Adoi Malaysia 2001 February Issue

NEED THAT BUZZ?

S t o p looking f o r i t . Flick o n t o AXN. Your daily fix of e x t r e m e , c a r d i a c a r r e s t i n g , a d r e n a l i n e pumping t e l e v i s i o n a c t i o n . Exploding i n t o y o u r living r o o m 2 4 h o u r s a day. S e v e n d a y s a w e e k . Have you g o t t h e g u t s t o f a c e i t ?

Notes from the editor You've probably heard it all by now, the US cuts interest rates. Big corporations are scaling down production to remain competitive amidst slowing demand.

Amazon.com is laying off 15% of its staff worldwide to operate more like a tradi­ tional retailer as opposed to a high-flying dotcom. General Motors, the world's biggest auto manufacturer and one of the largest advertisers in the US, is cutting 50% of its TV ad spend for the second quarter this year. Does this sound very famil­ iar to what we went through three years ago? But you're smarter this time around, right? Which brings me to the conclusion there IS a God. Talking about God, God Almighty himself will appear on TV, outdoor and the press in Singapore this month. The Ogilvy & Mather Singapore campaign helmed by creative supremos Neil French and Andy Greenaway is based on the idea of God talking in a contemporary, affable and witty voice; instead of the pompous and arcane language that's usually associated with religion.

"To many people, God is a killjoy, a disapproving schoolmaster, a party-pooper in whose presence laughing isn't even permitted," says Eugene Cheong, Head of Copy at Ogilvy & Mather. "The communication aims to correct this misconception and portray God as good company, someone you wouldn't mind putting on the guest list of your dinner party."

"We want God to come across as funny, intelligent and, above all, approach­ able." adds Rev Canon Derek Hong who represents over 150 churches involves in the campaign. "We want God to be talked about and thought about. Perhaps, when we are conscious of the divine in our everyday living, we'll have less raging on the roads, less politics in the office and less shouting matches at home."

A total of 17 TV and 24 press/poster executions have been prepared. They will be appearing throughout the year on television, newspapers and posters, (not to mention, postcards, interactive and ambient media) in a advertising campaign that's going to make God truly omnipresent indeed.

The headline-only ads carry some of these lines: What do I have to do to get your attention?

Take out an ad in the paper?

God I hate rules.

That's why I only made ten of them.

God

HIGHLIGHTS Media portal adds to brain drain

Pg 8

I love it when you talk dirty

Pg 20

Death at 30

Pg 20

Forbes comes into its own

Pg 21

Media clots

Pg 30

INTERACTIVE How do I explain my job to my parents

Pg 10

Getting creative with email

Pg 14

End of the new economy?

Pg 24

DIRECT MARKETING Million dollar smile

Pg 28

EVENTS AD0I Creative Workshop 1....

Pg 12

Shining example of outdoor

Pg 17

RESEARCH

It's not the end of the world.

Until I say so, anyway.

God

Beyond clicks and page views

Please don't drink and drive, you're not quite ready to meet me yet.

God

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW Rishya Joseph says his piece

Pg 34

Pg 4,5 & 6

Respectfully always,

Media Maestro Mark Austin flies high Grey's Edmin Leong does Malaysia proud

Pg 18,19 Pg 32

MANAGING EDITOR: Harmandar Singh aka Ham PRINTER: Percetakan YC OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPHER: Jen Siow DESIGNER: So Tiong Cheng COLOUR SEPARATOR: Screen Gallery Sdn Bhd ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES(Doreen): Sledgehammer Communications Sdn Bhd 22B, Jalan Tun Mohd Fuad Satu, Taman Tun Dr. Ismail, 60000, Kuala Lumpur Tel: 03-7726 2588 Fax: 03-7722 5710 E-mail: doreenmal_2000@yahoo.com DISTRIBUTION: Efficient Lettershop, Mag Media Distributors HOUSE FONTS - FF EUREKA & BUREAU GROTESQUE: alt.TYPE. 32 Pekin Street, #03-01 Far East Square, Singapore 048762 Tel: 236 2988.

ADOI magazine is published every month by Sledgehammer Communications Sdn Bhd (Company No: 289967-W) 22B Jalan Tun Mohd Fuad Satu, Taman Tun Dr Ismail, 60000 Kuala Lumpur. Tel: 603-7726 2588. Fax: 603-7726 2598. © All rights reserved by Sledgehammer Communications Sdn Bhd. No part of this magazine may be reproduced in any form without prior permission in writing from the publisher. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information in this publication, the publisher and the editor assume no responsibility for errors or omissions or for any consequences of reliance of information in this publication. The opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent the views of the publisher or editor. Advertisements are the sole responsibility of the advertisers.

Training, ideation and propri planning key to our survival!

For many in the Malaysian ad industry

tendency to lead clients to believe that mere presence in this new media will be good enough to create propensity.

This is a fallacy, because the brand will ultimately triumph and Brand Equity development will surface as the new 'mantra' of the future. It is important that we realise that integration and consistency of brand image both online and offline is critical in creat­ ing a uniform and unique personality for our clients' brands.

Rishya Joseph is an enigma and leader rolled into one. Few can dispute his meteoric rise to fame in the ad world, becoming one of the first locals to head a multi-national advertising network.

He is Senior Vice President and Regional Director of Dentsu Young & Rubicam. When ADOI decided to do a cover story on Rishya, little did we know that it would be so exhausting to hunt him down. But we finally cor­ nered him for a precious 30 minutes to wrap up this interview, which inciden­ tally was conducted in a hotel lobby in Singapore. What compounded our challenge is the fact that not much has been written about him before. Many know him but very few really know what makes this man tick. This blister­ ing interview finally uncovers the pas­ sion and energy behind a seasoned pro­ fessional who walks the talk...

People say that you're a smooth operator with many clients who are fiercely loyal to your agency. What's your secret?

You have helmed DYR Malaysia through two recessions. Now there's talk of another one looming ahead.

What's you stance in these situa­ tions?

There is clearly going to be a slow­ down, in the proverbial sense of the word but we must all avoid the 'stam­ pede mentality'. Malaysians are guilty of one crime. They tend to talk them­ selves into a recession. It's almost 'Apocalypse Now' all over again, if you listen to the mutterings in the indus­ try. The reality is that there will always be a correlation between expen­ diture and changes in economic behav­ iour. Having said that I am confident that ad growth will outpace economic growth.

Clearly the 'dotcom sag' has creat­ ed a reactive mindset, one importantly which is clearly very infectious, but I honestly believe some clients today are mature enough to realise re-investment in brand building is key to sus­ taining our growing market share. The days of the 'ready sale', or the guaran­ teed sale, are clearly over. Marketers are clearly cognisant of the fact that captive mass marketing is a concept of the past. The more enlightened ones realise they must aggressively market their brand with a strong sense of dif­ ferentiation and importantly ensure brand visibility before a sale is made.

The dynamics have clearly changed.

4 ADOIMARKETINGGOMMUNIGATIONS

The moment you stop dialogue with the customer, your product gets substi­ tuted. This realisation augurs well for our industry in the future as more and more clients gradually return to the fundamentals of marketing to grow their brand in a highly competitive environment. Within this context I see some realistic growth for our industry.

But growth for most agencies will come at a price. A reinvestment in core prac­ tices of our business like training, ideation and proprietary strategic planning disciplines is key to our sur­ vival.

What's your take on internet adver­ tising?

In championing the cause of the web and the internet, agencies have a

There's no secret and importantly it's not about me. It's about culture, the type you build an agency on. It must reflect absolute conviction in what you truly believe as an individ­ ual. It's the kind of conviction which forces you to have gumption and guts to fight for what you believe in.

Importantly it's about reflecting pas­ sion for your client's business. Today's client wants greater accountability from its business partner. It's about delivering on the promise, if only to gain ownership and confidence of our clients. We have been very fortunate to have had long-term partnerships with so many of our clients. They have seen us through two recessions, and that says a lot about the loyalty factor you spoke about. In the end like any part­ nership, it is the deliverables - let's never forget that as an industry. And much has to do with the quality of peo­ ple we hire and the training we've somehow forgotten to invest in. Our clients today, more often that not, demand marketing and not advertis­ ing solutions to their problems and I find we're ill-prepared as an industry to meet these new demands. It is criti­ cal that we realise where the focus is going to be.

What do you believe is the real dilemma facing agencies today?

A consultant summed it all up suc­ cinctly when he said, "I believe the ad agencies of tomorrow face competition not from other agencies. We have lost the right to sit at client board meetings and talk about their business with con­ viction. We have to win that right back like those other (consulting) guys if we

are to survive and become the best partners that our clients can have. Our business model can clearly do with some re-modelling."

Convergence is a topic often bandied in our industry. What are your thoughts on this and how will it change our industry?

The media convergence will reshape our industry and force us to examine some of our hallowed tradi­ tions. To my mind, what we believe is the mass media will be gone within the next decade. A generation ago, it was safely assumed that we would all share common media.

Today this concept is redundant.

Information in the future will travel with a high degree of selectivity along demographic, social and cultural lines.

Marshall McLuhan's prediction of 1967 are almost prophetic in this context. I subscribe to a theory propounded by Michael Schrage who said: we'll inter­ act with advertising where we only once watched. We seek out advertising, where we once avoided it. Interactivity is the operative word. I do believe that convergence of the media will create a whole new balance of power between individuals and advertisers. Choice will become the differentiator and importantly the sanctuary of the con­ sumer. Our industry must get out of its lethargy and confront this challenge head on. We cannot continue pretend­ ing that we understand it. Reactive fixit solutions like the setting up of spe­ cialist divisions within agencies is clearly not the solution. We must form strategic alliances with specialists, if only to survive and give our industry the platform to evolve with change.

We may not recognise it but I hon­ estly believe Malaysian agencies are fortunate to be part of this new phe­ nomenon. The growth of the multime­ dia industry, Astro and the infrastruc­ ture provided by the MSC will augur well for the communications industry.

The advertising industry will, like it or not, be inextricably involved in the above context and I can only see growth coming from this perspective.

We are clearly poised as a nation to become a regional broadcasting hub within the Asian context. Our broad­ band (broadcast) capability and the aligned interactive platforms being

etary strategic developed will clearly provide us with an edge in the communications and broadcasting sectors. The ad industry is certainly poised to inherit the bene­ fits of this new technology. We must acquaint ourselves quickly as an indus­ try with this new model if only to re­ invest ourselves and carve a more defined role and relevance for our­ selves in the future. The 4AS must seri­ ously be at the forefront of this change if we are to champion the cause of the industry.

There's talk that you are an ideal choice for the post of 4AS president now that current president Tony Lee has announced his decision not to rerun. What are your feelings?

This is news to me Ham. As always I seem the last to know. But I have on two occasions in the past turned down offers to stand for the post. But the poser from you reminds me of the refrain, "Welcome to my boudoir said the spider to the fly." It's clearly a hap­ less task and one that is never appreci­ ated. In all fairness to Tony, I honestly believe the 4AS has come a long way from when it used to be affectionately known as the association of 'toothless tigers'. Our proprietary role in the drafting of the Content Code and importantly in championing self-regu­ lation in the industry must be lauded.

I can only see a future in which we played an active role in this forum and importantly in concert with the com­ munications and multimedia com­ mission. I believe our credibility and relevance as an industry can be enhanced further if we played a more definitive role within this context. One of the most difficult problems the industry will face is in the area of enforcement, of these guidelines.

If the 19th century was about the transport of goods and the 20th century was about the trans­ port of people, then surely the 21st century will be about the transport of ideas - ideas that transcend borders, ideas that transcend sensitivities - cultural, ethnic or otherwise. Markets of the future will deal with the proprietary nature of these ideas and issues. The Internet revolution (although currently in hibernation) will as I said facilitate the transport of ideas to a single target anytime, any­ where. This will precipitate a new problem for us in the future. The task for the 4AS is

merely beginning. The convergence I spoke about and the transportability of ideas and will force us as an industry to be more vigilant in enforcing the limits within this borderless environ­ ment. We must recognise that the pira­ cy of ideas, be it via simple plagiarism or otherwise will be at the centre of this competitive universe. Intellectual property and the defense of it must be at the heart of our role as 'industry watchdogs'. Our excur­ sion into this arena, like it or not, is a given for the 4AS. You've probably realised by now that I've deliberately cir­ cumvented your question.

