Adoi Magazine 2006 February

t\ CHINA NOW W WORLD'S NO 3 * AD MARKET OMNICOM gets serious on Asia!

Chris Thomas leads S^BBDO in style >> QGILVY SWINGS J \ |*ACKMAXIS! |TV3 hits new viewership y record for Malaysian tv

Taking the

Media Cannes juror Sam Balsara for MMC!

ROAD! AdiSatria Managing Director - Utusan Media Sales

One of them is destined for greatness.

starting 8th February ||

Wednesdays 11pm

A riveting tale about the daily struggles that shape the personalities, values and future of two brothers. One of whom will grow up to be the next greatest American President

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Its a Sunday afternoon. I'm still in the office, and suddenly reminiscing about how this whole ADOI magazine began. Time has flown and we are into our ninth year. So many people have come and gone during that time. I'd like to thank some of the main drivers of this magazine: Siva, Chang, Amit, Nathan, Dean, Monica, Ali, Amirul, Ragoo, Mun, Soh, Geetha, Fauziah, Jovan, Ramesh, and the countless contributors and supporters over the years...

Those of you who've signed up at adoimagazine.com would have realized we have now uploaded our Indonesia and Singapore ad trade directories there. We are still building up the site, so please bear with us - next in the pipeline is to host the 2005 MC2 Award winners!

There's a hot story brewing in publishing circles in Singapore where publishers who are not audited are accused of fraudulent circulation claims. In fact, in a recent survey by Marketing Weekly, most advertising and marketing professionals think the magazine publishing industry is a hotbed of fraud and corruption. I wonder if these sentiments are mirrored in the Malaysian context too, where we are no less regarded as an after thought. ADOI which has been championing the case for audited circulation for eons is still puzzled if media specialists really take magazines seriously.

Talking about magazines, a collaboration of 14 newspapers in 12 countries across Asia has launched a new weekly titled AsiaNews.The 36-page magazine by the Asia News Network (ANN) is obviously filling a void, left behind by the near 'immortal' Far Eastern Economic Review, which folded last year as a respected regional weekly after decades in the business. AsiaNews will have an initial print run of 15,000 copies and will also be 'served' onboard more than 9 airline networks, includingThai Airways and SIA in a landmark agreement signed with the Star Alliance Group. If memory serves me right, ANN was also behind the defunct theasiamagazine which was distributed free with the Sunday Times generations ago.

You would also notice that ADOI magazine now has a 'spine' with a cryptic message from JWT. Hopefully, this spine will also translate into a fearless voice for the industry at large. Sometimes, this does not work for us, since we are totally reliant on advertising support to stay alive. Sometimes, we get 'hauled-up' by agency Gods and told to toe-the-line, as happened to me recently. After humbly 'taking the heat' for almost one hour, I was rewarded with a boycott by the entire Agency Group of Companies of any advertising support for my magazine, support which was already committed earlier. So dear reader, after almost nine years, I throw the ball into your court: if you want ADOI to stay independent, PLEASE SUBSCRIBE. I must have spun scores of arguments to advertise this in a million ways, that some of you may tire of it. In which case, PLEASE SUBSCRIBE. Talking about payments, I just had another flashback. I can't help but recall with amusement the time when Yasmin Yusuff and Patrick Teoh co-compered the Kancils. In a burst of obvious indignation before a capacity crowd, Yasmin blurted how much the ad industry owed her in outstanding dues for voice-over and talent fees. I believe the amount was in the hundreds of thousands. The shameless crowd, momentarily stunned, recoiled at her audacity. Their silence almost whispered, "Not paying suppliers is a matter of course in the industry,so what'syour problem?"

Interestingly, I don't think Yasmin nor Patrick were ever asked to compere for an industry event after that. And I believe Yasmin's talent casting house ended in financial smithereens shortly after.

On a positive note, true to the passion that fires our business, Ogilvy fought back gallantly for its stake of the Maxis post-paid business, after being briefly terminated late last year. Led by Stephen Fraser, Zayn Khan, Dani Comar and their determined never-say-die team, Ogilvy won back the account worth more than RM40 million. Maxis also witnessed the resignation of Ng Keng Ming Head of Consumer Marketing to be replaced by Thomas Schnitker a veteran from Australia's top telco Telstra. The ever-bright Keng Ming is still considering his next options.

And finally, the 2006 roller-coaster is beginning to chug along to full speed after the long holidays.

Here's a little inspiration for the over-holidayed, blur minded, 'do I really have to work' ad professional: it's refreshing to note Asia's richest man and homegrown Indian steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal make a hostile bid last month for Arcelor, Europe's largest steel company to the obvious consternation of established western industrialists. Is this a sign of a new coming of age for Asians? Take the cue....

Shameless,

8 COVER STORY The day was drawing to a sweaty close. Two stubborn FRU trucks kept vigil at arms length across a hillock by the campus exit. Voices were hoarse, tempered frayed, but one lanky upstanding guy was swinging nis megaphone like a gun slinger. His varsity comrades, about 19 of them, knew that Adi Satria was not done yet....

16 Chris Thomas With a line to Omnicom Groups Michael Birkin, Chris Thomas was appointed Chairman and CEO of BBDO and Proximity Asia last month.

26 Omnicom Delivers Long lagging behind the other global agency groups in Asia (with less than 15% of multinational business in India and China, for example) Omnicom Group Inc. is bent on playing catch­ up.. and fast.

28 China Now 3rd Largest Advertising Market Globally!

Estimated advertising spending across main media including television, newspapers and magazines, across 12 key asia pacific mar­ kets reached a record $us66.6 Billion in the 12 months to September 2005.

Hong Kong 7%

Taiwan 2% Philippine 3%

8% New Zealand 2% Australia 8%

24 A BigYear For New Business 2005 was a big year for new business - In all we tracked over 2,500 shifts in accounts and over US$5.lb in billings changing hands. This was a 36% in­ crease over 2004.

Thailand 3% Singapore 1*

Malaysia 2%

40 The Superbowl ofAdvertising I got a simple brief to write a Superbowl commercial the other day. Be funny. When I asked for more specifics, I was told. Be very funny. Armed with this simplicity, I proceeded to write some of the best spots i have in a long while. I wasn't inhibited by cramming in all sorts of useless information that we are all to often forced to.

REGIONAL CEO Harmandar Singh aka Ham • ham@pop.jaring.my MARKETING Jeffrey Hamid • jeff@ham.com.my SUBSCRIPTIONS Rani Bedi • rani@ham. com.my CIRCULATION Farah Taj • farah@ham.com.my FINANCE Hew Yoke Kee • hew@ham.com.my DESIGNER Rosalind Tann PHOTOGRAPHY Jen Studio •jensiow@streamyx.com CONTRIBUTORS Robert Kleman, Tony Savarimuthu, Josh Sklar, Greg Paull PRINTER DC Print Sdn Bhd DISTRIBUTION Platinum Publishers, Five E-Comm. ADOI magazine is published every month by Sledgehammer Communications (M) Sdn Bhd 22B, Jalan Tun Mohd. Fuad Sam, Taman Tun Dr. Ismail, 60000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Tel: 603-7726 2588 Fax: 603-7722 5712, www.adoimagazine.com

"SAY WHAT?" "If I wanted to be your friend, would I tell you that you are not beautiful on account of your dark skin, and that you should spend money to make yourself whiter? Would I make you feel bad about being overweight, or having black curly hair? No!" Yasmin Ahmad, speaking at ADOI's Marketing to Women seminar in Jakarta on January 25.

42 First E-Pressions If you're a graphic designer of web sites and online applications, then there's some good news for you: your craft actually matters.

58 Globalization and the Challenge of Growth For one - globalization is rapidly worsening the divide between rich and poor by creating a numerically significant economic underclass who are completely cut off from the benefits of technological advancement.

62 TV3 Hits New Record of 4.76 Million Viewers With Juara Lagu!

February 5th was another record-breaking day for tv3, as the 20th anugerah juara lagu chalked up more than 4.76 Millions viewers nationwide or 27.5 Tv ratings (tvr).

64 New Look Scottish LeaderWhisky Burn Stewart distillers taiwan has re­ launched its standard blended scotch whisky scottish leader supreme with completely new packaging and a major advertising campaign created by singapore-based advertising agency, 10am communications.

"When the sparkling water brand Perrier was enveloped in a much-publicized scare over the amount of Benzene found in its product in 1990, it revealed a nearfatal weakness. Ironically, this was not caused by the chemical itself; indeed, testers quickly found that the Benzene occurred naturally and in insignificant amounts. But Perrier discovered that most of its customers mistakenly believed that the product's carbonation was natural - that Perrier got its bubbles from a giant natural seltzer spring.

They were shocked to find that there were, indeed, Perrier factories. They felt duped." Michael Birkin, President &c CEO Omnicom Asia-Pacific, in an article he authored a few years back titled "Non-Profit Brands: The Strong (Not Just the Big) Will Win."

48 Global Trends Out of home media (ooh) is enjoying one of its best periods of growth on a global scale,which is manifest by fast paced changes and new developments. Ron graham looks into these changes, to share insights on trends in the global ooh market and comment on potential opportunities in asia.

"It was never a toy, he doesn't operate around the toy concept. It was very much 'let's think about three or four smart ideas that may or may not go anywhere - and by the way, I'm ready to take a lot of risks'." Corbis CEO Steve Davis reacting to suggestions that Bill Gates' digital images agency is simply a diversion for one of the world's richest men.

ABOUT ADOI MAGAZINE ADOI is Malaysia's leading marketing communications monthly and is read by urban and affluent, advertising, media and marketing professionals with an average monthly income in excess of RM5,000. ADOI is dedicated to the pursuit of excellence in all facets of marketing communications and serves as an observatory of the marketplace for ideas, insights and inspiration. ADOI also has a monthly Indonesian edition which is more than 5 years old and is planning to be in Vietnam this year through its partners in Ho Chi Minh City.

"I had to make the tough decision of axing or repositioning a product which no longer meets with the reader's interest." Adi Satria, Managing Director of Utusan Media Sales, when talking about reviving Mastika, Utusan Melayu's oldest magazine, to a new circulation high of 200,000.

ABOUT THE PUBLISHER Sledgehammer Communications is a regional publishing player serving the advertising, media and marketing industries of Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. In operation for over 12 years, they also host key industry events, award shows and seminars of critical significance to the market. The organization's role as a gatekeeper and catalyst of change, knowledge and innovation is widely evident through its proven network of resources, talent and leadership.

" Anecdotal evidence from my four children (aged 9,11,12,13) is that SMS is heavily used for relationship management. Gone is the fear of the face to face invite to the cinema or dance at the disco. Invitations are issued via SMS even across the dance floor. Will you go out with me via text is common.

Even more alarming is that they will "dump" existing boyfriends/girlfriends not only via text but by sending a text to a friend and asking them to tell the injured party.Is anyone else experiencing this or am I just a bad father?"

Chris Thomas, 43, Chairman & CEO BBDO Asia.

£ Member of

© All rights reserved by Sledgehammer Communications (M) Sdn. Bhd. No part of this magazine may be reproduced in any form without prior permission in writing from the publisher. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information in this publication, the publisher assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions or/for any consequences of reliance of information in this publication.

The opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent the views of the publisher or editor. Advertisements are the sole responsibility of the advertisers.

Audit Bureau of Circulation

(6,405 copies)

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CoverStory

ADOI MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS MAGAZINE

T

he day was drawing to a sweaty close. Two stubborn FRU trucks kept vigil at arms length across a hillock by the campus exit. Voices were hoarse, tempered frayed, but one lanky upstanding guy was swinging his megaphone like a gun slinger.

His varsity comrades, about 19 of them, knew that Adi Satria was not done yet. His picked up lus upstaoXSg posture and made his final proclamation. Articulate, direct and charged with momentum. A loud barrage of applause concluded the showdown as the trucks made their way back to base. The day was over. Everyone had their say.

Change had spoken, and Adi was the agent.

Adi's early students days at the University of Malays had its share of encounters with the authorities, his views were bold and challenging.

He made no bones about doing the right thing.

That streak in Adi never left him to this day: whether it's about driving a sales team or piecing together a strategic marketing campaign Adi assumes leadership by default.

At the helm ofMalaysia's No.1 Bahasa Malaysia newspaper, and driving 12 brands under his watch, his story is the stuff of marketing speak ...

CoverStory *

You mention your people are in the comfort battle zone..

"Thinking differently is not an option, it's the DNA of our success!"

10

I

ADOI MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS MAGAZINE

HA, HA! I meant that we are in a zone thats regularly seasoned with the operandi of war. As a leader of the pack, can't get too comfortable. But seriously, a method to our madness Our advertising sales people are commission based and their basic salaries account for 25% of their take home pay. These commissions are reviewed annually when we set their new targets. It can also mean that we will lower their commission rates so that they have to work harder in order to achieve the same level of income as they had in the previous year. Otherwise their income will be at a comfort level and the challenge is how to make them hungry for more. The answer lies in ensuring their targets are met or at least at a minimum level, such as 85%.

We also provide various incentives to make it worthwhile for them to exceed their targets. We weed out the passengers if we have to. So far we are lucky as we have a team that is committed and passionate. The review of their performances is done on a monthly basis so we can nip any problems in the bud. I always remind them that they are as good as their last sale and they must be continue to strive to greater heights.

Borrowing a parallel mindset from the ad industry, our theme for the team this year is: Thinking Outside the Box. In today's complicated media environment thinking differently is not an option. It is the DNA of our success. Everything has to move together: our product, client's expectations and reader's wants - we call it Synchronised Marketing.

Leaving no stone w

The lines and deals between editorial and advertising are blurring. Is it customary for advertisers to ask for editorial in return for ad support?

For all of us, advertising deals are based on commitment and incentives. We believe we have a good product that can deliver effectively our clients ad message. If the brand's message and promise is newsworthy of write ups then we will provide whether

they ask for it or not. As we believe in keeping our loyal customers we will always return the support in more ways than just editorial support. For example we invite them in joint promotions and events, which we do organise from time to time. It must be a win-win situation for all parties.

Bottom line, as long as editorial integrity is not compromised, I see nothing wrong with providing write-ups.

Newspaper AdEx by Title RM000

%

YTD Dec 2004

Change

% Market Share 2005

UM/MM

214,854

215,425

-0.3%

7.7%

8.1%

BHI&M

192,011

202,361

-5.1%

6.9%

7.6%

KOSMO/AHAD

19,635

.

N/A

0.7%

N/A

HM/MA

135,630

106,041

27.9%

4.9%

4.0%

Star/SanStar

818,091

793,708

3.1%

29.5%

29.7%

NST/NSunT

200,987

227,813

-11.8%

7.2%

8.5% 2.4%

The Sun/Sun

80,642

65,063

-6.8%

2.2%

MMail/SMail

49,825

37,446

33.1%

1.8%

1.4%

SlnChew/Sun

373,308

335,196

11.4%

13.4%

12.6%

Nanyang/Sun

78,033

83,595

*6.7%

2.8%

3.1%

ChlnaP/Sun

172,507

171,415

0.6%

6.2%

6.4%

TamHN/Sun

4,504

4,038

11.5%

0.2%

0.2%

NanhamSim

6,921

7,018

-1.4%

0.2%

0.3%

Others

449,089

420,643

6.8%

16.2%

15.8%

TOTAL

2,776,016

2,669,763

4.0%

100.0%

100.0%

Unlike KOSMO!, Malay papers are based on the 3 Si Sensationalism, Scandals and Sports.

A cheeky question: If you had the opportunity to run the NST Group of newspapers, how would you go about driving it?

I think they should know what they are doing. I just watch.

UTUSAN'S CLAIM TO FAME: • Highest circulation and readership among Sunday Bahasa newspapers • Mingguan Malaysia reaches more Malays than any Sunday newspaper • Readers highly educated and affluent Malays • Readers live active and outgoing lifestyles Tell us the KOSMO! story, what is the secret here?

We are truly happy with the way Kosmo! has turned out. Kosmo! was launched to fill a growing market: the young urban market.

More global in their outlook and Malaysiancentric as opposed to Malay-centric, which is what all the Malay mainstream newspapers of today are. As a Compact option, we fulfill the basic requirement in terms of physical presentation. But content

f

CoverS tory

*

is where the difference lies. The current Malay mainstream tabloids are based on what I call the 3 Ss - Sensationalism, Scandals and Sports. It is easy for us to exploit this format and get the readership numbers.

But we have to also be mindful of our obligations to society in providing quality information that can help nurture the minds of our young members of society, especially the Malays. We need to help build young thinking Malaysians who are global in outlook in a multiracial society like ours. That is why Kosmo! is based on a concept of a magazine in a newspaper.

While we cover news, we also publish daily features in Kosmo!2, which incidentally is also our strength.We know our readers keep Kosmo! 2 as a ready reference. So Kosmo! is more than just news.

The success of Kosmo! is also in the composition of our editorial team. We hire them from diverse academic backgrounds and races. We have Chinese and Indian journalists who have a better feel and insight into their own community issues. As most are young, we can reach out effectively to the young audience. Kosmo! steers clear of political issues which is covered by Utusan Malaysia and Mingguan Malaysia.

We focus on consumer issues, sports and entertainment. Our journalists have already won a number of media awards, and for a young newspaper this is indeed a great achievement.

In terms of distribution, we started as a Klang Valley paper but in September last year we went to Penang and focussed on Penang and northern issues. It was very well received. We went to Johor with the

Johor edition last month. And by the second quarter we will cover the East coast which will make us a national newspaper!

What do you make of online content killing newspapers? As you know, BusinessWeek closed its Asian and European and editions and decided to focus online.

Firstly, I believe newspapers or the print medium will never die. Someone predicted that at the rate circulation of newspapers is declining, the final death will be sometime in 2025 or so. But newspapers are evolving to the needs of the readers, especially the young.

There will come a time when there will be niche papers catering to various target audiences. The business models will change. Free papers may be the order of the day, but content will still be king.

And this will ensure its life. And as long as there are readers, advertisers will continue to place ads.

"Free newspapers may be the order of the day"

With Malaysian free-to-air television stations merging, do you see this as a threat to newspapers when it comes to Adex share?

I believe newspapers will continue to effectively reach PMEB's and decision makers more effectively than TV. So we will have a fair share of the Adex. Of course we have to provide better valueadded benefits in order to grow our share.

