200,000 in Sept '98
175,000 in May '98
150,000 in October '97
100,000 in April '97
200,000 copies and still climbing ASTRO - The Magazine, Malaysia's fastest growing consumer magazine has currently over 1,000,000 potential affluent readers. With such a high opportunity to see at an attractive cost per thousand, it makes perfect sense for you to advertise in it. Call 5836688 ext 8612 for more information.
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Notes from the editor YOU LIKE O U R N EW LOOK? Well we thought afte r two years, we deserved a change for the be tte r. I mean with the new millennium around the corner and all. And here's some more good news. With this October issue, ADOI will now continue as a monthly magazine. Yes, with this new regularity we will ge nerate a new e lectricity amongst our reade rs. Which means ADOI is going to be a great place to advertise since we'll be touching ove r 12,000 readers every month. We've also submitted our figures to the Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC). ADOI is now readily available at over 70 bookstores nationwide, across key towns. O ur price is RM 100 for a full-year (12 issues) subscription. You'll find our subscription coupon on Page 19 for your immediate action. If you have ye t to subscribe to us, this will be your last complimentary copy (we have already spent the last six months advising readers to sign up as subscribers). In any case, e njoy this issue because it's packed with lots for you. First off, is the annual Kancil Awards story with all its usual thrills and spills. O ur cover picture is the entry that won the ultimate accolade, the prized Golden Kancil award for Panadol Menstrual. We also cond ucted a survey among leading creative people on how the ind ustry can raise its creative standards. And besides the usual news, views and issues, you' ll also get a first-hand look at the recent C resta Awards winners. Don't forget to check out 4As P reside nt Tony L ee's quicktake on what in store for the ad ind ustry in te rms of self-regulation. M ike F romowitz talks about the coming C reative Circle Awards (CCA) in Singapore while Khairud in of APL Malaysia says his piece about agency compe nsation. So don't le t me hold you back any longe r. Go and get into all this stuff in the coming pages but please re member, SUBSCRIB E, SUBSCRIB E, SUBSCRIB E.
Kancll Judges Comments... pg 6 Did they get It right? ... pg 8
Raising creative standards...pg 10 Be 45 Fromowltz shootz stralght...pg 14 To fee or not to fee ...pg 40
Respectfully,
The Editor
Leo Burnett's Afttlaysia Airlines tvc wins f or Best Film Direcrio11 and Cinematography.
The largest witmer on Ka11cil Night, Leo Bumett with a haul of 49 awards!
MANAGING EDITOR Harmandar Singh PRINTER Prom-Ad Creat ive Communications PHOTOGRAPHER Jen Siow DESIGNER Chang Sheau Yu n COLOUR SEPARATOR Screen Gallery Sdn Bhd ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES ADLANTIS Communicat ions Sdn Bhd No. 44C, Jalan 19/ 3, 46300 Petaling Jaya, Selangor. Tel: 603-754 7271 Fax: 603-757 3343 E-mail: adlant is@hotmail.com DISTRIBUTION POS Malaysia via Efficient Lettershop and Mentakab Agency.
ADOI magazine is published every month by Sledgehammer Communications Sdn Bhd (Company No: 289967-W> 228 Jalan Tun Mohd Fuad Satu, Taman Tun Dr Ismail, 6 0000 Kuala Lumpur. Tel: 6 0 3-716 2588. Fax: 603-716 2598. Š All rights reserved by Sledgehamme r Communications Sdn Bhd. No part of this magazine may be re produced in any form wit hout prior pe rmission 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 conseq uences of reliance of information in th is publication. T he opinions expressed in t his publication do not necessarily re present the views of the publishe r or edi tor. All advertiseme nts are the sole respon~ ibil i ty of the advertis-
THE JURY PANEL KANCIL 1999 Jury President SP Lee - Foote Cone Belding
Main Category Judges Sa'ad Hussein- Sil Ad Mark Fong - DYR Singapore Paul Grezoux - McCann Erickson Ben Hunt - Batey Ads Lee Szu-Hung - BBDO Edwin Leong- Grey Ted Lim - Naga DDB Thomas Low - OT Shafrl Mohamad - Bates Rocky Ranallo - Campaign Palace Sydney Ram Sandhu - BBDO Yap Pow Hoong - FCB
Film Craft Judges Farouk Aljoffrey - Planet Films Kamal Mustafa - Cinequip Yasmln Ahmad - Leo Burnett Shuhaimi Baba - Persona Pictures Paul Loosley - Axis Films Sng Tong Beng - Dream Water Pink Trees
AND SO IT WENT. Malaysia's 1999 annual advertising awards night, better known as the Kancil Awards, was over in a flash. It was a sell-out crowd with the Grand Ballroom at the Mandarin Oriental in Kuala Lumpur packed to the brim. As winners made their way to the stage to pick up their accolades, the crowd's perennial favourite, ad agency Leo Burnett, looked bent on doing what they do best; sweep the show in award-winning style. And they did not let the crowd down, clinching a tally of 49 victories to their name. Next in tow was Naga DDB with 25, while Dentsu Young & Rubicam came in third with 16. But the night belonged to Ogilvy & Mather who walked away with the Best of the Year 1998/99 or Golden Kancil Award for their advertisement Panadol 'Menstrual'. T he award-winning team consisted of creative director Sonal Dabral, art director David Sin, copywriter Melanie Tong and clie nt service manager Goh Suet Lan. Ogilvy's winning entry is on our front cover. If you want to view all the winners, buy the CD-ROM on page 12, if you want to know who won, look at the chart on page 7. And if you want to know what the judges have to say, turn to page 6. But for now, let's e njoy the pictures....
The Naga DDB team hauled ;n the second largest medal tally of the n;ght w;th 25 v;ctories.
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O&M's Brenda Boler; Mela11ie Tong, Sonal Dobra/ a11d David Sin can't wait for Suet Lon to pop the champagne.
S. P Lee flanked by O&M's Golden Ka11cil team, Melanie lo11g and David Sin.
Sheen (Axis Films) a11d Yasmin Ahmad (LB) getting comfortable.
Ng Ke11g Mi11g (O&M) and Stephm Bo11g strike a pose.
DYR wi11s the Best You11g Creative Award
Be11 Hunt (Batey), Steve Bristow (Fat Lizard) and Sledgehammer wo11dering if the drinks are free.
Everybody loves a witmer!
ADOIANYTHINGADVERTISING 5
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I ON THE WHOLE, Malaysia is definitely making progress. TV production value is very impressive although still lacking in simple great ideas. I thought the thinking behind print was practically world-class but I was a bit disappointed at the number of times an ad was over art directed. It's sad to see a good idea tossed aside because of poor art direction. Quite a high percentage of the ads have a bit of a 'scammy' feeling about them, which forces us to think about why we still can't seem to sell our ads to our clients. But it's nice to know there are definitely some real talents out there who are getting better all the time.
Thomas Low, OT Advertising IT WAS REASSURING to see that there was still good work done despite the downturn. As to be expected, in terms of the volume of good work, it took a synchronised dive with the country's economy. But I must say it was worrisome to see that the majority of the work that were given awards is for smaller and most of the time for little known products, brands and clients (not to mention the pro-bono and self-promotion work). If we believe they're justifiable then why are we wasting our time thinking about how we are going to raise the industry's creative standards. I myself would have been truly proud if my creative teams had come up with those ads, but it's a damn shame the majority of the mass audience never got to see them. Therefore I think it is a great idea that we're archiving the winners in CD-ROM for the industry since these ads only get to be seen by advertising people who attend the annual Kancil Awards night. Finally, I believe most of us feel that creative standards have not improved; we're hovering and doing more of the same (like one of my bluechip client had once commented, "You all in the ad industry only Syok sendiri"). If this is as good as it gets and the situation persists, then I can't he lp thinking that maybe I should be seriously doing something more worthwhile.
