COVER final - Brand Equity Magazine

22 BRANDEQUITY

Brand Equity MEDIA STRATEGY
Andy Miller
24 BRANDEQUITY
By R. Venkateswaran
Fact: Only 20% of individual
behaviour operates at the conscious
level. The challenge is to tap into
the remaining 80%, the subconscious
recess that carries behavior driving
motives.
And in the media environment,
simplistic analysis, planning, buying
and execution has given way to
compelling creative approaches that
seek to move brands right into the
consumer’s mind & heart.
Consigning convention to
oblivion is at the heart of Vizeum’s
client engagement strategy. The
independent media specialist, a unit
of communications conglomerate
Aegis pioneered the art of
matching consumer behavior and
media through a common thread
– human motives; and is the
only media agency that applies
motivational factors strategically in
communications planning.
‘The core of our strategy hinges
on the Motivation to Media concept,
which involves understanding
people’s motivations and matching

them with the right brands to the
right moment, and delivered in the
right media for greater impact,’ says
Andy Miller, Vizeum’s CEO.
Vizeum used an ‘inside out’
approach to get into the consumer’s
mind, understand their lives and
identify the moments when they will
connect with a particular brand.
Case in point: A TVC featuring
a happy family scene broadcast
immediately after a family-oriented
sitcom has a higher probability of
making a stronger impression on the
viewer because of the congruency of
the projected emotions of the sitcom
and the commercial.
‘The combination of our scientific
approach on consumer insights
backed with extensive media
planning expertise and support
gives clients a genuine competitive
advantage,’ says Miller. Vizeum’s
clients in Malaysia include Tourism
Malaysia, Nippon Paint, Perodua,
High Five Bread and among others,
MNC Wireless.
Vizeum’s eight core motivations
– enjoyment, conviviality, belonging,
security, control, recognition, power
and vitality form the basis of the
subconscious mind. Against this, a
new framework, the ‘Motivations
Map’ further classifies the types
of moods and brands a consumer
is more receptive to in a given
moment.
Sometimes individuals are
motivated by the desire to enjoy
themselves on a Saturday night. Or
the consumer may demonstrate
his power to suggest that he is in
control. At other times, he may
want to merge into a group and
enjoy that sense of belonging.
Vitality is the desire to experience
new things, feel a sense of adventure
and test the boundaries as may be
experienced with extreme sports. At
other times, there is the need to feel
secure, during which the introduction
of a security system may be timely.
Point is – the various motives
operate at different times in a
consumer.
The strategy is to capture that
moment when the motive is in high
gear and direct a message to the
The Motivations Map
Plotting People’s
Behavior
Soft Drinks on
the Map
BRANDEQUITY 25

consumer during that moment in
order to elicit the right response.
26 BRANDEQUITY
Brand
Communication
The above motivational framework
throws some challenges when it is
applied to certain media types but
it can be more powerful if the brand
motivation can be matched to the
media motivation.
A clear understanding of what
persuades the customer to buy a
specific brand can help to develop
an appropriate communications
strategy.
Miller cited the experience of
Coca-Cola in the UK as a prime
illustration of the communications
strategy used. Most people surveyed
on why they drink Coca-Cola gave
the conscious reasons such as taste
and refreshment.
However, the subconscious
and core motivations were really
Belonging and Conviviality – most
people bought Coca-Cola because it
satisfied their desire for brotherhood
and connecting emotionally with
others who drink Coca-Cola.
The communications strategy was
reflected in a poster campaign that
gave a sense of optimism and warmth
with executions such as ‘Group Hug’
and ‘Everyone Has a Someone’. To
top that, TV and cinema campaigns
highlighted ‘Togetherness’
– something that best highlights the
need for belonging and conviviality
motives.
By identifying how media channels
deliver against human motivation,
media plans can be fine-tuned to
forge a stronger connection.
This has helped replace the old
thinking – ‘How can the brand break
through?’ with the new thought
– ‘How can the brand be invited into
people’s lives?’
The result? A stronger connection
between brands and consumers.
For further details, please contact
andy.miller@vizeum.com
Various Brands on
the Map
Unilever’s Deodorants
on the Map
TV Programs on
the Map

www.nixfon.com
Spice-Up your biz
Add some flavour to your business.
We'll help add sizzle to your website.
At Nixfon, we are specialists in online business strategies and solutions, from web
& multimedia design, web applications to web hosting services.
We pledge to LISTEN to you… ENHANCE your ideas… and BLOW your mind with our
designs and applications.
Give us a call at 03-7806 5655 or e-mail marketing@nixfon.com for a personal consultation.