YouVe championed the cause for importing newsprint, as opposed to being forced to use local, but more

ADI-OLOGY: 1976- 1980 1981- 1983 1983-1984 1984- 1996 1996-1998 1999-2000 2000 -Present 12 I

School teacher in Penang and Kuala Lumpur.

Account Executive, RA Advertising Account Manager, PTM Thompson Advertising Sr Account Director, McCann Erickson Group Account Director, Grey Advertising Managing Director, Pesaka Grey Managing Director, Utusan Media Sales

ADOI MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS MAGAZINE

expensive, options. What's your update on this situation?

Today the cost of newsprint is hovering around US$600 per metric ton and is definitely a cost problem. The anti-dumping duty on imported newsprint does not help and we hope that the government will review this for the sake of the survival of the newspaper industry.

What we have to do is initiate better cost control measures which we have done and will continue to do.

On that note,Adi takes a ride... on his wild side...

LATEST

SENSATIOHAL

NEWS only in

Harian Metro

No.1 Malay Tabloid Newspaper

1

'â&#x20AC;¢",5 Source: Audit Bureau of Circulation (July 04 - June 05))

SAM BALSARA, CMD, AAADISON COMMUNICATIONS

"360-degree is a state of mind."

MADISON Media has been nominated as the most admired media agency by a recent industry poll conducted by a business paper in India. Viveat Susan Pinto of agencyfaqs! caught up with Balsara during his euphoric moments. Excerpts of the interview.

The recent industry poll saw Madison Me­ dia emerging trumps on every parameter - be it negotiation skills, strength of plan­ ning team, quality of research and tools, and 360-degree solutions. Does that make you feel happy?

Of course, it does. It makes me feel wonderful.

Terrific. It is all for the moment, though. We felt happy for a day. We had an impromptu party on our terrace. But now we are back at work; we are not going to let this status affect us in any way. We have our feet firmly on the ground and we have a long way to go.

Despite the accolade, are there areas where Madison Media still needs to improve?

Of course. I strongly believe and I've said this many times before. Unfortunately, in the last decade, the return on investment on the media spend of the advertiser on an average has been

Media buying, over the last few years, has begun to consistently play a less important role than strategic thinking,planning, insights, innovations etc.

14

going down. If Madison Media deserves the accolade, I think we have to break new ground everyday so that we can deliver advice to clients that enables them to build sustainable brands in a prof­ itable way. We believe there is tremendous work still to be done in the media area.

Certainly, any good organisation today needs to have objectives, needs to have bench­ marks; needs to have a goal, and in everything that we do, we establish goals and benchmarks.

And, it's imperative on our people to achieve those. Of course, these are not fixed, they are

I am told that Madison Media executives are very aggressive when it comes to negotiations. Though me­ dia buying is about getting the best price, how much are you in favour of buyers exhibiting so much aggres­ sion? What science have you brought to media buying?

Media buying, over the last few years, has begun to consistently play a less impor­ tant role than strategic thinking, planning, insights, innovations etc. All these impact ROI in a much bigger way than just nego­ tiations. Having said that, yes, we believe that we are the only agency to bring science into negotiations. I cannot share with you exactly what we do. But we have documented ne­ gotiation strategies; various alternative tech­ niques. We take our people, at least a selected few, through different ways of reaching the same goal, when to use what strategy etc and these are not skimmed off a book; these are all based on our hard-earned experience. For the last three years, we are the only agency to not

floating.

ADOI MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS MAGAZINE

•i

discuss rates at a pitch.

We've turned down large businesses based on this principle. One of the rea­ sons for our steady growth has been that we are a value-based organisation, and rightly or wrongly, we've adopted a certain set of principles that we apply uniformly without fear, irrespective of who­ ever is there on the other side. I also believe that a principle is not a principle unless it costs you money.

And our principles have cost us money. I am happy for that.

What about the aggression in buying? Are you in favour of that?

You may use the word aggression, but I don't agree. Certainly, any good organisation today needs to have objectives, needs to have bench­ marks; needs to have a goal, and in everything that we do, we establish goals and bench­ marks. And, it's imperative on our people to achieve those. Of course, these are not fixed, they are floating.The world is moving. So, our benchmarks can't be fixed. I believe that's how the world of business keeps moving forward.

You talked about planning and strategising.

Where does Madison Media stack up on these parameters?

We believe we have what it takes. In the last

three years, we've won so many large busi­ nesses in pitches where we don't discuss rates.

This obviously implies somewhere we have been able to convince a few people that we have what it takes. I am not talking of naive businessmen here, but people at the helm of large, successful, mature organisations. Ev­ erything that we do is focused on solving a problem for a specific client or achieving a certain objective. There is nothing that we do for the sake of business development or creating a tool for the sake of creating one or entering an award event etc. Whatever we do is done by our own practitioners. You can be sure that they are all working tools. They will work and solve day-to-day real-life problems of our clients.

Can you share a few examples of these tools?

There are a number of them. One of the re­ cent ones is a very practical way of delivering reach and frequency for a multimedia plan. I don't think too many agencies have been able to crack this problem. And yet, most advertis­ ers do use multimedia plans. Some time ago, we developed the Madison Programme Pre­ dictor. Thanks to this programme, we decided to back Indian Idol on Sony Entertainment Television. It worked out well for us and our clients. In the last two years, almost all our advertisers have started using/tracking data.

We've honed our skills to a considerable de­ gree on using/tracking data with sophisticated modeling techniques, which enables us to pre­ dict the kind of media input to be given in order to get the desired result.

I believe we were one of the first agencies to highlight to our clients that excessive dependence on television could be wrong. Our mul­ timedia evaluation model is a step in that direction to show to our data-savvy clients that multi-media does work.

360-degree solutions is an area where Madison Media was gauged during the recent industry survey. Can you cite some examples of these?

How much ofyour billings does it comprise?

I believe we were one of the first agencies to highlight to our clients that excessive de­ pendence on television could be wrong. Our multimedia evaluation model is a step in that direction to show to our data-sawy clients that multi-media does work. Besides, we are today taking our clients aggressively to the market with the help of some of our media partners.

We do a lot of ground events for advertisers.

When we started in 1994-95, we had only 25 clients. That number is constant even after ten years. To that extent, we are very small. We do not forget that we are a small-service organi­ sation, and our success entirely depends on the quality of advice that we give to our clients.

We need to continuously sharpen our skills, develop our capabilities to be able to offer that cutting-edge advice based on what is happen­ ing in the market today.

Tell us about Madison Entertainment.

That's the newest busi­ ness unit within the Madison umbrella.

Right?

We were one of the ear­ ly entrants into enter­ tainment. We set up an independent company called Mates (acronym for MadisonTeamworks Pvt. Ltd.) to explore this area. Our logic for doing this is that as we get into an over-communicated society, as the noise levels increase, the Indian consumer is going to get more thick-skinned and the veil that the consumer drops in front of his or her eyes as soon as he or she sees an ad is going to get denser and denser. This would affect our cli­ ents. We need to find newer ways of reaching the consumer when the veil is not on. That's why this unit is also called Mates, because as I see it, it is marrying or mating advertising to entertainment.

We need to continuously sharpen our skills, develop our capabilities to be able to offer that cutting-edge advice based on what is happening in the market

That's fine. But how much of your bill­ ings does it comprise?

Agencies, more often than not, pay lip ser­ vice to the aspect of 360-degree solutions.

Where does Madison Media stack up?

360-degree is a state of mind. It's not really in billings and other stuff. It's more in terms of a plan. Remember, everything cannot be measured in billing. For every media client of ours, we have an annual review. The review covers 20-40 different pa­ rameters spread over three broad areas - stra­ tegic planning, buying and hygiene factors.

And we get rated by our clients on each of these parameters, and based on that rating, we earn a cash incentive from them. Most of it goes directly to the teams working on respec­ tive businesses.

You have dedicated teams to service large businesses. This strategy has obviously worked for you. But would you at any given point in time consider medium to smallsized accounts?Apparently, there are a lot of them floating around.

I would like to believe that I am a person with reasonably consistent views. When I started Madison in 1988, I made a statement, "A good agency is a small agency." At that time for the right or wrong reasons, I believed that this strategy would work best for our clients.

Small then meant 'small in terms of numbers, but large in terms of business'. So to some ex­ tent, thanks to the environment, I've had to change my views, slightly recast my thinking, though the core of that philosophy remains the same. Take Madison Media, for example.

Coming back to media, what is your way forward? You have pretty much achieved everything you would want in media - big accounts, respect of clients and peers, the numero uno slot, agood team. Are you look­ ing at mergers and acquisitions? Or, are you planning to set up a second media agency to handle conflict?

But, of course. We are completely open to it.

We are aggressively looking at acquisitions.

They are in the area of smaller creative agen­ cies, Internet, direct, BTL etc. My daughter Lara, who spends 30 per cent of her time in the corporate office now, is doing a wonder­ ful job in identifying new areas where we could venture. With regard to the latter part of your question; we've already announced three months back that we will have - Madi­ son Media, Madison Media Plus and Madicontinued on page 32 Q

BBDO + PROXIMITY

CHRIS THOMAS Hires great people and gets out of their way

Raymond So, and notH based in Singapore, is heading the entire^^^M region for BBDO,||H the exception ofjapanand \ Clemenger in Australia and New

and won the second most awards of any ad agency in the world after Omnicom's stablemate DDB Worldwide in 2005, including 37 Lions at Cannes.

Replacing previous head Raymond So, and now based in Singapore, Chris is heading the entire Asia region for BBDO, with the exception of Japan and Clemenger in Australia and New Zealand. He told ADOI on just his second day in Malaysia that his first step in the region is "to get in and listen and learn."

After that he says his priority will be to "win a disproportionate share of the talent" for all the regional offices of BBDO,

Though himself speaking no Asian languages, he says that most BBDO country managers in Asia are local, and that he brings with him a deep knowledge of BBDO, Proximity and the ad agency business at large.

WITH a line to Omnicom Group's Michael Birkin, but reporting directly to Andrew Robertson, who became BBDO's youngest-ever chief executive when he succeeded Alan Rosenshine in 2004, Chris Thomas was appointed Chairman and CEO of BBDO and Proximity Asia last month.

Which looks like great career timing to us at ADOI, because BBDO is on a roll: Advertising Age U.S.Agency of the Year; ADWEEK Global Agency of the Year; Campaign Advertising Network of theYear for 2005.

Last year the agency grew its billings by 15 to ) in the U.S., by more than 10% worldwide, 16

ADOI MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS MAGAZINE

whose creative philosophy is, in the words of one of the founders of Omnicom, Bruce Crawford, to "hire great people and get out of their way."

Clearly excited by his new challenges and responsibilities, he said that "The world is watching Asia..the region is increasingly setting the international agenda."

Though himself speaking no Asian languages, he says that most BBDO country managers in Asia are local, and that he brings with him a deep knowledge of BBDO, Proximity and the ad agency business at large.

Equipped with a joint honours degree in history and English from Bristol University, he started in client service with U.K. agency Doorlands in 1984, then spent 10 years at Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO, first as account manager and later as New Business Director. He next joined Lowe HowardSpink as MD and rose to Chief Executive of Lowe Lintas, working across the whole range of that agency's clients including Vauxhall, Nestle, Unilever,Johnson 6cJohnson, HSBC and Braun.

In 2003 Chris became Chief Executive of Proximity London, a 250-staff integrated and direct marketing operation with clients including the BBC, Sainsbury's, Shell, Royal Mail and Masterfoods. During his tenure, Proximity London was voted No.l Agency

by Marketing Week, and IPA's Best of the Best Integrated Agency in 2003.

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FOR YOUR DIARY

Letters to Editor Dear Ham, Since the implementation of the Pitch Fee by members of the 4As on Jan 1, how many pitches or 4As member agencies have followed this new guidelines thus far?

PohYin Ed: Good question, I believe no new pitches have been taking place just yet.

Hey Ham, I notice there's been a change of the guard at ADOI magazine, where has Dean Johns and Monica Wong gone to? With your magazine growing thicker by the day, are you not looking for new writers at ADOI? Magdalene Stanislaus Ed: Dean is happily buzzing away as a creative trouble-shooter and Monica has joined The Edge. They are blessed with our best wishes in their new endeavours.

March 1: Strategic Brand Planning Workshop Karthik Siva, Chairman - Global Brand Forum Email: ham@pop.jaring.my March 3: ADOI Advertising Awards (AAA) Jakarta March 9-11: 9th AsiaPacific Advertising Festival (AdFest) Pattaya, Thailand, www.asiapacificadfest.com March 20-23: 40th IAA World Congress, Dubai. www.iaadubai2006.com March 30: ADOI's Malaysian Media Congress - Who's Calling the Shots?

Email: ham@pop.jaring.my April 26-28: 20th Asian Advertising Awards 2006/ Create '06 Ritz-Carlton, Bali, www.media.com.hk

June 1-4: 2As Malaysian Ad Congress 06 June 18-24: 53rd Cannes Lions 2006 www.cannesUons.com August 18: 2As AdBall 2006

ITIediaBanc

NEW TVC DEBUT (JAN/FEB 06) Brand: KFC Fish Sandwich Title: Fishing Duration: 30 seconds Client: KFC Holding (M) Sdn Bhd Agency: BBDO Malaysia Creative Director: Ronald Ng Art Director: Cheah Im Im 6c Kelvin Leong Copywriter: Kevin Le Language: BM, English, Cantonese Summary: An eskimo discovers he's sitting on a gigantic fishing hole as another Eskimo fishes for the big KFC Fish Sandwich.

Brand: Pepsi Title: Chinese New Year Duration: 15 seconds Client: Pepsi Co International Agency: BBDO Malaysia Creative Director: Ronald Ng Art Director: Cheah Im Im 6c Kelvin Leong Copywriter: Kevin Le Language: English, Mandarin Summary: Cleaning house and washing hair are two Chinese New Year taboos.

Here, we see one guy rushing to get these things done and more before the big celebration.

18

I

ADOI MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS MAGAZINE

Brand: Woods' Peppermint Title: Saved Duration: 20 sees Client: PT. Kalbe Farma Agency: 3GFX Studio Sdn Bhd Creative Director: Chris Wong Art Director: Lai Wee Sin Copywriter: Carmen Chan Language: English / BM / Mandarin / Cantonese Summary: Unlike the conventional cough syrup ads, Woods Peppermint refreshes their brand image with a commercial featuring a Herbie-like animated car. The ad started off with a loud scream of a woman, followed by the view of a car, tilted over the edge of a steep cliff.

NEWS BRIEFS RICH ARE RICHER. The just-published U.S. Bureau of Labour Statistics' 2004 Consumer Expenditure Survey shows that the top 20% of U.S. households by income spend more than the bottom 60% on goods and services. Specifically, this top 20% accounted for 48% of the nation's mortgage payments, 48% of furniture sales, 40% of apparel, 39% of newspapers, magazines and books and 44% of spending on new motor vehicles.

FATNESS VS FITNESS. Two U.S. parents plus two organizations, The Center for Science in the Public Interest and Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood are threatening to sue Kellogg Co.and Viacom,owner of the kids'TV network, Nickelodeon, for contributing to childrens' obesity problems. Nickelodeon has countered accusations that its characters are used to endorse only to what one parent called "junky snacks and cereals" by pointing out that several including SpongeBob and Dora the Explorer are licensed for use on healthy products like Grimmway Baby Carrots and Boskovich spinach.

GOING NUTS OVER ONETVC. Emerald Nuts, a marketer that could afford only one US$2.4 million TV spot in the 5 February telecast of the Super Bowl, promoted the commercial for the 10 days leading up to the big event with print ads in the New York Times and USA Today. Explaining this unusual move, Tim Cannon, director of marketing for Emerald Nuts, was quoted as saying that small advertisers had to "find ways to break through the clutter."

GOOGLE DEFIES BUSH GOVERNMENT DEMANDS. While most of its competitors have complied with the Bush administration's request for a week of search queries to help it in its efforts to revive an Internet child protection law thrown out by the U.S. Supreme Court two years ago, Google has refused. Declaring that it would "vigorouslyfight" a federal subpoena to hand over the data, Google claimed it was dedicated to protecting the privacy rights of its users, who "would think twice" before using search engines if the Government acquired the information it is demanding.

LONG ARM OF LAW BEATS FINGER SCAM. A husband and wife who went public with a disgusting story about finding and biting on a human finger in a bowl of Wendy's chili have been found guilty of attempting to fraudulendy extort money from the fast-food company. It was revealed in court that they planted the finger in the chili, having bought it from a construction worker who lost it in an accident. The husband was sentenced to 12 years and four months in prison, and the wife to nine years.

STAFF SLASHED GREY WORLDWIDE N.Y. As part of a reorganization following WPP's acquisition of Grey Worldwide, 50 staff have been laid-off from the agency's New York office. This is seen as a delivery on Grey Global CEO Ed Meyer's promise that under WPP ownership management would strive to make Grey more efficient. It also sees the beginning of the end of Grey New York's unique "village system" of autonomous units put together by former president of the office, Steve Blamer.

AQUENT ONTHE MOVE. Aquent, the global firm specialising in "staffing solutions" for the creative, marketing and communications industries has promoted Greg Savage to CEO of International operations in Europe and the Asia Pacific region. Lisa Norris, formerly with Verossity Australia, has been appointed regional director for Aquent in Australia and New Zealand; Steven Pang has been promoted to regional director for Asian operations outside Japan, and Yoshiko Fujii, who started Aquent s Japan operations in Tokyo in 1997, has been appointed regional director for Japan.

20

I

Austen Zecha (second left) and Datuk Tim Garland(third left) shaking hands to mark the successful merger of TEQUILA-ISC\ and MYALO. Looking on is Dato' Mukhriz Mahathir (left), Chairman of TBWA-ISC Group and Michael Birkin (right), Chairman & CEO of Omnicom Asia Pacific and Vice-Chairman of Omnicom Group.

TEQUILA-ISCYMalaysia takes disruption online with its merger with Myalo, an independent interactive marketing services company. The new entity, TEQUILAMYALO\ Malaysia, sets to further bolster the agency's through-the-line communication capabilities in tandem with the growing demands for online services following continuous increase in internet consumption and the medium's apt targeting and reporting capabilities.

