2006 Adoi Malaysia August Issue by Sledgehammer Communications (M) Sdn Bhd

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Candidates from across the globe, in an all new season Watch it first on

Beginning 30 July 2006, every Sunday, 11pm

Why are we hell-bent on killing ourselves? irst was the talk of global warming. Now brace yourself for this: I was watching a programme on Discovery Channel recently and there's a new thingy around - Global Dimming. No, it was no reality show. Sometimes Discovery just gives me the shivers. And you thought it was all hunky dory in land of greenhouse gases! It says global dimming is the gradual reduction in the amount of global hemispherical irradiance (or total solar irradiance at the Earths surface, observed since the beginning of systematic measurements in 1950s. The effect varies by location, but worldwide it is of the order of a 5% reduction over the three decades from 1960-1990. This trend has reversed during the past decade. Global dimming creates a cooling effect that may have partially masked the effect of greenhouse gases on global warming. It reflects sunlight back into space. This

fact has been well-known for many decades (it is why volcanoes, which can throw vast numbers of sulphate particles into the upper atmosphere, can have a strong temporary cooling effect on the Earth). Paradoxically, the decline in sunlight may mean that global warming is a far greater threat to society than previously thought. The effect was first spotted by Gerry Stanhill, an English scientist working in Israel. Comparing Israeli sunlight records from the 1950s with current ones, Stanhill was astonished to find a large fall in solar radiation. "There was a staggering 22% drop in the sunlight, and that really amazed me," he says. There's more.... There are suggestions that dimming was behind the droughts in sub-Saharan Africa which claimed hundreds of thousands of lives in the 1970s and 1980s. There are disturbing hints the same thing may be happening today in Asia, home to half the world's population."My main concern is global dimming is also having a detrimental impact on the Asian monsoon,"

says Prof Veerhabhadran Ramanathan, one of the world's leading climate scientists. "We are talking about billions of people." We live in a world of opposites where balance is the last thing on our mind.Take this recent fact for example: "As many as 60,000 people a year die from too much sun, mostly from malignant skin cancer, says the World Health Organization. This suicidal mentality is prevalent everywhere, including our ad industry where in a sea of uncertainty we have gambled away our rightful income in the name of justifying our value. We'll need more than a Zidane head butt to wake us up this time! Why am I in such a reflective mood this month? Let's just say that experiencing 20 seconds of the world shakingin ourJakarta office along Jin Fatmawati on the evening of July 20 from the quake beneath the Sunda straits is a cause for much thinking. Our staff rushed out of our thirdstorey office after the tremors expecting the worst: don't even think about it!

18 THE WORLD'S MOST ANTICIPATED FORUM ON BRANDS IS RACK Following the success of the previous forums, the Global Brand Forum popularly known as "The Davos of Branding" will kick off in Singapore once again on November 6-7,2006 at the Ritz Carlton.

DAVID AAKER FAITH POPCORN MARTIN LINDSTROM JACK TROUT The world's most influential brand strategy guru

The world's no.1 brand trend forecaster

The world's leading youth and technology branding guru

The man who co-created brand positioning

THE WORLD'S MOST ANTICIPATED BRAND FORUM IS BACK GLOBAL BRANS FORUM 2008 8 & 7NOVEMBER, THE RiTZ-CARLTOH, M1LLENIA SINGAPORE

THE STRAITS TIMES

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6 SHOOTING AHEAD As the new Proton Satria Neo blazes out of the wilderness in TBWA-ISCX Malaysia's TVC for the beleaguered brand, we explore what s propelling the agency's high-octane acceleration: TBWA\ was named Agency of the Year 30 times in 13 different countries in one year; Network of the Year and Global Network of the Year at Cannes 2004. On the creative front, it is one of the most awarded networks at Cannes, One Show, AdFest and Art Director s Club and tops The Gunn Report. TBWA-ISCX Malaysia also bagged Silver in the Best Long-Term Marketing and Branding category at the recent Asian Marketing Effectiveness Awards 2006 in Hong Kong. And TEQUILA-MYALOX Malaysia won commendation for the Most Effective Use of Product Design 8c Packaging for Martell VSOP.

74 THE GODFATHER BREAKS HIS SILENCE... When Neil French talks, the world listens. Make no mistake about that. He is the real deal! After the storm of An Evening with Neil French, the Godfather has been gratefully playing homebody and enjoying every second of it.

26 BLOGGING AS A BUSINESS COMMUNICATION TOOL The recent success ofblogging as a communication instrument have somewhat left an effect on Corporate Malaysia. Most of them would probably fall under two broad categories. It really depends on whom you are asking.

REGIONAL CEO Harmandar Singh aka Ham • ham@pop.jaring.my MARKETING Jeffrey Hamid • jeff@ham.com.my SUBSCRIPTIONS Rani Bedi • rani@ ham.com.my CIRCULATION Lavanya Rajendran • laven@ham.com.my WRITER Raj Kumar • raj@ham.com.my ART DIRECTION Rosalind Julia Tann • ros@ ham.com.my PHOTOGRAPHY Jen Studio •jensiow@streamyx.com CONTRIBUTORS Josh Sklar, Mack Zulkifl and Greg Paull PRINTER DC Print Sdn Bhd DISTRIBUTION Five E-Comm. ADOI magazine is published every month by Sledgehammer Communications (M) Sdn Bhd 22B, Jalan Tun Mohd. Fuad Satu, Taman Tun Dr. Ismail, 60000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Tel: 603-7726 2588 Fax: 603-7722 5712, www.adoimagazine.com

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SHOOTING AHEAD As the new Proton Satria Neo blazes out of the wilderness in 'I BWA-ISC\ Malaysia's 1 VC for the beleaguered brand, we explore what's propelling the ageney's high-octane acceleration: I BWA\ was named Agency of the Year 30 times in 13 different countries in one year; Network of the Year and Global Network of the Year at Cannes 2004. On the creative front, it is one of the most awarded networks at Cannes, One Show, Ad I est and Art Director's Club and tops The Gunn Report. 'I BWA-ISCX Malaysia also bagged Silver in the Best Long-Term Marketing and Branding category at the recent Asian Marketing Effectiveness Awards 2006 in 1 long Kong. And'I EQIJIIA-MYALOX Malaysia won commendation for the Most Effective Use of Product Design 6c Packaging for Martell VSOP

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STORY

iBWA\maiavsia H To The Finishing

"Change? TBWA\ Malaysia is doing quite nicely thank you" BY THE HAMMER

You cannot fault Keith Smith, Chairman of TBWAXAsia Pacific for being upbeat about his Malaysian outfit.Time and time again, they've baffled him beyond belief with their targets, achievements and view of the future. The last thing he needs to do is kick the tyres when he visits KL, like he did a month ago. A die-hard fan of Disruption thinking, ADOI asks him what this whole upside down word means to the network. srr BACK AND GET A DOSE OFTHIS Disruption is a tool for change and an agent of growth: a working methodology and a life view philosophy.The word is difficult, uncomfortable but "Disruption" is not destructive. It is creation. Disruption is a means of creating something dynamic to replace something that has become static. Disruption is the art of asking better questions, challenging conventional wisdom and overturning assumptions and prejudices that get in theway of imagining new possibilities and visionary ideas. Disruption is a system for people who hate systems. It is not limited to marketing and communications but can be applied to deeper levels of an organization including products and services or the core business offering. Through the course of a one or multi-day workshop, both client and agency engage in a series of exercises that are designed to explore a specific issue. Highly collaborative, strategic and creative in nature, these workshops facilitate actionable output. Using a selection of tools from our bank of over 50 diagnostics, we explore three distinct domains necessary for success: Convention, Vision and of course Disruption.

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SO ITS BEEN 10 YEARS FOR YOU, RUNNING TBWA ACROSS ASIA, AND FIVE YEARS FOR TBWA IN MALAYSIA... It's been a fabulous partnership in Malaysia Ham. We have a flourishing TBWA and also a flourishing TEQUILA. We operate in an integrated fashion, which really is our global model. There's been great stability with Austen Zecha leading the way (being the youngest ad man in the world!). The youthful management team has embraced the whole "Disruption" philosophy beautifully. In myview this management team is probably as good as it gets! WHAT'S YOUR WISH LIST FOR MALAYSIA?

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Well, as you know, from our Asian network, our Bangkok operation CreativeJuice has been consistently No.1 in Cannes and so on. I'd like to see our Malaysian office also take the lead, now that Malaysia is Asia's No 1 in Cannes this year. We won 39 Lions this year and our Paris office won Cannes Agency of the Year for the fourth year running! Although TBWAX

Worldwide is Omnicom Group s youngest worldwide network, it seems to have picked up more awards and recognition than anyone else. HOW ARE THE BUSINESS TARGETS LOOKING? I have just about finished our half year review and I must say we are significantly above targetfor the year, which already is a"stretched" target. In fact, in our key markets across the region, it seems like we're heading for a record year. MUST BE EXCITING HANDLING SEXY BRANDS LJKE APPLE, ABSOLUT VODKA, ADIDAS, SONY PLAYSTATION... All our work on our global clients is iconic. Creatively, we re ranked at the top of The

Gunn Report. We re the only network where 90% of our awards are for our global clients. In fact, adidas was Client of the Year this year in Cannes! I would proudly say that in our network there are easily over 40 offices that are creatively outstanding.

11 HEAR YOUR LOSANGELES OFFICEIS AWESOME. Yes, they do most of the award-winning PlayStation work, they also have a basketball court inside the office! It is simply a unique experience. There's a Nissan truck parked in the office and surfboards on the boardroom walls. It is also where you'll find all-time advertising legend Lee Clow, who is Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of TBWAXWorldwide. It is less than a kilometre from the beach in Santa Monica!

GIVE US AN EXAMPLE OF DISRUPTION The theory is you disrupt to create new market space for the brand. And connections wheel'is all about reaching your consumers, wherever your consumer happens to be. As we know the conventional wisdom of running a 30second TV commercial is no longer sufficient. Talking about disruption, we did the launch of Nissan Tiida in Thailand recently where we got something like 300 Toyota Corolla owners to drive around with stickers plastered all over their cars displaying messages like,1 wish I was driving a Nissan Tiida'!

YOU WORKED ON THE W0NDERBRA CAMPAIGN MANY YEARS BACK? At the time that we did it, the key disruption was that lingerie was something women were very discreet about. We built on the fact that Madonna came along, and wore her underwear on the outside. She said sort of Eff You guys, I'll do what I want'. We changed the brand completely from a saggy brand for saggy women, to a brand for partying young women. And you know, breasts became a fashion iti

SO YOU'RE AN ADIDAS MAN AND YOUR TEAM IS CHELSEA.. Ham, I'm a failed professional footballer.^ I was 15-16 years old, the boots I wore adidas. My heroes wore adidas, and I fe played better in adidas. Even today when I j to the gym, I wear adidas. I don't play mu< anymore, not even with my kids.They are much bigger than me now!

WHAT ARE THE NEXT 10 YEARS GOING TO BE This whole digital revolution is going to present th opportunities for phenomenal growth never thought possible before. We are still smarting from the dot.com bust. time to go back to that space. This will of course change the nature of the people we hire. New skills sets are being required evervdav. It's all so exciting. Asia is still the place to be. We have a great relationship with Hakuhodo in Japan and China, and things are : really beginning to pick up for us in China.

I BELIEVE OMNICOM'S JOHN WREN TOLD A WORLDWIDE BBD0 GATHERING MEDIA SPECIALISTS WOULD EVENTUALLY MORPH INTO COMMUNICATION CHANNEL PLANNING ROLES PARTNERING BRAND/CREATIVE

ADOI

AGENCIES WHILE MEDIA INVENTORY WILL BE HANDLED BY SEPARATE SILOS, COULD YOU ADD YOUR COMMENTS? Yes, I think that John is right although I'm not sure that Channel Planners will necessarilycome from Media. There are lots of new channel opportunities which could produce these people... even from creative backgrounds

OMNICOM'S NON-US REVENUE FOR THE FIRST HALF OF THIS YEAR INCREASED 6% TO $2,417.9 MILLION FROM $2,279.0 MILLION IN THE SAME PERIOD LAST YEAR. HOW MUCH DOES THE ASIA PACIFIC REGION FACTOR IN THIS? The Asia-Pacific region has developed a disproportionate importance because of the dramatic growth in this part of the world amongst our companies.

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PERSONALITIES

NG CHIEW PING, GROUP MANAGING

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DIRECTOR TBWA-ISCWIALAYSIA x

A no-nonsense workaholic who shoots straight from the hip but has a big heart, Chiew Ping is a graduate in Business Administration from the Kilburn Polytechnic (UK). Throughout her nearly 25-year career, she handled numerous blue-chip accounts, notably the Tourism Development Corporation and J\ lalavsia Airlines. Ping was also with P FA I Thompson and AIcCann Erickson, where she was the Account A Ianager for KF C A lalavsia, Dreamland and A Iartell. As Group A lanaging Director ofTBWAI SCW lalavsia, Chiew Ping comes to work everyday wearing many different hats. Supreme Motivator. Visionary Leader. Judge. Jury. Therapist. Friend.

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A big; man with big - •* ideas that have won him numerous awards and nominations at Epica, Cannes, the Clio Awards, the New York Festivals, Eurobest and the London International Advertising Awards. A graduate from The Art School in Rotterdam, Bas brings with him a wealth of experience and accolades, having worked with numerous international advertising agencies, including Bates and TBWAYL80 in Amsterdam. Bas' portfolio rattles off a long list of global brands such as Mercedes Benz,Jaguar, Renault, Compaq, Nike, Coca Cola, Glaxo Wellcome, Bayer and Vodafone.

DATUKT1M GARLAND, CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER TEQUILA-MYALOMVIALAYSIA Despite his BSc in Electrical Engineering; P . . . from the University7 of Denver, Tim realized the ad industry was the playground for the big bovs. I le has over 15 vears of management and marketing experience, handling bluechip accounts including Rockwell,TM (previously Telekom Malaysia), Yahoo! and Standard Chartered. He began his career at Rockwell, where he worked his wav to serve as Country Manager of A lalavsia. I im currently sits on the Board of Governors of the American Chamber of Commerce in Malaysia, of which he was also the President from 2002-2005 and for which the King awarded him his Datukship.

BAS MOREU, EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR TBWA-ISCVMALAYSIA

J0SIE LIM, CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER-DESIGNATE WIZARD MEDIA DYNAMICS With over 20 years of experience in the media industry, Josie has worked on a broad range of industries ranging from milk powder and cars to telecommunications. Some of her past/present clients include Nestle, Maxis, DiGi, Tourism Malaysia, Perodua, CocaCola and McDonalds. Her experience in both full service and specialist areas has armed her with capabilities to deliver relevant, engaging and insightful communication programmes for her clients. She's taking over the helm of WMD as it leaves Carat to be part of OMG Malaysia.

ADOI MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS MAGAZINE

AARON COWIE, CLIENT SERVICES DIRECTOR TBWA-ISCVMALAYSIA

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Aaron graduated from the University of Wales, UK with a joint degree in Law and International Politics. He has been in the advertising and communications industry for more than 15 years, starting his career in Account Management at Ogilvy and then Publicis for 10 years. In his last 2 years at Publicis, he was the Marketing Sendees Director, heading divisions like Public Relations, CRM, Events and Design. His portfolio of accounts includes Shell, Guinness, Nesde - Maggi, Nestle Ice Cream, Nespray, Neslac, Nestle Yogurt, Tourism Malaysia, Sime UEP, Caltex, Ayamas, Sanofi-Aventis, Sampoerna and SCA Hygiene.

H00I SOON WAI, GROUP CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER TBWA-ISC\MALAYSIA Armed with a Bachelor of Accounting (Hons), Hooi started auditing for a wide spectrum of businesses including telecommunication, airlines, manufacturing and hotels. He then qualified as a Certified Public Accountant and a Chartered Accountant. Hooi came to the TBWA-ISC\Malavsia Group, armed with a wealth of experience from Abbott Laboratories (Malaysia), where he served as their Finance Director. With time such a scarce commodity these davs, he truly believes in the idealistic motto "Carpe Diem" (Seize the Day) as well as the ever realistic "Show me the money!"

enacity is a watchword that exemplifies the enigma that is Austen Zecha. Making him a suave choice to helm one of the worlds most creative networks in Malaysia: TBWA. Of Dutch-Indonesian parentage, he claims he's much younger than his documented age; convinced his records were tampered by an official who conveniently thought he was in a rush to grow up. This persona with the Midas touch has reinvented himself more than anyone would probably do in a lifetime. Even Austen can't remember how many times he has built companies and sold them to well-wishing bidders. The standing joke in the corridors of power is that his lucky streak may have run its course. To the uninitiated, this is a fallacy Austen would have you believe. This over 65 year-old PADI-certified deep sea scuba diver has been swimming with the big fish from day one. A master orchestrator of new businesses, he has been called many names: showman, slick dealer, quick thinker, whatever. But one cannot fault his innate instinct to win. People who compete with Austen on new business will testify: "You won't see him coming!" So perhaps one needs to first understand precisely where he is coming from. Once a speech writer for Robert F Kennedy, this author of the Malaysia: Truly Asia tagline, has scripted some of the most phenomenal successes in Malaysian ad history. Partagas in hand, his was the first local ad agency to become No.1 in a minefield dominated by international agencies, at a time when local was low cool. Not bad for a man who's only regret is that he did not make it to the US sprint team after the 'trials'for the 1960 Olympics in Rome! How s that for cool?

AUSTENACIOUS!

Why can't TBWA-ISC\Malaysia win Cannes Lion? Why not?

That's no empty boast You got to give it to this guy. And to think he still scuba dives in between client pitches is probably a stretch. But its all true! The TBWA-ISC\Malaysia Group comprises TBWA-ISCX advertising agency, TEQUILA-MYALOX specialist marketing/CRM company and its media arm, Wizard Media Dynamics. Since the middle of last year, TBWA-ISCX has added several new faces and promoted some to its senior management team. These include Group Managing Director Ng Chiew Ping, Client Services Director Aaron Cowie, ECD Bas Moreu, and CFO Hooi Soon Wai. And the man who's responsible for this whole mob is Austen Zecha - it doesn't come any smoother! And just when you think you know all there is to know about this phenomenon, ADOI brings you the latest...

Client: Proton,Product: Satria Neo, CD: Bas A Ioreu, Copy writer:A1vin Ng, Art Director: OngShi Ping

ARE YOU RETIRING ANYTIME SOON? I don't think I can ever really retire. I'm the youngest in a family of five boys and not one of my three living older brothers is retired, all telling me that when one retires the only next phase is death, which is not a good trade-off. But maybe I'll slow down a bit after 2010, depending on whether my succession plan for our TBWA-ISC\Malaysia Group will have hit its stride by then.

In ifce heort erf Asw Ises o fond of rw,y cwbvte*, vtfonders ootJ oftrocfKxs- fnduding an aSundance of fwrurai teeaoty. With lush noptasi jungles obsoimsty te&mng wafc wXdfife, Mautv Ktnobokj, 5og!hecÂť Aso's Nghes mounw, S0wefingamÂŤ80vel<tf clouds ond Mi Coves, the largest cove chamber in the world. Wtete ($ ihii tortd mot's so gfeen, ^ and so amazingly intriguing? /J7 A riflk It con onfy beMotevsw, Tarfy Asa /' T

WHAT IS YOUR SECRET FOR WINNING NEW BUSINESS? secret, really, and if I told you I'd have to you, right? It's just that I personally have a penchant for five types of clients: automotive, tourism Q ADOI MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS MAGAZINE

and travel, consumer goods and some durables, banking and finance, and telecommunications. Lately, of course, I've become intrigued with "through-the-line" services for some other

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Client: Pernod Ricard Malaysia, Product: Martell,CD: On Copy writer:Joseph Damien Sam,Art Director:Siah

clients, such as JTI, Guinness Anchor and Pernod Ricard, because I entered my marketing communications career with the late Robert Kennedy through the events/promotions and PR "door" in the mid-60s before going into corporate or institutional advertising with Exxon and then Mobil in New York in the late-60s prior to, finally, consumer or mass advertising in the 70s, first in Hong Kong and then here. DO YOU SEE TBWA BECOMING NO 1 IN MALAYSIA ANYTIME SOON? sincerely hope our TBWA-ISC\Malaysia agency will move from its current No. 3, if not No.2 position, to No. 1 over the next 18 to 24 months, not only in income or profits or productivity, which I think it has already, but also in terms of creative and marketing achievements as well as a desirable place to work. We've already given TBWA a 100% ROI after just five years, and I'm determined to become the all-round No.l in the country as a "last hurrah", so I'll certainly be around till then.

STORY

THEN TO WHAT DO YOU ATTRIBUTE YOUR AGENCY GROUP'S NEAR THREE-FOLD GROWTH AND SUCCESS,ESPECIALLY OVER THESEPAST 5 YEARS? There are three answers to that: ^jOur advertising agency's tie-upwith TBWA. Worldwide, a member of the world's largest ITELL marketing communications organization, the New York-publicly listed Omnicom Group Inc. in July, 2001. [ Our management group here,which I prefer to call our "Magnificent 7', consisting of our Managing Director Ng Chiew Ping, our Chief Operations Director DatukTim Garland, our Executive Creative Director Bas Moreu, our Client Services Director Aaron Cowie, our Chief Financial Officer Hooi Soon Wai, our Strategic Planner & Business Development Director Frank Nelwan and our Chief Operating Officer-designate Wizard Media Dynamics Josie Lim (I honestly believe there's no other agency management in Malaysia with the quality of academic and career experience like these seven!). [ My late-daughter AshleyMichelle Christina (whose initials inspired the name of my previous agency venture with The Melewar Corporation), who I feel has looked over me OUR EX-PM TUN MAHATHIR'S SON MUKHRIZ IS ON YOUR BOARD OF DIRECTOR. DOES THAT since she died in April, 1979. GIVE YOU MUSCLE WHEN WOOING CLIENTS? On the contrary. Often it's an obstacle for two reasons: one, it has scared off some prospective I go to Honolulu at least three times a year clients because they don't want Mukhriz to nowadays because ISC also has had its own have any knowledge of their operations or full-service and fully integrated marketing business practices; and, two, they all know communications subsidiary there since October, they can't get any financial favours from us, but 2001.1 convinced my ISC partners, Mukhriz, Ping and Tim Garland into investing in a now which isn't a bad thing, really. Of course, some competitors just think that 30-year-old agency, now called Loomis-ISC, Mukhriz can open all doors, even Pandora's for two compelling reasons: box for us, but an introduction to a prospect is ntt makes us the only Malaysian agency ever something every agency wants and should rightly to have its own subsidiary on US soil, enabling strategize for; however, getting the prospect's us to buy into US broadcast media directly business and keeping it as a client are up to the for any of our clients (otherwise, broadcast agency's own abilities,intelligence, commitment media must be bought through a US-based and success at making the client win. agency with which we'd have to split our media In the final analysis, having someone like commissions), thereby also ensuring that the Mukhriz as an investor will not make up for profits from such media income benefit our our stupidity, inability or incompetence. In Malaysian entity. short, I can honesdy say we've never won a [ Mukhriz, Ping and Tim also magnanimously piece of business due to Mukhrizs "muscle". felt I may need something in my later life to I'd like to think he's also benefitted from being keep me from going senile at too early an age! my business partner as I'm let's just say, quarter Also, our Honolulu subsidiary, with is 55% of a century older. owned by ISC here (although it may someday ADOI MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS MAGAZINE

be sold to TBWA too, if the price's right!), is run by a Malaysian CEO &c Chief Creative Officer, Dawn MoraisWebster, the Executive Creative Director who helped us at AMC become the country's No.l agency in the 80s and who also helped me and Mukhriz start ISC in 1994. And, finally, I've to admit, my wife and I also have a house there, just in case I ever do become senile, God forbid! WHY A HOUSE IN HAWAII? Because it's in the middle of the Pacific, kind of symbolic for me who was born in Indonesia but educated in the US, and is really the US' Asian state, with two-thirds of its two million people being Asian, and its ambience and climate are also tropical like here, plus its variety of Asian food, just like in KL. HAVE YOU REALLY WORKED AND LIVED IN MALAYSIA FOR 34 OUT OF YOUR 44 YEARS OF WORKING LIFE? "Yes, indeed, my first two years here were as a journalist, in 1962 to '64. Then I returned, from November 1974 until now.

