Batey wins expanded Malee branding brief

<p>BANGKOK: Established Thai producer of canned fruit and vegetable </p><p>juices Malee Sampran has set an ambitious target of becoming a regional </p><p>brand by 2003. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The company has awarded Batey Advertising the brief to build up its </p><p>regional brand profile. The agency has been handling Malee's Thai </p><p>business for the past eight years. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Malee has earmarked 10 per cent of its 100 million baht (USdollars 2.2 </p><p>million) marketing budget to promote the brand in regional markets. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Malee marketing manager, B. Adisak, said the company is in a strong </p><p>position to push for a larger market share in established consumer </p><p>markets such as Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia as well as the </p><p>emerging Myanmar, and Vietnam markets. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"We already have factories and distributors in all those markets," he </p><p>said, pointing to the company's multinational distribution system </p><p>headquartered in Kuala Lumpur. Adisak added: "The products are there, </p><p>they just need to be promoted under the Malee brand name." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The regional launch coincides with Malee's drive to bring its brand </p><p>upmarket in Thailand. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>As part of its first step in building Malee into a regional brand, Batey </p><p>is planning a regional print ad campaign. Yosrod Yod, Batey's account </p><p>executive, said: "We're at the point where we're just introducing the </p><p>company." Yod said the campaign would launch "very soon". </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Despite the very different characteristics of the various target </p><p>countries, the print ads will be identical, at least for now. "The first </p><p>couple of print ads will concentrate on very basic things - Malee's </p><p>corporate background, the products, and the company's policies on using </p><p>quality ingredients," Yod added. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>All print ads will be in English for the time being. "In Hong Kong and </p><p>Singapore, most consumers speak and read English, and in countries like </p><p>Vietnam and Myanmar, it's mostly educated people who buy pre-packaged </p><p>consumer products like Malee," Yod added. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>No other media will be used in the initial campaign, with the exception </p><p>of display booths and possibly some point-of-purchase literature. "We </p><p>may have some banner flags promoting the URL of the Malee website, but </p><p>it's mostly going to be colour print ads in magazines." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>This is in contrast to Malee's much more developed marketing campaigns </p><p>in Thailand, where its products are well-branded and Batey's ads run in </p><p>newspapers and on television and radio. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Almost simultaneous with the regional campaign, Batey is launching a new </p><p>round of ads on Thai media nationwide, to coincide with a major redesign </p><p>of Malee's product packaging. "Our Thai campaign is much larger, </p><p>focusing on brand development based on previous recognition," said </p><p>Yod. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Malee has retained its original logo and typeface in the new packaging, </p><p>but increased its size. It also retained the original colour scheme, </p><p>matching visual choices with specific fruits, but lightening the hues </p><p>for a more upmarket look. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"The company is definitely moving upmarket in Thailand," said Yod. "Our </p><p>new ads are based on projecting a very professional urban image," Yod </p><p>said, citing a radio ad that featured a young woman talking about her </p><p>independence, fast-paced job and the fact that she can "fix her own car </p><p>without a man's help." And her healthy fruit beverage of choice is </p><p>Malee. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>In contrast, previous campaigns focused on Malee's use of quality </p><p>ingredients. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Yod maintained that the regional and Thai promotions are only indirectly </p><p>related. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"They're very different markets at very different stages," he said. "In </p><p>Thailand our competition is very set - in some of these new markets, </p><p>like Myanmar and Vietnam, there's no serious competition at all." </p><p><BR><BR> </p>