CReATION: Saatchi & Saatchi positions MWeb as dotcom pulse
<p>Saatchi & Saatchi Beijing recently set-out to fuel more dotcom
</p><p>frenzy on the mainland, as the creative brains behind a portal launch by
</p><p>South African media consortium MIH, entitled MWeb.com
</p><p>(www.mweb.com.cn).
</p><p><BR><BR>
</p><p>Countering the constraints of China's Web-bound minority - which
</p><p>constitutes only one per cent of the entire population - hinged on
</p><p>localising the brand name to make it relevant to Chinese users; while
</p><p>using it as the core focus of the US$10 million campaign.
</p><p><BR><BR>
</p><p>"MWeb means nothing to the consumers we're talking to, so we had to come
</p><p>up with some local identification," said Megavision director Allan Chou,
</p><p>who masterminded the burst.
</p><p><BR><BR>
</p><p>Re-naming the portal "Pulse 'Net" - with "mai bo" standing for pulse and
</p><p>"wang" for 'Net in Mandarin; also signified "pulse of the times", he
</p><p>added.
</p><p><BR><BR>
</p><p>Ramping up interest for MWeb's Easter launch, an outdoor teaser burst
</p><p>featured the tagline "what's your type?" above the MWeb.com URL.
</p><p><BR><BR>
</p><p>"You really need to be clever in China with advertising messages -
</p><p>because the people you're talking to are largely university students
</p><p>who, in a few years, will be high-income, white collar individuals."
</p><p>Running the pulse theme throughout the campaign, the TVCs - entitled
</p><p>Vase, Basketball, Ice-cream and Kung-fu - feature a mercurial "M"
</p><p>throbbing on each protagonist's pulse-point.
</p><p><BR><BR>
</p><p>In response to China's current outdoor scrum, Mr Chou said the TVCs were
</p><p>a "call-to-action"; inciting user individuality via an intriguing
</p><p>storyline where protagonists stated "I don't want to talk about
</p><p>it ..." when queried about their throbbing "M".
</p><p><BR><BR>
</p><p>"We want people to identify with the site personally," said Mr Chow,
</p><p>stressing that the agency has gone to great lengths to quash
</p><p>similarities between the "M" pulse and tattoos, which held strongly
</p><p>taboo connotations in China.
</p><p><BR><BR>
</p><p>The creative team consisted of acccount director, Allan Chou, account
</p><p>manager, Koji Watanabe and account executive, Roy Xu with strategic
</p><p>planning by Dean Sciole.
</p><p><BR><BR>
</p><p>Creative director was Trefor Thomas, with creative group head Steven
</p><p>Cheng and Eugene Cheok.
</p><p><BR><BR>
</p><p>Magie Tan featured as copywriter, backed by Farouk Jaffrey in the
</p><p>director's seat and production house Planet Films Malaysia.
</p><p><BR><BR>
</p>
by
|
06/23/2000
Saatchi & Saatchi Beijing recently set-out to fuel more dotcom
frenzy on the mainland, as the creative brains behind a portal launch by
South African media consortium MIH, entitled MWeb.com
(www.mweb.com.cn).
Countering the constraints of China's Web-bound minority - which
constitutes only one per cent of the entire population - hinged on
localising the brand name to make it relevant to Chinese users; while
using it as the core focus of the US$10 million campaign.
"MWeb means nothing to the consumers we're talking to, so we had to come
up with some local identification," said Megavision director Allan Chou,
who masterminded the burst.
Re-naming the portal "Pulse 'Net" - with "mai bo" standing for pulse and
"wang" for 'Net in Mandarin; also signified "pulse of the times", he
added.
Ramping up interest for MWeb's Easter launch, an outdoor teaser burst
featured the tagline "what's your type?" above the MWeb.com URL.
"You really need to be clever in China with advertising messages -
because the people you're talking to are largely university students
who, in a few years, will be high-income, white collar individuals."
Running the pulse theme throughout the campaign, the TVCs - entitled
Vase, Basketball, Ice-cream and Kung-fu - feature a mercurial "M"
throbbing on each protagonist's pulse-point.
In response to China's current outdoor scrum, Mr Chou said the TVCs were
a "call-to-action"; inciting user individuality via an intriguing
storyline where protagonists stated "I don't want to talk about
it ..." when queried about their throbbing "M".
"We want people to identify with the site personally," said Mr Chow,
stressing that the agency has gone to great lengths to quash
similarities between the "M" pulse and tattoos, which held strongly
taboo connotations in China.
The creative team consisted of acccount director, Allan Chou, account
manager, Koji Watanabe and account executive, Roy Xu with strategic
planning by Dean Sciole.
Creative director was Trefor Thomas, with creative group head Steven
Cheng and Eugene Cheok.
Magie Tan featured as copywriter, backed by Farouk Jaffrey in the
director's seat and production house Planet Films Malaysia.
