VOL.6, APR-JUN 2005 BRAND EQUITY INSIGHT THRU’ MARKET INTELLIGENCE RM10.00COVER final
5/18/05, 12:50 PM
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editor’s noteWe are simply delighted that this issue’s line
up
includes more homegrown products and services
Celcom is on the cover and its brand building
adventure is certainly tinged with loads of
excitement Nothing more need be said other than
the fact that the telco operators are treating
customers with undiminished importance
Customers are well into the frenzied adoption of
mobile phones and the amazing repertoire of
services That directed us to the doors of MNC
Consulting a mobile business solutions provider to
be reckoned with We believe that their tools are well
positioned to assist aspiring brand builders
Service providers such as FBI have given clients that
much needed opportunity to get closer to customers
at the ground level Drypers has made a comeback
with an inspiring story that says a lot about making
defensive as well as offensive moves as a market
leader
Arc Worldwide offers a repertoire of ROI
centric
multi
disciplinary communications solutions for
brand ascension A case study featuring Arc’s
adventure with the Virgin brand is an encouraging
read
We welcome back our legion of multifrontier experts
in the area of brand protection personal branding
relationship marketing and well as SME branding
This issue also features the thoughts of an expert on
brand loyalty
As always ACNielsen and Nielsen Media Research
have graced the pages with information of value
A lot has been said and written about brand building
Nevertheless it’s a mad world out there and things
aren’t getting any easier
The cobble
stoned track offers challenges that must
be negotiated with innovative ideas and true grit as
well
Raghunath
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features
 It’s in Your Hands
Celcom’s analysis of customers delivers what matters to
them
connection & control
Brand Revisited
| 06
The Passion Endures
Drypers makes a ‘Passionate’
comeback in this piece as a brand on the offensive
B r a n d E q u i t y
SME Branding | 48
 Increasing Market Share & Profit Margins
A brand consultant presents his views about transiting
from sales to brand management
Relationship Marketing | 35
 The Proof of the Pudding
A relationship
marketing practitioner proposes key
metrics for measuring direct marketing programs
BrandLaw | 32
 Copyright & Consequences
Presenting the ninth in a series that carries constructive
ideas for defending brand value
Customer Loyalty | 42
 Truly Loyal Customers do not Have to be
Bought!
A critical look at some commonly held beliefs about
loyalty programs
Market Research | 44
 Tracking Brand Performance
A research agency offers a potent tool for tracking brand
equity
Brand Ambassador | 38
  It’s all in the Stars
Explores the logic behind moving the brand portfolio
with potent brand ambassadors
Below the Line Branding | 18
 Fabulous Business Ideas
A cluttered media environment is driving brand builders to
on
ground activities
Mobile Marketing Solutions | 22

 Solutions with Limitless Possibilities
A mobile business solutions provider offers a
repertoire of tools for engaging customers
Contemporary Communications | 27
 Multidisciplinary ROI
centric Communications
Arc Worldwide rolls out a slew of communication disci

plines to deliver for aspiring brands
Shopper Trends | 54
 Malaysian Shopping Habits
ACNielsen’s tracking activities gives a bird’s eye view of
shopping trends & nuances in 

ACNielsen Update | 65
 Fast Food Brand Mapping & Online Surveys
ACNielsen offers its insights and thoughts into a range of
areas and issues
Cover Story | 10
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BRANDEQUITY 5
Media Equity
Media Specialist | 57

 The Media Maverick
A seasoned specialist behind the  Images
Corporation has an enviable journey to tell
Nielsen Media Research | 60
 A Bullish Adex Heralds Confidence
The Government a dogfight for eyeballs and
mindspace propels adex to meaningful levels
Personal Branding | 52
 The Personal Connection
Weighty thoughts on Personal Branding from
Bill Arruda the world’s leading exponent on
the subject
M a n a g e m e n t
Publisher : James Selva
Executive Publisher : R. T. Selvii Publishing Director : R. S. Kumar
E d i t o r i a l
Group Editor : Raghunath (email: brandman@tm.net.my)
Staff Writer : Chris Krishna Contributors : ACNielsen, Benjamin J. Thompson , CSeng Lim ,
Dr. Matt Hasan, GfK Research Germany, R. Venkateswaran, Salim Khubchandani, William Arruda
M e d i a M a r k e t i n g
Marketing Manager : A. Veerasingam, K.Sigamani
Marketing Executive : Anenda Sharma.
P r o d u c t i o n
Production Coodinator : R. Sangheeta
D e s i g n T e a m
Senior Graphic Designer : Mohd Ezral Bin Zaudi
Graphic Designer : Hemalatha N, Fazlly Ismail
Dtp Artist : S. Savithri
Administration : Kavitha
Printered By : BHS Book Printing Sdn Bhd
Trade Fair Research | 74
  Monitoring Trade Fairs?
Decisive ideas on the ‘whats’ and ‘hows’ of
monitoring the success of trade fairs
Published by :
Perception Media Sdn.Bhd.
3-3, Jalan 11/48A, Sentul Raya Boulevard, 51000 Kuala Lumpur.
Tel : 603-4043 0500 Fax : 603-4043 7648
Member of :
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BrandRevisitedBy Raghunath
YES IT’S ‘WELCOME BACK’ FOR
the brand featured in this tale And
one word sums
up the motive
behind such a moveappreciation
for an adventure laced with
PASSION!
Two years ago we penned a tale
about the exploits of a winning
brand’s well
crafted first
moves
that caught seasoned players off