Rumour has it that I'm prone to doing just that.

You have been very outspoken about creative standards and yet your agency does not have a fulltime creative director. How have you managed for more than two years now?

I'm going to circumvent the imme­ diate question which is proprietary and about DY&R and deal with the real crux of the matter which is Creative Standards. Yes, I've been criti­ cal and outspoken about creative

standards and I believe with reason.

Creative is ultimately the only product that I sell the client and I am very pas­ sionate about it. As an industry, we may have improved from the days when execution the more expensive, the better syndrome, was all. But I must honestly say that our progress has been slow and tedious.

In the final analysis it's about ideation and I must say that is still missing in much of the work we devel­ op as an industry. Our ideation hit rate, if I

call it that is more occasional, than habitual. To add to this problem we still seem to have a great fondness for the executional crutches; to compen­ sate for the lack of simple ideas. We seem in dire need to reinvent ourselves accordingly. Our best work is yet to surface and will only materialise when we dig in deep into the cultural and lingual nuances, that surround us through captive insights into how con­ sumers relate to a product or a service in a given context. 1 believe only one of our trumpeter swans, has made any excursions into that area. Thailand has leapfrogged the region in this regard, constantly digging deep into their culture to create truly unique advertising that is intrinsically Thai.

Having said that we must recognise that our print work has made tremendous strides and the inter­ national accolades, won by most agencies bear testimony to this.

But the fact remains that we are not seriously ranked in the region and must collectively take proactive steps to ensure that we aspire for better standards in the future. We can sit on our laurels and obviously pat ourselves on the back for the numerous interna­ tional awards we have won as a market. The fact remains that despite the awards, our work is good at best and as you well know, 'good is the enemy of great'. A larger problem that threatens]

We are in the business of losing business.., us is what Paul Loosely alluded to as the little virus. Although still in a ges­ tation stage, we are clearly on the verge of entering the world stage when it comes to scam ads. It's becom­ ing more apparent that skimmed milk is masquerading as cream and that with an alarming frequency. I am glad to read recently that some of our cre­ ative doyens in the industry have pub­ licly admitted to committing this crime. Kudos for honesty. In Singapore the virus seems to have hit epidemic proportions what with McCann, Bates tr OtrM pulling out of the Creative Circle awards. I also hope that as an industry we'll take preventive mea­ sures to ensure that the virus doesn't spread across the causeway. The 4AS will, I'm sure, be mindful of this minor aberration in the future.

I am told that you practise some secret Chinese exercise routine to keep fit. Can you let us in on this new found elixir?

It is not a secret routine, but yes I do practise Xi Kung (pronounced Chee Koong) and that too in sufferance, as they would say Ham, very early on a Saturday morning. This is truly painful considering my nocturnal nature and my legendary late night excursions in Bangsar on Friday nights. Good for hyperventilating account types. Not recommended for the hedonistic La Dolce Vita (the good life) variety.

During the last economic downturn, word has it you stuck your neck out for the staff to receive fair compen­ sation, even though times were tough. How has this endeared to the powers to be, at head office?

The answer is implicit in the ques­ tion. You never endear yourself to the powers that be when you fight to retain people in a recessive climate.

But the rationale is clear. Our business can be likened to that of a restaurant.

Cut the cooks in the kitchen and your customer will tell you that your food used to taste better before. I believe that people make an agency. They pro­ vide the sole differentiator that sepa­ rates us from our competitors. Fight hard but scrupulously to retain your best people for they are a diminishing breed and nobody, not even the powers that be, know it better that your clients and you.

Everybody wants to know: what's your secret for winning new busi­ ness?

A wise sage in the industry once said: we are in the business of losing

business. Within this context, the only constant is change. New business must therefore be the lifeblood of every agency. It is something you initiate constantly in an attempt to insulate against other competitors who are constantly poaching on your preserve.

There is no special secret or recipe on new business Ham and I am not about to get into a lengthy discourse on the subject. Suffice to say however that selectivity is key in prospecting.

Targeting new business on a random basis is known to have some pitfalls.

The real secret though is in looking for the bird with a broken wing. This is the client or prospect that is currently not totally enamoured by its agency.

In its simplest form, it resembles the discordant notes of a song. One in which the singer and the musician are on different keys. Look for this prover­ bial bird and you'll find new business every time.

Over the years, you have produced a lot of senior people who today head many of the agencies in the busi­ ness. Does this make you proud?

DYtrR has in the last 16 years become the training ground for six leading creative directors and a host of commercial film producers/directors in this industry. It clearly makes us very proud to have been able to create an environment for good creative work. I only hope we can continue to provide the environment for young stars of the future. But it is clearly a double-edged sword and can accord­ ingly cut both ways. Yes, it is more often than not a thankless task. But Ham as you know, it comes with the territory. The older I get though the more I can relate to the Latin caveat emptor (or let the buyer beware) refrain.

What qualities do you look for when you hire an ad person? Do 'killer instincts' matter?

Instincts certainly matter, I'm not too sure about the 'killer' aspect though. I really look for a person with a 'beyond the brief attitude, a person with a 'terrier' type mentality who is not fazed by anything. In looking for this person, you may stumble across an 'unorthodox' type...but this is precise­ ly what I look for.

The candidate must sometimes be able to question the norm and be pre­ pared to confront and challenge 'hallowed beliefs', if only to profer a different point of view. Importantly, he should be able to say No when it counts. We're never going to find the new 'trumpeter swans' of the next gen­ eration if we don't look for people who can gently agitate and bring a new mood and tempo to an organisation.

The fact is that this breed is facing extinction. If you find one, shower your blessings.

SOMGTHNG BIG IS ABOUT TO HAPPEN IM MALAYSIAN OUTDOORJ

.

J

But how do I explain my job to my parents?

by Josh Sklar, global Chief Creative Officer CCG.XM

I thought Asia was overly title

conscious, but at least there was usual­ ly a logical hierarchy involved. Here in New York it's as if the buzzword bingo game (synergize, margin of prevarica­ tion, infomediaries, reintermediate, etc.) has permeated every facet of the "e-industry" including what people are now calling themselves. It is fairly sur­ prising to run into Experience Directors or Customer Innovation Architects these post-dot.com crash days. I would have thought they learned their lesson of preaching empty statements by having their share prices at less than a $i. But no, same idea but for a different reason.

Previously these 'consultants' had to say stuff to clients that the clients wouldn't question. The way to do that was by giving a lot of double-talk that would make a layperson reassured that the person knew what they were talk­ ing about while at the same time caus­ ing them to be too embarrassed to admit they don't know something themselves. Now this technique has

transferred itself away from the clients who aren't buying it anymore to prospective employees. They are used as immediate enticements to people who have been sold on and burned by promises of wealth and future via IPOs. These titles give employees self-esteem and the illusion of career advancement - or so the thinking goes. Although there is still an external audience in mind as well because a fancily named department such as the Creative Interface Design Center or the Integration Services Technology Hub might be thought to wow a potential client and somehow restore their confi­ dence.

Titles may be cheap but they can sure cause confusion. It's so difficult even for the companies themselves to describe positions to people on the out­ side that many of them don't even allow the titles on business cards. Now it's hard to know within what frame­ work to have a dialogue with someone because you're never sure what they do and it might be insulting to start off

with a, "So... what is it you do exactly?" question.

I'm hoping this is just another fad that will fade away while the sector is busy shaking itself out and coming to terms with its own professionalism. If a fun one created by the dot.com environ­ ment such as dressing in jeans and sneakers is now on the outs then a ridiculous thing like these inane, grandiose monikers couldn't possibly last long. Of course it isn't always easy to describe one of the new positions that have been created by the opportu­ nities of the Internet technology and there are places for different titles than we have been accustomed. In fact, my first title back in the very informal first days of this explosion was "All Around Web Guy" because I crossed a few disci­ plines and no one could come up with anything more accurate. My point is to ensure the words being used are intelli­ gible and not merely impressive. It's time to leave the pretentiousness of the 90's well behind us and focus on doing our jobs - not promoting them.

e-ads@copyart.pp.av by ]ullie P. Lingan

There is no one in the Creative

Division this morning. Instead of the usual Monday chatter over coffee as to how the weekend went, and how many job bags have to be attended to this week and how many were due "yester­ day," there is someone dressed like a maitre d', fussing over what looks like a Sunday champagne brunch from a downtown five-star hotel.

Soon, the gods would be walking in, each ready to create his own ad, perhaps a lifetime dream.

At the stroke of ten, one client walks in, followed by one who is obvi­ ously a subordinate. They are served whatever their F£rB desires are for the day. Then the decision maker enthusi­ astically starts to work on the comput­ er while the subordinate takes a seat

10 ADOIMARKETINGCOMMUNIGATIONS

directly behind him. Client scans the long menu of product categories.

Today, he would create an ad that he was confident would skyrocket his detergent to the top. Confidently, he clicks on "detergents." Another menu appears, this time giving a choice of formats - slice of life, testimonial, before-and-after demo, even "all of the above," plus a long list of strange terms he never even heard of in his entire life. He clicks on the word "testimoni­ al" and another sub-category appears: celebrity, ordinary housewife, student, teenager, old man, and another shop­ ping list. Making decisions has never been this difficult and confusing! He decides on "ordinary housewife" and another menu follows, requesting him to choose the tone and manner: authoritative, warm and caring, humourous, adventurous, and words he isn't even sure he understands.

After what seems like eternity, he is asked whether he would like a print ad, a radio script, a storyboard, etc.

The clock strikes one and he hasn't even gotten anywhere. Perhaps anoth­ er glass of champagne or maybe red wine would help speed things up. He signals for a refill. So far, he has had a couple of salmon and capers open sand­ wiches; answered more than a dozen calls on his mobile phone and a couple

of questions from his subordinate who's fresh from college; progressed on everything except The Ad. He begins to panic as he finds him­ self questioning the wisdom behind the latest IT development in the world of advertising. Is this idea any good?

Isn't it eating much into his timetable?

The question is, bottomline, whether this concept of vendo creative is work­ ing or not. It's not as simple as they say, he grumbles to himself. He looks at his watch after his fourth glass of champagne and starts missing all that he thought he'd be dying to get away from: his arguments with the ad agency's obstinate creative people who thought they knew better than him; his "victories" when client service had no choice but to say yes to his demands which always led to self-doubt; his hav­ ing to listen to the creative team's pre­ ambles and dramatic presentations even when he claimed that all they should do is just show them the ad; and the many ordinary things - realities and irritants - that go with the hum­ drum of everyday life with the ad agency.

Without thinking twice, he signals his subordinate to follow him as he quickly dashes off towards the MD's room, demanding to see his old agency team - from creative to client service

I

to media.

"Where's everyone?" he shouts as he storms into the room. "Whose bril­ liant idea was it to do this vendo adver­ tising when it's taking more time, it's making me work harder, it's testing my patience, not to mention my IQ and my knowledge of advertising - my God! If you have fired all of them, hoping this idiotic idea works - this vendo advertising you call it - I'm firing the agency right now! New millennium or not, hi-tech or not, I want to go back to basics the way it was in the good old days when I interacted with people, my agency team, and not with the stu­ pid machines," he lashes out in one breath.

The alarm clock this Monday morning seems louder than ever and the MD wakes up with a start, cold sweat running down his body, his heart palpitating like he had just got­ ten off the treadmill in the office gym.

Whew, he says. What a nightmare.

And as he quickly gets into the shower, he suddenly feels good, appre­ ciating his agency team like never before. Perhaps this is the day, he smiles to himself, I may just give them

Editor's Note: In last month's issue o/ADOI, we wrongly attributed an article to J ullie Lingan, when in fact, the writer was an anonymous author. We apologise to Jullie on this oversight and wish to announce that Jullie has nothing to do with the aforemen­ tioned article titled: Sure we love design. But it's not really advertising, is it?

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T k er e i s g ^ e a t e v s t r e n g t k i n u n i t y .

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ADOI Creative Workshop1 draws the crowd!

For two days running on Feb 19 and 20,

over 60 copywriters, art directors and even advertiser/clients got together at the PJ Hilton for a hands-on creative workshop with Malaysia's leading cre­

12 ADOIMARKETINGCOMMUNICATIONS

ative icons Thomas Low and Ben Hunt.

