brandequitymagazine.com

VOL.7, APRIL-JUNE 2007
BRAND EQUITY
INSIGHT THRU’ MARKET INTELLIGENCE
RM10.00
11/15/07, 5:16 PM
1
COVER final
CONTENTS
EDITOR’S NOTE
04
B2B Branding
Labels that Deliver a Great Experience
of a brand proposition.
It takes an
assortment
of elements
to drive the
success of
any brand or
guarantee the
acceptance
To operate successfully under prevailing
conditions, the assortment must include
innovation, the pursuit of differentiation, a
willingness to embrace new technologies and
an attitude that is primed to snub convention.
Cover Story
Category Brand Leader
Apple’s iPhone Conundrum
Cover Story 08
Nielsen Media Update
19
Ad spending Exceeded Expectations in 2006
24
Media Strategy
Matching Motives, Moments & Media
28
Mobile Marketing
Cost Effective Communications with Go!SMS
BrandLaw 16
Web Marketing
32
Ways to Use RSS for Your Brand, Part 2
Brand AUDIT
34
Market Research, Brand Audit
and Brand Valuation - The Differences
Public Relations
36
‘This Old Relationship Tangle…’
B2B Branding 04
Brand Direction
38
Creating & Delivering the Best
INTERACTION mARKETING
Everything aside, the assortment needs the
inclusion of one more element – the propensity
for taking calculated risks.
Food for thought – how risk-sensitive is your
brand building team?
13
16
BrandLaw
This issue also features a company that
is encouraging brand builders to push the
boundaries of communications even further.
Pemara Labels offers nifty solutions that
facilitate direct brand-consumer dialogue.
And MNC Wireless continues to harness the
power of mobile technology to better manage
the brand-customer interface.
08
A Heritage that Soothes
It’s the last element in the list that triggers
curiosity. A head-on assault on established
convention and other social values may invite
serious repercussions.
But Unilever’s experience continues to prove
otherwise. The lead story details as much how
a collision with convention, when fronted by
strategic insights and clever execution, can
deliver great results.
‘Dirt is Good’
40
An Innovation Web Campaign for Brylcreem
Brand CommunicationS
42
BBDO Malaysia Conceives Great Ideas for KFC
Brand Evolution 00
Brand Communications
42
Branded Customer Service
46
Creating the On-Brand Experience
Published by:
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Perception Media Sdn Bhd 3-3, Jalan 11/48A, Sentul Raya Boulevard, 51000 Kuala Lumpur Tel : 03 4043 0500 Fax : 03 4043 7648
Publisher : James Selva Executive Publisher : RT Selvi Publishing Director : RS Kumar
Group Editor : CGN Raghunath (email:[email protected]) Staff Writer : Chris Krishna
Contributors : Cseng Lim, George Aveling, Jane Prior, Jeff Zweig, R. Venkateswaran Marketing Manager : A Veerasingam, Anenda Sharma,
Senior Graphic Designer : N Hemalatha Graphic Designer : G Kayathri, V A Kanmani
Dtp Artist : S Savithri Production Coodinator : R Sangeetha, IT Executive : Vani Sri Administration : Kavitha
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PP11255/4/2007
A Member Of
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PAMERA.pdf
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Brand Equity
B2B BRANDING
By Raghunath
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Arthur Lai & Ngooi Pei Ling
11/17/07 3:52:52 PM
Allan Lo
Let’s say you’d like to intensify
consumer-brand affinity with a keen
eye on cost efficiency.
So ideas and related problems pop
up in the mind. How about a contest
(forms are chucked in the car’s
backseat, or out of sight at the retail
end, some strewn around the garbage
bin perhaps, reservations about
absolute support of retailers).
Provide additional information
about the product (leaflet in the
backseat again, the garbage
bin, or delivered to the wrong
audience); festive season is
around the corner, and you’d
like to tickle consumers with
new recipes. The information
consumes four letter-size
pages (logistical issues,
missing at the retail end,
lost & found at the garbage
dump…).
A decision impasse
looms. Then a team from
Pemara Labels shoves a 36-page
booklet replete with recipes into your
hands and says they can affix it on the
bottle!
They insist its going to look great,
is logistics friendly, very secure, and
cost-effective. Wastage is minimal,
and the recipes can hang on the
bottle in the chiller as well.
And sure you can dump the four
letter-size pages. Better yet, your
company has the opportunity to
communicate directly with consumers
in an exciting way.