guard and delivered stellar results
And we restate a fragment from
the piece’In a race peppered with
stirring mini
episodes the folks
behind
Drypers
flushed
convention down the tubes and
usurped the share positions of
leading
edge diaper brands such as
Pampers Pureen Basic BabySoft
Sealer and Huggies’
The
Passion
Endures
Eric Balinghasay
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BRANDEQUITY 7
Since then it’s status quo of sorts
at least by position The folks
behind Drypers changed the rules
of competition by drumming
up
and executing strategies plus
tactics that were somewhat alien
to the category players then
The challenger dumped the usual
‘blue liquid into the diaper and hey
presto; its dry’ creative The
package got redesigned and
translucent blue moved in looking
very inviting on retail shelves
Prices were at best consumer

centric competitive and quality
ascended
Ad campaigns tickled fathers and
kids looked adventurous Cloth
came in plastic ran for cover and
parents loved it Storybooks that
encouraged parents to read
bedtime stories came in and the
brand looked darn good A high
level of consumer awareness was
secured with a pitch as a new
modern and up
coming brand
And distribution took on an
intense stance
Drypers gave importance to
bonding in the family and
eventually took over as leader of
the category in  It was a
sensitive personality
focused
‘understand’s your baby better’
campaign that put Drypers in the
spotlight
Since then it’s business as usual
only this time the role has been
reversed
they are under attack!
The brand’s posture has taken on
a hybrid facade; time for defensive
and offensive moves!
And there’s a whole lot of brand
passion that backs the brand
You’d like to talk with the brand’s
regional director of marketing Eric
Balinghasay to get a blast of it
To begin with this guy hasn’t
changed His passion for the
Drypers brand is still intact and
pretty much explicit
And since then a lot has happened
in the market Most brands
including global competitors
slashed their retail price At times
price
undercutting tactics were
deployed Competitor advertising
and promotions went into high
gear with new messages Some in
the pack followed Drypers closely
with somewhat similar pack
designs Amidst the skirmish
others re
launched their brands
‘Our priorities for 
had to
change We wanted to ensure
that Drypers is the top
of
mind
brand considered by most
parents when choosing a baby
diaper In addition we wanted to
defend our
position as a
market
leader rely on
our heritage
and widen the
gap with
competing
players’ said
Eric
He pointed out
that
research
revealed gaps in
brand perception
‘We were not as
strong in terms of
function
and
performance at that
time Being a leader we
realized that we needed
to highlight Drypers’
functional features’ he
added
‘In the early years our
advertising
was
considerably personality
driven and reliant on
traditional above
the
line
media Our tone and
manner was conveyed through
emotive propositions’ said Eric
With that background coupled
with their position the intent
became clear
the brand had to be
associated with functional product
benefits; which changed the tone
and manner of communication
from last year Complementing
that was the desire to tell the
market that Drypers is the leader;
sans the uppity stance
That in turn called for changing
the way in which consumers were
engaged with the brand Trust had
to be pile
driven into the mind of
new parents The consumer

Drypers experience needed to be
intense and immensely rewarding
And in line with tradition the need
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EQUITY
to surprise plus shock
n
awe also
figured in campaign planning
Everything fell into place when a
multitude of touchpoints was used
to get the message across and stun
consumers And a series of
communications activities of the

degree type were rolled out
And here’s the repertoire
Drypers National Consumer
Promotion
Timing: Feb to April 
 All
consumers had to do was purchase
any Drypers pack cut out the
barcode and attach it to a contest
form Entries had to be
accompanied by creative pictures
and illustrations either drawn
photographed or
together
featuring the grand prize That’s
the first
mover element
 Naza
Ria MPVs aside from  over
electrical prizes Eric said that
results exceeded expectations and
selected creative entries get to
flaunt on the walls of the
company SCA Hygiene
Above
the
line Advertising
Two new TVCs took to the air
between May and June last year
The message gave emphasis to
Drypers’ functional elements
a
cloth
like cover and absorbency
with a pitch that declared ‘Comfort
Inside Out’ In addition part of the
message and tone emphasized
that the brand remained the
choice of most Malaysian parents
Merchandizing
A
supporting
in
store
merchandizing blitz was rolled out
in all market centers A repertoire
of point
of
sale
materials was
displayed in
store at key retail
establishments Some of them
included block displays flaglines
shelf talkers and wobblers
Drypers gave importance to bonding
in the family and eventually took over
as leader of the category in  It
was a sensitive personality
focused
‘Understand’s Your Baby Better’
campaign that put Drypers in the
spotlight
In
Store Promotions
The idea was to create noise and
build excitement as well as linkage
for the brand amongst non
users
The events reinforced Drypers key
selling messages which center

staged its material absorbency
and most preferred benefits
A ‘Comfort Rewards’ challenge
was executed in
store All
shoppers had to do was aim and
throw a velcrowed dart at a board
that displayed the benefits of
Drypers to win prizes A
complementing ‘Drypers Perfect
Score’ enticed shoppers to drop a
ball through holes in a box that
carried a suspended diaper Prizes
were given away to shoppers that
dropped the ball onto any benefit
of the diaper
Infomercials
Two TV ad campaigns were aired
for the purpose of building trust
and credibility The creatives
validated the rationale behind its
position as the choice of most
Malaysian parents
TV Parenting Show
A reality show for a diaper brand?
Get out of here! But for Drypers
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BRANDEQUITY 9
it was just a case of the itch for
roping in just another innovative
touchpoint

To take off a promo ad called for
inthefamilyway couples to sign
up and take the challenge to get
natural under the lights
Spread
over eight episodes the show over
TV featured real experiences and
tips shared by  participating
couples on their way to
parenthood starting from the
eight month
The idea was to
address elements such as
credibility and trust and in turn
highlight the funny tender and
anxious moments that pepper the
journey