Magnificent. I, as a foreigner (although a Permanent Resident, thanks to Tun Musa Hitam when he was the Minister of Home Affairs in 1986), have had the incredible experience of having worked and lived in Malaysia under all five of its Prime Ministers. And I have to thank Tengku Razaleigh for encouraging me to move back to Malaysia in November 1974 to start PTM Communications, my first agency here. If not for that I don t know where my career would have taken me, or for that matter where I would be living today. I also have very fond memories of my 18-year partnership, from 1976 to 1994, with MelewarsTunku Abdullah and Tunku Iskandar in our former AMC group of agencies. And mywife, a NewYorker, really doesn't ever want to leave Malaysia, where our late-daughter is buried and where all of my four other children were born. As such, therefore, Malaysia is truly our chosen home, not our second home but our preferred home. And as I've said many times, it's Truly Asia!

I sincerely hope our TBWA-ISC\Malaysia agency will move from its current No. 3, if not No.2 position, to No.l over the next 18 to 24 months, not only in income or profits or productivity, which I think it has already, but also in terms of creative and marketing achievements as well as a desirable place to work ADOI ALSO TALKED TO EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR BAS MOREU WHO CAME ON BOARD TBWA-ISC\ MALAYSIA SIX MONTHS AGO... WHAT IS THE CREATIVE AGENDA FOR TBWA MALAYSIA? Our creative agenda from this year will be to focus on awards. Of course this doesn't happen overnight but we are trying our utmost best to elevate the creative bar. Hopefully, the team's hard work will see results at this year's Kancil and other international award shows. ARE YOU FOCUSING ON NEW BUSINESS OR ACCOUNT CONSOLIDATION? We are always looking to add new businesses to our roster and consolidating our current accounts. I personally believe you have to invest in building a solid relationship with the client to gain their trust. Once that is established, development of better creative work will be made easier. DO YOU PREDICT AN AWARD-WINNING STREAK FOR TBWA MALAYSIA ANYTIVE SOON, ESPECIALLY WITHTHE REGIONALAND WORLDWIDE SHOWS? We're definitely giving it our all to create good work Creativity can be subjective sometimes and winning an award relies on a mix of factors. We have produced some nice work and are hopeful. Only time will tell.

ADOI MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS MAGAZINE

When you're stressed so is your stomach.

Taisho Kampo. For stomach aches, indigestion, vomiting and flatulence. Few people realise it, but our stressful lifestyle does affect our stomach Our eating habits may, for instance, lead to certain stomach problems including indigestion. But now there's a natural herbal remedy - Taisho Kampo. A traditional formula of natural herbs that brings relief to stomach problems.

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TBWAs finest: Darren Jackson,Jim Goh, Phil Brett, DatukTim Garland, Aaron Cowie (partly hidden), JosieLim, Bas Moreu, Alain Rhone, Ng Chiew Ping, Hooi Soon Wai, Austen Zecha, Keith Smith

Doris See, Darren Jackson, Pang Kong Leng, I fooi Soon Wai

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The TBWA-ISCX Malaysia Group celebrated their fifth annivesary in pomp and style at Shangri-La Hotel in Kuala Lumpur last month. The theme TN5PIRE' Nite was celebrated in such a creative manner it captivated the general crowd that attended the birthday bash. "We thought about how people get inspired from different events that occur all over the world. We are showcasing how people take inspiration from disasters, sporting triumphs, concerts and howinspiring it can be to people around the world," said Deputy ECD, Paul Lingan. "These incidents changed the face of the world. It also changed our viewsand perception. From the devastating events of 9/11 to the sheer courage of a man on a bicycle. From the united movement of a red army backing the national football team, to the humanitarian act of Live Aid. They all served to inspire us," adds ECD Bas Moreu.

3H|iJL # I

BMW 3 Series 320s 325i 330i

www.bmw.com.my

Sheer Driving Pleasure

Perfect time. Perfect choice. Perfect commendation Attaining the '2006 World Car of the Year' award wasn't easy. Deciding to own a BMW 3 Series is. In 1975, the BMW 3 Series pioneered the original sports sedan, and we've never looked back. Over the past 30 years, the BMW 3 Series has regularly collected accolades and awards. Its latest triumph is the '2006 World Car of the Year' award presented at the New York International Auto Show. Such a high-achieving automobile deserves the most discriminating drivers, premium performers who demand the best from all life has to offer - including motoring.

BMW Malaysia Authorised dealers: AUTO BAVARIA Penang Tel: 04-281 3866 Kuantan Tel: 09-516 1666 Glenmarie Tel: 03-5569 3900 Segambut Tel: 03-625T 259< Bukit Bintang Tel:03-2142 2288 Sungai Besi Tel: 03-9222 0540 Johor Bahru Tel: 07-238 4580 Kuching Tel: 082-412 351 LEE MOTORS AUTO CARE Alor Setar Tel: 04-733 700C SEONG HOE PREMIUM MOTORS Melaka Tel: 06-288 2228 ANG TRADING & MOTOR CREDIT Batu Pahat Tel: 07-432 6270 Actual car specifications may vary from the model shown above.

LANDMARK

BRANDING

EVENT

The World's most ANTICIPATED Forum on Brands is back

ollowing the success of the previous forums, the Global Brand Forum popularly known as "The Davos of Branding" will kick off in Singapore once again on November 6-7, 2006 at the Ritz Carlton. The Global Brand Forum brought together for the first time in Asia, the world's most famous business leaders and brand icons like Rudi Giuliani, Francis Ford Coppola, Warren Bennis, A1 Reis, Deepak Chopra, Dame Anita Roddick, Lee Kuan Yew, Tom Peters, Scot Bedbury and many more. The Global Brand Forum will continue to be dedicated to its philosophy of being the world's most influential and inspirational platform for brands, business and thought leadership. With strategic partners like International Enterprise Singapore, (IE Singapore), Singapore Tourism Board, Time Warner,Fortune, TNS, Singapore Press Holdings etc. this years' Global Brand Forum will focus singularly on brand issues with an apdy titled theme: Keys to Brand Transformation. This year, The Global Brand Forum will bring together a formidable speaker line up comprising the world's most powerful brand gurus such as Faith Popcorn (The worlds No 1 brand trend forecaster), David Aaker (world's most influential brand strategy guru), Martin Lindstrom (Technology Branding Guru), Jack Trout (The man who created brand positioning), and many more luminaries in brand thought leadership, on one platform. Issues relevant to senior management today, such as: What are the top trends that will profoundly impact brands in the next 10 years, How do I brand technology products, How can I increase shareholder value by growing

DAVID AAKER FAITH POPCORN MARTIN LINDSTROM JACK TROUT The world's most influential brand strategy guru

The world's no.1 brand trend forecaster

The world's leading youth and technology branding pru

extended Q&A sessions and knowledgesharing opportunities held over two invigorating days, this inspirational and transformative experience will encourage debate, foster reflection and ultimately engineer change in the way companies in Asia manage their brands and business.

The man who co-created brand positioning

THE WORLD'S MOST ANTICIPATED BRAND FORUM IS BACK ^ Brand Forum ÂĽ Singapore 2006

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THE STRAITS TIMES

brand equity?,What's my China strategy? And what are the keys to building brands in China?, Understanding luxury brands and what makes them iconic?, Branding the financial services industry, and many such relevant and practical topics will be discussed at Global Brand Forum 2006. The Forum is targeted at CEOs, Marketing Directors, Brand Custodians, Creative Directors, bureaucrats and entrepreneurs across Asia Pacific who are concerned with creating, defending and growing their brands. This is a once in lifetime opportunity to interact with, listen to and get practical brand ideas directly from the worlds most influential brand gurus and practitioners who have created and advised the world's most powerful brands. And through a series of intellectually stimulating speeches, panel discussions,

ADOI MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS MAGAZINE

HE'S THE WORLD'S MOST INFLUENTIAL GURU ON BRAND STRATEGY. HIS TECHNIQUES ON MANAGING BRAND EQUITY HAVE BEEN ADOPTED BY THE WORLD'S MOST VALUABLE BRANDS. HIS INSIGHTS ON LEADER BRANDS HAVE TRANSFORMED THE WORLD'S TOP COMPANIES.

NOW IMAGINE WHAT HE CAN DO FOR YOUR BRAND STRATEGY.

lucrum " Singapore2006

THE STRAITS TIMES

"This is a once in lifetime opportunity to interact with, listen to and get practical brand ideas directly from the worlds most influential brand gurus and practitioners who have created and advised the world's most powerful brands"

THE

JACK1R0UT Jack Trout is president of Trout & Partners, one of the most prestigious marketing firms with headquarters in Old Greenwich, Connecticut, USA and offices in 13 countries. Jack Trout manages and supervises a global network of experts that apply his concepts and develop his methodology around the world. The firm has done work for AT&T, IBM, Burger King, Merrill Lynch, Xerox, Merck, Lotus, Ericsson, Tetra Pak, Repsol, Hewlett-Packard, Procter 8c Gamble, Southwest Airlines and other Fortune 500 companies. He is the co-author of the industry classic, Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind, which was published in 1980, in 1985 he and A1 Ries wrote a second bestselling book entitled Marketing Warfare. Positioning and Marketing Warfare are now published in14 languages. Other publications include Bottom-Up-Marketing (1988), The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing (1993), which has become the marketing bible and outlines the basic reasons why marketing programs succeed or fail in the competitive nineties.JackTrout closed the circle with the sequel to Positioning in 1995. Entitled The New Positioning it takes the world's No. 1 business strategy to a new level. It became a Business Week best seller and has already been translated into 16 languages.This was followed by The Power of Simplicity - A Management Guide To Cutting Through the Nonsense And Doing Things Right. Then it was Differentiate or Die - Survival in Our Era of Killer Competition which presented the keys to survival in a killer global economy. This has also become a best seller. His latest books are entitled Big Brands Big Trouble andThe GeniesWisdom.They explain why the marketing process is so important for senior management to learn and practice. Jack Trout has been instrumental in developing the vital approach to marketing known as positioning,"and he is responsible for some ofthe freshest ideas to be introduced into marketing thinking in the last several decades.

CATALYSTS

FAITH POPCORN Heralded as "The Nostradamus ofMarketing" by Fortune Magazine, Faith Popcorn is the premiere trend guru. Ms. Popcorn is Americas foremost consumer trend expert, predicting such sweeping societal concepts as "Cocooning,""Cashing Out,""FemaleThink," and "Claiming." Faith Popcorn's marketing consultancy, BrainReserve, Inc., uses innovative andcreative methodologies to help corporations brainstorm and power up for the future marketplace. Businesses are wise to listen to Faith Popcorn's trend analyses and use her insights to reposition established brands, develop new products and get their products in the market just as the demand hits the streets. The trends Faith Popcorn has identified are pervasive and do not target only certain industries. Trends, by definition, are broad, sweeping and long lasting, they represent fundamental changes in our society and culture. Faith Popcorn uses her experience to help companies tap into these changing mindsets and to opportunely meet consumer demand. Faith Popcorn'slatest bestseller,Clicking: 16 Trends to Future FitYour Life,Your Work, And Your Business, is a marketing bulls eye and has been translated into seven languages. Also author of The Popcorn Report: Faith Popcorn on the Future of Your Company, Your World, Your Life, Faith Popcorn has been predictingwith a 95% accuracy ratehow todays hottestTrends are affecting consumer lifestyles and purchasing. Recognized for her extraordinaryability to forecast emergingconsumer patterns,Faith Popcorn isone ofthe most accurate marketing minds today. Ms. Popcorn delivers a highly dynamic, highly actionable presentation. She explains "Clicking"as her acronym to enable companies and individuals to get the courage and tools they need to follow their ideas. Using over two decades of "Click Stories" from her consulting company, she shows her audience exactlyhow to spot, track and acton trends. Faith Popcorn teaches her audience how to ferret out a fad versus a trend and how to reexamine the seemingly obvious patterns of consumers and products.

DAVID AAKER David A. Aaker is the Vice-Chairman of Prophet, Professor Emeritus of Marketing Strategy at the Haas Schoolof Business, University of California at Berkeley, Advisor to Dentsu, Inc., and a recognized authority on brands and brand management. The winner of the Paul D. Converse Award for outstanding contributions tothe development of the science of marketing and the Vijay Mahajan Award for Career Contributions to Marketing Strategy, he has published more than ninety articles and eleven books, including Strategic Market Management, Managing Brand Equity, Building Strong Brands, and Brand Leadership (co-authored with Eric Joachimsthaler).

MARTIN LINDSTROM Lindstrom, a best-selling author, is recognized by the Chartered Institute ofMarketing as one of the world's primary branding experts. He is a former BBDO executive,Global Chief Operating Officer of British Telecom/LookSmart, and founder and CEO of BBDO Interactive Europe and Asia Pacific. Lindstrom has a reputation for earning "a guaranteed standing ovation" at his compelling lectures on 360-degree branding, and this accompanies his popularity as a columnist. Lindstrom publishes his observations on branding in aweekly column, which reaches a global audience of more than one million people in thirtycountries. His books on brandingwritten with industry icons such as Don Peppers, Martha Rogers, Patricia Seybold and Philip Kotler are sold worldwide and have been translated into more than 15 languages. Lindstrom is an adviser to several Fortune 100 brands including Disney,Mars, Pepsi, LEGO, American Express, Mercedes-Benz, Reuters, McDonald's, Kelloggs, Yellow Pages and Microsoft. Lindstrom is a member of the U.S. Yellow Pages board. His latest highly acclaimed book; BRAND sense, written in partnership with Philip Kotler is published on Simon &c Schuster New York

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MifiggiMiffi

As the only weekly magazine for women, it focuses on in-depth and insightful coverage of real-life experiences of women through out Malaysia. Featuringinteresting issues, health info and tips in maintaining a happy marriage, MINGGUAN WANITA guides women on becomingsuccessfulcareerwomen as well as the best wife and mother.

As at I July 2004 - 30 June 200S

Audited by

Audit Bureau of Circulations

The magazine that caters especially for teens, REMAJA is published every 1 st and 15th of the month. This magazine highlights teens' experiences as well as opinions and is packed with information, tips and guidance on how to face the trials and tribulations of being a teenager.

As at J July 2004 - 30 June 2005

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40, 401 Copies Sold*

Published monthly, it is a complete magazine suitable for the whole family. With segments such as Seri Dewi, Syurga Si Cornel, Fokus Famili, Kediaman and Resipi, it is no wonder that SERI DEWi & KELUARGA is the popular choice for most households in Malaysia.

Published twice a month, RAPI quickly became a favourite among its readers. Focusing on 3 main areas i.e. Beauty, Fitness and Health, its is full of useful and practical info, tips and guidance. Definitely a magazine that no woman should be without.

* As at 1 July 2004 - 30 June 2005

Kumpulan Karangkraf Sdn.Bhd. Lot 2, JaSan Sepana 15/3, Off Persiaran Seiangor, Seksyen 15, 40200 Shah Alam, Seiangor Tel: 03-5101 3611 / 612 Fax:03-51013603 www.karangkraf.com

* As at 1 July 2004 - 30 June 2005

PUBLICATION

REVIEW identify as being read by their target markets - mens magazine,women's magazines, teenage female magaziness, high society rags, gossip journals, car magazines...

TheAmazingNewspaper

THE

AMAZING NEWSPAPER

OK, OK, WE GET THE DRIFT... .. .which is entirelyunderstandable, because we had the same internal debate. Even before we could identify our target market, we had to explain to our marketing guys - and they are slick - what a magazine called Off The Edge was about, especially one that violated marketing modus operandi held dear. So here's the silver bullet, and it's more common than we might think: OTE is a lifestyle magazine.

OTE IS A LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE?

New publication give readers a breath of fresh air

exnews' latest publication, a lifestyle magazine called Off The Edge (OTE), is a unique product of its kind in the market. First tested out via free distribution through The Edge weekly beginning December 2004, OTE was officially launched in September 2005. The launch of OTE was a landmark event for Malaysian journalism. Sharp, bold and contemporary, it promises to be a local magazine that offers distinctive reporting on people, issues and events in the country's arts, society and politics. The magazine is targeted at urban, well-educated, culturally and socially aware readers seeking information,insights and knowledge not readily available in mainstream Malaysian media.

We check in with editor, Jason Tan to get some insights into OTE and the magazine's progress, close to a year since its launch.

ITS BEEN A YEAR SINCE OTE'S LAUNCH. WHAT HAS THE RESPONSE BEEN LIKE? Super duper. There's palpable enthusiasm among Malaysian readers for a magazine to call their own, and I think -1 would, wouldn't I... - this applies to some in the advertising and PR industries too - though I obviously can't say for sure since I only bump into you guys when I'm allowed out of my padded cell at Nexnews Towers. As you know, OTE was traditionally perceived as an improper fit for any predefined market category, and media buyers will gravitate towards magazine tides that clients can easily

^ ADOI MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS MAGAZINE

If I maybe so bold to ask,which ad professional worth his or her retainer does not employ the notion of a lifestyle to sell their clients' stuff? From cars to real estate - travel, wine, food, film, books, fashion - all also OTE got. The difference is that we take a 360 degree look at our subject matter, and then launch our own Mars probe towards it to bring our readers views not usually seen. The many, diverse and small but well-formed opinions in OTE would be based on the facts gathered from a multiplicity of such misguided missions... So, you see, OTE does not fit into any one product segment by choice. It is rather defined by the needs of its readership,whom we regard as well-rounded individuals who would

Behind the Numbers There's Always A Face

When you advertise with Astro, you could be reaching over 8.5 million potential viewers profiled by their viewing preferences, age, race and household income. People. Not numbers. And when you consider that our viewers are mainly urban with high purchasing power, and Astro's interactivity via the red button, no other media comes this close to matching your consumers with your products and services. So when you advertise with Astro, you can be sure you're reaching the right market. Your market.

great Â°years

Astro Media Sales Telephone: 603-9543 6688 ext. 8635. Fax:603-9543 0566 or email: mediasales@astro.com.my Astro and Astro logo are trademarks of MEASAT Broadcast Network System Sdn.Bhd. (240064-A)

Q t" OOll making yOUl" NfÂŠ richer

PUBLICATION buy a range of things - cars and watches and handbags and mountain bikes and they read, eat, watch, listen - they consume widely but discriminately to fuel their lifestyles. Put another way, I'd say OTE readers are out of the box' people, if you'll forgive use of that overused phrase. But it is perhaps illustrative of a growing market whose needs are only just beginning to be met.

REVIEW

OF MIANâ&#x201E;¢

YOUR COVER TAGLINE READS, 'ARTS AND CULTURE FOR THE BUSINESSPERSON'... Getting chummy with arts and culture is one sure way to cultivate feelings of a lifestyle.Your branded goods must be seen somewhere that matters, after all. Otherwise, why tote that bag or award-winning novel? And you do want to know of the best events and places at which to do that.We can tell you how to properly!And I don't think that's being cynical; the need to cut a dash is still highly underrated, despite, or maybe because of, the ubiquity of boutiques and style gurus nowadays. Now I'm being a snob too. WHAT ABOUT THE POLITICIANS? OTE FEATURED KJ IN ITS FIRST ISSUE, BEFORE IT WAS SPUN OFF... AND SINCE THEN YOU'VE REGULARLY INTERVIEWED ALL SORTS OF POLITICIANS, INCLUDING THE PM FOR YOUR LAUNCH ISSUE.

fI ACTING CHUMMY WITH A HAT MATTERS, AFTER ALL If WHERE DO THEY FIT INTO 'LIFESTYLE'? I suppose the ultimate lifestyle choice is to be able to choose the way we would like to lead our lives, and politicians have an inordinate effect on these choices of ours. 0K,WH0 READS DIEAND WHATARETHE STORES THAT HAVE CAUGHT READERS'ATTENTIONS? There's a range of OTE readers, as you'd expect, from sharp-minded vintage Malaysians, secloistered local undergrads, ever-present PMEBs, recently and not so recendy returned overseas grads, policymakers, decisionmakers, expats... There are several stories, really, which date back to the time before we launched OTE for sale to the public. 'Early adopters' would remember our story on everyone's scapegoat du

jour, KJ, during the Kuala Berang elections. Then there was our story on Malay College Kuala Kangsar turning 100, and of course, in no particular order, interviews with Pak Lah,Tun Musa Hitam, Nicol David, Ayah Pin (we scooped the papers), Datuk Shahrir Samad, PAS deputy chief Nasharuddin Mat Isa, Datuk Zaid Ibrahim, Ling Hee Liong, the DAP women, Nigel Parsons (MD of Al-Jazeera International), Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Datuk G Palanivel, whom we believe is the first Malaysian Indian leader to make the cover of a lifestyle magazine - Pak Lah is of course the first Malaysian PM to grace the cover of any lifestyle magazine - how cool is that! THERE'S SOMETHING HI OTE CALLED GALLERY WTO WALLS? HOW DID THE DEA COME ABOUT

H ADOI MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS MAGAZINE

AND WHAT IS DIGI'S INVOIVMENT WITH THIS PROJECT? Gallery W/O walls is basically a gallery space within OTE, and more. It's what we figured out would be an interesting way to cover art in OTE, and not as the usual passive observers. The artist Wong Hoy Cheong and I discussed the idea over masala tea in 2003, and here's the result. DiGi recendy began sponsoring GWW this year.We think this is a great example of a creative buy- there were some 380,000 hits for DiGis wapsite and 55,000 downloads of specially commissioned artworks for our show in the May issue alone. I should say the collaboration between artists, us and a multinational telco took some doing, but hats off to them for their openness and foresight.

