Asia to drive Concert global ad campaign

<p>Concert has kept its communications message as simple as ABC in its </p><p>global advertising launch campaign, which broke at the end of January </p><p>soon after its joint-venture partners secured regulatory approval. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>In a significant move for the region, the campaign was developed and </p><p>will be driven out of Asia, as Concert - run as a "virtual corporation" </p><p>- has based its advertising and brand management responsibilities in </p><p>Hong Kong. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Owned equally by AT&T and British Telecom, the new company said the </p><p>campaign was deliberately kept simple to drive home the message that the </p><p>JV was best positioned among global telecom alliances to simplify the </p><p>delivery of global communications. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"Our positioning is simplicity in communications, which is why we have </p><p>chosen to start with the letters of the alphabet," said Concert </p><p>vice-president for advertising and brand management, Jean Liu. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"With Concert, communications is as simple as ABC." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The alphabet-based campaign also allowed Concert to communicate its </p><p>pedigree heritage, which Ms Liu said was a happy coincidence. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Ms Liu said there was another advantage in keeping the launch message </p><p>simple - "the campaign was easily adapted for our key markets around the </p><p>world", she pointed out. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The campaign broke in print and cyberspace in more than 20 countries </p><p>throughout Asia, Europe and North America. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Targeted at the world's largest corporate customers, carriers and </p><p>Internet service providers, the ads appear in leading business </p><p>publications, including The Economist, Fortune, Handlesblatt, Asahi </p><p>Shimbun, The Wall Street Journal and The Financial Times. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The print blitz will last four weeks, and will be supported by a </p><p>six-week outdoor and a six to eight-week interactive campaign. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Ms Liu said the Internet - despite its promise of personalised </p><p>one-on-one interaction was the more difficult portion to execute. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"We focused on sites frequented by IT executives and CEOs," Ms Liu said, </p><p>adding that the wide scope of the Web made it difficult to narrow down </p><p>the final selection. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"With the Internet, there is also no data or empirical evidence to guide </p><p>you." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Young & Rubicam, which is AT&T's brand agency, developed the print </p><p>campaign as Concert's agency of record. Y&R has allocated two sets of </p><p>resources to service the AT&T and Concert accounts, with a "firewall </p><p>between them". </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Despite having to coordinate input from around the world for the </p><p>campaign's creation, Ms Liu said the development process - carried out </p><p>over email and video conferencing - entailed minimum fuss, taking just </p><p>four weeks from concept to execution. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"We needed the best possible advertising partner, with world-class </p><p>branding expertise and global reach, which is why we have chosen Young & </p><p>Rubicam as our agency," said Ms Liu. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The interactive portion of the campaign was handle by Modem Media Poppe </p><p>Tyson. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>