Saturday April 11, 2009
GroupM CEO advocates the ‘softer’ side of media planning
By M. HAFIDZ MAHPAR
MEDIA specialist companies, which plan the media strategy for advertisers, have been known to complain of the lack of media data, or lack of quality media data, available from research firms.
Rarely, however, do they admit to being too demanding or inflexible. Which makes GroupM Malaysia chief executive officer Paul Corrigan’s remark during an interview with StarBizWeek a bit of a surprise.
Corrigan, who heads one of the country’s largest and most respected media specialist groups, says: “We, as an industry, are guilty of being far too rigid with our need for data.”
He is talking about the fear of some media specialists to use Astro due to fewer in-depth data available for it compared with free-to-air TV.
Paul Corrigan says media planners shouldn’t use numbers as a crutch.
“It’s much easier to measure viewership on free-to-air TV where we’re dealing with four to five channels than to measure 50 to 60 Astro channels. We need to get our heads around that,” Corrigan says.
“Sometimes we (media planners) have to be sensible and make recommendations and judgments based on what we see ourselves. We have a good idea how many homes Astro is in and we’re consumers of the media as well,” he says.
Corrigan thinks media planners sometimes use data as a crutch — “a bit of an excuse to hide behind.”
“Research should be used to confirm a hunch than to actually dictate what you do. If someone suddenly takes away the TV data, does it mean everyone will stop using TV?” he asks.
While data is used as a “trading currency” in the industry, he says there is also the “softer side” of media planning.
“It has got to the point where we’re measuring numbers which are not necessarily relevant to the clients’ (advertisers’) business. I want to scream when people say they have media discounts, this amount of reach and this frequency. But does that help the client sell more products?” he asks.
“As we become more and more number-reliant, we become more inward-looking and obsessed with media numbers, and lose sight of trying to help clients. I’m always worried if people know the cost of every ad in the newspaper or every TV spot and don’t know how many products the client sells. We have become obsessed with media output and not the marketing outcome, which is more important,” he says.
Corrigan acknowledges that to a certain extent, what is happening is inevitable due to the increasing complexity of the media planner’s job.
“In the past, when choosing media vehicles was simpler, we had more time to understand the bigger picture and the clients’ business. Today’s 27- and 28-year-old planners are doing a lot more work. They have to be experts in digital, events and other things, and there are 60 to 70 TV channels. They’re doing far more for clients and have to know far more. Unfortunately, there’s a danger that they don’t have enough time to focus on understanding the client’s business — the most important thing,” he says.
Corrigan points out that people nowadays spend very little of their waking hours consuming traditional media; yet, media planners prefer to use these media due to the availability of audience data and the fact that they are already comfortable with them.
GroupM sees digital media as an important area of future growth. “Our specialist unit, GroupM Interaction, is growing at a faster rate than our traditional media spending on TV and newspapers,” he notes.
“But digital is not something that’s picked up and measured very accurately. Nielsen measures only a fraction of the ad spending on digital,” he says.
GroupM is increasingly working with clients on areas like search engine marketing and social networking campaigns besides the traditional online placements like banners and pop-ups. Another area of growth for GroupM is activation, which includes doing on-ground events.
“As people have more control of what they consume on media, they also want to control how they interact with brands. Years ago, people shied away from sales promoters in shopping centres, but people now have gotten more used to experiential marketing and want to hear what the salesperson is talking about. With on-ground events, the brand connects to a smaller group of people (compared to TV, for instance), but it’s effective in building deeper connections and gives people a richer experience,” he explains.
Besides its Interaction and Activation segments, the group’s content production and research units (under Entertainment Sport Programming and GroupM Consumer Insights, respectively) have also been growing fast over the last few years.
This year Corrigan wants to focus on introducing business planning and public relations.
The group will develop business planning capabilities within Mindshare (the largest member of GroupM) as well as creating a business planning unit to be shared between the other members — Mediaedge:cia, MediaCom and Maxus.
“This allows us to step back and understand more of the basics of our clients’ business and what are the dynamics that drive the business,” he says.
Corrigan says the emergence of media independents (media operations that are separate from creative agencies) was driven by clients.
“As media agencies become larger and benefit from the size, we began to, if you like, move up the strategic food chain in our relationship with clients. However, as the media planning job becomes more complicated, we as an industry have not taken advantage of our position to build a strong relationship with our clients,” he points out.