A show that’s a first for the
category and went a long way to
strengthen Drypers ‘Understand’s
Your Baby Better’ equity

Drypers Super Comfortable Wee
Wee Stop
Yet another first from Drypers and
for the category
The company got
in touch with PLUS with the
intention of generating trial and
interest for their disposable
variant and to reinforce their
‘super comfortable’ as well as
‘most parent’s choice’ key selling
messages

A truck was decked to generate
consumer awareness and interest
at PLUS’s R&R stops along the
NorthSouth Highway
A team of
promoters descended at the stops
during the term holidays to
engage
consumers
with
information and offer free samples
as well as change of diapers

There’s a secret to the continuing
onslaught and success of the
Drypers brand
The brand building
adventure remains tinged with
firstmover ideas strategic
thinking innovative moves plus
loads of passion

‘The gap is enlarging to Drypers
advantage its equity is high and
we are well into the relentless
pursuit of maintaining market
leadership’ said Eric

::: T H E T E A M B E H I N D D R Y P E R S :::

SCA Hygiene’s Marketing Team
Matthias Chan Melvin Leow Suzanne Loo
BBDO (Creative Agency)
Account Management  Chong Tzin Nui Michelle
Achutan Michelle Nunis Phoebe Tan
Creatives  Colin Yeoh Loh Chan Wai
FBI (BelowtheLine Agency)
Vincent Lee Avril Ong
OMD (Media Agency)
Loo Shu Fen Siew Wey Tng Theresa Quah
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Celcom’s insightful analysis of
customers delivers what
matters to them
 connection & control
cover story
Michael Lai
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BRANDEQUITY 11
TM
Itʼs in your hands
cover story
By Raghunath
DEFENSIVE TACTICS OFFENSIVE TACTICS
GUERILLA TACTICS FLANK ATTACK  AND IT’S WAR
DECLARED BY ALL PLAYERS IN THE MOBILE TELCO
SECTOR!
Never has Malaysian corporate history ever
chronicled an intense war of a type that continues
to rage with unyielding ferocity
And never has the
Malaysian consumer been inundated with offers that
entice with absolute frenzy

It’s an unyielding battle that’s fought along several
fronts  right from pricing to product development

And at times its shade of ruthlessness is prompting
the question  where is this all leading to?
It’s apparent that consumers are going nuts over the
myriad of offers with none about to complain
For
most it’s an opportunity to seize the moment and
trim their monthly tab even by a hefty ! And
for others time to be promiscuous!
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cover story
Last year the three mobile telcos
spent hefty sums advertising their
products
Significant portions of
their campaigns were product
centric and reignedin to support
tactical campaigns as well
Maxis
topped the Top  list of
advertisers in 
with RM



million (increasing 
 over
) followed by Celcom at third
placing spending RM 
 (up


) and Digi closing in with
fourth placing spending RM 

million (up by 
)

Celcom Prepares for War
And in the welcome brawl giving
competitors a massive headache as
well as a run for their money is an
unrelenting Celcom
In the past
year it has hit the headlines for
reasons
that are
aimed at moving
it smack into the war
zone as a force to be reckoned
with

With a history peppered with fault
lines that’s still fresh in the minds
of cynics the movers & shakers in
the nervecenter of its parent
Telekom (known now as TM)
decided to shift Celcom to high
gear with a clear mandate  get
back on track entice more
subscribers and strengthen its
market position as well as bottom
line

Among others the company
scoured the talent landscape for
competent brand builders
Enter
Michael Lai as Celcom’s Senior VP
of Branding & Communications in
 with an experience bag that’s
replete with brand building
experiences
with
known
companies notably global
software giant Oracle

A New Persona
And as the gear shifted just under
two years ago Celcom’s first move
was to take on a new persona
TM
Touch was dismantled and
absorbed by Celcom
A new
refreshing identity remained vital
to its ambitious plan

The inspiration behind the move
was triggered by insights revealing
that the consumer harbored the
desire to be in control; suggesting
that
Celcom must
be
considerably customer
centric or risk further
attrition

A new visual identity
was forged with a
contemporarized bird
in flight
The
brand’s persona was accentuated
with the tagline ‘It’s in Your
Hands’; simply reflecting the
customer’s desire to take charge

On Celcom’s tagline Michael said
‘It is our promise of empowerment
to customers
We believe that
mobile technology is democratic;
people must use it in many
meaningful ways to enrich their
lives
’
With that Celcom’s adventure
began and what followed was a
spate of proactive and reactive
moves that altered the rules of the
game

Customer Insight
But Celcom’s refreshed persona
and repertoire was rolled out in
phases on the back of insights that
were delivered from intense
market probing

A comprehensive study that
traversed
Malaysia
was
commissioned
The investigation
probed every aspect of mobile
communications from a technical
personal
and
professional
standpoint

Michael emphasized that the
powerful insights directed Celcom
to what he labels as ‘Real
Malaysians’
‘People out there
believed that the real values that
Malaysia stood for  such as family
values unity of purpose and
understanding  were under
threat of forces emanating from
the modern world
In addition
everyone deep down inside their
hearts wanted to belong and have
more control over their lives
’
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cover story
Celcom’s Proposition
& Core Values
‘We provide the most extensive
therefore most
powerful
telecommunication network
that’s available in Malaysia’
assured Michael
‘It’s with that
premise that Celcom ensures the
customers always take control
with their communications needs

