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febuary 2013
Instagram
Karma
Pg 14
Soaring
over
Southeast
asia!
How Starcom MediaVest Group COO for SEA,
Ranganathan is taking his team to new heights.
16 pages of
Malaysia's Top
Marketers
Pg 29
Media
Simplicity
Pg 46
Flipping
mad
Pg 48
Breathing Life into
Insurance
Pg 51
AUDIT BUREAU
OF CIRCULATIONS
12,525 copies!
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kdn no. pp15776/05/2013 (032083)
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MAD
2013
malaysian
advertising
directory
S
time to remove
your mask?
Email [email protected]
to find out more
february 2013
Regional Ceo
Harmandar Singh
[email protected]
Content Officer
Dinesh Kumar
[email protected]
Art Director
Chemical Ali
[email protected]
Deputy Art Director
Khairul Annuar aka An
[email protected]
Subscriptions
Ruby Lim
[email protected]
Photography & Digital Imaging
Lim Sok Lin
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Contagious Magazine
www.contagiousmagazine.com
Contributors: Josh Sklar, Sailesh Wadhwa
18
Wing to fly...... "Malaysia's Starcom Mediavest Group prides itself for being a place where
the extraordinary happens. A home where dreams take flight as team
members display a rare side in their pursuit of happiness. Making SMG a truly Human
Experience Company they claim to be. As we talk to their sky-diving boss Ranganatahn
Somanathan, take a brief journey on the various colourful personalities...
06
Product of the Year
comes to Malaysia
Printer: Cetakrapi Sdn. Bhd. (377281-B)
No. 22, Jalan Sri Ehsan Satu, Taman Sri Ehsan, Kepong,
52100, Kuala Lumpur
T: +60 (0)3 6273-6391 F: +60 (0)3 6273-6392
In a recent trip to Paris,
we managed to secured the
rights to host the internationallyfamous Product of the Year
awards in Malaysia, Singapore
and Indonesia. Product of the Year
was founded in 1987 in France
by former L’OREAL executive
Christian Le Bret...
Master Distribution Enterprise
G-5, Jalan SP2, Taman Segar Perdana, Cheras
56100 Kuala Lumpur
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consequences of reliance upon 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.
2
marketingfebruary2013
12
Lucky Seven!
Why “Lucky Seven” as a headline?
Simply put we are approaching our
seventh birthday and bearing in mind that
we chose to launch into a mature and very
competitive media industry seven years ago,
we are lucky to have survived. But we have
not only survived, we have actually thrived and
grown into one of the major challenger brands
in our industry....
Instagram,
karma’s gonna get you
What did Instagram get for selling itself
to Facebook? Sure, there was the billion
dollars in cash and stock, but CEO Kevin
Systrom also received Facebook’s hapless
gift of managing to clumsily trample upon
the privacy rights of its loyal users. For
some reason, these hot headed people...
Just
Flip-it!
51
How
insurance
is getting
sexy with youth
marketing.
In a recent social media
campaign, Great Eastern
Life Assurance (Malaysia)
Bhd engaged Creative
Juice for a social media
application to attract and
appeal to youth. The idea
was based on the insight
that youth are motivated in
various aspects...
There’s more to ‘feeling good’
about nytv7 these days. The
station is turning 15 and the
mission forward could not
be more telling: ntv7’s new
positioning appeals to the
modern urban progressive...
March 7-9 MALAYSIAN ADVERTISING CONGRESS
Details: 03-7660 8535
March 21
MALAYSIAN CHIEF MARKETING OFFICERS
(CMO) CONFERENCE
Matrade Exhibition & Convention Centre,
Kuala Lumpur Details: http://adoimagazine.com/cmo2012/
Nope, Nike’s
not changing its tagline,
but maybe it is time
we flip over our online
engagement plans to
the next level...
46
March 3-5 THE FESTIVAL OF MEDIA ASIA W Singapore-Sentosa Cove, Singapore Details: www.festivalofmedia.com/asia
March 17-19 ADFEST Royal Cliff Hotels Group, Pattaya, Thailand
Details: www.adfest.com
14
29 48
Simplifying
the market for
advertisers
EVENTS 2013
May 9-10
MALAYSIAN ADVERTISING CONGRESS (MAC)
Golden Palm Tree Resort & Spa, Sepang
Goldcoast.
Details: 03-7660 8535
June 16-22
60th CANNES INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF
CREATIVITY
Cannes, France.
Details: www.canneslions.com
28
54
february2013marketing
3
say what - points to ponder
I'm not a paranoid,
deranged millionaire.
God dammit!
I'm a billionaire.
Howard Hughes
I've been married to a communist
and a fascist, and neither would
take out the garbage. Zsa Zsa Gabor
You know you're a redneck if your
home has wheels and your car
doesn't. Jeff Foxworthy
The only reason that they say,
'Women and children first'
is to test the strength of
the lifeboats. Jean Kerr
When the white missionaries came to Africa,
they had the Bible and we had the land.
They said, 'Let us pray.' We closed our eyes.
When we opened them, we had the Bible
and they had the land.
Desmond Tutu
4
marketingfebruary2013
NEW
NEW
LOOK!
LOOK!
.
.
.
.
A
A
I
I
V
V
S
S
W
W
E
E
N
N
G
G
N
N
I
I
K
K
A
A
E
E
R
R
B
B
T
T
S
S
E
E
T
T
A
A
L
L
R
R
U
U
O
O
T
T
GGEE
eds note
By The Hammer, [email protected]
Product of the Year
comes to Malaysia
In a recent trip to Paris, we
managed to secured the rights to
host the internationally-famous
Product of the Year awards
in Malaysia, Singapore and
Indonesia.
Product of the Year was founded
in 1987 in France by former
L’OREAL executive Christian Le
Bret.
The annual award has been
around for 26 years and the Paris
show was held last month at Salle
Gaveau, a 1000-seat concert hall
designed by architect Jacques
Hermant in 1905.
Winners included top brands
like Nivea, Aquafresh, Pantene,
Garnier, Nestlé, Unlilever,
P&G, Glaxo SmithKline,
Colgate-Palmolive, ICI, Philips,
Sensodyne, etc.
For 12 months, manufacturers
and distributors of the winning
products are allowed to use
the Product of the Year title
and distinct red logo on their
packaging, promotions and
advertising.
Products are voted on entirely
by a nationally representative
sample of consumers. The survey
is designed to assess consumer
opinions on innovation, appeal,
satisfaction and purchase intent
of the competing products, with
innovation being the strongest
factor. All finalists who do not
win, receive their category
research report regardless of
outcome.
6
marketingfebruary2013
Left to right:
Eran Yasur - Partner in Forum Publishing and Product of the Year Awards, Harmandar Singh - Regional Publisher of MARKETING magazine
and Mr. Christian Le Bret - Founder and President of Product of the Year International.
Hosted in over 32 countries, Product
of the Year (POY) is the world’s largest
consumer-voted program and the only
award that recognizes innovation in
consumer packaged goods.
POY was created to champion innovative
consumer products and give shoppers
a shortcut to the most innovative new
products in the market.
For manufacturers of the winning
products, the award is a powerful
marketing message proven to increase
product trial, awareness, distribution
and sales.
It is not only a prestigious award but a
proven ROI tool: over the past 25 years
winners have enjoyed an average sales
increase of 10-15% in the US.
The Malaysian Product of the Year
2014 awards night is slated for 23
January, 2014.
INDUSTRY to MARKET
numbers don't lie
2012 Malaysia Top 10 Creative Wins
8
KFC
24%
TV9
24%
8TV
23%
TV3
15%
NTV7
14%
RTM2
22%
Hitz FM
21%
Era FM
TV
Commercial
20%
Sinar
19%
Hot Fm
18%
Fly FM
december 2012
AD Agency
Account
Area
Ogilvy
Philips
Asia Pacific Lowe
Perodua Automobiles
Malaysia
McCann WorldGroup Maxis
Malaysia
Leo Burnett
Maxis Communications
Malaysia
Leo Burnett
Maybank
Malaysia
Ogilvy
Malaysia Airlines
Malaysia
DDB
Star Media Group
Malaysia
Publicis
Nescafe
Malayisa
Leo Burnett
IKEA Malaysia
BBDO
Visa Asia Pacific Media Agency
Account
MindShare
Maxis
Market
Malaysia
MindShareUnilever
Malaysia
Initiative
F&N
Malaysia
Vizeum
Panasonic
Malaysia
Initiative
Malaysia Airlines
Global
Universal McCann
Carrefour
Malaysia
Vizeum
Perodua
Malaysia
Starcom MediaVest
Kao
Malaysia
Universal McCann
Proton Holdings
Malaysia
OMD
Genting Resort
Malaysia
marketingfebruary2013
TV
Commercial
0%
93.5%
Radio
Commercial
Maxis
Hotlink
Colgate
Milo
New Ads Introduction
* This is a monthly tracking of all broadcast advertising across both TV and Radio channels. It is published in conjunction
with MARKETING magazine as part of the joint program to provide greater industry information. The above tracking data was
generated using frequency of advertising spots appearing between the period 21st October to 17th November 2011 from
incidence that is publicly broadcasted by stations with FTA standards and selected Astro Channels namely Astro AEC, ESPN,
Prima and Ria, while Radio Stations are Sinar, Era FM, Hitz FM, Hot FM, Mix FM, Lite FM, Fly FM, and MY FM> Tracking based
on Brand Visibility i.e number of ad spots appeared.
50%
Top Media
Publisher:
Radio
Total Ads
Total Ads
50%
Radio
Commercial
Top Media
Publisher:
TV
Spritzer
Ministry of Information
Downy
Ministry of Health
Maxis
1800
1600
1400
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
QSR Brands Berhad
Ministry of Health
Fraser & Neave Coca-Cola
Maxis Communications
Top 10 Brand Rankings
Nestlé Products
Nestlé Products
Maxis Communications
Colgate-Palmolive
Unilever (M) Holdings
6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0
Procter & Gamble
Top 10 Biggest Advertisers
Type of Ads
RankSites
1
Mudah.my
2
maybank2u.com.my
3
lowyat.net
4
thestar.com.my
5
Air Asia
6
cimbclicks.com.my
7
Mylaunchpad.com.my
8
maxis.com.my
9
hmetro.com.my
10 utusan.com.my
11 groupon.my
12 beautifulnara.com
13 jobstreet.com.my
14 cari.com.my
15 Malaysiakini.com
16 themalaysianinsider.com
17 anm.gov.my
18 kosmo.com.my
19 olx.com.my
20 majalah.com
21 Malaysia Airlines
22 agoda.com.my
23 astro.com.my
24 zalora.com.my
25 tripadvisor.com.my
26 sinarharian.com.my
27 digi.com.my
28 carigold.com
29 busuk.org
30 iProperty.com Malaysia
UB’sPV’s
4,742,697 355,602,633
3,689,238 41,946,185
2,305,154 52,321,509
2,210,750 25,579,252
2,034,213 36,399,716
2,021,644 14,092,314
1,813,403 18,581,749
1,690,638 13,270,429
1,480,718 23,063,692
1,356,742 14,518,394
1,324,019 11,855,934
1,277,610 14,740,362
1,267,456 23,336,010
1,194,131 32,476,971
1,135,472 21,470,483
1,069,454 10,241,332
1,062,148 14,834,015
1,026,550 17,434,982
1,007,679 3,082,066
986,729
8,602,225
951,115
11,125,512
936,450
3,253,710
915,562
7,775,294
850,556
11,789,533
840,082
5,392,364
833,144
9,509,934
821,227
7,528,514
817,037
9,695,982
783,518
3,624,560
768,398
16,947,506
ASD
APVPS
00:43 15:06
02:50 09:01
01:19 10:41
01:29 05:38
01:46 18:15
02:30 06:19
01:18 02:15
01:48 04:49
01:20 07:08
01:19 05:02
02:37 08:52
01:27 05:12
01:27 09:59
02:54 26:28
02:43 08:37
01:44 05:02
01:17 08:33
01:13 06:39
01:56 06:14
02:23 14:35
02:20 17:51
01:57 07:01
01:08 05:41
01:14 14:11
01:47 11:39
01:30 06:16
01:43 11:34
02:24 18:57
02:37 11:33
00:59 10:32
index
companies/agencies
AMP Radio Networks 38
BAT 40
Bates Advertising 40
Bonia Corporation 15
BRDB 40
Carlsberg IndoChina 45
Carlsberg Malaysia 45
Carlson Marketing 35
Catcha Digital 37
Celcom 37, 40, 45
Celcom Axiata Berhad 43
CIMB 35
Coopers & Lybrand 40
Creative Juice KL 51
DiGi Malaysia 31
DiGi Telecommunications 15, 38
DOIT, Ekaterinburg 28
Dutch Lady Malaysia 32
Ericsson 43
ESPN STAR Sports 60
Fonterra Brands 44
Forbes Magazine 60
FOX International Channels 60
FrieslandCampina Germany 32
Fujitsu Malaysia 41
Garnier 6
GCH (M) Retail 15
Glaxo SmithKline 6
Great Eastern Life Assurance
(Malaysia) Berhad 41, 50, 51
Hakuhodo Singapore 60
Heineken Asia Pacific 31
Hotel Equatorial 38
HSBC Malaysia 30, 40, 44
IBM 36
ICI 6
IKEA 49
Indosat 37
Khazanah Nasional 16, 39
LeapEd Services Sdn Bhd 16, 39
Lewre International 15
LG 38
LG Electronics 38
L’OREAL 2, 6, 33
Lowe & Partners 17
Lucent Technologies 31
Malaysia Airlines 35
Malaysia airlines group 35
Malaysia’s National ICT
Association (PIKOM) 36
Mamee Double Decker 42
MAS Holidays 35
MAS Wings 35
Maxis 33
Maybank Group 30
McCann Erickson 17
McDonald 39
M&C Saatchi 17
Mediavest & Optimedia 25
Mercedes-Benz 42
10 marketingfebruary2013
Miacomunicazione 28
Microsoft 37
Mindshare 37
MSN.com.my 37
Naga DDB 17
Narayana yoga center 28
NEC 40
Nestlé Malaysia 44
Netflix debacle 14
Nike Malaysia 38
Ogilvy Malaysia 17
Ogilvy & Mather 17
PepsiCo 39
PETRONAS 34, 40
P&G 6, 21, 33
Proton Holdings Berhad 15, 16
Prudential Assurance
Malaysia Berhad 36
RHB Bank 44
scubazoo.com 23
SJ Securities 40
Sony 40
Starcom Mediavest Group 2,
18, 21, 23, 24
Taylor’s University 36
Telekom Malaysia Berhad 15
Telkomsel 37
the Volkswagen Group
Malaysia 42
Time Magazine 49
TM 34, 40
Total Sports Asia 17
Travel Solutions with AIMIA 35
Tune Talk 15
U Mobile Sdn Bhd 38
UMW Toyota 38
UNICEF 12
Unilever 6, 30, 37, 52
Universiti Sains Malaysia 36
University of Manchester
(UMIST) 40
URC Snack Foods 32
Viacom International Media
Networks (VIMN) Asia 52
Visa International (Asia
Pacific) Ltd 44
Vizeum 12, 13
Wipro Unza Malaysia 33
Y&R Malaysia 17
