Marketing Magazine SG - Dec 2015

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

Rezwana Manjur, Deputy Editor 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 Johnathan Tiang, Sales Manager johnathant@marketing-interactive.com Ee Kai Li, Account Manager kailie@marketing-interactive.com Grace Goh, Account Manager graceg@marketing-interactive.com Ong Yi Xuan, Advertising Sales Coordinator yixuano@marketing-interactive.com Advertising Sales - International Sara Wan, Senior Sales Manager (Hong Kong) saraw@marketing-interactive.com Events Yeo Wei Qi, Regional Head of Events Services weiqi@marketing-interactive.com Circulation Executive Deborah Quek, Circulations Executive deborahq@marketing-interactive.com Finance Evelyn Wong, Regional Finance Director evelynw@lighthousemedia.com.sg

You get to hear this a lot from marketers, especially when it comes to traditional media, that they have to become interactive. Marketers go on and on about how far interactivity can take those conversations you’d wanted to have with consumers, and how great it is to be able to carry it online from offline.

All that is great by the way, but I’m just not sure if we are missing out something vital in this rat race to make everything interactive.

Growing up, here’s what ads meant to me – they were stories, packaged beautifully within a few minutes and invariably ending on a note that either tugged at my heartstrings, or tickled a funny bone, or left me with a warm fuzzy feeling. Nothing more, nothing less.

I still remember characters from those ads.

(Heck, I wanted to become like some of them, but that’s another discussion). That girl who comes home after completing her PhD, only to find her grandma waiting for her as always; those short dialogues between them, the eye contact, and in the end, grandma handing her a soap or hair oil which the girl has used growing up, asking her to continue using it as it’s good for her – now that’s one plug I didn’t mind at all.

Or, that five-year-old who is so upset with his strict parents that he leaves his home, only to come back after hearing that mum has cooked his favourite dessert. The voice over then introduces the healthier oil in which the dessert was cooked. Simple. I still remember the brand (and ended up using it as well).

There are so many more that come to mind and I revel in delight. As a colleague rightly put it, ads are like art. If tastefully done, they need no explanation and linger in your mind for a long time.

All this makes me wonder, if brands now are a bit too “kan-chiong” to trust creativity and messaging.

The realities of business are different, many may argue. Granted. Besides being subtle and letting creativity take charge would require enormous amount of guts too.

Striking a balance between the new and the old is a tall order and the pressure on businesses to perform is real. The means, therefore, are in accord with the end.

But as a consumer, I will continue to feel about advertising what most ads today are not – a piece of art, a gentle nudge, a subtle reminder, a pleasant story.

Enjoy the edition.

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

IT HAS TO BE INTERACTIVE …

THEN AGAIN, MAYBE NOT

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

Marketing is published 12 times per year by Lighthouse Independent Media Pte Ltd. Printed in Singapore on CTP process by Sun Rise Printing & Supplies Pte Ltd, 10 Admiralty Street, #06-20 North Link Building, Singapore 757695. Tel: (65) 6383 5290. MICA (P) 180/03/2009. For subscriptions, contact circulations at +65 6423 0329 or email subscriptions@marketing-interactive.com. COPYRIGHT & REPRINTS: All material printed in Marketing is protected under the copyright act.

All rights reserved. No material may be reproduced in part or in whole without the prior written consent of the publisher and copyright holder. Permission may be requested through the Singapore office. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in Marketing are not necessarily the views of the publisher. Singapore: Lighthouse Independent Media Pte Ltd 100C Pasir Panjang Road, #05-01 See Hoy Chan Hub, Singapore 118519 198755 Tel: +65 6423 0329 Fax: +65 6423 0117 Hong Kong: Lighthouse Independent Media Ltd Unit A, 1F, Wui Tat Centre, 55 Connaught Road West, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong Tel: +852 2861 1882 Fax: +852 2861 1336 To subscribe to Marketing magazine, go to: www.marketing-interactive.com

Rayana Pandey Editor

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CONTENTS

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

10 EVENT MARKETING: MORE THAN JUST A BRANDED SPACE Combining a positive brand experience with in-person engagement is one way to turn your consumers into brand loyalists. Noreen Ismail writes.

18 OOH SHOWCASE: THE PARTY IS OUTDOORS A showcase of some of Singapore’s latest outdoor campaigns.

40 DIGITAL MEDIA OF THE YEAR The move to digital is vital, but not all in the space can provide consumers a smooth experience. Here are some of the players in the Singapore market which marketers feel have nailed the digital experience.

48 PR ASIA 2015 Our third edition of our PR conference explored various topics ranging from PR talent to client-agency relationships to measurement. Read the summary of what was discussed.

A canvas for brands to portray their creativity, out-of-home continues to remain a staple in marketers’ media mix. In our year-end showcase, we look at how brands have worked together with OOH media owners to drive creativity and engagement to the next level, for consumers on the go.

53 B2B ASIA 2015 The one day-conference on B2B sales and marketing saw discussions around integrating the two functions, adapting strategies to the digital era and the challenges and opportunities within the industry.

58 THE RETAIL FUTURE ‘’Clicking the brick ‘’ – the journey of brick and mortar stores, where does it start and where does it end?

Noreen Ismail writes.

60 THE MARKETING EFFECTIVENESS FORUM How can businesses use behavioural insights to their advantage? Rayana Pandey writes.

62 MARKETING EXCELLENCE AWARDS With a record-breaking number of entries and 106 trophies awarded, this year’s awards was one of the hardest-fought ever. A round up of all that went on during the night.

SCAN TO SUBSCRIBE!

40 10 KEY TAKEAWAYS: >> Singapore’s top digital media players. >> How to get your email marketing right. >> Issues around PR and B2B marketing.

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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.

Coffee treats Coffee chain Costa Coffee launched its first digital campaign in key markets throughout Asia.

The Costa “Christmas Cracker” campaign aims to promote its limited edition holiday menu available in stores until 6 January 2016. The campaign went live in Singapore, Philippines, Cambodia, Thailand and India from 9 November. Positioned as the place to celebrate the festive season, Costa Coffee launched its festive range, which includes limited edition treats and four drinks served in Costa holiday cups.

More gems for Havas Aspial Corporation moved its media account to Havas Media from Zenith Optimedia. Brands under Aspial that Havas now handles include Lee Hwa, Citigems, Goldheart and Maxi Cash. Both Havas Media and Aspial confirmed the move to Marketing. Aspial has traditionally been print heavy when it comes to marketing its brands. According to AC Nielsen, the group spent about SG$4 million last year on print.

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Zirca expands global footprint Zirca Digital Solutions, an independent digital media and brand solutions company in India, recently expanded into Southeast Asia and North Asia. Zirca set up an office in Singapore to cater to its clientele in Southeast Asia and North Asia. The company has over the years worked with publishers and platform partners such as Microsoft Advertising, The Economist, Outbrain and several more.

Singtel extends partnership Singtel secured the broadcast rights to all Barclays Premier League matches for the next three seasons commencing August 2016. Singtel has aired the Premier League since the start of the 2010/2011 season. Currently, Singtel TV offers a wide range of other football content such as UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, FA Cup, Capital One Cup, Italian Serie A and more.

New digital unit Singapore Press Holdings’ (SPH) Chinese Media Group (CMG) is consolidating its digital resources under a new digital unit. Anthony Tan, executive vice-president of CMG, said the changing global media trends, regional environment and local Chinese media landscape had presented the company with “difficult challenges as well as unprecedented opportunities”.

The new CMG digital unit will create an integrated digital platform for CMG’s Chinese language newspapers.

Self-service promotion To spur more companies to adopt innovative technologies and improve their operational efficiencies, the National Productivity Council launched a new consumer marketing campaign. Called “We Are InDIYpendent”, the campaign aims to get Singaporeans to use the self-service facilities. The campaign also aims to feature three key benefits of using selfservice facilities. The campaign runs until the end of the year.

Mount Faber gets media help Mount Faber Leisure Group appointed Carbon Interactive as its social media agency on record.

The pitch was called in September and the appointment is for one year with the option to expand for another. Carbon Interactive now handles Singapore Cable Car and Faber Peak Singapore’s social media channels, overseeing content planning and development, social listening, crisis management and social analytics.

Genting acquires Zouk Genting Hong Kong acquired iconic Singapore club brand Zouk for an undisclosed sum. The former takes ownership of Zouk’s trademarks along with the new Zouk Club in Singapore’s Clarke Quay, scheduled to open in late 2016. According to Channel NewsAsia, Zouk Singapore will be led by the club’s new MD and GM Benny Heng. Genting Hong Kong will continue to operate the annual ZoukOut dance music festival.

GET SET collaboration Brand’s, UM Singapore, M&C Saatchi and Clear Channel collaborated and brought together a creative out-of-home campaign that leveraged on the everyday spaces of consumers to raise awareness for its new brand campaign, GET SET featuring Mok Yin Ren. The aim of this campaign was to introduce Brand’s Essence of Chicken’s “GET SET” proposition. For this, eight Clear Channel-owned bus shelters were selected to showcase a three dimensional Brand’s Essence of Chicken iconic bottle.

Wearnes appoints agency Wearnes Automotive, the official Singapore dealer for British sports car Aston Martin, appointed PR Communications as its public relations agency for its Singapore operations. The retainer contract, which commenced in October, includes the management of all Aston Martin’s media relations, including influencer engagement, events management and digital engagement on the brand’s social media platforms. PR Communications will be providing strategic counsel to the Aston Martin portfolio until March 2016.

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11/12/2015 3:36:45 PM

NEWS

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Outdoor expansion OOH company JCDecaux Singapore has launched a new digital advertising network at ION Orchard. Following the successful launch of the “Digital Fashion Network” in July, JCDecaux unveiled a new network of 80inch digital screens in the mall, packaged as the “Premium ION Link Digital Network”. Located at key touch-points along the busiest linkways of Orchard Road, the new network consists of nine screens and several new advertisers.

Print acquisition Highend Media, publisher of international luxury magazine Billionaire and digital publication Billionaire.com, acquired Crown magazine from Smart Media.

Covering middle to high-end luxury watch marques, the two-year-old magazine aims to be a resource for budding watch lovers and horological enthusiasts. With this acquisition, Highend Media hopes to build on its vision of championing the merits of authentic luxury and craftsmanship.

Honest funding Honestbee, a grocery concierge and delivery service company based in Singapore, raised the first round of funding of US$15 million. Honestbee expanded its team to almost 100 people in just eight months, and continues to aggressively scout the best talent in the world. Honestbee expects to be in at least six other Tier 1 cities by June 2016. Participants in this round were led by technology investment firm Formation 8.

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Orange Clove selects Section Catering service company Orange Clove appointed digital agency Section to handle its digital account. The agency will help the company launch its first digital brand campaign to engage and create meaningful conversations and connections with its customers. Digital executions were rolled out in early November across the company’s social media pages such as YouTube and other relevant digital channels. The win covers the Singapore market only.

Inspiring an inner sparkle Fraser and Neave and GOVT Singapore created an integrated campaign to promote its latest product offering, Ice Mountain Sparkling Water. The team created an interactive Kinect-powered screen that turned people into a mass of bubbles. A custombuilt bubbling water bar was also displayed around town to push the message of “sparkle from within”. Launched on 15 October 2015, it will run until the end of the year.

LEGO settles media pitch LEGO appointed Carat Asia Pacific as its media agency for the regional market. Sources close to the pitch indicated Carat and Starcom were the last two agencies battling it out in the final round. Called in July, the pitch covered markets such as Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Taiwan, Marketing understands. Before the appointment, LEGO did not have one consolidated media agency for the region.

Wooing the Chinese Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has ramped up efforts to lure tourists from the Chinese markets.

STB launched a suite of digital and mobile services for the Chinese market which allows Chinese visitors to search for Singapore destination offerings, navigate Singapore and share their travel experience. STB has also entered into a memorandum of understanding for the first time with online travel services Alitrip and Tuniu, and social review sites Dianping and Mafengwo.

Raising awareness of SMEs MediaCorp participated in a nationwide campaign called 99%SME. The campaign aimed to raise awareness of SMEs in Singapore. As part of the campaign, MediaCorp offered three advertising grants worth SG$100,000 each to the top three SMEs that garnered the most shared promotions and the most “liked” videos. The winning SME can use the $100,000 advertising grant on any of MediaCorp’s media platforms, including the use of its creative services team.

Konica appoints PR agency Printing solutions company Konica Minolta appointed Singapore agency Huntington Communications as its PR agency following a pitch. The account covers the Singapore market only and is for one year. Huntington is tasked to provide strategic counselling and media relations for the brand. In addition, the agency will manage and create community initiatives to drive brand differentiation.

New tool for brands Digital agency KRDS launched its “KRDS story analysis tool” (KRDS SAT) to help brands identify the most engaging posts for any given industry. The tool is accessible to all brands and agencies and aims to provide brands with a report that unveils community management efforts being made by other brands on Facebook in real time in Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai and India.

New hotel brand Hospitality group Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts launched a new brand called Dhawa.

Dhawa builds upon the group’s reputation for redefining luxury hospitality through innovative thinking, design excellence and sustainable business practices.

The hospitality group appointed Jones knowles ritchie (jkr) to create the visual identity and hotel collateral for Dhawa. The agency was appointed following a pitch in September.

More love for SMEs Singtel and Ogilvy & Mather Singapore (O&M) rolled out phase two of the 99%SME movement to spur all consumers to support local small and medium-sized (SME) businesses.

Currently SMEs make up 99% of registered companies in Singapore, employ 70% of the workforce and contribute 50% of the nation’s GDP. This phase of the campaign for consumer engagement was launched with a new short film – “99%SME” – which aired nationally as well as on YouTube.

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NEWS

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An essential acquisition WPP’s media investment arm GroupM made one of its more significant acquisitions, taking a majority stake in Essence Digital.

Essence Digital, a key Google partner, also ranks as the world’s largest independent buyer of digital media. Under the acquisition, the company will continue to operate as an independent brand, but with access to GroupM’s global reach and infrastructure.

The agency will compete for businesses independently, but will also collaborate with GroupM on specific assignments.

Alibaba to acquire Youku Alibaba, long associated with e-commerce, is set to make a big entertainment investment by acquiring Chinese online video giant Youku Tudou for about US$3.7 billion. Alibaba held 18.3% of Youku Tudou, but offered to buy out the remaining 81.7% of Youku Tudou for US$26.60 a share.

Youku Tudou, popularly known as China’s YouTube, will give Alibaba access to more than half a billion online video users.

Heart Media adds to its stable Luxury publisher Heart Media acquired Luxuo.com to engage a new wave of affluent readers and luxury brands in the digital space.

Luxuo.com launched in 2007 in Hong Kong and has grown to become one of Asia’s largest luxury portals with a focus on affluent audiences. Heart Media’s stable of luxury titles include WOW, Men’s Folio and L’officiel Singapore.

...---...

SOS was the primary distress signal of the seas until 1999

One of the most famous early use of radio was during the distress call and rescue operation of the RMS Titanic in 1912

East Pittsburgh’s election results were the first commercially licensed broadcast in the world - by KDKA in 1920

In the 1930’s, radio became extensively used as a source of foreign news “War of the Worlds” broadcast led to mass hysteria in America due to pre-war paranoia

HOW MUCH DOES THAT COST?

AXA DISPENSES PROTECTIVE PRODUCTS

AXA Singapore launched a new wave of its “Born to Protect” global campaign in Singapore riding on its successful launch last year in October.

Aimed at providing protection against everyday concerns, AXA was looking to reach out to Singaporeans from all walks of life.

To make protection fun and

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accessible, AXA transformed four bus stops posters in high traffic areas into mega-sized capsule dispensers containing free items such as band aids, mosquito patches, medicated oil and cough drops.

The out-of-home media cost specifically for the capsule dispensers was estimated to be SG$200,000.

In 2015, Apple introduced Beats One, bringing traditional radio programming to the internet era

In 1954, Sony became one of the first companies to introduce transistor radios, dominating the market for nearly 50 years

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NEWS

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Winning awards Y&R Philippines’ “Water Lamp for North Face” was awarded a number of top honours, including Print Innovation of the Year and the Grand Prix at the Tinta Awards, which celebrates excellence in print advertising. The magazine ad for The North Face led with the line: “Exploring at night? Make a lamp using this ad.” Upon wetting a specific area, electrons began to flow from zinc to copper, both embedded as electrochemical cells within the paper.

A plus for retailers GroupM media agency Mindshare launched a retail data unit called Shop+. The unit is dedicated to helping clients leverage real-time data to apply adaptive marketing techniques to in-store and online shopping. Shop+ covers all forms of commerce, from exploring beacons in physical stores to the latest adaptive pricing and promotion technologies being used by online retailers. Narayan Ivaturi will lead the APAC initiative.

Game on for Shangri-La Shangri-La launched a gamification site to discount incentives and travel offers at its hotels and resorts in Australia, Fiji and Southeast Asia. Before unlocking the travel deals, users were encouraged to participate in the site’s personality quiz to determine whether they were a thrill seeker, nature lover, art and cultural buff, elite traveller, urban voyager or one who preferred tranquillity – before being recommended with a relevant experience to match their character.

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Tasty partnership Carat entered into a strategic partnership with global snacking powerhouse Mondelēz International and China’s internet service portal Tencent to meet the fast-evolving and growing demands of the Chinese market.

Shared resources will include data and research, content and innovation, as well as joint research studies to develop new activation models and methods to engage the Chinese consumers.

Shifting media Johnson & Johnson shifted its global media buying business from OMD to IPG Mediabrands, a move which will see the IPG-owned agency J3 manage the reported US$2.6 billion business. A statement from the pharmaceutical and consumer packaged goods manufacturer said after a comprehensive media review across its consumer, pharmaceutical and medical device businesses, J3 would take on the business in Asia Pacific, Latin America, Europe, Middle East and Africa.

MTV gets creative Viacom’s music channel MTV unveiled MTV Canvas – an interactive online tool that gives the audience freedom to create their own content and engage with the brand. Taking cues from pop culture, fans can make their own visual art with music, backdrops and more, via this newly launched platform co-created with an online tool called To.be. This activation is part of MTV’s rebranding strategy launched earlier this year.

AUDIT WATCH

CROWNING GLORY Highend Media, the publishing house behind international luxury magazine Billionaire and digital publication Billionaire.com, recently acquired Crown magazinee from Smart Media. A quarterly specialist watch periodical, Crown is known for its comprehensive and insightful content.

Covering mid to high-end luxury watch marques, the two-yearold magazine aims to be a resource for budding watch lovers and horological enthusiasts.

With this acquisition, Highend Media will build on its vision to become “the world’s leading publishing house, offering niche luxury titles for the global affluent, while championing the merits of authentic luxury and craftsmanship”.

The enhanced variety of luxury titles allows Highend Media to present a greater scope of offerings

Looking to buy Australian digital advertising group REA Group is looking to acquire 100% of the share capital of Southeast Asian property group iProperty Group Limited.

REA Group is a subsidiary of News Corp which owns property sites in Australia, China, US and Europe. The acquisition is valued for a massive sum of AU$751 million. According to several media reports, this is one of the largest acquisitions of an ASEAN start-up.

One for the kids Prudence Foundation and Turner Broadcasting have built further on their five-year partnership with the launch of the Cha-Ching Boomerang Kids’ Card. As a new avenue to reach Thai kids and their families with financial literacy education, the Kids’ Card, through various partnerships in Thailand, enables a hands-on experience of Cha-Ching’s core messages about earn, save, spend and donate.

The card entitles kids to qualify for unique discounts and retail deals at various establishments.

to readers and business partners across both print and digital platforms.

Flagship titles Billionaire and digital publication Billionaire. com will be bolstered by added horological content, a mainstay of the global luxury market, while Crown will look to enhance its presence in regional markets as well as on digital platforms in the coming months. A quarterly publication, Crown is not audited. It is distributed in Singapore and advertisers on board include luxury brands such as Rolex, Harry Winston, A. Lange & Söhne and Van Cleef & Arpels.

