is fast changing. One hospitality brand which has made a substantial investment in VR technology is Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group. The hotel group engaged a globally renowned international design visualisation studio to produce virtual WWW.M A R K ET I N G - I N T ER A C T I V E.C O M

experiences for its luxury hotel line Radisson Blu. Thorsten Kirschke, Asia Pacific president for Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group, told Marketing that VR provided “an immersive and sensorial approach” to its brands which is ultimately “extremely beneficial to owners, investors and guests in visualising their investment and creating brand awareness”. In May, it launched its VR interfaces featuring Radisson Blu and Radisson RED rooms, social and food and beverage spaces. “Our technological edge seeks to redefine the design process by providing owners and investors the ability to provide on the spot feedback with virtual walk-throughs. VR delivers value to our partners through a practical, portable tool,” he told Marketing. The brand hopes to open fresh dialogue and deliver to partners a personalised and experiential engagement, along with a sensorial appreciation of Carlson Rezidor’s brands. The brand has been steadily embracing new technologies for some time now. In February this year, Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group launched “BluPrint”, a new interior design programme for Radisson Blu’s global portfolio of hotels, followed by a downloadable “BluPrint” app that allows consumers to enjoy

a 3D experience and a sneak preview of a BluPrint city or resort room. “In doing so, we remain nimble and flexible in our drive to stay ahead of changing guest expectations, and capture new audiences to ensure stronger returns for owners and investors,” Kirschke said, adding the response by participants and the media to its new VR offering has been positive. According to Kirschke, developers and owners shared that this technology helped them grasp brand differentiation very quickly and the unique selling points of each brand through each space’s sight and sound effects. “It also gives them a good inclination of the target profile of each brand simply by experiencing the headsets,” he added. Meanwhile, late last year, Shangri-La Hotels also announced the integrating of VR experiences into its worldwide sales efforts. Using Samsung Gear VR headsets across all global sales offices, the hotel chain produced immersive 360 videos for more than a quarter of its 94 hotels and resorts. “Customers are adopting new technologies at a pace that few brands can match, and nowhere is that technology adoption faster than across Asia. Brands have to evolve at the pace JU LY 2 016 MARKE TI N G 2 7

MARKETING FEATURE: LUXURY MARKETING

of the consumer or risk becoming irrelevant,” said Steven Taylor, chief marketing officer at Shangri-La International Hotel. According to Taylor, adopting VR allows the brand to break down geographical barriers that previously existed between its hotels and guests. This allows potential guests to experience the hotel and all its offers, quite literally, without having to move much from where they are. The VR promotional videos created by the brand can be watched online on a 360-degree video player; or for a fully immersive experience viewed on a VR headset that uses the Oculus platform. The Oculus powered headsets then enable travel advisors, meeting planners and potential corporate clients to virtually experience Shangri-La Hotels and destinations around the world. “Virtual reality makes it easier for our customers, clients, partners and guests to book our hotels and that will have a significant revenue impact now and in the future,” he said. “VR is a platform that could empower our sales teams globally and transport our customers to, quite literally, the other side of the world.”

A new way of thinking At a recent conference organised by Marketing, Dane Fisher, managing director of Asia and Oceania at Infiniti Motor Company, said when it came to marketing luxury products, especially in the automotive industry, covering all the touchpoints, along with strong above and below-theline campaigns, are no longer enough. As such, a new way of engagement is necessary. Also making waves in the VR field is Audi, which integrated VR into its content marketing strategy for its SG50 project as well as the launch of its new Audi A4 during the Singapore Motorshow. The initiative saw more than 6,000 participants using its VR application for SG50 and over 1,200 people experiencing its A4 application during its launch. According to Anna Bory, general manager of marketing at Audi, choosing to use VR fitted the brand’s progressive mindset which places innovation at its core. It also allowed customers and prospects to experience the brand and its products in a whole new way, complementing its more traditional campaigns. Both the initiatives, she said, resulted in an increase in brand awareness, social media reach, media coverage and even walk-ins.

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

Virtual reality is also expanding rapidly into destination marketing allowing consumers an unprecedented in-depth immersion into local flavours of a city or country. According to Taylor, this means VR opens up doors to reach out to targeted guests who have heard about the brand, but never experienced what it is like to stay at one of its hotels. As such, Shangri-la decided to first target travel consultants with its VR efforts. “We wanted to focus our first VR efforts on travel consultants because of the critical role they play in the traveller’s decision-making process and the feedback has been wonderful,” he said. “We have heard positive feedback from many travel counsellors who have been able to virtually tour hotel rooms to better guide their clients’ choices.” The brand has also seen a positive response from meeting planners who have been able to experience the Shangri-La ballroom before planning for an event. 2 8 M AR K ET I N G JU LY 2 0 1 6

“We are living in the digital age and we need to ensure that the experience we offer to our audience not only matches their lifestyle, but is always on top of the latest trends,” she said. For the SG50 VR project last year, the budget for the execution was only 30% of Audi’s usual media budget. What also helped in creating the campaign, said Bory, was not having a sales KPI. “Having a sales KPI for such a campaign would have killed the idea. In this way, the pressure of sales was lifted and the team had the freedom to come up with ideas,” she said. She was also of the view that for luxury brands specifically, not always will every marketing initiative in the luxury industry be about direct sales. She admitted that while there wasn’t a totally accurate science of measuring the impact of the VR campaign, Audi did track the footfall to stores, during and post the campaign, and combined it with on-ground surveys to establish a correlation. Eventually results indicated the campaign saw a more than 1.85 million Facebook

reach, 287,995 YouTube views and more than $600,000 in PR coverage. Challenges and possibilities But with every new initiative challenges are bound to arise. Bory added that ensuring a premium quality and experience, while working under the limitations of current hardware and infrastructure, was one such challenge. Kirschke said the key challenges for VR lie in ensuring the utilisation of the required engineering and technology advances. “As it is a fully immersive experience, resolution for the display has to be substantially high, with quick update rates. It is vital to look into various aspects such as surrounding environments, sounds and motion to ensure that serious simulations are incorporated,” he said. But the future remains bright, he added. As more luxury brands jump on the VR bandwagon, more will be done in enhancing the experience of the customer as technology advances. This will not only help prospects gain a more complete access to what a brand has to offer, but do so in a more realistic manner to help informed decision-making. According to Kirschke, the hospitality and travel market will embrace VR’s strong adoption moving forward. Already plans are underway to have VR technology incorporated into the content offerings of Carlson Rezidor’s other hotel brands. “We are also moving into the next phase of our exercise to embrace VR in a broader way, and increase product differentiation knowledge with plans to visualise the rooms, meetings and event spaces of our other brands,” he said. Shangri-La’s Taylor added virtual reality is genuinely at the cusp of transforming the way people do business today. Shangri-La is currently looking at partnership opportunities with other travel suppliers. “We are accepting virtual reality for the revolutionary new sales tool that it is, and integrating it across an entire global sales organisation. In terms of future impact, it’s open for imagination,” Taylor said. He added VR will become increasingly accessible to consumers as the cost of headsets reduce dramatically, and that means that brands which can create inspiring content, representing unique and aspirational experiences, will reap the greatest rewards. “I think the opportunities here are endless and we’ve only just begun,” Taylor said. For the luxury auto industry, the use of VR will be indispensable, according to Bory. This is more so as the level of customisation that luxury brands such as Audi are offering, increases. “VR will help to support the sales team at point-of-sales. Maybe one day, virtual test drives are possible,” Bory said. WWW. MARK E TING-IN TE RAC TI VE . C OM

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Largely thought of as a diminishing medium, newspapers have time and again proved their worth to marketers in Singapore. Today, publishers are rethinking ways to seamlessly liven up print, together with online and on-ground activities, ensuring the medium is here to stay. This year we take a look at the titles that are still capturing the hearts of the readers and impressing marketers.