And what about consumer-brand
affinity? ‘That will be delivered’, they
insist. The point of difference? It’s
now a teeny-weeny but eye-catching 4
X 4 cm booklet. Tear the security seal,
and out pops the smartly folded 36
pages.
Tracing its roots back to Australia,
the innovative Pemara Labels
is an international
supplier
of high
quality labels as well
as a wide array of promotional
solutions.
In Malaysia, its customers include
Unilever, Johnson & Johnson, Sara
Lee, GlaxoSmithKline and among
others, Quaker Products. And
customer relationships are regionally
aligned.
About delivering value to
customers, Arthur Lai, the company’s
Group GM, Asia explains, ‘Our point of
differentiation is the ‘Pemara Brand
Experience’. Customers must see
and feel the quality that we deliver
consistently with smart processes and
superior technology through our brand
experience.’
Back to the 36-page recipe booklet.
Dubbed Fix-a-Form™, this star product
from Pemara Labels is a multi-page
leaflet-label system that can be
custom-made to support a variety of
brand communications activities.
‘The patented Fix-A-Form™
is versatile and can be used for
contests, redemptions, discount
vouchers, recipes and delivering
detailed information about
products. It is a hit among brand
owners in Malaysia,’ says Ngooi Pei
Ling, GM, Pemara Malaysia.
Pemara’s product repertoire
includes decorative labels with hot
stamp, holograms, Trust Seals®,
postage stamps, rub-n-sniff labels as
well as Fix-a-Form™.
Much of Pemara’s initiatives
address the concerns of brand owners.
Explains Pei Ling, ‘Contest entry forms
can be affixed on the package. The
consumer does not have to waste time
heading for the redemption counter.
More importantly, the form remains
accessible anytime so long as the
consumer keeps the product. And they
have more time to decide whether to
participate.’
‘The materials that we use are
versatile as well. The labels do not
disintegrate or peel off surfaces that
condense. This would be a concern
with soft-drink cans,’ she adds.
The past few years bore witness to
the rising concern for security; a trend
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not missed by Pemara’s radar. ‘Most
scratch & win labels out there do not
match the quality we deliver. With
inferior quality, prizes can be visible
under strong light. The hot stamping
process we use for such labels is very
secure,’ says Allan Lo, Pemara’s Sales
Manager.
Categories such as cigarettes,
alcohol beverages, agrochemicals,
pharmaceuticals tend to fall prey
to counterfeiting activities. Allan
recommends the use of Trust Seals® to
preserve the integrity of packages as
well as promo activities.
‘The product is licensed from
a German company and is used on
currency notes as well. It can be
applied on cash or gift vouchers
and incorporated into Fix-a-Form™
labels as well. More importantly, it is
difficult to imitate,’ he says.
Arthur adds that customer
engagement does not stop with a sale.
‘We also organize seminars to inform
customers about the innovative ways
they can use our products to enhance
their customer brand experience
as well. Some occasions it is done
in collaboration with the Chartered
Institute of Marketing, Malaysia’ says
Arthur who is the Honorary Secretary
in the council.
He also says that Pemara is
committed to collaborating with
its strategic partners for delivering
solutions that set new standards
for performance, reliability and
sustainability.
Partners include the industry’s
respected names in pre-press and
print technology. The list includes
Tycine Colour Separation, Xsys Print
Solutions Malaysia, Leonhard Kurz
from Germany as well as Multifoil Sdn.
Bhd.
Arthur says that their brand
experience is facilitated by state-ofthe-art technology. ‘Technology has
helped implement the ‘One Pemara’
concept. Jobs that are repeated or
implemented in different countries
deliver identical quality while
managed from a central location.
We can deliver quality proofs to
customers while our machines are in
operation as well,’ notes Arthur.
Product or process, quality plays
a key role in delivering the Pemara
Brand Experience.
And as you admire the label or
affixed note on your favorite shampoo
brand, or wine, or liquid car polish,
chances are that the intense signal it
emits may bear the signature of the
Pemara brand experience.
Please direct your enquiries
to [email protected]
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Brand Equity
COVER STORY
By Raghunath
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Sze Tian Poh
So what’s wrong with dirt, challenges
Breeze, a stellar brand delivered from
the belly of global consumer goods
juggernaut Unilever.
Intent on changing the rules of the
game, the company has been launching compelling offensives against
deep-seated mores as well as social
values that are not in tune with the
times.