“While we as an industry — including the creative agencies — spend more and more time on 20 to 30 different elements of a campaign, we’ve allowed other people (from outside the industry) to position themselves as high-end consultancy partners to certain clients, and that should never have happened. We’ve become experts in marketing execution but we’re not as good at doing the basic thing — helping clients grow their business by understanding their business,” he says.
“In many ways, GroupM is going back to basics — to be a business partner to our clients rather than a marketing communication media partner,” he adds.
Corrigan says GroupM wants to add value to clients before the marketing process even begins.
“We need to regain the high-end relationship with clients, and we do have a lot of experience. We know what sells and what doesn’t, which price is sustainable, and which distribution channel works,” he says.
On developing a public relations unit, Corrigan says GroupM is not trying to re-invent itself as a full-service agency. “We already tend to be providing services like this to clients on an ad hoc basis,” he explains.
“The lines are becoming more blurred territorially. Increasingly, people will talk less and less that something is a media agency’s role and another thing is a creative agency’s role. Clients increasingly are looking for strategic leadership from their partners. So the concept of creative and media agencies being two distinct, separate things is a bit outdated,” he says.
On the group’s performance, Corrigan says that most of its fast-moving consumer goods clients look healthy. “We’re definitely looking at revenue growth this year,” he adds.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Monday, March 2, 2009
Brand loyalty and social networking
WEB EDITION :: Media & Marketing
Brand loyalty and social networking
by Hemananthani Sivanandam
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
ORGANISATIONS need improved ways to build brand loyalty through the use of social networking and development of online communities, especially during an economic downturn.
"Obama-Magic in KL" – a special programme featuring Roger Fisk, Barack Obama’s national special events director – will be an opportunity to learn how your organisation or company can adopt the Barack Obama campaign strategy to achieve success.
There is certainly much to be learnt from Fisk – the man who helped carve the first African-American president’s route to the White House.
Fisk, who was hired as nat-ional special events director in what would become a history-making finance department, managed a nationwide grassroots fundraising team that revolutionised modern political fundraising – totalling US$100 million (RM370 million) in 11 months – while building the largest donor base in American history.
He supervised teams in 32 states with direct managerial responsibility for event and advertising budgets, site selection, appropriation of staff resources, cultivation of targeted free media, coordination of web outreach, and collaboration with local, state and national elected officials.
Fisk was also directly responsible for coordinating and managing media coverage of over 150 events across the country.
The full-day session to be held at the Petaling Jaya Hilton on March 2 will focus on ideas and thoughts that went into Obama’s presidential campaign as well as utilising new media strategies like blogging, email alerts, text messaging, harnessing the power of the internet and developing online and offline strategies.
It will look at various case studies in the different US states, the challenges that Barack Obama faced as well as the necessary attributes required to plan, develop and operate a successful media campaign.
In addition to sharing Obama’s journey of hope and how he rebranded American politics, economic views and what it takes to be an agent of change, Fisk will also give his take on the global economic outlook and globalisation.
He will engage in panel discussions on the following topics – "The Power of the New Media" and "Is There Hope For Change?"
Invited guests include theSun’s special reporting and investigations editor R. Nadeswaran, blogger Ahir-uddin Atan aka Rocky’s Bru, advertising entrepreneur Datuk Vincent Lee, outspoken lawyer-politician Datuk Mohd Zaid Ibrahim, Deputy Umno Youth head Khairy Jamaluddin, and Carat Mal-aysia managing director Henry Tan.
Participants might also like to meet Obama look-alike, Indonesian Ilham Anas.
IIham has appeared on CNN, Al-Jazeera, BBC, NBC, Metro TV and in a television commercial in the Philippines playing the role of "president".
Organised by Marketing magazine, the programme, inclusive of tea/coffee breaks and a buffet lunch, is priced at RM850 – claimable from the Human Resource Development Fund.
Seats are limited, so don’t miss the opportunity to be part of the "magic".
To take part, call 03-7726 2588 or email obamamagickl@gmail.com
Updated: 09:45AM Fri, 20 Feb 2009
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Brand loyalty and social networking
by Hemananthani Sivanandam
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
ORGANISATIONS need improved ways to build brand loyalty through the use of social networking and development of online communities, especially during an economic downturn.
"Obama-Magic in KL" – a special programme featuring Roger Fisk, Barack Obama’s national special events director – will be an opportunity to learn how your organisation or company can adopt the Barack Obama campaign strategy to achieve success.
There is certainly much to be learnt from Fisk – the man who helped carve the first African-American president’s route to the White House.