"We've a ready team of interactive marketing specialist that are instantly available to address the incoming demand and within a short span, as a group, we already secured and implemented on-going work for clients such as TM, Standard Chartered, Durex, Salem, Winston and most recently created the new Tourism Malaysia website for the America and Europe markets. This bears testimony to the impending demand from existing and potential clients for interactive marketing services with over 10 million users to tap onto in Malaysia alone," says Chief Operating Officer of TEQUILAMYALO\ Malaysia Datuk Tim Garland.

AEGIS GROUP

spreads its wings in Malaysian media.

In a highly-anticipated move to embrace new challenges across a varied roster of clients, some conflicting, Aegis Media, Carat Malaysia's parent company, has launched Vizeum Malaysia a new player in the local media scene. Vizeum, a challenger brand with an impeccable track record in Europe, will be poised to handle Naga DDB's media businesses and headed by CEO Andy Miller, previously CEO of Carat Media Malaysia.

Carat Malaysia will also see Roy Tan playing the new role of Managing Director after a sterling run helming Carat Interactive in recent years. Ms Margaret Lim, Head Of

ADOI MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS MAGAZINE

Aegis Media and Executive Chairman of Carat Malaysia says, "This expansion ofAegis' offerings in the marketplace does not rule out competition between sister companies, in line with Carat's global position as a true independent media player."

Pakar Media headed by Mirza Mohamed Tariq Beg and WMD led by James Ho will remain in the Carat Group.

There's also talk of a possible launch of Posterscope, Aegis' answer to WPP's Kinetic - an outdoor media specialist.

It appears there's much to expect from the Aegis giant in the months to come!

MMT

- Attract. Communicate. Motivate.

SuperTex Fabrics, a leading supplier of vinyl and PVC products, has announced its acquisition of MetroMedia Technologies (MMT) Asia Pacific 8c Australia.

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Like old friends, we're with you every step of the way.

With industry-leading professionals handling every aspect of your print job, we not only get the job done - we get the job done right.

Value. MMT.

® TURN HEADS WITH MMT. Call us today | 03 7806 4315 03 7806 4317

lUfflH MMT (MALAYSIA) SDN BHD

MetroMedia Technologies' commitment to a "Market Driven, Customer Focused, Digitally Connected" business philosophy has been embraced by MMT employees Asia wide.

MMT is not only on the cutting-edge of digital imaging, but it is breaking new ground with continuous technical advancements to its core technology including the introduction of the highest resolution acrylic based paint process ever created. These enhancements have positioned MMT to dominate not only the outdoor advertising production industry, but also exciting new areas including: Event Marketing, Retail Interior Design, Consumer Marketing, Point-of-Purchase Displays, Fleet Graphics and Electronic Imaging Networks.

The large format digital imaging business has gone through many changes in the past decade with the focus moving away from quality and towards cheaper and faster alternatives. Due to its size, global experience and an unwavering belief in the impact that high quality large format graphics can achieve, MMT has managed to maintain the quality of their product whilst providing a competitive and fast turn around solution for their clients.

www.mmt.com BILLBOARDS • BUILDING & VEHICLE WRAPS • BANNERS • IN-STORE & EVENT GRAPHICS • BACKLIGHTS

As part of its commitment to innovation and customer service MMT is offering no obligation, informative presentation sessions on outdoor advertising and high quality large format graphics to interested parties. Please contact our new sales office at Petaling Jaya to express your interest on 7806 4317 8c 7806 4315.

The History of MMT In the 1970s, billboard companies commissioned studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to see if billboards could be With consistent painted via the computer. repeatability, an A participating billboard exclusive paint formula, company, MetroMedia (MMT), and a vibrant colour Technologies recognized that a digital gamut consisting process could lessen leadof a grey scale that time requirements and theoretically creates help ensure that creative over 4 billion possible executions matched creative intent. MMT worked with colour matches, a digital Gerber Scientific Inc. to imaging juggernaut develop a dot-on-demand printing system. was born and along

with it—MetroMedia Technologies, Inc (MMT).

MetroMedia Technologies Asia is entering into an exciting phase of expansion and development.The recent change of ownership has led to more investment, more research and a simpler buying procedure for national and multi-national advertisers in the Asia Pacific region.

(399281-P)

IMAGING REDEFINED

Malaysia, comments "MMT Malaysia has always been an active member of the industry.

Its reputation for innovation and quality is globally renowned. We are very excited about 2006 and look forward to making MMT Malaysia's presence even stronger in the market by being more hands on with our clients and advertising agencies."

Mr Martin, General Manager at MMT

In just a few short years, the technology was developed using a CEPS (colour electronic pagination system) combined with a Piezo drive output applying an exclusive acrylic-based paint formula to vinyl substrates. This doton-demand system delivers an array of over 2,400 dots per second with pixel-perfect precision. With consistent repeatability, an exclusive paint formula, and a vibrant colour gamut consisting of a grey scale that

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theoretically creates over 4 billion possible colour matches, a digital imaging juggernaut was born and along with it - MetroMedia Technologies, Inc (MMT).

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With the advent of this new imaging process, outdoor companies were quick to embrace the digital imaging revolution. The use of flexible-face vinyl allowed outdoor companies to quickly respond to advertiser needs ftor timely outdoor campaigns.

MMT launched this super large format, digital-painting system to the market on April 15, 1987 - a development that permanently changed the outdoor advertising industry With the advent of this new imaging process, outdoor companies were quick to embrace the digital imaging revolution. The use of flexible-face vinyl allowed outdoor companies to quickly respond to advertiser needs for timely outdoor campaigns. The historic days of outdoor production where approved designs would take 60-90 days to be hand-painted and posted, were numbered.

The fundamental architecture of the [printer] drum has remained the same but over the years MMT has made 32

technological enhancements to the drum technology. This technology can now produce a visual display on a seamless substrate up to 32 ft. wide and 63 ft. long.

MMT Malaysia opened its doors in 1997 to service the Asia Pacific region.

The impressive facility, based in Nilai, Negeri Sembilan, houses a pre-production department, 5 MMT Drums and a number of inkjet printers. The capacity will be further increased later this year with production plants opening in China and Korea.

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ADOI

CLASSIFIEDS Boutique PR Consultancy looking for experienced PR executives and Associate Consultants. Flair for writing press releases, speeches is a must. Excellent media network and client-servicing sawy.

Right aptitude will ensure promotion and long term career tenure. Not a clock watcher and is a team player. Leadership skills a BIG plus and translation skills from English to Chinese and BM a BIGGER Plus. Must have own car, and simply loves the demanding world of PR. If you fit the bill send CV and Pix to wenny@p2r.com.my

A BIG YEAR

FOR NEW BUSINESS

by Greg Paull, R3 4sia Pacificj

Account Execs/Managers with good marketing thinking wanted urgently to work on international tech and luxury accounts. Must have good ethics + drive.

Designers and brands planners too. email clarity@btasia.net.

DTP Artist Wanted urgently: Without experience can be considered. Execute visuals on Mac and FAs. Call for interview: Danny, ASATSU-DK:03-7954 0388.

Yellow Box Studios KL, representing 20 years of premiere composition throughout Asia, currently has vacancies for a Staff Composer and InHouse Producer. For applications and info, please forward CV's with references to stuart@yellowboxstudios.com NOVA PARTNERS is hiring! Integrated communications company seeks an enthusiastic individual to join our Sales & Marketing team. Freshies welcomed (1 or 2 years work experience preferred). Call ADY on (03) 7727 0093 or email CVs to novapr@gmail.com. www.novapr.com Account Manager for regional fullservice ad agency. Essentials: Knowledge, experience, passion, good English.

Good-to-have: Ambition, team spirit, out­ going personality, big dose of EQ. Email: admin@hnhoyle.com.my COPYWRITER with 2 year's agency experience wanted by BRANDZGROUP, the foremost branding group in Asia providing brand consultancy, through-the-line implementation, communications and identity services. Send portfolio to andee@brandz.com.my To be listed here, please email ham@pop.jaring.my

24

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2005 was a big year for new business in Malaysia - and across the region. In all we tracked over 2,500 shifts in accounts and over US$5.lb in billings changing hands. This was a 36% increase over 2004.

In Malaysia, it was the year of the telco's and the beer boys. Digi and Maxis both conducted reviews, as did TM for its media.

Tiger went to JWT and then away again. Naga landed the prized Carlsberg business. The telco theory is very simple - there are few more competitive sectors on earth right now - and the winners will win big. For those behind in the game, they will constantly look at all aspects of their business, particularly marketing, to gain that competitive edge.

The Malaysian industry also set up greater guidelines for Pitch Management â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a long overdue area where too much time is wasted. One pitch approach we've used with success is that of the "Chemistry Test" - the final round becomes a two hour workshop between prospective client

and agency, not a formal presentation. Through this, you go beyond the 'beauty pageant' of most pitches and get to the core issues of can we really work together?' and 'do I like the way these people think'. The (often unnecessary) work of the agency is also reduced.

For the creative agencies, we measured US$2.2b in wins in the region, up 22% from last year. This battle ground is becoming tougher and tougher, as media becomes unbundled, and the constant pressures of the agency business drive more and more pitching. We hope the Malaysian 4A's pitch fee initiative pays off - agencies are spending too much time and money chasing business, not enough nurturing what they have.

For the media agencies, we collected US$2.89b in wins across the region, up 49%, and reflecting the dynamism of this sector.

While a number of the top wins were regional or global appointments, the trend we are seeing is marketers selecting the best local agencies and breaking alignments in places such as China and India. The Nestle model, for example, of allowing local reviews between MindShare and Zenith, seems a smart way to get global consistency and best in class local capabilities.

The challenge for Malaysian marketers for 2006 should be all about the need to pitch.

Studies showa typical review will cost a marketer US$50,000 in internal time-costs, as well as diverting marketing and management resources away from the core objective: having a sales impact. In 2005, a few progressive Malaysian marketers - and several more throughout the region - hired us to help make the marriage work, rather than to file for divorce. The rewards of getting this right go well beyond the quantitative dollars and cents.

2005 BIGGEST WINS CREATIVE - ASIA PACIFIC McCann Intel Leo Burnett Samsung M8cC Saatchi Australian Tourism

MEDIA - ASIA PACIFIC Universal Intel MindShare Unilver Indonesia Starcom Gillette

CREATIVE - MALAYSIA Naga DDB Carlsberg Ogilvy Maxis Various Malaysia Tourism

MEDIA - MALAYSIA MindShare Nestle Universal Johnson 8c Johnson Various Malaysia Tourism

ADOI MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS MAGAZINE

Advertising. Design. Editorial. Film. News. Sport. gettyimages.com

gettyimages"

OMNICOM IN ASIA

OMNICOM DELIVERS

Michael Birkin brings head office closer to Asia.

LONG lagging behind the other global agency groups in Asia (with less than 15% of multinational business in India and China, for example) Omnicom Group Inc. is bent on playing catch-up., and fast. Having last year vowed to redress the situation with "lightning speed", Omnicom President/CEO John Wren appears to be delivering, with some vital top-level appointments. ADOI recently had the opportunity to speak with Michael Birkin, Vice Chairman of the Omnicom Inc and Chairman and CEO of Omnicom Asia Pacific.

Unlike most agencygroup holding companies, which prefer to rule the roost from their U.K., U.S. or Europe home-bases, Omnicom Group Inc. has now stationed one of its most senior people right here in Asia. Michael Birkin, who has worked with Omnicom President/CEO John Wren for 12 years, told ADOI that he has moved to the region so that, "with someone from head office on the ground, decisions can be made more quickly." He said that he is close to the heads of the Omnicom agencies, BBDO, DDB and TBWA, and can serve as a "short-cut to Omnicom management."

He explained the main part of his mission in Asia is "hiring, developing and retaining top talent, plus making acquisitions if and when opportunities arise." Running through a series of brief observations on some of the markets in Asia, he commented

ADOI MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS MAGAZINE

that growth in China, while showing some signs of overheating, is being managed very well by its government. India has different dynamics, he said, with strengths including a highly-educated, significantly Englishspeaking population but some weaknesses, particularly in infrastructure, and with the government playing a different role.

Thailand is strong economically, he said, and also increasingly becoming a creative hub for regional work. He observed that Malaysia's work has been "a bit insular in the past" but is now truly world-class. Indonesia he categorized as "interesting, and becoming more vibrant."

Of the Omnicom Group itself, Michael was at pains to make the point that it is very different from competitive advertising communications groups. "We're in the business of building brands," he said, "not our holding company; we're here to make our clients' brands famous, not ourselves."

Michael has been racing to fill the top posts of two Omnicom networks: BBDO and DDB lost leaders Raymond So and Aaaron Lau. While ChrisThomas has been appointed to head BBDO, DDB is still without a head for Asia.

If Michael Birkin is a smooth and plausible talker - as of course, like most top ad people he is â&#x20AC;&#x201D; it may well be partly due to his legal background. After graduating from University College, London, where he studied law, he first worked for Price Waterhouse and then Allied Dunbar before moving to Interbrand as Chief Executive. After the acquisition of Interbrand by Omnicom Group Inc he was appointed President, Europe of Omnicom's Diversified Agency Services (DAS). In 1997 he became International President of DAS responsible for Europe and Asia Pacific, and in 1998, President of DAS Worldwide, based in New York. In March 2005 he rose to the position of Vice Chairman of Omnicom Group Inc., and was also given the new position of Chairman and CEO of Omnicom Asia Pacific.

In my past life, I used to be a Tyvek® banner along the highway. Now I just stand here ^ and make children happy!

^ Me, I was an i award-winning art director but I couldn't resist stealing other people's ideas.

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That's why it's so important that we use our resources more responsibly, and recycle what we use.

DuPont™ Tyvek® Environmental Program for Outdoor Advertising (EPPOA), in cooperation with the Ministry of Housing and Local Government, has been responsible for the collection of Tyvek* recycled outdoor advertising material since 2002. Recycled Tyvek® can be used as a component material to make useful products such as lawn furniture, building material, park benches and playground equipment.

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PEOPLE-RIPPLES ADEX UP3% Malaysia total advertising expenditure in 2005 RM4.6 bil, a3% increase from 2004. This year adex is expected to fare better with events like World Cup, Commonwealth Games and Asian Games stimulating growth.

Source: NMR Adex Monitoring HOT LAUNCH Media Prima's second radio station HOT FM trade launched last month after their first radio station FLY FM hit the waves last year. HOT FM is a 24-hour Malay radio station targeted to young, hip and funky Malays, aged between 15 and 30.

CHINA NOW 3RD LARGEST ADVERTISING MARKET GLOBALLY!

MAS PITCH Malaysia Airlines is planning to review of its ad business, as it struggles to cut costs after losing RM1 billion last year.

The account, estimated at US$10 million, is now handled

by Leo Burnett and Starcom. Perhaps the airlines can compensate agencies with airline tickets, a practice that was done in the past.

China 56%

BBDO ON A ROLL Hitting the ground running with new biz clients Olympus and The Malay Mail, both estimated to be worth US$1 millioneach, BBDO Malaysia's CEO Jennifer Chan has appointed Michelle Achuthan to Client Service Director and David Sin to Creative Director for the Hotlink Business Unit.

CNBC APPOINTS CNBC has announced two new appointments to its team in Asia Pacific, with Reena Kumarasingham taking on the role of Communications Manager, and Eunice Goh Lay Hua as Advertising Sales Account Manager, based in Singapore. Reena's most recent role was with MEASAT, the sole commercial communications satellite operator in Malaysia, while Eunice Goh comes from StarHub Ltd, where, for close to five years, she managed major accounts and worked closely with regional media partners.

NEO@OGILVY OgilvyOne Worldwide has launched of its global digital and direct media network, Neo@Ogilvy, under the leadership of Global CEO, Nasreen Madhany.

Neo@Ogilvy manages digital media investment for top global clients such as American Express, Cisco, DuPont, IBM, Lenovo, SAP, and Yahoo!. It covers digital advertising and direct marketing, digital and direct TV, direct response print and mail, email marketing, search marketing and new forms of digital media such as blogs and vlogs.

MEASAT PUBLICATIONS ADDS MORE Measat Publications General Manager Louis Foo, says "the timing is right to excel forward and become a regional player in quality print media." To undertake Measat Publications' vision, he says two executives and a consulting designer will find their way onto the company's mastheads." With over 20-years experience in multi media specializing in magazine publishing, Canadian publishing consultant Thomas O'Brien recently joined as Executive Editor.Sivam Kumar, former Advertising Director for Australia's largest publisher, ACP Asia, and launched the Malaysian edition of Cleo in 1995 and Women's Weekly and Harper's Bazaar soon after, joins as Head of Sales & Marketing. And one of North America's leading creative directors specializing in magazine design, Tom Brown, will head Measat Publications' Design portfolio for the company's newto-launch products in 2006/07.

28

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Hong Kong 7% Taiwan

South 8%

Philippines 3%

New Zealand 2% Australia 8%

Indonesia 1%

Thailand 3% Malaysia ~ 2%

India 4%

Asia Pacific Advertising Spending- by region

ESTIMATED advertising spending across main media including Television, Newspapers and Magazines, across 12 key Asia Pacific markets reached a record SUS66.6 Billion in the 12 months to September 2005.

Based on the latest Asia Pacific data released

by Nielsen Media Research Advertising Information Service, an overall surge of 14 percent in ad spending was fuelled by strong performances in all but three of the markets.

"Despite some signs of a slow-down in the third quarter, high performing markets including Australia, the Philippines, India and China, drove double digit results across main Media. The overall results show that across the 12 countries combined, Television enjoyed 66 percent of main Media spending, and dominated within most markets, followed

ADOI MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS MAGAZINE

by Newspapers (29%) and Magazines (5%)," said Gayle Cunningham, Executive Director, Nielsen Media Hong Kong/China, Registering a 21 percent year on year growth to nearly US$37 Billion or RMB316 Billion, China now sits just behind Japan as the 3rd ranked advertising economy globally. In fact, Chinas main media advertising spending accounted for 56% of the Asia Pacific region measured, followed by Australia (8%), marginally ahead of South Korea and Hong Kong (7%). Only 3 markets - South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore registered modest declines in main media advertising, although many markets are predicting more conservative growth into 2006.

Based on published rate card and excluding

Japan.