Lately, Unilever’s in-your-face
campaigns have been daring consumers to recast their beliefs; and in the
process, inciting doubts about out-ofform values.
So they are urging people to get
out there and celebrate life with a
dash of vitality, toss out inhibitions
about their personas, challenge the
pressures they have to deal with (such
as how they look), and to get real
about happenings in the slices that
make up their lives.
That explains the shift in the brand
philosophy of Breeze.
Breeze is
ProDirt
Explains Sze Tian Poh, Unilever’s
Chairman & MD for Malaysia &
Singapore, ‘Play offers the opportunity
to learn in every child’s growing
years. Children need to play to
develop their creativity, enhance their
motoring skills and cultivate positive
values such as teamwork and healthy
competition. Therefore, we are urging
Malaysian parents to encourage their
children to play without the worry
of dirt as Breeze will be at hand to
remove stains effectively.’
But it’s a direction that’s been
realized with fitting moves as well.
Breeze was the only detergent brand
to share the football fever during the
World Cup period. The promotional
activity launched the Breeze Splat
Balls, which carried the signature of
international footballer, Ronaldhino.
The company embarked on a
charity drive to build safe playgrounds
for orphanage homes as well. Another
is on its way.
But there is an affirmed obsession
of sorts that drives the brand
builders at Unilever. ‘We embrace a
philosophy that persuades us to focus
more on consumers rather then the
competition, to be fanatical about
consumer needs and deliver them
when they need it,’ says Sze.
The Mission
‘We want people to feel good, look
good and get more out of life itself,’
he adds. ‘We want to focus on new
consumer opportunities to grow our
business. Our mission is to add vitality
to life.’
And vitality to consumers can showup in the form of clean hands, healthy
smiles, clean homes, getting noticed,
having more time for themselves and
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vitality to
consumers can
show-up in the
form of clean hands,
healthy smiles,
clean homes,
getting noticed,
having more time
for themselves and
others, or even
pampered skin.
others, or even pampered skin.
So Unilever’s new mantra seeks to
spurn conventional brand marketing
practices and propositions while
maneuvering their brands into
uncontested arenas.
Sure it sounds very much like
its business as usual. But it needs
a trained eye and mind to spot
opportunities, and risk venturing into
any uncontested space, and with
everyone watching.
Where’s the
Hair?
Sample this – two years back Sunsilk
fired a different broadside that raised
many eyebrows. They were the first
to advertise a shampoo brand with
every strand of hair out of sight. That’s
taking a risk; calculated or not remains
a different matter.
A killer insight that homed into the
nuances of Muslim women donning the
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headscarf led the way. Again, it’s a
trained eye that was spot-on with the
uncontested area.
Be Life
Confident
At the moment Sunsilk is getting
cuddly with teenagers experiencing
predicaments while making decisions
concerning many aspects of their
lives. The brand insists that it
understands that growing up is
all about facing challenges and
dilemmas.
So in comes a 15-minute
interactive entertainment program
with a social cause that helps
disseminate good moral values to
young Malaysians. It’s a drama series
that showcases how a character goes
through her life filled with challenges
and dilemmas as a teenager. The
character resonates with Sunsilk’s
personality – warm, friendly and
approachable. And her life situation
reflects the life of Malaysian
teenagers.
A supporting SMS campaign invites
viewers to suggest what the character
should do next, and prizes are given
away for spotting the ‘moral of the
story’ which reflects Sunsilk’s values.
The upside? Sunsilk leads with over
30% share of the market.
Dove is ProAge
A tale about an all-out assault on
convention is worth telling. The
contemporary consumer culture is
replete with elements that are hellbent on gratifying the desire for great
looks, while ‘great looks’ remain
beyond reach to many hopefuls.
It’s all out there – Botox, eyelid
lift, liposuction, breast augmentation,
chemical peel; and add the tendency
for consumers to cave-in to messages
from peers and role models.
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debates around traditional Asian stereotypes on beauty, in
contrast to the Western executions of 2004. Single eyelids and
short hair were added to the debate.
‘This year the Campaign For Real Beauty will get into high
gear in Malaysia,’ says Sze.
HIRAMEKI, a State of
Inspiration
And what gives with Lipton, the world’s leading tea brand
and global market leader in leaf and ready-to-drink tea? An
initiative by Lipton is further communicating the goodness of
tea to consumers.
