send - Brand Equity Magazine

import your database with mobile 

numbers construct the message 

and click ‘send’ 

The system is flexible and comes 

with options You may choose to 

communicate with female 

customers only make changes to 

the database at your time 

compose messages and change it 

anytime send messages at a 

predetermined date and time 

Happy birthday! 

But the topofmind issue is 

perhaps cost given that some of 

these services and their 

possibilities may seem 

overwhelming to the uninitiated 

A basic module from MNC 

requires an investment of RM 

and a monthly fee of RM The 

package comes with free 

SMS messages Anything more 

and the meter chugs along at 

to cents per SMS 

‘Numerous retailers use our 

system as well Their data is 

maintained on excel format The 

information can be imported into 

our module and the usual is done 

to send messages’ explained 

Jasmine 

And of late the increasing interest 

in interactive solutions has MNC 

spoton in the arena ‘TV 

commercials aid brand exposure 

while interactive is more tactical 

and can be used to make TVCs 

work harder and deliver’ said 

Jasmine 

For instance a graphical 

embedded in a TVC may 

encourage viewers to SMS to a 

number (or short code) for a mini 

recipe or vote for their favorite 

artist or receive health tips and so 

on The possibilities seem limitless 

but creativity is called for to take 

advantage of opportunities 

24 BRAND BRANDEQUITY 

BRAND 

‘One of our tools ‘ GO!ITV’ helped 

viewers to chat on TV during 

Euro ’ said Jasmine 

Times are certainly going to 

change and brand builders need to 

be up to speed about them 

Jasmine explained that MMS or 

multimedia messaging services is 

the area that is set to explode 

‘SMS accounts for of 

business generated within the 

mobile marketing environment 

By the end of the year we expect 

this to be : in favor of MMS 

And with MMS we are already 

talking about realtime classified 

ads picture catalogues and more’ 

said Jasmine 

Perhaps its about time brand 

builders asked themselves if they 

are up to speed on the limitless 

possibilities offered by the mobile 

marketing environment 

Jasmine can be contacted at 

jasmine@mnccommy

Financial Financial Services 

Services 

* Consumers can access their bank 

accounts anywhere anytime 

* Transfer funds between 

accounts request for cheque 

book status 

* Get daily account notifications 

balances and recent transactions 

* Cross sell products by offering 

text quotes to customers 

* Keep customers informed on 

progress of mortgage 

applications 

* Inform customers of monthly or 

annual premium amounts 

* Drive customers to their web 

site 

* Keep customers energised with 

regular text to win competitions 

Car Car Car Dealers Dealers / / Manufacturers Manufacturers / 

/ 

Service Service Centres 

Centres 

* Car ready for collection 

* Service reminders 

* Courtesy/thank you messages 

* Questionnaire followup 

* Sales lead generation 

* Part in stock 

* Tyres are probably due to be 

changed now 

Real Real Estate Estate / / Property Property Agencies 

Agencies 

* Buyers can SMS to obtain 

additional information anytime 

* Agencies can dedicate precious 

time to a genuinely interested 

public 

* Alert services are ideal for clients 

looking for investment 

properties 

* Potential buyers will be able to 

view property in a relatively 

short period of time by simply 

A Sampling of Mobile Marketing 

Possibilities by Industry 

(Supplied by MNC Wireless) 

stating what they are looking 

for their budget and if and when 

a property corresponding to 

their requirements comes onto 

the market they will 

automatically be informed via 

SMS giving brief details of the 

property 

* The system will automatically 

revert with lots of info about the 

house that’s available 

* Send customised SMS and 

images to your targeted buyers 

right away! 

Recruitment Recruitment Recruitment Agencies 

Agencies 

* Within a few minutes of a job 

being made available a text to 

top candidates inviting them to 

apply can be sent 

* Send new Job alerts 

* Database cleansing eg ‘Are you 

still looking for work? To receive 

instant text alerts for future 

positions reply ‘job’ to this text 

and we’ll keep you informed of 

all the latest opportunities’ 

* Day to day client contact 

* Drive applicants to web site to 

apply for positions online 

Hospitals 

Hospitals 

* Remind patients about routine 

outpatient and scan 

appointments 

* Sexual health clinics allowing 

patients to get advice without 

having to talk facetoface about 

sensitive issues including 

abortion contraceptives and 

sexually transmitted infections 

* Hospital can use SMS to protect 

its staff members If they are on 

house calls and they don’t 

respond to an automatically 

generated text message within 

a certain amount of time an 

alarm is raised 

* Doctor can send daily SMS 

update especially for intensive 

care unit cases where patient’s 

designated contact relative 

receive information about 

patient’s condition how he or 

she was responding to 

treatment and what tests were 

scheduled later in the day if any 

* Patients can schedule 

appointments and reserve out 

patient service in advance 

through SMS They can then 

visit the doctor at the reserved 

date and time 

* Doctors can cut down waiting 

times for medical results by text 

messaging to communicate with 

patients 

Leisure Leisure Sector 

Sector 

* Text alerts Send text bulletins 

and offers to existing customers 

* Text clubs Create a text club 

that offers members special 

offers bulletins and unique 

benefits 

* Text to win competitions 

Enhance response to your 

campaigns by offering text to 

win prizes 

BRAND BRAND BRANDEQUITY BRAND 

25

GO!SMS(tm) 

GO!SMS(tm) 

A DIY SMS marketing tool that 

includes 

* SMS Broadcast for sending mass 

SMS messages anytime or in a 

recurrent manner with 

personalised messages or brand 

your SMS messages by replacing 

the short code with your brand 

name 

* SMS Mailbox to receive and 

automatically manage all 

information sent by your 

customers The info can be 

personal details contest entries 

* SMS IOD to provide customers 

with information / via an 

informationondemand service 

such as movie schedules 


BRAND 

The MNC 

Repertoire 

GO!ITV(tm) 

GO!ITV(tm) 

A cost effective measurable and targeted 

SMS marketing tool that enables 

viewers 

* Post their opinions on air via 

SMS 

* Vote their favorite music videos 

* Support their favorite game 

shows 

* Participate in contests 

* Take part in fully animated 

interactive games 

GO!CPA(tm) 

GO!CPA(tm) 

A SMS gateway solution that allows 

aspiring content providers to start 

lucrative premium SMS businesses 

without the need to manage the 

complexities of connecting to the mobile 

network operators’ billing infrastructure 

GO!CONTENT GO!CONTENT SUITE(tm) 

SUITE(tm) 

An ASPbased (application service 

provider) content management platform 

that enables content developers without 

technology knowhow to embark on a 

mobile content and services business

By Seelen Sakran 

THE HOLY GRAIL THESE DAYS 

in marketing communications is 

the ability to provide onestop 

marketing solutions for the clients 

business problem that maximises 

business results and return on 

investment Chicago 

headquartered Arc Worldwide’s 

(Arc) believes it has the answer 

In fact this marketing services 

company aligned with advertising 

powerhouse Leo Burnett 

Worldwide recently established 

its AsiaPacific office in down town 

KL to initiate its combined 

Multidisciplinary 

ROI-centric 

Communications 

Arc Worldwide rolls out a slew of 

communication disciplines to deliver 

potent results for aspiring brands 

marcom (marketing 

communications) specialist 

services offering 

These are event and promotional 

management direct marketing 

interactive marketing and Shopper 

Marketing all under one roof 

Arc’s AsiaPacific President 

Charles Cadell who is also Leo 

Burnett Malaysia’s CEO feels that 

the Arc model is the solution 

‘Separated or siloed specialist 

marketing companies are the 

current model but this model is 

broken Clients are looking for 

integrated marketing solutions 

that utilise all the required contact 

points and this is best served by a 

company that has all the 

specialists working under one roof 

against a central objective and a 

central idea’ 

Cadell went on to point out that 

Arc is the only company in the 

world to offer such specialised 

Charles Charles Charles Charles Charles Cadell Cadell Cadell 

Cadell Cadell 

services together ‘Specialisation 

should not mean separation but 

unfortunately for most Clients it 

does Fundamentally successful 

marketing is a result of great ideas 

brilliantly executed through the 

range of required contact points 

Having this centrally managed and 

controlled ensures a maximisation 

and efficiency in Client budgets as 

well as a greater control over the 

end product 

Perhaps most important is the 


27 

ContemporaryCommunications

examples and case studies of best 

practice ‘But we also rely on 

them’ he adds ‘In the marketing 

services field the best ideas can be 

globally shared and quickly 

reapplied and we ensure that 

each month we track and share the 

world’s best examples in each of 

the disciplines across all our 

offices’ 

Arc is no new kid on the block 

however It has been formed by 

taking global specialist entities in 

DM Promotions Shopper and 

Interactive and merging them 

together They boast over 

Clients across Asia Pacific with 

centres of excellence in Singapore 


BRAND 

Australia Malaysia Philippines 

and Taiwan 

Cadell believes there is immense 

opportunity for Clients to 

maximise the collection of their 

marketing spends ‘I find it strange 

that while Asia Pacific boasts the 

best media platforms and 

emergent technology available 

we so rarely ever see world class 

integrated campaigns come from 

Asia instead it is the US and 

Europe that are lauded The big 

ideas here seem to be so often one 

dimensional for the majority of 

marketers such as TV print and 

maybe a promotion and some 

interactive But few are really 

using all contacts points to make 

the big ideas come alive and 

taking it all the way down to the 

store level’ 

‘A truly integrated approach in 

engaging customers across all 

contact points is where the 

opportunity lies and we feel Arc is 

able to accomplish this The 

changes that are going to affect us 

all as marketers in the next few 

years are going to be tremendous 

old rules will cease to apply We 

all need to buckle up for the ride 

ahead’ 

Cadell cites some examples of the 

changing world ‘We now know 

that if given a choice teenagers 

would rather have a mobile phone 

than a television We know that 

over of all SMS marketing 

messages are read and a reponse 

rate of approximately is 

common We know that some 

internet sites and brands are more 

trusted by their customers than 

their own family (Google / 

Amazon / ebay) and we know that 

approximately of all purchase 

decisions in the FMCG category 

are made in store We know a lot 

the question is what are we as 

marketers doing about it since the 

implications are enormous for 

how we should be talking to our 

customers’ 

Cadell is especially excited in the 

Shopper Marketing discipline a 

new concept to many Asian 

markets but a discipline that is of 

vast focus in the US and England 

Cadell explains that with Shopper 

Marketing Arc is able to help 

marketers turn shoppers into 

profitable brand buyers 

‘The potential is enormous’ he 

says ‘Marketers in the FMCG 

category on average spend about 

of their total marketing 

budget in the trade This may be 

on promotions discounting or 

simply buying facings Yet they 

have virtually no idea how this 

money is working for them Take 

this against the say they may 

spend on Television advertising 

that is often researched and 

measured to death and it makes no 

sense There is an art and a science 

to understanding the customer in 

the store environment and 

ensuring all elements of the mix 

are syncronised to get our product 

in the basket versus our 

competitors This is what Arc 

offers through our Shopper 

Marketing specialists’ 

Why? Cadell further explains ‘The 

research is staggering in this field 

Product advertising plays a very 

very small role in the actual 

purchase decision when that 

customer gets in front of that 

shelf There is a very discrete path 

to purchase that a consumer 

treads in each of the different 

retail environments and 

communication must be adapted 

at each point of the way This 

requires good understanding and 

insights of the shopper the 

category they are buying in and 

the retail store type’ 

Cadell believes that Malaysia is still 

relatively young with only about

of trade is done via the 

modern trade ‘However if you 

look at the retail explosion in 

Shopping centres especially in 

Kuala Lumpur there is much to be 

done Shopper marketing is not 

just about working with products 

to promote in store it is also about 

working with retailers to improve 

store layout and design to 

maximise total sales’ 

“There is still much to be done in 

Malaysia The shopper ‘experience’ 

which is so vital for sale 

maximisation is poorly understood 

as a discipline We work with 

Carrefour WalMart Tescos and 

Sainsburys on a global basis as well 

as doing store design for the likes 

of McDonalds Even while they are 

the largest in their fields they also 

have much to learn’ 

‘I find Shopper Marketing the most 

interesting To garner the insights 

we conduct our own independent 

research using in store cameras 

and home interviews of shoppers 

pre and post shop and it is 

fascinating The stark differences 

in how we all shop dependent on 

age sex and outlook is deeply 

human and for most people the 

choices and actions are hidden 

deep within the subconscious It is 

more a study of psychology than 

marketing’ he notes 

Incidentally Cadell has been 

working with Leo Burnett for the 

last years covering various 

markets and positions including 

group brand director brand 

management director in Bangkok 

and Hong Kong His clients 

included both multinational and 

local companies across the Asia 

Pacific region such as McDonald’s 

Procter & Gamble and Kellogg’s 

Cadell started his career in London 

in where he has worked with 

Kraft Pepsi and Mercedes Benz 

Currently Arc has more than 

employees in offices in 

countries In Malaysia its smart 

partnership with Leo Burnett has 

culminated in clients such as 

Malaysia Airlines Petronas 

McDonald’s YTL Corporation 

Procter & Gamble and Bumiputra 

Commerce Bank 

Virgin Credit Card 

Arc Arc in in Australia Australia delivers delivers for for Virgin’s Virgin’s new new credit 

credit 

card card with with a a bang 

bang 

OBJECTIVE 

OBJECTIVE 

To generate accounts 

within months at $ Cost Per 

Account The singleminded focus 

was to acquire new accounts at a 

minimal cost per acquisition 

STRATEGY 

STRATEGY 

It was crucial to monitor and 

adjust all the communication 

mediums in order to maximise 

reach and efficiency to meet the 

set objectives 


29

This involved: 

* Testing all elements of 

communication prior to roll out 

* Monitoring all activities to 

ensure that the cost per account 

did not exceed $ 

* Adjusting media and channel 

scheduling targeting and 

creative work on a weekly basis 

as the campaign unfolded 

WORK 

WORK 

An integrated campaign was 

launched using DM television 

press & magazine inserts and 

radio Each piece of 

communication carried a strong 

and compelling call to action 

Work maintained Virgin’s brand 

values (irreverent humour) while 

ensuring a strong sell The concept 

employed took tongueincheek 

approach to elicit the interest of 

the target audience 

RESULTS 

RESULTS 

a) Business 

The launch of the Virgin Credit 

Card succeeded across all media 

* TV beat objectives by 

* Press by 

* Mail results by 

Campaign targets were exceeded 

by with over cards 

issued in the first months 

To paraphrase the Virgin Money 

Managing Director ‘another 

amazing milestone 

customers; the fastest rate of 

growth ever for a new card in 

Australia; the most successful 

month period for any card ever 

with two months to spare and no 

previous customer base!’ 


