CReATION: Controversy swirling around O&M's racy ads for online guide doAsia

<p>Ogilvy & Mather Singapore has just launched a print ad campaign for </p><p>doAsia.com, an online no-holds-barred city guide to bars, clubs and </p><p>restaurants, revelling in controversy and attitude. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The ad that launched the company was barred from the Asian Wall Street </p><p>Journal (AWSJ) and sparked a high-level meeting at the International </p><p>Herald Tribune before it was agreed that it could run. It was accepted </p><p>by Business Week. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>According to O&M, the reason given by the AWSJ was because it featured </p><p>transvestites. The journal felt that these kinds of people were not </p><p>appropriate for their readers. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"The fact that the AWSJ banned the ad is ridiculous," said Mr Andy </p><p>Greenaway, executive creative director at O&M, which created the </p><p>campaign. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"The message we're delivering is completely relevant to the service </p><p>provided by doAsia. The characters in the ad are real people in a real </p><p>bar. It's real life and I can't see why AWSJ would shy away from reality </p><p>and pretend this kind of world doesn't exist." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Created on a budget of S$500,000 (US$300,000) for four </p><p>print ads and Zo cards, the campaign has a dual purpose, Mr Greenaway </p><p>told CReATION. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>To capture the interest of doAsia's target audience of professionals, </p><p>businessmen, as well as potential future investors, and to get talked </p><p>about. That is why an irreverent, humorous, satirical and pointed style </p><p>was used, reflecting the attitude of the reviews, and creating the </p><p>founding characteristics of the brand, he said. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Headquartered in Singapore, doAsia claims to feature more than 2,000 </p><p>reviews taken from an online community of residents across Asia. These </p><p>are compiled and presented by anonymous editors in Hong Kong, Singapore, </p><p>Bombay, Bangkok, Manila, Tokyo, Beijing and Shanghai. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The information can be accessed through mobile phones and its website </p><p>(www.doasia.com). </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Its WAP service is available to users in Singapore, the Philippines and </p><p>Hong Kong. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>By courting controversy and leveraging on the PR opportunities, doAsia </p><p>appears to have stretched their dollars further and formed the </p><p>foundations of their brand. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>O&M regional director Tim Isaac said too many companies had been </p><p>spending wildly to seek further investment and "put their name up in </p><p>lights rather than build brand values". </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"Spending has not been sales-driven or on building a brand, but on a </p><p>brand name and building confidence to go to IPO," he said. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"It is cloud-cuckoo land. People haven't stopped to look at brand equity </p><p>or positioning, other than to the financial community. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"It was difficult to see what many dotcoms were offering and what their </p><p>identity would ever be. The dotcom collapse hasn't arrived here yet, but </p><p>I'm sure it will happen. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"Financial heartache is just round the corner. There won't be so many </p><p>buses being painted as in the past 12 months as spending contracts." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Among O&M's other dotcom clients are Indigoz, Asiatravelmart, Netlock </p><p>and Giant Oak.Giant Oak is an ecommerce search engine that trawls the </p><p>Internet for appropriate content to match its users' profiles, and is a </p><p>JV between Andersen Consulting and Overseas Union Bank (OUB). </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Giant Oak will have its consumer launch in late October. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>