The ongoing HIRAMEKI campaign extols the virtues of
another natural ingredient in tea that claims to further
enhance its goodness to the human body.
An alliance with Oxford University has established the
presence of theanine in every cup of Lipton. Theanine is
purported to give a relaxed but alert state of mind – thus the
state of inspiration known as HIRAMEKI.
Says Sze, ‘We expect two distinct groups of consumers
to benefit from our findings; the thriving youth who want to
perform well at school and at work, and the aging community
who want to maximize and maintain cognitive abilities.’
Moo!
Persuading a child to down a glass of milk can be
exasperating. And everyday that too. So manage that aversion
for milk by hunting for a suitable substitute.
Campaigns that exploit the power of association
often feature models with archetypal looks that most
women can only dream about!
But Dove took the diametrical route; and
challenged convention. The brand decided to get
honest with in-your-face visuals and messages
that told women that whatever their skin type, or
body shape, or age, or color, or looks – the need to
conform or otherwise is a matter of confidence, and
choice.
The ‘Campaign For Real Beauty’ as it was dubbed
urged women to accept the fact that there is beauty
in diversity, and in natural looks.
It urged women to reexamine their values, and
assured them that there is a certain beauty about
them that they can revel in, and treasure. Much was
done to elevate their self-esteem.
The campaign persuaded women to speak-up,
enter into a dialogue and eventually feel beautiful.
The result? Dove’s assault has developed into one
of the world’s most innovative, iconic and universally
acclaimed campaigns of modern times. It became a
PR triumph, set it well apart from rival brands and
won acclaim from women worldwide.
The Campaign For Real Beauty took off in Malaysia
at the end of 2005. Shot in Bangkok, it raised new
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Bra
Deliver the Calcium through a product as well as
experience that children will clamor for. The challenge
inspired the introduction of the ice-cream brand ‘Moo’
in Indonesia. Sze says that the successful brand has
made a promising presence in Malaysia.
Best Practices Shared
A flurry of ceaseless activities continues to elevate the
competencies of Unilever’s brand builders.
Explains Sze, ‘Our Intranet is well engineered to
facilitate global sharing of information, knowledge
and ideas. There are dockets for every brand and each
carries information about best practices. A manager in
Malaysia can contact a counterpart in any part of the
world to inquire about best practices relevant to their
brand.’
Lessons Learnt
There’s much to be inferred from Unilever’s quest for
market ascension.
Being obsessed about consumer nuances must be a
springboard for every decision and campaign. Brand
imprints must have a heart, and celebrate people as
well as life itself.
The consumer-brand connection must be absolute,
and forged with an essence that must be extended to
all markets worldwide. And brand footprints must be
extended to cover many parts of the world. Decisions
are more global with some room for responding to local
nuances.
Besides, brands that continually opt for pertinent
differentiation have a better shot at succeeding. The
overall well-being of the consumer has to play a major
role in determining the direction of the brand.
And aping the competition will deliver, but only in
the short term. Strategic moves must be accompanied
by that propensity for risk-taking.
More importantly, challenging convention can deliver
great results.
Moving Forward
Well into his 19th year with Unilever, Sze is the first
local to assume the Chair. It has been over two years,
and the man operates with all eyes on cash flow as well
as the terminal value of Unilever’s brand repertoire.
So what’s the team gunning for? ‘We want to bring
some meaning to our brands and that will make our
work meaningful. And at the same time grow the
business as fast as we can to support the meaningful
work we are doing,’ says Sze. And his candid message for aspiring brand builders?
‘Strive to inject meaning into your brand building
activity. You will then be willing to suffer for what you
are doing. Otherwise, just don’t do it.’
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Being obsessed
about consumer
nuances must be
a springboard for
every decision and
campaign. Brand
imprints must
have a heart, and
celebrate people
as well as life
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Brand Equity
CATEGORY BRAND LEADER
By R. Venkateswaran
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Would you believe that a popular
throat drop brand available at your
friendly grocer had its origin outside
of Asia just about 140 years ago?
Better yet, the very same ‘miracle
lozenge’ was conceived to give relief
to fishermen who suffered from
coughs, colds and other bronchial
difficulties while battling the elements
at sea.
In the early days, Fisherman’s
Friend offered one variant. It last
recorded worldwide sales of over
US$350 million through eight flavors
made available in more than 130
countries. In Malaysia, it claims
leading position with 21% share in the
throat drop category.
