Mindshare Singapore Creates 'Arresting' Nissan Campaign

Don’t say you don’t know because ignorance is now a crime!

Nissan Singapore rolled out an integrated advertising campaign, using an endearing policeman persona, Sergeant Kam Liat Yu, to create buzz for its latest Nissan $300,000 Cash Windfall Campaign that runs from mid October 2009 to February 2010.

Mindshare Singapore’s Invention Unit was tasked to develop a communications platform to drive awareness and engagement for the 4-month long promotion, on a limited budget. Mindshare's response was to steer away from expensive traditional platforms, with a stronger focus on digital and guerilla. Mindshare proposed the campaign premise of 'It's a crime to ignore cash".

Throughout the campaign, consumers who place an order of a vehicle from Tan Chong Motor can participate in one of four monthly draws, and stand a chance to cash prizes worth more than $300,000, including an exciting windfall of $88,888.
From 12 October to 15 November, the guerrilla stunt centred on Sergeant Kam Liat Yu, whose name is a play of dialect and English that means "Come catch you", will be set in motion, commencing from Singapore’s busiest commercial districts to other parts of the island in a series of three activations to create awareness on the campaign.

Sergeant Kam, an oversized policeman, will patrol around the vicinity, with three ignorant offenders who have their heads covered in brown paper bags. Playing on the tagline, "It is a crime to ignore $300,000 cash!", Sergeant Kam will "fine" people who are unaware about the campaign by handing them ‘summon’ tickets or brown paper bags with details of the Nissan campaign.

The campaign will target several media platforms, including radio broadcast, print and online to drive awareness. Teaser EDMs will be released in early October 2009, followed by launch advertisements in newspapers.

Leveraging on ever-popular social media tool, Facebook, Nissan will also drive fan page sign-ups to spread word-of-mouth awareness for the campaign. Fans of Nissan Singapore will be able to register at Nissan’s microsite to qualify for an opportunity to win $500 fast cash, which will be handed out in 10 rounds in the month of October. Other attractive prizes will also be up for grabs in subsequent months.

Mr. Ron Lim, General Manager, Sales and Marketing of Tan Chong Motor Sales said, "Through our multi-pronged approach in targeting various platforms, we are confident that this tongue-in-cheek campaign will be a success. Tan Chong Motor has always aimed to capture the hearts of our consumers in fun and entertaining ways and this time’s no exception!"

"Mindshare is proud to have played a key role in the strategic direction of the campaign, and our open-source platform allowed us to find the most appropriate vendors to manage the different campaign components, such as social media and guerilla marketing,' said Jimmy Lim, Executive Director of Mindshare Singapore.

Mindshare Singapore voted as Media Agency Of The Year for 5th consecutive year!

Mindshare Singapore is yet again the Marketing Magazine Media Agency of the Year! This is the 5th year in a row the Singapore office have won the award. The awards were given to agencies in different categories, not evaluated by a panel of judges, like most awards, but voted through a survey by close to a thousand senior clients & industry leaders.

Apart from being voted as the Media Agency of the Year 2009, Singapore was also voted top 5 in 2 new digital categories this year :


1. Online Advertising Agency : # 4
Mindshare was one of only 2 media agencies voted in this category where the Bronze award escaped from it by a mere one vote!

2. Search Marketing Agency : # 5
Mindshare was the ONLY media agency voted in this category!

Marketing Magazine attributed Mindshare Singapore’s unprecedented success to its ability to react swiftly to the uncertainty of the economy and resulting needs of its clients. It reported that the office had been busy expanding its service offering and expertise in new areas such as content creation, activation and sports sponsorship. Mindshare also launched new platforms like M-Xchange, M-Alert and M-Networking which were aimed at helping clients counteract the repercussions of the recession.

For instance, M-Xchange allows collaborations between clients to share marketing resources in order to generate better returns on their campaigns’ investments. While M-Alert was a media channel launched to help its clients to advertise their campaigns across its rich database of clients, partners, as well as the Group M and WPP networks in Singapore. Lastly, M-Networking is an industry outreach programme for clients and media partners to meet every 2 months to share and receive the marketing world's best practices.

‘As a result of the slump, some advertisers started to source for agencies that could offer more services through a single gateway, and our new business structure enabled us to meet those needs. A single-sourced partner like us enables marketers to be more efficient as it allows them to implement integrated campaigns with lesser vendors and this win is a reflection that they are buying into this philosophy,’ Sony Wong, leader of Mindshare Singapore, said.

On the new business front, Marketing also reported the office’s prolific streak of bagging major accounts like Aviva, TMP, Bank Julius Baer, Health Promotion Board and Sime Darby Motor Group. They were accounts like Nissan and Olympus which appointed Mindshare without a pitch, with the biggest coup being the capture of Starhub, Singapore’s 2nd largest telco. The office snapped the account from ZenithOptimedia.
Long standing clients such as Asia Pacific Breweries, CMC Markets and Zuji also extended their relationship with the agency.

In terms of high profile work, Marketing noted its recent Tiger beer ‘Winning The World Over’ digital work and Kotex’s “Be Absolutely U’ integrated content platform. Another highlight was its branded content partnership with Singapore’s Playboy edition, VIP Mag and television channel AXN to launch the VIP publication. In the area of activation, the office successfully executed the Aviva’s Guinness Book of World Records for the Longest Badminton Rally, Nissan 307Z Tokyo Rendezvous campaign, Nissan Summer Car Wash Charity Campaign as well as the Nestle Gold Chocolate “Valentine’s Day’ campaign.

‘The company culture has morphed into a media-neutral creative solutions partner to help us create competitive advantages for our clients’ businesses as marketers face intense pressure to deliver results rapidly,’ said Jimmy Lim, executive director.

Mindshare Invention Creates Marketing Programme for Nissan

The first in a series of upcoming marketing activities that are based on a consumer engagement platform conceptualised and managed by Mindshare, Nissan recently launched the 'Nissan Summer Car Wash' campaign.

The campaign comprises of a summer festival at its showrooms on Aug 1 and 2, with key highlights such as Charity Car Wash and a Charity Dunking Game involving OMY celebrity bloggers like Holly Jean and Naomi Liu. Other activities to keep visitors busy at the summer festival include water games like 'Spongy Summer Sponge' and 'Summer Super Shooter'. Visitors can also look forward to winning a trip to Tokyo at the summer festival.

'Ultimately, the automotive sector in Singapore will become increasingly competitive and marques need to be more innovative in their marketing by being more relevant in the consumer journeys. The Nissan Lifestyle Series programme is designed to present Nissan showrooms not as cold hard places for car viewings only, but also as a lifestyle destination of choice,' says Jimmy Lim, executive director of Mindshare Singapore.

In partnership with SPH Asiaone Network, Mindshare is also managing the campaign's online awareness and database marketing programme. In addition, Mindshare was also tasked to manage sponsorship opportunities for the platform. Zuji, a Mindshare client, was roped in for the current campaign.

'The Nissan marketing platform is one of the various platforms created and managed by Mindshare's Invention unit, showcasing our capabilities beyond media buying services,' adds Lim.


NB : THE INVENTION PROCESS 101

Invention is where we reinvent the industry, through blending our core skill of contact planning with our newest skill of content planning. Channel and content experts working together to generate and execute consumer journeys, instead of a factory from the last century churning out 30” TV commercials and banners and buttons for the web.

Invention focuses on the combination of contact and content – both being crucially important. The reach delivered by the smartest comms plan will be synergistic with the invention of content, services and applications that capture the attention of our clients' customers – essentially creating the ideal customer journey. We know that some of the most effective work comes when media and creative people work closely together –and Invention gives us a structure that can be game changing.