Brand Equity MOBILE MARKETING
By R. Venkateswaran
Pervasive, engaging and indispensable
are some attributes that just about
describe the power of SMS. However,
its power is best demonstrated when
it is used by companies to engage
customers.
Enter MNC Wireless, Malaysia’s
leading mobile value-added-services
specialist. The listed company helps
clients to leverage opportunities in
the mobile marketing environment
through an array of proprietary
solutions.
At the helm as its CEO & Executive
Director is industry pioneer and
veteran Jasmine Lee. Brand Equity
caught up with Lee to discuss the
customer engagement opportunities
presented by a specific tool called
Go!SMS.
What it is
Go!SMS is a web based DIY mass
messaging tool that enables marketers
to reach out and communicate with
customers via SMS in a speedy,
targeted and cost efficient way. The
fact that it is easy to use is a principal
advantage. And it encapsulates 3
modules – Broadcast, Information on
Demand (IOD) and Mailbox.
The versatile Broadcast module
facilitates the distribution of user
28 BRANDEQUITY
conceived, personalized messages to an
entire database of customers. Companies
may use it to promote new products, for
lead generation and for announcements.
Or customers can check their loyalty
points, manage redemptions and renew
their membership. Financial institutions
may remind clients of payment due
dates, facilitate balance inquiries or
account usage alerts.
The Mailbox module enables any
organization to receive and manage real
time information via SMS. The system
enables automatic forwarding of received
information to designated mobile
numbers or email addresses. Users can
customize the type of information that
they want to receive as well.
The Information on Demand
(IOD) module provides 24 X 7 real
time response to queries. The tool’s
subscription based services and
versatility provided by this solution
qualifies it to be a mini-CRM. Insurance
companies may use this module to
provide real time response to proposal
status and policy premium date to their
agents.
Go!SMS offers enormous flexibility
for managing customer loyalty. However,
the challenge is for users to constantly
identify creative ways to harness its
resourcefulness.
Jasmine Lee can be contacted at
jasmine@mnc.com.my
Jasmine Lee

BRANDEQUITY 29

30 BRANDEQUITY

BRANDEQUITY 31

Brand Equity WEB MARKETING
32 BRANDEQUITY
Last time I introduced
numbers 1 to 10 of
the Top 20 ways to use
RSS for your brand.
Hopefully they left
you wanting more!
In this article I’ll
complete the list, with
a discussion of numbers
11 - 20.
Announcing job
vacancies
Most corporate websites have
some variation on an “employment
opportunities” section. But how often
does the right job appear when a
site visitor is looking for it? An RSS
feed dedicated to job vacancies
allows prospective employees to hear
about opportunities as they become
available-and receiving applications
online can help reduce recruitment
costs.
Distributing
information on
product updates
A lot of companies market products
that require periodic updates, or for
which new add-ons become available.
A good example is software patches.
With RSS we can let our customers
know immediately about new updates
and how to get them.
Talking to an
online community
For many brands, marketers build
online communities where owners and

enthusiasts can meet and interact,
both with each other and with the
brand. RSS can offer community
members the opportunity to stay
in touch with what’s going on. For
example, members of a digital
photography community can hear
about workshops and competitions.
This increases the time spent
interacting with the brand and helps
build loyalty, leading to repeat
purchases.
Delivering
exclusive content
to key customers
Encouraging our best customers to be
“brand ambassadors” is an accepted
marketing practice, and RSS can help.
We can use exclusive feeds to deliver
content to selected key customers
as a way to reward them for their
loyalty. Some car brands, for example,
hold regular parties for owners.
RSS provides an ideal channel for
distributing invitations, and is a great
way to keep the brand in constant
contact with its most loyal customers.
Updating a
calendar of events
Sometimes customers need to be told
about schedule changes. Let’s take an
example here. Say you attend regular
Pilates classes at your gym. If the
time of one of the classes changes,
you can keep up to date quickly
and conveniently by RSS. And if the
RSS feed goes to your palmtop, you
can even find out about the change
on your way to the class. Good for
members, and good for the brand.
Delivering timesensitive
content to
subscribers
Many marketers promote brands
that are in some way time-sensitive.
Take baby products, for instance.
Different products are suitable for
different developmental stages. A
website with information on baby
care could offer RSS feeds providing
information and advice at key stages,
along with details of products such as
infant formula that can be bought at
those stages. This will add value to
customers and allow for some good
targeted marketing.
Staying in
regular contact
with prospectsautomatically
We can use RSS to help guide
prospects down the path to a sale,
without having to write and send
individual emails. By sending RSS
auto-responders according to a
predetermined schedule, we can easily
stay in constant touch with prospects
that might otherwise be neglected.
Delivering
regular new content
Not all regular communications are
e-newsletters or special offers.
Sometimes our customers want regular
content simply because it’s useful to
them. An example here would be a
food manufacturer using RSS to deliver
regular recipes based on its brands.
A useful service to subscribers, and a
great way to sell more products.
Letting people know
about forum updates
I recently had a technical question
about Microsoft Word. I couldn’t find
the answer on Microsoft’s website,
so I tried posting my question on
a number of online forums. I then
checked back every day to see if
anyone posted a reply. Imagine how
much time I could have saved if I’d
been able to subscribe to an RSS feed
that would notify me when the forum
was updated.
Subscriptions to
Blogs and Podcasts
This is probably the best known use for
RSS, so I’ve deliberately left it until
last. As with any regularly updated
content, visitors like to be notified
about updates to Blogs and Podcasts.
And RSS has been the most widely
accepted way of doing this for some
time now.
One of the great things
about our industry is that
we are constantly surprised
by the lateral thinking and
sheer creative verve of
our colleagues. Predicting
the future is an uncertain
business at best. But one
thing I’m sure of is that as
RSS really takes off over the
coming months and years,
I’m going to be amazed by
the new ways marketers find
to use it to promote their
brands.
In this article I touched very
briefly on Podcasts. In my
next article in this series
I’ll take a closer look at
Podcasts, what they are,
what they can do, and how
we can use them to market
our brands.
BRANDEQUITY 33