BRAND 

b) Industry 

* John Caples International 

First Prize 

* Echo Direct Marketing 

Diamond Award Campaign of 

the Year 

* Echo Direct Marketing 

Gold Award 

* ADMA DM Grand Prix 

* / Australian DM 

Awards 

* Media Asia Brand 

Effectiveness Best Idea 

* Cannes Gold Lions (x) 

Direct Marketing 

* Won Report Most 

Awarded Global DM Campaign

BrandLaw 

By Benjamin J Thompson 

THIS ARTICLE WHICH WILL BE 

the final article on copyright we 

will continue examining the 

boundaries of protection afforded 

by Copyright law to better 

understand how copyright can be 

used to protect your brand 

identifiers or product features 

How much of a person’s work can 

you imitate or adapt without 

actually infringing their 

copyright? To further understand 

let’s look at just a few of the 

exceptions under the Copyright 

Act in more detail 

Copyright 

Consequences 


BR BRAND BRAND BR BRAND 

AND ANDEQUITY 

AND 

Presenting the ninth in a 

series for defending 

brand value right from 

creation 

& 

Exception Exception Exception 

 

“fair dealing for the purposes of 

nonprofit research private study 

criticism review or the reporting 

of current events SUBJECT to the 

condition that if such use is public 

it is accompanied by an 

acknowledgement of the title of 

the work and its authorship 

What is ‘fair’ dealing? As can be 

imagined this is a very subjective 

term The factors which are often 

taken into account in deciding if 

an action falls into the ambit of the 

exception are: 

The purpose and character of 

the dealing eg was it used for 

nonprofit research or one of 

the other purposes set out in 

the Copyright Act?

* Whether it is of a commercial 

nature or for nonprofit 

educational use eg was it 

used by a trainer to avoid 

having to make his own 

materials for a seminar or used 

by a study group at a university 

for one of their study sessions? 

* The nature of the copyright 

work eg literary work artistic 

work musical work etc; 

* The amount and substantiality 

of the parts taken eg were 

many quotations taken or was 

it just a single but definitive part 

of the work which was taken? 

* The effect of the dealing on the 

work eg did it impact the 

value of the work or the ability 

of the copyright owner to 

profitably deal with it 

subsequently; and 

* The availability of the work in 

the market eg was it 

something widely available or a 

work that was out of 

circulation? 

Similarly other terms such as 

“private study” have been 

interpreted according to the 

circumstances of each case 

One other thing must be borne in 

mind An exception does not arise 

just because a particular industry 

practice or custom has for many 

years ignored copyright 

That means even if you think that 

no one in your industry has been 

sued for copyright infringement 

despite a particular method of 

dealing with the works of third 

parties it does not mean that their 

use is excusable or accepted ‘fair 

dealing’ 

It could be copyright 

infringement and if you are 

unfortunate enough to be sued for 

unauthorised use in this manner 

it will not matter that ‘everyone 

else is doing it’ 

Exception Exception 

 

“the doing of any of the acts 

by way of parody pastiche or 

caricature” 

‘Parody’ is defined in the dictionary 

as ‘a composition in which the 

characteristic turns of thought and 

phrase of an author are mimicked 

and made to appear ridiculous 

especially by applying them to 

ludicrously inappropriate subjects’ 

Obviously since a parody is based 

on or derived from an existing 

work to come within the scope of 

the exception the new work must 

indeed fulfil the quality of a 

parody If not it will not be able 

to claim the exception and the 

work will be an infringement 

Exception Exception Exception 

 

“the reproduction and 

distribution of copies of any 

artistic work permanently situated 

in a place where it can be viewed 

by the public” 

If you recall from the previous 

articles artistic works include 

graphic works photographs 

sculptures buildings and works of 

artistic craftsmanship This 

exception therefore allows any 

one to say take photographs of 

the Twin Towers or the Mona Lisa 

painting (assuming it is 

permanently situated in a place 

where it can be viewed by the 

public) and sell those photographs 

without reference to the owners 

of the copyright 

So we can see from the above that 

there are specific areas into which 

a person’s copyright will not 

extend As an owner of a brand 

identifier protected by copyright 

it is important for you to know 

which exceptions apply to your 

own case 

If you have a situation and would 

like to know whether you fall into 

any of the exceptions under the 

Copyright Act it is a good idea to 

get the advice of a copyright 

lawyer 

He will be able to provide you with 

definite advice after performing 

research on the way Courts have 

interpreted the application of the 

exceptions in situations such as 

yours 

We shall commence discussion on 

a new topic on how to protect 

your brand identifiers or product 

features in our next instalment 

EDITOR’S EDITOR’S EDITOR’S NOTE: 

NOTE: 

We apologize for the error in last 

issue’s article which resulted in the 

article being wrongly headed 

“Protecting Industrial Designs” The 

actual title which appeared correctly 

in the index was “Copyright & 

Consequences” We apologize to 

readers for the confusion it may have 

caused 

NOTE: 

NOTE: 

This article is merely intended to 

create awareness of Intellectual 

Property rights It should not be relied 

on without the benefit of specific 

advice from an Intellectual Property 

practitioner Logos and graphics 

displayed are for illustrative and 

educational purposes only and are the 

Intellectual Property of their 

respective owners 

Ben Thompson is a Registered 

Trademark Patents & Industrial 

Designs Agent 

Feedback is welcome at 

brandlaw@thompsoncommy 

Readers who would like the column to 

discuss particular Brandlaw issues are 

welcome to write in 


33

The Proof of 

the Pudding 

By Salim Khubchandani 

WHEN ASKED TO COMMENT ON 

the subject we Direct Marketers 

invariably end up talking about the 

fact that it is ‘measurable’ This is 

indeed one important 

characteristic of Direct which also 

makes it such an interesting 

subject and a science 

For soon after the communication 

has gone out we wait with bated 

breath to receive the responses 

and evaluate the success of the 

program dissect and analyze the 

results to try and improvise for 

subsequent programs 

Marketers on the other hand often 

comment on it being ‘too 

expensive’ This perception of 

Marketers on numerous occasions 

has been corrected once the 

results are available and the 

programs’ success has been 

measured 

This article tries to look at some 

of the various parameters and 

metrics for measurement of Direct 

Marketing programs and 

highlights the importance of such 

parameters for different 

programs can be measured 

differently for success depending 

on the objectives 

Depending on the objective of the 

program there can be various 

parameters towards measuring its 

success More importantly 

unfortunately while it is not often 

practiced it helps greatly to 

outline action standards or 

program measurement metrics 

before commencement of the 

exercise 

This helps to evaluate the degree 

of success of the program as 

against methods that may have 

been practiced before the program 

was executed 

For example in the case of a Bto 

B program wherein the sales force 

may have been making cold calls 

as a part of the sales process the 

role or objective of the program 

may be to actually support sales 

in their job and generate qualified 

leads for them In such a case it 

would help immensely to do a 

calculation of the current cost per 

lead through the cold calling 

process 

This does require the organization 

to do a fair bit of number 

crunching by taking into account 

average time spent before a lead 

is generated and costing out the 

time However the effort and 

time taken does pay off in the long 

run 

Once we have the ‘cost per lead’ 

generated through the cold calling 

process when embarking on a 

Direct approach we already have 

a benchmark set which needs to 

be bettered in order to claim 

success for the Direct Marketing 

exercise And metrics agreed as 

part of the brief even helps the 

agency in its strategic 

recommendations with regard to 

the media vehicles offer etc 

In evaluating the strategy and 

before embarking on the program 

one obviously then takes the 

approach which is most efficient 


35 

RelationshipMarketing

with regards to the ‘cost per lead’ 

metric Where the program uses 

various media vehicles or offers to 

achieve what it had set out to do 

and in such cases we can test the 

various messages media or offers 

and determine what works better 

through the measurement 

metrics 

Just as we have discussed cost per 

lead as a possible parameter 

above there are several other 

metrics for measuring the success 

of Direct Marketing programs 

Cost per conversion: Often the 

role of the Direct program could 

extend towards conversion In 

such cases it helps to take into 

account the cost towards the 

offer fulfillment costs etc to 

ultimately arrive at the cost for 

each conversion 

Once we have the cost for each 

conversion comparing this or 

calculating what percentage it 

forms of the cost or contribution 

of the product we can actually see 

for ourselves whether it makes the 

program worthwhile and whether 

the product would be able to 

support the program 

Cost per Member and Lifetime 

Value: The latter part of the 

Relationship Marketing Cycle 

deals with retention and 

development of acquired 

customers Loyalty programs are 

one of the more commonly used 

tools towards retention whilst 

there may also be other methods 

at hand 

As discussed in one of the earlier 

articles loyalty is not a ‘one night 

stand’ and needs to be looked at 

from a more long term 

prospective In such a case 

obviously the investments 

required may be substantial and 

it is best to ascertain them even 

before embarking on the loyalty 


BRAND 

journey We therefore evaluate 

the total cost of the program over 

a period of time and also the cost 

per customer retained or cost per 

member 

This could even dictate the 

strategy to a great extent whereby 

the numbers may go to indicate 

segmentation of customers as 

heavy medium or light with 

different levels of investments and 

approaches for the three different 

types of customers In fact in case 

of a segment of retained 

customers being seen as non 

profitable over a period of time 

exit or ‘leavethemalone’ 

strategies may be charted out 

In evaluating whether it is worth 

embarking on a retention 

program the ‘cost per member’ 

metric may not be considered in 

isolation An additional important 

factor to be taken into account is 

the customer’s ‘Lifetime Value’ To 

arrive at the lifetime value of the 

customer we take into account 

estimated value of consumption 

over a reasonable period of time 

based on realistic consumption 

patterns 

Furthermore should there be 

opportunities to crosssell across a 

basket of products from the same 

brand or manufacturer it may be 

reasonable to even take into 

account additional consumption 

values out of the crosssell to 

determine the Lifetime Value 

Comparing the cost per member 

metric against lifetime value gives 

a much better idea as an indicator 

whether the retention program 

appears feasible or not 

As emphasized earlier the 

measurement criteria is largely 

dictated by the objectives of the 

program and the role that Direct 

is to achieve Importantly the 

results must be measured in the 

right context to help ascertain 

whether the activity has delivered 

For example cost per member 

seen in isolation and in absolute 

terms may appear high but needs 

to be measured in comparison to 

the lifetime value before a 

judgement is made whether it 

appears high or low 

The above are only some of the 

more standard parameters and 

there could be numerous other 

metrics towards measuring the 

success of programs It is indeed 

most appropriate if these 

parameters and their action 

standards can be agreed upon at 

the commencement of the 

program 

It must be borne in mind that there 

are several intangibles that a 

Direct Marketing program could 

impart through a 

communication’s strategy and the 

various contact points 

Having the action standards 

however sets a finite goal post as 

ultimately in Direct we often 

proclaim that the proof of the 

pudding lies in its eating 

Salim Khubchandani is a 

Relationship Marketing 

practitioner with almost two 

decades of experience in the 

field both with clients as 

well as agencies 

Currently Salim runs his 

own outfit and is 

contactable at 

salim@myontargetcom or

Brand Ambassador It’s 

All 

In The Stars 


JUST FLIP THE NEWSPAPERS 

Chances are you will get to see 

local actresses like Joanna Bassey 

or singers like Siti Nurhaliza on its 

pages in various sensational poses 

Not the fact that their pretty faces 

splashed across the pages raises an 

eyebrow or two but the fact that 

they have become the latest icons 

or buzz themes to products as 

brand ambassadors 


BRAND 

‘Branding is after all, a mind game. A 

brand, whether it is a product or country 

brand is a collection of perceptions. This 

is why he feels brand ambassadors in 

general are worth investing in’ 

So what is the fuss about this new 

rising trend among our local or 

international product 

manufacturers on brand 

ambassadors? 

In actuality the fuss is not about 

their faces per se but rather if the 

huge amounts of ringgit spent on 

them is worth the return on 

investment for these companies? 

Or even if it is worth the 

investment does the brand 

ambassador’s face make any 

difference or creates value for the 

product such that a consumer 

wants to purchase the product 

without questions asked? Or 

does a star’s appearing on 

behalf of more than one 

product have a negative 

effect on the products 

itself? Or if a star falls 

into scandal does it affect 

the product brand itself? 