With Celcom customers have the
power to connect and how the
customer uses it is entirely in their
hands
The power to truly connect
to communicate in their own way
is what makes them who they
are
’
So in place is the rationale
behind the exposure of ‘The Power
of True Connection’ a key
message incorporated of late into
Celcom’s
brand
building
campaigns

‘True Connections alludes to two
things: First and foremost the 
network and technology we
provide to our customers

Celcom’s network reaches places
other mobile telcos still aspire to

But that’s not what matters most

What matters most is how our
customers use this communication
power to truly connect hearts
souls dreams and aspirations’
added Michael

Target Customers
Without a doubt modish
technology offers new and
exciting changes for Celcom and
their competitors as well
The
scramble to latch on and offer
highspeed data services (with G
almost in) opens new windows of
opportunity

This is the point at which content
becomes king
New areas of
application must be explored to
fulfill the customer’s desire for
more and create new segments

In a businessasusual stance just
about everybody who needs a
mobile phone to communicate is
a potential Celcom customer
As
Michael put it ‘Our ‘Celcom
Moments’ advertising campaigns
designed
to
celebrate life
demonstrate
clearly
that
Celcom is a brand
for
every
Malaysian
’ Mass
is on!
Then there are the
price
conscious
teens and young
adults that find their
XPax
variant
appealing
Get the
mind to work and
you’d find other options
 corporate customers
from manufacturing and
service sectors
The result

Celcom’s
service
repertoire and customer
options swells!
More segments spawn the
need for new products and over
time partnerships are needed to
sweeten the offer
‘We are one of
the world’s very first mobile telco
to develop a strategic partnership
with Microsoft
We are working
together to leverage on each
other’s strength
As a result about
 corporations todate have
subscribed to our
‘Celcom
Integrated Business Solutions
(CIBS)’ service package which is
primed to deliver a seamless
experience beyond email
Work
and productivity will continue
while their staff is on the move

Today Celcom can truly mobile
enable any enterprise in Malaysia
to enhance their competitiveness
productivity and bottom line
It’s
much more that just providing a
mobile email system
The world of
business unplugged is finally here
today with Celcom!’ he said

Celcom’s partnership is now
loaded to increase operational
efficiencies
in sales
force
management
CRM
enterprise messaging
cash management
mobile advertising
mobile
banking



that’s in brief

‘A restaurant which
is WiFi’ed can use
Celcom as
the
gateway for net
cruising patrons; a
sales executive
can dialup the
c o m p a n y ’ s
database and
confirm orders
as inventory
a
n
d
manufacturing
schedules are
verified
Our
customers
can use an
application from
Microsoft’s office suite and
transfer the file wireless from their
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BRANDEQUITY 15
cover story
mobile devices to their PCs
They
can ‘google’ on their PDA’s with
our infrastructure
It’s an exciting
new world’ explained Michael

On other possibilities Michael
cited a case ‘We recently tiedup
with Kenanga Securities; so we get
to penetrate a new and growing
segment
The company’s remisiers
and also their customers now have
access to live streaming of all stock
quotes
And their customers in
turn can manage portfolios and
even deal them
’
He emphasized that Celcom is the
only company that’s ready to
provide a complete repertoire of
mobile communications solutions
for businesses corporate SMIs
SMEs and individuals

Challenging Issues
There’s
no
escape
from
maintaining an obligatory
eye on issues
such as share
o f  v o i c e 
revenue targets
brand delivery
c o n s i s t e n c y 
c u s t o m e r
satisfaction and
among
others
c o m p e t i t i v e
onslaughts

Michael said that
challenges on several
fronts
remains
inherent
to
the
business
‘Commitment
and consistency in all
brand product and
service offerings is a must
for us

In addition
simplicity
in product
offerings and consistency in
communications is a priority
as well
’
Touching on competitive
forces he said ‘Competitive
share of voice is always a
constant threat to be
watching out for
Our
actions will impact one
another
That is why it
pays to be a big step
ahead of the herd
’
‘This is a competitive
b u s i n e s s
e n v i r o n m e n t

Short term sales
objectives and
target
are
important in
order
to
s u r v i v e ;
h o w e v e r
being long
term branddriven
is still the key priority for
Celcom’ stressed Michael

Delivering the Brand Promise
‘Fire at will
’ It’s obvious that
of late the sector has been
peppered with a frenzy of
tactical campaigns
A price
war has become an
indelible element in the
fracas between the
mobile telcos

Customers find their
new
package
somewhat ‘outdated’
in a few days post
adoption
Additional
services have been
surfacing almost
every fortnight in
the
past
six
months

But Celcom has
made
some
decisive first
m o v e s

Knowing that
Malaysians
have
the
habit
of
going nuts over football the brand
has linked itself to the
p a s s i o n a t e
diversion for
m
a
n
y
Malaysians

‘Communications
must build strong
customer affinity
towards our brand

This
is
why
sponsorship is one of
few areas we focus on to
bring the brand closer to
the consumer’
said
Michael when asked about
brand communications

‘Celcom recognizes the
Malaysian passion for football

We would like to delight our
customers not only by providing
them with
the
best
in
telecommunications but also in
entertainment and lifestyle
We
enable our customers and
Malaysians at large to live the
passion for football through the
English Premier League and
‘Celcom InPlay’
In addition we
also enable our customers to live
the magic of
entertainment with ‘Celcom In
ShowBiz’ through movies music
concerts
and
other
entertainment
’
‘Another area we looked at to
enhance our brand promise is
product branding
In line with our
desire to simplify our product
offerings we consolidated our
range of xseries prepaid brands
under a single brand called XPax