Fisk, who was hired as nat-ional special events director in what would become a history-making finance department, managed a nationwide grassroots fundraising team that revolutionised modern political fundraising – totalling US$100 million (RM370 million) in 11 months – while building the largest donor base in American history.
He supervised teams in 32 states with direct managerial responsibility for event and advertising budgets, site selection, appropriation of staff resources, cultivation of targeted free media, coordination of web outreach, and collaboration with local, state and national elected officials.
Fisk was also directly responsible for coordinating and managing media coverage of over 150 events across the country.
The full-day session to be held at the Petaling Jaya Hilton on March 2 will focus on ideas and thoughts that went into Obama’s presidential campaign as well as utilising new media strategies like blogging, email alerts, text messaging, harnessing the power of the internet and developing online and offline strategies.
It will look at various case studies in the different US states, the challenges that Barack Obama faced as well as the necessary attributes required to plan, develop and operate a successful media campaign.
In addition to sharing Obama’s journey of hope and how he rebranded American politics, economic views and what it takes to be an agent of change, Fisk will also give his take on the global economic outlook and globalisation.
He will engage in panel discussions on the following topics – "The Power of the New Media" and "Is There Hope For Change?"
Invited guests include theSun’s special reporting and investigations editor R. Nadeswaran, blogger Ahir-uddin Atan aka Rocky’s Bru, advertising entrepreneur Datuk Vincent Lee, outspoken lawyer-politician Datuk Mohd Zaid Ibrahim, Deputy Umno Youth head Khairy Jamaluddin, and Carat Mal-aysia managing director Henry Tan.
Participants might also like to meet Obama look-alike, Indonesian Ilham Anas.
IIham has appeared on CNN, Al-Jazeera, BBC, NBC, Metro TV and in a television commercial in the Philippines playing the role of "president".
Organised by Marketing magazine, the programme, inclusive of tea/coffee breaks and a buffet lunch, is priced at RM850 – claimable from the Human Resource Development Fund.
Seats are limited, so don’t miss the opportunity to be part of the "magic".
To take part, call 03-7726 2588 or email obamamagickl@gmail.com
Updated: 09:45AM Fri, 20 Feb 2009
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Time for local brands to rise to the occasion
WEB EDITION :: Media & Marketing
Time for local brands to rise to the occasion
by Abhinav Sharma
WITH erstwhile resilient economies in recession, and brands once worshipped for both their prowess and profitability clocking in unprecedented losses, marketers are left wide-eyed, helpless and stunned.
And with global demand shrinking more rapidly than icicles in spring, the well of marketing solutions to kick-start economies is all but running dry.
It’s frightening to say the least. There is no denying that things are going to change like never before.
Many brands and businesses we once thought would last forever will be lucky if they survive 2009.
While trying to save global brands and businesses is one complicated financial waltz, home-grown brands in individual markets may just stand to gain from all this upheaval and uncertainty.
With recession comes the inevitable downward movement of consumer spending. It’s not that people stop buying entirely. But they do start cutting corners and considering cheaper options.
I know at least five people who have curtailed their overseas holidays to America and Europe this year. That may not be startling news but the news is that they are still travelling. Just not to the more expensive America or Europe.
A lot of spending isn’t going to get cancelled. It’s just going to become modest. And therein lays an opportunity.
Although not an absolute rule, global brands tend to sell at a premium to their local counterparts.
After all, being able to charge that premium is partly why a marketer would spend to create that brand in the first place; brand strength is often equated with higher margins.
With consumers tightening their belts, less familiar (read as in many cases local) brands don’t seem to look all that unappetising. That which was once considered premium, now starts looking "indulgent" as the price begins to pinch.
This mindset starts off the purchase postponement cycle. The "postponement" in many cases turns to "purchase" when people start re-evaluating brands they once considered cheap and low in quality because of a lower price tag; cheap starts to look affordable.
And that is the new mindset that local brands need to exploit. This is an opportunity in waiting. But it’s not as easy as upping promotions or slashing prices even further.
Let the big, international brands worry about promotions or price cuts as they struggle to make consumers believe that there is more value in their purchase.
Local brands need to focus on what consumers are going to be looking from them; quality, service and technology.
This is the time for local brands to feed consumers, who are slowly coming around with information and ideologies that make them seem more like their international competitors.
This is the time to up the ante on service standards, technical standards and quality standards.
We need to remember that in boom times, these initiatives might have gone unnoticed because of the sheer influence of some of the international brands.
People buy things as much for quality as they do for brand image. And if there is no dearth of money, brand image often drives that purchase over other parameters.