YTL Communications Sdn Bhd 43
Zenith Media 40
brands
7Up 39
8TV 46, 47
Anchor Butter 44
Anlene 44
Anmum 44
Aquafresh 6
Astro 60
Axe 37
Axion 32
Benson & Hedges 39
Campbell’s Soup & Sauces 38
Cheezels 39
Chesdale 44
Chipsmore 39
Clear 37
Coca-Cola 39, 44, 48
Colgate-Palmolive 6
Danone Dumex 31
Doritos 39
Double Decker (M) Sdn Bhd 42
Dumex 39
Dutch Lady 40
Enchanteur 33
Fab 32
Facebook 3, 14, 35, 49, 51
Fernleaf (CalciYum & Solivite)
44
Gatorade 39
Glo 32
Instagram 3, 14
Jacobs 39
KFC 38
KimberlyCun 51
KinkyBlueFairy 51
KitKat 40
Kiwi Household Care 32
Kiwi Shoe 32 KokoKrunch 40
Kraft 39
Kraft General Foods 38
KYSpeaks 51
Lay’s 39
Lipton Ice Tea 39
Maggi 40
Mamee Instant Noodles 42
Mamee Monster 42
Mild Seven 39
Milo 40
Mister Potato 42
Mountain Dew 39
Nescafe 40
Nespray 40
Nestlé 6, 40
Nestum 40
Nike 3, 48
Nivea 6
Nokia 37
ntv7 3, 46, 47
Pampas 39
Pantene 6
Pavel Fuksa 60
Pepsi 39
Philips 6
Product of the Year 2, 6
Protex 32
Proton 39
Quaker 39
Revive 39
Rexona 30
Rexona 37
Ridsect 32
Rothmans 39
Ruffles 39
Safi Balqis 33
Safi Rania Gold 33
Salem 39
Schweppes 39
Sensodyne 6
The Straits Times 60
Tiger Biscuits 39
Tropicana Twister 39
TV3 47
Twisties 39
Vaselin 37
YES 43
peoples
Abdul Sani 30
Adeline Ong 52
Airin Zainul 46
Albern 31
Alexis Blanco 60
Alex Lee 25, 28
Andrea Nisha Samuel 22
Ang Chong Lee 31
Anja 32
Anna Ivoylova 28
Bobby Octaviano 19
Christian Le Bret 2, 6
Christina 33
Daman Harun 19
Dato’ Lewre Lew 15
Dato Medan 34
Dato’ Rozalila Abdul Rahman
15, 34
Dean 35
Effendy 35
Eric wong 36
Eugen Suman 60
Fiona 36
Geoffroy De Drouas 15
Gianmaria Carpani 28
Harith 37
Henry Golding 33
Herry Budiazhari 37, 52
Hugo verkuil 37, 52
Hui Tsin 51
Ian Cruddas 15
Indra Suharjono 52
Jacques Hermant 6
Jandl 60
Jason Isley 23
Jason Lo 15
Jeanette 38
Joanne 38
Jocelyn 39
John D Chacko 16, 39
Joyce Wong 51
Juliet Yap 45
K. C. Chong 40
Keirsten Clark (a.k.a. Dilly) 23
Kevin Systrom 3, 14
Khairul Fahmi 42
Khoo Kar Khoon 40
Marcello Severino 28
Gianmaria Carpani 28
Marek Wilhalm 60
Mei 33
Michele Lum 41
Mohamed Adam 30
Nazmi Mansor 42
Nicholas Kua 41, 50, 51
Nick Drew 24, 25
Oprah 49
Owen 17
Peter Hutton 60
Petra Schreiber 42
Phaik Sim 44
Pierre 42
Pok Jin’s 43
Rajen 44
Ranganatahn Somanathan
18, 21
Reggie Chee 43
Remy Ishak 33
Rocco Patella 28
Rozita Che Wan 33
Sa’ad Hussein 51
Safee Sali 42
Satish Khattar 60
Shila Amzah 33
Spencer 45
Steven Tai 43
Teh Siow Ling 15
Tim Rahimov 28
Tommy Tan 25
Uzair Othman 51
Wai Keong 32
Wong PiYee25
Wyman Wong 19
Youli Hooi 25
Zalman 45
W Singapore - Sentosa Cove
3-5 March 2013
All
things
Media
MORE ADVERTISERS PRESENT THAN
AT ANY OTHER MEDIA EVENT IN ASIA
Banyan Tree ○ BMW Asia ○ Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group ○ Chrysler
○ Coca-Cola ○ Coutts ○ Diageo ○ GlaxoSmithKline ○ Hilton Worldwide
○ Interparfums ○ Kimberly-Clark ○ Manchester United ○ MasterCard
Worldwide ○ National Basketball Association ○ Pizza Hut ○ Starwood
Hotels & Resorts Worldwide ○ Unilever ○ Volkswagen ○ xperian
BE PART OF IT. BOOK NOW.
Follow us on #foma13
asia
/
m
ia.co
d
e
m
f
ivalo
t
s
e
f
.
www
Organised by
marketing research
By Andy Miller, CEO Vizeum Malaysia
Lucky S
Why “Lucky Seven” as a headline?
Simply put we are approaching our
seventh birthday and bearing in mind
that we chose to launch into a mature
and very competitive media industry
seven years ago, we are lucky to have
survived. But we have not only survived,
we have actually thrived and grown into
one of the major challenger brands in our
industry.
So in celebration of our upcoming
birthday, here are seven lucky insights to
our successful path so far.
Vizeum have pioneered media
neuroscience through our tool
“Motivation to Media”.
This research and
tool helps us to think from a brand
and consumer perspective. It helps
us to develop bespoke integrated
communications plans for our clients. It
enables us to develop a neutral approach
to communications planning based on
finding moments in people’s lives that
are driven by particular motivations. We
measure brands, different types of media,
down to specific programs and titles
against human motivation.
By adopting this approach we deliver
stronger connections between people and
brands and gain subconscious insights.
And the subconscious is where 80% of
brand decisions are made.
Vizeum have and uses the best in
class strategic media tools.
Knowledge is power and as
a global group we invest over
GBP 15 million annually to ensure that
the knowledge we gather can be turned
12 marketingfebruary2013
into wisdom for our clients’ benefit. We
have six Consumer tools, six Media tools,
three Strategy tools and various Search
and Online tools. Through Posterscope
our Out-Of-Home partner and market
leader, we have four tools capturing
unique insights to this under-researched
medium.
Our CCS (Consumer Connection
System) is recognized as the largest and
most in-depth consumer media study,
surpassing industry standards by up to
10 times.
Our portfolio of tools is recognized
by RECMA as being market leading in
a very competitive landscape. RECMA
is the worldwide independent research
company evaluating the media agency
industry and is recognized by local
associations.
Vizeum use processes that build
brands through seamless usage of
online and offline media.
Our Integrated
Communication Planning process (“ICP”)
allows us to understand the consumer
portrait, footprint and journey and
link this through strategy, seamlessly
integrating online and offline media
through the Bought Owned Earned
model. This model enables us to
understand how to attract consumers,
what’s required to turn those consumers
into customers, and to convert customers
into elusive fans.
The beauty of this process when
achieved is that we are building
personalized media channels for our
clients and ultimately delivering more for
less investment.
We care for our clients, each
other and the environment
The people at Vizeum have
been picked and nurtured to be
knowledgeable team players. It’s not only
about what they know, it’s also about how
they can work with other people and in
teams. We try to live our work lives under
the mantra of “Impossible is nothing”
and “Two heads are better than one”.
We commit a lot of time for training and
have a dedicated training room that seats
over 80 people.
We are active in green and charitable
causes. The latest is a partnership with
UNICEF where we are doing some pro
bono consultancy work with them.
... We named this
space the “Play
Room” and included
bean bags and the
ability to write across
three of the four walls.
This enables us to
see the Objectives,
Insights, Strategies
and Ideas all in one
view. This became
a working symbol of
our intent to produce
excellent work...
marketing research
Seven
We have been recognized with two
awards for the work we have done in
turning our office green with a number of
programs that have significantly reduced
our carbon footprint.
We have senior directors who lead us
in social event organization to celebrate
new business wins, award wins, etc.
In our annual staff satisfaction
survey, our company positively outscores
our other group companies and is always
way above average at a global level.
Our staff turnover is currently
running at below 10% a year which is
acknowledged as extremely low in a high
turnover industry.
When we care about our people, they
care about their work and the brands
they steward.
Vizeum is passionate about great
work.
Great work starts with
good thinking and excellent
ideas. To produce outstanding work
consistently, a culture for great work
needs to be nurtured.
When we launched, we created a
brainstorm room that sits in the centre of
our office.
We named this space the “Play Room”
and included bean bags and the ability to
write across three of the four walls. This
enables us to see the Objectives, Insights,
Strategies and Ideas all in one view.
This became a working symbol of our
intent to produce excellent work.
We improved our team working
talents with a process called the “Vizeum
Way” which keeps brainstorms focused
and on track. Most of the best ideas
we have produced have started from
brainstorms in the Play Room.
We have also created an internal
award called “Fame & Fortune 500”.
This is recognition for the best idea on
a monthly basis that comes with a large
silver cup and a monetary prize. The cup
sits on the winners table until the next
month when it’s up for grabs again.
In the last five years, we have won
9 Gold, 5 Silver and 10 Bronze awards.
These have come on a global, regional
and local stage.
In 2012, our work was chosen as the
best case study from the total Vizeum
global network of 54 offices.
Vizeum breed loyalty with our
clients.
In our seven years of
operation we have not lost a
single key client. By key client we mean
those six to seven clients that make up
over 80% of our billings. Some have been
re-pitched but to date we have retained
all.
In Vizeum we care about the quality
of our work over the quantity of work. We
have turned down many pitches because
after winning new business we prefer to
get the service right to that client before
chasing further new accounts.
We have never wanted to be the
biggest, only one of the best.
In the 2012 RECMA Qualitative
evaluation for Malaysia, we were placed
in the Top 3. In the 2012 CREAM
awards, we won Best in Account and
Business Orientation Agency of the Year
which includes both creative and media
agencies.
Vizeum start from a different
place, being younger has its
advantages.
Vizeum was created
for the new era of media. This new era
recognized the centre stage that media
has taken from the traditional players.
What is important now is understanding
how people make decisions about brands
today. Understanding how the new
media is changing, how and what we buy.
But not forgetting the timeless human
motivations that drive us as people.
Balancing these are the keys to
success, as only by understanding both
can we release the creative power of
media to connect brands and consumers.
Having a shared vision is important
to any team or company. We are
completely hooked on ours.
To conclude
An interview took place many years
ago between the great golfer, Gary Player
and a TV commentator. Gary had just
finished one of his best rounds of golf to
win his first major and was being asked
questions about his play. The hapless
commentator asked Gary if he thought
luck had played a part in this amazing
round he had just played. His answer was
yes, certainly luck was on his side but the
funny thing about luck he added, is the
harder you work and longer you practice
the luckier you become.
In Vizeum, like Gary, we believe in
making our own luck.
february2013marketing 13
online marketing
Instagram,
karma’s gonna
get you
... How about a
photo of your kids
giving an artfully
filtered thumbs
up in an ad for
a Lego knockoff company,
complete with
your name for that
extra splash of
endorsement?...
by Josh Sklar
President / Creative Director of Heresy
[email protected],@chiefheretic,
http://heresy.co
14 marketingfebruary2013
What did Instagram get
for selling itself to Facebook?
Sure, there was the billion
dollars in cash and stock,
but CEO Kevin Systrom also
received Facebook’s hapless
gift of managing to clumsily
trample upon the privacy
rights of its loyal users.
For some reason, these hot
headed people immediately
and vehemently responded
to a preview of a simple
change to Facebook’s privacy
policy and terms of service
for its companies by deleting
their Instagram hosted (and
filtered) photos and accounts
and then jumping on other
social networks, most notably
parent site Facebook, to
encourage everyone to do the
same. Articles were quickly
written and eagerly shared
to show the most complete
way to go about it. The
policy change in question
that caused such a violent
response? Yes, it was all about
that most controversial of
subjects: advertising.
According to the proposed
change of policy, the photo
sharing subsidiary will be able
to “share user content and
your information,” including
GPS, cookies, and other
personal data, with other
Facebook-owned companies.
In other words, Instagram
would seemingly be giving
access and permission for
companies to use any user’s
name and network-posted
photos to advertise a product
or service. How about a
photo of your kids giving an
artfully filtered thumbs up
in an ad for a Lego knock-off
company, complete with your
name for that extra splash
of endorsement? For many
people, even with a brand
they have elected to follow,
the idea of being “used”
for commercial purposes
without express permission
– let alone the possibility of
compensation – is not just
undesirable, it is downright
insulting and, worse, a
betrayal.
Systrom quickly attempted
to clarify exactly what the
legalese really meant, but
with so many users noisily
closing their accounts and the
extremely bad publicity that
followed, he was soon forced
to announce a complete
reversal; mortifying shades of
this summer’s Netflix debacle.