Painted beauty Emirates launched two A380 jets wearing special livery in support of United for Wildlife. It is a global collaboration that unites the efforts of the world’s leading wildlife charities in the fight against the illegal wildlife trade. The livery features some of the planet’s wildlife threatened by poaching and the illegal wildlife trade. The airline aims to raise awareness of the illegal wildlife trade and communicate the need for action.

Dubai expansion Global location data company BlisMedia has opened an office in Dubai. Its foray into the Middle East follows its office openings in Hong Kong and Australasia earlier this year, and key executive hires across the globe.

The Dubai operations will be headed by Puja Pannum.

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FEATURE: EVENT MARKETING

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o marketer should ever take event marketing lightly.

Combining positive brand experience with in-person engagement is one way to turn your consumers into brand loyalists.

Traditionally known to provide brands with the opportunity to display, present or promote a product, service or cause, the more impressive event marketing strategies ensure that a brand’s experience leaves an indelible mark on the minds of its consumers and target audience.

Although event marketing relies on in-person engagement with consumers, the promotion of these activities can occur through various inbound and outbound marketing techniques.

Event marketing these days

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is more than just a themed exhibit. Creating an event itself is a multilayered undertaking with many challenges to say the least.

Not surprisingly, marketing the event is just as vital as the event’s theme, logistics, catering, entertainment and production planning. When creating an event, most brands are aware of its power as a marketing tool for their business. Whether a festival, playground, pop-up installation or even an airport invasion, an event will help to market and brand a company’s business, indubitably affecting a consumer’s perception.

If done right, a brand’s event can boost its market positioning, thought leadership and industry power. If executed poorly with a slew of mishaps, an event can

be a marketing nightmare that may impede your brand’s ability to recruit brand loyalists and new customers.

Virtual events have also grown popular as a means of connecting with target audiences as the technology behind them improves and as marketers look for new ways to maximise their budgets.

Why event marketing is still relevant In today’s fast-paced and digital world, brand loyalty has become more transient and transactional than ever.

Hence, marketers need to seize every opportunity to build relationships, generate goodwill, and earn the trust of prospective buyers and customers. The modern consumer has higher

expectations: he or she wants more than a pitch when evaluating solutions or making purchasing decisions.

As such, events offer a unique opportunity for customers to interact with brands to get a first-hand sense of a company’s personality, perspective and presence. It goes without saying then that event marketing needs to be an integral part of the marketing mix, while a strategic combination of offline and online events remains essential to any company’s business goals.

Here, we list eight brands that have converted, transformed and borrowed spaces as a means to offer consumers unique experiences, giving them a oneof-a-kind interaction with their brands.

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FEATURE: EVENT MARKETING

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AIRBNB For its brand experience and activation campaign for Singapore Design Week’s anchor event, SingaPlural, Airbnb appointed independent creative agency GOVT to conceptualise and produce the project.

Titled “Welcome Home”, the project included an installation, which was the largest at SingaPlural.

The installation was modelled after an actual Balinese house in Airbnb’s accommodation listings and contained a projection-

“AIRBNB’S MAPPING TOOK PLACE ON A FULL 3D ENVIRONMENT, ALLOWING GUESTS TO SEE AN ACTUAL HOME WITH EVER-CHANGING FURNITURE TEXTURES” W W W .MA R KET ING - INT ERAC TIVE . COM

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mapping installation of four unique Airbnb listings from Bali, Penang, Tokyo and Paris.

It was mapped exactly to scale and authenticity of the accommodation unit.

Guests who entered this installation were transported to these unique accommodation listings without ever leaving the installation.

The display attracted more than 1,300 guests during its preview night. The unique installation was one of the most popular in SingaPlural with constant queues formed while waiting to enter it.

According to Airbnb, the installation was “the first of its kind of projection-mapping in Singapore”, with other

mappings usually being 2D and projected on a flat surface.

“Airbnb’s mapping took place on a full 3D environment, allowing guests to see an actual home with ever-changing furniture textures,” the company said.

SingaPlural launched on 9 March 2015. The anchor event ran from 10-15 March at the former Central Police Station on Beach Road.

More than 1,500 media and VIPs attended the opening event.

GOVT was also appointed

by Singapore Furniture Industries Council (SFIC) to be the cocurator of this anchor event, alongside design studio PLUS Collaboratives.

This year’s curated theme was “process”.

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FEATURE: EVENT MARKETING

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DBS Capitalising on the excitement surrounding the SEA Games, DBS Bank held its water sport festival, DBS Marina Regatta, in conjunction with the Games’ races in Marina Bay. An initiative under the DBS Marina Regatta, it included an “urban beach” on the Promontory @ Marina Bay where the public could enjoy food and beverages from various pop-up cafes and activities at the pool, while watching the sailing races.

DBS’ aim was to celebrate the nation’s 50th birthday and support the SEA Games, a spokesperson told Marketing.

The SEA Games’ traditional boat (Dragon Boat) races were held on 6 and 7 June in conjunction with the regatta’s mixed category of Dragon Boat races on the same days and in the same waters. The pop-up “urban beach” was held on the third weekend of the regatta festival – 13 and 14 of June – allowing the public to catch the SEA Games sailing races held at the Marina Bay. Most of the regatta’s activities were free of charge, and the SEA Games’ Dragon Boat and sailing races at the Marina Bay were unticketed as well.

On the social media front,

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DBS was capturing and sharing on Facebook and Instagram the proud moments of Team Singapore during the races.

To encourage staff to join in and witness the momentous torch parade, which was held at the Marina Bay on 4 June, DBS gave away 100 pairs of table tennis finals tickets to the first 100 staff

ON THE SOCIAL MEDIA FRONT, DBS WAS CAPTURING AND SHARING ON FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM THE PROUD MOMENTS OF TEAM SINGAPORE DURING THE RACES. who headed down to Marina Promenade to cheer for Team Singapore.

GOLD HONG KONG SKYCITY MARRIOTT HOTEL 1 Sky City Road East, Hong Kong International Airport, Lantau, Hong Kong T: +852 3969 2018 F: +852 3969 2023 E: skycity.sales@marriott.com W: skycitymarriott.com

DESCRIPTION Hong Kong SkyCity Marriott Hotel is the only international luxury hotel on Lantau Island, connected to the AsiaWorld-Expo, close to the airport, Hong Kong Disneyland and Ngong Ping 360. The hotel has 658 guest rooms, 14 meeting rooms, a 24-hour business centre, five dining outlets, 24-hour fitness centre and spa. Town is a 28-minute train ride away via the connected Airport Express Line. This modern day oasis is perfect for MICE, business and leisure travellers.

CLIENT TESTIMONIAL “The team at the SkyCity Marriott Hotel makes a point to ensure our requirements are met. The banquet team always anticipates our needs and is flexible to our requests. We look forward to working together with them in future.”

Christina Reis, people development manager, Cathay Pacific Airways Limited

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FEATURE: EVENT MARKETING

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DIAGEO DFS Group teamed up with Diageo Global Travel to launch the Johnnie Walker House retail showcase, located within DFS Group’s new wines and spirits flagship store. It is the first ever Johnnie Walker House in Singapore and Southeast Asia.

Designed and built by Singapore-based design agency Asylum, the store aims to bring to life the history of Johnnie Walker.

The store provides “theatrical mentoring” sessions, which are immersions in the Johnnie Walker brand and product universe,

THE STORE PROVIDES “THEATRICAL MENTORING” SESSIONS, WHICH ARE IMMERSIONS IN THE JOHNNIE WALKER BRAND AND PRODUCT UNIVERSE, THROUGH A COMBINATION OF EDUCATION AND ENTERTAINMENT, AND STORYTELLING AND TRIALS, LED BY BRAND AMBASSADORS. GOLD INDIGO PEARL Nai Yang Beach and National Park Phuket 83110, Thailand T: +66 (0) 76 327 006, (0) 76 327 015 F: +66 (0) 76 327 338-9 E: Lalida@indigo-pearl.com W: www.indigo-pearl.com DESCRIPTION Discover the jewel in the crown of Phuket North upon a beach kissed by azure waters and fringed by towering pines. At Indigo Pearl, the distinctive design of tropical modern master Bill Bensley meets warm sunshine and even warmer hospitality. Inspired

by Phuket’s tin mining past and located mere minutes from the international airport, Indigo Pearl offers a magical ambience and utter convenience. Design your next high powered meeting, conference or special event in a private paradise with the unique Thai touch of our dedicated catering and events team. Roundtable brainstorming sessions to international conferences – Thai delicacies at Black Ginger the reward. Meet in the cool shade of a verdant garden set against a dense rainforest. Engage in tailored team-building activities: a cook-off, a sailing excursion, an island adventure.

Enjoy world-class golf courses, a jazz-infused sunset cruise and the aromas of an open-fire seafood barbecue on a private island. Savour themed private parties and boutique galas – Thai traditional dance to Hollywood glam. Haute culture fashion shows, magnificent soirees and more.

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through a combination of education and entertainment, and storytelling and trials, led by brand ambassadors. There will also be privileges extended to members of the Johnnie Walker House – the world of privileges loyalty programme.

“With the strategic location of Singapore Changi Airport as a travel hub, Johnnie Walker House Singapore is set to be a gamechanger for the luxury spirits segment,” said Doug Bagley, managing director, Diageo Global Travel and Middle East.

“We combine our revolutionary hospitality concept with our successful travel retail model – providing an enticing experience to modern luxury consumers during the ‘the golden hour’ before they board.”

Johnnie Walker House Singapore marks the seventh addition to the expanding international network of whisky embassies.

According to the press release sent out by Diageo, when travellers step into Johnnie Walker House Singapore, they are transported into a retail theatre of a larger-than-life luxury steamer trunk.

“The Johnnie Walker House Singapore at DFS’ new wines and spirits flagship store represents these aspirations and we are delighted to unveil it,” said Brooke Supernaw, senior vice-president of global merchandising – spirits, wine and tobacco.

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11/12/2015 5:11:50 PM

FEATURE: EVENT MARKETING

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HEINEKEN Putting consumers’ experiences at heart, Heineken brought its Cities Festival 2015 to Singapore’s shores once again this year.

This time around, it was held at Chijmes as a nod to the iconic landmark in the heart of Singapore, where guests were treated to a night of surprises and discovered unexpected cultural mash-ups of the familiar and the extraordinary from the cities of Los Angeles, Madrid, Mexico City, Seoul, Tokyo and Singapore.

David Moore, regional marketing manager at Heineken,

told Marketing that such events provided the brand with the opportunity to connect with its audiences directly and in a truly immersive manner.

“Heineken has always encouraged people to embrace the spirit of adventure and discovery. With the Heineken Cities Festival, we hope to open the eyes of our consumers with a journey of unexpected twists, presenting them with a worldly adventure like no other.”

In terms of brand positioning, Heineken continues to strive to

SILVER HYATT REGENCY HONG KONG, SHA TIN 18 Chak Cheung Street, Sha Tin, New Territories, Hong Kong T: +852 3723 1234 F: +852 3723 1235 W: hongkong.shatin.hyatt.com DESCRIPTION Located at University MTR Station, the Hyatt Regency Hong Kong, Sha Tin offers direct access to central business districts and Shenzhen on the border of China, all via the MTR. The hotel features 559 guest rooms and suites with calming mountain and harbour views. Indoor and outdoor meeting and event venues include the regency ballroom for large-scale meetings, three salons with connecting outdoor terraces, nine boardroom-style meeting rooms with mountain views, and a landscaped garden for team-building activities.

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“WITH THE HEINEKEN CITIES FESTIVAL, WE HOPE TO OPEN THE EYES OF OUR CONSUMERS WITH A JOURNEY OF UNEXPECTED TWISTS, PRESENTING THEM WITH A WORLDLY ADVENTURE LIKE NO OTHER.” reach its consumers in ways that continue to excite them, while rewarding them with unique and memorable Heineken experiences, Moore added.

For the Heineken Cities Festival 2015, held at Chijmes on Friday, 28 August, the brand rolled out six limited city edition bottles and sleek cans named after six of the world’s most exciting cities – Los Angeles, Madrid, Mexico City, Seoul, Tokyo and Singapore. Heineken is one of the first premium beer brands in Asia to launch the iconic beverage in 330ml Sleek Cans.

Heineken Singapore is currently working with two agencies, iris Singapore and Starcom. Iris Singapore is its integrated agency of record, leading creative and PR for campaigns, while media agency Starcom covers media buys for campaigns.

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FEATURE: EVENT MARKETING

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MAGNUM SPECIFICALLY WANTED TO WORK WITH A PARTNER WHO “WOULD PUSH THE CREATIVE BOUNDARIES WHILE MAINTAINING THE ESSENCE OF INDULGENT CHOCOLATE AND ICE-CREAM PLEASURE”

MAGNUM Unilever’s premium ice-cream brand Magnum celebrated the launch of its new ice-cream Magnum Infinity with a Magnuminspired playground.

The ice-cream brand partnered with London-based culinary experience designers Bompas & Parr to design the world’s first Magnum Infinity playground. Through the partnership, Magnum and Bompas & Parr sought to transport guests back to their childhoods – a time when fun and ice-cream were inextricably linked.

The playground saw the transformation of the rooftop of Singapore’s iconic Esplanade into a larger-than-life playground for adults. The highlights of the chocolate and caramel-filled evening were the Infinity slide and Infinity skyline swings facing the Singapore city skyline.

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For this campaign, Magnum specifically wanted to work with a partner who “would push the creative boundaries while maintaining the essence of indulgent chocolate and ice-cream pleasure”, a spokesperson said.

Hence, the partnership with Bompas & Parr was bon.

Bompas & Parr is known for creating culinary experiences that intersect art, architecture and food.

Meanwhile, an ad campaign was also launched to promote the new Magnum Infinity. The campaign ran across TV, OOH, online and social media.

The ad campaign was created by Alchemy Partnership.

Meanwhile, Mindshare handled media duties and PR executions were done by Golin Singapore.

The Magnum Infinity campaign ran until December 2015 in Singapore. Magnum has

also collaborated with rooftop bar Orgo Bar & Restaurant to present a special Magnum x Orgo dessert and cocktail menu.

SILVER SINGAPORE POLYTECHNIC GRADUATES’ GUILD 1010 Dover Road 139658 DESCRIPTION The Singapore Polytechnic Graduates’ Guild (SPGG) has a well-equipped clubhouse that offers a relaxed and friendly environment for business leaders, industry experts and young graduates alike to meet. SPGG members can enjoy its luxurious facilities, such as its seminar rooms, conference rooms and board rooms for meetings, and its study room for quieter moments. It also hosts numerous recreational events and has impressive club facilities such as a bowling alley and jackpot, should members wish to unwind.

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FEATURE: EVENT MARKETING

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PERNOD RICARD Pernod Ricard celebrated Martell’s 300 years with the launch of an air gallery. In collaboration with Bates CHI&Partners Singapore, the wines and spirits company launched an augmented reality art exhibition, showcasing new artworks by 15 local artists.

The exhibition as seen through a mobile app is juxtaposed against Singapore’s skyline in the Marina Bay area.

As Martell’s tricentenary year coincided with Singapore’s golden jubilee, the idea was for Martell to gift the nation, which prides itself on excellence and an

important arts hub in Asia, with a unique art experience. The Martell AiR Gallery is now a permanent art exhibition in the air and is free for access by anyone with a smartphone.

It is the first fully fledged art show in Singapore to be created using AR technology. The app is downloadable from iTunes and the Google Play Store. As a permanent exhibition space, the Martell AiR Gallery will also become a platform to nurture and support local art talent.

There are plans to engage with the local government

SILVER THE MIRA HONG KONG 118 Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon Eva Kwan, Director of Sales & Marketing T: 852 2315 5666 E: mice@themirahotel.com W: www.themirahotel.com DESCRIPTION Overlooking the lush Kowloon Park, The Mira Hong Kong is a member of Design Hotels™ and a contemporary urban retreat featuring 492 smoke-free guest rooms, including 56 suites. Cuttingedge events space encompasses eight flexible function rooms and the pillarless penthouse ballroom by Colin Cowie® that accommodates up to 800 guests and boasts 18 handcrafted Czech crystal chandeliers, futuristic audio-visual rigging with 25,000 colour LED lighting combinations and staggering vistas.

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agencies to roll out the collection to different parts of Singapore, eventually using the whole of Singapore as a canvas.

Bates CHI&Partners collaborated with creative digital production company MediaMonks to bring to life the works of 15 multi-disciplinary local artists.

Curated by Kelley Cheng, the gallery features an exhibition titled Zoe – The Art of the Alchemist.

IT IS THE FIRST FULLY FLEDGED ART SHOW IN SINGAPORE TO BE CREATED USING AR TECHNOLOGY. Using geo-tagging technology, viewers will be prompted to point their mobile devices at specific locations where the artworks, ranging from animated clips, virtual sculptures to even poetry, can be accessed through the app. Apart from the app, the campaign extended itself to a series of touch-points where Martell’s cultural ambassadors – including chef Justin Quek and mixologist Ethan Leslie Leong – translated their insights on Martell to bespoke culinary and tasting experiences.

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FEATURE: EVENT MARKETING

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SINGAPORE TOURISM BOARD The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) presented “Explorer’s Playground”, a showcase of Singapore’s family enrichment offerings catered to families who seek more rewarding holidays with their kids.

Held at The Curve shopping mall in Petaling Jaya from 21 to 25 October 2015, families were able to experience some of Singapore’s popular attractions and learn about exciting enrichment previews on offer.

Explorer’s Playground featured family enrichment programmes by eight exhibitors, including some of Singapore’s most favorite attractions such as ArtScience Museum, Gardens by the Bay, Resorts World Sentosa, Trick Eye Museum and Sentosa Island, as well as experiential learning centres such as Just Education, F1 in Schools and the much-anticipated Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum.

Children and parents were

opportunities. The X-wing fighter experience at T3 will also feature the appearance of Star Wars characters such as X-wing fighter pilots and Imperial Stormtroopers.

Walt Disney has also rolled out the Star Wars’ humanoid protocol droid C-3PO which will teach visitors popular Star Wars phrases in 10 commonly spoken languages.

Other familiar Star Wars figures such as the TIE fighter guarded by five Stormtroopers, in the latest incarnation of their armour, can also be found at Terminal 2’s Departure Hall.

Passengers travelling

through T2 can also expect to catch a glimpse of a Star Warsthemed gate hold room and aerobridge at gate E26, where more life-sized figurines of the First Order Stormtroopers and the astromech droid R2-D2 are stationed.

Inspired by the Hardangerjøkulen Glacier, one of the filming locations of Star Wars, a Norwaythemed playhouse features a four-metre high slide, an illuminating ball pit, a ski slope and even a rock climbing lighthouse station for young visitors to the airport.

invited to discover a treasure trove of educational insights as they embarked on the Explorer’s Playground activities and also stood a chance to win attractive prizes.

STB, together with its local travel partners, were also offered unique family enrichment packages with great value during the road show.

According to Edward Koh, STB’s executive director of Southeast Asia, the playground was aimed at catering to families who have shown growing interest in educational vacations.

“Travelling is seen as a means to broaden student knowledge, experiences and nurture global citizens,” Koh said.

“Since Malaysian parents have an overall good impression of the enrichment and learning opportunities that our attractions can deliver on top of the fun factor, we believe that Singapore presents compelling offerings that can meet these expectations.”

WALT DISNEY Walt Disney has transformed Changi Airport into a Star Wars zone in its latest marketing stunt.

The motion picture company has rolled out the American epic’s paraphernalia for loyal fans and visitors to experience the Star Wars franchise.

To kick-start its annual yearend festive celebrations, Walt Disney partnered with Changi Airport to bring a part of the franchise to visitors, with two of the film series’ iconic star-fighters landing in Singapore for the very first time.

