Advertising + Marketing MY - Mar 2015

advertising + marketing malaysia

MARCH

2015

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HOW IS THE

ROLE OF COMMUNICATIONS CHANGING? Public relations is no longer just about press releases. Encompassing a much wider array of initiatives, PR now has more power to drive conversations for a brand than ever before. In fact, some practitioners argue it should not be called PR at all. It is communications.

With all this and much more, communications is now ďŹ nding a voice in the boardroom as well. Encompassing the hows of communications in this new era is our dedicated one-day, power-packed conference. The Comms Malaysia 2015 conference will highlight the needs and concerns of communications professionals across Malaysia.

Early bird rates ends on 9 April Client-side marketers: USD 599 Solution providers: USD 899

To learn more and view the agenda, visit: www.marketing-interactive.com/communications/my Communications 2015 takes place at Aloft Hotel, Sentral Kuala Lumpur 14 May 2015 8.50 am - 5.00 pm

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* Under the Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF), registered employers can claim rebates for trainings conducted by an overseas trainer/training provider.

For more information, contact Carlo Reston, assistant project manager - conference & awards at +65 6423 0329, +65 9727 0291 or carlor@marketing-interactive.com

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

Elizabeth Low, Deputy Editor elizabethl@marketing-interactive.com Rezwana Manjur, Senior Journalist rezwanam@marketing-interactive.com Noreen Ismail, Journalist noreeni@marketing-interactive.com Editorial – International Matt Eaton, Editor (Hong Kong) matte@marketing-interactive.com Production and Design Shahrom Kamarulzaman, Regional Art Director shahrom@lighthousemedia.com.sg Fauzie Rasid, Senior Designer fauzier@lighthousemedia.com.sg Advertising Sales – Singapore & Malaysia Trina Choy, Senior Account Manager trinac@marketing-interactive.com Johnathan Tiang, Senior Account Manager johnathant@marketing-interactive.com Grace Goh, Account Manager graceg@marketing-interactive.com Jocelyn Ma, Account Manager jocelynm@marketing-interactive.com Ong Yi Xuan, Advertising Sales Coordinator yixuano@marketing-interactive.com Advertising Sales – International Josi Yan, Sales Director (Hong Kong) josiy@marketing-interactive.com Events Yeo Wei Qi, Regional Head of Events Services weiqi@marketing-interactive.com Circulation Deborah Quek, Circulation Executive deborahqi@marketing-interactive.com Finance Evelyn Wong, Regional Finance Director evelynw@lighthousemedia.com.sg Management Søren Beaulieu, Publisher sorenb@marketing-interactive.com Tony Kelly, Editorial Director tk@marketing-interactive.com Justin Randles, Group Managing Director jr@marketing-interactive.com

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Lately, I have seen a lot of conversations on talent – engagement, career progression, recognition, training, retention and so on.

I agree with all of that, but behind this rather daunting task, companies often miss out on the small steps that make all of this a reality.

Cultivating empathy is one of them.

Every year Advertising+Marketing magazine has an editor’s conference where we discuss a range of things that help us, well, enjoy our work and do better at it.

A couple of years ago in one such discussion on creating an ideal team, our editorial director Tony Kelly said something which has stuck with me ever since. He said: “You are not a different person when you come to work.”

Speaking from personal experience of being part of a team and leading one now, I can vouch for the validity of that statement. We carry with us the emotional baggage of things that have happened at home, with family or friends. While all of us hope it does not affect our work, there are times it gets overwhelming.

What helps in such situations? An empathetic team and manager to begin with, which encourages the employee to perform well and with a relaxed mind. This is an example of small steps/changes I am alluding to.

There’s a lot of emphasis on companies becoming truly customer-centric, an omnichannel approach to understanding customers and so on and so forth.

That to me is a distant dream if companies fail to understand and empathise with people who work for them – and who will go the extra mile to help achieve business goals if they appreciate what the manager and the team has done for them.

And I say both the team and manager for a reason. Putting the blame on managers and the management for every other issue, to me, is escapism. I’m a big believer in bringing about change where you are and in whatever capacity.

Creating a work culture is a leader’s job, agreed. And that’s why this month we turn our attention to agency heads and ask them what keeps them going at their jobs (refer to page 14 onwards) but keeping up the culture and making it better if need be, especially for peers, is everyone’s job.

This mindset of feeling empowered is yet another example of small steps/changes.

No longer are the issues of culture and talent soft. These are hard issues and have to be dealt with accordingly for any organisation’s success.

Let’s focus on the small steps, guys. The bigger picture will take care of itself.

Meanwhile, enjoy this edition which talks about some of the local industry’s most successful case studies, a company’s level of innovativeness, customer experience and much more.

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A MEMBER OF

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Photography: Stefanus Elliot Lee – www.elliotly.com; Makeup & Hair: Michmakeover using Make Up For Ever & hair using Sebastian Professional – www.michmakeover.com

Editorial Rayana Pandey, Editor rayanap@marketing-interactive.com

FORGET CUSTOMERS, HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW YOUR COLLEAGUES?

Rayana Pandey Editor

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CONTENTS

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10 DOES YOUR COMPANY HAVE AN INNOVATIVE CULTURE? There are four questions you need to ask yourself to find out, says Brand Learning’s Hayley Spurling.

12 NISSAN’S CONTENT MARKETING SUCCESS Nissan on its success strategy in content marketing through the Nissan Media Centre. Editor-in-chief Dan Sloan explains to Preeti Varadarajan.

14 MEET THE BOSSES A behind the scenes look at some of Malaysia’s top agency heads.

26 SPECIAL REPORT: CASE STUDIES A+M features some of Malaysia’s best marketing case studies.

38 THE RISE OF THE ‘SHE-CONOMY’ Women represent a growth market for global brands – here’s why and how brands in multiple industries are trying to get a slice of this burgeoning market. Apple Lam reports.

What does it take to be a successful agency head? We get personal with adland’s leaders as they speak up on their management philosophy and journey to the top. Page 14.

42 A NEW AGE FOR LUXURY The age-old practices of luxury brands are changing as consumers see luxury differently. What does new-age luxury marketing look like? Rezwana Manjur reports.

48 CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE 2015 What constitutes the perfect customer experience and how can brands create it? Senior marketing leaders explain.

SCAN TO SUBSCRIBE!

12 10 What you’ll learn in this issue: >> How to think like an agency head. >> How is the world of luxury marketing changing. >> How to get customer experience right.

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NEWS

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

A festive feeling One of Malaysia’s largest media platforms, Media Prima, launched a campaign this Chinese New Year called: “样样都好 VERY GOAT!” Building on the network’s strategy of offering innovative content, the “VERY GOAT” year campaign offers brands an opportunity to engage with viewers through an experiential platform. This platform is said to reflect the season’s values of togetherness, joy and new beginnings.

Going digital Heart Media, a media and publishing house in Asia, has partnered with monimedia, a marketing production agency, to officially launch Men’s Folio and L’Officiel in digital format. This launch bolsters Heart Media’s presence in the digital luxury world in Southeast Asia. This initiative marks the beginning of a wider digital programme aimed at leveraging all Heart Media magazine titles onto the digital platform.

Watsons under fire The Watsons’ Malaysia brand is under scrutiny after news of its broken safety seals went viral.

The issue was made worse as a fake Twitter account for Watsons Malaysia responded rudely to the customer complaint on Twitter. Customer Adam Minter took to Twitter to warn customers about the safety violations he encountered and was quickly met with a rude response by “WatsonsMalaysia” which was later confirmed by Watsons Malaysia to be an unauthorised account.

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A new union Sources have confirmed to Advertising + Marketing that Telekom Malaysia (TM) has appointed Brand Union as its branding agency. A+M understands the branding initiatives will be strongly focused on the Malaysia market and work has already begun. The pitch was first called late last year with agencies from Singapore and Malaysia vying for the account.

Brand Union did not comment on A+M’s queries.

Growing ambitions Nippon Paint Malaysia Group revealed its plan to achieve a 50% market share in Malaysia this year and increase the distribution of its colour tinting machines from the current 50% to 70% market share over the next three years.

The head of marketing at Nippon Paint, Alex Yoong, said marketing plans for Nippon included its aim to increase its brand share of voice to drive stronger brand awareness and brand recall.

More on the menu Online food delivery platform foodpanda, backed by Rocket Internet, made a series of acquisitions across Asia Pacific.

It acquired four online food delivery services in Hong Kong – Dial-a-Dinner, Koziness.com, SOHO Delivery and Ring-a-Dinner.

Foodpanda also bought Food Runner-owned Room Service in Malaysia and Singapore, which allowed it to acquire contracts with restaurants such as Wendy’s and Hard Rock Cafe in those markets.

Driving change in Malaysia Allianz Malaysia is rallying the Malaysian public to catch irresponsible drivers. The insurance company launched a campaign called Malaysians Against Irresponsible Drivers (MyAID) through which it aims to “change driving behaviour and make roads safer”. In a press statement, Allianz Malaysia said MyAID was a “nationwide movement which seeks to mobilise Malaysians to keep a watch on irresponsible drivers”.

Yellow Mango hooked again The Manhattan Fish Market renewed its appointment of social media communications agency Yellow Mango Communications for 2015. The appointment is for a year and is for the Malaysia market. The agency has handled the brand’s social media communications for the past year. The pitch was called in 2014 and the agency will look over the company’s digital branding as well as digital PR.

Preparing for the future Insurance-related service provider Tokio Marine launched a company wide rebranding initiative that unifies its Tokio Marine Life and Non-Life marketing efforts. It has also just launched its first regional campaign through which it hopes to help people be “Ready for what’s next”. The brand strategy, look and feel have been defined by the Brand Union, while the integrated regional campaign was developed by Havas Worldwide.

Maxus wins new deal The Tan Chong Group appointed Maxus to handle its regional media buying for Subaru. The duties will cut across the markets of Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Cambodia and Indonesia.

Maxus is also tasked with creating a strategic council for campaign execution strategies for the brand.

The agency was appointed following a closed door pitch with no contract time frame slated.

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NEWS

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What’s in a name?

Maxis celebrated Chinese New Year 2015 by trying to discover the true meaning behind consumers’ given names. It shared a short YouTube film titled “#thisismyname”. The video took consumers through a journey that showed that behind every name, there is a meaning that comes with a story to be proud of. To take part Malaysians could share their names on Maxis’ Facebook page with the hashtag #thisismyname.

A new super power Programmatic buying firm AdzCentral merged with two other ad technology firms Better and Asia Digital Ventures to create one of the largest independent Asian programmatic companies.

The three companies that came together to form CtrlShift comprise 130 employees across five markets in Southeast Asia, made up of consultants, media traders, data scientists, ad-tech product specialists and software engineers. The firm will be q g p headquartered in Singapore.

Data deluxe Singtel Advertising, a digital advertising solutions platform under Group Digital L!fe, and Kantar Media, a television audience measurement company, installed the Return Path Data (RPD) technology as a part of Singtel mio TV’s new television audience measurement platform.

The RPD is said to accurately monitor audience consumption behaviour at a household level and allows Singtel mio TV to optimise its pay TV programming.

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A new super power Programmatic buying firm AdzCentral merged with two other ad technology firms Better and Asia Digital Ventures to create one of the largest independent Asian programmatic companies.

The three companies that came together to form CtrlShift comprise 130 employees across five markets in Southeast Asia, made up of consultants, media traders, data scientists, ad-tech product specialists and software engineers. The firm will be headquartered in Singapore.

Scaling back FutureBrand is being tipped to scale back its Singapore operations. In a statement to A+M, Susie Hunt (pictured), chairman of FutureBrand APAC, said there would not be a closure in FutureBrand operations in Singapore, but rather the agency would be “refocusing its operations as a regional strategy hub for key regional and global clients such as Unilever and Nestlé”.

National service The Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) and the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) are looking for an agency to launch their integrated marketing and communications campaign.

The campaign aims to raise public support for NS men and reach out to employers to promote the hire of NS men. Some of the key areas of responsibility are campaign management and planning, social media engagement, public relations and media management.

Getting creative The Sentosa Development Corporation (SDC) is looking to appoint a creative agency for its tactical campaigns for two years with an option to extend for another year. The agency will be tasked to propose a three-year creative tactical campaign and create concepts and key visuals.

The agency chosen will be tasked to position Sentosa as a leading lifestyle and leisure resort destination.

What are your resolutions?

Singapore Airlines launched a new online campaign called #MyTravelResolution to inspire consumers on social media to fulfil their most aspiring travel resolutions for the New Year. SIA had earlier asked fans to share with their travel resolutions on Facebook and Twitter. Among the responses received, the airline found five travellers from four different countries and helped them fulfil their travel resolutions.

Changing hands KFC Singapore appointed Ogilvy & Mather Singapore as its agency of record moving the account from Ren Partnerships. Ogilvy & Mather Singapore is now responsible for all KFC’s communications in the Singapore market. Before working with Ren Partnerships, the KFC Singapore’s account was held

by Grey. Meanwhile, Virginia Ng, senior marketing director of KFC Singapore, left the company after 13 years with the organisation.

A new mandate Independent integrated marketing communications agency Mandate Communications retained the Singapore Army account following the tender in March last year.

The agency was first appointed in 1988. “The reappointment is testament to Mandate’s in-depth understanding of the brand and its transformation through the years,” said a statement from Mandate.

To add to its remit, Mandate was tasked by the MINDEF Scholarship Centre to brand and market its scholarships.

Shopping marathon Google, along with DBS and SingPost launched a 72-hour Great Online Shopping Festival.

From midnight on 2 February, the online shopping festival saw deals from more than 60 brands on a common platform to Singaporeans. SingPost offered its delivery and returns solutions to brands taking part in the festival. SingPost also offered online shoppers access to 90 POPStations – or smart locker stations – around the island.

Getting sporty Sports media rights company MP & Silva kicked off a partnership with the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) to create new revenue streams that will provide growth platforms for the sport and take the game of football in Singapore to the next level, said MP & Silva. The multipronged partnership focuses on Singapore’s National “A” team and age group teams.

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NEWS

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CPF hunts for agency The Central Provident Fund board (CPF) is looking for agencies to provide integrated marketing and public communication services. As part of CPF’s public communications efforts, CPF is seeking to appoint agencies to increase awareness and understanding of CPF policies and schemes among members.

With the help of the agencies, the board also aims to educate members on the role of the CPF system and schemes.

Taking it to the Max Frasers Centrepoint Malls moved its media account from Havas Media to Maxus Communications.

The appointment came following a closed door pitch where incumbent Havas Media was also vying for the account.

Maxus will be handling all media planning and buying with strategic counsel and customised consumer targeting solutions.

The appointment was for the Singapore market, however, there was no time frame slated.

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Personalised search Online property search portal 99.co officially launched with an expansion of its services into the residential sales segment with new investments totalling SG$2.7 million to date. The site claims to display unbiased search results, which are personalised to the query of the end user and sorted by the quality of the listing data versus the promotional spend of the agents.

Medical benefits Allergan Medical Aesthetics appointed Carat for its media planning and buying duties. The appointment covers the Asia Pacific market. Work will be led out of the Carat Singapore regional office.

This was the first time Allergan Medical Aesthetics has appointed a regional media agency.

Meanwhile, Leo Burnett Group Singapore was also appointed earlier to handle integrated communications for its medical aesthetics range in Asia Pacific.

Into the cloud Rally, the social media specialist agency of IPG Mediabrands in Asia, launched Socio 3.0, a social marketing cloud service, to its clients. Socio 3.0 brings real-time consumer data that helps marketers to develop the right social media messaging, to launch it via the appropriate social touch-points and to measure its effectiveness. The proprietary platform of Socio was developed in collaboration with IPG Mediabrands’ global technology solutions team.

Logical choice Logitech Malaysia appointed LEWIS PR to lead its integrated communications for the brand. In this role, LEWIS will lead public relations and digital marketing across Logitech’s main divisions of peripherals for PC, mobility and video communications for business. Additionally, LEWIS will manage, generate and sustain conversations on Logitech Malaysia’s Facebook page, while driving brand affinity through highlevel outreach with technology and lifestyle media.

A big shift MediaCorp has reorganised itself moving away from traditional media lines towards a focus on specific consumer groups. In an internal memo, MediaCorp CEO Shaun Seow shared with employees the rationale for the changes. MediaCorp’s business portfolio, comprising more than 50 products, will be managed by teams focused on the following consumer segments: family, news, youth, parents, women, men, Malay, Indian, foodies, learners, live entertainment and premieres.

A Healthy appointment Pfizer Consumer Healthcare appointed Havas Media as its media agency of record. The appointment comes following a pitch late last year involving three agencies. The scope covers media planning and buying for Singapore and entails strategy development and media planning and buying for household brand names such as Centrum, Imedeen and Caltrate. According to Havas Media, the reported media spending for Pfizer is more than SG$3 million on an annual basis.

An epic spark SPARK Architects reappointed Epic PR for another term based on successful delivery of key PR campaigns in 2014. Stephen Pimbley, founding director of SPARK Architects, said: “What impressed us about Epic PR is how quickly they understood our vision for a sustainable and convivial built environment, and then to be able convey that to the media and maintain their interest.”

UM Singapore sits pretty The Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) appointed UM Singapore its traditional and digital media buying and planning duties.

The appointment was for the Singapore market. UM Singapore has worked with SIT since 2012.

Pat Lim, managing director of UM Singapore, said: “Our 360 media offerings comprising traditional, digital and content marketing solutions have been well received by them.”

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NEWS

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Mobile first Starbucks Corporation is making a push into mobile this year as the brand sees a wide customer acceptance and adoption of its mobile technologies. This was announced by Howard Schultz, Starbucks’ chairman, president and CEO. He said in the US alone, Starbucks had seen more than 13 million customers actively using Starbucks’ mobile apps.

Starbucks has also appointed Kevin Johnson as president and chief operating officer.

Not so happy Coca-Cola came under fire for trying to do something a little cheerful. It launched a new social media campaign called #MakeItHappy which took negative tweets and tried to create ASCII images. The images were then sent out with the tag line: “We turned the hate you found into something happy. RT to make people :)” Unfortunately, users sent out several tweets from Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf autobiography, which resulted in Coca-Cola creating an image using Hitler’s Mein Kampf quote.

From outer space Want your ads to be seen by the entire world? There’s no better place to display than in space.

SpaceBillboard, a space project initiated by three PhD researchers in engineering at a Belgium university, is putting this insane sounding idea into reality by launching what it claims as the first ad billboard to be placed out of this world under a crowdfunding project.

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Banking on it Nielsen completed its acquisition of Brandbank. Brandbank serves in the area of product content creation, management and publishing solutions for multichannel retailing. The business works with major multi-national grocery and health and beauty retailers and more than 6,000 FMCG suppliers in more than 16 markets. It helps them to create, manage and distribute product content optimised for shopper marketing and category planning.