And that’s true for cars, rubber bands and nasi lemak (most of us wouldn’t mind paying that little extra and even going a little out of our way for the nasi lemak at Kampung Tunku or Bukit Antarabangsa).
But with doubt in the minds of consumers, the anvil is now hot enough to change that game in the favor of local brands.
Brands like AirAsia, now have the chance to garner an even higher share of the air travel pie, by blurring the lines of service between budget airlines and legacy airlines.
If you own Old Town White Coffee House (OTWCH), now is the time to get all those Coffee Bean customers to willingly walk in and make a new home for themselves in OTWCH.
It doesn’t really matter if you’re a local bank or the neighbourhood food stall, or a big car-maker. People are going to be giving a lot of things a second look over the next few years.
In many cases, it may well be the same old stories you’ve been telling consumers but to no avail. And that’s because their attention was somewhere else. This time around, they will be more receptive to listening.
Consumers are looking for reassurance. They want to be able to buy you. They just need reasons. So if you have stories on quality, technology and service, bring them out, dust them off and take them to market.
The recession will produce a deluge of consumers that are ready to embrace a whole new world. Whether they remain loyal over the longer term depends on the marketing initiatives these emerging brands embark on.
So, while my five friends aren’t entirely excited about having to downgrade their holidays to Asia, their local experience could well persuade them to make Asia their destination for many more holidays to come.
Abhinav Sharma is head of strategic planning at McCann Worldgroup. He can be reached aat Abhinav.Sharma@ap.mccann.com
Updated: 09:45AM Thu, 26 Feb 2009
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Time for local brands to rise to the occasion
by Abhinav Sharma
WITH erstwhile resilient economies in recession, and brands once worshipped for both their prowess and profitability clocking in unprecedented losses, marketers are left wide-eyed, helpless and stunned.
And with global demand shrinking more rapidly than icicles in spring, the well of marketing solutions to kick-start economies is all but running dry.
It’s frightening to say the least. There is no denying that things are going to change like never before.
Many brands and businesses we once thought would last forever will be lucky if they survive 2009.
While trying to save global brands and businesses is one complicated financial waltz, home-grown brands in individual markets may just stand to gain from all this upheaval and uncertainty.
With recession comes the inevitable downward movement of consumer spending. It’s not that people stop buying entirely. But they do start cutting corners and considering cheaper options.
I know at least five people who have curtailed their overseas holidays to America and Europe this year. That may not be startling news but the news is that they are still travelling. Just not to the more expensive America or Europe.
A lot of spending isn’t going to get cancelled. It’s just going to become modest. And therein lays an opportunity.
Although not an absolute rule, global brands tend to sell at a premium to their local counterparts.
After all, being able to charge that premium is partly why a marketer would spend to create that brand in the first place; brand strength is often equated with higher margins.
With consumers tightening their belts, less familiar (read as in many cases local) brands don’t seem to look all that unappetising. That which was once considered premium, now starts looking "indulgent" as the price begins to pinch.
This mindset starts off the purchase postponement cycle. The "postponement" in many cases turns to "purchase" when people start re-evaluating brands they once considered cheap and low in quality because of a lower price tag; cheap starts to look affordable.
And that is the new mindset that local brands need to exploit. This is an opportunity in waiting. But it’s not as easy as upping promotions or slashing prices even further.
Let the big, international brands worry about promotions or price cuts as they struggle to make consumers believe that there is more value in their purchase.
Local brands need to focus on what consumers are going to be looking from them; quality, service and technology.
This is the time for local brands to feed consumers, who are slowly coming around with information and ideologies that make them seem more like their international competitors.
This is the time to up the ante on service standards, technical standards and quality standards.
We need to remember that in boom times, these initiatives might have gone unnoticed because of the sheer influence of some of the international brands.
People buy things as much for quality as they do for brand image. And if there is no dearth of money, brand image often drives that purchase over other parameters.
And that’s true for cars, rubber bands and nasi lemak (most of us wouldn’t mind paying that little extra and even going a little out of our way for the nasi lemak at Kampung Tunku or Bukit Antarabangsa).
But with doubt in the minds of consumers, the anvil is now hot enough to change that game in the favor of local brands.
Brands like AirAsia, now have the chance to garner an even higher share of the air travel pie, by blurring the lines of service between budget airlines and legacy airlines.
If you own Old Town White Coffee House (OTWCH), now is the time to get all those Coffee Bean customers to willingly walk in and make a new home for themselves in OTWCH.