From 13 November 2015 to 5 January 2016, airport visitors can take part in the intergalactic adventure at Terminal 3’s (T3) Departure Hall, where a life-sized X-wing fighter takes centre stage.

Guests can also don Star Wars costumes for photo

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In an age where consumer mobility is at an all-time high and media consumption on-the-go is rising at an unprecedented rate, outdoor presents a huge opportunity for brands to engage with audiences.

Combined with mobile, the potential is even bigger. According to a Global Industry Analysts’ study done this year, out-of-home ad spending is set to grow faster in Asia Pacific than any other region of the world. Last year, advertisers spent $109.7 billion on out-of-home ads in Asia Pacific (excluding Japan), a figure that the firm expects to rise to $180.2 billion by 2020 for a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.6%.

“Based on that prediction, out-of-home advertising will be bigger in Asia Pacific by 2020 than anywhere else in the world except the US,” eMarketer said in an article. Currently, Asia still lags Europe for outdoor ad spending. Japan will tack on an additional $63.4 billion to the regional total in 2020, pushing the aggregate figure past the US as well, it said.

With such growth expected in this space, marketers have greater expectations from the medium. In a previous interview with Marketing, Cedric Dias, head of digital marketing at OCBC, said: “When I look at outdoor, the one thing it needs to be is interactive. Consumers interact with their mobile phones so much these days that other mediums, if not interactive, will lose out.”

Immersive is another feature, outdoor needs to posses. “The more immersive the medium, the more likely as a marketer, would I be willing to spend the marketing dollars,” said Rahul Asthana regional marketing director for APAC at Kimberly-Clark Corporation.

Moreover, Singapore makes for a market where OOH can thrive – people, across all income segments and ages, are out and about a lot more given the high levels of safety and security. Being well-connected and boasting excellent public transport also plays a great role for the thriving OOH scene here.

“In Singapore for the last couple of years we have been using out-of-home very successfully.

We’ve used buses and taxis with Huggies’ advertising and we’ve found mums to be very receptive to such messages. And that’s the conversation with media agencies – given the problem that I’m going to solve is the consumer receptive to that touch-point and does it have a role to play?” Asthana said.

The appetite for outdoor in Singapore is still strong and outdoor media owners have responded. We are beginning to see the outdoor space innovate and leverage technology to deepen the engagement with audiences.

In our year-end showcase, we look at how brands have worked together with OOH media owners to drive creativity and engagement to the next level for consumers on the go.

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Client AXA Insurance Singapore.

Campaign period October – November 2015 (four weeks).

OOH format Four create panels and 200 faces of 6-sheet printed posters.

Creative agency Publicis Singapore.

AXA – Born to Protect

by Clear Channel

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Media agency Havas Media Singapore.

Campaign objective The objective of this campaign was to demonstrate AXA’s “Born to Protect” spirit by providing protection against Singapore’s everyday concerns, with experiential out-of-home.

Strategy and execution To make protection fun and accessible, AXA transformed four bus stops posters into megasized capsule dispensers. Inspired by the toy capsule dispensers of the 1980s, all it took was a push of the button on the dispenser to receive free capsules containing any of these items: band aids (prevent infection in cuts), mosquito patches (prevent dengue fever), medicated oil (for headaches and pain relief) and cough drops (to soothe sore throats).

Results About 80,000 Singaporeans have been protected

by AXA. Other media platforms used for the campaign Outdoor, press, digital and TV. OOH media owner Clear Channel Singapore.

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Client Disney/Pixar.

Campaign period August – September 2015.

OOH format Real-time Dynamic on 30 Play digital panels.

Media agency m/six Asia Pacific.

Disney/Pixar – Inside Out

by Clear Channel

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Campaign objective To showcase the range of emotions from its Inside Out characters, Disney decided to leverage the one thing that Singaporeans love to hate: the weather. Singapore is either hot or wet or both – and depending on your mood – the weather can make you feel any of several emotions.

Strategy and execution With a takeover of Clear Channel’s Play network of 30 digital panels in the CBD area, a

programme was developed to pull live weather feeds from the National Environment Agency website. Each of the five characters – Joy, Anger, Sadness, Fear and Disgust – was associated with three sets of copy: rainy weather, sunny weather and a generic statement typical to their character. When the NEA weather reading indicated “rain” within certain parameters, the creative copy switched to the rainy weather set. When it was sunny and the temperature rose above 30 degrees celsius, the programme switched to display the sunny weather set of creatives.

Results Inside Out performed very well at the box office, exceeding our targets. It is currently the biggest Disney and Pixar animation in Singapore, surpassing Frozen and Big Hero 6, our previous record holders.

OOH media owner Clear Channel Singapore.

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Client Mondelēz Singapore Pte Ltd. Campaign period September – October 2015.

OOH format Three units of create panels and 100 faces of 6-sheet.

Creative agency Ogilvy & Mather, Canopy Design.

Media agency Carat Singapore.

Campaign objective The objective of this campaign was to drive consumption across the entire range of Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate bars. The campaign aimed to encourage young adults to explore the different variants in the Cadbury Dairy Milk range by increasing the relevance of the Cadbury Dairy Milk to their snacking occasions.

Cadbury Flavourism

by Clear Channel

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Strategy and execution Research shows snack cravings can be defined by texture, volume, touch and feel of food, irrespective of the taste. Drawing from this information, Cadbury Dairy Milk highlighted four key textures (“Chewy”, “Nutty”, “Smooth” and “Chunky”) that can be found in its product range. The four flavours selected for the texture

simulation were Cadbury Dairy Milk Fruit & Nut, Roast Almond, Milk Chocolate and the limited edition flavour, Cashew and Cookies. To build awareness and allow consumers to experience the key textures present in the range, Cadbury Dairy Milk installed customised bum seats that simulates the chocolate consumption textures.

The texture, look and feel of the bum seats were also specially considered to ensure a close resemblance to the chocolate bars. For example, to communicate the texture “Chewy”, the seats were designed to be slightly bouncy, simulating the eating experience. By doing so, it highlighted the texture offerings in Cadbury Dairy Milk’s product range and strengthened the brand’s relevance to consumers’ snacking habits.

Results As a result of the campaign, the 200 gram Family Block range achieved the highest sales in the past five months. Variants highlighted in the campaign, including Milk, Roast Almond and Fruit & Nut, achieved a 50% increase in sales performance and Cadbury Dairy Milk as a whole saw a more than 10% increase in overall brand sales.

Other media platforms used for the campaign Free to air TV, YouTube and in-store POS display.

OOH media owner Clear Channel Singapore

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Client Samsung.

Campaign period ION Orchard (April – May 2015) | 515 Keppel Road large format billboard (May – August 2015).

OOH format ION Orchard outdoor LED billboard, ION Orchard Digital Dragon’s Tail, 515 Keppel Road large format billboard.

Creative agency Cheil.

Samsung Galaxy S6 and Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge

by JCDecaux

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Media agency Starcom Media Worldwide.

Campaign objective In April 2015, Samsung launched its latest Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge mobile phones in Singapore. With a catchy tag line “Next is Now”, the new Samsung mobile phones come packed with many new and improved features.

The campaign objective was to announce the latest product release, and communicate

these new and powerful features to its target audience through a mix of carefully selected media platforms.

Strategy and execution Samsung chose two of JCDecaux’s prime downtown sites to announce the launch of its new phones – ION Orchard mall and the AYE/ Keppel Road viaduct. For one month, more than four million ION Orchard shoppers were treated to an immersive experience combining the heartthumping TVC fully synchronised on 16 HD LCD screens, and vibrant wall static displays when they rode the 25m-long escalators between B2 and B4 in the mall, known as the “Dragon’s Tail”. The TVC also appeared on ION Orchard’s 189sqm large outdoor LED screen facing Orchard Road, with a high opportunity to see by foot and vehicular traffic at the busiest traffic junction in Orchard. In addition, to reach out to drivers, Samsung chose JCDecaux’s highly prominent 380sqm outdoor billboard site on 515 Keppel Road along the AYE/Keppel viaduct, one of the most highly utilised expressways in Singapore.

For five months, the advertisement was exposed to millions of drivers.

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Client Miu Miu. Campaign period August – September 2015.

OOH format Terminal 3 check-in gallery digital billboard and duty free network 70” MUPIs, all terminals.

Media agency JCDecaux OneWorld.

Miu Miu’s first fragrance

by JCDecaux

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Campaign objective In August, Miu Miu launched its very first fragrance Miu Miu and chose Singapore Changi Airport for its global debut. In a joint collaboration with the world’s No.1 airport and The Shilla Duty Free, Miu Miu was launched amid much fanfare, with a beautiful event outpost at Terminal 1 where passengers were able to have their Miu Miu fragrance bottles personalised with their initials.

Strategy and execution To promote the new fragrance’s launch, Miu Miu booked two of JCDecaux’s most prominent

media platforms at Changi Airport. The first was a landmark media site in Terminal 3 – a pair of digital billboards that take centre stage at the terminal’s departure check-in hall. Each billboard was made up of 36 high-definition LCD screens, showcasing Miu Miu’s beautiful digital advertisement in full vibrant colours and high resolution to 100% of departing Singapore residents and international passengers at the terminal. To ensure the communication reached out to all passengers at Changi, Miu Miu also leveraged on JCDecaux’s highly popular 70” digital MUPI broadcast network across all three terminals. There were 78 strategically located digital MUPIs across all terminals to provide superior coverage and visibility to the more than 54 million passengers who travel through Changi Airport each year.

Results The four-week campaign on these two highly popular JCDecaux digital platforms in Changi Airport successfully achieved brand and product awareness. The 70” digital MUPI broadcast network’s proximity to point-of-sales in the transit areas helped drive traffic in-store and encouraged purchase.

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Client Gumtree.

Campaign period October – December 2015.

Gumtree Exclusive Sellers Campaign

by JCDecaux

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OOH format Kingsize lightbox, digital walkway.

Creative agency The Alchemy Partnership.

Media agency PHD Singapore.

Campaign objective Gumtree is an online classifieds and community website that was first started in London in March 2000. Recently made available in Singapore,

Gumtree was seeking a suitable out-of-home media platform to increase brand awareness and drive traffic to its website with exclusive deals.

Strategy and execution JCDecaux’s media sites at CityLink Mall were the ideal platforms for Gumtree’s campaign, with its strategic location in the Marina Bay area and high reach of PMEB shoppers that are Gumtree’s target consumers. The campaign was executed through an integrated use of static and digital media at the mall. The 20sqm Kingsize Backlit Lightbox delivered the key brand messaging, while the 45m-long digital walkway with seven 70” high-defi nition LCD screens provided audio and visual impact. iPad units were installed on-site to invite CityLink shoppers to trial the website with attractive discount incentives.

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Client Elizabeth Arden.

Campaign period 17 September - 14 October 2015.

OOH format 6-sheet creative, 6-sheet.

Creative agency Global (in-house).

Media agency PHD Media.

I am Juicy Couture

by Mediacorp OOH Media

Campaign objective This campaign promoted the launch of “I am Juicy Couture”, the new pillar for the Juicy Couture fragrance which turns 10 this year. The campaign also aimed to drive consumers to point-of-sale by encouraging them to try out the product on the spot.

Strategy and execution Installed outside Heeren Orchard and Fullerton Hotel, and leveraging Mediacorp OOH Media’s 6-sheet network, the creative takes the form of a life-sized perfume bottle with the “I am Juicy

Client name Nil. Campaign period 9-11 October 2015.

OOH format Experiential event.

Creative agency In-house.

Media agency Mediacorp OOH Media.

Festival of Wheels

by Mediacorp OOH Media

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Campaign objective Mediacorp OOH Media organised Festival of Wheels as an event not only to entertain, enrich and engage the public, but also to present new opportunities for advertisers to engage the right target audiences. Beyond advertising, we hope to bring communities closer, and create many opportunities for the commercial stakeholders to interact and engage with the different audience segments at a more intimate level.

Strategy and execution Festival of Wheels featured areas for our sponsors to showcase their products and to engage their audiences. From product sampling to attractive

Couture” bottle placed inside the panel. Motion sensors were installed to detect the public’s hand or palm, encouraging the audience to try out the product on the spot.

This immersive initiative takes product sampling out onto the streets, providing audiences first-hand experiences with the product. Driving traffic to point-of-sale, QR codes were incorporated and offered e-coupons for redemption of a sample perfume vial at participating retailers nearby.

This creative campaign showcased how outdoor media platforms allowed consumers to interact with the advertisement using their five senses without having to be physically in the store.

Results There were an astounding 50,000 sprays during the four-week period. It achieved the objective of an integrated campaign that attracted the consumers and encouraged trials on the spot, bouncing them to the point-of-sale with a sample vial redemption. The vial redemption rate was 40% (on total QR codes scanned) with a conversion to purchase from the vial redemption at a healthy 38%.

offers, our booths impressed the community present at the event.

Mediacorp’s artistes’ appearances also increased exposure for the event and sponsors.

The artistes tried out products and activities such as drifting, Harley-Davidson bikes, fat bikes and our cycling pump track clinic and posted their experiences online, amplifying the event digitally.

Sponsors also enjoyed extensive on-ground branding with their brands featured on areas such as backdrops, the spectator stand and the start and finishing truss. Exposure was given on all the events’ above-the-line publicity materials.

Results The inaugural Festival of Wheels saw a great crowd turnout over three days, about 5,000, combined with more than 20 brands and partners working with us. A total of 1,000 Facebook posts were recorded over the span of three days with the #sgfestofwheels hashtag, with 344 Instagram uploads. Many participants also uploaded their race experience on YouTube, mentioning the Urban Wheels Challenge.

Many participants and partners had a positive event experience and expressed their interest in seeing the event repeated the following year, proving it to be an effective platform to educate and engage the community.

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Client name GrabTaxi.

Campaign period 15 October – 2 December 2015.

OOH format Opti-prime powered by omnify and 6-sheet (25 faces).

Creative agency Medialogy Lab (for Omnify) and APD (for 6-sheet).

Media agency Maxus (for 6-sheet).

GrabTaxi Campaign

by Mediacorp OOH Media

Campaign objective Mediacorp OOH Media’s newest platform addition, the omnified opti-prime screens, features a dynamic NFC function that helps clients such as GrabTaxi to engage audiences with interactive content and attractive incentives for both new and existing users of its mobile application.

smartphones users with NFC to interact with the screen. This dynamic NFC functionality allows the ads on our screen to breakthrough boundaries of static medium and continue the engagement on their smartphones.

GrabTaxi’s campaign was the first on these upgraded opti-prime screens, designing its content to take advantage of the dynamic NFC function available. It featured a live feed of the locations of the taxis registered with GrabTaxi around the vicinity, a free promotional ride, GrabTaxi’s social media pages as well as a zone to download the app. All these could be done within one screen in a hassle-free manner.

Results Within a week of its launch, more than 300 interactions were recorded. The campaign also increased talk-ability for GrabTaxi, with social media influencers and the public mentioning its services on Twitter.

Strategy and execution The opti-prime screens, owned by Mediacorp OOH Media and powered by Omnify, allows

product, the BB Cushion Pore Control. Targeting working women, the campaign also served to educate them with beauty knowledge and information about LANEIGE’s products.

Client name AmorePacific Corporation.

Campaign period 14 August - 9 September 2015.

OOH format 3D Flagship.

LANEIGE BB Cushion Pore Control

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Creative agency w3-o.

Media agency PHD. Campaign objective LANEIGE, the Korean beauty brand, took over the streets of Orchard Road to raise awareness for its

Strategy and execution A large scale 3D display featuring a stunning compilation of morning to night city scenes was mounted on the rooftop of the shelter outside Tangs Plaza. This flagship communicated to the public how the BB Cushion Pore Control lasts all day, keeping a woman’s make-up looking fresh.

One special element of the flagship included 3D “BB Bubbles” which represented the special ingredient in the product that gives the cream a long-lasting finish. To reach out to passers-by and drive traffic in-store along this hotspot, an exclusive LANEIGE pop-up store was also set up at Tangs Plaza during the campaign for 13 days.

Audiences received exclusive set promotions and beauty giveaways when they stopped by this pop-up store.

Results The LANEIGE campaign was indicative of how OOH Media 3D flagships can be used to engage the audience along strategic paths-to-purchase, while captivating the audience’s mindshare in tandem with last-mile marketing efforts.

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Client name Unilever.

Campaign period 26 May - 17 June 2015.

OOH format 6-sheet creative, 6-sheet network, Digi 6 (optiprime).

Creative agency Alchemy.

Media agency Mindshare.

Magnum Infinity

by Mediacorp OOH Media

Campaign objective To raise awareness for the first ever moodenhancing chocolate ice-cream, Magnum worked with Mediacorp OOH Media to install four interactive bus panels. This immersive initiative allowed passers-by to also be engaged in the campaign, while communicating the new ice-cream provides an intense pleasure that is longer lasting than ever.

Strategy and execution Other than 6-sheet bus panels that were installed,

Client name Penang Tourism.

Campaign period 14 May - 24 June 2015.

OOH format 6-sheet, 3D Flagship, 12-sheet, Digi6, DigiBoard and TVC. Creative agency In-house.

Media agency Publicitas Malaysia.

Visit Penang 2015

by Mediacorp OOH Media

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Campaign objective Penang Tourism aimed to raise awareness for Visit Penang 2015 by reaching out to both residents and tourists along the key shopping belt of Orchard Road with visually creative and immersive elements. In addition, the campaign also wanted to prompt commuters to get to know more about Penang.

Strategy and execution Penang Tourism bought over the entire Lucky Plaza shelter to execute its campaign, hoping to stir attention among commuters travelling along

digital technology was also incorporated as part of four other interactive bus panels which were located outside Far East Plaza, Royal Thai Embassy, Orchard Midpoint and Orchard Plaza.

This interactive initiative engaged the audience to experience an “infinity swing” as they took a bite of the new ice-cream virtually.

To experience the “Infinity Swing”, the audience had to stand in front of the panel and act as if they were picking the Magnum ice-cream up for a bite.

Thereafter, the audience would have to swing their arms upwards before they took off virtually to the top of a building, creating an “infinity swing” experience. This campaign demonstrated how bus panels could also be used as an interactive and engagement point with the public, extending the brand experience through a fun and creative manner.

Results The campaign generated more than 30,000 interactions over the four shelter locations over the three-week period. This demonstrated that interactive digital OOH campaigns can attract the interest of passing commuters and drive actions and the curiosity of the audiences in the streets.

the key shopping belt of Orchard Road with an immersive experience.

Iconic places of Penang were featured, ranging from food to tourist attractions in an effort to “bring” Penang to Singapore.

Replicating the famous funicular train at Penang Hill, the creative featured a 3D train moving up and down a stoned-wall hill, surrounded with elements such as trees in 2D and 3D form to represent the greenery Penang is known for.

Event line-ups were featured on the 6-sheet panels, while the 12-sheet contained information on experiences one can anticipate while visiting Penang. The opti-prime screens displayed videos of Penang promoting the George Town Festival in August.

Results The client was pleased the whole bus shelter was eye-catching and attracted passers-by. With the integration of all platforms in a bus shelter, this campaign demonstrated that buying out all the platforms in a bus shelter allows advertisers to create an immersive brand experience for the target audience.

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Client Resorts World Sentosa.

Campaign period 6 – 19 August 2015.

OOH format 6-sheet and 6-sheet creatives Creative agency In-house.

Media agency Carat.

RWS Halloween Horror Nights 5

by Mediacorp OOH Media

Campaign objective The concept behind the RWS Halloween Horror Nights 5 creative campaign aimed to capture public attention with a touch of spookiness, reconciling the out-of-home ad with its theme.

RWS turned the idea of paper servants from the Paper Hell House (one of its haunted house themes) into realisation through a 6-sheet creative.