Roaring off Shanghai Volkswagen appointed FCB Shanghai as its creative agency for Škoda in Mainland China. Among the branding initiatives the agency will lead for the brand this year are Škoda’s rebranding campaign and the launch of two new models in Mainland China. “2015 is an important year for Škoda for continuous growth in China,” said Xie Jinhui, senior manager of marketing communications at Shanghai Volkswagen.

Attention all agencies Unilever announced a review of its media buying and planning business, putting incumbents Mindshare, IPG and PHD on alert.

A Unilever spokesperson confirmed the review to Marketing, adding it was in the early stages of a review process, held every three years.

Marketing can confirm incumbent Mindshare, which holds the lion’s share of the Unilever business in Asia, is vying for the account.

What’s up with WhatsApp? WhatsApp confirmed the beta testing of its long-awaited voicecalling feature after an Android user posted a screenshot of the feature on reddit. Regions the new feature will cover remain unclear for the time being. “We are rolling out a beta test of our new voice-calling feature to a small number of people,” WhatsApp communication lead Brandon McCormick responded to Marketing’s inquiry.

Calling all haters Adidas lit a spark under the world of football by launching its #ThereWillBeHaters campaign.

The campaign was launched to coincide with the launch of adidas’ new football footwear range for 2015. The campaign is focused on a provocative new video featuring global football stars such as Luis Suárez, Gareth Bale, James Rodríguez and Karim Benzema and proclaims that if you have “haters”, then it’s the ultimate compliment.

An epic consolidation FOX International Channels (FIC) consolidated all of its 126 FOX channels outside the United States under a single brand positioning and network package. This worldwide rebrand took place in conjunction with the return of FOX’s international hit The Walking Dead. The new strategy reflects the brand’s growing dominance in the international television marketplace and addresses the importance of branding in an increasingly fragmented environment.

Lucky dog Tourism New Zealand appointed creative agency Dog as its creative marketing and communications agency, targeting the Indonesian market with fully integrated offline and digital marketing paid activities. The partnership sees the agency devise strategies and implement the global travel brand’s creative campaigns in the region, including tactical joint venture communication campaigns and the second phase of Tourism New Zealand’s global brand-building exercise.

Lonely hearts China Mobile Hong Kong celebrated Valentine’s Day with a digital campaign to help lonely hearts find love by creating and publishing their Valentine’s Day cards. Spanning online, mobile and social media, the digital campaign was launched with a video featuring an adorable male dog and his male owner – both secretly in love with a female dog and her female owner respectively – but are too shy to express their feelings.

A good vibe Mobile communications app Viber partnered with social news and entertainment company BuzzFeed to launch Viber Public Chat. Viber Public Chat is said to give users an exclusive inside view into the most shareable stories and videos on the web. BuzzFeed’s social media editors, community moderators and editorial team will contribute to the ongoing public chat conversation, sharing news on Viber and adding their own commentary and discussion. Viber users can follow the conversations in real-time and interact with posts, indicating the content they like.

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NEWS ANALYSIS

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DOES YOUR COMPANY HAVE AN INNOVATIVE CULTURE? Four questions you need to ask yourself to find out - BrandLearning’s Hayley Spurling writes.

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NEWS ANALYSIS

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In our work with clients across industries we’ve found that what makes the biggest difference to their innovation track record is not an individual’s skills, but their innovation culture.

Companies with a great innovation culture have encouraging leaders, clear innovation strategies, well-observed innovation processes, team structures that give space for innovation ideas to be fostered, and agile, flexible project teams to make them happen.

These together are the drivers of capabilities: strategy, organisation, people, skills, processes and culture. Leaders need to manage all of these, thinking about how they interact, if they really want to drive growth.

Let’s get specific.

Does your company have an innovation strategy that specifies the role innovation needs to play in delivering the brand’s purpose or in creating new brands, and is this in line with the overall corporate strategy?

Do you know which particular areas of innovation you need to excel in to create a strategic advantage in your category?

Have you made full benefit of digital technologies in enabling the innovation process – bringing internal and external partners together, like for example, the Unilever Foundry or LEGO’s crowd-sourcing?

Are your leaders and middle managers embracing the risks and creative courage that innovation requires?

Lessons in innovation culture LEGO is a great example. It’s a company filled with creative and skilled people, but despite its best intentions, in 2000 its innovation strategy led it down a path that virtually bankrupted it. In a digital world filled with kids playing computer games, people were questioning the relevance of a plastic brick.

The company tried to address this with a drive for innovation – sparking entry into new sectors such as video games and digital toys, jewellery and theme parks, and it proliferated its core range with movie tie-ups. The result was confusion.

Instead of innovating to support its brand purpose, its brand purpose became muddled and people didn’t know what it really offered and was about, and its internal efficiencies and profitability were compromised.

The company’s performance turned around when it shifted its strategy to innovation within clear parameters, guided by its brand purpose,

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“Companies with a great innovation culture have encouraging leaders, clear innovation strategies, wellobserved innovation processes, team structures that give space for innovation ideas to be fostered, and agile, flexible project teams to make them happen.”

Hayley Spurling — brand director at Brand Learning.

and reconnecting it with its LEGO fan base. It continued to encourage innovation internally and with external LEGO fans, but it controlled it with clearer processes.

Also, it asked this vital question: does this match our brand purpose of building the next generation of engineers by playing well, and does it match our corporate strategy of being the best company for family products? The results speak for themselves.

Another forward-looking example is Rakuten – an exciting innovative company from Japan to watch out for. In the Forbes survey, it was rated as the second most innovative company in Asia. Today it’s the world’s third biggest e-commerce company. What keeps it at the forefront of innovation is its strong culture of innovation rooted in its Japanese roots of respect and discipline.

to build their brand. Others will build strategic advantage by excelling at getting to market (Mondelēz does this well with its chocolate brands for example), and yet others, such as P&G, will excel in rapid global rollout.

Is your company innovative enough?

If you want to find out, here are some questions you should ask yourself:

3. Are your leaders and middle managers embracing the risks and creative courage that innovation requires?

Companies need to recognise and reward the attitudes and behaviours which drive innovation. Attitude to risk, the ability to make bold decisions and allowing the project team to have fresh independent thinking all stem from the culture of the organisation.

Leadership must do more than make go/no decisions against linear development paths, and be able to embrace constant flux, replan talent and resources according to the opportunity.

The leaders of the most innovative companies see themselves as innovators and do not delegate this responsibility. They must display the behaviours which underpin creativity and innovation so this way of working is entrenched in the cultural DNA. The writers are Hayley Spurling, brand director at Brand Learning; and Sandeep Khanna, managing director for Asia Pacific at Brand Learning.

1. Does your company have an innovation strategy that specifies the role innovation needs to play in delivering the brand’s purpose or in creating new brands? Is this in line with the overall corporate strategy?

Does it, for example, set up the level of innovation required: from adding more SKUs such as flavours or colours to tap into trends, to creating new propositions to deliver against the overall brand purpose more deeply (such as Google maps with travel directions that take into account traffic flow to help people find more information they need, when they need it), or to create new brands for the portfolio?

Do you know which particular areas of innovation you need to excel in to create a strategic advantage in your category?

At Brand Learning we use the model of the innovation value chain to map the areas of innovation and spot where companies need to build capabilities.

Some companies, for example, will focus on coming up with new ideas first, as a way

2. Have you made full benefit of digital technologies in enabling the innovation process?

In a globally networked world, digital platforms that crowd-source and crowdselect innovation ideas help companies such as LEGO and Unilever drive their innovation agenda. (If you haven’t already looked at it, check out Unilever’s foundry programme.)

Others digitally empower collaboration behind the scenes – digitising the workflow of projects, sharing ideas internally and communicating via private social platforms.

The writer is Hayley Spurling, brand director at Brand Learning.

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NISSAN’S MANTRA FOR CONTENT MARKETING SUCCESS Nissan on its success strategy in content marketing through the Nissan Media Center. Editorin-Chief Dan Sloan explains to Preeti Varadarajan.

Standing out: What makes a solid content strategy?

The strongest brands today have shown brand consistency as a common success factor. A well thought out content marketing strategy is one key way brands are looking at raising brand awareness. One example of this is Nissan, which has made content marketing a major priority.

In 2011, the brand took what was then a unique step of forming a Global Media Centre to handle its content marketing initiatives. Since then, the brand has produced great content – some of its YouTube videos have had more than 100,000 views. Here are some examples of its

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videos which have gone beyond the 100,000 mark (see here and here for examples).

We spoke to Dan Sloan, editor-in-chief of the Media Centre, to find out what value his department brings to Nissan’s marketing and how Nissan has made content a differentiator for the Nissan brand.

A+M: Brands need to be different to stand out and succeed. Does content marketing as a brand differentiation technique really work?

Sloan: At the time of the Global Media Centre’s

launch in 2011, the concept was rather unique, both for automobile manufacturers and corporates in general. The aim wasn’t just to be different, though, but to have a functioning arm for communications and marketing – creating behind-the-scenes multimedia content that could find an audience that press releases or agency campaigns had not.

Nissan was not the first to try “do-ityourself” content creation, but our iteration – occasionally copied over the last four years, but still a different animal – has enjoyed tangible expansion in audience and engagement.

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Our brief is to elevate the overall opinion of the brands and their share of voice – the goals of marketing and communication. This means constantly assessing how to improve storytelling – both visually and editorially, as well as how we reach a potential audience. Content now is more global than when we began, but it’s also more localised in terms of multiple languages and delivery methods.

A+M: How does the Nissan Media Centre help this process?

Sloan: The Nissan Media Centre often uses partners or individual storytellers, instead of our initial “voice of God” or news narratives in highlighting stories about products, technologies, geographies or markets. That is one of a number of transitions that underscore that the Media Centre remains a work in progress with no rules set in stone.

Will people see the Nissan Global Media Centre as a way to differentiate the brand?

Possibly, but rather than just a gambit of being different, we hope viewers will consider the content reflective of our brand’s “innovative” and “exciting” mantra, and prove it by coming back or sharing.

A+M: Is it better to take this function entirely in-house or look for partners to help? If in-house, what sort of investments in terms of resources are you looking at?

Sloan: Since the Media Centre’s inception, which also saw a centralisation of our global digital marketing strategy under another team, we have increasingly worked across marketing and communications, as well as with our brand and creative agencies, to distil a broader basket of content and assets for a variety of platforms and audiences.

Sometimes content projects, such as for global motor shows, are underway simultaneously, and assets are shared among teams to ensure more compelling content for each version.

Separately, when marketing commissions creative campaigns, such as for the Super Bowl, we work to support and promote it as well; it’s collaborative, occasionally competitive in a constructive way, but best-practice is usually shared. If a project has elements that are beyond the tools the Media Centre possesses – an upcoming story has computer-generated content as part of the narrative – then we solicit ideas on who’s best to complete the job within budgets and deadlines.

In terms of the Media Centre resources, we need the best kit and infrastructure to capture and create stories, better digital asset

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“We see the DIY pluses of having better access to content in previously closed areas, sharing project ownership across teams, and landing some content projects that an agency or traditional media could not.”

Dan Sloan — editor-in-chief of the Nissan Media Centre.

management and distribution systems to ensure easier access internally and externally, as well as the right people and skill sets to keep up with the media and technology.

If you have the talent and systems inhouse, then the outlays are more reasonable and geared towards putting greater resources towards the story. It’s amazing how old things become in four years – and we need to ensure it doesn’t appear that way.

In a certain way, paying for external content creation may offer greater peace of mind, or at least the ability to be demonstrably unhappy with the storyboard or finished product. Still, we see the DIY pluses of having better access to content in previously closed areas, sharing project ownership across teams, and landing some content projects that an agency or traditional media could not.

A+M: How does Nissan’s content marketing differ from competitors?

Sloan: The Media Centre team, consisting mainly of ex-journalists, came to DIY content creation when it was less a buzzword and more our own process of discovery.

Manufacturers are known in Japan for “monozukuri” (making things), and we saw similarities in traditional factory production and our content “kojo” (factory). One of our executives coined the term “koto-zukuri” (the stories behind making things).

If you consider the processes, the traditional production and sales funnel starts with market analysis, product planning, research and development, design, manufacturing, distribution, sales and marketing, and more analysis as you retool the product or introduce it elsewhere.

While it was more trial and error when the Media Centre began, we operate to a good degree in this production vein now, trying to learn from utilisation metrics on how to make the next round of content creation even more successful.

Relative to some of our peers, we may do more stem-to-stern organic content, as well as look for a return-on-investment based on costs to achieve the same results externally. However, the Media Centre concept isn’t for every

corporate; some Japanese firms have visited and they’re usually stunned by the degree of autonomy and wonder about the fail-safes.

A+M: Is finding a strong editorial viewpoint the key to mastering content marketing?

Sloan: It depends on who’s doing it. For us, the best practices of traditional media in terms of a “so what” bar for editorial content, high production values, and a focus on real-time delivery are quite important; there’s also the acceptance that a story is not one chapter long.

For others, spending more time on a single piece of content with more bells and whistles is preferable to a broader, more volume-oriented approach. We have a raft of stories to tell, and some inherently aren’t going to garner a sizable audience, but are important to knowing the brand. If you’re an agency, you want to show a bang for the client’s buck, but this likely isn’t going to happen with a CSR story, and thus it’s less likely to be told.

In the old days of music albums the industry used to call such content, or songs, “lossleaders”, or with 45s “B-sides”. I’d like to think of the Media Centre as “Master of the B-Side”, as well as having the occasional No.1 single.

Sometimes, these are the tales that resonate the most, particularly with your own staff in terms of pride in whom they work for.

A+M: Does a brand need to see itself as a publisher in order to master content marketing?

Sloan: I don’t think so, but then having an agency with a distribution strategy as part of the overall plan would be essential. To be frank, making it is often easy, but shepherding it to an audience, the right audience, is more of a challenge.

Our team of journalists was aware of the imperative to make engaging content, but not necessarily the nuanced strategies of how, when and where to publish or distribute. We have developed such skill sets, but there remains much to learn as the volume of competing content rises daily. The Media Centre built the plane as we were learning to fly, and if our content can find an even larger audience through new ideas, we’re all ears.

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MEET THE BOSSES

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MEET THE BOSSES

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MEET THE BOSSES

“Miserable,” jokes Frank Bauer, CEO of JWT Singapore. The agency has arguably had a good run under Bauer in Singapore, bagging major pieces of business such as Singapore Tourism Board, Changi Airport and Kellogg’s. The best way I’ve heard it said is that agencies tend to go through cycles – times of highs and times of lows. And the former is what JWT seems to be experiencing now in Bauer’s time – a season every agency lead longs for.

In the midst of working on this piece, I ask him what makes a successful agency CEO. Bauer highlights being able to create the right agency culture as being the mark of a successful CEO. While growth is important, of course, it’s a chicken and egg situation, he says.

The right culture will eventually bring growth: great work, new clients and new revenue streams, he says.

“It’s about creating an environment that allows people to question the status quo and create an entrepreneurial spirit,” Bauer says. He adds that one of the best decisions he has made is promoting

star creative Valerie Cheng. Cheng now holds the role of chief creative officer at the agency.

Driving the agency “Agency heads are incredibly important, the two critical things they can bring are confidence and focus,” says Michael Chadwick, director of brand strategy for APAC at Mondelēz International. “One of the key things which enables an agency (or rather, the people in an agency) to produce great creative work is confidence. When an agency is on the back foot, you’ll never get good work,” he says.

“For that reason, I’ve always liked a slogan that W+K used: ‘embrace failure’. That kind of sentiment spreads confidence because it’s a sign the agency has your back.”

The second thing is that the people in an agency need to know where they should be focusing. With the industry seemingly calling for new directions each day, focus is more vital than ever before.

“What’s top of the agenda, what’s important to the agency?

Right now, the marketing world is awash with complexity. Agency staff have a hundred different things they could potentially focus on. Agencies need to keep their eye on their core competency: building brands with the power of creativity,” Chadwick says.

Aside from focus, the agency lead has the role of attracting and nurturing the right talent.

Damien Cummings, chief marketing officer at Philips ASEAN and Pacific, says while he feels the agency head means little when it comes to winning new businesses, agencies live or die based on getting the best people to work on the business. “Often, the performance of the agency is heavily influenced by amazing team leaders, account leads and agency heads. The best people will always want to work with the best agency leaders,” Cummings says.

He highlights account leads as being more important to getting great work done, but cites the agency leader as the cheerleader and direction-setter.

MICHELLE ACHUTHAN

taking many different things, stuffing it into an envelope, addressing it and mailing it out.

I had an extremely pissed off boss for two weeks which is how long it took me to clear everything and release the conference room from being held box-hostage.

MANAGING DIRECTOR, BBDO AND PROXIMITY MALAYSIA Describe your management style? I’d like to think that I’m fluid and adaptive on any given day, in any given situation and depending on whom I’m dealing with – at any point in time.

My guys, on the other hand, may say I’m a dictator, with a heart.

Career path? I’ve been a “mad (wo)man” for 25 years and started as a writer with a local agency (and might have remained a writer had I understood what advertising was!).

A year in, I got into an argument with my ECD who yelled, “you’re such a control freak, you should be in client servicing!” I became a suit soon after and haven’t looked back. I’ve spent the longest and best parts of my career in agencies such as JWT, Saatchi & Saatchi and now BBDO. Who is the mentor who has most influenced you and why? I’ve had the privilege of working with

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many strong women of advertising, however, two stand out for making me who I am today.

The first is Ann Kwan, my boss at JWT. Besides frequently using clichés and gems such as “many ways to skin a cat” to “son of a sea-faring cockroach”, she taught me what it means to be part of a team, to care for the next person, to do what you do well and do it right, but more importantly, believing in me and never giving up even though I probably gave her many reasons to do so. Most of us who belonged to Ann’s team then are still friends today. All of us are doing well which is a great testament as to how she “raised” us.

The other is Jennifer Chan, whom I had the privilege of working closely with from the time I joined BBDO until she retired. Jennifer taught me etiquette and manners as a constant reminder of my position in BBDO and how my actions and

Roland Smith, vice-president and managing director for the Centre for Creative Leadership Asia Pacific, calls it “talent orchestration”.

“For organisational success, CEOs play a major role in setting the direction, creating alignment and gaining commitment from the employees; steering the team towards achieving the organisational goals,” Smith says.

“These three outcomes – direction, alignment and commitment make it possible for individuals to work together willingly and effectively to realise collective achievements.

It is through these collective achievements that will impact the culture and the bottom-line, and enable the company to continue growing, have business sustainability and to successfully taking a quantum leap to the next level.”

With that, we’ve decided to feature the top leaders of the agency landscape in Malaysia and the region. Read about how they began their careers, what their take to management is and more in A+M’s Meet the Bosses feature.

Harshest thing said to you in your career? “You will never amount to anything in advertising,” said my account manager on my last day at work with her, back when I was an account executive.

behaviour represented my agency and, of course, her. Basically she forced me to grow-up, step-up and accept myself for the person I’d become in the course of my career.

