theSun | WEDNESDAY MARCH 25 2009
media & marketing
Bad times a good time to
advertise more, SMEs told
by Hemananthani
Sivanandam
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
BUSINESSES, especially
small and medium enter-
prises (SMEs) should not
reduce marketing commu-
nications in the current eco-
nomic downturn; in fact, they
should take the opportunity
to intensify their marketing
communications to create
visibility in the market.
These were some of the
points shared by industry
key players in the Effie Ef-
fectiveness 2009 Talk Series
held recently. The talk is a
continuous promotion activ-
ity running up to the call
for entries in May for the
Malaysia Effie Awards.
The talk series is about
sharing knowledge deliv-
ered by industry leaders
from the advertising and
marketing communications
fraternity around the region.
It is also to increase aware-
ness of the awards and
further enhance the quality
of entries submitted for the
award in October.
“During boom times, it
is difficult to gain visibility
because everyone is spend-
ing on promotions. But now,
with people cutting down,
the chances of being visible
are greater and it is lasting,”
said Malaysia External Trade
Development Corporation
(Matrade) CEO Datuk No-
haruddin Nordin in a media
briefing.
“When the economy
recovers, they will still re-
member you and you need
not spend more then to be
visible. My advice is, now is
the time to spend on market-
ing communications,” said
Noharuddin, adding that with
the shrinking and ferociously
competitive global market,
effective communications is
vital to make brands visible.
He said SME companies
Malaysian agencies win
22 medals at AdFest
THIS year’s AdFest results
saw an impressive perform-
ance from Malaysian agencies
including a two Best of Show
haul from BBDO / Proximity
Malaysia.
Overall, Malaysia took away
two Best of Show, five Gold, 11
Silver, and four Bronze from the
festival.
BBDO / Proximity Malay-
sia’s two Best of Show, two
Gold, and one Silver showing
were the pick of a strong local
get which included Saatchi &
Saatchi Malaysia’s one Gold,
three Silver, and one Bronze
showing in the Press Lotus.
The agency eventually finished
the three-day festival with two
Gold, seven Silver and two
Bronze accolades.
“This year’s judging was
tough,” said BBDO / Proximity
would benefit with proper
marketing communication
strategies. However, many
are reluctant to do so as this
may cost a lot.
“They (SMEs) have a
perception that marketing
communications is only for
the ‘big guys’. One has to be
realistic. You can’t compare a
campaign of Coca Cola with
that of the SMEs,” added
Noharuddin, who is also the
chairman of the executive
council of Malaysia Effie
Awards.
He said companies must
be clear of their target
audience or segments to be
effective in their marketing
campaigns.
Three prominent speak-
ers were at the recent talk
– Publicis Malaysia executive
strategic planning director
Arindam Chatterjee, Mc-
Cann Worldgroup deputy
chairman and executive
creative director Huang Ean
Hwa and Ogilvy One Asia
president Kent Wertime.
Huang in his talk ‘The
New Economic Revolutionary
Disparity’ said companies
need to be courageous to
be noticed in the market
especially with the global
financial crisis.
“You need to be smart
and play your own game.
You need to be able to see
how you can do things dif-
ferently,” said Huang.
Arindam, or Chat as he is
popularly known, in his talk
‘Make Effie a way of life’ said
in any marketing campaign,
creativity and idea is only
one side of the coin, the other
side is the effectiveness of the
campaign.
“Effectiveness is E= MC²”,
said Chat, explaining it as
Effectiveness = Memorable x
Contagious x Co-Creation.
He explained that “conta-
gious” meant campaigns that
are appealing to the consum-
ers for the message to be
ECD Mun Tuck Wai.
“The judges have shown
that if they really didn’t feel a
piece of work was Best of Show
then they would rather not give
it out to anybody.”
BBDO won its “Best of
Show” recognition in the Poster
Lotus and the Design Lotus
categories, both for the work it
did for Jeep.
“I was at home watching TV
and I was looking at the chart
which has two circles with the
left one and a right one com-
bined. Then I thought why must
it be two circles, why can’t it be
two objects and then I thought
why can’t the two objects also
combine to show what the two
objects are made of,” Mun said
of the inspiration behind the
work.