Brand Equity magazine 

takes a look at the 

issues at hand 

Incidentally in trying 

to find out how much does it cost 

to sponsor a brand nobody is 

telling but it is believed stars like 

Nurhaliza can easily command a 

cool RM million for becoming a 

brand ambassador of a particular 

product What is the then the 

contract duration of a brand 

ambassador for a particular 

product? It’s usually for two years 

In any case ‘before one addresses 

the issues at hand about brand 

ambassadors one has to look at the 

concept of branding itself and how 

it is a major force in making or 

breaking a product’ says Hong 

Kongbased Victor Jeffery the 

chief executive officer (CEO) of 

Superbrands International a 

leading independent arbiter on 

branding in an interview with 

Brand Equity magazine 

He could be right because multi 

national corporations place so 

much emphasis on brand 

management Some countries

even go to the extent of 

establishing brand councils to 

oversee the promotion of products 

of a country ‘Branding is after all 

a mind game A brand whether it 

is a product or country brand is a 

collection of perceptions This is 

why he feels brand ambassadors in 

general are worth investing in’ 

notes Jeffery 

Perhaps also as to why Bharat 

Avalani communication channel 

manager with Unilever Malaysia 

Holdings Sdn Bhd the Anglo 

Dutch headquartered company 

that is all too familiar with the 

concept of branding views brand 

ambassadors as crucial in brand 

building 

On the question of the right 

candidate as an ambassador for a 

product Avalani adds ‘it is 

important that the brand 

ambassador is relevant to the 

(particular) brand There should be 

a good connection between the 

brand ambassador the brand 

essence and (ultimately and 

importantly) the consumer itself 

I am also of the belief that the 

brand ambassador should be 

uniquely associated with the 

brand eg Tiger Woods & 

Accenture a global management 

consulting and technology 

services company’ 

‘Stars have always endorsed Lux 

Credibility is important Both the 

brand and the brand ambassador 

should complement each other 

and not dilute the image of each 

other’ adds Avalani 

So far Unilever Malaysia has had 

its Lux soap well represented by 

many local stars Over the years 

local singercumactress like Amy 

Mastura to Erra Fazira have been 

chosen to be the ambassador for 

Lux products 

Kenneth Lim creative director 

with CD Advertising agrees with 

Avalani by saying ‘the fit must be 

right A good example is Maxis 

Communications Bhd’s Hotlink 

prepaid service with the singers of 

Astro’s Akademi Fantasia You 

have young radiant singers who 

are mobile hip and they quite 

nicely promote a mobile service 

which is popular with the young 

these days’ 

Lim opines a bad case of a brand 

ambassador would be with 

Nurhaliza promoting Samsung 

liquid crystal display computer 

monitors ‘Her fans are varied 

some are even staying in non 

urban areas or small towns What 

difference would it make to them 

if Nurhaliza epitomises the 

product the product might be out 

of their pocket’s reach in the first 

place’ 

To which Alex Lim creative 

director at Leo Burnett 

Advertising feels likewise ‘It all 

depends how a particular brand 

uses the ambassador The 

ambassador should encapsulate 

the particular brand and create 

value for it If done well the brand 

ambassador will work wonders for 

the brand A consumer is no fool 

He will know when a brand 

ambassador has failed a product’ 

says Lim of Leo Burnett 

But having said this Superbrand’s 

Jeffery feels sometimes there is no 

such thing as a perfect fit all the 

time for a particular product He 

cites the example of Jackie Chan 

‘Does he represent Hong Kong 

itself? It’s just that he is popular 

action hero globally and he has 

been chosen to represent his 

country That’s all!’ 

Jeffery does have a point Consider 

Shell Malaysia’s brand 

ambassadors an oddly row of 

ambassadors consisting of TV 

personality Asha Gill and Datuk 

Michael Chong the Malaysian 

Chinese Association’s Public 

Complaints’ Bureau chief 

On the issue of a brand 

ambassador’s ‘downfall’ having an 

effect on the product Leo Burnet’s 

Lim explains our companies 

cannot blindly follow like what is 

happening in Hollywood ‘If a 

company happens to choose a 

wrong ambassador and if 

something goes wrong with his or 

her personal life the brand goes 

down the drain as well’ Case in 

point: If Michael Jackson were to 

endorse a product what would 

become of that product now? 

Food for thought! 

Lim adds a good example of a 

company that chooses the right 


39

‘‘ 

people is Nike which selects only 

top notch sportsmen and 

sportswomen 

Similarly TAG Heuer watches’ 

ambassadors include Tiger Woods 

Formula One drivers Kimi 

Raikkonnen and David Coulthard 

an assortment of Bollywood 

movie stars and Malaysia’s perky 

itgirl Asha Gill who have 

propelled the brand and lent it an 

aesthetic ruggedness and flair to 

its name 

As Tag Heuer’s regional financial 

controller Woo Mun Hoo said the 


BRAND 

Lim adds a good 

example of a 

company that 

chooses the right 

people is Nike Nike Nike which 

selects only top 

notch sportsmen and 

sportswomen 

celebrities are chosen for their 

commitment to excellence and a 

willingness to surpass themselves 

On the issue of a brand 

ambassador representing more 

than one noncompeting brand 

while the general feedback is that 

it does not really matter 

Unilever’s Avalani has this to say: 

‘It is quite common to see brand 

ambassadors in Malaysia 

endorsing many brands across a 

wide category This creates 

confusion in the mind of the 

consumers As a result it also 

creates wastage of money to the 

company’ In the final analysis as 

Superbrand’s Jeffery says there is 

a bright future for brand 

ambassadors with consumers 

becoming more discerning these 

days 

In fact it may even go onestep 

further Like at USbased 

Honeywell a manufacturer of civil 

and military avionics and other 

aerospace products integrator 

and also service provider which 

states in its annual report that 

every employee is a brand 

ambassador in itself At Honeywell 

generations of Honeywell 

employees have built its powerful 

brands with their hard work spirit 

of innovation passion for quality 

and commitment to customers 

Perhaps as to why USbased 

management guru Dr Janelle 

Barlow says with sufficient 

training human resource 

departments can develop staff as 

a strategic element for branding 

and business success and become 

a company’s best branding tool 

One thing is for certain This move 

would certainly save a company a 

couple of million ringgit!

CustomerLoyalty 

AUTHOR’S NOTE: THIS PIECE IS 

the first in a series of articles that 

takes a critical look at some of the 

commonly held beliefs about 

customer loyalty which are often 

based on conflicting notions and 

inconsistent reasoning The goal 

is to gain a clear understanding of 

the why’s and how’s of the 

evolution of these myths and to 

bring out the realities behind 

them 

Truly Loyal 

Customers 

do not Have 

to be Bought! 

Myth: Companies should do the 

most for their most loyal 

customers 

Many companies in a wide variety 

of industries have what are known 

as ‘loyalty programs’ This practice 

which is based on rewarding 

frequent buyers started with the 

airline industry almost two 

decades ago was then adopted by 

other members of the travel 

industry such as hotels and rental 

cars has now spread to industries 

ranging from telecommunications 

to retail trade 

42 

BRAND BRANDEQUITY 

BRAND 

By Matt Hasan PhD 

Although each industry’s program 

has its nuances the basic structure 

is common to all of them: award 

miles or points to customers based 

on their ‘spend’ Almost all of them 

allow customers to earn rewards 

at a higher rate by achieving 

higher levels of usage such as silver 

and gold or premier and elite etc 

The foundation for these 

programs is the myth that 

providers should do the most for 

their most loyal customers 

The first issue that needs 

clarification in this myth is what 

is meant by customer loyalty since 

the term is used quite loosely and 

takes on a wide range of meanings 

As used in this context loyalty 

means that a customer continues 

to do business with a company 

The second issue that needs to be 

looked at is that the myth seems 

to be implying that customers 

have to be rewarded at increasing 

rates to keep them loyal to the 

company This contradicts the 

meaning of the word loyalty 

which is an unconditional and 

unwavering attachment to

Author Author Bio 

Bio 

Dr Matt Hasan is Managing Principal at Sigillum Corporation a New 

Jersey USA based management and technology consulting firm focusing 

on customer centric enterprise transformation Prior to Sigillum he held 

various marketing and CRM positions at Deloitte Consulting AT 

Kearney IBM and AT&T For more information on this and related topics 

he can be reached via email: mhasan@sigillumcorporationcom 

mhasan@sigillumcorporationcom 




something In plain language if it 

has to be bought it is not loyalty! 

Some might say that the issue is 

one of semantics There is some 

merit in that When providers 

make statements like ‘we value 

and reward our loyal customers’ 

they are trying to reinforce a 

positive trait and elicit desirable 

action from the customer 

On the face of it this would be fine 

if it was simply an issue of 

semantics with no repercussions 

for making effective business 

decisions Unfortunately that is 

not the case Companies are 

allocating substantial resources to 

reward ‘loyalty’ in customers 

which is actually incenting the 

opposite behavior Customers 

who stay for rewards also leave 

for rewards Only the ante keeps 

rising! 

To gain an understanding of the 

seriousness of the above 

mentioned phenomenon one 

needs only to look at the state of 

the oldest of the ‘loyalty 

programs’ ie those offered by 

the airlines When the first 

frequent flyer program was 

introduced it was a probably a 

source of differentiated value for 

the passengers of that airline It 

may have incented some 

customers to make that airline 

their carrier of choice 

This however had nothing to do 

with the loyalty of customers The 

frequent flyer program was just 

another desirable product 

attribute And as every other 

airline started their programs the 

initial differentiating value 

disappeared and the quest for 

‘loyal’ customers became a contest 

based on the reward structure eg 

number of miles required to 

redeem awards types of awards 

available number and type of 

program partners etc 

When customers’ demand for 

redeeming awards reached a point 

where the airlines could not meet 

them restrictions such as blackout 

dates and designated flights with 

award seats were imposed To wit 

the chances that a program 

member will get an award seat on 

a flight to a desirable destination 

at a convenient time is very slim 

This is tantamount to giving with 

one hand and taking away with 

the other 

In fact most of these programs are 

dormant financial time bombs; if 

every program member demanded 

everything they are promised by 

the program at the same time 

these programs would be 

completely overwhelmed and may 

have no other option but to shut 

down The essence of all of this is 

that the ‘loyalty programs’ have no 

relation to customer loyalty and 

are neither good for customers nor 

the providers 

In order to have true loyalty 

programs companies need to 

establish winwin relationships 

with each customer based on an 

understanding of their internal 

loyalty intensity In this approach 

the most loyal customers are the 

ones with the highest inherent 

propensity to stay with their 

current provider 

Research including mine has 

shown that this internal loyalty 

intensity can be measured via the 

application of appropriate 

statistical and neural methods on 

carefully defined and compiled 

customer attribute data 

This propensity is based on their 

internal attributes consisting of 

psychoeconomicdemographic 

characteristics for consumers and 

culturetraditionhistory 

structure characteristics for 

businesses The complex inter 

relationships between these 

characteristics determine the 

implicit cost of switching for any 

given customer 

The higher the implicit switching 

cost the more likely it is that that 

customer will continue to do 

business with the current provider 

From this it follows that 

customers who are intrinsically 

most loyal need the least amount 

of rewards or incentives from their 

provider 

So the reality is that companies 

have to do the least for their most 

loyal customers! 

In order for ‘loyalty programs’ to 

be truly effective companies 

should determine the inherent 

loyalty propensity of each 

customer and allocate rewards to 

them on the basis of their ‘true 

worth’ which is calculated from 

their loyalty intensity score 

lifetime revenue stream and all 

direct and indirect costs incurred 

in serving them 


43

MarketResearch 

Tracking Brand 

Performance 

By R Venkateswaran 

THE KEY DRIVER OF THIS PIECE 

has everything to do with brand 

owner behavior of the weighty 

type; in particular the types that 

are tracking the performance of 

their brand repertoire 

44 


BRAND 

Steve Steve Steve Steve Steve Murphy Murphy Murphy Murphy Murphy 

The tracking concerns deliverables 

that goes beyond the ubiquitous 

bottomline Rather it’s about the 

value that the brand has earned in 

the customer’s mind 

Enter Synovate a research firm 

that operates on the maxim 

A A research 

research 

agency agency with 

with 

extended extended arms 

arms 

offers offers a a potent 

potent 

tool tool to to track 

track 

brand brand equity 

equity 

‘Research Reinvented’ But there’s 

this aboveboard logic to the name 

Synovate; and it has a lot to do 

with two key drivers against which 

its repertoire of research services 

are delivered to clients Synergy 

and Innovation

Brand Equity met up with Steve 

Murphy the managing director of 

Synovate Malaysia who 

articulated his views on 

‘BrandVision’ a tool that measures 

brand value and performance over 

time 

Brand Brand Vision 

Vision 

The core of BrandVision includes 

a fully integrated brand and 

advertising research program 

which provides comprehensive 

and actionable insights tailored to 

the market and the brand 

The tool traverses four paths of 

measurement during a given 

phase and these are implemented 

in ways that work best for each 

brand building organization 

The paths include brand 

assessment which measures the 

strength of the brand’s equity and 

customer relationships using a 

variety of proven techniques 

image analysis which is the 

consumer’s perception of a 

particular brand and competitive 

brands and communications 

evaluation which evaluates 

exposure memorability and 

clarity of advertising and non 

advertising market 

communications thus helping 

companies to determine if the 

intended message has reached the 

right audience in addition to its 

general impact 

The last of the four paths is 

ongoing tracking which 

incorporates key inmarket 

performance indicators of brand 

awareness usage and satisfaction 

When all of these are done over a 

period of time the data collected 

will deliver a proven result on the 

impact of the brand in the 

consumer’s minds 

Putting this continuous tracking 

mechanism in place enables the 

company to have a pulse on the 

market at the same time getting 

indepth feedback from the 

advertising arena on all various 

media It is designed to indicate 

what works and what doesn’t 

Methodology 

Methodology 

Methodology 

When a BrandVision project is 

commissioned all key areas such 

as brand awareness awareness of 

TV advertising association of 

image with the brand are factored 

in a questionnaire that is 

developed in partnership with a 

client 

According to Steve typically 

respondents are interviewed per 

week which aggregates to 

per year Since the data is primarily 

quantitative the output provides 

macro as well as micro level 

details Generally the sample is 

The Momentum Engine 

identifies the customers with the most potential to increase their 

spending. And shows you how to reach them. 

relatively broad but usually 

reflective of users / potential users 

of the relevant sector 

A comparison is done on a month 

tomonth basis against the same 

profile of people but not the same 

respondents This according to 

Steve Murphy gives a more 

accurate picture of the brand and 

sector dynamics over specific 

timeframes which would not be 

the case if members of the same 

panel were interviewed 

throughout the year 

Tools Tools of of of the the the trade 

trade 

The Momentum Engine is an 

important part of BrandVision 

enabling brands to identify high 

potential customers as well as 

coax them to purchase This tool 

adds a powerful dimension to 

brand equity research which is 

the ‘potential to purchase’ 

The success of the Momentum 

Engine stems from the fact that it 


45

is grounded in empirical studies of 

decision making patterns and is 

effective across all cultures and 

countries 

By providing companies a 

roadmap to harness customers’ 

potential it helps to translate 

research into an effective sales 

strategy 

Impact Impact of of BrandVision 

BrandVision 

BrandVision 

While the results of the 

research does not always 

reconcile with the actual 

sales figures at that 

moment in time key 

performance indicators 

can place the financial 

results into context and 

are often indicative of 

future sales trends As 

Steve succinctly put it 

‘The Voice of the 

Customer does not 

automatically tally 

with the financial 

results but is a key 

indicator of the 

brand’s health 

nevertheless’ 

The continuous 

nature of the 

tracking over 

time remains a 

key reason for 

the success of Synovate’s 

BrandVision Trend lines can be 

drawn from accumulated data 

giving instant feedback at any 

point in time The tracking 

mechanism also facilitates future 

projections crucial for companies 

planning their sales and marketing 

well ahead 

Local Local Presence resence 

A significant number of local 

brand custodians have taken 

positively to brand tracking 

measurement systems across all 

sectors Many of the leading 


BRAND 

It’s taken a lot of resources to position your 

brand where it is today. 