Your biggest blunder in your career? Agreeing to a “letter shopping” job without actually knowing what that meant. Even when boxes after boxes started arriving at the agency, it didn’t hit me that letter shopping meant manually

Craziest thing your staff has told you? “I want work-life balance.” I think in today’s context, a work-life balance is up to you to define. For example, if you choose to entertain late night phone calls and send emails at 2am, then that’s on you.

What’s the toughest thing about your job? To not care so much because it’ll consume you if you let it. I learned the hard way how to compartmentalise – which helps me keep sane.

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JOHN ZEIGLER CHAIRMAN & CEO, DDB GROUP ASIA PACIFIC, INDIA AND JAPAN

Craziest thing your staff has told you? “John – can you stop standing on your head to win business.”

Because I remember once we were pitching for M1 here in the early days and we thought we had to do something because we’re very small and it was going to be very hard, so we had to do things that made us stand out. So when we did the presentation on video for the pitch I got up, stood on my head on

the boardroom table and I finished the presentation by saying: “You can see that we will do anything, including stand on our heads, to win this business.”

What’s the one thing you absolutely hate about this industry? The fact that we have existed for so long and allowed our valued contribution to clients to demise because we have not built a

value equation which relates to the way that business can evaluate what we do.

And I think if you look at the evolution of the industry, that is, before the industrial revolution, you had very few products and services so the world was a different place.

After the industrial revolution, all of a sudden, you started to have a huge array of choices. In the past, creativity was important to get noticed; today it’s important to make a differentiated decision. I think it’s unfortunate that as clients are entering that area where the biggest single impact on their demand is going to be driven by the creative, they should at least able to understand what creatives can do for their business. Also, the one question that clients should ask, but they never do.

Which is? How much time from the senior management and the most

skilled people in the agency will I get when I choose my agency? I’ve never been asked that.

Some of that used to happen, but now the question has moved because of the influence of procurement and cost being the driver. Now clients think we don’t pay for senior management, they’re considered overheads. So it’s a double-edged sword.

If I was back on the client side and I was looking for an agency, I would come in and say OK, I know who’s most creative because I can see who they are and which clients they have, so I know the short-list of who I want to talk to. I can get an idea of the personality of those people with a one-hour call or a meeting with them. And then my third question would be how much of your time is going to be focused on working on my business. On helping me strategically invent and make my business more successful.

ANDREAS VOGIATZAKIS CEO, OMNICOMMEDIAGROUP MALAYSIA Your first job. I will cherish forever my first job at DMB&B in New York.

Back in 1991, I wanted to join Leo Burnett, but New York won me over, and joining DMB&B was perhaps the best gift the God of Advertising could have blessed me with. There was intense training, wonderful colleagues, amazing bosses (good and bad) and constant learnings.

Who was the mentor who most influenced you and why? Too many to mention, for all of whom I am eternally grateful. Three amazing mentors for me to single out though are Jack Klues , Kei Ueno and Momose-san.

Jack, the former global CEO of Starcom/Vivaki, is retired now.

I used to report straight to Jack (Global Starcom CEO then) when I was in Japan. Jack is an amazing media man, smart, appreciative and compassionate, driven by clear

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goals and with a desire to expand the business and built greater structures. I did learn a lot from his approach to different cultures, and from his patience.

Kei the chairman of Starcom in Japan, trusted me with a passion, and handed to me with generosity his knowledge, wisdom and friendship, which became a beacon to guide me in the good and tough times.

Momose-san, a senior Dentsu director with silver hair, taught me all about the Japanese way of being a farmer, not only a hunter, and how to enjoy the fruits of the labor.

When you’re not working, what will you be doing, aside from spending time with the family?

I’d be playing guitar, practicing these heavy metal & blues riffs over and over and over again and jamming, or enjoying a cigar with my cigar club friends.

When you were a newbie in the industry, did you dream you would be CEO one day? I went into advertising and media because I fell in love with it and I still am. My career journey was never driven by me wanting to become a CEO. I just wanted to learn and advance, to experience new challenges and contribute. Stepping into the CEO role developed over time.

One thing you would say to a newbie in the industry. Love what you do, love who you’re doing it with, love who you’re doing it

for, and if you don’t, quit it and do something you love. Greatness does not come from chasing money through a job position. It comes from true passion and deternination.

One thing you hate most about advertising Price wars and devaluing our work, selling it cheap.

What a shame this is, and what a mess it creates in the industry!

Selling cheap is the source of all evils, as its consequences permeate every aspect of our business, like quality of work and talent shortage, to mention just a few.

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S.P. LEE

MARGARET LIM

MANAGING DIRECTOR AND EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR, DENTSU MALAYSIA

CEO, DENTSU AEGIS NETWORK MALAYSIA

What is your management style?

I like to create a meritocracy. It works for our industry and in this era of Millennials. I believe in keeping a borderless open space so voices can be heard and ideas can surface.

But in Asian culture, the powerdistance is high and young people tend not to express themselves as much as they should which doesn’t help if you want a progressive, creative culture. It’s quite an effort to get them to speak up and ask questions. We need open dialogues.

I’m also mindful of politics, egos and clans as they are highly destructive.

What was the proudest moment in your career? We get a buzz from winning accounts and awards, but they fade after the weekend.

The long-burn buzz comes from mentoring people and watching them run fast and far.

What is your biggest blunder?

Quitting a job when I was 25 and having to sell the car to pay the rent. Dumb.

Did you ever think you’d be a MD? What kind of MD did you want to be and how closely have you stuck to it? No. The position was offered.

The first thing I did was engage a personal management guru and read up on leadership and talked to people much older in and outside

our industry to gain perspective.

The good bosses I know are not just excellent communicators, but highly attentive listeners – a balance of IQ and EQ.

to be and how closely have you stuck to it? Anyone who knows me well, knows that I didn’t have ambitious dreams. I enjoyed working in advertising, and found my niche in media in my early days. Things just developed from there.

What kind of leader do I want to be? Visionary, forward-thinking, able to win the hearts of my team, while inspiring, motivating them and bringing out the best in them.

How closely have I stuck to it? I am still trying. Maybe 50% to 60%.

When you’re not working, what would you be doing, aside from spending time with the family? I love basking in the company of my friends. I have several circles that I connect with regularly. Old agency friends for a good food session or my church friends for cell and bible studies. Then there’s the occasional mahjong sessions with my mahjong buddies.

What’s the toughest thing about your job? Among our group of companies, to build a community that is client-centric and collaborative and working towards a one country P&L, instead of each CEO being very polarised on his deliveries.

One thing you would say to a newbie in the industry? Have a curious mind. Ask questions.

Investigate. Learn. Be prepared to work hard. Be passionate.

What would you say to a newbie?

One: Warren Buffett said you cannot change a bad person. So find good people to work with.

Two: If you can find the answers in Google, rethink your questions.

Three: The needle in the haystack of data is an insight.

Four: Empathise.

Five: Travel.

What is a big challenge in the ad industry? Finding and nurturing talent is every company’s biggest issue.

What is the toughest thing in your job? Practising what you preach. Leaders tend to have idealised notions of themselves. To seek praise and think we are right is natural. But pay heed to intelligent critics because they help you see the gaps.

What do you hate most about advertising?

One: Jargon.

Two: Clients who fake pitches to fish for ideas.

Three: Creative and media should never have gone separate ways.

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What was your first job? I started my career in advertising as an account service trainee in O&M. After a few months, I moved to be the media planner for the Nestlé account – the learning curve in this role was significant. I learned a lot, understood the market and media better, and by the end of the first year, I was promoted to media manager.

I went on from there to later head the media departments in Lintas, Bates and Leo Burnett with a stint in JWT (then PTM Thompson) as the account director for the Tourism Malaysia and MAS. In 1992, I started Media Base which eventually was taken over by the Aegis Group in 1998 and rebranded Carat.

When you were a newbie in the industry, did you dream you would lead the agency one day?

What kind of leader did you want

One thing you hate most about advertising? In our bid to win businesses, sometimes we give away the kitchen sink and a bit of our dignity …especially when we hear the client say, “or else we will never use you again”.

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MEET THE BOSSES

ZAYN KHAN

people would live out their lives in.

That was 20 years ago, and I still drive by the house in Vancouver to check on it. In advertising, it was probably winning the Malaysia Airlines business with my creative partner Dani Comar. Best pitch ever.

CCEO, EO, SOUTHEAST ASIA, DRAGON ROUGE

Your biggest blunder in your career? Ha! Where do I start?

There are a couple of emails I wish I could retract. Either too emotional or politically misguided. They cost me.

Harshest thing said to you in your career?

“You’re deluded.” I’m still recovering from that one.

What was your first job? My first summer job (a tradition in Canada) was as a mail boy in the oil and gas company where my father worked.

I delivered the mail, ran the mail stamping machine and ran the odd errands. I also observed office politics which would come in handy years later.

My first job in this industry was to work on the rebranding of Spanish car company SEAT (VW

Group). I had to go to Barcelona and test drive the new SEAT Toledo in the hills of Cataluña as part of a dealer launch. What can I say? It was rough.

What was the proudest moment in your career? My proudest moment overall was when I finished my first house and it sold. It was an amazing feeling to have conceived, designed and built something that

brands, teams, things that leave an impact on people in some way.

Craziest thing your staff has told you? Two of my staff insisted on becoming my “mothers” – my planning director and my personal assistant. So now I have three mums, with more in the pipeline!

One thing you would say to a newbie in the industry? Don’t stay in this industry unless you have an irrational attachment to the brands you work on. Clients come and go, bosses come and go, your stars quit, but the brands remain.

When you were a newbie in the industry, did you dream you would be CEO one day? What kind of CEO did you want to be and how closely have you stuck to it? Honestly, no. I thought I would be a strategist. But in Asia, when you’re good at what you do – and you deliver – you end up having to run things. I am an accidental CEO. I love building things, so as a CEO I hope to build things that last –

What’s the toughest thing about your job? Relentless pitching. This takes a lot of energy and eats into time that by right should go into delivering great work for existing clients. It’s a constant juggling act and not for the faint of heart!

I should not think of leaving the industry and that she would be here if I needed someone to talk to or if I needed a sounding board. The fact she cared and appreciated our efforts enough to say this was a very heartening experience. It made me feel I have much to be proud of and grateful for.

thinking and negotiations, but we still end up discussing nothing beyond the level of agency rebates we can offer. Also, when thinking work is seen as freebies to be given away as value-adds. In moments like these, we really wonder about the damage we have done as an industry to devalue the work we do.

What do you dislike most about your job? When a crazy amount of sweat and blood have gone behind the analysis, strategising, creative

One thing you would say to a newbie in the industry? If you’re in, give it 300%. When there is no pain, there is no greatness.

One thing you hate most about advertising? The stench of roadkill that are great ideas that clients didn’t buy.

JACQUI LIM MANAGING DIRECTOR, HAVAS MEDIA SINGAPORE When you’re not working, what would you be doing, aside from spending time with the family?

I have two young daughters – aged three and six, so they are my real bosses and pretty much run my life when I’m not working! But when I do have some personal time, I will play the piano and paint. It helps me unwind, relax and drift away mentally – something very much needed after a hard work at week.

Who was the mentor who most influenced you and why? There were many individuals who have influenced and shaped me over the years and I’m not shy to tell you that some of them were surprisingly young and junior as well. But if I do name someone I truly respect and who has provided mentorship to me over the years, it will have to be Vikram Bansal. He was my CEO when I joined ZenithOptimedia six years ago and he taught me

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how to believe in myself and go forth with courage and zest, even if I sometimes doubt if I can really achieve what I’ve set out to.

I’ve also had the privilege of working with Gan Boon Guan and Jim Goh back in my OMD days.

They convinced me to come back into media when I took a short break from the industry in 2006.

Your biggest blunder in your career? My teammates and I were working on a new business pitch, and were so tired one weekend that we wrote a long list of presents and perks we wanted from our CEO if we ever won the pitch and we forgot to erase it before we went home.

He saw the list of crazy things we wanted from him on the white board on Monday morning and his reaction was priceless.

Proudest moment in your career? Having a client tell me

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24/3/2015 4:16:23 PM

MEET THE BOSSES

PRASHANT KUMAR

IAN MILLNER

PRESIDENT, WORLD MARKETS ASIA, IPG MEDIABRANDS

JOINT GLOBAL CEO & CO-FOUNDER, IRIS

What are you up to when you’re not at work? I’ll be reading. For example, books like Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri, is the latest one I’m reading these days. I used to fly planes as a hobby pilot, but I get to do that less since I became a father, (and while trying to be a good husband). I travel a lot in my job, but I try to steal some moments to enjoy new places (my recent discovery was Cartagena – where I checked out the home of my favourite author – Gabriel García Márquez).

when I got to run the region three years later.

Craziest thing your staff has told you? A new hire once said: “This place is too open. Everything is out in the open. People sit in the open, talk openly, share openly. It’s all very uncomfortable.” We immediately knew this was a wrong hire.

What do you dislike most about the media industry? I dislike agency professionals who

Describe your career path? Iris is a breakaway from an agency called IMP (which later become Arc). I joined as a graduate and then became new business director.

Seven of us set up on our own in 1999 because we were bored of big agency politics, and wanted to do better for our clients.

I was 29 and Sony was our founding client.

What was your first job? Before working in advertising I did loads of things. I sold bathrooms, worked on a building site and behind bars (not prison bars). Some lessons there that have definitely helped me in advertising!

Who was the mentor who most influenced you and why? I would say I had two mentors – Mike Spicer and Pete Hollins. Both helped me find my confidence in the industry and helped me understand what it was all about and what was important.

Proudest moment in your career? My biggest pride comes when I see people who I mentored take on big leadership tasks and excel there. I am reminded of the many steps on their journey when they came to me and said: “Are you sure I can do this?” And I said: “Of course!”

And they actually did do a fabulous job of it and moved to a whole new level in their career journey. It’s a very special satisfaction. I also felt good when I was invited to the Cannes Lions jury at a relatively young age and also

overpromise to their clients and do not deliver afterwards. They bring a bad name to our industry. Not to mention clients who believe those promises, without due diligence or reasonable compensation, and later blame our industry.

One thing you would say to a newbie in the industry? Bring your best to what you do and be positive.

(Great) attitude will take you places.

Also be curious. Curiosity is the gateway to growth and happiness.

At the least you will never be bored.

And you will stay young.

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What is the proudest moment of your career? There have been loads over the 16 years iris has been going. And I’m hugely proud of what we’ve built. But if I was to pick one moment, it would be when we were selected out of hundreds of agencies to develop the London 2012 Olympic Mascots.

When you’re not working, what would you be doing, aside from spending time with the family? I love sports – and that is something we as a leadership team have ingrained in iris. We came third in

Britain’s healthiest company last year – the only agency in the ranking. Our benefits package includes an on-site personal trainer – that should give you a pretty good idea.

Best decision you made when building iris? Working with Shaun McIlrath in London. And sharing the ownership of the company with so many brilliant partners.

When you were a newbie in the industry, did you dream you would be CEO one day? What kind of CEO did you want to be and how closely have you stuck to it? I never really dreamt of it! I just got stuck in and did it. You have to be yourself and have a “passionate purpose”. Otherwise you’ll make it, but probably be miserable over the journey.

What’s the toughest thing about your job? Handling the disappointment that comes with some of the decisions that come out of pitches we’ve put blood, sweat and tears into. Or out of the decisions that clients can sometimes make in changing an idea or not wanting to take a braver step forward.

What is the harshest aspect of the advertising industry? The industry is very competitive. You have to get used to feedback and if you can’t handle it, understand it, and use it constructively – then you are working in the wrong industry.

One thing you hate most about advertising? The egos.

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MEET THE BOSSES

NICOLE TAN

learning lesson. I missed a very important number, the last zero on an estimate (I know, I’m a noob) and my then AM (now Michelle Achuthan, CEO of BBDO) and the client decided to teach me a lesson.

It was very dramatic: they preagreed the client would call me into the meeting, tell me off, refuse to pay and it would be docked from my salary. At 17, I thought I was going to work for free in JWT forever. Now, I have a finance director to deal with the numbers.

MANAGING DIRECTOR, JWT KUALA LUMPUR

Describe your management style? This picture sums up the leader I want to be every day. My team describes me as empowering, inclusive and fair (and having a sense of humour.)

tagged, saved on the cloud and forever on the internet (thankfully).

Your first job? Secretary. First full-time job. No pics as it was pre-Facebook days, it’s not posted,

Your biggest blunder in your career? I wouldn’t say this was my biggest blunder, but it was a good

Proudest moment in your career? Becoming MD of the JWT KL, the agency I grew up in.

When you’re not working, what are you up to? I try to vicariously relive my band dreams by converting one of our meeting rooms into a jamming studio and performing at office parties (you all have no choice but to listen). I also love to karaoke and throw awesome karaoke parties. But I hog the mike so I don’t get invited much.

And travelling of course, but it’s too “mainstream” now.

would be CEO one day? What kind of CEO did you want to be and how closely have you stuck to it? Crazy, but true, when I was interviewed as an AE, I was asked what I wanted to be when I was 25.

I said account director and an MD by 35. Definitely what I thought an MD should do/be when I was 18 is very different to what you actually do in the job. But I think the principles and core values that I held dear, like being kind, being fair, respecting others, rewarding teamwork, taking steps to achieve goals and encouraging passion are things we do in JWT KL. Craziest thing your staff has told you? A fresh graduate who just joined us was not allowed out of the house to come to work by her parents. We had to negotiate with her mother. She was 24.

When I was 17, my mum made me take a bus and said go find a job. #generationgap

When you were a newbie in the industry, did you dream you

One thing you hate most about advertising? Too much jargon.

to it? No, though I always believe opportunities are for those who are ready. My mantra is to be dedicated and give it my all 24/7.

your job? Managing time and work-life balance as I multi-task as a boss, team-member, mother, wife, daughter-in-law … and the list goes on. I’m happy to report I’m enjoying this constant juggling of roles and responsibilities so far.

PIYEE WONG MANAGING DIRECTOR, MEDIAVEST MALAYSIA Describe your management style? Many have told me I’m a people person and I personally believe in the law of attraction. When it comes to forming and managing teams, I look at the combination of yin and yang, then strive to strike a delicate balance. By providing them the space and opportunities for growth, I hope to facilitate empowerment and the inculcation of a nurturing environment.

Hence, when Stan Chew, currently strategy planning director, expressed his interest a few years ago to explore the China market and work out of the Shanghai Office, I gave him my full support. I am deeply heartened that Stan, along with others who have left to explore other verticals, has since come full circle to further boost MediaVest in Malaysia.

Proudest moment in your career? That would be when I drew

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up my virgin plan for a J&J cologne at Lintas. It was the first time I was given complete free reign and it was wild seeing my brainchild for the very first time come alive. My boss then did not buy it, but the account team thought otherwise. Needless to say, I was extremely heartened and learnt for a fact that when a plan is right, you would feel it in your bones. It’s a certain kind of magic.