At the end of the day, it’s not
clear from the reverted terms
of service if Instagram’s users
gained or lost anything, but
what is undeniable is the
sensitivity brands need to
demonstrate no matter how
stable a fan base they have,
especially when it comes to
personal data and advertising.
In these days where it’s as
easy to get the word out to
everyone you’ve ever known
as sending a text, companies
have to strategically consider
the implications to not only
bold actions, but also plain
and careful wording when
describing even those they
consider mundane.
A brand that disregards
the real or imagined rights of
online audiences by putting
its own needs first risks
everything from alienation
to a major PR nightmare and
it’s really not encouraging
when a social media poster
child like Instagram proves
it is as insensitive and artless
as any brick and mortar
organization. Ad agencies
can’t duplicate the success
of a viral video because they
haven’t cracked the winning
formula that makes such
an effort effective; perhaps
Instagram likewise simply
got lucky with its social
business model and has no
more insight than anyone
else, despite Facebook’s mind
blowing monetary vote of
confidence. Or maybe they’ve
lost that intuition because
of Facebook’s investment
and their new required
focus. Either way, if they
don’t become more astute
at gauging reactions to their
new business model, they
won’t have a business and
that’s a modern day lesson for
everyone.
news
With the theme “Overcoming Challenges,
Enhancing Growth”, KLITF 2012 was
aimed at providing participants with
opportunities to network as well gain
knowledge and insight from speakers
comprising successful businessmen who
shared their experience and provided
useful information relating to their
respective businesses, namely Jason Lo
from Tune Talk, Ian Cruddas from GCH
(M) Retail, Geoffroy De Drouas from
Bonia Corporation, Dato' Lewre Lew
from Lewre International, Yeap
Siow Ling returns to telco
industry.
A marketing veteran for over 20 years, Ms
Teh Siow Ling is now General Manager of
Marketing & Brand Communications at
Telekom Malaysia Berhad.
She was previously Head of Integrated
Marketing at Proton Holdings Berhad
for over 3 years and before that Head
of Marketing Communications at DiGi
Telecoms. In her new role at Telekom
Malaysia, she reports directly to Chief
Marketing Officer Dato’ Rozalila Abdul
Rahman.
news
John from Group CMO to
CEO!
Proton Holdings’ Director of
Group Marketing, Branding and
Motorsports John D Chacko is now
CEO and MD of LeapEd, Khazanah's
education services company.
A wholly-owned subsidiary of
Khazanah Nasional, LeapEd Services
Sdn Bhd was incorporated in 2010
with the vision of becoming a leader
in the provision of education services
in Malaysia and in the region.
LeapEd is the first local education
services provider which is directly
involved in Malaysia’s pioneer public
school transformation programme,
the Yayasan AMIR Trust Schools
Programme.
John served as Jury Chairman for last
year's Effie awards and is also Vice
President of the Malaysian chapter
of the International Advertising
Association.
16 marketingfebruary2013
news
Owen joins Total Sports Asia
Total Sports Asia (TSA), Asia’s global
leader in sports content and branding
solutions, has announced the arrival of
Owen Leed on to the senior management
team. Owen joins the team as Chief
Revenue Officer.
Marketing Officer of South African
Tourism where he created and hosted
sporting activities in South Africa and
then spent several years launching
and managing A1GP World Cup of
Motorsport teams and events in South
East Asia.
TSA has a phenomenal track record
over the past 16 years and its goals are
now firmly set on incremental business
growth going forward. In addition to
revenue acquisition, the role will also
support Marcus Luer, TSA’s Chief
Executive Officer, on follow up work
on new projects across the region and
globally.
Owen joins the company with a 25
year track record of agency, client and
media owner experience spanning
the globe and many industry sectors.
He has worked in senior roles at a
host of Advertising and Marketing
agencies and has also worked in various
fields including Tourism as the Chief
Malaysia's Top 3 global Gunn
agencies!
According to the latest 2012 Gunn
Report, Malaysia's top awarded
ad agencies are Ogilvy & Mather, Y&R
Malaysia and M&C Saatchi.
Malaysia's Gunn Report international
rankings has been dropping since 2009
when Malaysia was
the 16th most awarded creative country
in the world. In 2012, Malaysia ranked
joint 26th globally.
Details at http://www.gunnreport.com
Ogilvy Malaysia Kuala Lumpur's
Pictionary Quick Draw campaign also
won the second most awarded print ad/
campaign in the world in 2012.
The previous year's top three Malaysian
agencies were McCann Erickson,
Ogilvy & Mather, plus Lowe & Partners
and Naga DDB (joint third).
The Gunn Report, created in 1999,
combines the winners' lists from all of the
world’s most important award contests,
to establish the annual worldwide league
tables for the advertising industry.
february2013marketing 17
Wings
to fly!
"Malaysia's Starcom Mediavest Group prides itself
for being a place where the extraordinary happens.
A home where dreams take flight as team members
display a rare side in their pursuit of happiness.
Making SMG a truly Human Experience Company
they claim to be. As we talk to their sky-diving boss
Ranganatahn Somanathan, take a brief journey on
the various colourful personalities and talent that
flourish within the hallow confines of Malaysia's
leading media specialist network..."
18 marketingjanuary2013
cover story
Daman Harun
Activation
Specialist
Was a dancer and
choreographer in
New York, loves the
performing arts.
Travelled to many
countries.
Active volleyball player.
Returned recently to
Malaysia after years in
New York....
Photo credit: Wyman Wong
Photo credit: Bobby Octaviano
The dilemma of using Nielsen’s adex
as a barometer for the industry
seems to have come full circle as
many media specialists tell their
clients that only 50% of the figures
are true? What is your take on this?
Nielsen Adex can be more
robust. However, the industry
stakeholders - MSA, MAA
and media owners have to
work with an aligned purpose
and investments to ramp up
the reliability of the data.
Within the constraints of
research funding and media
fragmentation, I believe
we have usable data. This
is provided the user and
consumer of the data are
research savvy and know the
underlying principles of adex
reporting.
Nielsen, unfortunately
has added to the slack by not
introducing new approaches
to measuring digital, OOH etc
and has lost the opportunity to
be the torch bearer on media
accountability. For now, caveat
emptor
What’s your stand when guiding
clients to use only ABC-audited
publications? Especially when less
than 15% of Malaysian magazines are
actually audited by ABC…
Accountability is at the
core of what ABC is striving
to achieve. It is a precarious
situation that 'less than
15%' are holding themselves
accountable.
If the publishers have
nothing to hide, there is no
reason not to be audited and
be held accountable.
We clearly articulate in
our recommendations to
our clients on what titles are
audited and hence verified
and which titles are claimed
circulation and not verified.
What, in your opinion, will be the
next big thing for Malaysian media
in 2013?
Multi platform integration,
specifically Online Video and
Mobile will come of age in
2013.
Television seems to be fortifying
its strength as a medium of choice
while embracing the internet moving
forward….how will this impact the
other big player, print?
Any media owner,
irrespective of TV/Print, will
perish if they are not able to
leverage the power of internet
to meaningfully engage with
their audience in realtime.
We have seen Print media
embracing the power of
internet in Malaysia. The Star
is a good example of investing
and experimenting in this
space. We look for more such
interplay across platforms
february2013marketing 19
cover story
from other players in the
ecosystem.
are willing to engage agencies
on merit.
As President of the Malaysian
Media Association, share with us if
discounts are the main reason why
advertisers switch agencies?
Is undercutting still the name of
the game?
Pricing is a key measure,
if not the only measure, in
choosing an agency. Both
the advertisers and the
agencies are accelerating
the downward spiral of
the effectiveness of their
advertising dollars whenever
they lose the balance on price
v/s differentiation.
The heartening fact is
that many advertisers in
Malaysia, still see the benefit
of strong product, team and
There are still rumblings that the
Malaysian Media Awards is an event
that celebrates media which rides
on creative excellence, more than
innovative media thinking. What is
your opinion?
Malaysian Media Awards
has a very democratic
approach to shortlisting,
judging and rewarding good
work. Insights, Strategy,
Activation and Results are
the key factors that are
evaluated. Senior marketers,
agency leaders are involved
along with media owners in
the judging. What one sees
is only the winning work,
not the number of rejections.
The jury and the jury
20 marketingfebruary2013
president are very diligent in
kicking out scam work, work
created by creative agencies,
etc. There will always be
rumblings and grumblings
from various stakeholders on
the fringe. We take all inputs
with equal seriousness and
see if it enhances the awards
as we go forward. With rampant staff poaching and
high turnover in your industry,
how is Starcom Mediavest Group
coping?
If we take the above as
a constant, we can work
around this reality.
We have transformed
the environment in SMG
over the last 5 years. Our
focus on creating meaningful
experiences is not limited
only for our client's
consumers but also for our
talent. Diversity, flexible
work environment and our
'liquid talent' program has
enabled us to attract the
best in class as well as retain
the right talent. We are
considered by the industry
as the best training ground,
with best processes, systems
and apps to power our talent
to realize their full potential.
We already see account
management highly prevalent in
media specialists companies today?
Will we see Creative become a
product from media specialists, or
is that already happening?
Clients are seeking
integrated thinking and
collaborative multi-
... Pricing is a key measure,
if not the only measure, in
choosing an agency. Both the
advertisers and the agencies
are accelerating the downward
spiral of the effectiveness of their
advertising dollars whenever
they lose the balance on price
v/s differentiation...
functional teams. Media
Specialists are offering
this via consumer
focussed solutions
delivered through Media.
Creativity is at the core of
this process.
The ' creative product'
you are talking about
is making a TVC, art
direction, copy writing
etc. I don't see this
becoming mainstream for
media specialists.
Commercial avoidance
and audience erosion are
compounding the problems
for many media planners. How
do your planners tackle these
issues for precise targeting?
The same technology
which is aiding
Ranganathan
Somanathan
COO of Starcom
MediaVest Group
South East Asia
Ranga has 15 years of experience
in advertising and research.
An SMG’er at heart, joined the
company in 2002 in Malaysia
leading research, strategic
planning and the P&G AOR
team. During this time, in
addition to commissioning
client specific research projects,
was instrumental in deploying
SMG’s global tools & systems
in Malaysia, such as MISER,
Pathways, EventScope to name
a few. In 2004 was recognized
by Media Magazine as a Top 10
Suit in Asia, for the holistic work
done for Microsoft. In 2005, he
was promoted and packed off
to Indonesia as MD of Starcom
Indonesia. During his stint there,
the operation grew by 40% and
had a new business success rate
of 75%. In early 2008, moved
to Singapore as VP - Insights
& Analytics, launching SMG’s
proprietary research - IntenTrack
- a new measure of marketing
accountability. Considered
as a liquid talent by SMG
management, was tasked to lead
the Starcom P&G team in Japan
since January 2009. In January
2013, he was promoted as Chief
Operating Officer, SEA.
february2013marketing 21
Andrea Nisha
Samuel
Digital Manager
Represented Malaysia
as Softball player
(1993-98).
Likes any sport where
she can run around,
like Futsal, Basketball,
Football, etc. Ex-PR
queen turned media
specialist!
22 marketingfebruary2013
cover story
Photo credit: Jason Isley/scubazoo.com
Keirsten Clark
(a.k.a. Dilly)
Digital Manager
Professional scuba
diving instructor.
Film photography is
her passion. Crazy cat
lady, she has a cat
called “Belang”. Speaks
Malay, loves chocolate.
Midnight oil junkie.
commercial avoidance
and audience erosion also
aids precision targeting. At
Starcom MediaVest Group
(SMG), we are training
our planners to create
meaningful experiences,
designing for the collective
and delivering for the
individual. We are on a
journey where, we'll cease to
buy media and buy audiences
instead.
Online. The big elephant in the
room. How are media planning
skills being optimized in this space?
Since 2009, we at
Starcom MediaVest Group
embarked on a digital
mainstreaming program.
100% of our talent,
irrespective of buyers,
planners, specialists, have
been trained to plan, buy and
implement across analog and
digital platforms. Everyone
has taken the SEM tests
run by Google. We have
a dedicated continuous
learning program developed
globally on Mobile, Social,
search etc, which any of
our staff can access to
sharpen their skills. This is
a big driver for our aspiring
talent pool. This is further
backed by unique tools
developed in-house like the
Online Optimiser tool which
integrates TV optimization
with digital. We are seeing
pretty amazing results
coming out of this push at
SMG.
Do you see any digital acquisitions
by your group in the coming
year? What advice would you give
Malaysia's growing number of
digital shops?
Not at a liberty to
comment on group level
acquisitions in Malaysia.
However, we are constantly
building capability in-house
and where practical, we
acquire capabilities which
complement our play. For
SMG Malaysia, we are
keen to see how best we
can collaborate and benefit
from the recent Aracnid
acquisition by the group.
What are your personal and
professional resolutions for 2013?
Personally, have been
aspiring to run a long
distance race and also have
a dream to drive from KL to
Mumbai. While have started
with baby steps towards long
distance running, and aiming
to initiate the cross country
drive in 2013. Will have to
achieve both of this without
eroding my time with family,
at home and at work. That's
going to be some juggling to
do!
Helping people realize
their potential has always
energised me a lot, at work.
In 2013, achieving mastery
of coaching practice will be a
key focus. The other big focus
will be to get my teams spend
even more time on human
interactions, building a
human experience company
at core. This will require a
higher degree of automation,
realising our people's time
spent in front of laptops and
increasing engagements with
february2013marketing 23
cover story
Nick Drew
Managing Director
Starcom Malaysia
Avid rugby player, every week
he shows up bruised! Likes
adventure sports and recently
took part in the Borneo
Endurance Race. Signed up for
martial arts and Thai boxing.
Likes sports but also has a quiet
side, he loves to fish. Never
misses a rugby game, especially
when England is playing!
24 marketingfebruary2013
Alex Lee
Digital Planner
Wong PiYee
Managing Director,
Mediavest &
Optimedia
Has 44,645 Twitter
followers. Likes to put
up quotes to inspire his
Twitter followers.