1800 806 123

gettYimages.com

BLOGOSPHERE

ASIA BBH INDIA? There is wide speculation Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH) is likely to establish its presence in India by next year through a tie-up with an Indian agency. Sources say a possible partner could be Orchard Advertising, Leo Burnett's sister agency. BBH, Leo Burnett and Orchard Advertising are all part of the Publicis Groupe. P&G PICKS BBDO FOR GlliÂŁTE ASIAPAC BBDO has been appointed by P&G to handle key Gillette brands across the Asia Pacific region as part of Gillette's strategy to move toward a global advertising agency. BBDOcurrently handles the Gillettebusiness in Australia as well other large keyglobal markets,including the US and Europe. BBDO Singapore will manage the regional briefs for Asia and India, excluding China. In Singapore, BBDO Singapore will act as the regional hub for the business across Asean and India. GETTY SEA HIRES Getty Images has appointed two newsales professionals to the management team for SoutheastAsia based in Singapore. Elsie Ngjoinsthe company as Sales Director,Southeast Asia whilst Daryl Ngwill take up the role ofMarket Development Manager, Direct and Channel Sales. INEZ HEADS COMMUNICATIONS FOR DISNEY-ABC TV GROUP ASIAPAC Disney-ABC Television Group has appointed Inez Ho, Director, Communications, Asia Pacific. As part of the senior team for Walt DisneyTelevision International Asia Pacific, she will direct the communication strategies across the region, supporting Disney Channels and Disneybranded televisionbusinesses in 15 markets including India, China, Singapore,Taiwan, Australia and New Zealand BBDO AND OMD WIN FONTERRA! New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra has discarded most of its current agencies and consolidated its $100 million-ayear global advertising and media account with BBDO and OMD. BBDOs win adds on from Clemenger BBDO's current Fonterra business in Australia and New Zealand,beating Y&R in the final round. Fonterra Brands MD Sanjay Khosla was quoted as saying, "The consolidation would harness scale when buying media space and streamline the transfer of successful ad campaigns from country to country. If a good idea comes from, let's sayMalaysia, then the first thing todo is to see if you can transport that idea across markets." ADIDAS DOES IT TO NIKE! "China will be theagent for adidas in Asia andwe want to do over Euro 2 billion by 2010," says Chairman Herbert Hainer commenting on their sponsorship of the Beijing Olympics in 2008. In a clear indication signalling adidas taking on and surpassing Nikeas theglobal sports apparel giant, Herbert adds,"Sales in China have nearly doubled every year for the last four years. If we do all the right things, we will become the number one in the world." Adidas also bought American brand Reebok for Euro 3.1 billion inJanuary.

Hogging as a Business

Communication Tool BY MACK ZULKIFLI

he recent success of blogging as a communication instrument have somewhat left an effect on Corporate Malaysia. Most of them would probably fall under two broad categories. It really depends on whom you are asking. Generally speaking, some are excited about the prospect of a new medium to reach out to their customers, and others are just quivering in fear about what bloggers are going to say about them. I know of a satellite broadcasting company which really couldn't be bothered about what blogs are saying, and have come to the conclusion that blogs merely offer a channel for brickbats to squeeze them into a corner. If this is true or otherwise again depends on whom you are asking. A customer who had experienced shoddy service from them would probably disagree. So the blogging trend has come of age in Malaysia, with even politicians jumping into the fray in search of a voice which allegedly has been denied of them through the mainstream media. A former Prime Minister is capitalising on it to spread his viewpoints and criticism targeted at his successor, and with that blogs have come into the limelight. You may say blogs have mainstreamed,and with that comes the sins' of mainstream media that blogs have supposedly been fighting against.

POSTURING While I personally may not agree with many of the things said and done in Blogosphere, I must say that it is necessary.The question here is that is it a necessary business tool? I seriously have my doubts. You see, most of the time businesses do not have much to say about anything except themselves.It is this very narcissistic trait that is the very thing most blog readers avoid like the plague. You see, blogging humanises you. It brings you down a notch or two.That's because anyone with a shred ofcommon sense can analyse what

you say, and decide if you are crap or you make sense. Your staff won't do that. They either think your crap is gold, or for the sake of trying to be in line to be THE COMPANY, make you think that they think your crap is gold. Heck, sometimes even you believe your crap is gold! Not so in the blogosphere. Start messing around with the comments, and you are toast. Your credibility is torn to shreds. And that is not good for business. Imagine a company like Proton or even Malaysia Airlines blogging. That would be really catastrophic! No amount of persuasive writing can spare those guys from being torn to shreds by other bloggers, or blog readers. What is good will be the CEO having a personal blog, where he speaks HIS mind, and not the corporate drivel some third rate PR exec prepares. Not even what is good for business. It's about what you know that may benefit someone else. Ocassionally you mayget petty and personal Who isn't. Everyone has a pet peeve. Your readers will spot that, and if it's not too distracting, manywill just accept you as you are. And if you think blogging is good for business, well yes it is in a morbid way. People must want to do business with you. If you spend too much time trying to be a CEO in blogosphere, you are doomed. Nobody likes a boss. They like a peer. And CEO's my friend, are never very good at listening. They are good at telling people what needs done. We run the show and if the show stinks we get the boot. The buck stops here and all that. But here, in blogosphere, the buck does NOT stop here. So if you want to blog, forget the 'MY CORPORATE BLOG' that fits a business communication model. That's boring. Get the fire in your belly started and aim straight for the heart of your consumers. That might work. But be prepared to get heat in return, for after all you are playing with fire!

The writer can be contacted at mack@ brandmalaysia.com

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INTERACTIVE BY JOSH SKLAR, FOUNDER LOGICWORKS- JOSH@LOGICWORKS.US

Many interactive creative directors still dont get it

was on the jury for a few award shows in Asia this year, as I have for the past decade, and I have to tell you, my hopes were fairly high. I had been seeing some encouraging trends among the regional agencies in the work that was being produced over the past two or three years. There seemed to be a better understanding that the Web is not simply a place to plunk down television or print ads and declare victory.The Cannes CyberLions mam rimx:: xmua jurors very obnoxiously encourage that inane tactic by continuously rewarding those who replicate what works in the offline world for the online Verse.They are most definitely people who don't get it. But, you know the name "Cannes" carries a lot of cachet and so CDs keep doing what will garner them kudos in the form of statues - much to the detriment of the user and the delight of the agency and client. IDttllffll

Ah, the user.That poor schlubwho is at the mercy of the traditional creative who feels the user must put aside everything they want to do in order to sit back and appreciate the inspired genius that is their branding/communications solution. Not only does thisseem to involve uploadingcommercials created entirely for the purpose of viewing on a television screen in between acts or on a movie theater screen prior to the start of the film - or sticking ads formatted for a magazine or a newspaper on a Web page - no, now it also means the distasteful tactic of interfering with the reason a person goes to a Web site (hint: its not for the ads). Ogilvy Interactive in China created an online ad for IBM to discuss their tools for innovation. Sounds like a great opportunity, doesn't it? Display innovation on the Internet. The very thing that drives the increasingly heavy usage of the medium that is taking huge chunks out of worldwide viewership of television. Ogilvylnteractive out of New York

under the direction of ECD Jan Leth has done some of the best Web ads IVe ever seen and for the same client, IBM. They were clever, intriguing, thought-provoking, fun, interactive, perfectly integrated with other media and the brand values, non-intrusive... well, let me stop there at "nonintrusive." That's where their Beijing counterparts, and many others, have gone completelyoff the charts. They thought it would be a really good idea to do a buy with IT-oriented sites that people frequent for the latest news and info that allow them to keep up with their demanding job. So far were in the land of common sense. Edging into obnoxiousness, others will use animation for the online equivalent offervently waving their hands or, horror upon horrors, use sound (always a bad idea for people surfing in an office environment or for those who dislike distractions). Sometimes you'll see the animation extending outside of the natural area where ads are usually pigeonholed in an effort

ADOI MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS MAGAZINE

to be more noticeable by being "different." But lately we have a reemergence of the pitiable fad of having ads directly interfere with the content of a site by bouncing across the screen or, in the case of this Ogilvy/IBM example, having the audacity to gradually cover the entire screen so the user has no option whatsoever but to sit there and watch it. When will these generally respected and lauded agencies - and their creative directors - finally come to termswith the fact the Web is a unique environment? People use it for serious business and merely tolerate the fact that the sites require sponsorship to carry out their core duties. You're in someone else's "house." You are not on center stage and the audience is very sophisticated. If you're going to be successful in bringing your clients' messages to these people, you need to understand why they're there in the first place and what actually inspires them. It ain't watching passive advertisements developed for other media and it ain't rude and crude tactics that hinder their ability to quickly do what they came to the site for in the first place. They're not going to get your message until you get it.

PERLIS

KEDAH

Dekat di Hati .

PENANG

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Bukit Pelindung

Gunung Ulu Kali

Bukit Bes

Gunung Li

Will!

ith 9 transmitters broadcasting throughout Peninsular Malaysia, TV9 is now closer to you.

HOW

WORLD EXPOSE! The recent arrest of three people charged with stealing CocaCola trade secrets and trying to sell them to Pepsi for more than $1 million has tamed the spotlight on industrial espionage. Information available from the American Society for Industrial Security International and PriceWaterhouseCoopers suggests that 69% of the time the breaches are initiated by company insiders rather than external spies. Richard Taylor, senior VPbrand marketing for America Online, recalled that when he was at Burger King, aboutonce a year he would receive a fullor partial copy of McDonalds marketing plan! SMGISN01 Starcom MediaVest has surpassed OMD globally, as the top media specialists network according to a revised ranking of media agencies released by RECMA. With a projected $25,580 billion in 2006 worldwide media billings, Publicis, Starcom MediaVest Group is the largest single media agency network on the planet, with a 7.4% share of the global marketplace of media planning and buying. With $24,880 billion in billings, OMD is a close second with 7.2%, followed by MindShare (6.9%), Carat (6.8%) and ZenithOptimedia (6.6%). GOOD MORNING AMERICA! It has beenreported thatMcDonalds hasoutfitted severalChicago bars with coasters sporting a toll-free number patrons can dial to program a wake-up call. A pre-recorded message from a rotating group of celebs, including Mr. T, rap star Twista and Chicago Cubs player Juan Pierre, urges the recipient to get up and go to McDonald's for breakfast. WPP BUYS INTO ONUNE SPACE WPP and LiveWorld,Inc. has announced the formation of a joint venture that will provide online community and social networking services tomajor brandsworldwide through WPP's global networks. The joint venture, named LiveWorld-WPP,will be equally owned by each companyand is exclusively dedicated tocollaboratingwithWPP agencies to offer, create,and deploy LiveWorld's online community and social networking services as marketing venues for WPP's clients on a global basis.The two companies have collaborated on successful projects in the past, most recentlyon Dove's groundbreaking "Campaign For Real Beauty" from WPFs Ogilvy Interactive unit, which won Adweek's 2005 Interactive Agencyof theYear award. BBH PARTS WITH SONY ERICSSON,LEVI'S SHAKY Bartle Bogle Hegarty has resigned its Sony Ericsson global ad account after 6 years, following'creative differences'. And word has it that its hold on the Levi's account may be dipping as the client meets a number of undisclosed agencies following a 19% drop in sales across Europe and UK since the middle oflast year. BEST GLOBAL BRANDS Google, Starbucks,Motorola, and eBay are among this year's top gainers in BusinessWeek's annual ranking of The Best Global Brands. For the sixth consecutive year, BusinessWeek has teamed up with Interbrand, a leading brand consultancy, to publish a ranking of the top 100 global brands by brand value. Download the full odf at http://www.ourfishbowl.com/images/siirveys/ BGB06Report_072706.pdf GOOGLE ROCKS WITHMTV INADS Google will begin distributing clips from MTV Networks' shows to other Web sites through its budding video service in a modelthat offerscontent creatorsa newsource ofdistribution and revenue. The partnership will expandvideo through Google's advertising network to a variety of sites and is likely to spawn further such deals, making video a far more integral element of online advertising. The companies also will sell episodes from 17 Viacom Inc. programs for US$1.99 each through Google Video. MTV also sells its programs through Apple Computer Inc.'s iTunes Music Store for the same price.

STAY

MARRIED

LETS SAY FAREWELL ID THE CONCUBINES BY GREG PAULL

aybe I am either getting too long in the tooth, or too happy in my marriage, but it does seem to me that the advertising industry's faster pace in the last fewyears has made having a strong relationship difficult.We know that old line "Just because you've bought a book, doesn't mean you can't go to the library" as it relates to the opposite sex. But is so much promiscuity rewarding? I yearn for the good old days' when the agency role was more as a trusted confidante of the marketing director. So where did we all go wrong? Today in China, the average agency relationship lasts 2.8 years - whereas in the US and Europe, it is 6.6 and 6.9 years respectively. Hidden in that average though are the 20+ year terms of more stable multinationals - so when they are removed, the Asian agency relationship is definitely as short as its ever been. What's causing this? Some say it's the new pressure companies are under to perform. Clearly, that's been a major issue - management turnover is high, and therefore someone has to carry the can - why not the agency? Some say, it's the diversification of agencies - before a single unified team and leader sat down with the marketing director- now he or she has four or five agencies, all smaller pieces of the pie, out to undermine the other in the quest for more revenue. Some also say that this is life in Asia - nothing is long term, why not have some concubine' agencies on the side to keep the main agency honest? I would say it's all of these things, but the principle reason is that the marketing function has lost the ear of CEO's. In the seventies and eighties, brand building fuelled a lot of business growth - and marketing became integral in board discussions. In the last 15 years though, with re-engineering of business processes,

the rise of six-sigma like manufacturing, the increasing skills in procurement and finance - marketing has, well.. .become too 'fluffy. And in this world of'fluff', changing agencies becomes an easy call.

AT RAY? HERE ARE A FEW IDEAS...

• Change teams not agencies - we always encourage the agency to bring on fresh talent in a time of crisis - most agencies are full of a mix of chemistry and skills - quite often a change can be as good as a holiday.

• Spend time talking about the marriage - too few relationships

are built on integrity and trust. Every six months, there should be a professionaltwo way review that gives both parties the opportunity to drive improvement.

• Pay agencies based on mutually aligned goals - any agency that onlygets paid based on the quantity of media you spend (commission) or the quantity of work they do (fee) is not aligned. A good client will give the agency real incentives to help them meet and go beyond their business and marketing objectives. • Invest in R0I tracking - Marketing needs to go beyond the fluff and back into the boardroom, based on setting and measuring more sound business metrics. New media such as mobile and interactive are taking the lead on this, but every single marketing campaign on earth can be inexpensively researched to provide learning and diagnostics. Are all of yours? A great client-agency marriage will always achieve more than having freelancers darting in and out of your business, second-guessing your business objectives. Here's to the happy couple.

Greg Paull is Principal of R3 (www.rthree. com), a consultancy focused on improving marketing efficiency and effectiveness.

LETTERS

EDITOR

MALAYSIA OMD WINS HONG LEONG (Picture of MoeyTan attached) Hong Leong Bank has awarded its media business to OMD Malaysia from incumbent Universal McCann. Moey Tan, COO of Hong Leong Bank says, "OMD took its own initiative to analyse further segments of the market and provided different yet effective ways of reaching out to the target audience." THE KING LIVES Fuses newest sound designer/engineer who can't wait to lend his talents to your commercials."The" because there is only one King in our office. "King" because, err, that's really his name. King hails from AddAudio and was part of the team who worked on the sound design for Saatchi and Saatchi's multi award-winning "Bait" TVC for Toyota Vios. We hope you'll love him tender, too. WORLD CUP OPPORTUNISTS 1,000 Dutch supporters cheered on their team in their underwear for the Holland-Ivory Coast match at theWorld Cup in Stuttgart because German authorities forced them to give up their overalls, which carried the logo of a Dutch brewery and not Budweiser which owns the exclusive the World Cup beer A&P rigts. Lufthansa, the German airline, painted the noses oftheir planesblack-and-white to resemble soccer balls, which could havegiven the impression that they, and not Emirates,were the official airline of theWorld Cup. PAUL LEAVES SIARCOM Corrigan has handed over day-to-day management responsibilities for the SMG Malaysia operation to new CEO Yap CheeWeng. ADOI hasno idea aboutPauls future plans just yet.Are wedding bells in the air? What? QUAH NEW MDAT NADA DDB Quah Seng Chit, formerly LB and EURO RSCG has now joined Naga DDB as managing Director. Naga DDB GM Andrew Leong has also announced plans to move on, but it is still unclear where he is heading. COCA-COLA GOES GREEN Coca-Cola Malaysia Malaysia intends to capture a doubledigit market share in the lucrative green tea market with the launch of its first non-carbonated beverage ShiZen - brewed specificallyfor the local market featuring calamansi and Jasmine as added ingredients. Coca-Cola Malaysia's country marketing director, Louise Poh, said 20% of its total advertising and promotions budget this year would be used to market ShiZen on both above and below-the-line advertising. Globally,Coca-Cola haslaunched differentgreen tea beveragesin China,Singapore,Thailand, Koreaand Japan under different brand names. RMIOMIUJON BOOK VENTURE Telekom Malaysia Bhd's unit and Tourism Malaysia are embarking on a RMlO-million venture over the next five yearS to co-produce the Malaysian Tourist Pages (MTP) guidebook, beginning 2007 to promote tourism in the country. The guidebook would be the official guide for Visit MalaysiaYear 2007 as the country expected 20 million tourists next year, said TM unit'sTM Info-Media Sdn Bhd (TMIM) chief executive officer Nasser Abu Bakar

An open letter from ADOI Indonesia... Creativity. For most of the first century of the advertising business, this word has been associated with advertising messages, while media was relegated to a mundane delivery system. But anyone who's been following the business for the past several years knows that the fragmentation of media, the rise of advertising clutter, and increased consumer control over media content has made media creativity every bit as important as advertising content. Which is an observation that is being hotly debated in regional industry circles lately. Creative people in the business, namely copywriters, art directors, creative directors and the like, find their turf encroached by 'learned' media types claiming they are creative as well. Why this sudden yearn to be creative? Because, at the end of the day, being creative is what advertising is all about. Nobody wants to be labeled as the executor of the creative product, much less the distributor of the product. If you're not the creative spark behind the magic of advertising, you are part of the follow-through process. You are part of the implementation, the budgeting and planning bits. There's nothing wrong with that. It does not make one less capable, and it is certainly not meant to shed an inferior light on the many bright people who exist in the advertising business today.

But it's not the same, is it? Just ask the media strategists who have a full run of play these days. It is not enough that theyget to plough budgets around to get the 'best value' for clients.It is not enough they see their own industryundervalue itself, to the glee of most advertisers. Now they also want their share of the limelight. Fame for what they claim is their creative contribution to the world of advertising.The gem of an idea they blurted to the client in between haggling costs with media owners.The brilliant flash in the pan they weakly articulated which suddenly qualifies as a brilliant idea. Or was it just a brilliant strategy? Hold on a minute. Maybe, I've got my knickers in a twist over semantics here. Maybe creativity is not about articulation anymore. Maybe writing a good headline, considered a creative action in the past, may not be the relevant or correct definition today. Maybe, planning a media strategy and optimising a client's spend is a creative function. Maybe, just maybe, media is creative. Just that we never saw it coming. Because they were not the main players in the early days. But now that they are centre stage, perhaps we should just accept that media is creative. After all, as some creatives and suits will tell you, we allowed them to throw the baby out with the bathwater. So why not anoint them creative masters of our business? Then maybe, they wont feel so inferior anymore. And maybe, just maybe... we can get on with the job at hand.

It looks like you and your team have worked hard to improve the quality of ADOI, and importantly are cognizant of feedback and comments given by your audience. ADOI is representative of the industry and should be respected in the industry in terms of both design excellence and editorial quality. I'm confident that with a good work ethic, professionalism and the right team you will achieve your desired benchmarks.

Tony Savarimuthu Managing Director McCann Erickson Malaysia

Audit Bureau ofCirculatic - July 20C

BBDO

SHOWS

BBDO WORK MEDIA UPDATE Client: SCA Hygiene Brand: Drypers Category: Diapers Date of launch:7 July 2006

The Brief • Drypers Wee Wee Drywas launched in 2000 and had never undergone product enhancements since its launch. SCA Hygiene relooked at its functional benefits and strengthen its affinity amongst consumers. • After much research Drypers Wee Wee Dry will introduce three product enhancements to its existing diaper in June 2006 - 100% breathable core : to keep baby dry and comfortable - Extra absorbency: to keep baby drier and prevent leaking - New elastic waistband : for a better fit • The task was to introduce Wee Wee Dry's new enhancements to give it a boost in the market.

OFF

The Challenge • The three product enhancements are not new to the market place. But, no other diaper brand can claim to have all three features in one diaper. • The challenge was how to introduce these product enhancements that aren't new' to the category but new' to Wee Wee Dry Strategy • "Three product enhancements, the same diaper you love, at the same price!" • The strategywas to give moms all that they need in the diaper; assuring them that Drypers understands them and their baby's needs; all thiswhile still keeping the price / value equation in tact. The Work. The Work. The Work. • While maintaining the use of Wee Wee Dry's super baby' icon, the Creatives were guided by the phrase "more reasons". • "More reasons" meant that with these newproduct enhancements, Drypers Wee Wee Dry is able to give moms more reasons to choose Drypers!

BBDO WORK MEDIA UPDATE Client: KFC Malaysia Brand :KFCMeltz Category: Food Date of launch: 15 July 2006

The Brief • KFC research data showed a gradual uptrend of QSR users in the teen and young adult segment. It was important that KFC made the brand and its products relevant to this segment, which would potentially be its largest market. The teens and young adults constantly seek new products and new ways to refresh their "love" for QSR. • KFC Meltz was created to bring back the excitement back into the QSR category. Melted mozzarella cheese, chunks of chicken fillet, crushed nacho chips, diced tomato and BBQ_ mayonnaise all wrapped within a 9-inch tortilla wrap, toasted. For the target segment, who constantly seeks new experiences, this product is easy to eat, convenient, fast and definitely relevant to the target's lifestyle. • The task was to introduce the revolutionary KFC Meltz, primarily to teens and young adults. Strategy • The campaign took a more educative approach to introduce this new product, which was neither a burger, a sandwich nor a pizza. This concept birthed: "KFC Meltz, like nothing else." The Work. The Work. The Work. • Bearing in mind the target segments, conscious effort was made to keep thecampaign "educational" lyet entertaining.The campaign was brought to life by an undercover reporter "Sherlock Hoong" |whose mission was to find out what this product was and why it was so special. *• Using a mix of traditional media (TVC / Print / Radio), in store collaterals and unconventional media, the creative proposition was executed through the line at every possible point.