It doesn’t really matter if you’re a local bank or the neighbourhood food stall, or a big car-maker. People are going to be giving a lot of things a second look over the next few years.
In many cases, it may well be the same old stories you’ve been telling consumers but to no avail. And that’s because their attention was somewhere else. This time around, they will be more receptive to listening.
Consumers are looking for reassurance. They want to be able to buy you. They just need reasons. So if you have stories on quality, technology and service, bring them out, dust them off and take them to market.
The recession will produce a deluge of consumers that are ready to embrace a whole new world. Whether they remain loyal over the longer term depends on the marketing initiatives these emerging brands embark on.
So, while my five friends aren’t entirely excited about having to downgrade their holidays to Asia, their local experience could well persuade them to make Asia their destination for many more holidays to come.
Abhinav Sharma is head of strategic planning at McCann Worldgroup. He can be reached aat Abhinav.Sharma@ap.mccann.com
Updated: 09:45AM Thu, 26 Feb 2009
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Tuesday, February 24, 2009
iGeorgeTown launches e-newsletter
WEB EDITION :: Media & Marketing
iGeorgeTown launches e-newsletter
Hemananthani Sivanandam
iGEORGETOWN Penang recently launched iGT Connect, a free e-newsletter which is published twice a month, for those who want to keep abreast of developments in George Town and Penang.
The e-newsletter is especially timely, as George Town had recently earned a listing as a Unesco World Heritage Site.
To receive this e-newsletter regularly and enjoy other member-benefits, visit the iGT website, www.igeorgetownpenang.com, and register as a member.
Articles are open for comment and members are welcome to share, debate and discuss everything from George Town’s food and places of interest to culture and developmental deliberations.
In association with iGT’s launch, iGeorgeTown Penang also introduced new features on its site which include iGT Photo, iGT Video and a Facebook cause "Why George Town, Penang needs our attention."
iGT Photo and iGT video highlight the many facets of Penang by showcasing interesting, humorous and poignant photos and videos, that have been sourced from various platforms such as YouTube as well as contributions from the public.
Meanwhile, the Facebook cause "Why George Town, Penang needs our attention" provides a platform for members to share their opinions on how they can contribute to the development of the city.
The site also features interesting and useful links to upcoming events in Penang, its culture, development, places to visit as well as links to blogs about the delicious Penang hawker food.
iGeorgeTown is a privately-funded information platform on giving integrated and comprehensive information about George Town.
It also provides valuable details of both George Town’s and Penang’s cultural and heritage, history and places of interests.
The portal is aimed to benefit a wide audience including local and international travellers, the mass media and local population.
It will also be useful to enhance the local economy, especially the travel and hospitality and arts industries and services.
Updated: 10:01PM Tue, 24 Feb 2009
Printable Version | Email to a Friend
iGeorgeTown launches e-newsletter
Hemananthani Sivanandam
iGEORGETOWN Penang recently launched iGT Connect, a free e-newsletter which is published twice a month, for those who want to keep abreast of developments in George Town and Penang.
The e-newsletter is especially timely, as George Town had recently earned a listing as a Unesco World Heritage Site.
To receive this e-newsletter regularly and enjoy other member-benefits, visit the iGT website, www.igeorgetownpenang.com, and register as a member.
Articles are open for comment and members are welcome to share, debate and discuss everything from George Town’s food and places of interest to culture and developmental deliberations.
In association with iGT’s launch, iGeorgeTown Penang also introduced new features on its site which include iGT Photo, iGT Video and a Facebook cause "Why George Town, Penang needs our attention."
iGT Photo and iGT video highlight the many facets of Penang by showcasing interesting, humorous and poignant photos and videos, that have been sourced from various platforms such as YouTube as well as contributions from the public.
Meanwhile, the Facebook cause "Why George Town, Penang needs our attention" provides a platform for members to share their opinions on how they can contribute to the development of the city.
The site also features interesting and useful links to upcoming events in Penang, its culture, development, places to visit as well as links to blogs about the delicious Penang hawker food.
iGeorgeTown is a privately-funded information platform on giving integrated and comprehensive information about George Town.
It also provides valuable details of both George Town’s and Penang’s cultural and heritage, history and places of interests.
The portal is aimed to benefit a wide audience including local and international travellers, the mass media and local population.
It will also be useful to enhance the local economy, especially the travel and hospitality and arts industries and services.
Updated: 10:01PM Tue, 24 Feb 2009
Printable Version | Email to a Friend
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