ANALYSIS: Can jeweller's midas touch help turn garbage to gold? - Just Gold is refreshing its image in Taiwan, but the juxtaposition of jewellery and trash is a strange one, reports Glenn Smith

Can garbage sell gold? A leading jeweller in Taiwan clearly believes there's a pot of gold to be made by linking the two. In a marked departure from the soft focus images favoured by the category, Just Gold has turned to garbage to provide a startling contrast to its elegant product line. The juxtaposition is a strange one, but it's deemed necessary. The brand - which last year tallied sales of NTdollars 1.2 billion (USdollars 37 million) in two Taipei stores and 14 department store boutiques - is apparently the victim of its own success. Rita Wang, marketing director for Just Gold, says: "We target women between the ages of 20 and 39, but young girls look at us as very high-end. High-end means the young segment sees us as old." The Bates Advertising-created campaign shows an attractive young woman, who appears to be getting ready for a date, at her dresser, choosing a gold accessory. The scene then shifts to the curb where the woman appears to be waiting for her date. The clincher comes when an elderly woman calls out: "Miss, you're dressed so beautifully for taking out the garbage?" With a knowing smile, the young woman replies: "That's right", while the voice-over concludes: "Beauty needs no reason." The garbage angle is the latest in a series of unexpected scenarios which Just Gold has thrown at Taiwanese women in the past eight years. Michelle Tsai, group account director of Bates Taiwan, says: "We needed a new interpretation - a new look for the brand. The core qualities of the brand - what we call 'Just Woman' - is unchanged. Our message is always a challenge: stand up and be yourself. But society changes fast, as do women's attitudes toward jewellery." Will the latest campaign keep the jeweller in sync with shifting perceptions? Just Gold has proven adept in keeping in step with the market in the past. The weight of tradition in local gold retailing was stacked against the new brand when it launched in Taiwan in 1993. Back then, there were 4,000 mom-and-pop gold shops; most were located near temples or outdoor markets. Storefronts displayed heavy gold rings and necklaces bearing dragon and phoenix characters for longevity and wealth, as well as statutes of Buddhist deities and astrological signs. Inside, on a wall behind the counter was the day's buy/sell price from the spot market. Taiwan was a 24 carat gold market. Gold items were sold by weight, with a minimal mark-up for workmanship. Since 24 carat gold is too soft to handle settings for diamonds or other gems, fashion remained a remote second to its value as a metal. In light of these problems, it was surprising no one had tried to brand or market gold jewellery in a modern way. Says Wang: "The Chinese in Taiwan love gold. It is a symbol of luck, wealth and social position, just as it is in Hong Kong and China." As its namesake parent had done in Hong Kong two years earlier, Just Gold believed it could bring a sparkle to gold retailing in Taiwan. "What we offered was gold that was wearable," says Wang. "We had the same modern styles that Taiwanese women shopped for in Hong Kong: designs that an office lady could find to suit the day's outfit." Half a year later, Just Gold had its first Taipei store. Sales hit NTdollars 250 million in 1994, more than doubling in 1995 to dollars 680 million. As the retailer added outlets in department stores, sales jumped 10 per cent annually, passing the billion dollar milestone last year, in a market worth dollars 40 billion. Key to the company's success is its advertising. Recalling its first campaign in the spring of 1994, Wang says: "We needed impact so we went with a celebrity. Faye Wong typified the modern woman - someone unafraid to be herself." The China-born singer was deemed perfect for communicating Just Gold's core brand value of being 'Just Woman', a tagline that works better in Chinese. The 1994 and later 1997 campaigns were created by Bates Hong Kong for use in both Hong Kong and Taiwan. Visually, the 1994 TVC was simple. Faye Wong appeared before the camera while subtitles asked: 'Do you care about work, or about making babies? Do you want to be attractive or intelligent? Do you care what others think, or do you want to be yourself?' "There were no answers," says Tsai of previous campaigns. "We were just tossing out questions." The provocative nature of these campaigns helped draw Taiwanese women to the brand in the '90s, according to Tsai. But in a society where women's roles are changing fast, a few years makes a big difference. "People were beginning to see Just Gold as a brand for the women of yesterday," Tsai adds. "We needed to attract women aged 20 to 25, or even younger, because we sell fashion, not premium jewellery." Enter the garbage campaign. "Actually, you can't see a truck or a bag, but everyone knows what is going on from the music," says Tsai. In Taipei, sanitation trucks blare pop classics over loudspeakers. At the time of its launch, garbage was in fact on everybody's mind. The campaign launched two months after the start of Taipei's first - and sometimes controversial - effort to recycle household trash. According to Wang, the TVC is bringing younger women to the brand. She claimed that the campaign also enjoys strong recall. "Sometimes I'm at one of our department store boutiques, and I overhear someone talking on their mobile, giving directions, saying: 'You know, I'm at that jewellery store ... the one about throwing out the garbage." The world's oldest advertising medium is fast defining outdoor as a high impact, low cost alternative to traditional media. the emergence of exceptional creative work these past few years has led media magazine to establish the asian outdoor advertising awards - rewarding work that sets new standards for professionals in the advertising and marketing industry through innovative thinking and effective use of the medium. the asian outdoor advertising awards consists of over 20 categories, and work from china, hong kong, japan, india, indochina, indonesia, korea, malaysia, the philippines, singapore, taiwan and thailand will be judged by a panel of top regional and international talent. we're looking for the best work you've produced - creative that takes the outdoor medium to a higher level and reflects "thinking outside the box". the outdoor canvas offers immense possibilities - and we're waiting to see how well you've used it. good luck! ASIAN OUTDOOR ADVERTISING AWARDS 2001 a. use of conventional space individual entries 1 best individual poster 2 best use of transit advertising 3 best use of transport stations or terminals 4 best billboards/sign boards 5 best use of ultravision campaign entries/a campaign consists of 3 or more entries in any one of the following categories 6 best use of bus advertising 7 best use of rail transit advertising 8 best use of taxi advertising 9 best use of transport stations 10 best billboards b. use of non-conventional space individual entries 1 most innovative use of outdoor media 2 best use of street furniture campaign entries/a campaign consists of 3 or more entries in any one of the following categories 3 most innovative use of outdoor media 4 best use of street furniture c. craft and usage/single entries only 1 best use of illustration 2 best use of photography 3 best use of typography 4 best art direction 5 best english copywriting 6 best chinese copywriting d. best of the best 1 best campaign using conventional outdoor media 2 best individual piece using conventional outdoor media 3 best campaign using non-conventional outdoor media 4 best individual piece using non-conventional outdoor media 5 best of the best entries are encouraged for sections a, b and c. section d cannot be entered as winners will be chosen by the judges from the best in the other sections. all entries together with fees and completed entry forms should be couriered to ms. euphen wong or ms. heidi poon/asian outdoor advertising awards/media and marketing ltd. 6/f, phase II, ming an plaza, 8 sunning road, causeway bay, hong kong. tel: (852) 2577-2628, fax: (852) 2576-9171, email: awards@media.com.hk. HOW TO ENTER deadline entry deadline is july 13, 2001. PAYMENT each entry should be accompanied by an entry fee of usdollars 60/hkdollars 460, and each campaign entry, usdollars 80/hkdollars 620. cheques and bank drafts should be made payable to media & marketing ltd.

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