J ADOI MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS MAGAZINE

Whose voice is worth

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• Augl8 MAA AdBall 2006 Mandarin Oriental Hotel, KL.

• NovlO MACRO s AIR Awards, Shangri-La Hotel, KL.

• Sept 7: Strategic Media Planning &c ThinkingWorkshop by GauravBhasin. Call Laven on 03-77262588 to book!

• Nov 17 4As Kancil Awards, Sunway Lagoon Resort, Petalingjaya

• Oct 27-29

• Nov 26-28 2nd Asia Pacific Media Forum, Bali International Convention Centre, Bali

The 13th China Advertising Festival, Kunming, Yunan Province, China Brand: Olympus Title: Kung Fu Duration: 60 seconds Client Olympus (M) Sdn Bhd Agency: BBDO Malaysia Creative Director Ronald Ng, David Sin Art Director: Cheah Im Im Copywriter Adam Miranda Language: Chinese with English / BM subtitles Summary: A Kung Fu master is desperately looking for his robe only to discover that his apprentice sent it to the laundry. He then flips because his Olympus p 720 SW camera is in there. But his quick-thinking apprentice quickly reassures him that his camera is shoekproof and waterproof so he doesn't have to worry. jft

Jk A rn\4^7

• Nov 6-7 Global Brand Forum, Ritz Carlton, Singapore. www.globalbrandforum.org

HICCUPS

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Brand: KFC Cheesy BBO Meltz Title: "Inside KFC" Duration: 30 seconds Client: KFC Holdings Malaysia Agency: BBDO Malaysia Creative Director: Ronald Ng Art Director: Kelvin Leong, Cheah Im Im, Eric Hor Copywriter: Kevin Le, Adam Miranda Language: English, BM, Chi Summary: Famed undercover Sherlock Hoong infiltrates KFC to find out what makes its new KFC Cheesy Meltz so special. Suddenly,the lights come on and we realize that he didn't actually break into the outlet but had switched the lights off.

• Nov 27-28 Beyond 2006, Singapore www.beyondsummit.sg

WE would like to apologise for stating that "MindShare had won the Agency of the Year award for the third consecutive year. It was actually their third consecutive award for the year. The error is deeply regretted.

Chart 1

ERA

HOT FM

% Based on Avg 1/4

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Brand; OGAWA Title: Love Overcomes Ali Barriers Duration: 120sec and 60sec Client: Healthy WorldLifestyle Sdn Bhd Agency: 180 Degree Strategic Communications Creative Director: Chan Fong Art Director: Alan Tee Copywriter: LeongWei Vein,Yeow Hooi Huang Language:English, Malay, Mandarin,Cantonese Summary: A father has trouble accepting his daughter's interracial marriage. But in the end, love triumphs when the smile of his grandson was able to melt his stubborn heart.

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This chart is the correct comparison for our AMP story in ADOI July. We regret the error

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BRANDED

CONTENT

BY RAJ KUMAR

GOT IT MADE WITH IHE GUY IN SHADES - EJEN 016! DiGi and McCann team up to bring' real life' to brand positioning.

segalanya di (i.com.my gmanya untuk perisik seperti anda. • S^ncps's ^JBiodata Watak .• Susup Pratonton f-GaJeriFoto *LaguTema

• Muat-turun iefefon bimbi't s Muat-turun komputer ^GiBelakang Lensa

• Perkhidmatan DiGi di datam episod • Hadiah Eksklusif • Promosi Bergerak • Peraduan Mist Ejen 016 » Koiwk • Keratan Akhbar

Pastinya pilihan yang lebih bijak

Pensikan • Episod Semalam • Episod Akan Datang

nnovation, creativity and diversification originate from the younger generation, as they say. Marketers position their brands to target the youth market as they are the largest consumers in majority of the markets around the world. In Malaysia, as far as the telecommunications industry is concerned, DiGi have long been considered the market leaders among the three mobile telecommunication companies that currently exist (Maxis and Celcom), in as far as marketing and brand positioning are concerned. The latest of their expeditions, Ejen 016, a suspense filled, comedy based 13 part serial that is being aired everyWednesday, onTV3 at 9.30 pm has captured the imagination of people all over Malaysia and won the admiration of mobile phone users from not only the youth market

segment, but from consumers of different age segments all over the nation. Ever since its inception onJuly 19th, Ejen 016 has become one of the most widely followed serials, topping popular shows like Senario and Akademi Fantasia in the viewer ratings. The 13 part series features Saifiil Apek in the main role of Ejen 016, Mustapha Kamal as the villain, Ida Nerina, plus a host of young upcoming local stars such as Aleeza Kassim, Shanna Avril and cameo features by M Nasir, Yusry KRU and Amber Chia to name a few. The accolades that are pouring in for the serial in terms of branding DiGi successfully to the various market consumers, however was not always a sure bet in the creation process. "We were really apprehensive when we were still in the thinking process of the Ejen 016 series. We were not sure how the market

H ADOI MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS MAGAZINE

would react to such a series despite the fact we conducted thorough research on the market target we were aiming to enlighten," said Yohani Yusof, Head of Segment Marketing, Product Marketing, Marketing Division in DiGi. "Our target market consisted of the rural Malay market instead of the urban market. Our analysis showed that they usually like to watch television and what better way to reach out to them and convey a message. We decided to produce our own television show instead of sponsoring a show or going through the conventional branding brand positioning, DiGi decided to produce its our own television show," she added. On the ideology of Ejen 016, Yohani said that the series closely related to how the DiGi brand sees itself, themee themselves as a corporate figure.

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"Ejen 016 is not a hard sell. Ejen 016 is actually funny because we at DiGi don't mind making poking fun of at ourselves. You will realise that Ejen 016 is a character with full of mishaps but yet he's creative. He is just human, and by being human, he makes mistakes, he fumbles and at times may come across as clumsy, but he still the best person for the job," said Yohani. The show is supported with road shows in all the states in across Malaysia that will feature an Ejen 016 car and meeting the cast of the series in person. The targeted areas will be the rural Malay populated areas. nor lun meiro

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According to Yohani and McCann Erickson team, the idea was conceptualised back in December 2005 and production took about six months to complete. 'From an entertainment perspective, we included different genres - drama, romance, comedy and even horror. We have created shows for other brands in the past, but this is the first time our team has ever undertaken such a mammoth, star-studded production task, but the challenge ahead and to actually Producing the Ejen 016 was not an easy job but the satisfaction derived is truly fulfilling. Having a star studded cast appearing in cameo roles in the most unassuming parts of the series was truly an amazing experience," said Szu Lee, Executive Creative Director at McCann Erickson Worldgroup. The thought process as far as with regards to strategy was crucial as to on how the rural Malay market would relate to the whole idea of the Ejen 016 series would be. McCann Erickson Worldgroup Executive Planning Director, Pratik Thakar explained that connecting with them was an essential part of the thought process as far as what content was to be used for the Ejen 016 series. "Very few people are connecting with the Malay market. Many organisations talk to them and not connect with them. So we decided to bring the 'Malayness' out of our cast, bring them to life and be seen as real people like you and me. We wanted to go beyond traditional advertising. Staying simple but different. Rather than reaching out to the rural Malay market, we (DiGi and McCann) felt that it was more

E] ADOI MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS MAGAZINE

important to get them involved," said Pratik. "Its easy to sponsor a show or an event, but you will never be able to call it your own and eventually sponsors of these events of shows will change over time. Here, we have a series that we can truly call our own. Its an in built exclusivity where no one else can own it or use it except us," he added. Every detail of the production of Ejen 016 was looked into carefully and meticulously, especially quality. "Although we (DiGi and McCann) are not movie or drama production specialists, we took great measures to ensure the quality for Ejen 016 production was at a high standard. I am pleased to say, that when comparing the quality of our production to some of the other local produced series and dramas, the our quality control was at a very high standard," added Yohani. Ejen 016 also comes complete with an original soundtrack, ring tone downloads, weekly competitions, a grand prize competition (after the last episode), and others. "We have even taken the liberty to teach users how to use the services that DiGi provides at the end of every episode. This is to create awareness for those who may not know how to access all our features and services," concluded Yohani. A truly fine example of a diversified, innovative, creative and exciting new wave of brand positioning that connects with the people. So watch out....Ejen 016 may be WATCHING YOU!

turning ripples into waves

Siliii--.

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MINDSHARES

Ahead of time?

With over 40% of Malaysians being 19 years of age or younger, SunSilk, Malaysia's #1 shampoo, had reached a stage where it had to invest in reaching out to younger consumers of the future. he moment SunSilk Impian Illyana won the Silver in the "most effective use of branded content" at the prestigious Asian Marketing Effectiveness Awards this year we could not help but believe that maybe an integrated marketing campaign of this nature was ahead of its time... What was particularly sweet about the victory was that The Asian Marketing Effectiveness Awards are the only regional awards to recognize marketing campaigns that show real results. The AME awards jury comprises experienced marketers and senior agency executives and evaluate entries across 18 categories spanning diverse marketing disciplines, including advertising, direct marketing, product design, sales promotion, event marketing, to name but a few. THE MARKETING ISSUE... MindShare 3D and other proprietary

research (and a lot of common sense and observation) revealed that todays young audiences no longer consume media - including television, the traditional way.This generation has little time to spare for a 30-minute drama on television. The TV is not their lifeline. The usual definition of primetime does not apply to them. They'd rather not be home watching television at primetime. The mobile phone is their best friend, sibling, and soulmate. Its the first person they bid 'Good morning and is the last to be bid 'Good night'! To sum it all up, they do not conform to media around them. What content mediums have to

penyunting

m ADOI MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS MAGAZINE

SUNSILK

offer and the way they offer that content has to conform to 'teenage rules' or else it suffers a quick demise. "Today's teens live in a multimedia realm of instant gratification" The Communication Objective of this campaign was to 'build a space for SunSilk and its values in the minds of younger consumers' THE BRANDED CONTENT SOLUTION,.. MindShare conceived an integrated crossplatform campaign enveloping "SunSilk Impian Illyana" to reach out to urban youth through a customized TV programme, interactive SMS

MINDSHARE 3D AND OTHER PROPRIETARY RESEARCH (AND A LOT OF COMMON SENSE AND OBSERVATION) REVEALED THAT TODAY'S YOUNG AUDIENCES NO LONGER CONSUME MEDIA - INCLUDING TELEVISION, THE TRADITIONAL WAY. THIS GENERATION HAS UTTLE TIME TO SPARE FOR A 30MMUTE DRAMA ON TELEVISION

MINDSHARES

contest, blogs, mobile downloads and press blogs. The TV programme was a revolutionary 5-minute dailyinteractive drama series - served twice daily on ntv7 for 13 weeks, designed to gratify todays fickle but influential young generation. "SunSilk Impian Illyana" (Illyana's Dreams) was about the life and trials of 17 year old Illyana. Her character resonates the SunSilk personality - warm, friendly and approachable. Each bite-sized episode represented a day in the life of the protagonist - Illyana, and her close friends and family. Each days events were 'blogged' and presented to the audience in an entertaining manner. Re-caps of the weeks happenings was canned into a 10 minute capsule aired twice over each weekend.

RANCANGAN TV

SUNMIK

Wataupun

Jtin 2006

July 8th, 2006

Lama Yana tak up-date btag.itutah, btta kat &ustratia sibuk sangat, pergi sira *Âťna,...tiap-tiap hart ada bends urttuk di buat...Shop ping memang best,, got something for everyone... cant wait to give them their prazM Harap-harap merefca suka. Tap* katau djaorang tak. suka, Yana boleh simpan je.

imana untuk mengendalikan sikerana yang periling dia tidak

Tinggat bersam* mama Wit rasanya . at first Ywt suka tapi mac am ada sesuatu yartg tak kena tah. .bukan apa...!TfemarÂŽ seronok katau hoSday,

Ciic,K

SUN\IIK

Viewers could download ring-tones and wallpapers for their mobile phones that relate to the series. Online, viewers could access Illyanas blog at www.illyana.com.my, where they could post comments, download pictures and find out about past episodes. In daily print, the story appeared every day in three of the nations largest newspapers - Utusan Malaysia, Mingguan Malaysia and KOSMO! NTV7 and Kumpulan Utusan were instrumental in bringing Illyana to life on national television and in daily press. Illyanas media mentors showed great faith in the

Mingguanl

campaign and left no stone unturned in making sure her adventures' were delivered to her peers day after day. THE RESULTS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS... SunSilk's brand share moved up by a full percentage point in the highly competitive and aggressive shampoo segment that accounts for 60% of the total Hair Care business worth about USD 150mil. SunSilk's top of mind recall shot up and reached the highest EVER point in the history of the Malaysian shampoo market!

THE ULTIMATE PROOF OF SUCCESS... It is revealed when a client believes in a product so much that they not only decide to continue Illyanas journey but add a whole new dimension to the campaign - consumer activation! SunSilk impian Illyana season 2, which debuts on TV3 and TV9 on Aug 28th 2006, has a full fledged consumer activation built into it. With Impian Illyana 2, SunSilk is rearing to reach out to its loyal consumers once again and present them with content that's refreshingly relevant.

ADOI MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS MAGAZINE

INSIDE

OUT

AND THERE ARE AGENCIES

WHO REALLY NEED

TO REINVENT THEMSELVES!

einvention is not changing what is, but creating what isn't. A butterfly is not more caterpillar or a better or improved caterpillar; a butterfly is a different creature. Incremental change isn't enough for some Agencies today. They don't need to change what is; they need to create what isn't.

Most business leaders know how to create cross-functional teams, empower staff, and redesign business processes to reduce cost and increase performance, but these efforts offer only incremental change. Agencies seeking a drastic change in capability need to reinvent themselves. We are in a Darwinian world where only the fastest, smartest, and most savvy organizations and executives survive and thrive. When an agency sets out on the journey of reinvention, it must uncover and then alter the invisible contact me at assumptions and premises on which rna@time.net.my its decisions and actions are based. This organization context is the sum An agency must confront its most lifeof the past and dictates what is possible for the threatening problems to summon the courage future. When managers reinvent themselves abandon what is for what might be. If to and their agencies, they create a new context an agency authentically reinvents itself, if it that leads every body to embrace a seemingly alters its context, it not only has the means impossible future. Colorful spaces populated to alter its culture and achieve unprecedented by artsy professionals - highly skilled graphic results, it will have the ability to sustain these designers, art directors,copywriters and account improvements regardless of any changes in the planners would not be the first place you would business environment. think of as needing to reinvent themselves. The journey to reinvent yourself and your There are agencies that are disjointed and totally agency is as scary as they say it is. You embark on not aligned to their environment.They need to this journey out of the conviction that the only reinvent themselves! Then there are agencies way to compete in the long haul is to be a totally who are in the playbut aspire to be number one. different agency. It is a sink-or-swim proposition. They may need to metamorphose as well!

Context colors everything in the agency. More specifically, the context alters what we see, without our being conscious of it. An agency's vision serves as a reminder that it must constantly challenge its sense of what is possible in order to resist the downward pull of habit and routine. It is said to be insanity to be doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results. With no awareness of the power of context, we continue to beat our heads against the same wall. We need to look outside the box. The executive who would master reinvention must journey into a largely unfamiliar and uncomfortable territory of being. Being alters action; context shapes thinking and perception. When you fundamentally alter the context, the foundation on which people construct their understanding of the world, actions are altered accordingly. Context sets the stage; being pertains to whether the actor acts the part or simply goes through the motions. An agency that has a clear understanding of its own assumptions of the past is often motivated to alter the context inwhich it is embedded.This in turn requires a shift in an agency's being and a powerful vision of the future. Reinvention is a challenging journey and there is the long and demanding task of enrolling the cynical ranks below.

The writer is the principal of a management and business consultancy firm, Thillai Varna &Associates.

When an agency sets out on the journey of reinvention, it must uncover and then alter the invisible assumptions and premises on which its decisions and actions are based.

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WORD

MOUTH

TRIED, TESTED AND SnU N01! BY GEORGE SIU/ERMAN

There seems to be no substitute to the most effective methodology for advertising a product

interactions are so intense that the information ord-of-mouth marketing is a term used in the moves in a matrix pattern rather than a linear marketing and advertising one. The result is everyone is talking about or industry to describe purchasing the product or service. activities that companies EXAMPLES undertake to generate personal recommendations as well as referrals Gmail - Google did no marketing, they spent for brand names, products and services. no money. Word-of-mouth promotion is highlyvalued They created scarcity by giving out Gmail by advertisers. It is believed that this form of accounts only to a handful of "power users." communication has valuable source credibility. Other users who aspired to be like these power users "lusted" for a Gmail account and this Research points to individuals being more manifested itself in their bidding for Gmail inclined to believe word-of-mouth promotion invites on eBay. Demand was created by limited than more formal forms of promotion methods supply; the cachet of having a Gmail account because the receiver ofword-of-mouth referrals caused the word of mouth, rather than any may believe that the communicator is unlikely marketing activities by Google. to have an ulterior motive (ie.: they are not receiving an incentives for their FreshDirect - FreshDirect referrals.) Also people tend fk did no marketing to cause the word of mouth. They did exceed to believe people who they J â&#x20AC;˘ know. In order to promote |& expectations of consumers and manage word-of-mouth i * who used their service. These 1H consumers in turn raved about communications, marketers s use publicity techniques as well JF FreshDirect to their friends as viral marketing methods to voluntarily and even spent achieve desired behavioural time convincing them to try it. Word of mouth resulted from response. /V 11I 9HHI FreshDirect so far exceeding A very successful word-of% expectations that their customers mouth promotion creates buzz. naturally wanted to share, brag, or talk about it. Buzz generates a highly intense and interactive Chain e-mail about certain product/service can form of word-of-mouth referral that occurs be considered as word of mouth marketing. both online and offline. Successful wordof-mouth initiatives do not follow a strictly CONTRAST WITH (NON-EXAMPLES) linear process with information flowing from Hotmail - Hotmail "piggybacked" on personal one individual to another rather successful emails from one person to another to publicize models leverage subgroup connectivity and their free email service. At a time when few relationships by pursuing a Reed s Law hub people had email, the first and only free email approach to message distribution. A marketer service in the marketplace was appealing and has successfully created buzz when the 0 ADOI MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS MAGAZINE

A marketer has successfully created buzz when the interactions are so intense that the information moves in a matrix pattern rather than a linear one novel â&#x20AC;&#x201D; hence their rapid adoption and spread. However, the same "piggybacking" technique currently employed by all free email providers (except gmail) no longer works. Furthermore, the Hotmail users did not voluntarily pass it on; they had no choice about Hotmail adding the"sign up" link at the end of their personal emails. Hence this is not a good example of "word of mouth." Burger King's Subservient Chicken Burger Kings marketing programme called Subservient Chicken did indeed generate a lot of word of mouth, but the word of mouth was about the marketing campaign instead of the product that was being marketed. Also, those marketing efforts which rely on being edgy or on some kind of stunt, often fade quickly when the novelty or edge wears off. Finally, this type of marketing is not reproducible or sustainable since it wont be edgy the second time around. For many products, this marketing function is impossible or very costly for traditional marketing communications to achieve. However, this new communication mode does not come without cost because it eliminates a seller s control over the content of product information accessible to consumers, and because consumer reviews may not be frilly informative.

If your advertising goes unnoticed, everything else is academic.

D708, 7th Floor, Block-D, Kelana Square, No. 17, Jalan SS7/26, Kelana Jaya, 47301 Petaling Jaya, Seiangor, Malaysia. Telephone : 603-7803 7144, Fax : 603-7803 2576

WORD

MOUTH

WE EXAMINE FOUR SPECIFIC STRATEGIC ISSUES: • When an online seller should provide consumer reviews to its customers, • How a seller's decision to supply consumer reviews interacts with its product assortment strategy • How the seller's strategy regarding the supply of consumer reviews interacts with its traditional marketing communication strategy, • What timing is best for the seller to offer consumer review information for a product. Our results show that supplying online consumer reviews can benefit or hurt an online seller depending on product characteristics, the informativeness of the review, the sellers product assortment strategy, the seller's product value for the partially matched consumers, and consumer heterogeneity in product consumption expertise. We also show that the seller's decision to provide consumer reviews will increase its incentive to offer more complete product information to consumers through its traditional marketing communications. Finally, we discover that offering consumer review information too early leads to a lower profit. An empirical study based on data from online sellers in different product categories provides some preliminary support for our theory. AN INTRODUCTION TO WORD OF MOUTH MARKETING Definitions Word of mouth: The act of consumers providing information to other consumers. Word of mouth marketing: Giving people a reason to talk about your products and services, and makingit easier for that conversation to take place. It is the art and science of building active, mutually beneficial consumer-to-consumer and consumer-to-marketer communications. WHAT IS WORD OF MOUTH MARKETING? Word of mouth is a pre-existing phenomenon that marketers are only now learning how to harness, amplify, and improve. Word of mouth marketing isn't about creating word of mouth — it's learning how to make it work within a marketing objective.That said, word of mouth can be encouraged and facilitated. Companies can work hard to make people happier, they can listen to consumers, they can make it easier for them to tell their friends, and they can make certain that influential individuals know about the good qualities of a product or service. Word of mouth marketing empowers people to share their experiences. It's harnessing the voice of the customer for the good of the brand. And it's acknowledging that the unsatisfied customer is equally powerful. Word of mouth can't be faked or invented. Attempting to fake word of mouth is unethical

and creates a backlash,damages the brand, and tarnishes the corporate reputation. Legitimate word of mouth marketing acknowledges consumers' intelligence - it never attempts to fool them. Ethical marketers reject all tactics related to manipulation, deception, infiltration, or dishonesty. All word of mouth marketing techniques are based on the concepts of customer satisfaction, two-way dialog, and transparent communications. The basic elements are: • Educating people about your products and services • Identifying people most likely to share their opinions • Providing tools that make it easier to share information • Studying how, where, and when opinions are being shared • Listening and responding to supporters, detractors, and neutrals THE PHILOSOPHY OF WORD OF MOUTH MARKETING WordofMouthis... • The voice of the customer • A natural, genuine, honest process • People seeking advice from each other • Consumers talking about products, services, or brands they have experienced • Word of Mouth Marketing is ... • Recognizing that a happy customer is the greatest endorsement

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• We work to create customer enthusiasm instead of pushing marketing messages • Giving customers a voice • Providing something worth talking about • Providing tools that make it easier for them to share their opinions • Listening to consumers • Engaging them in open, unfiltered conversation • Promptly and honestly responding to their concerns • Valuing customer opinion, whether it is positive, negative, or neutral • Engaging the community • Finding the right people and connecting them to each other • Helping new communities to form • Participating in and supporting existing communities and conversations The only marketing based on genuinely passionate people Word of mouth marketing is the most honest form of marketing, building upon people's natural desire to share their experiences with family, friends, and colleagues. Our work empowers peoples and gives them a voice... a process that can never be reversed. If we succeed in satisfying our customers, we will benefit greatly because they will share their enthusiasm and support our brand. But if we fail, that same voice will hold us accountable and broadcast our failings. Only honest marketers with confidence in their products dare engage in word of mouth marketing because it will backfire if the promise of your marketing message isn't backed up by reality. Once you give people a voice, they will tell the true story of your company,good or bad. Word of mouth marketing is self-policing and pushes marketers to create better products and provide genuine satisfaction.

