FOCUS: AGENCY OF THE YEAR AWARDS 2000 - Advertising person of the year - Yu, Owen named admen of the year for all their contributions

<p>Category: Advertising Person of the Year </p><p>Joint winners: Jeffrey Yu (Bates Asia), HK4As chairman; and Barry Owen, </p><p>regional head of creative, Ogilvy & Mather Asia-Pacific </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>In being named the co-recipient of Agency Person of the Year, Bates Asia </p><p>president and HK4As chairman Jeffrey Yu has been at the helm of an </p><p>agency that has been responsible for generating cutting edge advertising </p><p>and marketing campaigns. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>He has also been at the forefront of efforts to re-engineer his agency </p><p>network to more effectively cope with the New Economy world. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>However, it was his work for the Hong Kong 4As and his stand on scam </p><p>ads, which were the clincher to him receiving the award. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Mr Yu - president of Bates Asia and chairman of the Hong Kong 4As - is </p><p>no stranger to controversy and he gives as good as he gets. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>At the beginning of the year, he introduced a pitch fee policy under </p><p>which clients were required to pay HKdollars 20,000 to each Hong Kong </p><p>4As agency involved in a new business pitch. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Despite opposition, he persevered, and by the autumn, the ball that was </p><p>set rolling more than half a year earlier was gaining in momentum as </p><p>both agencies and clients fell into line. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Part of the success was due to Mr Yu leading an educational drive to </p><p>explain to the market that the pitch fee policy was aimed at gaining </p><p>respect for the services and amount of work agencies put into a </p><p>pitch. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Agencies, he said, shouldn't be taken for granted. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Then came the issue of scam ads. He hit out at what he saw was unfair </p><p>and, in the process, set new standards across Asia-Pacific. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Today, we have more of consensus of what is a scam ad - it is an ad run </p><p>without the knowledge and/or consent of the client. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>However, in getting to that stage, Mr Yu's harsh words against award </p><p>shows which allowed scam ads to make a showing sparked off a war of </p><p>words, in which he was labelled a trouble maker. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>However, he stood his ground and continued to argue vociferously that </p><p>scam ads denigrated the credibility of the industry. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>While his call for regionwide discussions to resolve the issue once and </p><p>for all appears to have fallen on deaf ears, awards shows in the region </p><p>have clamped down on dubious ads. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>In Singapore, for example, entries to the Creative Circle Awards had to </p><p>be accompanied by a letter from the client stating that they knew about </p><p>and endorsed the ad. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>At his own agency, Bates, Mr Yu has won his fair share of new business </p><p>such as winning almost all of General Motors' corporate and joint </p><p>venture business in China, the Singapore Airlines e-booking account and </p><p>BAT in Indonesia. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>He has also taken the Internet and all that the New Economy has to offer </p><p>in stride. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>He's taken a holistic approach to all things 'e' by encouraging many of </p><p>his staff to sign up for a University of British Columbia Internet </p><p>advertising and marketing course so that people at all levels and </p><p>sections of the agency look at the Internet as one more channel in the </p><p>marketing mix. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>His catchphrase to staff has been, "Don't assume we are perfect and we </p><p>do not have to improve." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>MEDIA's co-Advertising Person of the Year and Ogilvy & Mather (Thailand) </p><p>head of creative, Barry Owen, is known to a generation of Thai </p><p>advertising executives as a pioneer who helped elevate Thailand's </p><p>industry to global recognition. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Over his many years in Thailand, Mr Owen has trained dozens of local </p><p>executives, some of whom later went on to lead creative departments at </p><p>other international agencies. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>BBDO chief creative officer, Suthisak Sucharittanonta, said that Mr Owen </p><p>led by example and was never above taking on the most menial task if it </p><p>meant giving better service to clients. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"The reason I joined Ogilvy was because of Barry's reputation. He really </p><p>was an inspiration to the younger generation because at that time he was </p><p>doing the best creative work in Thailand." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Mr Suthisak started working at Ogilvy in 1988 and stayed for 10 years </p><p>before leaving in 1997. When he started out, young Thai creative </p><p>executives wanted to focus on European and Western images to promote </p><p>products, choosing to ignore Thailand's rich cultural heritage. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"Barry was the guy who showed us there were lots of good things to be </p><p>proud about in Thai society; we had been adopting too much from the </p><p>West. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"He showed us with the Singha account that using very Thai creative </p><p>content was good, and for that he won a Clio. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"He was the first guy to put Thailand's advertising industry on the </p><p>world map. Barry made Ogilvy & Mather Thailand a star in Asia and people </p><p>will remember him for that." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Mr Owen was known by his peers as a man to roll up his sleeves and get </p><p>down to work, regardless of the size of the account. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>No job was too small for him and he was known to work on consumer </p><p>product accounts, which most creative executives loathed, getting the </p><p>job done professionally without saying a word. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Known as a humble, shy man, Mr Owen never set out to publicise his </p><p>successes, preferring to let his co-workers take the honours. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Instead, colleagues praised him for leading by example and setting the </p><p>tone for others to follow. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Always the first in the office in the morning, he often worked late into </p><p>the evening to get the job done. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Those who had the privilege of working with him said his management </p><p>style was another key component to his success. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Mr Suthisak, said: "If you didn't go into his office, he was not the </p><p>type of person to come to you. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"He was not a dictator, he would let you manage yourself but if you had </p><p>a problem he was always there to help. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"He never cared about awards, he was very humble and never tried to </p><p>promote himself. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"That is Barry - a very down-to-earth person." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>- Additional reporting by Tom Racette in Bangkok. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>