Participants went through the drill of idea generation, learned award-winning tips and pulled up their sleeves for a rigorous creative

'workout1.

Judging by the response, we will hold ADOI Creative Workshop II fea­ turing another star team of top-notch art director Edmund Choe (Creative

Director, Saatchi KL) and ace copywriter Jagdish Ramakrishnan (Creative Director, Saatchi Singapore).

Look out for the dates in coming issues of ADOI.

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Getting creative with email Before plunging into the creative possibilities of email, a note of cau­ tion. The Net puts the user in control, and with email, the degree of control is really quite scary.

Consider "spamming", which is sending unsolicited emails.

Advertisers who do this are somehow forgetting that if you spam someone, just once, they can, with a click, add you to their spam list. Which means you'll never get the chance to talk to them again.

Even if you don't spam someone, they can still block you for good if your emails are irrelevant or just plain bor­ ing.

The obvious way to avoid this is with creative, well-written emails. I'm kind of biased here, coming from a copywriting background, but wellwritten copy can be incredibly power­ ful.

Direct marketing people have known this for years: the letter is the most important part of any direct mail shot. In fact, a highly personal, creatively written letter can entertain your audience, build brands and

ultimately produce a lot of sales.

The same goes for writing emails.

OK, this might be interesting to the writers but the art directors are probably stifling a yawn right about now. So let's move on to something a bit more visual...

Sound and video open up new creative options Getting creative with emails does not have to stop at the written word.

So-called "rich media" technology lets you add audio and video.

Visit Radical Communications Inc. (www.radicalmail.com/paga/demo/in dex.html) for some examples. Lee

brand like Lee doing something irrev­ erent.

The Bacardi example is technically more ambitious as it incorporates video. But it amounts to less because there's no concept behind the video clip, which seems to be a cut-down of a TV spot (and a lame one at that).

But the potential to do something creative with video attachments is clearly there. The same goes for an email by MindArrow (www.mindarrow.com) for Britney Spears. It would

best episode, Mini Me runs around

be unfair of me to ask you to sit through this example, so let me just

your desktop, spits on your screen and

say that this video email promotes her new album.

Sperm swallowing, and other things viral

One impressive thing was the viral component. It's simple to forward the attachment. So much so that MindArrow claims this one email has

Jeans is most interesting. They sent out an email, which when opened, automatically launches an audio mes­

increased the number of registered Britney fans from just over a million to

sage. It was a crank phone call from a prankster calling himself DJ Super

almost 3 million.

Another viral rich media technolo­

Gregg who rants about Buddy Lee, star

gy comes from Toggle This (www.tog-

of a new Lee Jeans promo..

Speaking in a passable German

glethis.com). When you open their

accent, Super Greg promises to "bust zis Buddy Lee's little ass". Quite a fresh way to draw attention to a promotion­

appear on your desktop. You can even

al campaign, and nice to see a major

ly to promote Austin Powers 2. In the

attachments,

animated

characters

interact with them Last year this was used successful­

10 Trends for 2001

emergence of a new breed of philan­ thropists was sighted as an important trend for 2000 and 2001. Cause- related-

14 ADOIMARKETINGCOMMUNIGATIONS

marketing will become increasingly visible as 'New money goes charitable'.

Microsoft-millionaires and other young-would-be-philanthropists are looking at ways to build cause-marketing into their businesses. Now, venture capitalists and financial service organ­ isations are also taking notice of the effect of cause-marketing.

3. Sci-fi living. The stuff of sci­ ence fiction will become a reality as intelligent appliances and house wares invade our homes. For example, wear­ able computers are already marketed in the US; and net access devices that substitute voice recognition for clicks.

Also, get ready for appliances that allow us to do what we want while we are on the move.

4. Everyway people. Defining our­ selves will become increasingly diffi­ cult. Sometimes we will be single or partnered, corporate execs one day, and entrepreneurs the next. We will also identify with multiple ethnic groups, interest groups and ideologies.

Marketers, who are trying to segment consumers, will try in vain to set their sights on a target that is continually changing.

5. 'Brand Me'. Having caught onto the value of brand building, peo­ ple will aim to stand out from the pack by creating distinct looks and styles

spears Dr Evil's with the cursor arrow.

A month ago, a lady in the UK sent an email to her boyfriend with an aside about the taste of his sperm.

He decided to share this with a few friends, who promptly forwarded it to their friends. In just a few hours the email had spread like wildfire around the world. It made my inbox, probably yours too.

A great demonstration of the power of viral email, and it also shows that people will gladly read and pass on emails - especially if they're inter­ esting and above all, entertaining.

Now that ought to give us plenty of scope for creativity. (a.k.a. the eBay ethic) will permeate every industry with something to sell (online or offline). In other words, consumers may start to weaken the concept of fixed prices in the retail world, which could mean that there will be a lot of haggling online more than offline.

8. Demanding new thrills and

by Lara Hussein

This issue highlights 10 trends, which have been diagnosed as either key social patterns or corporate trends, likely to take place over the next year.

The trends were part of a study con­ ducted by a group of futurists in the US, who have branded themselves, 'The Intelligence Factory'. These trends would help us gain insightful information for strategic brand devel­ opment on any communication mes­ sages.

1. Older is sexy and selling. The older-wiser and sexier-archetype is proven to be a compelling alternative to the fashion industry. Faces of women in their late 30's, 40's and 50's (which in the past were confined to products like detergents/households) are now turning up in all kinds of mar­ keting. The new age of heightened desirability is 36 - the age at which Marilyn Monroe and Princess Diana will forever rest. Middle age will be renamed 'middle-youth'; with those aged 42 regarded as hot. This sighting has become an intrinsic part of a food company in the US, to target women in their late 30's and early 40's - an age group largely ignored.

2. The new Philanthropy. The

graham.kelly@ogilvy.com, Regional Creative Director Ogilvy Interactive, Asia.

that befit their own sense of individu­ alism. "Personal branding" means that consumers want to be seen as individu­ als when they are spoken to and not as a member of a pack, or (in our market­ ing jargon) a 'demographic target'. Talk to them as individuals because anyone can be their own 'personal brand'.

6. Are you talking to me?

Advertisers desperate to cut through the clutter will be seeking space in every imaginable place and some in unimaginable ones as well. Marketing messages will become truly inescapable emanating in the US, for example, from bizarre places like talking gas pumps and food displays to people who rent out their cars and bodies as bill­ boards.

7. Hagglemania. In the near future, the internet auction mentality

chills. Entertainment will become even more sensational as the 'extreme' trend spills over into just about every aspect of leisure. Whether riding a surfboard or rollerblading, young con­ sumers will be seeking new sights, sounds and sensations to stimulate their inner desires.

9. Parenthood/family together­ ness. Parents will want to instill more family togetherness and keep family unity and bonding. This means mar­ keters, who project this imagery, would likely gain empathy from par­ ents, who need to ensure that once in a while a family that 'eats' together, 'stays' together.

10. Sabbaticals the next big thing to corporate perks. Companies in the US are including sabbaticalleave as part of their corporate perk, especially in high stress fields. And more recently, a report stated that 10 percent of Silicon Valley were offering sabbaticals to employees. These sabbat­ icals will be used to do such things as raise a family, go back to school, seek spiritual replenishment and achieve a life-affirming goal.

So next time you are out looking, mention the sabbatical...why not?

Whatever you want t o say, we'll p u t it on-screen. This way you g e t t h e f r e e d o m of delivering your m e s s a g e however you want. And w e can g e t away with it since w e can engineer your advertising any way you want, almost like having a tv station belong t o you. Curious? G o o d .

Find o u t how you can treat a tv station like you own it by calling Brand Energy a t 03-255 1177

Brand Energy is affiliated to Natseven TV Sdn. Bhd. (323221-A)

TMTouch Festival TYC

Two totally new festival greetings commercials came on air for Hari Raya and Chinese New Year this year from TMTouch.

The hugely popular Era Fazira and a cost of adorable children for the Raya spot and up and coming Candy Cheah for the Chinese New Year spot very ably handled the tune and mean­ ingful lyrics. The lyrics very subtly sold the cellular network without resorting to the usual brand name inyour-face treatment. The Raya TVC was made more memorable when TMTouch bravely opted to let the child talent's singing of the world of TMTouch go unedited and recorded to perfection.

What was clearly the winner for TMTouch was that in spite of being first timers they did not follow the well-trodden path of recent Malaysian festive greeting commercials. Breaking away from emotionally and heart wrenching messages delivered through metaphorical or story telling images and script.

Hot magic brewing at Magicmakers PRvv/re MALAYSIA

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the Vono Mattress range by market leader Slumberland. A senior agency partner reaffirmed that Magicmakers had in fact added mumerous business wins in the last quarter of 2000, name­ ly, the Chiew Piau Group - including Eastin Hotels £r Resorts International; Coasthill Consulting - an international hotel, entertainment and F&B man­ agement company; and New-ell Rubbermaid Stationery Products, internationally famous for Parker, Rotring and Waterman writing instru­

ments, Papermate, Liquidpaper and Sandford. Magicmakers is believed to ''ieiexpgnjling its creative and servicing teams to consolidate its client portfolio for the rest of 2001.

When asked for comments, Peter naturally added, "We believe these businesses were awarded to Magicmakers because we surprised the client with stunning, strategically dri­ ven creative ideas and our profession­ alism really knocked their socks off.

Between you and me, the clincher was they trust my integrity when I said I only associate myself with clients who are passionate about being winners because that's what we are, and I always put my money where my mouth is."

Media buyers, media planners, media managers, media directors read lots every day. The good news is that they also read this magazine every month of the year.

A shining example of outdoor advertising conies to KL!

LOOKING OUT

Having fun with Outdoor 4pm, March 9, 2001.

Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club, Bulcit Kiara.

Starring Steve Elriclt - Regional Creative Director, Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH) Asia Pacific.

Admission by invitation.

Media should be the hea process and creative beet looking the Singapore waterfront along Shenton Way, Mark is one person everybody wants to talk to these days.

For many, he has been at the forefront of media specialisation through the region. You tell by his darting eyes that Mark is always thinking but his boyish looks belie his seriousness when it comes to all things media. When he spoke to ADOI, somewhat philosophi­ cally about the way media is shaping the communications industry, one gets the distinct feeling that Mark Austin has a crystal clear idea of what he wants and where he is heading. Whilst many say Mark has 'made it', he knows that his finest hour has yet to come.

And the limelight beckons....

You had a good year last year. A quick recap....

I think 2000 for us was a very important year. We had made a lot of investments. We had hired several very senior people, we had spent a lot of time and money developing a new service called communications chan­ nel planning headed by Julia Singleton from J Walter Thompson where she was Client Services Director. We hired a lady called Tess Caven from Carat Australia who previously was running the Cathay Pacific business worldwide from McCann in Hong Kong and sever­ al other senior people. And it was a fantastic year. We grew our billings and if you include our biggest win we grew our billings about 150% year on year and so it was a tremendous year for us.

You have been positioning yourself quite clearly from the start as an independent media specialist much like Carat. How has that worked for you?

Mark Austin has lots on his mind

these days and his time is now. His media network has just won the SIA global media business, got voted MEDIA magazine's Media Agency of the Year and he's also got a brand new secretary. Looking very much in his element in his ioth storey office over­

18 ADOIMARKETINGCOMMUNICATIONS ,

First thing I would say is that CIA is by definition a challenger brand; we are not the biggest, don't profess to be the biggest but we do profess to be the smartest, the most innovative and the most dynamic. Everything that we do is challenging the convention. We are challenging the conventions of adver­ tising agency models because we genuinely believe they are wrong. We are challenging the prejudices with which international marketing compa­ nies develop their businesses in Asia.

They simply exported Western ad agency business models and dropped them on Asia and we think that's wrong. So challenging the convention is very much at the heart of our philosophy. And to be able to chal­ lenge, you need to be independent because you cannot challenge conven­ tion if you are threatening another fundamental part of your group. So if you are an agency-owned media com­ pany it is very difficult to stand up to your clients and say you don't believe in the agency business model, because 90% of your business comes from your parent agency. So we love the indepen­ dence because it gives us a real oppor­ tunity to be a real challenger brand.

We hope that Carat also is very success­ ful because we both by and large have a similar approach to media communi­ cations.

There's been much speculation about the size of the SIA business, can you set the record straight on what projections you're looking at. Some circles suggest it's something like US $100 million...