Brand Equity BRAND AUDIT
MARKET RESEARCH,
BRAND AUDIT AND BRAND
VALUATION - THE GENERAL
DIFFERENCES
A Systematic Approach to Brand Audit
for Performance Measurement
and Improvements Article Series.
By Cseng Lim
A brand innovator and alignment
specialist, Lim works with and helps
businesses that are serious about
building and owning category leading
brands. He can be contacted at
info@easturban.com
34 BRANDEQUITY
Brand development, brand
innovation, brand systemization
and management have begun to
take firm hold in most progressive
organizations the world over. In
a series of five articles I will
share with readers the systematic
approach we use to conduct brand
audits for performance measurement
and improvements.
The articles will touch on a
number of important aspects with
regards to organizing, conducting
brand audits, converting audit
information into strategies and
implementing results from a
brand audit into action items
that positively impact brand
performance.
The first in the series will
provide a general understanding
and highlight the considerations
that companies should take into
account when implementing an audit
exercise for the brand.
According to a report release by
the CMO Council of USA, less than
20% of companies in the United States
have meaningful and up-to-date
marketing performance measurement
system within their organization.
This percentage is indeed alarming
considering that companies in the
USA would probably be among the
first in the world to adopt systematic
procedures to track performance of
their brands.
At the same time, that percentage
indirectly, though inconclusively and
without proper research data, may
indicate that the total number of
companies in Asia that have any form
of satisfactory marketing performance
measurement system is likely to be
low.
The report by the CMO Council
of USA also indicates that 80% of
companies in the United States

are dissatisfied with their current
ability to benchmark their marketing
performance and assess its impact
upon business as well as value to
their organization. I would assume
that the percentage would equally
apply to companies in Asia too.
This just goes to show although we
are operating in an information
and knowledge rich society where
application of technologies are quite
pervasive in organizational operations,
certain operations such as the brand
development and marketing still lack
the proper tools and mechanisms
that allowed managers to affirm the
ROI poured into advertising & other
promotions activities as well as other
brand development activities.
“Running blind” seems to be
appropriate description of the state
of marketing in the world today if the
findings of the CMO Council of USA are
accepted by decision makers.
However, the most important
conclusion that the CMO Council
of USA has offered in its report
is that companies that do have
comprehensive systems and mechanics
to measure and track their marketing
performance do show superior
financial returns than those which do
not have.
This evidence is important to the
development of marketing and brand
building practices as it underlies the
importance of making such investment
to create and own such systems.
The first and most basic
understanding that managers should
have is the general differences
between market research, a brand
audit and brand valuation. Although
the basis of the three activities is the
same where data or information are
obtained through research methods
to source them from a group of target
audience/subjects, the differences
lies in the objectives and relative
relationships of the subjects being
researched.
A market research is usually
characterized as a macro picture
oriented study of the general
relationships on market forces and
participants of the market being
studied. It usually provides managers
with insights that will allow them to
form macro level business strategies
for the company to engage the market
effectively. Among the common
parameters being studied in a market
research work are trends, industry
factors that promote or inhibit
growth, growth levels, identification
of market participants – competitors,
new entrants etc, sources of new
developments and others.
Market research reports are
important for managers to determine
the general direction, or propose
markets that they should be operating
in to maximize returns, capture new
markets or suggest exploring new
opportunities that arises.
Though a brand audit relies
on certain information contained
in market research reports such
as identification of the industry
participants and general information
on factors promoting and inhibiting
growth of the market, it is still
distinctively different.
less than 20% of
companies in the
United States have
meaningful and upto-date
marketing
performance
measurement
system within their
organization.
A brand audit is a much more
detailed study and focuses on the
depth of understanding the different
relationships between the interactive
elements being studied.
Market research generally has
breath but lacks detailed depth
on relationships of subjects cum
elements being studied. Brands
study the brand relationships on
a functional, emotional or selfexpressive/psychological
level; as
well as relationship influences and
interactions on tangible and intangible
elements that determine a brand’s
failure or success.
Many studies also deploy methods
to link how functional level factors
influence emotional and psychological
states of perceptions, decision making
and behavioral change upon users
of the brand. Such levels of depth
are usually not present in a market
research study.
The next level or rather a
different parallel approach that
some companies take to value their
investment in branding and marketing
is to track the dollar value of their
brand over a period of time; or during
critical times such as when going for
IPO.
Few established practices in
this area such as Brand Finance via
their Brand Asset Valuator model
helps companies to benchmark and
determine the value of their brand in
the market. Interbrand also publishes
the value of well known brands and
ranks them in the order of their
financial value annually. There are
other methods that are used by brand
consultancy firms around the world.
At the moment, no one standard
can be applied to every brand in
every market in every country. The
challenge to achieve such level of
global acceptance will be Herculean
and indeed ambitious for any one
consultancy firm to undertake. At the
moment the best advice I can give
to companies is to seek out the most
appropriate model that applies to
their market, operating conditions and
practices.
This is important so that the
valuation will do justice to their
brand and investments that they have
made. Although it will be nice to apply
similar standards used by international
brands, but doing so will greatly devalue
the actual true worth of the
local brands in their existing market as
most of these local brands don’t yet
operate on the international level.
Brand valuation is a good practice
to have in an organization in order
that investment made can be justified.
This is particularly important for
companies that are going for M&A
and also for IPO purposes where their
brands should rightly form part of the
valuation of the total asset owned by
the company.
There are a good number of
companies in Malaysia that can help
undertake proper market research for
your business needs, but only a small
number are capable of undertaking
brand audit work; and even lesser the
number of companies that can do a
comprehensive brand valuation.
In my next article I will explain
a brand audit’s considerations,
objectives, types and how to evaluate
ROI as well.
BRANDEQUITY 35