Fisherman’s Friend is propositioned
as a ‘daily use’
brand. The
product range
is classified as a
‘functional candy’
that is throatfriendly. Among
others, it is said
to help clear
throat irritations,
alleviate coughs
and colds, unblock
nasal passages
and relieves sore
throats.
‘The consistent
flavor and the
benefits it delivers continue to
be a draw for a broad spectrum
of customers in the urban as well
as semi-urban areas,’ says Mohan
Alagappar, General Manager of
GBA Corporation, which distributes
Fisherman’s Friend in Malaysia.
‘The popularity of this product is
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also reflected in the target customer
profile – mostly male or female adults
who want to clear their throat,
and if they are smokers, mask
any unpleasant odor. Presently,
many want the benefit of fresh
breath from drops that come
without the usual calories
found in typical sugar
candies. Others simply
suck the lozenges for
inspiration,’ shares Mohan
who also adds that many
undergraduates splurge on their
brand to stay alert.
In addition, the rising concern
for well-being has helped the brand
with the introduction of sugar free
variants. But product development
initiatives have
encouraged
sensitivity
to culture
inspired
flavors.
Asian
flavored
SKU’s have been
introduced as well.
Key Asian distributors
have inspired the
development of two
fusion flavors; apple
& cinnamon and
mandarin & ginger.
And Fisherman’s Friend is well
distributed nationwide through a
variety of retail establishments; from
hypermarts to traditional stores.
Impulse purchases account for a
sizeable chunk of sales, especially
through pharmacy chains, petrol
stations and convenience stores.
It last recorded
worldwide sales
of over US$350
million through
eight flavors made
available in more
than 130 countries.
In Malaysia, it
claims leading
position with 21%
share in the throat
drop category.
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How about consumption? ‘Most of
our customers finish a pack in 3 to
4 days,’ says Jamie Loh, Marketing
Manager of GBA. She added that the
unique paper gloss finish package
helps retain freshness for the
duration once it has been opened.
The popular 25gm pack available
in all flavors retails for RM3.50.
Flanking that on the shelves is a
compact 11gm pack, which retails for
RM2.00.
In order to retain its premium
brand positioning in the market
vis-à-vis other similar brands,
GBA executes timely and unique
promotional activities, supported by
an annual A&P spend of more than
RM3 million.
Key ground initiatives to position
the brand include free sampling
programs at high traffic outlets,
concerts, pubs, sporting events and
Mostly male or
female adults who
want to clear their
throat, and if they
are smokers, mask
any unpleasant
odour. Presently,
many want the
benefit of fresh
breath from drops
that come without
the usual calories
found in typical
sugar candies.
exhibitions. Supporting wholesaler
programs do their bit as well.
The activities are supplemented
by the annual ‘National Sales Blitz’
in which the entire sales team walk
the street, swoop down to over 1000
outlets, clean up merchandise at
existing outlets and use the occasion
to rope in new distribution points.
In an increasingly competitive
market, Jamie believes Fisherman’s
Friend’s USP of consistent taste, no
irritating cough, fresh breath and
the fact that it is sugar free topped
with a nominal cost places it at more
than arm’s length from its nearest
competitor.
And by demonstrating concern for
Asian palettes, ongoing R&D as well
as market intelligence has helped
Fisherman’s Friend to stay ahead
and sustain leadership position in its
category.
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Brand Equity
BRANDLAW
By Benjamin J. Thompson
& V. Mugunthan
Welcome back to the BrandLaw
Column of Brand Equity!
In the new series, we will be discussing
cases of Brands running into problems
with the Law, with the hope that we might
learn some important lessons through the
experiences of others.
16
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on
an
w
!
g
s
t
e
.
The merits and demerits of
registering one’s trademark can
be discerned in the Apple/Cisco
controversy.
Most techies will undoubtedly be
aware of the brouhaha surrounding
the launch of the newest member of
Apple Computer’s product line, the
iPhone mobile phone.
The launch of the supposedly
epoch-making product has been
mired in controversy due to the rival
claims of ownership between Cisco
systems and Apple over the name
iPhone.
The following sequence of events,
as gleaned from various articles and
discussions on the Internet, may help
shed some light on the lessons to be
derived from the much publicized
dispute.
In March of 1996, Infogear
Technology Corporation, a technology
and services company focusing
on Internet appliances filed an
application for the US trademark
‘iPhone’, obtaining the registration
in 1999.