Harshest thing said to you in your career? “You almost started a war between two countries” – in relation to a certain past campaign’s ad tag line. I’ve since learnt to be more sensitive to the different ad interpretations. We all learn something new every single day.

When you were a newbie in the industry, did you dream you would be CEO one day? What kind of CEO did you want to be and how closely have you stuck

Craziest thing your staff has told you? Said by staff one day: “I love my job, clients, the agency and you as my boss!” Written by the same staff the next day: “Here’s my resignation letter.”

What’s the toughest thing about

Your biggest peeve about the ad industry? I have two. One: The undervaluing of intellectual property.

Two: The unhealthy culture of constant people poaching.

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24/3/2015 4:15:04 PM

MEET THE BOSSES

GERALD WITTENBERGER

BENJAMIN FONG

MANAGING DIRECTOR, MINDSHARE MALAYSIA

CEO, MITOSIS

Proudest moment in your career? I guess I had a couple of proud moments throughout my career. An exceptional one happened only recently when we were conducting an internal workshop. Seeing the energy and passion within my team in working towards a common goal was a very special and memorable moment.

When you’re not working, what would you be doing, aside from spending time with the family? I love travelling and Malaysia definitely is the place to be. I also like cooking and I’m still working on improving my skills, not super successfully, but it’s relaxing and a good opportunity to switch off. However, it’s a tough decision to either cook or going to one of the many amazing food places in Malaysia. I also love snowboarding and walking my dog which I only enjoy when going back home for holidays.

Harshest thing said to you in your career? There were a couple of harsh things said to me throughout my career. Back in the day, I was disheartened and I thought it was unreasonable. Some comments I just ignored and some taught me how to move forward.

When you were a newbie in the industry, did you dream you would be CEO one day? What kind of CEO did you want to be and how closely have you stuck to it? To be honest, I never dreamt of having a certain position or leading an agency. I just always loved to work in media because it’s the most exciting industry.

Thinking about it today and as mentioned earlier, I strongly believe good leaders need to have the right portion of EQ. Interpersonal skills are key in order to “infect” others with confidence, wellbeing and enthusiasm. My credo was always “treat others the way you want to be treated”.

One thing you would say to a newbie in the industry? Stay true to yourself, have fun and never stop learning.

One thing you hate most about advertising? I wouldn’t call it “hate”, but what I dislike is there is still some perception that media agencies handle media buying only, while strategic planning – which involves more consultative work – tends to be undervalued and sometimes results in unreasonable remuneration.

Your first job? My first full-time job was a programmer in a start-up.

After graduation, all I had wanted to do was to programme in Java and Open Source. Most companies wouldn’t use what was then a new and unproven technology. I had competing offers, but they weren’t using Java.

Who was the mentor who most influenced you and why? Phil Captain, my mentor during the early days, taught me the most valuable lesson in business. He said: “To prosper, you must enrich thy neighbour.” I made sure my shareholders and employees are paid first, my clients get a better return than what we earned and good suppliers profit from each transaction. Sebastien Vincent, one of our best clients, taught me the most important lesson in management – accountability only occurs when people feel safe to make mistakes.

Your biggest blunder in your career? Projecting myself onto others. During the early stage, I’d crafted Mitosis’ compensation, culture and operation to what I had liked and wanted as an employee.

I’m a highly result-oriented and analytical person, so I figured everyone would love an environment where people are judged exclusively on results alone. I learnt later that the emphasis done so bluntly can be counter-productive because it creates unnecessary fear and over-cautiousness which becomes counterproductive.

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When you were a newbie in the industry, did you dream you would be CEO one day? What kind of CEO did you want to be and how closely have you stuck to it? Reading about great historical figures while growing up instilled a deep desire for legacy and posterity in me. It’s been a life-long dream to create something that will far surpass my mortality. I’d always wanted to be an entrepreneur and I am nowhere near the person I want to be. That’s both a good and bad thing.

Craziest thing your staff has told you? “Ben, it’s on fire.” During our early days, we hired quite a number of temps and fresh graduates. On one occasion during equipment installation, the temp somehow set the battery alight. He then threw the flaming battery at me while exclaiming: “Ben, it’s on fire!”

One thing you would say to a newbie in the industry? Never sacrifice long-term interest for short-term gains. Whatever you do, never ever jeopardise your integrity – rather lose a job than your reputation.

One thing you hate most about advertising? We don’t regulate malpractice. I have a love-hate thing towards regulation. Regulation stifles change and creativity. But nevertheless, I love my industry and it irks me to no end when clients shrug off digital due to bad past experiences with some conniving “expert”.

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MEET THE BOSSES

DAVID MITCHELL CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, NAGA DDB Your first job? My first job was as a kitchen hand in a Chinese restaurant in Melbourne. The Mainland Chinese cooks made my life hell, but at least they taught me the proper way to cut veggies. I’ve worked in all sorts of crazy jobs to make ends meet as a student. The worst was quality control in a PVC pipe factory where I stared all day long at a plastic pipe illuminated from the inside by a bright bulb in order to check for cracks. I’d cycle home every evening with a big black spot in my line of sight thanks to this super bright bulb.

Who was the mentor who most influenced you and why? I’ve been fortunate to have many great mentors. Phil Fiebig, my first MD at Leo Burnett, taught me how to be supportive; Yasmin Ahmad taught me how to listen to my heart; and Tan Sri Vincent Lee, (pictured) of Naga DDB, taught

for delivering numbers, it is hard for them to take a leap of faith with their adventurous agency partners.

The only way forward is for the client to have faith in their agency partners, but this trust takes a long time to build and can be easily eroded. This complete trust is the hardest thing in the world to attain, but well worth the effort.

me the power of persistence and sheer determination.

Fresh, new ideas are the lifeblood of our industry.

One thing you would say to a newbie in the industry?

I drive most people crazy by never doing the same thing twice.

If you suffer from this trait then perhaps advertising is for you.

What’s the toughest thing about your job? Nobody in marketing has been fired for doing what they did previously. Agency folk on the other hand, live and breathe new ideas. When clients are responsible

One thing you hate most about advertising? I’ve been extremely fortunate to work with decent, down-to-earth folks who simply want to create and do their best, but I absolutely hate posers. The industry unfortunately is full of people who are full of themselves.

I also hate the ad person who starts each sentence with: “In my 20/30/40 years of advertising …”

Really? Are you so lacking in commitment to your ideas that you have to drag your career out to sell it?

One thing you hate most about advertising? People who over analyse. We have loads of such

people, God bless our souls! This paralysis from over analysis is unproductive and time consuming.

JIMMY LIM GENERAL MANAGER, PHD What was your first job? I was a store clerk at 7-Eleven during my school holidays, mostly doing the graveyard shift. I have great admiration for the 7-Eleven folk as they have to do everything – from handling the cash register, cleaning, stacking the storeroom and general maintenance, as if you were running your own store.

people with a conviction they can make a dent. I have encountered so many young new talent who would come for interviews, but have no interest in the experience and knowledge the job can bring.

All they were looking for were the salary and benefits. If money was the only motivating factor, join another industry.

When you’re not working, what would you be doing? In the past I used to be a very active football player on the weekends. Nowadays it’s all family and friends when I am not working. My own personal time will be spent in the gym and reading.

I am a firm believer you can never stop learning and reading is a great way to constantly learn new things.

What’s the toughest thing about your job? We are in the talent management business, so the toughest thing is dealing with talent – keeping people happy and motivated. I always tell people it’s like managing a professional football team – dealing with players of varying degrees of skills and egos.

It’s tough to keep talent performing at their optimal level consistently.

There are always emotions and egos involved, so we need to be delicate and yet be tough when it’s time to urge them forward.

One thing you would say to a newbie in the industry? Don’t look for money, there isn’t any when you first join. Our industry is for

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24/3/2015 4:14:05 PM

MEET THE BOSSES

DEAN BRAMHAM

ADRIAN SNG

CEO, SOUTHEAST ASIA, PUBLICIS

GENERAL MANAGER, SAATCHI & SAATCHI MALAYSIA How did you break into the industry? What was your first job? I broke into the industry via Ogilvy & Mather some 20 years ago. I always knew I wanted to be in advertising even when I was in college.

What was the proudest moment in your career? To be at a meeting where my account executive presented and blew the audience away. It was a presentation to the board of directors and it was about their brand moving forward for the next three years.

Who was the mentor who most influenced you and why? Steve Gatfield, the ex-CEO of Leo Burnett, because of his sheer intellect. He was a man of his word and a good man. Richard Pinder, ex-COO of Publicis Worldwide, because of his passion and determination to get something done and his energy.

Michael Wood, my senior at Leo Burnett, who had a “can do” spirit in creating amazing work and life experience, as well as having boundless energy. He knew what he wanted from life, what experiences turned him on and knew how to make life and work interesting.

Harshest thing said to you in your career? The harshest thing anyone could say is: “You let me down.” For people who take their word as a promise, this would be enough said.

What do you dislike most about advertising/your job? The only strategy is HR strategy. The best people win. The hardest challenge in the industry is recruiting and retaining great people. There are lots of opportunities for bright people

and our industry is not easy. It takes a special kind of people so it’s a challenge against the other agencies to attract these people.

When you’re not working, what would you be doing? I like cycling and Malaysia has the best road for cycling in Asia. I like mountain biking in Indonesia as its downhill and more fun. I have a small dog and I like walking my dog and doing boring things. And I am trying to learn how to be a better cook. I have a fondness for Italian food, but I recently cooked a Beef Wellington that wasn’t too bad.

It was pretty therapeutic.

When you’re not working, what would you be doing, aside from spending time with the family?

I spend a lot of time with my two loves. They are the ones that never fail to put a smile on my face no matter how bad the day gets. It is unconditional love. Golf is another

Harshest thing said to you in your career? The night before a morning presentation after an internal that went horribly wrong with the CEO, as she was about to leave the office, she walks over, looks at me and says, “If this is not sorted by 8am tomorrow, heads will roll”.

Again, white-faced, churning stomach and Hail Marys! However, when we nailed it the next morning, she casually said thank you and rolled away in her car! Hail Marys work, highly recommended.

When you were a newbie in the industry, did you dream you would be MD one day? What kind of MD did you want to be and how closely have you stuck to it? Yes, I was an ambitious kid and yes I always envisioned that I would be a MD of a company someday. However, the kind of MD I am today is a culmination of many people I’ve learnt from and who mentored me. I have taken the best of them and fused it with who I am.

So in a way, I am a hybrid of my previous bosses and me.

Craziest thing your staff has told you? “Adrian, you always want things ‘now now now’, I have two hands and two legs only!! Will you pay for my surgery to get additional hands attached?”

One thing you would say to a newbie in the industry? I would say the communications industry is fantastic for creative intelligent people to have exciting, nonstructured careers. But, there is no room for halfheartedness. It is a “give it all” kind of industry. Everything is personal and if you bring full commitment to the industry, it will reward you with travel, brands and salary and a roller coaster of experiences.

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Your biggest blunder in your career? After working an entire night waiting for a particular press ad, I released the materials to the press. The press ad was supposed to have redemption details of all the participating cinemas for a movie premiere. The ad appeared the next day with a visual of the movie and without any of the participating cinemas. It was blank! Needless to say, my face turned white, my stomach churned and I was saying my Hail Marys!

thing I do with my close buddies. For the camaraderie and laughs.

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MEET THE BOSSES

AHMAD EL HAMAWI CEO, SMG AND VIVAKI MALAYSIA Describe your management style? It’s something I try to improve continuously by active listening. It is more of a flexible style that is compatible to different circumstances. I can be fair, firm, participative, directive, coaching and collaborative. I believe having flair in many things is better than excelling in only one style.

Describe your career path. How did you break into the industry?

I got my feet wet in the media space 14 years ago as a junior media planner on Nestlé in Dubai at Optimedia, at a time when we used to pray that our clients were home watching TV to see our ads. Nestlé is a great school, much like Procter & Gamble or Unilever. It groomed me well, sharpened my skill set and helped me assume senior roles within the group.

What was your first job? My very

first job straight after my graduation was in the fashion retail space with Spanish-based Inditex that manages Zara, Massimo Dutti, Bershka and other international brands.

Who was the mentor who most influenced you and why? It is partially my reporting managers who really had confidence in my capabilities and nurtured my talent.

They are now leaders in the group across key international markets.

Harshest thing said to you in your career? A very important and critical client calling me and saying, “kiss the business goodbye”, then hanging up, giving me no chance to discuss anything further.

Your biggest blunder in your career? There were a few, but I consider them learning experiences.

When you were a newbie in the industry, did you dream you would be CEO one day? What kind of CEO did you want to be and how closely have you stuck to it? I am focused and determined by nature. I set my objectives and head towards them. Every newbie aspires for success. It is not the position as much as being successful in something I love doing.

When you’re not working, what would you be doing, aside from

One thing you would say to a newbie in the industry? The

One thing you hate most about advertising? The agency continues to be the first point of blame!

enemy and best friend. Everything I do is driven by the want to continuously challenge myself and achieve the goals I set for myself.

adrenaline sports junkie. I dive, I sky dive and I am currently taking flying lessons. I love life and I enjoy it. And yes, retail therapy. Very important.

What was the proudest moment in your career? The list will be endless! I have countless proudest moments. From the celebration of new business wins, recognition on personal and agency front, rebuilding the agency and seeing passion translated to work out there.

Even partying with my team is a proud moment for me.

What is the harshest thing said to you in your career? Harsh?

Define harsh. To survive this industry, you need to take a larger view and turn harsh into opportunity.

Proudest moment in your career? Coming back to the SMG group after having experimented in a nine-month entrepreneurial venture on my own.

LISA HEZILA MANAGING DIRECTOR, Y&R MALAYSIA How would you describe your management style? Passionate.

I am a big-picture, result-driven person and very passionate about what I do which translates into how I treat every facet of the organisation.

I thrive on high energy and (hope) this creates a positive environment

spending time with the family?

It is always one of these three: working out, cooking and riding my bike.

for the team. I make sure they know I am available for them – although the latter can be a case of catch me if you can sometimes.

Who was the mentor who most influenced you and why? Can I say me? LOL. I am my own worst

What was the biggest blunder in your career? I tried to be a superwoman and failed miserably.

It was early on in my career. It was a lesson learnt and that changed me forever.

When you are not working, what would you be doing, aside from spending time with the family?

I travel, I paint and I absolutely love cooking (and eating) and watching people enjoy the food I curate. I am into zen sports and also an

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industry is changing at a rapid pace bringing many new specialities, functions and disciplines into play.

Draw out your objectives and path from the start.

What’s the toughest thing about your job? The most senior person has to take the blame for sizable failures.

What is the craziest thing your staff has told you? I am 7-Eleven because I hardly sleep! Life is short, I believe you can sleep forever when you die!

One thing you would say to a newbie in the industry? Think big. Be passionate. Be positive. Be different. When you apply all these in everything that you do, you will see yourself excel and stand out.

What’s the toughest thing about your job? You are only as good as your last good job.

One thing you hate most about advertising? Bombastic words.

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CASE STUDY

IN AN EVER-EVOLVING MARKETING LANDSCAPE HOW ARE BRANDS CUTTING OUT THE CLUTTER TO MAKE THEIR MARK? WE ASK SOME OF THE BEST COMPANIES IN MALAYSIA HOW THEY RISE ABOVE THE NOISE TO BE SUCCESSFUL. 26 advertising + m arketing | M A R C H 2 0 1 5

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24/3/2015 4:45:27 PM

CASE STUDY >> BNP PARIBAS INVESTMENT PARTNERS SUMMIT 2014

BACKGROUND

CAMPAIGN BNP PARIBAS INVESTMENT PARTNERS SUMMIT 2014 CLIENT BNP PARIBAS AGENCY A&D CREATIVE SOLUTIONS 28 advertising + m arketing | M A R C H 2 0 1 5

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BNP Paribas Group was founded in 2000 from the merger of BNP and Paribas. BNP is a French bank whose origins date back to 1848, and Paribas is an investment bank founded in 1872. BNP Paribas has built up to three major roles – the provision of corporate and institutional banking, private banking and asset management.

BNP Paribas has hosted the APAC Investor Summit for the past five years. Throughout the years, this event has gained traction among the top investors in the region and participants have acclaimed the event as “the best ever in the industry”. The participants are distribution partners, institutional investors and investment consultants.

The APAC Investor Summit 2014 was held in Penang and was a three-day two-night event specially crafted for the guests of BNP Paribas.

OBJECTIVES The main aim for the BNP Paribas event was the bonding of the participants to exchange knowledge, share ideas and network.

BNP Paribas wanted a formal, but casual environment for the event. Its focus was on

branding and personalised remuneration for its distinguished guests.

Hence, A&D Creative Solutions proposed the Eastern & Oriental Hotel for the conference, while Suffolk House served for the themed dinner. These two venues were carefully selected by A&D to provide an exceptional experience and unforgettable moments for the guests.

STRATEGY BNP Paribas is one of the biggest banks in the world with a presence in 75 countries, so branding image is very important. We were focused on BNP Paribas’ branding at the conference. We also made the branding even more lively with the branding logo seen in every detail.

We also decided to give BNP Paribas’ guests an outdoor experience for the dinner treat. The dinner was served in an open space on natural and beautiful grass which suited the theme – World Cup Theme Gala Dinner.

EXECUTION A&D studied the brand’s identity, our client’s main aims and we developed the event

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concept by classifying the target audience of BNP Paribas. Moreover, we came out with a time frame to co-ordinate with creatives and outstanding strategists to fulfil our client’s requirements.

Solutions and various activities were made within the required time frame. We agreed the branding identity would be delivered into small and detailing items such as welcome drinks, room card holders, centre piece settings at the welcome dinner, and a directional standee being placed in every corner of the Eastern & Oriental Hotel to make guests feel they were a priority.

With the arrival of guests, we had a VIP express lane at the airport with a BNP Paribas banner and bunting to welcome them.

We also had a dedicated registration counter with a huge backdrop at the hotel lobby to welcome guests, along with customised BNP flags and welcome drinks.

There was a casual welcome dinner at E&O with BNP Paribas logos placed on the buffet line, tables and a crystal ball light with green colours and a string quartet performance to entertain guests. Not only that, we had custommade bookmarks and note book with the BNP Paribas event name and design, along with Penang cultural arts and each of the delegates name on it. We also wowed the guests with a door gift.

On day two, the meeting rooms and ballroom were designed and crafted into workshops. Guests could enter different workshops by referring to a printed schedule poster. Every meeting room’s title was changed every hour, therefore all the guests had different topics of workshops to attend. They were likely to enjoy several topics in the four hours. A&D guided the guests into the right workshops.