METHODOLOGY HOW DID WE ACHIEVE THIS? The Media Benchmarking Survey is one of Marketing’s main initiatives to understand and inform our marketing community on Singapore’s competitive media landscape. The Newspaper of the Year rankings were derived from questions in the Media Benchmarking Survey via an online questionnaire on Marketing’s database of client advertisers and marketing services agency professionals. All answers were considered by Marketing when finalising the rankings. This year’s revamped survey focused on the marketers’ top five preferred choices of the media and the rankings were collated based on the total scoring systems with preference one getting five points and preference five getting one point. QUALITY RECIPIENTS AND RESPONDENTS With more than 900 respondents participating in this year’s survey, the research has gathered holistic and up to date feedback from advertising decision-makers and influencers and agency professionals from various marketing services. One hundred per cent of our respondents were manager-level decision-makers with more than 20% from the most senior ranks of client advertisers and another 27% were VPs or director-level marketers. The majority of the respondents from the agency side were CEOs, MDs and GMs (47%), 43% were marketing personnel and 10% creative and media personnel. Advertisers from major and local international banks, FMCG companies, property and construction, as well as those from travel and hospitality companies participated in the survey. Agency professionals across the marketing spectrum were also wellrepresented.

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1 THE STRAITS TIMES

Taking top spot for Newspaper of the Year is The Straits Times (ST). 2016 marks a year of transformation as the publication redesigned its integrated products across print and digital platforms. The publication has put a lot more focus on improving the customer journey and experience of its digital platforms (website, mobile apps, social media and EDMs) for its readers and

advertisers. It stepped up the production of engaging videos, infographics, microsites and live blogs, to name a few. Apart from its strong coverage of Singapore, the publication is big on audience engagement. It has leveraged on technology to produce targeted content to serve niche interests, especially to attract younger readers and PMEBs.

Some of ST’s advertisers include NTUC FairPrice, Courts, United Overseas Bank, StarHub and Wearnes Automotive. The askST initiative was launched to tap on ST’s seasoned correspondents and their contacts for information and views on topics ranging from personal finance and education to entertainment and health matters. ST also collaborated with other partners and sponsors on this major programme to showcase its correspondents at various events, the recent Singapore Coffee Festival being one of them. The askST initiative has also evolved into a new collaboration with the National Library Board featuring monthly talks by ST correspondents over a year. The first talk by ST invest editor Lorna Tan was held on 29 May at the library@ orchard in Orchard Gateway. Other major events the publication was part of during the past year included a three-month free exhibition titled “Singapore Stories: Then, Now, Today” held at the ArtScience Museum which was attended by 140,000 people. The STRun@The Hub also saw 20,000 people take part in the mass run. A new 18.45km category, the birth year of ST, was introduced to mark the paper’s 170th anniversary, in addition to the 5km and 10km runs.

aids. It also utilised Facebook Canvas to deliver story packages. This is to provide a more immersive method of news delivery on mobile devices and a better use of limited screen space. This initiative was rolled out during its coverage of the Singapore budget. With its strong focus on C-suite professionals, PMEBs and small to medium enterprises, The Business Times is looking into the start-up scene in addition to its strong Singapore focus on business coverage. Through relevant opinion

editorials and in-depth interviews such as Raffles Conversation, it hopes to continue providing a clear analysis on news. The paper prides itself on being the only dedicated business newspaper in Singapore, bringing a unique brand of both local and international business news to its readers. There is a strong Singapore focus on business coverage as well as on different companies. The Business Times offers relevant opinion editorials and in-depth interviews.

2. THE BUSINESS TIMES Claiming the runner-up position for the second consecutive year is The Business Times, the financial daily of Singapore Press Holdings. Some new initiatives the publication has taken this year include a leaders’ forum as well as the launch of its newsletter. The Business Times kicked off an annual conference for business leaders to explore how the country can chart its way forward amid global and domestic challenges, as well as business and technological disruptions. This was on top of its current list of events, including the BT Seminar and the BT Wine & Dine event. The publication also started a newsletter to reach out to readers with a compilation of the day’s leading news. Available in two categories, the Breakfast Brief provides an overview of the day’s news, while the Daily Debrief is a handpicked collection of the day’s top news. Its list of advertisers includes various financial institutions and property developers such as Aggregate Asset Management, Henderson Global Investors, Great Eastern Life and the Bank of Singapore. These brands have even moved beyond print and onto its various events and digital platforms. To expand its content offerings, The Business Times has a higher use of infographics to deliver stories, producing them weekly to highlight news events through the use of visual 32 M A R K ET I N G JU LY 2 0 1 6

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3. TODAY Taking third spot this year for Newspaper of the Year is TODAY. TODAY offers convenient and quality content in a compact format. The free newspaper offers readers an unrivalled package of the top local and international news reports, as well as insightful, thought-provoking commentary and analysis. TODAY provides fast news updates via social media feeds, in depth news analysis in print and digital media, as well as engaging commentary on all news topics relevant to Singaporeans. The newspaper also has a robust ad delivery system which was implemented to not only serve ads to viewers in a conventional way, but to engage them in an interactive and mediaspecific, media-rich environment. TODAY plays host to a range of advertisers. These include brands such as McDonald’s NTUC Unity, Gain City, NTUC FairPrice, Levi’s, Sunplay and many others. This year, TODAY’s parent company Mediacorp announced a major reorganisation to its teams, moving away from traditional media lines towards a focus on specific consumer groups. Mediacorp’s business portfolio, comprising

more than 50 products, will be managed by teams focused on the following consumer segments: family, news, youth, parents, women, men, Malay, Indian, foodies, learners, live entertainment and premieres. Meanwhile, late last year, it also appointed Sony executive Jack Lim to head its commercial

offerings, reporting to CEO Shaun Seow. Seow said the company’s new direction would be more “customer-centric” and highly datafocused. He added the firm would become platform-agnostic, which was “drastically different from how any media company in the world currently operates”.

dedicated to the China-initiated “One Belt One Road (OBOR)” strategy. Jointly developed by Lianhe Zaobao and the Singapore Business Federation, the portal is Southeast Asia’s first comprehensive website focusing on OBOR. It aims to drive a deeper understanding of the initiative among Singapore enterprises, offer Chinese audiences worldwide a Singaporean and Southeast Asian perspective on OBOR, as well as promote OBOR-related business activities between Singapore, ASEAN and

China. It also partnered Singapore Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Chongqing Municipal Government to organise the Chongqing Connectivity Initiative Seminar. Lianhe Zaobao also expanded its media product offering to enhance the reading pleasure of the Chinese-speaking community. Its extensive correspondents network in East Asia enhances its reach with timely and comprehensive coverage. Its increasingly affluent and sophisticated Chinese-speaking communities has attracted advertisers from different trades, including property, banking, retail, health and government bodies. Besides the general Chinese community, Lianhe Zaobao also reaches out to PMEBs, SME bosses, high-brow readers, as well as the growing number of new immigrants from the Greater China region. Earlier this year it launched Z-Shop, a Chinese New Year (CNY) microsite that provides useful information and services related to the upcoming festive celebrations. The microsite is a collaboration between Zaobao Online and Qoo10, one of Asia’s leading online marketplaces. Z-Shop features an online shop selling CNY products, but apart from shopping, the site is packed with content related to CNY.

4. LIANHE ZAOBAO

Rising in the ranks in this year’s Newspaper of the Year to fourth place is Lianhe Zaobao. Known to be the leading source of news and views on China, the publication has a readership of 567,000, according to figures from Nielson. Lianhe Zaobao started a few initiatives to develop a cultural and economic bridge linking Singapore and China. Through its deep connections with the local Chinese business community and Chinarelated expertise, it launched a new portal 34 M AR K ET I N G JU LY 2 0 1 6

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5. THE NEW PAPER The New Paper has retained fifth spot this year. In the past year, it has taken numerous initiatives to keep its readers engaged, including The New Paper Jubilee Big Walk, SPH Golf, The New Paper School Sports Star Award, and many more. It also started a partnership with sports website Red Sports to expand coverage of the school sports scene, and tied-up with Singtel for match-of-the-week insertions and live screening of EPL matches at the TNP Sports Bar. Following the partnership, it started a new monthly sporting column on its very own Singaporean marathoner’s bid to qualify for the Olympics. The New Paper also wanted to reward its readers with its TNP Super Kaki club,

with programmes of privileges exclusively for subscribers, which was launched in October. One new technology initiative the publication undertook was the variable print model that allows multiple versions of an advertisement to appear in different copies of the day’s edition. It partnered with long-time advertiser Carlsberg to promote UEFA EURO 2016 with a contest. The contest with variable print also enhanced its street copy sales. According to The New Paper, over the past year its focus turned from world news to hyper local content with its digital arm that started in 2015. It dived into more video content and interactive infographics and created interactive pages for the Chinese New Year and the 2016 budget.