WORD OF MOUTH MARKETING ISN'T ABOUT CREATING WORD OF MOUTH - IT'S LEARNING HOW TO MAKE IT WORK WITHIN A MARKETING OBJECTIVE

ÂŠo NEED MEDICAL ATTENTION All pharmaceutical companies are invited to pitch for our services. Previous experience in CRM not necessary. Candidate must have a budget of at least RM2 million. (The more, the merrier, of course). Benefits include disruptive strategies and effective communications. Huge dose of pharmaceutical experience included. For more information and to be included in this pitch, please contact our Chief Operating Officer, Datuk Tim Garland, at 03-2092 5130 or tim.garland@tequilamy.com. We have Chivas Regal scotch whisky, Martell cognac, Durex condoms, Salem and Winston cigarettes. All the clients we need for a fantastic party... except the right relief for the morning after.

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GOING ON TE CHARM OFFENSIVE Hallmark channel lovers to get an extra channel on Malaysian television soon BY RAJ KUMAR

fter along and tedious day at work, most people go home and just want to relax. So when we switch on our television sets and tune in to our favourtie channels, some of us do want to relate to heart-rendering, warm and emotionally charged movies or mini series that touch a part of us movies normally don t do. The first channel that would strike my mind as providing such entertainmentwould be the Hallmark channel, more popularly known as Channel 10 (for those who possess pay per view television like ASTRO). I had the pleasure to meet one of the key figures behind the brand imaging of Hallmark channel, Andrew Hanna, Managing Director of Asia Pacificfor Sparrowhawk Media Group, the organisation responsible for the current image and brand building for the Hallmark channel outside the United States of America. "We are very enthusiastic about the Hallmark channel presence in Asia generally as everyone is aware that the brand quality and brand image of the channel is considered and spoken about with a very high opinion," said Andrew. The Hallmark channel is distributed to more than 20 million subscribers in the Asia Pacific region. Globally, Hallmark Channel broadcasts in 120 countries to more than 110 million subscribers. "When Sparrowhawk Media Group acquired the rights for the Hallmark Channel International in April 2005, the philosophy was very clear and simple. Expand content and channel portfolios to represent what the brand hallmark actually stands for in terms of brand positioning.The general content of movies and

some mini series in the Hallmark Channel as you may have observed is women based, which is emotionally driven such as Judging Amy and However, there are equally engaging movies and mini series about men and family such as Hercules and " quipped Andrew. He explained that Hallmark channel thrives on the fact that it caters for an audience that is very real and relationship oriented. "In every life, there is an aspect of drama.

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Hallmarks aim is to marry the brand and volume of it s content with the audience. The relationship between people and communities are always essential talking points with people all over the world. We see ourselves as bringing people around the world closer together with emotionally charged dramas, true recounts, mini-serials and heart rendering stories from different parts of the world," added Andrew. Hallmark says Andrew is a brand that

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In every life, there is drama

stands out as being contemporary among its peers and all based on simple philosophies. "We have a simple philosophy which is expand our content and channel portfolio to give audiences. This represents value to our viewers," said Andrew. One question that most people always have when it comes to channel content in regards to repeats of programmes and movies on a certain channel, was finally answered. "I'll answer you! People are not always around to see a movie being aired at a certain time. Sometimes, they may have visitors, sometimes...the late meetings, catching up with friends....so many reasons. People may really want to watch a particular movie but circumstances may prevent them from doing so," said Andrew. "Hallmark takes these things into consideration. But, we air a mini series no more than four times a year. After that, we rest it for a certain period of time and may bring it back in a couple of years as people may want to view it again," he added. "We broadcast 10 mini-series and 35 movies a year. All these movies are exclusives on Hallmark. These movies are also a first time airing ever on the Hallmark channel. So, we have sizeable content to keep our viewers continuously entertained," said Andrew. Sparrowhawk Media also have conducive plans to expand their operations and their brand ideas around the world with the launch ofa new channel last month.

"As of 1st July, we launched a new movie channel called Movies 24. The 1st launch took place in the United Kingdom on Sky TV. The content of the channel consists of very popular television movies of the past and present. The content is high quality,star driven, televison movies. We plan to roll out Movies 24 in Malaysia in the very near future," said Andrew. On upcoming plans and new content for the Hallmark channel, Andrew iterated that works were already in the pipeline to produce and air new content as soon as possible.

"Recently, we undertook to shoot a brand campaign. It is a regional production to showcase the channel especially in the South Asian region. The essence ofour brand campaign will focus on the relationships of people all around the region. Filming will showcase places like Singapore, Delhi, Bangkok, Australia. Altogether, it will be filmed in eleven different countries in the region. It will be exciting and typical of the image of Hallmark," concluded Andrew. So all Hallmark channel lovers, hold on to your seats! The ride is only just getting started!

CI We broadcast 10 mini-series and 35 movies a year. All these movies are exclusives on Hallmark. These movies are also a first time airing ever on the Hallmark channel ||

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CONVE R G E N C E

WIRELESS UPDATE THE WW TO GO!

Malaysians generally do not want a service that is complicated to access and difficult to understand. That is what we are all about BY RAJ KUMAR

ver the past five years, consumers have been subjected to a whole new dimension of content providers, especially in the mobile phone industry such as trendy ring tones, latest updates on football scores, 'da ma ca± and many others. The 'SMS' people and ringtone people were subjected to new services almost immediately. However, the SMS and ring tone industry, like every other industry, is facing a saturated market in the not so distant future. I met up with Jasmine Lee, Chief Executive Officer ofMNC Wireless Berhad,and her team to understand where does this industry is moving into now and how they can continue to evolve

FWE YEARS AGO. CONTENT PROVIDERS HAVE MOT LOOKED BACK. SUCH WAS THE DEMAND THAT AROUND 150 CONTENT PROVIDERS CAME INTO EXISTENCE .IKT TWO YEARS AFTER IMPLEMENTATION

•••••••••••••I

^ ADOI MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS MAGAZINE

and stay relevant to mobile phone users and the fast moving world of businesses today. "Since five years ago, content providers have not looked back. Such was the demand that around 150 content providers came into existence just two years after implementation," comments Jasmine. "This is a very trend based industry. You have to keep doing research and understand the needs of the consumer at all times and also look to future or potential content that may appeal to the consumer of tomorrow,"she added. She added that the average consumer in Malaysia is generally non hi-technologyinclined people. "Malaysians generally do notwant a service that is complicated to access and difficult to understand.That is what we are all about.We try to make our service as easy as possible to access and easy to understand,"she said. On the subject of technology, Jasmine agreed with the general notion that it will go through a period of convergence. "It is already going through a period of convergence. DELL for instance, have diversified into the LCD screen area. We however, will continue to do mobile content for the moment.

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MOBILE

But I believe we will also be subjected into the convergence," said Jasmine. From a brand positioning point of view, Jasmine pointed out that it was crucial for a company like MNC Wireless to appeal to both parties, consumers and the marketers. "We must appeal to both the markets to actually make an impact.We pride ourselves with the fact that we have so far, withstood the acid tests' and we are a name that service providers do have in their memory banks," she said. 'Its about humanising technology. Apple has done so and so have IBM by foraying into different areas of consumer needs making such as LCD screens and so on.We may not operate on the same budget but we do harp on the same things such as diversification of our content to reach out to as many mobile operators and consumers as possible," she said. Of late, MNC Wireless have gone on a different platform to create an awareness among the consumers of their existence and services. "We believe that the end consumer should be aware ofwho is actually providing the content. The mobile operators maybe the ones providing the array of services but the end consumer should know that we provide the content as well," said Jasmine. Jasmine explained it is not easy in this business and MNC Wireless, is a result of hard work and long nights and many presentations. "Selling to clients in our business is a hard sell. All content providers like us more or less compete on the same platform, almost the same services and same budgets. We had to demonstrate what were our differences from a service and efficiency point of view to actually gain any edge with potential clients. This is not easy as the service industry has matured tremendously over the past decade and people do not expect more, they expect the best!" said Jasmine. MNC Wireless has a wide range of clients that include 'Da Ma Cai', British American Tobacco (BAT) and Prudential to name a few. "For instance,Prudential uses our services to update their agents.Their promotions and so on and so forth are sent to all their agents through our service.BAT is one of our clients that use our software to allow their clients check their points gained. We take great pride in our service and our efficiency," quips Jasmine.

CONVERGENCE The Tech Brand Challenge

MNC

target audleaee ^

Enterprise & Corporate Decision Makers [Most of the Time the IT Head]

EndConsumers [Most of the Time Trend-Setters OR Happening People]

BALANCE?

MNC

The Tech Brand Challenge

humanising technology

SONY

ÂŠ 2006 MNC Wireless Berftad Afl Rights Reserved

Selling to clients in our business is a hard sell. All content providers like us more or less compete on the same platform, almost the same services and same budgets. We had to demonstrate what were our differences from a service and efficiency point of view to actually gain any edge with potential clients

m ADOI MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS MAGAZINE

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Jasmine also gave her standpoint on advertising per se, if traditional advertising can withstand the current barrage from alternative services such as MNC Wireless. "You cannoteliminate traditional advertising. People will always look for advertisements. You cannot tell mega corporations to just eradicate this medium and solely concentrate on alternative advertising. That is not feasible at all for the success and survival of their products," "However, we are converging and for example Pepsi has demonstrated this by making a digital video on the internet that has gained a lot of mileage. What will eventually happen is difficult to predict and to comment but we are converging for sure," observes Jasmine. Jasmine also said that foraying into China and India, as well asThailand and Singapore is in the pipeline as far as MNC Wireless business ventures are concerned for the future. "Due to the sheer size of the market,China and India will be the focus of the industry for the next 2-3 years. We at MNC, do see the next 2-3 years as a struggle and we must identify what is the next big thing. We have to expand and markets like China, India and Singapore will be our main targets,"she added. She proclaimed Malaysia to be a mature and fast developing market. "We must understand that Malaysia is a very mature market. It is still very healthy and very active. We have to be constantlyon our feet to keep growing," she added "In five years, we do aim to look at a bigger base for the company in terms of finance and product growth. Listing is a very good way to develop the financial end. Our aim is to be one of the leading players in the region if possible but Malaysia will be our convergence base and headquarters. Listing outside Malaysia is also one of the possibilities we are looking at for the future like AIMS in London," added Jasmine.

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Who, indeed,

Calls Hie Shots? I • jfp" i|; Jp ill J|f U| fast ':§•'-ft"

ho Calls The Shots was the title of a talk hosted by a media agency two years ago.The talk revolved around the question of who was prettiest in advertising: the creatives, the brand planner or the media person.To no one's surprise, the head of the media agency proclaimed that media indeed came out tops in the beauty stakes. The same topic, by the same name, was raised again in the Media Congress this year. This gathering had a diverse panel of speakers, so it was more democratic and a lot more lively and acrimonious. Who was right is besides the matter. Because to ask who calls the shots, is to miss the most important point:the fragmented state advertising is in. Here in one hall were people who used to work together. Now they were after each other like a divorce gone nasty. I found it pathetic if not altogether sad.

in proclaiming custody of the brand. One media agency head recently asserted that "media today is more important than creative." Another said that "content isn't necessarily king, distribution is king and engagement is the ultimate."

WHY? REWIND A DECADE OR TWO....

Distribution of media matters. But no amount of distribution, even if it was served up to you in bed, will engage if content is weak. You don't read a paper because it is pushed in your face. Communication is largely only about three things. What you say, or strategy. How you say it, or creative. And where and when you say it, or media. (There's also measurement but that's another speech altogether). And they work best when they work together. In the same room. At the same time. With the client, on the same page. The end of this menage a trois, or its unbundling into so-called specialisation, started in the 1970s. By the 90s it was almost trendy to unbundle. Never mind it made no business

Once upon a time, an advertising agency was inhabited by three people: the strategist, the creative guy, the media planner. It was a happy menage a trois, managed by a fourth person called the account manager. Then one morning, the media planner wakes up, and while flossing her teeth, decides she was in fact the prettiest of the three. She packs her bags, walks out the door and sets up a media agency. A week later, the strategist does likewise. The creative guy wakes up to an empty house and a Dear John note. Since then, all three have been fighting for custody of the child: the brand. This rivalry is in futile. It s almost silly. Media agencies have somehow been loudest

HOLD ON A SECOND: HOW IS ENGAGEMENT TO HAPPEN WITHOUT CONTENT?

sense, because neither did the dot.com's. The fact is this: while unbundling promised efficiency, in many ways it has brought nothing but grief to clients and advertising agencies. Strategies are a free for all. Creativity and media are uncoordinated. Meetings are in triplicate. Time is wasted. Young account managers in creative agencies learn zip about media. And young media planners are alien to the strategic creative process.

IN EFFECT, A LOSE-LOSE SITUATION. ADVERTISING USED TO BE A FAIRLY SEAMLESS PROCESS. NOW fT IS A COMPLEX OF GEARS THAT DONT ALWAYS CONNECT. AT A TIME WHEN COMMUNICATIONS HAS TO BE INTEGRATED, IT IS IRONIC. HOW IS INTEGRATION TO HAPPEN WHEN EVERYONE WORKS IN SILOS? AND HOW ARE WE TO EXPLORE NEW MEDIA WHEN MEDIA-CREATIVE RELATIONS ARE FROSTY? Clients buy only one thing : relevant creative and informed media planning guided by insightful strategies. The janitor could have told you that. It is no surprise that in some parts of the world, media agencies are, somewhat sheepishly, setting up creative departments. They've come one full circle. Somewhere along, egos and greed got in the way. Now, good sense has to prevail. So who calls the shots? Let common sense decide.

This article is reprinted from theSun (issue 26th July), where the author has a regular columni

If One media agency head recently asserted that "media today is more important than creative." Another said that "content isn't necessarily king, distribution is king and engagement is the ultimate §J

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CAR

WARS

BY RAJ KUMAR

WHEELS OF MISFORTUNE HEADING OUR WAY? Automotive industry in Malaysia bracing itself for a slump in sales this year

or many decades, car prices were something the Malaysian economy and population mentality deemed as a sort of wishful thinking. Car prices with every new model of any car would be significantly higher than the previous model of any car manufacturer. Tax imposition of 300% on foreign cars made them a truly luxurious commodity to possess. The thought of possessing these cars were nothing but a passing dream for the regular KL-lite. Local car manufacturers Proton and Perodua, though comparatively lower in price with their foreign competition such as BMW, Mercedes, Toyota, Honda and others were still considered to be on the high end of the price range. In March this year, however,the Malaysian government cut taxes on imported cars, where popular foreign brands such as some named in the previous paragraph, were made cheaper by RM 10,000-RM 20,000. This sounded the alarm bells in competing car manufacturers resulting in a car wars' such scenario, where car prices were being reduced significandy to give consumers choices they never really thought was possible. A local news agency reported that barely a week after the announcement was made, car dealers Toyota and Volvo begun slashing prices by between RM 20,000 and RM 40,000. The government, through the Finance Ministry website, had also begun publishing a list showing the gazetted value before tax of nearly 500 models of imported cars to pile pressure on car companies to reduce prices. Foreign car companies have been forced for many years to pay for import permits known as APs held by a number of individuals. However, under the new auto policy, AP's will be phased out in four years time.

Manufacturers may be reluctant to introduce new models in our market

By resorting to this, Malaysia had begun dismantling more than twenty years of tariff protection for national carmakers. Some repercussions, however, have occurred due to such action suddenly been taken. Just last month, it was reported in a local daily, that sluggish car sales have hit car component makers hard. Car component makers are bracing themselves for tough times ahead with reports of a glut of250,000 cars in the market. An industry source revealed that about three-quarters of the 300-odd companies could cease operations if the situation does not improve by the year's end. The Sun reported that car sales were predicted to drop this year by 8%. The MAA (Malaysian Automotive Association) said that the National Automotive Policy (NAP) was pardy to be blamed for this when it led to

ADOI MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS MAGAZINE

reduction of completely knocked down (CKD) units, but triggered a drop in resale values. "Most of these companies are highly dependant on Proton. The big component manufacturers are all right, but the small ones (low-end plastic component makers) which are mostly bumiputra-owned are in deep trouble with loans to pay and no business," the source told the local daily. "Financing costs have gone up, everything is up, except for income. Malaysian buyers have also matured and this has affected the sales of Proton," said another source working for a component company. It was learnt that Proton was producing only around 10,000 units per month compared to 15-16,000 units previously. Apparently, Proton recently told component manufacturers not to alert the media of the problems facing the industry.

Â°Pic ersati 0n

Tableview Tableview (M) Sdn Bhd (527844-M) A503 & A505, Kelana Square, 17, Jalan SS7/26, Kelana Jaya, 47301 Petaling Jaya Tel: 603- 7491 8166 Fax: 603- 7491 8122 http://www.tableview.com.my

CAR

WARS way around the AFTA. Speculation such as car prices plunging down by as much as 50% has been put to rest as the government, quelled all such notions with their announcement in March this year. How this will augur for foreign carmakers and theirlocal counterparts will be an interesting notion to follow to the end as second hand car dealers and even car component manufacturers seem to be going through the eye of the storm at the moment. Whether or not the government will have to review their current stand in the automotive industry or counter the seemingly growing

111,000 now

We have made all the necessary adjustments in the past few months since the National Automotive Policy (NAP) was implemented. We have stopped accepting trade-ins and have since cleared our stocks. Hie difference now is we will be buying cheap, and selling cheap as well "But there is no way we can keep this a secret. Eventually, the public listed companies must explain to the Securities Commission why there is no more profit,"lamented the source. Used car dealers are also confident the glut will lead to car manufacturers offering incentives to customers to buy new cars. "More importantly, the used car dealers are now ready to get new used cars to sell", said Kuala Lumpur and Seiangor Car Dealers and Credit Companies Association vice-president, Dave Lim. "We have made all the necessary adjustments in the past few months since the National Automotive Policy (NAP) was implemented. We have stopped accepting trade-ins and have since cleared our stocks. The difference now is we will be buying cheap, and selling cheap as well," said Lim. Other technicalities involved are the new policies in regards to attaining a loan. According to a report, strict loan conditions by banks on used cars has contributed to the sluggish sales. A used car dealer salesman said, he only sold 12 cars last month compared with a monthly average of 30 last year. "The worse part is that although I managed to secure 12 bookings, the banks only approved loans for two of them," he said while commenting on the glut of250,000 cars in the market. "We are no longer thinking of making profits. We just try to break even. But it is tough," he added.

Another used car dealer said that used cars valued at more than RM 40,000 were much harder to sell. "My sales have halved. We are trying to cover our running costs.My neighbour (a used car businessman) closed his business last month. Financial institutions are very strict now. If your past record is not good - say, you had a couple of late payments when servicing previous loans -they are most likely to reject your application," he added. To cope with cheaper prices of new cars, one salesman said dealers were forced to cut their prices. "A 2001 model Proton Waja could sell for RM 40,000, but now, it is around RM 33,000. Prices have dropped by 20%-25%,' he said. Five years ago, consumers were confused whether to postpone buying a new car until 2005 with the Asean FreeTrade Area (AFTA) implementation. People were generally skeptical about whether the government would find a

ADOI MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS MAGAZINE

misfortune that is befalling the car industry, we'll just have to wait and see if it was the right call. Some brands say, advertising for the car industry is expected to face a hit this year although statistics will be unavailable until the end of the thrid quarter of the year. "We have already cut down on our advertising in print this year by 30%. It was initially expected to rise before the Malaysian government made their announcement,"said a source from DRB Hicom. There are some brands that believe the cut in taxes on cars will not have a significant effect on its advertising. "The prices of cars have gone down. Do bar in mind the taxes have already been brought down as well. Why should car advertisers cut down their budget when in fact theywill actually have the same amount of money to spend?" said a source from Proton Malaysia. A point well made, don t you think?

ADVERTISE IN ADOI AND TOUCH THE RICH AND FAMOUS! ADOI is now more than 8 years old as the only marketing communications monthly in the market. Our ABC-audited circulation stands at 6,405 copies and we estimate our readership figures at over 25,000 per month. Half our readers are top 50 advertising spenders and the rest are in advertising and media. ADOI is a holistic read and as such, we cover all facets of the marketing communications industry. Hope you enjoy our new format and upgraded styling: we are increasing our number of pages up to 70 and in a compact, perfect-bound size.

Double page spread (DPS), full colour Double page spread (DPS), black/white ROP full-page, full colour ROP full-page, black/white ROP half-page, full colour ROP half page, black/white 1/3 Strip One Column - colour (horizontal) 1/3 Strip One Column - colour (vertical) Coupon insert CD-Rom Cover Attachment Ad Belly Wrap Quarter page Loose insert Four page gatefold Four page reverse gatefold Cover gatefold Reverse cover gatefold

RM 7,200 7,000 3,600 2,400 2,400 1,800 1,200 1,200 6,000 9,600 9,600 1,200 7,000 13,000 13,000 15,000 18,000

*ADOI Magazine is a proud member of the Audit Bureau of Circulations

All advertising materials and proofs should be sent to: Sledgehammer Communications (M) Sdn Bhd No 22B, Jalan Tun Mohd Fuad Satu, Taman Tun Dr Ismail, 60000 Kuala Lumpur. T: +603 7726 2588 F: +603 7722 5712 E: jeff@ham.com.my W: www.adoimagazine.com

That's precisely what has happened in the past 8-months since the soft launch of AdoiMagazine.com. As we approach our 100,000th pageview and over a million email newsletters delivered to mailboxes across Asia, AdoiMagazine.com is by far the leading marketing communications web portal this part of Asia. Our visitors include key decision-makers and influencers in brand building ad agencies, leadÂ ing marketing companies and heavy-hitting media specialists. When Malaysian advertising agencies

jUHINffiEEHRttafc

Combustion is a state of violent disturbance and excitement WordNetÂŽ2.0, ÂŠ2003 Princeton University

went up to collect their 4 Golds at Adfest, 4 Silvers at the One Show, MEDIA Spikes Asia s Best Print, and our historic haul at Cannes 2006 of 5 Golds, 3 Silvers and 3 Bronzes... AdoiMagazine.com was there to deliver the latest breaking news. As for our state of violent disturbance and excitement, we owe it to our loyal readers!

now open for ad bookings, call Jeffrey on 03-7726 2588.