Very particular about
his hairstyle – current
style is Beckham
inspired. In college, he
was a swimmer and
golf instructor.
Left of Mickey.... Supermum
superboss type, juggles
the running of MediaVest
and Optimedia Malaysia
while being a doting mum.
She's a foodie, and loves
holidays, especially timeout with her family and
two boys.
Youli Hooi
Human
Experience,
Strategy Director
Loves animals
(especially dogs).
Serious about doing
everything right,
she will go for a
class just to make
a proper cup of
coffee! Or baking
classes. She is an
environmentalist.
Loves scuba diving,
'house doctor'
dispensing her
services to the
team.
Andrenalin junkie.
people; consumers, clients,
media owners and agency
partners.
How will your regional role impact
SMG in Malaysia? My approach to my role
in Malaysia was to BuildOperate-Transfer. As a
leader, one needs to build
the team's capability, run a
flawless operation and make
way once the team is ready
to take the mantle on. Our
operation in Malaysia has
Tommy Tan
Media Group Head
strong management talent
in Nick Drew, Managing
Director of Starcom and
Wong PiYee, Managing
Director of MediaVest/
Optimedia. SMG and
Optimedia Malaysia are in
very good hands of Nick
and PiYee, who have been
groomed with hands-on
experience and the group's
customised leadership
training programmes. In my
remit as COO of SMG SEA,
I'll continue to supervise
the leadership and play the
role of a facilitator, as we
make sustained progress
on creating meaningful
experiences for our talent,
clients and their audiences. Avid gamer - now playing Diablo.
Likes Japanese comics and culture.
When not playing games, he draws
and writes – we think in his past
life he was a Japanese. Likes to
achieve one thing at a time and
very consistent in making sure he
has done it right. Now learning
swimming to save his own life!
Will you miss Malaysia?
After my marriage, we set
up our first home in KL in
2002, our first child was born
here, we made very good
friends along the way.
We will surely miss Malaysia!
february2013marketing 25
Outdoor
This month we look at advertising on wheels, specifically Bus advertising. Every day almost a million motorists use the
DUKE, SILK, BesRaya and NPE highways as well as the SMART Tunnel. Redberry Outdoor holds the concession for these
locations plus 800 KL Rapid Buses plying 170 routes in the Klang Valley. Here are some examples of how marketers
have been riding on this massive footprint...
 Marketer Perodua Sales Sdn Bhd Media Agency Posterscope Sdn Bhd Creative Agency SPIN Communications Campaign Period 1st Nov 2012 – 31st Jan 2013
It is critical that messages need to be innovative and catchy in reaching out to mobile target audiences. This is the first time Perodua is using bus advertising.
This campaign about their new MYVI which ran through the busy year-end festive and New Year purchase season, talks about the new features of the MYVI brand.
 Marketer KFC Holdings Bhd Creative Agency KFC In-House Campaign Period 25th May 2012 – 24th Aug 2012
KFC, which has almost 200 outlets in the Klang valley, chose bus advertising to project a product-specific message in this tactical campaign to increase awareness
ofits Dinner Plate offering while dominating the bus facings with a clear claim that 'their chickens are delivered fresh from the farm every day'. Did you all know that?
26 marketingfebruary2013
Outdoor
Marketer Panasonic Malaysia Media Agency Media Pertiwi Creative Agency Hakuhodo Campaign Period Jan 2012 – Jan 2013
Big and pervasive. Those are the grand reasons marketers have a fondness for bus advertising. This launch of Panasonic Evolta included a special buy for the Golden
Triangle zone - a premium footprint for the affluent and sophisticated. With the great Muhammad Ali fronting the message, it endeared to many Malaysians on the road.
Marketer Tourism Malaysia Media Agency Impact Creations Creative Agency Impact Creations Campaign Period 31st July 2012 – 31 Jan 2013
This '1001 fascinating destinations in Malaysia' campaign keeps the momentum of Tourism Malaysia's aggressive promotional efforts targeting Malaysians to
their favourite travel spots in the country. Malaysia recorded more than 24 million arrivals last year yielding RM60.6 billion in revenue, and is targeting to achieve
26 million tourist arrivals this year.
february2013marketing 27
CREATIVE SHOWCASE
IFABA: Shoe shapes
Advertising Agency: Miacomunicazione, Parabiago, Milano, Italy
Creative Director / Art Director: Gianmaria Carpani
Copywriters: Marcello Severino, Gianmaria Carpani
Photographer: Rocco Patella
Published: January 2013
Narayana yoga center: Evolution
Advertising Agency: DOIT, Ekaterinburg, Russia
Creative Director: Alex Ahineev
Art Director / Photographer: Anna Ivoylova
Copywriter: Tim Rahimov
Published: May 2012
28 marketingfebruary2013
marketing strategy
Top Marketers
As we warm up into 2013,
we bring you an exclusive CMO Circle Series on
Top Marketers in this landmark issue.
It gives you a clear idea who,
how and what to expect with this constellation of marketing brains
who have become close supporters of this magazine.
Read about their accomplishments and
how these leaders are pushing marketing to new levels of excellence
with their innovative thinking, brands and strategies!
They have distinguished themselves in the art
and science of Marketing and have upheld the highest regard
for the profession and industry.
Together with MARKETING magazine
we celebrate these CMOs who are committed
to best professional practices in Marketing
and to encourage talent
development in the industry…
february2013marketing 29
top marketers
Abdul Sani ABDUL MURAD
Head of Marketing, HSBC Bank Malaysia Bhd
Abdul Sani is a true-blue
marketer who has been in
the business from the ground
up. He started at the world’s
third largest consumer goods
company Unilever, which
today has more than 400
brands, 12 of which generate
sales in excess of €1 billion a
year. He started as a Unilever
Scholar and managed various
business categories rising to
Marketing Manager, during
which time he helped grow
the hair conditioner category
making Sunsilk the market
leader. Among his many
award-winning marketing
accomplishments, he also
clinched the Asian Marketing
Effectiveness Award for
Rexona in 2005.
In 2008, Sani joined HSBC
Malaysia and his successes
continued as he launched
HSBC Amanah the following
year which now contributes
approximately 20% and 30%
to the bank’s retail asset and
liability balances respectively.
While doubling HSBC’s
customers product holding,
affluent customers base, plus
investment and insurance
income in three years, his
team was awarded HSBC
Group’s ‘Best Marketing
Campaign’ Award for the
HSBC Amanah in 2010.
And in 2011, HSBC
Malaysia’s marketing team
was also awarded the ‘Best
Marketing Team’ in Asia
Pacific by its regional office.
Sani has been recognised
many times across multiple
benchmarks including
the Putra Brand, Halal
Journal and Effie awards
in recent years. His mantra
moving forward remains
simple, “HSBC Marketing
is committed to quantifying
the return we get on every
marketing dollar we spend to
ensure long term growth.”
“We strive to stay relevant,
ensure whatever we do
has to be customer centric,
exude creative passion
and have strong business
accountability.”
Maybank Group in the Asia
region. And Maybank’s brand
campaigns recently shifted
gears to strengthen its group
credentials as one of the top
ASEAN banks.
Maybank is quite possibly
the only financial services
group who operates in all
ASEAN countries. Their
efforts paid-off with Maybank
recently awarded the No.1
Malaysia’s Most Valuable
Brand with a value of
RM10.96 billion.
The next phase is Asia
domination with 46,000
Maybankers, 2,200 offices
across 18 countries, assets
over USD150 billion, and
a mission to delight its 22
million customers across Asia!
Mohamed Adam Wee Abdullah
Chief Marketing Officer, Maybank Berhad
Mohamed Adam is a
marketing veteran with a
career spanning more than 22
years.
Almost half of his career
was spent heading marketing
and brand roles in the
automotive, pay-TV and
property sectors in public
listed entities.
The other half in multinational advertising and
brand agencies, holding
senior and regional
positions in categories like
FMCG, hospitality and
travel, automotive and
telecommunications.
Adam’s regional
experience includes marketing
management for a leading
global automotive brand in 17
countries across India, China,
South East Asia and the South
30 marketingfebruary2013
Pacific Island Nations.
In 2011, he joined the
Maybank Group with a
primary task to transform the
Maybank brand. An iconic
brand and market leader
since 1960, Maybank was
plagued by the ‘home-market
syndrome’ where consumers
took its presence for granted.
A brand refresh in September
2011 was timely.
As part of the brand
transformation exercise,
the entire group’s brand
architecture was reviewed
and restructured to ensure
the Maybank Group is poised
to deliver its mission to
‘Humanise Financial Services
Across Asia’.
Adam’s role also includes
brand management and
marketing oversight across the
top marketers
Albern Murty
Chief Marketing Officer, DiGi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd
Albern was appointed to
be Head of Marketing at DiGi
Malaysia in July 2009, and
subsequently promoted to
CMO in March 2012.
He is responsible for
consolidating the value
proposition, product
innovation and marketing
services.
His previous experiences
include business and
commercial management
in Lucent Technologies.
Albern joined DiGi in May
2002 as Senior Manager in
Project Planning and Control
and was later appointed to
lead Product Development.
In 2006, he was promoted to
Head of Product Development
and Management, a position
he held in addition to his
role as acting Co-CMO
before appointed Head of
Strategy and New Business
and member of the DiGi
Management Team in May
2008. Today, he also drives
3G Broadband segment,
and manage customer
profitability and loyalty and
tells MARKETING magazine,
“2012 was a year of delivering
Internet For All; making it
easy for people from all walks
of life to enjoy a better mobile
Internet experience from any
device on any platform.
We have delivered various
product propositions that
created an upward trend on
data traffic via richer mobile
services and bundled smart
devices and new channels.
The data surge will
continue in 2013, bringing
another exciting year of
development for the telco
industry as LTE-driven
services are expected to be
rolled out then.”
DiGi recently won Gold,
Silver and Bronze awards at
the Effie Awards.
DiGi is part of the Telenor
Group which has mobile
operations in 11 countries
across Europe and Asia.
Ang Chong Lee
Marketing Director, Danone Dumex Malaysia
As the Marketing Director,
Chong Lee has strong
commercial awareness to
fulfill the generalist scope as
member of the leadership
team. His background in
consumer goods includes beer
and infant/child nutrition
across developing and
developed markets. He was
National Marketing Director
for Heineken Asia Pacific
Breweries in China and
Market Development Manager
for Tiger Export in the UK. “Culturally-specific local
insights drive the passion
behind creating good nutrition
for growing up children at
Danone Dumex,” he says.
So when the task of
modernizing Malaysia’s 55-
year Dumex heritage brand
was thrust upon him, he
recognized that activating a
deep understanding of local
insights was crucial.
“Maternal love is universal
but its expression is local
and unique. I’m drawn to
the poetic beauty of local
sayings such as ‘the gateway
to heaven lies at mother’s
feet’. Our Sayang Mama
campaign was created from
deep engagement with our
target audience and inspired
from stories mothers shared
with us.”
In the competitive arena of
growing-up milk, Dumex has
been retaining leading market
share and made huge strides
in 2012 with rebranding and
new packaging initiatives
across all its brands.
The nutrition company
collaborates with an
international pool of over 200
scientists and researchers
from the Dumex Sciences
Institute to provide locally
tailored formulations and
innovative products.
“We take the trust
mums bestow on Dumex
very seriously and we feel
privileged going to work
everyday knowing that we
can use international science
and local insights to promote
good nutrition for Malaysian
children and mothers.
Increasingly, we will co-create
to ensure Dumex retains the
highest standard of nutrition
for the next generation.”
Ang Chong Lee is also a
Council Member of Malaysian
Advertiser Association.
february2013marketing 31
top marketers
Anja Henze
Marketing Director, Dutch Lady Milk Industries Berhad
Coming to Malaysia was
always a dream for Anja
(pronounced Anya). In June
2012, her dream came true
when Dutch Lady Malaysia
appointed her as Marketing
Director.
Anja joined Friesland
Campina in 1995 as a
Marketing Trainee and filled
several marketing roles before
becoming Marketing Director
at FrieslandCampina Germany
for five years.
She was in charge of the
communications, brand,
market and media strategies
for all the company’s products
retailed within the German
market.
As Head of Dutch Lady
Malaysia’s marketing
department, Henze is
responsible for elevating,
marketing and strengthening
the profile, popularity and
reputation of all its milk
brands. She shares with
MARKETING, “The dairy
market is quite competitive,
the infant and toddler
nutrition segments have a lot
of players and propositions
competing for the slowing
down birth numbers.
There is also local
competition rising in the liquid
milk segment. While markets
are stagnating in Europe, in
Asia there is growth. So it is
key to make bold choices and
focus. My objective for 2013 is
to embrace focus, to execute
less, but bigger, bolder and
thus better initiatives.”
Dutch Lady Malaysia has
been on an aggressive growth
mode since its 'Passion for
Blue (PfB)' change programme
implemented two years ago.
Besides market leadership, the
company has seen encouraging
stock price increase from
below RM10 in 2009 to its alltime high of RM50.80 end of
October 2012.
Malaysia’s birth rate
continues to drop to an
estimated 20.74% per 1,000
population in 2011 from a high
of above 25% in 2000.
Chan Wai Keong
Marketing Director, URC Snack Foods (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd
Wai Keong has a colourful
history in consumer goods,
handling brands like Fab,
Protex, Glo, Axion, Ridsect,
Kiwi Household Care and Kiwi
Shoe.
In 2009, he joined URC
Snack Foods as Marketing
Director.
After two years of 20%
plus growth in 2010 and
2011, 2012 was a challenging
year with high material costs,
slower consumer spending
and aggressive competitor
spending. But they still
managed to record healthy
double digit growth at a
time when consumers were
cautious with their spending.
“We continued to engage
with our consumers and
increased our ad spend. In
fact, over a period of two
32 marketingfebruary2013
months we shot three new tv
commercials for our brands.
Our market share has also
been encouraging and we are
in the Top 5 for both Snacks
and Chocolate categories,
despite competing in only
3 of 6 segments in those
categories.”