In the meantime, there was another team which had started preparing and ensuring the set-up and conceptual production for Suffolk House, Penang. The ambience of the outdoor area of Suffolk House had been brought up to the World Cup theme, especially in the production of the goal post arch, the A-board, artificial grass, a transparent marquee with the World Cup’s 16 finalists’ countries flags, a stage platform cover with grass carpet, a white line of a football field and a mini goal post.

Furthermore, there were BNP Paribas logos on the A-board, crystal lighting ball and there were custom-made BNP Paribas sketches from a caricature artist, a 3D photo board with a green platform and standees of world-class footballers such as David Beckham, Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Zinedine Zidane.

The centre piece with the World Cup theme was on each table, along with a door gift, and a customised BNP Paribas Asia Summit photo folder with a group photo taken during the

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CASE STUDY >> BNP PARIBAS INVESTMENT PARTNERS SUMMIT 2014 conference in the afternoon. We administered all the production process and monitored every item from conceptualisation to implementation.

The dinner started at 6:30pm and there were seven coaches to take the guests from Eastern & Oriental Hotel to Suffolk House. An emcee with a themed costume and a Brazil dance performance was specially choreographed for the opening and a football freestyler from Kuala Lumpur was invited to the dinner.

After the performance, guests were invited on stage to learn the basic movements as well as some advanced tactics. The rest of the night was lit up by the joy and laughter of guests.

Guests were also invited on stage to have a Q&A and a football shooting session.

On day three, a half-day conference was held with a special guest from England – Paul Parker. He is a former Manchester United footballer and had been invited to give a talk on how sport related to the financial market.

In the meantime, there were 280 units of the iPad Mini for every guest to access the slides and they could ask questions through the iPad Mini on their palm. We had pre-set a system and the speaker on stage could review all the incoming questions on his own iPad Mini.

The last day of the conference ended with a localised hawker food stall, whereby A&D had designed every stall with a BNP Paribas logo, and guests felt like they were having lunch at the BNP Paribas Hawker Centre.

RESULTS We received positive feedback from BNP Paribas because of guests enjoying the event.

BNP Paribas once again excited and surprised its guests, in collaboration with A&D, especially in the co-ordinated approaches in planning and delivering of the brand image.

We are pleased we ensured BNP Paribas’ associated benefits were acknowledged and carried out to everyone’s satisfaction. We are proud to say we are identified as the most reliable companion due to our flexibility and professionalism in event management.

“The most impressive element, in my opinion, is no longer about the tactical aspect, but more the passion you the agency as a team demonstrated throughout the event: the friendly smiles we (and our guests) saw every day regardless of many late nights and stressors from all sides; the attentiveness to details (e.g. lemon honey) and quick response to any last-minute requests, and readiness to manage the suppliers such as the hotel and production house to ensure a seamless delivery, just to name a few,” Janis You, head of client marketing and communications, Asia Pacific, BNP Paribas Investment Partners Asia Limited, Hong Kong, said.

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A&D Creative Solutions Sdn Bhd has been shortlisted as one of the top 6 event marketing agency in Malaysia for the year 2014 in A+M Annual Awards. With us, you can be assured that your event will be well delivered with maximum of enjoyment by our team of dedicated planners.

As a professional corporate event planner, we are here to meet your needs and objectives. We constantly perform and our considerable experience gives us the ability to stand out from the crowd and we ensure your events do the same. From our brainstorming, planning, production and attention to the details allow us to give you not only a successful event but also a memorable ones. For every single event, we offer unique and compelling ideas out of the box and we are equipped for what you need. Our passion is going to reach what you’re expecting and it would be our pleasure to have your event in the process of our growth.

We never stop improving, expanding and giving our best shot in every opportunity given. Over the years, we’ve involved in all sorts of event marketing campaign, corporate events, theme party, award dinners, fashion shows, press conference and various live events. We know the do's and don'ts for any events. We have done events from 100-9000 people in a venue. We have the right resources for organizing & creating these special events just for you.

Everything changes fast but there’s one thing remain the same within us, our long-lasting and comprehensive event services.

We strive to exceed your expectations, we go beyond.

CASE STUDY >> ASIA HARLEY DAYS 2013

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

CAMPAIGN ASIA HARLEY DAYS 2013 CLIENT HARLEY-DAVIDSON, ASIA DIRECT MARKETS AGENCY E-PLUS ENTERTAINMENT PRODUCTIONS (M) SDN BHD 3 2 advertising + m arketing | M A R C H 2 0 1 5

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Asia Harley Days (AHD) 2013, Asia’s largest Harley-Davidson (H-D) event, was part of the brand’s global tour to celebrate its “110th Anniversary: 110 Years of Freedom” – sharing epic experiences with fans worldwide.

From the Tibetan Plateau in China to Sturgis in the United States; from Rome in Italy to Faaker See in Austria; AHD was the culmination of a year-long global celebration taking place across 11 countries on six continents.

Organised by Harley-Davidson Asia Direct Markets, Harley-Davidson Asia Pacific, along with Malaysia Major Events, a division of Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB), an agency under the Ministry of Tourism and Culture Malaysia (MOTAC), chose Kuala Lumpur as the host of AHD in September 2013 because of its strategic location in Asia.

The first-of-its-kind H-D celebration in the region leveraged on various tourism attractions and raised Malaysia’s profile as a destination for major international events, as well as generating tourism revenue for Malaysia.

The gathering of H-D riders and fans further showcased Malaysia as a destination suitable for H-D riders and other international motorcycle tourists to explore and experience the freedom on Malaysian’s roads, increasing the country’s portfolio as a destination for motorcycle tourism in the long run. These initiatives were aligned with Visit Malaysia Year 2014.

Asia has also recorded tremendous growth of H-D riders, leading to the first major H-D event in the region. The event further engaged and interacted with H-D fans locally, regionally and globally. It was also a platform to unite global H-D riders and like-minded fans to participate, showcase and educate the public about the brand, thus cultivating and further exposing the brand to potential H-D owners and riders.

Management and execution of the AHD events were a collaborative effort between E-Plus Entertainment Productions (M) Sdn Bhd and Jojo Events Sdn Bhd.

STRATEGY The motive of this celebration was to communicate the experience of H-D’s lifestyle – freedom and authenticity. To promote this lifestyle, activities planned and conducted underwent detailed consultation with HarleyDavidson Asia Direct Markets’ personnel and Harley Owners Group Malaysia Chapter before implementation.

The event required corporate sponsorship for venues, food and beverages, fuel, healthcare and publicity to reduce cost and increase the celebration’s exposure.

Prominent H-D figure, Bill Davidson, the great-grandson of William A. Davidson, the cofounder of H-D, was also invited to participate at the event to further increase media coverage

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and exposure. A website and social media page were established for event updates.

Various activities were planned and prepared for the two-day free and open event at The Esplanade, KLCC. Activities prepared were suited for visitors of all ages. These included an exhibition of H-D motorcycles and merchandise, H-D motorcycle riding experiences and a fullday of performances and entertainment. An event highlight was a flag parade where a H-D convoy rode to various destinations around Kuala Lumpur. The flag parade was open to all H-D riders.

A five-day nationwide riding tour from Kuala Lumpur – Terengganu – Penang – Kuala Lumpur was also arranged as part of introducing Malaysia as a prime touring destination for international H-D riders. Participants were required to pay a fee from US$898 per person.

Participation was limited to 300 riders.

Detailed planning was required, especially on the route assessment to ensure the safety of riders while embarking on the 2,000 km journey. International road shows were conducted at various H-D’s 110th anniversary global celebration venues to draw international riders’ attention, promoting AHD to the world and the call for participation for the nationwide riding tour.

H-D motorcycles were also arranged and made available for rent by H-D riders to ensure maximum participation as shipping costs for a motorcycle would have been hefty and a drawback for international participants.

EXECUTION The H-D experience was an exclusive and once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the public.

International road shows were conducted in seven countries – Singapore, South Africa, China, Indonesia, Philippines, Australia and Italy.

Pre-event publicity was also supported by a year-long worldwide PR initiative, including interviews and press release dissemination to ensure maximum exposure.

Tie-ups and sponsorships were sought through proposal presentations and available supporting business networks. Sponsors were thoroughly filtered and selected to ensure maximum impact through strong brand endorsements and publicity. A website (http:// www.asiaharleydays.com) and Google+ page were established for further engagement.

Prominent figures other than Bill Davidson were also invited for the launch, including representatives from participating government

bodies and sponsors. Their attendance highly enhanced the grand launch of AHD. For the two-day celebration at The Esplanade, a detailed layout was planned to ensure the space allocated was fully utilised.

Activities, including H-D motorcycles, H-D merchandise, a H-D jump-start station, a H-D drag racing experience station, stage and street performances, were scheduled and arranged.

Local and international performers were scouted for the celebration. Six landmark destinations around Kuala Lumpur were planned for the flag parade, with an in-depth analysis conducted on all routes and destinations to ensure safety of riders. Promotional fliers and announcements were conducted to call for participation.

The five-day nationwide riding tour required safety, accommodation and activities planned at every station. An ambulance and police escorts were arranged to ensure riders’ maximum safety. A recce with a H-D motorcycle was conducted at the initial stage of planning to ensure roads undertaken were safe for riding.

Accommodation, food and beverages, and activities were arranged with selected hotels in Terengganu and Penang. Stops for refuelling at selected kiosks were also co-ordinated based on the type of H-D motorcycles and its fuel tank capacity.

RESULTS More than 20 public and private bodies sponsored, supported and endorsed the celebrations. Private bodies included, but were not limited to, Petronas, Chevrolet, Sime Darby Health Care, Expedia, Inc., Google Malaysia, Hard Rock Hotel Penang, Hard Rock Cafe Kuala Lumpur, Suria KLCC, Concorde Hotel Kuala Lumpur and Sutra Beach Resort.

AHD’s Google+ page received more than 26,000 followers and a total of RM163 million worth of media coverage was recorded for the event.

Zulkefli Hj Sharif, CEO of MyCEB, attended the grand launch on behalf of MOTAC, in addition to Bill Davidson’s attendance.

More than 20 stage and street performances were arranged, and more than 20,000 visitors (8,000 international) were recorded over the two-day event at The Esplanade. More than 900 H-D riders were recorded for the flag parade.

Sales at the H-D lifestyle boutique store located in Suria KLCC also surged by 70% in two days.

Three hundred H-D local and international riders participated on the exclusive nationwide riding tour, with overnight stays at Sutra Beach Resort, Terengganu and Hard Rock Hotel Penang, while 30% of participants were international H-D riders from more than 10 countries.

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CASE STUDY >> AZAM RAYA BERSAMA WATSONS

CAMPAIGN AZAM RAYA BERSAMA WATSONS CLIENT WATSONS PERSONAL CARE STORES (MALAYSIA) SDN. BHD AGENCY OMD MALAYSIA PLATFORM MEDIA PRIMA

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BACKGROUND Watsons Personal Care Stores (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd. is part of the health and beauty store chain of A.S. Watson, the largest health, beauty, cosmetics and perfumery retailer in the world.

Today, Watsons H&B Asia is the leading health and beauty chain in the continent, successfully operating in nine markets (Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Korea, Taiwan and the Philippines).

In 1994, Watsons Malaysia opened its first outlet in Holiday Plaza, Johor Bahru. In 2005, Watsons successfully acquired the Apex Pharmacy chain which consists of 18 stores nationwide. This significant milestone brought Watsons to a higher level in the pharmacy business. Today, Watsons operates more than 350 stores in Malaysia serving more than 50,000 customers per day.

Watsons strives to meet customers’ expectations through marketing campaigns and a wide variety of high quality merchandise at great value, and by providing an exciting shopping experience. The wide range of merchandise also encompasses competitively priced house brands and private label products.

With more than 1000 brands ranging from

medicines, health supplements, skincare, toiletries and cosmetics, Watsons Personal Care Stores is your one-stop health, wellness and beauty solution centre.

OBJECTIVES Consumers generally spend the most during the festive season – where the Malay market segment is spoilt for retail choices during the Raya period. Hence, the campaign was designed to meet one vital challenge – to increase sales in the Malay segment by 20% amid the Raya clutter.

Staying true to the campaign’s tag line “Look Good, Feel Great with Watsons”, the campaign encouraged consumers to shop at Watsons stores during the festive season.

Led by OMD’s expertise in developing and conceptualising the campaign, Watsons launched the Azam Raya Bersama Watsons campaign, with an objective to appeal to its valuable customers to share their Azam and inspire one another with uplifting stories.

The underlying objective was to engage with all Malaysians, encourage them to start afresh and pledge Raya resolutions and inspire a new Raya song – which induced brand talkability and shareability among consumers.

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STRATEGY Watsons’ strategy was to reach out to its customers and members of the public through various interactive channels. Keeping in line with its strategy, Watsons utilised social media, print, radio and television as platforms for greater reach and impact.

With the exceptional campaign blueprint delivered by OMD, Watsons needed a reliable media platform for a strong execution of the campaign. As a solution, Watsons collaborated with Malaysia’s leading fully integrated media group, Media Prima, to reach a large base of its Malay consumers.

As the country’s leading TV station targeted

towards mass Malays, TV3 provided the perfect solution to create awareness among millions of viewers who watch the channel. While on radio, the hottest Malay radio station Hot FM was used as a medium to match Watsons’ challenge of increasing sales in the Malay market. These two platforms were the perfect approach in reaching out to Watsons’ huge base of Malay consumers.

On social media, Watsons utilised Twitter and Instagram’s power of shareability and talkability to drive participation from internet users to submit their Raya resolutions on Watsons’ official Facebook page.

EXECUTION Inspired by the resolutions posted over a period of six weeks, renowned Malaysian singer, songwriter and television personality Faizal Tahir composed a unique people-powered Raya song.

Based on the pledges received, he wrote the lyrics and composed the song using inspirations received from the Azam. The song was aired before Hari Raya through Media Prima’s extensive set of integrated platforms.

He also made public appearances to encourage more resolution submissions. The person with the most creative resolution was visited by Tahir at their home to celebrate Raya.

The song played an important role as the driving force among consumers as it was shared across YouTube, social media and mainstream media to drive campaign talkability to achieve maximum exposure among consumers.

RESULTS The campaign echoed the true spirit of Raya because it stood out from the rest with Watsons’ thorough and integrated promotional efforts. Watsons recorded an 80.95% increase in sales from the Malay segment. Watsons loyalty card registrations recorded an increase of 11.81% compared with its average monthly 5% growth.

On social media, the 410% increase of PTAT (a topic created by Facebook users) reflected the successful campaign talkability among internet users. Tahir’s Raya song recorded 120,000 views with 600 Likes and 120 comments within weeks of its release.

410% increase in PTAT (topic created by FB users) on Watsons’ Facebook page. 80.95% increase in sales from the Malay segment.11.81% growth in loyalty card registrations compared with an average of 5% per month.

120,000 views, 600 likes, and 120 comments on YouTube within a week of “Syukur” MV release.

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CASE STUDY >> RAMADAN & RAYA CAMPAIGN BY MEDIA PRIMA

AEON BROADENS REACH FOR A WHOLESOME RAMADAN EXPERIENCE THROUGH MEDIA PRIMA INTEGRATED PLATFORMS

BACKGROUND

CAMPAIGN RAMADAN & RAYA CAMPAIGN CLIENT AEON CO. (M) BHD PLATFORM MEDIA PRIMA TV NETWORKS 3 6 advertising + m arketing | M A R C H 2 0 1 5

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Consumers today are looking for an all-rounded entertaining experience when shopping during the month of Ramadan. The weeks surrounding the month offers retailers an opportunity to connect and engage with Malaysian consumers.

With the retail industry continuing to look promising year after year, brands are ever ready to take advantage of the lucrative celebration to engage shoppers.

One of Malaysia’s largest retailers AEON tapped on Media Prima’s universe of integrated platforms to lead a joyful Hari Raya celebration, bringing Malaysians innovative Ramadan and Raya content line-up, on-ground offerings and special programming.

STRATEGY By strengthening its association with the most

celebrated festival in Malaysia, amplified by the network’s largest Ramadan and Raya campaign dubbed ‘Seindah Ramadan’ and ‘Anugerah Syawal’, AEON effectively elevated its nationwide engagement with Malaysian shoppers and ultimately attracted a rewarding spike in store traffic and sales.

Breaking the conventional attitude towards Ramadan and Raya campaigns, ‘Seindah Ramadan’ and ‘Anugerah Syawal’ captured the meaningful essence of the festival by propagating the importance in sharing the appreciation of our loved ones and people around. Through the campaign, Media Prima offered not only a slew of interesting programmes for TV3 and TV9 viewers, but also created a broad array of multiplatform creative content that brands can readily capitalise on to heighten the celebration.

For AEON, it was all about bringing a new sense of delight, satisfaction, hope and wonder to their customers. ‘Seindah Ramadan’ and

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‘Anugerah Syawal’ provided a compelling proposition and thus became a natural platform for AEON to be associated with.

EXECUTION AEON’s involvement in Media Prima’s Ramadan and Raya campaign was evident throughout four engagement formats, including brand advertisement, on-ground events, customised content and promotions spanning across three different phases.

A full spectrum of branded content partnership was executed across Media Prima’s flagship channels with the largest base of mass Malay audience, TV3 and TV9, in parallel with the ‘Seindah Ramadan’ and ‘Anugerah Syawal’ campaign.

The linchpin to the overall campaign was the ‘Kongsi Kisah AEON Anda’ contest, a crowdsourcing effort that drove viewers to Media Prima’s online platform, Tonton.com.my to submit heart-warming stories while shopping at AEON with a chance to win shopping rewards.

The initial phase set the right tone prior to the ‘Seindah Ramadan’ and ‘Anugerah Syawal’ campaign kick-off, where AEON in association with TV3 and TV9 delivered a customized television advertisement to extend and sustain the emotional journey. The production employed a creative storytelling of a boy narrating his excitement seeing family members helping each other in preparation of Syawal while he held on the responsibility of watching after his

grandmother and keeping her away from all the chores.

This was closely in line with the campaign attitude, exercising the importance of togetherness and the joy of Ramadan and Raya as family members get together. It added another layer of sustained awareness and visibility for AEON, especially as the brand advertisement was seen populating TV3, ntv7, 8TV and TV9 across high-rating slots that were packed with interesting programming line-up to entertain devoted viewers.

Beyond television, AEON also extended its audience engagement through Media Prima’s exciting on-ground events. Known for its reputation for holding some Malaysia’s largest events, Media Prima introduced the ‘Skuad Seindah Ramadan’, a mobile truck designed in a form of a ‘Rumah Melayu’ for a chance for Malaysians to rediscover the essence of Ramadan, that was seen travelling through Klang Valley and certain states in Peninsular Malaysia.

By bettering AEON’s consumer experience, Media Prima also took the effort to reconnect and celebrate the joy of Ramadan through another on-ground event known as ‘Bazar Seindah Ramadan’.