Sha.fri Mohamad, Bates Malaysia
THE MORNING AFTER. If there's a message to be taken from the results of this year's Kancil awards it is this: the recession hit the advertising industry in more ways than just salary freezes and staff retrenchments. Chasing the bottom line produced boring, dull, safe advertising for most mainstream clients over 12 months. However, the recession certainly didn't dampen creativity. In fact, our only outlet as creative people was to create our own opportunities. Which is why about 70%-80% of this year's Kancils are for clients you've never heard of and ads you've never seen. Some of the work was brilliant. Truly world class. Some of it was merely a large colour bromide of a small space ad that probably did actually appear somewhere. The work awarded was no doubt the best work produced by the industry. Let's face it, it was a very scammy year. However, the Kancils honour creativity and creativity alone. They don't discriminate between big, paying clients and small, non-paying ones. At the end of the day, it's all about the work. Not for whom it was created.
Paul Grezoux, McCann-Erickson Malaysia.
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THE THEME FOR THIS year's Kancils is "protect against unemployment" . It's so apt, it ought to be carried over into future shows. Firstly, my warmest congratulations to all the winners. How tough were the standards? Let's just say the Gold winners will not only be able to keep their jobs but may even look forward to taking the jobs away from their overseas counterparts. I reckon the Silver winners won't be snaking around any dole queue for a long time to come. Bronze winners, however may have to think twice before asking for the company Perdana V6. Merit winners may wish to skip the trip to the frame makers this time. On second thought, frame them. T hen place it at a prominent position. (For writers, next to your collections of Far Side; art directors, your well-thumbed visual dictionary). And stare at it every time you think you've pushed an idea as far as you think it will go. Be angry. Be dissatisfied. Be ready to tell yourself, Merits are just not good e nough. Because when you pace yourself with the best, you can't help but excel (your Gotham-like e rections and spanking new airport come to mind). On a final note, I found SP Lee's deft and democratic handling of the 12 judges an ideal practice for simpler things like governing the country. Thanks again for the privilege of being part of the judging process. I predict the industry will soon be making a bigger mark on the world's top shows. And you won't have to wait till 2020 for it.
Mark Fong, DYR Singapore DAY 1: 12 judges. More than 1,000 ads to go through over 3 days. Can't think of a better way to spend a Sunday. Dismay. Have our standards dropped this much? Where are the ideas? What is an idea? Why are we drowning in executions? Why is this conference room so .,,...ing cold?
DAY 3: T he best are decided. Well done to the winners. Now it's back to the real world, boys and girls. See you next year.
NOT ALL THE GOOD WORK GOT THROUGH. Not all the dubious stuff got thrown out. It happens every year. Everywhere. It's impossible to get everyone to agree on everything. (If you think it's tough getting work approved by your CD, try getting it past 12). But a good number of this year's entries got what they deserved. For those who disagree with some of the decisions (yes, my ads got bumped off too), there's always Cannes. There are only 30 over people we have to please.
Lee Szu-Hung, BBDO Malaysia
Ted Lim, Naga DDB Malaysia
DAY 2: The cream inevitably rises to the top. Phew! Some of this stuff should do quite well in international shows. I wish I'd done some of it.
6 ADOIANYTHINGADVERTISING
BREAKFAST was average on the first day of judging. Lunch was good, and dinner was great. Like the entries, they got better as the hours passed. Film was noticeably better, particularly in production value. The number of Golds given out to print was testimony to its standard. Which clearly outweighed radio's. The apparent concern amongst some of us was the unusually large amount of scam ads. Was it the downturn that encouraged such a big turn-up of this kind? Was it difficult clients? And the same argument ensued. Where do you draw the line? Could these be the very reasons clients are having less faith in our proposals? "You guys just want to win awards with this clever stuff. Just give me what my competitors are doing" one of the judges quipped, in quoting one of his clients. Nonetheless, it was gratifying to see some really solid ideas winning big, for big brands.
WE CAST MORE VOTES T H AN AN UMNO by-election thanks to a fair and precise judging process umpired by SP Lee. Tired ads were put to rest in the first round. The gems floated up through three days of painful democracy. As always, simplicity garnered the most votes in all categories. Of those that made metal, the best should travel well, but the majority lacked the freshness to make it big beyond our own creative community. Congratulations winners; the fact that you've pushed the best ideas through one of the worst years of the economy makes any commendation worth its weight in gold. Perhaps, the only losers are the big brands these ads should have been created for.
Edwin Leong, Grey Malaysia
Yap Pow Hoang, FCB Malaysia AS JURY PREZ, I don't judge. I walk the thin line between providing a brief and not leading. The less I say, the better. But here are my impressions. The dearth of big brand ads was a reflection of a hard year. The volume of good ideas was down. But the thinking behind some ads were a notch up. My personal favourites were MediaCompete, McOonalds and Panadol. They made me laugh. See it once and you never forget. A step forward linear, problem-solution, from before-after stuff. Judges were too civil. I wished there was more debate. For this one night, the battles would have bee n worth every shell.
SP Lee, FCB Malaysia
Kancil Awards 1998/99 Agency O&M DY&R Leo Burnett Batey Naga Grey
JWT I FELT THAT THE JUDGING SYSTEM was very fair, democratic and open; no secret votes. And more importantly, the quality of the judging was very high. We were merciless! Such that, I feel the 'metal' winners could compete with the best inte rnationally. Watch out for them. One thing was obvious. The state of the economy dictated the order and number of entries. Posters ruled the day followed by newspaper/magazine ads. TVC e ntries were a distant third. Overall, the print section was much better than the film section, though I must say that the McOonalds commercial was memorable.
Sa'ad Hussein , Sil Ad Kuala Lumpur
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McCann Arachnid
Gold Silver 2 2 3 2 8 1 3 3 3 3 1 1
Si l Ad FCB Bates BBDO Bozell Euro RSCG DMB&B Spider
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Bronze Merit Total 4 2 9 16 7 3 21 18 49 13 4 5 12 10 25 13 5 5 1 5 9 4 3 1 2 5 8 3 2 5 3 3 3 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 161 67 60
Young Creat ive Award: Raymond Ng, DY&R Malaysia. Golden Kancil - Best of the Year 1998/ 99: Ogilvy & Mather Malaysia.
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Bronze at best. If that's what it takes to win Gold, what happened to Bozell's lovely Celcom campaign surely of the same genre and worthy of a gong of some sort.