From a branding perspective it’s
simpler and stronger’ explained
Michael

And XPax also carries some
elements that were not offered by
competing brands
The key
advantages
include airtime
transfer to a friend or loved one
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cover story
and firstinMalaysia SIM card
back up; just in case you lose your
phone! Incidentally the package is
targeted at young adults women
teens and students

Amidst all that the brand has
taken the opportunity to stake a
territorial claim with a strong
message that declares ‘This is
Celcom Territory
’
And strong TVCs imbue the idea
that life can be celebrated with
loads of fun
Recall the ‘Celcom
Moments’ TVCs that lampoon a
hopeful trying to impress his loved
one with a SMS picture of ‘his’ Z
or an elderly hopeful getting
connected with his young tribal
wife and a chef’s escapist interlude
with a Bollywood dance scene? It’s
all very much an all Malaysian and
real Malaysians posture

But there is no let up in product
development either
‘We are the
first to help customers send an
SMS in Chinese many years ago;
and offer the first  K SIM card
and
customized
menu
configuration
We are the first to
introduce Microsoft Windows
Mobilebased email and business
solutions
We are the first to
introduce special prepaid cards and
offerings for the women segment

And most recently we introduced
the Celcom Minutes plan the
country’s first postpaid plan that
truly charges the same low rate to
all  millions mobile and fixed
phone numbers nationwide day
and night
Not just within the
same network
Now you don’t
have to pay higher rates to call just
because your friends or family
members are on other mobile
networks or home lines
This is
definitely the FIRST in Malaysia’
he emphasized

And Celcom is very big into Futsal
a craze that’s germinating among
teens young adults and all those
who are ‘young at heart’
The
brand has sponsored the largest
Futsal Tournament in the country
themed Celcom inPlay Futsal
Fiesta since last year
Celcom in
Play Futsal Fiesta  is making
stops all over the country right
now on a city tour

‘The aim of Celcom inPlay Futsal
Fiesta is to bring as many people
as we possibly could to come
together and celebrate the sport
of football
We were more than
pleased when a total of  teams
took part in Celcom inPlay Futsal

 which spanned nine cities
nationwide’ he explained

‘ The KL event last year even made
it into the Malaysian Book of
Records and was named the ‘the
biggest Futsal tournament in the
country’ when  teams
participated
It’s a great honor to
be
recognized
for
this
accomplishment
I am proud that
Celcom succeeded in bringing
people from many walks of life to
come together for one
purpose which
is
FOOTBALL! This is a
testament to the power
of football and Celcom’s
passion for the sport’ he
added

In responding to the issue
about price war Michael
said ‘To us price is about
giving value and we have
to cope with all that is
happening
’
‘But the issue that matters
is how do we keep giving
value to our customers?
There
are
several
other
components that must be brought
in to work together; and this is
about a degree approach to
customer management because
every touch point builds the brand

Our branches Careline dealers
service quality solutions content
development and delivery 
everything must be coordinated to
deliver a brand that is trusted to
deliver what we promise 
flexibility and choices of True
Connections in our customer’s
hands’ he added

As with many corporations
Celcom has received its fair share
of flak on their ARPU churn and
profit margin
But with all that’s
happening what’s interesting is
Celcom’s competitive attitude 
they are prepared for anything
that the war has to offer
And they
are not about to let up anytime
soon
The next two years will tell
though!
So an assured Michael had this to
say ‘At the end of the day it’s not
about us but about the customer

We provide the power to truly
connect
But what they do with it
to enrich life it’s always in their
hands!’
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18 BRAND

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BelowtheLineBrandingBy Raghunath
WWW
FBI
COM
MY


WE
often visit websites for obvious
reasons
But this one took us for
one heck of an interesting ride!
The modest animation is worth a
trip!
And the man behind it all is no
greenhorn
Vincent Lee and his
team can drumup surefire ideas to
enhance your customerbrand
connection in no time through on
ground promotional services and
events

His repertoire of services  road
shows product launches contest
management sampling programs
product demos instore gondola
end merchandising design of
point of sale materials and
fabricating showcases and road
show structures

And in the battlefield belowthe
line customer engagement tactics
have become a force to be
reckoned with

Clutter in the media environment
powerful retailers with an eye on
KPIs eroding differentiation
between brands the tendency for
brand builders to realign budgets
for favorable ROI the high cost of
media advertising sophisticated
customers expecting relevant
brand experiences  a mixture that
triggers the need for alternative
methods of communication; add
to the list the crusading disposition
of belowtheline specialist firms
such as FBI or Fabulous Business
Ideas

Vincent is FBI’s founder as well as
creative & marketing director
A
passionate
veteran
fmcg
marketer the man comes with
matching skills that’s hard to find

The kind of jobs he has been
through after having left art
college with flying colors includes
sales production of commercials
account
management
merchandizing
brand
management as well as advertising
& promotions

As employee he has worked with
top brand owning firms an
advertising agency a production
house as well as a trading firm
Add
to that the heavyweight retail
connections nationwide and what
any client is likely to gain are
potent AtoZ solutions
And
sometime in between he topped
his personal portfolio with a
marketing qualification

It’s a journey that started in the
early s and took a different
tangent in  when Vincent
unveiled FBI a promotion and
event management agency
It’s
been five years; his client list reads
like a whoswho in the consumer
marketing arena

‘My forte is in developing
organizing and executing tactical
promotion activities for client
brands
It is my intense experience
that helps me to understand my
client’s objectives and strategic
direction
FBI’s goal is to support
clients with onestop promotional
solutions’ said Vincent