Strategy and execution The 6-sheet creatives were inspired by one of the four haunted houses in the event – the Hell House. It featured a paper effigy couple inviting

Client StyleXstyle and Samsonite.

Campaign period 18 March – 31 March 2015.

OOH format On-the-move billboard truck.

Creative agency StyleXstyle.

Campaign objective This campaign aimed to raise awareness about the styleXstyle fashion boot camp together with Samsonite RED, Samsonite’s newest product range. Using a unique platform and an on the move billboard truck, they hoped to capture the public attention’s as well as their main target audience, which were students in the fashion discipline.

Samsonite Red

by Mediacorp OOH Media

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Strategy and execution Measuring 7.3 by 3, the exterior of the truck featured Samsonite’s spokespersons, popular Korean celebrities Lee Min Ho and Kim Ji Hyo. The interior of the truck was also decorated with Samsonite RED luggage, and was spacious enough for the public to step in and have a

interested parties to their housewarming … in hell, and were located at shelters along Shenton Way in front of Fullerton Hotel along Fullerton Road, the SMU bus shelter along Victoria Street and Lucky Plaza along Orchard Road, targeting the youth, PMEs and tourists segments. RWS also bought the 6-sheet network.

A pair of 3D paper effigies were created and contained in the 6-sheet panel, accompanied by flames on the outside. The panel lit up at night time with red lights installed within the panel to add an extra touch of spookiness. The creatives grabbed the attention of commuters and even motorists and pedestrians passing by.

Results The campaign was very well received. On the day the ad went up, SGAG uploaded a picture of it onto Facebook and Instagram, garnering 4,639 likes, 258 comments and re-shares within a few days, with almost all comments positive. Many were enticed by the ad to attend the event with one commenting that “this is real advertising”.

A similar use of effigies in the teaser campaigns online garnered video views from 8700-plus to 10,000-plus. Overall, the response towards the ad was great and RWS’ Halloween Horror Nights 5 saw a full-house event at every date.

feel of the product. To engage the fashion students, the truck made multiple stops at different institutions – Nanyang Academy of Arts, LASALLE College of the Arts and the Management Development Institute of Singapore (MDIS) from 12.30 to 2.30.

Other than promoting Samsonite’s new product, the stop overs were mainly for styleXstyle to attract fashion students to sign up for the boot camp. With Sharon Au, (former Mediacorp artiste) actively gracing the recruitment drive as the head of styleXstyle, many students turned up when the truck arrived and explored the billboard truck which mimics a Samsonite retail store.

Results More than 400 applicants signed up for the styleXstyle boot camp, which only had 16 places. This overwhelming response showed the effectiveness of Mediacorp OOH Media’s billboard truck, taking out-of-home media beyond bus shelters and digital malls, and allowing for a refreshing and unique audience engagement experience, while leveraging Mediacorp’s star power.

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Creative agency DDB. Media agency MEC Singapore.

Campaign objective The campaign aimed to encourage Singaporeans to achieve 10,000 steps daily – the recommended number to maintain a healthy lifestyle. The target audience included PMEBs and people who lead sedentary lifestyles.

National Steps Challenge

by Moove Media

Tsubaki

by Moove Media

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OOH format Integrated – North East Line (NEL) Dhoby Ghaut with lighted music floor stickers, Escalator Crown concept with lighted music step risers, platform screen doors and two NEL trains.

Strategy and execution NEL Dhoby Ghaut station was transformed into a fun, entertaining and engaging walk for commuters with a musical note in every step. This was a one-of-kind and the very first interactive musical out-of-home campaign executed in Singapore. The concept buy of NEL Dhoby Ghaut station with lighted floor stickers and music when stepped on, plus the Escalator Crown concept with lighted music step risers, platform screen doors and the combination of two NEL trains, made it an effective and sure motivator for commuters’ to lead a healthy lifestyle – the objective of the campaign.

Client name Shiseido Singapore Co (Pte) Ltd.

Tsubaki and add to its new product range which features Silicon-free shampoo.

Campaign period 9 October 2015 – 7 January 2016.

Strategy and execution Moove Media executed huge 2D Tsubaki shampoo bottles on the single deck buses teaming up for the first time with Shiseido. This colourful execution of the buses brings great reminders and are a definite eye-catcher to lure commuters to try out its new product range. This makes sure the brand’s target audience is fully aware of the product.

Client name Health Promotion Board.

Campaign period 9 November 2015 – 6 December 2015.

OOH format Single deck wholly painted buses 2D. Campaign objective The objective of this campaign is to relaunch

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Get the best cash back in town with the Citibank DIVIDEND Card

by Moove Media

Client Citibank Singapore Limited.

Campaign period 28 September 2015 – 18 January 2016.

OOH format 300 taxis.

Campaign objective The media buy with Moove Media consists of a fleet of 300 taxis, strategically located to cover the fully revamped proposition of the Citibank DIVIDEND Card, as well as Citibank’s petrol partners.

Client Land Transport Authority.

Campaign period 11 October – 31 October 2015.

Those Who Move Us

by Moove Media

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OOH format North East Line (NEL) Dhoby Ghaut station – concept wallscape, travelator and glass panels.

Creative agency Dentsu Singapore.

Campaign objective The objective was to build affinity with commuters and give them a glimpse into the

Strategy and execution All taxi tops carry a die-cut mnemonic of “8% cash back” on Moove Jewel platforms, the best cash back offering in the market. The cab tops, particularly attention-grabbing when lit at night, is in the signature Citi blue wave background.

The vast coverage of the 300 taxis roaming all corners of Singapore gives the impact needed for this card which targets the mass and emerging affluent, giving them great savings for their everyday purchases.

intricate world of our land transport professionals and appreciate the work that goes into building and maintaining Singapore’s land transport system through the lens of 30 talented Canon photographers.

Strategy and execution Through the lenses of everyday commuters, LTA and Canon Singapore teamed up with Moove Media to revamp NEL Dhoby Ghaut into a photo exhibition gallery taking commuters for a behindthe-scenes tour that brought to light the people, technology and machinery that drives our public transportation. Real images were installed on the wallscape bringing commuters this experience on the go.

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Client Unilever Singapore

Lux – Ignite the Spark

by SMRT Media

Campaign period 3 September – 30 September 2015 OOH format Orchard Media Hub Concept Linkway Campaign objective To heighten the awareness of the shower gel in a more engaging manner which ultimately translates to increased sales.

Client Asia Pacific Breweries Singapore/Tiger Beer

Unofficial Official History of Singapore

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Campaign period 9 April – 6 May 2015 OOH format Somerset Concept Linkway Campaign objective Tiger Beer launched the “Unofficial Official History of Singapore” campaign to celebrate the nation’s 50th birthday.

Tiger Beer, a brand synonymous with the

Strategy and execution Leveraging SMRT Media’s prominent Orchard Media Concept Linkway, the client once again utilised this high-traffic media space to showcase the Lux Shower Gel for maximum exposure.

The mix of video and visuals immediately created an impact capturing consumers from all walks of life, instilled top-of-mind recall and drove product purchases.

The results yielded from advertising at this strategic location met the client’s expectations which reflected the decision by the client to buy into this media space for multiple years.

Singaporean identity and culture, wanted to inspire Singaporeans with a fresh perspective through mockumentaries showcasing Singapore’s favourite pastime – eating.

Strategy and execution Somerset’s linkway was chosen as it enjoys high human traffic with both Singaporeans and tourists alike, hence, reaching out to more consumers in a relaxed setting as they go about their daily routine.

The mockumentaries, with their larger-thanlife visuals, allowed an intimate engagement with consumers thereby allowing them to learn more about Singapore culture.

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Client Huawei Campaign period 14 May – 1 June 2015

Honor 4X mobile phone – Catch Me If You Can

by SMRT Media

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OOH format Double Decker (eLumiNEX™) Campaign objective Huawei launched its latest phone – Honor 4X – and its “Catch Me If You Can Snap and Win” campaign on SMRT Media’s eLumiNEX™ Double Decker – a first in Singapore.

Strategy and execution SMRT Media introduced the first illuminated double-decker bus as part of its strategy to provide innovative and creative solutions

that generate value for its advertisers. The bus features the world’s first eLumiNEX™ which is a breakthrough large-format backlit film technology that can light up largeformat print surfaces. The lighted 12m-long uninterrupted canvas on the bus captured consumers’ attention and transformed Huawei’s advertisement when the sun set and the city lights came on.

This innovation is the result of SMRT Media’s collaboration with A*Star’s Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology (SIMTech), A*STAR’s technology transfer arm, ETPL and local SME large-format printer, Film Screen.

The visual impact captured more eyeballs on the road and elevated Huawei’s advertising campaign to a whole new level. More importantly, it provided endless out-of-home advertising possibilities for advertisers.

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Client Tourism Authority of Thailand Campaign period 4 June – 1 July 2015

Discover Thainess 2015

by SMRT Media

Vaseline – First-Ever Spray Moisturiser

by SMRT Media

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OOH format City Hall platform concept Campaign objective Tourism Thailand launched a campaign titled “Discover Thainess 2015” to promote Thailand as a tourist destination.

Client Unilever Singapore Campaign period 2 July – 29 July 2015 OOH format Raffles Place iBillboard Campaign objective To increase the awareness and sales of the newly launched Vaseline Intensive Care Spray Moisturiser.

Strategy and execution Targeting the mass audience, SMRT Media worked closely with the client to transform the platform of City Hall into an immersive and interactive experience for everyone.

The campaign’s creativity ante was upped further with “real-life” visual imagery, allowing commuters to take photos with the threedimensional backdrop and share with their family and friends. This innovative campaign generated much buzz and evoked consumers’ inner desires to head to the Land of Smiles for a getaway shortly thereafter.

Strategy and execution With the objective of reaching out to as large an audience as possible in the shortest time possible, the client converted iBillboards at Raffles Place MRT Station, one of the highest human traffic stations, into an immersive experience with video and eye-catching visuals.

Targeting the female professionals and working executives who are hard-pressed for time, the visuals captured their attention and delivered the messaging effectively and efficiently as they journeyed up and down the escalators.

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Client SMRT Campaign period From 18 August 2015 onwards

We’re working on it

by SMRT Media

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OOH format Concept train, iBillboard, lightbox, poster, doubledecker bus Campaign objective To showcase SMRT staff hard at work behind the scenes to keep our public transportation system running.

Strategy and execution The campaign showcases front and back-end

staff serving commuters and maintaining and upgrading our public transport system.

The multi-platform campaign is spread out across various touch-points that commuters will pass by on a train ride, instilling top-of-mind recall.

The visuals are showcased on concourse lightboxes, 4 sheet network, platform screen doors, etc, across MRT stations as well as buses plying the island.

The visuals greet the commuters at all corners as they walk along the concourse areas, upon entering the fare gates; and while queuing for the train.

The exposure from the visuals leave a lasting impression on the commuters to achieve the campaign objective.

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11/12/2015 4:39:41 PM

DIRECT MAIL CASE STUDY

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PAKTOR PACKS A PUNCH ON SINGLES’ DAY WITH SURPRISE VISITS A simple gesture with a small, yet engaged audience, helped Paktor achieve its campaign objectives.

Putting a smile on people’s faces: Paktor went out of its way to celebrate Singles’ Day this year.

Singles’ Day on 11 November began as a day to call out singletons – symbolised by the “bare sticks” in the date “November 11” or “11/11”. While e-commerce behemoths may have colonised the day as an online shopping bonanza or popular culture brushing it off as just a “phase in life”, Paktor set out on a mission to reclaim the meaning and pride of loving one’s self on Singles’ Day through a multi-country, omni-channel campaign.

On 11 November, selected Paktor users across Singapore, Taiwan and Malaysia received a lunchtime surprise delivery when they used the app and opted in for the surprise via an in-app form.

As part of Paktor’s multi-prong approach to engage with its existing users, the handprepared card demonstrated the value of sincerity and human touch that direct mailers bring. They also ignited an emotional and physical connection with our users whom we usually communicate with online.

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For users who missed out on the lunchtime surprise, we personally mailed out a Singles’ Day card to them with the message “You are not alone!” containing the well-wishes from the three co-founders that Paktor is always there for them.

Riding on the back of the surprise element, Paktor also partnered with A Better Florist to distribute roses at different locations in Singapore.

The rose giveaways succeeded in putting a smile on people’s faces, authenticating the meaning of Singles’ Day. About 398 singles opted in to participate in Paktor’s Singles’ Day campaign – four were selected for the lunchtime surprise delivery while direct mailers were mailed to the other 395 singles who were not selected for the delivery. More than 1,000 roses were given out on the streets of Singapore.

Paktor experienced an overwhelming influx of users swiping hard on Singles’ Day (50 times higher than the average).

THE MAIL Objective To let users know Paktor cares and they are not forgotten on Singles’ Day.

Target audience All active users on the Paktor app and singles in Singapore.

Overall results About 398 singles opted in to participate in Paktor’s Singles’ Day campaign. More than 1,000 roses were given out on the streets of Singapore.

Charlene Koh CMO Paktor

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DIGITAL MEDIA OF THE YEAR

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:: METHODOLOGY :: How did we achieve this?

DIGITAL MEDIA OF THE YEAR

Today, with customers always on the go, no offering is complete without a digital platform. The move to digital is vital, but not all in the space can provide consumers a smooth experience. Here are some of the players in the Singapore market which marketers feel have nailed the digital experience.

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The Digital Media of the Year rankings were derived from questions in Marketing’s annual Media Spend Benchmarking Survey. Marketing Research employed an online questionnaire and surveyed its database of client advertisers and marketing services agency professionals.

All answers given by respondents were considered by Marketing when finalising the rankings.

Quality recipients and respondents More than 700 respondents participated in the Media Spend Benchmarking Survey. Genuine advertising decision-makers and influencers across key agency-using industries were well represented as were agency professionals from various marketing services.

Nearly 87% of client advertiser-side respondents were manager-level decisionmakers and above, with 10% from the most senior ranks of client advertisers – CEOs, MDs or GMs – and another 18% were VPs or director-level marketers.

The majority of the respondents from the agency side were CEOs, MDs or GMs (32%), 16% were marketing personnel, while 23% were sales personnel. The remaining 29% were operations, creative and media personnel.

Advertisers from major and local international banks, FMCG companies, property and construction, IT and telecommunications firms, as well as those from travel and tourism companies participated in the survey.

Agency professionals across the marketing services spectrum were also well represented.

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DIGITAL MEDIA OF THE YEAR

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AD NETWORK

1 :: Google Ad Network

2 :: PurpleClick

3 :: Adknowledge Asia Pacific

Google Ad Network clinches top spot this year. In October, AdWords celebrated its 15th anniversary with several app launches from the company.

Earlier this year, it announced that brands could now measure the effect of their brand campaigns in near real-time across all devices, including mobile, with brand lift surveys. It also launched search ads in Play and Universal App campaigns to help developers find an audience for their apps across the world.

Coming in second this year is PurpleClick. The Singapore-based digital agency recently launched its Philippines office in October. With this launch, PurpleClick aims to make its full suite of services available to local clients in the Philippines. PurpleClick Philippines is a venture between Philippine tech incubator Hatchd Digital and Singapore’s PurpleClick Media. It continues to provide businesses with cost-efficient and performance-driven digital marketing solutions.

Coming in third is Adknowledge. Telecom giant Axiata Group entered a joint venture with Adknowledge to form Adknowledge Asia Pacific in January 2015 to expand the Adknowledge business in Asia Pacific and to strengthen mobile advertising business for Axiata. Komli Media was acquired in September 2015 for its strategic fit across digital advertising in social, video, display and mobile and will allow Adknowledge Asia Pacific to scale up its presence in Southeast Asia.

1 :: Business Times

2 :: The Edge Singapore

3 :: Singapore Business Review

For BT.com, its Budget 2015, LKY Memorial and GE2015 microsites all clearly showcased new mobile-friendly interactive web abilities.

These new initiatives clearly won the hearts of marketers as the platform takes on the number one position in the Business & Finance category.

The team also relaunched its BT newsletter with an improved mobile-friendly layout and new advertising options. Native mobile apps were also relaunched at the end of August.

Taking second spot this year in the category is The Edge Singapore. The publication is continuing its journey in embracing digital. Its subscribers are either already or aspire to be business leaders and corporate captains. Major initiatives the publication ventured into are two portals covering the capital and property markets – TheEdgeMarkets.com and TheEdgeProperty. com, along with a daily free digital newsletter, Singapore Morning Brief.

SBR is clearly a favourite for marketers and the publication takes third place in the category. SBR targets CEOs and an average of four other senior executives of the top 1000 companies and 500 SMEs in Singapore, as well as all GLCs, major statutory boards and other key senior executives.

Its website saw a major revamp this year and is fresher and wider, representative of its editorial coverage. It also uploads digital versions of its magazines a week after they are distributed.

1 :: SG Car Mart

2 :: Top Gear

3 :: Torque

SG Car Mart takes top spot this year. For the site, 2015 has been an exciting year that saw its visitor numbers increase by double-digit percentages.

Driving that is its new initiatives such as enhanced search features, improved user interface, and a new mobile app which is already garnering more than four million page views each month. Riding on its popularity, its clientele includes BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota, Volkswagen, Audi, Shell, Citibank and others.

Top Gear takes second spot this year in its category. The automobile-focused magazine recently joined forces with GrabTaxi to offer BMW i8 plug-in hybrid sports cars and the all-electric BMW i3 cars to both GrabTaxi and GrabCar users.

The magazine continuously features the very latest personal and automotive gadgets. Its online site maintains a “watch list” column which features luxurious watches that are fashionable and familiar among fans on the car circuit.

Torque takes third spot in its category this year. The title continues to append its reports with relevant sidebars and important snippets to make its drive articles even more entertaining and educational.

The site aims to contribute to its readers’ purchase decisions for cars, vehicle accessories and lifestyle products. Its latest offering Torque after-hours seeks to expand motorists’ horizons even more by inviting them to exclusive test drives, educational workshops and entertaining launches.

BUSINESS & FINANCE

CARS

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DIGITAL MEDIA OF THE YEAR

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DSPs

1 :: DoubleClick

2 :: CtrlShift

3 :: MediaMath

Google’s DoubleClick ranks first this year. Google has made a major update to its DoubleClick advertisers products with the addition of crossdevice measurement capabilities. For two years, advertisers have been able to measure crossdevice conversions on Google properties via AdWords, but this launch aims to bring that ability to the whole web. DoubleClick aims to help advertisers fill the need of an increasingly complex and fragmented consumer journey.

CtrlShift comes in second place. It has delivered over 60% of organic growth this year, recording substantial client wins and service innovation offerings, it said. The company has a strong focus on Asia which provides it with a distinct advantage.

It boasts a better appreciation of local market dynamics in the region. Its proprietary technology, on the other hand, allows the company to delivery an optimised performance across established RTB platforms and media channels.

MediaMath comes in third this year. The digital media buying platform recently joined IBM’s Universal Behaviour Exchange (UBX). Through UBX, MediaMath is able to bidirectionally share data with IBM commerce solutions such as IBM marketing cloud, IBM engage mobile, IBM digital analytics, and others. The integration between its company’s TerminalOne and IBM will allow marketers to increase conversions with offers that are tailored to consumers, online and in-store.

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS & FINANCE

1 :: Financial Times

2 :: Bloomberg

3 :: Forbes

This year has been one of the most innovative years for the FT since its website launched 20 years ago. FT is rethinking its FT.com platform, and is offering to respond to new reader habits. This goes hand-in-hand with appointments to fit the needs of the digital newsroom, including Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson as assistant editor to help drive a digital mandate across the global news agenda.

The FT now has 15 new advertisers and claims its mobile revenues have increased.

Bloomberg Business Asia, together with Bloomberg Media’s multi-platform product suite, offer new advertising solutions to its clients. This allows its commercial partners to localise their stories across multiple platforms. Its modular ad system now allows advertisers to pick and choose interactivity and customise content solutions, while its high-impact bespoke ad units are specifically designed to maximise sponsor impact and engagement.