And where exactly is that 

companies in Malaysia have 

already subscribed to Synovate’s 

brand tracking service 

In promoting BrandVision in the 

Malaysian market place Steve 

Murphy opines that ‘Malaysian 

companies are refreshingly open 

about management issues and 

they share a great deal of 

information with their research 

partner In fact they are more 

open about bringing a research 

agency as part of their core 

decision making process than 

many other markets in Asia’ 

As a wide spectrum of sectors 

including fmcg petroleum 

financial telecommunications and 

automotive embrace the practice 

of concerted market research it is 

apparent that tracking brand 

performance is becoming a key 

task that brand building firms will 

increasingly subscribe to

SMEBranding 

ADVERTISE! PROMOTIONS! SELL! ADVERTISE! PROMOTIONS! SELL! 

a typical business war cry from SMEs in trying to outwit each other and their 

competitors to gain larger marketshare for themselves In a highly 

commoditized price sensitive less affluent less service and product quality 

conscious markets these strategies have high probabilities to succeed 

However the markets have changed since then 

INCREASING 

MARKETSHARE AND 

PROFIT MARGINS: 

SALES-CENTRED TO 

BRAND-CENTERED 

COMPANY 

Business and consumer 

communities are more sensitive 

towards brands and are more in 

touch with themselves above the 

fundamental levels of the Maslow 

Hierarchy These markets used to 

exist in pockets within our 

community; today they thrive and 

will continue to make their 

presence felt in the future 

Therefore the way companies 

approach marketshare building 

must also change to be relevant to 

the markets they served 

Businesses and consumers are now 

willing to pay more to own 

products and services that are 

branded which allow them to own 

a share of novelty that they 

perceived difficult to be valued 

48 


BRAND 

purely in monetary terms Some of 

these novelty can come from the 

point of owning a piece of a legacy 

to become part of the affluent 

community to improve self 

esteem to have felt that he/she 

has done his/her part in 

contributing to a cause and many 

more 

All of these are branding 

dimensions that are not part of the 

traditional saledriven dimensions 

of a business product or service 

Therefore companies need to 

focus on more branddriven 

strategies to building marketshare 

than to compete with each other 

like ‘pasar malam’ stalls out to gain 

the attention of their customers in 

order to succeed in the new Asian 

By Cseng Lim 

and global marketsThere are 

differences between salesdriven 

approaches compared to brand 

driven approaches 

Brand strategies are more pull 

driven than pushdriven but this 

principle is not hard cast in stone 

for every products services or 

situations 

Brand strategies are also more 

aligned founded and guided 

within the context of structured 

brand identities and qualities 

compared to traditional pull 

marketing The following table 

describes the difference between 

salesdriven approaches compared 

to branddriven approaches to 

building marketshare:

Common Marketing 

Startegy 

Advertising 

Without a doubt the branded 

approaches to building market 

share are far more complex and 

requires high level of strategic and 

implementation capabilities than 

common salesdriven approaches 

In the branded approach we are 

looking beyond just realizing sales 

and securing marketshare but 

Advertises the products or services 

being sold directly to the market. 

The typical ‘Buy Me’ persuasion 

spread all over the ad piece 

PR ‘No need lar’ Waste of money 

Positioning 

Pricing 

People and Selling 

Approaches 

Sales Business Process 

Merchandising and Store 

Atmospherics 

Distribution 

Packaging and 

Aesthetics 

Sales-Driven Approach Brand-Driven Approach 

‘No need lar’; The product / service 

is sure to sell since we are the 

cheapest and customers need 

it anyway. 

We are the cheapest in town and 

will continue to offer the cheapest 

price so that we can realize sales. 

Price = Cost + Profit 

Sales people trying to make a living 

off sales commission. 

‘Anything Goes’ policy for sale 

approaches. 

“What does it have to do with 

building market share or selling?” 

Customers buy, we invoice then we 

collect - that is the process. 

So long as they are a lot of varieties 

for customers to choose and cosy 

atmosphere will do just fine. 

Products are distributed in any 

channel at any locale so long it 

ended up in sales. 

So long as it is presentable. 

No need to spend money on this. 

more importantly to protect the 

market share that have been built 

by establishing barriers for 

competitors 

These barriers are not just prices 

product/service features size of 

distribution channels alone but 

also constitute emotional 

Leverage on a association startegies to co-brands 

brand identities, and others brand elements to 

create a total brand appeal. 

Instead of selling the product / service the ads 

sells the value or the ads sells the value or 

the brand image. 

‘Be Apart of Me’ or ‘I am You’ is the more 

common form of persuasion spread found in a 

typical ad piece. 

PR Events are organized to allow markets to get 

to know and experience the brands. 

These events are typically not designed to 

realize sales but to position the products or 

services or company. 

Clearly set out brand proposition being offered 

that is beyond just price. The brand proposition 

takes into account a clear positioning 

compared to its competitors. 

Our pricing represents our customers’ 

experiential, social and psychological value 

statement. 

Price = Cost + Profit + Psychological Value + 

Experiential Value + Innovation Value 

Sales people represent the living elemeent of the 

brand and there are guidelines to be followed, 

style to go, training to undergo and 

professionalism to approaching customers. 

Customer Lifetime Value matters! Brands invest 

heavily in knowing how their customers 

are segmented, who are the profitable ones 

and plans are put in place to keep them 

coming back. 

A well designed process that takes into account 

the total branded sales process from the 

customers’ first contact with the brand right 

through to actual sales experience then further 

to post sales loyalty management. 

Carefully designed merchandising plans that are 

locale-specific and invest in the branded 

atmospheric experience guided by the brand’s 

identities. 

Distribution channels are carefully assessed based 

on several criteria but the more important 

criteria are chnnel profitability and 

brand-channel association relevance. 

Customer experince and emotional 

attachment is important. Packaging and 

aesthetics are designed to deliver the 

brand image. 

psychological and experiential 

barriers that are harder to be 

copied and transcended by 

competitions 

Branddriven strategies in building 

marketshare are not just efforts to 

satisfy quarterly sales 

performance and accountability to 

shareholders They are efforts that 


49

uild and seal the market from its 

competitors and provide 

opportunities for the company to 

increase profits by selling 

intangible values to the products 

or services be it emotional 

psychological or experiential to its 

customers 

For a branddriven business 

marketshare can no longer be 

define in generic terms which 

many SMEs still practices An 

example: A machinery 

manufacturer will probably define 

its market as any manufacturing 

industries that use the types of 

equipment manufactured by the 

company Thus its goal is to own 

the largest marketshare in those 

manufacturing industries 

For a branddriven business 

marketshare has to be 

characterised by the following 

factors: 


BRAND 

Profitability per percentage 

share of the market 

Brand power that it can gain 

per percentage share of the 

market; Brand power are 

powers that will strengthened 

the brand in the market and 

offers the brand leverage to 

move up or expand outside its 

existing market An example of 

a brand power is pricing 

premium 

Probability of success that the 

brand can become the icon / 

point of reference for the 

market An easy way to assess 

this situation is to ask ourselves 

whether the segment market 

has already an established 

benchmark brand or de facto 

brand 

Thus the marketshare for a brand 

driven business is strategically 

oriented to ensure that the brand 

not only profits considerably from 

its share but also sets itself as the 

identity for the market It is no 

longer purely about how much we 

own but also how strongly we 

plant ourselves in the market as 

well as how profitable we can 

become 

A real business example to 

illustrate what we have talked 

about is the markets owned by 

Apple and Microsoft respectively 

It is common understanding that 

Apple users will never or very 

unlikely switch to become a loyal 

Windows user simply because 

Apple owned seal and plant itself 

as the icon of the market it served 

Apple is able to sell not only to 

loyal Apple users but also 

Windows users high value 

products such as the successful 

iPod With the new Mini Mac 

Apple is beginning to encroach on 

the Windows marketshare by 

offering competitively priced 

product that offers the unique 

Apple brand experience and 

values 

Another consideration for 

marketshare is margins earned 

from sales There is little point in 

owning a large market share but 

only realized small profit margins 

from it compared to another 

competitor that owns smaller 

market share but profits 

considerably from its share With 

higher profits the competitor has 

far more cash and thus power to 

encroach and build its market 

share at the expense of its 

competitors 

High margin per unit sale cannot 

be readily realized by depending 

on lowering cost (simply because 

there is only so much one can 

lower) features and other 

tangibles related to the product or 

services being sold Nonbrands 

can never justify a higger price to 

command high margin no matter 

how beautiful is their 

advertisement and how extensive 

their sales promotions are High 

margins is only possible when the 

company is selling intangibles 

value propositions of the brand 

the brand’s image the brand’s 

associative values the experience 

the customer emotional social 

and selfconnections etc 

The catch to achieve that is 

companies must first realize the 

difference between selling a 

product and selling a brand 

Secondly companies must have 

the knowhow to define the brand 

Thirdly they must be able to 

design and implement a 

systematic brand management 

processes to support and deliver 

the brand in the market And 

fourthly they must be able to 

measure its performance from 

many angles apart from sales 

performance alone 

SMEs must move away from a 

salecentered company to become 

a brandcentered company in 

order for them to find success for 

their company in the current 

market The truth is that not every 

company will become as successful 

as a Samsung or Sony but to 

achieve success as a powerful and 

strong local ‘Samsung’ or ‘Sony’ is 

far more gratifying than becoming 

just another unknown constantly 

struggling with pricing profit 

margins and managing 

competitions 

Cseng Lim is the Managing Director of 

EAST & URBAN Sdn Bhd a Brand 

Systems Company that assists Malaysian 

companies to implement 

businesssensible operationallycentred 

and pragmatic branding solutions that 

meet their brand building objectives 

All comments are welcome and can be 

directed to info@easturbancom

PersonalBranding 

BUSINESS IS BECOMING MORE 

and more competitive Small 

Business is the fastest growing 

segment of business in most parts 

of the world And thanks to the 

internet your competitors are no 

longer just the businesses down 

the street 

They are the businesses in the next 

town the next country and even 

on the next continent So as the 

leader of a small business how do 

you succeed in a dynamic world of 

52 


BRAND 

by William Arruda 

Branding is the hottest concept in marketing today 

and it’s an idea that is not just for the deeppocketed 

highly glossed CocaColas and Nikes of the world An 

increasing number of independentbusiness owners are 

embracing branding as the guiding philosophy for 

building their companies 

Small Small Business Business Branding: 

Branding: 

The Personal 

increasing complexity with a much 

larger set of competitors? The 

answer seems too easy to be true: 

Be Yourself 

To succeed with your small 

business and keep it on the right 

track use your personal brand 

your unique promise of value 

Because in the world of small 

business the corporate Brand is 

the personal brand of its leaders 

These brands are inextricably 

linked You need only look at 

successful entrepreneurs like Ben 

and Jerry Richard Branson and Bill 

Gates to see that entrepreneurial 

ventures take on the values and 

passions of their leaders 

According to Nation’s Business 

Magazine “Branding is the hottest 

concept in marketing today and 

it’s an idea that is not just for the 

deeppocketed highly glossed 

CocaColas and Nikes of the world 

An increasing number of 

independentbusiness owners are

embracing branding as the guiding 

philosophy for building their 

companies” 

Being true to your personal brand 

ensures that your business stays 

on course and remains highly 

differentiated and valuable to 

your target market Christopher 

Ginisty Managing Director of the 

Communications Firm Rumeur 

Publique says “Buyers are putting 

their trust not only in a company 

but in the leaders of that company 

For small businesses the leaders 

are often even more important It 

is critical to ensure that the leaders 

are an integral part of the 

corporate communications 

strategy and that their personal 

Connection. 

brands are clear relevant and 

accurate” 

Building your business around 

your brand also enables you to 

obtain the highest level of 

satisfaction and fulfillment from 

your hard work The first and most 

important step in brand building 

involves uncovering your unique 

promise of value 

This helps you to identify what is 

truly important to you what 

makes you unique and what values 

will drive your business decisions 

Understanding your true personal 

brand enables you to stay on 

target with your business and 

make strategic and tactical 

decisions that are consistent with 

::: ::: About About William William Arruda Arruda ::: 

::: 

Dubbed the ‘Personal Branding Guru’ by the media and clients alike 

William Arruda works with individuals and organizations to build 

strong memorable brands Combining his years of international 

branding expertise with his passion for people he founded Reach 

(http://wwwreachcccom) 

(http://wwwreachcccom) 

(http://wwwreachcccom) (http://wwwreachcccom) 