Unless we can be brutally honest with ourselves, what chance do we have of competing with the best in the world? FIRSTLY, let me congratulate THIS YEAR'S KANCIL winners and commiserate with those who felt they deserved more. We all expect a degree of controversy and unpredictability in award shows - it's exciting and even healthy within limits. So what's the feeling about this year? The match result won't change, but it's interesting to hear the banter on the terrace now it's over. In a nutshell from Burnett's - some good work, one or two really nice moves, but not a classic - and marred by some strange refereeing decisions. A bit cheeky coming after another healthy haul? Maybe. But let's say it how we feel it for once without diluting the emotion with polite platitudes-- after all this whole business is about emotion. There was a lot of good work that should have scored better, and several things that did better than they should. Take our McDonalds TV gold winner for example. Good honest work, clean, human, a light moment that justifies its twentysecond intrusion and should flog -some product - Gold ? Surely not,
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Unless we can be brutally honest with ourselves, what chance do we have of competing with the best in the world ? Leo Burnett have a worldwide 7+ creative review system that's second to none. Each quarter 25 heads of office and creative directors from LB offices around the world sit in a dark room for a week and review the 2000 or so pieces of best work produced by the network. This quarter our Gold Kancil McDonalds work was ranked as solid, but a long way off the best McDonalds work we're producing in the network. But they loved some of the other work: MAS, Skali.com, Petronas, and a world-beating campaign for Wyeth that scored in the top half percentile. Is LB's internal system tougher and more robust than the Kancils? Not really. Only that there are interesting contrasts; the frame of reference is worldwide and greater efforts are made to understand the category, brand and situation context. So back to the honesty trail. It was genuinely good to see O&M return to the fray in style. I'm sure this will give them the right momentum to launch the sustained creative revival they're capable of. Hats off to DY&R and Naga DDB. They are true fighters for creative excellence and it's no coincidence they've been the most regular players on the podium for the last five years. They continue to deliver excellent creative results for their clients year in and year out. Grey had a good showing, there's a sense there's more to come from them, as did Batey's with some excellent print. Sil Ad put in a showing with some nice Sony work. FCB and BBDO had a quiet year by their standards and Limas must be disappointed that they didn't follow up their magnificent year last year with a little more authority. Last year was different. Overall the standard of work and the standard of judging seemed a little higher. The Polo campaign was a clear notch above the rest, and a universally
applauded winner. Not many people would argue that it deserved to fly the flag on a world-class platform as Malaysia's best. Not so this year. The judges' job of picking a single Golden Kancil winner must have been more of a lottery. I know it's been done before - and it's not popular - but maybe it really is better to have no Golden Kancil if there's no clear winner. All credit to Sonal and his team. The Panadol work is terrific; it's simple, impactful and relevant. It's good work and deserves recognition but and I hear their worldwide creative head Neil French chuckling a little to himself as he tucks another top trophy under his belt as he whispers his own favourite saying"is it truly great?" He'd remind us there are only two types of outstanding creative work; innovative ideas never seen before, or old ideas done uncommonly well. Panadol would contend in the latter. Saatchi's 'Pregnant Man' ad is 30 years old and we still see a batch of male-as-female derivatives every year, we had one for Wyeth, it got a merit - about right! It's not the idea then, so was it so uncommonly well executed? C 'mon chaps. Even O&M must have been pleasantly surprised to walk off with the top prize. What's particularly tough for our guys to swallow is this. After five consecutive years of topping the number of awards won, and a second consecutive year of winning twice as many awards as any other agency, they find themselves again in media limbo-land when it comes to publicly announcing who's top dog. The top awards understandably hog the publicity limelight, but hell, one agency took nearly a third of all the awards on offer! In the Kancil booklet there was a quote from Oscar Wilde: "Consistency is the last resort of the unimaginative". We'd beg to differ. It takes an enormous amount of imagination and effort to remain a consistent creative leader. The desire to topple leaders from their pedestals is human -- unless you're a Manchester United fan chances are you'd like to see the other side win once in a while. Our people deserve recognition for what is a remarkable
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accomp lishment. Creative, suits, media alike. It gets tougher every year to go one better than the nextthey've done that in my eyes. We'll be setting our sights on a different plane in the millennium. We hope, with one or two others, to lead the charge to raise Malaysia's creative profile in Asia. Why am I making such a fuss ? Apart from giving my team the recognition I believe they deserve, it's vital for our industry to recognise and reward consistent creative leadership. Creativity is the last competitive advantage we can offer our clients and the most powerful. Too few of them know it. It continues to astound me that this is so undervalued as a commodity. It's partly because the industry, in trying to spread creative recognition and accolade, forgets to underline that when it comes to this precious commodity, NOT ALL AGENCIES ARE THE SAME. The 80:20 rule applies to creative product as much as widgets. 80% of the awards last night were won by 20% of the agencies (less actually). If you check back over the last decade it's the same four or five agencies that consistently out-perform the rest. O&M, DY&R, Naga DDB and one or two others. In other markets the advertising industry has a special award for creative agency of the year. It isn't a perfect system either, but it helps iron out some of the inconsistencies and doubting. A final word about this year's Kancils. Not from me - but from our Chairman Ali Mohamad. Not many people don't know or haven't heard of Ali. He's a man of generous soul, quick to praise others and one whose creative judgement I have the highest respect for. At the end of the evening he shrugged his shoulders and failed to disguise his disappointment behind his characteristic smile as he said: "They didn't get it right this year, they just didn't get it right." That's okay, that's the nature of awards.
Peter Wilken, Chief Operating Officer, Leo Burnett Malaysia
How do we raise Mala sian creative stan ards? Janet Lee
Dharma Somasundram
Pat Steven
Creative Director, GanForHire.
Creative Director, Bozell Worldwide Sdn Bhd.
Creative Director, Select Team.
Be Honest. To your client. To the consumer. And most importantly, to yourself. This means that if you are anything less than 100% convinced of the product or service yo u're assigned to, be honest enough to pass the job on to another team. If not, you may fool yo ur colleagues, and even your clients, but you can never really fool yo urself. And your ad will not move the consumer. Or the award judge.
Alan Bohlsen Regional Creative Director, DraftWorldwide I saw an ad last week for a copywriter that said: "If you can write in English, give us a call. " Can you imagine an ad for an art director that said: "If you can draw stick figures, give us a call." If we want to raise creative standards in Malaysian advertising, we have to raise the standard of copywriting. We have plenty of good art directors, producers and directors, a wealth of talented artists and photographers. But we have very few good writers.
SP Lee Creatve Director, FCB Malaysia We have good people in the industry, but we also have people who don't really fit. From the outset, we should compete for the best minds and most passionate people against industries like Law, Architecture, Medicine, etc. It's a process which begins with changing the minds of parents. Who don't see communications as a decent career for their children.
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But when you do work on a product or service that you believe in, go all out. Share why you believe in it and you will be inspired to find ways of showing the consumer the values that you yo urself have seen in the product. Not what the client or the suits tell you. But as a creative person, and a consumer yourself, what you see in it. Trust your own judgement and encourage the suits and the clients to debate with you. The more you discuss it openly, the stronger your ad will be. If you take another look at The D&AD Copy Book, you will find that although the executions may differ, the writers' approach is always the same: hand on heart honesty.
The recent economic downturn should have acted as a catalyst for change within the creative landscape. In a sober climate of scaled back adspend, agencies were forced to look beyond the confines of traditional and expensive media to keep brands/products visible despite expected cutbacks. This is turn gave creative work a media-centric shift. The perfunctory practice of developing advertising concepts and ideas for expensive media like TV, radio and print started to include ideas developed for other more economical media channels. There was more pressure for creative media buys and synergistic multi-media planning with ideas that took advantage of each medium.
Simple. Teach our people thinking skills. There's no real lack of creative talent in our industry. The missing link is the ability to think in certain ways. We seem to be going about it back to front, honing our crafting skills and looking for cutting-edge or "fresh" executional ideas which may very well leave the target cold, unmoved. Develop all aspects ¡of thinking - both logical thinking as well as creative or lateral thinking - and everything else will fall into place.
Thus we saw the tentative emergence of creative ideas outside the primary media of TV, radio and print. This trend should be seen not as an aberration of the norm, but rather one that precipitates future trends. New media avenues are explod-¡ ing. Terrestrial TV and radio have mutated into cable and satellite; special interest magazines abound in greater quantities; Internet refuses to be ignored. Even TV stations, historically the most traditional in their media offerings, are giving us a wider berth in spot buys - witness NTV7's crawlers and bugs. This is where the creativity of the future lies. It is not just a higher standard of creativity in strategies and advertising ideas, but also a higher standard of creativity in media. It is a time when we should see the convergence of creativity in media and advertising concepts. This will result not only in intrusive advertising, but also more economical and effective advertising. And that's what we're all about, isn't it?
Ee Sim Creative Director, JM Creative. Advertising is the product of its time and these times are a mishmash of multiculturalism, ignorance and so-called 'attitude', usually arrogant. No wonder standards are falling and not just in the advertising industry. How can we raise standards? In my opinion, because an idea is expressed in words and pictures, you have to get people to understand and respect language, its rules, syntax and usage; to read more and gain more exposure to develop good taste; to habitually think strategy every time we do an ad. Then perhaps we'll get good ads, not fads or lapses.