Taking third position is Forbes. Its unique social journalism platform enables content creators, consumers and marketers to participate with each other more than ever before. According to Google Analytics, unique visitors on Forbes.com were 63.8 million (worldwide) and 8.8 million (Asia Pacific) in September 2015. On 3 November 2015, the under-30 channel on Forbes.com was launched with a mission to provide content for and by young entrepreneurs and innovators.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS & CURRENT AFFAIRS

1 :: CNN

2 :: BBC

3 :: The Economist

Coming in first in the category is CNN. CNN Digital is at the heart of the network’s commitment to breaking news and bringing distinctive business, sports, lifestyle and key vertical content to audiences worldwide. CNN International’s digital properties have about 270 million page views each month. It is a social news brand that is highly active on social media with 18.5 million Facebook fans and nearly 50 million Twitter followers across CNN’s main accounts.

BBC takes second spot in its category. This year, it launched a first fully commercially funded non-English language website BBC.jp which comprises Japanese translation of the best content from the BBC’s world-class English language global news and feature site BBC.com. In June 2015, BBC Worldwide launched a new content marketing team, BBC StoryWorks, sitting within BBC Advertising. The team is based in Singapore, Sydney, New York and London.

The Economist occupies third spot in the category.

In the past 12 months notable digital-led launches have included Economist Espresso, which provides a short daily shot of Economist analysis to smartphones and the desk top; the Global Business Review, an app that offers a selection of Economist articles in English and Chinese; and Economist Films, which recasts its journalism in short video documentaries. It now has over 10 million Twitter and six million Facebook fans.

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SPH TRIUMPHS at Digital Media of the Year 2015 Singapore Press Holdings wins big at the Digital Media of the Year

by Marketing Magazine. These accolades across various categories cement our position as the preferred digital media platform of marketing professionals.

Our commitment to create compelling and quality content on our online platforms give us an edge as we constantly strive for excellence in our delivery and user experience.

The Business Times (Business & Finance)

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M

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CM

MY

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HERWORLDPLUS (Women)

Hardwarezone (Tech)

SgCarMart (Cars)

The Straits Times (News)

Cleo (Women)

Men's Health (Men)

The Peak Online (Luxury)

Torque (Cars)

AsiaOne (News)

CMY

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DIGITAL MEDIA OF THE YEAR

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LIFESTYLE

1 :: Expat Living

2 :: LifestyleAsia

3 :: Time Out Singapore

ExpatLiving.sg takes home the crown for this category. Expatliving.sg is consistently updated with fun and valuable content. The site claims that 78% of its online audience is based in Singapore and 22% view the website from overseas. The typical online reader is British, Australian or Singaporean and female and is aged between 24 and 44 and has two children or less. It says it is now more stylish and useful than ever before and full of information about Singapore.

In the first quarter of 2016, LifestyleAsia will relaunch with a fully responsive and mobile-friendly site with dynamic content tailored to readers.

There will be new interactive sections with an improved user experience, unique content formats and e-commerce capabilities. Some of the site’s new clients include Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Dior, Jaguar and Mr Porter to mention a few. The site has 700,000 unique IPs per month with 2.5 million page views, and 110,000 email subscribers.

Time Out Singapore has now gone onto a global website catering to more than 100 cities all over the world. Navigation around the world has also been made much easier with the website.

Time Out Singapore will also be going on a free distribution day per month from December, bringing not only expats, but Singaporeans information on where to go and what to do. New online advertisers for the website include the likes of Nikon and the National Arts Council.

1 :: Singapore Tatler

2 :: The Peak Online

3 :: High Net Worth

Luxury and lifestyle site Singapore Tatler takes top spot in its category. On 13 July 2015, publishing group Edipresse Media Asia launched a new look for luxury and SingaporeTatler.com. This refresh includes a sleek new style, along with a responsive design that is fully optimised for any device and with a strong focus on mobile access.

With more than 110,000 unique visitors per month, the website strongly emphasises social media integration and interaction.

The Peak comes second this year. The website was overhauled in July 2014 which also marked the title’s 30th year in print. Responsive web design for easy navigation, visually arresting imagery and top quality reads are the standout features of the site. The “interviews” category in particular has proven to be a rich resource for Singapore’s most successful business leaders and taste makers. Enhancements to the site are ongoing in tune with the dynamic digital landscape.

Ranked third this year is High Net Worth. Its digital site was revamped in September with the aim of creating an intimate experience of flipping through an “aspirational print magazine”. The magazine continues to interview thought leaders in the industry in an effort to inspire readers. In the past year, the magazine has been focused on creating a great product, and carefully selecting the advertisers that come on board. At the moment, it works with Manulife as an active advertiser.

1 :: AUGUSTMAN

2 :: Men’s Health

3 :: Esquire

Taking top spot in the Men’s category is AUGUSTMAN. It has spent the past two months redesigning the website to make it more userfriendly. New advertisers for the site include MBS, Visa, Chopard, Tommy Hilfiger and Shiraz, among others. Tudor, Clarks and Baume & Mercier have also come on board to sponsor videos for the site.

Currently, the site brings in about 40,000 unique visitors per month and has total page views of 150,000.

The Men’s Health website prides itself on being the ultimate guide for the modern savvy and active man. The site now also offers new content formats such as videos and quizzes that give advertisers new and interesting avenues to reach out to their audiences. Some of its advertisers include Under Armour, Isagenix, Volkswagen, PSB Academy, Cambert, UOB Insurance, Tiger Airways and AXA. Its readers are aged between 20 and 45 with the majority in their late 20s and 30s.

The Esquire website comes in third for the Men’s category. The site not only publishes local content, but also stories from Esquire US and UK specifically tailored for the regional audience.

It claims it’s also the destination where most top international men’s brands choose to showcase their newest collections. New advertisers for the website specifically are Hugo Boss and Tommy Hilfiger. It is looking at making its digital offerings better for readers and partners alike.

LUXURY

MEN

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DIGITAL MEDIA OF THE YEAR

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MOBILE AD NETWORK

1 :: AdMob by Google

2 :: InMobi

3 :: Millennial Media

AdMob by Google comes in first this year in the Mobile Ad Network category. With AdMob, Google boasts a cross-platform capability as it can be used with all of the top platforms: Android and iOS, with support for leading game engines such as Unity and Cocos2d-x. AdMob’s integration with Google Play services pushes automatic performance improvements to Android apps without additional SDK changes, making it easy for developers to use its platform.

InMobi takes second spot as it aims to continue enabling consumers to discover amazing products through mobile advertising. Its discovery platform allows developers, merchants and brands to engage more than one billion mobile users through a suite of products that power app monetisation, user acquisition and brand awareness. Its technology and data platform crunches over 700 terabyte of data every day to deliver the right ad to the right user at the right moment.

A leading end-to-end mobile platform, Millennial Media was acquired for US$1.75 per share of Millennial Media common stock. Millennial Media, a mobile ad marketplace, is also working with Integral Ad Science to launch its 100% viewability guarantee for in-app mobile advertising in Asia Pacific. Integral Ad Science delivers the first-tomarket viewability measurement solution for all MRAID-compliant mobile advertising application integrations.

1 :: Channel NewsAsia

2 :: Straits Times

3 :: AsiaOne

Channel NewsAsia clinches first spot in this category. It was the first Singapore news portal to launch an Apple Watch app that synced with its upgraded iPhone app. Its coverage of GE2015 culminated in over one million unique visitors on polling day itself. Led by chief digital officer of MediaCorp Shane Mitchell, the team was strengthened with new hires of Li-Anne Wong as deputy chief editor and Willy Tan as AVP of digital news to drive content and business growth.

Coming in second spot is the Straits Times. It launched a redesign across all platforms on 1 July this year. With its revamp, its suite of products now has a consistent look in print and online. Its digital products sport neater and more reader-friendly navigation features. It introduced a politics page for readers to get the scoop on local politics. In addition, it added an international edition of the home page for a more focused look on Asia and the world.

Coming in third is AsiaOne. Its new website has an improved menu for easier navigation and better content display, with a cleaner interface and greater play to pictures and visuals. The revamped AsiaOne home page carries infographics and trending topics to keep readers informed and engaged. The site has also been expanded to make it optimised for all screen widths, while articles have been redesigned to be more mobilefriendly to allow for easy reading on all devices.

1 :: Kiasu Parents

2 :: The Asian Parents

3 :: SG Motherhood

Taking top spot is Kiasu Parents. The website provides a platform for parents to share their views, questions and concerns regarding parenting and education in Singapore. On its website, Kiasu Parents says the majority of visitors to KiasuParents.com are silent readers who benefit from the sharing of contributors. The site pushes for a membership base as it states the best way to get the most out of KiasuParents.com is to become a member.

The Asian Parents is a free online community targeted at pregnant women and new mums in Asia. It has over 6.3 million monthly visits and over 46 million page views. It has more than one million Facebook followers. The site has recently welcomed more data scientists into the fold and expanded its product team. It has also been rolling out a new redesign. New advertisers include RedMart, Bayer – contraceptive, The Singapore Sports Hub – Sea Games, UOB and AIA.

Taking third spot in the Parenting category is SG Motherhood. The website has recently brought on board a new sub-editor who has helped boost the lifestyle content of the site.

SG Motherhood has also introduced a new app allowing quick and easy access to the site while on the go. The site targets all parents and parents-tobe in Singapore. The site has about 1.35 million page views a month with up to 192,000 visitors a month.

NEWS

PARENTING

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DIGITAL MEDIA OF THE YEAR

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PROPERTY

1 :: PropertyGuru

2 :: STProperty

3 :: iProperty

PropertyGuru is the number one portal under the Property category this year. It has access to over 210,000 property listings, rich property content and market insights. PropertyGuru receives an average of 56 million page views and five million visits per month for the past year. To better meet the needs of its users, of which 54% access it through mobile devices, PropertyGuru recently revamped its mobile offerings to provide a more intuitive convenient solution while on the move.

STProperty aims to bring all property needs on one dedicated site and has taken second position in the category. Since its arrival on the property scene in 2007, STProperty (previously ST701 Property) has been the go-to website for real estate professionals and home owners looking to buy, sell or rent property. Starting out as one of four diverse verticals under the ST701 brand, it has grown rapidly to become a property portal trusted by housing agents and home owners.

iProperty.com helps in connecting property hunters with more properties and real estate agents and property developers than any other website. Most recently, Australian digital advertising group, REA Group, acquired 100% of the share capital of Southeast Asian property group iProperty Group Limited. REA Group is a subsidiary of News Corp which owns property sites in Australia, China, US and Europe. The acquisition is valued for a massive sum of AU$751 million.

1 :: Google

2 :: Yahoo

3 :: MSN

Taking top spot in the Search category is Google.

Google AdWords recently celebrated its 15th birthday. In the past 15 years, according to Google, the biggest change is the shift to mobile. Google’s ad platforms are now focused on helping the whole ecosystem of advertisers, publishers and developers to succeed on mobile. It also announced a major update to its DoubleClick advertiser products with the addition of “deterministic” cross-device measurement capabilities.

Yahoo provides users with access to a rich collection of resources, including various communications tools, forums, shopping services, search services, personalised content and branded programming. Yahoo works closely with marketers to find the right mix to drive real results. Recently it launched a new product ads offering. This is a way for advertisers to reach consumers with both search and display ads to drive results and improve return on ad spend.

Earlier this year, MediaCorp and Microsoft parted ways and closed XinMSN from 1 April 2015. The separation resulted in current users of XinMSN being redirected to msn.com.sg or toggle.sg. The closure came as the joint owners of the platform saw they could better serve audiences as two separate entities. Post the split, Microsoft’s MSN is working to expand its portfolio to provide users with breaking news, entertainment, lifestyle, food and fitness content from over 1,000 media outlets.

1 :: Facebook

2 :: LinkedIn

3 :: YouTube

Winning top spot for Social Media is Facebook.

Its mission is to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected.

Facebook, as of Q3 2015, has over 522 million people who access Facebook monthly in Asia Pacific. It is one of the fastest growing regions globally for Facebook. The company continues to focus on three core priorities: capitalising on the shift to mobile; growing the number of marketers using ad products; and making ads more relevant.

Taking second spot in the category is LinkedIn – the world’s largest professional network with 300 million members in over 200 countries and territories. The company’s mission is to connect the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful. LinkedIn APAC recently appointed Olivier Legrand as its MD for the Asia Pacific region. Currently, more than 7.2 million companies globally have company pages on LinkedIn.

Taking third spot in the Social Media category is Google’s video-streaming platform YouTube. The platform is seeing a shift in how consumers are now watching videos. Mobile has transformed this and in the past year, YouTube has completely redesigned its mobile experience. According to YouTube and its parent company Google, globally, already 50% of watch-time comes from mobile devices. YouTube also recently unveiled its paid subscription service, YouTube Red.

SEARCH

SOCIAL MEDIA

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DIGITAL MEDIA OF THE YEAR

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TECH

1 :: HardwareZone

2 :: CNetAsia

3 :: Stuff

Taking top spot is HardwareZone. It has recently updated the site’s styling and readability to give it a contemporary feel. It also launched a new HardwareZone forum app to better engage its growing mobile user base with a whole new UX, UI and features pandering to its community. It is currently an iOS variant, but an Android compliant app is in the works. New advertisers who have come on board for HardwareZone include DBS, Dell, Huawei, LG, Daikin, Lazada and others.

CNetAsia tracks all the latest consumer technology breakthroughs and shows its readers what’s new, what matters and how technology can enrich their lives. The site provides readers the information, tools and advice that will help them decide what to buy and how to get the most out of the tech in their life. It is the go-to site to read the latest tech news and watch videos that will demystify technology. Currently, the site’s Facebook page has over 2,060,239 likes and 1.07 million followers.

Stuff comes in at third spot. Stuff.tv is an online version of the magazine. The site has information on gadgets, phones, computers, wearables, tablets, games, apps, TVs, Hi-Fi, headphones, cameras, consoles and media players. Stuff is a commercial enterprise and the site provides an arena for traditional display advertising. It also features sponsored content which are articles created with the help of a commercial sponsor, but written by or commissioned by its editorial team.

1 :: TripAdvisor

2 :: ZUJI

3 :: Yahoo Travel

Coming in first in its category is TripAdvisor. It recently launched the TripAdvisor app for Apple TV which inspires wanderlust, highlighting TripAdvisor content such as photos of its “travellers’ choice” destinations and points of interest. The app displays photos in a slide show format and offers easy one-swipe access to traveller insights, including reviews and bubble ratings. Some of its advertisers include ANA, Beijing Tourism, Unionpay, Singha and others.

Coming in second in the category is ZUJI. The company continues to enhance the user experience on its site. This past year it introduced two new features: LiveChat – a platform for holiday seekers to easily and quickly have their bookingrelated questions answered; and Hybrid flight ribbon – a service that allows flexible selection on the available flights. It also launched a travel blog.

Zuji Passport seeks to inspire its travellers with the latest travel tips and trends.

Yahoo Travel takes third spot in the category.

The Yahoo Travel research site continues to offer its readers travel guides, daily articles, booking and reservation services. The site provides a media and marketing platform for various services. For example, its air, hotels, cars and cruise bookings are all handled by its Travelocity Partner Network. The Travelocity Partner Network has been handling air, cars and hotels for Yahoo Travel since about 1997.

1 :: Her World

2 :: CLEO

3 :: Clozette

Her World is one of Singapore’s most established monthly women’s magazines. A major development for herworldplus.com is the new redesign with a new CMS, new fonts, layout and masthead design, including the addition of a “home blend” across the site, larger images and new ad spaces. The content on its website inspires its readers with thought-provoking articles and aims to keep its audience updated on international trends.

The CLEO site was launched in March 2015 – a total revamp from the old site askcleo.com.sg. This new site is designed to be mobile first – it is easy to navigate, and visually optimised for mobile, and creatively driven to appeal to its core audience of the 20-plus Millennial Singaporean woman. New advertisers for the platform include Beiersdorf, Starasia, Laneige, Etude House, Pantene, ZA, Kao Biore, PSB Academy, Kaplan, Reebok, Superga, Uniqlo and Seiko.

Taking third spot is Clozette. The site aspires to bring brands together with its community of stylish, savvy and connected women. Clozette recently transformed its users’ newsfeed into a visually engaging place to keep them abreast of the latest uploads, news, stories, brand features and Clozetters to follow. To keep ahead of its competitors, it also hired several digital content strategists. Its properties generate over 30 million impressions a month.

TRAVEL

WOMEN

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We were back with the third edition of our highly popular PR Asia conference this year to explore various topics ranging from PR talent to client and agency relationships within the industry.

With keynote presentations and panel discussions involving industry heavyweights, we covered case studies on a wide variety of issues, providing insights on key areas such as building public confidence after a crisis and turning PR into a data-driven discipline. Here’s a summary of what was discussed. For more content from the event log onto www.marketing-interactive.com.

WILL PR PROFESSIONALS EVER BECOME CEOS? An effective CEO is widely accepted to be one who is able to tell a great story. While it is crucial to know business objectives and the numbers behind them, a CEO is expected to have superior communications skills that cut across an organisation’s various departments.

Given the importance of such a skill, why aren’t more PR professionals making the leap to the CEO seat? With data and tech dominating businesses, does being a

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brilliant communicator take precedence in the boardroom?

During a panel at Marketing’s PR Asia 2015 conference, moderated by Stuart Pallister, director of corporate communications at the NUS Business School, PR and marketing professionals agreed that while it takes a broad range of skills to qualify for the CEO role, a successful lead has to be able to put across a story in under three minutes.

Chris Reed, global CEO and founder of Black Marketing, said that for any CEO dealing with a crisis, it’s a matter of style over substance when it comes to news delivery. Emma Dale, co-founder and managing director (Asia) at Prospect, cited the example of Tony Fernandes, CEO of AirAsia, who is communication savvy on top of being business-focused.

Fernandes’ deep understanding of corporate affairs and the numbers that drive

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a business enables him to “sell the corporate story to a given audience”.

Eva Sogbanmu, director of external communications for Asia Pacific at JLL, agreed with this view, highlighting that PR professionals who aspire to the top role need to get a grip with spreadsheets and business issues.

“If more PR folks get the numbers right and learn to measure results in terms of data and impact, it would pave the way for us to get to the top echelons of the company,” she said.

For PR professionals, however, the route to the top is not necessarily a direct one.

Does PR stand a solid chance?

To get noticed by the board, it is crucial for PR professionals to build their personal brand within the organisation and outside.

“You must be known by the executive team and people of other teams. No one is going to experience your skill set unless you’re making yourself visible,” Dale said.

In addition, experiencing and immersing oneself in other aspects of the business is absolutely crucial for PR folks to gain an understanding of the intricacies of the organisation.

A good place to start would be spending time with different department heads to get a bird’s-eye view of various structures and processes.

Sogbanmu said: “One of the advantages of being in corp comms is being able to find face time with top level management.”

Being in the frontline of advising senior stakeholders of a company elevates a comms professional role to their level. Due to this, a PR specialist is often easily seen as a

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trusted advisor, easing the potential leap to the boardroom. Verdayne Nunis, director of communications and commercial business at Microsoft, said it was equally important for PR folks to enhance their visibility beyond just people within the organisation. Aside from spending a lot of time building the CEO’s profile, a comms person needs to influence everybody else that has a seat in the boardroom by continuing to bring insights to the table.

Nunis said: “There is no comprehensive way of measuring PR so you need to communicate that to the C-suite and show how you add value in different ways.”

Because the PR role automatically entails professional exposure for an individual, building an influential network is key to expanding one’s breadth and depth of expertise. This, according to Nunis, helps a brand effectively communicate to a wide range of audience – a business goal of any organisation.

Thus, in theory, with enhanced visibility and broad exposure, PR professionals make the perfect candidate for a top seat in the boardroom.