(http://wwwreachcccom) the world’s first branding consultancy 

focused on the human side of branding William has appeared on 

BBC TV the Discovery Channel and Radio America He has published 

numerous articles in publications ranging from the Wall Street 

Journal to the brandchannelcom and he has written for the 

American Marketing Association the Chartered Institute of 

Marketing and PR News William is also author of the upcoming 

personal branding book BulletProof Your Career He is a member 

of the International Coach Federation holds a Master’s Degree in 

Education and speaks regularly to audiences around the world 

your values your passions and 

your goals 

Once you have a clear 

understanding of your 

differentiation and its relevance to 

your ideal target audience you can 

build a brand communications 

plan to get your message out to 

those who will make your business 

a success These communications 

need only be focused on your 

target market If your target 

market is everyone in the world 

you will need a communications 

budget the size of Coca Cola’s 

That’s why focus is the key 

Although it seems counter 

intuitive the smaller you make 

your target market the greater 

your chances of success 

Like with all strong brands once 

you have established an authentic 

and differentiated brand that is 

relevant to your target audience 

you must ensure that all aspects 

of your business are reinforcing 

this brand message Developing 

brand guidelines that clearly 

describe what is on and offbrand 

for your business will help guide 

you as your business grows 

So when developing a branding 

strategy for your small business 

take a good look at your personal 

brand And through the clear and 

consistent expression of your 

unique promise of value your 

business will thrive 


53

ShopperTrends 

AM BARRY OOI THE 

executive director of ACNielsen’s 

retail measurement services took 

the floor at a conference hall of a 

leading hotel to address over 

seasoned marketing professionals 

from various fmcg categories 

ACNielsen organizes such regular 

meetings to deliver updates about 

happenings in the Malaysian 

shopping environment The 

intention is to share top line 

54 


BRAND 

Malaysian 

Shopping Habits 

ACNielsen’s tracking activities gives a bird’s eye view of 

shopping trends & nuances in 

Steve Steve Steve Steve Steve Mitchell Mitchell Mitchell Mitchell Mitchell (MD) (MD) (MD) (MD) (MD) & & & & & Barry Barry Barry Barry Barry Ooi Ooi Ooi Ooi Ooi 

findings about shopper behavior 

as well as supplementary 

information that impacts key 

elements of brand building 

The data was obtained from face 

toface interviews with 

households located across all 

major towns in Peninsula M’sia 

that has hypermarket presence 

Target respondents were from all 

races and included both genders 

aged between and 

Results were categorised into 

sections that include spending 

behavior profile of shoppers as 

well as channel trends 

Spending Spending Trend Trend & & & Profile Profile of 

of 

Shoppers 

Shoppers 

* Shoppers are spending more on 

grocery and household 

shopping mainly as a result of 

higher disposable income In 

particular consumers spent 

more on groceries; an increase 

of was recorded 

* A higher proportion () is 

spent on groceries household 

and personal care products in 

comparison to fresh foods 

* A third within a household 

claim that they play an 

influential role in the shopping 

decision dynamics As such 

influencers need to be given 

importance in planning brand 

communications 

* Household and grocery items 

are no longer the domain of 

women; males are actively 

participating in household 

purchase decisions

Trade Trade Sector Sector Purchase Purchase Purchase Behavior Behavior Behavior & & 

& 

Private Private Label Label Label Trend 

Trend 

* Shoppers have increased their 

frequency of visits across all 

channel types More store 

openings and proximity of 

location to home accounts for 

the mix of retail establishment 

visits 

* Consumers spend most of their 

shopping money at 

Hypermarkets and 

Supermarkets; fuelled by the 

opportunity to ‘bulk buy’ 

* Higher income consumers 

spend most of their money at 


Supermarkets Traditional 

outlets get their highest share 

ofspend from the lower income 

group Therefore offering the 

appropriate product line across 

channels is important to 

maximize sales and inventory 

efficiency 

* There are shopper profile 

differences between 

Hypermarkets Personal Care 

stores and Convenience outlets 

For instance the Chinese 

community accounts for 

of sales of personal care 

products within the modern 

trade The to age group 

become the group to target for 

convenience stores ( of all 

age groups) Therefore 

matching brand profile against 

the channel profiles will 

enhance brand relevance and 

distribution efficiency 

* Private Labels are gaining in 

popularity even though its 

share position is still small And 

incidences of buying private 

label brands is higher at 


Supermarkets as compared to 

Personal Care stores 

Health Health Health Health Health Diet Diet & & & Exercise 

Exercise 

* The Malaysians’ selfperception 

of dietmost believe that they 

adopt a healthy diet 

* They are concerned about food 

safety and their purchase 

decisions are influenced by it 

* Malaysian’s approach to health 

is through eating ‘healthy’ and 

less through exercise A 

significant majority do not 

exercise regularly 

* A significant percentage at 

about rarely or never 

consume health supplements 

* A majority are not planning to 

lose weight; those that harbor 

the desire offered cutting back 

on fats sugars and chocolates 

as the preferred options 

Channel Channel & & Price Price Trend 

Trend 

* Hypermarkets and 

supermarkets are the fastest 

growing trade channel 

However brand builders can’t 

undermine the importance of 

traditional stores and in 

particular provisions stores A 

dual distribution system is 

required for adequate market 

coverage 

* Food prices are on an increase 

whereas nonfood categories 

are showing lower prices In 

addition it remains tough to 

impose higher prices on normal 

regular items Innovation is 

needed to justify higher prices 

On the whole consumer 

sentiments remain positive despite 

lower GDP growth Yet the battle 

for mind space through 

advertising is getting intense with 

higher spending 

Barry specifically pointed out that 

strong brands backed by higher 

investment in brand 

communications are able to 

command high levels of 

spontaneous awareness 

He also pointed out that the 

average number of households in 

Malaysia is Average 

household spend remains at 

RM That delivers RM 

Billion; which is the size of the 

Malaysian grocery market 


55


57

MediaSpecialist 

The Media 


TAPPING INTO A NICHE 

market That is what Images 

Corporation Sdn Bhd is all about 

Having given birth last year this 

little company is all gungho about 

its foray into outdoor advertising 

via a concept called directional 

road signage 

And the man behind all this 

excitement is none other than 

Hassan who has been given the 

moniker Mr Media Owner by 

some people in the industry to 

which he shrieks and says ‘scary’ 

In fact Hassan is so optimistic 

about this business that he 

believes that this venture will rake 

in a turnover of RM a board 

58 


BRAND 

Maverick 

At an average of boards a 

month being placed in KL alone it 

would amount to RM But 

Hassan is not resting on his laurels 

He has other plans as well He 

intends to conquer the nation with 

at least boards a month 

translating that to about RM 

million 

So has Hassan reinvented the 

wheel then with this new 

venture? ‘Not quite exactly’ 

comes his reply I am only 

exploring an option that has not 

been fully tapped into’ Hassan 

feels there is a huge market out 

there to tap into ‘All the market 

needs is a bit of education They 

have been so used to advertising 

tools such as unipoles 

spectaculars that it will take some 

time for them to know the 

benefits of our system’ Why? 

Hassan says via directional road 

signages clients can have their 

products advertised within the 

city quite unlike billboards which 

can only be placed on the outskirts 

of a city like KL ‘We spent 

educating prospective advertisers 

for three months before they 

understood what we meant’ he 

says with a sign of relief 

Thus far Images has penetrated 

cities like KL Ipoh Johor Baru 

Kuantan They are working on 

cities like PJ Putrajaya and 

Penang ‘Once we are satisfied 

with our achievements in busy 

cities of the West Coast we will

look into the East Coast as well as 

Sabah and Sarawak’ How were 

the city officials convinced? 

‘Simple’ remarks the affable 

Hassan ‘All we had to do was to 

present them with the idea that 

they do not have to fork out any 

money that our signages can 

benefit tourists and motorists 

alike and that our signages can 

actually beautify the city They 

were sold!’ 

While Hassan does not reveal the 

actual cost of the signages he does 

indicate the ‘investments are 

heavy’ 

‘The best part is that the city 

officials have been so convinced 

that they have allowed us to have 

a licence for a minimum period of 

years (the maximum being ) 

unlike billboards which need to be 

renewed on a yearly basis’ Hassan 

remarks ‘Even if the city officials 

wish to take down the signages 

they have to wait for years’ he 

laughs 

‘The key aspect about these signs 

is that although they are small but 

an advertiser can benefit from the 

numerous places that he can place 

an ad within heavy traffic areas 

The other thing is that it’s 

inexpensive’ Hassan adds that his 

advertisers consist of small 

retailers like supermarkets to the 

big boys like the 

telecommunication companies 

Apart from cities Images has 

also penetrated schools Up until 

now the company has penetrated 

about schools 

nationwide with the help of a 

company called Omega Channel 

Sdn Bhd ‘We have placed the signs 

at the main entrances of the 

schools The purpose is dual the 

outside is to advertise products 

while the inside (which faces the 

school) is convey important social 

messages’ 

So how did it all start for Hassan? 

From humble beginnings as a 

sportsman! ‘I started with the 

Malaysian Under then 

represented the Selangor state I 

then played professional rugby for 

the Malayan Banking Group 

Though it was interesting I knew I 

would not go anywhere with an 

oblong ball’ Hassan quips 

So only after eight months Hassan 

left ‘I headed for the New Straits 

Times (NST) where I was 

appointed as an executive with the 

marketing services department I 

learnt a lot from NST for which I 

am very thankful They thought 

me for what I am made of now’ 

he adds proudly At NST Hassan 

learnt about advertising 

marketing and research which he 

regards as very important 

Not only did Hassan learn well at 

NST he also found it rewarding 

Within five years he had a number 

of promotions up until his last 

position as field sales manager ‘I 

was in charge of the best selling 

newspapers of the NST Group 

Berita Harian and Berita Minggu’ 

But as the turn of events would 

have it Hassan changed careers 

from print media to television He 

left NST in to join TV the 

first private television station in 

the country 

‘But from a manager I went down 

to being an executive (and he’s not 

telling why) but only for one day 

I still remember it was Valentine’s 

Day On that day I attended a 

strategy meeting and gave my 

input’ All it took was to hear 

Hassan input The TV 

management decided to promote 

him to senior executive the very 

next day ‘I was shocked but 

pleased’ Hassan blushes 

‘We started fresh with no peer TV 

stations to guide us or offer us 

competition We some how 

managed and persevered’ A few 

months later Hassan was 

promoted to assistant commercial 

manager He stayed on for six 

years at TV His last designation 

was marketing manager Where 

did he head to? It’s everyone’s 

guess to start Images 

But why such a peculiar name? His 

answer: ‘ is the year I and my 

other two partners were born One 

partner has left though’ ‘We 

started out with one event’ The 

rest as they say is no turning back 


59

NielsenMediaResearch 

By R Venkateswaran 

HAS BEEN A BULLISH YEAR 

for the media Ad spend registered 

its biggest jump yearonyear over 

the last two years It is indeed 

significant that adex has registered 

an overall growth rate of 

almost double that of the previous 

year And interestingly this trend 

has shown a constant doubledigit 

growth across all the major media 

barring magazines 

Danyal Abdul Malik the executive 

director of Nielsen Media 

Research gave Brand Equity a 

copious update about this 

phenomenal growth and the 

reasons behind the increase 

60 


BRAND 

General General Trend 

Trend 

Among the various media that 

have reflected doubledigit 

The Government, 

a dogfight for 

eyeballs and 

mindspace 

as well as the 

presence of new 

media propels adex 

to significant levels 

A Bullish Adex He 

growth for the whole of last year 

television stands out with the 

biggest jump of yearon 

year Among the key reasons 

attributed for this drastic increase 

is the introduction of two freeto 

air channels which have garnered 

a significant share of new eyeballs 

without affecting the existing 

networks 

Among others key activities such 

as the Government’s sustained 

campaign in the preelection phase 

followed by the general elections 

itself the ‘Tak Nak’ campaign 

eschewing smoking the Formula 

One Grand Prix and the coronation 

of the Sultan of Selangor had 

contributed a lion’s share to the 

till 

The increased coverage of sporting 

events such as the hugely popular 

Euro as well as the Athens 

Olympics in the later part of the 

year boosted the ad spend that 

witnessed the highest growth 

since 

Increased Government spending 

on the National Service the 

multiple festive seasons especially 

with Deepavali and Hari Raya 

falling one after the other and the 

Family Comes First campaign 

ensured that the Government was 

the biggest advertiser last year 

with a consistent expenditure 

throughout the year 

Newspaper followed TV as the 

biggest media to register double 

digit growth in the process 

continuing the trend from 

previous years where they 

recorded the highest adex 

contribution across all media 

types 

Classifieds yet again continued to 

be the predominant contributor to 

the newspaper adex space to 

occupy pole position among the 

top categories of advertising

Danyal Abdul Malik 

ralds Confidence 

Quarterly Quarterly analysis 

analysis 

As can be seen from Figure 

showcasing the change in adex 

YOY from to the first 

two quarters of registered 

phenomenal growth bucking the 

trend from years past where the 

pattern of spending always 

showed an increase in the latter 

half of the year 

The growth of in the first 

half of is a clear indicator of 

this pattern This could be 

attributed to the key events 

mentioned earlier besides the 

advent of two new channels TV 

and Channel which started to 

report adex figures commencing in 

the first half of 

Top Top Category 

Category 

Together mobile interactive and 

line services have made a 

significant presence in this 

category with their growth rate 

The increasing use of mobile 

phones PDAs and combo devices 

have spawned the increasing 

transmission and use of ringtones 

sms messages and games The 

result showcases a whopping 

increase in the advertising of 

interactive services and a 

increase in adex for mobile line 

services 

Danyal Danyal Danyal Danyal Abdul Abdul Abdul Abdul Malik Malik Malik 

Malik 

The rise in adex can be attributed 

to the multitude of aggressive 

campaigns targeted at the tech 

savvy young population whose 

numbers show an exponential 

increase almost on a daily basis 

While classifieds continue to 

register a perennial increase 

personal care and grooming 

products remain in the top slots 

Government institutions (local) 