Not one to shy away from
trying new things, in one of
their campaigns last year,
instead of using TV to drive
the campaign and other
media to support, they went
the other way round where
TV was used to support their
digital campaign, and the
results were phenomenal.
Talking about 2013, he
shares, “We will continue to
do the same, but with much
consideration on which type
of communication platforms
to use in engaging teenagers
and young adults. The
question of which ‘SCREEN’
to start first will surely be
a major discussion – TV,
Computer or Mobile?”
“We’ll definitely increase
our use of digital marketing
and this will be a big part of
our plans. Having said that,
the traditional channels will
still be pursued.”
top marketers
Christina Yong
Senior General Manager, Marketing Wipro Unza (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd
For almost a decade,
Christina served in marketing
roles at Bolton Marketing, U
Mobile and Colgate Palmolive.
She joined Wipro Unza
Malaysia in June 2009.
Wipro Unza competes in
the Malaysian skincare market
crowded by L’Oreal and P&G.
Christina says, “In
the facial cleansers and
moisturising category we
looked at opportunities
available in the anti-ageing
segment and the whitening
segment. As a company with
deep roots in Malaysia, we
leveraged our understanding
of the Malay consumer to
revitalize our brand Safi Rania
Gold and delivered a high
quality anti ageing product at
an affordable price, drawing
in many first time users of
anti-aging skincare. A similar
understanding of what the
consumer wanted in a fairness
product helped Safi Balqis
to create products which
delivered perfect fair skin.
These were then supported
by creating television
commercials with celebrities
like Rozita Che Wan and Shila
Amzah – personalities who
resonated with the Malay
consumer. Backed by high
levels of advertising, with SOS
of 16% (YTD Sep 2012), these
products helped the company
surge ahead and gain market
share in cleansers and
moisturisers.”
Wipro Unza created
more than 10 TVCs in 2012
and is ranked the 5th largest
spender in Adex for HAPC
products. Wipro Unza was
catapulted to market leader in
skincare in Malaysia (Source
Nielsen – Facial Cleansers,
Facial Moisturising and HBL
categories combined, MAT
Sep 2012). Wipro Unza is
also the leader in retail mass
market fragrances.
In the case of Enchanteur,
an international brand sold in
more than 40 countries, the
challenge was to revamp the
brand without losing its age
old heritage. In a paradigm
shift, the company looked
at opportunities to segment
the market by offering more
functionality to their products
while retaining their fragrance
heritage. It extended the
brand through new offerings
in Enchanteur Paris and
Enchanteur Love to appeal to
a wider base of consumers.
As for brand Dashing
she adds, “We revamped the
brand portfolio to include
high performance skin
care especially suited for
men. So while efforts were
made to improve shares in
key categories of EDT and
deodorants, simultaneous
efforts were put in to create a
foothold in men’s skincare.
In order to upgrade
the imagery of the brand,
celebrities like Remy
Ishak and Henry Golding
were appointed as brand
ambassadors. The brand also
actively associated itself with
football through EPL and
concepts like the ‘first ever
Neon Futsal competition in
Malaysia’.”
Cheong Mei Foong
Head of Brand, Maxis Mobile Services Sdn Bhd
Mei is a brand
management leader with
extensive integrated
marketing experience
in telecommunications,
financial services,
FMCGs with local,
regional and global roles,
both in emerging and
developed markets across
six countries in three
continents.
She has many years of
experience in advertising,
brand identity, brand
engagement and media.
As Head of Brand, she
works across functions and
business groups in Maxis’
fast-moving organisation
matrix.
She is responsible for
all facets of the brand,
ranging from media
strategy, brand positioning,
new product launches,
integrated advertising
campaigns, how the brand
presents itself in all service
centres nationwide and onthe-ground activation.
She shares, “We are
continuing with our
mission to be known
as an integrated brand,
relevant to our various
target audiences. Digital is
very important and we will
continue to move forward
on this.”
Maxis has the largest
high-speed network
footprint in the country
with 95% 2G coverage
and 81% 3G coverage
with almost 14 million
subscribers.
february2013marketing 33
top marketers
Dato Mohammad Medan Abdullah
Senior General Manager, Group Corporate Affairs Division, PETRONAS
Dato Medan has more
than 30 years of experience
spanning across the entire oil
and gas value chain, helming
various senior management
positions in Petronas,
Malaysia’s national oil
company.
Presently, he is a member
of PETRONAS’ Management
Committee and heads the
Company’s Group Corporate
Affairs Division.
His roles and
responsibilities
include overseeing the
development, integration
and implementation of
various initiatives involving
the PETRONAS brand and
reputation strategies Groupwide. Essentially, focusing
on collective efforts to strive
for new solutions and push
boundaries to stay ahead in
achieving real, sustainable
and long-term growth, in line
with the spirit of Petronas –
Reimagining Energy.
Petronas won the
Advertiser of the Year
Award at the Kancil Awards
2012, among the Malaysian
advertising industry’s
most prestigious award
in November 2012. The
AOTY Award is presented
to the Advertiser who has
demonstrated courage and
consistency in creative
communications; a brand
that believes in the power of
communications and invests
in it consistently.
In April 2012,
PETRONAS won the Putra
Gold Award for being one of
Malaysia's top brands in the
Automotive (Fuels) category
at the 2012 Putra Brand
Awards.
These recognitions signify
PETRONAS’ continuous
efforts to successfully deliver
upon its brand promise by
proactively rethinking and
reinventing itself to stand
out as a globally renowned
oil and gas corporation
that responsibly returns
superior value to its various
stakeholders.
PETRONAS also retained
its No 1 spot in the 2012
Top 100 Most Valuable
Malaysian Brands league for
the fourth consecutive year,
as announced in September
last year by an independent
international brand strategy
and valuation consultancy.
Based on the results
tabulated by Brand Finance
plc, it was reported that
PETRONAS’ brand value in
2012 was USD5.79 billion.
Dato’ Rozalila Abdul Rahman
Chief Marketing Officer, TM Berhad
Dato’ Rozalila has 23 years
experience in multinational
companies in the marketing
and sales of fast moving
consumer goods. She joined
TM in February 2010 and
is responsible for Group
Marketing, Retail Product
and Customer Service
Management.
TM is in transformation.
It is already the industry
game changer, having
changed the Malaysian
telecommunications
landscape with its High Speed
Broadband (HSBB) network
roll-out. TM remains steadfast
as Malaysia’s Broadband
Champion with Streamyx and
34 marketingfebruary2013
UniFi as its key broadband
products, delivering an
enhanced and integrated
digital lifestyle to all
Malaysians, with the promise
to connect, communicate and
collaborate.
For the year ahead, TM
is transforming its business
and organisation to deliver
integrated communication
services and one-stop
solutions to customers with
the best value. They are
making their communications
and messaging fresher,
customer-centric and a more
dynamic image.
TM has delivered
value enhancement
and improvement to its
shareholders’ long term rates
of return by returning equity
to them. TM’s Total Return to
Shareholders (TRS) continues
to be ahead of local peers for
the past three years and TM
is among the best performing
telcos in the region.
Their brand equity has
also improved tremendously
from the time they demerged
in 2008. Last year, TM was
recognised as Malaysia’s 2nd
Most Valuable Telecom Brand
in the Brand Finance Telecom
500 report. TM also made
it to the list of the country’s
top 30 most valuable brands
in Malaysia’s Most Valuable
Brands 2012.
With more than 4.2
million customers including
over 2 million broadband
customers, and a customer
satisfaction measure score
above industry average, their
mantra of ‘Trust Us We Know
Broadband Best’ resonates
home to all Malaysians.
top marketers
Dean Dacko
Senior Vice President of Marketing, Malaysia Airlines
Dean manages all of
MAS marketing activity on
a global basis. His areas
of responsibility include
the strategic development,
implementation, and evolution
of the Malaysia airlines group
of brands including Malaysia
Airlines, MAS Holidays,
and MAS Wings. He is also
responsible for product
strategy (airport and inflight), consumer advertising,
promotion, and corporate
sponsorships, as well as the
Enrich loyalty program with a
current membership in excess
of 2.2 million.
Dean spent nine years
as Vice President of Travel
Solutions with AIMIA
(formerly Carlson Marketing)
where he was responsible for
travel operations, product
merchandising, and travel
marketing in addition to the
development and continuous
evolution of Carlson’s webbased automated travel
shopping and booking tools.
He was previously Director of
Marketing with Air Canada
Vacations where he managed
national advertising and
promotional efforts.
2012 was a year in
transition for MAS with the
ongoing job of uniting a
20,000 strong work-force
under one brand promise:
‘Journeys are made by the
people you travel with’. In July they launched their
A380 service between KL and
London with a ‘Big Flight’
social media competition,
partnering the launch of
YouTube Malaysia. They
achieved a total of 4 million
video views!
Last year, they
celebrated the 40th
anniversary of their
first flight with a radio
competition on Hitz FM that
offered 40 pairs of economy
class tickets.
In August, MAS won
the Skytrax World’s 5-star
Airline award and World’s
Best Cabin Staff making it
the eighth time they’ve been
lauded by Skytrax.
On February 1st 2013,
MAS joined the OneWorld
Alliance, positioning them
as a powerful aviation brand
competing in the regional
and global market.
In 2013, 21 new aircraft
will make MAS the youngest
fleet owner in SEA.
Effendy Shahul Hamid
Head, Group Marketing and Communications, CIMB Group
Effendy’s areas of
responsibility cover
the entire spectrum of
strategic marketing and
communications, including
brand management,
marketing, sponsorship,
events, media relations,
internal communications and
annual reporting. He drives
channel activation functions
within the Group, ensuring
all customer touch points
are consistent and effectively
portrayed.
He also manages
franchise-wide efforts to
ensure a consistent and
differentiated CIMB brand for
all of the Group’s businesses
across the region.
Prior to assuming his
current role, Effendy was
an investment banker and
a corporate development
professional. He also served
with several companies in
a corporate development
capacity, involving himself
in mergers and acquisitions
across Asia Pacific.
He shares, “The focus
in recent years has been to
ensure that CIMB Group’s
positioning across the region
is solidified.
We began last year
enforcing our strong ‘ASEAN
For You’ brand promise across
the region and substantiated
our value propositions to
customers in the separate
segments across ASEAN.”
This was activated through
advertising and marketing
activities, from product
launches, to undertaking
high-end commercial
sponsorship of assets like the
CIMB Classic and Kidzania.
Touchpoints and messaging
on the alternate channel were
also a focus.
They projected CIMB’s
internet banking services as
‘ONE’ across the region and
also grew their Facebook fan
base to over 1.3 million.
“The future will be very
much about consistency
and governance. We need
to ensure that we manage
operations and spend well
within the context of a solid
regional marketing and
communications model.”
february2013marketing 35
top marketers
Eric Wong
Marketing Director, IBM Malaysia
With over 22 years of
marketing experience in the
IT industry, Eric’s marketing
efforts are targeted at driving
brand differentiation in an
industry that is crowded and
constantly innovating and
evolving.
“Nothing stays forever
in this industry. Changes
in technology and business
requirements are normal.
It’s like survival of the best
brands,” says Eric.
A world that is
instrumented, interconnected
and intelligent is in IBM’s
view representative of a
Smarter Planet.
As the Marketing Director
of IBM Malaysia, Eric is tasked
to educate the Malaysian
market on what is IBM’s vision
of a Smarter Planet. A role
that requires him to engage
IBM clients, business partners,
government agencies, media
and industry influencers to
have a conversation on IBM’s
thought leadership. Unlike some other brands
that leverage heavily on above
the line advertising to build
brand awareness, the IBM
brand is experienced through
an IBMer.
“You don’t get to see IBM
TV commercials or print
advertisements here. The
brand is never meant to be
experienced that way,” he
adds. As a brand, IBM is ranked
number No. 3 worldwide and
valued at USD$75.5 billion
(Source: Interbrand.com).
IBM currently operates in 170
countries worldwide.
Building the IBM brand,
capturing market share and
creating new markets are the
three things that keep Eric
awake at night.
Eric is a councilor for
the Malaysia’s National ICT
Association (PIKOM), a
member of the International
Advertising Association (IAA)
Malaysia and the Malaysian
Advertisers Association. He
also serves as an industry
advisor to Universiti Sains
Malaysia and Taylor’s
University.
Fiona Liao
Chief Marketing Officer, Prudential Assurance Malaysia Berhad
Having gained various
industry experience, from the
travel to education to logistics
and finally the financial
industry, Fiona has always
stayed true to her first love –
Marketing.
With insurance being a
very competitive category
that has seen a huge surge
in marketing and branding
activities, Prudential has
stayed true to its tagline of
‘Always Listening, Always
Understanding’. Prudential
Assurance Malaysia Berhad
is a market leader in the
industry generating over
a billion Ringgit in new
business sales per year.
Fiona believes firmly
that to win the wallets, they
must first win their hearts.
Celebrating 88 years in
36 marketingfebruary2013
Malaysia, Prudential did just
that, by listening and giving
back, through their campaign
Project Listen and their CSR
project, PRUkasih.
Project Listen aims to
uncover inspiring stories
among everyday Malaysians,
to thank the Malaysian public
for their support and for
inspiring many of Prudential’s
innovations over the years.
Besides providing a
platform for incredible stories
to be heard and shared,
Project Listen also gives
Malaysians the chance to
contribute to a good cause
through listening to the
stories where Prudential
pledges RM1 to PRUkasih,
their CSR project each time a
story – be it video or written
stories – from Project Listen
is shared. Prudential is
now embarking on building
strong brand affinity with
their youth campaign,
RUReady and Project Listen.
With a gold Effie
under her belt for a past
campaign, PRUmy child,
Fiona is driven to ensure
everything that comes out of
her department is of ‘Gold’
award quality.
top marketers
Harith Menon
Head of Marketing & Corporate Affairs, Asia Pacific Region, Nokia Siemens Networks
With over 18 years
of experience in the
telecommunications industry,
Harith takes a creative and
pragmatic approach in sales,
marketing and corporate
affairs, allowing him to
constantly challenge the
norms by delivering unique,
state-of-the-art outreach
programs.