The case for PR in the boardroom More than ever now, earning a seat in the boardroom has become a crucial move for PR professionals who are eager to create an impact for their company.

With reputation contributing to more than 25% of a company’s market value, reputation risk tops the ranks as the most strategic risk that a company may face in the digital age.

With a slew of potential problems such as cyber security and intellectual property newly posed by the advent of technology, companies

now face the greater struggle of overcoming technological challenges that are impacting their businesses. Add to that, consumers are leapfrogging straight to mobile. As such, CEOs are also going into the social space to communicate with consumers right where they are, and in the process, equipping themselves with the necessary social media skills.

Roger Pua, senior director of corporate communications at LinkedIn Asia Pacific, agreed with this finding. According to him, CEO sociability is at an all-time high with 80% of CEOs now engaging in social media as compared with 36% in 2010.

And because CEOs are undoubtedly the face of the company, they are responsible for enhancing a brand or company’s image via social mediums. Taking this into consideration, Pua predicted that linking business strategy with communications will become one of the key issues for communicators in APAC in the next three years.

As such, given the added roles that senior leadership now plays in the internet era, communications professionals are the ones best suited to not only guide, but also lead a company’s communications on the digital front.

So what’s holding them back?

When asked what PR is not doing right to get the top role, Dale said that there’s not much that’s holding the industry back.

“Ambitious people who want the CEO role will work towards that. Now is the best time to get it because our role has evolved to that of a business communicator.”

Nunis also pointed out the need to “champion for the PR community” when discussing candidates for the top seat.

“We need to raise our visibility and show the kind of impact that we have.” One way is to encourage and advocate the use of PR work as part of the C-suite’s conversation so that PR becomes part of the boardroom vernacular on a regular basis.

On the other hand, Sogbanmu stressed that while there are a lot of ambitious PR folks, some are simply used to being in the background advisory role.

“We are used to coaching people at the back, so the thought of stepping out of your comfort zone is a huge deal. The CEO role and the level of exposure expected of you is not necessarily a comfortable place to be for PR professionals.”

Because PR folks are most familiar of the pitfalls of being the face of the company, some may choose to remain in the advisory role.

Dale added a comms director role is a great job, with most PR folks genuinely enjoying being in the background. As such, only a minority would gun for the top spot in the first place.

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Who owns social media? Marketing or communications? Or neither or both?

Ultimately, consumers today are getting information from multiple channels across advertising, editorial, events, social media, word of mouth, franchise networks, units in operation, movies, TV or even direct mail. And the purchase pattern by no means is linear.

WHY IS IT SO HARD TO INTEGRATE MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS? Five years into the future, the integration of PR into the marketing function will no longer be a problem because all marketers, and C-level executives, will see the importance of it.

But today, that is still not the case.

“Integration is still relatively rare in the corporate and non-profit sector. That is the journey we are on as PR persons or marketing persons of the future,” said Simon Sproule, director of global marketing and communications at Aston Martin Lagonda, who was speaking at Marketing’s PR Asia 2015 conference.

Specifically in the luxury business, integration needs to happen even more quickly because of the thin line between marketing and PR. At Aston Martin, the 102-year-old brand takes its inspiration from the Japanese word omotenashi; which is a Japanese art of hospitality, personal touch and providing unique products.

All of these aspects tie in both the worlds of PR and marketing.

“People who order Aston Martins do

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so without a standard list of car parts of offerings. They want product personalisation – which is very important. The luxury segment is much more about experiences then product.

Yet, it still has to be very much about the brand,” he said.

This is where the business of integration becomes a necessity.

“You look at the categorisation of activities we conduct at Aston Martin and you have to ask: Does this conveniently sit with either marketing or PR?” he said.

Take for example the movie Goldfinger with Sean Connery in an Aston Martin – is that marketing or PR? How about motor shows where journalists are invited – is it earned, shared or paid media if someone from the organisation (be it PR or marketing) sits with a journalist and inspires some story ideas which get written about?

Moreover, the ownership of social media breaks down the silos of marketing and PR even further, he added.

What is holding this integration back?

According to Sproule traditional organisation structures lead to turf battles and many companies today are still too focused on the process and channel rather than the brand story or narrative.

“Marketing and PR leaders also still do not want to report to the ‘other side’ and don’t see the value of integration beyond personal loss or gain.

“They are still each trying to ‘own’ social media where really it should be a coming of the two together.

“Social media is not pure marketing or PR play. In fact, it is a wonderful way to get marketing and PR together to carve out shared objectives, business planning with various social media engagements.”

Those coming out of business schools are also not well equipped as these schools often separate PR and marketing courses. And lastly, the obsessions over budgets still persist with each trying to grab a bigger share of the pie.

Overcoming the challenges Sproule suggests that to overcome these hurdles, CEO support is vital.

Without CEO support, integration is almost impossible to implement. You also need a designated lead for the marcoms function with clear marcom KPIs that are validated by CEO. However, specialisation should not be forgotten as the two functions come together.

When integrating, it is important to remember that you can have different people handling different areas, but ultimately the brand consistency, especially in the luxury segment, needs to remain. Nuances in emerging markets can happen, but should not overpower the grand brand story.

Sproule also added that, of course, in this process of integration, companies will lose some of the team members on the journey. But at the end of the day, it is important to keep your eye on the prize as it’s a great brand story that will lead to any successful organisation.

“The best story will win be it coming from marketing or PR. And a comms strategy should be based on the narrative and how you tell that story – that is the main part of a comms strategy. So given the world we are in now, why won’t you integrate?”

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FIVE WAYS CSR CAN IMPACT YOUR BUSINESS brand is just as important: “Do customers end up trusting and loving the brand more after the CSR? Did brand perception change in any way?”

She explained that the purchase intent of the consumer before and after the CSR initiative is a measurable pursuit and that for companies such as KC, it has become a standard practice for its market research teams.

Similarly, she advised other companies to conduct such standard practices if they wanted to truly gauge the efficacy and effectiveness of their CSR efforts.

The link between a company’s strong corporate social responsibility (CSR) is inevitably tied to its brand perception.

Speaking at Marketing’s PR Asia 2015 conference, Shweta Shukla, director of communications and government affairs for Asia Pacific at Kimberly-Clark (KC), presented a case study on how a company can go beyond corporate green-washing to implement truly effective CSR policies that enhance corporate reputations.

For KC, it partnered with various NGOs to increase local participation for its CSR initiatives. This helped to forge a new, profitable and more sustainable business future for both KC and the communities that it has adopted as part of its CSR drive.

Here are the five tangible ways CSR can impact your business.

1. BUILD THE TOP-LINE FOR PARTICIPATING BRANDS Focusing on an impact is important to CSR goals in order for them to be effective and aligned with business objectives. First, KC worked with various social entrepreneurs to create an impactful CSR initiative at the local as well as national levels.

Second, Shukla advised there be a systematic metric for measuring “hard core incremental sales” during the period of the CSR campaign that’s been launched. For example, companies can tie up with partnering retailers for their brands such as Watsons, NTUC, Cold Storage, and engage in market research to measure the total sales for the participating brand during the active period of the CSR campaign in question. Any increased sales during that period can be attributed to the topline and the CSR initiative, she said.

In addition, measuring the equity of the

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2. CREATE A COMPETITIVE EDGE WITH CUSTOMERS Shukla advised that having strong ethics and CSR policies would also make an effective brand differentiation. According to a Nielsen study, 53% of consumers prefer to buy brands that are making a difference to a relevant cause.

Naturally, with enhanced brand perception, a well-publicised and impactful CSR campaign can help to further propel a brand’s name among its competitors.

Shukla cited the effect of its CSR campaign “Keep Korea Green Campaign” that has led to KC’s strong corporate reputation in the country.

“We are ranked among the other bigwigs, such as Samsung, for over 11 years in Korea.

That’s a track record we attribute to our CSR drive,” she said.

In Singapore, it launched a “Kleenex-look after our forests” campaign to educate the consumer about responsible forestry during the haze crisis. For this, Shukla pointed out that it was a cause that intersected with its corporate business interest as it helped to drive support and sales for the brand.

For a successful CSR cause, the campaign must be commercialised across all touchpoints and include a social media campaign, TV roll-outs and plenty of point-of-sales materials to drive sales.

3. FACILITATE MARKET ENTRY/ EXPANSION Building an effective CSR programme gives a brand a competitive edge with key partners and consumers. Because many customers have their own agenda and CSR priorities, brands must ensure their CSR efforts align with these values in order to drive footfall and support for the brand.

Consequently, CSR can help facilitate entry into a new market before a company decides

to set up. For example, a CSR initiative requires interactions with the government, communities and stakeholders before its launch. This first impression is crucial in setting up a successful launch pad for future business opportunities and can help aid the brand’s debut in the market. This is especially true for emerging markets, said Shukla, where competitor brands flood the market while consumers are still learning about the brands they can trust.

Thus, CSR can build the right reputation and trust for a smooth entry into a new market.

Likewise, these efforts also help for market expansion goals in the brand’s existing markets.

4. CAN ATTRACT AND RETAIN TALENT As more consumers want to align their purchase intent with socially responsible companies, so too employees who want to be associated with a company that helps resolve social issues.

Over 69% of employees choose to work for companies that are socially responsible, according to a Nielsen report. Not surprisingly, a strong CSR reputation can attract and retain talent for a company.

When asked how and why KC engages its employees in CSR campaigns, Shukla said that such an engagement helps to ensure the campaigns’ sustainability while helping increase retention rate among its employees.

For example, its CSR initiative to promote sanitation in India managed to galvanise employee advocates from its offices in Chicago to Bangladesh. These employees continue to be a part of a capabilities building team that partners with a local NGO in Swadha, India where the CSR drive still runs.

In Korea, its CSR campaign was initiated more broadly at the corporate level, with KC visibility ensured on pack and via corporate advertising to increase brand and corporate pride among its employees who participated in the campaign.

“Our ‘Keep Korea Green’ campaign was completely employee-driven; our employees wait for that time of the year to plant trees with their colleagues. Increasing employee engagement in our CSR programmes is important; we continuously look for ways to include that and how we can keep building that through every programme.”

5. CREATE A SAFETY NET DURING A CRISIS Having a solid CSR approach can be a great safety net for when issues and crises arise.

However, “You have to talk the talk and walk the CSR walk for this to actually work,” she said.

A company that is known to be proactive in social causes has built its reputation positively, and this can act as a buffer for when a PR crisis strikes.

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23 March 2016 Singapore

Marketing Magazine’s PR Awards are back for the 3rd time ENTRIES OPEN TILL 21 JANUARY 2016 *Open to entries from Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, East Timor, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, New Zealand, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam.

The practice of B2B sales and marketing is evolving at a rapid pace.

Digital technologies have transformed how business buyers access information and interact with vendors in many ways. How can B2B professionals create meaningful engagement with the new generation of business buyers? How can they adapt their strategies and tactics to effectively connect with these evolved buyers?

All this was discussed at the second annual B2B Asia – the ultimate forum for B2B professionals to explore challenges and opportunities within the industry. Here is what was discussed.

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FOUR TIPS TO SUCCEED AS A B2B MARKETER Business to business (B2B) marketing is all about delivering value to the customers.

Here are the edges you can sharpen to deliver value and achieve success in B2B marketing.

NO.1 INSIGHTS – KNOW THY MARKET, CUSTOMER AND COMPETITION: All marketing starts first with customer knowledge and market insights. Successful B2B marketers invest time to understand the industry dynamics and the way the value chain is arranged for the particular prospect that they are targeting. This important first step is sometimes fast-tracked in on-boarding which eventually results in weaker marketing impact.

Once the industry and organisational knowledge is acquired, then the buying

process of the decision-making unit should be mapped clearly. The ability to understand the customer’s specific challenges and needs will help to develop special propositions that deliver great value. Great B2B marketers have genuine curiosity about understanding the competitive offering and the value it delivers to customers – and only then can they create differentiation.

NO.2 BENEFITS – DON’T JUST FOCUS ON PRODUCT KNOWLEDGE – THINK ABOUT PRODUCT BENEFITS Product knowledge is a given in B2B marketing; however, great B2B marketers develop their understanding that goes beyond product specifications and features – they understand the key benefits the product or service delivers.

Often it is seen that product knowledge and training is built around the technical aspects only. Extra effort is required to link customer insights to real value and benefits sought. This is a key step to move the focus of marketing from internal to external.

NO.3 ADVOCACY – BE THE VOICE OF THE CUSTOMER IN THE ORGANISATION: B2B marketers should be the voice of the customer in the organisation. Having key insights about customers and the benefits sought, marketers need to play a key role to shape the product development and delivery of end-to-end value with various partners such as the product and technology teams.

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In the absence of this, most internal discussions get centred on price and, hence, limit the value that can be delivered.

NO.4 ALLIANCES – WALK IN THE SHOES OF YOUR SALES PARTNERS. Successful B2B marketers invest the time to build sales alliances and regularly go out in the field with them. This helps to: • Outline what kind of sales tools and materials are required. Hence, the output the marketing team develops is valued by the sales team and helps the customer understand the benefits.

• Provide a good understanding of the gaps the sales team may have in competencies and help to develop training content to fill them.

• Capture competitive intelligence, as often sales teams enjoy a great relationship with the buying units. Spending time with them gives the marketer first-hand knowledge which generally does not come from looking at databases in the office.

As you embark upon your B2B marketing journey or re-calibrate your existing one, think regularly about how you and your team will deliver value to the customer and leverage the organisational chain – after all, it really is about value.

The writer is Amjad Shahabuddin, global marketing manager – Aviation Lubricants, Shell Eastern Petroleum Pte Ltd Singapore

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B2B MARKETERS, WHO’S REALLY STEALING YOUR TALENT?

Ask any marketer what they struggle with and talent is sure to crop up in that conversation.

As the wave of digital marketing takes over, the old ways of marketing and its rule book are quickly being tossed out the window.

And the problem seems to have hit the B2B industry harder. A new dawn in marketing requires new skill sets. This was at the heart of a panel discussion during the one-day B2B Asia conference held recently.

“The world is changing with digital and today we are in need of capabilities we haven’t needed or thought of before. To stay ahead, we must evolve. This means what we used to do or do right now, might be very different from what we want to do in the future. So the entire skill set is changing and that is my challenge in finding talent,” said Takashi Tokunaga, regional B2B marketing manager for Asia Pacific and Japan of Intel Technology Asia.

Agreeing with him was Alok Bharadwaj, senior vice-president of South and SEA at Canon, who added that along with attracting talent, B2B also has an issue of retaining talent.

“The issue of retention is as much an issue as attraction – given that B2B is not that glamorous as an industry. You can look at the top 100 valuations and you will not see too many B2B companies,” he said.

Today the biggest competitor to the B2B talent market are the Ubers and the AirBnbs of the world.

He added that big established companies today compete for young talent simply because what used to gravitate talent to the industry has

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changed. Millennials have an entrepreneurial spirit and require flexibility and both of these requirements are met by the new-age companies.

Today’s start-ups no longer call for graveyard shifts and they know spending long hours is not a criteria to being successful, added Chris Reed, founder of the two-year-old agency Black Marketing. Reed added that people today want work-life balance and companies who can give it to them will attract the gems.

“Of course, a good status and good money is also a priority, but people today also want to feel like entrepreneurs so it is especially vital for smaller B2B players to be interesting and ensure they can teach their staff something more,” Reed said.

Skills needed to do well in the B2B world An oft-asked question is: if you are a B2C marketer, would it be hard for you to survive in the B2B world? The answer is no.

“It is all about transferable skills and how you network, find the right people, create your personal brand and how you communicate yourself,” Reed said.

Tokunaga gave the example of Intel’s very own CMO Steven Fund who joined the team some time ago from Staples.

“Staples and Intel are nowhere close to each other in the kind of product they offer, but he came because of what he had to offer and what he had accomplished in his industry,” Tokunaga said.

He added that at the end of the day it was

about your skill set and passion, along with acumen in the modern technology era.

“We can impart industry knowledge, but we can’t teach marketers modern marketing because it really hasn’t been done before”.

Key skill differentiators for B2B and B2C Nonetheless, skill sets for B2B and B2C no doubt differ.

Bharadwaj said at Canon, which caters to both B2B and B2C markets, there are some main points of differentiation. B2B marketing is more product-centric, tech-centric and functional in messaging.

However, in B2C it is more emotional, seasonal and rapid in messaging. Thus, the talent has to cater to these personalities of each of these functions.

For example, when Canon looks at the candidates in B2C, it looks at a candidate’s understanding on media, understanding of demographics, segmentation and so on. For B2B, the company looks for those who have a deep understanding of customer engagement, knowledge creation and dissemination, event experience, and so on.

At the end of the day, Bharadwaj said the tenure of talent in companies was shortening and the talent today would no longer be relevant in the future unless upskilled and trained constantly.

“We need to keep honing our skills,” he said, adding that it would be good to remember to ask yourselves every 100 days: “Mirror mirror, on the wall. Where are my blind spots?”

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DOES YOUR MARKETING STRATEGY COVER THE ENTIRE SALES CYCLE? What is perhaps the most basic requirement for B2B to succeed in today’s times, the sales and marketing alignment, is still a far-fetched dream for many brands.

But it’s the responsibility of the marketer to convince top management to move in that direction, said Michelle Toy, head of marketing and communications for Asia Pacific at BNP Paribas Securities Services, at the recently concluded B2B Asia conference.

Here are some of the main points highlighted by her and other speakers at the conference.

Sales and marketing team alignment Aligning sales and marketing as one team is potentially the biggest opportunity for improving business performance, ROI and business development cycles.

Many brands don’t even have a unified sales and marketing department and that is now essential.

“As marketers you are empowered to propose these changes to the management to improve business performance and show the value marketing brings,” Toy said.

You have to convince the CFO in his/her language, talk about top line sales, ROI, lead generation and if the CFO gets it, you pretty much have a seat at the table.

A marketing strategy throughout the sales cycle At BNP Paribas, marketing is aligned to every stage of the sales cycle. As typical as it is in the finance industry, the sales cycles are long, products are complex and customised, stakeholders are many and buying is a pretty rational decision.

Toy shared the four stages of the cycle and marketing’s role in them.

Desire: On the prospecting side, marketing would come in to see the prospects and this is typically where PR comes in to see what stories can be generated and shared on platforms such as LinkedIn. Focus: This stage is about knowing your segment and your strengths well. There is too much information out there and too much competition for brands. So to differentiate, B2B marketers must know what exactly their focus should be.

BNP Paribas, a year ago, did a rebranding exercise and polled over 200 stakeholders – clients, senior management and influencers – and asked them what the brand was good at,

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around social or traditional media bring it back to the real relationship-building.

Contribution: This is during the RFP stage where the mandate is given out from the prospects and marketing replies to them. “We do the formatting and make sure things like our data points and the executive summary is up to the mark,” she said, adding that when sales presents it, it can then deliver it like a story.

Winning edge: At this stage when the client is on board, marketing needs to ensure the partnership remains profitable and fruitful.

These deals are costly and therefore, for profitability to kick in a few years after it has been signed, the deal typically needs to be for a long-term period. During this time product and marketing should be involved in building loyalty and co-creating new solutions with the client. where it could improve, what was its perception and so on. From that data, marketing drew five key themes which it now talks about – globally, regionally and locally.

For example, RMB Internationalisation was determined as a key theme for the brand.

As Chinese capital markets open up, Asian institutions either want to expand to China or want access to that market. On the other hand, there are Chinese institutions wanting to expand to Europe or Asia.

“So any sort of RMB initiatives coming out of China is a key focus for us. We will take it up, talk about it in bite-size information and put it out on social media, repurpose it and/or put some research to it and talk about it,” Toy said, explaining how marketers can leverage such developments for their brands.

Relationships: This is both a responsibility of sales and marketing and while relationships no doubt are owned by sales, marketers need to provide the sizzle or the “icing on the cake”.