Continued on page 45
For the movers and shakers of industry. For people in the know. For decision makers. Because vital information is of utmost importance to you, there is Utusan Malaysia.
utusan M
ALAYSIA
For News That Matters The No.1 Bahasa Malaysia daily, based on Audit Bureau of Circulation's figures ending 30 June 1998.
The Koncil Winners 95196197198199 ~
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ABIG HAND TO ALL
Over 700 winners in all 59 categories in a set of five CO-ROMs.
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WINNERS AT
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THE RECENT
KANCIL AWARDS!
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Mike Fromowitz shootz strai ht Singapore ad community is becoming a bit complacent when it comes to their own awards show. There are so many shows around the world now that it is costing agencies a lot of money to enter them. Mike you've been elected the Chairman of the jury at this year's Singapore Creative Circle Awards (CCA) 1999. Is this the first time you've assumed this role? This is the first time I've assumed this role in Singapore. But then I've only been in Singapore for less than two years. I've been Chairman of the 4A,s AWARD in Hong Kong. I'm an Honorary Judge of the New York Festivals and have been for the past eleven years. I've been a judge in other shows in Asia, London, USA and Canada. I am always a serious judge because people's livelihoods and salaries, depend on the awards they win. Give us your thoughts about the CCA over the years. Singapore has always remained at the top of the Asian heap in press advertising in all the international awards shows. But our TV has been a letdown. They don't take it as seriously and the work shows. My big fear however, is that, these past few years, I can see the Singapore ad community becoming a bit complacent when it comes to their own awards show. There are so many shows around the world now that it is costing agencies a lot of money to enter them. T he economy these past two years has not helped things either. Agencies are tightening their budgets on award entries. Perhaps the biggest pity of all, is that the Singapore CCA has failed to print an awards show book. T hey failed to print a book for years, and that left no legacy. T hey did print one in 1996. T hen stopped again. This year we will be printing a book and the awards will also be out on a CD Rom thanks to Apple. I am told the awards presentation dinner will now be he ld on Wednesday, 20th October 1999 at the Island Ballroom, Shangri-la Hote l.
14 ADOIANYTHINGADVERTISING
Who is in the judging panel and what are the procedures? The judging and the judges are always tough on the work and so they should be. We have two judging sessions. The first round of judging is done by a group of 12 local judges. All are chosen by the 4A's advertising community, to be the best at what they do. T hey will decide which work goes into the second round as Finalists. This is done over two days. T he work is voted eithe r IN or O UT,. In the second round, 5 international judgesare brought in to Singapore from other important ad markets such as London. Australia, Europe, USA, South Africa, and around Asia (Thailand, Philippines, Hong Kong). T hese judges will award Bronze, Silve r and Gold. T his is done by open discussion. On the last day, the inte rnational judges get together to decide which ad or campaign will win the Golden Gong - the top prize of the year. On Octobe r 8th, the international judges will all speak at a creative seminar, which will be open to the ad community, to schools and to ad agency clients. T his is always an e nlighte ning experience. And so it should be. We are all here to learn from the very best. Saatchi was a smr performer at last year's CCA. Any observations on which agency is making the creative headlines this year? We are ce rtainly going to see work from O&M, Saatchi, Batey, and Leo B as we always have. But
wouldn't it be wonderful to see some of the smaller agencies do well? We need more of that in the Singapore market if things are going to change. T he big agencies can become complacent, but once they are challenged, the ad community becomes more exciting. That's what happened in the 70s in London. My own agency, TBWA Singapore, is only half the size (or smalle r) of some of the big boys, but we've done rather well this year in international award shows. We beat the big boys and the rest of Asia at Cannes in the print/poster categories with a Silver. We did the same with a Silver award at The One Show in the USA; we've done it at the CA Awards (also USA) with two campaigns, and again in the New York Festivals with 2 Golds and 2 Silvers. So we should watch out for the little guys coming up the ranks. And I hope some of the smaller shops are reading this. Singapore fared quite impressively at Cannes this year with irs print work. Do you see Singapore's standards rising in the areas of film work too? Singapore was a let down at the Cannes festivals as far as TV goes. Personally, I don't see standards rising. There are some exceptions however, and I get excited when I see them. It has nothing to do with big or small budgets. It's the ideas that count after all. My old mate Neil French proved it years ago when he won Silver at Cannes for TY. David Droga's "Navy" spot won in international shows last year. H ow does it feel being the Chairman of the judging jury? Is it an easy task? I hate it with a passion. But my peers have voted me in to do it. It's an honour, so you do it. It's not as easy as it appears because there are more people who would like to get on the committee than there are people willing to actually do the work that is required. This year I chose C hris Kyme, MD and CD of FCB to help me out. He's done a lot of this in Hong Kong. C reatives want the glory of being on the committee I suppose, but they want very little of the work. But there are pe rks of course. You get to spe nd time with some great judges.
What would you say to someone who tried very hard but did not succeed in winning anything at this year's CCA? Even the big names don't win every year. If your work didn't make it this year, maybe it wasn,t really good enough. Maybe you have to work harder at what you do. Maybe you have to do more homework. For example, study the work done by the very best. Look at the work done by Neil French. By David Abbott, Tim Delaney, Steve Henry, Lionel Hunt, Tim Mellors, Luke Sullivan, Tracy Wong, Bruce Crouch, John Hegarty, Steve Dunn, Lee C low, Marke Fenske, Jeff Goodby etc. Don't just look at an awards book and say "Wow, that looks like a great ad! " Study the ad. Read the copy. Try and work out the idea for yourself and question why the writer wrote what he did and why the art director designed the ad the way he did. I'd also tell that someone to dig deep and ask himself or herself a few very important questions such as those I've asked in my Chairman's Introduction, copy for this year,s CCA e ntry kit. It asks: "This past year, were you creative? Did you create something new and unexpected? Have an accident? See a relationship that nobody has seen before? Was there an idea in the brief? Was the brief creative? Did it inspire you? Did it set the creative process in motion, disrupt conventional thinking and open new perspectives and viewpoints? This past year was your creative director raising the standards? Were you? At the finish line was the work good or great? Was your agency an inspiring place to work? Was your work a contributing factor to strengthening the agency,s competitive edge? Were you the author of new work and ideas that generated a better share of the future for your clients?" Simply put, winning awards is hard work. T he people who win consistently at award shows, work very, very hard to be the best. You must want to be the very best.
Mike Fromow itz is Regional Creative Director of TBWA Asia Pacific.
WHEN YOU'VE GOT THEM BY THE EARS, THEIR HEARTS AND MINDS WILL FOLLOW
Taking the workout of home ork jottings by home-based copywriter Jigs Javier
Sometimes, in the morning, I would set up my work space in the terrace that overlooks the garden. It feels so inspiring to write copy, no matter how prosaic, surrounded by swaying leafy trees and gentle birdsong. My laptop would be up and purring, with a mug of fresh brewed coffee steaming with energy beside it and my favorite music playing on the stereo, as I start on the work at hand. My mind is revved up. Words, images and ideas find a willing channel in my fingers as they happily tap them into reality on my keyboard. And
then literally from out of the blue ... a clap of thunder! I look up to watch the birds noisily and frantically scurrying to their nests or to hide under the leaves. A flash of lightning. The musty smell of rain fills the rain as it closes in. More thunder and lightning. Pretty soon, sheets of giant raindrops fall and I am dazzled. I put my laptop on sleep, refill my mug of coffee, sit back and watch the spectacle. My mind is now on either meditation or daydream mode. The minutes and hours pass, the deadline draws closer but I can't seem to snap out of
this hypnotic state that nature has put me in. It takes all the mental strength I can muster to break away from my musings and buckle down to work again. Some distractions are not as fun and frivolous as that, but just as disconcerting nevertheless, especially when one is in the middle of setting a great idea to "paper", so to speak. My mother loves to walk into my office at mid-sentence and demands instant and full attention. Parents are harder to manage than children; one cannot just shoo them away and tell them you're busy. Like many in her generation, she's never really understood my "job" or even thought of it as a real one. There are times when I'd wish I had a secretary to block my calls or fend off unwanted visitors. Or yes, in a desperate mood, even an Accounts person to remind me of my duties and deadlines. But not having these, I have had to rely on a quality I have acquired through centuries in the ad agency - Discipline. Mental, emotional, psychological, and creative discipline. To stay focused on the task at hand. To keep my sense of responsibility to my clients and my craft fit and finetuned. To
stay committed to a project at every point until its final and perfect completion. To accept distractions as part of the reality of working, whether from an office or from the home, and learning to harness all one's energies to keep doing what has to be done despite their attractive lure. Freelancing may give one the luxury to work in one's own time, at one's own pace, and the freedom to set up a workspace that is creatively conducive and harmonious. But part of a freelancer's success hinges on the level of discipline and sense of responsibility that one possesses, knowing that there won't be anyone to keep one in line but oneself. But then, isn't the least of what's expected of any creative person, whether freelancing or full-time employed? A butterfly just landed on my laptop. It is delicate and beautiful. Sheer canary-yellow wings striated with fine ghostly white lines. Now where was I? Oh yes, Ham needs this article by today. I break my gaze from the butterfly and let the tiny peeps of baby birds in the nest on a nearby jackfruit tree sink into the background as .I focus to finish this task at hand and meet my deadline.