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After just three years in business and initially keeping a low profile, the zesty gang at (if) Interactive made a fireworks display of their talents by winning seven awards at MC2 in 2005. Then, as if to demonstrate their triumph wasn't just a flash in the pan, they followed-up by winning a rare gold over bigger and longerestablished competitors at DMAM. The intense challenges that the team at (if) take on create a sizzling environmentintheiroffice,as they torture their hardware with highly demanding, self-written, customized softwares. Learning of this, HP loaned them an HP Compaq Mobile Workstation to put 1 TBI through the toughest torture-tests (if) Interactive could devise, Thus far, the series JBBHBB featuring HP Compaq Workstation had JF 'IKS only covered single users. iSllf But the team at (if) stretched its capabilities by utilizing it in a project requiring it to perform at all levels of expertise. The specialists involved were; Bob Lim, Senior Brand Manager; Benedict Tan, Jr Art Director; Wan Hazmer, Game Developer and Technical Specialist; Kong Lee Seng, Action Scripter; and Birdie Ting^ Interface Specialist-cum-Video DJ. And as if all that wasn't enough of a challenge for the HP Compaq Mobile Workstation, the team began playing high resolution RPG (Role Playing Games) games on the machine while they worked.

Result? They were amazed, they reported, that the Workstation delivered all they demanded of it, and more. Here's some of what they had to say about it: "We used the laptop from pitching for a small project to development of the project

ADOI

the location where we hooked up the laptop to a network service to display our engine of real time graphics to screen projectors in a small event by the end of the week."

Bob Lim, Senior Brand Manager found the HP Compaq Mobile Workstation to be light and stylish with impressive speed when he went to present (if) Interact!ve's credentials. 'There is no wastage of time normally caused by lagging in our presentations with the high speed it offers. It is extremely compatible, adaptable to any presentation materials/equipments like projector for instance. I like the modern design and lightness, definitely practical and suits my lifestyle."

He added that the interactive pieces looked really good and corresponded fast with every click and action required to showcase the work. While presenting he managed to go online wireless and showed the client sample references live on site. This was great and time saving, he said.

"We must have made a good impression, as we confirmed the project in the meeting itself.

The production timeline was extremely short and the team was working round the clock. Here we experimented on the flexibility of mobility by having your office atjour fingertips," added Bob. *v; Benedict Tan, JR Art Director was next in line to have a go at the HP Compaq Mobile Workstation. Ben would design at night when needed wherever he was. He did not need to be in the office physically. Sometimes being in a new environment this would help the creative juice to flow faster. By having the necessary software irS#bd to execute his work he found his new best friend. Ben is especially pleased with the size oftnPsfcreen, he said, "the screen size is exceptionally big.

A big screen like that is an advantage when you are working on video authoring softwares which have so many window panels. It was a better experience working on the HP Compaq Mobile Workstation as its screen size was even

ICATIONS MAGAZINE

I enjoyed its crystal clear graphics, videos and photos, and smooth video playback."

"Digital Videos and Motion Graphics are huge space-taking files. The Sample amount of Gigabytes also allowed me to create and design more motion graphics. A re-writable DVD drive made even better. I could just backup movies files efficiently once I have finished on them, recovering the hard drive space. I need not worry about size sufficiency on the hard disk at all. One GB of RAM does make a difference, and to match it up with a 2.13GHz Intel Processor was just superb. Video & motion graphics rendering were faster than we usually experience," he elaborated. "All in all, its an efficient and fast machine. It does lives up to its model name " HP Compaq Mobile Workstation, and I really love the screen size," Ben harped on.

Wan Hazmer, Game Developer, then created the engine on the HP while having the needed graphics in the laptop for him to experiment "We create the engine by writing our codes and programme thus it needs extensive testing and debugging. Once the engine is completed, our action scripter Kong Lee Seng would give it its final touches to get the programme prepared for the event," said Hazmer.

Kong Lee Seng, Action Scripter, said "The fast processor and high hardware reliability created a suitable environment for intense video programming. Also, the programming IDE (Integrated Development Environment) has

thanks to the powerful video

card. Programming is now a low-risk effort thanks to HP: support and help was available wherever he went" Finally it was the tyni of Birdie Ting, Interface Specialist cum Video DJ, who said, "Deployrpent was a cinch: just place the laptop within the eventarea, and bam!Videos wet€ projected to the multiple screens, all

FEATURES Performance: Superior graphics abilities render stunning presentations and complex three dimensional drawings on this mobile workstation's crisp 15.4-inch widescreen display. The HP Compaq nw8240 Mobile Workstation also offers fully ISV certified models which utilize ATI's powerful graphics controller with 128MB of dedicated graphics memory providing engineers, graphic artists and digital content creators workstation level power in a mobile form factoe.

Mobility: This high-performance, travelfriendly mobile workstation allows users to swap their MultiBay II optical drive with a weight saver, for optimal travel weight. Plan for all-day computing when you add on the HP Travel Battery getting up to an additional 4 hours of battery life, and recharge quickly with HP Fast Charge Technology, which recharges the battery up to 90% minutes.

And, with enhanced standby time (up to 1 week), you'll be mobile and productive for days on end.

Versatility: Built with versatility, this mobile workstation allows customers L to choose the features that most • appropriately fit their business needs.

W Meet your demands for graphicI intensive programs by selecting ^ the graphics card best for . you. Users also M choose %

within a seamless network environment, Everyone was curious what we were doing with the laptop as I spun graphics based on the mood and pace of the DJ music. The event went well, the client was happy, we were happy that our engine worked the experiment was a success, With HP we confirm a job, design the project, gave the project its AI and stunned the crowd

with its results. We used from administration to design to programming to showing the end result. It fitted to everyone needs, style, usage and it was most importantly reliable. Thanks HP"

the integrated industry standard wireless technologies that work best for them.

mobile workstation looking newer longer.

Spill-resistant keyboard with Mylar film minimizes gamage to sensitive, critical components underneath the keyboard.

The versatile, ultra slim MultiBay II drive allows users to swap optical drives with secondary hard drives for increased storage capacity and data back-ups.

Connectivity: Wireless connectivity and enhanced battery life help you get connected and be productive wherever your work takes you. This mobile workstation's dual antennas help you work efficiently with a more reliable connection to your network.

Security: HP ProtectTools provide enhanced security capabilities to help protect against unauthorized access to networks and business critical data and enable IT managers to manage their security solutions mmM in a simple, easy-to-use manner HP ( Drivelock helps prevent your hard j ||||| drive data from being compromised Iff even if your mobile workstation is lost | • or stolen, and an integrated Smart Card | .j Reader and Norton Antivirus software | come standard. An optional Embedded | Security Module is available. , Reliability: Scratch resistant inmoldlamination on the keyboard keeps the

Phew! All in a day's work. Here are the specs of the HP Compaq Mobile Workstation:

Mobile professionals will like the thin, sleek design combined with desktop equivalent performance. IT managers will value the full portfolio of integrated security options, breadth of integrated wireless choices, and unsurpassed commonality and consistency with the entire enterprise notebook line. The HP Compaq nw8240 Mobile Workstation is the ideal choice fro deployment to mobile usera who need the power of a workstation and the convenience of a notebook.

HP Compaq Mobile Workstation RM9,999

MEDIA-MATTERS US TV MUST BE ALL-DIGITAL BY FEB 2009 The NY Times reports that the U.S. House of Representatives approved a budget that calls for all American TV to be broadcast via digital signal by Feb. 17,2009. Translation: Consumers who don't subscribe to cable or satellite television or who don't own TV sets capable of receiving digital signals will be out of luck.

VIRGIN TAPS ASIA Sir Richard Branson and Virgin Books announced a new entertainment partnership with Asia's acclaimed artists and comics vendors. Branson's company teams up with world-renowned author Deepak Chopra; filmmaker Shekhar Kapur; and comic magazines publisher, Gotham Entertainment Group LLC, to launch two new Virgin-branded companies - NY-based Virgin Comics LLC and Bangalorebased Virgin Animation Private Limited. On the partnership's agenda are possible forays into comics, movie licensing, animation, toys, video games and consumer products.

ASTRO SPREADS ASTRO is expected to extend its channels to Indonesia this year. This offers a good opportunity for long-term growth since only 1.4% of Indonesia households have pay TV. Through a JV deal with the Lippo Group in Jakarta which has KabelVision that reaches out to viewers in Jakarta and key cities, ASTRO is poised to leapfrog the television landscape with new channels and locally-produced shows, some crossed over from Malaysia. "Having built a strong domestic base, we are now beginning to roll out regionally," David Butorac, Astros COO told BusinessWeek.

[] continue from page 15 son Media Infinity - within the Madison Media group. These are not second agencies, but sub-brands. A major reason for doing this is to reward young people who have per­ formed; and give them a sense of ownership and independence of operations of the units that they have helped build. In the process, it allows us to handle a little bit of minor con­ flicting clients too.

Madison is one of the few home-grown agencies around. Do you feel disadvantaged at not having the kind of resources, research or planning tools that the internationally-

aligned agencies have?

I think it is an advantage to know that you could be at a disadvantage. Therefore you have to work harder. It is a disadvantage to know that you have an advantage because then you get complacent.

So you are driven by the fact that you could be at a disadvantage?

I would think so.

Finally, you were on the Cannes Media jury?

It was great! What can I say?

Indeed great words from a great man. Do not miss the opportunity to meet Sam Balsara as he shares his views on media at the 2006 Malaysian Media Con­ gress in March. For more information log on to www. adoimagazine.com

MALAYSIA MEDIA CONGRESS '06

MEDIA CAPTAINS PREDICT INTEGRATION After a year of mediocre growth, some of Madison Avenue's top media directors are predicting strong growth for media - especially online - and a greater integration across media. New business activity will also be strong, full-service agency media departments will benefit from the trends,and so-called "e-business" technologies will begin to transform the way agencies plan and buy media.

TV SITES AD REVUES UP 45% Web sites for television stations served mostly as PR vehicles, but now they're increasingly revenue generators. That was the conclusion of a Borrell Associates report, commissioned by industry group the Television Bureau of Advertising in the US. Local station sites will generate an estimated $410 million in ad revenue this year - a 45 percent jump over 2005.

SORREL POOR MANAGER? Sir Martin Sorrell, the onetime finance director of Saatchi 8c Saatchi who has built WPP into a global advertising behemoth through a series of acquisitions, is facing unpleasant opposition from within WPP. According to a story in The Sunday Times of London, at least two board members say Sorrell has work to do when it comes to his management style.

They say as well that he's failed to properly plan for his successor at WPP. Sorrell "still retains huge board support," The Times says. However, two members-Christopher Mackenzie, a former GE executive, and Paul Spencer, a former executive at Royal Sun Alliance, are complaining that Sorrell has not always properly consulted with his colleagues on matters of importance.

32

I

When was the last time your wife turned on the TV to watch commercials?

1

f %

Nobody takes a drive to look at billboards. Nobody buys newspapers to read ads. And certainly, nobody turns on the TV to watch commercials. Find out what works, what doesn't and who's calling the shots at the Malaysian Media Congress. Hear it firsthand from Seshadri Sampath (BBDO, Singapore), Gordon Tan (GT Accents, Singapore), David Butorac (ASTRO),

ADOI MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS MAGAZINE

Chin Weng Keong (Arachnid Interactive), Jeffrey Seah (Starcom Mediavest Group), Stephen Watt (AC Nielsen Malaysia) and Special Guest Speaker/Cannes Media Lions Juror, Sam Balsara (Madison Communications, India). Venue: Eastin Hotel, Petaling Jaya. Date: March 30, 2006. For bookings, call 03-7726 2588 or email rani@ham.com.my

MALAYSIAN MEDIA CONGRESS '06

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You must have solid minimum 10 years of integrated advertising experience with a strong understanding and experience in digital marketing. You have a strategic mind, the ability to formulate marketing solutions involving digital marketing, a persuasive argument and the Client's buy-in. You must provide case studies to demonstrate your capabilities in this area.

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fe are seeking Copywriters who want to be part of a regional creative team to svelop creative advertising of international standards, for the APAC region. You re a strong believer of strategy and consumer insights, and capable of handling lients. Beauty or FMCG experience is preferable. Regional experience is a plus, ocation: Kuala Lumpur ontact: Chan Ming Yen at 60 3 6201 0196

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Location: Kuala Lumpur Contact: Chan Ming Yen at 60 3 6201 0196

International Media Independent Agency This media independent seeks a Media Manager who is passionate about makinc a difference and believes in exploring unconventional consumer touch points.

You must have a good understanding of brand strategy, be able to pull together and present brand plans, as well as demonstrate some leadership qualities.

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If you have at least five years PR consultancy experience and/or are currently assuming the role of Senior Consultant, we would like to speak with you. The client is urgently looking for a person to manage the existing PR team/division and their portfolio of PR clients and projects which include local and international accounts.

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CREATIVE-CRISPS DROGA TAKES 5 This year's Cannes Film and PressJury President David Droga has recently launched his own company, DROGAFIVE - an ideas laboratory and brand entertainment network - based in New York and LA and assumes the role of Creative Chairman.

ANOTHER MALAYSIAN IN SHANGHAI Ex-O&M KL's Barry Low has been appointed Senior Creative Director of Arc Shanghai. Barry has done stints in Auckland to KL, and now China.

PRASOON JOSHI YOUNG GLOBAL LEADER 2006 The Forum ofYoung Global Leaders, an affiliate of the World Economic Forum, announced that Prasoon Joshi, the Creative Director of McCann Erickson India, has been named a Young Global Leader 2006. The 2006 class of Young Global Leaders includes over 60 business leaders, more than 30 government leaders, and dozens of scholars, media and nongovernmental organization leaders. Prasoon joins a community representing 90 countries that includes Larry Page and Sergey Brin, co-founders of Google; Mikheil Saakashvili, President of Georgia; Kumi Naidoo, Secretary-General and Chief Executive Officer, Civicus. Check out Prasoon's new Hindi movie Rangde Basanti!

WHAT A GUY! Look Production's Guy Venables has been appointed Chairman of the Judges for the inaugural Print Craft category for AdFest 2006. As this is the very first award of its kind in the whole region (even Cannes does not have this Craft section) Guy designed the entire award process and categories from scratch. Says Guy, "In the main, the Craft side of great print ads has been left unrecognized at most award shows. Best photography or illustration has usually been associated with the winning print ad etc., and an award for DI, 3D modeling, or production design in Print Adverting is virtually unheard of. This year AdFest will shine a light on the people that make a great idea even better. Photographers & Producers, Illustrators, Retouchers, Production Designers/Stylists, will all get to take the walk if their work hits the mark of the internationally selected Print Craft Jury. So, if you are a craftsperson, you can now stop moping about and stop spending time claiming ownership to creative over your work in the winning ads from award shows, this year is your chance to shine in your own right."

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34

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ADOI MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS MAGAZINE

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IN the old agency world, media people were typically rel­ egated to the end of the meeting— and they had to learn how to speak fast in order to get their points across. In todays agency world, the message and the medium are equally as important, and everyone gets equal billings.

This is the case because the content can be made available in many more formats than ever before. A media planner needs to know where the user will see these ads as much as who will be seeing them. In an environ­ ment of multitasking, you need to attempt to have multiple frequency at the same mo­ ment in time in order to break through the clutter. It helps the performance of the overall campaign. As this concept grows in impor­ tance, so does the role of the media planner.

For media companies as a whole, time has always been the currency when you get right down to it. Certainly, certain kinds of people spending time - even just a little - with your media product could translate into premiums not yielded with other au­ diences, but essentially, a media product wants people to spend more time with it.

A broadcast or cable network wants you spending more time with it over another and attempts to accomplish this with program­

... Do they have time and any interest in regularly scheduled television?...

ming that you find more interesting, entertaining, and engaging. A publisher wants you spending more time with their magazine in your lap than another magazine. The more time you have a particular radio channel tuned in while you are stuck on the jam, the better it is for that station. It makes sense that advertising would look to this no­ tion as a core principle for brand promotion.

The recent history of advertising is filled with a focus on communication delivery goals that focused solely on reach (did I hit you?) and frequency (how many times did I hit you?).

Though creative teams certainly spend some amount of time considering the qual­ ity of the communication, the amount of time spent with a brand as a result of that quality was not even a thought. How could it be, when the units of advertising "product" are discrete? No matter how good a 30-second spot is, a person seeing that ad cannot spend any more time with the brand in that environment than anyone else. And me­ dia people, well, how the hell are you going to account "time spent" in any real, quan­ tifiable fashion that can be put in a media plan? Advertising boils down to the number of targets hit and how hard you hit them.

Advertising has become a game of dodge

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ball, with advertisers throwing the ball and the consumer doing everything he or she can to avoid getting hit. But now, from the oldest continually operating advertising agency in the world, comes the proclamation that "time is the new currency." The objective now is to coax people into spending more time with a brand. The only way to get this done, as I'm sure you've guessed by now, is integration with a digital effort. For thetime being, anyway, I can­ not get more engagement with my brand out of an audience than the current allotted time.

Print is a little better here, in so far as an individual can read your copy and look at your images over and over again for as long as he or she wants. But the protocol is still fixed. Online, I am not confined by time and space. Online, I can fill both the hours and the imaginations of those who come seeking brand engage­ ment for as long as they chose to be engaged.

Entertainment advertisers have taken ad­ vantage of this regularly over the years since the Internet became an ad medium. Product with such a short shelf life needs to live beyond its location of primary engagement if it seeks to maximize its value. A film seen once is great when millions and millions see it. But a film that creates a community of people interested in it, allows those people to engage it, and lives beyond beingseen once in a theater,only needs tens of thousands of enthusiasts to find it.

More and more Telco companies are us­ ing the Internet as the primary point for

distributing information, letting the televi­ sion serve as a "teaser" to solicit a more ac­ tive engagement on the part of the audi­ ence and thereby creating the conditions for more time spent with the audience and the development of a more quality relationship.

The second exciting point is the shift from prime time to "My Time." Prime-time TV has typically been from 8-10 p.m., but with the content being made available within 24 hrs of its original airing, we'll see the audience for these shows extended—and the location for their viewing extended as well. MSN, As­ tro and Bluehyppo already allow us to timeshift, changing when a portion of the audi­ ence watches a show, but these new develop­ ments also provide us with location-shifting that makes them portable. As a result, prime time can shift even further and will create My Time, which is my own personal prime time; the period when I typically watch a show.