6. THE EDGE The Edge Singapore takes sixth spot this year. The Edge recently revamped its online Singapore Morning Report, which is the daily business digest newsletter. It changed from a downloadable PDF newspaper to a more responsive site to provide users a faster and more mobile-friendly environment. Since its launch in 2014, this free-for-all platform has provided users with daily news, as well as access to its financial dashboard. The Edge Markets provides both professional and new investors with up-to-date information, news and financial tools for their business and investment decisions. Meanwhile, The Edge Singapore’s Personal Wealth pullout has been restructured to better serve fund investors and help them grow their wealth with these products. It believes this initiative will result in an

expanded readership base, and promote growth in the local wealth management sector. As for appointments, Anne Tong was appointed to the board in January 2016, with the primary role to drive new product initiatives, as well as the sales and marketing team.

The Edge’s long list of advertisers are from many diverse industries, but remain highly focused at the top-end luxury level. It includes luxury automobiles to luxury homes; luxury timepieces to luxury fashion; corporate consulting to business technology; and airlines to luxury accessories, and includes companies such as Rolex, Cartier, Montblanc, Ferrari and Singapore Airlines. Its weekly analyses are appreciated by the corporate leaders in making sound business decisions. Content is written with in-depth analytical stories covering investment, capital markets and personal wealth in Singapore and around the world. Readers are high net-worth individuals comprising professionals, managers, entrepreneurs and business people (PMEBs). They are the news makers who get featured in The Edge and are key decision-makers.

features on health and mental wellbeing. This page runs every Monday and caters to the rising interest on healthy living. The paper has also expanded its sports coverage this year. The publication has also seen a senior hire with Loh Keng Fatt, who was previously with The Straits Times. He joined as news editor in January this year. Some of the paper’s key advertisers from the retail sector are CapitaLand Mall, Slim Fit and Frasers Centrepoint. Fashion and beauty clients include London Weight Management, Beijing 101 Hair Consultants and L.D. Waxson. Also prominent are The Green Furnishing, Ministry of Health, Courts and McDonald’s. My Paper started a new event, Yogaspiration, a night yoga outdoor event, in August 2015. It also increased its news archive by about 30 days on its mobile app to allow readers to

catch up on past articles with greater ease. This also helped provide advertisers more longevity for their ads. Promotional activities and interactive ads were newly integrated into the app.

7. MY PAPER Clinching seventh spot in this year’s Newspaper of the Year is My Paper. The publication was launched on 1 June 2006 and is Singapore’s first Chinese free sheet. It was relaunched on 8 January 2008 as the first bilingual newspaper in Singapore. According to its website, it boasts it is one of the highest circulating newspapers locally with a daily readership of 250,000. The publication covers a broad range of lifestyle topics, from the latest gadgets to beauty and travel. Its combination of news, lifestyle and entertainment stories is targeted at upwardly mobile professionals. It also aims to reach out to managers, executives and businessmen. It works to keep young bilingual professionals upto-date with what is happening around them. Early this year, the paper introduced a new weekly page, Wellness. It focuses on news and WWW.M A R K ET I N G - I N T ER A C T I V E.C O M

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8. LIANHE WANBAO Lianhe Wanbao focuses on providing news, useful information and entertainment for heartlanders, including working class and business owners of SMEs, micro SMEs and start-ups. According to the company, quoting Nielsen’s latest survey, it claimed to be one of the local Chinese newspapers with the highest percentage of readers (33.1%) aged 15 to 44. For the past 12 months, it has continued to deepen its strength in the reporting of local news and human interest stories. To meet the needs of more sophisticated readers, it broadened its coverage to include news and analysis on the stock and property markets. To engage readers further, it started a new series and columns on a wide range of topics

such as health, beauty, housework tips and smart spending. It also invited prominent business owners of

SMEs and micro SMEs to share their success stories. The paper also has a biweekly indepth report on both news and lifestyle topics, alternating with the editor’s interviews of people who come from different walks of life that have made significant contributions to society. Lianhe Wanbao prides itself as the newspaper which is able to communicate with “heartlanders”. The publication has worked with government agencies to explain policies to its readers through a series of stories and public talks. Besides public agencies, it is also an advertising platform for health and beauty products, consumer products, electronic goods, home furnishing services, travel agencies, other everyday life services, entertainment productions, cable TV channels, etc.

politics and religion, it also highlights Malay culture and tradition, arts and heritage, family, hobbies and leisure. Berita Harian also creates a platform for members of the Malay community to voice their views on various issues and concerns. For the past year, it implemented several initiatives to streamline its operations, generate new content and organise community outreach events. The newsroom continued to engage its readers through its print plus digital platforms. In July 2015, the newspaper launched a new version of its mobile apps and e-newsletter. The newspaper successfully organised a futsal tournament in June 2015 which attracted an overwhelming response from participants and sponsors. In January 2016, the newsroom launched a SkillsFuture campaign to highlight the importance of skills upgrading and lifelong learning. The

print and digital campaign culminated with the organisation of a SkillsFuture seminar attended by some 200 participants. It recently created Campus News as a way to reach young adults and those in the academic field. The segment covers news of interest in universities, polytechnics, JC and ITE. Highlights of this segment include college events, campus activities as well as profile stories of inspiring students and academics. The newsroom also recently introduced a segment catering to the middle class. It highlights the growing spending power of the middle class and their lifestyle. It says it “currently has advertisers from fields that are of concern and interest to the Malay community” in Singapore. Its top five advertisers are representative of those fields – Courts, TT International, Herbal Pharm, Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura and Andalus Corporation.

a bid to attract more readers. The publication has a health column which appears every day and one whole page on Tuesdays. It talks about health issues, giving extensive interviews on doctors and traditional Chinese medicine practitioners on how Singaporeans can take better care of their health. Accompanying this column was also a mass workout initiative in June during the Chinese Book Fair at Suntec Singapore. The event attracted more than 300 participants. Its daily comic column is an entertaining and relatable one for readers as it focuses on wisdom in life. Through other events organised by the publication, Shin Min Daily News reaches out to its readers actively through well-known community events such as the Shin Min All Wheels Day which was organised in April last

year. It was held at Punggol Waterway Park to celebrate the spirit of healthy living and bonding with its readers and their families and friends. It also helped raise the awareness of nature conservation. Shin Min Daily News claims a strong following among the “heartlanders” and Chinese middle-class, including PMEBs and SMEs.

9. BERITA HARIAN

Berita Harian takes ninth spot this year. Established in 1 July 1957, it presents news and issues from home, the region and the world. Featuring a wide range of topics from sports,

10. SHIN MIN DAILY NEWS Coming in 10th place in this year’s Newspaper of the Year is Shin Min Daily News. The publication was started on 18 March 1967 and has a readership of 431,000. This light-hearted evening newspaper provides the latest on a wide range of local and international topics. Shin Min Daily News positions itself as the “heartland” newspaper, serving up a daily dose of the latest news, entertainment, sports and various features, including cooking recipes, horoscopes, health, a legal advice column and racing. Shin Min Daily News was also recently revamped with new content and design elements to make it a more refreshing read. This was done through stronger coverage and layout changes introduced in two of its popular sections of sports and entertainment in 36 M AR K ET I N G JU LY 2 0 1 6

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REGIONAL 1. WSJ The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) Asia takes top spot in the regional Newspaper of the Year. The WSJ launched new global broadsheet editions of the newspaper in Asia and Europe in September 2015, offering a fully comprehensive and seamless WSJ print and digital experience with regionally relevant content. The WSJ first introduced virtual reality programming on its platforms in April 2015 and it enhanced its flagship iOS and Android apps with built-in 360° video and virtual reality viewing capabilities in November 2015. One of the Asia VR stories was inside an IKEA carpet-making factory in India; and it also uses VR to show its readers the scenes behind the New York Fashion Week show. The WSJ also announced the launch of “In the Future”, a multimedia custom-content

programme driving thought leadership on global connectivity. It created WSJ Pro Central Banking in September 2015, which is the first of the premium “WSJ Pro” suite of industry and subject-specific content services, combining news, data and events on a single member platform. On the people front, Jonathan Wright was appointed managing director for APAC at Dow Jones in July 2015 and was promoted to managing director of international in January 2016. WSJ provides a global perspective for the world’s most affluent and influential audiences across print and digital platforms. The Asia edition of WSJ sets the agenda for the region’s business and financial elite, providing indispensable news and analysis of regional and global business developments. The

Wall Street Journal Asia captures the pulse of some of the most dynamic business markets in the world. WSJ Asia’s upcoming 40th anniversary this September signifies the importance of the Asia market and its established role as the longest running international paper in Asia.