Having agreed the platform and architecture both internally and with clients, our team will move into production. They will work with craft specialists to develop the campaign assets – our open source approach allows us to collaborate with the most appropriate talent and media partner.

The Invention production people will know the best people to create TV programming, build microsites, develop mobile applications, organize live events and execute retail promotions and will commission (and manage) them to work on these projects.

Mindshare Sets World Record With Aviva

Aviva has successfully engaged its brand across segments and generations of Singaporeans to set a Guinness World Record for the World’s Largest Badminton Rally
Event conceived by Mindshare and produced in partnership with Proximity and Fulford PR

Mindshare Invention unit created marketing history by conceptualising an activation platform for Aviva as a run-up to the Aviva Badminton Open 2009.

More than 600 Singaporeans from all age-groups took part in a day-long event on May 23 at the Raffles City mall to set a record for the World’s Largest Badminton Rally.

Shaun Meadows, CEO Aviva, Singapore & Hong Kong, launched the record attempt by sending a shuttlecock across to Paul Hughes, Aviva’s Director of Strategic Development. They were joined by Singapore's national players Ronald Susilo and Kendrick Lee.

The longest rally was achieved at 2.55pm with a total of 96 different people each hitting a shot in one continuous rally. Youth players; Goh Noriko and Tan Kiah Hui; and national doubles players cum sisters, Vanessa and Samantha Neo were part of this record-setting group.

Paul Hughes, Director of Strategic Development said, “We are ecstatic about setting a world record in the run up to the Aviva Open Singapore 2009. And we couldn’t be more pleased with the way the Aviva brand had engaged with the Singaporean community across all segments, generations and races via this unique idea.”

“Badminton is one of the largest participatory sports in Singapore, and going for the world record engages consumers with Aviva in an idea they love to share”, said Bharad Ramesh, deputy leader Mindshare Singapore, who was also one of the 96 participants in the record-setting group.

One of the most popular sporting events in Singapore, the Aviva Open Singapore will take place at the Singapore Indoor Stadium from 9 to 14 June 2009 and a star-studded line-up is expected to battle for the total prize purse of US$200,000.

Some public links to the record :

Guinness World Records
http://community.guinnessworldrecords.com/_Most-People-Participating-in-a-Badminton-Rally/BLOG/287133/7691.html

Channel News Asia
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/431261/1/.html

Digital Marketing In A Recession? Just Do It (Part 4 of 4)

Welcome to ‘The Digital Reality’, a discussion forum in partnership with Microsoft Advertising. Over a series of 4 parts, we look at how marketers can overcome their fears of the digital frontier, which they can capitalize on to create competitive advantages for the brands they manage as well as for their own marketing careers.

In this final part, we’ll explore how we can tame the digital cold waters that freeze most marketers with fear.

Quiz : How do you kill a dinosaur? Read on to find the answer.

The First Step Is Not To Dive In Immediately

Marketers today are suffering from paralysis by over-analyzing digital. It was the same when marketers faced the same dilemma as TV began its run as the new media darling during the days went radio advertising was all that was.

While we are already welcoming Web 2.0, some marketers are still stuck at Web 1.0. Marketers must act more than they think, especially during the current recession. Otherwise, their competition will pull even further away. Be curious about digital and take steps to lay the foundations of your brand’s digital regime.

Rome wasn’t built in a day, but the Romans didn’t stand around wondering how it was going to look like. They took the first step by laying the foundations.

You don’t dive immediately into a pond before checking how cold the water is. So you test it with your feet first. In the same way, you can start learning about digital marketing by checking with the digital experts.

The recent Mindshare business restructure was our first step to respond to the ever changing consumer landscapes, with the key driver being the digitalisation of the consumers. The aim was to deliver a comprehensive offering through a simplified framework while maintaining a media-neutral stance. We are moving beyond just media-centric solutions to integrating digital, content creation and business planning into our company culture, to create competitive advantages for our clients’ businesses.

Many of us in Mindshare didn’t become digital experts overnight, we learnt progressively but you need to take the first step to go forward.

So get your feet wet and you’ll learn along the way. That’s the first step to accustom yourself to the digital cold waters before your body is wholly submerged in the pond.

But we’re not talking about just hosting a cool website and banner ads. That’s just the tip of the iceberg. Start with a small campaign, analyse the results, tweak accordingly and use the measurements to improve the next one. As you learn and modify progressively, your confidence grows and eventually you’ll begin to shape a long term digital strategy.

The tipping point

One of the biggest obstacles keeping marketers from “just doing it” is not recognizing when they’re about to hit their tipping point in their marketing strategies and their own careers.

If a marketer starts to ask, “is this all there is to marketing?”, then a brand is closely approaching its tipping point and their own careers would have reached a plateau.

At that point, there is no incremental value that traditional marketing can deliver for your brand and even yourself as a marketer. You can either succumb to your fears; let your brand wilt away in the barren desert of traditional thinking, or you can seek the oasis of long term brand and career survival, the digital arena.

If Nike and its people had already use digital to fortify the brand and their own careers, what risks are you taking for your own brand and career?

Nothing.

For those who really want new results during the current recession, you can’t keep doing the same old things. It’s time to do things differently, and that’s what new marketing is about.

In reality, “Just Do It” is much easier said than done. But choosing to ignore digital marketing will place a brand and even your career at a greater risk of slipping into oblivion.

So how do you kill a dinosaur? You don’t, evolution will.

Article by :
Jimmy Lim,
Executive Director of Mindshare Singapore,


For more information, please contact Jimmy.Lim@mindshareworld.com

Mindshare kicked off with VIP on a high

To view more photos from the Party, please click the link below :

http://www.flickr.com/photos/38624350@N06/

Mindshare Singapore’s Invention unit recently teamed up with Rabbithead Enterprise, the publisher of VIP Singapore, to strategize and develop sponsorship platforms in conjunction with its Singapore launch. VIP is an extension of the world’s best selling men’s magazine, Playboy.

One of the platforms jointly conceptualized was the classic Playboy Party, which was marketed to lifestyle brands like Mini, Armand De Brignac Champagne and Heineken. Billed as the private party of the year, the world famous Playboy Playmates were flown in to grace the launch event where 5 lucky men won all-expense paid dates with the Playmates.

Over 500 specially-invited advertisers and business partners gathered at Oosh on 16th April and were treated to a night of great company and endless flow of exquisite food and drinks.

‘We are honoured to be the lead business partner for Playboy. The venture leveraged on the new Mindshare Value Exchange Framework of blending our core skill of contact planning with the skill of content planning,’ said Jimmy Lim, executive director of Mindshare Singapore.

AXN Asia, the leading English general entertainment cable channel in the region, was roped in as media and production partner. The search for the lucky men was aired on the AXN original production, The Duke, a glossy men’s magazine show that showcases Asia’s elite men and their inspirational success stories, and the latest in upscale lifestyle trends and happenings.

“This is a great initiative by Mindshare, cleverly designing a platform to pull in all relevant partners to give clients a bigger bang for the buck,” said Ricky Ow, Senior Vice President and General Manager, SPE Networks – Asia.

Lim adds, ‘Our Value Exchange Framework allows our channel and content experts to work together on the VIP platform, to capture the attention of our clients’ customers – essentially creating the ideal customer journey.’

“VIP’s partnership with Mindshare and AXN has exceeded our expectations,” says Norlindah Sumaidi, VIP Magazine’s Associate Publisher. “For a new brand like ours to get this amount of regional exposure is extremely beneficial for all parties and we look forward to continuing this relationship for future VIP projects.”