He was previously Head
of Marketing & Corporate
Affairs for Indonesia and Asia
South (Malaysia, Singapore,
Philippines & Sri Lanka).
Harith was part of the
Nokia Regional Marketing
team based in Malaysia when
he was Head of Marketing
for India and Indonesia
while supporting Market
Development for Asia Pacific
until April 2007.
In his B2B2C role,
Harith constantly advocates
interactivity with consumers
and the media through
his outreach programs in
order to achieve long lasting
impactful branding to drive
high sales volumes.
Harith was also involved
as a key player in several
national projects such as
the world’s inaugural live
technology oriented TV
reality show with Celcom
and Telkomsel’s & Indosat’s
(Indonesia) first online
marketing campaigns.
He also developed a
series of other unique media
challenges and university
programs that helps users to
understand how technology
enhances their personal
lifestyle.
Harith now leads his team
in the Asia Pacific region
to take their ideas beyond
boundaries.
Hugo Verkuil
Marketing Director, Malaysia & Singapore, Unilever
Hugo came to
Malaysia two years ago
as the Head of Foods
for Unilever Malaysia
and Singapore
after having been
responsible for the
company’s ice cream
business in Africa,
Middle East and
Turkey.
His ice cream
expertise paid off
for the Malaysian
business, which
achieved high double
digit growth since his
arrival. After one year of
driving the Foods &
Ice cream business,
Verkuil was promoted
to Marketing Director,
adding Home and
Personal Care to his
portfolio.
Hugo was
instrumental in
launching the Locker
Room an online portal
under MSN.com.my
last year, to promote
its male grooming
brands Axe, Clear,
Rexona and Vaseline.
The portal, a
collaboration between
Mindshare, Catcha
Digital, Microsoft
and Unilever, was
heralded as a great
new innovation in
relationship marketing
using branded content
and social tools in an
integrated way while
tracking results.
Several of
Unilever’s bold
marketing campaigns
have been recognised
throughout the year,
including a recent Effie
Gold for Magnum’s
relaunch campaign.
Last month,
Hugo relocated to
Sydney as VP &
Managing Director
of Unilever Australia
& New Zealand. He
has been replaced
by Herry Budiazhari,
previously from
Unilever Singapore.
Herry is a digital
native, calls himself
a Gunner, is all crazy
about Arsenal, golf,
photography and
Twitter. He is the man
to watch!
february2013marketing 37
top marketers
Jeanette Lee
Head of Marketing Communication and Brand Commercial Division, U Mobile Sdn Bhd.
For over 20 years Jeanette
worked for local and regional
clients on advertising and
management, servicing
multinational brands like KFC,
Kraft General Foods, UMW
Toyota, Hotel Equatorial,
Campbell’s Soup & Sauces,
Nike Malaysia, AMP Radio
Networks and LG Electronics.
From 2005 to 2008
she was Head of Marketing
Communications then
promoted to Head of
Marketing Services at DiGi
Telecommunications. She
then joined OCBC Bank
as Head of Marketing
Services to drive marketing,
communications, promotions
and database management
for the Consumer Financial
Services business portfolios
and segments.
At U Mobile, Jeanette
handles the total planning and
implementation of marketing
and communication strategies
for their products and services.
She forecasts and manages
the annual total commercial
group’s marketing and sales
budget across products,
segments and sales.
With her valuable
experience, she works
with Sales, Product teams
(Prepaid, Postpaid, Wholesale
& IDD, Data & Broadband,
Content Services), Corporate
Communication, Corporate
Planning, Procurement &
Finance.
Jeanette adds, “We are
looking at many ways to
differentiate ourselves in
the market. We’ve been
successful in delivering
innovative product bundling
and increasing the awareness
of the brand through these
strong product propositions
in the past two years. Looking
ahead, we want to further
leverage on all the efforts we
have done and now creatively
market both the U Mobile
brand and products through
new marketing and media
opportunities which touch
and engage our customers
directly.”
U Mobile Sdn Bhd has
been recently awarded a
20MHz block of the 2.6GHz
spectrum by the Malaysian
Communications and
Multimedia Commission
(MCMC), signifying the next
phase of the evolution of
mobile internet in Malaysia,
as it provides the gateway for
4G or Long-Term Evolution
(LTE) technology.
aggressive digital approach
with effective SEM and SEO
optimisation.
“The smart technologies
that LG develops combined
with the stylish designs of our
products put LG on the right
path to becoming the No. 1
consumer electronics brand.
And with the right marketing
strategy and mix, we are
confident that we will ride the
momentum going into 2013
to continue building presence
and preference for the brand
in Malaysia.” she adds.
Joanne Foo
General Manager, Marketing, LG Electronics (M) Sdn Bhd
Joanne joined LG in 2010
taking on responsibilities for
all LG’s corporate, brand and
product marketing strategy
and activities.
Having been part of the
team responsible for building
the Nokia brand in Malaysia,
she is well-placed to enhance
and oversee a holistic 360
degree approach to LG’s
branding and marketing
activities.
“Due to the mass nature
of the consumer electronics
industry, a myriad of
communications tactics and
channels need to be explored
to take into consideration
multiple touch points that
are relevant to various target
audience segments. At the
38 marketingfebruary2013
same time, we ensure that
we do not lose sight of the
larger picture by making sure
that all marketing initiatives
are aligned to the brand and
marketing strategy,” observes
Joanne.
In 2012, LG continued
initiatives which had been
successful in the past such
as festive promotions and
K-pop event sponsorships.
LG also increased efforts in
communicating the benefits
and features of the smart
technologies unique to LG
such as its Core Technologies,
by leveraging a combination
of creative media buys, onground activation such as
targeted road shows beyond
just mall venues, as well as an
top marketers
Jocelyn Ng
Head of Marketing, Head of Commercial - Foods, Pepsico (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd
Jocelyn has over 20 years
of experience as a marketer
and a manager. She has
managed well-known brands
such as Benson & Hedges,
Salem, Mild Seven, Twisties,
Cheezels, Jacobs, Chipsmore,
Tiger Biscuits, Dumex, to
name a few.
She has won the Effie
Award for most effective
marketing communications
twice; Dumex Dugro’s ‘Ezy on
Toddler’s Tummy’ in 2008,
and Quaker’s ‘Make Malaysia
Heart-Healthy’ campaign in
2011.
Jocelyn works for PepsiCo
on powerhouse beverage
brands like Pepsi, Mountain
Dew, 7Up, Tropicana Twister,
Lipton Ice Tea, Gatorade, and
Malaysian-born Revive. On
the foods front, she handles
Quaker, Lay’s, Ruffles and
Doritos.
In its global portfolio,
PepsiCo has 22 different
brands that generate more
than $1 billion each in annual
retail sales and its global
vision is Performance with
Purpose.
Jocelyn says, “With so
many strong brands in the
market it’s certainly been a
busy year for us here. One
that is not only satisfying
and fulfilling, but also hearthealthy, is Quaker. Quaker
is a product that contributes
to our human sustainability
efforts to motivate people to
live in a healthier manner. We
also know that over 3 million
Malaysians are at risk of heart
disease – that’s more than
10% of the population. That’s
why my team and I are so
passionate about increasing
consumers’ awareness and
understanding of the health
benefits of the Quaker
product.”
Jocelyn has participated
in the Powerful Woman,
Women in Leadership and
PepsiCo’s D&I programmes.
Last year, PepsiCo
won the award for ‘Asia’s
Most Woman-Friendly
Employer’ at the Women
In Leadership (WIL) Asia
Awards.
John D Chacko
Director of Group Marketing, Branding and Motorsports, Proton Holdings Berhad
A visionary marketing
and business leader, John
has global experience
in multinational FMCG
companies across Australia,
NZ, Africa, Middle East, Latin
America and Asia, He has in-
depth consumer and customer
marketing experience with
global brands- Rothmans,
Pampas, Kraft, Coca-Cola,
Schweppes and McDonald’s.
His experience includes
global brand turnarounds,
integration of new and
acquired businesses,
successful incident & crisis
management, national
product recall and successful
re-introduction, integrated
marketing & creative
excellence with world
class regional and local
advertising/communications
development and building
marketing capability. After being away from
Malaysia for 35 years, John
returned to Malaysia under
the country’s Malaysian
Returning Expert Program
and joined Proton as CMO.
While in Proton he
implemented the Power
Window Lifetime Warranty,
showcased Proton’s DNA
through the largest Proton
event ever called the Power
of One and launched the new
Proton Preve. John served as Jury
Chairman for last year’s
Effie awards and is also Vice
President of the Malaysian
chapter of the International
Advertising Association. On February 4, 2013,
John became CEO and MD
of LeapEd, Khazanah’s
education services
company. A fully owned
subsidiary of Khazanah
Nasional, LeapEd Services
Sdn Bhd was established
in 2010 with the objective
to transform Primary
and Secondary Schools in
Malaysia as the country’s
first Education Service
Provider.
february2013marketing 39
top marketers
KC Chong
Chief Marketing Officer, Bandar Raya Developments Berhad
In his role as Chief
Marketing Officer, K. C.
Chong heads BRDB’s
marketing and sales, and
communications departments,
directing the group’s inbound
and outbound marketing
efforts. Through his 25 years
in the property industry
he has been involved in a
diverse portfolio of property
developments that include
luxury condominiums,
waterfront living, private
residential developments and
a number of industry firsts.
His knowledge and experience
are anchored with a Masters
Degree in Marketing from
the University of Manchester
(UMIST).
By analyzing what the
needs of the market are and
then meeting them through
innovative an intelligently
designed developments,
BRDB has built a track
record of developing high
quality properties of
enduring value. The BRDB
brand has also established a
strong heritage of trust and
confidence over the past 45
years and is recognized as
a reliable, financially sound
and financially rewarding
developer.
BRDB has recently
undertaken an exercise to
refresh its brand positioning,
reflecting on how the
company, the customer and
the industry have evolved,
and realized that its current
community builder promise
can be further strengthened
and refined.
More than building
communities, BRDB is a
company that improves
the way people live and
hence we are now refining
our brand with a focus on
three key pillars: intelligent
design, uplifting aesthetics
and cosmopolitan living.
And these 3 brand pillars
will be applied across all its
developments, be it the highend luxury market or the
more affordable mid market
segment.
Having established
themselves as a leading
developer of luxury
developments, primarily in
the Bangsar neighbourhood,
BRDB is now diversifying into
newer locations and different
target markets.
The company’s vision
moving forward is to reinforce
the unique cosmopolitan
Bangsar lifestyle that it has
been closely associated and
further strengthen its brand
via intelligent design and
inspiring aesthetics.
returns and values for the
clients’ investment. Khoo has been involved
in marketing campaigns for
some of the biggest brands
in the history of the nation
which include Milo, Nescafe,
Maggi, Nespray, Nestum,
KokoKrunch, KitKat, etc. He is currently the
President of MAA (Malaysian
Advertisers Association).
Nestlé is the largest FMCG
player in the Malaysian
market. Khoo Kar Khoon
Communications Director, Nestlé Products Sdn Bhd Khoo Kar Khoon was
appointed Communications
Director of Nestlé in 2009.
Prior to this, he was holding
the position of Media Manager
for four years before been
promoted to Communication
Channels Manager for another
six years. Khoo is an accountant by
profession (ACMA) and upon
his graduation in 1990, he
started his career with one of
the leading Global Accounting
Firms – Coopers & Lybrand,
followed by NEC before he
joined Bates Advertising,
holding the position of a Cost
Accountant for five years
before taking up the Credit
40 marketingFEBRUARY2013
Control Manager position with
SJ Securities. In 1995, he decided to
return to the ad scene where
he co-founded the first media
specialist agency in Malaysia
– Zenith Media, which
subsequently became the
largest player in the market
with several top advertisers
on its roster including BAT,
Petronas, HSBC, Dutch Lady,
TM, Celcom, Sony, etc.
With close to a RM200
million media budget in
hand, Khoo successfully
established himself as a key
media negotiator and dealer
in the media industry, driving
and delivering the anticipated
top marketers
Michele Lum
Marketing Director, Malaysia - Regional Marketing, Fujitsu (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd
Michele Lum joined
Fujitsu Malaysia in May
2010, and is responsible to
build and lead the marketing
organization, define marketing
strategy, raise the profile of
the Fujitsu brand, products
and services, and drive
business growth in Malaysia.
In addition, she is part
of the senior management
team that is leading Fujitsu’s
global transformations via
the company’s offerings in
Malaysia.
Prior to joining Fujitsu,
Michele led Marketing and
Communications at Accenture
in Malaysia, Thailand, and
Indonesia. Her responsibilities
included spearheading
image building, market
campaigns and relationshipbuilding activities that
raised awareness, knowledge
and consideration for the
Accenture brand and services.
At Fujitsu, she has led
the region’s country kick
off initiatives based on the
theme 'Challenge Your Game'
for Fujitsu ASEAN. Fujitsu
Malaysia’s marketing team
also undertook the fastest
Supercomputer in the
World project last year, a
social media campaign and
contest to generate buzz
and awareness of Fujitsu
innovation.
Also the launch of
PRIMERGY S7 generation of
servers – most energy efficient
in the world.
In July 2011, Michele
was recognized for her
achievements and awarded
the 'Woman Super Achiever'
at CMO ASIA held in
Singapore.
Previously, she was also
granted the Accenture’s
People Developer recognition
Award in 2009.
Nicholas Kua Chief Marketing Officer, Great Eastern Life Assurance (Malaysia) Berhad
Nicholas has over
20 years of extensive
experience in the insurance
industry in marketing,
product development and
management, but he knew it
will count for nothing when
he joined Great Eastern Life.
Nicholas Kua joined
Great Eastern Life Assurance
(Malaysia) Berhad (Great
Eastern) as the CMO in March
2012 as part of their bold new
direction to put customers at
the heart of the organization.
“This is what makes it
exciting. This is what makes
me want to get out of bed every
morning. It is not every day
that you get to be part of a
game-changing strategy,” he
exclaims.