TABLES

ARE

TALKING

WATCH OUT! YOUR TABLES TALK! Tableview gets people talking about YOU.. ..often!

magine yourself confessing to the girl of your dreams, telling her what you feel, and out of the blue, you look down at your table, do not hear what she gave as her reply, and out of the blue, you say "Lets go to Mid Valley for the sale!" The sight of a giant sticker on the tables in any F&B outlets is no stranger to Mamak goers and college students.Tableview (M) Sdn Bhd has been around for almost 5 years now with TableTalk. Research conducted recendy by Insight Research (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd in the Klang Valley suggested the effectiveness of TableTalk advertisements had shown a clear increase in terms of awareness and brand recall compared to the first time similar research was conducted in 2004. Statistics have their strong points Tableview Malaysia's executive chairman,Shahar Noor said this demonstrated that initiating word of mouth advertising is definitelyeffective and remains as a novelty in the world of communication. "It is not surprising 'Word of Mouth' advertising remains as a novelty to theworld of communications as it triggers group excitement, hence generating an enhanced level of product interest amongst peer groups. TableTalk concept has the power to make any brands and products the topic of conversation. Once again, it's singular pro-long duration of exposure gives TableTalk a significant edge over other forms of media," said Shahar. He added thatTableTalk offered a pleasant difference in terms carrying a brand and it's position in the market. "Tabletalk is not only about selling products. It's about pushing creative boundaries. I'm a true believer in this creative medium as

J ADOI MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS MAGAZINE

By Raj Kumar

TableT Ik

Âť Topic nvettofion

.Tableview Tableview (SVf) Sdn Bhd (527844-M) A503 & A505, Kelana Square. 17. Jalan SS7/26, Kelana Jaya. 47301 Petaling Jaya Tel: 603-7491 8166 Fax: 603-74^ 8122 hUp://www.tablevtew.eom.my

TABLES

A RE

TALKING

TABLETALK IS NOT ONLY ABOUT SELLING PRODUCTS. ITS ABOUT PUSHING CREATIVE I'M A TRUE BELIEVER IN THIS CREATIVE MEDIUM AS IT DETERMINES CAPTIVATION OF ATTENTION. IT IS TEN TIMES HARDER TO GRAB A CUSTOMER'S ATTENTION TODAY AS COMPARED TO 20 YEARS AGO DUE TO THE FRAGMENTATION AND INTRODUCTION OF NEW MEDIA EVERYDAY it determines captivation of attention. It is ten times harder to grab a customer s attention today as compared to 20 years ago due to the fragmentation and introduction of new media everyday," added Shahar. Kelvin Hong,CEO ofTableview Malaysia, reiterated Shahar s belief. "As thewinds of change sweeps across media evolution, it is extremelyimportant for thosewho are in ther industry to always explore new and effective methods to reach out and secure a place in the dynamic minds of todays consumers. To excel, media owners must simply possess awhole lot of perseverance, passion and self- belief.I have seen many a new media being introduced and

disappearing after short stints. Having said this, all those attributes mean nothing without a good set of statistics," said Kelvin. "Word of mouth advertising is truly the world s best known marketing secret. You're probably wondering how anything can be the 'best known and yet remain a secret' at the same time!Basically, every marketer knows how important word of mouth advertising is. Yet, almost no one truly understands how to build their business through word of mouth. Our job is to get people talking," he added. "It is evident from the results shown that eateries such as Mamak restaurants and coffee shops continue to captivate singular pro-long

duration of exposure amongst primary target group of17-35 years of age. We hope that such findings will act as a platform to advertisers, marketers and media planners in the planning and execution of their brands integrated communications activities," said Kelvin. Tableview will continue to explore and new ways to effectively understand consumer behaviour and creating a great desire for them to converse about your brand which hopefully, will eventuallylead to an action.OnceTableTalk gets them talking, we will leave it to the brand to deliver it's promise," he concluded. So, ladies and gentlemen, let's view and start talking!

ADOI MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS MAGAZINE

Neil nestled in his Cannes 'home' the La Colombe1 St-Paul-de-Vence. He prefers to stay in the hills w!

NEIL

FRENCH

THE GODFATHER

BREA 8 HIS

SILENCE•. •

WORLD ICON CHAMPIONS GLOBAL PRINT EXCELLENCE... When Neil French talks, the world listens. Make no mistake about that. He is the real deal! After the storm of An Evening with Neil French, the Godfather has been gratefully playing homebody and enjoying every second of it. It s a pity the whole Toronto Tainter ended up the way it did; this writer still maintains we had readily succumbed to the tragedy of semantics and lost a little bit of ourselves in the process. But that's a story that will forever be buried in the annals of ambiguity. Perhaps to resurface in a later century as fodder for amusement by a more kindly world. • BY THE HAMMER What? OK, OK, I'll put a lid on it! Away from his favourite Singapore, Neil chatted with ADOI while simmering in the heat of Europe. In typical French-banter, die Godfather talks to us about his latest project,The World Press Awards... and the hits just keep on coming.... TO THE BESTOF MY KNOWLEDGE, THIS WILL THE FIRST 'WORLD ADVERTISING AWARD SHOW' TO BE HELD IN AN ASIAN CTTY.AREYDU DOING THIS BEFORETHE REST OF THE MOB (OTHER AWARD SHOWS) GETS TO THIS PART OF THE WORLD? Well, first of all, it's called The World Press Awards. It seems absurd that most International Award shows are judged in America...or in bloody

awful Cannes. The World is bigger than 'The West', and some of the best work is done, in fact, in "The East', and in South America! So the first decision was to underline our commitment to the WHOLE world by taking the judges somewhere out of their normal experience. I chose Singapore for this first one because it's probably the most efficient place on earth, and I've lived there for twenty three years...so I know how it works! AS THEY SAY, AWARD SHOWS MAKE TONS OF MONEY. IS THAT THE PLAN HERE? Hardly!The award-shows are SO happyto have so many media-categories these days, because it just hauls in more entries...and money. If we wanted to

"It seems absurd that most International Award shows are judged in America... or in bloody awful Cannes!"

ADOI MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS MAGAZINE

NEIL

FRENCH

make money, we'd hardly have limited ourselves to Press work, would we! I'll be happy, and a little surprised, if we break even. YOU REMARKED PRESS IS NEVER PART OF UFE'S WALLPAPER. AS A SIDE, WOULD YOU SAY TELEVISION IS? Well, of course it is. Not only do people skip the ads, but there's plenty of research to prove that although the viewing-figures may tell us that theTV is switched on, people do all SORTS of other things while apparently watching. Reading a newspaper or a magazine is one of the least-unmentionable of those activities! YOUR UST OF JUDGES FOR THIS INAUGURAL WORLD PRESS AWARDS (WPA) IS SIMPLY AWESOME. WHAT MORE, EVEN YOU ARE ON THE PANEL! WILL THAT NOT INTIMIDATE SOME PEOPLE FROM ENTERING? You mean, will people think that if there's a jury of nobodies, they have a better chance of their work slipping by?That's certainly true, if you take this year's Cannes Press awards as a measure. Someone really has to explain to me how the Grand Prix slipped by; not only is it irrelevant to the market, but it's an idea ripped-off from the famous Lego 'Kipper' ad that won everything a few years back. Our judges are too savvy to let something like that happen. Personally, I'd rather know that the six best Creative Directors in the world like my work. THAT's an award worth having, surely. Who could argue? We have judges from Europe, U.S.A, South

work, and will see everything with a fresh eye. I'd be amazed if the Annual didn't contain some truly creative and off the wall' work from hitherto unappreciated countries. The other great thing is that the Annual won't be a few good ads, printed big (and several times because it got entered in lots of categories). Every finalist will appear in the book. In colour. In the end, getting into the Annual will prove to be the most important thing, not just the colour of the ball you may or may not win. As an example, D&ADAwill feature 67 press ads this year; we'll expect to feature up to 400, depending on the quantity and quality of the entries. ANY TIPS ON WHAT YOU GUYS WILL BE LOOKING FOR WHEN DECIDING THE WINNERS? Great and relevant ideas,beautifully produced.Same as we do when we're evaluating the work from our own offices. The guys will see EVERY ad that's entered; we won't have that absurd system of culling'work in small groups, as many of the shows do. I think it's iniquitous that having paid for the published list of judges to look at your work, and then have it taken out of the final running by a bunch of nobodies from Bulgaria and Botswana. WOULD YOU SAY SINGAPORE COULD QUALIFY AS THE PRINT CAPITAL OF THE WORLD, WITH ITS NOTABLE CACHE OF AWARD-WINNING WORK IN PRESS OVER THE YEARS?

If you take this year's Cannes Press awards as a measure. Someone really has to explain to me how the Grand Prix slipped by; not only Is it irrelevant to the market, but it's an idea ripped-off from the famous Lego 'Kipper1 ad that won everything a few years back. Our Judges are too sawy to let something like that happen America, Asia and South Africa. That'll do as a geographical spread, don't you think? ON THAT NOTE,WHAT ISYOUR EXPECTATION FOR YEAR ONE ON THE NUMBER OF ENTRIES? We honestly don't know. I have a feeling that the best work will be entered by those who KNOW it's good, and that you may be right...the stuff that you and I would chuck straight in the bin may not. However, the great thing is that these judges are, by their natures, going to be a lot more open about

ADOI MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS MAGAZINE

I'd have said that a few years back. But now Malaysia, Thailand, India, Brasil, Mexico, South Africa and Argentina have a similar, and justified claim. IS THIS YOUR RETIREMENT PLAN, IF YOU HAVE ONE? No way. Setting this up has admittedly been very hard work, but subsequent years should be easier. AND WHYBTHBEACRUNCHED PAPER BAULHYOUR AD? Greatness lies not in the ideas you have, but in those you throw away.

"Oh, good/'you're thinking/'Just what we need, another award show". But hold on. What about this for a thought. A new show, started, predictably and we believe uniquely, by an advertising copywriter and some friends.

There's always a good principle about entering awards. Look at the judges and ask yourself."If this guy were sitting in the next office, would I pop in to ask him what he thought of a concept? And if I wouldn't, why am I thinking about paying three hundred bucks for him to do so?" These guys are worth a lot more than that.

We were becoming irritated by the plethora of categories and media in all the shows...nice and profitable for the showowners, but inevitably losing any semblance of focus.

As one Creative Director from a multi-award-winning shop in Europe said, "If I had to show my book to any, let alone all of these guys, I'd get sweaty palms".

And the overall loser seemed to be Press. Their awards buried, for instance, halfway through the Cannes orgy, presumably as a 'breather' while everyone prepares for the Big One on the Saturday night. Fair enough in a way, since Cannes started out as film awards.

These, then, alphabetically, are the judges for the first World Press Awards, to be judged in January 2007:

And yet, in the great scheme of things, it's unfair, because among all the technological flim-flam and the ongoing panic about the still-impending'death of the 30 second spot', press remains powerful, unchanged, and unthreatened. Press is the original one-to-one medium. It's portable, light, and needs no power-source. It commands all of your attention. You willingly pay to see it. It is never part of life's wallpaper. If you can produce a press ad that people read and remember, you have cracked your profession, matey.

Jeremy Craigen, Executive Creative Director, DDB London. Tham Khai Meng, Co-Chairman and Executive Regional Creative Director, Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide Board. Marcello Serpa, Executive Creative Director, AlmapBBDO Brasil. Mark Tutssel, Worldwide Creative Director, Leo Burnett. ErikVervroegen, Executive Creative Director, TBWA/Paris. Graham Warsop, Chairman and Executive Creative Director, The Jupiter Drawing Room, South Africa. (Oh, and Neil French, for what it's worth).

Thus...The World Press Awards. These will concentrate solely on press advertising. Ads. Things published on paper. We decided to go against tradition and forego the 'cast of thousands'judging-principle. We have a small jury, made up of only the best in the world, all with proven press expertise, and absolutely nothing to prove. No voting blocs, no scores to settle, no personal axes to grind. (And in particular, no names chosen by the local awardshow representatives, solely to garner no-chance entries from countries it's your ambition never to visit).

.com

MINDSHARE

EVOLVE AND RESOLVE BY RAJ KUMAR

Newly appointed Asia Pacific CEO of MindShare gives his take on why media agencies should evolve

volution is an eventuality in our world. Even we, as human beings, the most dominant species on earth over the last 50,000 years are a product of an evolution that started some 3.75 million years ago in a land that we now know as the continent of Africa. As the geography of the world changes,we will evolve to adapt to it's atmosphere, or perish like the once invincible dinosaurs, the most successful of the dominant species on earth ever, some 65 million years ago. A mindset that is the driving force behind the incredible success of MindShare, where she has taken the appropriate steps to move into a new era where media buyers are slowly, but surely having to evolve into media specialists. A chance meeting with Ashuthosh Srivastava, the regional CEO of MindShare, Asia Pacific operations reiterated the reason why MindShare thrives on evolution and development to meet the demands of the rapidly changing face of the media world. "In the appropriate context, there are numerous opportunities available as far as business is concerned. We at MindShare are extremely aware that businesses are evolving at a rapid pace. So if we are to succeed in giving our clientele the best possible service available, we too have to evolve from media buying into media specialisation," said Ashuthosh. MindShare is the largest media agency in the Asia Pacific region consisting over 1,900 staff.

THE CHALLENGES OF THE FUTURE WOULD INCLUDE WORKING WITH DIFFERENT CLIENTS WITH DIFFERENT NEEDS ALL THE TIME. WE HAVE TO BE DIVERSIFIED OURSELVES TO ACCOMMODATE THEM. THE MAIN QUESTION WE ASK OURSELVES IS HOW DO WE KEEP THIS MOMENTUM GOING? HOW DO WE UNDERSTAND THESE MARKETS?

ADOI MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS MAGAZINE

'The challenges of the future would include working with different clients with different needs all the time. We have to be diversified ourselves to accommodate them. The main question we ask ourselves is how do we keep this momentum going? Howdo we understand these markets? Clients do come from different fragmentations and complexities of society," said Asuthosh. "We must simplify this for our clients by maximising their advertising potential and make the environment less complex for them," he added. Asuthosh identified three areas he considered 'hot' as far as diversification in the advertising world is concerned. "Content is the first one. Every country has a different set of consumers. The target market is usually the youngsters as they are or will be the major consumers of the future. However, there is another category of consumers that make up another market. The challenge is serving two different types of market.You must be able to find the balance between selling to a farmer in rural China or India to the urban, trendy youth of Beijing or Mumbai.The ability to understand and develop a strategy is very important," 'Research insights and destination planning is another area that we at MindShare focus on. Television, radio, newspapers, magazinesthey all carry messages, advertisements. The challenge is to get the correct message relayed to the different sets of consumers that is crucial to

MINDSHARE the success of an agency," said Ashutosh. "Also, we must realise that we have to change the way clients are selling or positioning their brands to accommodate the rapid change in the consumer s mindset in today's world. We must take into account that Asia is the hotbed of activity when it comes to product consuming. Asia to me, as a continent and the focus of the advertising world we may be, but we do jumpstart a few generations ahead in whatever we indulge. So, we have to keep learning new things all the time," he added. "The people who can create content and have good execution skills are very much needed in today's media world.They are the ones that can make a difference in the industry today," said Ashutosh. He said that having an edge does not last very long in an industry such as ours. He also pointed out that if there was one area that could be improved in our industry would be execution of a job. "When you are doing something

different and good, you will be recognised and considered to be a leader of sorts. But as you know, you cannot be complacent. The main setbacks I would identify that can be improved in the industry here in Asia will be efficient execution. However, this area of the business is improving here in Asia. Saying that, we have great creativity. We must however, strive to clinch a good balance between both these elements," he said. Ashutosh also pointed out that MindShare has a policy that strongly focuses on training individuals who join them to be well equipped to deal with different categories of media specialisation. "There is a saying that the youth are the future. Just like a newspaper article for instance, a 65 year old writer, who has his own conventional views about a certain matter will be found old fashioned' by the group of young readers who have a totally different stand point on the same particular view," said Ashutosh. "So we pride ourselves in training our talents

and giving them the best possible knowledge they need to have to further equip themselves. Attracting the right talent and training them is one of our core strengths here at MindShare. We may be susceptible to the fact that they may be sourced from other agencies, but we pride ourselves with the fact that they are out in the advertising and media world' and flourishing in their careers as a result of our training here at MindShare," said Ashutosh. As far as groupm and MindShare is concerned in Malaysia, Ashutosh was quick to point out that the success that has followed them is quite remarkable. "I believe that groupm and MindShare here in Malaysia have really stood out in their in the past fewyears.They have an excellent team here who are driven to be better than the best all the time. I am extremely confident that they are on the right road to even bigger things. It's always a question of can we do better than what we did before.The continuity factor here in MindShare Malaysia is always moving up" he said.

Some of MindShare Worldwide's Global Clients and Advertisements CLIENT SHOWCASE The fascinating thing about the media business is that every one of our ctienfs communications challenges requires its own unique solution. That's what MindShare people thrive m - solutions andresults. Each of these concepts and campaigns answers a different brief, but they at! share the same qualities of originality, standout and relevance.

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nfwviiiu! ACNIELSEN LAUNCHES PASSION HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS IT WAS PURE HARD WORK AND A LOT Of CHILLI PEPPER

MAJOR LOYALTY MARKETING INITIATIVE New ACNielsen Loyalty Business Unit Will Help Clients Use Shopper Information to Gain Consumer Insights and Improve Marketing & Merchandising Programmes

BRAND: FEDERAL LAND DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY (FELDA) TITLE: "PERMATA" DURATION; 2 MINS/ 60 SECS ADVERTISING AGENCY: BLOOMINGDALE WORLDWIDE SDN.BHD ACCOUNT GROUP: LIONEL JACKSON CREATIVE GROUP: CAROLINE & RYO FILM DIRECTOR: HAFIZ IBRAHIM DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: ERIC YEONG EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: AZLAN SOFIAN OFFLINE :KAZMAN KASSIM (MIRAGE POST) ONLINE: APV

MUSIC & SOUND DESIGN: ANANTH KUMAR.STEPHEN (BETARECS) LANGUAGE: BAHASA MALAYSIA A brief history of FELDAs first settlers in Lurah Bilut, Bentong Pahang who had come from various states to develop the land for cultivaton. A story of hardship, preseverence and dedication. It depicts how the early settlers had made this rural program In to a successful program that sustains Malaysia's economy. Filled with thier real life stories, the commercialfeatures the actual settlers towards the end culminating 50 years of hard work.

YES, WE HAVE CHANGED CONTRARY TO CERTAIN BELIEFS CALLUS! No 5, JinTtmur, 46000 Pooling Jaya,Seiangor D.E Malaysia, Tol: +603-79543383 Fax;+803-79543448 fancHOchffllpapparfltma,com.my ww^ehUKp^ppofittfOflsCoro ,rny

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n a major step to enable clients to gain innovative, actionable, high-value consumer insights from retailers' shopper information, ACNielsen, a VNU business, recently announced it has formed a global loyalty-marketing business unit that will provide end-to-end loyalty solutions. Insights provided by ACNielsen Loyalty will enable retailers and their key manufacturer partners to work with the data generated by retailer loyalty programmes to better understand consumers' shopping behavior and preferences, develop targeted, loyalty-building marketing and merchandising programmes and track their impact on shoppers over time. It will draw upon the broad experience and expertise in consumer research and analysis of ACNielsen and the VNU Marketing Information (MI) group, while adding new capabilities focused on the unique opportunity presented by loyalty information. "Loyalty marketing is an outstanding opportunity for retailers to keep consumers coming back to their stores, create real affinity for a retailer's banner, and capture the largest possible share of their market while maximizing the return on their marketing investments," said Steven M. Schmidt, President &c CEO of VNU Marketing Information (MI) and ACNielsen. "ACNielsen Loyalty will combine our information- and consumer panelmanagement skills, leading-edge technology and advanced analytical capabilities to help retailers find powerful new consumer insights in their loyalty data and use those insights to accelerate their growth. It also will give manufacturers new insights into category and brand performance and help them work more closely with retailers on highly targeted and effective category management programmes."

The formation of ACNielsen Loyalty follows an intensive research and development effort. The new unit's capabilities will complement and expand upon numerous products and services that support loyalty marketing efforts currently offered by ACNielsen and other VNU business units. Tom Markert, currently Senior Vice President 8cChief Marketing Officer of VNU MI and ACNielsen, has been named President &c CEO of the ACNielsen Loyalty global business unit. Laurence Michael, currently Senior Vice President, Global Retailer Services Marketing, will serve as Managing Director.

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which continuously helps them to deliver audiences beyond conventional media options. WELCOME TO MALAYSIA. IT HAS BEEN 3 MONTHS FOR YOU HERE SO FAR. HOW HAS IT BEEN? has been a whirlwind of events so far. On personal note, many changes country... mily shifting....schooling.. .housing etc, etc!! On a professional level, I have been a part of the GROUPM network since its inception * 2001 in India and before that part of JWT, which is part of the WPP network for 10 years. So, a move for me from JWT to MindShare to Maxus to Mediaedge: cia. Each company however has its own values, vision, philosophy and way of working. The walk has so far been exciting, apprehensive, challenging and most of all... fun! its on 2007 for

MISSION: CONSOLIDATION

What we need is a handful of cowboys who will lose control!

BY RAJ KUMAR

t the Malaysian Advertisers Congress in June, I briefly met Manjiri Kamat, (whom I later got to know is the Managing Director of Mediaedge: cia Malaysia), but did not get the chance to exchange name cards. So, when my illustrious Editor in Chief recommended to make an appointment to meet Manjiri Kamat, I thought to myself it was time to find out what her thoughts were on the industry here in Malaysia and what her plans were for the rest of the year and so on. Manjiri started in the world of advertising business back in 1991 with JWT-India (Mumbai). In the ten years that she spent with JWT, she gained valuable experience working with clients such as Unilever, Kellogs, Kodak, Motorola, Siemens, Warner Lambert, Pfizer, De' beers (Now DTC), Bvlgar and Standard Chartered Bank.