A glimpse of the party’s antics will also be available on AXN’s eBuzz, a weekly entertainment magazine show featuring the latest in the glamorous world of celebrities, movies, music and television.

‘This venture has shifted the dynamics of the relationship between agency and media owners, from a reseller structure to a partnership model,’ said Lim.

Digital Marketing In A Recession? Just Do It (Part 3 of 4)

Welcome to ‘The Digital Reality’, a discussion forum in partnership with Microsoft Advertising. Over a series of 4 parts, we look at how marketers can overcome their fears of the digital frontier, which they can capitalize on to create competitive advantages for the brands they manage as well as for their own marketing careers.

This week, we look at managing change and profiting from it in the face of increasing competition.

Greatness Starts With Taking Risks

Not surprisingly that today, Nike remains one of the most recognised brands in the world since it blazed the marketing trail with its Air Jordan campaigns in the 80s.

Nike continues to succeed because it recognises the constant changes in the consumer spaces, understands the risks of not adapting to these changes, and then devises marketing strategies around these changes.

Marketers need to possess that same ‘Can Do’ spirit when it comes to digital marketing. ‘Just Do It’ embodies the crucial tipping point in which one will go from fearful, worrying about the risks and repercussions; to actually doing it by integrating digital into its marketing DNA.

It’s pretty scary to take a plunge but remember that time is ticking away. Every minute, a brand gets closer to its end if it doesn’t recognize the forces of change within the new consumer landscapes. Soon, it will be left for death, as more brands leave the barren land and hop onto the information super highway where consumers are commuting on.

While your competition are still numbed with fear and trying to figure out digital, you can speed ahead by capitalizing on first mover advantage with digital marketing.


Death And Taxes, Or Choose Action

Nothing will motivate a person more to live than death itself. The only constant in life are death and taxes, everything else are in perpetual flux. So perhaps the fear of a career death would then jolt a marketer into action. Sadly, many of us do not realize death until we’re inflicted with a disease.

If Bill Gates had lived in the fear of the unknown during the slump of the 80s, the world would not have enjoyed improved productivity.

Don’t worry whether you fail or not. Don’t think about the money you’ll lose. The internet is measurable and you can change your marketing dynamics according to the responses tracked, faster and swifter than any other traditional mediums.

Next week, we’ll explore how we can tame the digital cold waters that freeze most marketers with fear.

Contributed by :
Jimmy Lim
Mindshare Singapore
jimmy.lim@mindshareworld.com

Tiger beer takes digital engagement route

The latest Tiger beer TVCs, showcasing its international appeal, takes on a new milestone. Working with Mindshare Singapore, Tiger embarked on a digital engagement platform to extend the campaign beyond reach and frequency.

Beyond just banner advertising, the campaign sought to ensure the target audience understand the TVCS' message and in doing so, they get rewarded with a chance to win a trip to London for 4 people. The digital campaign signifies a shift from sole reliance on terrestrial TV to deliver the reach and frequency.

'With consumers shifting towards digital, they are getting harder to reach through the traditional platforms. The web is a one-to-many and two-way conductor, as well as the facilitator of conversations between consumers. The Tiger team recognised this and thus saw the value in the integrated approach of SPH's digital platform,' said Jimmy Lim, executive director of Mindshare Singapore.

Digital Marketing In A Recession? Just Do It (Part 2 of 4)

NIKE AS A CHANGE AGENT

Welcome to ‘The Digital Reality’, a discussion forum in partnership with Microsoft Advertising. Over a series of 4 parts, we look at how marketers can overcome their fears of the digital frontier, which they can capitalize on to create competitive advantages for the brands they manage as well as for their own marketing careers.

This week, we traced the history of Nike going from cool brand to cool digital brand.

According to advertising folklore, one of the most famous and easily recognized slogans in advertising history was coined at a 1988 meeting of Nike’s ad agency Wieden and Kennedy and a group of Nike employees. Dan Wieden, speaking admiringly of Nike’s can-do attitude,reportedly said, “You Nike guys, you just do it.” The rest, as they say, is advertising history.

But the famous slogan is more than just advertising, it embodies the spirit of innovation within the Nike organisation.

Here’s why.

In the late 80s, before the internet age, Nike was already ahead of the marketing curve when they engaged Michael Jordan to endorse the Nike Air range, making the partnership one of the most successful endorsement deals in history. Before long, Reebok jumped into the fray with Shaquille O'Neal. Pretty soon it seemed that every major athlete (especially basketball) had a shoe contract and kids were wearing the athlete's shoe they admired most.

By the late 90s, Nike’s perceived competitive advantage started to slip, as overall sales slumped in the athletic shoes industry. Consumers had grown accustomed to seeing athletes endorse a brand and were not excited anymore. Consumers were bombarded with ‘same old same old’ marketing strategies and as a result, ‘me too’ campaigns permeated the industry.

Nothing lasts forever. No winning strategy can last forever. Nike acknowledged that if they continued to rely solely on the celebrity endorsement route, when all other brands are already doing it, they will hit a dead end in no time. ‘Just Do It’ was already an established motivational mantra to consumers, so how else can Nike top that?

Either you innovate or die. And Nike knows this very well.

So realising the emergence of the internet as a powerful consumer platform, Nike embraced it not only to sell its products online but implemented a full scale digital strategy to engage the New Consumers.

Nike is still pervasive with sports personality endorsements and cool TV ads, but digital is now an integral part of its big plan.

Over the last few years, the success of its various digital platforms like Nike+, a training system partnership with Apple that lets runners track and share their data online, have inspired marketing practitioners to study Nike’s digital strategy as the benchmark for their own digital campaigns.

Every Crisis Presents Opportunities, But Only For The Brave

Nike didn’t wait for a crisis before they explored the internet as the next wave of its marketing renaissance. Dan Wieden didn’t praise the Nike folks for sitting and waiting for something to happen. Nike made things happen, whether during the good times or bad.

The US Centre For Applied Research, in a research paper on Nike’s ‘Just Do It’ Slogan, stated the following :

‘The Nike brand has become so strong it is placed in the rarified air of recession-proof consumer branded giants, in the company of Coca-Cola, Gillette and Proctor & Gamble……’

With the majority of marketers on the sidelines during the current crisis, those that invest in the digital platform can expect less competition and better returns, given the medium is able to track response rates and even the quality of the responses. During a recession, every advertising dollar has to be accounted for and digital media can measure the effectiveness of your marketing investments.

During the current crisis, consumers are more cautious about spending, and they may well do even more research on products and services online, before they commit to a purchase. With the fear of job losses looming, people are also spending more time at home. That’s where the opportunity lies.

With ubiquitous broadband connectivity, and online search as the research tool of choice among consumers, it’s much easier now to use digital media to communicate and reinforce a brand identity, and its brand values as part of its advertising campaign.

The internet not only creates opportunities for sales and brand loyalty, it also conveys information about the company behind the product or service. Never before in advertising history have marketers had the tools that can so readily facilitate the need to deliver messages to consumers about their products and services, effectively and efficiently, and with a wide range of creative delivery methods.

Sadly, although consumers are increasingly embracing the internet as a major part of their lives, slump or not, most brands are far from undertaking digital advertising. For the most part, they continue to see digital as an unproven, experimental or risky medium.

With such hesitation, brave brands like Nike are already speeding towards the horizon of greatness.

Next week, we look at managing change in the face of increasing competition.

Contributed by :
Jimmy Lim
Mindshare Singapore
jimmy.lim@mindshareworld.com

Mindshare Gets Healthy With HPB

Health Promotion Board (HPB) and Mindshare have officially confirmed the media agency appointment to manage HPB’s media account. The win marks the first time HPB has consolidated all its 3 divisions’ (Healthy Aging, Adult & Youth) media remit into one agency.