and credit card companies follow 

in this illustrious lineup while 

cinema advertising seems to have 

registered a high growth with a 

more than increase from 

The airline industry and 

recording studios round off the 


61

Top 10 Category 

Rank Category 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

Jan 

Feb 

Mar 

Apr 

May 

Jun 

Jul 

Aug 

Sep 

Oct 

Nov 

Dec 

2004 


BRAND 

Classifieds 

Mobile Interactive Services 

Mobile Line Services 

Residential Estate 

Hair Shampoo & Conditioner 

Face Care-Woman 

Government Institutions-Local 

Credit Card 

Cinema Advertising 

Airline 

Recording Studio 

Top 10 Advertiser 

Rank Advertiser 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

Top 10 Brand 

Monthly AdEx 

2003 

Month RM 000’s 

Q1 

Q2 

Q3 

Q4 

Maxis 

Procter & Gamble 

Celcom 

Digi 

Nestle 

Unilever 

KFC Holdings 

Citibank 

Malaysia Airlines System 

Petronas 

Rank Brand Group 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

Maxis 

Celcom 

Digi 

Citibank 

Malaysia Airlines 

Petronas 

Telekom Malaysia 

Tourism Malaysia 

KFC 

Pantene 

275,465 

219,626 

298,643 

279,051 

299,814 

297,344 

313,853 

353,424 

343,270 

357,328 

367,688 

380,157 

3,785,662 

Quarterly AdEx 

2003 

Q RM 000’s 

793,734 

876,209 

1,010,547 

1,105,173 

2004 

RM 000’s 

313,802 

304,920 

359,152 

346,982 

367,525 

385,629 

366,709 

402,066 

376,895 

411,447 

379,373 

408,565 

4,423,065 

2004 

RM 000’s 

977,874 

1,100,136 

1,145,670 

1,199,385 

2003 2004 

RM 000’s RM 000’s Changes 

535,756 

100,392 

139,432 

106,882 

71,225 

87,648 

69,579 

65,016 

41,846 

37,270 

56,803 

80,385 

56,782 

61,691 

45,027 

45,410 

55,642 

38,390 

23,562 

16,997 

44,826 

38,337 

85,294 

60,509 

67,931 

67,711 

88,285 

52,856 

48,642 

33,625 

54,119 

11,685 

28,408 

637,403 

582,740 

234,045 

233,330 

114,029 

110,638 

105,248 

90,935 

81,917 

73,928 

64,804 

63,465 

8.8% 

133.1% 

67.3% 

6.7% 

55.3% 

20.1% 

30.7% 

26.0% 

76.7% 

73.9% 

11.7% 

2003 2004 


80,385 

61,691 

45,027 

23,562 

16,973 

46,397 

25,601 

25,755 

28,273 

20,176 

Changes Changes 

RM 000’s % 

184,140 

223,927 

135,123 

94,212 

Source : Nielsen Media Research 

Note: Advertising Expenditure Based on Rate Card 

144,463 

102,945 

89,628 

80,468 

60,534 

60,294 

40,789 

35,717 

35,199 

35,100 

144,463 

89,628 

80,468 

35,717 

35,199 

34,342 

33,703 

30,757 

29,734 

29,457 

79.7% 

81.3% 

45.3% 

78.7% 

33.3% 

8.4% 

6.2% 

51.6% 

107.1% 

-21.7% 

2003 2004 


79.7% 

45.3% 

78.7% 

51.6% 

107.4% 

-26.0% 

31.6% 

19.4% 

5.2% 

46.0% 

13.9% 

38.8% 

20.3% 

24.3% 

22.6% 

29.7% 

16.8% 

13.8% 

9.8% 

15.1% 

3.2% 

7.5% 

16.8% 

Changes Changes 

RM 000’s % 

23% 

26% 

13% 

9% 

top categories with residential estate 

advertising and classifieds being the only single 

digit growth items for 

Top Top Advertisers 

Advertisers 

It is also interesting to note that of the top 

advertisers across all media were the 

telecommunications companies which 

registered increases of more than over the 

previous year FMCG advertisers did show an 

increase in adex but the rate of growth was 

significantly lower than in previous years while 

in the banking sector Citibank led the way by 

securing a place in the coveted list 

The large scale publicity and promotions 

exercised through the MATTA fair presented 

MAS the opportunity to register its biggest 

Newspaper followed TV as 

the biggest media to register 

double-digit growth, in the 

process, continuing the trend 

from previous years where 

they recorded the highest 

adex contribution across all 

media types. 

spend level to date; recording a whopping 

jump over The competition it 

faces from a slew of budget airlines in the 

region has seen the national carrier pull out all 

stops to retain its market share in the regional 

and international airspace 

Top Top Brands 

Brands 

The top ten brands advertised across all media 

correspond to the top ten advertisers for last 

year Telcos such as Maxis Celcom and Digi 

occupy the top rungs while the list

RM 000’s Total YOY Television YOY Newspapers YOY Radio YOY Cinema YOY Video YOY Outdoor YOY 

1998 

1999 

2000 

2001 

2002 

2003 

2004 

2,179,960 

2,474,287 

3,078,200 

3,156,857 

3,450,453 

3,785,662 

4,421,012 

13.5% 

24.4% 

2.6% 

9.2% 

9.7% 

16.8% 



699,664 

771,351 

935,665 

878,115 

921,777 

999,248 

1,300,702 

10.2% 

21.3% 

-6.2% 

5.0% 

8.4% 

30.2% 

1,262,469 

1,471,031 

1,866,193 

1,936,372 

2,188,450 

2,366,783 

2,669,804 

16.5% 

26.9% 

3.8% 

12.9% 

8.1% 

12.8% 

65,509 

85,077 

101,961 

119,675 

144,141 

152,526 

169,330 

29.9% 

19.8% 

17.4% 

20.4% 

10,651 

9,665 

9,650 

11,387 

9,739 

-9.3% 

-0.2% 

18.0% 

-14.5% 

9,711 

10,918 

9,377 

2,764 

5.8% 12,561 29.0% nil nil 61,847 

11.0% 13,994 11.4% nil nil 68,936 11.5% 

RM 000’s Total Television SOV Newspapers SOV Magazines SOV Radio SOV Cinema SOV Video SOV Outdoor SOV 

1998 

1999 

2000 

2001 

2002 

2003 

2004 

2,179,960 

2,474,287 

3,078,200 

3,156,857 

3,450,453 

3,785,662 

699,664 

771,351 

935,665 

878,115 

921,777 

999,248 

4,421,012 1,300,702 

32.1% 

31.2% 

30.4% 

27.8% 

26.7% 

26.4% 

29.4% 



1,262,469 

1,471,031 

1,866,193 

1,936,372 

2,188,450 

2,366,783 

2,669,804 

57.9% 

59.5% 

60.6% 

61.3% 

63.4% 

62.5% 

60.4% 

AdEx Growth 

AdEx Share of Voice 

111,328 

104,108 

131,171 

182,577 

158,060 

159,035 

165,431 

5.1% 

4.2% 

4.3% 

5.8% 

4.6% 

4.2% 

3.7% 

65,509 

85,077 

101,961 

119,675 

144,141 

152,526 

169,330 

The increased coverage of sporting events 

such as the hugely popular Euro 2004 as 

well as the Athens Olympics in the later 

part of the year boosted the ad spend that 

witnessed the highest growth since 2001. 

accommodates Telekom as well 

Citibank and MAS round off the 

top spot while Petronas in spite 

of a severe drop in adex still 

retained its place in the list 

3.0% 

3.4% 

3.3% 

3.8% 

4.2% 

4.0% 

3.8% 

A single fmcg brand (Pantene) 

found its way into the list despite 

the fact that fmcg categories 

have found a place within the Top 

category list Fast food giant 

10,651 

9,665 

9,650 

11,387 

9,739 

12,561 

13,994 

0.5% 

0.4% 

0.3% 

0.4% 

0.3% 

0.3% 

0.3% 

nil 

9,711 

10,918 

9,377 

2,764 

nil 

nil 

nil 

12.4% 

-14.1% 

-70.5% 

0.4% 

0.4% 

0.3% 

0.1% 

nil 

nil 

nil 

nil 

61,847 

68,936 

1.6% 

1.6% 

KFC barely holds a spot in the Top 

elite company in spite of being 

the only single digit growth brand 

Petronas has decelerated in 

adspend by just over 

Overall Overall Overall Summary Summary 

Summary 

It’s obvious that aggressive 

competition in particular the 

telecommunications sector has 

made a mark on the direction of 

adex in the past year 

In particular the participation of 

Government institutions in 

weighty activities and their 

subsequent participation within 

the marketing communications 

arena have also propelled numbers 

to inspiring levels 

It remains to be seen whether 

will showcase a rerun 


63

Asians the World’s 

Greatest Fast Food Fans 

IT DOESN’T MATTER WHERE 

in the world you are or how well 

off the fast food culture has 

become a way of life for all of us 

According to the latest findings 

from ACNielsen the world’s 

leading market research firm 

nearly all Filipino () 

Taiwanese and Malaysian () 

adults eat at takeaway 

restaurants 

Among the markets studied 

across three regions consumers in 

these three markets had a higher 

percentage of adults than 

Americans () who eat at fast 

food restaurants 

The latest ACNielsen Consumer 

Confidence and Opinion Survey 

was conducted over the Internet 

in countries across Asia Pacific 

Europe and the US interviewing 

more than consumers over 

the Internet 

According to the ACNielsen 

survey percent of Asia Pacific 

adults eat at takeaway 

restaurants at least once a week 

slightly behind fast food fans in 

the US () At the other end 

of the scale however just 

percent of European adults eat 

takeaway at least once a week 

On a marketbymarket basis 

nine of the top markets 

globally for weekly takeaway 

consumption hailed from Asia 

Pacific No European markets 

were among the top ten 

Top Global Markets for Weekly 

Fast Food Consumption Market 

Percentage of Adult Population 

That Eats at TakeAway 

Restaurants at Least Once a 

Week Hong Kong Malaysia 

Philippines Singapore 

Thailand China 

India US Australia 

New Zealand Source: 

ACNielsen 

“Fast food appears to have 

become a staple of our diets in 

Asia Pacific including Malaysia” 

said Steve Mitchell managing 

director ACNielsen Malaysia 

“Busy lifestyles and ease of access 

to a wide variety of fast food 

restaurants have proven to be a 

powerful combination 

Where fastfood restaurants still 

have a significant advantage 

though is the ease with which 

consumers can make their 

purchases 

Perhaps we’ll begin to see drive 

thru windows at grocery stores or 

at least more convenient instore 

prepared food sections with 

dedicated registers” 

Despite the obvious popularity 

and convenience of takeaway 

dining there are consumers that 

continue to resist Across the 

region percent of Europeans 

and percent of Asians eschew 

the ‘takeaway’ 

Led by the Danish Swedish and 

Italians Europeans are the least 

tempted by a takeaway lifestyle 

when compared to consumers in 

the US and Asia Pacific 

With nearly one fifth of 

Europeans () claiming never 

to patronize takeaway outlets 

nearly half claim to visit only once 

a month or less 

In Asia Pacific despite percent 

claiming never to eat fast food 

the region has the most take 

away addicts with percent 

reportedly eating take away 

every week led by people in Hong 

Kong () Malaysia () and 

the Philippines () 

“The state of one’s health has 

consistently been among the top 

concerns for consumers according 

to previous ACNielsen surveys 

but it doesn’t seem to affect the 

way consumers choose to eat” 

said Mr Mitchell “For many city 

dwellers these days it’s all about 

convenience 


65 

ACNielsenUpdate

Europeans are less interested in 

takeaway dining perhaps largely 

due to a prevailing culture of meal 

times being a social or family 

occasion rather than simply a 

need to satiate ones hunger while 

for people in Hong Kong 

Malaysia and United States eating 

fast food has become a part of 

their life” 

The ACNielsen survey found that 

dinner was the most popular 

occasion for consumers to opt for 

a takeaway meal Americans 

considered takeaway an option 

for both lunch () and 

dinner () 

A takeaway breakfast was 

less common although 

percent of Malaysians nearly 

two thirds of Hong Kongers 

and Thais would opt for a 

‘takeaway’ breakfast; in 

Filipinos Chinese and 

Singaporeans have takeaway 

lunches; and percent of 

Australians percent of the 

Kiwis and percent of 

Vientamese have take away 

dinners 

“The fast food business has 

become increasingly 

competitive with various 

multinational fast food chain 

operators expanding into new 

geographies daily along with the 

emergence of new players new 

types of cuisines and new menu 

choices “ continued Mr Mitchell 

“Smart consumer packaged goods 

manufacturers are tapping into 

consumers’ need for convenience 

by offering a wider assortment of 

prepared and easytoprepare 

meals than ever” 

As the fingings revealed “Type of 

Cuisine” “Price” and a 

“Convenient Location” were 

found to be the most important 

choice criteria across around the 


BRAND 

globe Specifically “Type of 

Cuisine” was most important for 

Indonesians () a 

“Convenience Location” meant 

more for Nowegians () and 

“Price” was most important 

among the Japanese () In 

Malaysia however “Convenient 

Location” () and “Good 

Hygiene Standard” () are 

more important to the 

consumers 

“A fast food culture has shaped 

the lifestyles of us all” Mr 

Mitchell added “And with fast 

food operators introducing 

healthier options in the form of 

salads and low carb meals in the 

face of growing concerns for 

rising obesity levels consumers 

today have greater choice than 

ever before” 

While building a good brand 

image is close to the heart of most 

marketers it’s worth noting that 

brand image appears to have little 

influence on consumer’s choice of 

take away restaurants Across the 

three regions “Brand Image” 

ranked least important among all 

respondents from as low as 

in Germany to a high of in 

Taiwan only 

Among the international fast 

food chains and local operators 

McDonalds was the most popular 

of all takeaway options with 

of Americans of 

Europeans and of Asians 

picking it as the first choice for 

take away food 

Remarks: () Survey in Vietnam 

was conducted Face to Face () 

countries surveyed include 

Australia China Hong Kong 

India Indonesia Japan Korea 

Malaysia New Zealand 

Philippines Singapore Taiwan 

Thailand Vietnam US Austria 

Belgium Denmark Finland 

France Germany Italy 

Netherlands Norway 

Portugal Spain Sweden and 

UK 

About ACNielsen: 

ACNielsen a VNU business 

is the world’s leading 

marketing information 

company Offering services 

in more than countries 

the company provides 

measurement and analysis 

of marketplace dynamics 

and consumer attitudes 

and behaviour 

Clients rely on ACNielsen’s 

market research 

proprietary products 

analytical tools and 

professional service to 

understand competitive 

performance to uncover 

new opportunities and to 

raise the profitability of 

their marketing and sales 

campaigns 

For further information 

please visit 

http://wwwacnielsencomhk 




http://wwwacnielsencomhk

Taking the 

Mystery 

Out of 

Mapping 

IN ANY PRODUCT OR SERVICE 

category consumers have images 

of brands and the people who use 

them Brand mapping is a tool 

marketers can use to delve 

beneath the numbers and obtain 

a rich yet easyto understand 

picture of how consumers see the 

market 

Questions Questions Brand Brand Mapping Mapping Can 

Can 

Answer: Answer: As a marketer you’re 

often faced with questions like 

these: 

• How is our brand perceived by 

consumers? 

• Does this differ from how we 

perceive it? 

• Is our brand sufficiently 

differentiated from 

competitors/our other 

brands? 

• Are there gaps in the market 

we can exploit? 

• What aspects of its image do 

we need to change to 

reposition our brand? 