The respective jury presi-
spread while “co-creation”
meant consumer participa-
tion for the continuity of the
message.
He cited Barack Obama
as a good marketing brand
as “his story and presidential
race was a memorable and
powerful story as it showed
how common goals can be
achieved together.”
Chat gave an example of
when Obama announced his
choice for the vice president’s
post via text message and
emails to his supporters.
“Obama knew his target
audiences were young vot-
ers, so he tapped into the
social media to help spread
the message. By doing this,
he had the consumer partici-
pation. People felt they were
part of his campaign,” said
Chat.
Meanwhile, Wertime, in
his session ‘Digital market-
ing and effective brands’ said
although many marketers
tend to spend the bulk of
their money in traditional
media, there will be a shift
in marketing patterns in the
future.
“Traditional media is still
big. However, the growth rate
for digital media is higher,”
said Wertime, adding that
digital marketing engages
the consumers and this gets
dents in the Poster and Design
categories were Leo Burnett’s
Mark Tutssel and Frost Design’s
Vince Frost.
Others included OgilvyOne
Malaysia’s Selina Ang for the
Direct Lotus category while
advertising industry legend, Sir
John Hegarty was jury president
for the Film, Radio, 360, Innova,
and Lotus Roots categories.
There were no “Best of
Show” Lotus awards in the
Film Craft, Press, Direct, New
Director, and 360 categories
this year. Rounding up Malay-
sian agencies other performers
include McCann Erickson’s one
Gold for Print Craft, Lowe &
Partners’ one Silver and two
Bronze haul while Leo Burnett
and Naga DDB / Rapp each won
Silver. – marketing-interactive.
com
the message across.
The Effie Awards, cre-
ated in 1968 and presented
annually in the United States
by the New York American
Marketing Association, is a
global award that recognises
the year’s most effective mar-
keting and communications
campaigns that achieved
outstanding results. This year
marks the second year of the
Malaysia Effie Awards.
Last year, the awards
received a total of 68 entries
and were judged by 40 in-
dividuals comprising senior
officials from the corporate
sector and industries.
The other talks in the
Effie Effectiveness 2009 Talk
Series will be held on April
2 and May 6 at the Cyberto-
rium in Menara Star, Petal-
ing Jaya.
The registration fee is
RM120 per person with lim-
ited seating.
To register or for enquir-
ies, call Shu Ling at 03-7660
8535, email shuling@ma-
comm.com.my or log on to
malaysiaeffie.com.
17
Bush (centre)
talks about
the price
cuts, flanked
by Tahir on
his right
and Tesco’s
marketing
director Paul
Morris.
Tesco cuts
prices of
200 products
by Yee Jie Min
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
TESCO Stores (M) Sdn Bhd is reducing the prices of
over 200 essential products this year as part of its
commitment to help customers spend less.
The products will enjoy an average discount
of about 8% – which is a lot for fresh and grocery
products such as fruits, vegetables, seafood, spices,
sauces and flour, said Tesco Malaysia CEO Chris
Bush said. This is Tesco’s first price cut this year
and builds on the RM65 million invested last year
to reduce prices, he said.
“As the global recession continues, we have
worked hard to reduce costs in our business to
pass on to customers by way of lower prices,” he
said, adding that Tesco had reviewed its top 1,000
branded lines and about 1,000 price-sensitive
products to identify the most important product
lines for customers and slashed the prices to make
it cheaper for them.
(from left): “It is part of our ongoing quarterly commitment
Huang, Chat, to help customers spend less which means that
Noharuddin, every quarter or about 12 weeks, new price cuts
Malaysia Effie on products will be added,” he said.
Awards 2009 Furthermore, Tesco’s price cut will benefit
organising the “Buy Malaysian Products” campaign that the
chairman V. Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs
Kanesan and is championing as almost all products involved are
Wertime. produced locally, he said.
Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry
deputy secretary-general Daud Tahir, who launched
the price cut, lauded Tesco’s initiative to cut prices
especially in view of the economic slowdown.
“The move is good for customers as well as for
the economy during these hard times as they will
be able to have more money in their pockets to
spend and spur economic growth,” he said.