Well I'm not at liberty to divulge because it is sensitive information for SIA and its competitors. It's fair to say that if one looked at the published data that came out of ADEX worldwide you would see that the adspend is about the region of US$100 million.

There has been a lot of talk on how media specialists earn their keep.

Some say it's a 4% thing - the media side takes 4% and the agency takes 11%. Being devoid of agency links, you don't get fed in two pockets, how does it work for you?

It works very well. We have all our business awarded to us independent of any ad agency. It's a very linear rela­ tionship. Clients at the top, creative agency next and media agency at the bottom. We are in a triangular rela­ tionship - we're not subservient to the creative agency but we work parallel to them. And the client has two indepen­ dent points of view - one from the creative agency and one from us and they know we are not beholden to the creative agency. At a glance, they per­ haps value us very highly, perhaps more highly than an agency owned

company because they have actively decided to use us rather than passively decided to use us. And therefore they are buying our service. And thus by and large they are willing to pay more than they are to a passive media agency that is owned by their creative agency because they have made the active decision. For us it's a very tough call because media historically has been low on the agenda. But with recent developments of e-commerce and new channels of communication, clients realise they need specialist ded­ icated resources to help them through the maze that exists with all the vari­ ous media channels. So we have some clients who work on commission, some clients who work for a fee, we have some clients who work on a combina­ tion of the two, we have many clients who work on performance-related compensation but it's not about the price, it's about quality. And generally speaking, this puts us in a position where we are not marginalised into being seen as a media buying company where volume is very important; there are a lot of our so-called competitors who are constantly beating their chest saying they are the biggest, therefore the cheapest. We have no interest in being the cheapest, none at all.

So you're not in the deal-making business...

We're not interested in that what­ soever, we think the important thing is value and value is derived from qual­ ity first and then the right quality at the right price. Not purely price-driven, volume led; that to us is a very important point of difference. And also we are increasingly moving towards fee-based because many new channels of communication don't pay a commission. And if you are a compa­ ny that earns your money through a percentage of media commission paid by the media owners then you are very unlikely to recommend media chan­ nels that don't pay a commission because there is no income. So we try to make ourselves neutral of any commissionable route by working for a pre-agreed fee which is paid monthly and then it leaves us absolutely open to recommend whatever route we think is best whether they pay a media

it of the strategy imes the execution. commission or they don't.

How is it working out with regards to the creative agency part?

We work with most leading agen­ cies and I have to say that most of them find it uncomfortable. This is because they are used to being in a sit­ uation where the only way you made a difference was the quality of the cre­ ative; the media channels in the old days were simple and therefore it was very difficult to make a difference through the media.

There are a few more enlightened agencies who can see that it is the right thing but it isn't necessarily the right thing for their bosses. The media was never seen as a discipline that could deliver a point of difference to the client. The area where you made a difference to the client's business was the creative and therefore agencies have always traditionally been cen­ tered around creative and I still think creative is very, very important but we're now living in a world where media at least media in its broadest definition including any channel of communication is at least as impor­ tant as creative.

In fact if one wants to push the argument forward, you could say the relationship between the consumer, the brand and the media is now the key - it is now a triangular relation­ ship: consumer, brand, media. And before, it used to be just consumer and brand, and the media was like a big megaphone. You'd have lots of ads in prime TV, you'd have big ads in news­ papers - it was like a big megaphone but now there is much more intricate, interactive relationship between the three parties, therefore media should be sitting right at the heart of the strategy making process, decision mak­ ing process and the creative becomes an execution of that strategy rather than creative sitting right at the heart of the decision making.

Obviously you are encouraged to work where you're treated equal to creative...

It would be wonderful, if a little bit optimistic to expect the clients to suddenly embrace media as the lead discipline and everyone else would

follow. We do have some clients where that is the case like the Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy Group, the world's largest luxury goods company. We run their 12 brands across 12 markets so we have potentially 144 brand markets. All their creative work is done in Paris and we are the only marketing services agency they use. We are their lead thinker when it comes to all their media communications.

Is the regional office based in Singapore?

While everyone else had their headquarters in Hong Kong and while Hong Kong is a great place and I love it dearly, I thought it would be interest­ ing to run the region from Singapore.

As things are developing we have four strategic hubs in the region, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore and Sydney and that is if you like the spine of our region and from there would be the sub-regional offices. Hong Kong is for greater China, Japan is a huge mar­ ket in its own right, Singapore for Southeast Asia and Sydney for Australasia.

So although we've been biased towards Singapore for the location of our head office, this year we are devel­ oping a more equal spread of manage­

ment which reflects the fact that we are sitting amidst two-thirds of the world's population and you need to spread the management.

You won Media's Agency of the Year award....it's about time isn't it?

Funnily enough I was going to say that when I was presented with it. The previous winners were very worthy and we were really pleased because sometimes being a challenger company is great but it can be a little bit lonely because by definition you're on your own.

You're the only people to be saying what you're saying. So to have the industry show the recognition for the work we've been doing in the last few years is a great pat on the back. I don't think it will make a dramatic differ­ ence to our business but it's great.

What do you see happening in Singapore for the coming year?

I think it will be exciting, I think there are some people who wonder whether the market is big enough to support or to sustain two media com­ panies that have newspapers, tv, radio stations and so on. I think it will cause both the companies to be far more creative in the way they approach mar­

keting and operations.

I hope it will be a sign to other Asian countries that opening up markets is actually a healthy thing and creates a bigger pie for all.

Singapore is all wired up and is probably the best place for broad­ band to take off....I would like to talk about cable. How is your com­ pany tracking this development?

We obviously follow very closely the published data in terms of take up of cable and so on but far more impor­ tant to us is to understand exactly what the consumer is doing with all this media.

The fact is that we still only have 24 hours in a day, people will sleep for 6 or 7 of them, be at work for 8 or 9 hours and now for the rest of the time there are so many channels competing to take the mind of the consumer dur­ ing their free time so we're far more interested in what the consumer is doing and we're finding some interest­ ing trends.

One of the aspects of cable tv is the very high zap rate which is in the research we have done in other mar­ kets. We realise the quality of the pro­ gramming is variable and so the view­ ers will zap through the channels and that can have a dramatic impact on the value of the advertiser's exposure or impact.

We are also keen to see what hap­ pens in terms of the conversions of technology - of television, computing and telephony and see how that will effect the way people live their lives.

We are far more concerned about the qualitative influences of these media on people's lives rather than the sheer numbers of it.

Mark Austin will be conducting a talk in KL on 'Media - The New Paradigm' organised by ADOI. Watch this space.

I love it when you talk dirty.

A timely selection of strangely arousing Valentines, hot off the doormat of the world's ad press.

In Malaysia, The Sun reports that the hot, passionate affair with Dot.com advertising in Asia appears to be over.

Merrill Lynch have reduced their fore­ cast for on-line spending in 2001 from US$120 million to US$8omillion and are actually quoted as saying, "Dot.com advertising is drying up". In Campaign Magazine a report quotes research that reveals a drop of more than 25% in dot.com ad spending in the UK. This must be a case of the ad world courting a girl who appeared to have the hugest, firmest bosoms imaginable only to find, on closer inspection, a bra full of rugby socks. Is there anything more certain to reduce a fellow to immediate limpness than a handful of grubby cot­ ton?

In The Star, Chris Howden, CD of Lowe Lintas wrote a heartfelt love let­ ter to Malaysian clients begging for trust and affection. He said Malaysian clients should be trusting particularly regarding the crafts of writing and art direction. I couldn't agree more. But there's an important bit missing.

Agencies, like the highly sexed beasts they are, have a reputation for saying just about anything to get into the client's pants. Like the hormonally charged teenage boy groping his girl­

friend in the back of a car, whose sin­ cerity is connected directly to his love pump, it's rather difficult to trust them. By way of illustration just look at a few chat-up lines from some of the region's agency presidents and CEO's taken from Media magazine's year end review. And I quote, "(We have) a laser­ like focus on building client brands", "(We are) continuing to provide our clients with inventive tools". "(We are) building maximum value for our clients' brands". "(We create) more meaningful and incisive creativity that is helping to grow our clients' brands". "(We have) good clients who understand brands". "I am a virgin" (Are you sure? Ed.) If I was a client, and based on those rather unconvinc­ ing chat-up lines, I wouldn't be so eager to drop 'em.

In AdAge it was reported that Deutsche Telekom fired its agency of four years Scholz & Friends, Hamburg after it discovered that the agency's Berlin office was chasing $50 million worth of business for rival telecom company Viag Interkom's Genion mobile service. Amazingly Deutche Telecom is the second biggest advertis­ er in Germany and ironically the client liked Scholz very much "They did

excellent work" they reportedly said.

Hard to fathom how an agency can risk divorce from a loving and trusting client for a little bit on the side. But most ironic is that the client was alert­ ed to Scholz & Friend's involvement in the Viag Interkom pitch by other agen­ cies in the competition. So no change there then, as the agency and client fall suddenly and completely out of love over lust, spite and jealousy.

And if you think that advertisers themselves don't get into lustful fren­ zies, hark at this, again from AdAge. The Hindu festival Maha Kumbh Mela, which happens only once every 144 years at the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna and Saraswati rivers, and where a holy dip is believed to wash the bather of all sins, is expected to attract a frightening 70 million pil­ grims. AdAge says, " The Mela offers infinite branding opportunities, but only as long as religious sensitivities are heeded." Sure! So Unilever is hand­ ing out bars of Lifebuoy soap on the river's bank. 20 exclusive counters have been set up for selling Pepsi-Cola and mineral water. Ai Hot Tea (a local brew) is setting up 200 heavily branded stalls with free biscuits as an added incentive. Giant screens at the four

corners of the area where pilgrims reside will be running ads. 100 boats with glow boxes, which light up at night promoting local and internation­ al brands, will cruise the rivers. Train stations have been totally taken over in mass branding exercises. Clients and agencies are shuddering with delight and screaming out in orgasmic ecstasy; "the cost per contact is extremely low here. It would be 800% more expensive and take much longer to take a van to a village and reach 200 to 500 people per sitting." Quick, pass the tissues. And all this only goes to show if you're truly passionate about your marketing, nothing is sacred. But a word of caution, the sales of rugby socks are definitely on the increase.

Death.

PS. If you really loved me you would.

by Hwa & Szu, CDs of BBDO Malaysia

I turned thirty last November. I got up, stumbled out of bed and proceeded to empty caffeine and nicotine into my already tortured body. It was then that I realized that I'm at the halfway point of my life, (one third...if I live to 90) Eventually even a tin of sardines will reach its best before date. So there I was, contemplating what to do with the rest of my life or what's left of it.

The thought of going to work on Monday suddenly seemed so unimpor­ tant.

The deadlines, the clients, the empty stares that people give me when they expect me to magically come up with a solution in 5 minutes, God, the list is endless. It's all so silly.

Advertising is not going to better

20 ADOIMARKETINGCOMMUNICATIONS

mankind.

It isn't rocket science, it isn't brain surgery. It's not even respectable.

Hell, my auntie still doesn't know what I do. It's competitive, back-stab­ bing, a self-centered ego trip.

Then come the award shows. Shit.

You mean I've to win something again this year? I've won some already. Isn't that good enough?

If only I studied harder when I was in school. Then I would be a doctor. At least I would be able to do something really meaningful. Like develop a cure for anal clients, bumbling account ser­ vicing and egoistic creative folk.

My thoughts are interrupted only when my year-old daughter trundles up to me and smiles a silly grin. And, I

could have sworn that sun rays broke through the clouds, the birds started singing, the flowers started to bloom, my neighbour moves out and my mort­ gage is mysteriously paid for.

I pull her up to my lap and she hugs me good morning. She then spots her toy duckie and waddles away. Ah well, she's 1 after all. But, I'm feeling a little better and decide that I shall work on the car for the rest of the day.

It's things like these that make my day. Doing what makes me happy and being with people I love. But as with all off days, it is followed by Monday.

So I make a resolution. I have to spend a good proportion of my life at work - so I shall make it a point to be happy doing it. I'll try harder for

clients who take bigger risks and I'll bet my life on the work if I had to. I'd show more of myself because life's too short to be pretending to be someone else. I'll make it a point to be heard.