Fabulous
Business
An increasingly cluttered media
environment is driving brand builders
to interface with customers via
onground activities
ideas

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18
BRANDEQUITY 19
More than ever speed is a source
of competitive advantage

‘Concept to execution we can get
everything up and running within
a week or two’ said Vincent

Can logistics cope? ‘That will
depend upon the client as well’ he
said
‘A large campaign requires
negotiations with retailers to book
and block space
Once that is taken
care of a wellequipped sales force
supported by a
team of
merchandizers can coordinate to
execute the campaign efficiently
’
Point is


Vincent knows his
business and the potential that lies
ahead
He opined that since
consumers have numerous
options ‘


it is important for brand
owners to organize innovative
road shows create an enticing
look secure the customer’s
attention and get them closer to
the booth and brand
’
He stressed that onground brand
building events are one powerful
tool that manufacturers neglect
save for a few that understand its
deliverables
Perhaps the usual
about which portion of your ad
budget really delivered comes into
play here
A blind spot is a regular
with all marketing campaigns

‘Brand builders can see immediate
results if they are willing to
commit a fraction of their budget
for belowtheline campaigns’ said
Vincent

And what
about
budget
constraints? Assured Vincent
‘Creative campaigns can be
tweaked to accommodate smaller
budgets as well
’
Vincent can be contacted at
vlee@fbi
com
my
From
idea generation
to
execution
belowtheline
campaigns involve coordinating a
range of key activities

Case in point  a contest must be
supported by of a team of
promotional staff
Add to that the
sourcing of premium gifts
planning contest mechanics
developing contest creatives
managing the contest period
securing supporting sponsors and
retailers designing and producing
pointofsale materials planning
instore merchandizing designing
and printing trade presenters for
the sales team to rope in retailers
advertising to create awareness as
well as present details about the
contest

The sourcing and negotiations
that follow soon after and
eventual coordination of inbound
supplies
and
onground
coordination of activities to
support successful execution  will
brand owners free up their time to
manage the show themselves?
And can FBI deliver a total
solution?
‘A typical belowtheline project
may be executed at several
locations
Each retail or concourse
area with different character may
require adaptation of ideas and
pointofsale materials
Our full
service capability is enabled by our
connections with a comprehensive
network of retailers printers and
premium suppliers
In addition
FBI has a team of creative people
supervisors and  promoters on
standby to deliver anytime
anywhere’ explained Vincent

But there is more to Vincent’s
adventure
Is your brand pressed
for time? Are competitors playing
catchup too fast? Are consumers
getting edgy because they want
more from your brand? Are they
hardup for enriching experiences?
Is the management screaming for
more ROI way before the year is
up? Are retailers demanding to
getyourbrandsacttogether or
else?
Vincent Lee
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20 BRAND

EQUITY
FBI’s Noteworthy
Campaigns
The intent was to strengthen
Johnson Baby’s presence and
increase
sales volume
A
nationwide road show got
underway
So dig this  Happy
parents were enticed with an offer
by J&J to give
their baby a
haircut
A shot of
the ‘event’ was
framed
along
with a lock of the
baby’s hair
And
purchasing
a
bottle of the brand’s shampoo was
part of the happy deal
FBI helped
to execute the road show at 
locations nationwide receiving
overwhelming support from
consumers and the trade

The idea was to get the brand moving forward
The focus was
on caring for our ‘backs’
Endorsements were secured from expert
chiropractors
The brand Dreamland introduced a premium range
that came with an advanced Miracoil spring system
Alongside
provocative and evocative ads consumers were invited to
participate in a blind test on the mattress stripped of padding
and interestingly consumers feedback was positive for factors
such as firm support and less partner disturbance
Market share
increased and sales doubled within months of the campaign

The objective was to execute a talkofthetown event for the launch of Neutrogena Facial Hydration Mask

An executive coach transformed into a mobile facial spa invited consumers on board at over
 high traffic
locations in the Klang Valley to experience minutes of free facial and demonstration
The deliverables?
High impact and positive consumer response!
A new range from the brand required
the support of a high impact ground
event
The hero of the product was
its dualmicroscrubbers cleansing
system
Highlights of the event
executed at major shopping malls
in the Klang Valley included a free
skin analysis to consumers
followed by a demonstration to
explain the brand’s features
A
giant microscrubbers chamber
was developed and consumers
were invited to participate in a
‘Grab
the Mircoscrubber
Challenge’ & win instant prizes
with proof of purchase
Response
and
sales
were
beyond
expectations

JOHNSON’S BABY ‘SNIP
SNAP SMILE’
DREAMLAND CHIROPRACTIC MATTRESSES
NEUTROGENA MOBILE FACIAL SPA
CLEAN & CLEAR DAILY PORE CLEANSER
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20
BRANDEQUITY 21
A first time ever for a diaper brand to roll out a nationwide sampling
program at PLUS highway R&R stops offering free diapers change for
travelers with babies to a fresh comfortable Drypers diaper for a better
journey home
The sampling exercise was rolled out for a period of 
weeks during the school term holidays
The result? High response that
enticed many new users

The intent was to introduce a new
improved formula and strengthen
the brand’s position
A Scratch &
Win contest to win instant prizes
was executed
The purchase of an
Anlene Gold pack was rewarded
with a healthscreening package
which was redeemable at
concourse and road show venues
nationwide
High sales turnover
was delivered throughout the
promo period

The big idea was to reinforce brand awareness and educate
consumers on fun ways to enjoy Next Fruit Milk
A
Mediterranean style mobile cafe bar was consigned to serve the
product to consumers and distribute new recipe leaflets
 days
and the sampled cups exceeded