Nikkei will leverage the experience and expertise of the FT Group for the international growth of its media properties. FT Group also launched accelerated mobile pages which allows sites to

build light-weight versions of web pages that can load almost instantly onto mobile. It enhanced speed and performance across devices and platforms, improving the mobile ecosystem for everyone. The FT has also over the year acquired a controlling stake in Alpha Grid which is a media company specialising in the development and production of quality branded content across a range of channels. The investment builds on the growth of the Financial Times’ content marketing studio that launched in 2015. With regards to people, there have been two senior editorial appointments with David Pilling being appointed as Africa editor, while retaining his role as associate editor. Meanwhile, Beijing bureau chief Jamil Anderlini replaces Pilling as Asia editor and has also been promoted to assistant editor.

International New York Times (INYT) takes third spot in the regional Newspaper of the Year. The past year has been a great one for the publication, with some big moments and monumental achievements. There has been the continued success of its print edition in Asia, with circulation now at an all-time high, as well as its digital consumer business which has passed one million digital subscribers. The International New York Times also welcomed the growth of its T Brand Studios and its Paid Posts business, progress in mobile product development and the launch of NYT VR, its new virtual reality storytelling platform. It also expanded its content offerings, with video becoming an even more important part of its storytelling. In fact, a much greater percentage of its

stories are told through visual journalism. Some examples include the mobile presentation on primary and debate nights, the virtual reality films that take its audience to the surface of Pluto, and the race/related feature. It remained faithful to its mission and values, breaking the biggest sports story of the year – allegations of widespread doping by the Russians. It is also producing hard-hitting coverage of the presidential campaign. INYT is a leading international news source for opinion leaders and decision-makers around the globe. It, and its parent company The New York Times, are known globally for excellence in journalism and innovation in print and digital storytelling. INYT targets readers who know that world events have a real impact on their lives, their professions and their sense of wellbeing.

2. FINANCIAL TIMES The Financial Times takes second spot in the regional Newspaper of the Year. In the past year, the Japanese media group Nikkei bought the Financial Times. The FT Group was sold for £844 million in cash, but did not include the company’s 50% stake in The Economist Group. Together the two business media brands span all corners of the world with reach and news, comment and analysis. With this partnership, Nikkei and the FT will deliver more value to their audiences, providing vital information across a range of channels, formats and international borders. Nikkei and the FT will join forces in a range of areas, including marketing, distribution, video, advertising, special reports, events, product and technology. The FT will spearhead the Nikkei Group’s quality English language expansion, while

3. INTERNATIONAL NEW YORK TIMES

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WHATâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S GOING ON OUTSIDE? A silent revolution has been taking place in the out-of-home space. What does the future look like for the gentle giant of traditional media? Our latest Master Report explores.

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Step by step, the outdoor scene in Singapore has been evolving, digitising as per consumer behaviour, deepening engagement through innovative formats and becoming more and more mobile. Ad revenue has kept up as well. The total out-of-home (OOH) advertising revenue in Singapore has risen from US$121 million in 2011 to US$135 million in 2015. The market is forecast to grow by 3% (CAGR) and will see total OOH advertising revenue of US$157 million in 2020, according to PwC’s Global Entertainment and Media Outlook 2016-2020. Singapore’s OOH advertising market enjoys many advantages with its wealthy, dense, entirely urbanised population, extensive public transport and a major international airport all highly conducive to OOH advertising, the report said. The market has also benefited further in recent years from an expansion in the island’s rail network to the outer suburbs, which will increase the number of commuters and offer different demographics to advertisers. The bus network is also an important revenue stream. Digital OOH (DOOH) advertising revenue is forecast to grow by 12.1% (CAGR) from US$57 million in 2015 to US$101 million in 2020. It will overtake physical OOH advertising revenue in 2017 and make up 64.1% of total OOH advertising revenue by the end of the forecast period. Singapore enjoys an extremely high smartphone penetration rate. The country also has a national near-field communication (NFC) infrastructure which will further boost the technology. This provides an outstanding opportunity for the DOOH market to grow by utilising new technologies in advertisements to interact directly with consumers and even act as a point-of-sale.

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GLOBAL TRENDS IN OOH The PwC report highlighted similar trends globally. According to the report, increasing integration between out-of-home advertising and internet advertising will ultimately open up e-commerce opportunities – but this will take time. Increasingly, networked and automated OOH infrastructure will facilitate programmatic advertising, and provide the ability to personalise ads and automate and dynamically manage inventory. At the same time, integrating technologies such as mobile wallets and near-field communication will enable digital OOH to expand into e-commerce, allowing consumers to buy directly “from” advertisements. However, the relatively subdued global economy means investment in new technologies will not happen rapidly, and new consumer behaviours – notably buying directly from OOH ads – will also take time to ramp up. Out-of-home providers are increasingly investing in digital infrastructure – a trend that has helped sustain steady growth in global OOH revenue, which is set to continue at a CAGR of 4.3% to reach US$42.74 billion in 2020. While increasing revenue from internetconnected digital OOH will be the main engine of growth, traditional formats are holding their ground – unlike in many other segments – with physical OOH revenue set to remain steady. The OOH industry is also reacting accordingly. Recently, international OOH media players Kinetic Worldwide, Latcom and Mediakeys came together to form the Smart Alliance, in what they say is the world’s first global-scale platform to facilitate access to out-of-home inventory and audiences across 250 markets.

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Singapore’s OOH advertising market enjoys many advantages with its wealthy, dense, entirely urbanised population, extensive public transport and a major international airport all highly conducive to OOH advertising. An industry first, the alliance enables clients to buy media around the world in one simple location. The platform will be managed via a global hub dedicated to optimising delivery on behalf of the alliance while each company maintains management over strategic planning and client operations in its home regions. The platform aims to increase efficiency and value to a new industry standard for international OOH media budgets. Brands are also becoming innovative in their use of OOH. Recently, in conjunction with the new flight routes, Singapore Airlines has collaborated with Mediacorp OOH Media to create an exciting contest with creative 3D hot air balloons at bus shelters. Singapore Airlines launched its new “capital express” route, introducing the Singapore-Canberra-Wellington route. It is the first airline to operate regular scheduled international services to and from Canberra and operating flights between Canberra and Wellington, directly connecting the capital cities of Singapore, Australia and New Zealand. To raise awareness of the new routes and Canberra as a destination, the campaign has curated experiential moments that travellers can enjoy when they are in Canberra. Knowing that travellers have the mindset of doing more things in less time, the perception of Canberra was less exciting as compared with cities such as Sydney and Melbourne. The campaign showcases the variety of experiences available in Canberra regardless of what type of travel moments travellers seek on WWW.M A R K ET I N G - I N T ER A C T I V E.C O M

their holiday and also to inspire more to choose Canberra as a holiday destination. To publicise and increase awareness for the campaign, a 3D Hot Air Balloon has been installed on a 6-sheet panel that represents one of the key attractions in Canberra. There are four such creative panels located in Orchard Road, Paya Lebar, Anson Road and Ang Mo Kio. An additional network of 6-sheet posters are being used island-wide to help garner maximum exposure for the campaign. The creative ad panel has been integrated with a contest whereby the public can select any of the four moments – family, tranquil, thrilling and indulgent – take a photo with the 3D Hot Air Balloon panel and upload it with a key experience related to a moment that they have selected to stand a chance to win a trip to fulfil their itinerary. Globally, we are seeing some interesting uses of OOH as well. Reebok used a smart digital out-of-home ad as an incentive to get people running in Sweden and to win a new set of trainers. The interactive billboard came with a built-in speed camera and tracking technology to measure the pace of pedestrians passing by it in the downtown area of the Swedish capital. Those who ran past the speed monitor faster than 17kph (or roughly a 5:42 mile pace) unlocked a clear plastic window box display to grab a new pair of Reebok ZPump 2.0 shoes. In our Master Report we look at all these possibilities of OOH. JU LY 2 016 MARKE TI N G 41