Prime-time TV itself won't go away any­ time soon. It is still convenient for many in the audience, and it's still a source of watercooler discussion, but for people like me who are never home at 8 p.m., this means I have more options on how to view popular televi­ sion. What about the college students who will become the next generation of the work force? Do they have time and any interest in regularly scheduled television? Some do, and some don't, and the next 10 years will find the answer to that question.

0 http://www.adotmaga2ine.com/

A RECAP OF BREAKING NEWS FROM

WWW.ADOIMAGAZINE.COM Did they really ivin the business?

IN the midst to breaking our balls to bringing you breaking news, the task of unearthing what is fact has been stranger than fiction.

remains with BBDO who did not have to re-pitch for the business.

MediaCom to land Nokias AP brief MediaCom is poised to grab Nokias US$150 million media buying and planning business, in a major blow to 10year incumbent ZenithOptimedia. The GroupM network is reportedly engaged in final negotiations with Nokia, following a four-month review that also involved OMD and Universal McCann. An official announcement is yet to be made. MediaCom already holds the Nokia business in Europe.

GroupM, Zenith and Nokia have declined to comment.

Everybody tells us to wait for the official release. Statements like, "We are waiting for the Board of Directors approval" are muttered in the same breath as "Do not quote me" or "Wait till after CNY". ADOI has always been cautious not to "step on peoples toes'"and wait for the official word.

Besides, it is easier to sue a little trade mag in your own backyard than take up a case with a public-listed regional player, if they report on certain news before its public announcement.

ADOI has always been

cautious not to "step on

So what does ADOI do? people's toesy"and wait for Very simple... visit www. media.com.hk. And what the official word. Besides, it do you know?It's all there! is easier to sue a little trade Perhaps, Malaysians are mag in your own backyard more comfortable and than take up a case with a open when someone public-listed regionalplayer, from Hong Kong calls to if they report on certain ask, as opposed to talking to us, when we plead for news before its public info. There must be some announcement. glee in keeping your very own Malaysian magazine in the dark. and are now in So here it is... direct from www.media.com.

hk

Ogilvy retains Maxis postpaid Ogilvy and Mather has reportedly retained its grip on Malaysian telco Maxis' post-paid business after being fired from the account in October last year. According to initial results of the pitch that saw Ogilvy compete with Leo Burnett and Euro RSCG in its final stages, Leo Burnett has also been awarded the B2B services portion of the US20 million account. Hotlink, Maxis' pre-paid brand,

Here's more breaking news ADOI cannot confirm because the press release is 'being written' or everyone's waiting for "the Board of Director's approval"...

Tiger and JWT part ways. Tiger beer makes a break from JWT in an amicable understanding of agreeing to disagree' the transitional phase of concluding their cordial relationship, with a view to open the account for pitch again sometime soon.

DiGi media biz up for pitch. OMD, Starcomm and Universal McCann bid for this lucrative business. I do know who's probably going to win it, but for the benefit of readers, we advise you to visit www.media.com.hk after Chinese New Year hols.

Meanwhile, echoing Naga DDB's CNY Greeting Card: BEWARE OF DOG!

j 0 http:/,'www.adoimagazine.com/

(/)

A RESPONSE TO BREAKING NEWS ON

WWW.ADOIMAGAZINE.COM

DEAR MR. HAMMER, I would like to air my view on your piece which was highlighted in the previous Breaking News at www.adoimagazine.com.

As a media planner with the worlds largest media company, I'm mortified by the fact that many people in the marketplace think the job as a media planner is as simple as "crunching numbers and merely just plan".

The word "plan" may seems a small word but the process behind this one small morpheme is mountainous.

People may think that

we just look in the book

can't be sending the wrong message to the wrong target audience and then waste the money on the wrong medium. This is where the proprietary tools necessary for us to gauge our justification on our selection of medium. And we do not only utilise standard proprietary tools, we also use our own company's proprietary tools which is done via our very own research department where we track consumer's behaviour. And this is on an on-going basis as consumers' lifestyles change very fast.

Wejust can't be y

sending y

There 1 v no, d?bt

that

the media landscape is

and pull out rates. That the IDYOHg message to the continuously changing may applies to the old wrong target audience and with the introduction on

timer but not now. In then 'waste the money on new. me<^ia' anc* we as jC-i, . media planners always this dynamic economy, ,, we are challenged to the wrong medium. 1 his have stick our neck out is where the proprietary and our eyes and ears open provide more than numbers, hence this is tools necessary for us to for them. We do welcome new media and we where market analysis gauge our justification on analyse their feasibilities. is performed, media our selection of medium. That's one good reason objectives being carved why our workload has out, negotiation comes never stopped piling high. We don't do into play, creativity started creeping in and slipshodwork, BUT we make sure and lastly overseeing the full stage that enables determine that client monies goes to the one to communicate the message in the right channel that can hit the main street! most cost effective manner to the largest number of potential customers at the lowest So my dear Ham and fellow readers, media cost. As you've mentioned in your very first is not as easy as it seems to be for most of paragraph - Clients want value, reach and your eyes - if media is so right easy, we can impact and we, as media planners, have to just pack up and leave office at 6pm sharp deliver on it as we know the fact that it's to be merry with family and friends. inevitable.

On who's calling the shots, to me, there's no one individual calling the shot, but it's the team that makes the decision to make the whole campaign a successful one.

Speaking on the importance of "microfacts" on your 4th paragraph, it is important and does matter much! It carries a very significant weight in planning. We just

I hope my piece have enlighten many of you and banish the thought that we are "MEDIA BLONDES" Cheerios Mei Chern Media Planner with OMD Malaysia michern80@hotmail.com

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NEW YORK DIARY

THE SUPERBOWL OF ADVERTISING I wasn't inhibited by cramming in all sorts of useless information that we are all to often forced to. Just me and my creative juices, running free and naked on the great plains of my warped imagination.

IBy Robert kleman Creative Director ofTBWA\CH1AT\DAY in New York.

I got a simple brief to write a Superbowl commercial the other day. Be funny. When I asked for more specifics, I was told. Be very funny. Armed with this simplicity, I proceeded to write some of the best spots I have in a long while. I wasn't inhibited by cramming in all sorts of useless information that we are all to often forced to. It was liberat ing. Just me and my creative juices, running free and naked on the great plains of my warped imagination.

40

So what's the point of all this I hear you asking? Well, when it comes to Superbowl ads the clients here seem to forget everything they know about advertising, if just for a split second. They are brave. They have taken off their safety belts. After all, they are paying nearly 2 million dollars for a single spot, so they want to be noticed. And how do they get noticed? They run funny, irreverent commercials trying to entertain viewers

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whose attention spans diminish with every beer they drink. In the land of research and over analysis, most of the obstacles and setbacks we face when selling ads are forgone when the magic Superbowl word is attached.

If you're still with me, and wondering where I am going with this, here it is. Why can't clients let us write Superbowl ads every day. Consumers love them. They passionately discuss their favourite ones. They chat about them around the office water cooler, talkback radio and at their local drinking holes. I'm no rocket scientist, but surely this kind of discussion is good for the brands that are being talked about. This also proves that despite what some people think, consumers do like ads. At least the clever ads that reward them for watching.

Now imagine only seeing entertaining commercials every day. Watching them would be a much more pleasurable experience.

Viewers might actually stop themselves from channel surfing or worse, vomiting. They would no longer be annoying background noise. But rather, memorable and effective pieces of communication. And in this world of accountability and bottom lines, clients might actually sell more of their product.

But until some clients have the courage and realise they have the power to create a culture where people appreciate and even like advertising, they will just continue to waste money boring consumers with their safe, tired and formulaic advertising.

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POWERFUL BRANDING STRATEGIES Al Ries& Laura Ries 21 June 2006 • J.W. Marriott Hotel, Kuala Lumpur • 9am - 5pm Building a better product doesn't work anymore. To be successful today, you need to build a better brand. Al and Laura Ries, authors of The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding, will describe the latest branding techniques that will work not only in Malaysia, but worldwide.

Taking your brand into global markets. It won't happen overnight, but the future belongs to global brands. Unless Malaysian companies take their brands into the global market, they will find that global competitors will move into Malaysia and take market share away from domestic brands.

In this seminar, you will learn these and many other useful marketing concepts which often go against conventional wisdom, but Al and Laura Ries will demonstrate their validity with a host of interesting and conclusive case histories.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND CEOs, Managing Directors, General Managers.

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LOCAL-BYTES HALAL JOURNAL TV TV3's new programme, Halal Journal TV, started on Feb 4, and screens every Saturday at 5.30pm. The show, touted as The Voice of the Halal Market,features various aspects of businesses and lifestyles that are Halal. It explores Halal elements and applications in business, music, health, dining, education and finance and is said to reach over 1 million viewers per episode.

INTERACTIVE

FIRST E-PRESSIONS How on Earth can one determine ifa site is useful or not from the merest, most fleeting glimpse of its design and layout? There very well may be no real connection between the two. Well, whoever said people were reasonable?

BATEYJOINSJWT Batey has been absorbed into the JWT network as an independent, ending its association with Red Cell. This follows founder Ian Batey's sale of his remaining shareholding in the agency to parent company WPP in mid-2005, a year that also sawsome significant account defections from Batey.

MiTV DROPS CHARGES The retail price of the decoder for MiTV, Malaysia's second pay TV, has been slashed from to RM799.The monthly subscription rate is also reduced to RM30. New subscribers will enjoy an introductory offer of 4 months free subscription. Existing customers who have been given 4 months of free subscription will continue to enjoy the offer until Dec 31 next year. MiTV currently has 41 channels featuring both locally produced and international content including all local free to air channels. It plans to increase the number of channels to 50 in the next few months.

PROTON REVIEWS AGENCIES In a widely expected move, since new management took over, Proton has called for a review of its advertising business with the winning agency expected to handle the launch of a new car model as well as media. Five agencies are said to be pitching including Leo Burnett, Ogilvy & Mather, M&C Saatchi,TBWA/ISC and incumbent McCann-Erickson.

BIG TREE GETS BIGGER Big Tree Outdoor buys up Eureka and Gotcha in a push to expand its offerings in smaller billboards sites and geographical coverage with an additional 200 sites nationwide. Big Tree, which saw its revenue jump 12% last year to RM39 million, currendy has 8 highway advertising concessions, including PLUS, Elite and Guthrie Corridor. It plans to spend another RM5 million on its expressway concessions this year and now claims to be the biggest outdoor player in a market estimated to be worth RM230 million in ad spend.

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by Josh Sklar, Founder Logicworks josh @logicworks.us

IF you're a graphic designer of Web sites and online applications, then there's some good news for you: your craft actually matters. Oh you knew it mattered, but odds are people outside your discipline,especially the back-end IT folks and, more depressingly, lay clients, have never been so sure. Trust me, when you leave the room, these guys are throwing their hands up in frustration wondering why, respectively, they have to bother with you and pay you to do what you do. But now, ah now, the science has your back.

Nature magazine and the Behavior and Information Technology journal recently published findings from a research group at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada (yes, that's the capital of the country, so you can trust them) that surprised even the researchers. It seems that their subjects were able to come to a firm conclusion about whether or not they liked Web sites based on taking a quick look at each. Well, that's not really accurate. It was more of a glance. No, a peek. Ok, help me out. What verb best fits the evaluation of page that takes place in less than 50 milliseconds?

Yes, 50 milliseconds. One millisecond is one-thousandth of a second. Fifty of those don't really add up to much more, about l/20th of one second, but scientists do strive for complete accuracy. The investigators over at Carleton thought that maybe 500 milliseconds would be a reasonable timeframe to form an initial impression, which may also surprise you, but they were stunned to find it was lOx less than that. To really get perspective, 50 milliseconds is about the

ADOI MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS MAGAZINE

length of time a single frame of video footage takes to come and go (the PAL format being 25 frames per second, NTSC 29.97 fps).

Apparently people simply know what they like and don't like. (At least their brains do.)

This unconscious influence from the gray matter extends to a complete impression of the sites, including the content, not just whether or not they find it visually compelling or repelling. Of course, this is patently unfair.

How on Earth can one determine if a site is useful or not from the merest, most fleeting glimpse of its design and layout? There very well may be no real connection between the two. Well, whoever said people were reasonable? The baby is thrown out with the bathwater. First impressions count. Please stop me before I cliche again. At any rate, they know it's true because when the tests were repeated over "normal" periods of time, the results remained the same for the sites.

As insidious an idea as this is to the psyches of some of our less creatively inspired colleagues, the truth of the matter is that organizations need to spend a great deal more time examining the psychographics and intrinsic impressions of their site's visitors.

Many of these people have expressed to me during my own research that they don't know why they like or dislike something - they just do. I tend to grimace at such vague feedback, but perhaps we can all begin to take such comments to heart and learn to adjust the visual fruits of our labor to be more responsive to these frustrated cries of (ok, one more) "I may not know art, but I know what I like."

Anyway, it's just nice to be needed.

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FROM AGENCYFAQSOOM

Erich Joachimsthaler,_founder and CEO, Vivaldi Partners; co­ author 'Brand Leadership'.

differentiation is

It's now about a decade since major global brands began travelling to large, less devel­ oped markets such as China and India. What have been the lessons learnt?

There is a big shift. In the early days of glo­ balisation, companies were looking for new consumers. So, when they entered emerging markets, they brought a cheaper or obsolete version of the product that they were selling in their home markets. That was the first stage of globalisation. They now find this model a fail­ ure. There is now a new wave of globalisation coming where many of these companies are realising that these consumers in developing markets have the same needs and aspirations as people in developed markets.

Is media the reason for this change?

Absolutely, it is media, it is the internet. In 1995, Bill Gates said that the internet would create such an efficiency in the market that we would have to wrap our minds around it.

ERICH JOACHIMSTHALER is the founder and CEO of Vivaldi Partners, a New York-based marketing consultancy. It has nu­ merous clients in a vast swathe of industries, ranging from consumer products to media and entertainment to energy and financial services.

But Joachimsthaler is even better known as the co-author (with David A Aaker) of the cele­ brated book, 'Brand Leadership'. Joachimstha­ ler was in India when he spoke with Sreekant Khandekar of agencyfaqs! Joachimsthaler's contention in the provocative interview: the basis of classical marketing thought is dead because the market and consumers ("consum­ ers are on steroids") have changed beyond rec­ ognition. If you have the stomach to digest a heap of disturbing ideas, read on: Your website describes Vivaldi Partners as a firm in "strategy, branding, marketing and innovation". I found the deliberate mention of'innovation' curious.

I think that marketing and branding have ig­ nored a very important role in the organisa­ tion and this is that most innovation today is not technological. We must think much more broadly about innovation, and we must think of consumer-centric innovation. And con­ sumer centric-innovation ought to be driven, in part at least, by marketing. Marketing and branding have addressed this issue way too narrowly. It has focused on things like brand­ ing guidelines, managing advertising process­

44

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es and communications rather than thinking from a consumer perspective how marketing can drive innovation and growth. Over the years, marketing has become almost a lost function in the organisation. While marketing became more and more focused on specialties like branding, companies were increasingly looking to marketing to take on a broader role and responsibilities. Companies wanted mar­ keting to make it more consumer-oriented but they didn't get what they needed. And because there was a gap between what the company wanted and marketing delivered, we see a big problem: marketing has lost its relevance in an organisation.

Are you saying that the marketing depart­ ment didn't mesh well with other functions in the company - that it was not in sync?

Exacdy. The other functions didn't look at marketing as a separate discipline. Meanwhile, it was more and more drawn into writing brand manuals, global guidelines, guiding the advertising process and things like that. The other functions no longer saw how marketing contributed to their cause of, say, product de­ velopment or value creation. Most important, the top CEO said, "I need to create profit­ able growth, that's my number one goal," and marketing said, "I need to make sure that all advertising is consistent across the globe." In many respects, marketing has, of its own will, defined its purpose too narrowly.

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T need to create profitable growth, that's my number one goal,n and marketing said, T need to make sure that all advertising is consistent across the globe."In many respects, marketing has, of its own will, defined its purpose too narrowly.

At that time everybody thought efficiency of the market was all about lower prices but it's not that alone: it's about the way information travels. The challenge now is about dealing with developing markets - not as developing consumers. I think they are very sophisticated consumers.

As brands have travelled across the globe to disparate markets how has the challenge for the brand marketer changed?

One of the most important learnings for brand managers has been that the source of a brand's strength, its life blood if you will, is distributed equally all over, wherever it is. In the old days, the source of a brand's strength was supposed to be in one place: for example, Coca-Cola had this magic vault in which they

kept the secret formula and the idea was to produce the carbonated soft drink and blitz the world with Coke! That is the old model.

The new model is that innovation everywhere is the source of strength. For example, the No 1 flavour of Haagen-Dazs ice cream, an American creation, is an Argentinian flavour, Dulce de Leche. So here is what happens in terms of innovation: Haagen-Dazs was created by a Polish emigrant in New York, perfected in America and was brought to Europe where consumers bought it like crazy because it is rich, fat - too American, perhaps! - and tasted really good. They also took it to Argentina where there are Italian, French and German migrants who had their own idea of what ice cream should taste like and their favourite flavour was Dulce de Leche. So Haagen-Dazs took that flavour to America and Europe and it is now their biggest seller worldwide.

Was what happened at Haagen-Dazs a happy accident? Are multinational compa­ nies geared to capture and transmit and then act on local learning like this?

Some companies are recognising this ahead of the others. Procter & Gamble's CEO, Alan Lafley, has called for what they call opensource' innovations. P&G's policy for decades has been one of innovations within the walls of the company's offices. Now Lafley has demanded that within three years he wants 50 per cent of the innovations at P&G to come from outside the company. That is a break­ through. P&G is considered a world class marketer and when it acts like that, you can be sure that other companies will follow suit.

I seem to hear marketers say far more than before that consumer involvement is low.

Do you think consumers are simply less involved in brands?