Brand Equity PUBLIC RELATIONS
‘This Old
Relationship
Tangle...’
36 BRANDEQUITY
By Jane Prior
Chief Executive Officer
Resonance Communications
Sdn Bhd A Priority
Group Company
jane.prior@priorityconsultants.com
We recently started work on
a quasi-government project
and like all such assignments,
experienced a rather steep
learning curve as the mixed
agendas all came into play -
without doubt, an uphill task!
As the project got
underway, we learned a little
more about the background
of the job; the skills and
strengths of the individuals
in the client’s team but in
no way could it be described
as easy. One felt like a
‘supplier’ and definitely not a
‘partner’ and the concept of
being either expert or valued
seemed a remote piped
dream...

In today’s
business
context we
have de-valued
the word and
what it actually
means to ‘have
a relationship’
with someone.
Inevitably in such a situation, it is
hard to not begin the ‘blame’ game
and perceptions begin to creep in that
one thing or another is the client’s
fault... and allowing the reverse is
true, they possibly felt we were the
root cause of all evil.
So where do we go in these
situations - when client / partner
relationships either begin to falter
or they simply never get into step at
all; when caller ID is more important
than the call itself and the use of SMS
appears a lot more attractive than
actually having a conversation. Sounds
familiar doesn’t it and we’ve all been
there at one time or another and the
answer to the problem lies in the
relationship or in this case, the lack
of relationship.
In today’s business context
we have de-valued the word and
what it actually means to ‘have a
relationship’ with someone. In fact,
the very words used to conjure up an
intimacy and familiarity that would
almost inevitably raise eyebrows,
whereas today a relationship seems
to be little more than a coffee at
a seminar or adjacent seats at an
industry lunch!
Relationships are tough - ask
anyone with a teenager and they will
tell you. Plus it’s easier to send an
email than pick up the phone; to say
‘let’s have lunch’ but never actually
confirm - because that means getting
into a car and being inconvenienced
to have to actually leave our desk.
How many times do we send bad
news via sms - face it, it’s far easier
to not have to answer in real-time any
inconvenient truths... and in so doing
miss out on the opportunity to say,
‘how do you feel about this?’
So - how do we really define a
relationship? Think about that old
school or college friend you meet
again and how often ‘it was as if
we just saw each other yesterday...
nothing was any different’. All the
familiar threads of ambition, likes,
dislikes, lovers and movies, are so
easily picked up and the tapestry
continues to grow.
We must establish this same
benchmark in the business world if
we are to be able to say we really do
understand the power of relationships.
Let’s face it - a true relationship can
outride a storm or a downturn, can
lead to bigger and better things and
even grants the opportunity to explain
your position in time of adversity; this
latter point being the crux when it
comes to relationships with staff, the
media, partners and customers.
So, looking at that personal
relationship, there are two critical
elements that also apply in the
professional arena: learning and
adaptation.
In the learning relationship, each
encounter builds on the one before it
so that a dialogue can resume where
it left off the last time. To give an
example of this, how many of us know
in detail what our customers are
facing; the sales wins they are waiting
to sign, the hiccups in the distribution
network, HR concerns and that’s only
the challenges.
How about the successes - and
human nature talks less about what
feels good - but family, further
studies, a new house or car, even
birthdays are all very real things
that bring excitement to our own
day and why should the client be any
less human? For any professional in
the communications business, it is
your business to know these things
and a key personal attribute will be
an ability to make sure that time is
invested to create an opportunity
to gather and to share this in-depth
information.
In most cases, it doesn’t fit on an
agenda and in fact, it is the offagenda
time that delivers this value -
such as one of our long-term and great
advocate clients who always asked,
‘so, what’s the gossip?’ and then
proceeded to have a two-way sharing
of news and views. Unfortunately in
today’s business world time is short
and success in building a professional
relationship will be measured by the
intellect, industry knowledge and also
willingness to be an ‘active listener’.
Then we come to adaptation -and
if it’s a relationship that you value,
then you must adapt your behavior in
the context of what you have learned
and most importantly make sure that
you never need to be told anything
twice.... Yes! Your call is important
to us, and by the way, what language
shall we communicate in?
Systems today are able to capture
information beyond our wildest
dreams and what’s more, we can
access, manipulate and query that
data to come up with a better
understanding of our clients with a
view to winning confidence and better
customer share over the long term.
These are the principals of oneto-one
marketing and relationship
management but the danger is that
we see the big picture but lose out
on the day-to-day needs to build
a professional friendship with our
customers.
Back to our quasi-government
organization; large and cumbersome it
may be in some of its modus operandi,
but the people who worked there
were, at the end of the day, just that
- they were people.
So next time you hear a grumble
in the corridor about the client from
hell - perhaps they would respond well
to some professional friendship that
measures success in a collaborative
basis and takes into account that
everyone has high days and low days,
and without doubt a birthday - at least
once a year!
In the learning
relationship,
each encounter
builds on the
one before it
so that a
dialogue
can resume
where it left
off the last time.
BRANDEQUITY 37