Among the artists who were part of ‘Bazar Seindah Ramadan’ at AEON Bandaraya Melaka were Azlee Khairi (from Love You Mr. Arrogant), Siti Saleha (lead actress from Ramadan Jangan Pergi), Zul Ariffin (from Rindu Awak 200%), Anzalna (from Aku Isterinya), Fiza Sabjahan (host for WHI), Daniel (winner of Idola Kecil Ultra),

Yasin (Scenario) and many more.

The star-studded celebration did not only bring Malaysians together, but allowed AEON to be associated as a key enabler while fostering positive relationship with the audience.

Media Prima also launched a website, www. ramadanraya.com.my, served as a one-stop centre for people to access all Ramadan and Raya resources, from TV shows to event details.

Malaysians were also encouraged to download an electronic greeting card and share on social networking sites with #SeindahRamadan and #AnugerahSyawal to get exclusive gifts from the Ramadan squads.

RESULTS According to Nielsen Audience Management, both TV3 and TV9 owned 99 out of the top 100 raya programmes across all TV platforms totaling 10 million viewers.

The ‘Kongsi Kisah AEON Anda’ which was promoted across Media Prima platforms garnered a massive interest and nationwide participation which helped AEON promote its 30th Anniversary celebration.

The on ground event ‘Skuad Seindah Ramadan’, broke new records as the squad covered over 30 famous Ramadan bazaars situated in town and mosques in Malacca and Perak, and successfully engaged more than 25,000 fans.

Over 100,000 visitors jumped at the opportunity to participate in activities that enabled them to engage with various ambassadors involved at Bazaar Seindah Ramadan. #SeindahRamadan and #AnugerahSyawal outperformed its competitors on social media platforms as well, with a total of over 158 million reach on twitter, proving the success of AEON’s and Media Prima’s 360 integrated approach.

The constant stream of visibility across Media Prima’s top channels also contributed to the heightened awareness and top-of-mind recall of AEON as a leading go-to retailer for all their Ramadan and Raya needs.

SUMMING UP The campaign not only underlined Media Prima’s goal of forming new associations with AEON, but allowed Malaysians an opportunity to be actively involved in celebrating the month of Ramadan and Raya with one of their favourite retailers.

The collaboration has proven to be effective in reaching out to AEON’s target audience leveraging on Media Prima’s network and also as in line with part of AEON’s 30th Anniversary objective that is bringing the brand closer and interacting with to the consumer on ground.

Indeed, it was truly an auspicious celebration for both AEON and Media Prima.

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MARKETING FEATURE: MARKETING TO WOMEN

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MARKETING FEATURE: MARKETING TO WOMEN

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THE RISE OF THE "SHE-CONOMY"

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WOMEN REPRESENT A GROWTH MARKET FOR GLOBAL BRANDS - HERE'S WHY AND HOW BRANDS IN MULTIPLE INDUSTRIES ARE TRYING TO GET A SLICE OF THIS BURGEONING MARKET. APPLE LAM WRITES.

The female consumer is increasingly seen as a growth market for brands, even for those which offer traditionally male-oriented products in industries such as automobiles, sports, technology and alcohol beverages.

According to the Ernst & Young's Growing Beyond - High Achievers report, women now earn US$13 trillion around the world. In ďŹ ve years' time, it will go up to US$18 trillion. In 2028, women are expected to control threequarters of the world's discretionary spending.

"Women represent the largest emerging global market and economy because they are starting to have enormous power over politics, sports, business and society. Brands are now waking up to these massive opportunities," Annette Kimmitt, global middle market leader of Ernst & Young, said.

How should marketing departments and materials be adapted to better appeal to the female consumer?

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Part of the answer is to stop talking down to women in advertising and in the boardroom.

Naomi Simson, founding director of online start-up RedBalloon, had worked as a marketing manager for Apple in Australia in the 1990's.

"If you don't have more women in senior leadership roles, you won't have the insights you need to tap into the market of female consumers," she said.

"Women often wait for their turn to speak in the boardroom, and may not even get the chance to voice their ideas and opinions. It's at that very micro level where you miss out on the ideas and that's how you miss out on women as consumers if there isn't that space for them."

Kimmitt agreed brands need diversity of thinking in their marketing teams, which comes from cultural and gender diversity.

"Getting marketing messages right and keeping them accessible to women comes

down to values - if everyone thinks the same way, you won't be able to tap into a different market," she said.

Simson points to patronising language sometimes used by adverts seeking to appeal to women.

"Consumers are very aware when they are being conned, which is why anything unauthentic will be seen as promotion or lip service. If you use patronising language like 'Hey girl!', women will run away," Simson said.

"Women want to be treated the same as men in the sense that they want to be talked to in a transparent, authentic and respectful way."

Kimmitt believes marketing campaigns, such as Procter & Gamble's Like A Girl campaign for its brand Always, which use women's empowerment for branding purposes are positive beginnings for the ad industry.

"I understand why brands create these types of campaigns - you can take the approach

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MARKETING FEATURE: MARKETING TO WOMEN

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of seeing it as simply branding - but when I watched the Like a Girl video, I realised that I used that expression too. It was a wake-up call that left an impression on me," Kimmitt said.

"Brands calling to close gender gaps are doing a good thing. People will say it’s selling but if it’s purpose-led, it will have an impact."

The advert is a form of consumer message that plays a major role in influencing culture, much like films and other art forms.

"Consumer messages contribute greatly to our culture," Simson said.

"We need changes in ads - especially naming and shaming of ads that patronise women."

Let's hear from a range of different industries about how they view the trend of the growing female consumer market and their response to it through their marketing strategy.

Automobiles: Audi Approximately 70% of Audi Hong Kong's customers are men and although cars are traditionally associated with men, Reinhold Carl, managing director of Audi Hong Kong, believes the women's premium car market has enormous growth potential.

According to the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU)'s The Report on Female Consumers in Asia, women nowadays control spending in categories from clothing and accessories to cosmetics, groceries and automobiles.

"The automobile is a product reflecting the personal lifestyle and taste of both men and women today. Women are also the key decision makers in family matters including the purchase of big-ticket items like cars and may affect men's choice of car models," Carl said.

"Women are a significant driving force in today's economy. The 'She-conomy' is on the rise, as pointed out by more than a few reports.

Therefore, becoming a brand that appeals to women will enhance the recognition of Audi among both genders."

He said the growing earning and spending power of young women in Hong Kong and across Asia means women are now seeing the car increasingly as a status symbol.

"What we've seen also is that women who used to see the car as a functional item are now seeing it more and more as an emblem of social status and lifestyle," Carl said.

"Women are spending more on cars nowadays not only because of their functional properties. Design, technology, brand history and prestige are also factors of growing importance for women's purchasing decisions for cars."

Audi's strategy for targeting more women consumers is to increase the association of prestige and exclusivity with its brand by sponsoring events that spreads word-of-mouth, such as The Hong Kong Fashion Extravaganza.

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"Fashion is an effective platform for our brand to get closer to female drivers," Carl said.

"This is reflective of what we see as unique among female drivers and key influencers who are our target audience - design always comes first."

He added that compact car models are more appealing to female consumers and the brand will be launching two compact car models this year.

Alcoholic beverages: Pernod Ricard Champagne is seen as a more traditionally feminine drink while wine and white spirits such as vodka and gin are seen are more unisex.

Whisky and cognac are mostly consumed by men in Asia.

"Women are certainly a growth area for us universally across Asia," Glen Brasington, VP of marketing at Pernod Ricard Asia, said.

"We see that the frequency of going out and hanging out at social occasions is growing for women in Asia, who have lower consumption per capita compared to women in the US and Europe.

"Asian women are drinking more of everything on average, whether it's beer, wine or spirits - but it's about drinking better, not

restaurant bars by themselves or with male and female friends. There is less gender segregation - you don't get groups of men going drinking by themselves as much anymore. The female drinker is driving the choice of the group's alcohol beverages a lot more," Brasington said.

"If groups of people order bottles, they might order bottles of champagne or vodka that the entire group can enjoy rather than just whisky or cognac, which is more popular among the men."

He points out that it's also easier to drink mixed drinks when socialising actively in a group at a bar in Korea, Japan, Hong Kong and tier one cities in mainland China. In general, people are ordering more individual drinks and fewer bottles.

"Tier two and three cities still have a long way to go but in tier one Chinese cities, many 20-30-year-old women are in management positions. To bond with colleagues, they are more diverse in their choices of where they go drinking and the people they choose to drink with," Brasington said.

In response to the growing market of female drinkers, Pernod Ricard has been working with bars to create more mixed drinks.

Brasington said, "We are trying to get bars

“If you don't have more women in senior leadership roles, you won't have the insights you need to tap into the market of female consumers.”

Naomi Simson – founding director of online start-up RedBalloon

drinking excessively. We have seen this strong growth over the last three or four years."

Meanwhile, men's consumption patterns have not really changed.

He added there is a lot of corporate pressure on people to socialise with colleagues in Asia, such as having drinks or dinner consumed with drinks after work.

"More women taking up management positions is driving changes in choices of restaurants and types of alcohol beverages that female managers choose to consume along with their staff members," Brasington said.

Across mainland China, Korea and Japan, white-collar workers are shifting from drinking expensive whisky, cognac and wines at highend restaurants to frequenting more affordable restaurants and bars. This is partly reflective of recent anti-graft measures in mainland China, much like the cutting back of entertainment expenditure in Japan in the early 2000s.

In Hong Kong, Shanghai, Seoul and Singapore, the modern bar-focused restaurant has become increasingly popular and serves mixed drinks and cocktails.

"Females often go drinking at these

to think about mixed drinks that are made with simple gin- or vodka-based mixes, which fall in between straight spirits and very complex cocktails.

"Next, we would educate the bars to price the mixed drinks properly. They should have premium pricing that is cheaper than beer but not as expensive as cocktails."

He added that twospirits in a mixed drink is very strong and women tend not to want to purchase an expensive or a very strong drink, since many women in Asia prefer drinks with lower alcohol content.

The company's other marketing initiative revolves around champagne and white spirits, for which the brand hopes to promote high-energy unisex environments through experiential marketing such as when groups of men and women celebrate in bars.

"We keep our champagne creatives quite feminine and we encourage lots of unisex sharing of white spirits at music events and dance parties. In Korea, we sell big sets of champagne and vodka bottles with fresh fruit to encourage people to mix drinks themselves," Brasington said.

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MARKETING FEATURE: MARKETING TO WOMEN

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Brands need create cultures within marketing departments to empower women who represent the next big growth market for industries ranging from alcoholic beverages to sports and technology.

Meanwhile in Japan, the brand promotes a sparkling wine through collaborating with nail artists and giving out free samples.

Sports: PUMA Adrian Toy, head of marketing APAC at PUMA, said the men's segment has historically taken up a bigger part of the brand's business but over the past few years, women's participation in sports in the region has grown as they become increasingly health-conscious.

"It's no doubt that the future is female and all about the women's segment, particularly in the area of women's training. It has great growth potential here in the Asia as well as all over the world," Toy said.

PUMA has appointed singer Rihanna as brand ambassador and creative director.

"Her confidence, determination and joyful attitude make her a perfect partner for PUMA and she particularly resonates with the female audience," Toy said.

Meanwhile, communicating effectively with women interested in sports products through advertising means going beyond functional features and product design.

"Female consumers also need to see an emotional benefit such as how confident they can be when they work out wearing those products, such as through the confidence expressed by role models wearing the products," Toy said.

Technology: Sony Simois Ng, head of marketing communications at Sony, does not believe the men's market is saturated. The women's market has always existed but women are commanding more presence as consumers in traditionally maleoriented industries such as sports, cars and technology.

Women's growing spending power and

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their rise up the corporate ladder mean they demand products beyond fashion items. "In the past, a woman might simply buy clothing and handbags but today, these things probably can't satisfy her.

They want to express themselves more," Ng said.

The popularity of social media means that women can conduct their own research before purchasing camera models or ask people on social media networks which camera to buy rather than asking male friends for advice.

"The ease of sharing photos on social media leads to new behaviour that enables women to feel that they can truly own cameras too - that the camera is not just for men."

The desire to appeal to female consumers is reflected in the fact that manufacturers are beginning to change the form factor of cameras by producing lighter, smaller and more colourful cameras for women.

The women's market also has a high potential for growth for Sony.

Over the past two or three years, based on membership data, less than 20% of customers who purchased Sony's camera products are women.

Today, for more colourful and lighter camera models, around 40% of customers are women.

The customers purchasing mobile devices are estimated by Ng to be almost equally split between men and women.

For audiovisual equipment, most of Sony's customers are still men.

To target women consumers, Sony has been launching selfie cameras and producing camera designs that are more feminine.

The brand recently promoted a selfie camera by organising an event for Facebook fans, and creating crossover campaigns with Jill Stuart and agnes b as well as lifestyle news platforms targeted at women.

Cameras that are not designed specifically to be used for selfies are relaunched in other colours, such as in white or silver, after their initial launch dates to better appeal to women.

Mirrorless specifications and Wi-Fi sharing features are sometimes added to appeal to female customers' requirement for sharing photos instantaneously.

Ad creatives promoting such cameras showcase female brand ambassadors who are able to give fans tips for taking better photos.

"We rarely use women as ambassadors for professional cameras – the a5100 camera campaign was the first time we did it. Ad campaigns need to be more emotional for women," Ng said.

On Facebook, Sony opened the Photo Girl group which is a private group where women can join and share photographs upon approval by the brand.

"The group has over 1,000 members and it attracts women who enjoy taking photographs.

Some people might assume that women prefer to take selfies but actually, they can shoot professional photographs too," Ng said.

"The group allows them to share photos and photography techniques with other members.

We also hold courses and workshops for the members."

Apps for helping female beginners in photography to take shots with special effects, such as time lapse or double exposure, were developed by the brand to be used along with its cameras and to boost its brand image.

Health: GNC GNC Hong Kong's customers are almost equally split between the genders. Fast-growing categories for women in the health supplements industry include vitamins and fish oil and collagen pills, as well as pre-natal and slimming products.

Women are spending more on health supplements because they are becoming more knowledgeable about them and products emerging in the market such as prenatal milk powder.

Greater participation in sports by young adults and people in their thirties and forties is also a factor.

"Women, who usually do the grocery shopping for the entire family, are buying more health supplements that help improve sports performance or recovery from sports injuries for their partners and children," a GNC spokesperson said.

In terms of marketing the products, female consumers rely more on professional advice from staff members, word-of-mouth and celebrity endorsements.

"Women usually have needs in mind when they come to our stores but they may not know which product they want to buy."

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MARKETING FEATURE: LUXURY MARKETING

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THE AGE-OLD PRACTICES OF LUXURY BRANDS ARE CHANGING, AS CONSUMERS SEE LUXURY DIFFERENTLY. WHAT’S NEW-AGE LUXURY MARKETING LIKE? REZWANA MANJUR WRITES.

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MARKETING FEATURE: LUXURY MARKETING

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Welcome to the world of luxury. Once a world of extreme exclusivity, inaccessibility and elusiveness, today the world of luxury is evolving to target a wider audience.

The world of luxury is experiencing changes – both from the way consumers are developing, as well as the way luxury businesses themselves are being run. Luxury marketing has now shifted to reflect these trends.

On the consumer side, Sumindi Peiris, global director of Johnnie Walker – Reserve Variants of Diageo, says consumers are more interested in unique experiences and the social currency that comes with them rather than owning or collecting “possessions”, as in the past.

“The more traditional idea of conspicuous consumption is being replaced by an emphasis on quality, authenticity and uniqueness.

Modern consumers are demanding more meaningful and personalised returns on their spends; intangible success is measured in the form of ‘one of a kind’ experiences as well as deep personal development,” she says.

She explains the definition of “wealth” has become more and more segmented today. As an increasing number of people enter the world of wealth, luxury is available to more. However, the 1% of ultra wealthy consumers still seek exclusivity.

While brands obviously want to benefit from the growing pool of wealthy consumers, they also need to do so in a way that does not “cheapen” their cache in the eyes of the “most wealthy”, she adds.

Simultaneously, the rise of the ultra highnet-worth individual places new demands on luxury brands to think creatively – to go that extra mile and offer something truly rare and extraordinary.

Global takeover by luxury conglomerates Second, the way luxury businesses are being run has evolved as well. Sebastien VacherotToure, chief creative officer of Publicis 133 LUX Asia Pacific, the agency’s newest arm catered to luxury marketing, says just a decade ago luxury maisons were mostly family owned and had much smaller setups. However, today, luxury conglomerates are taking over these maisons.

These small in-house setups have thus grown exponentially and have evolved to take on specialised functions such as public relations, communications, customer service, digital, CRM, marketing and e-commerce, among others on a global scale.

“We’re seeing the democratisation of luxury at an unprecedented level, driven by globalisation and the digital revolution. Long gone are the days when luxury was only available to the select few. The idea of luxury,

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In tandem with trends: Whilst traditional media and events continue to dominate, digital is slowly making its place in the marketing mix of luxury brands.

once perceived as a ‘rarity’, has now evolved into ‘masstige’,” Vacherot-Toure says.

This has also led to the rise of using technology in the luxury sector, allowing luxury brands to reach their target audiences on a larger and more accurate scale.

Brenda Pek, Asia Pacific’s marketing manager for Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, says with the exponential growth in the digital media space in recent years, more ultra high-networth individuals are embracing technology as a source of information. However, this remains a growing development for the brand, which still spends 50% to 60% of its marketing spend on events and 3% to 5% of its marketing spend on digital.

Ultimately, what digital effectively does is it allows brands to add a layer of richness to the client experience. This, in return, encourages

a closer and deeper connection in creative ways, says Rick Lam, senior vice-president of global marketing for Accor Luxury and Upscale Brands.

According to LuxHub, Havas Media’s newly launched luxury consulting boutique, one of the strongest trends is the growing role of digital in the luxury consumer journey. LuxHub recently completed a global luxury survey of the top 10% of consumers by household income.

It found nearly 57% of all respondents and 72% of Millennials felt that luxury brands should engage with social media. In China, social media engagement for luxury consumers can be expected to rise to 88%. While a rich in-store experience is key for many brands, (49% of respondents said it was their preferred method), the focus on digital for luxury marketing is only set to rise.

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“It’s now necessary to create a consistent and engaging luxury experience across channels and devices – something many luxury brands have been slow to adopt given the difficulty of creating a rich luxury experience on some devices. Even if consumers still prefer to buy luxury items in physical stores, many will research, compare and decide on products online before making the offline purchase,” says Stuart Clark, managing director of Havas Media APAC. One brand clearly leading the way in integrating online and offline is Cartier.

The luxury brand has invested in creating a series of social media films and content that is consistently animated across platforms such as YouTube, Facebook and Instagram. As such, the content engages its audiences on various levels, leading to chatter, awareness and brand affinity – all of which has led to a huge increase in the brand’s online following.

Other luxury brands have also been experimenting on digital platforms, particularly for their localised focus.