The relaunched Stayfree brand needed
to demonstrate the effectiveness of a
new feature  its  antileak channels

An interactive game challenge was
planned in which consumers were
invited to play and score
Participants
won the New! Stayfree pack instantly
and samples were also distributed

What followed was the heightened
interest of new users and increasing
sales

The big idea was to get children closer
to the brand
Targeted at school kids
aged to  a ‘search color and count
chickens’ contest was organized and
prizes given away included a ps game
console
In addition selected winners
were also given the opportunity to
attend a free course at FutureKids a
leading IT school for children

The introduction of Brand’s new range of Health Supplements via
a roadshow & concourse event
A comprehensive ground event
concept was deployed to lure consumers to visit Brand’s roadshow
at selected shopping centers in various market centers
They
received free Screening of cholesterol level blood glucose blood
pressure and fat analysis
Over  of people tested were instantly
converted to customers
It was the first time that Cerebos Malaysia
adopted an onground program
The overwhelming result proved
that roadshows were effective in both brand building and
generating instant sales

The objective of this consumer contest was to further strengthen
Drypers’ market share and drive incremental sales within a month
period
A simple and easy to enter consumer contest with big prizes
was the strategy
Two MPVs were the grand prizes to be won
It was
supported with both above & below the line activities massive instore
merchandising and a mega display with the presence of the Naza Ria
MPVs as a prime temptation
The contest received overwhelming
response and generated over  entries
Market share reached an
all time high

ANLENE GOLD
CONCOURSE EVENT
STAYFREE INSTORE
PROMOTION
NEXT FRUIT MILK
SAMPLING
DRYPERS ‘PERADUAN PANDU RIA’
DRYPERS ‘PIT STOP’ SAMPLING
BRAND’S HEALTH SUPPLEMENT
BRAND’S ESSENCE OF CHICKEN
FOR JUNIOR
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21
22 BRAND

EQUITY
By Raghunath
C O N T E N T  G A T E W A Y 
interactivity webbased short
code customized manager plug
nplay


if the spread isn’t all that
familiar it’s possible that you are
not up to speed about the future

Yes the future!
But the need to know becomes
pressing if you are keen to ascend
your brand position
Undoubtedly
these indelible expressions have
become part of the contemporary
brand building landscape

And just one compelling reason
will do to impress the need for
getting
into the act and
contemporarising your brand
building initiatives  last year a
whopping 
 billion ( bil in year
 ) SMS messages went back
and forth between individuals in
Malaysia
Secondly mobile phone
ownership enjoys a penetration
rate of more than 
( )
So we shift gear right about now
to surmise that as a loyal Da Ma
Cai (formerly known as Pan
Malaysian Pools) customer your
senses get tickled twice a month
with random luckypick numbers
in English or Chinese! And the
gaming company relays the
numbers to your mobile phone

MobileMarketingSolutionsSolutions
with Limitless
Possibilities
A mobile business
solutions provider
offers a repertoire
of empowering
real-time tools for
engaging customers
Jasmine Lee
BE pagination
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22
BRANDEQUITY 23
Soon after you’d like to get an
update on your BonusLink points

Just do the SMS thingy and the
numbers are beamed in an instant

Or zip an SMS for interesting
downloads from Samsung’s Fun
Club
Or you’ve decided to
participate in a contest organized
by some weighty global brand via
SMS

What you’ve been served is a
sample from the seemingly endless
list of opportunities that await
brand builders within the mobile
marketing environment
And the
enablers include Malaysia’s
aggressive telcos other firms that
provide content plus those that
furnish the right tools or
applications
to
facilitate
communication between brand
builders and their endcustomers

Enter MNC Wireless Berhad a
leader in mobile business solutions
and an acknowledged ‘tool’
provider that delivers innovative
multiple solutions designed to
bridge the gap between your
brand and its customers

Innovative yes; but adoption by
local marketers is another matter
altogether
Did the journey
present
challenges?
‘We
commenced operations in July
 and were one of few offering
mobile marketing solutions

Marketers had a tough time
understanding the possibilities and
benefits offered by the mobile
marketing
environment

Regretably SMS was alluded to
spamming
In addition marketers
did not see the benefit even
though SMS was more cost
effective than email marketing or
banner advertisements’ said
Jasmine Lee founder and CEO of
MNC Wireless

That view coming from a veteran
bears considerable merit
Jasmine
then a pioneer played a pivotal
role in shaping the industry’s
growth
Within a short period of
time she has acquired the support
of large clients such as TV  Pan
Malaysian Pools Motorola
Unilever BonusLink as well as
ntv

‘We hit upon the idea that
developing and marketing
softwarebased tools as the engine
for managing the customerbrand
connection within the mobile
marketing environment was the
right business to be in’ she added

And times have changed; the
marketer’s adoption of SMS and
mobile marketing is at an all time
high with room to develop and
MNC is on track

According to Jasmine MNC
Wireless is well on its way to
becoming the Microsoft of the
mobile marketing domain
‘We
have built standard platforms for
brand builders and marketing
companies to enable customer
communications within the
mobile domain and to date they
have delivered’ she explained

Much of what their platforms can
do is about empowering brand
builders to take charge and
communicate
with
their
customers at any time and at their
own pace

In the earlier days clients had to
direct MNC to create and send
messages
The process was
considerably lengthy and client
servicing called for backnforth
communications before messages
could be sent to customers

Empowerment and responsibility
have their say in corporate
structures; befitting MNC’s mobile
solutions proposition