‘HPB is looking for a partner that can help us creatively capitalise on both traditional and new media in our drive to advocate healthy lifestyles to a myriad of people across all life stages with varied media consumption habits. Based on this criteria, the Mindshare business structure is best equipped for this mammoth task,’ says Dr K Vijaya, Director, Corporate Marketing and Communications Division of the Health Promotion Board.

‘With the ever commoditisation of the traditional media planning and buying model, the new Mindshare business structure seeks to transform us into a marketing, media and business solutions expert, and this win is the clearest testament of our vision to be the lead business partner of our clients,’ says Sony Wong, Leader of Mindshare Singapore.

Mindshare beat incumbent PhD and Universal Mccann at the final round of presentations. Work is expected to start in April.

‘I salute HPB for the confidence they have in the new Mindshare, and we look forward to our shared vision of raising the health standards in Singapore,’ Wong continues.

Digital Marketing In A Recession? Just Do It (Part 1 of 4)

Welcome to ‘The Digital Reality’, a discussion forum in partnership with Microsoft Advertising. Over a series of 4 parts, we look at how marketers can overcome their fears of the digital frontier, which they can capitalize on to create competitive advantages for the brands they manage as well as for their own marketing careers.

It’s official. Singapore is now the most wired nation on earth, with the household broadband penetration rate hitting 99.9 per cent last December. This figure, given by the Infocomm Development Authority (IDA), puts Singapore ahead of countries traditionally thought as powerhouses in the wired world: South Korea (at 92 per cent), Hong Kong (at 83.8 per cent) and Taiwan (at 76.8 per cent), based on figures from research firm Frost & Sullivan's 2007 study.

At the inaugural Mindshare Singapore’s M-Networking session in partnership with Microsoft Advertising recently, it was highlighted to an audience of key Mindshare clients, that despite the internet’s high penetration in Singapore, the reality is only 5% of advertising budgets in Singapore are invested online. It's already a so-called mass medium in Singapore, but it's hardly taken seriously by most marketers.

The M-Networking Session, titled ‘The Digital Reality’, was organised as an industry outreach programme for marketers and media partners to facilitate the exchanges of best practices, ideas and even collaborative opportunities.

In the context of this story, marketers include our clients as well as our own people.

The current economic crisis has already changed the environment in which marketers operate in, but many of us are still struggling to devise digital strategies to capitalise on the new consumer mindsets, let alone deal with the current recession.

It seems that if a marketer’s natural reflex is to automatically avoid tapping into new media during the good economic times, then doing so during the slump would be deemed as taking too much risk.

Yet some marketers expect different results by doing the same things, slump or not. Einstein once said insanity is doing the same things over and over again, but expecting different results.

The reality is the consumer climate had already changed way before the current slump. The internet had become our new environment, where it has more and more influence over consumer purchasing behaviours and daily routines.

But another reality is consumers have led when a lot of marketers have lagged. While consumers have already discarded their fears for the digital era, as demonstrated by the popularity of online commerce and social networking in Singapore, it’s surprising to find that there are still marketers who are fearful of it.

After all, these marketers are consumers themselves outside of their work, using the internet like everyone else, yet behaving like they haven’t seen the internet once they reach their offices.

The point is not about abandoning traditional marketing, but integrating digital into an overall marketing strategy.

There are lessons that can be learned from the US market and brands like Nike, in terms of harnessing the power of the digital media to create new competitive advantages in the current recession.

In US market, it literally took years after the majority of American consumers had adopted the internet for mainstream marketers to start putting any real money into online advertising. We can learn a lot from Nike as a shining beacon to many marketers who are still fearful of new media. Nike is still a very successful brand today because it was an early internet adopter as it foresaw the internet’s immense influence over consumer behaviours.

Next week, we look at how Nike went from cool brand to cool digital brand.

Contributed by :
Jimmy Lim
Mindshare Singapore
jimmy.lim@mindshareworld.com

Mindshare’s Invention Unit Gets Cosy with Playboy.

STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP FOR PLAYBOY'S SINGAPORE LAUNCH

Mindshare Singapore’s Invention unit recently teamed up with Rabbithead Enterprise, the publisher of VIP Singapore, to strategize and develop sponsorship platforms in conjunction with its Singapore launch.

VIP is an extension of the world’s best selling men’s magazine, Playboy. Launching in Asia, it will be fronted by the iconic bow-tie bunny as it shares the same brand philosophy and renowned excellence of Playboy.

‘We are honoured to be the lead business partner for Playboy, as it is an iconic brand to be associated with. The venture leveraged on the new Mindshare Value Exchange Framework of blending our core skill of contact planning with the skill of content planning,’ said Jimmy Lim, executive director of Mindshare Singapore.

One of the content platforms jointly conceptualized is the classic Playboy Party, which was marketed to lifestyle brands like Mini, Armand De Brignac Champagne and Heineken. Billed as the private party of the year, the world famous Playboy Playmates will be in town to grace the launch event where 5 lucky men will win all-expense paid dates with the Playmates.

Check out the Drive A Bunny Contest on :

http://www.axn-asia.com/contests/drive-bunny-contest

Lim adds, ‘Our Value Exchange Framework allows our channel and content experts to work together on the VIP platform, to capture the attention of our clients’ customers – essentially creating the ideal customer journey.’


AXN Asia, the leading English general entertainment cable channel in the region, was roped in as media and production partner. The search for the lucky men will be aired on AXN, published in VIP’s first issue and streamed through AXN’s & VIP’s interactive communities. The Playmates tour will be aired on a brand new AXN original production, The Duke, a glossy men’s magazine show that showcases Asia’s elite men and their inspirational success stories, and the latest in upscale lifestyle trends and happenings.

“This is a great initiative by Mindshare, cleverly designing a platform to pull in all relevant partners to give clients a bigger bang for the buck,” said Ricky Ow, Senior Vice President and General Manager, SPE Networks – Asia.

“And what better brand name than Playboy to get the attention!” Ow added.

“VIP’s partnership with Mindshare and AXN has exceeded our expectations,” says Norlindah Sumaidi, VIP Magazine’s Associate Publisher. “For a new brand like ours to get this amount of regional exposure is extremely beneficial for all parties and we look forward to continuing this relationship for future VIP projects.”

To top it off, VIP readers and AXN viewers get a chance to win invitations to the VIP Launch Party where they can rub shoulders with VVIP guests as well as regional and international celebrities. A glimpse of the party’s antics will also be available on AXN’s eBuzz, a weekly entertainment magazine show featuring the latest in the glamorous world of celebrities, movies, music and television.

Finally, party attendees will get a chance to win an invitation to party with the Playmates at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles.

‘This venture has shifted the dynamics of the relationship between agency and media owners, from a reseller structure to a partnership model,’ said Lim.

‘We are looking forward to developing more sponsorship platforms and content partnerships with media owners like VIP and AXN, to create competitive advantages for our clients,’ Lim adds further.

Our Climate Is In Crisis. And It’s Not Just Earth’s.

Al Gore used to be known as the nearly man, as the US presidential candidate who famously won the US presidential election popular vote by more than 500,000 votes, the most for any Democrat in US history, yet lost the presidency by 5 electoral votes. A lesser man would have crumbled with such a career calamity, but here is a man who went on to become an Oscar, Grammy and a Nobel Prize winner.

But many people do not know that this is the same man who had a hand in moulding the infrastructure that shaped the early days of the internet. No, he didn’t invent the internet, he was merely misquoted in a TV interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer.