Explaining the real-time advertising landscape With today’s cluttered advertising landscape, even with a plethora of media options, it’s an uphill task for brands to break through and connect with their desired audiences. Savvy consumers are now more aware and wary of advertising tactics, and have become desensitised to blatant advertising messages. In fact, consumers prefer not to be sold to, but want to be actively involved in the buying process. The challenge marketers face today is how then can brands create relevant consumer engagements that not only enable their messages to resonate with the consumers of today, but also build a relationship that offers opportunities to influence, connect and be involved with their audiences. The solution – real-time advertising. Real-time advertising is all about engaging audiences with relevant

Real-time advertising: A real part of consumer’s journey

interactions, and connecting them to relevant products or services in that moment in time. This is in stark contrast to disruptive advertising, which interrupts the consumer’s daily routine, and more often than not, leads to a bitter aftertaste. Real-time advertising requires a more intelligent and intimate approach in creating relevant and meaningful engagements between the brand and the consumer. To generate relevant interactions, you will need to understand your target customers. Aside from understanding their demographics and psychographics, it’s equally important to understand that people react differently to similar advertising messages at different times of the day, being influenced by psychological, personal and social factors. Thus, it’s even more important to establish connections at the right time and place, with the right context. Still, content is king when devising effective marketing strategies. Remembering that consumers do not want to be sold to, while taking on a more participative role in the buying process, brands are now becoming content creators. We’ve seen many examples of how generating relevant, valuable content through co-creating experiences with potential consumer bases have helped brands forge stronger relationships with them. From what we’ve found, the CTR (click-through rate) of client banners in our editorial environment was 10 times better than run-of-the-mill site banners without the context of branded content.

“Real-time advertising is all about engaging audiences with relevant interactions, and connecting them to relevant products or services in that moment in time.” Audiences enjoy reading editorial content rather than run-of-the-mill ads or branded content, with the average CTR of the editorial showcase banners promoting more stories from the series at a staggering 1%. In this mobile era, we’re either looking at our smartphones or looking at where we’re going. So naturally, digital and outdoor media are logical platforms to utilise when reaching out to audiences. Especially in Singapore, where our government has put in place significant measures on public transportation options, bus shelters remain an important advertising medium to subliminally market to the masses, with 6.5 shelters per km2 in this highly urbanised and dense city state. Being along high-traffic areas, bus shelters also have high visibility among walking passers-by and private transport commuters due to their high viewing angle. With the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s vision of having 75% of all peak-hour journeys undertaken on public transport, our daily commuting routes to work, school or play are important strategic factors in reaching out to audiences. These routes can bring about personalised advertisements that can interest audiences on their daily commute. 42 M A R K ET I N G JU LY 2 0 1 6

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Making real-time advertising a reality

relevant ads to interest commuters. The strategic locations of our advertising panels at bus shelters play an important role in the consumer’s path-to-purchase journey. Most commuters generally have a decent 10-15 minutes of waiting time, and they are bound to spend some time looking at their surroundings and check for their bus arrival. This becomes an opportunity for brands to interact with potential consumers. Real-time last-minute offers from retailers nearby can be pushed accordingly to various commuters. Based on our existing pool of consumer insights, the relevancy and appropriateness of these offers to commuters at that point in time presents them a compelling reason to head to these retailers or applications on their smartphone to seal the last-mile journey on the consumer’s path-to-purchase. That’s how real-time advertising can enhance and build lasting consumer relationships with your brand.

MEDIACORP OOH MEDIA

Only until recently, outdoor advertisements were mainly static posters on billboards and bus shelters. With the recent digitalisation of posters, bus shelter panels are going digital and brands are branching into mall-screen advertising. There are an increasing number of creative executions that are complemented with digital technologies to effectively engage audiences and create lasting experiences via social media. For instance, with NFC-enabled screens, Mediacorp OOH Media’s Opti-Prime digital screens can become an information portal, an extended shopfront or a digital concierge, with the potential to tailor the interactive experience according to the audience’s preferences, and for them to take away the experience on their smartphones and continue their engagements together on their commute. Outdoor advertising is proving to be a powerful advertising medium. Rapid advancements in outdoor technology, along with key consumer insights, especially travelling patterns, is leading the way in generating personal engagements for brands to consumers. Most importantly, to create successful engagements which are meaningful, relevant and engaging, advertisers need to gather and understand the right insights about their consumers. Mediacorp’s Customer 360 approach has helped brands to demystify consumer segments and bring valuable insights to advertisers by harnessing various demographics, interests and behavioural insights across our online and offline platforms. Advertisers can access more than 100 curated audience segments such as travel, food, health, sports, automotive and finance. These insights help advertisers strengthen their existing campaign plans, enabling brands to create personalised, meaningful engagements that will drive more positive interactions and encourage desired behaviours from audiences. Combining that with the power of digital and outdoor media, we would be able to generate instant profiles of passers-by looking at the panels through facial recognition, serving up ads that are tailored accordingly to audiences. These profiles are derived from their digital/ media consumption to determine lifestyle patterns, and would bring up WWW.M A R K ET I N G - I N T ER A C T I V E.C O M

Henry Goh is the head of Mediacorp OOH Media. He is an out-ofhome industry veteran with more than 35 years of experience in brand communications, advertising, business development, marketing, sales, training and education, of which more than 20 years was spent in outdoor advertising. OOH Media is Mediacorp’s out-of-home advertising arm, offering advertisers various outdoor media platforms such as bus shelter advertising and digital billboards around Singapore. Our comprehensive series of innovative outdoor media platforms offers advertisers the flexibility to effectively reach out and engage their target audience via outdoor ads at prime locations island-wide. Our outdoor advertising media platforms have an annual reach of 3.9 million people aged 15 years and above, with an extensive reach among various demographic groups. We are appointed to manage all large format and digital screens in 321 Clementi, Bugis Street, Chinatown Point, iFly Sentosa, JCube, Jubilee Square, Junction 8, Orchard Gateway, Orchard Towers, The Star Vista, Westgate, as well as close to 1,300 bus shelters, on-the-move billboard trucks, coaches, WE Cinemas and various ambient advertising options such as 3D mapping projection.

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CASE STUDY 1

Generating brand awareness through real-time interactions Outdoor advertising is a viable platform to create exciting, innovative and creative campaigns with real-time advertising, creating memorable experiences and potentially leading to viral campaigns. Here, we’ll be showing three campaigns with three different means of real-time interactions. #IAMJUICYCOUTURE – on-the-spot street sampling Juicy Couture ran a campaign with Mediacorp OOH Media in October 2015 to promote its new fragrance #IAMJUICYCOUTURE with ambassador Behati Prinsloo by creating a bold campaign that created personal engagement opportunities for the public to interact with the Juicy Couture brand. Two interactive panels resembling the #IAMJUICYCOUTURE perfume bottle were installed at The Heeren and Fullerton Hotel, giving the public a first-hand experience in wearing the Juicy Couture fragrance without being physically in-store. Actual bottles of the fragrances were prominently displayed for public sampling in these 6-sheet panels, and on-the-spot perfume samples were sprayed on the public’s wrists when motion sensors detected a hand on the panel. Upon wearing the perfume, they could choose to redeem a sample vial of the fragrance at participating retailers by scanning the QR code. Across the month, there were 50,000 trials at the interactive panels. Eighteen per cent of the public redeemed sample vials after sampling at the bus shelters compared with the usual redemption rate on other media platforms of about 2%. Sales of the perfume also increased, having a 38% purchase rate from consumers who tried the sample vials.