Events are a good impactful way of bringing it all together – investor conferences or VIP dinners and so on. In the online space, BNP Paribas uses LinkedIn, YouTube and Twitter.

“Our customer segment is not big on Twitter, but the media follows us there so it’s an influential channel. LinkedIn connections sit with our sales teams, so we educate them on the content to be shared there,” she said.

The company uses YouTube to host its video assets and actively tracks engagement on the platform. And all the amplifications

Make digital and mobile a part of your marketing plan For BNP Paribas, its marketing strategy is content-led. “We chop and change big reports into smaller nuggets of information and use social media to disseminate it.”

When dealing with content, marketers must create economies of scale, breaking information down into chewable snippets and pushing it out to social media or even trade media.

“We only use paid media after we have seen success on owned media. If we get good engagement levels on the latter, we will think about a paid update to get that breadth in the engagement.”

Mobile is the future for B2B marketers and it should be one of their main goals for next year, Toy said. “To be able to use video on mobile and have an optimised web presence on mobile is critical,” she said.

Improving CRM and analytics And last, but not least, investing in proper CRM and analytics is key. At BNP Paribas, the customer and marketing data is fed through a CRM system which tracks all client accounts, deals and marketing activity. On the analytics side, the goal is to create a dashboard to show what works, what doesn’t, merge it with event management tools and product life cycle management tools to give the teams a fuller picture.

“Essentially, for marketers all this helps in reporting on ROI both quantitatively and qualitatively,” Toy said.

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MAKING B2B PR EFFECTIVE FOR DEMAND GENERATION B2B marketers, do you worry that your pitches are being ignored by journalists?

Getting the attention of journalists is among the top items on the wish lists of highperforming marketers. You want to ensure that you secure more media interviews and all your interviews get published. But do you pursue journalists and they escape you?

Here are five tips to turbocharge your B2B PR: 1. Provide a point of view, not data In this age of content clutter and 24×7 connectivity, information is freely available.

So when journalists approach you for quotes, don’t just stop at providing information. Instead, provide opinions and insights based on data and analyses so they develop topical and relevant stories.

Train your spokespersons to give local examples and references to help them build context and create meaning. A well articulated point of view gets your quote published and helps your brand stand out. A good example of a strong point of view is this post in Aon Hewitt’s Insights@Work blog.

2. Show social proof, increase credibility Invite journalists to attend your client events.

Your participants’ presence and engagement

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levels present social proof about the relevance of your topics. This increases the credibility of your message for the journalists. Social proof is the concept that if we conform to the behaviour we see around us, we are less likely to make a mistake.

3. Help them build a complete story Facilitate one-to-one discussions for the journalists with your speakers on the sidelines of the event. Also, offer to facilitate interviews with your clients who are attending the event.

The scribes will thank you for it since this will help them to file comprehensive stories covering all angles (both from the supplier and buyer) making it easier to get them published.

If you present only your spokesperson to the journalist, there is a real risk that your story won’t get published!

4. Produce by-lined articles Editors are always on the lookout for quality content. But they are facing budget cuts with fewer full-time journalists producing content for them. Fill that gap by providing them with bylined articles rich with commercial insights.

Develop a strong understanding of your (and the publications’) audiences and produce by-lined articles addressing their pain points.

Quote data and findings from relevant research.

If your story consists of only product plugs, it won’t get published. A well written by-lined article can get you the coveted op-ed position increasing visibility of your experts. According to Hinge Marketing, visible experts get invited for pitches and consistently win more business for their firms.

5. Humanise your brand According to the 2014 Edelman Trust Barometer, trust in corporate leaders is at an all-time low. CEOs are at the bottom of the list with extremely low trust levels. You can use PR to earn trust by humanising your leadership team. Collaborate with editors to feature them in personality based profile stories.

Readers love authentic stories where they get to know the personal side of a leader.

Anecdotes about their early career struggles, how they overcame them, their passions and even regrets can build a bond with your audiences.

Connection with your leaders will increase trust and differentiate your brand. Columns related to leadership, travel, food and health are ideal platforms for these.

Use these tips to increase the quality of your engagement with editors to secure media interviews and get them published consistently.

By doing that, you will transform your PR into a demand-generation engine that accelerates brand favourability and sales.

The writer is Maneesh Sah, head of marketing – Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa, Aon Hewitt

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THE FUTURE OF RETAIL It’s no surprise that with consumers’ expectations changing, retailers must evolve to remain relevant. That was the main thrust of conversations at CapitaMall’s half-day conference – The Retail Future.

The new wave of retailing has ushered in the individual revolution, where the relationship between the mall, shopper and retailer takes centre stage, Wilson Tan, chief executive officer of CapitaLand Mall Trust, rightly pointed out.

Explaining the intricacies of aspirational and relational retailing, Tan said a retailer’s aspiration should be to offer experiential experiences to customers. To meet the aspirations of each individual customer differently, retailers should leverage technology as much as possible.

“A shopper’s aspiration is to be able to buy items relevant to their lifestyle to fulfil their aspirational needs – this again, can be enabled by technology. Hence, retailing needs to focus on being relational in order to understand and meet these aspirations,” Tan said.

Second, a mall has to offer hyperconnectivity – accessibility, speed, delivery of information and products.

Brick is still strong E-commerce is entering mainstream retailing and continues to surge, with a solid web infrastructure in a market such as Singapore, but many industry experts claim that still the majority of sales are taking place offline.

Regardless, whether on or offline, shoppers ultimately make purchases in real space.

Though many conversations around

retail today are about digital disrupting retail businesses, Terence Seah, divisional director – head of Singapore Studio, Benoy, focused more on what many think is almost forgotten – physical space. Whether in the form of a retail shop, a click and collect location within the mall or the larger context of the mall, offline spaces are just as crucial when it comes to profit and revenue for a retail business.

With technology advancing at an unprecedented rate, how has the traditional brick and mortar shop changed to better harness and integrate the click?

A mall’s aspiration A mall should, therefore, aspire to boast a hyperpersonal model – a theory which suggests computer-mediated communication can become hyperpersonal because it “exceeds [face-to-face] interaction,” thus affording message senders a host of communicative advantages over traditional face-to-face interaction.

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Can retailers progress into a seamless omnichannel approach? How can the click borrow the physical presence of a brick and mortar shop and expand its offering and experience?

These were some of the dominating themes throughout the day.

The dawn of the click The critical success factor in establishing an optimum and cost-effective click-in-the-brick strategy is the understanding of the customer’s value system. This should be considered prior to designing a company’s system with technology.

Lim Swee Cheang, NUS-ISS, said: “In addition, service providers must be clear in what they are trying to achieve – whether it be the click or brick objectives – and the challenges facing them before establishing and embarking on the click/brick strategy.”

Moreover, brick and mortar will continue to remain crucial for certain industries such as food and beverage. Meanwhile, Engage’s CEO Mike Anthony pointed out the advent of the internet, online shopping, researching, and peer processing has impacted the way people shop in a number of ways, but the most significant of these is the diversification of purchase journeys.

In the past, marketers talked about “the path to purchase”, and mapped out relatively simple and homogeneous paths to describe how shoppers arrived at stores. Today, by the time a shopper arrives at a store the brand and category experiences can be wildly varied. He explained: “Some may have already ‘experienced’ the brand heavily, researched it, immersed themselves in all sorts of experiences.

Others may know very little. This creates a far more heterogeneous shopper, which means that the in-store marketing mix needs to be far more flexible and responsive.”

Thus, creating an in-store experience that will work for many different shopper groups is hard, and the balance needs to be between targeting (i.e. not trying to be everything to everyone) and using responsive media and tools to allow the in-store experience to be different for different shoppers.

“This is where technology and people can really help: effective use of both is the best way to satisfy the heterogeneous shopper,” he said.

Highlighting the importance of the customer experience, Tim Kobe, chief executive officer of Eight Inc, said the relationship in a retail space was between customers and the brand values of the company and understanding human behaviour was therefore crucial. The products, the service in-store, the environment, the W W W .MA R KET ING - INT ERAC TIVE . COM

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behaviour of the staff all are important.

“The thread of the experience you offer across all touch-points is what determines how the customer perceives you. Unless you are offering that experience, you will have a tough time distinguishing your brand,” he said.

The experience brands offer is one of the highest factors in influencing people to talk about them and that is going to create word-ofmouth, whether positive or negative.

At Apple Store, for example, Kobe explained it decided to call customer service Genius Bar – the purpose of which is to offer help and support for Apple products.

“We gave it a proprietary experience which made people talk about it. So think about these proprietary experiences and the nomenclature.

These little steps will give you an added advantage,” he said.

or interrupt and be ignored.” Meanwhile, brands should align themselves with the rapidly evolving technological pace by utilising valuable insights that can be gleaned from data.

“Understanding a company’s segments such as catchment, movement patterns, other preferred malls, and preferred shopping sites is key to optimising trade and tenant mix to drive shoppers to spend more.”

For this, Lau advised taking advantage of data and the availability of such a resource: “If you torture the data hard enough, it’ll give you whatever you’d like to see.”

Marketers, therefore, have to make use of the varied data sources to study their attributes of their targeted consumer base. This includes social habits, purchasing, consumption and surfing and travel habits. This data, according to Lau, can help better plan marketing activities by reducing wastage. For example, brands

Consumer digital footprints are everywhere And smart brands will harness all the information presented to them in a way that best helps derive actionable insights. Citing the customer experience management tool.

Peter Goh, managing director of products for ASEAN at Accenture, said his company’s tech lab collects data that is available online through

social and other channels and processes it to get an understanding of the audience, their preferences and purchase patterns.

Some brands that have made great strides in this area are Uniqlo in Japan and SIA in Singapore and Nespresso regionally.

Such rich data helps brands and retailers curate experiences for customers. For this reason, Howie Lau, chief marketing officer at StarHub, advocated the use of data.

Furthermore, while customers are more spoilt than ever when it comes to shopping choices, they have a heightened sense of expectation.

To keep pace with consumer demands, Lau said: “Brands must integrate and be welcomed

can decide where best to open new stores or run road shows, understand the personas and target them accordingly by ensuring that opening hours and manpower are sufficient resources for optimising customer satisfaction.

Another often quoted trend for retailers is omni-channel these days. Nils Michaelis, managing director of Accenture Digital for ASEAN, debunked a myth around it. He said: “Omni-channel doesn’t mean selling more online. It is about taking digital into your strategy and selling more everywhere.”

A couple of years from now, he said, brands wouldn’t even be talking about omni-channel because that will become a reality.

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IS YOUR EMAIL STRATEGY EFFECTIVE? Who will ultimately be a digital winner?

“Marketers who figure out how to make email and mobile work together to win customers, drive sales and bring them back after the season ends,” said Dave Walters, strategic marketing evangelist for IBM Marketing Cloud, at a Marketing Effectiveness Forum.

Email can help narrow the gap between browsing and buying on smartphones. In turn, smartphones can bring new email subscribers and widen the email messaging programme beyond the traditional inbox, he explained.

However, email is still perceived as a no cost – a misconception that needs to be corrected soon.

Very soon, according to Walters, marketers will feel revenue pressure on email.

“The revenue pressure on email marketing spends is coming, if it hasn’t already. Your bosses are going to sit on you asking for real revenue per email numbers, so marketers better be moving that way,” he said.

Marketers now have a wealth of information from customers at their disposal – time spent on marketing messages, interest levels, brand

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affinity and so on – something they never had at such a scale. As email marketing enables marketers to communicate with many, in a manner that is scaleable, yet personalised, what marketers need to do is capture consumer behaviour and preferences as well as they can.

“It is how we take that into account, making buyer personas and accurate assumptions about our audience, drill deeper into that data – for us marketers that is the moment of shine,” he said.

It isn’t about the numbers At some level, sending emails is seen as a litmus test for a marketer. “I have met marketers who are a little too enamoured with their ability to send messages and not as focused on what they should be doing before they send those messages,” he said.

However, just sending the email isn’t good enough. If you subtract the credit of sending the most amount of messages, then you start to think through the revenue opportunity – and that’s what’s needed.

“If someone has not opened an email from you in a year, it is ludicrous that you will include them in your emailing list,” he said.

While it may be a matter of comfort to have a huge mailing list, it is nothing, but a vanity metric. What marketers must therefore focus on is the top revenue segment after carefully assessing the database and conversion percentage with it.

“If marketers in the world chopped the 80% chaos in their marketing plan and said all I want to care about are our best customers, where do I find more of them and how do I absolutely, have the conversation that almost every single one of them wants to buy – that would be it,” Walters said.

But showing large numbers to the management is a reality for many brands. How do marketers navigate that? Here’s a dirty secret

by Walters. “Keep them in your list by putting them in a suppression list and in your last step of your segmentation list add ‘and or remove’ all inactive recipients – that way you can still report the top line number to your team.”

Another common mistake marketers commit is to overlook the costs involved in getting email marketing right. Costs associated with headcount is one of them.

“As marketers we have been willing to sign up to do more and we haven’t had the upper hand in terms of budget. We sign up for 50% more work with 10% more budget.”

So, if marketers understand revenue, ROI or how to deploy the budget in the right places then it is a different conversation they will have.

As opposed to being told end of year that they have overshot the budget, they will be going to the bosses mid-year, saying we have got this programme that we’re running and creating CLV customers at $500 on this paid media spend on social media.

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be incredibly high in driving ROI. As a marketer, that puts you in a very different place.”

Here is a summary of all that was discussed with the delegates over three roundtable discussions.

USING BEHAVIOURAL PSYCHOLOGY TO IMPROVE MARKETING When thinking about where to begin with behavioural marketing, many of our attendees were already making strides – even if they didn’t realise it.

When they deliver the best reactivation offer to those who have spent the most in the past six months, it is embracing the principles behind behavioural marketing.

For many attendees in the hotel, food and beverage and travel industries, the basics of factoring in for customer behaviours comes in the form of loyalty programmes, but even some of the small businesses attending are thinking deeply about how to pay closer attention to their buyers.

While we talked through many specific examples, everyone agreed with the big-picture idea of improving their customer’s overall journey (even if that term is still gaining traction).

For many of the more B2B-focused firms, this means thinking more deeply about the content strategy that uncovers and nurtures their best prospects and turns them into profitable customers.

It also means every company should be focusing on how to both retain and delight their existing customers – and be working hard to develop advocates throughout the customer life cycle.

And while many ASEAN marketers are still

focused on mass media to drive awareness, I heard a wide range of roles and experience levels thinking more deeply about more oneto-one strategies based on tactics from the database marketing and direct response worlds.

Dave Walters, strategic marketing evangelist, IBM Marketing Cloud USING MARKETING AUTOMATION TO DERIVE ACTIONABLE INTELLIGENCE Marketers are facing challenging times nowadays. We’re doing more with less – targeting core audiences and geographies using more channels (online and offline) than ever before.

Marketing automation allows marketers to effectively manage and nurture your leads, maximising the marketing budget and automat marketing processes. With that, marketers will understand more prospects behaviour, and scores on that behaviour, ensures that customers will receive personalised messages or information at the right time and in the right channels.

Marketers can also create multi-track workflows using email, direct mail, social media, SMS, mobile push and telesales. Keep track of the customers’ behaviours and steps – and know what keeps them engaged. With marketing automation, marketers leverage those behaviours to react to steps taken as well as anticipate future actions so that marketers can spend less time managing manual tasks and spend more time on marketing strategies.

It’s not a one-day job. Before executing marketing automation, marketers need to have the proper discussion internally with other business units (such as the sales department and customer service department) to finalise the customer communication plan/process.

Once strategies and processes have been determined, the marketing performance will prove all the effort is worth it.

Alex Liu, sales director, IBM Marketing Cloud

A HOLISTIC CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT JOURNEY VIA OMNI-CHANNELS The landscape of email marketing has fundamentally changed as consumer expectations have grown, and as marketing heads are increasingly focused on providing a better and more relevant customer experience that leverages multiple channels. Additionally, with the tools and technology available, the expectation on marketers to track, test and prove ROI has never been higher.

Emails are no longer being seen as oneoff campaigns to drive sales, instead the focus is increasingly on leveraging email as a channel of engagement, and then tracking the effectiveness back to overall campaign objectives. During the roundtable exchange, personalisation was agreed upon as the most important factor in most organisations’ email marketing strategies.

We saw a variation of personalisation tactics in the different industries, but all agreed that personalisation and relevance has moved beyond using “dear first-name”, and we explored how to use on and offline behaviours to further personalise every email communication.

Retail and e-tail delegates were said to experience the best open and click rates on Sunday nights whereas airlines and financial institutes received the best open and click rates on Friday mornings. Subject lines were agreed to be an important contributing factor, with most regularly conducting A/B tests.

Data in multiple silos across the organisation still remains a big challenge for many organisations, as many are pursuing a single identity strategy. The further personalisation of transactional emails to provide realtime relevant cross and upsell offers in key communications was also explored and something that e-tailers are increasingly looking to adopt. According to our 2015 Email Marketing Metrics Benchmark Study, transactional emails generated an average 44.9% open rate and was even better for top email marketers with a 72.2% open rate.

The participants all agreed that email marketing remains an essential engagement channel for every brand. Having the right email marketing and customer engagement strategy strengthens the relationship between the brand and its prospects and directly retains customers for long-term loyalty and success.

Antonia Edmunds, sales and geo expansion leader, Asia Pacific, IBM Marketing Cloud

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WITH A RECORD-BREAKING NUMBER OF ENTRIES AND 106 TROPHIES AWARDED, THIS YEAR’S AWARDS WAS ONE OF THE HARDEST-FOUGHT EVER. HERE’S ALL THAT WENT ON DURING THE NIGHT. JUDGES FOR THE AWARDS Amit Dasgupta, vice-president, brand, SEA and Pacific, adidas Singapore Frederic Moraillon, vice-president, marketing, Asia Pacific and Japan, Akamai Technologies Anne Llewelyn, head of marketing, global products and client relationships, institutional banking, ANZ Banking Group Wendy Loke, head of brand and advertising, Asia Pacific, and head of marketing, Southeast Asia, BlackRock Singapore Joleena Seah, director, marketing and communications, Capella Hotel Group Asia Gabriela Henrichwark, group marketing director, COMO Hotels and Resorts Edna Koh, senior vice-president, group strategic marketing and communications, DBS Bank Cecilia Yeong, area brand director, Energizer Asia Pacific Alvin Tan, general manager, business and marketing support, Epson Singapore Corrinne Koh, general manager – marketing, digital and e-commerce, Eu Yan Sang International Mark Liversidge, chief marketer – Asia Pacific, Hilton Worldwide Cindy Cheng, vice-president, head of marketing and customer centricity, Manulife Singapore Ruben Lawrence, director of marketing, Asia, NBCUniversal International Networks Jules Ng, head of marketing, Asia Pacific, Saxo Capital Markets Cherry Koay, director of digital marketing, Southeast Asia hub, Shangri-La International Hotel Management Mani Padmanabhan, country manager, Southeast Asia and India, SSI Singapore Jesmine Hall, director of marketing communications, The St. Regis Singapore Manisha Seewal, head of marketing, Tokio Marine Life Insurance Singapore Joel Yeo, director of marketing, Visa Worldwide Joachim Holte, chief marketing officer, Wego

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MARKETER OF THE YEAR – SCOOT

Once again, Scoot proved it was a marketing force to be reckoned with after winning the overall Marketer of the Year title for the second year in a row.

To make the win sweeter, the airline improved on last year’s performance by taking home seven gold, two silver and four bronze awards at this year’s Marketing Excellence Awards.

Among the winners were its campaigns “Destination Oz!” which saw Singapore’s pop band The Sam Willows jetting off to Sydney on the carrier, and “#GarangForSingapore”, where Scoot took Singapore’s SG50 celebrations to the skies.

