Telecom NZ appoints Roberts
Telecom New Zealand has named Saatchi & Saatchi global chief executive officer Kevin Roberts as a board director, in a bid to enhance marketing and branding expertise at the organisation. THINGS WE LIKE...
* Nike US ad
The new Nike ad with Marvin Gaye and the 'Redeem team' Olympic basketball players is the sort of advertising we wish we came across more often. Visually referencing civil rights rallies as the Sexual Healer serenades the land of the free, it's goosebump-raising stuff (even for non-Americans). Critics say it's basic - but sometimes, a simple idea exceptionally executed does the trick.
* Branded mooncakes
Mooncakes for China's mid-Autumn festival are typically travel- sized heart attacks, but it's good to see brands playing with the snacks. Our particular favourites are the Haagen-Dazs ice-cream mooncakes and the miniature cakes produced by Hong Kong hotel The Peninsula. One thing's for sure-we'll need a post-festival diet.
Chinasmack-com
Want to know what's going on in China? Try chinasmack.com, which serves up mainland message-boards translated into English. "Cultural voyeurism is fun," the site says. It's also an essential resource for marketers pondering the Confucian underpinnings of vital topics such as ' The Mummy 3: Insult to China and Chinese people?'.
* Green polar bears
Japan's algae-dyed polar bears at Higashiyama Zoo are environmental mascots waiting to happen. Berlin zoo's Knut was cute, but he wasn't actually green. We're waiting for some lucrative endorsement deals from greenwashing corporations all over the region.
...AND ONE WE DON'T
The Olympics
Yes, it was a huge success. Yes, it was the biggest marketing event China has ever seen. But that was last month. We're starting to tire of our inboxes being filled on a daily basis by post- Olympic research reports. Coke, Li-Ningand Lenovo did well; Johnson & Johnson and Kodak didn't. Let's leave it at that.
Fila aims tor affluent appeal in first China campaign
SHANGHAI Fila has launched its first marketing campaign in China since appointing BBH, rolling out a print and outdoor drive for its fall/winter collections.
The campaign focuses on tennis, yoga,skiing and golf, targeting affluent Chinese consumers. The campaign's theme, 'Society', attempts to evoke the shared enjoyment of sports with friends, as well as the elite nature of Fila.
"Fila is a fashionable sports brand, but not about playing sports and sweating like dogs," said BBH China associate account director Chiew Ling Tan. "We are really for people who wear Fila for a leisurely game of golf or tennis."
The print ad is running in fashion magazines like VogueandElle,as well as sports-related magazines, until the end of December. Media buying is being handled in-house, BBH is also providing creative suggestions on marketing events and shop design of Fila's 85 stores.
STAT TO STEAL
24%
...Japan's online adspend growth in 2007, meaning the sector has now overtaken magazines
Olympus picks Kaneshiro for new brand campaign
HONGKONG Olympus has chosen Asian film starTakeshi Kaneshiro to endorse its latest branding campaign in China and Taiwan.The campaign promotes Olympus' autumn/winter launch of its compact digital camera series - a new range of slimmer, sleek cameras with more advanced functions.
Created by Turn and media partner Dentsu, Kaneshiro is being framed as the main focus in the campaign, via a 30-second TVC, OOH, print,and an interactive microsite.The theme behind the campaign is'change'.
Tony Hon, partner of Turn said: "The concept encourages Chinese consumers to take a bold discovery of the brand, a brand of technological art and real beauty."
SOUNDBITE
"I can confirm that the Chinese brand Snow is now the largest beer brand in the world"
i-Q
THE INTERNET QUESTION
ShouldanMNCbrand sponsor China's'Bird's Nest'national stadium?
It might not make sense to spend that type of money. The question is not so much nationalism but the type of events that might be held there. Are they really going to be the type of events that will attract the attention of Chinese consumers? Also I doubt people will change what they call it-the 'Bird's Nest1 is a I ready in the general lexicon of consumers.
ShauiReh
No brand is big enough to be placed on top of the 'Bird's Nest'. I cannot imagine adidas or Coke as part of the Louvre museum. Neither can I imagine it becoming P&G Times Square. There are places that belong to people and the people only.
ZoeTan
This issue is cannon fodder for Chinese social media 'cyber nationalists' will have a field day. If there is indeed an RFP for the naming, it will be delayed fora yearortwo, after the Olympics afterglow has faded. By 2010, most Chinese will be focused on Expo and the Asian Games.
DarrenBums
The question is not only how much sponsorship could be generated from the'Bird's Nest', but what its function would be after the Paralympics. The capacity of 110,000 is too big for concerts.
StevenChang
MEDIA i-Qs
Will the US financial meltdown hit media spend In Asia? Have your say on next issue's HJ at lnternetquestion.blogspot.com
Copyright Haymarket Business Publications Ltd. Sep 18, 2008
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