The proclamation of this
new brand aspiration was
met with much scepticism
in the industry. “This is
to be expected as we are
venturing into uncharted
territory. Defining what is a
Life company and providing
tangible proofs is what
attracted me to join Great
Eastern,” adds Nicholas. Ten months since, he
has not looked back: The
Star Health Fair 2012 was
thronged by 25,000 visitors;
The Live Great Programme
supported by an online portal
encompassing wellness
tools, health tips, mobile
apps, workshops, events and
privileges attracted more than
100,000 visitors; Yoga for Life
event entered the Malaysian
Book of Records with the
largest number of participants
- 2,220 people in one session
and Live Great Run with close
to 5,000 runners!
It appears the new brand
aspiration is taking a definitive
shape and form that is exciting,
engaging and inevitable.
FEBRUARY2013marketing 41
top marketers
Petra Schreiber
Director of Marketing and Communication, Volkswagen Group Malaysia
Petra Schreiber has more
than 15 years of experience
in the automotive industry,
having spent time in various
key positions in marketing,
communications and branding.
She began her automotive
career with Mercedes-Benz,
where she was assigned to
their Hong Kong Marketing
department. In 2002, she
moved to the Volkswagen
Group and was made Senior
Marketing Manager for
Volkswagen China where
she successfully handled
brand communications
responsibilities across all
channels.
In 2011, Petra was
appointed Head of Marketing
and Communication with
Volkswagen Group Malaysia.
Established in 2006,
Volkswagen Group Malaysia
(VGM) has not only grown
tremendously over the past
six years but has also become
a brand with a unique but
strong sense of affinity among
Malaysians.
The highlight of last year
was the launch of The Beetle
at the Volkswagen Das Auto
Show at the Kuala Lumpur
Convention Centre. With a
rich heritage of over 50 years,
the show saw over 10,000
visitors and more importantly,
it acquainted the people with
Volkswagen’s brand values,
offerings. A giant billboard
showed the new Beetle with the
headline The Icon Is Back!
Volkswagen Malaysia also
started its Facebook page and it
has grown to become Number
1 in terms of fans among
automotive companies. It is
also ranked in the Top 9 among
international Volkswagen
Facebook pages.
Additionally, the company
has implemented a new design,
look and feel of its corporate
website, which has been
introduced to all dealers of
Volkswagen, and is being rolled
out in stages.
Moving aggressively
towards an increase of total
market share, 2012 saw an
increase in the number of
dealerships to 20 operational
facilities, covering territories
like East Malaysia (Kuantan)
and South (Skudai), and
increased consumer touch
points in Peninsular
Malaysia.
Pierre Pang
Group General Manager, Sales and Marketing, Mamee-Double Decker (M) Sdn Bhd
Pierre is in the thick of the
action in Malaysia’s phenomenal
consumer goods company.
Mamee Double Decker is home
to brands like the best-selling
Mister Potato, Mamee Instant
Noodles and Mamee Monster.
These brands are market
leaders locally, competing headon with huge multinational
companies like Nestlé, Kraft and
P&G.
As part of Mamee’s
expansion strategy, Mister
Potato became Manchester
United’s Global Snack Partner
in 2011. Mamee also sponsored
three key national football
players (Safee Sali, Khairul
Fahmi and Nazmi Mansor) as
well as local champions, the Red
Warriors of Kelantan.
Mister Potato also has other
celebrities endorsing its brands
42 marketingFEBRUARY2013
– popular Indonesian rock band
Nidji as well as Malaysian power
couple Scha and Awal. These
strategic collaborations provide
the brand opportunities to create
money-can’t-buy experiences
and exclusive content.
For example, Mister Potato
together with Nidji produced
Asia’s official anthem for
Manchester United – ‘Liberty &
Victory’.
Mamee enjoys a significant
30-40% share of the country’s
instant noodles market and
currently exports its products
to 80 countries. Late last year,
Mamee introduced Mamee Chef.
They invested RM10 million in
new noodle machines to produce
noodle similar to the traditional
La Mian’s or Mie Tarik for taste
and texture.
The recipe was co-created
with celebrity chef, Datuk Chef
Ismail. Mamee Monster is one
of the most iconic Malaysian
brands and has been every kid’s
favourite snack for the past three
generations. Mamee is aiming to
bring Monster magic to a wider
audience with exciting activities
in 2013.
Double Decker (M) Sdn
Bhd expects its overall sales to
increase to RM650 million this
year from last year’s RM550
million.
top marketers
Reggie Chee Pok Jin Chief Marketing Officer, YTL Communications Sdn Bhd
Reggie Chee joined YTL
Communications Sdn Bhd
(YES) as CMO in 2011.
His chain of command
involves all marketing
operations from Sales &
Distribution, Enterprise
Business, Education Partners
Program, Product Marketing,
Marketing & Corporate
Communications to Public
Relations, CRM, Loyalty
Marketing, Customer Service
and Retail Store Operations. YTL Communications
launched YES 4G The Fastest
Mobile Internet with Voice in
2010. In the past 20 months,
he restructured YES’ marketing
organization with a brand
new marketing team and
reorganized the sales divisions
to be channel focused. He formalized strong trade
businesses for YES products by
signing on big retail groups like
Seng Heng, Harvey Norman
and Tan Boon Ming chain of
electrical goods stores. He
revitalized relationships with
IT distributors and grew the IT
channel from 200 dealers to
more than 1000 active dealers.
He also recruited over 2500
Tier-1 mobile dealers including
the country’s top broadband
resellers. YES will expand its current
campaigns to include the
education sectors in both West
and East Malaysia.
Pok Jin’s signature marketing
techniques are: segment targeted,
simplicity and listening to the
customers. Prior to this, Reggie was
the Chief Marketing Officer of
Celcom Axiata Berhad for over
three years.
He has 30 years of
experience in the marketing
field, serving various industries
from FMCG, banking and
telecommunications.
He was also previously
the Chief Operating Officer
and Director of PT Mobile-8
Telecom Tbk in Indonesia.
Steven Tai VP, Strategy & Marketing, Ericsson Malaysia (M) Sdn Bhd
2012 was a whirlwind year
for marketing at Ericsson as
they reinforced their position
as the world’s largest telecoms
equipment manufacturer with
the vision of a Networked
Society.
Steven Tai shares, “Today,
over 40% of the world’s mobile
broadband traffic is running
through 3G and LTE networks
implemented by Ericsson and
we’re proud to be selected by
telecom service providers who
believe superior network
performance and delivering
high quality services are not
only hygiene factors but key
differentiators.
Rather than just talking
about superior quality
solutions, we have
benchmarked ourselves
globally and delivered what
we promised. Both our brand
value and market share have
improved despite an extremely
competitive industry.”
Steven has been with
Ericsson Malaysia for four
years. Before that he was Head
of Customer Marketing (Asia
South) for Nokia Siemens
Networks for more than eight
years.
He adds, “2013 will be a
continuation of our marketing
efforts to not only listen to
our customers and deliver
expectations, but to further
innovate and shape the
industry with our vision of the
Networked Society."
He recently worked with his
colleagues to publish a paper
called ‘Enabling the Networked
Society’.
He believes this vision
that can solve many of the
world’s socio-economic and
environmental challenges and
a brand with clear purpose
and resolve of its organization
makes marketing easy.
FEBRUARY2013marketing 43
top marketers
ST Rajen
Head, Group Product Brand Management Division, RHB Bank Berhad
Rajen joined RHB Bank
in 2008 and today manages
the bank’s branding and
marketing communication
for products within the
Group, with the exception of
Investment Bank. He and his
team handle products in retail
banking, Islamic banking,
Easy, RHB Insurance,
business banking and global
financial banking plus digital
brand management and the
Group’s social media platform.
He secured Tesco
International as a co-brand
partner and helped develop
and reposition RHB Internet
Banking to be RHB Now.
Rajen also led the brand
building of a new community
concept Bank called Easy by
RHB and achieved a Markov
share from 0% to 5% in
just under 2 years. Easy’s
business success clinched
the international Financial
Insights Innovation award,
Best Business Model Award
from the Asian Banker
International Excellence
in Retail Financial and an
Effie Award for Effective
Marketing.
Last year RHB Bank
partnered with NAZA Premira
in its ‘Italia Mania’ campaign
by RHB Now, targeting the
18 to 34 year-old internet and
mobile-banking customers
who won Vespa GTS 300s
through a game.
This year RHB Bank
celebrates the group’s 100
years anniversary. While
it launched its centennial
celebration recently with
the mantra P.R.I.D.E.
(Professional, Respect,
Integrity, Dynamic and
Excellence), there will be
several promotional product
campaigns such as Spend
with RHB Cards and Drive
off with the brand new
Volkswagen and the 100
days interest-free home loan
campaign.
The RHB Banking Group
is currently the fifth largest
fully integrated financial
service group in Malaysia.
Rajen was previously Senior Business Development
Manager at Visa International
(Asia Pacific) Ltd and project
director for the Visa Wave
commercial roll out in
Malaysia. Prior to that he
was with Absolute Results
Marketing and HSBC
Malaysia. aren’t putting themselves at
risk of bone related diseases.
One of their ongoing
initiatives is the Anlene Bone
Health Check, providing
free bone scans to people
across Malaysia to help them
understand more about their
own bone health and has done
over 1 million scans to date!
Yeoh Phaik Sim Marketing Director, Fonterra Brands (M) Sdn Bhd
Phaik Sim has been with
Fonterra Brands for more
than 8 years. Before that she
was with Coca-Cola Far East
Limited and Nestlé Malaysia.
Fonterra’s story starts
nearly two centuries ago when
the first cows arrived in New
Zealand. From those simple
beginnings, they’ve become
the world’s largest dairy
exporter, wholly owned by the
farmers who supply the milk.
They manufacture and
market some of the world’s
best known dairy brands,
including Anmum, Anlene,
Fernleaf (CalciYum &
Solivite), Chesdale, Anchor
Butter, etc. Phaik Sim shares with
MARKETING, “In 2011, we
helped inform and empower
mothers on the key issues
44 marketingfebruary2013
surrounding added sugars in
growing up milk powders.
This campaign focused on
educating parents on how to
decipher nutrition labels and
ingredient lists while driving
awareness about the benefits
of giving children growing
up milk with no added sugar,
such as Anmum Essential.
The campaign showed how
we were able to use marketing
tools to educate parents about
this important issue.”
Another area Fonterra
Malaysia is focusing on is
raising awareness about bone
health. This centres around
educating people about the
role bone health plays in
maintaining mobility as well
as the nutrition and lifestyle
changes people need to make
at a young age to ensure they
top marketers
York Spencer
Marketing Director, Carlsberg Malaysia
Spencer is responsible for
the strategic development of
brand and trade marketing
product innovation,
communication, and
commercialisation for the
group’s stable of brands. He
shares five trends in beverages
marketing across Asia:
Social Tensions
Self and social identity
conflicts will rise; “Who I am”
and “What am I” questions
will continue to increase in
a faster paced world. Smart
beverage brands will answer
these questions through
social badges that represent
identities and inner meaning,
but also as more meaningful
occasion based vehicles.
Social Media
SoMe will continue to
explode, all generations will
be proficient and beverage
brands must master the art of
digital connection but in a way
that also drives foot traffic,
purchase and consumption,
not just engagement.
Mash Ups
As borders melt, there will
be far more fusion of cross
Asia trends, design, fashion,
music and lifestyles, plus more
East meets West. Genuine
embedding of these cultural
threads into the beverage
brand marketing mix will
generate buzz and authentic
connection that brings the
brand closer to heart.
Group Individuality
More individual expression
will occur but within the
safety and context of similar
minded groups. People will
become more confident in
themselves and the desire for
self-expression will increase,
However it will still be rooted
in traditional values taught
from school and family. True
Western style individuality
will remain reasonably
isolated.
Urban Swell
The rising middle class
and how to connect a portfolio
of liquids and brands with
millions of people entering
the urban hubris every
day will be critical to large
beverage marketers. More
channel marketing and sales
sophistication will be required
to manage a far more complex
but exciting OnTrade F&B
environment as a larger
variety of micro-segments,
outlets and occasions open
their doors for business.
On Feb 1, 2013 after
a stint of 18 months in
Carlsberg Malaysia Spencer
was promoted to become
Commercial Director for
Carlsberg IndoChina.
Juliet Yap, who was
the brewery’s Business
Development Director is now
the new Marketing Director
for Carlsberg Malaysia.
LTE (Long-term Evolution).
Our challenge will be to make
these new offerings relevant,
and in some cases even create
needs that will mould new
consumer behaviour.”
Zalman Aefendy Zainal Abidin
Chief Marketing Officer, Celcom Axiata Berhad
Zalman has been in telco
marketing for 17 years and at
Celcom for more than 9 years.
Asked about the fiercely
competitive telco market, he
shares. “In such conditions,
Celcom understands that
customer engagement is
critical and we make sure we
engage our customers through
our products by providing
them with great brand and
product experiences.”
He agrees the industry
has reached a point where
the power to influence
communication is now in the
hands of the consumer and
marketers need to creatively
engage the customers on their
terms while delivering key
messages.
Celcom has excellent
examples of this strategy with
their Xplay Club Series, which
is part of the initiatives under
the Xpax prepaid brand that
focuses on youth.
He continues, “At the
same time, we need to
be dynamic enough to
adapt to the constantly
shifting behaviour of media
consumption that is driven
by new digital lifestyles.
For 2012, we focused on
optimising marketing spend
by identifying key markets,
channels, and opportunities,
breaking through the
clutter by introducing bold
new concepts and product
bundles.”
On 2013 he says, “It
will be even tougher with
the addition of brand new
products and the introduction
of new technologies such as
february2013marketing 45
Have you been
MUPAed? Airin Zainul
Group GM of ntv7 and 8TV 46 marketingfebruary2013
media marketing
Simplifying the market
for advertisers
In a minefield of data overload, ntv7 brings clarity with its dynamic MUPA positioning…
There’s more to ‘feeling good’ about
ntv7 these days. The station is turning
15 and the mission forward could not
be more telling: ntv7’s new positioning
appeals to the modern urban progressive
adults (MUPAs) made up of 25 to 45 year
olds with an urban and global mindset.