''We sold more in one weekend .d. . h ,,, h d t an we 1 1n stx mont s.
- WHITE GOODS MANUFACTURER
Tough times call for tough measures. If the customer doesn ' t come to you, then you have to go to the customer! One tried and tested solution is a roadshow with a difference, using EXPAND . We've done it and learnt a few things we'd like to share with you. Each roadshow must have a theme, it could be festive or related to the product, but there must be a theme. This translates into a concept that
complexes just because everyone e lse does it. Ask yourself, where can I find my target consumer - the cinema, golf course, the lobby of an apartment building? Then pick the venue. Be bold and adventurous because the more innovative you are, the better the results, take our word for it. Thirdly, be creative. Use music, moving graphics or
you can use to dress the whole place and immediately your
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Ten minutes after openingthe box yoo're thinking outside it.
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Accelerated learningcurve. TIME TO SWITCH TO TOSHIBA PROFESSIONAl liGHTING.
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Part of the campaign that won silver at Cannes and the One Show. Copy: Justin Lim. An Direction: Gregory Yeo
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Part of Apple's new pan-Asian campaign. Copy: Graham Kelly. Art Direction: Terrence Tan
TBWA Singapore set to continue its successful run TBWA SINGAPORE has started to make waves with awards at the big inte rnational shows. For example, this year they've picked up a Silver One Show pencil and a Silver Lion at Cannes - the best print performance of any Asian agency. T he agency as also made a strong showing at the recent CA show. Graham Ke lly, the new C D at T BWA takes up the story. "The recent spate of awards has been a great start for a newish agency like ours. T he next stage is to continue to produce great work - and more of it. We have some exciting projects m
18 ADOIANYTHINGADVERTISING
the pipeline. One I can share with you now is the new pan-Asian work fo r Apple. It's something of a breakthrough as it's the first major Apple campaign to be originated outside the USA. T he ads are now running in regional mags like Time, others will be in local titles and we also have a billboard campaign for the e ntire region. And keep an eye out for some of the other work that's coming out soon. What's great about this new batch is that it's not just print- or TV for that matte r and it spans most of our major clie nts. Some of whom also happe n to be amongst the world's biggest brands."
Left to right: Robert Kelman, Koh Hwee Peng, Gregory Yeo, Graham Kelly, Terrence Tan, Justin Lim
CIA billings rocket to US$250m following acquisitions
FOR ONLY RM lOO.h ADOI WILL BE DE ttED TO YOUR DOORSTEP EVERY MONTH FOR ONE YEAR!
CIA ASIA-PACIFIC has signed deals giving it majority positions in India and Malaysia, with a significant minority in Thailand's Media Innovation. In Malaysia, CIA has formed CIA Medianetwork Malaysia wi th Ms Margaret Au Yong and Ms Long Nyoke Ching. In India, CIA had signed a deal with MAA Holdings and has bought a majority stake in Optima Media, which will be known as CIA Optima when it starts trading in November. In Thailand, a significant stake has been taken in Media Innovation, run by ex-JWT staffers Prasert Eamrungroj and Ichaya Santitrakul. For 2000, business managed by CIA companies across Asia-Pacific is expected to exceed US$250 million.
Oz agency produces one-second commercials AUSTRALIAN AGENCY Leo Burnett Connaghan & May has taken advertising to a subliminal level with its latest ad campaign for Uni ted Distillers & Vintners Stolichnaya Lemon Ruski, which features a series of one second TVCs. In an Australian first, the agency has created a series of one-second sound and vision bytes, targeting the 20-to-29-year-old market, which show diverse themes associated with the alcoholic drink.
FCB eats up Bozell; Barnes named A-P regional director FCB has gobbled up Bozell internationally in a mega-deal which makes FCB the fifth largest international agency grouping, with estimated billings of about US$8 billion. Most of the top jobs in the new entity have been filled by FCB people, with FCB's Ben Barnes named Asia-Pacific regional director, while Bozell Hong Kong and China boss Gary Tse will now head the expanded FCB for Greater China.
I
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I cemeany: I gddress-
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fax: Singapore - S$50 per year Other countries - US$50 per year
Pleas e post this co upon, tog ethe r with your c rossed c he q ue or bank draft fa vouring
SLEDGEHAMMER COMMUNICATIONS SDN BHD
---------22B, jolon Tun Mohd Fuad Satu, Taman Tun Dr Ismail, 60000 Kuala Lumpur. Tel: 1603) 7 16 2588 Fax: 1603) 71 6 2598 e-mail: ham@pop.iaring .my
1 I I I
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Tony leads the charge for self-regulation
From serving thre e terms as President of the 4As, Tony has now been thrown the biggest challe nge in his advertising career. O n June 23, he was elected chairman of the pro-tem committee e ntrusted with the astronomical task of devising Malaysia's future conte nt code unde r the Communications and Multimedia Act (CMA) 1998. T his land mark responsibility will see Tony shape the conte nt code for broadcast across virtually all media. Others involved are Mimos, Telekom Malaysia, Multimedia Development ¡ Corporation, Malaysian Audiotext
Association, Federation of Malaysian Consumer Associations, Malaysian Youth Council, ntv7, TV3, Malaysian Association of Comme rcial Radio Ope rators, Malaysian Advertisers Association, Consume rs Association ofPenang and the 4As. What's exciting about this developme nt is that by early 2000 Malaysian advertising may start to self-regulate itself. T hat means no more copy clearance from the M inistry of Information, censorship board and so on. ADOI shot Tony some quick questions on what's brewing in this area. What will self-regulation mean to the ad industryP
G reate r creative freedom. Of course, this should be governe d by good sense because being responsible to the consume rs will be someth ing the agency and client will have to bear collectively. Advertising professionals must act and be have with integrity. I must applaud the governme nt for allowing this degree of flexibility. Here's
an opportuni ty to grow and establish credibility and dignity to an industry that rakes in a respectable RM2billion in billings every year. What do you mean by maturityP
Well, in today's world we have ope ned our skies. T herefore, the choice is on us to de te rmine what we want and do not want to be exposed to. Self-regulation starts with the individual and how he or she wants to live life. The re are many media choices out there but to e njoy a quality life one has to diffe re ntiate the good from the bad. Whe n Malaysian consumers reach that level of understanding we'll see a new maturity amongst consumers. Likewise advertisers must appreciate these priorities that consume rs will seek for in the ir lives. T he content code will be an umbre lla code, allowing for u pdates and modifications as we go along.
ing with the CMA. Tony, there have been some advertisers who appear to have jumped the gun' and begun airing foreign commercials..