Kindness. It’s up to us – rallying the public through interactive voting The Singapore Kindness Movement worked with Mediacorp OOH Media to challenge Singaporeans to not only acknowledge a nation of kindness starts with every individual, but to make the conscious decision to act out one’s innate kindness despite their reservations. It did five prominent bus shelter panels – within walking distance from the CBD and shopping districts – to become interactive voting panels with electronic counters to show the public’s collective

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response. Upon seeing a scenario of an irate customer ranting at a waitress for spilling his drink, members of the public reacted by pressing one out of three buttons on the panel, be it to take a video and post it online, to intervene and try to calm things down or to do nothing and mind their own business. This reached out to a vast number of locals and tourists, allowing the public to see their responses resonating with the rest of the community as these responses were immediately recorded on the panel in real-time. Within the initial campaign period, about 12,000 interactions were recorded, with most people choosing to intervene and try to calm things down at 5,311 interactions. Have fun in the sun with Rui En – generating buzz through virtual interactions L’Oréal Paris Singapore worked with Mediacorp OOH Media to educate people on the importance of sun protection, and to create numerous personal engagement opportunities for the public to interact with the brand. As part of the relaunch of its L’Oréal Paris UV Mist, the first sprayon sunscreen for the face, a 6-sheet interactive digital screen featured L’Oréal Paris brand ambassador Rui En. Upon detection of people standing around the interactive panel using motion sensors, Rui En started promoting the features of the UV Mist to the public before inviting them to mimic the action of applying the UV Mist by waving along with her. At the end of a successful interaction, they could snap a photo of the barcode presented on the screen to enjoy a S$9 discount off the UV Mist at Guardian, Watsons and Sasa stores island-wide. The utilisation of Mediacorp’s star power and technological advancements brought about the success of this campaign. It generated a lot of buzz online with 223,285 views and 7,900 Facebook interactions on the viral video posted by Rui En’s fan club Facebook page. The creative executions demonstrated how out-of-home is still able to gain traction in Singapore by creating memorable engagements which builds customer relationships and enhances future advertising experiences.

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CASE STUDY 2

Real-time data and interaction via omnified screens Mediacorp OOH Media exclusively offers the use of its omnified screens for advertisers to connect and engage tech-savvy consumers in high traffic belts in major shopping and heartland hubs. The screens have the capability to host interactive games, screen live feeds, perform immediate transactions and even share experiences on social media. They bring static advertisements to life, providing an avenue beyond the usual out-of-home mediums to bring personalised experiences to consumers via their mobile devices through NFC technology. Not only can content be pushed to consumers, these omnified screens can pull real-time analytics such as time and location, allowing marketers to gain valuable insights and make adjustments to campaigns on the fly.

the dynamic NFC for the public to take part in these contests with their smartphone. These interactions were recorded in real-time, with data constantly being refreshed every minute, enabling advertisers to have a dynamic analysis on the behavioural profile of these consumers. These campaigns demonstrated the ability of these screens bridging online and offline media, giving advertisers a seamless follow

GrabTaxiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s (now Grab) Grab Convenience campaign was the first campaign to run on these screens. It featured a live feed of Grab taxi locations around the vicinity of 10 bus shelters, enticing waiting bus commuters to flag their taxis instead with a free promotional ride. This redefined digital outdoor advertising by showcasing the use of live-feed technology leading to an immediate call-to-action. Gardens by the Bay and Firefly also extended their campaign promotions on these omnified screens through trivia contests, utilising

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through to engage and interact with their audiences. These weatherproof digital panels with audio are strategically placed within crowded bus shelters, attracting waiting commuters to watch and hear various engaging content. Real-life interactions simplify the process of building a relationship with the consumer because these relationships become instantaneous. Consumers can even take away this experience and continue the engagement on their mobile phones.

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Gold sponsors

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Knowledge partner

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

MAKING SENSE OF THE COMPLEX CUSTOMER JOURNEY Making sense of the customer journey has never been easy. But it has now reached a level of complication never seen before. For Club 21, figuring out the symbiosis between online and offline is now more crucial than ever as it looks to launch an all-new e-commerce offering this July across six markets. Speaking at the Shopper Marketing conference 2016, Mei Lee, SVP of digital, CRM and e-commerce at Club 21, said that today a consumer’s inspiration before a purchase decision could come from anywhere. And marketers needed to know these inspiration points. “The way we see it, in terms of inspirations, customers are now getting influences from social media and content sites as well as print ads,” she said, explaining that a print ad in a magazine can inspire customers to go online to search for the product. “It is really important for us to be highly targeted and specific and align ourselves with the new customer journeys and touch-points.” WWW.M A R K ET I N G - I N T ER A C T I V E.C O M

Pivot Our Ecommerce Strategy For a New Customer Journey Inspiration

Shopping

Purchasing

Engage/Experience

Social Media

Store

New Customer

Social Sharing

Content Websites

Online & Offline Advertising

Website

Existing Customer

Up-sell and Cross-sell

Loyalty

Refer-afriend Membership Program Sign Up Email SignUp

Mobile App

Repeat Customer

Product Review

Retention Incentives

Source: Club 21

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

Brands, at this point, need to interact with the customer to nudge them in their direction to spend with the brand at the next purchase point. JU LY 2 016 MARKE TI N G 47

“E-commerce should be our biggest store at the company. It should be the biggest and open 24/7 and we should be able to list as many products as possible.” “We are looking at tools to help with social media listening and community management beyond just replying to connect to a point for next purchase. Marketing automation happens at this part of the journey,” she said. Moving to an omni-channel strategy In the past, having a store front required different budgeting than online. Stores would have their own marketing budget broken off from a certain percentage of their top line. This budget was usually spent on promotions consisting of print advertising, OOH, digital display, radio, events and PR channels with the objective of driving people to the store. But now many customers are simply trying the product in store and then purchasing the same product online. As the world moves into the world of omni-channel, the challenge for Lee and her team is figuring out how to shift from those marketing activities to digital while still managing a certain model of effectiveness. “The shopping stage in the past used to be about coming into the store. Now it is also website and mobile. So how do we align our 48 M A R K ET I N G JU LY 2 0 1 6

budgets across different touch-points? Yes, store, online and mobile all have different ecosystems, but the goal should be to align and be consistent throughout,” she said. Lee admits to move in that direction takes a significant amount of integration with technology and people co-ordination. Nonetheless, it needs to be done. “E-commerce should be our biggest store at the company. It should be the biggest and open 24/7 and we should be able to list as many products as possible.” With the upcoming launch of the website, Club 21 is putting its weight behind channels such as SEM, email, display and social media marketing. It is also looking at a target-specific geo-platform and online partnerships and collaboration with publications along with affiliate and native content strategies. “These might all be standard things, but standard things can be really complicated because you need to get it right.” Mobile connections Lee also added that often the misconception was that mobile marketing was all about having

an app, but the challenge is to get people to download the app. And what marketers should be thinking about is: how can it be a utility for the customer. One way could be that by using the app in-store, they could get or redeem rewards points. Or using the app to book an appointment with a stylist in-store. Currently, Club 21 is also looking at different tech partnerships to figure out who its new customers, existing customers and VIP customers are. This will help identify the loyal consumers from the one-time spenders. “Customers need to feel that they will be instantly recognised by the store and know their worth,” she said. She added that mobile is an area to watch out for with more interesting innovations coming up in recent years. Another mobile-friendly feature the brand is adding is Google directions to its websites so customers can get directions to stores conveniently or call directly. “This might seem basic, but in Asia, a lot of companies haven’t even checked the box on these features. For me it is about getting our basics right and then we can build from there.” Moreover, having a seamless experience also means the brand can more easily communicate with customers over mobile and they will be more accepting to the communications put out by the brand such as mobile advertising, geo-targeting, search history targeting and in-store communications. Data integration Ultimately helping all these changes will be data. While across the company there are many data sources, a chunk of them are still unstructured. Club 21 is now working towards integrating data from all the sources to come up with a single view of the customer. “Data can inform how we can go to market and be relevant to the consumer in terms of advertising, trigger campaigns and product recommendations.” In store there is point-of-sales data, where with every single transaction the team knows the customer’s details. And online, there is, of course, even more data at hand such as how many pages the customer viewed, where they spent time, which product they added to the cart and the page they last exited. As such, structuring the different data points is a must. With the right data at hand it is possible to create a single view of the customer and crosssell and upsell seamlessly, according to Lee. “A lot of things might sound basic like merging online and offline, but when it comes to different P&L’s and requiring different stakeholders to be on board, it gets complicated.” WWW. MARK E TING-IN TE RAC TI VE . C OM