And to truly say how I feel because if I die tomorrow, I'll regret not slaggingoff the worst piece of shit ad I've seen.

(How could I not have the final word?)

Statistics say that the average human being will waste approximately 4567 hours in a car. So why get stuck in traffic in a piece of shit on wheels?

My job pays the rent and puts din­ ner on the table. When it stops being fun, I shall take my leave. Because life really is too,short and precious.

A few Cadburys short of a full box?

You'd have to be if you're in advertising.

Where there's Will there's a way We're quite optimistic going into 2001. Unlike a year ago, we have a com­ plete team already in place. We had solid research results in the most recent MRI and EBRS surveys, and are optimistic that we'll score well in the upcoming ABRS survey. And with circulation reaching 50,000 in Asia, we're now able to deliver a large enough customer base to attract a wider group of advertisers.

Forbes has been champi­ oning the winners and losers, especially your From left to right, back row: William Adamopoulos, Joyce Lim, Philip Cho, Jennifer Chong, Chris Niblock, middle row: C. Thila, Agnes Wuan, cover story in December Sharon Joseph, front row: Gwen Loong, Lynette Tan and Tina Wee. on Softbank's Masayoshi ADOI caught up with William done without having to always be Son whom you guys voted dodging internal obstacles. We also Adamopoulos, boss of Forbes Asia, on Businessman of the Year. Of course, recognize supply and demand pertains what's cooking for international titles he's down but not out but what to the job market as well, so staff in the region... makes him a Forbes cover story? should be fairly compensated - espe­ One of the hallmarks of Forbes Will, it has just been more than cially if they bring in the business. journalism is that each story has a Thus far, we've been very lucky to a year for you and your team in Asia point of view. And the view here is that and it has been phenomenal bring in some of the region's top play­ Son is trying to give Japan's Internet Well it's certainly been a me­ ers: including Philip Cho, who came entrepreneurs better access to capital over from Time to become our Regional morable year or so for Forbes Inc in markets which, if successful, would Advertising Director, Joyce Lim came Asia, though we appreciate industry add dynamism to Japan's economy, and from Newsweek to join us as observers such as you calling it "phe­ that the possibility of failure does not Circulation Director, Gwen Loong nomenal". disqualify a candidate. As our editor, (Asiaweek, MTV), Pauline Seow When I joined in early 1999, we Lawrence Minard, puts it, "Forbes (Asiaweek) and Chris Niblock (AWSJ) had a solid Tokyo sales office, but were Global's editors do not believe that fairly quiet in the rest of Asia. We've joined as Regional Sales Directors, Tina markets are always rational or effi­ Wee (Fortune) as Marketing Manager gone from just 6 business staff at that cient, especially in the short term. We and Lynette Tan (AWSJ) as Regional time to 18 today, and more joining next are comfortable staking out contrarian Circulation Manager - all making year. Circulation of Forbes Global has positions." immediate contributions to growing gone from a rate base of 30,000 last our business here. Add this to an year to an audited 40,000 first half Tell me more about the people already strong Tokyo team, led to Hiro 2000 to a 50,000 rate base as of January behind your success in Asia...

Nakagawa, Toshi Iizuka, and Masako 2001. We're seeing the same growth on Credit should go to four groups of Kakunoh, and Forbes has a team that the ad side - our revenue from Asia into people: can compete with anyone in Asia.

US will be up around 60 % to 70%, and • Our veteran Asia team - all of who our sales into Forbes Global will be up have contributed to building the So Singapore is your place to be I see. around 600%. This has to make us foundation of our business in Asia.

Even printing is done here now.

Asia's fastest growing international Philip Cho, in particular, has made a What's the outlook for next year? title. tremendous impart around SE Asia.

Singapore has turned out to a great • Our business partners around the HQ for Forbes, and not just because it's I see so many seasoned faces on your region, who have helped us to reach team now. Is this a conscious effort been a great move for the family - my our targets years faster than if we wife, Georgette Tan, is from Singapore,

by Forbes to seek out the best talent worked on our own. This includes and our two daughters are the only at whatever the cost? companies such Business Times, The grandchildren. But being based in I think it has been both the case of Nation, China Post, Maeil Kyunje, Singapore has allowed us to hire the Forbes seeking out the best talent, and Times Printers and TNT Vines. best staff while operating in a lower the best talent seeking out Forbes.

• Our top notch Forbes Global editori­ cost centre than most of our Hong Forbes is a company who practices al team, which is led by Editor Kong based competitors. This includes what it preaches - by this I mean edito­ Lawrence Minard, a 25 years Forbes utilizing Times Printers and distri­ rially we are strong advocates of capi­ veteran, Deputy Editor Nigel buting to the region from Singapore. talism and entrepeneurism, and inter­ Holloway, who spent many years in In fact, our Asia print launch came nally our business units are treated as Asia, and Senior Editor Asia, Justin about 18 months ahead of our original entrepreneurial businesses. This kind Doebele, who is based here in schedule, and was a result of the faster of environment attracts senior talent, Singapore. who want the freedom to get the job than expected circulation growth.

• Our great support back at HQ from

the Forbes family and senior man­ agement. This includes regular visits to the region by our Chairman Casper Weinberger and Vice Chairman Kip Forbes, and it includes tremendous strategic and budgetary support from Jim Berrien, President of the Forbes Magazine Group. It also includes support from the dozen or so key Forbes executives who came to Asia this past year, many for the first time, to help us with our expansion.

Will, do you see a shift with readers going more for magazines with sto­ ries and opinions on issues than publications built on news, now that news has become a fleeting commod­ ity with the internet and all?

I certainly agree with you that the Internet and satellite TV has made news a commodity, that readers are so inundated with news products that the demand for yet more news products may be dropping. You can see this trend in many of the readership sur­ veys around the world, where newsy publications seem to losing readers even though their ABC circulations are steady. We think the pass along read­ ers, that 4th or 5th reader/junior executive, is choosing to get his or her business news for free on the net rather than wait for yesterday's paper or a week old weekly.

Forbes, being a magazine with foresight, analysis and a strong point of view, but not news, isn't losing read­ ers to the web. Indeed, Forbes.com has its own staff that produces 8 to ten new economy stories each day, thereby attracting a different and younger audience, and providing a new source of orders to the magazine. So as Forbes.com has grown to as many as 15 million page views a month, Forbes Magazine has also grown its reader­ ship to 4.6 million, which according to MRI is larger than any other US busi­ ness publication.

You mentioned something about doing a CEO conference with an exhibition....

Our plan is to bring our successful Forbes Conference Group to Singapore to put on the first Forbes Global CEO Conference in September. Working with Singapore based Strategic Intelligence, the program will be focus on technology, entrepreneurship and business leadership, and will include CEO's from the US and Asia. Singapore Inc, led by EDB, will be the host part­ ner. In conjunction with The CEO Conference, we're looking to bring part of the Forbes family's Collection of Faberge Eggs to exhibit at the Singapore Art Museum.

The Forbes family has the world's largest collection of Faberge Eggs, and this will be the first time the collection will be in Asia.

ADOIMARKETINGGOMMUNICATIONS 21 L

New media portal attracts top advertising and media executives from across Asia Pacific

S

it was the talk of the advertising and media indus­ try across Asia Pacific - the sud­ den senior-man­ agement void among top adver-

XS-media

tisin8 agencies and media compa­ nies. And all fingers were pointing at one new kid on the block - XS-Media.

XS-Media operates a one-stop Internet portal at www.xs-media.com, for advertising agencies, media buying companies and media owners to buy and sell media space online, across Asia Pacific. This new kid on the block

is not just a run-of-mill Internet por­ tal.

Founders, Paul McNeill, CEO; and Julie Harrison, COO, knew that for XSMedia to succeed, it needed the great­ est resource of all - brainpower. In order to attract the brightest in the industry, nothing less than a great business plan is needed. Both founders did just that.

XS-Media aims to set up the largest network in buying and selling adver­ tising space in Asia Pacific through its Internet portal as well as its regional offices in key Asia countries. The Internet portal will contain the most comprehensive depository of advertis­ ing space information of all key coun-

Beyond clicks and page views Optimum Media Direction launched its 3-market internet survey in Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia.

Branded as Web Direction, the survey checks out internet users and explores their internet behaviour, category preferences, ad clicking and e-commerce activities.

Says Florence Oong, Research Director of OMD, South East Asia, "The findings showed that online purchase in Singapore grew from 6% in 1999 to 20% this round. This figure reflects any online purchase in the past 12 months amongst net users. Malaysia's online purchase also hit about the same level, at 21% and Thailand at 10%.

Books/magazines, entertainment and computer products were the top 3 most popular items bought over the inter­ net. This is set to grow further as internet users become more familiar and confident of buying online. For example, in Singapore, 26% of the net users said they plan to use the internet to order fast food in the next 6 months."

Building on the success of the first survey done in Singapore in 1999, Web Direction has been expanded to include Malaysia and Thailand in 2000. This is particularly important because they is limited industry infor­ mation and no website measurement surveys like the Netratings in Malaysia and Thailand yet.

The surveys were conducted via an on-line questionnaire with a prerecruited panel of respondents that matched the Internet profile of the respective countries. That was to ensure that there was a fair represen­ tation of internet users and not

22 ADOIMARKETINGCOMMUNIGATIONS

skewed towards those who have pro­ vided names, as is the case with most online research. The survey was con­ ducted in the last quarter of 2000 with an average of 300 respondents in each country. The results also revealed dif­ ferences in the site categories most fre­ quented, across the three countries.

Whilst they showed that entertain­ ment, search engines and music sites cut across national boundaries, a high­ er 80% of internet users in Thailand have visited an entertainment site in the past month.

According to the study, internet users are media savvy. Although they may not be as heavy a TV viewer as the average adult, internet users are more likely to read the newspapers and mag­ azines and watch cable. So far, cinema and TV are the 2 media most impacted on by the growth of internet. Internet users were saying that they are now doing less of these activities since they started using the internet.

"We view internet as another exciting advertising option and it is important for us to understand the dynamics of net users in order to pro­ vide our clients with an integrated media solution. There has been so much hype but so little reliable infor­ mation... that was the issue we had to address" stressed Kate Stephenson, MD of OMD South East Asia.

"This is one of the several research initiatives that OMD has embarked on.

Web Direction provides more concrete information so we don't just recom­ mend based on gut feel which can be difficult, eg. the impact of internet on the media habits of the different demographics," added Florence Oong.

tries in Asia Pacific, including rate cards, contact numbers, mechanical specifications, etc. Media buyers and sellers will be able to transact adver­ tising space online, thereby crossing geographical boundaries and stream­ lining processes.

Additionally, the latest in-depth research - across markets and across media - will be available to users of the site. XS-Media is also about serving a community and will provide opportu­ nity for greater interaction within the industry - with news, chat rooms, events listings, streaming video and much more.

Paul, who was former the Account Director of Carat Asia Pacific, said: "The industry is very closely knitted.

When Julie and I decided to start XSMedia, we immediately knew who are the, people, with the drive and the entrepreneurial spirit, which we must approach in order for the company to succeed. We are glad that we have got them on board. They are definitely the greatest assets of XS-Media."

XS-Media was soft-launched on 1 November 2000. Currently, it already has operations in Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand.

XS-Media key appointment holders and their previous companies are: Paul McNeill, CEO He was previously the Regional Account Director of Carat Asia Pacific Julie Harrison, COO She was previously the Regional Advertising Director/ Consultant of Time Asia

Justine Moss, Business Development Director She was previously the Regional Marketing Director of BusinessWeek Szeto Kuan Yee, Marketing Director She was previously the Planning Director of Maximize Eric Tam, Client Service Director He was previously the Assistant GM for 24/7 Media Helen Pemberton, Research Director She was previously the Regional Research Director of International Herald Tribune (Asia) Canny Teo, Client Services Director She was previously from Television Corporation of Singapore as its Senior Account Manager for Airtime Sales &• Marketing Cameron Knight, MD of Australia and New Zealand added, "On line transacting will very quickly become the norm for the buying and selling of media inventory. XS-Media is at the forefront of this movement today due mainly to the calibre of person work­ ing for XS-Media. Great people are associated with XS-Media because they believe in the idea and believe that we collectively are really able to make a difference."

Needless to say, XS-Media has already got the advertising and media industry excited. In slightly more than a month of its soft-launch, XS-Media has signed on 1,050 members.