We do not subscribe to anyone breaking the curre nt set of rules. T hese people must unde rstand that the penalties can be heavy if they persist. If they can't observe the rules at this stage, how can they be expected to be responsible when the content code comes into place. T hese advertisers are only confusing our objectives. So the 4As is playing a lead role in developing the code...
I think that's a good sign. T hat the governme nt and the E nergy, Communications and M ul timedia M inistry has e mpowered us to spearhead the development of this code. It reflects well on the ad ind ustry in gene ral; something we should be proud of.
What about the M IM ruling.?
I think it is still too premature to abolish the MIM complete ly. We need to sustain ourselves but perhaps if we want to use a famous fi lm director to shoot our commercials we can do so with lesser restrictions in this area. I also see the possibility of the MIM co-exist-
You must be busy.
I have never been busier, but I am really honoured to be given this task. It's a opportunity of a lifetime; to develop a historic blueprint for the commu nications industry. T his is for all the generations to come and I'm glad it is happening in my lifetime.
Dream merchants, sly sed~~~r~J!I~~~g-~ Being a marketing consultant specialising in marke ting communications, more specifically advertising, I have found myself at the worst end of party jokes and have had to continually defend my profession to friends and worse, to family - why oh why couldn't I have been a doctor, architect or rocket scie ntist. My principal response is that we make things better by giving consumers a choice, by making the m aware of that choice and e ncouraging competitiveness in the market place leading to better products and more even prices. However, very recently, I was called on to help in a project that for me will be the argument to end all arguments once and for all! And yes, the fami ly got roped in too! When first roped in to he lp with a cause re lated marke ting project that our client, Procte r & Gamble was working on, my first reaction was, "Where's the catch" - hey, so we're all as guilty of cynicism as the next guy! Procter & Gamble firmly believe that it is just good business sense to give back to the communities they are prese nt in. More than just chest-beating, telling everyone that they are a caring organisation, P&G have set out to de monstrate it. In Malaysia and in Singapore, they decided that the biggest difference they can make is in the area of Education for Disable d Childre n. Children represent all that is best in mankind. T hey begin all innocent and naive and trusting. To become the leaders, visionaries and builders of tomorrow children need to receive guidance and gain knowledge. Sadly, not all children are getting the education they deserve. In Malaysia and Singapore, for example, there are many childre n who may not reach their fu ll pote ntial because of a lack of the right kind of education. T hese are children with mental or multiple disabilities. D ue to no fault of the ir own, they were born to meet challe nges far greater than most of us will ever face. And so P&G set up Open Minds. A small committee was set up and made
20 ADOIANYTHINGADVERTISING
out of people from P&G and my agency Saatchi & Saatchi who are handling this project with P&G all over ASEAN, Australasia and Ind ia. Originally the plan was just to slice off a portion of their profits and give this to the cause. Saatchi & Saatchi were to develop some ads, get the media to sponsor the space or airtime, hopefully people would buy more P&G products and so increase the amount of donation P&G could give and that was that. But vision without action is nothing and our small committee just wasn't enough to get all the things we wanted to do done. Urgent calls were made to some friends starting with Joe Hasham and Faridah Merican and, yes, Mr Networking Himself and publishe r extraordinaire, the man known as Sledgehamme r. Today the team has grown and continues to grow, involving members of the media, marketing communications industries (other ad agencies, PR agencies, event management agencies e tc.) fi lm production houses, record ing studios and the list goes on. T here is a song, the lyrics and music composition generously donated by award-winning songwriter Paul Ponnudorai. There will be a music viaeo of the song and a charity concert to be staged. Open Minds is a program set up by Procter & Gamble in association with UNICEF and run under the auspices of the Malaysian Ministry of National Unity and Social Development's Department of Social Services and the Singapore Community C hest. It is the goal of Open Minds to e nsure that ALL children, not just some children receive the education they need in order to fu lfi l the ir pote ntial to become the leaders, visionaries and builders of tomorrow.
Open Minds
educating oil of our childre n
WANITA
Circulation -ABC 68,879
SA.JI
Circulation -ABC 28,790
RIAS
Circulation 30,000 (approximate) To advertise, please contact
Utuun Media Sales Sdn Blld No11 A The Right Angle Jalan 14122, Petaling Jaya Selangor Darul Ehsan. Tel: 03-756 3355 Fax: 03-757 n55
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I can kick him around. He's shorter than me. To be honest, when we started together our relationship was not exactly a bed of roses. We thought of each other as arrogant bullies. But one day we sat down and said, if we stop fighting with each other and used our energies to create good work we'll get somewhere.
VERY SELDOM DO YOU SEE an ad agency hiring bright and young creative sparks ri ght into the driver's seat of the agency's creative product. But in her inimitable style Jennifer Chan the CEO of BBDO Malaysia did just that. Jennifer who is well known for her off-the-edge management style reined in two sizzling creatives Lee Szu-Hung and Huang Ean Hwa from Leo Burnett (LB) to BBDO as joint creative directors. Dubbed the young Dream Team in their last ad agency, both Szu-Hung and Huang have been the talk of town ever since their new posting at BBDO. Szu-Hung and Huang, aged 28 and 31 respectively, have clinched more that 90 awards from such shows as the Kancil Awards, the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival, Asian Advertising Awards, London International and the New York Festivals. Which just about says it all. After graduating from a local art school, Huang started his career at a public relations firm before working with lead ing postproduction house VHQ for three years. After that he joined ad agency Paragon Communications, a subsidiary of DYR, for less than a year before moving on to LB. Szu-Hung, educated and trained in Britain, has a masters degree in
24 ADOIANYTHINGADVERTISING
Public International Law and is the copywriter in the team. Immediately after obtaining his law degree he joined Saatchi & Saatchi KL giving his parents a complete shock. After a yea r at Saatchi, he joined DYR where he first met Huang. They both joined LB in 1994 and went on to win a string of awards. Huang won the Best Young Creative Award at the Kancils for his Ma Ma Sustagen ad with the head line "How to recharge yo ur breasts". But the one that really took them places was the work they did for KL Classifieds. It won them a Spike at the Asian Advertising Awards and a Gold Lion at Cannes for Best use of Media.
So you've been quite a few awards huh.P We've never set out win awards with our work. It's more like by the way and of course, it's great to have some awards to show for yo ur work. How do you think good copywriters are discovered.? There's never been a formula for finding writers; they tend to come from anywhere. I am a lawye r for example and I know of another writer who was an optician. The famous writer Yasmin came from a computer background. What is also important is to nurture new found talent in the right way. Is an excellent command of English a pre-requisite to becoming a good writer.%' It helps. English is still ve ry much a part of our business. And Huang would you like to add your two words here.? I agree! What~ so special about you teaming up with Szu-Hung.P I can kick him around. He's shorter than me. To be honest, when we started together our rela-
Szu-Htmg
tionship was not exactly a bed of roses. We thought of each other as arrogant bullies. But one day we sat down and said, if we stop fightin g with each other and used our energies to create good work we'll get somewhere. And that was how it all started.
Tell us about what got you ahead in your craft.? I had a very good teacher. When I got into Leo Burnett, I was very junior. Ali was my teacher and he got me to get the basic styles right. After a whi le, I started to rebel and started to use my own style. But Ali did not resent this. I learnt that he wanted me to learn the basics well first, before dabbling into my own creative interpretations. Szu-Hung, what was your outlook coming into BBDO.? We told Jennifer that we just want to do good work. We're here to pump up the quality and have fun. People say we're yo ung but we believe in results and you're never too young to lead , as long as you deliver the goods. Huang, for a Chinese you've got a lot of hair on your face. Oh no, look at Szu-Hung! He's got more. You can trust him.