The channel showcases premium
brands to a bigger audience than before
and is rolling out its action plans with
an energized focus on three areas:
Focused Content, Focused Trade,
and Focused Viewer Interaction and
Communications. Making it a premium
brand for the Professionals, Managers,
Executives and Businessmen (PMEBs). MUPAs are smart and stylish, modern
with a global taste and preference, onthe-go, and family-oriented, amongst
others. Talking about the MUPA profile, last
September ntv7 was Top 5 of both Total
4+ and Urban 30+ with audience share of
5.1% and 5.8% respectively.
Its audience share in the Chinese 4+
is also strong with 17.9% in September
and was positioned in the Top 3. A strong focus on content remains
its guiding light as the channel further
engages viewers and the community
involved through events and campaign
tie-ins such as Bella Awards, Feel
Good Run, Yuan Carnival, ntv7’s 15th
anniversary celebration and more. “Although there are a lot of emerging
platforms of content providers out
there, I think what we need to focus is
our Content as that’s what matters most
to our viewers, ” says Airin the driver
behind ntv7.
“Last August, The Game, Malaysia’s
1st Chinese reality drama, also received
overwhelming response with over
700,000 viewers with its bold concept.”
Feeling good at the 17th Television Asia Awards
ntv7's team ready to outrun the competition
Airin Zainul cuts the perfect poise and
personifies the MUPA demographic. Her
team’s enthusiasm has got a lot to do with
the fact that they also play together.
Or to be more specific, run together. Airin is no fly on the wall, as she
brought in successful international
franchises to the Malaysian TV scene
with Malaysian Idol, Project Runway,
Kickstart, Project Superstar, So You
Think You Can Dance as GM of the Brand
Management Group for 8TV during its
inception in 2004. In 2008, she returned back to ntv7 as
its General Manager and drove the station
to conquer Malaysian Chinese audiences
by catapulting ntv7 in 2008 as the #1
station for Chinese viewers aged 4 and
above.
The station also reached the #2 spot
for Urban viewers aged 30 and above,
after its sister company, TV3.
At the 17th Asian Television Awards
recently in Singapore, ntv7 was the only
channel in Malaysia who took home an
award when its reality programme –
What Men Want – was announced as the
winner of Best Reality Show. They were also awarded Terrestrial
Channel of the Year at the prestigious
awards show held to recognise excellence
in production, programming, and
performance in TV productions around
Asia. Plus Best Actress in a Leading Role
(Debbie Goh, The Descendant), Best
Actress in a Supporting Role (Jojo Goh,
Forget Me Not) and Best Theme Song
(Wu Jia Hui, The Descendant). The 17th Asian TV Awards saw the
participation of 13 countries in Asia
with more than 1,300 submissions
received across 38 television genres and
performance categories. “The entertainment industry has
always been a competitive industry –
that’s already part of our challenge. In
fact, I think what’s more challenging for
us is to keep up with the changing habits
and lifestyle of our viewers. Through
events and campaign tie-ins, we hope to
draw more participation from the public,
while bridging the gap,” add Airin. Last year alone, the brand organized
and entertained more than 190,000
visitors across eight venues in Malaysia’s
largest Chinese community carnival.
So are you feeling good about getting
MUPAed this year?
february2013marketing 47
flipper
Just
FLIP-IT!
Nope, Nike’s not changing
its tagline, but maybe it is
time we flip over our online
engagement plans to the next
level.
In 2012 Coke, a century
old brand championing its
belief ‘pause that refreshes’,
launched its most ambitious
digital project till date,
‘Refreshing its website for
the digital century’. A rather
visionary move to turn
its Business Portal into a
Consumer Magazine called
Coca Cola Journey. (coca cola
journey)
Envisioned to be a truly
‘Immersive Brand Experience’
this new refreshed Online
Consumer Magazine with
a steady base of 1.2 million
unique visitors monthly
promises users interactivity
ranging from subjects of
entertainment, environment,
health and sports, interviews,
blogs, videos and much more.
The Internet is Personal
Again!
No pun intended but the
truth be told, when all brands
were busy going social, the
consumers were slowly turning
anti-social, returning back to
the good old fashioned way of
48 marketingfebruary2013
flipper
Oprah for Flipboard
crack. But sooner than later all
the mainstream brands would
feel compelled to get on with it.
As Flipboard is the new search
engine the world has started
exploring their Internet with.
flipping through information,
entertainment and more only
this time on their tablets and
smartphones.
So whilst Coke was the first
mainstream visionary to buckup this trend of ‘Immersive
Engagement’, it was initially
evangelized by offline
mainstream publications
and other content immersive
brands.
IKEA Interactive Catalogue
Time Magazine IPAD Edition
From the times of Type,
Tap, Touch and now Flips one
thing that has consistently
never made any money sense
to a pragmatic marketer is
the reporting of ‘Millions &
Billions’ numbers of users.
However in this art of
data jugglery one number
that would really compels any
hard-core marketer would be
86 minutes of average personal
time spent on ‘indulging in
Content’.
A number that establishes
Flipboard a phenomenon
rather than a passing fad,
compelling all of us in the
marketing fraternity to
collectively think, now how
should we crack this level of
engagement.
’86 Minutes of
Engagement’ a challenge to all
of us storytellers is something
perhaps we were not prepared
for while busy amassing our
respective Brand Facebook
Fans and likes.
This higher order level
of engagement popularly
known as ‘Tablet Marketing’ is
something currently high-end
luxury brands are trying to
... ‘86 Minutes
Consumer
Engagement
Challenge’ to all
of us storytellers is
something perhaps
we were not
prepared for...
by Sailesh Wadhwa
Strategy Planning Director,
Lowe Malaysia
february2013marketing 49
Adopting
a social
mind set
Nicholas Kua
Chief Marketing Officer,
Great Eastern Life Assurance (Malaysia) Berhad.
50 marketingfebruary2013
insurance marketing
How insurance is
getting sexy with
youth marketing.
Chalking up fans, on their own terms, with Life-O-Meter.
In a recent social media campaign, Great
Eastern Life Assurance (Malaysia) Bhd
engaged Creative Juice for a social media
application to attract and appeal to youth.
The idea was based on the insight that
youth are motivated in various aspects
of their lives but since insurance was far
away from their mind, marketers needed
to find a way to bridge that gap.
“We introduced a Facebook app called
Life-O-Meter which really is a neutral
platform for youth to express their views,
narrate their stories, share, entertain,
broadcast and make new connections,”
shares Nicholas Kua, Chief Marketing
Officer for Great Eastern Life .
“We create monthly themes, like
food, music, travel, etc. with weekly
topics that reflect their life experiences
and is representative of their culture. For
example the conversation trigger Eat-tolive or Live-to-eat?” adds Creative Juice
KL head honcho Sa’ad Hussein.
The campaign garnered 23,000 fans in
the first 5 weeks with a high talk-value 0f
25%. People Talking About This (PTAT)
industry’s average is 9%. The campaign
started at a PTAT score of 1,310 and
crossed over 10,000 as of press time.
Life-O-Meter was launched as a social
media application on the Great Eastern
Facebook page, and runs for 12 months
with a simple objective for the young
generation to Like and become fans of
Great Eastern Life, on their own terms.
Celebrity bloggers, Joyce Wong
(KinkyBlueFairy), KimberlyCun,
KYSpeaks and Uzair Othman also joined
the official launch in December.
Nicholas elaborates, “LPS is the
campaign slang to drive youth to connect
with Life-O-Meter. LPS is short for Like,
Post, Share and are the basic mechanics to
this application. We played around with
LPS through acronyms and put meaning
behind LPS and using LPS quotes to relate
to everday life. Upon liking, posting and
sharing, participants are in the running
for weekly rewards with the chance of
participating for the grand prize. In line
with the concept of Life-O-Meter, the
grand prize winner gets to choose their
prize from two options presented.”
“We want to acknowledge their
freedom to choose, celebrate their love
for life, whether at life's crossroads or just
daily decisions. Life-O-Meter allows the
connection to the pulse of youth”, adds
Hui Tsin, General Manager of Creative
Juice KL. Designed like a game, it is based on
the fact that everyone has a preference
and is motivated in the various aspects of
life and youth want to celebrate individual
empowerment of choices in areas of life,
they are passionate about.
Each week, thought-provoking topics
are posted with two opposing choices to
facilitate a voting mechanism that will
be reflected in the movement of a needle
on the LoM. Through a series of meters,
visitors choose the side they favour, share
their conviction, and rally to pack their
lifewagon. It can be about food, music,
travel, or any aspect that attracts youth at
large.
“Through the Life-O-Meter, we hope
to build stronger bonds with our current
friends, and pick up new friends along the
way who will be the foundation of keeping
this forum alive by expressing their
thoughts,” quips Nicholas who joined
Great Eastern Life as CMO a year ago.
“Right at about the same time, we
embarked on a journey to transform
ourselves from a Life Insurance Company
to a LIFE Company. We want people to
join us to live great by making healthier
and better choices. This is how the Life-OMeter was conceptualised to advocate the
freedom of choice and at the sane time,
celebrate the passion of Life.”
With over 20 years in the insurance
industry particularly in marketing,
product development and management,
branding and corporate communications
we asked him if he felt that Great Eastern
Life has already made it big…
“To us, this is just the beginning.
We need to go broader and deeper,
leveraging more channels including
digital, create more infectious activities
and communications to get more people
on board. Ultimately, we envision a fully
engaged staff force and agency force
joining hands with delighted customers,
creating a community of like-minded
people who embrace the ‘Live Great’
motto, coming together and sharing the
idea of living better, living healthier and
most of all, living great.”
The power of social media is not
lost in savvy marketers and some of the
leading brands in the world leverage it to
their advantage. According to Warc, the
global marketing information service,
Unilever, P&G and Kraft are the ‘most
social’ brand owners. In a recent report
by them titled Seriously Social, it cites
that marketers need to apply the same
seriousness to planning, budgeting and
measuring campaigns with a social
media element as is expected from the
best traditional campaigns. The report
concludes that the usage of social
media has outpaced growth in objective
understanding of how to use it effectively
for communications and it is time to
bridge the knowledge gap.
And if Warc’s global report is anything
to go by, it appears that Great Eastern's
Life's Life-O-Meter campaign has met the
four key criteria when approaching social
media: Adopting a social mind set, Social
articulation of a clear brand idea, Scaling
up of ambition and Storytelling.
february2013marketing 51
news
Herry new
Unilever
Marketing
Director
Hugo Verkuil,
Unilever Marketing
Director for
Malaysia and
Singapore, has left
to become VP &
Managing Director
for Unilever
Australia and New
Zealand in a clear
upward move. He
was Unilever's
marketing head
for almost one and
half years and prior
to that Unilever's
Head of Foods
for Malaysia &
Singapore.
His role has now
been taken over by
Herry Budiazhari,
previously from
Unilever Singapore
for two years and
many other exciting
adventures. Herry
is a digital native,
calls himself a
Gunner, is all crazy
about Arsenal, golf,
photography and
Twitter. He is the
man to watch!
52 marketingfebruary2013
ADELINE SENIOR DIRECTOR AT VIACOM
Adeline Ong has been named Senior Director
for Corporate Communications in Asia
for Viacom International Media Networks
(VIMN) Asia.
In this newly created senior position, Ong
will help shape VIMN’s communications
strategy and lead VIMN’s external and
internal communications efforts across its
growing portfolio of brands across the region,
and drive the global strategic priorities
within Asia. Ong will be based in Singapore
and report to VIMN Asia’s Executive Vice
President and Managing Director, Indra
Suharjono.
Ong received her undergraduate degree in
Professional Communications, with a major in
Broadcast Journalism from RMIT University
in Melbourne, Australia.
Sources:
freelancewitch.com/clients/
12-breeds-of-clients-and-how-to-work-with-them/
sxrevisions.com/project-management/
tips-client-demands/
Every firm has that one client - the
one who monopolizes your time,
frustrates the entire staff, and makes
unreasonable demands. But the
customers is always right. Right?
Here are a few tips to recognize when
you've got one of these challenges on
your hands and how to deal with them.
(Hint: Say "No" A Lot More.)
news
FOX SPORTS LAUNCHES IN MALAYSIA
Daikin ad leverages by-election
Hakuhodo Singapore, the network’s South East Asian hub office launched a
one day-only double page spread print ad in the country’s leading newspaper
The Straits Times. The ad makes a topical play on the Punggol district byelection’s mandatory cooling off day.
Coupling that with Daikin’s legendary prowess as a leading air conditioning
brand, the agency sought to deliver a cheeky proposition “Every Day
is Cooling Off Day” when one is fortunate enough to own a Daikin air
conditioner.
Satish Khattar Head of Copy says, “The by election is a frenzied and short
campaigning period with four parties vying for the right to represent the
residents of Punggol. The government imposes a mandatory one day no
campaign cooling off period to bring some semblance of calm before the
election day itself. We embraced this opportunity to demonstrate Daikin’s
leading cooling technology with a twist.”
FOX International Channels (FIC) Asia, News
Corporation’s international multi-media business
and Asia’s leading pay-TV network, announced
that FOX SPORTS, the world’s leading sports
media brand, will be launched across multiple
platforms including television, broadband and
online in Malaysia and in various countries across
Asia on January 28.
Following News Corporation’s successful
acquisition of ESPN's partnership interest in ESPN
STAR Sports (ESS) in November last year, all
ESPN networks will be renamed as FOX SPORTS
networks on Astro.
“It is exciting to be launching in Asia the leading
brand that has changed the sports experience
for fans across the world,” said Peter Hutton,
Senior Vice President, Sports, FOX International
Channels. “Moving forward, FOX SPORTS is
committed to further enhancing this experience for
sports fans in Malaysia by showcasing even more
engaging, localized programming and delivering
to them all the best content in the most convenient
ways.”
Forbes Magazine: Puppets
Real insights from the business world.
Advertising Agency: Jandl,
Bratislava, Slovakia
Creative Director/ Art Director:
Pavel Fuksa
Associate CD / Copywriter:
Eugen Suman
Art Director: Alexis Blanco
Account Manager: Marek Wilhalm
60 marketingfebruary2013