In 2001, she moved over to MindShare to head the Strategic Planning function in Mumbai. There, her focus was to up the bar on Strategic Planning and strengthen their Unconventional Media Offering to help clients engage with their target audience. In May 2003, she was appointed General Manager Maxus-Mumbai. In 3 years, Maxus became the 2nd largest agency in the country. With her 15 years of experience from a country like India, which is one of the fastest growing economies in Asia and whose media market is highly rated, she is really excited to be in Malaysia and working with Mediaedgexia. In the coming months, Manjiri's focus will be to significantly up the tempo on Strategic Planning, leverage the strength of MEC network and GROUPM and most importantly, steer our client partners towards what we in MEC call Active Engagement with the target audience'

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WHAT DO YOU THINK IS MISSING IN MALAYSIA'S MEDIA SPECIALISATION SCENE? Malaysia is similar to India, in that it is also multi-racial, multi-lingual, spread out geographically in several urban and rural areas and so on. So the media scene has evolved and developed to handle these diversities. Malaysia is different from India, in that it is not as developed in it's offerings of nonconventional media. India and particularly GROUPM, there have been some massive strides into specialised areas such as content, entertainment, digital, active engagement with consumers, mobiling and so on. I feel Malaysia has some distance to travel before she masters this like a science. DO YOU SEE TALENT LACKING IN THE MEDIA INDUSTRY? I don't feel talent is lacking. I see the drive is lacking. The drive to do something different, something out of the box, something not ever done before and the ability to take risks. There is plenty of talent, it needs to be cultivated and channelised in the right direction. MANY AMBIENT MEDIA OWNERS LAMENT IT IS DIFFICULT FOR THEM TO GET ACCESS TO ADVERTISERS OR EVEN MEDIA SPECIALISTSTO PRESENT THEIR MEDIA OPTIONS. WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE THEM? That is surprising. Because as media planners, we are always on the lookout for new ambient media to connect with our consumers. So if there

MEDIA are guys out there who have ideas please walk into my room now...walk into MEC....we will evaluate the options and if we feel they connect with our consumers, we will bet on them! WHAT IS YOUR BUSINESS PLAN FOR MEDIAEDGE:CIA MALAYSIA THIS YEAR? My mandate in Mediaedge:cia for 2006 is "To consolidate, to raise the bar on strategic thinking," MEC is already a large agency in Malaysia, it is the second largest in the GROUPM Malaysia fold. My business plan is to "improve our product, our profile,our people, and our partners." If we these 4 P s right... the 5th P will follow-profits! Mediaedgexia is the first global communications planning and implementation agency. We strive to get the consumers actively engaged with our clients brands leading to relevant awareness, deeper understanding of the brands and thus sales. Sales just follow. Sales are the outcome, not the primary goal. Our goal is to actively engage our consumers with our brands. Growing our talent is important to me. Growing our clients businesses is important to me. Year 2007 will be a year of growth. It will be the yeat of fast forward. MEC will be the growth engine for GROUPM Malaysia. Let s do this again in January 2007,1 will tell you more then! TELL USABOUT A SIGNIFICANT CAMPAIGNYOU WORKED ON IN INDIA... All campaigns are close to my heart. In India, I started off in JWT. For India, a country that buys yellow metal by kilos, evolving the market and moving them to diamonds with DeBeers, was a significant achievement. It also won a Gold for the "Best Media Strategy" at the very first Emvies in India. Then while in MindShare, I was instrumental in bringing the marathon to India. The very first Standard Chartered Mumbai

PERSONALITY

Marathon 2003, was the outcome of almost a year of planning and hard work, sweat and blood! While in Maxus, the launch of Toon Disney Hindi, which won the Gold at the Emvies for the "Best Print campaign" in 2006 was a significant campaign. WAS THE WORLD CUP GOOD FOR MEDIAEDGE: CIA MALAYSIA? Mercedes Benz was the only one client of ours that took advantage of the World Cup. This is also because companies such as the telcos, were just overpowering in terms of print and television advertising. Companies with smaller budgets to promote their products would have been consumed by the mere force of the bigger budgeted backed products. WHATSYDUR PREDICTIONFOR ADEXSPENDING FOR THE SECOND HALF OF 2006? My prediction is that the growth is slow and

The campaign was a 2005 campaign that the client has extended to using it in 2006 due to the success and publicity it brought them. SOME ADVERTISERS HAVE TOLD US THEY D0NT GET TO SEE THEIR MEDIA AGENCIES AND BRAND/CREATIVEAGENCIES AT THE SAME TABLE, TOGETHER DURING MEETINGS. WHAT'S YOUR COMMENT ON THIS? DOES MEDIAEDGE: CIA ATTEND TO MAJOR CUENT MEETINGS WITH THE RESPECTIVE BRAND/CREATIVE AGENCY IN TOW? I come from the philosophy that "Media unbundling has happened". There is no getting away or shying away from that fact. Creative agencies have to accept that. Clients have accepted it. Having said that I do believe that each of us has our core competencies is what clients want. They want a seamless team. They want the team of to be the custodians of their brands. They want us involved in their

MALAYSIA IS DIFFERENT FROM INDIA, IN THAT IT IS NOT AS DEVELOPED IN IT'S OFFERINGS OF NON-CONVENTIONAL MEDIA minimal. We are monitoring the Adex closely and maybe in another month or so can predict the year with more certainity. CAN YOU SHARE WITH US A CAMPAIGN DONE BY MEDIAEDGE: CIA MALAYSIA RECENTLY? Well, the ING campaign that won at the MSA recently, we advised the client to advertise in any page where a certain catastrophe has occurred.It would then stimulate people and the consumers to purchase insurance. People generally think of insurance after the disaster had occurred. So, by doing this people may take notice and instead be stimulated to purchase insurance before such an incident occurs to themselves.

brands. At MEC, we believe in this synergy and we work closely with our creative agency brethren to brainstorm on new ideas, new media, strategy. Where this happens is when clients get a seamless product. HAS MEDIAEDGE: CIA GOT BIG PALNS TO WIN BIG AT THE NEXT MEDIA SPECIALISTS ASSOCIATION (MSA) AWARDS SHOW? Oh, yes! My team is ever so motivated now to win more. Winning is exhilarating. Winning is contagious. We love winning! Year 2007, we hope to win more awards for our clients. Watch this space and watch out for Mediaedge: cia in 2007!

"Mediaedgexia is the first global communications planning and implementation agency. We strive to get the consumers actively engaged with our clients brands leading to relevant awareness, deeper understanding of the brands and thus sales" ADOI MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS MAGAZINE

HOMEGROWN

HEROES

ITS THE Being up, close and personal is Del Surias secret to success BY RAJ KUMAR

t has been said that passion and the drive to succeed can take a person anywhere they want to go. They can be anything they think they want to be if they possess these two essential ingredients, especially in an industry like advertising. In conjunction with their fifth anniversary, which Del Suria celebrated in great pomp and style, it was clear that this was an agency on the way to great things. A company that is a shining example ofthe concept mentioned is local advertising agency, Del Suria Sdn Bhd. I managed to get a chance to have a chat with its passionate and motivated managing director, Idora Wan Rabe'al to learn more about how these elements motivate a local agency to scale greater heights.

A combination of beauty, brains and an undying passion for what she does, Idora's passion spills over like a tsunami effect into her organisation. An example of her passion is clearly defined by the outlook of the interior inside the Del Suria premises located in Damansara Perdana. Although preparing for another meeting, she made time for me (as usual, on short notice!) to chat about her vision and mission for Del Surias future. "We started out as a design boutique back in 1998. Our clients then,were McDonalds, where we were restricted to doing their events, charity functions and mostly liasing with their corporate communications department," said Idora. In the year 2000, however, my two partners and myselfdecided to move toexpand and hence,

m ADOI MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS MAGAZINE

whatever your dream ride

MAKE IT REAL

we started Del Suria. Before that we had an enterprise, thus limiting the scope of work that we wanted to actually do,"she added. As far as what Del Suria does differently from other agencies,Del Suria accordingto Idora pride themselves by being uniquely different. "Every client has different tastes and desires when it comes to how and why they want to position their product. We take pride in catering to every specification they want, every last single detail and we thrive when it comes to designing something different that stands out from the norm. As I am a very designed based person, I like to take pride in customising a design for each client. This is our forte and we will continue to have this policy, as people remember great designs and great work, not stereotypes. We must understand that a concept or idea is very personal to a client. So, we must customise and cater to their needs and give them something different, unique and most importantly, relevant to them," said Idora. "The money that is earned is a different issue. We want to show Malaysian companies that though we are a local set up, with less manpower than our larger international rivals based here in Malaysia, we have an equally if not better understanding of the needs and

demands of the consumers as we can see it from their perspective.We can match anyone in producing something spectacular when it comes to creativity and design," reiterated Idora. Although, majority of the business handled by Del Suria is below the line (BTL) work, Idora emphasises that BTL work is taken for granted most of the time and the effort that is involved can be more strenuous and creative based than an above the line job (ATL). "A lot of people think BTL is not worth looking at in terms of creativity and design.Most people thinkthat an ATL is a true representation of the best ofcreativity.This conception is hardly true. The amount of effort put into what is termed as 'BTL can far outweigh what is done for an ATL, in terms of customising to the client s needs, conceptualising designs that will captivate the consumer such as an event launch, what itinerary it should consist, what attraction feature and so many other details that we must fine tune to make an event successful for not only

our client,but do justice to our creative instincts" said Idora. "The philosophy we bring forward is we will give your product a personality. Our creative team strive to make whatever we do stand out from the rest and almost allthe time, this is where our clients recognise our work and ideas and commend us for it,"added Idora.When asked if what are the possible obstacles faced as a young and growinglocal agencyfaced in the Malaysian advertising business, Idora admitted that the market conception was tough nut to break "I would certainly state that there are many obstacles we face as a local agency.This is because the mindset of the marketplace emphasises on what they have seen before, which is pre-dominantly controlled by the large multi-national agencies. Having said that, some large local companies are beginning to break out of the mindset that only international advertising agencies have the ability to conceptualise and create noteworthy designs and campaigns," added Idora.

"We cannot blame anybody but all we can do on our part is to execute good, high quality, customise creativity for each and every one of our clients and maybe slowly in thefuture, companies will realise that local agencies, though smaller, though less manpower can match anyone in terms of creativity. We are definitely on the ball as we do understand the needs of our market and more importantly the mindset that comes with it," she said. Idora also stated that it was very important for a local company to manage and not to over indulge in terms of manpower and unnecessary expenditure. "We have come far over the past six years and we have grown from three people to a twenty one people strong company. I am proud to say that this has been our own initiative and the growth of our company has been based on our hard work. We do not believe in unnecessary expansion and in the event of an economic downturn, retrenching all of them.That is what we do not want to do as it does not augur well for our company neither the person. "We will hire and fill the gaps accordingly in our company as time goes on. Bear in my mind, we are a growing company and growth does encompass more manpower, but at the moment, we believe that we have the right talent and attitude to cater to any brief or level of creativity. So, at Del Suria, we do not want to grow out of proportion and chop down for no good reason" added Idora. As far as potential business and the outlook for Del Suria is concerned, Idora is upbeat about what is in store for the future of Del Suria. "We are pitching and pursuing for new businesses. We aim to target large local corporations and we are confident that our creativity will stand out and we will be recognised for our individuality, personality and customisation. Potential clients will see that the driving force behind is driven purely by passion and creativity," "We are targeting companies like Petronas and MAS for our future plans but right now we would like to concentrate on our existing clients and not let up by giving them the best possible work possible," she concluded.

if We want to show Malaysian companies that though we are a local set up, with less manpower than our larger international rivals based here in Malaysia, we have an equally if not better understanding of the needs and demands of the consumers as we can see it from their perspective ADOI MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS MAGAZINE

TVC

REVIEW

AT THE TOP OF HIS GAME

'Ad Legend' inspires a creative masterpiece with Happy Dent tv commercial. Bernie Carvalho speaks on Prasoons latest creation BY RAJ KUMAR WHAT WAS YOUR REACTION WHEN YOU HRST SAW THE STORYBOARD? I knew that it was something that was very rare. I also knewwe had to grab it. Of course once it was confirmed was when fear and anxiety and angst and self doubt set in. WHAT WAS YOUR BIGGEST CHAUfNGE? Prasoon Joshi the creative director, writer and lyricist was very clear. Ifitwas not going to be the best ad I ever made and if it was not going to be up to world standards then I should retire.So my biggest challenge was to keep my career. We had an excellent storyboard done by Chetan Sharma of Animagic (its attached). My biggest challenge was also to better the storyboard. Also I knew that Prasoon was clear that the tone of voice was of the 'Vichitra or Adbhut' 'Rasa'. (This is one of the classified emotions from our ancient texts. The words strange' or wonderstruck' do not quite do it justice) so the film had to be real.You needed to believe the people the place and the lights too needed to look believable. For example the car headlights must look like real headlamps etc. TELL US A BIT ABOUT THE SOUNDTRACK? Prasoon Joshi was very clear that the film needed Qawalli music.We must have listened to about 40 cd's ofvarious artistes ranging from Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan to the newer groups. We always knew Shantanu Mohitre would be our first choice. But because of his feature film

work I was worried he may not be free. He is the musicdirector of Parineeta and Eklavya and has done many many albums. He knewthat we were doing a song that would be accidentally fitting. He and his team have done a great job. Incidentally I was doing another track for another film in the next studio with two other music directors (very popular and great talents) Vishal and Shekar. When they saw the film they decided they must be involved and even though it was not their track they gave the claps and were part of the Qawalli group. Kailash Kher did a great job singing the track. TELL USABOUT THE CHARACTERS IN THE TVC? We knew that the film should take place in an era where light had not been invented.Which is why we thought of the British raj meets ancient India meets baroque route. I tend to work with the same core team.I trust them hugely.All kudos to my production designer Fali Unwallawith Zahra Latif and Anna Iype and Theia bomanbehram, Pooja Sarin andJagriti on costumes. Anil Mehta was the cameraman. He is a National Award Winner and one of India's finest. He made sure that I tell the story in a realistic, natural way. Our cast were trained gymnasts in the Indian gymnastic art form called 'Malkhamb' from Kerela and Maharastra led by Anil Kumar our choreographer and Ganesh Devrukhar from Mumbai. WAS IT AN EXPENSIVE COMMERCIAL SHOOT?

The commercial should have been more expensive than it was. But because of the nature of the script favours were asked of and people readily agreed to accept less than their normal. My producer Manoj Shroff was the one who swung this, with able help from our Online Producer Poonam Wahi and her team first AD Shawn Arranha Neha Sinha, Aditya Manke. Prime Focus did the post, with Shyam Salgaonkar editing and Gaurav Mathur on the graphics ably supported by the Post-production supervisor on the job Khvafar Vakharia. Prime Focus gave me unlimited time and freedom and support (eventually 30 days). One of the rare postproduction houses where I was made to feel like a director. ANYTHING INTERESTING HAPPENED ON THE SET? The bridge you seewas built.(By Kiran Khanna the art director).The cycle tyre actuallycame off because of the amazing and untiring efforts of Anil More and MaheshTawde our Production and Location Managers. WAS THE INFUSION OF CULTURAL ISSUES A SENSITIVE ISSUE? Sorry I did not understand your last question. But the amazing thing that has happened since the film's release is the number of people from competitive Clients and agencies too who have called and said this ad has made India proud.

ff If it was not going to be the best ad I ever made and if it was not going to be up to worid standards then I should retire. So my biggest challenge was to keep my career JJ m ADOI MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS MAGAZINE

TVC

REVIEW

Agency AIcCann-Erickson India Executive Creative Director Prasoon Joshi Writer Prasoon Joshi Art Director Prasoon Joshi Producer Equinox Films, Ram Madhvani Director Ram Madhvani

BY RAJ KUMAR

A BRIDGE OVER GREY MATTER Oriental News aims to be the source of information between the people and the government.

eing a newspaper reporter in the past, I had expected to meet a team of people that were ready to sell their product from purely, an advertising point of view when I walked into the Oriental Daily headquarters at Wisma Dang Wangi, located in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. Four gentlemen of extremely polite nature greeted me with a humility that I had never come across or encountered in my entire career as a reporter.They were PattrikTing-the Senior Manager for Advertising, Puah You Lai, the

Editor in Chief, Lim Woi Kiong, the Deputy Chief Editor and Lawrence Ng, the News Director. This was what transpired: HOW LONG HAS THE ORIENTAL DAILY BEEN IN THE MARKET AND WHO IS YOUR TARGET MARKET? YOU LAI: We have been in the market for close to 3Vi years now. Our target market is mainly the urban Chinese population. We pride ourselves as a newspaper that carries news from all quarters. We believe that we tell people what they need to know and

M ADOI MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS MAGAZINE

hear. Our aim is to act as a bridge between the layman and the government. The government needs to know what the people feel and think sometimes and vice versa. Our mission is to clarify matters that do not seem to be very clear to the public and give people the complete story on any issue that on going or that has transpired. That is what we truly pride ourselves in doing. Our content must be complete. The whole story must be told. WE ALL KNOW THE CHINESE NEWSPAPER OPERATES IN A MARKET THAT IS FIERCELY CONTESTED BY SEVERAL BIG NAMES. HOW DOES ORIENTAL DAILY, BEING A NEW PLAYER, ABLE TO BENCHMARK TTS STANDARDS TO DO BETTER? PATTRIK: Despite the fact thatwe are considered "the baby"in our market, in the 3 Vi short years that we have been in existence, we take pride by stating the fact that we are considered one of the main Chinese morning dailies. Our competition have had decades of a head start in comparison to us, but we have emerged as serious contender pursuing pole position as far as being market leaders is concerned. Our readership has developed to 300,000 thousand strong over this short period and as of June 2006, our circulation is up to about 102,000 daily. We are the only newspaper that carries news everyday whether public holiday or not. Based on our research,we have an exercise

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where we have a facelift for all our other publications every once in three months and for the Oriental J Daily News, we have a facelift every once in six months!This will give our readers a new and exciting feel about Oriental daily News all the time . The best thing about the Oriental Daily is that we have a subscription system, the only newspaper in | Malaysia to practice this concept. 4 You can subscribe for the whole year i at a set price and you will receive your Oriental Daily newspaper everyday. 85% of our newspaper business is through subscription! We have practiced this since day one I would like to reiterate that competition is healthy. It is very welcomed as long as it stays within the borders of professionalism.

WHAT IS YOUR POSITIONING STRATEGY TO CREATE ACCEPTANCE AMONGST YOUR READERS AND SUBSCRIBERS? DO YOU PRESENT NEUTRAL AND BALANCED CONTENT FOR YOUR READERS? YOU LAI: An example I could point out was during the MCA elections in 2004, where there was this so called Team A and Team B, led by Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting and Datuk Chan Kong Choy respectively, we invited both leaders for an interview at the same time and posed the same questions to them. Of course their answers were different but the point is we believe that neutrality and balanced reporting is without a doubt our forte and our readership figures go to show just that! We were the only local daily in Malaysia to be invited in May of this year to cover comprehensively, the events transpiring in Guam. That to me personally, is an honour to our standard of content and to answer your question, a testament to the fact that we are a neutral and balanced reporting newspaper.

WHILE EVERYONE IS MOVING AWAY FROM THE CITY, WHY IKIES ORIENTAL DAILYNEWS iUflD

PATTRIK: In terms of advertising revenue, we are not fully represented. We have 10% of the market share at this point. We have some ground to make up but we have a product which speaks for itself. We have to just keep working harder to give agencies and advertisers reason to continue supporting us which they have been doing so ever since our inception. If you take a good look at the advertisers in the Oriental Daily, you will notice that most of them are from the high end. High t end developers, high end consumer goods f are all advertising with us. Our analysis is that our newspaper goes out to a certain target market and advertisers and agencies may be able to identify with that and hence the reason why we are growing as the t platform for advertisers all over to showcase their products.

ITS HEADQUARTERS RIGHT SMACK IN THE HEART OF KUALA LUMPUR? PATTRIK: We know for our feedback that 60% of our readers are from Kuala Lumpur or the Klang Valley, especially the urban areas. Due to our positioning as a newspaper that targets urban readers ( Synovate reported that 70% of their readers were middle or upper middle class), it was the right move to be synonymous with our image as a newspaper for the urban Chinese readers. Kuala Lumpur is the heart of the urban population, therefore this is precisely where we want to be!

BEING A CHINESE PUBLICATION, YOU MAY HAVE DISADVANTAGES IN SECURING MORE ADVERTISEMENT REVENUES DUE TO THE FACT THAT MOST PLANNERS AND BRAND CUSTODIANS ARE EDUCATED IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND OFTEN DO NOT READ THE CHINESE NEWSPAPER. SO, HOW DO YOU OVERCOME THIS DISADVANTAGE AND CREATE A DEMAND AMONGST PLANNERS AND THE BRAND CUSTODIANS?

HOW IS THE OUTLOOK FOR THE ORIENTAL DAILY NEWS IN MONTHS AND YEARS TO COME? YOU LAI: So far, we have really achieved something and we will continue to strive to be even better for our readers. We are confident that in the years to come, we will see ourselves competing for the top spots as far as Chinese dailies are concerned. We thrive as a newspaper that carries the news for the underdogs.The powerhouses have their bases and platforms to raise their issues and views and so, people like you and me must have a platform to carry our views all the way to the top as well. We have a newspaper that carries the full story. We have no qualms about meeting the people on the street and receive feedbacks regarding the Oriental Daily News. All of us, be it senior management roll up our sleeves and talk to everyone in regards with improving our product. We will continue to strive to give the best news, complete story, continue to act as the bridge between the government and the people in terms of sharing each other s views and thoughts to make life better for everybody.