Brand Equity BRAND DIRECTION
Roger Barnett
Shaklee, a family brand that
remains synonymous with high
quality and efficacy is involved
in a selected group of business
areas namely nutrition, weight
management, personal care, and
healthy homes.
Founded in 1956, Shaklee
claims to be the number one
natural nutrition company in the
US, with over 700,000 members
and distributors in the US, Japan,
Mexico, Malaysia, and Canada.
To appreciate the brand’s recent
status and direction, Brand Equity
spoke to the company’s Chairman
and CEO Roger Barnett.
The essence
of the Shaklee
brand?
Shaklee is about health, quality and
opportunity. Unlike some brands,
we stand for only one thing. Shaklee
stands for integrity and is incredibly
focused on maintaining the quality
of its products. To us that means
38 BRANDEQUITY
staying focused on improving the
quality of life in general by focusing
on the physical and financial health
of our customers, working towards a
healthy planet and helping to raise
the self esteem of those around us.
The brand’s key
proposition to
customers?
Well there are several things that
help us stand head and shoulders
above the competition. Firstly,
Shaklee is about Quality. We’ve
spent for example, more then
USD 250 million in research and
development of our products that
are focused on the health and
wellness industry. This includes
researching and publishing over 100
clinical studies and conducting over
83,000 product quality tests a year!
That’s one of the highest, if not
the highest, in our industry. These
efforts are directed toward creating
the best natural health products
available. When we say best we’re
talking about making products that
are the purest, safest and clinically
proven to be effective.
Target customers
and key insights?
Well to us, we’re looking at a
rather unique segment as everyone
is a potential customer. We have
products for those who are older,
children and everyone in between
who care about living a healthier
life; now that’s something that
everyone wants, right?
As far as insight goes we’ve been
for the last 50 years developing
the market. This was when people
cared less about their health and
were less aware of the value of
nutritional supplements. Despite
this, we were already educating
people about the importance of
this. Our insight is that of a pioneer
then that has seen and been
successfully educating millions of
people around the world about the

importance of health and wellness
from the perspective of prevention.
How changing
customers
are impacting
Shaklee’s
positioning?
There has been no impact to speak
of. Our brand positioning is timeless
and just as relevant today as it was
fifty years ago
Why are
operations
confined to 5
markets?
Well, the prior owners of the
company were a large multinational
pharmaceutical concern that did
not fully maximise the growth
potential of the company. In part
the change in ownership and
more entrepreneurial vision that
came with that will help drive our
expansion into different markets.
Our products and our customer base
are global and universal; and we
are in a sufficiently diverse group
of countries and markets to prove
that both our product and business
model is accepted in different
cultures and geographies around
the world. With that in mind, we
are now going through the natural
process of expansion which should
lead to ever more dynamic growth
opportunities for the future.
Your principal
brand delivery
initiatives?
Well public relations and outreach
firstly. We also enjoy high profile
partnerships that are mostly related
to using our business model to
tell the press about the issues of
poverty and malnutrition around
the world. Associated with these
are sponsorships for those causes as
well. We also leverage our existing
network of over 750,000 members
and distributors around the world
to build the brand and spread our
message.
Shaklee’s
performance in
the Malaysian
market?
Over the past five years, Shaklee
has seen significant growth in its
local operations. While the sales
turnover of the local direct selling
industry was 118 percent, we
recorded an astounding growth
of 217 percent between 2000 and
2005; that’s nearly double the
industry average. That’s just an
example of the growing awareness
and acceptance of our brand here.
Moving forward we expect to see
our sales increasing 15% year on
year for the next five years with
the number of new distributors
joining our family growing at 25%
year on year during that time as
well.
Where do you
see Shaklee in
five years time?
Over the next five years we hope to
double the unaided awareness of
the Shaklee brand in Malaysia and to
have the brand stand for principles
of superior quality in integrity and
innovation. We’re also looking at a
broader set of constituents beyond
our current customer base.
BRANDEQUITY 39

Brand Equity INTERACTION MARKETING
40 BRANDEQUITY
Chin Weng Keong

Selecting from a menu of
scenarios, the website allows
visitors to do exactly what they
would love to but can’t in real life
to such persons represented in the
form of Mr. Soh Hem Sem – ‘punish’
him for his smugness and sabotage
his good looks.
Yet despite all that gets thrown
his way, Mr. Soh Hem Sem’s
crowning glory regains its poise
very quickly thanks to the easy
reshaping power of Brylcreem Hair
Wax range.
Says Chin Weng Keong,
Arachnid’s Managing Director, ‘This
campaign is aimed at Malaysian
men aged between 18 and 29
years who may view Brylcreem
as an ‘old world’ brand. What we
sought to do is engage them via
a contemporary touchpoint and
vividly demonstrate the product
benefits. It’s highly entertaining
and involving, and will hopefully
generate plenty of word-of-mouth
traffic that would otherwise not
have visited the site.’
The involvement comes from
some very interesting features on
the website. Visitors are invited
to suggest alternative ruses of
messing up the hero’s hair. The
best ideas will then be filmed and
added to the site.
Says Tang Wai Hoong, one of
Arachnid’s Creative Heads, ‘It
gives consumers the opportunity
to be co-creators. A bit of
brand ownership turned over to
consumers, if you like. We’ve
already started to get some
incredible suggestions, which is
fantastic. The wilder the better!’
There’s more. ‘Another feature
allows visitors to even replace Soh
Hem Sem’s face with a picture of
someone else they’d like to see
messed up instead,’ says joint
Creative Head Wong Hean Meng.
‘Not only is that another avenue
for consumers to interact with the
brand but it is also a heck of a lot
of fun and very viral!’
Chin says, ‘We’re really excited
about this new age marketing
campaign – combining interactive,
viral and user-generated content
components with minimal
traditional media support.’
We sought
to engage
them via a
contemporary
touchpoint
and vividly
demonstrate
the product
benefits
‘Our client Sara Lee Malaysia
is just as excited and has
wholeheartedly embraced
engagement as a way forward for
their brands. We are thrilled and
grateful to be able to break new
marketing communications ground
with Sara Lee Malaysia.’
About Arachnid Malaysia
Arachnid is one of Malaysia’s most
established interactive agencies
since 1996, dedicated to providing
marketers with new marketing
solutions to interact with, involve
and engage consumers. It is
also Malaysia’s most-awarded
interactive agency, with over 80
major local and international
awards for creative, strategy and
results including The Kancil Awards,
DMAM Awards, Malaysian Creative
Circle Awards, The New York
Festivals, Asia Interactive Awards,
Asia-Pacific AdFest Awards and
Global Finance Magazine Awards.
Arachnid has been ranked twice
(2002 and 2006) in the Deloitte Asia
Pacific Fast 500 (the 500 fastestgrowing
technology companies in
Asia Pacific) and with its current
team of 50 professionals, serves
some of the biggest blue-chip
multi-national brands in the world.
Chin Weng Keong can be reached
at wengky @arachnid.com.my
(www.arachnid.com.my)
BRANDEQUITY 41