UNDERSTANDING THE ‘SMART CONSUMER’ With more technologically savvy consumers turning to online platforms for purchases, trying to identify your consumer and target audience can be quite an uphill task. According to Patrick Steinbrenner, regional director for on-site marketing at ZALORA, as many as one in four Singaporeans shop online at least once a week, with 69% of Singaporeans researching online before making their purchase. This is especially so when it comes to higher-priced items. The demand to stand out is greater than ever, with brands being urged to have a personalised approach without the risk of losing mass appeal. According to Dennis Tay, founder of Naiise, one measure brands can take to boost their mass appeal is through personalisation and finding values which answer to a universal theme. Citing Apple’s iPod as an example, he talks about how Apple’s overarching theme – music – is a universal one. By having a universal brand message, marketers are enabled to target a larger set of people. Humanising your brand For Tay, consumers should not be looked upon as merely numbers; instead they should be friends who your brand can relate to and vice versa. “Humanise a brand and showing it to your consumers. Be honest with them,” he said. He urges brands to be transparent and show customers the team behind the product and the story, which can be done through blog posts chronicling team activities, to simple behind-the-scenes social media postings of the team at work. “These are the people who should be recognised because they are the ones who are struggling and trying to achieve something for the brand – that is something which is relatable to the next set of people, who are your consumers,” he said. Understanding the “smart consumer” According to Steinbrenner, the first step to reaching out to the “smart consumer” is recognising that relevance is key when it comes to the content brands put out to connect with their consumers. “Users are not a homogeneous group of people, they respond to different specifications and preferences. Having relevant information is not only key in acquiring customers, but more 5 0 M AR K ET I N G JU LY 2 0 1 6

importantly – retaining them.” He adds that having a cross-device mindset is important when it comes to personalising the experience for a brand’s customers as it allows for a seamless transition from different screens during the purchase process. Emphasising on the importance of this, he states the example of Myntra, a popular Indian e-commerce site which shifted to an app-only model last year. It returned with the revival of its desktop and mobile sites last month upon realisation that cross-device transactions consisted of 40% of purchasing behaviour. Understanding Millennials Values such as meaningful, simple and stylish are those that resonate most with Millennials or “smart consumers”, according to Bojan Blecic, senior vice-president and head of experience design at OCBC Bank. There comes a stage in their lives where they need to see a meaning in everything they do; they are at a stage where having both a view and an opinion is paramount. “They need a rationale as to why they connect with the brand or product, why it is important not only for themselves and the group they are in,” he said. This was what OCBC learnt when launching OCBC Frank. Frank is the brand’s offering for the youth, and it has successfully encapsulated around 70% of the market share when it comes to credit or debit cards targeted specifically at the student demographic. According to Blecic, brands need to

recognise that when it comes to reaching out to the rising “smart” consumer, it is not always about the crazy ideas, but rather finding intelligent ways to organise the experience in the perspective of the customer. “It’s not about us and our product, it is about the consumers and what is valuable to them,” he said. Agreeing with Blecic, Tay points out that although having data is important when it comes to mining insights about customers and their preferences, it is difficult to win them over if the product or service is not up to the mark. “Data and solid marketing strategies are worth nothing if your company is unable to create value,” he said. WWW. MARK E TING-IN TE RAC TI VE . C OM

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Having an analytics strategy in place was a significant advantage. Now, with more companies embracing the power of data and embedding analytics into business processes than ever before, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s getting crowded. In light of these pressing issues, the third edition of Marketingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Analytics conference looked to help marketers in creating an analytics strategy beyond the mainstream. The conference saw senior-level marketers tackle issues such as balancing automation and human judgment; the talent issue and fostering a sustainable analytics team; overcoming the privacy pickle; powering social analytics and more. KNOWLEDGE PARTNERS

EXHIBITOR

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ARE YOU COLLECTING DATA FOR THE SAKE OF IT?

With the recent crackdowns worldwide on data breaches and more governments taking measures to protect sensitive data from falling into the wrong hands, transparency in data management is something of great concern. This ranges from a brand’s intentions on wanting consumer data, what it will be using the data for, and more importantly, the systems put in place for the protection of customer data. “Everything comes at a cost. The convenience of getting a service or buying a brand comes at the price of giving up a bit of your data,” Prakash Chandrasekar, AMA head, e-commerce strategy, planning and analytics at Levi Strauss & Co, said at a recent panel discussion at Marketing’s Analytics 2016 conference. When it comes to collecting consumer data, Sonali Verma, head of customer experience, innovation and analytics, DBS regional partnership, at Manulife Singapore, stressed the importance of getting information sensibly. Too often companies collect data, as though out of insecurity. That data, typically a massive form with many fields, then sits in the warehouse with no business unit using it or needing it. Instead of having a general method in data collection when it comes to finding out 5 4 M A R K ET I N G JU LY 2 0 1 6

more about your consumers, asking the right questions is more important when it comes to data collection – leading to a better quality of understanding of consumers, according to Verma. “Ask questions you actually need the data for,” she said, stating that she was often “wary of organisations who want to collect every information about the customer at the first point of contact”. There are many opportunities for the brand to know the customer throughout the customer journey. Therefore, it is important to keep in mind the customer experience while collecting data as well, and not putting the customer off at the time of collection. Agreeing with Verma, Andrew McClure, head of marketing and analytics for Asia Pacific at AIG, added there was no point in having data unless it could be converted into actionable decisions that benefited consumers. What is the future of analytics? Being in the age of the customer, where customers are now the centre of almost every business, the key differentiation according to Verma, would be how well a brand knows its customers. “It [understanding consumers] is an ‘outside-in’ perspective,” Verma said, which allows a brand to relate to the customer’s point

of view, therefore building customer loyalty. “With all the technology available, it is very easy for data to fall into the wrong hands. Use the information and data wisely, be transparent and use it in the interest of the customer by being as need-specific as possible.” For McClure, the future of analytics is how it will eventually evolve into something which can be commoditised. The source of differentiation will lie in the quality of questions brands pose to their customers and the quality of their marketing strategy. “A marketing strategy is simply three things – segmentation, targeting and positioning. If you know your segments, you know who you are targeting and you know what to say to them, a big part of the job is done,” he said. According to Chandrasekar, having revenue figures helps to address the common concern on whether or not data strategies are bringing in the right returns for the organisation. “Five years ago was about building the right data architecture, and two years ago was learning how to harness the data collected,” he said. “The future of analytics and data is figuring out how to turn that data into revenue.” It will help ensure that data is being used in an optimal way, as well as provide justification for the investment in data strategies. WWW. MARK E TING-IN TE RAC TI VE . C OM