((We also lake pride that our daily morning edition is delivered to all our subscriber before 7am every morning. Our 500 over vendors nationwide have to practice (Ms policy everyday of the year! II ADOI MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS MAGAZINE

NOW IMAGINE WHAT HE CAN DO FOR YOUR BRAND STRATEGY. GLOBAL BRAND FORUM 2006 6&7 NOVEMBER, THE RITZ-CARLTON, MILLENIA SINGAPORE This November, the most anticipated forum on Brands returns for two invaluable days with the world's most powerful and influential brand gurus. Listen meet and converse with David Aaker, Faith Popcorn, Martin Lindstrom and Jack Trout and others, and let them share with you their "Keys to Brand Transformation". Their insights will inspire change in the way you manage your brands.Their practical ideas will dramatically transform your business and take it to the next level. Their lessons will last a lifetime. For more information or to register, visit www.globalbrandforum.org or contact TF Lee (+60 12 323 8211) or Eugene Lim (+60 17 684 0164) c/o Kankei Integrated Marketing Solutions Sdn Bhd at malaysia@kankei.com

a-i3 Singapore

THE STOUTS TIMES

Global Brand Forum

Singapore 2006

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space / PVRs, the Internet and Video are changing the way we consume TV. on the sofa is harder than ever in this most traditional of mediums of longer, more rewarding . Stop pushing. Start pulling / od /

Television sets in living room corners the world over made the switch into colour about forty years ago. The advertising industry, however, still has a tendency to see things very much in black and white. TV is dying!' they cried. 'Bollocks!' responded the TV industry, and quietly got on with it. Like everything in a world of fluid media, things are just changing. The advent of PVRs has facilitated viewing outside of the dictat of a TV schedule, creating a uniquely individual, targeted and desirable experience, and boosting rather than dampening the popularity of the medium. Tom Barker, the UK brand, advertising & global partnerships manager at Microsoft Xbox, a brand at the forefront of cutting edge technology, is adamant that 'TV's potential for brandbuilding is still arguably the most powerful of any medium. We'd never dismiss it out of hand.' Across all media, advertisers are facing the same challenge. How do we create engaging content? And how do we deliver it? This is never more relevant than when our attention falls upon much-maligned TV, whose potential as a medium has been drastically altered by advancements in technology set against a backdrop of wailing and gnashing of teeth from those predicting the death of the 30-second spot Video on Demand (VoD) represents one such change, allowing viewers to choose the programmes they want to watch at a time convenient to them. Another is the interactive television platform, Push the Button As far as interactive television (iTV) in the UK is concerned, Sky is by far the biggest player in terms of both investment and presence. Their strategic magnanimity in establishing one platform for all users has shaped the market, making the 'red button' which guides viewers to interactive content a near-ubiquitous sight. Around 20% of the UK TV audience regularly engage with Sky's interactive service. There are currently around 800 channels of content available through the Sky Interactive platform, and all major broadcasters can now serve interactive advertising through an association with Sky. According to Chloe Wilkinson, Sky's Controller of Interactive Advertising, 'Sky's unique position as both a platform and a broadcaster has helped us to stay at the forefront of these changes. We've been working very closely with other broadcasters to grow the iTV medium as a whole.' In recent years, Sky's revenue streams have been heavily bolstered by interactive advertising, of which they've served more than any other broadcaster in the world. Creativity in iTV advertising is a considerably different beast to traditional television. As Steven Hess of Weapon 7, an iTV agency in London, puts it: 'It's an entirely new medium, therefore it needs an entirely new

way of thinking.' A truly engaging brand exercise must combine the branding potential of TV with interactive elements reminiscent of the Internet, striking a delicate balance between the initial push and the subsequent pull. However, the potential rewards of iTV advertising are not to be sniffed at, as not only do they deliver an exciting brand experience, they also offer the data collection possibilities of direct marketing. The joy of the red button lies with the ability to measure how effective your campaign was, how many people interacted, and for how long. At present, the twin factors of speed and cost can be something of a drawback for the aspiring iTV marketer. Such advertising is hampered by a tiny window of opportunity. Imagine you're waiting patiently through an ad break in the middle of a soap opera, and the red button shows up. First you have to dig out the remote. Then, you make the decision to press the button. Then you push it...and you spend 20 seconds waiting for the ad to load. In that time, you've already lost the majority of your potential viewers, and alienated the remainder by forcing them to cut into their soap opera, creating an atmosphere of negativity before viewers even reach the content. Cost-wise, if you buy bandwidth to spool an iTV ad, it's effectively like setting up your own channel, and although it greatly expands the time in which people could potentially interact with your brand, the expense incurred by such an exercise has made some advertisers wary of testing the water. But just how expensive is prohibitively expensive? According to Chloe Wilkinson, 'You have to look at the bigger picture. If you were going to push a new TV campaign in a big way, you'd be spending about ÂŁ2m on the whole thing. Of that, your interactive elements would only cost about ÂŁ250,000 - an eighth of your overall spend.' In 2004, Sky dropped their prices for interactivity, underscoring a commitment to making the medium accessible for all. Yet, as with all things, where there's a will, there's a marketer. Although the medium still radiates an air of trial and error, some brands have grasped the twin notions of honesty (make it clear what you're offering) and value (make that offering really, really great) essential for success. JWT London's 2005 effort for Smirnoff, 'Love', is held up as one of the most creative applications yet. By pressing the red button three times to reflect Smirnoff's triple distillation, viewers 'distilled' a narrative showing a man telling his much younger partner that he knew she'd had an affair, and that he didn't love her. The second filter cut the story down, implying that it was he who'd had the affair, and in the third, much shorter version, he simply says, 'I love you.' The commercial was critically well received, and viewers too voted with their remotes, with nearly 2.5m people choosing to press the red button.

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Elsewhere, a wide variety of brands are realising thai they, too, have something to give. Mobile network Orange produced a five-minute film showing the obnoxious yet entertaining characters from their brand advertising, sneaking in some facts about 3G on Orange along the way. An iTV ad for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire saw viewers rewarded with an extra-long trailer and interviews with the cast, and paint brand Dulux launched their colour-matching service by offering a free sample, cunningly collecting addresses on the way. Sky Interactive's production unit produced some intriguing content in conjunction with MVBMS Europe for the Volvo S40. Around one in ten viewers opted to press the red button, spending an average of six minutes watching the spoof documentary The Mystery of Dalaro. And, in perhaps one of the neatest possible fusions of medium and message, electro wunderkinder The Chemical Brothers launched their new album Push The Button by allowing viewers to access five exclusive tracks, via the magic of interactive TV. 86% of the 16-24 year olds who interacted with the ad accessed the content through the Sky Active menu, not the ad, bringing a word of mouth element to the campaign. First week sales of the album exceeded expectations by 50% (from 35,000 to 50,000). At the moment, the automotive sector counts for 35% of the interactive TV advertising market in the UK. 'Press ads have always been great for cars, as you can be creative whilst giving information about the product,' explains Sky's Wilkinson. Now, interactivity means that we can do that on TV.' Weapon 7 recently conducted just such an experiment for Chrysler. 'The 300c is a car that looks expensive, but is relatively cheap,' explains Steven Hess. 'By holding back price information until the button was pressed, we could maintain its air of exclusivity whilst delivering the right information to those seriously interested in the product'. In this way, Chrysler benefited from an exercise which fulfilled a dual purpose of branding and direct marketing. Some marketers have taken a topsy-turvy yet successful approach to integrated branding, using the Internet to drive viewers towards a lynchpin of iTV. 'With the Xbox 360 launch, we had to target two clearly defined audiences - one which rejects advertising, and one which embraces it,' says brand manager Tom Barker. 'Firstly, we had the gamers, who prefer to source their own information and be in control of their own decisions. Then, we had what we call 'players' people who enjoy computer games, but are more open to the entertainment factor of advertising.' To match the creative to their target audience, Xbox and Weapon 7 took the idea of 'Easter Eggs' - a notion used to refer to clues and secret content embedded in games by programmers. They then put together what

was effectively a cryptic three-level game, attached to the back of a TV ad. Viewers entered their guesses into the levels as they appeared in order to solve the riddle and be the first to enter their names on the Magnificent 7 leaderboard. It took a little prompting, but the first person to solve the puzzle did so after a week. Then the floodgates opened. When the spot was broadcast, around 600,000 people pressed the red button - 50% more than Xbox were expecting. However, as well as being broadcast, the ad sat as part of the menu on Sky's Interactive page, listed as content. When posts subtly seeded by Xbox appeared on gaming forums suggesting that there was something intriguing about the TV ad for the new console, a further 1.4m people actively went looking for the ad themselves - that's 1.9m in total. People who not only saw the ad, but played with it. The seeding process was, Barker claims, part of the whole strategy, yet even they were surprised by the effect. So many people went looking for it, we might not have needed the broadcast media spend/ he reflects. In a VoD environment, advertising is more likely to sit at the beginning and the end of programmes, but that's not necessarily prohibitive. 'The interactive space is ripe for brand involvement,' comments Scott Gronmark of Scott Gronmark Associates, a former Head of Interactive TV at the BBC, where he pioneered the adoption of interactivity into the corporation's media offering. 'And it will become even more so with the advent of video on demand. At the moment, creativity within things like sponsorship idents is limited by time constraints, yet with VoD, people could opt to watch the story you weave within your idents in their own time.' In the USA, the lack of a central platform through which to serve interactive ads has led to the total absence of the red button, and an evolution of the medium along entirely different lines. 'Here, cable operators, networks and IPTV providers are vying for space,' comments Jacquie Corbelli of US-based interactive market communications firm Brightline Partners. There's an enormous sense of competition, and a grossly inefficient, opportunistic market - yet we're definitely on the verge of a tipping point/ According to Robert Aksman, creative director at Brightline, different is not necessarily worse, and branded involvement can cut through VoD clutter with, or without the red button. 'We ran a campaign for Reebok in which they seeded content on an urban platform called Def on Demand,' he explains. The spots told people how and where to access the content, and aired in the middle of baseball games. Interactivity spiked at half time or after the game. Nobody wanted to interrupt their viewing, but they were interested enough to go looking for the content afterwards.'

v:^V Ail major US cable operators now offer some degree of video on demand. For example, Comcast, the largest cable operator, currently offers about 4,000 shows as part of its VoD service, including big CBS hits such as Survivor and CSI, for which viewers pay 99 cents for 24-hours access, straight after the shows have aired. NBC, ABC and Fox are set to follow suit. One of viral marketing's biggest success stories found an eager new audience in this VoD environment When Brightline were approached to extend the reach of deodorant brand Axe's 2005 viral 'Ravenstoke', created by The Viral Factory, they planted the content on Adult Swim - the Cartoon Network's popular on demand service featuring animated programming 'for grown-ups'. AdAge points out some 75% of these grown-ups are males aged 1824 - Axe's target audience. Listed in the programme menu as Breaking News', the three-minute spoof documentary eventually outperformed all but five of the actual programmes. "Ravenstoke5 is appealing wherever you see it,' says Corbelli, 'but by presenting it as content and tempting people in with intriguing headlines, the content became even more interesting because of how it was delivered.' The success of this cross-media exercise is encouraging, given the popularity of viral content that PC users seek out for themselves. Short-form video viral site YouTube currently streams around 15m video clips a day. However, a programme menu on a VoD interface is far removed from the search-friendly confines of the Internet, and will ultimately create the environment within which audiovisual advertising content will be judged. Broadcasters must select content to reflect their own brand values. Does the broadcaster therefore have a responsibility to ensure a certain degree of quality in their commercial offerings? 'Obviously, we can't tell people what to do, nor can we refuse them the right to participate,' says Sky's Chloe Wilkinson. 'However, we do advise our advertisers to manage the viewer's expectations.' Wise words - for it stands to reason that if a potential consumer is disappointed by one red button experience, the odds of them opting in again are significantly decreased. Games, Gambling, and Amateur Golf Once the plunge into iTV and bandwidth purchase is taken, the door to unusual and engaging content is thrown wide open. Some brands, such as Audi, have gone the whole hog already. A much-hyped launch at the end of 2005 saw the Audi Channel broadcasting 24-hour original content, including coverage of Audisponsored events such as the UK's largest amateur golf tournament, Goodwood. Mark Boyd, Director of Content at Audi's advertising agency BBH, said: 'Brands are looking for deeper relationships with the consumer,

ranging from red button interactivity to something the Audi channel where they can interact with the brand for as long as they like.' And do they? 'Yep Our awareness amongst Audi prospects stands at 70%, with no above the line presence - people just told each other about it. On the back of the success of this word of mouth, we've just launched a TV ad campaign to drive people to the channel.' Recent exercises in branded content also saw interactivity taking centre stage. Dubplate Drama, a joint venture between Channel 4, 3 Mobile and Sony PSP, saw viewers voting online or via their mobiles for the outcome of each 15-minute instalment. The premiere on Channel 4 received the highest terrestrial audience ratings at that time, and there were 120,000 hits on the website in the first week. 'Advertisers need only look at what's worked so far to get an idea of what's going to work for them,' says Ian Johnson of TV industry portal Broadband Bananas. 'Gambling's popular, as is enhanced TV. However, what we have found is that when you add a human push having a presenter saying 'press the red button now' for example, viewers are much more likely to interact.' The statistics, terrifying though they are, bear him out. For example, during the summer of 2005, more people voted through a heavily plugged iTV application to evict housemates from reality show Big Brother over the course of the series than voted in the UK general election. Interactive aficionados - 1. Politicians, humanity - nil. Other functionalities proposed as part of iTV have had limited success. Services such as shopping and banking have failed to catch on, as they just aren't intuitive enough. Some things, it seems, are best left to the internet. According to Scott Gronmark, 'Cramming all other elements into TV is pointless, and it doesn't work. Like TV emailing for example - you can do it, but it's like painting with boxing gloves on.' At the happier end of the spectrum is one of iTV's most popular services - gaming. In April 2006, UK broadcaster ITV launched their Play channel, through which viewers engage with rich programming via their mobiles or TV handsets in order to win prizes. Statistics as to the number of participants are as yet unavailable, but chief executive of ITV Consumer Jeff Henry claims that they have 'exceeded expectations'. Although evidently not as rich an experience as a console game, the power of simple yet colourful games applications or general knowledge quizzes cannot be underestimated. The possibilities for measurement of the interaction are also appealing, with detailed information on player interaction and subsequent behaviour smoothing the path to convincing ROI. Certain advertisers are therefore keen to follow the

hot topic / interactive tv /

con^MWT ifffo this area just as revenue streams from advertising in console gaming continue their meteoric rise (researchers Yankee Group predict a five fold increase in revenue to $732m by 2010). Early uptakers including financial services company Egg and quality brewer Grolsch. Gaming's immersive nature is attractive for advertisers, and never more so then when in front of the TV, where capturing wandering eyes is challenging. All the signs point to the survival of gaming on TV when video on demand becomes the 'new normal'. Interactivity as part of programming is also well out of its infancy, with broadcasters and technologists alike consistently finding more ways to enrich the viewing experience. Enhanced TV is extra content attached to a specific programme, and accessed through the red button. The BBC's enhanced coverage of the 2004 Olympic Games, which allowed viewers to flick between different events, notched up interactive audiences of nine million. Extra content for viewers after initial programming ends has also proven extremely popular. Soap opera Eastenders, for example, regularly runs post-show enhanced content which contributes to a regular red button audience of 7m people every month across all BBC programming. A sense of community can build around this additional, exclusive content, where die-hard fans can interact with the shows or the brands, that they love. Spy drama Spooks is a prime example. Cross-platform interactivity - the use of mobile phones on music and youth channels such as MTV and VH1 generate weighty extra revenue streams from premium text services as viewers answer quiz questions, or simply want to see their names on screen. Londonbased interactive production company Two Way TV has taken this degree of interaction one step further, with an application entitled Simcast designed to bring rich media to the small screen, tapping into the trend for animated alter-egos. 'Now, instead of just seeing a name on a banner, viewers will be able to create an avatar which interacts with other characters on the screen, making for a more appealing experience,' says Head of Sales James Turner. A recent iTV advertising campaign for Sprite leveraged the popularity of mobiles, giving away a free mobile download of Sprite's new 3G imp character, along with a ringtone. The clip was subsequently uploaded to YouTube by an enthusiastic consumer. Screen Time Further evolving viewing behaviour is the advent of web and mobile TV. In the USA, a deal struck between Apple's iTunes and ABC in October 2005 saw episodes of Lost and Desperate Housewives being made available for download at a commercial-free cost of $1.99 per episode. In May 2006, advertisers were allowed in

out of the cold when ABC began streaming of the shows online, for free, with obligatory ad breaks. Speaking following the iTunes deal, Albert Cheng, Disney-ABC Television Group's executive vice president of digital media, said: 'It actually drives more traffic to our network shows, and increases our viewership.' It's also predicted that VoD will revive the sluggish penetration rates of mobile TV - in the USA, only 1m people are currently using some kind of mobile TV service. The popularity of sites such as Kontraband and YouTube plus music video downloads to mobile phones lend a new aura of possibility to the medium. In February, 3 Mobile in the UK announced that 10m videos had been downloaded in only six months. Nielsen Media Research will be stamping their seal of approval on VoD in June, launching measures to quantify viewing and interaction figures of on demand programming, including that streamed over the web or over mobile phones. As technology marches forward, there are few companies whose presence is synonymous with the inevitable like Microsoft, who are currently steering the move towards Internet Protocol Television (IPTV). IPTV is video on demand writ large. Currently, each broadcast channel uses up bandwidth on a permanent basis. IPTV takes up no bandwidth. When viewers select a programme, it is beamed to their home via a set-top box and a high speed Internet connection. It boasts an infinitely larger capacity than broadcast TV, as all programming sits on external servers. Various reports predict IPTV will be reaching over 27m subscribers globally by 2008, and revenue will top $17bn dollars by 2010. With statistics such as these, the potential for 'Windows' software hard-coded into every available settop box must be appealing for the technology giant, although terrifying for Mac users everywhere. Telecoms companies are also keen to get involved. Later this year, British Telecom will launch BT Vision, an IPTV service available through a set-top box designed by Philips. France Telecom have partnered with Microsoft to work on their own service, which industry gossip suggests will be named 'Orange TV', reflecting their mobile teiecoms brand and launched in conjunction with their soon-to-be-rebranded Internet Service Provider Wanadoo. This defensive strategy is an attempt to retain existing customers and stem the loss of revenue on voice calls by offering an entire package of broadband services. BT's own revenue on voice calls has dropped to as low as 9%. The purchase of Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) service Skype by online auctioneer eBay further highlights this convergence towards the web. When making phone calls through your web connection becomes commonplace, the online auctioneer is

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planning a PayPal Wallet for each Skype account, so people can use money in their PayPal accounts to pay for services like the ability to call regular phone numbers. It's also started creating a pay-per-call advertising service that will use Skype, and last month, Skype inked the first ever global deal with EMI Music Publishing to sell music as downloads and ring tones, Suddenly the $4.1bn price-tag doesn't seem quite so ludicrous. Despite the potential for choice through IPTV, Scott Gronmark is keen to see the broadcasters taking responsibility for the quality and organisation of their content 'I genuinely hope that video on demand doesn't become a free-for-all, with any old URL or bit of video being bunged on there,' he explains. 'It's up to the gateways to make video on demand as easy to navigate as possible.' It's easy to see his point. The proliferation of programming made available will be vast, and potentially confusing. In an IPTV environment, the role of the broadcaster could be completely redefined. Movie producers and sports organisations, for example, could choose to make deals directly with the ISP provider not with the broadcaster, ft remains to be seen which brand will be more important to the viewer in such circumstances, Who will people trust? Will it be Channel 4? BT Vision? Or will it simply be ER, or Friends? Cameron Saunders, head of marketing at Channel 4's digital channels, believes the role of the broadcaster will be crucial. 'Brands such as Channel 4 will be editors, selecting programming which fits with their own core values,' he explains. 'There's a great analogy for this in the way the dance music scene evolved in the nineties. The explosion of bedroom technology meant a proliferation of electronic music, which in turn devalued the role of the musician as a star. It became clear very early on that the real stars of the swamped marketplace are the DJs - the curators of a vast library, sorting through it all and bringing their consumers the best there is.' Sofa, SÂŠ Good On two points, at the most basic level, all the people involved in this uncertain new landscape are agreed. One / TV is great for delivering high quality video with sound attached to it. The Internet, at the moment, is not so good at this. Mobile TV seems appealing but uptake rates are slow, and screen sizes limiting, Plus, no-one's yet invented a comfortable sofa to park in front of a PC, Two / If ever there was a content-driven medium, iTV would be it. Yet all-too-often our preoccupation with the technology hampers our ability to be creative. What's the use of getting someone to press the red button, if you don't have anything to give them when they do? There seems to be a feeling that once you've developed

and installed the technology, the content will just fall into place. By that time, it's too late,' says Scott Gronmark. 'We're still being technology-focused on a content medium, rather than the other way round.' The crux of TV's evolution as a medium is not that people no longer want quality programming, It's just that they've changed the way they want to consume, They're happy to be engaged, as long as it's on their terms. It's also missing the point to wail that TV advertising is dead. It's just that it has to get better. Now, there has to be a genuine reason to press the red button, or to go and seek out the content. But as long as there are sofas, there'll be TV, Where there's TV, there'll be smart and desirable brands. And you don't see many people bemoaning the death of the sofa, do you?

Illustration: Chellie Carroll

WEBSITES/ www.xbox.com www.sky1nteractive.com www.weapon7.com www.jwt.com www.thechem1calbrothers.com www.scottgronmark.co.uk www.comcast.com www.eatmai1.tv/_ravenstoke www.br1ght11nepartners.com www.youtube.com www.kontraband.com www.adultsw1m.com www.aud1.com www.broadbandbananas.com www.dubplatedrama.tv www.broadbandbananas.com www.channel4.com www.play.itv.com www.twowaytv.com www.bbc.co.uk www.n1elsenmed1a.com www.bt.com www.skype.com www.francetelecom.com

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waiting... for your cat to bark?

WAITING FOR YOUR CAT TO BARK?: PERSUADING CUSTOMERS WHEN THEY IGNORE MARKETING BRYAN EISENBERG, JEFFREY EISENBERG,WITH LISAT. DAVIS "There's some big thinkinggoing on here-thinking you will need if you want to take your work to the next level.Typical, not average' is just one of the ideas inside that will change the way you think about marketing."

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BRYAN Mj&fm CISER8ERG HM* «t»»«

"A rare approach that recognises that the customer is in charge and must be encouraged and engaged on his/her own terms, not the seller's.... This book is at a high level that marketers better hope their competitors will be too lazy to implement."

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HOLDING UP HALF OF THE SKY, THE NEW WOMEN CONSUMERS OF ASIA YUWA HEDRICK-WONG HOLDING UP HALF OF THE SKY

"Through his analyses of demographic and economic data amassed in this book, Dr Yuwa Hedrick-Wong has convincingly explained the role of women as an important force shaping the Asian consumer market."

Francis T.Lui, Professor of Economics & Director, Centre of Economic Development, Hong Kong University of Science & Technology

"It is a gold mine of information and insights demonstrating the increasingly important role women as a driving force of consumption and market development in Asian countries. Combining demographics, profiles of female consumer groups, and the most up-to-date estimates $ 500 billion of discretionary spending by 2014, this book pushes the frontiers of market research to new levels."

Dr Paul Shaw, Fonner Lead Economist, cuirentfy ProgrammeAdvisor Human Development Group,World Bank Institute

Sensitive and rigourous, the research combines the best quantitative and qualitative techniques to provide a lucid, readable overview of the status of Asian women today, and speculates on emerging trends. From intimate perch on the lofty peak of women's studies, the author scans the data and provides fascinating insights into how to cash in on the expanding potential of the female purse in Asia in the 21st century. A must-read for all marketers."

Or Sharon Siddlque, Partner Sreekumar Siddique & Co. Pte. Ltd.

"This book provides reliable insights, supported with scientific methodology, on one of the"mega-trends" of Asian and global market development. A better understanding of women's consumption power can also shed light on the consumption power of men, and as a result, that of the global market as well." _ _ _ flcpng.

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