Julie said on the immediate plans of XS-Media: "XS-Media is for the advertising and media industry, built

Cameron Knight, MD of Australia & New Zealand He was previously the Regional Media Manager of D'Arcy Asia Pacific

by its own brightest minds. We are

Ian Folkes, CFO

fully online in January 2001. By the

He was previously the Regional Financial Director of Financial

end of 2001, we are confident that XSMedia will become an important part

Times Ward Edmonds, Content Officer

Chief

He was previously the Deputy-Director of News & Programming, CNBC Asia Winnie Tam-Bolande, GM of Hong Kong She was previously the Sales Manager of Dow Jones Scott MacDonnell, GM of New Zealand He was previously the Marketing Manager of TV3/4 Network Services Andy Barton, Sales Director He was previously the Advertising Sales Manager of Discovery Channel in UK

working full-steam to sign up a signif­ icant number of advertising and media members. Our portal will go

of the advertising and media indus­ try."

According to Zenith Media, the advertising industry in Asia Pacific is worth US$60 billion in 2000, and is expected to grow 6% per year. By 2003, the Asia Pacific region will generate about US$70 billion worth of advertis­ ing dollars.

Paul concluded, "Last month, I had a senior advertising director who came up to me and asked me why didn't I approach him to join XS-Media. It was then that I knew the industry regards XS-Media as a first rate team of media-professionals. It is only going to get better from here on."

Is this the end of the New Economy?

By Leslie Jeyam, CEO of egency.com Sdn Bhd

We've

all

read

the

headlines:

Economic growth has slowed to a crawl.

Glamourous and well-funded Internet companies are shuttering every day.

The stock markets are slumping.

Capital investment is down. Looks like a recession is just around the corner.

But is it the end of the New Economy? Return of the Old? Hardly I think. What businesses spend annually on computers, software, and telecom­ munications goods - the tools of the information technology today still accounts for 40 percent of overall capi­ tal spending. That's a lot more than it was at the beginning of the modern technology boom in 1995. Its growth rate is also twice that of overall capital investment. Problem is while just about anybody can start a start-up (some well-funded), and while many of them burnt-out or ran out of gas doesn't spell doom. They're symptoms of a natural slowdown, a familiar occurrence in the worldwide economys over the last sev­ eral centuries.

The next phase of the New Economy won't likely witness dazzling start-ups rolling out by the hour. But the economy will continue to thrive

where all those computers, software programs, semiconductors, and tele­ com goodies that businesses have pur­ chased in bulk over the last decade are put to work helping people do their jobs faster and easier, connecting people and businesses globally, and writing out the inefficiencies of buying and selling of traditional methods.

On that score, many of the biggest companies in the world are only just getting their feet wet. The show has only just begun ladies and gentlemen.

The big companies today have case studies to base their models on.

Experienced people who can help them formulate realistic brand strategies and net-sawy business plans. Servers that have better (more stable and test­ ed) applications, software... and cus­ tomers who have been online for a lot longer; including the veterans within the organisation. Yes, the New Economy is just about to become a real­ ity. I made a presentation to one of the largest agencies in this country recent­ ly and to my (pleasant) surprise many of the people had questions, opinions and ideas on how to drive new technol­ ogy to compliment their offline brand

plans. This is a vast improvement to just 6 months ago when most managers did not know, or care, about the impli­ cations of the Internet and how they could use it to get to know their mar­ kets a little more intimately... qualita­ tively as opposed to quantitatively.

The fact that Fortune 500 compa­ nies are starting to spend tens of mil­ lions on e-commerce modules tell us that the New Economy has finally arrived. BMG, FORD, EASTMAN KODAK, SONY... names that will make Amazon, eBay and Napster look ineffi­ cient when it comes to efficient etailing. They will use proven ideas, the best technology and have (at their dis­ posal) countless case studies to help them base their new online strategies on. They have already set-up (and are successfully running) their B2B net­ works - the banks and credit gateways are ready and I believe the consumer is too. The New Economy, the change in buying patterns will only really happen when the big boys get online. These are the guys that have the brands, under­ stand market requirements and have distribution channels in place. These are the guys that have been on the side­

lines, watching and waiting for the right time to strike. It seems that when the going gets tough, the tough get going.

Are we doomed? I don't think so. In fact the stock markets in the US seem to be on the up-£r-up (as@150101). Malaysia is still exporting its economy back into shape while our Singaporean neigh­ bours just announced above expecta­ tion growth numbers, upwards of 10% for 2000. So what is the gloom-song about? I guess the bankers need to get a life, advertising executives need to start thinking positively, and brand managers need to start thinking radi­ cally so that everybody can keep their current customer base happy (offline and online) and possibly attract new ones in the process.

'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon' AXN premieres Survivor 2 in Asia wins two Golden Globe Awards' AXN was the first and only regional

Critically acclaimed Chinese language

film, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon won two awards recently at the Golden Globe Awards. The event that cele­ brates the best in film and television was broadcast to 122 countries across the globe.

Ang Lee beat Ridley Scott (Gladiator), Steven Sordergh's two nominations (Traffic and Erin Brokovich), and Istvan Szabo (Sunshine) to win the "Best Director: Film" award.

Later that night, Ang Lee made his second appearance on stage when Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon won another Golden Globe for "Best nonEnglish language film."

The movie, which some critics have lauded as containing "some of the most spectacular martial-arts sequences in movie history", beat for­ eign movies from Mexico, France and Italy. Late last year, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon won four of the ten accolades given out at the LA Film Critics Awards. The movie won "Best Film of 2000", "Best Production Design", "Best music/score" and "Best Cinematography".

24 ADOIMARKETINGCOMMUNICATIONS

At last December's Golden Horse Awards held in Taipei, the movie also emerged the top winner, sweeping six of the 25 awards. Apart from "Best Picture", it also bagged awards for "Best Sound Effects", "Best Action Choreography", "Best Original Film Score", "Best Film Editing" and "Best Visual Effect".

It was also deemed the "Movie of the Year" by Time magazine last year.

To date, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon has more than made back its $15 million cost, amassing more than $54 million worldwide, including more than $30 million in the United States.

AXN will premiere the critically acclaimed movie on regional television across Asia in the last quarter of 2001.

"We are extremely proud that Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, a Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) product, has picked up another two prestigious awards at the Golden Globes," said Ricky Ow, AXN's VP of Ad Sales and Marketing. "Premiering the movie exclusively on AXN is a testa­ ment to our commitment to bringing to our viewers, the best in action and adventure entertainment."

broadcaster to premiere Survivor 2: The Australian Outback in Asia last month. Each of the 12 following episodes of AXN's weekly broadcast of Survivor 2 will debut within hours of CBS's broadcast in the United States.

Survivor 2, created by Eco-Challenge founder Mark Burnett, chronicles the lives of 16 strangers stranded hundreds of miles from any form of civilization in the remote Queensland desert. Facing dan­ gers like extreme heat and humidity, wild pigs and horses, lizards and ven­ omous snakes, the tribemates will build shelters, catch food and establish a new desert society. They will also be forced to use their physical endurance and wits to survive. Each episode (three days in the desert) will feature the daily lives of the tribesmen, and will conclude with the infamous 'Tribal Council' voting one person off the desert. Just as in Survivor, the last remaining survivor will walk away with US$i million in cash.

Survivor, the runaway success which became the highest-rated sum­ mer series in US TV history, is a com­ pletely new program format that is a hybrid of a game show, a soap series and reality / voyeurism TV rolled into

one. It has all the elements of a game show, but it flows from one riveting episode to another with all the charac­ teristics of a soap opera, keeping view­ ers on the edge of their seats week after week.

"With the high-testosterone reality series Survivor 2, AXN rein­ forces its adventure-reality programming pillar - mak­ ing it the destination chan­ nel for action throughout Asia. Survivor - filmed on a remote island off the South China Sea caught the attention and imagination of millions of television viewers around the world. Survivor 2 promises to be better - it is reality television at its finest, and we are confident of its popularity and success amongst action and adventure fans across Asia," he said.

"Survivor is not only a television phenomenon - it has also become a social phenomenon. It is about life the raw human drama, exposing the best and ugliest sides of interpersonal relationships - all caught on tape. 16 people who'd never known one other before the start of the series are, in just a few days, stabbing one another in the back and engaging in fierce ver­ bal battles. It's television at its most entertaining," added Mark.

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A communicator's dream. Talk to us.

The New Straits Times Press (Malaysia) Berhad ^.h, Balai Berita, 31 Jalan Riong, 59100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Tel: 03-2282 3131 Fax: 03-2282 1428 Website: adtimes.nstp.com.my

Why sky?

Why not? Most advertisers use the clutter of conventional media as their marketing machinery.

But when you use the sky to support what's happening on the ground, you will be the only one who stands out in the crowd.

So call AeroHawk Air-Ads on 03-7551284 today and buy sky.

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CLASSIFIEDS

Just e-mail your recruitment messages (30 words max) to ham@pop.jaring.my and they will be read by over 10,000 readers and also hosted on our website FREE at http://adoi.jooze.com/ What are you waiting for? Messages will appear subject to availability of space.

The School of Communication, Universiti Sains Malaysia, seeks an experienced LECTURER in advertising. Send letter of application and work sample to the Dean, School of Communication, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Penang. Tel:o46577888 ext. 3603. E-mail: DEAN-com@notes.usm.my GRAPHIC ARTIST wanted by leading outdoor adver­ tising company. Must have working knowledge and flair of Photoshop , Adobe Illustrator, Powerpoint £r Publisher and animation softwares. Person should be highly creative and have good communication and teamwork skills. Call HR Dept on 03-7880 9988 or fax 03-7880 8989.

McCann-Erickson is expanding. We need passionate suits at all levels for major multi-national accounts, tough traffic cops, an inspiring mid level CREATIVE TEAM. Fax CV to Daniel Binns 03-230 5598.

For FREELANCE COPYWRITING, call Suzanne Schokman ex-AMP (Radio) Head of Creative, exDYR Creative Group Head, ex-full time employee and current advocate of "work-to-travel!" To finance her next trip, call 012-373 4727Recruitment ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE/ACCOUNT MANAGER/ACCOUNT DIRECTOR min. 2 - 8 years experience, aggressive and self-motivated, capable of developing own clientele and with transport. Call Liliane for appointment at 03-7041788, fax resume to 03-7048292 or email mediabase@eklang.com.my Mainstream ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE/ACCOUNT MANAGER min. 1-2 years experience, able to work independently, good command of English and with transport. Those without experience or fresh grad­ uates may also apply. Call Liliane for appointment at 03-7041788, fax resume to 03-7048292 or email mediabase@eklang.com.my PRODUCTION EXECUTIVE, knowledge of print & A/V production, must be able to handle printers, colour separators & etc. Call Liliane for appoint­ ment at 03-7041788, fax resume to 03-7048292 or email mediabase@eklang.com.my COPYWRITER with mainstream agency experience, good command of English, articulate and a flair for creative writing. Call Liliane for appointment at 037041788, fax resume to 03-7048292 or email mediabase@eklang.com.my CREATIVE DIRECTOR (COPY BASED) to work on project or retainer basis. Call Linda at 012-2005470 or email mba@po.jaring.my COPYWRITER (ENGLISH) to work on project or freelance basis. Call Linda at 012-2005470 or email mba@po.jaring.my

We are looking for self-motivated individuals with burning desire to succeed in an internet-based busi­ ness. Free web brower to all who sign up. All inter­ ested, please email lichan@tm.net.my.

FREEFORM DESIGN looking for GRAPHIC DESIGNERS with MFA/BFA equivalent in Graphic Design/Visual Communication, ability to conceptu­ alise, rationalise and present creative solutions and handle projects up to production stage o Knowledge of QuarkXpress, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop and 2-3 years working experience. Fax resume to 03-4251 7362 or email freeform@po.jaring.my David Ogilvy, Neil French and Deepak Chopra worked for us. Their philosophies, that is. So whether you're in CREATIVE, an ACCOUNT or PRODUCTION MANAGER or an ADMINISTRATION ASSISTANT, shouldn't you move on to a higher plane? Fax 03-22835688.

