Celebrity campaigns fall out of favour with HK viewers

<p>HONG KONG: Splashy celebrity-laden campaigns are losing their </p><p>popularity to muppets and special effects animation among viewers. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>At the ATV's 7th Annual Most Popular TV Commercial Awards 2000, Grey's </p><p>"Three Little Pigs" commercial for Property Street, a Sun Hung Kai </p><p>website, blew away celebrity competitors, including Leon Lai and Faye </p><p>Wong to win the Highest Distinction TVC Award. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The M&M chocolateTVC which used special effects animation also took home </p><p>a prize. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Meanwhile, the number of celebrity commercials which were big hits - as </p><p>determined by Hong Kong residents who voted for their favourite </p><p>television ads by mail, fax and email - fell to two from three last </p><p>year. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The only two to win are Andy Lau appearing for an Ericsson campaign and </p><p>Tony Leung for San Miguel. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The declining power of celebrities has been attributed to overuse and </p><p>high costs. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Agencies say this isn't a bad thing - money that would have gone into </p><p>the pockets of the stars can be used for other marketing and promotional </p><p>activities. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Grey creative director Simon Fung said that the production cost for the </p><p>"Three Little Pigs" TVC was more than HKdollars 1 million (about </p><p>USdollars 129,000). </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"By not employing a celebrity to participate in the TVC, we produced </p><p>significant savings for the client." "Three Little Pigs" made its debut </p><p>in a crowded market, with more than 150 sites launched three months </p><p>ahead of it. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>McDonald's was another big winner, pulling in two prizes. According to </p><p>McDonald's Hong Kong marketing director Amy Tang, the two television </p><p>commercials, "traffic jam" and "button up", successfully used a </p><p>"friendly mood" to promote the brand name. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Other winners included Kowloon Motor Bus' "Popularity" TVC, Vitasoy's </p><p>"Getting into conversation", "Welcome" for Hardee's and PCCW's </p><p>"IDD0060-Kisses". </p><p><BR><BR> </p>