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Huang, since you're on a roll here, tell us about the KL Classifieds campaign. KL C lassifieds was a direct competitor to othe r newspapers so we couldn't advertise in this medium. Also, due to the limited budget, TV was too expensive. So we thought if we couldn't bring people to the news, we'll bring the news to the people. We decided to use street actors in the city during peak hours. One actor he ld a leash without a dog attached and on the back of his shirt was written: "Lost something? Read KL Classifieds". Another actor, dressed in a business suit lay face down on the hot tarmac as if he had died, with a chalk profile drawn around him, much like a crime scene. On his briefcase was written: "For a be tte r job, read the KL Classifieds". What was the budget? RM2,000 ringgit only! The talents were from the clie nt side. We got
some really weird responses from passers-by but the circulation of the pape r rose by 40%.
And it won a Gold Lion at Cannes. Is it Malaysia's first Gold Lion ever.? I think so. So are you settled down here at BBDO? When Jennifer offered her the job as joint creative directors, we didn't blink. And when we got in here we hit the ground running! We've been enjoying ourselves meeting the clients. What do you think ofJennifer? She dresses very well. She's actually taller than she looks in pictures. She's actually a very nice lady. She's very focussed; which is something we truly admire. It has bee n a month since we've been here and we've become very good frie nds. We have a good feeling about this and abo ut BBDO Malaysia. We want to excel and it will happen, hopefully soone r than late r.
ADOIANYTHINGADVERTISING 25
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Interview with Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir Counci l to discuss her ongoing struggle to fight AIDS. Can you tell us, what are the actual figures to date of HIV/AIDS infected cases.?
AWARENESS OF AIDS is greater now than ever, given the continuous efforts of the Malaysian AIDS Council and the independent voluntary bodies. Nevertheless, the number of Malaysians being infected with HIV is still climbing. Statistics reveal that one person dies of AIDS everyday in Malaysia but a more probable estimate is three deaths every two days. Staggering also is the fact that 12 new cases are reported each day. In view of the growing seriousness of AIDS throughout the South East Asian region, Malaysia will host an international congress this year. The 5th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific will be held in October to promote greater awareness, disseminate and share information. I had the opportunity to meet up with Marina Mahathir, Chairman of the AIDS Foundation and President of the
The trouble is people don't really realise the seriousness of AIDS in this country. The official figure is about 30,000 but these are the reported cases. Nobody really knows about the unreported cases who are they? It's always put in the media that it is the drug users and people always tend to treat drugrelated persons as separate, not mainstream, so we shouldn't worry about them. But there is a whole lot of complication with this because their relationship with others invariably ties them in with a larger society. The numbers have increased tremendously since 10 years ago. In fact, they predict that by the year 2000 we would have 30,000 cases and we already have that now. And, we are pretty sure that the unreported cases are far larger, so it is increasing. They are reporting about 5 to 6 new cases per week, and these cases are at the late stage and they are not drug users. The reason why there is such a high proportion of drug users is because of mandatory testing. So, if
Requiem for a Direct Marketing Heavyweight by Kurt Crocker, Partner at Drayton Bird, Crock er & Mano
ONE OF DAVID OGILVY"S biggest regrets was that he took his agency public. That led the way for WPP and a new, but not necessarily improved , financially-drive n corporate culture at Ogilvy & Mather. David was not amused, despite the bundle he made from the deal. O&M may or may not be returning to their roots, but one thing is certain. The foundation from which David built his agency remains as sure and steady today as it was some 50 years ago. A foundation formed, in no small way, by his first love and secret weapon: Direct Marketing. From the very beginning, David used Direct Marketing strategies to identify prospects who were interested in his clients' products and services. He knew that, at the very least, Direct Marketing cou ld be a powerful way to generate leads. Later he realized that Direct Marketing could also help his clients keep customers longer and make them more profitable. He knew he needed specialists for that, and bought the expertise to set up a Direct Marketing division in his New York office ... long before his competitors got around to it. In a speech to Direct Marketing specialists in London years ago, David identified a few other milestones that helped himself, his agency and his clients profit.
28 ADOIANYTHINGADVERTISING
you test a particular group, of course, you are going to get a higher proportion of that group. It's sad because I see so much misinterpretation of the figures. I saw in the papers that there is a marginal increase amongst women from 3% to 6%, although that might seem small., it actually constitutes a 100% increase! What limitations do you face and how do you think they can be overcome.?
We can't show condoms in our public service ads. We don't really have clear accurate guidelines on the portrayal of condoms. We had a radio programme that was sponsored by Durex with a question and answer session. The authorities let it go, but I must say, they get quite nervous about any mention of condoms or the company. It's like a minefield that keeps going around and around. Interestingly, m Indonesia, there was a TV ad which featured celebrities talking very straightforwardly and in a simple way 'Setia Selalu, Condom Selalu '. It would be a dream if we could do it here. So in the end, the ads tend to be wishy-washy.
by Lara Hussein Would you welcome ideas from ad agencies and TV stations.?
Yes, we would welcome a lot of ideas from stations and ad agencies. I was a judge for the MVA awards where there was a category for AIDS awa reness. A Malaysian produced short-film was the winner entitled ''Time of Death'. I particularly liked the last line, "Education and Awareness is the cure for AIDS". There were other ideas; like a testimonial route which I liked. The ones on drug users on the streets were very real and powerful, but we were concerned about the confidential issue. What do you think stops advertisers from using AIDS as a vehicle to do their bit for cause related marketing, eg. Benetton and Levis.?
These two are the most supportive brands. Levis, especially, in this country, has been very good in donations and lending support. We really welcome support from companies but very few people would want to outrightly associate their brand with AIDS apart from condom companies. But for Levis, it's pan of their worldwide sponsorship.
At the age of 25, he went to work as an office boy for Mather & Crowther in London and took a correspondence course in Direct Mail, which he paid for himself. When a clie'!t prospect, with an ad budget of ÂŁ 100 dropped in, he was passed off to the office boy. The client had bought a country house and was about to open it as a hotel. David spent the budget sending postcards to everyone living near the hotel. Six weeks later when the hotel opened, it was full y booked.When David first started Ogilvy & Mather in New York, the agency was unknown. Within a few months they were growing so fast they had to turn down new accounts. During that time he had sent personalized mailings to the manufacturers who were their prospects. A great many of these prospects became attracted to the agency because of the mailings. He sold $750,000 executive jets for Cessna by "delivering mysterious canons to the offices of some industrial big shots". The cartons contained homing pigeons, with a memo saying, "If you would like a test flight in a Cessna Citation Jet, release me." David noted that some of the big shots killed the pigeons and ate them, "but a lot released them and they flew home, with the address of the prospect strapped to their legs." David was truly a man of vision, in the fullest meaning of that overused and often undeserved accolade. He was also a gentleman. He sent me a hand-written postcard when I first joined Ogilvy & Mather Direct in Los Angeles back in 1985, with a few words of friendly advice and a picture of his castle-home in Toufou, France. We corresponded occasionally until a few years before I left O&M Malaysia in 1995 to form Drayton Bird, Crocker & Mano. David was willingly ready with praise, encouragement or a succinct and relevant suggestion. It was heartbreaking to see him step aside to watch the money-handlers begin to transform the child he had given birth to and nurtured for so many years. Of course, it was even sadder to hear he had left us all forever. But David 's passion for Direct Marketing was an early and lasting impression, and why I have been and remain one of its most ardent advocates. For that, I will always be grateful.
up and down the Nile bearing the distinctive red and white logo on their sails. Tokyo meanwhile is home to the world's largest threedimensional neon sign at 93 feet wide (28.35 meters) and 49 feet (14.95 meters) tall. Regardless of these differences, the traditional and distinctive swirly script for Coca-Cola prevails, and has an estimated 98 per cent recognition around the world. It was designed by Dr. Pemberton's original partner, Frank M. Robinson, who also chose the name Coca-Cola because the two Cs would look well in advertising.' Another timeless original is the curvy contour bottle, designed to be instantly recognizable - eve n if you graspe d it in the dark. British design guru, Stephen Bayley, who staged a contour bottle exhibition at the L ondon Design Museum, described it not only as "the most perfect packaging" but also as "the most familiar object on Earth."