The products to which the
trademarks were applied were
computer hardware and software
for providing integrated telephone
communication with computerized
global information networks. This
highfalutin description basically
means a mobile phone which is
capable of surfing the Internet.
In 1998, Infogear released just
such a product calling it the iPhone.
Furthermore, in 2000, Infogear
successfully prosecuted a trademark
infringement claim against the
owners of the iphones.com domain
name.
In June 2000, Cisco Systems
acquired Infogear and its assets,
including the iPhone trademark, and
subsequently launched a range of
Voice over IP (VoIP) sets under the
name iPhone.
Apple launched the iphone
multimedia/Internet-enabled phone
on the 9th of January, 2007 with an
eye towards emulating the success of
i-Pod portable media players.
Apart from the features that
accompany most models of mobile
phones, Apple’s iPhone has a touch
screen incorporating a virtual
keyboard which requires nothing
more to operate it than bare skin i.e.
one’s fingers. It also has a built in WiFi enabling it to access the Internet
through its own Safari browser.
Therein lay the seeds of discord
with Cisco. Cisco has contended that
they had been negotiating with Apple
to license their iPhone trademark
and expected Apple to agree to
the final document that Cisco had
submitted on the night of the 8th of
January.
Apple’s launch was made on
9th January 2007. On the 10th of
January, Cisco announced that
it has commenced infringement
Benjamin J. Thompson
proceedings against Apple for using
the iPhone name. Cisco also sought
an injunction in the US federal court
to prevent Apple from using the
iPhone name.
Just as things were beginning
to get exciting, both parties to
the dispute announced that they
had agreed to temporarily suspend
litigation pursuant to talks on
settling the dispute. On the 20th of
February both parties announced
that they had reached a settlement.
Both parties will be allowed to use
the iPhone name in exchange for
‘exploring interoperability’ between
Apple’s product’s and Cisco’s iPhone.
There has been much speculation
and conspiracy theories on the
various blogs and forums as to
Apple’s real intentions. Chief among
them is that Apple intended to
leverage on their successful iPod,
iBook, iSight, iMovie, iTunes etc.
branding and to lead consumers into
thinking that any brand name with
the prefix ‘i’ naturally belonged to
Apple.
Another is that Apple may have
decided that the risk of Cisco’s suit
was worth the success the product
would have with the magic ‘iPhone’
brand. As conspiracy theories go, I prefer the one where Cisco and
Apple dreamt up the whole dispute
to guarantee a memorable launch for
the iPhone products, and enormous
exposure in the media ... who knows
for sure?
This dispute, more than anything
else underscores the importance
of registering a brand or mark as
proof of ownership. The mere fact
of registering a mark gives rise to
a cornucopia of rights (including
sale and licensing) that might be
of pecuniary benefit in the most
unimaginable circumstances.
Could Cisco have foreseen that
owning the iPhone mark could in
any way lead to this new alliance
with Apple? Would Cisco have faired
so well if Infogear had not had the
prudence to legally lock down their
rights to iPhone way back in 1996?
The registration system also
affords the mark owner the strongest
protection available for their mark.
Had Apple continued with the sale
of the iPhone without reaching an
agreement with Cisco, they would
be in clear violation of Cisco’s
proprietary rights in the iPhone
mark and Cisco would have been able
to enforce their rights in a court of
law.
The Cisco-Apple saga neatly
illustrates the benefits that accrue
to a mark owner upon registration of
the mark. Let us hope that it serves
as an object lesson to both potential
mark owners and infringers.
To the former, REGISTER your
mark to protect it. To the latter, if a
mark is registered, stay clear of it.
Ben Thompson, a registered
trademark, patent and industrial
designs agent can be contacted at
[email protected]
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Brand Equity
NIELSEN MEDIA UPDATE
HEAVY ADVERTISING
IN THE SECOND
HALF LED TO A
STRONG YEAR
Gross advertising expenditure in 2006 exceeded
expectations, recording four percent growth and
closing the year at RM4.7 billion, according to latest
figures released by The Nielsen Company.
While the FIFA World Cup 2006 kept the Malaysian
advertising market afloat in the first half of 2006, the
second half saw increases in adspend from categories
such as mobile network services, local government
institutions, furniture retail and credit cards, turning
the whole year into one of good advertising growth.
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The advertising market in
Malaysia continues to be dominated
by traditional media like Newspaper
(58%), Terrestrial Television (31%),
Radio (4%), Magazines (3%) and
Outdoor (2%) etc. (see Table 1).