The problem is with marketers. They are obsessed with their brands and consumers are not. But marketers even in commodity­ like markets have shown that if you think of branding from a consumer-first perspective - that is what we call it - you can actually create incredible involvement. For example, about 10 years ago, MasterCard told itself that a card is a card is a card. And the problem was, American Express was exclusive and Visa was all over the place. So why would anyone use MasterCard? And that is when they created the priceless' campaign ('...for everything else, there is MasterCard'). The idea was that it is not about the card but about that moment

in your life when you are in payment mode, you should think of MasterCard. They didn't say that MasterCard is a better card than Visa or American Express or globally more accepted. All they said to the consumer was that in the context of what is really important to you in your life, think of MasterCard as a payment moment. And there are thousand of such moments. MasterCard usage is growing like crazy and Visa usage is going down, for no particular reason. I have the figures. So, if consumers are bored with your product it is because the marketer lacks imagination.

The problem is with marketers. They are obsessed with their brands and consumers are not. But marketers even in commodity - like markets have shown that if you think of branding from a consumer-first perspective — that is what we call it-you can actually create incredible involvement.

Has the nature of marketing changed in any fundamental way in all the years that you have been practising?

Yeah, absolutely. Marketing or brand manage­ ment began with having a product, building emotional self-expressive benefits around it, maybe a personality in order to enrich the product, create a proprietary name. Basically, start from a product perspective. In search of consumers you will do segmentation, po­ sitioning and the better you target your con­ sumers, the better you will do. You do a mar­ keting mix for product, price, promotion and so on... I think those fundamental principles are now very much in question.There is a dif­ ferent consumer environment today. Consum­ ers don't like to be marketed to, consumers today are self-reliant, they are sophisticated marketers themselves. Therefore, we as mar­ keters need to change fundamentally how we market instead of starting from a product per­ spective and then using our techniques to find consumers. We need to reverse that and start from a consumer-first perspective. If I am a

food marketer, it is more important to under­ stand the everyday life of consumers - not just their needs because if I ask a consumer about needs, she cannot tell me what she has not experienced.

What about all the billions of dollars spent on researching consumers? Are you saying they have been wasted?

The biggest fallacy is that in this day and age we understand consumers. The money has been usefully spent to understand the needs of consumers. But today it is not enough to understands needs but the process behind the needs, that drive those needs.

Give me an example.

There are many example but let me give you a good one: do you really think there was need for an iPod? There was the Walkman and it perfectly satisfied my need for listening to music. Moreover, do you think Apple would ever have come up with the iPod if they had begun thinking in terms of computers? No way. Their research would have told them that people want more power from their computer and so on. It took a genius like Steve Jobs to understand and connect with what is really happening in a consumer's everyday life. There is downloadable music on one side, there is a laptop or PC on every desk...So he created the iPod that seamlessly links with the Apple computer, that seamlessly links with iTunes and that seamlessly links with iMusic stores.

He took in the the way we go about our music listening habits, the way we buy music, the way we store music, the way we manage ev­ erything around music. It is the kind of think­ ing that doesn't come from asking consumers what they want. You know what Henry Ford said at the turn of the century? "If I had asked customers what they wanted, they would have told me they wanted a faster horse."

Most marketing research is directed towards asking customers about their needs and wants.

I believe that process is fundamentally limit­ ing. You need to go behind what happens and create those needs.

When I look at young consumers, they are always on to the next new thing. They are always intrigued by that new feature in a model - and are willing to switch brands in the process. And because they have the money, they can act on that impulse. Point is: in a lot of categories in electronics and life­ style, is the product - that particular model

or feature - becoming more important than the brand?

The point you have made goes to the heart of the challenge we face as marketers. You asked earlier if some of the fundamental principles of marketing are no longer valid - well, sev­ eral are disappearing. The classical model on which all of marketing until today has been built is need fulfilment. I believe that that model is dead wrong and is only workable in some cases today. There is another model that replaces this classical thinking and I call this passionate consumption'. Instead of a simple reliance on needs, we have to understand much deeper what drives consumption.Today, it is driven by deep urges, passions, sensations, fantasies, desires and dreams. Classical re­ search methods cannot define these motivators of consumption today. These younger people do not operate on a need fulfilment paradigm - and if you are a marketer who operates on a need fulfilment paradigm, you might as well take a shovel and dig your own hole. For these consumers, you have to satisfy a very different sort of consumption motivators.

Here's a really broad question: is there any major change in consumer behaviour that you personally find intriguing?

The biggest driver now is self-reliance. Con­ sumers don't like to be told, consumers don't like to be marketed to, consumers don't like to be informed by marketers. They like to find out by themselves. The internet is one of the biggest things: you go on the blogs, you

go on the consumer websites, you like to in­ form yourself, you like to be smart yourself.

So, that idea of self-reliance - I rely on my own in order to make a judgment, it's a very very important or powerful driver in con­ sumer behaviour today. The value of word of mouth and viral marketing has grown and all these developments are putting the consumer back in the driver's seat. What you see to­ day is consumers on steroids and if you can't wrap your heart and mind about that fact as a marketer, you might as well retire to Florida - or wherever you do retire in India.

Marketing consultancies and ad agencies keep advising their clients to differentiate their offerings. How much differentiation have they themselves managed to create in their services, I wonder...

I think you are talking to the wrong consulting company. We don't believe in standing out. In the consulting business it is far more valuable to fit in seamlessly in yours client's organisa­ tion than to stand out relative to some other consulting company. Because clients are more concerned with whether you are relevant and deliver on whatever concerns they may have.

Even speaking generally, differentiation isn't as important as people said it was 30 years ago. The people who said 30 years ago 'dif­ ferentiate or die' are probably dead by now, and so too is the idea of differentiate or die.

Today, it is far less important to stand out than it is to fit into the life of your clients or your consumers.

Could you explain that?

I mentioned MasterCard earlier. Is it dif­ ferentiated from Visa? No way! If you look at 35 attributes and compare the two, there is no differentiation. If MasterCard was at all differentiated, it was negatively. It is just a means of payment, just plastic. But MasterCard has found a way to fit into its customer's life just like a glove, and that's all that matters. Is Google differentiated? I don't know and I don't care. I have Google on my desktop, I use Google search, I use (Google) Froogle to buy stuff. I get every­ thing from Google because it fits seamlessly in my life, it creates a customer advantage, it is relevant.

But you do think differentiation made sense 30 years ago?

Absolutely. Thirty years ago, quality was not everywhere, great products weren't there, design wasn't everywhere. Today, you have enough products that are sim­ ply good enough and where there is stuff that is good enough, the game is no longer about differentiation. It is not about mar­ ginal differentiation though some market­ ing people and some ad agencies concoct something and think that heavy advertis­ ing expenditure can convey this small dif­ ference to people. All that matters is how consumers, those self-relying consumers, decide for themselves and how the brand integrates seamlessly into their everyday lives.

WHAT HEPPEND TO SPELLING? Olny srmat poelpe can raed tihs.cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the Itteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and Isat Itteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey Iteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

Amzanig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!

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OUT IS 'IN

Global Trends IN OUT OF HOME MEDIA

by Ron Graham, is COO Asia Pacific at KineticWorldwide Media

OUT of Home media (OOH) is enjoying one of its best periods of growth on a global scale, which is manifest by fast paced changes and new developments. Ron Graham looks into these changes, to share insights on trends in the global OOH market and comment on potential opportunities in Asia.

Consumption of media is changing and the trend indicates much less time interacting with traditional media. Yet media cost trends continue upwards, while audience divides so advertisers are paying more money for less attention.

There are dramatic changes in what media we as consumers, are exposed to and how we absorb media messages. Proliferation of media messages and increased choice of formats leads to increased fragmentation of the media we see/hear/experience. We are cynical consumers and deliberately avoid ads.

We multitask, which means we miss some of the ads. There is greatly reduced attention to the ads we do see. At the same time, media costs are rising so advertising per-se is less cost effective. This makes OOH more attractive and potentially a more effective return for advertiser investment.

If we look at the media which we are exposed to based on time use, OOH emerges as one of the largest potential communication options, representing almost 31%.

It should come as no surprise that this is creating a shift in the share of budget allocated between media channels. We all Daily Media Exposure, by time/use Mags, 0 8 Internet, 4,7 Radio, 21,3 Newspapers.

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have many more options to occupy our leisure entertainment time - especially computers, games, internet 6c mobile phones, which collectively take up 13.4 percent of our waking time. We are more mobile, which leads to more exposure to OOH. So many major advertisers and agencies are planning much less TV-dependent media campaigns.

OOH share is increasing, but why and by how much? The facts are interesting and suggest opportunities for further increased share if OOH sellers can build on the trend.

Above the line budgets are shifting below the line but OOH blurs the line and stands to benefit from this change (along with on-line, direct, promotions and CRM). What may be a surprise is just how big this shift in media share really is.

Stuart Cox at Nestle comments that from USSI 80m advertising budget in UK, they used to spend 95% on TV a few years ago. Today, TV budgets are only 60% of the total. OOH has picked up US$30m of the reallocated TV money. This is further reinforced by figures reported in Europe where FMCG brand spends on TV have dropped by 6% over the past 5 years, and food brands have reduced TV spend by 25%. In the same period outdoor spends from FMCG brands have increased by 112%, while spends from food brands increased by 49%. Some traditional budgets have gone into promotion, online and even product placement but there has been a very steady growth in the share of media budgets going to outdoor.

As a result OOH media spend is growing at a faster pace than most other media, and is therefore increasing in importance and increasing the share of advertising dollars going to OOH channels. The global average share for outdoor, is 6.8% and climbing.

However outdoor will not grow automatically and take all of this freed-up TV media spend, and will have to fight for every dollar it does take. There are problems to solve to compete for budgets, not least of which is

ADOI MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS MAGAZINE

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accountability which often falls short in Asian markets. There is also a significant gap in good planning information and audience data, for OOH media channels, especially some of the new ambient and non-traditional OOH channels. Agencies often complain about the limited availability of reliable measurement and research. On the plus-side, OOH is still one of the lowest cost mass communication options and can also be highly targeted to people and activities. While OOH can offer better return on investment for advertisers the challenge is that it must be able to measure and prove better ROI to sustain long term growth in its share of budgets.

Trends show OOH moving from a secondary support role to an active and valuable part of the communication mix. In mature markets, OOH is often able to sustain in excess of 10% market share. In Asia the actual value of the OOH sector is relatively small and OOH share of total advertising spends is often below global averages. This however is a great opportunity to increase the dollars spent outdoors and drive share of spend higher. After a period of static growth in real terms in the late 90s, OOH is now growing across Asia and that growth is outstripping growth in overall advertising spend and so OOH share is on the rise. Fundamental principles support this growth which should be sustainable.

International trends provide indicators of what particular factors support successful OOH markets, namely; Consolidation,

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Investment, Specialisation, Cooperation and Research. This gives valuable pointers in Asia to enhance the fortunes of OOH media.

Successful OOH markets usually have a small number of consolidated suppliers, or at least there are a few large players representing the majority of the supply. Increased size of operations allows economies of scale as well as easier process for buyer 6c seller. Consolidation allows standardisation of products and best practices. Big players are usually corporate players who tend to have a good attitude to investment, the future and long term returns plus a healthy outlook towards transparency.

Consolidation on the buying side creates large agency groups which makes the buying process efficient too.

Investment is one of the single most important factors, supporting growth in OOH. The media suppliers invest in panel design, material and function to ensure clean and smart presentation of the advertising display. Rationalisation leads to fewer panels yet more value by reducing clutter. There has been investment in illumination and overall quality of OOH structures. The best markets are able to develop the products tailored to meet the needs of the client advertiser.

Successful companies re-invest to build more success.

One result of this trend is the continued and rapid growth of street furniture which can only be done when there is large scale investment able to be amortised over long periods. Street furniture and transit media are growing yet large format and standard billboards are quite stagnant.

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Markets with high use of OOH usually have specialist companies investing and focusing on OOH, with dedicated resources to create OOH solutions for advertisers and agencies. Functions of the OOH specialist include providing more and better market data, filling the information gap and adding objectivity in the decision-making process.

This is usually achieved by specialist evaluation

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tools to measure and prove performance, which define consumer movements or travel planning systems to make OOH easy to habits, as these often exist in isolation from buy, database systems for accountability and advertising research, yet are totally relevant. good housekeeping such as inspecting and Site centric measures start with the people monitoring the campaign. Specialists also passing by each location and uses classification provide a host of support systems like mapping, factors to define quality and realistic audience per tracking and research plus unique services like site (but this does not capture cumulative reach or creative testing for maximum effectiveness. their demographics). Simple traffic statistics for Research is always high on the list when the road traffic, rail station users or other people discussing OOH and the most valuable and counts tend to over simplify and grossly overstate successful OOH marketsin the world are those the audience exposure. Site centric measurement spending significant amounts on research. will help to modify the gross data into a realistic Trends prove that markets with reliable OOH opportunity to see. Site classification tools are not research enjoy a higher share of advertising new and there are many sophisticated options budgets allocated to OOH media. While it available. In the absence of consumer research for is easy to identify this trend, it is important OOH, we believe site classification is absolutely to recognise that (even with joint industry essential. When OOH media is bought linefunding) some markets are too small to develop by-line the buyers entrusted with advertisers' robust research needed. There is evidence that investment should offer site classification data as this may improve with syndication of generic a minimum. research as both Arbitron and ACNielsen In developed and successful outdoor are developing OOH modeling, using small advertising markets you often see good sample sizes and GPS examples of cooperation data gathering, aimed at Measurement of effect including the existence providing an affordable an outdoor advertising and sales results from of global blueprint for OOH. association to act as a We should anticipate more media investments is at forum for industry issues. sharing of common data the front ofthe minds Cooperation between vendors on qualitative research and formal links with of advertisers and if for OOH, for example, other media, advertiser and visibility adjusted index OOH is going to win advertising agency bodies for 6-sheet formats on bus is an ideal way to approach more of advertising shelters in the UK indicate central issues for example, budgets, ROI is vital. standard practices, a code net audience is 16% of potential viewing. of ethics, guaranteed basic Measurement of effect and sales results terms of business and responsible behaviour. from media investments is at the front of the Well resourced OOH bodies can promote minds of advertisers and if OOH is going the medium at a generic level with central to win more of advertising budgets, ROI is marketing, sharing global learning and provide vital. However there are many different levels training. (If OOH is going to take 10% of of measurement and with different benefit media spends, then media training courses verses cost. Ideally OOH practitioners need need 10% of their time dedicated to OOH, consumer centric measurement to provide a which is significantly more than it is today). currency to compare with other media on a In Asia there is a need for more outdoor ratings points basis, with demographics, reach associations, representing the whole industry and frequency metrics (such as MindShare with collective action plans towards collective 3-D). goals. The pooled power of all of the industry Consumer centric research will provide can achieve so many things which individual metrics for planning, buying and effectiveness. companies cannot. In the US, the OAAA is Most if not all consumer research measurement coordinating a jointly funded program for for OOH media incorporate a model to research 6c measurement. Their joint spend define typical exposure of consumers to OOH is expected to increase OOH spend by 26% media. The reliability of the model and the in the next 3 years, lifting the OOH market cost, are determined by the methodology, value to US$7.1bn annually by 2007. sample size and complexity and the better In the UK 6c Australia, their respective the measurement, the more expensive. If cost industry associations cooperated in a generic becomes prohibitive, there may be a solution marketing and research campaign "POW". to piggy-back research from other sources The study was inclusive of all main OOH

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channels and the results were convincing and stimulated interest and awareness, as a stand alone medium. Awareness levels measured were on par with the satisfactory levels returned by major brands spending on active multi-media campaigns, proving the power of OOH. POW also sent a message to the advertising community about the willingness of the industry to act collectively.

previously deployed outdoors. There is greater tactical use of OOH media in specific timed campaigns with other main media. Tactical campaigns rely on suitable weight and focus of activity to communicate effectively. More OOH media formats in more markets is now sold in tactical periods complimentary to other traditional media. OOH can compete for share of tactical budgets when is can be bought and sold in campaigns (not just sites).

Tactical campaigns need improved flexibility from the media sellers, not only to fit in with the shorter time-period and heavier weight of campaign, but also to allow the most relevant use of OOH media displays. In the case of Levi, movement was an essential feature of the product and the campaign which could not be conveyed on the portrait format light-boxes, but the bus shelter audience was on target. The planner and the media owner agreed to utilise the longer glass screen at the back of the shelter to get the desired effect.

OOH choices should be appropriate across many OOH formats, to be "campaignable", One branded 3D bus shelter is not a campaign. To ensure greater use, OOH should be available in different types and places, at the same time, to build and reinforce effective

An inescapable trend over the past few years has been the evolution of channel planning. The necessity came from an ever increasing complex array of media choices.

Channel planners look at the consumer, their lifestyle, habits and contact points, including what activity consumers are doing or even what may be their mindset or attitude. Media solutions will tend to be specific to time, relevant to location and appropriate to the audience.

Channel planning favours outdoor advertising as it can be targeted to "occasions" and establish relationships between the consumers and the message. OOH occasions might be on the way to work, or while shopping, or out and about for entertainment and leisure such as the movies or a restaurant.

OOH can be targeted to audience behaviour, activities and how media is consumed, to communicate appropriate messages to specific consumers exposure from other messages. For clients in the right place and right time. The goal is to choose OOH and choose it repeatedly, it understanding how different OOH formats must be campaign-able so there is the ability interact with the consumer, and then selecting to duplicate successful campaigns at different the best solution for the brand using any or all times. This relies on both standardisation of of the OOH opportunities. formats and the ability to carry similar themes We have witnessed changes to how on different formats. 02 in the UK is a good OOH media is bought and sold, therefore example. the campaigns we are seeing these days are The ability for out of home media quite different to the typical brand support to be used in such a vast array of options is and awareness campaigns that would be perhaps one of its most attractive features.

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Can you imagine trying to get the same level of variety and innovation into use ofTV slots, Newspapers, Magazines and radio?

New ideas 6c innovations which gain cut-through are highly effective and highly prized. Innovative displays and outstanding solutions will always be attractive to advertisers and successful OOH markets are constantly pushing new developments. OOH can surprise us in our daily routine. At the same time it is important that we do not get distracted by novelty, without substance.

New technology and innovative ideas provide advertisers with ways to achieve stand­ out visibility. One of the most interesting and valuable of these new channels is the application of digital technology on out of home locations OOH is now a powerful interactive and content-rich option, with Mobile marketing, Bluetooth and a host of electronic screens, both big and small. "Bluecasting" can allow advertisers to use OOH to engage the consumer, prompt them to download promotions 6c data such as a film trailer or a price offer. Products such as Maidens Transvision in rail stations and JCDecaux's Tesco TV present much more tactical options for OOH. A campaign can be agreed one day and on display the next, with more flexibility to buy day-parts, vary

Innovative displays and outstanding solutions will always be attractive to advertisers and successful OOH markets are constantly pushing new developments.