Brand Equity BRAND COMMUNICATIONS
The Brief
* KFC is an established leader in the
Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) business
in Malaysia and around the world. As a
continuous effort to satisfy its consumers,
KFC expanded its variety to cater to more
Malaysians by introducing new options,
one of which is fish.
* The KFC Alaskan Fish Burger was
developed to meet the needs of Malaysian
consumers who constantly seek for more
variety and value. It is made of 100%
Alaskan Pollack fish and coated with
crispy Japanese crumbs, topped with
cheese, lettuce, mayonnaise, tangy and
spicy sauce, in a Kaiser bun. The KFC
Alaskan Fish Burger is made with 30%
more fish compared to any other fish
burgers available in the market.
* The task for BBDO was to ensure KFC’s
very first fish item entered the market
with impact.
Strategy
* BBDO’s proprietary trend-spotting
tool ‘Incite Out’ provided learnings on
consumer psyche that highlighted ‘value’
as the main factor in consumer decisionmaking
when it comes to choice of food.
Based on that, BBDO developed a creative
campaign entitled ‘30% More Fish’ to
allow the ‘value’ proposition to ring out.
* Cats, naturally associated with fish,
were used as a mnemonic to further drive
home the ‘tasty’ factor.
The Big Idea
* The concept was executed using
traditional media (TV, print, radio), instore
support, for mass outreach at every
possible consumer touch-point.
42 BRANDEQUITY

The Brief
* One of KFCs best-selling items is the KFC
Zinger burger, which was launched in 1997.
Since its introduction, the crispy Hot & Spicy
whole chicken fillet burger has been wellreceived
by consumers and have established a
following of its own.
* As a constant effort to keep its menu fresh
and appealing, KFC developed the KFC Zinger
Maxx, a more premium version of the KFC
Zinger burger. The new and improved KFC
Zinger is a whole Hot & Spicy chicken fillet
topped with lettuce, mayonnaise, cheddar
cheese in a new premium Kaiser bun.
* BBDO Malaysia was given the task to
introduce the new KFC Zinger Maxx to
Malaysians, as the ultimate burger of choice
for youth and young adults.
Strategy
* Through BBDO’s proprietary trend-spotting
tool ‘Incite Out’, the team developed a
strategy to help KFC Zinger Maxx hit its target
consumers. The ultimate burger of choice was
positioned as something that was so good it
was hard to let go of. And the tagline: ‘Tastes
so good, you’ll never let go’.
The Big Idea
* The concept translated into a
comprehensive communications plan,
which integrated several mediums including
traditional media (TV, print, radio), in-store
and online support, for mass outreach at
every possible consumer touch-point.
* Ad visuals and the scenarios portrayed in the
TVCs such as ‘Pianist’ and ‘Barber’ were kept
relevant to the target consumers, to ensure
they could relate to it.
* The second phase of the campaign focused
on an online microsite that encouraged
consumer participation. People were
encouraged to show off their one-handed
skills by sending in pictures and video clips
of themselves doing things with one hand to
stand a chance to win gadgets worth more
than RM40,000. Winners were picked on a
weekly basis.
Results
* Within a month, the online microsite
attracted over 9,000 views with over a
hundred participations for the KFC Zinger
Maxx one-handed skill competition!
BRANDEQUITY 43 43

44 BRANDEQUITY
BBDO Malaysia is part
of BBDO Worldwide,
one of the world’s
largest advertising
networks. BBDO
Malaysia provides
award-winning
advertising and brand
communications
solutions to clients
such as Hotlink, KFC,
FedEx, Visa, Pepsi, KFC,
ICI, SCA Hygiene, and
M&Ms.
The Agency’s most
recent accolades include
being named Agency
of the Year 2005 by
Advertising Age, Global
Agency of the Year 2005
by AdWeek, Advertising
Network of the Year by
Campaign Brief Asia
and the Most Awarded
Agency for Print and TV
at Adfest this year.