Have you found the key to success? Do you consider yourself intellegant, result orientated, self-motivated and with a passion for MARKET RESEARCH, please send your CV to hr@acnielsen.com.my Desperately seeking ACCOUNT HANDLERS (AE/SAE/AM/SAM) with DM experience for tobac­ co client. DATABASE ADMINISTRATOR - techie/analyst-based to manage in-house lists. GROUP COORDI­ NATOR. Call Sally at 03-2723 0112, or e-mail: rodGDI@grey.com.my Wanna be a 3D ARTIST? Show us your stuff. If you know Lightwave or Form Z,it is an advantage. Call Stan at 03-7877 5270.

Digital Color Printshop specializing in small and large formar printing looking for DTP ARTIST with knowledge in DTP software and able to operate PC and Macintosh. Please contact Mansor Jaffar 017-878 3874 at Digital Magma.

WANTED: WRITERS, SUB-EDITORS. Good feature writing skills. Computer literate & Web-sawy.

Knowledge of travel industry. Tertiary education. 2 years experience. Fax: 03-4257 2049 or Email: vacancy@gettinghere.com ART DIRECTOR and COPYWRITER for FMCG accounts. Above 3 years' experience in above and below the line. E-mail your resume to info@oneap.com.my or fax 03-7248325.

Vacancy for GRAPHIC ARTIST. 1-2 years experience.

Must have own transport as location is not near to public transportation. Call Vivienne at 03-512 9288.

Ad Agency requires GRAPHIC DESIGNER with at least one year's experience with knowledge of PhotoShop, Illustrator and Quark X-Press. Bumi preferred. Call 03-2284 1213 (Hazy) at Creative & Communications House.

Wanted: "Trumpeter Swans". ACCOUNT DIRECTORS who as David Ogilvy would describe: those who com­ bine personal genius with inspiring leadership.

OgilvyOne Worldwide is looking for Senior and Group Account Directors, with either advertising, direct marketing, or relationship marketing based experience. You will work with an excellent team, on excellent clients for an outstanding agency.

Please - fax your CV to the Human Resources Manager at 03-2710 6811.

MMT (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd Nilai, Negeri Sembilan, specialist in reproduction technology for outdoor advertising industry looking for MARKETING EXECUTIVE, with 3-5 years sales experience, rele­ vant tertiary qualification and good interpersonal & communication skills. ACCOUNTANT with degree or equivalent in accounting and working experi­ ence including computerised accounting package.

Contact Ms Yong on 06-7982222.

Experienced AMs and ADs are encouraged to apply for challenging Marcom positions at Maxis. Submit applications to Maxis Communications Berhad, Level 17, Menara Maxis, KLCC, 50088 KL or e-mail hrd@maxis.com.my

AOB Digital, a subsidiary of Ad-On-Bus Sdn Bhd, spe­ cialises in large format digital printing services now invites applicants for DTP AND GRAPHIC ARTIST positions. Preferably with experience and familiar with Mac and PC.

GRAPHIC DESIGNER with creativity and artistic talent required. Contact Anne at 03-77830230 for interview.

I am an experienced native Chinese COPYWRITER and translator. If you wanna talk to the Chinese, talk to them the Chinese way. Contact Darren at 019-3424769 or email darrenmeng@yahoo.com Naga DDB Naga DDB Naga DDB Naga DDB Naga DDB Naga DDB

needs an ART needs an ART needs an ART needs an ART needs an ART needs an ART

DIRECTOR. DIRECTOR. DIRECTOR. DIRECTOR. DIRECTOR. DIRECTOR.

Experienced person to run advertising agency over­ seas. Send resume to: yokbee@pc.jaring.my CLIENT SERVICING PERSONNEL required by Consultium, an advertising agency that truly believes in marketing and brand communications.

If you share our belief, let's discuss further at consul@tm.net.my.

Positions available in television production compa­ ny from PRODUCERS to RESEARCHERS. We are looking for enthusiastic creative and innovative thinkers. Please email fe-2@mail.com for more information or contact Elyna Effendi on 03-430 2021.

WANTED! DYNAMIC PROMOTIONS and SALES EXECUTIVES for The Malaysian Women's Weekly.

Send CV, photograph and expected salary to ACP Asia, 1104, Uptown i,No 1 Jin SS22/58, Damansara Uptown 47400 Petaling Jaya.

JUNIOR PRINT PRODUCERS - SPM or equivalent, must be able to coordinate, plan and do administra­ tive functions, able to communicate at all levels and posses B2 & D driving license. COMPUTER RETOUCHER - Should be detailed with compositing images, Knowledge in PhotoShop is essential and ability to learn new software. Art based graduates preferred. E-mail resume to barneystudio@barneyfilms.com We are looking for RARE CREATIVE BRAINS. If you are a strategic thinker, a craftsman of copy or art and an idea person, please call Michael Tang at 4042 0222. Who knows, you may get to be a CD. Only those who engages brains before words need to call.

An international, fully integrated designer and manufacturer of high-end signage seeks 2 ENVI­ RONMENTAL GRAPHIC DESIGNERS for creative design solutions. Resourceful designers with graph­ ics, architecture or industrial design background to send resume to Robert Ho, Signtech (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Lot 2, Jalan 7, Cheras Jaya, 43200 Balakong, Selangor, Malaysia or e-mail signtec@po.jaring.my" It may be a dog eat dog world out there. But if you're looking for work with agency faithful to its employees and loyal to its customers, DOGGIE ADVERTISING is hiring an ART DIRECTOR, DESIGNER and ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE. If you've got something to bark about, drop us an email at doggie98@tm.net.my or fax us at 03-40456872.

COPYWRITER. i-3yrs experience wanted by one of the pioneer full service agency in Malaysia. Call Roots, Shoots &• Froots Sdn. Bhd. at 03-7877 7289 (Mr. Chin) or email: jwchin@roots.com.my

ADOIMARKETINGCOMMUNIGATIONS 27

Lessons from a Million Dollar Smile... Cavities and All

By Kurt Crocker, Creative Director of Drayton Bird, Crocker I? Mano

What have you ordered from a website

Manual" which is subtitled, "Everthin'

lately?

Until a couple of weeks ago, my only purchases had been from Amazon ... a few books, some CD's and three DVD's. All arrived quickly and without problems, except for the shocking sur­ charge Malaysian customs added to the cost of the DVD's. (And distributors wonder why bootlegging is out-of-control in this country.)

But recently, during a holiday cocktail hour back home in America, my sister's neighbour told the story of Billy Bob teeth.

Invented by a D.D.S. and available only on the internet, Billy Bob teeth come in a variety of hideously vulgar styles, and are designed to be customfit by owners in the comfort of home.

You just mix a little dental putty, apply to the Billy Bob teeth like denture adhesive, place over your own teeth, bite down and let it set for 10 minutes.

Voila ... the world's ugliest smile, guar­ anteed to delight and nauseate simul­ taneously, over and over again.

Of course I had to check it out. So I rushed to the 'puter, searched for "Billy Bob Teeth" and there it was: www.billy-bob-teeth.com. One click brought me to a home page featuring the proud CEO modelling his flagship choppers. Also displayed in disturbing­ ly lifelike colours, complete with gaps, plaque and bloody gums, were several other choices, including the new "Jethro" model, and "Deliverance" — a delightful tribute to in-breeding and white-water rafting trips gone wrong.

The site also includes an "Owner's

yew needs to know when yew gots yer teeth in!" It suggests corny comments for various occasions, such as when you're stopped for speeding ("Gosh, officer. Do ya think ya cud give a poor ugly bastard a break?), pick-up lines ("Yew know what they say 'bout the size of a man's teeth don'tcha?"), plus more bad humour than I care to repeat.

At just U.S.$10 a pop, I just could­ n't resist. I imagined myself wearing them in oh-too-trendy Bangsar during a Friday night happy hour.

Just two days after I placed my order, I watched as the Tonight Show's Jay Leno teased Billy Bob Thorton about the website. The talented actor/director/writer shrugged the non-related product off with a chuckle ... as millions of viewers were exposed to what amounted to unpaid advertis­ ing for Billy Bob Teeth.

My not-so-shiny new teeth arrived within 10 days. The product delivered was exactly the product I anticipated.

Expectations were well managed by Billy Bob. Also included: A letter, congratu­ lating me on my good sense and nowgreatly-enhanced sexual prowess, writ­ ten in the same dumb hillbilly tone. It also encouraged additional orders. To help me along toward that end, a cata­ log and order form. Oddly, the website address mentioned in the catalog — www.nastyteeth.com — was different than the one I had originally logged onto, but at least an on-line order alternative was also provided.

So what lessons can marketers take away from this e-commerce success story?

For starters, despite the millions of sites that are now dead or dying, you can still get rich in cyberspace. The inventor and marketer of Billy Bob Teeth has undoubtedly hung up his drill in favour of holidays in the Bahamas because he followed a few simple rules: Create a strong product positioning and strengthen it throughout your site and in all promotional materi­ als.

Don't spend a zillion dollars on advertising if you can't possibly get a return on your investment quickly.

Take advantage of PR and, if you'll excuse this coincidental pun, wordof-mouth.

Don't take yourself too seriously. You don't have to resort to cornball humour, and certainly shouldn't with serious products and services.

But no matter what you're selling, keep your messages human and con­ versational.

Make sure that what appears and is described on your website is exactly what you'll be sending to your cus­ tomers. Order satisfaction with ecommerce purchases is dismally low because what customers "see" is not what they end up getting.

Don't just fill orders ... encourage additional sales with each delivery.

And don't rely solely on returns to your website. Offer options for snailmail orders as well ... and include a letter and brochure or catalog.

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Delivery no later than 10 to 14 days after an order. Delays will kill any prospective future orders.

If you've guessed that the above tips are fundamental rules of Direct Marketing — applied to cyberspace — you've guessed correctly. If you think you can ignore these basics and still be a successful e-commerce entrepreneur, think again. Selling stuff direct-to-consumers requires the principles of DM in any medium, including the web.

Grey WorldwidezAsia Pacific achieves highest income level and largest number of Creative Awards in Regional History Grey Worldwide announced recently its Asia Pacific income was higher in 2000 than any other year in its 37-year history, rising to US$92.4 million, a 20% increase over 1999.

Driving the growth were new assignments from existing clients, such as British American Tobacco (BAT), Mars, and Seagram, and more than 100 new account wins. The com­ pany's new accounts include Swire Coca-Cola's non-carbonated beverage portfolio in Hong Kong, Founder Computers in China, The Lippo Group and five of its companies in Indonesia, Nissan and Del Monte in the

Philippines, BPL Mobile in India, Sizzler in Thailand, TIME.com, the second largest communications firm in Malaysia and Unisys for the entire region. Grey's Asia Pacific President Eric Rosenkranz attributed the compa­ ny's growth to two key factors: its expertise in integrated communica­ tions, and its strong and growing repu­ tation for creativity. "Integrated mar­ keting is the future of the communica­ tions business. As one of the earliest proponents of this strategy, we've built a network of nine partner companies who are successful, long standing practitioners of the art and science of

integrated marketing. Over the years, we have transformed ourselves from an ad company to a total communica­ tions network that solves our clients marketing problems with a broad array of integrated marketing tools.

In fact, globally, almost 50% of our business now comes from outside the scope of traditional advertising."

He adds, "While the ultimate mea­ sure of our success is our clients' sales, it is gratifying to note we won more creative awards in 2000 than in any previous year, in fact, an increase of nearly 65% over the number of awards we won in 1999. We are heavily invest­

ing in the best creative people, and in strategic planning tools to help them identify the strongest consumer insights upon which to base their work".

Notwithstanding the anticipated global slowdown in growth for the industry, Grey is expecting a strong 2001, forecasting income growth at 18%.

Eric cites plans to establish key Grey Worldwide partner companies, includ­ ing Grey Direct, GCI (public relations), APCO (public affairs), Grey Interactive, MediaCom, Beyond Interactive, G2 (sales promotion), and Grey Healthcare, in all major Asian markets.

Did you know that more than half the readers of this magazine come from the top 200 Adex ranking of advertisers across ail major media in Malaysia?

28 ADOIMARKETINGCOMMUNICATIONS

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Behind the making of new TVCs Salem - Bebas Concert Promo 100+

Olympics-inspired, this TVC relates

daily life to sporting events based on the idea that life is actually a sport where only the fittest survive. The ini­

tial plan for the look of this TVC was a metal blue colour. But the end result, as suggested by colourist, Terry Mak, was clean whites, high contrasts and saturated skintones to give it more of a milky feel. Flame artist, Chan Moon Chong, added the colour trails to create the rainbow and a swirling effect of the 100 Plus colours which led to the end pack shot.