Last year, just six months into a collaboration with mobile platform WeChat, Burberry decided to extend its partnership and enhance its social and mobile presence in China. The expanded digital deal allowed Burberry followers on WeChat to watch its London Fashion Week show and hear WeChat-only audio content about the inspiration and details of key runway events.

Vacherot-Toure adds that clearly marketers who are ahead of the curve can leverage social technology to amplify their presence and raise awareness in local markets. Ultimately they are able to create sustainable desire, allure and demand for their brands.

Can brands keep their exclusivity with digital?

While digital no doubt has had a profound impact on the world of luxury, it is a doubleedged sword.

In a conversation with Marketing, Erica Kerner, VP of marketing communications for Asia Pacific at Tiffany & Co, explains that while embracing digital is vital for most brands today, brands should be selective.

“For every brand there is a delicate balance of keeping it luxurious and exclusive, while reaching the masses when using social media.

However, luxury brands do need to remember it is OK to go a little bit mass market because as a brand you want to be aspirational and inspire consumers to buy your product in the future,” she says.

Social media is ultimately for the masses.

Hence, for every brand using digital, the challenge is slightly different, she adds.

Despite digital having the ability to increase

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sales numbers and reap great profits, it can, at the same time, put brands at risk of crass commercialism and destroy their allure. Hence, luxury brands need to learn to balance this paradox while interacting with consumers on a cultural level.

Myths should be conveyed indirectly and should be consistent across all touch-points – across product, merchandising, retail, digital and marketing platforms, says Vacherot-Toure.

“Brands such as Chanel, Hermès and Loro Piana focus on myth-telling, product savoirfaire and craftsmanship. They do not push consumers to buy their products, but rather communicate the allure of the brand and stories associated with it.”

A touch of class: Impressing the consumer With the struggle for attention only increasing, how does a luxury brand now stand out?

Recent trends have seen brands heavily

invest in event marketing to impress clients. No longer confined to a product showcase or the launch of a new store, brands are pushing their creative muscle with all kinds of events such as art exhibitions, galas and even experiential walk-throughs.

Kerner explains that while a print ad may set the mood of your brand, until brands can get customers into their stores, consumers have not really experienced the living breathing brand. While unable to release numbers as to how much of the brand’s spend currently goes into digital or event marketing, she does say that over the years the numbers have significantly increased.

When done right, the pay off these event experiences present to marketers is immense.

Events allow for storytelling to come to life and to communicate a brand’s code, DNA and values. A well-executed and thought-through event experience can generate immeasurable

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MARKETING FEATURE: LUXURY MARKETING

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emotional affinity between a brand and its audience.

This in turn increases loyalty and top-ofmind awareness.

Lam talks about the vital role of events in playing a more active role in a consumer’s experience.

Its luxury hotel chain Sofitel, for example, created a photo exhibition “Revealed” that took an intimate look at the world’s greatest modern artists at work as they revealed themselves to the photographer. Olivier Widmaier Picasso, grandson of Pablo Picasso, curated the exhibition and personally selected the 30 photographs from the collection of Paris Match, a well-known French weekly magazine.

First opening in New York, the exhibition then crossed the US and Canada before coming to Europe.

Another example would be the brand’s launch last year of Sofitel So Singapore. Sofitel So is a contemporary lifestyle brand under Sofitel Luxury Hotels. It is a collection of designer lifestyle hotels with unique personalities and chic style – each expressing the essence of its unique destination.

Each Sofitel So is crafted around a design “signature” – a collaboration with a worldrenowned designer or artist that links the essence of the destination.

Sofitel So Singapore featured the graphic touch of Karl Lagerfeld who exclusively

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Not scared of digital: Cartier is one of the luxury brands which has made significant progress in integrating digital into its marketing mix.

designed “The Lion’s Seal” emblem of the hotel, which commemorates the birth of “Singa Pura”, the Lion City. The emblem paid homage to the lion as a symbol of innate courage and dignity, values which underpin the ethos of Sofitel So Singapore, driving the evolution of the local hospitality industry.

Lagerfeld was also inspired by the property itself – an iconic neo-classical heritage building first built in 1927 as the Eastern Extension Telegraph Company Building and which was given conservative status in 2000 and is today situated in the thriving heart of Singapore’s central business district.

Sofitel So Singapore guests are now surrounded by Lagerfeld’s graphic touch through a variety of objects, including hotel collaterals from correspondence cards to check-in folders, door knockers and many more

surprise touches that guests are encouraged to discover themselves.

By creating such luxurious events, Lam explains the brand was able to underscore the passion that Sofitel brings to the art of hospitality.

It also allowed Sofitel to reinforce its commitment to culture in an engaging and enriching way for both the brand and Sofitel’s clients.

Keeping it fresh Nonetheless, constantly raising the bar in a very niche space, all the while keeping in line with the brand’s image and DNA of a luxury brand, is no easy feat.

For Diageo, says Peiris, the brand actively tries to differentiate its events by collaborating with creatives “who push the frontiers of what is possible”.

Last year the brand collaborated with

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renowned food architects Bompas & Parr and Done+Dusted, independent producers in branded content production, for its immersive production “Symphony in Blue”. This was a theatrical experience challenging consumers to touch, think and talk differently about whisky.

Agreeing with him, Lam says luxury brands face the constant need to stimulate and engage their audiences. Often this needs to be done by creating new and differentiating content.

However, this content must still be created in a way that is authentic to the brand’s story and savoir-faire and create meaning and value for the consumer and the brand.

With all that said and done, Kerner adds that what sets the world of luxury apart ultimately is the attention to detail and the consistency of the brand value – both of which are vital in executing

a flawless event. Hence, she explains, a common practice among many of the luxury brands is to have an event team in-house to ensure complete control over detail and ensure brand alignment.

Rise of the East It is hard to raise the subject of luxury marketing without looking at the burgeoning Chinese market – a market that is taking up the minds of luxury brand owners.

According to Bain & Company’s 2014 China Luxury Market Study, 70% of the 1,400 Mainland Chinese consumers surveyed said they liked to try out different brands and styles.

Almost 45% of respondents planned to buy more products from emerging luxury brands in the next three years.

“This creates a new window of opportunity for emerging brands. At the same time, it is

TOP FIVE LUXURY MARKETING TRENDS FOR 2015 – BY CHRIS COMER, CEO OF CASTLEWOOD GROUP 1.

The rise in the luxury “experience”: Top-end retailers have always provided customers with unique and luxury experiences as part of their sales strategy. The decision behind this is because of the consumer’s desire to feel like a VIP. By rousing a feel-good factor when purchasing a product, inevitably the consumer will associate that feeling with that brand.

2.

Personalised and not just customised: Luxury brands will look for ways to offer more than just customisable (available to mass market) products and services, but also personalised (only to VVIPs) products and services such as Johnnie Walker’s Signature Blend events. With the ever-increasing demands of consumers, the luxury segment is seeing expectations of a service that caters for individual needs, rather than a one-sizefits-all – and if you, as a brand, can’t deliver they will find a brand that can.

3.

Innovative marketing: Affluent individuals and UHNW consumers are susceptible to being targeted in new and innovative ways. I believe we will see an increase in brands from traditional industries executing cutting-edge and out-of-the-box marketing campaigns with digital and social media at the core of their activities.

4.

Increased targeting of the Asian market: The middle class in Asia is growing and will represent 66% (about 3.2 billion) of the global middle-class population that is expected to reach 4.9 billion by 2030, therefore, I believe we will see an influx in brands looking to capitalise on the increasing Asia market. We will see luxury brands begin to refocus their efforts to tap into this “new wealth”. We have already seen British luxury brand Mulberry introduce a special Chinese New Year engraving service at its Selfridges store in London; and Scottish whisky brand Haig launch its product with the help of David Beckham in Southeast Asia last year. I believe we will continue to see western brands focus their marketing efforts on increasing their market share with the Asian market.

5.

Increase of unique partnerships with established brands and celebrities: Joint collaborations and celebrity endorsements will be huge in 2015 as brands begin to form mutually beneficial relationships that enable them to grow and focus on their area of expertise. In addition, celebrity endorsements will continue to take centre stage, as brands capitalise on the international appeal of certain personalities that tap into their targeted demographics.

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imperative that more established brands don’t grow complacent as China’s luxury market continues to evolve or they risk falling out of favour with consumers,” said Bruno Lannes, a Bain partner and author of the study.

He adds that brands’ future positioning and popularity within the luxury market hinges on their willingness to revamp concepts to serve the needs of the increasingly sophisticated and well-informed Chinese consumers, “while managing the growing diversity of sales channels such as daigou”.

Daigous are overseas personal shoppers who buy luxury goods and ship them back to their customers in the Mainland. The daigou market grew to an estimated market value of RMB 55-75 billion last year.

Also, Southeast Asia will be an upcoming market in the next few years and the region is on the radar of many global luxury brands.

Kerner explains that while in the past brands did not always feel like they had to debut ideas in Asia, and product launches would usually happen in Europe and then hit Asia, today many brands are debuting their collections here.

Singapore and Malaysia have a longer history, but there is still a lot of room for growth, says Kerner. Meanwhile, markets such as Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and Cambodia also possess incredible opportunities.

The concept of luxury also varies greatly in each market in the region, according to Agility Research & Strategy, which recently released a study of associations consumers made with the concept of luxury. The agency administered the Agility Affluent Insights study online among 1500 (equally distributed) affluent respondents in five countries – China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia and the US. Meanwhile, Jae Soh, general manager of Publicis 133 LUX Singapore, explains that tailored and localised marketing strategies are essential as the luxury sector is experiencing a surge in a diverse range of consumers.

Wealth centres are shifting from the west to the east. Asia is where the largest number of newly minted billionaires are based. The region saw strong growth in the size of its billionaire population and total billionaire wealth in 2013 – 30% of the net increase in global billionaire wealth came from this region. Billionaires – defined as those individuals with a net worth of US$1 billion or above – control nearly 4% of the world’s wealth.

These ultra wealthy individuals form one of the most exclusive clubs in the world: there is only one billionaire for every three million people on the planet.

“Striking a balance between global consistency and localised individuality when marketing these brands in a local context is key,” Soh says.

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More than 120 marketing professionals gathered at the Customer Experience conference which took place over two days to learn what constitutes a great customer experience and how brands can create an impeccable one. Here’s a recap of what was discussed.

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Gold Sponsor

Exhibitors

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4 TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE CONTENT MARKETING Speaking at Marketing’s Customer Experience Conference 2015, Vivek Kumar, director and head of NTUC Membership, said that most content today does not engage the consumer and rarely makes an impact in their decision-making process.

However, effective content is crucial to the customer experience. According to a study by the CMO council, 80% to 90% of consumers, particularly in the B2B sector, will buy from a brand that has content that appeals to them.

It is now a must for companies to adopt a holistic view on content creation and exceed a consumer’s expectations. So how exactly do marketers create content that cuts through the clutter and resonates with consumers?

Kumar gave four tips: 1. Involve your consumers Brands should actively involve the consumer at the initial stage of content creation.

Using the example of Coca-Cola, Kumar said that a decade ago, Coca-Cola innovated the music scene and launched a “passiontargeting approach” to generate its brand presence. Since then, it has evolved its strategy to build on consumers’ passion points.

More recently, it partnered with Maroon 5 to stream the band recording their music live in the studio. Fans were encouraged to follow their live feed on-the-go and simultaneously give the musicians live feedback.

By doing so, the brand was able to encourage its consumers to be part of the content creation process.

Another example of successful content creation with fans was when Harley-Davidson created its “No Cages” campaign. The brand created an engine for its fans on its 110th anniversary to create ideas of the kind of bikes they would like to ride. Customers were allowed to design and custom colour their dream bikes on an interactive website.

Kumar said: “Engaging its customers started even before the brand sold its bikes. It started during the pre-sales period when the brand was trying to communicate with them – when they were designing the product.”

Using the insights and building on the consumer engagement, Harley-Davidson also decided to launch a separate campaign called “No Cages”.

2. Be relevant and target segmented audiences According to Kumar, NTUC Income’s content marketing team takes into consideration the brand’s role in building communities, and

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reaching out to various groups in society. It then builds its campaigns around issues its consumers are passionate about.

“It is essential to tap into the audience that is already available in a brand’s database.”

Citing the example of the NTUC Income 350 Run event, Kumar explained the company leveraged on its youth group’s interests by using environmental concerns as a passion point for its campaign. Pre-event and volunteer groups were formed to help clean up several neighbourhoods.

“At the start, there were 5000 runners and this year that number grew to 15,000. The whole movement has been growing.”

He added this was probably because of the consumers’ excitement around the environmental causes which were further amplified by initiatives built around the event and not just limited to the run itself.

By being attuned to the needs of its young union members, NTUC Income successfully “built a movement in which members and customers were emotionally engaged” with the brand. The movement encouraged NTUC Income’s members to continue to be socially engaged and active, even after the run.

3. Stay on-brand Whatever a brand decides to do, it is essential to be “true to your DNA”, said Kumar. It is important to be sincere about the content and stay true to the brand to ensure success.

As part of its “Labour of Love” campaign, NTUC Membership launched a “Free Coffee Wednesdays” initiative to promote conversations. When consumers gifted a cup of coffee to their friends, they were able to redeem a free cup of coffee “to inspire conversations

and improve any social divisions within society”, said Kumar.

The campaign led to a 772% increase in campaign application participation.

The movement was also a catalyst for the brand to start conversing with the public.

The campaign prioritised the company’s outreach to its members. An initiative included opening at more accessible locations for union members to turn to for help. NTUC also shared personal stories of its members, but de-branded its content for a more genuine approach to its consumers.

Accompanying the month-long campaign, NTUC had a built-in Facebook app to manage its union’s own account to cater to the “overwhelming response from the CBD area”, Kumar added.

4. Campaigns need to be consistent Kumar said when a brand launches an interesting campaign, it “cannot go missing in action … that leaves a very bad taste [for consumers]”.

It is crucial to be consistent with consumer engagement and participation so as not to leave the audience hanging in the lurch. This lack of continuity disconnects the kind of traction that a brand might have received from a prior campaign.

A company must also be conscious of people movement within an organisation so as to avoid a loss in connection with loyal consumers who were engaged with a past campaign.

Because IT infrastructure within a company may not be as fluid as marketing changes, brands need to be wary of their own limitations before creating content. A brand has to ensure that all security measures, especially ones related to IT, are well-managed and updated.

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BREAKING DOWN SILOS FOR A SINGLE CUSTOMER VIEW With the abundance in product choice and clutter of marketing messages in today’s world, many marketers struggle to make a connection with customers.

“Think of your customer as a date,” said Pascal Ly, former head of digital customer experience at Schneider Electric. When you want to go for a date and court a person you are interested in, you will take the necessary actions to reach out to that person.

Customer engagement should be no different, said Ly. “Across all segments, be it B2B or B2C, finance, electronics or fashion, customers just want to be engaged with. Human interaction is still key.”

With data being readily available, tracking the consumers and reaching out to them has now become much easier.

However, to avoid sending confusing messages to consumers, it is still important for a company to have a single voice.

Giving an example of the processes which were previously in place at Schneider Electric, he said that when he first entered the company, different organisation silos were all sending their own messages to their customers. What the different departments failed to realise then was that these customers were receiving numerous messages from one single company.

“What we had was a huge amount of valuable information that was untouched and had not been analysed. Hence, we were also missing a unique single view of our customers.”

To do so, the company needed to gather all relevant customer information from the different departments and create a single visual image of the customer for sales and marketing to turn into actionable insights.

Quoting Carly Fiorina, former executive, president and chair of Hewlett-Packard, he said that what organisations needed to ultimately work on was turning data into useful information, and information into insight.

One way to do this is to start small.

“You need to start small but think big,” said Michael Kustreba, APAC MD of Epsilon.

First and foremost, companies need to analyse a couple of data sources to understand their customers journey. Only then can marketers effectively implement campaign automations and monitor their ROI. He also added that marketers should also adapt their content based on data to proactively optimise their marketing dollars.

Also consistently analysing data will help the brand to understand its consumers and build on complexity.

Here’s a quick look at how to incorporate data into your marketing mix: While the customer is at the heart of marketing, data is fast engulfing the function.

With data here to stay, now more than ever, marketers need to be prepared to handle the data influx to avoid being stuck under a pile of information.

Ly and Kustreba were speaking at the Customer Experience Conference 2015, a two-day conference held on 11-12 March at the InterContinental Hotel Singapore.

MARKETERS NEED TO KEEP ABREAST OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES We all know it by now – digital marketing is dead. Today it is all about integrated marketing in the digital world. This digital world has also led to the increase in expectations from consumers on the seamlessness of their purchase experience, said Rahul Asthana, regional marketing director, baby and child care, digital and e-commerce, Asia Pacific, at KimberlyClark Corporation.

“The consumer lives in a digital world and marketers should not be thinking of the digital world as separate from the ‘real’ world. Her world is digital and this is where she goes for information, entertainment and to purchase products. We need to reach her where she is most receptive,” he said.

“Just being omni present isn’t what being omni-channel means; a seamless cross-channel CX is omni-channel.”

With that, marketers need to keep abreast of marketing technology. Quoting

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a recent Scott Brinker survey, he added that today there were more than a thousand viable marketing tech tools available to marketers.

The challenge here is choosing which new technologies to work with.

Herein lies the challenge.

He explained that while these tech devices allowed for numerous opportunities for marketers, there was also complexity in identifying these tools and combining them.

“I meet two to three start-ups per week just to see what they have to offer,” he said, adding the company did set aside a fixed budget for Asia “Sometimes, with technology evolving so fast, a cutting-edge tool that you might have used at the start of a programme might be deemed as obsolete by the end of it.”

Meanwhile, the commercial lines are also blurring between brands and retailers.

More and more retailers today are getting into content and creating products, while brands

are aggressively pushing into direct-toconsumer marketing tactics.

“E-retailers and retailers feel competition from brands that are going direct to market and eating into their commercial shares.

Marketers thus need to find a new way to keep all their partners happy.”

Asthana was speaking at the Customer Experience Conference 2015, a two-day conference held on 11-12 March at the InterContinental Hotel Singapore.

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5 THINGS YOUR LOYALTY PROGRAMME SHOULD AND SHOULDN’T BE when the customer joins our loyalty programme can we monitor their preferences and find out more about their intimate moments,” he said, adding that within that data, he could then tier customers and target them accordingly.

“When you understand your consumers, you can exploit their wants and desires. At the end of the day loyalty programmes are intended to be profitable and increase revenue to your business.”

How loyal can customers actually be?

Your customers today can be reaping benefits of your brand’s gold-tier loyalty membership programmes while simultaneously purchasing your competitor’s latest products.

The truth is, exclusive loyalty is long gone as customers today are spoilt for choices. But loyalty programmes are a vital part of generating revenues.

For example, members pull in a whopping 90% of revenues for local IT retailer Challenger Technologies, revealed its head of marketing, Loo Pei Fen. The challenge for the brand is adding new customers and keeping the old ones coming back. For this, a strong strategy for its loyalty programme is vital.