Brand mapping can help give 

these insights 

How How How Does Does Does it it Work? Work? 

Work? 

In brand image research we 

typically ask consumers to rate 

brands on several attributes 

relevant to that product or service 

category or ask them to indicate 

which attributes they associate 

with which brands These data can 

then simply be shown in cross 

tabular form or plotted in a line 

graph but there are two main 

disadvantages to either of these 

approaches: 

There is a lot of information 

to absorb If say you have 

brands and attributes that’s 

numbers in a table or 

points in a line graph to look 

at! 

It is not always easy to tell 

how the ratings are related to 

each other 

This second drawback leads us to 

the essential idea behind brand 

mapping which is to show 

findings in a graphical way which 

can best highlight the key insights 

in the data in a clear and 

uncluttered manner In other 

words get to the core of the 

findings so you can see the wood 

despite the trees and other 

associated flora 

There are a variety of statistical 

methods that can do this but the 

basic notion is known as “data 

reduction” in the jargon Once the 

underlying dimensions are 

identified dimension “scores” can 

be computed and the attributes 

and brands plotted on these 

dimensions usually in a scatter 

plot Thus you have a picture of 

consumer perceptions of the 

category that are easier to 

interpret than cross tabulations or 

simple graphics and usually more 

meaningful as well 

There are approaches to brand 

mapping specifically and 

ACNielsen will select the one our 

experience tells us is best suited 

to your needs Perhaps the most 

widelyused today are 

Correspondence Analysis and Bi 

plots While it is true that some 

mapping exercises can become 

quite complex and interpretation 

can be difficult in most cases if 

you follow these three basic rules 

for interpreting brand maps you 

will gain the most: 

Brands that are close to your 

brand are the ones consumers 

think are most similar to it; 

Attributes located near your 

brand are the ones consumers 

feel characterise it the most 

(relative to other brands); 

those far from it are those 

they least associate with it; 

and 

Attributes near the edges of 

the map differentiate brands 

the most; attributes which do 

not differentiate ie that could 

be consideredgeneric to the 

category are situated near the 

center of the map 

A further benefit of creating the 

map charting out the positioning 

of the brands is that consumer 

segments to whom those brands 

may be targeted can also be 

placed on the map So long as you 

get a similar read on the attributes 

from the consumers usually in 


67

terms of the attached importance 

or relevance to the consumer you 

can see if the targeted segment 

motivations align with the 

attributes of the brands aimed at 

them (You don’t even have to use 

all the attributes the key ones 

alone will allow this) 

An An Example 

Example 

Let’s take a look at an example 

from an actual (heavily disguised) 

study on Chart below Here we 

have substituted the original 

category with breakfast cereals 

We can see in this case that SLIM 

SPECIAL and BRAN PLUS are seen 

as healthy and good for a diet but 

as with many “health” food 

products the taste is seen as 

boring 

“Convenient to prepare” is found 

near the centre of the map as is 


BRAND 

thus inferred to be a generic 

attribute ie marketing a cereal 

product on a convenience 

platform is not likely to bring 

about much differentiation from 

other brands “Is mainly for 

snacks” is more discriminating as 

it is placed on the edge of the map 

However just because something 

is discriminating does not mean 

you would necessarily want to 

position using that “benefit” In 

this case positioning as a snack 

could limit consumption volume 

and maybe undermine nutritional 

messages 

In the study four key consumer 

segments were identified linked to 

the life stages and needs and as 

can be seen in this case their needs 

and drives align with brand 

promises 

Summary 

Mapping makes understanding 

the way consumers perceive the 

market and what they want from 

a category easier and simpler and 

can help provide a more 

actionable and insightful view of 

their perceptions But a few words 

of warning – almost any data set 

will generate a map There are a 

few tests for statistical rigour but 

generally if it does seem to make 

sense the most common reasons 

are that the attributes have been 

poorly chosen the market is more 

complex and cannot be 

summarised in dimensions or 

one atypical brand is skewing the 

whole map 

Are Online Surveys 

as Accurate as 

Offline Surveys? 

MANY MAJOR CORPORATIONS 

are turning to the Internet to 

measure consumer and business 

attitudes perceptions and 

intentions At the same time 

some companies are reluctant to 

trust online research and replace 

traditional telephone research 

tracking and ad hoc projects with 

online alternatives Many 

companies comfortable with their 

legacy of telephone doorto 

door or mail research have 

resisted even considering online 

research based on a vague notion 

that “it just isn’t as accurate” or 

“online respondents are different 

from my customers” However 

whether pushed by budget cuts or 

the fear of falling behind the 

younger generation of 

researchers many research 

department heads must 

eventually take a long hard look 

at online research and ask: will 

online research work for my 

company? 

Online research has been used in 

savvy research markets with high 

Internet penetration for over a 

decade now During that time a 

lot of lessons have been learnt 

about when to use online research 

and when to avoid it And during 

that time the global Internet 

landscape has changed 

dramatically with a steady 

increase in Internet usage in 

developed countries as well as 

huge increases in many 

developing markets Today online 

research is available in over 

countries

Most of the large successful 

consumer products firms (as well 

as those in almost every other 

field) are using online research 

But other companies should not 

jump into online research simply 

out of peer pressure It is 

important to evaluate the 

advantages and disadvantages of 

online research 

The Benefits of Conducting 

Surveys Online 

The The The primary primary primary advantages advantages of of online 

online 

surveys surveys versus versus phone phone surveys surveys are: 

are: 

• Online surveys eliminate 

interviewer bias: telephone 

interviewers can have 

different effects on 

respondents’ answers if they 

are male/female or cheerful/ 

droll or fast/slow Online 

research eliminates variations 

They are usually lower cost: 

internet surveys involve pop 

ups on websites or the 

emailing of invitations and 

after that the respondents 

complete the questionnaire 

Faster fieldwork: 


BRAND 

telephone interviewers can 

only speak to one person at a 

time while hundreds of online 

respondents can all answer at 

the same time Sometimes 

more accurate responses: 

online respondents can read 

the questions and possible 

responses themselves 

resulting in higher quality 

responses 

Greater recall: online 

respondents do not feel 

pressured into giving quick 

answers so they are likely to 

think of more to say or more 

brands etc before moving on 

to the next question 

Telephone respondents feel 

more pressure to answer or 

move on because the 

interviewer is waiting 

Sometimes more detailed 

responses: since online 

respondents have more time 

to think their replies to open 

ended questions are often 

more thoughtful and detailed 

Telephone respondents feel 

pressure to begin responding 

quickly (often before they 

have had a chance to think 

much) and they cannot 

doublecheck their responses 

for accuracy 

Pictures sound clips and video 

clips can be included in 

surveys: this enables online 

research to do as much as face 

toface research at a lower 

cost and with a much greater 

geographical spread Easier to 

target lower incidence 

populations: relatively hard to 

get at respondents (such as 

doctors or users of a certain 

brand) can be targeted 

through specialised panels or 

simply larger email 

approaches 

Some of the Disadvantages 

The The primary primary disadvantages disadvantages of 

of 

online online surveys surveys compared compared compared to 

to 

phone phone surveys surveys are: 

are: 

You are less able to doublecheck 

the identity of the respondent: 

a respondent may not be 

truthful about who they really 

are Online respondents can 

more easily lie about their 

gender and age than can other 

respondents 

Professional survey takers: some 

online respondents try to go 

through the survey as quickly 

as possible without really 

reading or thinking about their 

answers However ACNielsen 

has implemented procedures 

so that such respondents can 

be identified based upon their 

responses and eliminated from 

the results 

You can’t explain questions: if the 

respondents do not 

understand the question an 

online survey cannot clarify 

like a telephone interviewer 

can This can be corrected by 

making your questions clear 

and concise 

You can’t ask followup questions: 

an online survey cannot ask a 

specific respondent to clarify 

their answer if it does not 

make sense or if it goes off on 

an interesting tangent This 

can be done via online focus 

group approaches 

Conduct a Parallel Test and 

Compare 

The only way to find out how an 

online survey compares to 

your current survey approach 

is to try it! This can be done 

most directly through a 

parallel test—ie running the 

survey using both methods 

simultaneously and then 

comparing the results 

Although the results are rarely 

identical (for the reasons 

mentioned previously) it is 

important to see if the core 

metrics line up 

The following metrics should be 

the same if the online research 

is to replace another type of 

research: 

Is the topofmind () 

mention the same using both 

methods? 

Is the rating of products or 

concepts at a similar level 

using both methods? 

Is any market movement 

equally indicated using both 

methods? 

Are stated behaviours 

(previous brand usage 

previous category 

involvement) similar using 

both methods?

These metrics may differ between 

online and offline research 

but may actually indicate that 

online is MORE accurate than 

offline: 

Unaided awareness: because 

online respondents generally 

take more time to think about 

their responses they will 

generally be able to recall 

more brands more ads more 

experiences etc This can 

make the results MORE 

accurate than other 

approaches 

Complex questions: because 

online respondents can read 

and reread questions they are 

more likely to respond 

accurately In other 

approaches respondents 

rarely ask the interviewer to 

reread the question for them 

(Note: this can be eliminated 

in either case if the questions 

are kept very simple) 

Detailed questions: because 

online respondents do not feel 

the time pressure to give an 

answer they may actually 

investigate the answers before 

they respond For example in 

a recent survey regarding 

credit cards a large number of 

online respondents actually 

walked away from their 

computers to find their recent 

credit card statements in order 

to give exact dollar figures— 

telephone respondents rarely 

do this 

A Parallel Test Case Study 

In a typical example of a parallel 

test the world’s largest apple 

juice producer wanted to test 

whether they could move 

their telephone tracking (of 

usage and attitudes) from 

telephone to online surveys in 

the US ACNielsen conducted 

an online survey of N 

respondents in cities for the 

company at no cost in order to 

check the viability of switching 

methodologies The telephone 

survey was N 

respondents Only the core 

metrics were tested: topof 

mind awareness unaided 

awareness aided awareness 

and the results were as 

follows: 

• Top of mind awareness was 

almost identical between the 

two samples at a national and 

a city level 

• Unaided awareness was higher 

for each brand in the online 

survey since respondents took 

more time to think about what 

brands they knew However 

the order in which they 

mentioned the brands was 

nearly identical between 

online and offline Online 

respondents were generally 

able to remember some of the 

smaller brands that telephone 

respondents did not 

• Total awareness was identical 

between the two samples 

Such an exact match is 

extremely rare even if two 

identical telephone surveys 

are conducted so the data had 

to be doubly verified 

As a result of the test the 

manufacturer decided to 

switch their U&A tracking to 

online and has saved almost 

of the annual project 

cost while at the same time 

getting faster results 

ACNielsen has conducted a 

number of similar parallel tests 

in different categories and 

different countries and found 

that while most of them show 

that online surveys yield the 

same results on key metrics as 

offline surveys sometimes 

they do not Some brief 

examples of parallel tests that 

upheld or refuted the case for 

switching to online: 

Digital Digital cameras cameras in four Asian 

markets and three European 

markets(online vs telephone): 

not recommended for online 

because of potential inherent 

bias since online respondents 

were more likely to own and 

use digital cameras since they 

are associated with sending 

images online 

Sanitary Sanitary Sanitary protection protection in Asia 

Customer Satisfaction survey 

among current users (online vs 

mail): recommended to use 

online since satisfaction levels 

were nearly identical Online 

users were more detailed in 

describing problems 

Household Household cleaners cleaners cleaners in Asia 

Usage Patterns (online vs 

telephone): recommended to 

change to online since 

attitudes and usage patterns 

were similar Claimed usage of 

brands was higher by 

telephone though this was 

determined to be 

overstatement (so online was 

more accurate) 

In conclusion moving research 

from telephone or mail or 

facetoface to the Internet 

can increase speed add 

accuracy and save costs But 

each case should be evaluated 

carefully preferably with a 

parallel test to make sure that 

it truly merits the switch 


71

TradeFairResearch 

If clear objectives have been set in advance it is possible to monitor the success of a trade fair 

By Dr Heike Langneer GfK BB and Trade Fair Research Germany 

Monitoring 

T 

74 


BRAND 

Trade Fairs ? 

RADE FAIRS ARE AMONG THE MOST 

important marketing tools particularly for the 

manufacturers of industrial goods As a result of 

their multifunctionality they can be used for a 

wide range of objectives both financial and non 

financial But at the same time exhibiting at a 

trade fair is associated with relatively high costs 

and requires care in making choices in planning 

and management if the results are to be optimised 

In order to support this process of selection 

planning and management and to optimise the 

planning of exhibiting at future trade fairs a 

number of market research tools are available 

which are provided by GfK Marktforschung under 

the name of GfK * TRADE * FAIR * CHECK The 

most important of these tools and their 

applications are described in the text below 

However banal the title of this 

article may initially sound it 

seems fully justified considering 

that it has been established that 

only one in three companies has 

formulated in advance clear 

objectives for exhibiting at a trade 

fair Hand on heart: the decision 

for or against participation in a 

trade fair still comes far too often 

“from the top of the head" 

Reasons for exhibiting which must 

serve to justify the budget for a 

trade fair include: “we have 

always been there" “because our 

competitors are there" “because 

our customers expect it" 

The results are even less 

frequently systematically 

monitored and assessed to see 

whether the objectives however 

they may have been formulated 

were actually met The “success" 

of the performance at a fair was 

often measured by “there was 

always lots going on at the stand" 

“there were lots of people at the 

bar" or “a lot was offered to the 

visitors" 

Considering the unquestionably 

high costs of exhibiting at a fair 

which are deplored ever more 

often and ever more loudly this

situation is shocking And one 

should really not be surprised if 

the company's controllers put the 

question in an increasingly 

sceptical form as to “whether the 

fair really does the business" This 

question is justified! And those 

with responsibility for fairs would 

do better to think about tools for 

monitoring the success of a 

company's performance than 

complaining about the “illwill of 

the controller" 

Monitoring Monitoring yes yes but but what? 

what? 