Outdoor and Point-of-Sale in
particular recorded significant
growth of 37 percent and 25 percent
respectively. Terrestrial Television
and Radio also secured a 13 percent
increase each over the last year.
While increases in adspend in the
banking/finance, appliances and
mobile network services categories
contributed to the overall increase
in Outdoor advertising, spices/
herbs, health food drinks and
shampoo/conditioner categories
were the catalysts to Point-of-Sale’s
growth for the year.
TV3 and TV9 were the main
contributors to the overall increase
in the Terrestrial Television market,
showing a respective increase of
RM106 million and RM69 million in
ad revenue. Categories contributing
to this growth were mobile network
and mobile interactive services,
laundry detergents and local
government institutions.
The strong performance
secured by Radio was the result of
increased advertising from mobile
network services, local government
institutions, cleaning agents/
laundry, as well as phone cards and
automotive categories. Apart from
this, adspend garnered by two of
the industry’s newest radio channels
have also contributed to radio’s
overall growth.
Positive growth, exceeding that
of the total advertising market, was
seen for Cinema (10%). Apart from
the tremendous growth seen from
mainstay categories such as beer,
credit cards and local government
institutions, cinema has managed
to diversify advertiser support by
attracting more advertising dollars
from industries like automotive
corporate ads, sportswear,
passenger vehicles (1001-2000cc),
watches and restaurants.
Mobile network services
remain the top adspend category,
registering 19 percent growth in
2006, due to aggressive advertising
by leading telcos Maxis and Celcom.
Maintaining second position overall,
Local Government Institutions is
also the top growth category for
the year, reaching RM161 million
and relegating mobile interactive
services to the third position in
2006.
The ongoing Kementerian
Pengangkutan road safety campaign
on terrestrial television, and
national service campaigns on
newspapers placed by Kementerian
Pertahanan were main contributors
to an overall increase for mobile
network category (see Table 2 & 3).
Making an entrance in ninth
position in 2006 was the Furniture
Retail category, with Courts
Mammoth Superstore the main
contributor to overall category
growth, nudging Fast Food out of
the top 10 list (see Table 2).
Ranked third in 2006, mobile
interactive services experienced the
largest decline in category adspend
from RM202 million in 2005, to
RM159 million. The 21 percent drop
was due to reduced spending overall
as well as cut backs from mobile
teleservice brands like Shabox,
36933, 32166, MobileKlub, Club Zed
Trendy, Klub Cat Mobile and Ezra
Tones (see Table 2).
Telcos continue to feature among
the top advertised brands, with
Maxis registering an increase of 60
percent to reach an all-time high of
RM157 million and taking over from
Celcom for most advertised brand.
Digi registered a 32 percent increase
due to aggressive abovetheline
campaigns on prepaid services,
ending the year level with Celcom in
joint second place (see Table 4).
Malaysia Airlines, Pantene and
Olay were squeezed out of the top
10 in 2006 by Toyota, Kementerian
Pengangkutan and Courts Mammoth
Superstore.
Toyota’s entry into the top 10 is
the result of the brand’s increased
spending during the World Cup FIFA
2006, specifically for Toyota Avanza,
Toyota Moving Forward and the New
Vios 1.5 campaigns on print media
(see Table 4).
Among the top advertisers (see
Table 5), Maxis holds pole position
with Unilever Malaysia following
closely behind. Unilever Malaysia
recorded an increase in adspend of
47 percent to RM119 million in 2006.
The tremendous growth for
Unilever is the result of heavy
promotions of some new product
lines under the Clear, Breeze,
Wall’s and Fair & Lovely banner.
Procter & Gamble, previously the
second largest advertiser, took fifth
place, due to reduced spending on
Pantene, SKII, Rejoice and Olay on
Terrestrial television.
“Despite the deceleration
in major export markets and a
forecasted slowdown in the US and
European economies, events like
Visit Malaysia 2007, the nation’s
50th birthday celebration and the
recently announced upward revision
of the market’s GDP for 2007 will
all help sustain the momentum
of Malaysia’s advertising market
in 2007,” said Ms Rebecca Tan,
Executive Director of Nielsen
Media Research for Singapore and
Malaysia.
The advertising
market in Malaysia
continues to be
dominated by
traditional
media like
Newspaper
(58%), Terrestrial
Television (31%),
Radio (4%),
Magazines (3%)
and Outdoor
(2%)
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