Here is what was reported on Wikipedia :
‘Gore was the first elected official to grasp the potential of computer communications to have a broader impact than just improving the conduct of science and scholarship. The Internet, as we know it today, was not deployed until 1983. When the Internet was still in the early stages of its deployment, Gore provided intellectual leadership by helping create the vision of the potential benefits of high speed computing and communication.As a Senator, Gore began to craft the High Performance Computing and Communication Act of 1991 (commonly referred to as "The Gore Bill") after hearing the 1988 report Toward a National Research Network submitted to Congress by a group chaired by UCLA professor of computer science, Leonard Kleinrock, one of the central creators of the ARPANET (the ARPANET, first deployed by Kleinrock and others in 1969, is the predecessor of the Internet). The bill was passed on December 9, 1991.’ and led to the National Information Infrastructure (NII) which Gore referred to as the "information superhighway."

Little wonder that, after the presidential defeat, Gore sat on the board of Apple and was also a senior advisor to Google during its formative days. We all know how those panned out. No, he didn’t invent the internet, but it’s fair to say he helped shaped Web 2.0

This week marks the days leading to Earth Hour on 28 March, when businesses all over the world vote to switch off all lights for an hour. Here’s an except from http://www.earthhour.org/about/

‘This year, Earth Hour has been transformed into the world’s first global election, between Earth and global warming. For the first time in history, people of all ages, nationalities, race and background have the opportunity to use their light switch as their vote – Switching off your lights is a vote for Earth, or leaving them on is a vote for global warming. WWF are urging the world to VOTE EARTH and reach the target of 1 billion votes, which will be presented to world leaders at the Global Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen 2009.’

In our own world, in Mindshare, we should take a leaf from Al Gore’s urging of people to change the way they lead their lives on mother Earth.

To those who have watched the movie, you heard the Truth. To those who haven’t, read the following and draw its analogy to our own industry – ‘Humanity is sitting on a ticking time bomb. If the vast majority of the world's scientists are right, we have just ten years to avert a major catastrophe that could send our entire planet into a tail-spin of epic destruction involving extreme weather, floods, droughts, epidemics and killer heat waves beyond anything we have ever experienced.’

"The truth about the climate crisis," Gore says, "is an inconvenient one that means we are going to have to change the way we live our lives."

Nothing lasts forever. No winning strategy can last forever – Mindshare, like Al Gore, pioneered the media specialist industry but 10 years on, Mindshare is now a victim of its own success because our competitive advantage has been eroded by copycat agencies who are charging lower and lower, and even lower, just to get ahead.

Our industry is much like Earth’s climate, it’s in crisis. We are at the threshold of our industry’s epic destruction. It’s an inconvenient truth to many in Mindshare, in our industry, but it’s the damn truth! Our trees/fees are being burnt, and in no time, we will have no land in our industry.

So here's the dilemma : are we content on being the 'nearly man' or should we lead the transformation of our industry?

Take a leaf from Gore’s transformation, from a nearly president to Time’s runner-up (ok, nearly again!) for 2007 Person Of The Year.

Not bad for a man who nearly became the US President. After all, he transformed the internet, which is now part of our transformation to New Marketing specialists.

In a way, aren’t we glad for that?

Contributed by :
Jimmy Lim
Mindshare Singapore

TMP Worldwide Appoints Mindshare Singapore

TMP Worldwide, the largest independent firm focusing on recruitment advertising and communications recently awarded the local and regional media business to Mindshare Singapore. The account is worth $5M. Sources said that Mindshare was up against Starcom and OMD.

Ms Lezann Chong, General Manager of TMP said, "Mindshare had certainly outshone the rest of competing media agencies in our set of evaluation criteria and I trust Mindshare will be one of our valuable partner moving forward our agency growth. I look forward to a mutually beneficial, long & productive partnership. "

‘This win continues our new business momentum for 2009, as more and more brands are convinced with the new Mindshare business structure, which is to offer clients services beyond the traditional media planning and buying model, such as digital, content planning and business planning,’ said Sony Wong, Leader of Mindshare Singapore.

Mindshare Pushes Ironman With Short Films

Maiden Aviva Work Kicks Off With Invention Platform

Mindshare Singapore launched Aviva's title sponsorship of The Aviva Ironman 70.3 Singapore competition with a different approach this year, with the launch of marketing collaterals on cable TV, MRT stations, gyms and online as well as through Focus Media's LED screen network.

The marketing campaign includes a series of ten short films on ordinary Singaporeans who are participating in this year's event and how they are preparing for the 22 March race. The key message of the films is that the attributes needed to compete in the grueling triathlon are the same ones needed when thinking about personal finances.

"To achieve and maintain a healthy, personal financial life, it takes more than just expert advice and market leading products. It also takes self-discipline, self-sacrifice, perseverance and a long-term view. These qualities are dramatically brought to life in the emotional films produced by Singapore's Zhao Wei Films," Paul Hughes, director of strategic development for Aviva, said.

In November last year,Aviva commissioned MindShare's Business Planning team to conduct an ‘Encounters' study in to the financial services category in Singapore. ‘Encounters' is a new research approach to understanding communication effectiveness and optimizing contact mix across both above and below the line contact points, specific to the target audience, brand and category.
The study revealed that, more than ever before, consumers were engaging with the financial services category and brands.

MindShare commissioned Brian Gothong Tan, a promising film director and award-winning multimedia visual artist from Eric Khoo's production company Zhao Wei Films, to work on the campaign.

INTERCONTINENTAL HOTELS GROUP SELECTS MINDSHARE AS NEW GLOBAL MEDIA AGENCY

Account Includes All Media Service Responsibilities For Seven Hotel Brands Worldwide

Intercontinental Hotels Group (“IHG”), the world’s largest hotel group by number of rooms, announces it has awarded Mindshare as it’s global strategic planning agency, to consolidate media planning and buying activities across all its brands including InterContinental Hotels and Resorts, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Hotel Indigo, Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites.

Media services for those brands were previously handled by more than a dozen agencies worldwide. Mindshare was awarded the consolidated account after a review in which seven agencies participated.

“As part of our wider supplier review we were looking for a global media agency that would deliver innovation, good value and great service. We believe Mindshare will deliver that and we look forward to working with them.” said Tom Seddon, Chief Marketing Officer of IHG.

IHG operates more than 4,100 hotels with more than 600,000 guest rooms in about 100 countries and territories worldwide. Mindshare teams in New York and London will lead the global account with hubs in Atlanta, Singapore, and Shanghai.

“All of us at Mindshare welcome the opportunity to work with IHG’s prestigious lineup of brands,” said Mindshare Worldwide CEO Dominic Proctor. “This is a highly competitive category and we look forward to utilizing all our skills and tools to helping our new business partner build these brands worldwide.”

Mindshare is expected to assume its new responsibilities in April after a brief transition period. Responsibilities for IHG’s creative advertising accounts are not impacted by this appointment.

'This win is sweet conclusion to our Q1 performance in Singapore, adding to our stable of new clients such as Starhub, Aviva, Nissan as well as the retention of Asia Pacific Breweries,' said Sony Wong, Leader of Mindshare Singapore.

Bruce Lee : A Change Agent?

The great Bruce Lee once said ‘Don't get set into one form, adapt it and build your own, and let it grow, be like water. Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless — like water. Now you put water in a cup, it becomes the cup; You put water into a bottle it becomes the bottle; You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.’

Watch his interview :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iO3sBulXpVw&feature=related

I think we all know Bruce Lee. But how can he be regarded as a change agent?

He is widely regarded as the most influential martial artist of the twentieth century and a cultural icon. His films elevated the traditional Hong Kong martial arts films to a new level of popularity and acclaim, and sparked the first major surge of interest in Chinese martial arts in the West.