OOH can surprise us in our daily routine.

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the campaign length, have flights and phasing (as TV campaigns) and change copy frequently at low cost.

Mobile, Infrared and Bluetooth all offer interaction with the consumer, to reinforce the brand position and increased direct response.

These can be used as sales drivers to stimulate traffic at the tills and many of these interactive options offer fully measurable effect and ROI. Future developments will include retail networks at shopping precincts, stores, car parks and basically any location where the consumer has dwell time and close proximity to displays.

Advertisers are looking at digital OOH to create appointments' with consumers, via screens and mobile marketing, with real time communication. Mobile technology is changing way people behave, we do more out of home, we talk, search, act 6c buy on the move. Consumers are now surrounded by technology, for example sonic sensors turn on a video clip to run on LCD screens at the bus shelter or in the supermarket aisle.

The outdoor media vendors are taking this digital challenge seriously. The Big-3 global players - Clear Channel, JCDecaux 6c Viacom - have all created dedicated divisions to investigate opportunities for digital OOH. In the US, Clear Channel is trialing giant LED billboards in Cleveland, at a cost of US$3m, which allow the visual to be changed every 8-seconds and the aim is to sell time slot ads at different times of the day, rather than the usual 1-month for one visual. This flexibility is attracting new campaigns onto OOH, which previously were not possible.

Eye Corp in Australia has 60" plasma screen networks in airports 6c shopping malls and networks of 14" LCD displays in elevators in the business districts of major cities. Transit media also offers popular situations for digital screens in trains, buses and taxis. There is

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Mobile technology is changing way people behave, we do more out of home, we talk, search, act & buy on the move. Consumers are now surrounded by technology,for example sonic sensors turn on a video clip to run on LCD screens at the bus shelter or in the supermarket aisle. however evidence of a backlash although it is often the sound-track which is causing more concern than the presence of screens.

In the UK, in 2003, digital screen media revenues for OOH, were a little under US$20m, but rose to US$35m in 2004 (up 81%) and tipped to reach US$50m in 2005 (another 44% increase). While these numbers sound significant they are a tiny fraction of the potential. As technology costs fall and product sophistication improves, we can expect to see much more digital in markets around the globe.

Digital is still in its infancy but growth could accelerate with better understanding of the effective use of the opportunities which digital offers plus much better creative content.

This new activity will require some new thinkingon measurement and accountability. To effectively communicate, advertisers need to understand digital, and respect users' space. The advertising fraternity has a duty to manage the use of digital and indeed the growth of all OOH channels. If OOH is inappropriate, the advertiser's brand will suffer.

When OOH advertising is relevant, creative, entertaining, informative and above all appropriate, it will be welcomed into hearts and minds to influence attitudes and action.

Every market is different, but trends observed in other markets can point to potential opportunities in Asia, for advertisers,

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agencies and media suppliers. The trends are: W* The media landscape is changing significantly, raising the importance of OOH media. â&#x20AC;˘ There is continued consolidation andrationalization happening in OOH. ^ Improvements are taking place in products and their value, through investment ^ The industry is uniting to approach common concerns to cooperate on major issues. ^ There are changes happeningin campaign planning and more rigor in how OOH media is bought and sold. ^ OOH media needs to generate more measurement and better research to bridge the gap when it comes to competing with other media channels. â&#x20AC;˘ Development of new ideas 6c formats, including digital, continues at a fast pace and is opening up new OOH opportunities. ^ OOH will continue to grow in value and share of media budgets.

Ron Graham, is COO Asia Pacific at Kinetic Worldwide Media, based in Singapore

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Transit media also offers popular situations for digital screens in trains, buses and taxis. There is however evidence of a backlash although it is often the sound-track which is causing more concern than the presence of screens.

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ADOI MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS MAGAZINE

S*V^S SwraT mi pmfcetoi Wlloip (tbttioei (torn Kaw* !»«»*(*,

AN E-MAIL EXAMPLE TO EMULATE^^H

by Melinda Krueger

Call +603 77262588 to buy. Limited Stocks.

How do you organically grow a list to over 1 million subscribers? Daily Candy did it by delivering an exceptional e-mail user experience, staying 100 percent true to the brand and ignoring standard success metrics.

There's a lesson here for your e-mail program, regardless of your audience or product.

I first learned about Daily Candy (www. dailycandy.com) as most do: from a friend.

I was traveling to New York and wanted to know where to find those hidden treasures only insiders know about. My friend introduced me to the brainchild of Dany Levy, who began by sharing tips with her friends via personal e-mail. Daily Candy now has publications in eight cities, as well as national, kids, travel and deals editions.

I continue to subscribe to Daily Candy, even though there is no Milwaukee edition (imagine!), because it is such a good example of effective e-mail marketing. What do they do right?

Copy. Each Daily Candy has a distinctive voice that is witty, entertaining and irreverent. CEO Pete Sheinbaum explains how the company achieves this goal with so many editions and writers in the mix: "We invest the time and effort to train people in the Daily Candy way.

Maintaining a consistent voice is a corporate mandate."

It's a team effort. Each article is touched by three to five staffers to ensure consistency and fidelity to the Daily Candy voice, while recognizing that "we cant please everyone."

Creative. Each e-mail contains original watercolor artâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;no stock or "make it work" photos. The same artist has been creating the Daily Candy look for over six years, so the look and feel is consistent, even though the visual elements are new for each e-mail. Visuals support the brand and reflect the audience. Characters are stylish and interesting, but accessible. The candy elements are never too sweet.

Content. Daily Candy principals consider themselves publishers, not marketers, so the focus is on providing quality content in an entertaining way.They know that to serve their audience, they have to uncover information that can't be found elsewhere. This is achieved by developing a pool of freelance resources in each market. A strict policy against paid inclusion ensures that the focus is on the reader, not the advertiser.

Editorial and sales departments are integrated at Daily Candy. Editors work with advertisers to develop messages the Daily Candy team knows will resonate with their audience, rather than filling in blanks on the media buyer's spreadsheet. While demand for Daily Candy ads exceeds supply, it is limited in order to be "careful with the user experience."

While enjoying response in "multiples of industry standards," the focus is on the brand, not on the numbers. Delivery is monitored by subscribers who complain if they don't get their Daily Candy. One million loyal subscribers, built through word of mouth and a single-minded devotion to the brand. Now there's an e-mail program to emulate.

Melinda Krueger of Krueger Direct/Interactive can be reached at mkrueger@kd-i.com. (c) 2006 MediaPost Communications, 1140 Broadway, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10001

TV3 HITS NEW RECORD OF 4.76 MILLION

VIEWERS WITH JUARA LAGUi "Anugerah Juara Lagu is a platform for local talents to show their flair as a starting point to further indulge in the local music industry"

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FEBRUARY 5TH was another record-breaking day for TV3, as the 20th Anugerah Juara Lagu chalked up more than 4.76 millions viewers nationwide or 27.5 TV ratings (TVR) which witnessed inaugural Malaysian Idol winner Jaclyn Victor triumph with Aubrey Suwito and Asmin Mudins song Gemilang.

This is a new record for the local broadcast industry - across all terrestrial and pay TV stations!

Last years event clocked 3.8 million viewers, marking a phenomenal leap in audience share this year.

According to Dato' Farid Ridzuan, CEO of Media Prima TV Networks, "Anugerah Juara Lagu is a platform for local talents to show their flair as a starting point to further

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Last year's event clocked 3.8 million viewers, marking a phenomenal leap in audience share this year.

indulge in the local music industry. Besides reaching a huge audience, Anugerah Juara Lagu is positioned as an arena where most local artists congregate to swap ideas to enhance their understanding and appreciation of music," he adds.

The production unit was led by Fadzliniza Hj Zakaria and Hemanathan Paul, Producer and Director, Nurul Huda Haji Khalid, Assistant Producer, Zaini Hj Saidi, Roslina Haji Abdul Rahman, Farina Pahrudin and Production Assistants Neerja Jayasilen Nair and Samsairol Che Aman All figures sourced from AC Nielsen Media Research

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BURN Stewart Distillers Taiwan has re­ launched its standard blended scotch whisky Scottish Leader Supreme with completely new packaging and a major advertising campaign created bySingapore-based advertising agency, 10AM Communications. The campaign comprising six 30 second television executions were directed by Wayne Peng - Pure Films, Taiwan's leading commercials director.

This campaign showcases the antics of six colourful characters in a typical modern office environment. Like a TV series, the spots capture the politicking, flirting and one-upmanship of everyday office life in a light-hearted, fun fashion. Each character 64

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uses his or her talents to best advantage.

From Secretary Bo Bo's voluptuous curves to Kuma's brown-nosing, the work has been crafted to avoid all traditional liquor advertising cliches.

The campaign introduces a theme of..."GOOOD!" communicating the brand's intrinsic quality credentials as well as the enjoyment of a little touch of luxury in everyday life.

"This is the most expansive and original brand campaign Burn Stewart Distillers has ever run worldwide," said Rod Pullen of Angostura Asia Pacific, the marketing Resales organization for the company around the

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region. "We needed a campaign that could endure and stand out from all advertising in the market. Another bottle & glass spot was never going to achieve that! 10AM and Wayne Peng did a truly sensational job.

Brilliant team work - it's a truly fabulous campaign. We are all absolutely delighted with the work" The advertising is being supported by extensive in-store communications and on­ line marketing, offering a "landing pad" for visitors to explore the brand, examples of how customers relate to the new campaign and other integrated marketing programs that will be launched throughout 2006.

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In 1999 he moved to a Regional role in the Asia Pacific Shared Services Organization for Colgate and was based out of Kuala Lumpur before moving on to a global role in New York at the Corporate Headquarters for Colgate-Palmolive.

Abhijit Bhaduri has joined FritoLay - the Snacks division of Pepsico International as head of Human Resources for the BU.

ABHIJIT graduated from Shriram College of Commerce, Delhi University in Economics and then went on to do his MBA in Personnel Management & Industrial Relations from XLRI, Jamshedpur and also has a LLB degree from Delhi University.

of Pepsico International as head of Human Resources for the BU. Abhijit brings with him varied experiences across industries, locations and geographies and has worked with diverse cultures and has led multiple global projects with cross-functional teams.

Abhijit s career spans two decades across diverse industries and multiple countries.

He worked for companies like Eicher Goodearth, Shalimar Paints, Tata Steel and Mudra Communications and in 1997 he joined Colgate Palmolive in Mumbai. In 1999 he moved to a Regional role in the Asia Pacific Shared Services Organization for Colgate and was based out of Kuala Lumpur before moving on to a global role in New York at the Corporate Headquarters for Colgate-Palmolive. Abhijit Bhaduri has joined FritoLay - the Snacks division

He has also recently authored "Mediocre But Arrogant", a fictional novel about life in a Business School in Jamshedpur. The book has been on several bestseller lists in India and US and finds mention in the online encyclopedia as an example of a contemporary Indian fiction writer. He has been a popular radio voice in India and abroad and hosted a popular radio show in US on Indian movies and film music.

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Abhijit is married to Nandini and has a daughter Eshna and son Abhishek.

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what a major Business School should look like. Nor did it have the necessary spark that makes a major brand.

The Boys Hostel in the neighbouring block reminded me of the army barracks built to keep everyone alert and on their toes.

"If you do not feel comfortable and relaxed you will learn to be a fighter. Luxury will dull your desire to excel."

That was what myfather said everytime I desired but was denied something that was even remotely classified as a luxury.

MIJ operated on the same philosophy.

The Chapel in the Administrative Block was an integral part of MIJ. If you spoke to Father Hathaway, a Scottish priest and one of the original Magnificent Seven who built MIJ literally, brick by brick, this is what he would tell you: "I came to India with six other Like the protagonist ofthe novel, he too did his Bachelors in Economics priests, in 1945,with a common dream.

(Honours) from the University of Delhi. Abhijit has a Masters in Two years later, MIJ was started in Human Resources and a degree in Law. A man of many interests, a small room of the Hotel Bistupur Abhijit has illustrated several books and is an accomplished cartoonist. in Bistupur market of Jamshedpur.

Those early years were a challenge.

He has been acted in plays in India, Kuala Lumpur and US. He is a Within three months of coming here, popular voice on the radio having been an English newsreader and one of my colleagues died of malaria. host of many music based shows. He hosted a popular radio show in But we were not disheartened. I am US for many years on Indian movies and music. He often speaks on so happy we did not go back leaving this beautiful city. We knew a free Socio-economic trends affecting Asia. country like India would have a great need for trained managers. In those He now lives in India with his wife Nandini and their two childt en days most industries like the Steel and Eshna andAbhishek. He can be reached atabhijitbhaduri@gmail.com Iron Company (SICO) were labour intensive. So there would always be a demand for Personnel Officers.

The novel has an interesting blog that you can visit at http:// The first batch of MIJ had only six students. Over the years, the foresight mediocrebutarrogant.blogspot.com _ and hard work of the teachers and students has paid rich dividends and the present campus is testimony to the esteem cookie who thought like Rascal Rusty, worked overtime! in which the Corporate Sector holds MIJ. In 1982, all the buildings of MIJ were must have decided to "Tweak the formula, The Chapel was built by us when we change the packaging and make a new rather, umm ... utilitarian, and therefore did started this institute. We needed to get not have that certain style that is necessary to commercial with a cute babe in a skimpier God to sign up for this project of making bikini," as the Marketing guys did with all be taken seriously by the world at large.The MIJ India's best institute for learning their soaps and toothpaste brands every way you dress creates the first impression on year, and called it a relaunch. It was a new those who hold the keys to all the goodies management! Theek bola?"

He used to lapse into his heavily and improved version of the Personnel in life. Rascal Rusty would advise everyone accented Hindi or Bengali or Tamil or Oriya to "always look the part."

MIJ certainly did Management 8c Industrial Relations course depending on who he was talking to. not look like it met peoples expectations of (which sounded so Neanderthal) and called

mm

do not know why I landed in this corporate jungle.

Why I chose to do Human Resources Development.

Why I did not decide to stop playing a game which I neither understood nor had any desire to learn. In fact, I did not even start off being in Human Resources.

When I joined MIJ (Management Institute of Jamshedpur, Bihar) in the summer of 1982, the course I had enrolled for was actually called Industrial Relations and Social Welfare. At that time, there were only Welfare Officers. But that term really sucked. So some smart

Human Resources instead. And those who graduated from the institute were rechristened "HR professionals" instead of Personnel Managers.

After struggling through two years in MIJ I was let loose on the Corporate Sector. In course of time, I was anointed head honcho of HR of a reputed firm. All because of the stamp that MIJ put on me.

Rather, because as they say in management jargon, I bore the MIJ "brand."

It was indeed all about Brands. How else would you explain the transformation of scores of university graduates into much sought after brands in the corporate bazaar?

Given the number of applicants every year, it seemed as if the branding machine at MIJ

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Affectionately called Haathi he was one The original building of Hotel Bistupur, heard the statement at a Pre PlacementTalk of the most popular figures in that region. where MIJ first started off, now houses (PPT in MIJ lingo), for the first time: "We He knew virtually everyone inJamshedpur a popular Bar. That's why, according to offer a career and not a job." All companies - from the CEO to the fruit vendor in Boys' Hostel folklore, every MlJ-ite is "bar- declared that they were looking for Bistupur, and he addressed them all by coded" and hence destined to be a confirmed leadership qualities, motivation, dynamism name. Father Hathaway remembered boozer. "Win or lose, we must booze" was and excellent communication skills. They every student who had passed through the the unofficial motto especially when we all wanted someone who liked to work in a portals of MIJ. How did he do it? None played our football matches on Saturday fast paced environment and loved challenge. of us dared to hazard a guess. He was not evenings against the local Engineering When asked what the promotions and only one of the best loved teachers, he was college - and usually lost. MIJ's official increments were based on, every company guide, architect and visionary all rolled motto, "Enter to learn, go forth to serve" had the same stock response. into one. was modified to read, "Learn to enter; Go "Ours is a meritocracy. At the end of the In deference to the regard he was forth to serve" on the bathroom walls of the day all that matters is who got us results and held in, MlJ-ites down the generations Boys' Hostel. It reflected our point of view who didn't." have had great respect for everything and desires more accurately than the official So when I attended an interview in our Scottish - especially Scotch. The girls motto ever would. campus for a summer trainee assignment in MIJ swore he looked like Gregory Our batch of '82 had eight girls and with a company that makes a very popular Peck. Haathi invariably brushed off the forty guys. This ratio made life look grim brand of cough syrups, I was determined comparison with, "I must see a movie of to us as each one of us did a quick mental to impress, and I was sure that honesty this chap who claims to look like me ..." calculation of the probability of success as was still the best policy. Their Director, At age sixty-five, Haathi rode a Personnel, asked me why I chose Royal Enfield motorcycle as if HR as my specialization in MIJ "I must see a movie of this chap who claims he were on a Grand Prix race instead of Marketing since that to look like me ..." At age sixty-five, Haathi was track. Anyone who hitched a the glamorous option. I could ride with him to Bistupur swore rode a Royal Enfield motorcycle as if he were have lied through my teeth and never to repeat the mistake. on a Grand Prix race track. Anyone who said something untruthful like: Haathi weaved through the "Right from my student days, hitched a ride with him to Bistupur swore traffic, chatting nonstop with Sir, I noticed that the one factor never to repeat the mistake. Haathi weaved that makes or breaks a company the pillion rider even as he waved furiously at acquaintances and through the traffic, chatting nonstop with is the quality of the people it has. shouted greetings at friends as the pillion rider even as he waved furiously Every organization can buy the he careened along, much to the same machines that its competitor at acquaintances and shouted greetings at horror of his passenger. He still has. Every product can be copied friends as he careened along, much to the played basketball with us every but what cannot be duplicated evening and gave the students horror of his passenger. is the collective set of skills that an inferiority complex with his its employees possess. It is the accurate baskets. we looked up the names of girls who would business of the Personnel department to Because of Father Hathaway's be our classmates for two years from the list ensure that every employee uses his potential charismatic personality, fund raising of Juniors. Our Senior batch was worse off. skills for the benefit of the organization and campaigns for MIJ always exceeded their They had only one girl in their batch who help it transform itself from being ordinary target and hewas able to finance his dreams was the fantasy of forty-four depraved young to exceptional..." etc. of improving MIJ's infrastructure. At every men. To them, our batch with the presence But stupid me, I decided to tell the Alumni meet that I have attended over the of eight "babes" made a huge improvement truth. years, the conversation would inevitably to their Quality of Life Index. So we got "I do not know Sir. Getting into MIJ veer around to Haathi. Everyone professed no sympathy from them when we cribbed and this course on Personnel Management only undiluted admiration and respect about the adverse ratio of boys to girls. was all just one big act of serendipity." for him, including the students who had So were a lot of other things in life, I did not get selected for the job. The received lousy grades in his classes. Father I realized for almost the first time when bonehead who was interviewing me didn't Hathaway was a tough act to follow, for all we started applying for summer trainee care to know the Truth. All that he had said his successors. assignments. I was very impressed when I at the PPT, about looking for a person who 70

ADOI MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS MAGAZINE

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It was not difficult to believe Rustom would take over from him in five years flat, enough suckers to apply for the job so that Topiwalla, Rusty for short. Though he he could take back the stack of Resumes and must have been just that - all talk. was a bit of a pompous ass, it was generally show his boss what a great job he had done I was upset and angry. Was I not selected agreed that he was the most Corporateat building the Company's brand in MIJ. because I had been honest in my responses? savvy person in our class. People called Then he will select the dumbest not the Must be. It was so unfair! I decided that I him "Rascal Rusty" behind his back, I smartest candidate as his assistant.