HOW TO PERSONALISE PRODUCT RECOMMENDATIONS WITHOUT BEING CREEPY

Personalisation matters. Personalisation effectively combines segmentation and behavioural data to provide insights into each customer’s interests. According to a recent study by Experian, when a simple email subject line is personalised, there is a 40% increase in the open rate. However, today simply hoping to catch your consumer’s attention span is not enough. “You need to catch it and monetise it and do so quickly,” said Kameel Vohra, global marketing manager at Dell, who was speaking at the recent Analytics 2016 conference. One area that comes hand-in-hand with personalisation is recommendations. Recommendations, he added, will change the way businesses capture more data and share of wallet. “Recommendations matter because attention spans are abysmally low,” Vohra said. Making the best recommendations, of course, comes with careful data analysis. “You need to make sure the best information comes up really quickly and grabs attention. Recommendation allows a win-win situation where the audience gets what they want and the provider gets more purchases,” he said. Netflix and Amazon are two examples of companies, Vohra believes does this really well. Netflix, for example, saw that WWW.M A R K ET I N G - I N T ER A C T I V E.C O M

recommendation was essential to reduce new release demand from 80% of all orders to 10%. In 2006, it spent US$1 million on recommendations and in 2014, the number shot up to US$150 million. Today it has more than 300 people working on long tail recommendation and discovery. During a conversation with Business Insider, Netflix’s VP of product innovation, Chris Jaffe, explained the company has only 90 seconds to convince the user to stick to its services. Sometimes, having too much content means that users get lost and may just completely abandon the service. As such, you need to be quick on your feet to test and adapt. “The beauty of digital marketing is that it lets you really very quickly analyse the metrics in real-time,” said Endrit Muca, director of ad operations for Adknowledge APAC. As such personalisation can also be on the go to. “The end goal is very much to turn these brand aware consumers into brand loyal consumers,” he said adding that in this digital world brands should A-B test as much as possible. Personalise without being creepy “The truth is today’s consumers

want

personalisation. We want to be known and we need to know what we are getting is catered to us,” Vohra said. But what is also important is ensuring that while analysing the data you are not coming across as knowing way too much. “How you present the reason for recommendation is important,” he said. He added that having an explanatory power as to why you made certain recommendations, similar to human interaction, reduces friction from users. “Making sure you are not abusing the data or crossing the line is just as important when getting up close and personal with your consumers,” he added. As such, it is of utmost importance that marketers are transparent and mindful in the way they leverage consumer data for their marketing benefits. Also warning against overuse or tech abuse was Sandeep Mittal, managing director of Cartesian Consulting. He added that marketers must first ensure they are utilising tools and data they already have. “Analytics, as a practice, needs time to seep into the different parts of the business and marinate over time,” he said. Only then will it yield the results your organisation really wants. JU LY 2 016 MARKE TI N G 5 5

CAREERS

CAREER PATH Doreen Chia Brand general manager, AmorePacific Group Singapore

First job? My ﬁrst full-time job

was with Promedia Directories, selling advertising space in the Green Book Directory. I have always wanted to have a job in marketing, however, at that time, ﬁnding a marketing job was not easy. Hence, I opted to start with media sales instead, which was a small step nearer to understanding marketing since I worked with the marketing departments

First job in advertising/ marketing? My ﬁrst job

in marketing was with Grid Communications, an island-wide walkie-talkie service provider, as a marketing executive, where I was involved in all aspects of marketing, inclusive of planning and execution of A&P activities as well as graphic designs for collaterals.

Perks of your current job?

To be able to try all the new products of the brand as well as meet our ambassadors such as Song Hye-kyo and Lee Sungkyung up close! Best career advice you’ve been given? Always work with a

burning passion so you will not be worn down by a job.

Why a career in marketing?

I feel it’s very interesting to be able to plan and execute activities that shape the brand and communicate it effectively to the right target audience to convert them to customers If you weren’t in marketing, what would you be? If I wasn’t

in marketing, I may be working as a headhunter as I have an interest to match people with their dream jobs. I believe that you give your best when it’s a job you are passionate towards.

How do you wind down? I go

for holidays or take leave for retail therapy!

JOB SHUFFLE Leo Burnett appointed Serene Koh as general manager for its Singapore office. She replaces outgoing Leo Burnett Singapore GM, Rebecca Ang, who has left the agency. She joins the agency from JWT where she served as business director for the Singapore Tourism Board account. Her portfolio of local accounts included Tangs, Metro, Great Eastern Life, Keppel and a 13-year tenure leading the Singapore Airlines account, first at Batey Ads, and later at TBWA. Vocanic Singapore appointed Shreeniwas V Iyer as its new chief executive officer. He was previously chief technology officer of the agency and has been with the agency for more than five years. He will be responsible for the agency’s operations, growth strategy, partnerships, talent management and client satisfaction across all of Vocanic’s markets. As CTO, he headed a team of engineers and was responsible for development and technology. Publicis Singapore appointed Adrian Yeap as its new creative director for its Scoot account. He was previously from Ogilvy & Mather. With a decade’s worth of experience, his portfolio has consisted of major brands such as KFC, StarHub, McDonald’s, Health Promotion Board, Tiger Beer and the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth. Before moving to Publicis, he was the creative lead on KFC and the Ministry for Trade & Industry. Prashant Kumar, former president of IPG Mediabrands

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for Asia world markets and CEO of IPG Mediabrands Malaysia, has joined an experimental marketing services consultancy called Entropia. It is currently in its Beta phase and is slated to enter the Malaysian market in July. Entropia – a word that joins Entropy and Utopia – is meant to denote the movement from disorder to order. Iris Singapore appointed Felicia Tan as senior producer for its newly formed global content division – Content That POPS. This follows the appointment of Digby Lewis as head of platforms and distribution, who was the former director of brand strategy at Buzzfeed. Content That POPS aims to create a more effective value exchange between brands and people through content marketing that has “purpose, originality, participation and shareability” at its core. SPH’s digital division appointed agency veteran Lynn Yeoh as assistant vicepresident of sales strategy and planning. She brings with her 15 years of extensive experience in integrated media planning and communication strategy. She was previously director for integrated planning at Carat. She also held key positions in Possible Worldwide/ BLUE Singapore, PHD Media and ZenithOptimedia. She will provide media insights and develop media packages to meet the needs of advertisers and agencies in her new role. J. Walter Thompson named Marco Versolato as chief creative officer of J. Walter Thompson Singapore and global executive creative director for Lux.

Last handling the global ECD role for Lux was Juhi Kalia, who has moved to take on a new role at Facebook. Before Kalia, Tay Guan Hin handled the role. Jeffrey Seah, Southeast Asia CEO of Starcom Mediavest, exited the company. He was in the role of regional CEO for more than seven years and has had 15 years of association in two stints. Prior to the role, he was with Mindshare as regional lead for Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore. He was also CEO of Mindshare Singapore. He will be taking on a new role in the world of tech, data, content and e-commerce consultancy. Myrna Poon, executive director of marketing and communications at EDB, joined DBS as senior vice-president and head of brand and digital. She will oversee all branding and digital functions and will report to Karen Ngui, head of group strategic marketing and communications. During her two-decade term with EDB, Poon undertook global marketing and communications responsibilities for Singapore as a business brand, from global strategies to attracting IT companies to invest in Singapore. Mindshare appointed Maneesheel Gautam to the role of digital leader of Southeast Asia. He has over 16 years of multi-function media experience across disciplines and countries. He will focus on strengthening FAST (future adaptive specialist team), Mindshare’s unique service offering aimed at building sectorspecific solutions for marketers to drive marketing and media actions using real-time insights. WWW. MARK E TING-IN TE RAC TI VE . C OM

Lighthouse Events, the events management division of Lighthouse Independent Media, has been bringing Lighthouse’s conferences, awards shows and internal meetings to life since 2006 - over 40 events annually in multiple formats through numerous markets across Asia. Staffed by a team of experienced and dedicated event professionals, Lighthouse Events is commited to understanding and delivering its clients’ strategic objectives. Lighthouse Events has the expertise and experience to conceptualise and manage any customised event, making sure its clients’goals are met on every occasion. Call us if you need a partner for:• Venue Sourcing • Destination Management • Event Conceptualisation • Supplier Management

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Ronnie Brown Head of digital DirectAsia

Thomas Wolf Digital conversion manager Google

Steve Feiner Co-founder and CEO A Better Florist

Charlie Baillie Regional director, SEA RadiumOne

Benedict Hayes Managing director, SEA and India Sociomantic Labs