Lee became an iconic figure particularly to the Chinese around the world, as he portrayed Chinese national pride and Chinese nationalism in his movies, which inspired the careers of today’s top kung fu actors like Jacky Chan and Jet Li.

In the context of change, he took on Hollywood at the time when Asian actors were mostly relegated to minor roles by adapting his style to suit a Western environment. When he wasn’t happy with the current forms of martial arts that existed during his days, he pioneered his own fighting style in the form of the Jeet Kune Do. The rest they say is film-making history.

Were it not for his ability to adapt to changes in his environment, it is suffice to note that the world would not have known Bruce Lee and perhaps Jacky Chan would still be performing with the Beijing Acrobatics.

In the same breath, Darwin’s Theory of Evolution is a fundamental force of nature, where only species that adapt (like water which can take many forms) according to the change in their environment will thrive, while those that don’t will die.

Water doesn’t die, it changes its shape and form according to the changes in its environment. We need to allow this natural force to be unleashed into our bloodstream, in relation to how we want to connect with the new consumers.

In our own context, digital is our new environment. New Marketing is our new genetic code. The sooner we eliminate the anti-change reflex that's genetically coded into all of us, we are much more likely to evolve into New Marketing specialists.

Don’t do it for your company, do it for yourself. Mindshare will evolve whether you are going to or not. But take advantage of the change platforms Mindshare has created. No other agency is taking this as seriously as Mindshare.

We can evolve our approach to marketing the same way nature evolves species or the way Bruce Lee adapted his approach in marketing himself to Hollywood.

Whether the market is up or down, whether technology is hot or not, whether you get a promotion or not, the organic approach to change will allow you to outperform the competition to yourself, your company and your clients’ brands.

Be water, my friends.

Contributed by :
Jimmy Lim
Mindshare Singapore

Nestle Gold Woos The Ladies

Mindshare Singapore recently conceptualised and managed an activation programme for the newly launched Nestle Gold, a range of premium chocolate.




The Nestle Gold team surprised the ladies working around Raffles Place during the week of Valentine’s Day, by hiring butlers to deliver love letters at their office buildings.

The love letters contained the Nestle Gold chocolate plus a love note to encourage participation in a contest to win a flowers-and-chocolates gift set to share with their loved ones.

Over 3 days, 2,000 love letters were delivered with 3,000 Nestle Gold chocolates sampled. More than 1,300 ladies couldn't resist and participated in the contest. The campaign garnered editorial coverage in ST, Zaobao, Wanbao, 8 Days and I-Weekly.

The Nestle Gold chocolate is made with only the best recipes developed at Nestle's Chocolate Centre of Excellence by Nestle's top chocolate confiseurs It consists of 5 exciting variants: NOIR 70% de CACAO (dark chocolate), NOIR ECLAT (Dark Chocolate with cocoa bean nibs), LAIT SUPERIEUR (superior milk chocolate), LAIT aux NOISETTES (milk chocolate with hazelnuts), LAIT NOUGAT (milk chocolate with honey and almond nougat).

'This is the clearest indication yet of Mindshare's new business mindset, where activation is one of our new business services we can provide to our clients,' said Jimmy Lim, Executive Director of Mindshare Singapore.

The premium chocolate is sold at the following outlets :
Marketplace : Paragon, Tanglin Mall & Raffles City
Cold Storage : Takashimaya, Causeway Point, Great World City, Holland Village, Centrepoint, Compass Point, Bugis Junction, Jelita, Hougang, One North, Parkway Parade, West Coast, King Albert Park & United Square

Singapore Played Its Part In Global Honours

Mindshare Awarded Global Media Agency Of The Year

Mindshare Singapore is proud to announce that Mindshare has been awarded Global Media Agency of the Year by renowned industry magazine Advertising Age.

'Our Singapore office is proud to have contributed to this global recognition, as our recent big business wins like Starhub, Aviva and Las Vegas Sands, and our innovative campaigns became the talk of the Mindshare network. Not forgetting, being one of the only 6 country offices to be awarded 'Media Agency Of The Year' helped,' said Sony Wong, Leader of Mindshare Singapore.

The Singapore office was awarded '2008 Media Agency Of The Year' by Marketing Magazine.

‘One of our young planners was shortlisted as the top 5 Best Inventors across Asia Pacific in the Mindshare Asia Pacific annual Purple Heads Awards. Also, a Tiger beer outdoor campaign was voted the top 5 Best Channel Innovations at the same awards,’ Wong adds.

The award follows a momentous year for the WPP-owned network, which restructured its operation during 2008 merging 12 agency units into four: Client Leadership group; Business Planning; a creative media thinking unit called Invention; and The Exchange, which handles on and offline trading.

On the global scale, the key reasons behind the award was the global restructure of the business, as well as innovative content platforms developed across Asia Pacific, such as the Chinese version of ‘Ugly Betty’, which had been commissioned on behalf of Mindshare’s client Unilever and ‘In the Motherhood’ a joint U.S. project by Unilever and Sprint’ which used an integration with The Ellen DeGeneres Show to drive women to inthemotherhood.com where they could tell real-life stories.

‘On the Singapore front, we are currently developing a few content platforms with some of our key clients, and will see these platforms pushed to the market over the next 6 months,’ Wong comments.

Dominic Proctor, chief executive of Mindshare Worldwide, said: “2008 was a momentous year as we have been driving change across our business - from our structure and our approach right through to our own brand look and feel - once again taking the lead position in the industry.

“The Mindshare family has pushed itself to constantly deliver industry beating work for our clients across the whole network. “This is a fantastic achievement and an award we are very proud of.”

Tiger Ad Stops Traffic, Literally

As a consumer, how often do you stop, look and become absorbed by an outdoor ad? Mindshare Singapore recently partnered Saatchi to produce an outdoor campaign that motivated passers-by to engage with the brand, by creating an interactive gaming experience to convey Tiger’s new “Enjoy Winning” theme.

Singapore’s busiest walkway was transformed into a gaming domain where commuters could take one another on or challenge themselves in games such as Spot-the-Difference, Join-the-Dots and Sudoku.

The idea beat 22 other impressive world entries to win the JCDecaux’s Innovate International Campaign.

The campaign also won ‘Best Use Of Outdoor’ at the 2008 Singapore Media Awards and a special award at the 2008 Singapore Outdoor Advertising Awards.

Kotex Integrated Campaign’s An Absolute Success

Mindshare Singapore recently masterminded an integrated consumer engagement campaign across Mediacorp’s various media platforms to promote the Kotex range of Ultra Thin sanitary pads.

The planning team conceptualised a content platform with the Channel U’s production team to reinforce the brand’s affinity with females aged between 25 to 39 years old.

Based on a reality format, a contest named ‘Be Absolutely U’ was commissioned to search for Singapore’s most confident and vivacious young ladies, in line with the brand’s personality.

The campaign kicked off with TV trailers on Channel U to encourage ladies to register online and participate with a friend. Other recruitment vehicles include radio spots, magazine ads and recruitment road-shows at Plaza Singapura which included a product sampling exercise. The samples also carried details of the contest to extend the reach of the campaign.

It was further supported by an online campaign with banners on relevant websites and blogs. Popular blogging celebrity, Xia Xue, was invited to blog about the contest and her experience with the Kotex Ultra Thin.

The website, www.beabsolutelyu.mediacorptv.sg , attracted thousands of participants, who uploaded photos and description of themselves. A panel of judges shortlisted the top 4 teams. Voters were asked to vote for their favourite teams. Winning teams stood to win cash prizes.

The same details were also hosted on www.kotex.com.sg. Both sites also carried product information and profiles of ‘Absolutely U’ ambassadors, including feminine lifestyle tips.