Coca-Cola, which banked on its famous “Share a Coke Singapore” campaign, emerged the runner-up after taking home three gold and four silver.

Other big winners on the evening included NTUC Income with

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seven trophies for its “OrangeAid” campaign and the Ministry of Communications and Information with two gold and two silver for its “Pioneer Generation Package” campaign.

With a record-breaking number of entries and 106 trophies awarded, this year’s awards was one of the hardest-fought ever.

Winners were eventually picked after weeks of scrutiny by a panel of highly qualified judges hailing from brands such as adidas, ANZ Bank, Epson, Hilton, Visa and more.

Some of the other high scoring brands included DBS Bank with gold in the Excellence in Print Advertising category, silver for Excellence in TV/Video Advertising and four other bronzes; StarHub with two gold for the “Home, by Homes” campaign, and an additional silver and bronze; and also William Grant & Sons with two gold and two bronze.

The awards was attended by more than 400 industry practitioners, and was supported by silver sponsors NBCUniversal and SSI, and partners Peroni Nastro Azzurro, Magners, Choice Wines International and Live!Studios.

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EXCELLENCE IN ADVERTISING

EXCELLENCE IN B2B MARKETING

GOLD

GOLD

Client: Ministry of Communications and Information Campaign: The PG+ Takeover Agency: DDB Worldwide

Client: William Grant & Sons Campaign: The Glenfiddich Valley of the Deer Experience Agency: GOODSTUPH

SILVER

SILVER

Client: Scoot Campaign: #GarangForSingapore Agencies: Publicis Singapore, FLY Entertainment

Client: TecSurge Campaign: New Managed Services Business Launch

BRONZE

BRONZE

Client: Monetary Authority of Singapore Campaign: Mousetrap Agency: Addiction Advertising

Client: ZALORA SEA Campaign: Seller Relationship Management Program

EXCELLENCE IN BRAND AWARENESS

EXCELLENCE IN BRAND STRATEGY

GOLD

GOLD

Client: Scoot Campaign: The Scoot Matrix Agency: Publicis Singapore

Client: Coca-Cola Far East Limited Campaign: Share a Coke Singapore Agencies: MediaCom, Geometry Global, Ogilvy PR, Hill+Knowlton, Social@Ogilvy, Momenntum

SILVER Client: Airbnb Singapore Campaign: A Night Through Time Agency: GOVT Singapore

SILVER Client: Mizuno Singapore Campaign: #MizunoThroughItAll Agency: Paprika Global

BRONZE Client: Bata Singapore Campaign: Have we met Agency: Section

EXCELLENCE IN CONSUMER INSIGHTS/MARKET RESEARCH

BRONZE Client: Scoot Campaign: #GarangForSingapore Agency: Publicis Singapore

EXCELLENCE IN CONTENT MARKETING

GOLD

GOLD

Client: Scoot Campaign: The Scoot Matrix Agency: Publicis Singapore

Client: Scoot Campaign: Destination Oz! Agency: Publicis Singapore

SILVER

SILVER

Client: Canon Singapore Campaign: Canon EOS World Agency: Dentsu Singapore

Client: Central Provident Fund Board Campaign: They All Say Agency: Wild Advertising & Marketing

BRONZE

BRONZE

Client: The Manhattan Fish Market Campaign: Brand Audit and Assessment Agency: iSentia-Brandtology

Client: NTUC Income Campaign: OrangeAid Agency: BBH Asia Pacific

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EXCELLENCE IN CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

EXCELLENCE IN CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT

GOLD

GOLD

Client: StarHub Campaign: Home, by Homes Agencies: DDB Worldwide, Mindshare Singapore

Client: NTUC Income Campaign: OrangeAid Agency: BBH Asia Pacific

SILVER

SILVER

Client: Singapore International Foundation Campaign: A to Z Stories For Good Agency: Starcom Mediavest Group

Client: Coca-Cola Far East Limited Campaign: Share a Coke Singapore Agencies: MediaCom, Geometry Global, Ogilvy PR, Hill+Knowlton, Social@Ogilvy, Momenntum

BRONZE Client: NTUC Income Campaign: OrangeAid Agency: BBH Asia Pacific

EXCELLENCE IN DATA-DRIVEN MARKETING

GOLD Client: Scoot Campaign: The Scoot Matrix Agency: Publicis Singapore SILVER Client: Google Campaign: Closer Agency: Jack Morton Worldwide

BRONZE Client: Canon Singapore Campaign: Canon EOS World Agency: Dentsu Singapore

EXCELLENCE IN DIGITAL MARKETING

GOLD Client: Pizza Hut Singapore Campaign: Personalized Customer Connections

SILVER Client: Coca-Cola Far East Limited Campaign: Share a Coke Singapore Agencies: MediaCom, Geometry Global, Ogilvy PR, Hill+Knowlton, Social@Ogilvy, Momenntum

BRONZE Client: MasterCard Campaign: The Digital & E-Commerce Engine – New Year’s Eve Campaign Agency: Digital Arts Network

EXCELLENCE IN DIRECT MARKETING

BRONZE Client: DBS Bank Campaign: POSB NeighboursFirstSG – Your Neighbourhood.

Redefined.

Agency: Havas Media Singapore

EXCELLENCE IN EVENT MARKETING

GOLD

GOLD

Client: Singapore Red Cross Society Campaign: Red Cross Connection Agency: MRM//McCann

Client: Scoot Campaign: #GarangForSingapore Agencies: Publicis Singapore, FLY Entertainment

SILVER

SILVER

Client: Scoot Campaign: The Scoot Matrix Agency: Publicis Singapore

Client: Sport Singapore Campaign: 28th SEA Games

BRONZE

BRONZE

Client: Addiction Advertising Campaign: The Little Black Box Agency: Addiction Advertising

Client: William Grant & Sons Campaign: Grant’s – It’s The Ship Agency: GOODSTUPH

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MARKETING SOLUTIONS FOR TECHNOLOGY COMPANIES www.getitcomms.com

When Dimension Data helps enterprises the world over with business transformation, they think beyond seasonal, sporadic and campaign-centric marketing. An “always-on� content marketing program mapped to buyer journeys and sliced through verticals, horizontals and solution categories helps position them as business enablers and trusted advisors.

Content-driven Integrated Marketing Find out how we helped Dimension Data do it at b2ben.to/getitcomms

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EXCELLENCE IN EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING

EXCELLENCE IN GOVERNMENT SECTOR MARKETING

GOLD

GOLD

Client: William Grant & Sons Campaign: Grant’s – It’s The Ship Agency: GOODSTUPH

Client: Central Provident Fund Board Campaign: They All Say Agency: Wild Advertising & Marketing

SILVER

SILVER

Client: Air France-KLM Campaign: Luxury taken to new heights Agency: Havas Worldwide Singapore

Client: Ministry of Communications and Information Campaign: The PG+ Campaign Agency: DDB Worldwide

BRONZE

BRONZE

Client: Scoot Campaign: #GarangForSingapore Agencies: Publicis Singapore, FLY Entertainment

Client: Housing & Development Board Campaign: SG Heart Map Agencies: Pico Art International, Black Design, Ong & Ong, Tate Anzur

EXCELLENCE IN INTEGRATED MARKETING (B2B)

EXCELLENCE IN INTEGRATED MARKETING (CONSUMER)

GOLD

GOLD

Client: Dimension Data APJ Campaign: Dimension Data Content-driven Integrated Marketing Agency: GetIT Comms

Client: Coca-Cola Far East Limited Campaign: Share a Coke Singapore Agencies: MediaCom, Geometry Global, Ogilvy PR, Hill+Knowlton, Social@Ogilvy, Momenntum

SILVER Client: Epson Campaign: Masters of Innovation Agency: Bonsey Jaden

SILVER Client: Asia Pacific Breweries Singapore Campaign: Winning Back The City From Competition Agency: iris Worldwide, Singapore

BRONZE Client: DBS Bank Campaign: Igniting Possibilities for the Asia of Tomorrow Agencies: MLA, iProspect, Havas, Switch, Clickr

EXCELLENCE IN LAUNCH MARKETING

BRONZE Client: Chuan Pictures Campaign: 7 Letters Agency: Tate Anzur

EXCELLENCE IN LOYALTY MARKETING

GOLD

GOLD

Client: NTUC Income Campaign: OrangeAid Agency: BBH Asia Pacific

Client: UOB Singapore Campaign: XX for Anna Sui Agency: GOODSTUPH

SILVER

SILVER

Client: Unilever Singapore Campaign: The World’s First Magnum Infinity Playground Agency: Golin Singapore

Client: StarHub Campaign: StarHub Rewards & Customer Engagement

BRONZE

BRONZE

Client: Lloyd’s Inn Campaign: Launch Marketing: Lloyd’s Inn

Client: Samsung Campaign: Samsung GALAXY LIFE Amazing Experiences 2014

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EXCELLENCE IN MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS

EXCELLENCE IN MARKETING INNOVATION

GOLD

GOLD

Client: Singapore Management University Campaign: Transform with the world Agency: Wild Advertising & Marketing

Client: Google Campaign: Closer Agency: Jack Morton Worldwide

SILVER

SILVER

Client: Ministry of Communications and Information Campaign: The PG+ Campaign Agency: DDB Worldwide

Client: Singapore Red Cross Society Campaign: Red Cross Connection Agency: MRM//McCann

BRONZE

BRONZE

Client: Scoot Campaign: #GarangForSingapore Agencies: Publicis Singapore, FLY Entertainment

Client: National Gallery Singapore Campaign: Portraits of the People Agency: MRM//McCann

EXCELLENCE IN MARKETING TO A FEMALE AUDIENCE

EXCELLENCE IN MARKETING TO A MALE AUDIENCE

GOLD

GOLD

Client: UOB Singapore Campaign: XX for Anna Sui Agency: GOODSTUPH

Client: The Movember Foundation Campaign: Made In Movember Agency: AKA Asia

SILVER

SILVER

Client: Clarins Campaign: Be Body Confident with Clarins Agency: ZenithOptimedia

Client: C&C International Campaign: The 4.5% Gentleman Agency: Host Singapore

BRONZE

BRONZE

Client: Procter & Gamble Campaign: SK-II Global Beauty Circle Agency: DeVries Global

Client: William Grant & Sons Campaign: Grant’s – It’s The Ship Agency: GOODSTUPH

EXCELLENCE IN MEDIA STRATEGY

EXCELLENCE IN MOBILE MARKETING

GOLD

GOLD

Client: Asia Pacific Breweries Singapore Campaign: Winning The City Back Agency: Starcom Mediavest Group

Client: Singapore Red Cross Society Campaign: Red Cross Connection Agency: MRM//McCann

SILVER

SILVER

Client: Singapore Red Cross Society Campaign: Red Cross Connection Agency: MRM//McCann

Client: Hewlett-Packard Singapore Campaign: Blackhat Security Mobile Ambush Agency: PHD Singapore

BRONZE

BRONZE

Client: Scoot Campaign: The Scoot Matrix Agency: Publicis Singapore

Client: Orchard Turn Developments Campaign: GSS Mobile Deals Campaign and ION Holideals Agency: illigo

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EXCELLENCE IN NATIVE ADVERTISING/BRANDED CONTENT

EXCELLENCE IN OUT-OF-HOME ADVERTISING

GOLD

GOLD

Client: Scoot Campaign: Destination Oz! Agency: Publicis Singapore

Client: NTUC FairPrice Campaign: For The Heroes In Our Lives Agency: Havas Media Singapore

SILVER

SILVER

Client: NTUC Income Campaign: OrangeAid Agency: BBH Asia Pacific

Client: Coca-Cola Far East Limited Campaign: Share a Coke Singapore Agencies: MediaCom, Geometry Global, Ogilvy PR, Hill+Knowlton, Social@Ogilvy, Momenntum

BRONZE Client: Central Provident Fund Board Campaign: They All Say Agency: Wild Advertising & Marketing

EXCELLENCE IN PERFORMANCE MARKETING

BRONZE Client: Singapore Telecommunications Limited Campaign: Singtel Dash – Money’s Getting An Update Agency: MEC Singapore

EXCELLENCE IN PRINT ADVERTISING

GOLD

GOLD

Client: Scoot Campaign: The Scoot Matrix Agency: Publicis Singapore

Client: DBS Bank Campaign: DBS Private Bank Notes Campaign Agency: DDB Worldwide

SILVER

SILVER

Client: Transitions Optical Campaign: iSync – Real Time UV Agency: iProspect Singapore

Client: Monetary Authority of Singapore Campaign: Mousetrap Agency: Addiction Advertising

BRONZE

BRONZE

Client: Intuit Inc. Campaign: Intuit QuickBooks – Unit Of 1 Agency: DWA Media

Client: BANDAI NAMCO Asia Campaign: GUNDAM docks at Singapore Agency: SOZO

EXCELLENCE IN PUBLIC RELATIONS

EXCELLENCE IN SEARCH MARKETING

GOLD

GOLD

Client: SG50 Campaign: SG Heart Map Agency: Tate Anzur

Client: Transitions Optical Campaign: iSync – Real Time UV Agency: iProspect Singapore

SILVER

SILVER

Client: Chuan Pictures Campaign: 7 Letters Agency: Tate Anzur

Client: Singapore Airlines Campaign: Singapore Airlines’ Destination Content Campaign Agency: Dentsu Möbius

BRONZE

BRONZE

Client: Air France-KLM Campaign: Luxury taken to new heights Agency: Havas Worldwide Singapore

Client: StarHub Campaign: SEO Zero to SEO Hero Agency: iProspect Singapore

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EXCELLENCE IN SHOPPER MARKETING

EXCELLENCE IN SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

GOLD

GOLD

Client: Citibank Singapore Limited Campaign: Great Singapore Sales Campaign 2015 – Simply Irresistible Agency: 360 Communications

Client: Coca-Cola Far East Limited Campaign: Share a Coke Singapore Agencies: MediaCom, Geometry Global, Ogilvy PR, Hill+Knowlton, Social@Ogilvy, Momenntum

SILVER

SILVER

Client: Coca-Cola Far East Limited Campaign: Share a Coke Singapore Agencies: MediaCom, Geometry Global, Ogilvy PR, Hill+Knowlton, Social@Ogilvy, Momenntum

Client: NTUC Income Campaign: OrangeAid Agency: BBH Asia Pacific BRONZE

BRONZE Client: Uniqlo Campaign: UniPlay Agency: Dentsu Singapore

EXCELLENCE IN SPONSORSHIP ACTIVATION

Client: DBS Bank Campaign: POSB NeighboursFirstSG – Your Neighbourhood.

Redefined.

Agency: Havas Media Singapore

EXCELLENCE IN TV/VIDEO ADVERTISING

GOLD

GOLD

Client: KFC Singapore Campaign: KFC Local Upsize on 5 – Curry Rice Bucket Agency: Mindshare Singapore

Client: Ministry of Communications and Information Campaign: The PG+ Takeover Agency: DDB Worldwide

SILVER

SILVER

Client: Hewlett-Packard Singapore Campaign: YouTube FanFest 2015 Agency: GOODSTUPH

Client: DBS Bank Campaign: POSB NeighboursFirstSG – Your Neighbourhood.

Redefined.

Agency: Havas Media Singapore

BRONZE Client: DBS Bank Campaign: DBS Marina Regatta/28th SEA Games Agencies: BRCKTS, MLA

BRONZE Client: Singapore Management University Campaign: Transform with the world Agency: Wild Advertising & Marketing

EXCELLENCE IN VIRAL MARKETING

GOLD Client: StarHub Campaign: Home, by Homes Agencies: DDB Worldwide, Mindshare Singapore SILVER Client: Toyota Campaign: Wakudoki Agency: Dentsu Singapore BRONZE Client: NTUC Income Campaign: OrangeAid Agency: BBH Asia Pacific

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LAST WORD

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AGENCIES, STOP DROPPING YOUR PANTS TO GET BUSINESS When will you start respecting yourself? Rayana Pandey asks. #saynotospec There are many issues with the marketing and advertising industry today and most of them require the industry to come together as one.

Offering services for free or cheaper than the rest is one such issue – or “free spec work” as this Toronto agency Zulu Alpha Kilo says. (Check out the video #saynotospec on YouTube by Kilo.)

Trust me, this isn’t another client-bashing article because agencies in the adland are themselves to be blamed for their misery. The flabbergasted look on the faces of these services providers will wake you up, if you’re an agency. And the client in the video will make you feel ashamed, if you are one. (Or so we hope.)

Getting the industry to unite is a tall order, especially in Singapore.

Steep competition, revenue and margin pressures have made this seemingly impossible. In the past, numerous attempts have been made to bring the players together, but to no avail.

Will we ever see the adland take the high road for the greater good of the industry? OK, forget that. Will we ever see the adland take the high road for long-term sustenance of its own business? We ask some of the industry players.

Here is what they have to say: “It’s really about a mindset. Clients (big and small) have gotten used to agencies (big and small) working in this manner and agencies generally have given in and accepted that this is the norm. It’s resulted in our business being devalued and what we offer.

One contributing factor is that there’s no governing body to represent and protect agencies here in Singapore (like the 4As do in some other markets like the Philippines). This means that everyone is out for their own benefit.

Now, I can fully understand that we all need to defend our business and output while delivering our financial requirements, but we’d all be in a much better place, at all levels, if some of these pitch practices were better governed and managed.

The art of saying no: When was the last time you said no to a client?

The responsibility for making this change lies with all parties, but needs to be owned and led by the marketing services industry’s professional bodies and associations.”

Richard Bleasdale, regional managing partner for Asia Pacific at Roth Observatory International “Indeed, it’s quite disappointing to note that ours is an industry that has not united and stood up against the notion of free pitches or free pilot projects.

While the onus lies on every agency in Singapore to have some pride and not shortchange each other, it would definitely help if some of the larger group agencies could take the lead and set the direction for the industry.

This practice is detrimental for agencies and clients in the long run, especially in Singapore where the focus across industries is on increasing productivity. There may come a point of no return since it is always tougher when agencies aren’t able to command the right prices for the talent and effort that they bring to the table.”

Ara Hampartsoumian, managing director, TBWA\Singapore Prantik Mazumdar, managing partner of Happy Marketer “It’s an interesting bit of entertainment by an agency that’s clearly had a bad experience with a client. I wonder how their clients would feel seeing that?

Some things ring true with the satire, but painting clients as lacking empathy and focused on free or spec work feels like the agency has sour grapes. It’d be more useful if they focused on trying to build mutually beneficial client/agency partnerships instead.”

Damien Cummings, global head of digital marketing at Standard Chartered Bank “Free” is apparently the most powerful word in marketing. At Roth Observatory we’d beg to differ. We believe the most powerful word in marketing is “no”. There are no other professional services industries who give away their thinking and IP for free. We believe, to be regarded as a professional services industry, marketing services needs to behave in the same way. And learning how to say “no” is probably the most important first step.

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“Sadly, there are some terrible clients out there who are trying to screw true professionals out of earning a fair wage. On the other hand there are some absolutely terrible ‘shops’ out there gouging clients for diabolically sh*t work.

So, as sad as it is that we’re in this situation, we made the bed we’re sleeping in. If you’re producing crap work, or you’re being treated like crap, do something about it.”

Tobias Wilson, CEO, APD Singapore No one likes giving a free hand job, I’d imagine. But the thing is, no one forced the agency to give a free hand job in the first place. Just because a RFP has been issued does not mean you have to swallow it, you know?

So if you don’t want to be one of those who jerks new pitches for free … then don’t.

Pat Law, founder of GOODSTUPH

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Thursday 18 February 2016 Pan Pacific Singapore

Join finalists from South Asia, Southeast Asia and ANZ at the industry’s leading awards.

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Key Contacts Table Bookings: Czarina Solomon +65 6423 0329 czarinas@marketing-interactive.com Sponsorship & Advertising: Johnathan Tiang +65 6423 0329 johnanthant@marketing-interactive.com

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