Production House: Chilli Pepper Director: Chuan Agency: Bates Malaysia Post Production: VHQ Post (M) Flame: Chan Moon Chong Telecine: Terry Mak

Media clots Dismayed by reports in the Australian

media that thousands of their passen­ gers suffer and even die every year from blood clots as a result of Deep-Vein Thrombosis or so-called "Economy-Class Syndrome", many of the world's airlines are rushing to ward-off as many damages suits as pos­ sible by putting warning stickers on their tickets.

Me, I'd rather see warning stickers on newspapers, radios and TV sets warning us against the kind of media that treat us all like a bunch of clots. A typical case is Sydney's Murdoch tabloid The Daily Telegraph. Or, as some of us prefer to think of it, The Daily Tellemcrap. Routinely dealing as it does, like its partners-in-grime in Britain, The Sun and News of the World, in the kind of hype, half-truth and falsehood-by-omission that would be a disgrace to advertising and PR, let alone what passes itself off as "journal­

30 ADOIMARKETINGCOMMUNICATIONS

ism".

The Tellemcrap's - oops, Telegraph's - take on the Economy Class Syndrome story was a classic example. From the front page screaming "FLIGHT CLOTS: 10 DIE" through a story that affected to reveal the truth, but cynically and shamefully neglected to mention two crucial facts. Namely that Deep-Vein Thrombosis is very old news indeed and that most airlines have for years advocated ways of preventing it, and that the labelling of the problem as "Economy Class Syndrome" is extreme­ ly misleading. Deep-Vein Thrombosis is one of the hazards of spending long periods of time sitting down.

Anywhere. So it afflicts a proportion of long-distance sitters in not just econo­ my class, but also business class, first class and even those on the flight deck.

Plus, of course, passengers in more down-to-earth modes of transport including coaches, trains, cars and

This was a series of two sixty seconds

TV programme concert promos that featured different local pop groups.

Using concert footage shot on nine cameras from different angles, the result was rushes on eighteen 94 minute digital betas.

Just for the sixty seconds promos alone, offline editors Teh Eng Yong and Sheila Cheng had to lip-sync about 19 hours of footage before the edit could start. The result was a smooth

flowing MTV styled promo with dis­ solves and fade-ins that were well syn­ chronised to the music.

Although the promos had different looks, an overall "feel" was maintained through the colours that were used. As footage came in on digital beta format, rolling office chairs.

But why let the facts get in the way of a good story? The Telegraph and all its ilk are far more focused on the health of their own circulations than those of their readers. Who, I suppose the media moguls and their minions

there was less flexibility to colour treatment. Even then, colourist Terry Mak was able to achieve the cool green Salem corporate colours by enhancing the blue and greens with further treat­ ment in Flame.

Finally, with the components designed by designer David Tang and composited in Flame by Chan Moon Chong, Salem - Bebas Concert Promo still managed to achieve its stylised look.

Production House: Carrot Films Director: Brad Hogarth Agency: McCann-Erickson Post Production: VHQ Post (M) Flame: Chan Moon Chong Offline Editors: Teh Eng Yong £r Sheila Cheng Digital Suite: Ng Soo Siung £r H'ng Choon Kuang (Peng) Designer: David Tang

must figure, are nothing but millions of no-account, brain-dead clots in any case, as long as they're prepared to pay for treatment this trashy.

As for the big scare in the air, let's not get in a flap. No need to mount class actions against the airlines, ditch all those hard-earned frequent-flier points, throw in your cushy regional job or settle for walking holidays. Just keep doing what the in-flight litera­ ture and travel pundits have been advising us ever since time immemori­ al. Wear loose clothing, drink water instead of alcohol, eat light meals and move around a lot. That should pretty much protect you against clots that form in your legs and threaten to trav­ el to your lungs. But when it comes to the question of whether you're a sit­ ting duck for clots in the brain, I'm afraid you're pretty much on your own. All I can really suggest in this regard is that, in flight as in everyday life, you select your entertainment, current affairs, magazines and news­ papers very, very carefully.

Dean Johns is a partner in Sydney-based regional creative/motivational consultancy CreAsia and strategic/creative hotshop StrADegy. Website www.stradegy.com.au

Stan Miller 1946 - 2001

What is left is a space in each of our hearts in the shape of Stan.

L O W E L I N T A S 8c P A R T N E R S

Grey's Edwin Leong talks to ADOI vate Malaysia's creative standards?

Better briefs and strategic think­ ing: 80% of briefs leave the lateral thinking to creatives. In a world of parity products, originality comes from wiring things differently further upstream.

Scamps: Clients will buy the souped up version of an approved brief.

Naked ideas are harder to sell.

Scamps force you to simplify and sharpen your thoughts. You spend more time on what matters. Ideas with Grey's Creative Team

I daresay, you've been instrumental in showing up Malaysia's creative standards to the international com­ munity in the new millenium? Do we figure in the international cre­ ative arena of things?

We're happy with our performance in 2000, but the fact is Malaysia is not even a blip in the latest Worldwide

strate our creativity through-the-line before preaching integration. Within a year, we managed a decent haul of awards across almost every discipline; Interactive, DM, Healthcare, Design, Press, TV, even POS. It's encouraging personally, but the real challenge now is to keep the momentum going. We'll just have to do

bite.

Positivity: As a whole the ad com­ munity spends too much time talking about what's wrong, dismissing the efforts of others and judging with mal­ ice; disheartening for an industry that feeds off encouragement and team­ work.

Pride in the industry: This one is important in the larger scheme of things.

(Perodua).

Good fun. Lots of explo­ sives. No Flame.

Of the recent award winning campaigns, the 3M Post-its campaign is worth a men­ tion. The challenge was to make a sticky strip of paper relevant again in a drag 'n' click world. They have been accused of being cryptic, but I still maintain that a line would've closed it off too much and made them less enjoyable.

I'm still pleased with the audacity of the BSN 'Delete' POS. Sadly the cam­ paign was the last job before the bank mergers. We'll miss them.

Your Grey Malaysia office is busy re­ arranging itself in Empire Tower and KL has become your SE Asia' headquarters for the network. I'm sure it is exciting with lotsa of regional stuff and people coming through. Tell us more....

We've moved to the 28th Floor of Empire Tower (from the 37th). It's an interesting office. We worked with a young architect on the ID. The receptionist sits behind a lightbox that illuminates a pitch black entrance. It's 180 degrees from Bali.

Monochrome colour scheme, glass and aluminium.

Creative is homely, in a monastic sort of way. It is here that an Aussie,

Gunn Report.

Some of us in Grey KL question the need for international recognition, but our mindset has shifted since assum­ ing regional HQ status.

Advertising is a business with the creative product as its main commodi­ ty - multinationals are shopping else­ where. That scares me coming into another recessionary cycle. The MIM provides temporary relief, but it won't last forever.

That aside, I'm personally fed-up of being sandwiched between two rela­ tively similar Asian markets and hav­ ing half their clout.

Becoming one of Malaysia's youngest Creative Directors of what's probably the country's largest advertising agency is daunt­ ing and kudos to you. Does achieving so much so early in your career give you the shivers of burning out.

Quite a lot, I hope. I haven't creat­ ed a landmark campaign for a global brand; probably never will, but I'll keep trying. I took over from Jeff as CD in '99. That was before the agency went regional. I suppose I've grown into the role. The size of Grey isn't as daunting as having to integrate the various func­ tions. I was determined to demon-

32 ADOINIARKETINGCOMMUNICATIONS

m

better across a bigger set of clients, and make sure our work cuts it beyond Malaysia.

As for burn out, I usually stop at fatigue and vegetate - but thanks for the paranoia.

My greatest fear is quite the oppo­ site. I've always worked with the cre­ atives. I'm no different from my teams apart from management responsibilities. The work that did well for us came from a tight unit. I don't want to be distanced by scale and administration. We're preparing emo­ tionally for a poorer year ahead cre­ atively as we sort out our growing pains.

2002 should see us up and running again. What's inspiring though are the industry greats - John Webster (the cre­ ator of The Guardian's "Perspectives" TV spot, conceived shortly after I was) is still at it. Abbott handed over the reigns to Souter just a year ago but only after a killer Economist ad.

Tim Delaney is probably still whacking out the 9th revision for Adidas. Closer to home, our very own seniors (I shan't mention them in case I get all gooey) are miles ahead in craft, depth and year-on-year consistency.

What do you think is required to ele-

If y o u ' r e d r i n k i n g t h i s f e s t i v e s e a s o n please don't drive

The old 'I'm a pianist in a brothel' story doesn't help. We add value to par­ ity products. Guinness has a 'goodwill' (brand) value of more than the sum of its fixed assets. If we're not proud of our role in the economy, how can we even begin to raise standards? The effort cannot be on the back of the pas­ sionate few. The industry is filled with transit employees, on their way to something better. We could do with more loyalty.

Could you tell us about your most recent ad or some award winning work. How they came about, etc.?

The last ad I did on TV was a 'Don't drink & drive' X'mas spot. Simple idea; 'Nothing protects you from alcohol'.

We mimicked car test shots demon­ strating ABS, AirBags and SIPS, but this time they were no match for a liq­ uid. A brave message for a car company

two Americans, two Thais, one Singaporean and several people from KK, Ipoh, Alor Setar and KL reside.

Add the suits and media from the Philippines, India, UK, NY and its a full day's work for the immigration dept.

Name some recent ads you like on Malaysian TV? Can I name a video? I quite like the effort put into the new Poetic Ammo video. The last time I saw a pastiche of Matrix that made me smile was the lager drinking scene in Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels (ramping applied to a boys night out!).

Oh, and I quite like the Toyota spot with the alien. The NST 'meet the fam­ ily' spot was sweet; like the burger cameo, but I'm not sure about the pay­ off. I've probably missed a few, I don't watch much TV.

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Insightful. In-depth. Indispensable. Audited.That's why we're Number One. To advertise in the best-selling business and investment weekly in Malaysia call 603-460 3838 or fax 603-460 8563.

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FCB Malaysia's latest TVG for TMnet mb'-jmmm I Click with TMnct

Title: Super Speedo (up) £r Surfer (bottom) Client: TMnet Agency: FCB Malaysia Creative Director: Yap Pow Hoong Art Directors: Ken Goh, Reza Abdullah Copywriters: Gavin Hoh, Joe Anthony Producer: Debbie Manual Account Management: Geraldine Beh, Zamri Mamat, Ibrahim Harun, Azreen Yusup Production: Carrot Films Director: Barney Chua Editor: Daryll Emuang Flame/VHQ: Moon Chong Producer: Davin Khoo Music: Imaginex

u P C 0 M 1 N G

E V E N T S

10th ABC MEDIA WORKSHOP "Adapting to a New Media Matrix" 7 - 1 0 March, Bangkok, Thailand.

Contact: Tel 03- 7660 8535 for details.

42nd ANNUAL CLIO FESTIVAL Ogle the winners. Ogle the locals.

Soak up the talent. Soak up the rays.

Catch up with advertising. Catch your breath.

Book now for May 22-25, 2001 in Miami, USA. Contact : J Matthews on 03-7660 8535 for details.

TOPICS COVERED What works and what sucks on the web by CEO Matt Freeman and Chief Creative Officer John Young of Tribal DDB Worldwide, New York.

The Death of Marketing as We know it by Mark Earls, Strategic Planning Director of St. Lukes, London.

How to find your Creative Centre by Nizan Guanaes, CEO of Internet Group do Brasil Ltd. Tricks to Telling a Story in 15 seconds (Substance over Form)

by Akira Kagami, Creative Director of Dentsu, Tokyo.

For details, contact D'Casting on 03-2282 6133 or 2282 2133

TO SUBSCRIBE TO ABOI MAGAZINE, CALL JOYCE OR DOREEN ON 03-7720 2500 OR 03-7722 5710.

Did y o u k n o w t h a t c r e a t i v e d i r e c t o r s , c o p y w r i t e r s , a r t d i r e c t o r s r e a d t h i s m a g a z i n e i n b e t w e e n m e a l s .

34 AD0IMARKETINGC0MMUNICATI0NS

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