The results were only announced at a private ‘pyjama’ party held at the ultra-uber Fashion Bar in Clarke Quay, where finalists and friends were treated to a fashion show, beauty and grooming tips as well as fellowships with the finalists from Channel U’s ‘Campus Superstar’ TV show.

‘We are pleased to note Kotex demonstrated an in-depth understanding of how to engage with the young females audience who are internet savvy and are part of a thriving social media community,’ reports Jimmy Lim, Executive Director of Mindshare Singapore

Behind Mindshare’s Quirky CNY E-card

What do superhero comics, the sayings of Confucius in three languages and an edgy guide on shopping in Moscow have in common?

They are all making their home in Omnitoons, a content and app provider for iPhone, Google’s G Phone and other smartphones and personal digital assistants (PDAs).

Mindshare Singapore recently worked with Omnitoons to produce a Chinese New Year greetings e-card that was sent to clients and partners, via the email and mobile platforms.

As one of the industry’s leading proponents of mobile marketing, Mindshare has written various articles on the subject.

See previous news entries :
Saturday, January 10, 2009 : Mindshare rings in the changes in mobile across Asia Pacific
http://mindsharesingapore.blogspot.com/2009/01/mindshare-rings-in-changes-in-mobile.html)

Saturday, January 10, 2009 : Brian Stoller on Mobile Marketing
http://mindsharesingapore.blogspot.com/2009/01/brian-stoller-on-mobile-marketing.html

So for a change, the Singapore team decided to put words into action with mobile media partners, like Omnitoons, to demonstrate how the platform can work in congruence with a brand’s marketing strategies.



Omnitoons, a partner of film-related comics with Paramount Pictures, is set to produce dozens of e-books for smartphones every year. It is also opening up its platform to help authors, artists, photographers, filmmakers and others to put their content on mobile devices.

With Singapore recently acknowledged as the world’s most wired nation, the platform is only going to grow further in the years to come. Brands with youth appeal should tap into their quality content and introduce them to the mobile population, as a way to promote a brand in a novel way.

Omnitoons can also work with marketers to produce a strategy that fully encompasses print, web, mobile and other platforms with their sister companies in Tuber Productions, a transmedia group based in Singapore with partners in Hollywood, Tokyo, Manila, Ho Chi Minh and Seoul.

Mindshare Singapore is currently working with Omnitoons to raise further awareness of mobile marketing amongst its clients.

For further information please visit www.omnitoons.com

Mindshare Asia Pacific Leader Reflects on 2008

In an internal newsletter sent to all Mindshare offices around the region, Asia Pacific Leader, Ashutosh Srivastava, shared his thoughts on what he called an eventful year in 2008.Here are some excerpts from his address.

GLOBAL REORGANISATION

Mindshare’s global reorganisation, has centred on three core elements – new look and corporate identity, new products and services based on the Value Exchange framework, and new roles, along with organisational design and team structure.

‘Since we announced the restructuring in April 08, different groups of colleagues have been working behind the scenes, redesigning and fleshing out the product, as well as the HR strategy and the new branding, breathing life into the vision that signals our intention to be a new-age agency providing a marketing and media network for our clients,’ Ashutosh said.


DIGITAL INTEGRATION

He further explained that one of the key areas that is in line with the objective to integrate digital into everything that staff do at Mindshare, a global network of digital champions drawn from all offices has been created. The champions will be working on a roadmap for a Mindshare digital nation. In Asia Pacific, this network will be led by regional team member Brian Stoller, who is based in Hong Kong.

BUSINESS WINS

In terms of new business wins, he reported that the last quarter of 08 saw great wins including a Pepsi win-back from OMD in Thailand and retention in Pakistan and Daimler Benz in China.

Mindshare also picked up a search marketing assignment from Malaysia Airlines, with the initial work winning the SEA Googlies – both for the search team and the client, as Advertiser of the Year.

As for the business planning teams which have generated significant growth this year, as clients heading into a downturn clamour for greater return on their marketing investment and more ways to assess the boost to effectiveness we are providing.

WINNING HEARTS AS WELL

Recent wins involving Diageo and LG reinforce our belief that the new Mindshare model is just what our clients are looking for. There has also been some great Invention work from a number of markets.

Clearly one of the big turnarounds was crafted on Rolex China, where Invention has begun to change the client’s perception - of us as a traditional media buying agency, with no understanding of the luxury market, to a marketing partner, working on content based solutions.

CLOSING

Finally, he drew attention to the fact that not only has Mindshare been one of the most awarded agencies in AP this year, but this is also the first year that Mindshare picked up Agency of the Year honours in the industry awards for as many as six countries in the region.

‘I am confident Mindshare will continue to build up momentum in 2009 so that we are even better positioned at the end of the current economic slump and consolidate our lead in the market,’ he closed.

M-Networking : During the recession, socialising might just get you and your brand ahead.

Mindshare Singapore has launched M-Networking, an industry outreach programme for marketers and partners to share and receive the marketing world's best practices.

‘With Mindshare Singapore’s extensive list of clients and industry partners, as well as our clout in most industries, we decided to create an informal socialising platform where practitioners in the marketing world can come together to discover and share with each other, over some food and drinks,’ explains Jimmy Lim, Executive Director of Mindshare Singapore.

The monthly networking series will see collaborations between major media partners with Mindshare’s event team, and will touch on a series of issues facing marketers in the recent economic environment.

‘In today's challenging times, building business relationships is a key tool to identify business opportunities that may not have been obvious before. The M-Networking sessions will facilitate the exchanges of best practices, ideas and even collaborative opportunities,’ Lim explains further.

During these sessions, participants can also look forward to exchanges with some of Mindshare’s best minds, drawn from its specialised units of Digital, Invention, Business Planning and Content. They will focus on key areas and opportunities for marketers to take advantage of

‘We are happy to report that our calendar is booked solid till year end. Monthly invitations will be sent to our clients and we hope they take this opportunity to capitalize on possibilities that may arise from such sessions,’ Lim said.

2009 Ad Spend To Decline In Most Sectors, With Few Exceptions

In line with global trends of which the advertising/media industry is no exception, Mindshare Singapore has predicted a 15% decline in Singapore's media spend in the year ahead across platforms such as television, print and out-of-home.

Mindshare is also expecting a first from the current slowdown. It is seeing clients planning significant shifts from one channel to another as a result of the slowdown.

In the last major regional slowdown in 1997, media was not as fragmented as today. Back in 1997, there were not many alternatives to TV and print. Since then, there had been an explosion of alternative forms of AV media, such as cable TV, IPTV, the internet and outdoor screens. Cable TV is expected to hold as it inherits the terrestrial TV budgets due to better value.

With declining TV ratings and unfavourable media rates, advertisers are beginning to increase their focus on these alternatives to see better returns on their media investments.

Bucking the trend are sectors like entertainment, luxury, pharmaceutical and government-services which are not showing signs of budget cuts.

"There shouldn't be any major budget decline for the entertainment sector like movie distributors and cable TV, as consumers are expected to spend more time at home or go to the cinemas, due to work-related stress. The luxury sector is also quite a resilient sector, as the full impact of the crisis is still being assessed within the high net-worth individuals segment," Jimmy Lim, executive director of MindShare Singapore, said.

The advertising budget cuts in 2009 as compared to last year ranges from 30% to 45% in the banking sector, 30% to 50% for the FMCG sector and 30% to 50% in the automotive sector.

The study also points out to aggressive spending by the Singapore government, for instance the Ministry of Manpower which is investing in re-training due to lay-offs through the Workforce Development Agency and the Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience schemes, and the Ministry of Trade's various incentives for SMEs to tide over the recession.