Brand Equity 360 DEGREE CAMPAIGN
GUINNESS PLANS FOR A GREAT
EXPERIENCE WITH THE GUINNESS
9-BALL TOUR CAMPAIGN
Bonding, communion, sharing of great
moments. Stuff marketers and branding
prophets exhort and preach but find
rather challenging to implement within
a client’s brief and constrains.
In a toast to genius (or should we
say GUINNESS), GUINNESS has adopted
a ready platform on which to build and
extend these key attributes among the
No.1 premium black beer connoisseurs.
The Guinness 9-Ball Tour is GUINNESS
maiden foray into sponsorship of pool
as a cool game that is meant to be
shared with friends on a relaxed night
out. Just like GUINNESS is.
Formerly the Asian 9-Ball Tour, the
Guinness 9-Ball Tour has been made
bigger and better with total prize
money doubled to US$320,000 and will
feature a Grand Final in Bali for the
Top 10 players. The grand final will see
the best pool players from around the
Asia compete for the championship.
All six stops of the Tour – Jakarta,
Kaohsuing, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore,
Shanghai and Bali will be telecast ‘live’
on STAR Sports. The Malaysian leg will
take place at Genting Highlands Resort
from 15-17 June 2007.
‘We are strongly committed towards
building on the game of 9-Ball pool
as the prefect opportunity to share
great moments over a perfect pint of
GUINNESS. As can be seen throughout
the world, the cool pool phenomenon
has swept across the United States,
Europe and has now come to Asia. It
seems almost unthinkable now for a
club to open without including the
pool table as an essential element of
its entertainment mix for patrons,’
said Sean Koh, Marketing Manager of
GUINNESS.
A 360 degree campaign has been
internalized at Guinness Anchor
Berhad (GAB) to communicate the
commitment of GUINNESS towards pool
and amplify its support of the Guinness
9-Ball Tour. As you step into the GAB
office at its Sungei Way Brewery in
Petaling Jaya, visuals of the Guinness
9-Ball tour adorn the lobby & lift
entrance. Round table-tops carry the
images of pool balls. Even the meeting
room conference table has been turned
into a giant pool table! On that note,
an actual pool table has been placed
inside the Tavern for the playing
pleasure of all GAB staff, with the
refreshing accompaniment of a cool
pint of GUINNESS.
A series of creative buys were
placed in major dailies, the highlight
of which was the front cover wrap
of The Sun and a unique mock back
cover of The Star. Of note would be
the diagonal advertisement which was
executed for the first time in major
dailies. To further enhance its visibility
and convey the massive breadth of the
campaign, GUINNESS adopted strategic
pillars of the monorail along Jalan
Sultan Ismail and wrapped an entire
monorail cabin with the Guinness 9-Ball
Tour creative visuals.
To embrace all the touch points,
a specially-commissioned cue stick
chopstick set will be given as premiums
through the on-trade channel consumer
promotion while a limited edition 3
can packaged with a free exclusive
GUINNESS tulip glass will also be
offered at participating hypermarkets
& supermarkets.
‘As we wanted to bring the game
closer to the general Malaysian public,
we also launched the GUINNESS Black
Challenge, a search for the fastest
speed pool player in the country
through approximately 115 clubs
throughout the country. The Grand
Champion will be whisked to romantic
Bali to watch the Grand Finals of
Guinness 9-Ball Tour. A ‘Get Spotted’
car sticker contest was also rolled-out
where weekly winners won an iPod
Nano. To ensure that the experience
was brought through the line, we
placed a Virtual Speed Pool Quest on
www.guinness.com.my. In a first for
Malaysia, an Animated Interactive
Screen on Pool was specially installed
at selected major cineplexes, setting
a milestone for customer interactivity
with a brand,’ said Koh.
GUINNESS will also be hosting the
exclusive mega Black Party up in Arena
of Stars, Genting Highlands Resort on
16 th June for specially invited guests.
Held in conjunction with the Guinness
9-Ball Tour, this super-exclusive,
invite-only party will feature some of
the hottest acts in the country such
as Camelia, DJ Gabriel and DJ Nesh.
Expect a super-charged experience
and memorable moments at the top.
Entrance to the exclusive Black Party
is through online invitation only. To
get yourself these money-can’t–buy
exclusive invites, log on to www.
guinness.com.my. Make sure you get
the limited invites early for this one!
‘We wish you an enjoyable
experience with the Guinness 9-Ball
Tour and hope you savour the great
moments with a nice cold pint of
GUINNESS with friends!’ said Koh.