Quenching the world's thirst more than one billion times aday Coca-Cola celebrates its 113th birthday U .S. Preside nts Richard Nixon, Dwight Eisenhower, John Kennedy and Bill Clinton cracked open a bottle the night they made it to the White House. Mikhail Gorbachev was given a bottle when he first met George Bush. Fidel Castro banne d it - the n trie d to ban a photo of himse lf drinking it on a trip to C hile. It has even been consumed in space. So what is the mystery product - a vintage champagne for the rich and powerful ? No, it's Coca-Cola, the world's biggest-selling soft d rink. May 8," 1999 marked 113 years since the first glass of Coca-Cola was sold at Jacobs' P harmacy in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. But Dr. John Pemberton 's creation took a while to catch on, and sales were a modest
nine servings a day d uring its first yea r. By contrast, The Coca-Cola Company brands are now consumed in almost 200 countries around the world, at the rate of more than one billi on servings a d ay. Coca-Cola first arrived in Asia when it was imported into the Philippines at the tum of the century. Local bottling operations began soon after in both the Philippine s a nd C hin a. But it was during the Second World War that local bottling operations rapidly expanded across the AsiaPacific region, E urope and Africa. T hen Company president Robert Woodruff gave the order, "to see that every man in uniform gets a boule of Coca-Cola for 5 cents, wherever he is and whatever it costs the Company. "
T he new plants not only gave troops a taste of home; they also gave many local people their first taste of Coca-Cola. Adve rtising is anothe r area where the best of global and local are combined. Some ads are take n from a global pool of "pattern" advertising and adapted as appropriate. Regardless of where you are from, you can probably hum along to "Always Coca-Cola, remember "Can't Beat the Feeling" (1989), and, depending on your age, you may even recall the famous commercial "I'd like to buy the world a Coke" (1 971 ). Other commercials are created s p e c if ic all y fo r loca l m a rke t s. Many Muslim markets showed an advertisement produced in Malaysia for R a m a d a n t hi s ye ar, w hil e commercials celebrating Lunar New Year have been created for China. Ce rtain countries may require more than one version of a commercial just to reach the diverse cultures and languages within their own boundaries. A re cent I ndonesian ad vertising campaign, had to be produced in 11 different dialects! Loca l diffe re n ce s app ly to signage, too. In Pakistan taxis might bear Coca-Cola branding, while in Egypt, traditional felucca boar.~ ~~ il
P erh a p s th e mos t s trikin g demonstration of this consumer loyalty came in 1985, when the Company startle d the American public by making the first ever change to the secret formula for Coca-Cola. All the testing and research could not have measured consumers' emotional attachment to the original formula, so the Company quickly re instated it. Such a groundswell of support for the brand would have amaze d the creator of Coca-Cola, D r. Pemberton. He did not live to see the success of the drink he create d in the three-le gged brass ke ttle in his backyard in May, 1886. Yet although about 1/5 of the world's population now drinks a Coca-Cola every day, its formula re mains the same as it always has: providing consumers with a brief moment of refreshment for a small amount of money.
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APL Singapore breaks sleek new ads for AudiA& AMMIRATI PURlS LINTAS Singapore's new regional work fo r the Audi A6 positions the car as a true style icon. APL Singapore's Managing Director, Greg Paull says, 'With the A6, Audi has made the most innovative, design driven car in the luxury saloon segment - we had to match this with advertising that exudes the same style and quality. The Audi consideration ranking in the luxury segment has gone from 8th to 3rd in three years - we're now more than just snapping at the heels of BMW and Benz - we're a serious contender for leadershi p. ' The creative team is Executive Creative Director Nick Fairhead, Copywriter Justin Pereira, Art Director Vancelee Teng and Account team Laurent Garnier, Kerry Fitzgerald and Christine Lim.
44 ADOIANYTHINGADVERTISING
How do we raise Malaysian creative standards? Shafri Mohamad Bates Malaysia
Jeff Orr Grey Malaysia Creative standards in the world are low. Watch TV anywhere on the globe and you will be equally appalled. Read a newspaper? Worse. Why? Logical messages with ordinary executions are working. Product is being sold, research is proving it correct. Some of the world's most successful brands do some of the most linear advertising. Where is our proof that they should do otherwise? I see e nough excellent work die to know that our creative abilities are high. But the environment will not easily accept selling-ideas over rational explanations. We need to change the environment.
Paul Gordon EURO RSCG Partnership How to improve creative standards? Simple. Refuse to accept all the usual excuses for doing mediocre ads # 1 Client is too conservative
#2 There's not enough time #3 T here's not enough money #4 RTM will kill it As last year's Polo commercials showed, it can be done.
The sad truth is, I believe there's already a pool of very talented individuals out there but unfortunately they are being confronted with theinadequacies of the indusry. The biggest one being there's a great shortage of Creative Directors who are capable of providing the leadership and guidance that this pool of people are in great need of. T hey are more concerned about making a name for themselves and looking after their bigpaychecks. What we should be more concerned with is whether we've given sufficient support, commitment and dedication towards grooming a pool talent for the next generation. F rankly I'm sceptical this situation will change much over the next couple of years, I believe we will continually be putting the blame on the suits and the clients to justify our bar bills. One last thing, all those 'great' ads that are in the bottom drawer, well they are there primarily because the Creative Directors did not have the talent to do what I believe to be the most important thing that they're supposed to do - sell a great idea! So unless and until we stqp looking for scapegoats for our own inadequacies, raising the creative standards is just another fantasy that we've created.
Julie Lingan ISCB Worldwide Partners Malaysia has great creative talents but the ads are not necessarily theirs. Based on shared frustrations with fellow COs, the ads "belong" to those who pass judgment on creative work - those who think they' re copywriters, art directors, e tc. There is a need to make them realize that if the fire dies, mediocrity sets in. They should find wisdom in the saying 'any fool can write a bad ad but it takes a real genius to keep his hands off a good one.'
Sonal Dabral Ogilvy & Mather Since I got into this country only 4 months back, my thoughts might be a bit premature but this is what I feel. One of the key steps towards ra1smg the creative standards in Malaysia should be to h e lp build a s tro ng you n ge r generation of COMMUNICATION professionals - people who don't just see advertising as an end but rather as a tool in the highly complex but exciting process of talking with the consumer. This is the new generation that will form the backbone of Malaysian advertising tomorrow. It would mean running workshops, training sessions for young minds both on a national as well as agency levels. [Count me in if I'm req uired anytime] Besides raising the levels of the craft, we also perhaps need an attitude change. We need to inculcate an attitude that tells us that there's always a newer way of looking at things. An attitude that tells us that the status quo can be broken. An attitude that tells us that we too can do world class work. And this change has to cascade down from senior creative people right down to the juniors in all agencies. T his attitude change in turn will make us more passionate not only in creating great work but also in selling it so that it sees the light of day. Which means an attitude change that is contagious e nough to spread all the way to the client.
Paul Grezoux McCann-Erickson 1. T here is no need to appeal to the lowest common denominator. (Malaysian consumers will 'get it'.)
2 Comme rcials created in E nglish or Chinese should be allowed to carry English or Chinese supers to be fully compre hended by the audie nce they are aimed at. T he same goes for billboards. 3. Adve rtising should reflect real Malaysian multiculturalism - language, lifestyle, etc. - not some utopian dream. 4. Introduce an Account Service training school. 5. Agencies must learn to say "No".
Ted Lim NagaDDB Try to find out what's been done. Try not to do the same. Try not to kill anyone if the client won't buy it. Try not to kill yourself if it doesn't win an award. Try again.
ADOIANYTHINGADVERilSING 45
Client: Ritz Carlton • Azency: TBWA S inzavore • Covv: J ustin L im • Art Direction: Gmmrv
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