M-Xchange : Value Exchange Platform for Clients

Mindshare Singapore recently launched M-Xchange, a Value Exchange platform for its clients and partners to join forces and develop new marketing campaigns or co-manage existing campaigns. The platform allows collaborators to share marketing resources, so they can generate better returns on their campaign investments.

‘With the current downturn, clients are recognising the need to share marketing resources though joint collaborations. This enables brands to develop common engagement platforms to sell more than one products or services to a particular market segment,’ Jimmy Lim, executive director of Mindshare Singapore said.

Mindshare reports that with marketing budgets slashed severely across most industries, various brands are tapping into each other’s marketing assets such as sales campaigns, databases, events, online and even real estate spaces. The platform was formed on the premise that every marketer has marketing resources with monetary values to trade with other marketers.

‘The smart marketers have begun to realise the efficiency of collaborating with other brands rather than going solo right now. I guess you can say that the sum of all small parts make a better whole in such difficult times,’ Lim adds.

‘Because we’re more than just media specialists, we looked at the business issues our clients are undergoing right now. And we found out that by developing marketing platforms for one client and then attract other clients to help defray the total marketing cost, we were able to help all our clients stretch their limited resources,’ Lim explains further.

‘It’s like walking into a store, where a marketer can browse through a range of marketing assets owned by other clients, and ‘purchasing’ them with their own monetized assets,’ said Lim.

M-Alert To Help Clients Extend Campaign Reach

Deemed as an industry first where an agency owns a media channel, Mindshare Singapore recently launched a database marketing channel for all its clients to advertise their campaigns.

Called ‘M-Alert’, this innovative channel will tap into Mindshare Singapore’s database of clients, partners as well as the Group M and WPP networks in Singapore.

‘We have a personal database of close to 10,000 middle to high income professionals, who are consumers themselves, so why not let our clients reach them with their products and services,’ Jimmy Lim, executive director of Mindshare Singapore, explains.

An email invite had been sent to the database where recipients have the option to decline future updates. So far, the responses have been tremendously encouraging. Recipients who chose to receive frequent updates are known as 'M-Friends', who can look forward to the latest promotional deals, new product previews or even above-the-line campaigns. Key clients such as Zuji, Nike and Sincere Watch have so far benefitted from the M-Alerts.

‘In good and bad times, our success is always tied to our clients’ success. Now more than ever, we need to help our clients optimise the reach of its marketing campaigns. It’s a form of peer-to-peer marketing. By reaching 10,000 fellow professionals with high disposable incomes in our database, our clients’ campaigns will be closer to success in these trying times,’ Lim adds.

For enquiries on how you can benefit from M-Alert, feel free to contact Jimmy Lim at Jimmy.Lim@mindshareworld.com

Mindshare Singapore Hubs With Starhub

Mindshare Singapore continues its new year bull run as one of Singapore's largest advertisers, the telecommunications giant Starhub, has appointed Mindshare as its new media agency, switching over from Zenith.

"After careful consideration, we have appointed Mindshare as StarHub's media planning agency from March 2009. The change in agency was a mutual decision reached between StarHub and Zenith Media, the incumbent agency. We thank Zenith Media for its years of support and help in developing StarHub's early media engagement strategies, and we wish them well in their future efforts," said Iris Wee, head of marketing for Starhub.

“2008 was a year of undergoing the necessary changes to strengthen our position. 2009 will see the creation of the first marketing and media solutions network. Our vision is to become our clients’ lead strategic partner. We thank Starhub for giving us the opportunity to work on their business,” said Sony Wong, managing director of Mindshare Singapore.

The win follows a year in which Mindshare underwent major changes including a global business revamp, new brand identity, digital integration and local leadership changes as it positions itself as a marketing & media investment management company.

'The scrutiny of brands and the control of consumers over their media consumption – is more intense than ever before, given the emergence of new media. Starhub needs a lead business partner that can drive their brand and business forward in today's fragmented media environment, and we are confident our full marketing and media services will provide the springboard to forge ahead, " Jimmy Lim, executive director for Mindshare Singapore, said.

“Our range of services such as digital, consumer insights, business analytics, activation and content development will help our clients optimize the effectiveness of their marketing campaigns and, in turn, to take decisions that will build their brand, business and increase their profitability,” added Sony.

Mindshare Zooms In On Olympus

Mindshare kicks off 2009 with the AOR appointment by Olympus.

"The win is a testament to our year-long business revamp exercise in 2008 which are already bearing fruits so early in 2009. We are extremely excited to have the opportunity to work on a digital imaging brand like Olympus. ," Sony Wong, MD for Mindshare Singapore, said. "

'With the current economic situation, we expect 2009 to be a tough year. So we were looking for an agency that could do more than just plan and buy media. Mindshare's offering, integrating consumer insight, business analytics, and creative ideas, executed efficiently, fit the bill ," said Antonio Lei, marketing director for Olympus Imaging Singapore.

"With the advent of new media, tech brands like Olympus will have to harness the massive influence consumers now have over brand preferences.' said Jimmy Lim, executive director for Mindshare, who will be managing the Olympus business.

Mindshare scores again at SOAA 2008

Mindshare’s OOH works with Saatchi & Saatchi on APB’s (Asia Pacific Breweries) Tiger and Guinness outdoor campaigns delivered wins at the Singapore Outdoor Advertising Awards 2008.

Tiger’s ‘Games’ campaign installed at the Orchard underpass received the Special Award for ‘Best Use Of Media’.

Guinness ‘9 Ball Tour 2008’ campaign scored a bronze for the MRT station category and the ‘Marketing Director’s Choice’ award.

‘We have a client who strongly believes in pushing the boundaries of creativity and the creative usage of OOH channels. These awards are a testament of our solid partnership with Saatchi and APB,’ said Jimmy Lim, Mindshare Singapore’s executive director.

Brian Stoller on Mobile Marketing

In the digital age, the media can make or break brands. The scrutiny of brands by the media – and the control of consumers over their media consumption – is more intense than ever before. Skilful and creative management of media is the critical factor for a brand to flourish.

Brands are no longer solely driven by ideas or ideals, but by a complex series of exchanges between consumer, brand and corporation. Good marketing and good business are based on an equal exchange between brand and consumer. With its always-on, always present characteristics, mobile provides the most pervasive technology to create response mechanisms and entry points for constructing an exchange
between consumer and brand.

Agencies that have extended themselves beyond simple ad placement and into content invention and exchange management will emerge as the winners within mobile marketing, as they will bring stronger integration of technologies into large-scale marketing initiatives.

In the last decade, we have witnessed a significant increase in mobile phone penetration across many countries in Asia; China alone has over 500 million users, and is still growing at rapid rates. As mobile technologies continue their rapid pace of development, and audiences migrate to “the third screen” as a primary source of information and entertainment, mobile marketing will emerge as the most important channel for generating a consumer exchange.

No agency has had as exhaustive experience as Mindshare in mobile marketing. The mobile area is our expertise, having won more mobile awards for major campaigns around the globe including this year’s Venice Festival of Media for China’s Nike Zoom campaign.

Our staff come from a wide range of mobile specialists and is active in speaking at mobile conferences and within the MMA (Mobile Marketing Association). By partnering closely with several of the region’s leading major mobile vendors and Telco operators across Asia, Mindshare is able to secure unique, never-been-done before opportunities for clients seeking to take advantage of this exciting new media.

Mindshare’s recent restructure reflects our strengthening commitment to digital and to creating the first real competitive marketing and media solutions network.

Brian Stoller
Mindshare
Partner - Invention, Asia Pacific