Here are five tips to making a strong one: 1. Simplicity and intuition “Loyalty cards have now become obsolete.

Customers no longer carry 10 to 15 cards in their bags. Today, apps make the process simpler,” Loo said.

She added that to digitise itself, Challenger Technologies started eliminating paper documentation of customers. This took away manual labour documentation for both the marketing and data teams and saved on time and resources.

To attract people to join its loyalty programme, Challenger decided to make its programme extremely simple keeping its questions to the bare minimum.

However, while it is important to make the sign-up process to your loyalty programme clean and to do away with irrelevant questions, sufficient member data still needs to be collected, explained Loo. Without it, all is lost for

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the marketing department to build a campaign around it.

2. Speed Speed, she added, was necessary in any loyalty programme.

“If your customer signs up for a loyalty membership today, they should be part of the programme today itself. If you take two weeks to register them, chances are they would have lost interest in your brand by then.”

3. The right data to collect: the must-haves versus the good-to-haves Citing an example of her own company, Loo explained the Challenger brand’s loyalty programme had once missed out on getting the birthdates of customers. This led to the company having to scrap its birthday benefits promotions for its members. While it is good to keep the sign-up process simple, it is also crucial to be mindful of the collection of vital information.

“While you can have information about their hobbies and personal interests – these are all ‘good to haves’. It is vital not to miss out on the ‘must haves’ such as birthdays to cater more personalised promotions.”

4. Micro-segment your audience Kittisak Eh Chuei, director of loyalty marketing at Pan Pacific Hotels Group – Pan Pacific and PARKROYAL brands, talked about how vital it was to target audiences as precisely as possible.

He called it creating micro-segments within existing data.

“As a hotel brand, we might have a rough idea of who our customers are from their names and passport details, but we still don’t really know our customers’ likes or dislikes or personalities. Only

5. Don’t make it a pricing war With the competition in the market increasing, many brands today are entering the price war through their loyalty programmes. While this tactic might work for brands whose communications strategy is built around competitive pricing, for others it might simply result in a transactional relationship rather than long-term engagement.

Chuei explained the true essence of loyalty should not be about selling the product at a discounted value.

“Brand marketers need to rally together and make a stand to push for the fact that loyalty is not about discounts and devaluing your brand.

“At the end of the day you need to secure your business’ future. How can you do so if you are selling your brand at the 60% discount rather than a 120% profit?”

Create instead, experiences. This is particularly prevalent given the rise of the “experience economy”. Consumers today demand for travel experiences that resonate on a deeper emotional level. Brands, hence, need to develop products that are more adventurous, more personalised, and more attuned to the culture, said Chuei.

“Service and goods have become a norm and commoditised. Loyalty programmes should ultimately provide organisations with the best platform to deliver outstanding and memorable experiences as a competitive advantage,” Chuei said.

Philipp Kristian Diekhöner, senior manager of innovation at MetLife and founder of futureLab, MetLife, added that at the end of the day brand experience is what drives and inspires loyalty.

“Customers essentially interacted with brands only if they had a purpose or a reason to do so.”

“Brands are simply a vehicle to getting their task at hand done. What brands should then aim to do is be disruptive and find out easier ways to help the customers before they actually ask for it. Customers may be loyal to a brand, but they are open to seduction.”

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HOW TOYS“R”US POSITIONS ITSELF AS A MEDIA CHANNEL

In keeping up with the rapidly changing Asian consumer, toy retailer Toys“R”Us is trying to transform itself into more than just a brick and mortar store. It is now positioning itself as a viable media channel.

Speaking at Marketing’s Customer Experience Conference 2015, Jo Hall, regional general manager of merchandise and marketing for Toys“R”Us (Asia) said the company’s media channel strategy stemmed from the need to tap into the digitally savvy APAC customers.

Social media aiding in its evolution With an impressive 300 million page views on YouTube, and more than 36 million and 17 million viewers in Singapore and Hong Kong respectively, the brand consistently pushes its curated content on social media sites to reach out to its consumers and keep them entertained. This not only drives interest, but also builds on a loyal consumer base.

Hall elaborated that one successful content push by the brand was when it developed its digital “advent calendar app” where parents could count down to Christmas with their children, allowing “parents to interact with their children and share an experience”.

As one of the leading children’s websites in Hong Kong and Singapore, Toys“R”Us leverages its social media reach to push out new

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products. Building on the excitement around the debut of the Apple Watch, Toys“R”Us launched its own Kidizoom smartwatch via a campaign on WeChat. The brand currently has more than 400,000 followers in China and Hong Kong.

The campaign saw 28,494 followers viewing the message, with 40% of them (11,673) landing on the buy page within the first two hours of the product’s launch.

“This number was unprecedented in social media,” Hall said.

To meet the demands of the fast-adopting millennial consumer, Toys“R”Us has integrated all its different media channels. Given the average APAC consumer has at least four different devices, the need to know how to market to the consumer in a versatile manner is more pertinent than ever, explained Hall.

In-store experiences still matter Despite the proliferation of digital, on-ground and in-store experiences still matter for the brand, especially in Asia where “shopping in malls is part of quality family leisure time”, said Hall.

In 2015, the retailer is catering to the selfie phenomenon by providing selfie stations with green screens for customers to create unique selfie moments which it hopes will ultimately

result in increased time spent in stores.

Toys“R”Us will continue to roll out augmented reality booths and 3D floor stickers to entertain families entering the store.

The brand also prides itself on making its stores more of a “theme park [experience] rather than a trolley dash”.

Hall added that speed to market is a priority for the brand. Working with the Rubber Duck sculpture floating on Hong Kong’s Harbour Bay in 2013 that attracted about 300,000 visitors per day, Toys“R”Us launched a “Bye-bye Duck Party” by selling replicas of the iconic duck.

Additionally, it set up 3D printing booths and recreated the store experience for consumers.

Events are also a big marketing initiative for the brand. For example, the company capitalises on events such as the Chinese New Year and Children’s Day when targeting its consumers in the region.

Also to lure in customers, the company often sets up pop-up stores to “create excitement and thrill”. These events held off-site from its usual stores tactically expand Toys“R”Us’ physical presence, said Hall.

Hall was speaking at the Customer Experience Conference 2015, a two-day conference held on 11-12 March at the InterContinental Hotel Singapore.

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McDONALD’S ON WHY CUSTOMER SERVICE IS A BOARDROOM ISSUE

When McDonald’s appointed its new director of corporate communications, Carolyn Khiu, more than a year ago, the company also chose to add e-commerce and customer relations to her role, effectively giving the customer service function a voice at the boardroom table.

The move was an understandable one.

“At McDonald’s, we are a lightning rod for everything and social media has made our world a very transparent place. A lot of conversations you might think are private will become public the minute a customer blogs about it,” Khiu says.

One key example was an incident last year where McDonald’s all-day breakfast promotions became a PR fiasco when a visually impaired customer, Cassandra Chiu, was “refused” service at McDonald’s because she was with her guide dog.

Khiu said the conversation was initially a private one over the phone. However, since the customer took to blog about it, it became a public matter.

Khiu explained that because the proliferation of social media, online and offline communications has become more closely tied, companies and their operations have now become more transparent.

As such, more brands should push for CS to have a voice in the boardroom.

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She added that traditionally sales and marketing simply minded their daily tasks without much interaction with their CS counterparts.

“Only when a problem arises is the CS team consulted. This needs to change,” she said.

“CS should no longer be seen as a back end function, but rather a change agent. CS folks know best what customers want and problems they are facing day to day. They need to be taken seriously. It should be an alignment of all departments working together. It cannot just be customer service solving the problem.”

Using a crisis to your benefit No doubt when a communication crisis hits any brand, it is a testing period for the whole organisation. However, what brands need to do during such an occasion is to keep calm and tailor the conversation towards topics that customers may not otherwise pay attention to.

“Use this as a branding opportunity. Take the opportunity to reaffirm your company’s commitment to certain values.

“All people want is transparency. Use that occasion to talk to your customer and explain what is happening behind the scenes and why you have taken the steps you have.”

Giving an example of its styrofoam breakfast packaging, she explained the packaging caught the attention of the public for not being eco-

friendly. While the rest of the brand’s packaging is now paper-based, it wasn’t able to change the ones for the breakfast menu because of the complexities required in the supply chain for this to take place.

However, the brand has a multi-pronged approach which it uses for its CSR initiatives, and it used the opportunity to share more about them, which she said went far “beyond just packaging”. For example, here’s a video on one of McDonald’s sustainability initiatives.

She added that authentic communications were vital, although this may not immediately lead to sales.

However, she added that while this helps in winning over some consumers, you still have to be ready to lose some as not every customer will agree with you.

Nonetheless, when a brand explains its views or addresses a complaint on social media, it has to be extremely careful “as the whole world is watching and listening”.

For McDonald’s, before addressing any customer concern, the brand always consults a legal expert and a subject matter expert before constructing a response.

“You have to be careful about phrasing and if this is managed well, you can build a community of support. But don’t be afraid of social media.

Take it as a way to explain yourself.”

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ARE YOUR CURRENT BRAND METRICS ADEQUATE? Measuring accurately how your customers feel about your brand is tricky.

With the advent of big data, most companies are concerned with the speed of measuring data. However, current common measures used, such as the net promoter score (NPS), may be inadequate.

The net promoter score divides customers into three groups: Promoters – who are loyal enthusiasts who will keep buying and refer others to your brand; passives – are satisfied, but may not share the brand and may also be disloyal; and detractors – customers who are extremely negative about the brand and will share this. The NPS scores this by taking the percentage of customers who are promoters and subtracting the percentage who are detractors.

Instead, the NPS might be seen as useful for diagnosing a company’s shortcomings in delivering customer satisfaction, advised Jerry Lu, director for growth markets, customer care at Philips Lighting, at Marketing’s Customer Experience Conference 2015.

While the NPS does reflect a company’s ability in delivering results, it can also drive the behaviour of the company both positively and negatively, he said.

Also, key performance indicators (KPIs), the business metric used to evaluate factors that are essential to an organisation’s success, should not be the sole driving force in deciding to innovate. He warned that deploying a set of wrongly measured issues to a company can inadvertently drive negative behaviour.

For these reasons, there are several limitations that a company should be aware of when deciding to use metrics to measure the customer experience. Lu shared his insights on selecting the right customer satisfaction metrics.

1. Have a holistic view – a company’s lens versus a consumer’s lens Since metrics don’t always add up, an insightful metric for customer experience should include both the company’s and the customer’s perspective.

Citing his experience at HP, he shared a traditional method of gauging customer satisfaction. For example, HP tracked its call centre by measuring its total call rate, calculated by the number of products shipped out of the number of calls received. If the ratio was low, HP would aim to cut on calls due to costs

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associated with keeping up the call centre’s infrastructure.

However, measuring the issues from a call-ratio perspective is not always reliable, he said, since it does not include the customer’s perspective. A high ratio does not necessarily signal consumer satisfaction.

Setting a time limit in handling cases over the phone could also drive negative behaviour for the call agent. The pressure to close a call within minutes does not guarantee a customer care representative’s ability to resolve a customer’s issue.

“Upon thorough analysis, we find that customers care more about their day-to-day experience when using their technological devices,” he said.

2. Customer care should run throughout the organisation To effectively utilise any metric, a company needs to have an operational view of improving customer relationships. Beginning from procurement to cost to customer feedback, having an intra-company perspective is pertinent when trying to make sense of metric results.

More importantly, brands also have to consider a customer perspective when referring to their NPS to get a fuller picture of its score.

When designing methods to improve the customer experience, he said a company had to take ownership in ensuring a “cross functional handshake, visibility and harmonisation”.

Planning any new policies should be the aggregate effort of all departments. Customer care representatives should not be the sole drivers in dealing with negative customer feedback.

First, customer care should be aware of all the touch-points of a consumer’s experience and not just complaints. Still, it should be the entire company’s responsibility to ensure a quality customer experience. All departments are essential because they are able to work on pivotal points in improving the customer experience.

This collaborative effort enables a more thorough ability in identifying improvement and opportunities for innovation. Lu said it was crucial for a department to be able pinpoint issues and collect relevant information to append its metrics.

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WHY RECIPROCITY IS THE KEY TO BUILDING DEEP CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIPS Why are some multi-sensory experiences far more attractive than others? Philipp Kristian Diekhoner of futureLab, MetLife writes.

Jinsop Lee’s inspiring 2013 TED talk on multi-sensory experiences in our lives affirmed a hypothesis I’d been harbouring for years – that the most pleasurable human experiences involve all of our five senses.

Simple and powerful, his theory explains why eating a good meal, dancing in a bar or sleeping with your partner feels so enticing.

Experience design, thus, should A stimuli across multiple sensory dimensions.

A few industries traditionally excel at this such as the high-end hospitality and entertainment sectors, beauty and SPA establishments or luxury malls, for example.

In these contexts, multi-sensory experiences account for a large portion of value created.

Take Jamie Oliver’s restaurants: Good, simple food served in a great ambience, with an open kitchen and small retail portion within the premises. It’s a journey of culinary appreciation and discovery for which we gladly pay a premium.

I like to assume a technical view when looking at brands’ efforts to engage customers through the senses and was curious to discover a common trait shared by all exceptional customer experiences. Why are some multisensory experiences far more attractive than others? What is the difference between a good and a great customer experience?

A major misconception with regards to experience design is that customers in a certain target demographic have the same needs, and want the same things. Just like we don’t all want to drive the same car or live in the same house, we don’t necessarily seek the exact same interactions.

Personalisation plays a pivotal role in creating exceptional customer experiences, and is absolutely irreplaceable. Cleverly designed communities allow brands such as fitness app Fitocracy to better engage their users and help them stick to their goals.

Existing users endorse the activity of newbies, and discuss health challenges in a supportive, forum-like fashion that builds empathy and social context.

A similar misconception exists around repeat engagement. Many of my peers believe brands should deliver the same experience every time, but that’s only part of the truth.

Humans love variety, especially in a familiar context. We stick to a brand because we

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A two-way traffic: Keeping audiences engaged is key to building a lasting relationship.

seek a certain standard, not because we love monotony.

Platforms such as AirBnB have a highly engaged user base for this reason. Nespresso introduces new variations every season, which creates both variety and anticipation. Absolut Vodka assigns a random design pattern to some of its bottles, each one completely unique. All three are iconic brands.

This points to a major flaw in prevalent experience design theory: “Prescribing” a customer journey in a one-size-fits-all, standardised and repeatable matter doesn’t work. Brands prioritising consistency of expression over actual, experiential value-add, fall short of customer expectations and lose out in the long run.

An essential element of exceptional experiences is involvement: Humans experience by doing. We love to make choices, share our opinions and interact with the world around us.

We want to participate as much as we like to receive. Underlying this is the psychological principle of reciprocity.

The best brand experiences establish personalised mutual relationships with customers – defined by equality of power over, and involvement with, each other. At Ritz-Carlton, each employee is given an allowance of up to $2,000 to remedy a customer complaint. This is one of many initiatives to empower staff and show real commitments to guests’ wellbeing.

In the crème de la crème of experiences, reciprocity occurs across four dimensions: The transaction dimension (getting a fair deal for what you pay); the personality dimension (feeling like you and the brand “jive”); the interaction

dimension (striking a balance of service and customer actions/decisions); and the peer dimension (feeling that fellow customers are enjoying a similarly good experience).

I recently designed the user experience of local start-up mypassport.asia, a single subscription giving users access to dozens of boutique gyms, yoga places, and the like, in Singapore.

It’s a highly personalised, dramatically simplified and visually engaging interface that talks to people’s fundamental human needs to integrate wellbeing affordably into their daily lives. Designed to be intuitive from the start, the interface is highly visual and guides through imagery, gently providing wayfinding along the way.

It encourages exploration of the interface at one’s own pace, therein connecting users to work out cultures they identify with. Rather than using a static customer journey, the design is purely driven by empathy and user empowerment.

As a fundamental human metric, the degree of reciprocity we achieve in our lives directly impacts our sense of happiness. The more reciprocal our human interactions, the more joy we experience ourselves.

The highly collaborative nature of humanity hard-wires us to seek relationships of mutual benefit with people and brands. To build such a relationship with your customers, a flexible approach is needed – one that requires empowering the people involved in delivering the experience and deploying flexible processes that allow for genuine human touch to be applied.

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ARE BRANDS TURNING CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS INTO VALUABLE INSIGHTS? An inability to see immediate positive impact on the bottom line is one of the key reasons customer complaint systems are not highly valued. Ambrish Bandalkul reports.

Getting too many complaints? It could be a good thing for your brand.

Customer complaints are supposed to be a great way to find out what your customers actually think of you. Yet why does it so often feel like businesses are tone deaf? During our Customer Experience conference, we spoke to Reshel Chan, senior customer service manager at iconic Singaporean travel agency Chan Brothers Travel, to find out why process improvement can be very hard.

A+M: Customer complaints are supposed to be a great source of customer intelligence. Why do so many businesses fail to take advantage of this to improve processes?

Chan: Instead of using the label complaint, we prefer to label it feedback or feed-forward. The former helps the company retain its customers by providing service recovery whenever required while rectifying current issues.

The latter helps us understand how we can wow our customers. When recorded systematically, feedback and feed-forward can become a huge asset in improving business processes. The reason that customer complaint management systems are not more highly valued are:

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1. Incorrect understanding of feedback/feed forward.

2. An inability to see immediate positive impact on the bottom line.

3. Staff complacency and lack of desire within an organisation to improve the customers’ experience.

A+M: What are the biggest challenges you face in handling customer complaints?

Chan: One of the biggest challenges we face is in maintaining Singaporeans’ high standards and managing expectations in foreign countries. We also face problems in service recovery post-tour.

Sometimes customers choose to remain silent and allow their dissatisfaction to fester during the tour, while expecting a tour refund instead of voicing their complaint early. Eighty per cent of such cases can be resolved easily if they were raised immediately to our tour managers.

A+M: How do you ensure the feedback from customer complaints is taken into account to improve your processes?

Chan: We interact with our customers through several touch-points – at point of sale, through

continual Facebook, email and phone dialogue, during pre-departure briefings and on tour 24/7 with our tour managers.

We table all feedback formally for subsequent action and improvement via personalised notes on a customer’s account history, point-of-sale customer feedback forms, post-tour customer feedback forms and posttour tour manager feedback forms. In addition to immediate action where applicable, all feedback is then consolidated and reviewed again quarterly.

A+M: What’s the most difficult part of drawing the process improvement insight from customer complaints?

Chan: The most challenging part would be identifying the areas where elevated customer service standards brings significant enough utility to justify investment, yet keeping in mind business sustainability through maintaining profitable margins.

For example, we may serve chilli sauce for Singaporean travellers on our tours to enhance the overall dining experience, but we may just stop short of delivering six-star Michelin cuisine on a four-star tour fare.

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