Brand Equity BRANDED CUSTOMER SERVICE
By George Aveling
Branding is certainly a powerful
strategy to differentiate your
organisation and to build intangible
value. However, to be successful,
we must move beyond traditional
fast moving consumer goods models
of branding. These branding models
are too simplistic for a service based
economy.
They create high expectations
among customers which are often
not well supported by the customer
experience. The result is branding
campaigns that can disappoint as
much as they can delight.
A study conducted by a banking
client of our TMI New Zealand office
came up with some interesting results
on the impact of advertising and
the brand experience on customer
perceptions. The survey clearly
showed that the impact of advertising
on brand perceptions increases
significantly when the customer has
had a positive service experience with
that brand.
The simple conclusion is that
advertising and promotion strategies
certainly are important in branding
efforts, however, the service
experience that customers have when
they deal with your organisation will
determine whether those marketing
dollars will get a positive, sustainable
return on investment.
In fact, studies have shown that
employees have a greater impact on
customer loyalty than advertising.
A Gallup Study conducted in 2002
showed that
• By a ratio of between three and
four to one, airline employees
are more important than
advertising messages in building
brand loyalty
• Banking customers are more
likely to return, by a ratio of 10
to 20 times, if the organization
has outstanding employees
• In telecommunications, loyalty
of customers is influenced by
employees of the organization at
a ratio of between three and five
to one, compared to advertising
46 BRANDEQUITY
Creating the
On-Brand
Experience
Other studies have shown that
striving to nurture employees who are
engaged with the brand makes good
economic sense.
...40% of marketing is wasted
because employees unwittingly
undermine the promotional
promise
...Companies that live the brand
internally can improve profitability
(in some cases by over 50%)
The short message is that if you
engage in corporate branding but
ignore the organisational culture side
of the equation, then your branding
efforts will under-perform, and, in
the long term, they will fail. Branding
strategies in the past have been based
on the fast moving consumer goods
model.
However, the world has moved on.
We live in an age where service is a
critical element of the “product” that
we deliver. In this world, branding
is much more complex that selling
standard size cans of drink, detergents
or tooth pastes. Rather, the
complexity is added because people
are involved.
We want our people to deliver
more than customer service. Rather,
we want them to deliver on the brand
promise. We want them to deliver
the branded service experience. In
fact, Helena Rubenstein said that “we
are not selling branded product, but,
rather, a mass of branded people.”
In short, a key challenge in marketing
today is to create the On-Brand
organisation.
So, how do we do this? How do we
start our branding from the Inside-
Out?
Creating an On-Brand culture
does not involve “set and forget”
implementation. To the contrary,
it involves working on a number of
key elements, adjusting as we go, to
shape On-Brand culture and to keep
up the momentum.
TMI’s work in Malaysia has been
based on the framework, developed
by two senior TMI international
partners, and published in the book
Branded Customer Service – the New
Competitive Edge. This framework
has been shown by experience to
significantly enhance branding efforts,
by creating On-Brand cultures.
It involves the following elements,
otherwise called Brand Pathways.
While many of the elements are not
within the realms of the marketing
department, nor advertising agencies,
they are critical. The message here
is that, to make branding happen, HR
departments must play an integral
role.

The 5 key elements in
the Branded Customer
Service framework:
Defining the Brand
Experience
This phase sets the strategic blueprint
for the definition of the On-Brand
experience, and the shaping of a
culture that consistently delivers on
this experience. In this phase, we
ask questions such as, “How do we
translate the brand promise into the
unique brand experience?”
I asked the CEO of a well known
organisation, “What is the brand
experience that you want your
people to deliver to your customers?”
I got a blank look in return. Many
organisations such as this have not
thought this through, or have not
thought through how to make it
happen.
Measure
You get what you measure. The
challenge is to align your measures
with the service experience that you
seek to create. We came across an
organisation that tracked standard
customer satisfaction measurements,
such as speed of response, accuracy
and whether a follow up had been
done.
However, it did not measure on
key aspects of the brand experience
– the emotional side of its brand
promise. The result was employees
who delivered efficient service in a
cold manner while the brand promise
created expectations of being treated
special. The strategy here was to
modify the measures to track key
element of the brand experience – ie
how employees makes customers feel.
Internal
Communication
Internal communications can
powerfully shape the On-Brand culture
among employees. Organisations
typically develop visual branding
guidelines to ensure consistency in
the various external applications of
the brand. However, it is rare for
48 BRANDEQUITY
companies to develop style guidelines
for internal communications to
employees.
The result is typically internal
communications that are information
based, that do not engage employees
with the brand, nor inspire them to
live the brand promise. If it agreed
that branding involves an emotional
process of engagement, then this
principle applies equally to external
customers as well as to employees
whose job it is to deliver on the brand
promise.
Human Resources
Systems to Reinforce
the On-Brand Culture
Recruitment, reward and recognition
may seem to be a long way from
the world of branding, but, in fact,
they are integral to it. This is why
Human Resources Departments play
a critical role in branding efforts.
Development of an On-Brand culture
requires that we recruit people who
are suited to delivering on the brand,
and developing appropriate reward
systems.
How many times have branding
promises been promoted to the
consuming public and then let
down by the people factor? Or by
salespeople who make the sale and
then quickly move onto the next one.
Or by employees who simply were
the wrong fit for the job. And your
reward systems must be On-Brand ie
consistent with the brand experience
you want employees to deliver on.
Engage
Branding is an emotional process
of engagement. Richard Branson,
Chairman of Virgin, has said that
it’s feeling, and feelings alone,
that account for the strength of a
brand. Engagement of staff is more
than training. It’s much more than
“sheep dip” big bang events. Rather,
it’s about engaging managers and
employees to understand the brand
purpose, the brand promise that they
are here to deliver, and to skill them
up to achieve this. This takes time and
effort.
For most organisations, we need to
ensure that the brand experience is
consistent with the brand promise. To
achieve this, Marketing Departments
have to engage with, at the minimum
Human Resources Departments to
ensure that organisational culture
and systems support the consistent
delivery of the brand promise.
Does this require sustained effort?
Yes it does.
Are the stakes high? Yes they are,
and those that lead the pack will reap
very rich, sustainable returns.
George Aveling is the CEO of
TMI Consultancy Sdn Bhd, a
consultancy with offices in 35
countries. TMI uses the
Branded Customer Service
model to help organisations
differentiate themselves by
creating On-Brand cultures.
George welcomes
feedback on his article.
Contact him on
george@tmimalaysia.com.
my or go to
www.tmimalaysia.com.my