Agreed: since there is no other 

marketing tool which can be used 

for so many different purposes 

and to achieve so many different 

objectives the monitoring of the 

success achieved at a fair is a 

challenging task 

This begins with the question of 

defining objectives: since a fair is 

a multifunctional marketing tool 

the objectives which themselves 

are to be derived from the 

company's goals must also be 

formulated in a multifunctional 

and multidimensional way (see 

Fig ) It is therefore all the more 

important to determine in 

advance the number of objectives 

for participation in a fair and then 

to quantify them so that they can 

be measured The statement “We 

wish to launch product XY" is 

insufficient It is instead necessary 

to express the objective in 

concrete terms: “We must show 

and explain our new XY product 

to at least people personally 

who are from relevant business 

areas and have the authority to 

buy" 

This provides the basis for 

determining whether the 

objectives of exhibiting in other 

words its success both in 

quantitative and qualitative terms 

can be assessed In doing this it is 

not sufficient just to undertake a 

posthoc assessment (“was 

Figure 1 

participation in the fair 

worthwhile") Also it is very 

important for a company to be 

able to answer the question how 

in future performance at a fair can 

be optimised 

Monitoring Monitoring yes yes but but but how? how? 

how? 

For both questions the posthoc 

assessment and future 

optimisation various research 

tools are available which make it 

possible to measure whether both 

financial/quantitative objectives 

and nonfinancial/qualitative 

objectives were met As a result of 

the increasing pressure to justify 

trade fair budgets models for 

assessing quantitative 

particularly financial success are 

very much in fashion The options 

run from standardised 

measurement tools such as for 

instance that of AUMA 

Ausstellungs und 

Messeausschuss der Deutschen 

Wirtschaft (The Exhibition and 

Trade Fair Committee for the 

German Economy) through to the 

socalled balancedScorecard 

Model (from the Trade Fair 

Institute at the Technical 

University of Chemnitz) and they 

are largely based on the analysis 

of available internal data Such 

models though can give 

insufficient attention to medium 

or longterm issues in the area of 

communications objectives and 

Corporate objectives 

objectives for trade fair participation 

quantitative objectives quantitative objectives 

• objectives for contacting 

• sales objectives 

• etc. 

• image and positioning objectives 

• presentational objectives 

• communications and information 

objectives 

checking extent to which objectives met 

conclusions and data on future 

opportunities for optimisation are 

not available 

This is where it is necessary to 

work with external partners who 

can collect and analyse the 

necessary information and can 

also provide special tools which 

are designed to measure the 

success of the performance at a 

trade fair (see Fig ) The most 

important which are offered by 

GfK for instance in the form of a 

building block system under the 

name of GfK TRADE*FAIR*CHECK 

are briefly described in the text 

below 

Enumeration Enumeration of of the the the visitors visitors visitors to to to the 

the 

stand: stand: ascertaining ascertaining the the number number of 

of 

visitors visitors 

visitors 

The simplest and in contrast to 

the other research tools the most 

frequently used survey method 

comprises counting all the visitors 

to the stand If this number is 

compared with the number of 

visitors to the trade fair 

concerned then it is possible to 

confirm to what extent it was 

possible to interest the visitors to 

the fair in a company's stand or in 

the company itself (relative 

penetration) In Germany one 

company (FKM Gesellschafl zur 

freiwilligen Kontrolle von Messe 

und AussteHungzahlen) counts 

the total number of visitors at 


75

almost all the large German fairs 

The data is normally recorded at 

the level of day time and position 

so that “visitor peak periods" can 

be precisely identified and the 

appropriate planning of stand 

personnel resources can be 

undertaken 

With such a count it is important 

that not only leads (ie contact 

reports by stand staff) but also all 

visitors to the stand are recorded 

This is in other words simply a 

quantitative analysis which says 

nothing about the quality of the 

visitors 

Visitor Visitor surveys surveys surveys (“stand (“stand impact"): impact"): 

impact"): 

question question on on impressions impressions made made by by 

by 

performance performance at at at fair fair 

fair 

The purpose of interviews of 

visitors to the stand is mainly to 

assess the quality" of the visitors 

and also to form an important tool 

for planning and designing an 

exhibit to reflect the needs of 

target groups Together with 

surveys which take place after the 

fair they generally form the key 

element in qualitative 

assessments of the success of an 

exhibit Typical questions which 

are asked of visitors within the 

framework of a representative 

survey on the spot (or in part after 

the fair) cover for instance 

• when you visited the stand 

what objectives expectations and 

information needs did you have; 

• how long did you spend on the 

stand and on what subjects did 

you gather information and were 

your information needs met; 

• to what extent did you go onto 

the stand with concrete intentions 

in terms of purchase and 

investment or will they result 

from the visit; 

• how do you assess the 

exhibitor's stand/performance at 

the fair also in comparison with 

competitors; 

• what is the basis of your 


BRAND 

Figure 2 

Monitoring of success of trade fair participation 

Trade fair planning 

and preparation 

trade fair 

participation 

(realization) 

trade fair follow-up 

• target group definition 

• invitations, client contacts, 

appointments 

• press relations 

• number of visitors to stand (total/in 

relation to total number of visitors) 

• types of visitor 

• visitor activity 

• visitors’ information requirements 

and purpose of visit 

• visitors’ purchase/investment 

intentions 

• assessment of trade fair 

participation from visitors’ 

standpoint 

• comparison with competition 

• Process of leads 

• follow-up; despatch of literature 

offers etc. 

• impact in image terms of the 

stand 

quantitative and qualitative assessment of participation 

lessons for next trade fair. 

relationship with the exhibitor 

(customer potential customer 

supplier etc) 

• where are you from (region 

business etc) and (with business 

visitors) what is your job and 

what authority do you have in 

your company 

to give just a few examples 

Additionally concrete questions 

can be discussed on the products 

and services on show and in this 

way the likely takeup of a new 

product can be assessed The 

results of these surveys therefore 

provide important information 

about the strengths and 

weaknesses of a company's 

performance at a fair 

Exhibitors already receive either 

during the fair or shortly 

afterwards concrete 

recommendations whether and to 

what extent they have reached 

certain target groups and how 

they can achieve greater success 

at future fairs 

pre-trade fair tests 

stand visits 

stand impact 

path analysis 

mystery visits 

visual audits 

post-trade fair-tests 

Postfair Postfair Postfair Postfair Postfair tests: tests: stable stable assessments 

assessments 

and and and valid valid comparisons comparisons with with the 

the 

competition 

competition 

competition 

Surveys among stand visitors 

shortly after the end of a fair 

supplement and provide more 

detail than the stand survey and 

handle the results more 

objectively and therefore provide 

the second key component in the 

systematic assessment of the 

success of performance at a fair: 

time pressures at a fair permit 

only short mainly structured 

questionnaires which can be 

supplemented within the 

framework of a postfair test 

Secondly views expressed spon 

taneously at a fair may be 

modified later in the visit to the 

fair particularly when visiting 

competitors' stands or placed 

within a broader framework 

Surveys after the fair provide 

more stable results and also more 

valid comparisons with the 

competition Additionally lasting 

impressions and results from the

visit to the fair can only be 

assessed retrospectively (“What 

positive/negative aspects of your 

visit to the stand do you still 

retain?" “What impact did your 

visit during the fair have on your 

purchase decisions and on your 

image of the company?" etc) 

Therefore shortly after the end of 

the fair (usually a few days later) 

a sample of stand visitors is re 

contacted (their agreement and 

address were collected during 

their visit) by email in writing or 

by telephone This enables for 

instance the performance at the 

fair of the company concerned to 

be assessed retrospectively views 

to be expressed for instance on the 

competitive environment and 

decisions on planned purchases or 

on investments to be described 

The results in combination with 

the results from the stand survey 

provide a comprehensive picture 

on whether and to what extent 

the company reached its target 

groups met their information 

needs and whether their 

performance at the fair could be 

Figure 3 

exhibitor 

CCC 

DDD 


BRAND 

regarded as successful from the 

visitor point of view 

Path Path analysis: analysis: recording recording the 

the 

actions actions of of of visitors visitors on on the the the stand 

stand 

Path analysis is a littleknown and 

up to now infrequently used 

research tool Unlike with a 

completely quantitative visitor 

count a path analysis measures 

the individual routes followed by 

visitors and as a result the footfall 

in the individual areas of the 

stand and also the products which 

were of interest to visitors For 

this purpose the visitors are 

followed or observed This makes 

it possible to ascertain where the 

visitors made a stop and for how 

long and what precisely they then 

did 

The results which are usually 

presented in visual form (see 

example in Fig ) can be 

particularly helpful in planning 

stand designs the placing of 

exhibits and in planning how the 

stand personnel can be used: what 

subjects and which exhibits should 

be located where how big should 

the exhibits be where are 

advisory staff needed? etc 

Mystery Mystery visits: visits: assessment assessment assessment of 

of 

stand stand stand personnel 

personnel 

This technique is derived from 

mystery shopping methodology 

and serves primarily to evaluate 

the stand staff The objective is to 

identify suggestions for improving 

the way that the stand staff can 

provide its advisory function more 

effectively and can optimise its 

activities For this purpose 

specially trained personnel of the 

research company conduct 

conversations with stand staff 

following guidelines which had 

been previously prepared and 

then evaluate the various 

important characteristics 

(friendliness helpfulness putting 

over an argument etc) The 

results can for instance be used as 

a basis for training courses and 

workshops with (future) stand 

personnel so that presence and 

conduct on the stand can be the 

subject of focused training The 

main emphasis here is on what are 

called “soft skills" and much less 

Monitoring of competition at trade fair - example of results 

stand activities and 

visitor frequency 

(weight=35%) 

main message 

(weights = 25%) 

stand design 

(weights = 25%) 

presentation 

atmosphere 

(weights=15%) 

observation score observation score observation score observation score 

4 no clear main message 0 stage for shows was 6 large number if visitors; 4 

total score 

(weighted) 

AAA stand always well staffed, 8 “AAA - we design factories”, 6 professional, lighting 7 rather distant but 6 695 

many visitors, business 

clear simple message, colours and materials well professional; worked 

discussions continously 

but lacking in detail 

matched, but lack 

better on technical 

taking place 

of “activity’ 

than emotional level 

BBB 

no business discussions 

at any time, youthfulness 1 “BBB goes global” 3 confused; innovative 6 impact “cool’ rather 5 335 

of staff noticable 

meaning only clear to 

materials and LED 

arrogant - > uninviting, 

clients, inappropriate 

displays; videos 

innovative, but 

as message 

uninformative 

many visitors particularly 

during shows; shows 

dominated stand 

activities; too few staff 

few, but some serious 

business discussions; 

hardly any visitor on 

Tue/Thur 

centre-point exhibits 

were relegated to 

background; not 

enough displays 

too full; otherwise 

conventional amateurish, 

lack of signs/displays 

5 

“we are leaders in 

innovation” - message 6 

disorganized impression; 

no info-bars; no special 4 

cold and unwelcoming; 

dominated by technology 

3 

easily understood, but 

identity created; good 

not well realized 

throughout 

mix of materials 

330 

470

Figure 4 

entrance 2 entrance 1 

information 1 

terminals 

information stand 1 

5> 

4> 

4> 

discussion forum 

11> 2> 

1> 

1> 

1> 

5> 

1> 

 

1> 

PATH - ANALYSIS - example of results 

1> 

4> 

1> 

aquarium 

 

1> 

on the technical competence of 

the stand staff which with 

complicated products and services 

which need a high level of 

explanation cannot really be 

checked 

Competitive Competitive Competitive analysis analysis (visual 

(visual 

audits): audits): neutral neutral observers observers analyse 

analyse 

the the competition 

competition 

Fairs provide one of the best 

opportunities for competitive 

analysis since there on the spot 

not only can current products and 

so lutions be analysed but also the 

main competitors'marketing mix 

in terms of communications 

prices and distribution 

The opportunities this provides 

are usually underestimated The 

true situation is that often the 

monitoring of the competition is 

reduced to two or three members 

of the staff dashing over to the 

stands of the competition just 

shortly before the fair closes and 

collecting some brochures 

The company is therefore leaving 

important opportunities 

unexploited which would benefit 

from a more professional 

 

 

7> 

web-terminals picture gallery 

5> 

information 2 

information stand 2 

4> 4> 

approach: within the framework 

of avisual audit" as it is called a 

fully briefed neutral observer with 

relevant experience is despatched 

into the halls with a previously 

prepared checklist Using this 

checklist the performance at the 

fair of the various exhibitors is 

documented analysed compared 

and assessed (usually the most 

important of the client's 

competitors) The objective of this 

competitive analysis is to assess 

the performance of the individual 

firms from the point of view of an 

(objective) third party in terms of 

key message content and type of 

presentation as well as of the 

activities on the stand 

The task is to determine how the 

performance of the client at the 

fair is assessed in relative terms 

(see Fig ) The results of this 

analysis which are usually 

supplemented with a 

comprehensive record using still 

photos and videos help the client 

to develop a detailed 

understanding of the marketing 

communications of his 

competitors as well as to optimise 

his own performance at the fair 

8> 

exit 

Conclusion 

Conclusion 

Fairs have a unique position in the 

marketing mix For many 

companies particularly in capital 

goods industries they are without 

doubt the most important 

marketing tool The high costs of 

exhibiting at a fair mean though 

that careful choices planning and 

monitoring of performance at the 

fair are necessary This requires: 

defining the objectives for 

exhibiting at the fair 

measuring whether these 

objectives were met and 

analysing the results of the 

evaluation of whether 

performance was satisfactory and 

assessing them in terms of 

exhibiting at future fairs 

For this purpose a range of 

research tools are available which 

can make it possible to measure 

the success of performance at the 

fair in both quantitative and 

qualitative terms These research 

tools are still being used far too 

infrequently part of the reason 

for which is that there is certainly 

far too little understanding of the 

wide range of modern research 

tools which are available for 

measuring the success of 

exhibiting at a trade fair 

Finally to return to the subject of 

costs: a systematic assessment of 

the performance at a trade fair 

using the research tools described 

above naturally costs money But 

in comparison to the total costs of 

participating in a trade fair which 

depending on the size of the 

stand can easily reach a six digit 

Euro figure the costs of the 

research at three to five per cent 

of total fair costs are relatively 

small But if the costs can provide 

wellbased answers as to whether 

a fair does the business and on 

how exhibiting at fairs in future 

can be optimised then the costs 

are more than justified 


79

send - Brand Equity Magazine

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?