So that would boycott that brand of cough syrup for didn't know why.

No one knew anything by sheer contrast he will appear a genius the next two months even if I sounded like about him.

He was an enigma. A loner, and indispensable to the company.

Then a foghorn. I also went around telling people he generally avoided the Hostel crowd, he will continue to drop hints to his own to avoid that particular brand because it and never joined us when we went out boss about taking early retirement and also contained harmful drugs. My very own smear to eat Chinese at Franks.

He was always mention in the same breath how fresh and campaign against the mighty corporation. It dressed in a pair of jeans and a black shirt. inexperienced the new recruit is.

That will was my way of saying, "That's what you get his 3C appearance, his I secretly admired make his bosses paranoid about losing an when you fool around with a loyal customer "Cool, Calm 8c Collected" manner. experienced hand.

They will give him a big ... even if he wants to apply for a job."

Rusty was a teetotaller and made it Noticing my rather peevish behaviour, raise and a generous bonus and then request sound like a virtue. When he was my friend Rusty said to me one day, in his room he usually sucked on a "Abbey, who on earth asked you to use I was upset and angry. Was I not pipe. There was rarely any tobacco in that word 'serendipity' in an interview? selected because I had been honest it because I do not remember seeing And what does it mean anyway?" any smoke coming from it. He just in my responses? Must be. It was so "Serendipity is the trick of making liked to hold it as he scanned through unfair! I decided that I would boycott fortunate discoveries accidentally," I business magazines looking scholarly replied innocently. that brand of cough syrup for the next and professional. He hardly ever "I know what serendipity means, two months even if I sounded like a spoke except to make very profound Abbey. But I bet the guy who was sounding statements every now and foghorn.

I also went around telling interviewing you didn't.That is why he then. Unlike most of us in the Junior people to avoid that particular brand didn't select you. Nobody likes a smart batch, Rusty spent much time in the aleck in the workplace. They make because it contained harmful drugs. My Library, reading Annual Reports difficult subordinates who are likely to very own smear campaign against the of Companies and The Economic overshadow and expose the ignorance mighty corporation. It was my way of Times. Then he would impress us by of their bosses. So no manager will quoting from them. His knowledge ever employ anyone smarter than saying, "That's what you get when you of the world of management and of himself, assuming, of course, that you fool around with a loyal customer ... how corporations worked made even are smarter than him." even if he wants to apply for a job." the Seniors ask him for advice, for a I ignored the sarcasm. "But Rusty, fee of course. this guy declared in the PPT that he We found out that Rusty had a him to delay his retirement plans for just a was looking for a subordinate who could take Bachelors degree from Loyola College over from him in five years so that he could few months more till they manage to train in Madras.

He had started his own retire and spend time doing social work. that MBA they hired from campus." company that marketed "education for "But how do you know all this Rusty?"

He said he was looking for somebody who busy executives", and had already been a I interrupted. After all he too was a fresher would be better than him in all respects."

CEO even if it was of his own start­ "You are such an ass, Abbey, you will like me. up.

He had been at the pinnacle of power "Forget it da, I'll tell you some other believe anything. The PPT is a courting for five years before succumbing to his process when you want to entice the time." "thirst for knowledge" and joined MIJ How he knew did not matter.

What applicants. So it cannot be the time for unlike most of us who were fresh off the did was that talking to him had lessened honesty. Both parties, Companies and Bachelors Degree assembly line. Rusty my embarrassment at not getting selected. students, garnish the truth. Only after the appointment letter is received and accepted, I was easily convinced that it was because invariably came up with solutions to will the employers reveal their true colours. I was smarter than my potential boss. It every problem and short cuts for every By that time it's too late. You understand? was amazing, the number of guys I was task. He had a fair number of acolytes who turned to him in a crisis. He helped What that fellow was trying to do is get smarter than!

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anyone who asked him to, but extracted his pound of flesh from them.

Once Rusty sold me a list of references for the price of his haircut. Another time he offered to help me write out a term paper for Haathi in exchange for a month's subscription to The Hindu. Paying for that newspaper subscription meant giving up smoking for a week.

"Practical experience, that's what matters in life. Most of our Seniors

Marketing too, planning is everything."

"But yaar, in my experience, serendipity rather than careful planning has brought me here, to MIJ." I looked the question paper. Quantitative Techniques ie QT pronounced as cutie' was tough subject for all - even the engineers. Not clearing that would mean curtains for life. I stared at the crazy Prof's handiwork and read with disbelief: You walk into a watch shop and notice that most clocks show a time somewhere "Practical experience, that's what in the range of 5:50 to 6:00pm. matters in life. Most of our Seniors Which statistical measure ie Mean, Median or Mode will give you the only know what Kotler has said best estimate of the actual time. about Marketing. They have no clue Why? And why would the other two how that translates to designing a measures be unsuitable?

What? My forehead creased in Marketing Plan for the district of a hundred furrows.

Shimoga. Whereas I know what Who came up with this shit? works in the marketplace. Kotler is What was this man's intention? bound to agree with me."

What knowledge of QT will he measure by this absurd question? only know what Kotler has said about Who cares to use Statistics when you Marketing. They have no clue how that are in a watch shop? You simply buy the translates to designing a Marketing Plan bloody watch and get the fuck out. And for the district of Shimoga. Whereas I why would you care if different clocks in know what works in the marketplace. the shop showed different times.

Kotler is bound to agree with me."

I told myself that I would come back to "Who is Kotler? How does he know this later, after I had completed the other about Shimoga?" Even I didn't know who questions. Wouldn't you just calculate the that was. mean of all the different times and come "The guru of marketing, Abbey," Rusty to the conclusion ... wait... it must be the said, barely able not to sound patronising.

Median ... oh I know ... no ... OK MOVE I flushed. But he went on, "Philip Kotler's TO THE NEXT QUESTION...

Marketing Management: Analysis, I moved to the next question. And the Planning, Implementation and Control next. They were no better. The class had is the most widely used marketing text suddenly gone quiet. book in B-schools worldwide. The guy Chatto announced the next morning has a Ph D from MIT in Economics, did in his strongly accented squeaky tone, post-doctoral work in Mathematics at "The parson who scored the least in my Harvard, and in Behavioural Science at queez is Joyonto Ganguly. He scored 0.86 the University of Chicago." followed closely by Horpal Singh who "Do you know him?" got 1.38."

"We are not best friends or anything Jayant Ganguly alias "Joy" and Harpal like that. But yes our ideas have frequently Singh alias "Hairy" led the funereal march. struck a common chord. I have spoken Only Mozart's Requiem was missing to about decision making and planning provide the soundtrack for this mourning. models in Marketing. As in life, in I got 2.73.

72

ADOI MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS MAGAZINE

2.73 out of 10? What a nut case, giving marks in decimals. Couldn't you have rounded them off, you weirdo?

The top of the heap was Sethu. He got 9.8. We were all awestruck by the fact that Sethu had got a near perfect score - 9.8 out of ten was great. We remained impressed by Sethu's performance in the quiz until Chatto announced that the marks were out of 100.

Every MIJ nickname had a reason and story whether one knew it or not. These names became such common currency that one sometimes had to stop and think what the person's real name was. There were several categories of pet names.

The simplest ones were truncated versions of the original. Hence, David Chemmanoor became Chumma. Viswaranjan was Vishy.

Alpana was Alps (guess why). Hathaway became Haathi.

When there were five Venkateswarans floating around between the Senior and Junior batches, the shortened version of the name had a prefix attached to it. So instead of demanding impatiently, "Which fucking Venkat are you talking about?" we referred to them as - Junior Venky Senior Venky, Mess Venky who was our Mess Secretary and Curly Venky because of his frizzy hairstyle. Only one guy had the honour of being addressed as plain and simple Venky.

I was picking up the lingo thanks to the coaching I received from a Senior, in MIJ - Posh. His name was Tapas Misra. Chatto kept on pronouncing it as Taposh Miss-row.

Taposh was soon referred to as Posh in true MIJ tradition. I had been a willing customer for his old text books. He sold them to me at half the price. Once he got the money, he even threw in a bonus. He gave me a copy of the November 1979 issue of Penthouse and a bunch of Term Papers written by MlJ-ites over the years in different subjects.

"What would I want to do with this shit?" I asked Posh.

"The Penthouse is worth its weight in gold."

"I know. I was referring to the Term Papers."

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"I got them from someone who was here five years back. You know what that means?

You can use these as handy references especially when Beez gives you Term Papers to write.Just mix and match the stuff, change the sequence of the paragraphs but always add your own pictures and illustrations. Beez hates people cogging pictures. I don't think he reads the shit we write anyway. I am a great believer in recycling knowledge."

Dadu's Dhaba was the venue of our drinking binges on weekends since drinking liquor was prohibited in our Hostel. He loved the boozing sessions and our WCDMR (Pronounced WC-Dimmer and stood for Who Can Drink Most Rum) contests but hated our collective efforts at singing that happened during each such event. On these occasions, we would pool our resources and buy a few bottles of Old Monk Rum and pour it into a large drum that was permanently kept at Dadu's. Dadu would be given the honour of declaring the bacchanalia open. He would collect his share of three mugs of rum all at once and then gulp them down in large eager swigs.

Mug after plastic mug (a precautionary measure to prevent injuries from broken glasses!) would then be dipped into the drum and emptied thirstily. This would go on until the elbows became immobilized or the liquor ran out.

These booze sessions usually ended up with a bonfire and all of us, softened up by all that liquor, would sing our favourite Dylan songs. Bob Dylan was our hero. He wrote and said all what we wanted to. After the initial spell of drunken choral singing, we would hand over the stage to Arunesh for some professional grade music. That was the moment he loved and gloated over.

If you wanted him to sing a specific song, you had to address him as Arunesh - never Ana or Annie and ask for it in a suitably reverential tone.

Everybody, without exception, agreed that Arunesh played the guitar as well as Dylan. There was a certain magic in those starlit nights as the moonlight shone on his black Yamaha acoustic guitar. He caressed

A few more glasses of rum and he each note off the nylon strings and shiny would egg us on to greater heights, "Who frets. He once wrote down the lyrics of wants to sing the German Soldiers' song "Blowing in the Wind" for us on the with me? It goes something like this: blackboard. We all memorized the words and thereafter we sang it like it was our own The German soldiers went to anthem. hell Parlez-vous "How many roads must a man walk The German soldiers went to down before you can call him a man?" hell Parlez-vous It was not sung like a drunken sailor's The German soldiers went to hell song, but like a man's plea for an answer.

They screwed the Devil's wife There was something in that song that made as well, me pine for Delhi one helluva fucking lot Inky pinky parlez-vous. more than what I was capable of handling Once Chumma had gotten technical, emotionally. All that rum inside me did "Machan there's a not help either. For technical praablem in some strange reason it He once wrote down this saang. If they say reminded me of Priya the lyrics of "Blowing parlez-vous, it hassz and I missed her. I felt to be French soldiers, in the Wind" for us on sorry for all the times I da and not German. I had hurt her with my the blackboard. We all did French for stupid comments. memorized the words and eight months at the Did that mean I thereafter we sang it like it Alliance Fra^aise." loved her?

A yell from the was our own anthem.

NEVER!! She is not my kind. You "How many roads must a crowd followed by a volley of abuse that know that, don't you. man walk down before you can only be politely I would stop can call him a man?" summarized as, talking to myself and "Who cares?" but the would quickly get over exact words that were used ... You dont the ache and concentrate on the rum and want to know, da. the music.

This and several other songs had been Arunesh did not only depend on Dylan handed down through generations of for songs. He was equally at home singing MlJ-ites. Often, the singing continued till Kishore Kumar numbers complete with the soft rays of the moonlight gave way to yodelling and all. We all thought he sang the orange hues in the eastern sky. Some Simon and Garfunkel, Beatles and Cat of us would wake up to the sight of Gur Stevens just as well. Besides this sort of going for his daily run while others would mainstream music, there were Rugby songs quickly get back to the Hostel, avoiding that were especially requested for during eye contact with Haathi who would be our all-male singing sessions. Our eternal reading his Bible as he walked briskly favourite was Diana's Song: along the cobbled pathway that led to the Diana, Diana show me your legs Boys' Hostel.

Diana, Diana show me your legs Watching the sunset along the banks Diana, Diana show me your legs of Subarnarekha was a universal favourite.

A foot above your knee.

The sight would fill us up with wonder and amazement at the spectacle nature Rich girl rides a limousine could paint for us. Sometimes the colours Poor girl rides a truck would be so vibrant that it would look The only ride that Diana gets unreal. If Arunesh joined in with his Is when she is having a F...

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guitar and sang the soulful, "Kahin door jab din dhal jaye..." or "Woh shaam kuchh ajeeb thhii..." we would sit there mesmerized. The only challenge was to prevent some of the others, especially Chumma, from joining in and ruining the moment. Very often Chumma would get into an emotional knot then invariably Joy would discreetly remind him about a pending assignment.That would keep him silent and withdrawn until we returned to the hostel.

I thought Business Policy was all about making sense of oxymorons. Rusty s favourite example of this figure of speech had to be "Military Intelligence" or maybe "Civil Engineer."

"Ever seen one?" Rusty would ask as he cackled insanely.

As far as I was concerned, even "Business Policy" or "Strategic Planning" were oxymorons.

Rusty did not show the slightest interest in Alps assets. Instead he passed me a book called Lateral Thinking: Creativity Step by Step, by someone called Edward de Bono.

"The consultant was right, you know," he said to me. "Linear thinking can produce limited results when the problem is undefined. I had once read about a great example of lateral thinking. You want to know what it was."

Of course I did. Would save me the bother of reading it for myself. When you are used to being spoon-fed as we are in our education system, predigested mush is always welcome!

Rusty explained, "A hotel had a major problem. The guests constantly complained that the hotel lifts were too slow and they had to wait endlessly to be carried across floors. What would you suggest, Abbey, if they had called you in to solve this problem?"

"That's a no-brainer. The speed of the lifts would have to be adjusted so that the frigging lifts move faster. The lift mechanic could have told them that," I replied glibly.

74

I

"Now that is a classic example of linear thinking. You would never cut it as a consultant, Abbey. Listen to this. The consultant who was brought in suggested something truly amazing. He got the hotel to fix massive mirrors in the waiting area near the lifts. Within no time the complaints stopped. Why?" I pondered over it for a moment. "Why would you want to fix mirrors near the lift?

Some kind of optical illusion?"

"Hmmm ... yes and no. But mainly no, da. The mirrors gave the hotel guests something to do while waiting for the lifts."

"Yeah, I know that one. The mirrors let them make last minute surveys - check if

"Yeah, I know that one. The mirrors let them make last minute surveys - check if hair was in place, and fly zipped up before stepping into the lift.

Since they were occupied, they did not notice how slow the lifts were ... Hmmm ... Now it figures. hair was in place, and fly zipped up before stepping into the lift. Since they were occupied, they did not notice how slow the lifts were ... Hmmm ... Now it figures.

That's what Pari meant when he said we should look for the real problem and not the symptoms." I suddenly felt enlightened.

The train was moving past the over bridge. I could see the familiar outline of the Steel factory. The Dalma range of mountains. I was leaving behind a slew of memories of my two years in MIJ that had changed my life. I thought of Haathi and remembered that I had his letter in my shirt pocket. What could he have written? I opened the letter and read it. It was short note that was written in Haathi's unmistakable neat handwriting, each word carefully formed.

ADOI MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS MAGAZINE

The Tatanagar Express was on its way to Delhi. Was it the crimson smoke from the chimneys of the Steel Plant that blurred my vision of the city skyline? Or was it the gathering tear ...

DEAR ABBEY, As you step into the world of work, you are bringing to it the freshness of ideas and the power to change things.

And yet, there is the danger that all too soon you will forget why you came to a place like MIJ. No, you were not here to understand the Corporate Sector or the intricate theories of management. You came here to understand yourself and your strengths. To believe how easy it is for you to make a difference. That is the purpose of higher education. To instil in you the belief that you can make the world a better place.

Whenever you feel unhappy about something around you, remember, you have the capability within to improve it. So whether you choose to change it or choose to walk away and just complain - you have made a choice. As a professional manager, you will have opportunities to make things happen.

You have had the education that will tell you what to do and how to do it.

But it is only your heart that will tell you why you ought to.

There are no limits to which we can grow as human beings. Every morning we get up and make a choice about how much we will do to make a difference.

Every day we choose how much we will touch the lives of the less fortunate. Too many people give up the opportunity because they do not believe they can change things. I do hope this education has given you the belief within.

Never underestimate your ability to make a difference.

Nihil Ultra â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Nothing is Beyond Truly, Ed Hathaway

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