So you’d like to harnass the power
of mobile communications or
specifically SMS marketing
Call
MNC and are likely to do a need
analysis to help you get underway

You can get some advice on the
specifics
of
database
management including data
cleaning and updating

It’s like plugnplay and very DIY

MNC moves their software into
your system builds an Internet
interface and all you have to do is
open the system with a password
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23
24 BRAND

EQUITY
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

‘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@mnc
com
my
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24
BRANDEQUITY 25
A Sampling of Mobile Marketing
Possibilities by Industry
(Supplied by MNC Wireless)
Financial 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 Dealers / Manufacturers /
Service 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 Estate / Property 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
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 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
* 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 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
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25
26 BRAND

EQUITY
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)
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 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
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
The MNC
Repertoire
BE pagination
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26
BRANDEQUITY 27
Multidisciplinary
ROI-centric
Communications
By Seelen Sakran
THE HOLY GRAIL THESE DAYS
in marketing communications is
the ability to provide one
stop
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 Asia
Pacific office in down town
KL to initiate its combined
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 Asia
Pacific 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
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
ContemporaryCommunications
Arc Worldwide rolls out a slew of
communication disciplines to deliver
potent results for aspiring brands
Charles Cadell
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27
28 BRAND

EQUITY
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

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
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BRANDEQUITY 29
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
It was crucial to monitor and
adjust all the communication
mediums in order to maximise
reach and efficiency to meet the
set objectives
Virgin Credit Card
Arc in Australia delivers for Virgin’s new credit
card with a bang

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
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30 BRAND

EQUITY
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
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
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
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!’
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32 BRAND

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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
BrandLawCopyright
Consequences
Presenting the ninth in a
series for defending
brand value right from
creation
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?
&

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BRANDEQUITY 33
* Whether it is of a commercial
nature or for non
profit
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 
“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 
“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 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:
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
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BRANDEQUITY 35
RelationshipMarketingBy 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
The Proof of
the Pudding
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 B
to

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

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36 BRAND

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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
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
‘leave
them
alone’
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 cross
sell 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 cross
sell 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

 

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38 BRAND

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By Seelen Sakran
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
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
Kong
based 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
Brand AmbassadorIt’s All
In The Stars
‘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’

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BRANDEQUITY 39
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’
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
‘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 singer
cum
actress like Amy
Mastura to Erra Fazira have been
chosen to be the ambassador for
Lux products
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
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40 BRAND

EQUITY
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
it
girl 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
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 non
competing 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 one
step
further Like at US
based
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 US
based
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!
Lim adds a good
example of a
company that
chooses the right
people is Nike which
selects only top
notch sportsmen and
sportswomen
‘
‘
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42 BRAND

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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

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

CustomerLoyaltyTruly Loyal
Customers
do not Have
to be Bought!
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
By Matt Hasan Ph
D

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BRANDEQUITY 43
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’ i
e
 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
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

Author 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 A
T

Kearney IBM and AT&T
For more information on this and related topics
he can be reached via email: mhasan@sigillumcorporation
com
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 e
g

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
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43
44 BRAND

EQUITY
MarketResearchTracking Brand
Performance
A research
agency with
extended arms
offers a potent
tool to track
brand equity
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

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
‘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

Steve Murphy
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44
BRANDEQUITY 45
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 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
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
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
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

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 of the 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
The Momentum Engine
identifies the customers with the most potential to increase their
spending. And shows you how to reach them.
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46 BRAND

EQUITY
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 of 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 Presence
A significant number of local
brand custodians have taken
positively to brand tracking
measurement systems across all
sectors
Many of the leading
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

It’s taken a lot of resources to position your
brand where it is today.
And where exactly is that
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48 BRAND

EQUITY
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
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
INCREASING
MARKETSHARE AND
PROFIT MARGINS:
SALES-CENTRED TO
BRAND-CENTERED
COMPANY
and global markets
There 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:
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

By Cseng Lim
SMEBranding
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BRANDEQUITY 49
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
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

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
Common Marketing
Startegy
Advertising
Advertises the products or services
being sold directly to the market.
The typical ‘Buy Me’ persuasion
spread all over the ad piece
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
‘No need lar’ Waste of money
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.
Positioning
‘No need lar’; The product / service
is sure to sell since we are the
cheapest and customers need
it anyway.
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.
Pricing
We are the cheapest in town and
will continue to offer the cheapest
price so that we can realize sales.
Price = Cost + Profit
Our pricing represents our customers’
experiential, social and psychological value
statement.
Price = Cost + Profit + Psychological Value +
Experiential Value + Innovation Value
People and Selling
Approaches
Sales people trying to make a living
off sales commission.
‘Anything Goes’ policy for sale
approaches.
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.
Sales Business Process
“What does it have to do with
building market share or selling?”
Customers buy, we invoice then we
collect - that is the process.
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.
Merchandising and Store
Atmospherics
So long as they are a lot of varieties
for customers to choose and cosy
atmosphere will do just fine.
Carefully designed merchandising plans that are
locale-specific and invest in the branded
atmospheric experience guided by the brand’s
identities.
Distribution
Products are distributed in any
channel at any locale so long it
ended up in sales.
Distribution channels are carefully assessed based
on several criteria but the more important
criteria are chnnel profitability and
brand-channel association relevance.
Packaging and
Aesthetics
So long as it is presentable.
No need to spend money on this.
Customer experince and emotional
attachment is important. Packaging and
aesthetics are designed to deliver the
brand image.
Sales-Driven Approach
Brand-Driven Approach
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